Trump seeks Pence backing ahead of Iowa rally: Live

Donald Trump urged his former vice president Mike Pence to endorse him on Saturday shortly after Mr Pence dropped out of the 2024 Republican primary.

The former president was speaking at an event hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, where Mr Pence himself had appeared earlier in the day and made the announcement of his withdrawal from the race.

Mr Trump continues to be the strong favourite to win the GOP nomination, according to all available polling.

Last week, however, he came face-to-face with a former loyalist in court.

Michael Cohen said in interviews after his testimony in Mr Trump’s criminal fraud trial that his former boss appeared to be a “sad-looking, pathetic, deflated individual” in the Manhattan courtroom where the two saw each other.

Key Points

• ‘Chaos’: Ex-Trump Attorney General on what would happen if Trump wins in 2024

• Trump and sons to testify early next month

• DC Judge orders Trump legal team to respond to request for video access by 10 Nov

• Ivanka Trump must testify in father’s civil fraud trial, judge rules

• Six more of Trump’s Georgia co-defendants may be looking at plea deals

What is Trump defence argument in Colorado case?

15:11 , Alex Woodward

Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state who is leading Trump’s defence in Colorado, argues that the 14th Amendment’s clause prohibiting anyone who “engaged insurrection or rebellion” against the government does not include speech.

“Engaged,” he said, “is not incitement through words.”

Those words include Trump’s speech to supporters on January 6 “in which he told people to peacefully and patriotically” go to the Capitol, Gessler claimed. Trump actually “took actions to prevent violence” and “called for peace” at least four times, he said.

Trump’s team has repeatedly tried to dismiss the case and rejected the premise as “lawfare that seeks to interfere with the presidential election” and “election interference”.

Gessler is accusing the plaintiffs of being “private attorney generals” relying on “fringe” and “illogical” legal theories that go up against protected speech.

Watch LIVE: Trial begins over disqualification of Donald Trump from Colorado 2024 ballot

14:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Has Trump already violated newly-reinstated Jan 6 case gag order?

14:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has appeared to break a gag order immediately after it was reinstated by a Washington DC federal judge.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith‘s office against Mr Trump over the 6 January 2021 insurrection and the months-long attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

On Sunday, Judge Chutkan reinstated a gag order against Mr Trump that was initially put in place earlier this month, restricting what he can and cannot say about the proceedings in public.

About an hour and 15 minutes after the gag order was reinstated, the former president lashed out at his former Attorney General Bill Barr, a potential witness in his federal election subversion case – a move that may well be a violation of the judge’s order.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, Mr Trump branded Mr Barr “gutless and lazy”.

Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC.

Has Trump already violated newly-reinstated gag order in Jan 6 case?

Fifth week of Trump civil fraud trial getting underway

14:19 , Oliver O'Connell

The fifth week of Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial is getting underway at New York’s Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan.

On Friday, proceedings left off with the New York Attorney General’s counsel questioning former Trump Organization vice president Raymond Flores about his work with Eric Trump regarding the valuations of golf courses.

Both of the former president’s sons from his first marriage, Donald Trump Jr and Eric, are expected to take the stand this week, with their sister Ivanka Trump likely to testify on Friday.

Mr Trump himself is scheduled to testify on Monday 6 November. It is not known whether he will be in court for the testimony of his three adult children.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled before the trial that the former president, his two adult sons, former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, ex-controller Jeff McConney and various Trump businesses were liable for fraud, having inflated valuations of key assets to increase the total net worth of Mr Trump.

There are six other counts for the judge to consider including insurance fraud, falsifying business records, and conspiracy.

Trial to begin today in lawsuit seeking to remove Trump from 2024 race

13:50 , Oliver O'Connell

On Monday, a trial will begin in Colorado over a lawsuit seeking to block Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot in the state.

The suit claims that Mr Trump cannot run for former due to the 14th Amendment and its ban on insurrectionists running for office.

Last week, a judge rejected the former president’s efforts to have the suit thrown out.

A similar case will also be heard in Minnesota on Thursday.

This morning on Truth Social...

13:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump kicks off the week with his customary rants about the various criminal and civil cases against him in four posts on Truth Social:

Why didn’t they start the totally political BIDEN INDICTMENTS & COURT CASES Three (3) Years Ago, instead of the MIDDLE OF MY CAMPAIGN??? Third World Country-ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!

If they started the highly political Biden Indictments 3 years ago, everything would now be finished. THEY WAITED UNTIL MY CAMPAIGN BEGAN!

The Obama appointed Federal Judge in D.C, a TRUE TRUMP HATER, is incapable of giving me a fair trial. Her Hatred of President DONALD J. TRUMP is so great that she has been diagnosed with a major, and incurable, case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME!!!

These highly political (All started by Crooked Joe Biden!) Lawsuits and Indictments shouldn’t be allowed to start until AFTER THE ELECTION IS OVER! Our Founding Fathers are looking down at Biden with scorn!

Those posts followed last night’s screed:

I have just learned that the very Biased, Trump Hating Judge in D.C., who should have RECUSED herself due to her blatant and open loathing of your favorite President, ME, has reimposed a GAG ORDER which will put me at a disadvantage against my prosecutorial and political opponents. This order, according to many legal scholars, is unthinkable! It illegally and unconstitutionally takes away my First Amendment Right of Free Speech, in the middle of my campaign for President, where I am leading against BOTH Parties in the Polls. Few can believe this is happening, but I will appeal. How can they tell the leading candidate that he, and only he, is seriously restricted from campaigning in a free and open manner? It will not stand!

The former president’s New York civil trial for fraud continues at 10am ET and his 14th Amendment disqualification trial begins in Colorado — here’s our previous reporting on that:

Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot

Has Trump already violated newly-reinstated gag order in Jan case?

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Ron DeSantis offers contradictory gun views after Maine massacre

13:00 , John Bowden

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offered a seemingly contradictory position on gun rights and mental health on Sunday as he addressed the mass shooting in Maine that left nearly two dozen people dead last week.

Mr DeSantis was speaking to host Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press when he was asked to respond to a remark from the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, arguing that access to guns was not the problem that should be addressed in the wake of the shooting that resulted in a days-long manhunt. The suspected killer was eventually found dead.

Watch below:

Ron DeSantis spins contradictory gun views after Maine shooting

Michael Cohen describes facing ‘pathetic, deflated’ Trump at fraud trial

12:27 , John Bowden

Michael Cohen is making the rounds on TV to discuss his showdown with Donald Trump at the latter’s fraud trial in New York this week.

Cohen testified over two days at the trial, telling of how he and the former Trump Organization CFO altered the company’s financials.

Speaking to CNN on Saturday, Cohen explained what it was like to have Mr Trump’s stare boring into him on the stand.

“I was confused on how I was going to be,” he said. “And actually, I felt nothing. It was so weird that here I am, sitting directly across from Donald Trump, and I felt absolutely nothing. And then directly over his left shoulder was his son, Eric, who also I maintained a relationship with. And I felt absolutely nothing.

“I looked at him, and I said to myself, boy, what a sad-looking, pathetic, deflated individual.”

Michael Cohen describes facing ‘pathetic, deflated’ Trump at fraud trial

FULL STORY: Trump gag order reinstated in federal Jan 6 case

12:00 , Rachel Sharp

The judge in Donald Trump’s federal election interference case has reinstated a gag order on the former president.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a gag order in the case back in early October, banning Mr Trump from making statements about prosecutors, court personnel and potential witnesses in the case.

But, the order was briefly put on pause on 20 October as Mr Trump’s attorneys appealed the decision.

Last week, Special counsel Jack Smith’s team urged the judge to lift the stay and reinforce the ban, after Mr Trump was fined $10,000 for breaking a gag order in his separate civil fraud case in New York.

On Sunday evening, Judge Chutkan sided with Mr Smith’s team and reinstated the ruling.

Read the full story:

Trump gag order reinstated in federal Jan 6 case

Court proceedings to hear arguments to remove Trump from ballots

11:27 , John Bowden

Two cases will go to court this week handling the question if Donald Trump is eligible to run for president again following his actions in relation to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

On Monday in Denver, Colorado, a hearing lasting a week will include witnesses and legal experts to determine if January 6 qualifies as an insurrection, proceedings which could block Mr Trump from appearing on the ballot in the state, The Washington Post reports.

And on Thursday, the Minnesota Supreme Court is set to hear arguments if a lesser-known part of the Constitution may keep Mr Trump off the ballot.

Courts all over the US could hold similar proceedings in the upcoming weeks.

Both conservatives and liberals are pushing the notion that Mr Trump could be removed from the ballot, but the use of the theory is unprecedented, and its supporters not that it’s an uphill climb.

The theory is based on a provision of the 14th Amendment put in place after the Civil War. Section three states that people cannot hold elected office if they have taken an oath to protect the Constitution and subsequently engaged in an insurrection or aided enemies of the state.

Trump gets confused about where he is at Iowa rally

11:00 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump spoke at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, where he confused his location.

“Hello to a place where we’ve done very well, Sioux Falls. Thank you very much,” he said, mixing up the city in South Dakota.

Scarborough says Trump ‘has the anti-democracy guy sitting in the speaker’s chair’

10:27 , John Bowden

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough argued on Friday that newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson is in Donald Trump’s pocket.

“I wonder if we are going to see Biden-Trump fight two, in terms of a rematch. Well, what happens if it’s a close election? He’s the speaker. Will he try to stop the certification if Trump loses again?” Al Sharpton said on Friday. “We need to raise that. We need to let America know that January 6 won’t be outside this time if this guy is speaker.”

“Why do you think Trump fought [Speaker nominee Tom Emmer] so much? Because he didn’t go along with a lie,” Mr Scarborough responded. “So yeah, I mean, these things are decided in the House. So Donald Trump has his guy. He has the anti-democracy guy sitting in the speaker’s chair. I mean, I saw some press conference, just a clip where a reporter asked a question, but he started screaming. I actually, I almost said a word that I’ve said on this air a couple of times. I’ll just say, what fools. Who do they think we are? Do they think Americans are that stupid?”

“They’re all election deniers up there. And they’re mad at the press for bringing up the fact that Donald Trump now has his tool to move us towards an autocratic state where democratic elections don’t matter,” he added. “He’s already done it. He led the charge to overturn a presidential election. So, yeah, we know what’s going to happen, and we know all of these presidential elections end up in the House. Donald Trump’s thinking, ‘I got this.’”

Trump lashes out at reinstated gag order: ‘NOT CONSTITUTIONAL!'

10:00 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has lashed out on Truth Social after the judge in his federal election interference case reinstated a gag order in the case.

“The Corrupt Biden Administration just took away my First Amendment Right To Free Speech. NOT CONSTITUTIONAL! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN…” he wrote on Sunday night.

In a follow-up post, he added: “I have just learned that the very Biased, Trump Hating Judge in D.C., who should have RECUSED herself due to her blatant and open loathing of your favorite President, ME, has reimposed a GAG ORDER which will put me at a disadvantage against my prosecutorial and political opponents. This order, according to many legal scholars, is unthinkable!

“It illegally and unconstitutionally takes away my First Amendment Right of Free Speech, in the middle of my campaign for President, where I am leading against BOTH Parties in the Polls. Few can believe this is happening, but I will appeal. How can they tell the leading candidate that he, and only he, is seriously restricted from campaigning in a free and open manner? It will not stand!”

Trump gag order reinstated in Jan 6 case

09:30 , Rachel Sharp

The judge in Donald Trump’s federal election interference case has reinstated a gag order on the former president.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a gag order in the case in early October, banning Mr Trump from making statements about prosecutors and potential witnesses in the case.

The order was briefly paused on 20 October as Mr Trump’s attorneys appealed the decision.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team urged the judge to lift the stay last week, after Mr Trump was fined $10,000 for breaking a gag order in his New York civil fraud trial.

The judge reinstated the ruling on Sunday evening.

Trump lawyers appear to be pushing for right wing Supreme Court to take on case

08:27 , John Bowden

In a court motion arguing that Donald Trump should be shielded from prosecution because of presidential immunity, lawyers for the former president appeared to be urging the Supreme Court to take on the case.

“Although not yet resolved by the Supreme Court or any Circuit—because all prosecutors until now have respected Presidential immunity— the legal underpinnings and need for such protections are manifest,” they wrote.

Trump launches nasty rant at fraud trial judge: ‘CRAZED in his hatred of me’

06:27 , John Bowden

Donald Trump lashed out yet again against the judge in his civil fraud trial on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

It comes a day after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled from the bench that the former president’s oldest daughter Ivanka Trump must testify in the trial that stems from a blockbuster lawsuit targeting her father, adult brothers and the Trumps’ business empire.

Read more:

Trump launches nasty rant at fraud trial judge: ‘CRAZED in his hatred of me’

‘The President must have the ability to make decisive—and often unpopular— decisions,’ lawyers argue

04:30 , John Bowden

In a 27-page filing on Thursday, lawyers for Donald Trump argued that the former president should be shielded from prosecution because of presidential immunity.

“The President must have the ability to make decisive—and often unpopular— decisions regarding matters of public concern. Just as he cannot be constrained by fear of civil lawsuits, so too should he be protected from ... criminal prosecution,” they wrote.

The Special Counsel had slammed this argument previously, Scott MacFarlane of CBS News notes.

“The defendant is not above the law. He is subject to the federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans, including Members of Congress, federal judges, and everyday citizens,” the special counsel wrote in a previous filing.

VOICES: Did Republicans just sacrifice their majority by voting for Johnson?

02:27 , John Bowden

During the fight this past month about whether to make Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaker of the House, I asked Rep Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) if he would support Mr Jordan.

Mr Jordan, of course, is a hard-right ideologue who defended Donald Trump at every turn, whereas Mr Ciscomani was one of 18 Republicans who represent districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

But the Arizona Republican – whom Republicans wanted to present as a new face of the GOP as a Mexican-born citizen of the United States – remained tight-lipped about whom he would support.

“What I’ve told my constituents is that I don’t work for the speaker, I work with the speaker, whoever the speaker is,” he told me. I was surprised when he and fellow Biden district Republican Marc Molinaro of New York announced they’d support Mr Jordan for the coveted role.

Mr Molinaro’s support also came as a surprise not just because he represented a Biden district but because of the fact that his fellow New York Republican Reps Mike Lawler, Anthony D’Esposito, Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota all opposed Mr Jordan. When I caught Mr Lawler after Mr Jordan’s humiliation and ultimate withdrawal from the speaker’s race, he said he opposed Mr Jordan simply because Kevin McCarthy shouldn’t have been removed as speaker.

READ MORE

Trump reacts to being scorned by longtime ally

00:27 , John Bowden

Donald Trump has a bone to pick with one of his longtime allies, who has thrown his weight behind rival 2024 candidate Nikki Haley.

Andrew Stein, a veteran New York City politician and Democrat who made headlines when he shared support for Mr Trump in 2016 (and again in 2020) penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal voicing strong criticism of the former president and his 2024 bid.

The scathing piece apparently came as a surprise to Mr Trump - as the pair have been friends for 50 years.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Mr Trump wrote: “When you ‘drop’ someone in politics, especially when I’m the one doing the dropping, you can be (almost!) certain that they will come back with a vengeance.

“Such is the case with Andrew Stein, a lightweight ‘gadfly’ who I have known and been kind to for years, but haven’t had the time or patience lately to see him, or take his calls…And then, as usual, it happens!

“He gives his meaningless endorsement to Birdbrain, who is losing to me by 50 Points, and WAY DOWN in the Polls to Crooked Joe (I am beating Biden in almost every Poll!). The Globalist, China Centric, and once influential Wall Street Journal, who picks up anything negative about me that they can, puts this ridiculous endorsement into its pages of bad RINO loving policy and misinformation. Use it well, Nikki, it’s all you’ve got!”

Ivanka Trump must testify in father’s civil fraud trial, judge rules

Sunday 29 October 2023 22:34 , John Bowden

Ms Trump, who was dropped from the lawsuit earlier this year, recently tried to quash a subpoena for her testimony in the case, noting that she is no longer a defendant and no longer lives in the state. She formerly lived at Trump Park Avenue.

After hearing arguments from Donald Trump’s attorneys and counsel from the office of New York Attorney General on 27 October, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled from the bench that the the former president’s oldest daughter must testify, finding that she still conducts business and owns property in the state and has failed to show any evidence disputing that.

In a court filing on 26 October, New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that Ms Trump “remains financially and professionally intertwined” with the Trump Organization and “can be called as a person still under their control.”

READ MORE

Ron DeSantis offers contradictory gun views after Maine massacre

Sunday 29 October 2023 21:23 , John Bowden

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offered a seemingly contradictory position on gun rights and mental health on Sunday as he addressed the mass shooting in Maine that left nearly two dozen people dead last week.

Mr DeSantis was speaking to host Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press when he was asked to respond to a remark from the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, arguing that access to guns was not the problem that should be addressed in the wake of the shooting that resulted in a days-long manhunt. The suspected killer was eventually found dead.

Watch below:

Ron DeSantis spins contradictory gun views after Maine shooting

Trump’s niece calls him a ‘toddler’ for storming out of fraud trial

Sunday 29 October 2023 19:54 , John Bowden

Donald Trump‘s niece has branded him a “toddler” after he abruptly walked out of the courtroom during his fraud trial in New York City.

While speaking on “The Dean Obeidallah Show,” Mary Trump and Dean Obeidallah discussed the fraud trial in New York, during which the former president was slapped with a $10,000 fine after violating a gag orderfor a second time.

Watch below:

Trump’s niece calls him a ‘toddler’ for storming out of fraud trial

Mike Johnson and Jan 6: ‘I’ve prayed for each of you individually’

Sunday 29 October 2023 18:36 , John Bowden

“This is a very weighty decision. All of us have prayed for God’s discernment. I know I’ve prayed for each of you individually,” the House’s newest Speaker, Mike Johnson, said the day before the Capitol riot, according to Politico.

He then argued that they should join him in voting against certifying the results.

Following the 3 November 2020 election, Mr Johnson led the legal effort to keep Mr Trump in office. Even as Mr Trump’s myriad legal challenges failed, Mr Johnson ploughed ahead.

Mr Johnson announced that he would support a Texas lawsuit against four states attempting to invalidate their results on 8 December 2020. The Louisiana Republican said he would back the effort with a brief signed by other members of Congress.

During this time, Mr Johnson often spoke to Mr Trump.

At the internal meeting on 5 January 2021, Reps Chip Roy and Don Bacon both slammed Mr Johnson’s plan, arguing that it would lead to a constitutional crisis.

“Let us not turn the last firewall for liberty we have remaining on its head in a bit of populist rage for political expediency,” Mr Roy said at the time, according to Politico.

Mr Roy and Mr Bacon both voted for Mr Johnson when he became speaker on Wednesday 25 October.

Trump reacts to Mike Pence dropping out of the 2024 race

Sunday 29 October 2023 18:01 , John Bowden

Donald Trump gloated at the news that his former vice president Mike Pence was dropping out of the 2024 race.

Speaking before the same conference at which Mr Pence had made his announcement earlier on Saturday, Mr Trump demanded that the former vice president bend the knee.

“He should endorse me,” the former president repeated to a jeering crowd.

Watch below:

Trump reacts to Mike Pence dropping out of the 2024 race

Court proceedings to hear arguments to remove Trump from ballots

Sunday 29 October 2023 16:30 , John Bowden

Two cases will go to court this week handling the question if Donald Trump is eligible to run for president again following his actions in relation to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

On Monday in Denver, Colorado, a hearing lasting a week will include witnesses and legal experts to determine if January 6 qualifies as an insurrection, proceedings which could block Mr Trump from appearing on the ballot in the state, The Washington Post reports.

And on Thursday, the Minnesota Supreme Court is set to hear arguments if a lesser-known part of the Constitution may keep Mr Trump off the ballot.

Courts all over the US could hold similar proceedings in the upcoming weeks.

Both conservatives and liberals are pushing the notion that Mr Trump could be removed from the ballot, but the use of the theory is unprecedented, and its supporters not that it’s an uphill climb.

The theory is based on a provision of the 14th Amendment put in place after the Civil War. Section three states that people cannot hold elected office if they have taken an oath to protect the Constitution and subsequently engaged in an insurrection or aided enemies of the state.

ICYMI: Mike Pence suspends his 2024 presidential campaign

Sunday 29 October 2023 15:36 , John Bowden

Former Vice President Mike Pence became the highest-profile name to drop out of the 2024 presidential race on Saturday.

He made his announcement during an address to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas.

Mr Pence remained a cheerleader of the agenda the Trump-Pence administration charted during his brief presidential run, though he also remained adamant in his defence of his refusal to go along with Donald Trump’s demand that he interfere in the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. That decision caused him to be branded a traitor by many Trump supporters.

“It’s become clear to me it’s not my time,” said the former vice president on Saturday. “I’ve decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.”

Six more of Trump’s Georgia co-defendants may be looking at plea deals

Sunday 29 October 2023 14:38 , John Bowden

Another six Trump co-defendants in the Georgia election subversion case have reportedly discussed plea deals with Fulton County prosecutors following the guilty pleas of former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

The aim of the office of District Attorney Fani Willis is seemingly to try to get as many co-defendants as possible to flip on former President Donald Trump.

Robert Cheeley, a pro-Trump lawyer, was offered a plea deal, but his lawyer told CNN he chose to decline it.

Attorney Richard Rice told the network, “To say that we are currently in discussions with the DA’s office would be an inaccurate representation of what is going on. They made us an offer some time ago and we declined it”.

Misty Hampton, a former elections supervisor in Coffee County, Georgia, and Mike Roman, a former Trump campaign official, have also spoken to prosecutors about possible plea deals, according to CNN.

Read more:

Ivanka Trump must testify in father’s civil fraud trial, judge rules

Michael Cohen describes facing ‘pathetic, deflated’ Trump at fraud trial

Sunday 29 October 2023 13:28 , John Bowden

Michael Cohen called his former boss Donald Trump a “sad-looking, pathetic, deflated individual” as he described testifying in front of the ex-president at his New York state fraud trial.

The disbarred attorney shared what was going through his mind as he took the witness stand in front of Mr Trump in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, which aired Friday and was recorded a day prior.

Watch below:

Michael Cohen describes facing ‘pathetic, deflated’ Trump at fraud trial

Michael Cohen describes his court face-off with Trump

Saturday 28 October 2023 21:00 , Megan Sheets

Michael Cohen is making the rounds on TV to discuss his showdown with Donald Trump at the latter’s fraud trial in New York this week.

Cohen testified over two days at the trial, telling of how he and the former Trump Organization CFO altered the company’s financials.

Speaking to CNN on Saturday, Cohen explained what it was like to have Mr Trump’s stare boring into him on the stand.

“I was confused on how I was going to be,” he said. “And actually, I felt nothing. It was so weird that here I am, sitting directly across from Donald Trump, and I felt absolutely nothing. And then directly over his left shoulder was his son, Eric, who also I maintained a relationship with. And I felt absolutely nothing.

“I looked at him, and I said to myself, boy, what a sad-looking, pathetic, deflated individual.”

Mike Pence suspends his 2024 presidential campaign

Saturday 28 October 2023 19:29 , Megan Sheets

The GOP presidential campaign field has just narrowed as Mike Pence suspended his run for the White House.

The former vice president made the shocking announcement at an event in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Trump launches nasty rant at fraud trial judge

Saturday 28 October 2023 19:00 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump lashed out yet again against the judge in his civil fraud trial on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

It comes a day after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled from the bench that the former president’s oldest daughter Ivanka Trump must testify in the trial that stems from a blockbuster lawsuit targeting her father, adult brothers and the Trumps’ business empire.

After hearing arguments from Mr Trump’s attorneys and counsel from the office of New York Attorney General Attorney General Letitia James on the motion on 27 October, the judge made the ruling, finding that she still conducts business and owns property in the state and has failed to show any evidence disputing that.

The former president – who is not obligated to attend the trial, which could last up until the weekend before Christmas – has sat with his attorneys at the defence table for several days’ of hearings.

Steps outside the courtroom, he has repeatedly railed against the case, New York Attorney General Letitia James, the judge and the chief clerk who sits beside him – comments that drew a gag order blocking all parties from speaking out about the court staff, which Mr Trump violated twice within one week.

He was at it again on Saturday with a post on Truth Social, where he called the judge a “Trump Hating, Unhinged Judge, who ruled me guilty before this Witch Hunt Trial even started, couldn’t care less about the fact that he was overturned.”

Read more:

Trump launches nasty rant at fraud trial judge: ‘CRAZED in his hatred of me’

Trump reacts to being scorned by longtime ally

Saturday 28 October 2023 17:36 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump has a bone to pick with one of his longtime allies, who has thrown his weight behind rival 2024 candidate Nikki Haley.

Andrew Stein, a veteran New York City politician and Democrat who made headlines when he shared support for Mr Trump in 2016 (and again in 2020) penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal voicing strong criticism of the former president and his 2024 bid.

The scathing piece apparently came as a surprise to Mr Trump - as the pair have been friends for 50 years.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Mr Trump wrote: “When you ‘drop’ someone in politics, especially when I’m the one doing the dropping, you can be (almost!) certain that they will come back with a vengeance.

“Such is the case with Andrew Stein, a lightweight ‘gadfly’ who I have known and been kind to for years, but haven’t had the time or patience lately to see him, or take his calls…And then, as usual, it happens!

“He gives his meaningless endorsement to Birdbrain, who is losing to me by 50 Points, and WAY DOWN in the Polls to Crooked Joe (I am beating Biden in almost every Poll!). The Globalist, China Centric, and once influential Wall Street Journal, who picks up anything negative about me that they can, puts this ridiculous endorsement into its pages of bad RINO loving policy and misinformation. Use it well, Nikki, it’s all you’ve got!”

Trump attacks fraud trial judge for ordering Ivanka to testify

Saturday 28 October 2023 15:26 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump expressed his displeasure with Judge Arthur Engoron ordering his daughter Ivanka to testify at his fraud trial in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning.

“My daughter, Ivanka, was released from this Fake Letitia James case by the Court of Appeals, but this Trump Hating, Unhinged Judge, who ruled me guilty before this Witch Hunt Trial even started, couldn’t care less about the fact that he was overturned,” he wrote.

“I also won on Appeal on Statute of Limitations, but he refuses to accept their decision. I truly believe he is CRAZY, but certainly, at a minimum, CRAZED in his hatred of me. This case should have never started, but now must be dismissed. Financial Statements were LOW, NOT HIGH, had a 100% Disclaimer Clause, Banks were fully paid, ‘on time, on schedule,’ with never even a minor default, there was NO VICTIM, EXCEPT ME. Any other Judge in the Country would have thrown this case out on day one. He’s an out of control ‘Nut Job,’ who fined me $10,000 over a ridiculous Gag Order so that the publicity for the day would take over from the fact that Racist James and the Judge’s Star Witness admitted LYING TO CONGRESS on the stand - CASE OVER!’

Trump hits campaign trail in Nevada

Saturday 28 October 2023 15:05 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump is slated to speak at an event in Las Vegas tonight as the 2024 field targets Nevada.

He is slated to take the stage for the “Team Trump Nevada Commit to Caucus Event” at 6pm local time at the Stoney’s Rockin’ Country night club.

Mr Trump promoted the event on Truth Social, inviting fans to grab last-minute tickets.

VOICES: Did Republicans just sacrifice their majority by voting for Johnson?

Saturday 28 October 2023 14:00 , Eric Garcia

During the fight this past month about whether to make Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaker of the House, I asked Rep Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) if he would support Mr Jordan.

Mr Jordan, of course, is a hard-right ideologue who defended Donald Trump at every turn, whereas Mr Ciscomani was one of 18 Republicans who represent districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

But the Arizona Republican – whom Republicans wanted to present as a new face of the GOP as a Mexican-born citizen of the United States – remained tight-lipped about whom he would support.

“What I’ve told my constituents is that I don’t work for the speaker, I work with the speaker, whoever the speaker is,” he told me. I was surprised when he and fellow Biden district Republican Marc Molinaro of New York announced they’d support Mr Jordan for the coveted role.

Mr Molinaro’s support also came as a surprise not just because he represented a Biden district but because of the fact that his fellow New York Republican Reps Mike Lawler, Anthony D’Esposito, Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota all opposed Mr Jordan. When I caught Mr Lawler after Mr Jordan’s humiliation and ultimate withdrawal from the speaker’s race, he said he opposed Mr Jordan simply because Kevin McCarthy shouldn’t have been removed as speaker.

READ MORE

‘Chaos’: Ex-Trump Attorney General on what would happen if Trump wins in 2024

Saturday 28 October 2023 13:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump lawyers point to 1824 election as they argue for presidential immunity

Saturday 28 October 2023 12:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Lawyers for Mr Trump wrote in their Thursday filing in the DC election interference case that “in the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson’s supporters accused President John Quincy Adams of effecting a ‘corrupt bargain’ with Henry Clay by appointing him Secretary of State in exchange for using his influence as Speaker of the House to deliver the election”.

The Trump legal team brought up several instances of questionable presidential behaviour in an attempt to argue that Mr Trump should be shielded from prosecution because of presidential immunity.

Trump lawyers cite Nixon’s ‘Saturday night massacre'

Saturday 28 October 2023 11:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In a filing on Thursday in the federal election interference case, lawyers for Mr Trump wrote: “Pres. Nixon was widely accused of criminal obstruction of justice for the exercise of his official duties in the so-called ‘Saturday Night Massacre,’ when he ordered three subsequent Attorneys General to fire the Watergate Special Prosecutor.”

Mr Nixon was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford. Mr Trump has not been pardoned.

Ivanka Trump must testify in father’s civil fraud trial, judge rules

Saturday 28 October 2023 10:00 , Alex Woodward

Ivanka Trump must testify in a civil fraud trial stemming from a blockbuster lawsuit targeting her father, adult brothers and the Trumps’ business empire.

Ms Trump, who was dropped from the lawsuit earlier this year, recently tried to quash a subpoena for her testimony in the case, noting that she is no longer a defendant and no longer lives in the state. She formerly lived at Trump Park Avenue.

After hearing arguments from Donald Trump’s attorneys and counsel from the office of New York Attorney General on 27 October, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled from the bench that the the former president’s oldest daughter must testify, finding that she still conducts business and owns property in the state and has failed to show any evidence disputing that.

In a court filing on 26 October, New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that Ms Trump “remains financially and professionally intertwined” with the Trump Organization and “can be called as a person still under their control.”

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Six more of Trump’s Georgia co-defendants may be looking at plea deals

Saturday 28 October 2023 09:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Another six Trump co-defendants in the Georgia election subversion case have reportedly discussed plea deals with Fulton County prosecutors following the guilty pleas of former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

The aim of the office of District Attorney Fani Willis is seemingly to try to get as many co-defendants as possible to flip on former President Donald Trump.

Robert Cheeley, a pro-Trump lawyer, was offered a plea deal, but his lawyer told CNN he chose to decline it.

Attorney Richard Rice told the network, “To say that we are currently in discussions with the DA’s office would be an inaccurate representation of what is going on. They made us an offer some time ago and we declined it”.

Misty Hampton, a former elections supervisor in Coffee County, Georgia, and Mike Roman, a former Trump campaign official, have also spoken to prosecutors about possible plea deals, according to CNN.

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Trump filing mentions W Bush, Nixon, and Alexander Hamilton

Saturday 28 October 2023 08:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The 27-page filing from the Trump legal team argues that the federal election interference case should be dismissed because of “presidential immunity”.

The filing mentions Presidents George W Bush and Richard Nixon, as well as founding father and the first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, in addition to the Federalist papers.

The defence team argues that previous presidents weren’t charged for crimes, before going on to criticise previous commanders in chief.

“George W Bush’s critics widely accused him of lying to Congress to induce the Iraq War on false allegedly pretenses by claiming that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was hoarding stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction which turned out to be non-existent,” the motion states.

Trump legal team again argues ‘presidential immunity’ shields ex-president in election subversion case

Saturday 28 October 2023 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In a 27-page filing on Thursday, Mr Trump’s legal team argued that “presidential immunity” shields the former president in the federal election subversion case.

“Just as he cannot be constrained by fear of civil lawsuits, so too should he be protected from the much more potent specter of criminal prosecution,” they write. “To hold otherwise would require the President to hesitate at every turn, conscious of the very real threat that one of many hundreds of prosecutors around the country may one day question his motives and seek to imprison him for his actions as President.”

“Nor would recognizing criminal immunity place the President above the law, as the prosecution contends,” they add. “Rather, it would return us to the sensible process envisioned by the founders, where the People’s representatives in Congress—not an unelected prosecutor—first decide whether a President’s official actions are worthy of sanction and potential criminal liability.”

“That has not occurred, and, in fact, the Senate acquitted President Trump of charges formed on the same basis as the indictment. Accordingly, the Court should hold that President Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for the acts described in the indictment and dismiss this case, with prejudice,” they note.

‘One of Trump’s oldest friends’ backs Nikki Haley

Saturday 28 October 2023 06:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Andrew Stein came out in support of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 primary, writing in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that “I supported Donald Trump twice, but I now think the country would be best served with a different candidate in 2024—Nikki Haley”.

“I don’t take this view lightly. Mr. Trump did a good job as president, from improving the economy to securing the border and maintaining world peace. But a Trump re-election would be difficult, and half the country will never accept him as president. It would keep us divided while we face international situations that require this country to be unified,” he added.

Maggie Haberman of The New York Times said that Mr Stein is “one of Trump’s oldest friends (to the extent he has actual friends)”.

Democrats likely to try to tie every Republican to Johnson

Saturday 28 October 2023 05:00 , Eric Garcia

Rep Mike Johnson is a hardliner on abortion, saying he looks forward to the day there are none. His ascent comes after Republicans radically underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections, largely in response to the Dobbs decision, which Mr Johnson praised.

Democrats now will likely try to tie every Republican to Mr Johnson. And the argument of folks like him who say that they don’t work for a speaker might ring hollow for voters when he enthusiastically backed Mr Johnson.

And Republicans seem to be trying to create some distance from the rest of their party now that the speaker fracas is over. On Thursday, Mr D’Esposito, who represents Long Island, introduced legislation to expel embattled Rep George Santos, a fellow Long Island Republican, from Congress. But it’s unclear if that will give him the distance he needs to win this time next year.

Overturning Roe v Wade repelled suburbs away from Republicans

Saturday 28 October 2023 04:00 , Eric Garcia

Rep Mike Johnson’s ascent to the top job in the House does not just mean he is the leader of the lower chamber of Congress and third-in-line to the presidency; he is now the highest-ranking Republican in the country.

Throughout the 2010s, Republicans tied Democrats, including moderates who voted against her, to former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom they depicted as an out-of-touch liberal from San Francisco, long a synecdoche for an enemy of conservative values.

And it worked swimmingly for them; throughout that decade, Republicans turned the rural white Democrat into an endangered species in the House, despite the fact many of them were more moderate Blue Dog Democrats.

Democrats these days don’t win as many Republican districts anymore. The smart folks at the Centre for Politics at the University of Virginia found that while 18 Republicans represent districts Mr Biden won, only five Democrats won seats in districts where Donald Trump won.

But the suburban districts that once voted for Republicans in places like Arizona, Pennsylvania, California, Georgia and Texas have changed drastically. Mr Trump’s presidency – and the fact Democrats nominated relatively moderate presidential candidates – started moving these areas into the blue column. The Dobbs v Jackson decision last year which overturned the right to have an abortion in Roe v Wade further repelled the suburbs away from Republicans.

Backing Johnson is a huge gamble for Republicans

Saturday 28 October 2023 03:15 , Eric Garcia

Every Republican in the chamber voted to make Rep Mike Johnson Speaker of the House after a protracted 22-day civil war.

Rep Mike Lawler, for his part, was all smiles when I talked to him after the vote on Wednesday.

“He’s a man of decency, he’s a man of integrity, someone that is unfailingly kind to everyone within the conference,” Mr Lawler told me of the new speaker.

But getting behind someone as staunchly hard-right as Mr Johnson is a huge gamble for Republicans.

Rep Jim Jordan and Mr Johnson have near-identical records and, if anything, Mr Johnson is an even more potent force on the right. Where Mr Jordan simply plotted with Donald Trump to overturn the election and is little more than a bloviator who never took the bar exam to practice law, Mr Johnson led an amicus brief seeking to overturn the election.

Mark Meadows tries to have it both ways

Saturday 28 October 2023 02:30 , Gustaf Kilander

The Speaker and Jan 6: Pushing outlandish theories

Saturday 28 October 2023 01:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Mike Johnson shared the outlandish theory that the “software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela”.

Trump lawyer Sidney Powell who pushed the same claim regarding Mr Chavez, who died in 2013, pleaded guilty earlier this month to six misdemeanour counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties.

Mr Trump tweeted on 9 December 2020: “We will be INTERVENING in the Texas (plus many other states) case. This is the big one. Our Country needs a victory!”

“President Trump called me this morning to let me know how much he appreciates the amicus brief we are filing on behalf of Members of Congress. Indeed, ‘this is the big one!’” Mr Johnson added within the hour.

The amicus brief, signed by 126 Republicans, revealed that more than half the House caucus was willing to object to the results. Less than a month later, 140 Republicans objected on the floor of the House on January 6, 2021 – before and after the violent attack on Congress and the peaceful transfer of power.

But the Supreme Court rejected the Texas lawsuit 7-2, arguing that the state didn’t have standing to sue.

Mr Johnson shared his disappointment on several occasions but kept pushing the idea that “no one knows yet how this will play out,” as he told KEEL News on the morning of 14 December – the day that the Electoral College vote was finalised.

Mr Johnson and 36 others shared a statement on the morning of 6 January 20201, arguing that “Our extraordinary republic has endured for nearly two and a half centuries based on the consent of the governed”.

“That consent is grounded in the confidence of our people in the legitimacy of our institutions of government. Among our most fundamental institutions is the system of free and fair elections we rely upon, and any erosion in that foundation jeopardizes the stability of our republic,” they added.

VOICES: Did Republicans just sacrifice their majority by voting for Johnson?

Saturday 28 October 2023 01:00 , Eric Garcia

During the fight this past month about whether to make Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaker of the House, I asked Rep Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) if he would support Mr Jordan.

Mr Jordan, of course, is a hard-right ideologue who defended Donald Trump at every turn, whereas Mr Ciscomani was one of 18 Republicans who represent districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

But the Arizona Republican – whom Republicans wanted to present as a new face of the GOP as a Mexican-born citizen of the United States – remained tight-lipped about whom he would support.

“What I’ve told my constituents is that I don’t work for the speaker, I work with the speaker, whoever the speaker is,” he told me. I was surprised when he and fellow Biden district Republican Marc Molinaro of New York announced they’d support Mr Jordan for the coveted role.

Mr Molinaro’s support also came as a surprise not just because he represented a Biden district but because of the fact that his fellow New York Republican Reps Mike Lawler, Anthony D’Esposito, Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota all opposed Mr Jordan. When I caught Mr Lawler after Mr Jordan’s humiliation and ultimate withdrawal from the speaker’s race, he said he opposed Mr Jordan simply because Kevin McCarthy shouldn’t have been removed as speaker.

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The Speaker and Jan 6: Views of election fraud shaped by 1996 Senate race

Saturday 28 October 2023 00:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Mike Johnson has said that his views on election fraud came to be shaped by the 1996 Senate race between Republican Woody Jenkins and Democrat Mary Landrieu.

“I was a young pup law student at the time, but I was kind of carrying around everyone’s briefcases trying to help,” he said, claiming that there was evidence of fraud but that the Democrats “buried it all”.

On 17 November, Mr Johnson told KEEL News in Shreveport that the election wasn’t over.

“I don’t concede anything,” he told the radio station. “I’ve talked to the president in the last few days, and he is still dug in on this.”

Mr Johnson also cited a number of allegations that certain changes in laws governing elections in key states had been unconstitutional, and he then put the debunked allegations that voting machines had been tampered with.

“The allegation about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with the software by Dominion — look, there’s a lot of merit to that,” he said.

The broadcasting of these allegations led to Fox News paying almost $800m to Dominion in a settlement in their defamation lawsuit.

Ivanka ‘restored her financial entanglements with (and profits from) the Trump Org'

Friday 27 October 2023 23:30 , Gustaf Kilander

MSNBC Legal Analyst Lisa Rubin tweeted on Friday that “after her father left office, Ivanka Trump moved to Florida with Jared & the kids—and supposedly left Trump World behind. But as this filing by the New York attorney general summarizes, she has since restored her financial entanglements with (and profits from) the Trump Org”.

“Renewing her ties with the Trump Organization is not itself unlawful, nor am I suggesting she has committed a crime since renewing those ties,” she added. “What I am saying, however, is that whether a NY court legitimately has jurisdiction over her doesn’t stop and start with where she lives. Her business arrangements within the state and with the Trump Org specifically matter—and support the AG’s power to subpoena her.”

The Speaker and Jan 6: Calls with Donald Trump

Friday 27 October 2023 22:45 , Gustaf Kilander

On the day that most media outlets called the election for President Joe Biden, 7 November 2020, Rep Mike Johnson tweeted that he had “just called” Mr Trump to tell him to “Stay strong and keep fighting, sir! The nation is depending upon your resolve. We must exhaust every available legal remedy to restore Americans’ trust in the fairness of our election system”.

On 9 November 2020, Mr Johnson added on the social media platform that Mr Trump called him the previous evening.

“I was encouraged to hear his continued resolve to ensure that every LEGAL vote gets properly counted and that all instances of fraud and illegality are investigated and prosecuted. Fair elections are worth fighting for!” he wrote.

Mr Johnson appeared on the Moon Griffon Show on 9 November 2020, and spoke about his call with Mr Trump, saying they were ready to go to the US Supreme Court. He added that Mr Trump had shared that he was uplifted by Justice Samuel Alito issuing an order for Pennsylvania to split up absentee ballots that arrived late in the event that they were found to be invalid.

“That’s a good sign,” Mr Johnson told the Lafayette host. “I think there’s at least five justices on the court that will do the right thing.”

At the time, Mr Johnson indicated that at least 10 lawsuits would be filed, adding that he hoped one of the filings would appear in a “rocket docket” making its way to the top court.

‘Chaos’: Ex-Trump Attorney General on what would happen if Trump wins in 2024

Friday 27 October 2023 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The Speaker and Jan 6: ‘I’ve prayed for each of you individually’

Friday 27 October 2023 21:30 , Gustaf Kilander

“This is a very weighty decision. All of us have prayed for God’s discernment. I know I’ve prayed for each of you individually,” Mike Johnson said the day before the Capitol riot, according to Politico.

He then argued that they should join him in voting against certifying the results.

Following the 3 November 2020 election, Mr Johnson led the legal effort to keep Mr Trump in office. Even as Mr Trump’s myriad legal challenges failed, Mr Johnson ploughed ahead.

Mr Johnson announced that he would support a Texas lawsuit against four states attempting to invalidate their results on 8 December 2020. The Louisiana Republican said he would back the effort with a brief signed by other members of Congress.

During this time, Mr Johnson often spoke to Mr Trump.

At the internal meeting on 5 January 2021, Reps Chip Roy and Don Bacon both slammed Mr Johnson’s plan, arguing that it would lead to a constitutional crisis.

“Let us not turn the last firewall for liberty we have remaining on its head in a bit of populist rage for political expediency,” Mr Roy said at the time, according to Politico.

Mr Roy and Mr Bacon both voted for Mr Johnson when he became speaker on Wednesday 25 October.

How Speaker Mike Johnson kept pushing to overturn the 2020 election

Friday 27 October 2023 21:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson led a campaign to keep former President Donald Trump in the White House after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

On 5 January 2021, the day before the violent insurrection at the US Capitol, Mr Johnson met with other Republicans behind closed doors to discuss what Congress had to do the following day.

While Mr Johnson was a junior member of the caucus at this stage, he nevertheless spoke up in support of the notion that the GOP should back Mr Trump and object to the counting of the electoral votes from a number of key states won by Mr Biden.

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DC Judge orders Trump legal team to respond to request for video access by 10 Nov

Friday 27 October 2023 20:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump and sons to testify early next month

Friday 27 October 2023 20:22 , Alex Woodward

Donald Trump and his sons Donald Jr and Eric are expected to testify in the fraud trial at some point between 1 and 6 November.

Judge has determined trial not necessary to prove claims of fraud

Friday 27 October 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward

Judge Engoron already has determined that a trial is not necessary to prove the claims of fraud outlined across more than 200 pages in Ms James’s complaint filed last year.

The former president – who is not obligated to attend the trial, which could last up until the weekend before Christmas – has sat with his attorneys at the defence table for several days of hearings.

Steps outside the courtroom, he has railed against the case, Ms James, the judge and the chief clerk who sits beside him – comments that drew a gag order blocking all parties from speaking out about the court staff, which Mr Trump violated twice within one week.

Ivanka Trump will not be ordered to testify until at least 1 November

Friday 27 October 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward

Ivanka Trump’s address at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue was “consistently used by Ms Trump for transacting business through three separate entities” under or partially under her control, according to a 12-page filing.

During a hearing before the trial resumed in New York Supreme Court in lower Manhattan on Friday, the judge asked Ms Trump’s attorney Bennet Moskowitz whether she submitted a sworn statement about her allegedly severed ties in New York. He offered to submit one.

Ms Trump can appeal the judge’s decision; she will not be ordered to testify until at least 1 November to give her attorneys time.

The trial, now in its fourth week, follows a $250m lawsuit from Ms James, who alleged Mr Trump, his adult sons and chief associates fraudulently inflated his wealth and assets over a decade to obtain favourable financial benefits to support his business empire.

Lawyer Alina Habba pays Trump’s $15,000 in fines after he violates fraud trial gag order

Friday 27 October 2023 19:12 , Alex Woodward

Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba has paid his $5,000 and $10,000 fines for violating the fraud trial gag order.

The payments to the New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection came out of her firm’s trust account.

Court proceedings to hear arguments to remove Trump from ballots

Friday 27 October 2023 19:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Two cases will go to court next week handling the question if Donald Trump is eligible to run for president again following his actions in relation to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

On Monday in Denver, Colorado, a hearing lasting a week will include witnesses and legal experts to determine if January 6 qualifies as an insurrection, proceedings which could block Mr Trump from appearing on the ballot in the state, The Washington Post reports.

And on Thursday, the Minnesota Supreme Court is set to hear arguments if a lesser-known part of the Constitution may keep Mr Trump off the ballot.

Courts all over the US could hold similar proceedings in the upcoming weeks.

Both conservatives and liberals are pushing the notion that Mr Trump could be removed from the ballot, but the use of the theory is unprecedented, and its supporters not that it’s an uphill climb.

The theory is based on a provision of the 14th Amendment put in place after the Civil War. Section three states that people cannot hold elected office if they have taken an oath to protect the Constitution and subsequently engaged in an insurrection or aided enemies of the state.

Trump lawyers appear to be pushing for rightwing Supreme Court to take on case

Friday 27 October 2023 18:30 , Gustaf Kilander

In a court motion arguing that Donald Trump should be shielded from prosecution because of presidential immunity, lawyers for the former president appeared to be urging the Supreme Court to take on the case.

“Although not yet resolved by the Supreme Court or any Circuit—because all prosecutors until now have respected Presidential immunity— the legal underpinnings and need for such protections are manifest,” they wrote.

‘The President must have the ability to make decisive—and often unpopular— decisions,’ lawyers argue

Friday 27 October 2023 18:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In a 27-page filing on Thursday, lawyers for Donald Trump argued that the former president should be shielded from prosecution because of presidential immunity.

“The President must have the ability to make decisive—and often unpopular— decisions regarding matters of public concern. Just as he cannot be constrained by fear of civil lawsuits, so too should he be protected from ... criminal prosecution,” they wrote.

The Special Counsel had slammed this argument previously, Scott MacFarlane of CBS News notes.

“The defendant is not above the law. He is subject to the federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans, including Members of Congress, federal judges, and everyday citizens,” the special counsel wrote in a previous filing.

Scarborough says Trump ‘has the anti-democracy guy sitting in the speaker’s chair’

Friday 27 October 2023 17:30 , Gustaf Kilander

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough argued on Friday that newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson is in Donald Trump’s pocket.

“I wonder if we are going to see Biden-Trump fight two, in terms of a rematch. Well, what happens if it’s a close election? He’s the speaker. Will he try to stop the certification if Trump loses again?” Al Sharpton said, according to Mediaite. “We need to raise that. We need to let America know that January 6 won’t be outside this time if this guy is speaker.”

“Why do you think Trump fought [Speaker nominee Tom Emmer] so much? Because he didn’t go along with a lie,” Mr Scarborough said. “So yeah, I mean, these things are decided in the House. So Donald Trump has his guy. He has the anti-democracy guy sitting in the speaker’s chair. I mean, I saw some press conference, just a clip where a reporter asked a question, but he started screaming. I actually, I almost said a word that I’ve said on this air a couple of times. I’ll just say, what fools. Who do they think we are? Do they think Americans are that stupid?”

“They’re all election deniers up there. And they’re mad at the press for bringing up the fact that Donald Trump now has his tool to move us towards an autocratic state where democratic elections don’t matter,” he added. “He’s already done it. He led the charge to overturn a presidential election. So, yeah, we know what’s going to happen, and we know all of these presidential elections end up in the House. Donald Trump’s thinking, ‘I got this.’”