Trump news – live: Trump’s war with DeSantis heats up as Larry Elder joins 2024 race

John Bowden and Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s war with Ron DeSantis is continuing to heat up with the former president meeting with Florida lawmakers on Thursday in a bid to try to beat the governor in his own state.

“A great group of supportive Florida Congressmen and Congresswomen, all who have Endorsed me, will be coming to Mar-a-Lago tonight,” Mr Trump boasted on Truth Social on Thursday.

Mr DeSantis is yet to announce a 2024 run but is expected to become Mr Trump’s biggest GOP rival in the race.

Meanwhile, one man who has announced his bid is Larry Elder.

The conservative talk radio host, who made a failed bid to replace the California governor in a 2021 recall effort, announced on Thursday he is running for the Republican presidential nomination.

This comes as one of Donald Trump’s top allies — and one of the key few vocal election deniers remaining at Fox News — is leaving the network. Dan Bongino announced the news on Thursday, blaming an inability to reach a contract.

Key Points

Who is running for president in 2024?

16:00 , Ariana Baio

With less than two years remaining until US voters decide who will serve as president, candidates are beginning to announce their campaigns.

Familiar faces like former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley have made their bid to run against the former US president, Donald Trump, who already announced his campaign.

But rumours are swirling that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence could throw their hats in the ring too.

As tensions heat up, here’s what you need to know.

The Independent reports:

Who is running for president in 2024?

Judge dismissive of Trump’s excuse to not attend rape trial

15:30 , Ariana Baio

Donald Trump’s lawyers will not be allowed to tell jurors that he would like to testify in the trial with E Jean Carroll, a federal judge has ruled.

As Mr Trump’s attornies gear up to go to trial with Ms Carroll, a columnist who alleges Mr Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, one person may be noticeably missing - Mr Trump.

Mr Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, requested Judge Lewis A Kaplan inform the jury at the trial that Mr Trump’s absence was intended to spare New York City and the court system from the logistical burdens of his presence

Judge Kaplan wrote in an order, “Mr. Trump is free to attend, to testify, or both. He is free also to do none of those things.”

He warned Mr Trump’s lawyers to make no reference to “Mr Trump’s alleged desire to testify or to the burdens that any absence on his part allegedly might spare, or might have spared, the Court or the City of New York.”

Chris Christie calls Trump nothing more than a ‘TV star'

15:00 , Ariana Baio

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivered opening remarks against Donald Trump at a town hall in New Hampshire.

“Tonight is the beginning of the case against Donald Trump,” Mr Christie said to a crowd on Thursday, 20 April.

“Donald Trump is a TV star, nothing more, nothing less. Let me suggest to you that in putting him back in the White House, the reruns will be worse than the original show,” Mr Christie added.

Mr Christie, who once supported Mr Trump in the 2016 presidential election, has pushed a campaign against the former president since he refused to accept election results in 2020.

He is one of the few prominent Republicans to do so.

Mr Christie’s town hall appearance added to growing rumours that he may run for president in 2024. Though Mr Christie directly addressed these saying, “If I decide to run, I’ll be able to try to do something directly about it. And if I don’t, then I’ll be still on ABC-TV every Sunday.”

Clip of Rudy Giuliani dressed in drag resurfaces

14:30 , Ariana Baio

An old clip of Rudy Giuliani appearing in drag alongside Donald Trump has resurfaced.

The clip, filmed in 2000, was a skit filmed for the mayor’s Inner Circle Press Roast, an annual event where New York politicians and White House journalists parody themselves for charity.

In the video, Mr Trump pushes his face into the then-New York City mayor’s fake breasts.

The clip comes at a time when multiple Republican-led states are trying to restrict drag performances.

Read More:

Clip resurfaces of Rudy Giuliani in drag as Republicans target performers

Larry Elder enters 2024 race

14:00 , Rachel Sharp

Larry Elder announced on Thursday that he is running for the Republican presidential nomination.

The conservative talk radio host, who made a failed bid to replace the California governor in a 2021 recall effort, made the announcement on Fox News‘ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and followed up with a tweet.

“America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can bring us there. That’s why I’m running for President,” he wrote.

The long-shot candidate joins a Republican field that includes former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has said he plans to seek reelection.

Elder made his first bid for public office in 2021, when he received the most votes out of 46 people who were hoping to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall effort. But a majority of voters ended up voting against removing Newsom, making the vote count in the replacement contest irrelevant.

Supreme Court chief justice asked to testify before Senate on ethics rules after Clarence Thomas revelations

13:15 , John Bowden

Chief Justice John Roberts has been summoned to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to give testimony regarding ethnics rules for Supreme Court justices following recent revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas’ finances.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, sent Mr Roberts a letter on Thursday asking him to appear on 2 May.

Mr Durbin wrote that since Mr Roberts’ last public discussion of ethical rules for justices back in 2011, “there has been a steady stream of revelations regarding Justices falling short of the ethical standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally.”

Mr Roberts is not required to come before the committee; Mr Durbin’s letter is merely a formal request. And with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein out of commission, the panel can’t force him to do so right now.

Read more:

Supreme Court chief justice asked to testify in Senate after Clarence Thomas scrutiny

George Santos insists he has a ‘clean conscience’ after lying about background

12:45 , John Bowden

George Santos was grilled about the issue of his many lies this week on Newsmax of all places by one of the network’s right-leaning hosts, Rob Schmitt.

During the interview, Mr Santos was asked whether he would remain a candidate for office were he still facing questions from authorities about rumours of criminal activity in 2024.

Read more:

George Santos insists he has a ‘clean conscience’ after lying about background

Trump’s war with DeSantis heats up

12:15 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump’s war with Ron DeSantis is continuing to heat up with the former president meeting with Florida lawmakers on Thursday in a bid to try to beat the governor in his own state.

“A great group of supportive Florida Congressmen and Congresswomen, all who have Endorsed me, will be coming to Mar-a-Lago tonight,” Mr Trump boasted on Truth Social on Thursday.

Mr DeSantis is yet to announce a 2024 run but is expected to become Mr Trump’s biggest GOP rival in the race.

House Republicans pass bill banning transgender girls from participating in women’s sports

11:45 , John Bowden

Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would restrict the participation of transgender girls from participating in school sports in the gender with which they identify.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 passed on an exclusively party-line vote with 219 Republicans voting for it and 203 Democrats voting against the legislation.

The bill would make it a violation for any organisation that “operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities” and receives federal dollars to allow a person who is assigned male at birth to participate in an athletic program designated for girls. It would also recognise eligibility “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

Eric Garcia has more...

House Republicans pass bill banning transgender girls from women’s sports

Inside the Stormy Daniels hush money case that led to Trump’s arrest

10:45 , John Bowden

With Donald Trump becoming the first former president to face criminal charges in the United States, the country has reached a historic moment.

Let’s go back to the beginning, and look at the major milestones of the case that has resulting in a 34-count indictment facing the ex-president:

What did Donald Trump do?

What you need to know about the E Jean Carroll rape defamation case

09:45 , John Bowden

Decades after she was allegedly raped by a New York real estate mogul who would go on to be the 45th President of the United States, E Jean Carroll is getting her day in court.

Andrew Feinberg explains the background to the case.

Trump facing trial: What to know about the E Jean Carroll rape defamation case

Cuomo aide says ‘nothing goes unaddressed’ in her memoir

08:45 , John Bowden

A memoir from the top aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the deadliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and an investigation that concluded he sexually harassed 11 women, will come out in the fall.

Union Square & Co. will release “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics, and Crisis,” on Oct. 24.

Melissa DeRosa was secretary to the governor from 2017 until she resigned in August 2021, just before Cuomo announced his own resignation. She was the first woman to hold the powerful position — and was known for appearing at the governor’s side during his daily pandemic briefings, occasionally answering reporters’ detailed policy questions.

Read more:

In memoir, former Cuomo aide says 'nothing goes unaddressed'

VOICES: Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

07:45 , John Bowden

The Independent’s Washington correspondent Eric Garcia writes about Ron DeSantis’s visit to Washington:

“Mr DeSantis should have been greeted as a conquering hero. After serving in the House from 2013 to 2018 and as a founding member of the barn-burning House Freedom Caucus, he took his talents back to South Beach and ran for governor and served as a staunch conservative, mostly keeping the state open during the Covid-19, restricting abortion and targeting LGBT+ communities. That propelled him to win an overwhelming re-election this last November when other Republicans faltered.”

Instead, he was greeted by “a torrent of Republicans from his state’s congressional delegation lining up one after another behind former president Donald Trump.”

Read more:

Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

‘Damn it! I want my trial!’: Stephen Colbert shares frustration at Fox-Dominion settlement

06:45 , John Bowden

Stephen Colbert could barely contain his laughter as he discussed the news that Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5m (£633m).

Isobel Lewis watched The Late Show host’s reaction.

Stephen Colbert shares frustration at Fox-Dominion settlement

Trump remains silent on Fox’s Dominion lawsuit settlement

05:45 , John Bowden

Former president Donald Trump’s social media output in the hours since Fox News reached a $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems has included numerous posts promoting a series of digital trading cards he is selling, attacks on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and bizarre complaints about Elon Musk and alleged censorship on Twitter (where Mr Trump’s account has gone unused since it was restored earlier this year).

But Mr Trump has not weighed in on Fox’s decision to offer more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to Dominion rather than allow a Delaware jury to determine how much the right-wing network should pay for broadcasting repeated lies about the company’s products rather than report the truth because it was upsetting their audience.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump remains silent on Fox’s Dominion lawsuit settlement

Tucker Carlson laughs at people being laid off in Elon Musk interview

04:45 , John Bowden

Fox News host Tucker Carlson cracked a smile as he listened to Elon Musk describe slashing 80 per cent of Twitter’s employees after taking over.

“Turns out you don’t need all that many people to run Twitter,” Mr Musk said in an interview with the Fox News host. “If you’re not trying to run some kind of glorified activist organisation, and you’re not caring that much about censorship, you can really let go of a lot of people it turns out.”

Read more about the Fox host’s fawning interview with Mr Musk in The Independent:

Tucker Carlson laughs at people being laid off in Elon Musk interview

‘No one is above the law’: Former New York prosecutor on Trump case must comply with House GOP’s subpoena

03:45 , John Bowden

A federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office that indicted Donald Trump must comply with a subpoena from Congress.

“No one is above the law,” District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote in her ruling.

The ruling means that former Manhattan special assistant district attorney Mark Pomerantz may have to appear before the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee, which has launched an investigation into the Trump probe in Manhattan.

Current Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has called the effort to subpoena Mr Pomerantz and others connected to his office “an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress” aimed at disrupting his prosecution of Donald Trump.

Former New York prosecutor on Trump case must comply with House GOP’s subpoena

Trump claims absence of evidence proving Biden’s criminality is really ‘Watergate'

02:45 , John Bowden

Donald Trump bizarrely claimed that James Comer’s admission of the GOP-led House Oversight Committee’s inability to find hard evidence of crimes committed by Joe Biden or his family on Tuesday was actually proof of a scandal bigger than the Watergate break-in.

He made the statement in a short tweet-like offering from his 2024 campaign, a sign that he still expects to be facing Mr Biden in the 2024 general election.

House GOP readies border enforcement push

01:45 , John Bowden

House Republicans for months have railed against the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. border with Mexico, holding hearings, visiting border communities and promising to advance legislation to clamp down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

But so far, they have failed to unify behind a plan, delaying efforts to pass legislation.

Now they are hoping to change that.

Read more:

House Republicans ready border enforcement push after delays

The infamous Texas siege with a ‘straight line’ to QAnon, right-wing militias, and January 6

01:15 , John Bowden

Thirty years after a massive armed standoff between a cult and federal authorities turned a small town in Texas into a worldwide media fixture, Josh Marcus explores the battle that influenced generations of extremists and politicians in America.

Read more:

Waco: The infamous Texas siege with a ‘straight line’ to QAnon, militias, and Jan 6

Trump touts reporting of Florida Republicans picking him over DeSantis

Friday 21 April 2023 00:45 , John Bowden

Donald Trump is keeping a very close eye on which lawmakers declare their support for him after his rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, visited Washington DC this week in what was widely seen as a bid for allies ahead of a 2024 run for president.

Just look at this post that went live on Truth Social late afternoon Thursday:

Tent cities for rehabilitation and jail for those who refuse: Trump’s new homelessness policy

Thursday 20 April 2023 23:45 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump has released the outlines a new homelessness policy based on banning urban camping, setting up tent cities, and sending people who decline “treatment” to jail.

Mr Trump has increasingly focused in his current campaign for the White House on rising levels of homelessness in major cities and is taking a characteristically authoritian approach to dealing with them.

In a new video, Mr Trump proposes banning camping wherever possible; arresting anyone found sleeping in unsanctioned areas outdoors; and presenting people with a choice: either agree to enter treatment programmes or go to jail.

Abe Asher reports.

Trump reveals new homelessness policy: Tent cities and jail for those who refuse

Trump's former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

Thursday 20 April 2023 23:15 , John Bowden

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at Donald Trump’s company, got out of jail Wednesday but might not have freed himself from the legal morass surrounding the former president.

The 75-year-old emerged from New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex facing the same pressures he was under three months ago, when he started serving time for tax evasion.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump's former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

Trump touts poll in bid to criticise Alvin Bragg’s investigation

Thursday 20 April 2023 22:50 , John Bowden

On Wednesday afternoon Donald Trump released a video message to supporters on Truth Social; in it, he touted a recent poll from Quinnipiac University revealing that a majority of Americans believe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to be primarily motivated by political reasons as he pursued a prosection of the former president.

He did not mention, however, that the motivation’s of a prosecutor have little bearing on the case itself, and will likely do little to dissuade a jury if evidence of criminality is presented.

Nor did he mention that in the same poll, a majority of Americans still said that they approved of the indictment.

Supreme Court chief justice asked to testify before Senate on ethics rules after Clarence Thomas revelations

Thursday 20 April 2023 22:23 , John Bowden

Chief Justice John Roberts has been summoned to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to give testimony regarding ethnics rules for Supreme Court justices following recent revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas’ finances.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, sent Mr Roberts a letter on Thursday asking him to appear on 2 May.

Mr Durbin wrote that since Mr Roberts’ last public discussion of ethical rules for justices back in 2011, “there has been a steady stream of revelations regarding Justices falling short of the ethical standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally.”

Mr Roberts is not required to come before the committee; Mr Durbin’s letter is merely a formal request. And with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein out of commission, the panel can’t force him to do so right now.

Read more:

Supreme Court chief justice asked to testify in Senate after Clarence Thomas scrutiny

George Santos insists he has a ‘clean conscience’ after lying about background

Thursday 20 April 2023 21:45 , John Bowden

George Santos was grilled about the issue of his many lies this week on Newsmax of all places by one of the network’s right-leaning hosts, Rob Schmitt.

During the interview, Mr Santos was asked whether he would remain a candidate for office were he still facing questions from authorities about rumours of criminal activity in 2024.

Read more:

George Santos insists he has a ‘clean conscience’ after lying about background

Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘surprised and angered’ after being silenced at hearing

Thursday 20 April 2023 21:10 , John Bowden

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is still smarting after she was silenced and barred from speaking at Wednesday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing by a fellow Republican, Chairman Mark Green of Tennessee.

According to Ms Greene, their dispute went to Republican leadership this morning, as both met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Andrew Feinberg has the story:

Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘surprised and angered’ after being silenced at hearing

Hakeem Jeffries denounces Marjorie Taylor Greene at press conference

Thursday 20 April 2023 20:30 , John Bowden

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries excoriated Marjorie Taylor Greene at his weekly press conference on Thursday, a day after she was banned from speaking during a committee hearing by one of her own party’s members due to her rude outbursts.

"She's allowed to lie, she's allowed to debase the institution," said Mr Jeffries. "She's totally out of control."

VOICES: Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

Thursday 20 April 2023 19:53 , John Bowden

The Independent’s Washington correspondent Eric Garcia writes about Ron DeSantis’s visit to Washington:

“Mr DeSantis should have been greeted as a conquering hero. After serving in the House from 2013 to 2018 and as a founding member of the barn-burning House Freedom Caucus, he took his talents back to South Beach and ran for governor and served as a staunch conservative, mostly keeping the state open during the Covid-19, restricting abortion and targeting LGBT+ communities. That propelled him to win an overwhelming re-election this last November when other Republicans faltered.”

Instead, he was greeted by “a torrent of Republicans from his state’s congressional delegation lining up one after another behind former president Donald Trump.”

Read more:

Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

Dan Bongino plays down abrupt exit from Fox News: ‘This wasn’t some WWE brawl that happened’

Thursday 20 April 2023 19:14 , John Bowden

Dan Bongino, the former US Secret Service agent who made a name for himself as one of Fox News’ most outspoken personalities, is leaving the network.

Bongino had been hosting a Saturday night programme on Fox News called Unfiltered with Dan Bongino. The last episode of that show aired last Saturday, 15 April. Bongino’s departure, the result of failed contract negociations, was first reported by Forbes.

Abe Asher has the story on how the ex-Fox host is playing down his departure:

Dan Bongino plays down abrupt Fox News exit: ‘This wasn’t some WWE brawl’

House Republicans pass bill banning transgender girls from participating in women’s sports

Thursday 20 April 2023 18:13 , John Bowden

Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would restrict the participation of transgender girls from participating in school sports in the gender with which they identify.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 passed on an exclusively party-line vote with 219 Republicans voting for it and 203 Democrats voting against the legislation.

The bill would make it a violation for any organisation that “operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities” and receives federal dollars to allow a person who is assigned male at birth to participate in an athletic program designated for girls. It would also recognise eligibility “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

Eric Garcia has more...

House Republicans pass bill banning transgender girls from women’s sports

Trump releases video attacking DeSantis

Thursday 20 April 2023 17:32 , John Bowden

Donald Trump released a second video on Wednesday which appeared to be shot in the same location and time as a previous video message released earlier in the day attacking the Manhattan DA investigation; in the second set of remarks, he went all in attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

While mocking Mr DeSantis for hiring a GOP operative the former president described as the “kiss of death” to political campaigns, Mr Trump asserted that numerous DeSantis staffers were approaching his campaign for jobs.

Voices: Trump’s election lies cost Fox $787m - will they also cost him the White House in 2024?

Thursday 20 April 2023 17:18 , John Bowden

The Independent’s Washington DC correspondent Andrew Feinberg writes that the Dominion/Fox lawsuit’s end in a settlement in Dominion’s favour illustrates one thing: That Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud have real life consequences, and will be an albatross around his neck in 2024.

Read more:

Trump’s election lies cost Fox $787m – will they also cost him 2024?

Mike Lindell bet $5m no one could disprove his election fraud claims. Now he has to pay

Thursday 20 April 2023 16:04 , John Bowden

After conspiracy theorist and pillow salesman Mike Lindell tried to renege on a promise to pay five million dollars to anyone who could prove purported evidence of 2020 election fraud was false, a private arbitration panel has ruled that Mr Lindell has made his bed and must lie in it.

The arbitrators said Nevada-based computer forensics expert Robert Zeidman is entitled to the $5m prize Mr Lindell offered before an August 2021 “cyber symposium” as part of what he called the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge.

Mr Zeidman entered the contest, and successfully showed that a tranche of internet traffic data Mr Lindell claimed was evidence of Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election had nothing to do with that election at all. Now, Mr Lindell has to pay up.

Andrew Feinberg has the story:

Mike Lindell bet $5m no one could disprove his fraud claim. Now he has to pay

Marjorie Taylor Greene shut down by GOP committee chair after she calls Homeland Security Secretary a liar at hearing

Thursday 20 April 2023 14:15 , John Bowden

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday was blocked from further participation in a House Homeland Security Committee hearing after she broke House rules by calling Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a “liar” while questioning him on the Biden administration’s border policies.

Her words were stricken from the record and she was barred from speaking further by the committee’s Republican chairman — a rare move.

Andrew Feinberg has the story:

MTG shut down by GOP committee chair after she calls Mayorkas a ‘liar’ at hearing

Trump boasts about making $4.6m from bizarre NFT cards

Thursday 20 April 2023 13:45 , John Bowden

Donald Trump released a second iteration of his NFT trading cards, leading to mockery online.

The former president announced on Tuesday 18 April that he was selling another series of the NFT trading cards he released this past December.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Trump boasts about making $4.6m from NFT cards that actually plummeted in value

Congressional hearing features Trump’s ‘greatest hits’ of Covid misinformation

Thursday 20 April 2023 13:15 , John Bowden

Florida Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz listed off a series of former president Donald Trump’s lies about Covid-19 during a House subcommittee hearing on the origins of the pandemic.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic convened on Tuesday to discuss the origins, with Republicans largely focusing on the likelihood that a lab leak in the Wuhan province caused the virus to spread.

Eric Garcia reports from Capitol Hill.

Trump’s ‘greatest hits’ of Covid misinformation are read out at congressional hearing

What you need to know about the E Jean Carroll rape defamation case

Thursday 20 April 2023 12:15 , John Bowden

Decades after she was allegedly raped by a New York real estate mogul who would go on to be the 45th President of the United States, E Jean Carroll is getting her day in court.

A judge recently denied an attempt by the former president’s lawyers to delay the case as he faces criminal prosecution in Manhattan and a host of other legal troubles.

Andrew Feinberg explains the background to the case.

Trump facing trial: What to know about the E Jean Carroll rape defamation case

‘No one is above the law’: Former New York prosecutor on Trump case must comply with House GOP’s subpoena

Thursday 20 April 2023 11:45 , John Bowden

A federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office that indicted Donald Trump must comply with a subpoena from Congress.

“No one is above the law,” District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote in her ruling.

The ruling means that former Manhattan special assistant district attorney Mark Pomerantz may have to appear before the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee, which has launched an investigation into the Trump probe in Manhattan.

Current Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has called the effort to subpoena Mr Pomerantz and others connected to his office “an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress” aimed at disrupting his prosecution of Donald Trump.

Former New York prosecutor on Trump case must comply with House GOP’s subpoena

Trump says he doesn’t want to ‘burden’ NYC by attending E Jean Carroll rape trial

Thursday 20 April 2023 11:15 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has said that he doesn’t want to “burden” New York by attending his upcoming rape trial against E Jean Carroll.

In a letter to the judge on Wednesday, Mr Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina said that the former president “wishes” to attend the civil trial beginning next week – but fears it will be a “burden” on the city.

“Defendant Trump wishes to appear at trial” but is concerned about the “logistical and financial burdens” of his attendance on “the courthouse and New York City”.

“Accordingly, his presence is excused unless and until he is called by either party to testify,” the letter read.

Jury selection will begin next week in the case.

‘Damn it! I want my trial!’: Stephen Colbert shares frustration at Fox-Dominion settlement

Thursday 20 April 2023 10:15 , John Bowden

Stephen Colbert could barely contain his laughter as he discussed the news that Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5m (£633m).

Isobel Lewis watched The Late Show host’s reaction.

Stephen Colbert shares frustration at Fox-Dominion settlement

Trump releases video attacking DeSantis

Thursday 20 April 2023 09:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump released a second video on Wednesday which appeared to be shot in the same location and time as a previous video message released earlier in the day attacking the Manhattan DA investigation; in the second set of remarks, he went all in attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

While mocking Mr DeSantis for hiring a GOP operative the former president described as the “kiss of death” to political campaigns, Mr Trump asserted that numerous DeSantis staffers were approaching his campaign for jobs.

Trump's former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

Thursday 20 April 2023 08:15 , John Bowden

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at Donald Trump’s company, got out of jail Wednesday but might not have freed himself from the legal morass surrounding the former president.

The 75-year-old emerged from New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex facing the same pressures he was under three months ago, when he started serving time for tax evasion.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump's former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

Trump touts poll claiming Bragg prosecution is motivated by politics

Thursday 20 April 2023 07:15 , John Bowden

On Wednesday afternoon Donald Trump released a video message to supporters on Truth Social; in it, he touted a recent poll from Quinnipiac University revealing that a majority of Americans believe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to be primarily motivated by political reasons as he pursued a prosection of the former president.

He did not mention, however, that the motivation’s of a prosecutor have little bearing on the case itself, and will likely do little to dissuade a jury if evidence of criminality is presented.

Nor did he mention that in the same poll, a majority of Americans still said that they approved of the indictment.

Trump claims absence of evidence proving Biden’s criminality is really ‘Watergate'

Thursday 20 April 2023 06:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump bizarrely claimed that James Comer’s admission of the GOP-led House Oversight Committee’s inability to find hard evidence of crimes committed by Joe Biden or his family on Tuesday was actually proof of a scandal bigger than the Watergate break-in.

He made the statement in a short tweet-like offering from his 2024 campaign, a sign that he still expects to be facing Mr Biden in the 2024 general election.

House GOP readies border enforcement push

Thursday 20 April 2023 05:15 , John Bowden

House Republicans for months have railed against the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. border with Mexico, holding hearings, visiting border communities and promising to advance legislation to clamp down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

But so far, they have failed to unify behind a plan, delaying efforts to pass legislation.

Now they are hoping to change that.

Read more:

House Republicans ready border enforcement push after delays

Voices: Trump’s election lies cost Fox $787m - will they also cost him the White House in 2024?

Thursday 20 April 2023 04:15 , John Bowden

The Independent’s Washington DC correspondent Andrew Feinberg writes that the Dominion/Fox lawsuit’s end in a settlement in Dominion’s favour illustrates one thing: That Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud have real life consequences, and will be an albatross around his neck in 2024.

Read more:

Trump’s election lies cost Fox $787m – will they also cost him 2024?

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she saw ‘marijuana zombies’ in NYC

Thursday 20 April 2023 03:15 , John Bowden

Republican lawmaker and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene has again lashed out at New York City, claiming to have encountered “marijuana zombies” on her recent visit to the Big Apple.

The Georgia congresswoman was seen in Manhattan on 4 April when she attempted to address a rally staged by the New York Young Republicans Club in support of Donald Trump during his arraignment over alleged hush money payments, only to be drowned out by counter-demonstrators with whistles and drums.

Joe Sommerlad reports.

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she saw ‘marijuana zombies’ on ill-fated NYC trip

Trump releases video attacking DeSantis

Thursday 20 April 2023 02:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump released a second video on Wednesday which appeared to be shot in the same location and time as a previous video message released earlier in the day attacking the Manhattan DA investigation; in the second set of remarks, he went all in attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

While mocking Mr DeSantis for hiring a GOP operative the former president described as the “kiss of death” to political campaigns, Mr Trump asserted that numerous DeSantis staffers were approaching his campaign for jobs.

A Succession-worthy finale: The almost-trial of Dominion v Fox News

Thursday 20 April 2023 01:15 , John Bowden

Mountains of evidence boxes were wheeled into a seventh-floor courtroom on Tuesday morning, moments before lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems planned to eviscerate Fox News and its Fox Corporation leadership for the volley of false claims about the company in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

Later that morning, jurors were sworn in. They ordered lunch. Hours later, it was over.

Alex Woodward reports from Wilmington, Delaware.

The Succession-worthy finale of the Dominion v Fox nearly-trial

Will Donald Trump testify in the E Jean Carroll rape trial?

Thursday 20 April 2023 01:10 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump’s legal team left open the possibility the former president would testify in person in an upcoming trial over allegations he raped writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s.

In a letter to Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday, attorney Joe Tacopina asked that jurors be instructed the following: “While no litigant is required to appear at a civil trial, the absence of the defendant in this matter, by design, avoids the logistical burdens that his presence, as the former president, would cause the courthouse and New York City. Accordingly, his presence is excused unless and until he is called by either party to testify.”

Mr Trump appears on the defence’s list of potential witnesses, but does not on that of Ms Carroll, who alleges the businessman-turned-politician raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.

In a separate letter to the court on Wednesday, the writer’s attorney indicated they would probably ask a pre-taped deposition of Mr Trump be played for jurors in lieu of in-person testimony, writing that Ms Carroll “has a right to play Donald Trump’s deposition at trial” but that there’s “no need for him to testify live,” NBC News reports.

More details in our full story.

Donald Trump might testify in impending E Jean Carroll rape trial

Tent cities for rehabilitation and jail for those who refuse: Trump’s new homelessness policy

Thursday 20 April 2023 00:45 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump has released the outlines a new homelessness policy based on banning urban camping, setting up tent cities, and sending people who decline “treatment” to jail.

Mr Trump has increasingly focused in his current campaign for the White House on rising levels of homelessness in major cities and is taking a characteristically authoritian approach to dealing with them.

In a new video, Mr Trump proposes banning camping wherever possible; arresting anyone found sleeping in unsanctioned areas outdoors; and presenting people with a choice: either agree to enter treatment programmes or go to jail.

Abe Asher reports.

Trump reveals new homelessness policy: Tent cities and jail for those who refuse

Trump's former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

Thursday 20 April 2023 00:15 , John Bowden

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at Donald Trump's company, got out of jail Wednesday but might not have freed himself from the legal morass surrounding the former president.

The 75-year-old emerged from New York City's Rikers Island jail complex facing the same pressures he was under three months ago, when he started serving time for tax evasion.

Read more in The Independent:

Trump's former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

‘No one is above the law’: Former New York prosecutor on Trump case must comply with House GOP’s subpoena

Wednesday 19 April 2023 23:42 , John Bowden

A federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office that indicted Donald Trump must comply with a subpoena from Congress.

“No one is above the law,” District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote in her ruling.

The ruling means that former Manhattan special assistant district attorney Mark Pomerantz may have to appear before the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee, which has launched an investigation into the Trump probe in Manhattan.

Current Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has called the effort to subpoena Mr Pomerantz and others connected to his office “an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress” aimed at disrupting his prosecution of Donald Trump.

Former New York prosecutor on Trump case must comply with House GOP’s subpoena

Congressional hearing features Trump’s ‘greatest hits’ of Covid misinformation

Wednesday 19 April 2023 22:52 , John Bowden

Florida Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz listed off a series of former president Donald Trump’s lies about Covid-19 during a House subcommittee hearing on the origins of the pandemic.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic convened on Tuesday to discuss the origins, with Republicans largely focusing on the likelihood that a lab leak in the Wuhan province caused the virus to spread.

Eric Garcia reports from Capitol Hill.

Trump’s ‘greatest hits’ of Covid misinformation are read out at congressional hearing

VOICES: Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

Wednesday 19 April 2023 22:05 , John Bowden

The Independent’s Washington correspondent Eric Garcia writes about Ron DeSantis’s visit to Washington:

“Mr DeSantis should have been greeted as a conquering hero. After serving in the House from 2013 to 2018 and as a founding member of the barn-burning House Freedom Caucus, he took his talents back to South Beach and ran for governor and served as a staunch conservative, mostly keeping the state open during the Covid-19, restricting abortion and targeting LGBT+ communities. That propelled him to win an overwhelming re-election this last November when other Republicans faltered.”

Instead, he was greeted by “a torrent of Republicans from his state’s congressional delegation lining up one after another behind former president Donald Trump.”

Read more:

Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

Trump touts poll claiming Bragg prosecution is motivated by politics

Wednesday 19 April 2023 21:20 , John Bowden

On Wednesday afternoon Donald Trump released a video message to supporters on Truth Social; in it, he touted a recent poll from Quinnipiac University revealing that a majority of Americans believe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to be primarily motivated by political reasons as he pursued a prosection of the former president.

He did not mention, however, that the motivation’s of a prosecutor have little bearing on the case itself, and will likely do little to dissuade a jury if evidence of criminality is presented.

Nor did he mention that in the same poll, a majority of Americans still said that they approved of the indictment.

Trump claims absence of evidence proving Biden’s criminality is really ‘Watergate'

Wednesday 19 April 2023 20:44 , John Bowden

Donald Trump bizarrely claimed that James Comer’s admission of the GOP-led House Oversight Committee’s inability to find hard evidence of crimes committed by Joe Biden or his family on Tuesday was actually proof of a scandal bigger than the Watergate break-in.

He made the statement in a short tweet-like offering from his 2024 campaign, a sign that he still expects to be facing Mr Biden in the 2024 general election.

‘Damn it! I want my trial!’: Stephen Colbert shares frustration at Fox-Dominion settlement

Wednesday 19 April 2023 20:00 , John Bowden

Stephen Colbert could barely contain his laughter as he discussed the news that Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5m (£633m).

Isobel Lewis watched The Late Show host’s reaction.

Stephen Colbert shares frustration at Fox-Dominion settlement

Marjorie Taylor Greene shut down by GOP committee chair after she calls Homeland Security Secretary a liar at hearing

Wednesday 19 April 2023 19:36 , John Bowden

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday was blocked from further participation in a House Homeland Security Committee hearing after she broke House rules by calling Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a “liar” while questioning him on the Biden administration’s border policies.

Her words were stricken from the record and she was barred from speaking further by the committee’s Republican chairman — a rare move.

Andrew Feinberg has the story:

MTG shut down by GOP committee chair after she calls Mayorkas a ‘liar’ at hearing

Cuomo aide says ‘nothing goes unaddressed’ in her memoir

Wednesday 19 April 2023 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell

A memoir from the top aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the deadliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and an investigation that concluded he sexually harassed 11 women, will come out in the fall.

Union Square & Co. will release “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics, and Crisis,” on Oct. 24.

Melissa DeRosa was secretary to the governor from 2017 until she resigned in August 2021, just before Cuomo announced his own resignation. She was the first woman to hold the powerful position — and was known for appearing at the governor’s side during his daily pandemic briefings, occasionally answering reporters’ detailed policy questions.

Read more:

In memoir, former Cuomo aide says 'nothing goes unaddressed'

Trump boasts about making $4.6m from bizarre NFT cards

Wednesday 19 April 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump released a second iteration of his NFT trading cards, leading to mockery online.

The former president announced on Tuesday 18 April that he was selling another series of the NFT trading cards he released this past December.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Trump mocked over ‘nightmare fuel’ NFT trading cards – all priced at $99

What you need to know about the E Jean Carroll rape defamation case

Wednesday 19 April 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Decades after she was allegedly raped by a New York real estate mogul who would go on to be the 45th President of the United States, E Jean Carroll is getting her day in court.

Andrew Feinberg explains the background to the case.

Trump facing trial: What to know about the E Jean Carroll rape defamation case

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she saw ‘marijuana zombies’ in NYC

Wednesday 19 April 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican lawmaker and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene has again lashed out at New York City, claiming to have encountered “marijuana zombies” on her recent visit to the Big Apple.

The Georgia congresswoman was seen in Manhattan on 4 April when she attempted to address a rally staged by the New York Young Republicans Club in support of Donald Trump during his arraignment over alleged hush money payments, only to be drowned out by counter-demonstrators with whistles and drums.

Joe Sommerlad reports.

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she saw ‘marijuana zombies’ on ill-fated NYC trip

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