Trump slams Arizona court’s abortion ruling, contradicting recent stance favouring state control: Live
Donald Trump has said that the Arizona court ruling outlawing abortion unless a patient’s life is in danger went too far. He made the remarks at a campaign event in Atlanta.
Access to abortion is set to galvanise voters in November — as it has in all elections since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. The former president said on Monday he wants states to decide on the issue.
Meanwhile, the judge overseeing Mr Trump’s criminal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents has sided with special counsel Jack Smith’s office and agreed that the names of government witnesses in the case should remain secret.
In a new filing on Tuesday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that potential witnesses’ names and identifiable information must be redacted due to concerns for their safety.
The ruling came after the former president lost three last-ditch bids to delay his hush money trial in as many days. The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on 15 April.
Meanwhile, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been sentenced to five months at New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison after pleading guilty to perjury.
Key Points
Trump says Arizona court went too far on abortion ruling
Hush money trial: Trump delay fails after appeals court rejects plea for third straight day
Hush money trial: Jury to be quizzed about Proud Boys, QAnon and Michael Cohen
Florida judge denies motion to dismiss classified docs case based on Presidential Records Act
Ex-Trump executive Allen Weisselberg begins Rikers Island jail sentence after perjury plea
Trump says he won’t sign abortion ban into law
Wednesday 10 April 2024 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law if it were passed by Congress, his firmest remark yet on a national prohibition of the procedure.
When asked on Wednesday in Atlanta whether he would sign a federal abortion ban if it crossed his desk as president, Mr Trump replied, “No,” CNN reported.
Kelly Rissman unpacks the former president’s comments:
Trump says he won’t sign abortion ban into law
Interview: Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina
Wednesday 10 April 2024 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
Every time the US vice president Kamala Harris visits North Carolina, the state’s governor Roy Cooper reminds her how many times she has visited the Tar Heel state.
“She’s been a dozen times since she’s been vice president to North Carolina,” Mr Cooper told The Independent. The two have known each other for more than a decade since Ms Harris was attorney general for California and he served in the same job for North Carolina.
Ms Harris has traversed the state, travelling to Raleigh, but also to NC A&T, one of the state’s historically Black colleges and universities, to talk about voting rights. While many worry about Ms Harris given polls her low approval rating, Mr Cooper said she is a major asset as she and President Joe Biden seek to flip North Carolina.
Continue reading...
The last line of defense for abortion rights in the South - and Biden’s best ally
Wednesday 10 April 2024 21:47 , Oliver O'Connell
Steven Wu of the district attorney’s office argued that there is no basis for what the defence is trying to argue here and called their complaints “meritless”.
He said their evidentiary objections failed because they were made too late, even though “the immunity issue has been floating around in the defendant’s head for months”.
Mr Wu said it is false that the defence is restricted from filing motions and said that some of their complaints related to orders that were issued as late as last year.
“Yet they are coming only today ... That is way too late to be coming to [this] court and seeking immediate relief,” he said.
The judge appeared sceptical of the Trump team’s argument, but there is no decision yet.
Wu said it’s false that the defense is restricted from filing motions and said that some of their complaints relate to orders that were issued as late as last year
“Yet they are coming only today...That is way too late to be coming to [this] court and seeking immediate relief”— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) April 10, 2024
Trump lawyers return to appellate court for motion to delay
Wednesday 10 April 2024 21:39 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward reports:
Donald Trump’s lawyers have returned to the appellate court in New York to try once again to delay his hush money trial — still scheduled to start on Monday 15 April.
Attorney Emil Bove (who has been up before the appellate court judges every day this week) wants a stay because of Judge Juan Merchan’s “appearance of impropriety” (which was already argued and dismissed last year), the restrictions on defence motions, and Mr Trump’s failed attempt to use his presidential “immunity” to block evidence that is considered “official acts”.
There are no restrictions on motions.
Worth noting that Mr Trump’s messages via fundraising emails etc, have been saying that the trial is happening on Monday anyway...
DeSantis told donors he plans to raise money for Trump 2024 campaign, report says
Wednesday 10 April 2024 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell
NBC News reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told donors and supporters at a private retreat last weekend that he plans to help raise money for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The network cites three sources familiar with the matter.
Mr DeSantis made the remarks at a gathering on Saturday at South Florida’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, these people said.
“He did say it in front of a group of people at the Hard Rock,” a DeSantis adviser told NBC News.
The person emphasized that DeSantis had pledged to support Republicans up and down the ballot — “including presidential” — when he dropped his bid for president in January.
Biden ‘increasingly Trumpian’ on Gaza and ‘dealing in alternative facts’, says ex-State Dept official
Wednesday 10 April 2024 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Richard Hall reports:
President Joe Biden has become “increasingly Trumpian” in his rhetoric over Israel’s war in Gaza, dealing in “alternative facts” to justify US support for the longtime ally, according to a former State Department official who resigned over the war.
Annelle Sheline, who worked in the State Department for one year before leaving last month, said Mr Biden’s refusal to use his leverage to pressure Israel to prevent more bloodshed in Gaza was part of the reason she resigned.
“This policy decision is making him seem increasingly Trumpian — the disregard for reality, offering alternative facts,” she told The Independent.
Continue reading...
Biden accused of becoming ‘increasingly Trumpian’ on Gaza
‘Elect me. I’m in the 20th century — 21st century'
Wednesday 10 April 2024 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Joe Biden tried out (and slightly fluffed) a new campaign slogan when asked about what his message was to the people of Arizona regarding the 1864 abortion law that is set to go back into effect in less than two weeks.
“Elect me. I’m in the 20th century — 21st century. Not back then. They weren’t even a state.”
Reporter: "What do you say to the people of Arizona right now who are witnessing a law go in place that dates back to the Civil War era?"
President Biden: "Elect me. I'm in the 20th century — 21st century. Not back then. They weren't even a state." pic.twitter.com/AOV2e5wFjr— The Recount (@therecount) April 10, 2024
Jimmy Kimmel roasts Trump with alternative jury questionnaire ahead of trial
Wednesday 10 April 2024 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell
With the trial set to begin on Monday, the late-night host must be limbering up for six weeks of this...
Jimmy Kimmel offers alternative jury questionnaire for Trump’s hush money trial
Watch: Speaker to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Wednesday 10 April 2024 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell
WATCH: House Speaker Mike Johnson will meet with former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday for remarks on 'election integrity.' @alivitali has the latest. pic.twitter.com/VaRZY4z4Xt
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 10, 2024
Explained: Why are Alabama and Ohio saying Biden may not be on presidential ballot?
Wednesday 10 April 2024 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell
President Joe Biden may now miss the deadline to appear on Alabama’s presidential ballot, election officials in the state have said, citing the timing of the Democratic National Convention.
Both the president and the vice president may be certified as the nominees of their party past the deadline.
This comes after the office of the Ohio secretary of state sent a similar message last week. The state also has a certification deadline before the Democratic convention.
Here’s what’s happening:
Biden may now miss deadline to appear on Alabama presidential ballot – after Ohio
Watch: House fails to pass rule for consideration of FISA renewal
Wednesday 10 April 2024 20:07 , Oliver O'Connell
In another blow to Republican leadership in Congress, the House of Representatives has failed to pass a rule that would have allowed for consideration of the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.
Donald Trump wanted the bill killed as he claims FISA was illegally used against him to spy on his 2016 campaign over fears of Russian interference.
This was Trump's message to Republicans this morning: pic.twitter.com/cjpSaxFNvb
— The Recount (@therecount) April 10, 2024
Biden jabs Trump over abortion
Wednesday 10 April 2024 19:58 , Oliver O'Connell
No, Donald—it’s about women’s rights. https://t.co/V5Xq89A3b5
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 10, 2024
Amid threat of attack from Iran, Biden says US security commitment to Israel remains ‘ironclad’
Wednesday 10 April 2024 19:52 , Oliver O'Connell
The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg reports:
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said America would remain steadfast in its’ commitment to Israel’s defence amid Iranian threats of what he called a “significant attack” in recent days.
Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Biden said he and the Japanese leader discussed “developments in the mideast including our shared support for a cease fire and a hostage deal, and urgent efforts to deal with the humanitarian crisis that exists in Gaza”.
He also said he and Mr Kishida both wanted to “address the threat” posed by Iran and said Tehran is “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel”.
Continue reading...
Biden confirms security commitment to Israel as Iran threatens ‘significant attack’
In pictures: Trump visits Atlanta-area Chick-fil-A
Wednesday 10 April 2024 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell
He’s known to love fast food, so Donald Trump took the opportunity to greet diners at an Atlanta-area Chick-fil-A on Wednesday lunchtime.
A woman came up to the former president and said: “I don't care what the media tells you, Mr. Trump. We support you.”
Mr Trump ordered 30 milkshakes which he then handed out to people in the restaurant.
Thief who stole diary belonging to Ashley Biden is jailed
Wednesday 10 April 2024 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Katie Hawkinson reports:
A Florida woman who stole the journal of President Joe Biden’s daughter and sold it to a conservative advocacy group will face jail time and home detention, a US district judge ruled on Tuesday.
Harris stole Ashley Biden’s journal, among other possessions, from a friend’s home in Florida in 2020. The president’s daughter had kept them in the home for safekeeping. Harris later received $20,000 from Project Veritas, a far-right-wing group, in exchange for the journal.
Read on...
Thief who stole diary belonging to Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley is jailed
Biden blames Trump for border chaos
Wednesday 10 April 2024 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell
President Joe Biden faulted former president Donald Trump for the chaos at the US-Mexico border in an interview with Univision, and hinted that he might take executive actions to reduce migrant crossings.
Mr Biden made the remarks in an interview with Mexican journalist Enrique Acevedo as part of his efforts to improve his standing with Latino voters.
Eric Garcia has the story:
Biden blames Trump for border chaos in Univision interview
‘Donald Trump did this’: Biden campaign launches heartbreaking ad about abortion rights
Wednesday 10 April 2024 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell
A new ad released by the Biden campaign on Monday ripped into Donald Trump’s stance on abortion, blaming the former president for the near-death of a Texas woman who was denied the procedure due to the state’s ban.
The 60-second ad, titled “Willow’s Box”, featured an emotional interview with Amanda Zurawski, who discussed the miscarriage of her baby – whom she wanted to name Willow – and the infection that almost killed her twice when she was denied an abortion.
In the video, Ms Zurawski is seen sobbing as the ad’s text explains doctors were forced to send her home after she had a miscarriage because of a state law banning abortions even if medically necessary following the repeal of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court in June 2022.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Biden campaign ad blames Trump for near-death of Texas woman who was denied abortion
Tennessee Republicans pass law allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons
Wednesday 10 April 2024 18:20 , Oliver O'Connell
Tennessee teachers could soon carry concealed handguns in the classroom after Republican state senators passed a bill amid angry protests.
The bill’s passing comes a few weeks after the first anniversary of the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, which left six students and staff dead.
Around 200 gun-reform advocates disrupted proceedings on Tuesday as they voiced their opposition to the bill from the Senate’s gallery, according to The Tennessean, with some eventually removed from the room.
They were angry at the plans which would allow teachers and other school staff to carry guns, with the legislation also including a ban on anyone else carrying firearms on school property.
Dan Gooding reports:
Protests as Tennessee Republicans pass law so teachers could carry concealed weapons
Full story: Donald Trump says slavery-era Arizona abortion ruling went too far
Wednesday 10 April 2024 18:10 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump said that Arizona went too far one day after the state’s supreme court ruled that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 is enforceable.
Kelly Rissman has the story:
Donald Trump says slavery-era Arizona abortion ruling went too far
Speaker Johnson and Trump to host joint press conference on ‘election integrity’, report says
Wednesday 10 April 2024 17:59 , Oliver O'Connell
CNN reports that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is making plans to deliver a joint press conference with former president Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort home on Friday.
The topic will be “election integrity”, reporter Kristen Holmes says, citing sources.
Plans for the event are still fluid, but come as Mr Johnson faces a threat to his speakership from Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene.
NEWS w/ @KristenhCNN: Speaker Mike Johnson is making plans to deliver a joint press conference with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, focused on "election integrity," per sources.
Plans still fluid, but comes as Johnson is facing a threat to his speakership from MTG.— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) April 10, 2024
Hush money trial: Trump attorneys trolled after they subpoena wrong person
Wednesday 10 April 2024 17:51 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s lawyers have been trolled by a random man in Brooklyn after they subpoenaed him by mistake for the former president’s hush money trial.
In a filing from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Tuesday, prosecutors revealed that Mr Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche had tried to subpoena former District Attorney Supervising Rackets Investigator Jeremy Rosenberg in March, to seek files related to the Republican presidential candidate’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.
However, it transpired that Mr Blanche made an embarrassing mistake – sending the subpoena to a man from Brooklyn also called Jeremy Rosenberg.
Continue reading...
Trump attorneys subpoena wrong ‘Jeremy Rosenberg’ for hush money trial
Full story: Trump files another appeal to delay hush money trial
Wednesday 10 April 2024 17:36 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s lawyers have filed another appeal in their failed last-ditch efforts to stall an imminent criminal trial in New York, where the former president faces 34 charges connected to a hush money scheme to bury compromising stories of his alleged affairs.
State appeals court judges have already shot down two of his attempts this week. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on 15 April.
Alex Woodward has the details:
Trump files another appeal to delay hush money trial days before jury selection
Trump says Arizona court went too far on abortion ruling
Wednesday 10 April 2024 17:25 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump says that Arizona went too far after the state high court issued a ruling outlawing abortion unless a patient’s life is in danger.
“Yeah, they did and I think it’ll be straightened out and, as you know, it’s all about state’s rights and it will be straightened out,” Politico reports Mr Trump said at a campaign event in Atlanta today when asked if the ruling went too far. “And I’m sure the governor and everybody else have got to bring it back into reason and that it will be taken care of I think.”
In a 4-2 bombshell decision, the state’s supreme court on Tuesday upheld a Civil War-era law that criminalises abortions, and those who help a woman obtain one, only with exceptions to save a woman’s life. The law makes it a felony punishable by two to five years in prison.
The state’s supreme court had been mulling over whether to resurrect the law, which was enacted 50 years before Arizona gained statehood or follow a 2022 law that bans abortions only after 15 weeks unless medically necessary to save a woman’s life.
The ban will go into effect in 14 days.
Ariana Baio reports on the court’s decision:
Arizona Supreme Court upholds Civil War-era abortion ban
Breaking: Trump lawyers file another appeal as hush money trial looms
Wednesday 10 April 2024 17:15 , Oliver O'Connell
CNN reports that Donald Trump’s legal team have filed another appeal in the hush money case with the trial set to begin on Monday.
They are challenging the order by Judge Juan Merchan denying that the former president can argue he has presidential immunity from prosecution.
Mr Trump’s lawyers are also challenging Judge Merchan’s “refusal” to recuse himself from the trial and a previous ruling about how trial dockets are made public.
They have asked an appeals court to hold a hearing on 6 May.
The trial is scheduled to start on 15 April.
Stay tuned for more details...
In his strongest condemnation of Netanyahu, Biden brands Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘mistake'
Wednesday 10 April 2024 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Joe Biden has said that Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza has been a “mistake”, in one of his strongest rebukes of the Israeli prime minister’s response to the ongoing conflict so far.
The president made the remarks during a sit-down interview with Univision, aired on Tuesday evening, in which he said the recent missile strikes on aid convoys in the Middle East were “outrageous” and called for a halt in the fighting.
It comes after The Independent revealed that at least eight internal dissent memos were sent by State Department staff to express disagreement with US policy on Israel and Gaza during the first two months of the war.
Mike Bedigan reports:
Biden brands Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘mistake’ in strong condemnation of Netanyahu
Easy come, easy go: Trump booted off Bloomberg’s Billionaire list
Wednesday 10 April 2024 16:29 , Oliver O'Connell
Gustaf Kilander has the story:
Donald Trump has been booted from Bloomberg’s daily list of the 500 top billionaires after the stock price of his Truth Social platform plummeted.
On Tuesday, the former president was nowhere to be seen on the list of the world’s richest people, going from Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, at $223bn, to John Sall, a businessman and computer software developer, in spot 500.
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, began trading at $78 and finished its first day at $57.99, allowing Mr Trump to join the list of the world’s 500 richest people. But by Wednesday morning, the stock was trading at just above $36 – a likely cause of Mr Trump’s removal from the list of the top billionaires.
Shares in the company went down by 12 per cent on Friday and eight per cent on Monday, USA Today noted.
Read on...
Trump is booted off Bloomberg’s Billionaire list after Truth Social stock price dives
Trump’s Ukraine ‘peace plan’ rejected by Cameron as he warns against ‘appeasing’ Putin
Wednesday 10 April 2024 16:15 , Oliver O'Connell
David Cameron has rejected Donald Trump’s reported peace plan for Ukraine and warned against ‘appeasing’ Putin just days after his surprise meeting with the former US President to push for extra funding for the war.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has also slated the idea, to give up swathes of territory to Russia, branding it “primitive”.
The foreign secretary said a show of Ukrainian “strength” rather than “appeasement and weakness” would bring the conflict to a halt.
Kate Devlin, The Independent’s UK politics and Whitehall editor, has the latest:
Cameron rejects Trump’s Ukraine ‘peace plan’ as he warns against ‘appeasing’ Putin
Biden and Trump react to latest inflation figures
Wednesday 10 April 2024 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Per Reuters:
US consumer prices increased more than expected in March as Americans paid more for gasoline and rental housing, leading financial markets to anticipate that the Federal Reserve would delay cutting interest rates until September.
The third straight month of strong consumer price readings reported by the Labor Department on Wednesday followed on the heels of news last week that job growth accelerated in March, with the unemployment rate slipping to 3.8% from 3.9% in February. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly said the US central bank is in no rush to start lowering borrowing costs.
...
In the 12 months through March, the CPI increased 3.5%, the most since September, also as last year's low reading dropped out of the calculation. That followed a 3.2% rise in February. The Fed has a 2% inflation target. The measures it tracks for monetary policy are running considerably below the CPI rate.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI gaining 0.3% on the month and advancing 3.4% on a year-on-year basis.
Though the annual increase in consumer prices has declined from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, the disinflationary trend has virtually stalled in recent months.
With the cost of living looming large over November’s election, here’s how the candidates reacted:
President Joe Biden
Today’s report shows inflation has fallen more than 60% from its peak, but we have more to do to lower costs for hardworking families. Prices are still too high for housing and groceries, even as prices for key household items like milk and eggs are lower than a year ago. I have a plan to lower costs for housing—by building and renovating more than 2 million homes—and I’m calling on corporations including grocery retailers to use record profits to reduce prices. Fighting inflation remains my top economic priority. We’re making progress: wages are rising faster than prices, incomes are higher than before the pandemic, and unemployment has remained below 4% for the longest stretch in 50 years. But we have more to do: my agenda is lowering costs for prescription drugs, health care, student debt, and hidden junk fees. Rather than proposing solutions for hardworking families, Congressional Republicans want to slash taxes for billionaires and big corporations, while helping special interests and Big Pharma raise prices. I won’t let them.
Donald Trump
INFLATION is BACK—and RAGING! The Fed will never be able to credibly lower interest rates, because they want to protect the worst President in the history of the Untied States!
Explained: What does Arizona’s 1864 abortion law say and how was it revived?
Wednesday 10 April 2024 15:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The Arizona Supreme Court has delivered a landmark decision in giving the go-ahead to enforce a long-dormant law that bans nearly all abortions, drastically altering the legal landscape within the state around terminating pregnancies.
The law predating Arizona’s statehood provides no exceptions for rape or incest and allows abortions only if the mother’s life is in jeopardy. Arizona’s highest court suggested doctors can be prosecuted under the 1864 law, though the opinion written by the court’s majority didn’t explicitly say that.
The Tuesday decision threw out an earlier lower-court decision that concluded doctors couldn’t be charged for performing abortions in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Read more...
The ruling that brings back a near-total abortion ban from 1864
Trump posts morning rant about his legal woes
Wednesday 10 April 2024 15:27 , Oliver O'Connell
As with many other days, Donald Trump began his morning with a lengthy stream of conscious rant on Truth Social.
Here’s what the former president wrote:
The White House Thugs should not be allowed to have these dangerous and unfair Biden Trials during my campaign for President. All of them, civil and criminal, could have been brought more than three years ago. It is an illegal attack on a Political Opponent. It is Communism at its worst, and Election Interference at its Best. No such thing has ever happened in our Country before. On Monday I will be forced to sit, GAGGED, before a HIGHLY CONFLICTED & CORRUPT JUDGE, whose hatred for me has no bounds. All of these New York and D.C. “Judges” and Prosecutors have the same MINDSET. Nobody but this Soros Prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, wanted to take this ridiculous case. All legal scholars say it is a sham. BIDEN’S DOJ IS RUNNING THE CASE. Just think of it, these animals want to put the former President of the United States (who got more votes than any sitting President!), & the PARTY’S REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, IN JAIL, for doing absolutely nothing wrong. It is a RUSH TO THE FINISH. SO UNFAIR!
A few fact-checks:
- There is no evidence that the trials have anything to do with Joe Biden as he has no jurisdiction over local or state cases (such as the hush-money trial and Georgia election interference case) and the federal cases are handled by Special Counsel Jack Smith specifically to avoid political interference.
- All criminal prosecutions of the former president were recommended by grand juries of members of the public.
- Charges were not made three years ago as each case was still under investigation. The civil case brought by E Jean Carroll was originally filed in 2019.
- This is not communism by any definition.
- The former president is not gagged except that he is not allowed to attack members of the court staff or their families.
- If all of these judges and prosecutors have the “same mindset” it is to prosecute and try people charged with crimes.
- The Department of Justice is not running the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against Mr Trump.
Classified documents: Judge Cannon agrees to request for government witnesses
Wednesday 10 April 2024 15:15 , AP
The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump granted a request by prosecutors aimed at protecting the identities of potential government witnesses.
But US District Judge Aileen Cannon refused to categorically block witness statements from being disclosed, saying there was no basis for such a “sweeping” and “blanket” restriction on their inclusion in pretrial motions.
The 24-page order centers on a dispute between special counsel Jack Smith‘s team and lawyers for Trump over how much information about witnesses and their statements could be made public ahead of trial. The disagreement, which had been pending for weeks, was one of many that had piled up before Cannon and had slowed the pace of the case against Trump — one of four prosecutions he is confronting.
Continue reading...
Judge in Trump’s classified files case agrees to latest request by prosecutors
BREAKING: Ex-Trump executive Allen Weisselberg begins Rikers Island jail sentence after perjury plea
Wednesday 10 April 2024 14:46 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward reports:
Donald Trump’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg is returning to jail after pleading guilty to perjury over testimony he gave during a sprawling fraud case targeting the former president’s real estate empire.
Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison on Wednesday after reaching a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors earlier this year to admit that he lied to investigators and a judge probing the former president’s real estate empire.
He previously spent 100 days at the notorious New York jail last year after he was convicted on a range of tax crimes in a separate case stemming from a sweeping criminal investigation into Mr Trump’s business.
Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg begins perjury sentence at notorious Rikers Island
Watch: McCarthy gets candid about why he’s no longer speaker
Wednesday 10 April 2024 14:39 , Oliver O'Connell
Former @SpeakerMcCarthy: "I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old ... Did he do it or not? I don't know." pic.twitter.com/xD5uLdxcXQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 10, 2024
How much are Truth Social’s executives making?
Wednesday 10 April 2024 14:11 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump Media & Technology Group has generated few positive headlines since its value initially soared when it started trading on the tech-focused Nasdaq under the stock ticker symbol of DJT — former president Donald Trump’s initials.
But how much are key players in the company set to make?
How much are Truth Social’s executives making after Trump Media lost millions?
Ex-Trump Organization CFO to be sentenced today for lying under oath during Trump’s civil fraud trial
Wednesday 10 April 2024 13:30 , Rachel Sharp
Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg will be sentenced today for lying under oath during Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
The 76-year-old longtime Trump executive is expected to be handed a five-month sentence in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday morning – sending him back to the notorious Rikers Island prison for a second time over his loyalty to the former president.
Weisselberg previously served 100 days last year for tax-dodging through perks he received as an employee of the Trump Organization.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to perjury charges after admitting he lied while giving testimony to investigators examining the real estate company’s finances.
Read on:
Ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to be sentenced today for perjury
Trump remains tight-lipped on everything this week — from David Cameron’s visit to abortion
Wednesday 10 April 2024 13:15 , Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
Donald Trump may be hundreds of miles away from Washington, sequestered his Mar-a-Lago estate, but his presence was felt keenly on Tuesday as the most senior diplomats from the US and UK gathered to address the war in Ukraine.
Read on...
Trump remains tight-lipped on everything this week — from David Cameron to abortion
Trump is targeting Latino voters. Here’s how Biden seeks to win them back
Wednesday 10 April 2024 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
A new Axios/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed that just 41 per cent of Latinos have a favorable view of Biden. That number is slightly higher than Trump, who has an approval of 32 per cent among Latinos. Nevertheless, the devil is in the detail: Biden’s favorability rating has gone downward, while Trump’s has improved. In June of last year, Biden had a 47 per cent approval rating while Mr Trump came in low at 29 per cent.
Continue reading...
Trump is targeting Latino voters. Here’s how Biden seeks to win them back
Trump loses latest 11th hour attempt to delay hush money trial
Wednesday 10 April 2024 11:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has failed to convince a New York appeals court to delay an imminent criminal trial surrounding a so-called hush money scheme while he challenges a gag order that blocks him from public attacks against trial participants and family members of court staff.
A state appeals court judge rejected his second 11th hour attempt to further delay the trial on Tuesday, one day after a judge denied his request to delay the proceedings while he tries to move the case out of Manhattan.
Mr Trump’s latest attempts to delay the proceedings follow repeated failures to stop what will be the first of four criminal trials he is expected to face in the coming months.
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump loses 11th hour attempt to delay hush money trial while challenging gag order
Cameron defends ‘entirely proper’ meeting with Trump
Wednesday 10 April 2024 10:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Lord Cameron went on to defend the optics of that meeting as “entirely proper” on Tuesday at a joint presser alongside Mr Blinken, noting that US officials had recently met with Labour leader Keir Starmer and his own past meeting with Mitt Romney when Mr Romney, now a retiring one-term senator from Utah, was running for president.
John Bowden reports:
Cameron defends meeting with Trump and says he won’t ‘lecture anybody’ on Ukraine
Trump-appointed judge agrees to keep witnesses in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case secret
Wednesday 10 April 2024 10:04 , Rachel Sharp
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents has sided with special counsel Jack Smith’s office and agreed that the names of government witnesses in the case should remain secret.
In a new filing on Tuesday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that potential witnesses’ names and identifiable information must be redacted due to concerns for their safety.
But the judge refused to categorically block witness statements from being disclosed, saying there was no basis for such a “sweeping” and “blanket” restriction on their inclusion in pretrial motions.
“Although the record is clear that the Special Counsel could have, and should have, raised its current arguments previously, the Court elects, upon a full review of those newly raised arguments, to reconsider its prior Order,” she ruled.
“As for legal authority, the cases cited in the Special Counsel’s papers do not lend support to this sweeping request; nor do they appear to have been offered as such.
“And based on the Court’s independent research, granting this request would be unprecedented: the Court cannot locate any case — high-profile or otherwise — in which a court has authorized anything remotely similar to the sweeping relief sought here.”
‘Donald Trump did this’: Biden campaign launches heartbreaking ad on abortion
Wednesday 10 April 2024 09:45 , Oliver O'Connell
A new ad released by the Biden campaign on Monday ripped into Donald Trump’s stance on abortion, blaming the former president for the near-death of a Texas woman who was denied the procedure due to the state’s ban.
The 60-second ad, titled “Willow’s Box”, featured an emotional interview with Amanda Zurawski, who discussed the miscarriage of her baby – whom she wanted to name Willow – and the infection that almost killed her twice when she was denied an abortion.
Martha McHardy reports:
Biden campaign ad blames Trump for near-death of Texas woman who was denied abortion
Cameron holds talks with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Wednesday 10 April 2024 08:45 , Oliver O'Connell
British foreign secretary Lord Cameron has had a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in Florida as part of a charm offensive designed to secure more US funding for the war in Ukraine.
The former prime minister visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort despite previously calling him “protectionist, xenophobic, [and] misogynistic” and denouncing one of his policies as “divisive, stupid and wrong”.
The meeting, which the Trump campaign say included a dinner, was the first between a senior minister and Mr Trump since he left office in 2021.
Read more...
David Cameron holds talks with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago surprise meeting
Why is Trump repeating a smear about Democrats wanting to ‘execute’ babies?
Wednesday 10 April 2024 06:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Former President Donald Trump finally responded to criticism of his murky stance on reproductive rights on Monday and issued a video statement outlining abortion policy under a Trump second term.
The four-minute address was posted to his Truth Social media platform and proclaimed that the GOP would remain fundamentally opposed to abortion rights under his leadership.
He also repeated one of his favourite smears about Democrats and abortion as John Bowden reports:
Why Donald Trump is repeating a smear about Democrats wanting to ‘execute’ babies
Hush money trial: Read the questionnaire potential Trump jurors will have to answer
Wednesday 10 April 2024 04:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump looks set to go to trial in his hush money case in Manhattan after Judge Juan Merchan wrote to both sides about the jury selection.
On Monday, the judge wrote a letter to the legal team for Mr Trump as well as the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which included the full questionnaire.
Read the jury questionnaire for the Trump hush money trial in full
Trump goes on the attack against Lindsey Graham after abortion stance criticism
Wednesday 10 April 2024 02:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has gone on the attack against Lindsey Graham after the Republican senator openly criticised the former president’s abortion stance.
Mr Trump’s fury comes after Mr Graham, who has represented South Carolina in the US Senate since 2003, told The Independent that he didn’t agree with Mr Trump on leaving abortion policy to the states, even as most Republican Senators said they backed the former president’s position.
Continue reading...
Trump goes on the attack against Lindsey Graham after he criticised abortion stance
Nursing home residents shouldn’t be able to vote says Trump-endorsed candidate
Wednesday 10 April 2024 01:45 , Oliver O'Connell
A Wisconsin senate candidate, who has been endorsed by 77-year-old Donald Trump, has suggested that nursing home residents are too old to vote, new audio has revealed.
Republican Eric Hovde, 60, recently appeared on the conservative Guy Benson Show, where he was asked where he stood on Mr Trump’s ongoing conspiracy theories that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Trump-endorsed senate candidate claims nursing home residents shouldn’t vote
Trump remains tight-lipped on everything this week — from David Cameron’s visit to abortion
Wednesday 10 April 2024 01:15 , Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
Donald Trump may be hundreds of miles away from Washington, sequestered his Mar-a-Lago estate, but his presence was felt keenly on Tuesday as the most senior diplomats from the US and UK gathered to address the war in Ukraine.
Read on...
Trump remains tight-lipped on everything this week — from David Cameron to abortion
Jack Smith urges SCOTUS to reject Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ immunity claim
Wednesday 10 April 2024 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Special counsel Jack Smith has urged the US Supreme Court to reject Donald Trump’s “unprecedented” claim that presidential immunity protects him from facing federal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
In a 66-page legal filing on Monday, the special counsel’s office wrote that “a bedrock principle of our constitutional order is that no person is above the law — including the president”.
“The Constitution does not give a president the power to conspire to defraud the United States in the certification of presidential-election results, obstruct proceedings for doing so or deprive voters of the effect of their votes,” the filing adds.
Josh Marcus has the details:
Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ immunity claim
Trump loses latest 11th hour attempt to delay hush money trial
Wednesday 10 April 2024 00:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has failed to convince a New York appeals court to delay an imminent criminal trial surrounding a so-called hush money scheme while he challenges a gag order that blocks him from public attacks against trial participants and family members of court staff.
A state appeals court judge rejected his second 11th hour attempt to further delay the trial on Tuesday, one day after a judge denied his request to delay the proceedings while he tries to move the case out of Manhattan.
Mr Trump’s latest attempts to delay the proceedings follow repeated failures to stop what will be the first of four criminal trials he is expected to face in the coming months.
Alex Woodward has the full story:
Trump loses 11th hour attempt to delay hush money trial while challenging gag order
Lindsey Graham breaks with Trump on abortion
Tuesday 9 April 2024 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Most Senate Republicans said they agreed with former president Donald Trump’s declaration that he would leave abortion policy to the states, with one notable exception: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Continue reading...
Lindsey Graham breaks with Republicans on support for Trump’s abortion policy
Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ parts of the GOP, says Republican lawmaker
Tuesday 9 April 2024 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Two Republican congressmen have warned that Russian propaganda has “infected” parts of the GOP.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Republican congressman warns that Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ parts of the GOP
Trump’s hush money jury to be quizzed on Proud Boys, QAnon and Michael Cohen
Tuesday 9 April 2024 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell
What do you do for a living? Are you married? Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to the QAnon movement or the Proud Boys?
Those are among some of the 42 questions prospective jurors will be asked to answer in the first-ever criminal trial against a president when jury selection begins in Donald Trump’s hush money trial next week.
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump’s hush money jury will be asked about Proud Boys, QAnon and Michael Cohen
Trump claims he’d leave abortion rights to states
Tuesday 9 April 2024 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump repeated right-wing talking points that Democrats support execution after birth, but refused to back a national abortion ban, saying that the issue should be left to the states.
The former president finally laid out his stance on abortion rights on Monday after teasing what his position would be for months. In a four-minute long video posted on Truth Social, Mr Trump said he was “proudly the person responsible for the end of Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that had enshrined the right to an abortion and reproductive care.
Continue reading...
Trump says he’d leave abortion rights to states in Truth Social video
Watch: National abortion ban could still happen under Trump says Kelly
Tuesday 9 April 2024 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ): "What we could see from the former president and others is a national abortion ban."
CNN's Jake Tapper: "He didn't rule it out when he gave his statement yesterday."
Kelly: "He also bragged about being responsible for the Dobbs decision." pic.twitter.com/wPwigV3Xis— The Recount (@therecount) April 9, 2024
ICYMI: Trump posts bizarre solar eclipse ad – with his head blocking out the sun, plunging US into darkness
Tuesday 9 April 2024 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it the moon crossing the sun? No, it’s Donald Trump’s head.
Trump posts bizarre solar eclipse ad – with his head plunging US into darkness
Trump wildly claims Biden ‘soiled’ himself on White House Resolute desk
Tuesday 9 April 2024 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has claimed that President Joe Biden “soiled” himself in the Oval Office in yet another baseless, wild rant about his political nemesis.
Martha McHardy reports:
Trump wildly claims Biden ‘soiled’ himself on White House Resolute desk
Florida woman sentenced to month in jail for selling Ashley Biden’s diary
Tuesday 9 April 2024 20:45 , AP
A Florida mother was sentenced Tuesday to a month in prison and three months of home confinement for stealing and selling President Joe Biden’s daughter’s diary four years ago to the conservative group Project Veritas.
Aimee Harris was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who called the Palm Beach, Florida, woman’s actions “despicable.”
Harris pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in August 2022, admitting that she received $20,000 of the $40,000 that was paid by Project Veritas for personal items belonging to the president’s daughter, Ashley Biden.
Continue reading...
Florida woman is sentenced to a month in jail for selling Biden's daughter's diary
Watch: McConnell asked about voter backlash at Arizona abortion ruling
Tuesday 9 April 2024 20:25 , Oliver O'Connell
Reporter: Arizona’s Supreme Court just moved forward with a near total ban on abortion. Given your role in appointing three justices who overturned Roe, are you concerned about voter backlash?
McConnell: I haven’t taken a look at it pic.twitter.com/0QNl3zzXrq— Acyn (@Acyn) April 9, 2024
‘Modern-day Mandela’: Trump claims he’s prepared to go to jail over hush-money case
Tuesday 9 April 2024 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has again compared himself to a historically-persecuted figure - this time, the late South African leader and anti-apartheid legend Nelson Mandela.
Mr Trump made the comparison on Saturday on his social media platform, Truth Social, as he railed against Judge Juan Merchan for his latest ruling to expand a gag order against him. Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the New York trial.
The former president even claimed that he was prepared to go to jail.
John Bowden has the story:
Trump claims he’s ‘modern-day Mandela’, prepared to go to jail over hush-money case
Trump is targeting Latino voters. Here’s how Biden seeks to win them back
Tuesday 9 April 2024 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
A new Axios/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed that just 41 per cent of Latinos have a favorable view of Biden. That number is slightly higher than Trump, who has an approval of 32 per cent among Latinos. Nevertheless, the devil is in the detail: Biden’s favorability rating has gone downward, while Trump’s has improved. In June of last year, Biden had a 47 per cent approval rating while Mr Trump came in low at 29 per cent.
Continue reading...
Trump is targeting Latino voters. Here’s how Biden seeks to win them back
ICYMI: Trump claims record-busting $50m haul from single Palm Beach fundraiser
Tuesday 9 April 2024 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The Trump campaign says that it raised $50.5m at a Saturday evening fundraiser in Palm Beach attended by the former president and wife Melania.
The financial boon is nearly double President Joe Biden’s haul of $26m from a New York City event last month.
The Florida soiree was held at the mansion of billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, who hosted the event with his girlfriend Alina de Almeida.
Gustaf Kilander reports:
Trump claims record-busting $50m haul from single Palm Beach fundraiser
Editorial: David Cameron was quite right to drop in on Donald Trump
Tuesday 9 April 2024 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell
The Foreign Office insisted that “it is standard practice for ministers to meet opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement”. This is the opposite of the truth, which is that the convention is for ministers to avoid engagement with non-government politicians during election periods abroad to avoid giving the impression of interfering in another country’s politics.
But the convention is only a guideline, and David Cameron was quite right to adapt it to the needs of the hour.
Continue reading...
David Cameron was quite right to drop in on Donald Trump
Biden slams ‘cruel’ 1864 Arizona abortion ban
Tuesday 9 April 2024 18:51 , Oliver O'Connell
Statement from President Joe Biden on Arizona Supreme Court Decision to Uphold Abortion Ban from 1864
Millions of Arizonans will soon live under an even more extreme and dangerous abortion ban, which fails to protect women even when their health is at risk or in tragic cases of rape or incest. This cruel ban was first enacted in 1864—more than 150 years ago, before Arizona was even a state and well before women had secured the right to vote. This ruling is a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom.
Vice President Harris and I stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to choose. We will continue to fight to protect reproductive rights and call on Congress to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade for women in every state.
Cameron defends ‘entirely proper’ meeting with Trump
Tuesday 9 April 2024 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC:
Former President Donald Trump held a meeting with David Cameron Monday evening, one day before the foreign secretary was due in Washington to meet with his counterpart in the Biden administration, Antony Blinken.
The ex-president dined with Lord Cameron at his Mar-a-Lago estate where the two discussed a wide range of topics including Brexit, Ukraine, and the war in Gaza, according to a readout from the Trump campaign.
Mr Cameron went on to defend the optics of that meeting as “entirely proper” on Tuesday at a joint presser alongside Mr Blinken, noting that US officials had recently met with Labour leader Keir Starmer and his own past meeting with Mitt Romney when Mr Romney, now a retiring one-term senator from Utah, was running for president.
Read more...
Cameron defends meeting with Trump and says he won’t ‘lecture anybody’ on Ukraine
Civil War-era near total abortion ban upheld by Arizona Supreme Court
Tuesday 9 April 2024 18:25 , Oliver O'Connell
A near-total abortion ban, part of a 158-year-old law, is enforceable in Arizona, the state’s Supreme Courtruled on Tuesday.
In a 4-2 bombshell decision, the state’s supreme court upheld a Civil-War era law that criminalises abortions, and those who help a woman obtain one, only with exceptions to save a woman’s life.
The state’s supreme court had been mulling over whether to resurrect the law that bans, and criminalises, nearly all abortions or follow a 2022 law that bans abortions only after 15 weeks unless medically necessary to save a woman’s life.
Ariana Baio reports:
Arizona Supreme Court upholds Civil War-era abortion ban
Trump loses latest 11th hour attempt to delay hush money trial
Tuesday 9 April 2024 18:03 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward reports:
Donald Trump has failed to convince a New York appeals court to delay an imminent criminal trial surrounding a so-called hush money scheme while he challenges a gag order that blocks him from public attacks against trial participants and family members of court staff.
A state appeals court judge rejected his second 11th hour attempt to further delay the trial on Tuesday, one day after a judge denied his request to delay the proceedings while he tries to move the case out of Manhattan.
Mr Trump’s latest attempts to delay the proceedings follow repeated failures to stop what will be the first of four criminal trials he is expected to face in the coming months.
Continue reading...
Trump loses 11th hour attempt to delay hush money trial while challenging gag order
Why is Trump repeating smear about Democrats wanting to ‘execute’ babies?
Tuesday 9 April 2024 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Former President Donald Trump finally responded to criticism of his murky stance on reproductive rights on Monday and issued a video statement outlining abortion policy under a Trump second term.
The four-minute address was posted to his Truth Social media platform and proclaimed that the GOP would remain fundamentally opposed to abortion rights under his leadership.
He also repeated one of his favourite smears about Democrats and abortion as John Bowden reports:
Why Donald Trump is repeating a smear about Democrats wanting to ‘execute’ babies
Trump, UK’s Cameron discuss NATO defence spending in Florida meeting
Tuesday 9 April 2024 17:15 , Reuters
Donald Trump and British Foreign Minister David Cameron had dinner on Monday at the Republican presidential candidate’s Florida home, where they discussed “the need for NATO countries to meet their defence spending requirements,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement.
The two also discussed “the upcoming US and UK elections, policy matters specific to Brexit ... and ending the killing in Ukraine,” the statement said.
More follows...
Watch: Warren on Trump’s new abortion stance asks ‘how dumb do you think the rest of us are?'
Tuesday 9 April 2024 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) rails against Donald Trump for saying he thinks abortion should be left up to the states:
"How dumb do you think the rest of us are? We're not gonna let him lie his way out of this ... They're coming for everybody in this country." pic.twitter.com/FSam7bGxFQ— The Recount (@therecount) April 9, 2024
‘Donald Trump did this’: Biden campaign ad blames Trump for near-death of woman denied abortion in Texas
Tuesday 9 April 2024 16:15 , Oliver O'Connell
A new ad released by the Biden campaign on Monday ripped into Donald Trump’s stance on abortion, blaming the former president for the near-death of a Texas woman who was denied the procedure due to the state’s ban.
The 60-second ad, titled “Willow’s Box”, featured an emotional interview with Amanda Zurawski, who discussed the miscarriage of her baby – whom she wanted to name Willow – and the infection that almost killed her twice when she was denied an abortion.
Martha McHardy reports:
Biden campaign ad blames Trump for near-death of Texas woman who was denied abortion
Hush money trial: Jury to be quizzed about Proud Boys, QAnon and Michael Cohen
Tuesday 9 April 2024 15:45 , Oliver O'Connell
What do you do for a living? Are you married? Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to the QAnon movement or the Proud Boys?
Those are among some of the 42 questions prospective jurors will be asked to answer in the first-ever criminal trial against a president when jury selection begins in Donald Trump’s hush money trial next week.
Considering proposed questions from Manhattan prosecutors and attorneys for the former president, New York Justice Juan Merchan compiled a “broad and exhaustive” list of questions on Monday that will consider jurors’ political beliefs and their news diets.
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump’s hush money jury will be asked about Proud Boys, QAnon and Michael Cohen
Tuesday 9 April 2024 15:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Biden mocks Trump with solar eclipse video in spot where predecessor stared at sun
Trump and Graham clash over abortion
Tuesday 9 April 2024 14:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Most Senate Republicans said they agreed with former president Donald Trump’s declaration that he would leave abortion policy to the states, with one notable exception: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Mr Trump released a video on his Truth Social platform in which he refused to back a national abortion ban, saying the issue should be left to the states.
The South Carolina senator’s dissent did not please the former president, who spent Monday ranting on Truth Social.
Continue reading...
Lindsey Graham breaks with Republicans on support for Trump’s abortion policy
Watch: ‘Well-known’ Trump doesn’t have presidential immunity says former defense secretary
Tuesday 9 April 2024 14:39 , Oliver O'Connell
Fmr. Secretary of Defense @MarkTEsper says it is "well-known" that Trump doesn't have presidential immunity, after a group of former military leaders filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court urging it to shoot down his Trump's claim. Watch ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/vO9F7nvTEE
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) April 9, 2024
Trump meets with Cameron at Mar-a-Lago
Tuesday 9 April 2024 14:21 , Oliver O'Connell
Britain’s foreign secretary Lord Cameron has held a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in Florida as part of a charm offensive designed to secure more US funding for the war in Ukraine.
The former prime minister visited the former US president at his Mar-a-Lago resort despite previously calling him “protectionist, xenophobic, [and] misogynistic” and denouncing one of his policies as “divisive, stupid and wrong”.
It was the first meeting between a senior British minister and Mr Trump since he left office in 2021.
Shweta Sharma reports:
David Cameron holds talks with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago surprise meeting
Trump-endorsed senate candidate claims nursing home residents shouldn’t be able to vote
Tuesday 9 April 2024 13:55 , Rachel Sharp
A Wisconsin senate candidate, who has been endorsed by 77-year-old Donald Trump, has suggested that nursing home residents are too old to vote, new audio has revealed.
Republican Eric Hovde, 60, recently appeared on the conservative Guy Benson Show, where he was asked where he stood on Mr Trump’s ongoing conspiracy theories that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
“I’m not going to spend my time talking about 2020,” said Mr Hovde, in audio obtained by the Heartland Signal.
However, Mr Hovde did take issue with the supposed number of nursing residents who voted in the 2020 election – suggesting that they are too close to death to vote.
“We had nursing homes, where the sheriff of Racine investigated, where you had 100 per cent voting in nursing homes. Well, if you’re in a nursing home, you only have a five, six-month life expectancy,” he said. “Almost nobody in a nursing home is in a point to vote.”
The average nursing home resident in the US is 81 years old – just four years shy of the current age of the Republican presidential candidate Mr Trump, the man who has thrown his support behind Mr Hovde’s campaign.
Read the full story:
Trump-endorsed senate candidate claims nursing home residents shouldn’t vote
Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ claim of criminal immunity
Tuesday 9 April 2024 13:35 , Rachel Sharp
Special counsel Jack Smith has urged the US Supreme Court to reject Donald Trump’s “unprecedented” claim that presidential immunity protects him from facing federal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
In a 66-page legal filing on Monday, the special counsel’s office wrote that “a bedrock principle of our constitutional order is that no person is above the law — including the president”.
“The Constitution does not give a president the power to conspire to defraud the United States in the certification of presidential-election results, obstruct proceedings for doing so or deprive voters of the effect of their votes,” the filing adds.
Read the full story:
Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ immunity claim
Updated: Trump sues hush money judge in last-ditch effort to stop criminal trial
Tuesday 9 April 2024 13:15 , Oliver O'Connell
A state appeals court judge has denied Donald Trump’s 11th hour attempt to move his New York hush money case out of Manhattan as the former president makes a series of last-ditch efforts to indefinitely stall his first-ever criminal trial, less than one week before it is set to begin.
An appeals court docket on Monday indicated that the former president filed litigation against New York Justice Juan Merchan, who imposed a gag order preventing parties in the case from targeting members of the court, attorneys and their families. The documents remained under seal.
Mr Trump’s attorneys also pressed the court to move the case out of Manhattan, arguing that New Yorkers are biased against him and he would be denied a fair trial. An appellate judge rejected those arguments on Monday afternoon.
The appeals court will hear arguments on his attempts to lift the gag order on Tuesday.
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump sues hush money judge in last-ditch effort to stop criminal trial
Watch: Biden campaign uses Trump’s own words against him
Tuesday 9 April 2024 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump: I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of Roe v. Wade pic.twitter.com/VXEik7pedV
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024
Anti-abortion group rebukes Trump over remarks
Tuesday 9 April 2024 12:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Following Donald Trump’s remarks on abortion in which he said the issue should be left up to individual states, the US’s leading anti-abortion group has rebuked the former president for not taking a more absolute position on the issue — pushing for a federal ban.
“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America.
“Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act.
“Saying the issue is ‘back to the states’ cedes the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. If successful, they will wipe out states’ rights.
“With lives on the line, SBA Pro-Life America and the pro-life grassroots will work tirelessly to defeat President Biden and extreme congressional Democrats.”
Trump sues hush money judge in last-ditch effort to stop criminal trial
Tuesday 9 April 2024 11:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward reports:
Donald Trump has sued the judge overseeing the Manhattan hush money case against him in another last-ditch effort to stop his first-ever criminal trial, less than one week before jury selection is scheduled to begin.
A state appellate court docket indicates the former president has filed litigation against New York Justice Juan Merchan, who imposed a gag order preventing parties in the case from targeting members of the court, attorneys and their families. The documents remained under seal.
Mr Trump is expected to ask appeals court judges to block the gag order and move the case out of Manhattan, among the latest attempts to delay the proceedings after failing to stop the first among the four criminal trials he is expected to face in the coming months.
Continue reading...
Trump sues hush money judge in last-ditch effort to stop criminal trial
Watch: Trump abortion remarks fact-checked by CNN
Tuesday 9 April 2024 11:15 , Rachel Sharp
.@Acosta fact checks Trump's claims that all legal scholars wanted Roe to end and Democrat believe in executing babies, "Democrats do not believe in execution after birth and the claim that both sides demanded the end of Roe versus Wade is completely false." pic.twitter.com/gm4Lr5cNam
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 8, 2024
David Cameron holds talks with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago surprise meeting
Tuesday 9 April 2024 10:42 , Rachel Sharp
Lord Cameron has held face to face meetings with Donald Trump in Florida during his push for the US to back more funding for Ukraine.
The foreign secretary is visiting the former US president despite previously calling him “divisive, stupid and wrong”. It was the first meeting between a senior British minister and the former Republican president since he left office in 2021.
Lord Cameron is on a high profile visit to the US to press Congress to pass the blocked aid package for Ukraine and will also discuss Israel’s war in Gaza.
It is the latest of several interventions made by the foreign secretary over the additional funding for Ukraine. Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.
His previous comments drew the ire of right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.
Read the full story:
David Cameron holds talks with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago surprise meeting
ICYMI: Lindsey Graham disagrees with Trump on abortion
Tuesday 9 April 2024 09:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Senator Lindsey Graham — one of Donald Trump’s most loyal allies — disagrees with the former president’s remarks on abortion as a states’ rights issue.
“I respectfully disagree with President Trump’s statement that abortion is a states’ rights issue. Dobbs does not require that conclusion legally and the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child – not geography.”
I respectfully disagree with President Trump’s statement that abortion is a states’ rights issue.
Dobbs does not require that conclusion legally and the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child – not geography. https://t.co/WloOJ0ImaW— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 8, 2024
Biden reacts to Trump abortion comments with scathing statement
Tuesday 9 April 2024 08:45 , Oliver O'Connell
President Joe Biden has reacted to his predecessor’s remarks about abortion rights in the US in a scathing statement released this morning.
Here’s what he said:
“Donald Trump made it clear once again today that he is – more than anyone in America – the person responsible for ending Roe v. Wade. He is – more than anyone in America – responsible for creating the cruelty and the chaos that has enveloped America since the Dobbs decision.
“Trump once said women must be punished for seeking reproductive health care – and he’s gotten his wish. Women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and left to travel hundreds of miles for health care. In states like Florida, abortion will likely soon be illegal before many women know they’re pregnant. Because of Donald Trump, one in three women in America already live under extreme and dangerous bans that put their lives at risk and threaten doctors with prosecution for doing their jobs. And that is only going to get worse. With all his empty words on fertility treatments, Trump doesn’t tell you the MAGA Republicans he controls in Congress have put forward bills that could ban fertility treatments and that the Speaker of the House he empowered is one of the strongest supporters for a national abortion ban in the nation. Let there be no illusion. If Donald Trump is elected and the MAGA Republicans in Congress put a national abortion ban on the Resolute Desk, Trump will sign it into law.
“Here’s what Donald Trump doesn’t understand: When he ripped away Roe v. Wade, he ripped away a fundamental right for the women of America that the United States Supreme Court had affirmed and reaffirmed for 50 years. As a fundamental right, it didn’t matter where you lived. It was granted to you as an American, not as a resident of any state. Generations of women had come to rely on that right. Now we’re in the extraordinary position where women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. That has never happened before in America. And it cannot be allowed to stand. I am determined to restore the federal protections of Roe v. Wade. So it won’t matter where you live in America: The fundamental right to choose for women will once again be the law of the land. If you give me and Vice President Harris a Democratic Congress, that is exactly what we will do.
“Trump is simply lying. There was no groundswell of support in America for overturning Roe. In fact, support for Roe is higher today in America than it has ever been. The real truth is Trump made a political deal in 2016. He promised to appoint a Court that would get rid of Roe. And he had to make good on that debt. So he did. It was never about public policy or what was right or what Trump believed. It was always about politics.
“Trump admits as much in his statement today. Having created the chaos of overturning Roe, he’s trying to say, ‘Oh, never mind. Don’t punish me for that. I just want to win.’
“Trump is scrambling. He’s worried that since he’s the one responsible for overturning Roe the voters will hold him accountable in 2024. Well, I have news for Donald. They will. America was built on personal freedom and liberty. So, there is nothing more un-American than having our personal freedoms taken away. And that is what Donald Trump has done.
“As I have said many times since the Dobbs decision, Donald Trump and all those responsible for overturning Roe don’t have a clue about the power of women in America. But they are about to find out.”
Manhattan DA shoots down Trump’s latest attempt to get Judge Merchan off the case
Tuesday 9 April 2024 06:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has shot down Donald Trump’s latest attempt to get Judge Juan Merchan removed from his criminal hush money trial, set to begin on 15 April.
In a court filing on Monday morning, Mr Bragg’s office wrote:
Defendant’s motion is not a good-faith effort to identify legitimate grounds for this Court’s recusal. Instead, this motion is no more than an effort to end-run the order restricting extrajudicial speech and pollute the court file with ad hominem attacks against the Court and the Court’s family as part of a meritless effort to call the integrity of these proceedings into question. And the motion is yet another last-ditch attempt to address defendant’s real objective, which is—as the Court has already recognized—to delay this proceeding indefinitely. As this Court has repeatedly held, there is no valid ground to avoid or adjourn the forthcoming trial. Defendant’s current motion should be denied.
Trump claims record-busting $50m haul from single Palm Beach fundraiser featuring ex-president and Melania
Tuesday 9 April 2024 04:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The Trump campaign says that it raised $50.5m at a Saturday evening fundraiser in Palm Beach attended by the former president and wife Melania.
The financial boon is nearly double President Joe Biden’s haul of $26m from a New York City event last month.
The Florida soiree was held at the mansion of billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, who hosted the event with his girlfriend Alina de Almeida.
Mr Trump spoke to the 117 guests in the home’s backyard for about 45 minutes after joining them for pictures, according to a campaign spokesperson, describing those gathered as “leaders”.
The former president spoke about energy production, border control, limiting inflation, extending tax cuts from his first term, and bashed President Biden for pushing carmakers to make more electric vehicles.
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Trump’s abortion policy to include exceptions for rape and incest
Tuesday 9 April 2024 03:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has hinted that his long-awaited policy on abortion would include exceptions for rape and incest as well as protection for the life of the mother.
The Republican presidential candidate said he would outline the policy on Monday. Although he did not provide further details, it is expected to call for a federal abortion ban less restrictive than the six-week prohibition passed in Florida and Georgia.
In the past, the former president has argued that a more moderate position on abortion is necessary for Republicans to prevail in the November election.
Read the full story:
Trump’s abortion policy to include exceptions for rape and incest
ICYMI: Trump releases video setting out his position on abortion
Tuesday 9 April 2024 02:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has again boasted about the being the person “proudly responsible” for ending Roe v Wade in a video setting out his views on abortion.
In a four-minute video uploaded to his Truth Social channel, the former president and Republican candidate said he believed the issue of abortion should be decided by individual states, but said that “like Ronald Reagan” he supported exceptions based on rape, incest and the life of the mother.
He also misstated the position of Democrats, saying they wanted to “execute” children after birth, and said he supported IVF treatment, something some Republicans have come out against in recent weeks.
His views on abortion have changed over the years: while previously pro-choice, he claimed during his 2016 campaign that women who have abortions should be “punished”, a stance he later dropped. He has boasted that by appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court during his term he was responsible for overturning Roe v Wade, the constitutional right to an abortion.
Full story:
Trump says he’d leave abortion rights to states in Truth Social video
SNL thinks Trump made unintentional confession with wild Joe Biden claim
Tuesday 9 April 2024 01:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Saturday Night Live comedically threw suspicion on Donald Trump’s claims that President Joe Biden was on drugs during his recent State of the Union address.
Trump outrageously suggested future presidential debates should be “drug tested” after Biden’s eyebrow-raising speech, which occurred in March.
His quotes didn’t go unnoticed by US sketch showSNL who, one week after lampooning Trump for his bizarre attempts to sell Bibles, poked fun at his comments during the Weekend Update segment.
Trump told conservative radio show host Hugh Hewitt earlier this week: “I think what happened is, you know, that white stuff that they happened to find, which happened to be cocaine in the White House, I don’t know, I think something’s going on there.
“I watched his State of the Union, and he was all jacked up at the beginning. By the end, he was fading fast. There’s something going on there.”
SNL thinks Trump made unintentional confession with wild Joe Biden claim
WATCH: Republican lawmaker says Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ the party
Tuesday 9 April 2024 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell
GOP Rep. Mike Turner says it's “absolutely true" that Russian propaganda has "infected" a portion of the Republican party:
“We see directly coming from Russia ... communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House… pic.twitter.com/cNzF1qiOIV— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 7, 2024
Trump wildly claims Biden ‘soiled’ himself on White House Resolute desk in latest baseless rant
Monday 8 April 2024 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has claimed that President Joe Biden “soiled” himself in the Oval Office in yet another baseless, wild rant about his political nemesis.
The former president made the remarks during a speech at a fundraiser hosted by billionaire financier John Paulson in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday night – an event that the Trump campaign claims raked in a record-busting $50.5m haul.
In his 45-minute presentation, Mr Trump lambasted Mr Biden’s border policy and mocked him for making what he claims to be poor decisions behind the Resolute Desk, the iconic Oval Office desk which was gifted to the US by Queen Victoria in 1880.
“The Resolute Desk is beautiful,” Mr Trump allegedly said, an attendee told The New York Times.
Read the full story:
Trump wildly claims Biden ‘soiled’ himself on White House Resolute desk
Voices: As he struggles to keep the cash flowing, Trump hands Democrats a win on abortion
Monday 8 April 2024 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
“We have abortion where everybody wanted it.”
That was what Donald Trump said on Monday. Two years after the fall of Roe vs Wade and multiple states running referenda and trying out potential bans on abortion, it was a perplexing stance for the presidential candidate to take. It’s also a stance that puts the GOP squarely on defence for the remainder of the election cycle.
Trump made the declaration in a prepared video message posted to his Truth Social platform early Monday morning. By noon, it had already been denounced by both his political rival, Joe Biden, and Trump’s supposed allies, the anti-abortion right.
Right where everybody wants it, indeed.
Continue reading...
As he struggles to keep the cash flowing, Trump hands Democrats a win on abortion
Republican congressman warns that Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ parts of the GOP
Monday 8 April 2024 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Two Republican congressmen have warned that Russian propaganda has “infected” parts of the GOP.
During an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union, House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Turner said Russian propaganda has “absolutely” seeped its way to Congress, adding that some of his colleagues have repeated false claims made by the Russians on the Congress floor.
Martha McHardy reports:
Republican congressman warns that Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ parts of the GOP
Updated: Trump sues hush money judge in last-ditch effort to stop criminal trial
Monday 8 April 2024 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell
A state appeals court judge has denied Donald Trump’s 11th hour attempt to move his New York hush money case out of Manhattan as the former president makes a series of last-ditch efforts to indefinitely stall his first-ever criminal trial, less than one week before it is set to begin.
An appeals court docket on Monday indicated that the former president filed litigation against New York Justice Juan Merchan, who imposed a gag order preventing parties in the case from targeting members of the court, attorneys and their families. The documents remained under seal.
Mr Trump’s attorneys also pressed the court to move the case out of Manhattan, arguing that New Yorkers are biased against him and he would be denied a fair trial. An appellate judge rejected those arguments on Monday afternoon.
The appeals court will hear arguments on his attempts to lift the gag order on Tuesday.
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump sues hush money judge in last-ditch effort to stop criminal trial
Trump lashes out at Lindsey Graham over abortion
Monday 8 April 2024 22:19 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump is again attacking Senator Lindsey Graham and Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, over their opposition to his statement on abortion this morning.
The former president wrote on Truth Social:
I blame myself for Lindsey Graham, because the only reason he won in the Great State of South Carolina is because I Endorsed him!
Senator Lindsey Graham and Marjorie Dannenfelser should study the 10th Amendment and States’ Rights. When they do, they should proudly get on with helping Republicans to WIN ELECTIONS, rather than making it impossible for them to do so!
He then posted:
People forget, fighting Roe v. Wade was, right from the beginning, all about bringing the Issue back to the States, pursuant to the 10th Amendment and States’ Rights. It wasn’t about anything else. After we won, Marjorie Dannenfelser of SBA, and Lindsey Graham, started saying, “No, let’s go back to the Federal Government with 0 weeks,” and when they got nowhere, they upped it to 6 week, and more recently they upped it to 15 weeks, and were obviously willing to take the number UPWARD, UPWARD, UPWARD because they were getting nowhere with the Democrats, and they never will, because the Democrats would never give up on this Issue no matter how many weeks the Republicans went - even if they went, “Unlimited Abortion!” We had a Great Victory, it’s back in the States where it belongs, and where everyone wanted it. The States will be making the decision. Republicans are now free to run for Office based on the Horrible Border, Inflation, Bad Economy, and the Death & Destruction of our Country!
Mr Trump concluded:
You know the Democrats are “reeling” when they have no response to my recent Statement on Abortion, other than, “He’s only kidding. He will change it” or, “He won’t do that, he’ll do something else.” I guess this means that we’ve WON because they are so bad on everything else that this is the only Issue they are focused on!
Could Ohio keep Biden off November election ballot?
Monday 8 April 2024 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell
The Republican who serves as Ohio’s top election official has warned that President Joe Biden might not be legally permitted to appear on the Buckeye State’s ballot because of the Democratic National Convention’s timing this year.
Andrew Feinberg explains:
Ohio could keep Biden off November election ballot
Another bad day for Trump Media
Monday 8 April 2024 21:51 , Oliver O'Connell
It was another bad day of trading in Trump Media & Technology Group with the price of shares in the recently floated company falling by another 8.43 per cent, closing at $37.17.
The price has been dropping each day since an SEC filing revealed that the company lost $58.2m in 2023.
Donald Trump's social media company lost more than $58 million last year
Why is Trump repeating a smear about Democrats wanting to ‘execute’ babies?
Monday 8 April 2024 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden reports:
Why Donald Trump is repeating a smear about Democrats wanting to ‘execute’ babies
Fulton County DA asks Georgia appeals court to refuse Trump’s challenge of Fani Willis ruling
Monday 8 April 2024 21:39 , Oliver O'Connell
The Fulton County district attorney's office has asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to refuse to consider Donald Trump's appeal of Judge Scott McAfee's decision not to disqualify Fani Willis from the election interference case.
Ms Willis writes that Mr Trump's appeal “reflects the applicants’ dissatisfaction with the trial court’s proper application of well-established law to the facts. Because the applicants have wholly failed to carry their burden of persuasion, this Court should decline interlocutory review.”
Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website
