Donald Trump Jr scoffs at Trump Org being ‘sued into oblivion’ at fraud trial: Live updates

Donald Trump’s attorneys have begun to present their defence argument in his civil fraud trial at New York State’s Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan.

The former president’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr was the first witness, launching into a lengthy sales pitch praising his father’s “artistry” and his real estate “canvas”.

Asked about what the future holds for the company he said it depends on whether or not they are “sued into oblivion”.

During his testimony two weeks ago, under questioning from lawyers with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Don Jr emphatically denied having anything to do with making his father’s statements of financial condition at the heart of a lawsuit.

His brother Eric Trump and sister Ivanka Trump also denied any involvement in those documents, though evidence appeared to show they were well aware of them.

In other legal, Special Counsel Jack Smith has warned that the former president wants to turn his federal January 6 trial into a media “carnival” for wanting proceedings to be televised. Mr Smith is urging federal judge Tanya Chutkan to reject his request.

Meanwhile, Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump’s sister and a former federal judge, has passed away aged 86.

Key Points

• Jack Smith: Trump wants to turn Jan 6 case into media ‘carnival'

• Don Jr returns to the witness stand in family’s fraud trial

• As his lawyers prepare his defence, Trump already claims he’s won...

• Why is the testimony of Trump’s children so important?

• Senior Republican Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against judge in Trump fraud trial

• Maryanne Trump Barry, former federal judge and sister of ex-president, dead at 86

Trump reposts statement calling for citizen’s arrest of judge and NY AG

15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

In addition to his almost daily attacks on Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Donald Trump has gone one step further and reposted a statement on Truth Social in which one of his followers fantasises about the two being placed under citizen’s arrest for “blatant election interference and harassment”.

Judge Engoron has already placed the former president under a gag order preventing him from attacking court staff but has weathered Mr Trump’s attacks against him personally. He has said in court that his “chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and packages” since the beginning of the trial.

Trump attacks ‘racist’ and ‘smirking’ NY AG

14:49 , Oliver O'Connell

As Donald Trump’s defence team prepares to resume its case at the New York State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan, the former president has posted his customary daily rant about the trial and case against him.

Here’s what he wrote on Truth Social:

Racist A.G. Letitia James is smirking all day long from her seat in Court, as New York continues to set records in murder and other violent crimes, and businesses flee to other States. “This is a law that’s rather bazar, this is a law that doesn’t require any victims (there are none, except me!), it doesn’t require anyone to lose money - the banks didn’t complain here, they made money. You have a (Trump Hating!) Attorney General who’s seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages when not a single penny was lost by these banks, and that’s part of this (Unconstitutional!) Law…You can see from the reaction of A.G. James, every morning from that seat, that she is enjoying this, enjoying it a bit too much.” Law Professor Jonathan Turley. THIS LAW HAS NEVER BEEN USED FOR THIS BEFORE. It is both Unconstitutional and very UNFAIR! No businesses will come to New York, only continue to leave. The whole case is RIGGED from D.C. It is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. OUR COUNTRY IS BROKEN & CORRUPT!!!

Watch: Speaker officially endorses Trump for president

14:43 , Oliver O'Connell

“I’m all in for President Trump and I expect he will be our nominee –we have to make Biden a one-term president.” Says GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson in his first endorsement of Donald Trump as Speaker. “We have to make radical changes; the American people are hurting.”

Trump NY fraud trial: Yesterday in court...

14:35 , Oliver O'Connell

With his return to the witness stand in a fraud trial that threatens the family business, Donald Trump Jr launched a lengthy sales pitch praising his father’s “artistry” and his real estate “canvas” as his attorneys begin their weekslong defence.

During his testimony two weeks ago, under questioning from lawyers with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, the former president’s oldest son emphatically denied having anything to do with making his father’s statements of financial condition at the heart of a lawsuit accusing the family of fraud.

In their testimonies, his brother Eric and sister Ivanka also denied any involvement in those documents, while evidence presented by the attorney general’s office appeared to show they were well aware of them.

The attorney general’s case portrayed Donald Trump, inflated by ego, as a key figure behind fraudulent documents that exaggerated his net worth and assets, lying to banks and lenders to get more favourable terms to boost his family business and its real estate empire over a decade.

But on the stand on Monday morning, the former president’s oldest son faced questions from his own attorneys, teeing up lengthy testimony praising his father’s “artistry” and “vision”.

Read Alex Woodward’s full report:

Donald Trump Jr hails his ‘real estate artist’ father in fraud trial testimony

Full story: Trump official said ‘the boss is not going to leave’ despite 2020 defeat

14:12 , Oliver O'Connell

A top adviser to Donald Trump privately told colleagues in December 2020 that his boss would not leave the White House “under any circumstances”, new video alleges.

Dan Scavino, who was then serving as Mr Trump’s chief of staff and director of social media , allegedly claimed at a White House Christmas party that the President would “just stay in power” regardless of election rules.

The accusation was made by former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis as part of a plea bargain with Georgia state prosecutors, who have charged Mr Trump and 18 others with plotting to illegally overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.

Footage obtained by ABC News from a confidential meeting with investigators shows Ellis describing an alarming conversation she had with Mr Scavino on or around 19 December 2020.

Io Dodds reports.

Trump official said ‘boss is not going to leave’ despite 2020 defeat

Watch: Jenna Ellis tells Georgia prosecutors what Trump official told her about election result

14:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Jack Smith warns Trump wants to turn Jan 6 case into media ‘carnival

14:05 , Oliver O'Connell

US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is urging a federal judge to reject Donald Trump’s request to televise his upcoming trial on charges connected to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The former president’s attorneys took no position on an earlier long-shot request from a group of media outlets asking to broadcast the trial, but a filing on 10 November asked for “sunlight” and accused federal prosecutors of trying to “continue this travesty in darkness”.

“Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges,” John Lauro wrote in a filing last week.

In a filing on 13 November, Mr Smith’s office warned that Mr Trump’s bedelated response is a “transparent effort to demand special treatment” to “try his case in the courtroom of public opinion, and turn his trial into a media event.”

“And it should avoid the spectacle – and attendant risks of witness intimidation – that the longstanding rules against courtroom broadcasting are designed to avoid,” according to the filing.

Read more...

ICYMI: Trump wants his trial to be televised

13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump found himself in rare agreement with the mainstream media, pleading in a Friday night legal filing that his blockbuster federal trial for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election be shown live on TV.

“The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness,” the former president’s lawyers wrote. “President Trump calls for sunlight. Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges.”

Elsewhere in the filing, Mr Trump’s team reiterated familiar conspiratorial allegations that the special counsel prosecution is part of a “coordinated effort to undermine President Trump’s candidacy” that bears the hallmarks of an “authoritarian regime.”

Following a lengthy special counsel investigation, federal officials charged the former president in August with knowing he lost the 2020 election, but conspiring on a multi-state effort to remain in power nonetheless, including by coordinating slates of false electors. He has pleaded not guilty.

Last week, federal prosecutors said federal courtroom rules “clearly foreclosed” showing the election conspiracy trial on TV, writing that citizens have “the right to attend a criminal trial — not the right to broadcast it.”

Trump wants his trial to be televised

Why are Trump’s children testifying at New York civil fraud trial?

13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The main focus on Donald Trump’s myriad of legal woes shifted to Lower Manhattan in October as his civil fraud case came to trial at New York state’s Supreme Court.

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the case against the Trump Organization and maintains that between 2011 and 2021 the company falsified financial statements regarding the development of several real estate projects and artificially inflated Mr Trump’s net worth in order to get better financing terms from banks and insurance companies.

This was done by over-stating valuations of the former president’s most prestigious holdings including his triplex penthouse at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and his current home at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Their entire New York real estate empire is already in peril after a pre-trial ruling included the cancellation of their business licences in the state.

As the prosecution’s case closed, three of his adult children took the stand to testify under oath, which begs the question: how are they wrapped up in all this and why is their testimony important at the trial?

Why are Trump’s children testifying at New York civil fraud trial?

Marjorie Taylor Greene pushes to impeach DHS head Alejandro Majorkas

12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The House of Representatives could take up a resolution at some point this week to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas after an effort led by far-right Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The resolution to impeach Mr Mayorkas appeared in the House chamber’s schedule of measures that it’s planning to take up, with the resolution pushed by Ms Greene listed under measures the chamber “may” consider, The Hill noted.

The main issue the House has to deal with this week is finding a resolution to fund the government ahead of Friday that can pass the chamber.

Last week, Ms Greene attempted to push for a vote on Mr Mayorkas’s impeachment. The resolution claimed that the secretary is guilty of “willful admittance of border crossers” and it argues that he has a duty to guard against an “invasion”.

Ms Greene also claims that the secretary hasn’t adhered to the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which states that the border can only be regarded as operationally secure if no people or contraband crosses illegally.

Read more...

Supreme Court shares first-ever code of ethics

11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

After months of scrutiny over Supreme Court Justices’ undisclosed vacations and gifts from wealthy political donors, the highest court in the land will be adopting a formal code of ethics.

On Monday, the Supreme Court announced the code and released a 14-page document outlining the rules justices follow and their responsibilities.

The court noted that the rules and principles “are not new” and the court has long followed “the equivalent of common law ethics rules” derived from statutory provisions and other federal judicial codes of ethics.

“The absence of a Code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules,” the court wrote. “To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”

Ariana Baio reports.

Supreme Court shares first-ever code of ethics

Don Jr hails his ‘real estate artist’ father in fraud trial testimony

11:15 , Oliver O'Connell

With his return to the witness stand in a fraud trial that threatens the family business, Donald Trump Jr launched a lengthy sales pitch praising his father’s “artistry” and his real estate “canvas” as his attorneys began their defence.

During his testimony two weeks ago, under questioning from lawyers with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, the former president’s oldest son emphatically denied having anything to do with making his father’s statements of financial condition at the heart of a lawsuit accusing the family of fraud.

In their testimonies, his brother Eric and sister Ivanka also denied any involvement in those documents, while evidence presented by the attorney general’s office appeared to show they were well aware of them.

The attorney general’s case portrayed Donald Trump, inflated by ego, as a key figure behind fraudulent documents that exaggerated his net worth and assets, lying to banks and lenders to get more favourable terms to boost his family business and its real estate empire over a decade.

But on the stand on Monday, the former president’s oldest son didn’t face any scrutiny about those numbers. Instead, under questioning from his own attorneys, he praised his father’s “artistry” and “vision”.

Alex Woodward filed this report from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

Donald Trump Jr hails his ‘real estate artist’ father in fraud trial testimony

Jack Smith warns Trump wants to turn Jan 6 case into media ‘carnival'

10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is urging a federal judge to reject Donald Trump’s request to televise his upcoming trial on charges connected to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The former president’s attorneys took no position on an earlier long-shot request from a group of media outlets asking to broadcast the trial, but a filing on 10 November asked for “sunlight” and accused federal prosecutors of trying to “continue this travesty in darkness”.

“Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges,” John Lauro wrote in a filing last week.

In a filing on 13 November, Mr Smith’s office warned that Mr Trump’s bedelated response is a “transparent effort to demand special treatment” to “try his case in the courtroom of public opinion, and turn his trial into a media event.”

“And it should avoid the spectacle – and attendant risks of witness intimidation – that the longstanding rules against courtroom broadcasting are designed to avoid,” according to the filing.

Read the full article.

ICYMI: Trump compared to Hitler after ‘vermin’ attack

09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has drawn the ire of historians after he referred to his political adversaries as “vermin” in a Veterans Day speech.

The former president argued that his domestic opponents are more of a threat to the US than the likes of China, Russia and North Korea.

The remarks prompted comparisons to authoritarian leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, according to The Washington Post.

Mr Trump, 77, spoke in Claremont, New Hampshire, telling the crowd in his usual grievance-laden parlance: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.”

The former president has refused to accept the results of the 2020 election and continues to lie, falsely claiming that it was stolen.

Trump compared to Hitler after ‘vermin’ attack

Can Mike Johnson survive a McCarthy-esque test over looming shutdown?

08:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Johnson’s big test is here.

Congress faces a deadline of 17 November to pass a budget measure to keep paychecks to federal employees flowing and ensure that parts of the government remain operational. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Legislative Branch was in the exact same position just weeks ago, and found itself utterly paralysed without the ability to pass anything more than a short-term funding extension to get us to this point. Even that proved to be so odious to House conservatives that it cost Kevin McCarthy his role in leadership, ending his long-sought speakership less than a year into the job.

Now, the new Speaker of the House heads into the week before Thanksgiving with two familiar questions burning before him: will the US government shut down? And will Mike Johnson still be Speaker when this is over?

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Mike Johnson faces a McCarthy-esque test as a shutdown looms. Will he survive?

Trump’s sister passes away

06:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit who was also the older sister of former president Donald Trump, has died.

Barry’s death at the age of 86 was reported by multiple outlets, indicating that she was found at her Manhattan home on Monday.

The former judge, who was first named to the US District Court for the District of New Jersey by then-president Ronald Reagan in 1983, was a graduate of Hofstra University Law School and a former federal prosecutor who rose to several senior roles in the US Attorney’s office for New Jersey when Reagan tapped her for a judgeship, reportedly at the behest of Roy Cohn, the late GOP fixer (and attorney to Donald Trump).

After 16 years on the bench as a trial court judge, Barry was elevated to the Third Circuit by then-president Bill Clinton in 1999.

Barry was widely respected and well-known in the legal community, and her reputation as a judge stood in stark contrast with the ultraconservative views her brother espoused as president.

Read more...

Ramaswamy wants to ‘instantly’ fire half of federal workers at random

04:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Vivek Ramaswamy has pledged to fire half of all federal workers on his first day in the Oval Office if he’s elected president.

The biotech entrepreneur wrote on X on Sunday that he would “instantly fire 50 per cent of federal bureaucrats” on “day one”.

“Here’s how: if your SSN ends in an odd number, you’re fired,” he added. “That downsizes government by half. Absolutely *nothing* will break as a result.”

“It doesn’t violate civil service rules because mass layoffs are exempt. SHUT IT DOWN,” he wrote.

Gustaf Kilander reports on the reaction.

Ramaswamy plans to ‘instantly’ fire half of federal workers at random

‘QAnon Shaman’ wants to run for Congress after Jan 6 prison release

03:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The infamous Capitol rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman,” whose real name is Jacob Chansley, intends to run for Congress in Arizona in 2024 after pleading guilty to a felony charge.

Years after the fur headdress, horns, and face paint from January 6 have been taken off, the Arizona resident filed a statement of interest last Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

He indicated he wants to run as a Libertarian in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District election.

Republican Rep Debbie Lesk has held the seat since 2018. She announced last month that she won’t seek re-election. Republicans Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh are also both vying for the hotly contested seat.

The man who once stormed the Capitol has undergone a series of changes since January 6.

‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley wants to run for Congress after Jan 6 prison release

Trump official said ‘the boss is not going to leave’ despite 2020 defeat, Georgia prosecutors told

02:16 , Phil Thomas

A top adviser to Donald Trump privately told colleagues in December 2020 that his boss would not leave the White House "under any circumstances", new video alleges.

Dan Scavino, who was then serving as Mr Trump's chief of staff and director of social media , allegedly claimed at a White House Christmas party that the President would "just stay in power" regardless of election rules.

The accusation was made by former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis as part of a plea bargain with Georgia state prosecutors, who have charged Mr Trump and 18 others with plotting to illegally overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.

Footage obtained by ABC News from a confidential meeting with investigators shows Ellis describing an alarming conversation she had with Mr Scavino on or around 19 December, 2020.

"I emphasised to him [that] I thought the ability to challenge the election results was essentially over," Ellis told prosecutors during the meeting, referring to a raft of failed legal challenges launched by the Trump campaign the previous month.

"He said to me, in a kind of excited tone: 'Well, we don't care and we're not gonna leave.'"

Io Dodds has the full story:

Trump official said ‘boss is not going to leave’ despite 2020 defeat

ICYMI: Trump wants his trial to be televised

02:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump found himself in rare agreement with the mainstream media, pleading in a Friday night legal filing that his blockbuster federal trial for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election be shown live on TV.

“The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness,” the former president’s lawyers wrote. “President Trump calls for sunlight. Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges.”

Elsewhere in the filing, Mr Trump’s team reiterated familiar conspiratorial allegations that the special counsel prosecution is part of a “coordinated effort to undermine President Trump’s candidacy” that bears the hallmarks of an “authoritarian regime.”

Following a lengthy special counsel investigation, federal officials charged the former president in August with knowing he lost the 2020 election, but conspiring on a multi-state effort to remain in power nonetheless, including by coordinating slates of false electors. He has pleaded not guilty.

Last week, federal prosecutors said federal courtroom rules “clearly foreclosed” showing the election conspiracy trial on TV, writing that citizens have “the right to attend a criminal trial — not the right to broadcast it.”

Read more...

Trump crashes SNL GOP debate

01:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Saturday Night Live’s cold open took aim at the latest Republican presidential debate as it parodied Donald Trump’s dominance despite the former president’s refusal to appear onstage alongside his rivals.

James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump gatecrashed the debate stage and mercilessly mocked his rivals, who remained frozen behind him — just as they are in the polls.

The sketch began with moderator NBC’s Lester Holt, played by Kenan Thompson, describing the occasion as the “Republican kids table debate.”

The actors playing the five candidates then introduced themselves, while revisiting the biggest moments from Wednesday night’s debate in Miami.

Bevan Hurley has the story.

Why are Trump’s children testifying at New York civil fraud trial?

00:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The main focus on Donald Trump’s myriad of legal woes shifted to Lower Manhattan in October as his civil fraud case came to trial at New York state’s Supreme Court.

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the case against the Trump Organization and maintains that between 2011 and 2021 the company falsified financial statements regarding the development of several real estate projects and artificially inflated Mr Trump’s net worth in order to get better financing terms from banks and insurance companies.

This was done by over-stating valuations of the former president’s most prestigious holdings including his triplex penthouse at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and his current home at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Their entire New York real estate empire is already in peril after a pre-trial ruling included the cancellation of their business licences in the state.

As the prosecution’s case draws to a close, three of his adult children are taking the stand to testify under oath, which begs the question: how are they wrapped up in all this and why is their testimony important at the trial?

Why are Trump’s children testifying at New York civil fraud trial?

ICYMI: Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Monday 13 November 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican US Rep Elise Stefanik, a top-ranking member of the House GOP, filed a complaint on 10 November that invokes similar rhetoric from Mr Trump’s attorneys in their defence of the former president in and out of the lower Manhattan courtroom.

Judge Arthur Engoron has faced widespread scrutiny among Republican officials and Mr Trump’s supporters for a summary judgment that found him and his co-defendants liable for fraud, as laid out in hundreds of pages of evidence and in depositions stemming from the case from New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Mr Trump, his adult sons and chief associates last year.

Judge Engoron also has faced criticism for issuing a gag order that prevents parties in the case from disparaging court staff. Mr Trump has violated the order twice, and his attorneys’ statements in the courtroom prompted him to widen the order to include them, too.

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Coming up this week...

Monday 13 November 2023 22:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward reports:

The remainder of this week’s witnesses are mostly accounting and real estate people with no direct connection to Donald Trump: Steven Witkoff, Jason Flemmons, and Steven Laposa.

However, Thursday might see the return of Jeff McConney to the witness stand.

McConney is a former Trump Organization controller and a defendant in the case. When he was a witness for the attorney general, he testified that he was responsible for statements of financial condition from 2011 to 2017 – but he distanced himself from Mazars, the outside accountant who actually created the reports.

“We as the Trump Organization didn’t prepare the statement,” he said.

He’s in the middle of a blame game between the Trumps and accountants. Trump and the Trump children said they hired the accountants because they trusted their expertise, so why would they double-check those documents? Trump also said the banks didn’t do their due diligence by checking if they were correct.

So McConney’s return to the courthouse, under questioning from Team Trump, might shed some more light on that, and move the blame elsewhere.

Can Mike Johnson survive a McCarthy-esque test as government shutdown looms?

Monday 13 November 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Johnson’s big test is here.

Congress faces a deadline of 17 November to pass a budget measure to keep paychecks to federal employees flowing and ensure that parts of the government remain operational. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Legislative Branch was in the exact same position just weeks ago, and found itself utterly paralysed without the ability to pass anything more than a short-term funding extension to get us to this point. Even that proved to be so odious to House conservatives that it cost Kevin McCarthy his role in leadership, ending his long-sought speakership less than a year into the job.

Now, the new Speaker of the House heads into the week before Thanksgiving with two familiar questions burning before him: will the US government shut down? And will Mike Johnson still be Speaker when this is over?

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Mike Johnson faces a McCarthy-esque test as a shutdown looms. Will he survive?

Court adjourns

Monday 13 November 2023 21:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Sheri Dillon is asked by Donald Trump’s attorney if she would ever “work with Mr Trump sporadically”.

Judge Engoron asks: “Which Mr Trump?”

“That’s a great question. Mr Eric Trump.”

She testified that her work with the former president her work is “consistent with all my other clients”, noting that after he was elected, “additional security measures were put around the safeguarding of these materials”.

There is a brief cross-examination by the attorney general’s office in which Ms Dillon is asked if she is, or has ever, been admitted to practice law in the state of New York.

No, she has not.

Ms Dillon’s testimony wraps and court adjourns for the day.

The trial resumes at 10am tomorrow.

Maryanne Trump Barry, former federal judge and sister of ex-president, dead at 86

Monday 13 November 2023 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit who was also the older sister of former president Donald Trump, has died.

Barry’s death at the age of 86 was reported by multiple outlets, indicating that she was found at her Manhattan home on Monday.

The former judge, who was first named to the US District Court for the District of New Jersey by then-president Ronald Reagan in 1983, was a graduate of Hofstra University Law School and a former federal prosecutor who rose to several senior roles in the US Attorney’s office for New Jersey when Reagan tapped her for a judgeship, reportedly at the behest of Roy Cohn, the late GOP fixer (and attorney to Donald Trump).

After 16 years on the bench as a trial court judge, Barry was elevated to the Third Circuit by then-president Bill Clinton in 1999.

Barry was widely respected and well-known in the legal community, and her reputation as a judge stood in stark contrast with the ultraconservative views her brother espoused as president.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Maryanne Trump Barry, former federal judge and sister of ex-president, dead at 86

Trump fraud trial has obligatory Taylor Swift reference

Monday 13 November 2023 20:39 , Oliver O'Connell

Sheri Dillon describes a type of appraisal that doesn't take into account the renown of the seller — which would treat a hypothetical property associated with Taylor Swift no differently as one owned by Sheri Dillon.

Judge Engoron notes that every case has to have Taylor Swift in it somehow.

Jack Smith: Trump wants to turn Jan 6 case into media ‘carnival'

Monday 13 November 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is urging a federal judge to reject Donald Trump’s request to televise his upcoming trial on charges connected to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The former president’s attorneys took no position on an earlier long-shot request from a group of media outlets asking to broadcast the trial, but a filing on 10 November asked for “sunlight” and accused federal prosecutors of trying to “continue this travesty in darkness”.

“Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges,” John Lauro wrote in a filing last week.

In a filing on 13 November, Mr Smith’s office warned that Mr Trump’s bedelated response is a “transparent effort to demand special treatment” to “try his case in the courtroom of public opinion, and turn his trial into a media event.”

Alex Woodward reports.

Trump wants to turn Jan 6 case into media ‘carnival,’ Jack Smith warns

New witness: Sheri Dillon

Monday 13 November 2023 20:19 , Oliver O'Connell

With Donald Trump Jr having stepped down from the witness stand, former Trump tax attorney Sheri Dillon is up next for the defence, having already testified for the prosecution case.

The defence has a very long list of witnesses that also includes Donald Trump and Eric Trump. They intend to wrap up in approximately one month.

Don Jr hails his ‘real estate artist’ father in fraud trial testimony

Monday 13 November 2023 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

With his return to the witness stand in a fraud trial that threatens the family business, Donald Trump Jr launched a lengthy sales pitch praising his father’s “artistry” and his real estate “canvas” as his attorneys begin their weekslong defence.

During his testimony two weeks ago, under questioning from lawyers with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, the former president’s oldest son emphatically denied having anything to do with making his father’s statements of financial condition at the heart of a lawsuit accusing the family of fraud.

In their testimonies, his brother Eric and sister Ivanka also denied any involvement in those documents, while evidence presented by the attorney general’s office appeared to show they were well aware of them.

Alex Woodward filed this report from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

Donald Trump Jr hails his ‘real estate artist’ father in fraud trial testimony

Monday 13 November 2023 19:58 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward reports from the courtroom:

After several hours of questions that teed up the Trump property promo reel, Faherty is grilling him over a handful of statements he made.

On 40 Wall Street, she points out the property had a mortgage with a 3.76 per cent coupon, to mature in July 2025, based on an occupancy rate from 2015. Occupancy has since fallen to 77 per cent.

Pointing out the fact that the Waikiki hotel dropped the Trump name entirely, Jr says dryly: “That is what they’re doing.”

Asked what the Trumps’ future plans are, Don Jr replies that it depends on whether they’re “sued into oblivion in the foreseeable future”.

Cross-examination concludes and Team Trump huddles for a few minutes to see what their next move is.

Don Jr has left the courtroom

Direct examination concludes

Monday 13 November 2023 19:46 , Alex Woodward

No more questions from Team Trump, after what was a highlight reel of the Trump real estate portfolio that felt more like a marketing presentation and a commercial for all things Trump than testimony in a trial with tens of millions of dollars at stake.

Colleen Faherty with the New York Attorney General’s office begins the cross-examination and brings up the Los Angeles golf course, which his lawyers had him confirm is “literally on the Pacific Ocean”.

“Didn’t the 18th hole literally fall into the ocean?” she asks.

Don Jr confirms that it did.

Don Jr continues testimony with tour of Trump properties

Monday 13 November 2023 19:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr continues his testimony with a tour of the Trump golf properties before winding up at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC at the Old Post Office.

Asked what the project looked like before the Trumps took over, Don Jr replies: “A war zone.”

Trump wants his trial to be televised

Monday 13 November 2023 19:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump found himself in rare agreement with the mainstream media, pleading in a Friday night legal filing that his blockbuster federal trial for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election be shown live on TV.

“The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness,” the former president’s lawyers wrote. “President Trump calls for sunlight. Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges.”

Elsewhere in the filing, Mr Trump’s team reiterated familiar conspiratorial allegations that the special counsel prosecution is part of a “coordinated effort to undermine President Trump’s candidacy” that bears the hallmarks of an “authoritarian regime.”

Following a lengthy special counsel investigation, federal officials charged the former president in August with knowing he lost the 2020 election, but conspiring on a multi-state effort to remain in power nonetheless, including by coordinating slates of false electors. He has pleaded not guilty.

Josh Marcus has the details.

Trump wants his trial to be televised

Amid cheers, Trump gets given middle finger at UFC match

Monday 13 November 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump was given a mostly warm welcome as he took his seat ringside at Madison Square Garden for UFC 295, an ultimate fighting championship match, on Saturday night.

But not everyone in the New York crowd was thrilled to see the former president.

Cameras captured actress Nia Renee Hill, the wife of comedian Bill Burr, appearing to flash two middle fingers at the former president as he looks out at the audience, oblivious to the gesture.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Bill Burr’s wife gives Trump the middle finger at UFC match

Trump compared to Hitler after ‘vermin’ attack

Monday 13 November 2023 18:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has drawn the ire of historians after he referred to his political adversaries as “vermin” in a Veterans Day speech.

The former president argued that his domestic opponents are more of a threat to the US than the likes of China, Russia and North Korea.

The remarks prompted comparisons to authoritarian leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, according to The Washington Post.

Mr Trump, 77, spoke in Claremont, New Hampshire, telling the crowd in his usual grievance-laden parlance: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.”

The former president has refused to accept the results of the 2020 election and continues to lie, falsely claiming that it was stolen.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Trump compared to Hitler after ‘vermin’ attack

‘QAnon Shaman’ wants to run for Congress after Jan 6 prison release

Monday 13 November 2023 18:20 , Oliver O'Connell

The infamous Capitol rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman,” whose real name is Jacob Chansley, intends to run for Congress in Arizona in 2024 after pleading guilty to a felony charge.

Years after the fur headdress, horns, and face paint from January 6 have been taken off, the Arizona resident filed a statement of interest last Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

He indicated he wants to run as a Libertarian in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District election.

Kelly Rissman reports.

‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley wants to run for Congress after Jan 6 prison release

Trump continues to rail against trial as Don Jr testifies for defence

Monday 13 November 2023 18:08 , Oliver O'Connell

The latest from the former president on Truth Social:

Nobody can believe this Political Witch Hunt Trial is still going on. No Victims, No Witnesses (their witness recanted his FAKE story, and said he Lied!), No Defaults, No Jury, No Nothing, only happy Banks etc. There was FRAUD, however, but by the Judge and the A.G., in saying that Mar-a-Lago was worth only $18,000,000, when they knew it was worth many times that amount. They just wanted to make me look bad - All a big SCAM by the New York A.G. in order to get elected, and then to run for Governor, unsuccessfully. The Trump Hating Judge MUST WITHDRAW his “bull….” early ruling (before the trial even started. HE KNEW NONE OF THE FACTS!). He is devastated by the TRUTH, but just can’t let it go. He is OBSESSED! Any other Judge but this one would have dismissed this ridiculous lawsuit years ago. He asked me to settle for a MUCH LOWER AMOUNT, at a settlement conference, but I said NO, I DID NOTHING WRONG! Businesses will NEVER come back to New York if this HOAX is not dismissed & forgotten!

Monday 13 November 2023 17:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr’s history of the Trump Organization has reached 2012 and the Trump National Doral golf club deal, which is notably within the timeframe of the New York Attorney General’s case against the company.

Alex Woodward reports from the courtroom:

We’re shown a $1.3bn valuation of Doral from Newmark from February 2022.

The New York Attorney General’s office objects to its inclusion, citing relevance. It falls outside the timeline under scrutiny for making those false statements.

Judge Engoron inclines to agree but notes there’s likely not any prejudice for its inclusion.

This feels like the longest Trump defence attorneys Christopher Kise and Alina Habba have been quiet over the course of this trial. I don’t think they’ve said anything in nearly three hours.

The court breaks for lunch.

Hawaii hotel ditches Trump name as Don Jr testifies about it

Monday 13 November 2023 17:42 , Oliver O'Connell

Don Jr has been testifying about the Trump International Hotel in Waikiki, where there was “never anything built” to his father’s “standard”.

The hotel recently announced it’s ditching the Trump name. It’s joining Hilton and will be called Wakea Waikiki Beach.

Monday 13 November 2023 17:32 , Alex Woodward

Donald Trump Jr has repeatedly referred to his father as an “artist” or his “artistry” using the real estate business as his “canvas”.

The New York Attorney General’s office hasn’t objected to anything in this slideshow timeline, until now, when Don Jr started talking about how the Trump Organization was ahead of the rest of the real estate industry.

NYAG counsel Colleen Faherty asked for testimony to just stick with the Trump Organization rather than “speculating” what role the company played in the rest of the industry.

“I’m not speculating, this is what happened, but,” Don Jr says.

Judge Arthur Engoron tells him to just stick with testimony about the company.

Monday 13 November 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump attacks legal opponents with claims of ‘Trump derangement syndrome'

Monday 13 November 2023 17:21 , Oliver O'Connell

As his son testifies in the New York State Supreme Court, Donald Trump is lashing out on Truth Social at some of his opponents in his many legal dramas.

The former president wrote:

Deranged Jack Smith, Andrew Weissmann, Lisa Monaco, the “team of losers and misfits” from CREW, and all the rest of the Radical Left Zealots and Thugs who have been working illegally for years to “take me down,” will end up, because of their suffering from a horrible disease, TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS!), in a Mental Institution by the time my next term as President is successfully completed. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

'The artistry comes to fruition over and over’

Monday 13 November 2023 16:59 , Alex Woodward

After a short break, Donald Trump Jr recommences his history of the Trump Organization and its various projects. We’re up to 1999 and he talks about Trump International Golf in West Palm Beach.

He took what was a “flat swamp” – “everyone looked at him perhaps like he was crazy” – and “now it’s one of the finest golf courses in the world,” he says.

“Again, that’s where the artistry comes in,” he adds.

Judge Engoron reminds him against using the forbidden word “again.”

Don Jr: “The artistry comes to fruition over and over.”

Voices: Tim Scott brought a whole new level of drama to the GOP campaign

Monday 13 November 2023 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Noah Berlatsky writes:

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott dramatically announced his exit from the Republican presidential primary last night. Scott made the announcement on former congressman Trey Gowdy’s show, apparently without even telling his campaign staff.

Gowdy, a longtime Scott friend and ally, was visibly surprised, and even argued with Scott, saying that he should stay in the race. “You have plenty of money,” he protested. “You have the highest approval numbers of any candidate.”

Scott’s high favorability ratings have fallen recently, which might explain why he exited. He’s also failed to gain ground in head-to-head polls, where he’s been at two percent or so, well behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. And of course he’s far behind former President Donald Trump, who leads the field by 56 points.

Still, Gowdy’s distress is understandable. Scott had real strengths, and when he entered the race in May, he could reasonably argue he had as path to the presidency. His failure is less a referendum on his failures than it is a referendum on the failures of the Republican party in general—a party that, despite the former president’s obvious unsuitability for office and his escalating disqualifying legal troubles, appears to want to bathe in essence of Trump and in nothing but essence of Trump for all eternity.

Scott’s positive features are, as you’d expect, largely invisible to progressives and Democrats. The general consensus among is that Scott never had a chance and ran an embarrassing campaign.

Continue reading the full article...

Tim Scott brought a whole new level of drama to the election

Breaking: Maryanne Trump Barry, federal judge and sister of former president, dies aged 86

Monday 13 November 2023 16:19 , Oliver O'Connell

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit who was also the older sister of former president Donald Trump, has died.

Barry’s death at the age of 86 was reported by multiple outlets, indicating that she was found at her Manhattan home on Monday.

The former judge, who was first named to the US District Court for the District of New Jersey by then-president Ronald Reagan in 1983, was a graduate of Hofstra University Law School and a former federal prosecutor who rose to several senior roles in the US Attorney’s office for New Jersey when Reagan tapped her for a judgeship, reportedly at the behest of Roy Cohn, the late GOP fixer (and attorney to Donald Trump).

After 16 years on the bench as a trial court judge, Trump was elevated to the Third Circuit by then-president Bill Clinton in 1999.

Maryanne Trump Barry, former federal judge and sister of ex-president, dead at 86

‘An artist with real estate'

Monday 13 November 2023 16:12 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Jr gets nostalgic about the Seven Springs estate in Westchester and tells the court about bringing his children there.

He called his father an “artist with real estate” who has “incredible vision where other people don’t.”

Monday 13 November 2023 16:11 , Alex Woodward

“The Trump Story” is essentially a PowerPoint timeline of the Trump Organization, with Donald Jr acting as a narrator on behalf of his father.

We see some of his brand-building properties, how Trump acquired them, and the successes that followed.

Mar-a-Lago is among “American castles” and “one of the most spectacular estates in the entire world,” Donald Trump Jr tells the court.

Trump Park Avenue is among the “great, iconic projects in New York City” and a “crown jewel asset.”

Monday 13 November 2023 15:51 , Oliver O'Connell

Attorney Cliff Robert (who is representing both Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump) pulls up a slideshow titled “The Trump Story”.

Colleen Faherty with the New York Attorney General’s office objects.

“The Trump Story? I don’t know what this document is. It appears to be a hearsay document,” she says.

This “multiple page document” comes after questions with “extensive narratives we’ve been getting, unfocused from anything relevant,” she says.

Robert says the slideshow is “extraordinarily relevant,” and the “court needs to understand where the company came from and where it’s going”.

Just two weeks ago, Donald Jr’s “memory seemed to be fleeting” and now is walking through a history that appears to be trying to revive it, she adds. “I don’t see the basis of this document.”

“I disagree with the plaintiff’s take on this,” Judge Engoron says. “However let’s establish what this is, who wrote it.”

Don Jr is now walking through the Trump family history.

Monday 13 November 2023 15:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Arthur Engoron asks Donald Trump Jr to slow down because he talks way too fast for the court reporter to keep up.

“I would say I’m happy to be here but I have a feeling the attorney general would sue me for perjury,” Trump Jr jokes to the judge.

🥁

Donald Trump Jr describes role at Trump Organization

Monday 13 November 2023 15:22 , Oliver O'Connell

On the witness stand, Donald Trump Jr is asked about the roles of the Trump siblings in the company up until 2017, when he took over a revocable trust to handle his father’s assets while he was in the White House, and Eric took over the day-to-day of the business.

He said there was “a rolling structure” where “each one of us had our respective buckets” for various projects.

During their father’s presidency, it was “still a bit of an evolution.”

“My brother and myself assumed much more of a role,” he said.

Today, “my father could be back involved if he wanted to on certain things.”

“For the most part it would be my brother and I still,” he said.

“Eric [is] definitely more involved with the day-to-day of the operations”, while he is more of a “bigger picture deal guy.”

Don Jr returns to the witness stand in family’s fraud trial

Monday 13 November 2023 15:13 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr has returned to the witness stand in a fraud trial that threatens his family’s business.

During his testimony two weeks ago, under questioning from lawyers with the office of New York Atorney General Letitia James, he emphatically denied having anything to do with making his father’s statements of financial condition at the heart of a lawsuit accusing the family of fraud.

In their testimonies, his brother Eric and sister Ivanka also denied any involvement in those documents, while evidence presented by the attorney general’s office appeared to show they were well aware of them.

On the stand on Monday morning, the former president’s oldest son now faces questions from his own attorneys, who begin their defence of the Trumps after Ms James’s team rested her case last week after six weeks of testimony from two dozen witnesses.

Alex Woodward reports.

Donald Trump Jr returns to the witness stand in family’s fraud trial