Trump attacks fraud trial judge as Ivanka ordered to testify: Live
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Donald Trump attacked the judge in his New York civil fraud trial after he was hit with a $10,000 fine for violating the gag order in the case.
This comes as his daughter Ivanka Trump was ordered by the judge on Friday to testify in the trial. Attorneys for Mr Trump previously rejected a subpoena from the New York attorney general’s office seeking his daughter’s testimony in the civil fraud trial that threatens Mr Trump’s business empire.
In a dramatic day in court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday, Mr Trump appeared on the witness stand for the first time in his multitude of civil and criminal trials.
The former president was called to testify about remarks he made outside the courtroom in a break from the trial. New York Judge Arthur Engoron determined that Mr Trump had indeed broken the gag order, branded his testimony “not credible” and fined him $10,000.
On Thursday, the former president railed against Judge Engoron in a series of four Truth Social posts where he branded him a “fully biased Trump Hater” who “should be ashamed of himself”.
Key Points
Trump lashes out at Michael Cohen and his fraud trial judge after furious day in court
Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
Trump attorneys target Michael Cohen in heated trial fraud testimony
Meadows told Trump that 2020 election fraud claims were bogus, report says
Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia election subversion case
Trump filing mentions W Bush, Nixon, and Alexander Hamilton
15:30 , Gustaf Kilander
The 27-page filing from the Trump legal team argues that the federal election interference case should be dismissed because of “presidential immunity”.
The filing mentions Presidents George W Bush and Richard Nixon, as well as founding father and the first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, in addition to the Federalist papers.
The defence team argues that previous presidents weren’t charged for crimes, before going on to criticise previous commanders in chief.
“George W Bush’s critics widely accused him of lying to Congress to induce the Iraq War on false allegedly pretenses by claiming that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was hoarding stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction which turned out to be non-existent,” the motion states.
Trump legal team again argues ‘presidential immunity’ shields ex-president in election subversion case
15:00 , Gustaf Kilander
In a 27-page filing on Thursday, Mr Trump’s legal team argued that “presidential immunity” shields the former president in the federal election subversion case.
“Just as he cannot be constrained by fear of civil lawsuits, so too should he be protected from the much more potent specter of criminal prosecution,” they write. “To hold otherwise would require the President to hesitate at every turn, conscious of the very real threat that one of many hundreds of prosecutors around the country may one day question his motives and seek to imprison him for his actions as President.”
“Nor would recognizing criminal immunity place the President above the law, as the prosecution contends,” they add. “Rather, it would return us to the sensible process envisioned by the founders, where the People’s representatives in Congress—not an unelected prosecutor—first decide whether a President’s official actions are worthy of sanction and potential criminal liability.”
“That has not occurred, and, in fact, the Senate acquitted President Trump of charges formed on the same basis as the indictment. Accordingly, the Court should hold that President Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for the acts described in the indictment and dismiss this case, with prejudice,” they note.
Judge to rule on Ivanka testimony
14:52 , Alex Woodward
Judge Arthur Engoron said on Friday that he’s prepared to rule today over whether Ivanka Trump must testify in the fraud trial.
Attorneys for Donald Trump roundly rejected a subpoena from the New York attorney general’s office seeking his daughter’s testimony in the civil fraud trial that threatens Mr Trump’s business empire.
Ms Trump was dropped as a defendant in the lawsuit, but counsel from Letitia James’s office wants her to appear on the witness stand.
Attorneys for the Trump family have opposed that motion.
‘One of Trump’s oldest friends’ backs Nikki Haley
14:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Andrew Stein came out in support of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 primary, writing in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that “I supported Donald Trump twice, but I now think the country would be best served with a different candidate in 2024—Nikki Haley”.
“I don’t take this view lightly. Mr. Trump did a good job as president, from improving the economy to securing the border and maintaining world peace. But a Trump re-election would be difficult, and half the country will never accept him as president. It would keep us divided while we face international situations that require this country to be unified,” he added.
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times said that Mr Stein is “one of Trump’s oldest friends (to the extent he has actual friends)”.
Trump lashes out at Michael Cohen and his fraud trial judge after furious day in court
14:22 , Alex Woodward
After spending two days fuming at the defence table, arms crossed, shoulders hunched, staring into a middle distance and forced to listen to his former attorney Michael Cohen testify against him, Trump stood outside the lower Manhattan courtroom’s heavy wooden doors and violated a gag order in the case a second time.
And after the judge overseeing the case roundly rejected Mr Trump’s attorneys’ request to close the case, the former president tossed up his arms, got out of his seat and abruptly left the room.
The next day, he launched a series of attacks against the judge overseeing his fraud trial, the attorney general suing him, the witness testifying against him, and a reporter who wrote about his two days in court, a streak of insults after the former president’s one-time allies turned against him in cases that threaten his business and election prospects.
In courtroom testimony this week, his former loyalists have rejected the false election claims surrounding his 2020 attempts to remain in power as well as the vast net worth he reported in statements to financial institutions.
Trump lashes out at Michael Cohen and his fraud trial judge
Attorneys set to argue over Ivanka Trump testimony in fraud case
14:00 , Alex Woodward
Attorneys for Donald Trump have roundly rejected a subpoena from the New York attorney general’s office seeking Ivanka Trump’s testimony in a civil fraud trial that threatens her father’s busines empire.
Ivanka was dropped as a defendant in the lawsuit, but counsel from Letitia James’s office want her to appear on the witness stand.
Attorneys for the Trump family have opposed that motion, and both parties will debate the matter in court before the trial starts on Friday morning.
The parties are due to appear in front of Judge Arthur Engoron at 9.30am.
Georgia judge schedules hearing over Trump’s motion to dismiss election subversion case
13:00 , Alex Woodward
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will hold a hearing on 1 December over Donald Trump’s attempts to dismiss the state’s election interference case against him.
The former president faces 13 criminal counts, including a charge under the state’s anti-racketeering statute. He has pleaded not guilty.
VOICES: Make no mistake – the new speaker is Trump’s man in Washington
12:00 , Alex Woodward
Skylar Baker-Jordan writes how Mike Johnson is “a prime example of the Republican Party’s dysfunction”:
It is hard to celebrate a man who clearly despises so many Americans being elevated to two heartbeats from the presidency itself. This is a man for whom equality applies only to those who look and think like him, a man whose record proves he believes himself to be a better judge of how you and I live than we ourselves are.
Make no mistake – the new speaker is Trump’s man in Washington
Trump rails against judge over gag order fine
11:42 , Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump has attacked the judge in his New York civil fraud trial after he was hit with a $10,000 fine for violating the gag order in the case.
In a dramatic day in court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday, Donald Trump appeared on the witness stand for the first time in his multitude of civil and criminal trials.
The former president was called to testify about remarks he made outside the courtroom in a break from the trial. New York Judge Arthur Engoron determined that Mr Trump had indeed broken the gag order, branded his testimony “not credible” and fined him $10,000.
Later, when a move for a directed verdict by his legal team was denied by the judge, a clearly frustrated Mr Trump stood and left the courtroom mumbling: “Unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
On Thursday, the former president railed against Judge Engoron in a series of four Truth Social posts where he branded him a “fully biased Trump Hater” who “should be ashamed of himself”.
“HE HAS GONE CRAZY IN HIS HATRED OF ‘TRUMP,’” Mr Trump wrote.
Trump can’t stop a Colorado lawsuit to kick him off the ballot
11:00 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump has lost his final bid to stop a Colorado lawsuit that could see him kicked off state ballots in the 2024 presidential election.
A judge in the state has ruled that the lawsuit that seeks to block the one-term president from the ballot next year can go ahead next week.
The Independent’s Graeme Massie has more:
Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
ICYMI: A third attorney close to Trumpworld’s attempts to overturn election results pleaded guilty
09:00 , Alex Woodward
Jenna Ellis is the fourth of 19 defendants to plead guilty in the sprawling election interference case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Other former Trumpworld attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro took plea deals last week, just days before their trial was due to start in Atlanta.
The newly minted cooperating witnesses in Georgia’s sweeping criminal case targeting Trump and a dozen others could pose a significant legal threat to the former president as he enters several criminal and civil proceedings while he campaigns for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis cries in court as she pleads guilty in Georgia election case
How Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to overturn the 2020 election
07:00 , Alex Woodward
Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson was instrumental in a Republican-led campaign to keep Donald Trump in the White House after losing the 2020 election.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander explains how the man who is now leading the House GOP and is second in line for the presidency pushed the same debunked conspiracy theories that are at the centre of several criminal investigations, lawsuits and a riot in the halls of Congress.
How Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to overturn the 2020 election
ICYMI: Michael Cohen responds to Trump’s Truth Social attacks
06:00 , Alex Woodward
On Wednesday, Donald Trump launched a series of attacks against the judge overseeing his fraud trial, the attorney general suing him, the witness testifying against him, and a reporter who wrote about Trump’s last two days in court.
He claimed Michael Cohen was “chocking [sic] like a dog” on the witness stand and “broke down” in court.
What actually happened in court: Cohen testified that he was “tasked by Mr Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected” for his statements of financial condition, the documents at the centre of the case.
Cohen and convicted former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg were instructed to “reverse engineer the various different asset classes – increase those assets – in order to achieve the number that Mr Trump had tasked us with,” Cohen said.
Asked by counsel for the attorney general’s office what that number was, Cohen replied: “Whatever number Mr Trump told us to.”
Under cross examination from Trump’s attorneys, Cohen agreed that Trump never asked him to “inflate” those figures, but that Trump’s commands were implicit rather than explicit.
“Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss,” Cohen testified. “He tells you what he wants without specifically telling you … That’s what I was referring to.”
Trump also was called to the witness stand to testify – about his out-of-court insults – and he was fined $10,000 for violating a gag order in the case.
“When did I break down?” Cohen wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Is he referring to me laughing at him and his minion of moron lawyers? In fact, Judge Engoron stated ‘I do not find you (Trump) credible’. Meaning…Donald, you’re a f***** liar and perjurer as you were under oath!”
Michael Cohen claims Trump was a ‘defeated man’
04:00 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen called the former president a “defeated man” after offering two days’ worth of testimony in a New York state fraud trial.
“I saw somebody that knows that it’s the end of the Trump Organization,” he told reporters outside the court on Wednesday. “Already found guilty of fraud, the license will ultimately be taken, and now this entire case is merely about how much.”
Michael Cohen claims Trump was a ‘defeated man’ at New York fraud trial
VOICE: The House GOP civil war that delivered Trump is over. The radicals won
03:00 , Alex Woodward
The Independent’s Eric Garcia writes that newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson is a “zealot of the highest order, someone who worked for the hard-right Alliance Defending Freedom; an ardent opponent of abortion who wants to restrict the rights of LGBT+ people and who served as Donald Trump’s Howitzer in Congress to overturn the 2020 election results.”
But his fervor for theocratic policies did not impede his ability to unite nearly every faction of the very divided House Republican conference. Indeed, many of the Republicans who had previously raised serious objections to creeping fanaticism in the party brushed off these concerns as technicalities.
The House GOP civil war that delivered Trump is over. The radicals won
ICYMI: Trump’s fraud trial judge said his testimony ‘rings hollow and untrue’
02:00 , Alex Woodward
In a written order against Donald Trump after finding that he violated the court’s gag order in the civil fraud trial, Judge Arther Engoron wrote that the former president’s testimony in his defense of the statements he made outside the courtroom “rings hollow and untrue”.
In statements steps outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Trump criticised the “very partisan judge” and “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him,” what the judge determined was a comment aimed at his chief clerk.
Trump claimed under oath that his comments were about Michael Cohen. The judge did not find his testimony credible and fined him $10,000.
“The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘alongside’ as ‘close to the side of; next to.’ Witnesses do not sit ‘alongside’ the judge, they sit in the witness box, separated from the judge by a low wooden barrier,” the judge wrote in a written version of his order posted publicly on Thursday.
“Further, Donald Trump’s past public statements demonstrate him referring to Michael Cohen directly by his name, or by a derogatory name, but in all circumstances, his in unambiguous in making it known he is referring to Michael Cohen,” he added.
ICYMI: Prosecutors urge federal judge to reinstate gag order against Trump in election interference case
01:00 , Alex Woodward
Jack Smith’s office has asked the judge overseeing Trump’s election inteference case to reinstate a partial gag order against him, citing his attacks on witnesses in the days since she halted her prior ruling to allow the ex-president to appeal.
In a 32-page filing submitted to the court late on Wednesday evening, prosecutors argued that Trump had taken advantage of the reprieve Judge Tanya Chutkan granted him to attack at least one potential witness against him, his ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg has more:
Prosecutors ask for renewed gag order on Trump in Jan 6 case
ICYMI: Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
Friday 27 October 2023 00:00 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump has lost his final bid to stop a Colorado lawsuit that could see him kicked off state ballots in the 2024 presidential election.
A judge in the state has ruled that the lawsuit that seeks to block the one-term president from the ballot next year can go ahead next week.
The Independent’s Graeme Massie has more:
Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
Court panel says its hands are tied and Trump’s federal trials can’t be televised
Thursday 26 October 2023 22:15 , Alex Woodward
A federal judicial panel has determined that its hands are tied following requests from members of Congress and news organisations to televise Donald Trump’s upcoming federal trials.
The Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules determined that it has no ability to change existing bands on broadcasting federal criminal trials, as the former president faces cases surrounding his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his hoarding of sensitive White House documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Even if the panel were able to change the rules, they could not go into effect for several years, Politico reported.
Trump’s criminal trial in Georgia, however, will be carried live by the courts and news outlets.
Michael Cohen responds to Trump’s Truth Social attacks
Thursday 26 October 2023 21:40 , Alex Woodward
On Wednesday, Donald Trump launched a series of attacks against the judge overseeing his fraud trial, the attorney general suing him, the witness testifying against him, and a reporter who wrote about Trump’s last two days in court.
He claimed Michael Cohen was “chocking [sic] like a dog” on the witness stand and “broke down” in court.
What actually happened in court: Cohen testified that he was “tasked by Mr Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected” for his statements of financial condition, the documents at the centre of the case.
Cohen and convicted former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg were instructed to “reverse engineer the various different asset classes – increase those assets – in order to achieve the number that Mr Trump had tasked us with,” Cohen said.
Asked by counsel for the attorney general’s office what that number was, Cohen replied: “Whatever number Mr Trump told us to.”
Under cross examination from Trump’s attorneys, Cohen agreed that Trump never asked him to “inflate” those figures, but that Trump’s commands were implicit rather than explicit.
“Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss,” Cohen testified. “He tells you what he wants without specifically telling you … That’s what I was referring to.”
Trump also was called to the witness stand to testify – about his out-of-court insults – and he was fined $10,000 for violating a gag order in the case.
“When did I break down?” Cohen wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Is he referring to me laughing at him and his minion of moron lawyers? In fact, Judge Engoron stated ‘I do not find you (Trump) credible’. Meaning…Donald, you’re a f***** liar and perjurer as you were under oath!”
How Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to overturn the 2020 election
Thursday 26 October 2023 20:46 , Alex Woodward
Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson was instrumental in a Republican-led campaign to keep Donald Trump in the White House after losing the 2020 election.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander explains how the man who is now leading the House GOP and is second in line for the presidency pushed the same debunked conspiracy theories that are at the centre of several criminal investigations, lawsuits and a riot in the halls of Congress.
How Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to overturn the 2020 election
ICYMI: A third attorney close to Trumpworld’s attempts to overturn election results pleaded guilty
Thursday 26 October 2023 20:07 , Alex Woodward
Jenna Ellis is the fourth of 19 defendants to plead guilty in the sprawling election interference case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Other former Trumpworld attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro took plea deals last week, just days before their trial was due to start in Atlanta.
The newly minted cooperating witnesses in Georgia’s sweeping criminal case targeting Trump and a dozen others could pose a significant legal threat to the former president as he enters several criminal and civil proceedings while he campaigns for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis cries in court as she pleads guilty in Georgia election case
Trump blows up at Maggie Haberman and fraud trial judge
Thursday 26 October 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump is furious that the judge overseeing his fraud trial shot down his attorneys’ arguments to rule in the former president’s favour or dismiss the case against him.
He has posted about the case on his Truth Social four times today after he was sanctioned a second time for violating the trial’s gag order and then abruptly walked out of the court in the middle of his attorneys’ arguments in front of the judge.
In his latest tirade, he lashed out at Maggie Haberman with a barrage of insulting nicknames following her report on Mr Trump’s trial appearance for The New York Times.
He also falsely claimed that Michael Cohen was “chocking [sic] like a dog” on the witness stand.
Michael Cohen claims Trump was a ‘defeated man’
Thursday 26 October 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen called the former president a “defeated man” after offering two days' worth of testimony in a New York state fraud trial.
“I saw somebody that knows that it's the end of the Trump Organization,” he told reporters outside the court on Wednesday. “Already found guilty of fraud, the license will ultimately be taken, and now this entire case is merely about how much.”
Michael Cohen claims Trump was a ‘defeated man’ at New York fraud trial
Just in: Georgia judge schedules hearing over Trump’s motion to dismiss election subversion case
Thursday 26 October 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will hold a hearing on 1 December over Donald Trump’s attempts to dismiss the state’s election interference case against him.
The former president faces 13 criminal counts, including a charge under the state’s anti-racketeering statute. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump apparently edited a journalist’s Twitter post with a Sharpie and gave it to Marjorie Taylor Greene
Thursday 26 October 2023 18:00 , Alex Woodward
Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman shared his thoughts about Donald Trump’s influence, and lack thereof, in the weeks-long race for House Speaker.
It appears that Trump took a Sharpie to a printed-out version of Sherman’s post, added his thoughts and “corrections” that give him more credit for his role in the fight, and then gave it to Marjorie Taylor Greene to post on X, formerly Twitter, on his behalf.
“Better luck next time, Jake,” Trump wrote, just above his signature.
Greene told him to “get your story straight”.
“So, to reiterate, [Trump] endorsed Jordan. Jordan lost,” Sherman wrote. “Emmer was down 26 votes before Trump came out against him. Trump probably helped sink [Emmer]. Fair. He endorsed [Banks] for leadership. Banks lost.”
So, to reiterate, endorsed Jordan. Jordan lost. Emmer was down 26 votes before Trump came out against him. Trump probably helped sink emmer. Fair. He endorsed banks for leadership. Banks lost. https://t.co/sa0rsIx751
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 26, 2023
Read the judge’s latest gag order sanction against Trump
Thursday 26 October 2023 17:00 , Alex Woodward
In a written order against Donald Trump after finding that he violated the court’s gag order in the civil fraud trial, Judge Arther Engoron wrote that the former president’s testimony in his defense of the statements he made outside the courtroom “rings hollow and untrue”.
In statements steps outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Trump criticised the “very partisan judge” and “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him,” what the judge determined was a comment aimed at his chief clerk.
Trump was fined $10,000 for comments that he claimed to the judge under oath were about Michael Cohen. The judge did not find his testimony credible.
“The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘alongside’ as ‘close to the side of; next to.’ Witnesses do not sit ‘alongside’ the judge, they sit in the witness box, separated from the judge by a low wooden barrier,” the judge wrote in a written version of his order posted publicly on Thursday.
“Further, Donald Trump’s past public statements demonstrate him referring to Michael Cohen directly by his name, or by a derogatory name, but in all circumstances, his in unambiguous in making it known he is referring to Michael Cohen,” he added.
“Moreover, the language Donald Trump used on October 25 mirrors the language he used in public statements to the press on October 2, wherein he inappropriately and unquestionably spoke about my Principal Law Clerk,” the judge wrote.
“Using imprecise language as an excuse to create plausible ambiguity about whether the defendant violated this court’s unequivocal gag order is not a defense; the subject of Donald Trump’s statements in the press was unmistakably clear.”
He wrote that Trump “intentionally violated the gag order” and ordered Trump to post a proof of payment of the latest fine as well as the one imposed last week within two days of making them.
VOICES: Make no mistake – the new speaker is Trump’s man in Washington
Thursday 26 October 2023 16:30 , Alex Woodward
Skylar Baker-Jordan writes how Mike Johnson is “a prime example of the Republican Party’s dysfunction”:
It is hard to celebrate a man who clearly despises so many Americans being elevated to two heartbeats from the presidency itself. This is a man for whom equality applies only to those who look and think like him, a man whose record proves he believes himself to be a better judge of how you and I live than we ourselves are.
Make no mistake – the new speaker is Trump’s man in Washington
Trump rages at Cohen and New York judge on Truth Social as fraud trial resumes
Thursday 26 October 2023 15:46 , Alex Woodward
As his trial resumes without him in Manhattan, Trump jumped on his Truth Social to blast the “fake and fully discredited case” and the “radical left judge” presiding over it, after the former president was fined, again, for violating a trial gag order.
He claimed that his former attorney Michael Cohen spent his time on the witness stand “collapsing and choking yesterday under cross examination, and completely admitting that I did nothing wrong”.
Trump said Cohen committed “MASSIVE PERJURY, at a level seldom seen on the stand before”.
“It was like watching the end of the best Petty Mason [sic] episode, where the defendant breaks down and cries, ‘Yes, I did it, I did it, I did it.’”
None of that happened.
Earlier this week, Cohen testified that he was “tasked by Mr Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected” for his statement of financial condition, the documents at the centre of the case.
Cohen and convicted former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg were instructed to “reverse engineer the various different asset classes – increase those assets – in order to achieve the number that Mr Trump had tasked us with,” Cohen said.
Asked by counsel for the attorney general’s office what that number was, Cohen replied: “Whatever number Mr Trump told us to.”
Under cross examination from Trump’s attorneys on Wednesday, Cohen agreed that Mr Trump never asked him to “inflate” those figures, but that Trump’s commands were implicit rather than explicit.
“Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss,” Cohen testified. “He tells you what he wants without specifically telling you … That’s what I was referring to.”
In another post 20 minutes later on Thursday morning, Trump said Judge Arthur Engoron “HAS GONE CRAZY IN HIS HATRED OF ‘TRUMP’”.
Trump’s fraud trial resumes without Trump
Thursday 26 October 2023 15:17 , Alex Woodward
Michael Cohen is off the witness stand. So is Donald Trump. The former president isn’t returning to his civil fraud trial in New York this week after he abruptly left the court on Wednesday, moments after the judge presiding over the case rejected his attorneys’ attempts to render a verdict in his favour.
A day of relative chaos in New York Supreme Court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday included more gag order violations, Mr Trump going on the witness stand to testify about them, frequent cross talk and objections from counsel, and Cohen under fire from Trump’s attorneys.
Mr Trump was fined $10,000 for what the judge determined were disparaging comments about his chief clerk, comments that the former president told the judge under oath were about Cohen. The judge did not find his testimony credible.
The trial resumed on Thursday morning, with Trump attorney Christopher Kise objecting to the latest sanctions against his client.
Our story from yesterday’s hearing:
Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
Prosecutors ask for renewed gag order on Trump in Jan 6 case
Thursday 26 October 2023 14:42 , Alex Woodward
Jack Smith’s office has asked the judge overseeing Trump’s election inteference case to reinstate a partial gag order against him, citing his attacks on witnesses in the days since she halted her prior ruling to allow the ex-president to appeal.
In a 32-page filing submitted to the court late on Wednesday evening, prosecutors argued that Trump had taken advantage of the reprieve Judge Tanya Chutkan granted him to attack at least one potential witness against him, his ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg has more:
Prosecutors ask for renewed gag order on Trump in Jan 6 case
Fall of the House of Usher makes sly dig at Donald Trump
Thursday 26 October 2023 14:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Mike Flanagan’s new horror series has been out on Netflix for over a week now, but fans may have missed a subtle Donald Trump reference.
The Fall of the House of Usher follows Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company, who must face his murky past when each of his children begins to die in a mysterious and brutal fashion.
Meanwhile, Carla Gugino plays Verna, a shape-shifting demon who torments the Usher family, playing a significant role in their demise.
Tom Murray has the story.
Fall of the House of Usher makes blink-and-you-miss-it dig at Donald Trump
Voices: The House GOP civil war that delivered Trump is over. The radicals won
Thursday 26 October 2023 14:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
Mr Johnson is a zealot of the highest order, someone who worked for the hard-right Alliance Defending Freedom; an ardent opponent of abortion who wants to restrict the rights of LGBT+ people and who served as Donald Trump’s Howitzer in Congress to overturn the 2020 election results.
But his fervor for theocratic policies did not impede his ability to unite nearly every faction of the very divided House Republican conference. Indeed, many of the Republicans who had previously raised serious objections to creeping fanaticism in the party brushed off these concerns as technicalities.
The House GOP civil war that delivered Trump is over. The radicals won
Full story: Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
Thursday 26 October 2023 14:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s first turn on the witness stand during the multiple criminal and civil cases against him arrived on 25 October, when the former president was called to testify about his comments outside the courtroom during his fraud trial in New York.
He was fined $10,000 after the judge presiding over the case found that the former president violated the case’s gag order, again, with disparaging comments about his chief clerk steps away from the courtroom’s doors in lower Manhattan.
Mr Trump was called to the witness stand by Judge Arthur Engoron to testify about statements he gave to reporters on 25 October, in which he criticised a “very partisan judge” and “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him,” what the judge determined was a comment aimed at his chief clerk.
The former president and his attorneys argued that Mr Trump was referring to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who was testifying against him.
Alex Woodward reports from the New York Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan.
Court sketch artists capture a first: Donald Trump under oath in witness box
Thursday 26 October 2023 13:45 , Oliver O'Connell
House finally has a speaker as Trump ally Mike Johnson wins after weeks of chaos
Thursday 26 October 2023 13:30 , Oliver O'Connell
House Republicans overwhelmingly elected Rep Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be the next speaker of the House after 22 days where the House of Representatives had no leader amid turmoil across the globe and the need to pass spending bills next month.
Mr Johnson, the former deputy whip for House Republicans, won 220 votes on the floor after House Republicans coalesced around him on Tuesday evening. His ascent came after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dropped out a mere four hours after the House Republican conference nominated him to be speaker.
Republicans from all factions of the conference cheered Mr Johnson and whistled on the floor, chanting his name.
After conservatives, led by former president Donald Trump, revolted against Mr Emmer, he removed himself from the running and after another contest, Mr Johnson emerged victorious.
Eric Garcia filed this report from Capitol Hill.
House finally has a speaker as Mike Johnson wins after weeks of chaos
Thursday 26 October 2023 13:15 , Oliver O'Connell
ACLU calls for re-evaluation of Trump’s federal election subversion case gag order
Thursday 26 October 2023 13:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Speaking of gag orders... the American Civil Liberties Union has come out against the gag order imposed on Donald Trump in his federal election interference case by Judge Tanya Chutkan.
The rights organization explains:
Former President, and now Defendant, Donald Trump has said many things. Much that he has said has been patently false and has caused great harm to countless individuals, as well as to the Republic itself. Some of his words and actions have led him to this criminal indictment, which alleges grave wrongdoing in contempt of the peaceful transition of power. But Trump retains a First Amendment right to speak, and the rest of us retain a right to hear what he has to say. Thus, any restraint this Court imposes on Defendant’s future speech must be precisely defined and narrowly tailored to protect the impartial administration of justice. Respectfully, the Court’s October 17 gag order fails that test, and Amici urge the Court to re-evaluate it.
You can read the ACLU’s full argument here.
Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
Thursday 26 October 2023 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has lost his final bid to stop a Colorado lawsuit that could see him kicked off the ballot for the 2024 presidential election.
A judge in the state has ruled that the lawsuit brought to block the one-term president from the ballot next year can go ahead next week.
Mr Trump had asked for the lawsuit, which was filed on 22 September by Republican and unaffiliated voters represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, to be dismissed.
Similar cases have been filed around the US, including in Michigan and Minnesota, where oral arguments will take place on 2 November.
In the lawsuit, the advocacy group states that Mr Trump incited an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6 with their lawyers arguing that his actions on that day were a violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
That amendment was introduced after the US Civil War and states no one can run for public office if they “engaged in an insurrection or rebellion.”
Graeme Massie reports.
Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
Watch: Christie comments on Meadows immunity and Trump’s 2024 prospects
Thursday 26 October 2023 12:15 , Oliver O'Connell
“Our party needs to wake up to the fact that [Donald Trump] will not be the next president of the United States. He is much more likely to be in different federal housing than the White House.” https://t.co/5qynSBipH3
— The Recount (@therecount) October 25, 2023
DeSantis trolls Trump and compares him to Biden over teleprompter use
Thursday 26 October 2023 11:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Ron DeSantis is finally turning his fire on Donald Trump, though admittedly in a much more cautious manner than have some others.
The Florida governor was back on the campaign trail this week and spoke to reporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday, where alongside the state’s Republican governor he is attempting to capture some momentum and break out from the pack of Trump alternatives running for the GOP 2024 nomination.
“This is a different Donald Trump than in 2015 and 2016,” he told a small crowd of voters assembled in a restaurant, while claiming that the ex-president was “wedded” to the teleprompter.
“In 2016, he was freewheeling, he’s out there barnstorming the country, doing all this. Now, it’s just a different guy, and it’s sad to see,” said the governor.
John Bowden has the story.
Ron DeSantis trolls Trump and compares him to Biden over teleprompter use
Trump files longshot bids to dismiss election interference case
Thursday 26 October 2023 10:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s lawyers fired a shotgun blast of legal motions overnight aimed at seeing the Justice Department’s case against him for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election thrown out of court or significantly reduced in scope.
In four motions filed to Judge Tanya Chutkan, the Trump legal team made a smattering of arguments aimed at hindering or thwarting his prosecution entirely. His attorneys put forth arguments on the grounds of prosecutorial bias, insufficient evidence, improper procedure and even double jeopardy.
The motions were filed on a day that saw yet another blow to the former president’s legal defence efforts: A fourth guilty plea, and the third from a member of his legal team, in Georgia where a state-run prosecution of the Trump campaign’s efforts to alter the election results is well underway.
John Bowden filed this report from Washington, DC.
Trump files series of bids to have election interference case tossed
Trump brings unique Georgia Senate strategy to New Hampshire: Don’t vote
Thursday 26 October 2023 09:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Josh Marcus writes:
During his own 2020 presidential campaign, and a close US Senate race in Georgia that ended in an upset for the Republicans, some blamed Mr Trump’s unrelenting election conspiracies for GOP losses.
“Telling everyone that the race was stolen when it wasn’t, cost the Republicans two Senate seats,” conservative Georgia political commentator Erick Erickson said at the time. “The going all-in on the cult of personality around President Trump hurt them as a result. They had to play up this, ‘There’s no way Donald Trump could have lost. It had to be stolen from him.’”
At the time of the elections, Mr Trump was leading an all-out public campaign against the 2020 results, and Trump campaign allies like attorney Lin Wood suggested people shouldn’t vote in the Georgia Senate race.
ICYMI: Christie lashes out at House GOP ‘embarrassment’ over speaker chaos
Thursday 26 October 2023 08:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Chris Christie berated members of his own party for their failure to elect a Speaker of the House on Monday as the GOP enters its fourth week of chaos in the lower chamber.
The GOP presidential candidate appeared on MSNBC where he urged the chamber to pick a Republican and unify around them before the essential functions of government were threatened by the stalemate.
As of Tuesday, the Republicans seemed no closer to selecting a leader. GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer was nominated by his caucus in a closed-door session only to see his bid begin dissolving minutes later, with more than two dozen holdouts materialising against him. Potentially his greatest opponent: Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, who denounced Mr Emmer in a social media posting on Tuesday.
Mr Christie, who has hinged his bid for the Republican nomination on a total repudiation of the far right and Donald Trump, took aim at that chaos the evening prior.
John Bowden has the full story.
Christie lashes out at House GOP ‘embarrassment’ over speaker chaos
Trump boasts he ‘killed’ Tom Emmer’s speaker bid
Thursday 26 October 2023 06:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Tom Emmer’s public display of gratitude towards Donald Trump for backing his bid for House Speaker did not age well, after the former president boasted online that he had in fact “killed” his chances of winning the coveted position.
The GOPcongressman won his party’s nomination early on Tuesday, but immediately faced steadfast opposition from a number of right-wing members of the House Republican conference. He dropped out of the race four hours later.
It came just over 24 hours after he sycophantically posted online thanking Mr Trump for an apparent endorsement. Mr Trump was asked on Monday if he would endorse Mr Emmer for House Speaker, despite the latter not always having been “his biggest fan”.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Trump boasts that he ‘killed’ Tom Emmer’s speaker bid
How did Trump react to report on Meadows speaking with prosectuors?
Thursday 26 October 2023 04:30 , Oliver O'Connell
The former president was not impressed, as Andrew Feinberg and Rachel Sharp report.
Trump lashes out at Meadows as ‘he’s granted immunity in Jan 6 case’
Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
Thursday 26 October 2023 03:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has lost his final bid to stop a Colorado lawsuit that could see him kicked off the ballot for the 2024 presidential election.
A judge in the state has ruled that the lawsuit brought to block the one-term president from the ballot next year can go ahead next week.
Mr Trump had asked for the lawsuit, which was filed on 22 September by Republican and unaffiliated voters represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, to be dismissed.
Similar cases have been filed around the US, including in Michigan and Minnesota, where oral arguments will take place on 2 November.
In the lawsuit, the advocacy group states that Mr Trump incited an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6 with their lawyers arguing that his actions on that day were a violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
That amendment was introduced after the US Civil War and states no one can run for public office if they “engaged in an insurrection or rebellion.”
Graeme Massie reports.
Trump loses final bid to stop Colorado case that could see him barred from ballot
ICYMI: Meadows told Trump that 2020 election fraud claims were bogus, report says
Thursday 26 October 2023 03:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Mark Meadows, the ex-North Carolina congressman who served as Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff during his last year in office, has told prosecutors that he personally warned Mr Trump that claims of fraud tainting the 2020 election had no basis in reality.
According to ABC News, Mr Meadows admitted that the then-president had been “dishonest” with the American public when he began floating the outrageous allegations in the wake of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden during one of several sessions with prosecutors — including sworn testimony before a federal grand jury”.
The former top White House aide reportedly told prosecutors: “Obviously we didn’t win”.
Read the full report by Andrew Feinberg.
Watch: Today in court
Thursday 26 October 2023 02:40 , Oliver O'Connell
George Santos goes to war with Elon Musk
Thursday 26 October 2023 02:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Truly, a man with nothing left to lose...
New York Rep George Santos fired shots at Elon Musk after X, previously known as Twitter, provided additional context in a note below the embattled Republican’s incendiary tweet.
On Tuesday, Mr Santos posted a photo of himself on X with text over it that read: “They’re not after me. They’re after you. I’m just in the way.”
Below the post, a note from X stated: “They are in fact after Representative Santos, who is accused of stealing money from his own donors, among other offenses.” The note also included a link to the series of fraud charges against the congressman filed by the Eastern District of New York.
On Wednesday, Mr Santos acknowledged X’s addition, writing: “The way Elon came after my meme with that community note is abhorrent.” Mr Musk has yet to respond.
George Santos goes to war with Elon Musk over ‘abhorrent’ note
Full story: Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
Thursday 26 October 2023 01:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s first turn on the witness stand during the multiple criminal and civil cases against him arrived on 25 October, when the former president was called to testify about his comments outside the courtroom during his fraud trial in New York.
He was fined $10,000 after the judge presiding over the case found that the former president violated the case’s gag order, again, with disparaging comments about his chief clerk steps away from the courtroom’s doors in lower Manhattan.
Mr Trump was called to the witness stand by Judge Arthur Engoron to testify about statements he gave to reporters on 25 October, in which he criticised a “very partisan judge” and “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him,” what the judge determined was a comment aimed at his chief clerk.
The former president and his attorneys argued that Mr Trump was referring to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who was testifying against him.
Alex Woodward reports from the New York Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan.
Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
Ramaswamy teams up with Alex Jones after Fox News ‘disaster’
Thursday 26 October 2023 01:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has stoked more controversy after taking part in an interview with notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The 38-year-old is an outside contender to clinch the GOP nomination but is gaining attention for his outspoken and attention-grabbing views.
Earlier this month Mr Ramaswamy was widely panned for an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, a topic which took centre stage when he sat down with Jones for an episode of his Truth podcast.
Holly Hales has the story.
Vivek Ramaswamy teams up with Alex Jones after Fox News ‘disaster’
Fall of the House of Usher makes sly dig at Donald Trump
Thursday 26 October 2023 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Mike Flanagan’s new horror series has been out on Netflix for over a week now, but fans may have missed a subtle Donald Trump reference.
The Fall of the House of Usher follows Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company, who must face his murky past when each of his children begins to die in a mysterious and brutal fashion.
Meanwhile, Carla Gugino plays Verna, a shape-shifting demon who torments the Usher family, playing a significant role in their demise.
Tom Murray has the story.
Fall of the House of Usher makes blink-and-you-miss-it dig at Donald Trump
Voices: The House GOP civil war that delivered Trump is over. The radicals won
Thursday 26 October 2023 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
Mr Johnson is a zealot of the highest order, someone who worked for the hard-right Alliance Defending Freedom; an ardent opponent of abortion who wants to restrict the rights of LGBT+ people and who served as Donald Trump’s Howitzer in Congress to overturn the 2020 election results.
But his fervor for theocratic policies did not impede his ability to unite nearly every faction of the very divided House Republican conference. Indeed, many of the Republicans who had previously raised serious objections to creeping fanaticism in the party brushed off these concerns as technicalities.
The House GOP civil war that delivered Trump is over. The radicals won
Biden unconcerned over new House Speaker’s election subversion record
Thursday 26 October 2023 00:15 , Oliver O'Connell
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he is not concerned that newly installed House Speaker Mike Johnson will attempt to unlawfully block him from serving a second term if he wins next year’s presidential election.
Mr Biden was asked about the possibility during a press conference alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the White House Rose Garden, just minutes after the House’s Republican majority voted unanimously to install Mr Johnson as successor to ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy after a chaotic 22-day interregnum.
The Louisiana congressman was a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump during the ex-president’s attempt to remain in office despite having lost the 2020 election. He frequently promoted outlandish conspiracy theories about non-existent voter fraud and rigged voting machines which Trump allies had floated to explain his loss, and marshalled House GOP support for a failed lawsuit that sought to have the US Supreme Court throw out electoral votes from swing states won by Mr Biden.
Read Andrew Feinberg’s full report.
Wednesday 25 October 2023 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Earlier: Trump shares screenshot of private texts from House speaker candidate
Wednesday 25 October 2023 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump shared private texts between himself and short-lived Speaker of the House hopeful Congressman Chuck Fleischmann on Truth Social.
The texts claimed that all of the GOP Speaker hopefuls were backing Mr Trump, according to Fox Chattanooga.
Mr Fleischmann was among six candidates who were under consideration for House speaker after Majority Whip Tom Emmer exited the race on Tuesday.
Trump shares screenshot of private texts from House speaker candidate
Court sketch artists capture a first: Donald Trump under oath in witness box
Wednesday 25 October 2023 22:24 , Oliver O'Connell
DeSantis trolls Trump and compares him to Biden over teleprompter use
Wednesday 25 October 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Ron DeSantis is finally turning his fire on Donald Trump, though admittedly in a much more cautious manner than have some others.
The Florida governor was back on the campaign trail this week and spoke to reporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday, where alongside the state’s Republican governor he is attempting to capture some momentum and break out from the pack of Trump alternatives running for the GOP 2024 nomination.
“This is a different Donald Trump than in 2015 and 2016,” he told a small crowd of voters assembled in a restaurant, while claiming that the ex-president was “wedded” to the teleprompter.
“In 2016, he was freewheeling, he’s out there barnstorming the country, doing all this. Now, it’s just a different guy, and it’s sad to see,” said the governor.
John Bowden has the story.
Ron DeSantis trolls Trump and compares him to Biden over teleprompter use
Cohen explains discrepancy in testimony over inflating numbers on financial statements
Wednesday 25 October 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s attorneys and Colleen Faherty with the attorney general’s office grew increasingly frustrated with one another over Michael Cohen’s prior statements and testimony.
“This counsel is repeatedly trying to impeach the witness,” Faherty said.
Cohen had been sitting in silence on the stand with reading glasses on reviewing a document in front of him.
“I think we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. We’ve spent hours and hours … talking about the witnesses’ credibility or lack thereof,” Judge Engoron said
Cohen went on to explain a response he gave on cross-examination about Mr Trump directing him and Allen Weisselberg to inflate valuations in the financial statements to increase his net worth — at the heart of the discrepancy between his earlier testimony and what he is saying now.
“When I was asked the question, ‘Did he ask you to inflate the numbers,’ he did not specifically say ‘Go inflate the numbers.’ As I’ve said before Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss,” Cohen said.
“So when he said to me, ‘I’m actually worth like six billion, seven maybe eight — Allen Weisselberg and I understood he was stating what he wanted.”
Cohen was then dismissed as a witness and court adjourned for the day.
Full story: Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
Wednesday 25 October 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s first turn on the witness stand during the multiple criminal and civil cases against him arrived on 25 October, when the former president was called to testify about his comments outside the courtroom during his fraud trial in New York.
He was fined $10,000 after the judge presiding over the case found that the former president violated the case’s gag order, again, with disparaging comments about his chief clerk steps away from the courtroom’s doors in lower Manhattan.
Mr Trump was called to the witness stand by Judge Arthur Engoron to testify about statements he gave to reporters on 25 October, in which he criticised a “very partisan judge” and “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him,” what the judge determined was a comment aimed at his chief clerk.
The former president and his attorneys argued that Mr Trump was referring to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who was testifying against him.
Alex Woodward reports from the New York Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan.
Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial
