Trump takes stand for landmark testimony in NY civil fraud trial: LIVE

Donald Trump has begun to give his landmark testimony in the civil fraud trial that threatens to topple his business empire.

The former president took the stand days after his adult sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr testified last week.

His daughter Ivanka Trump is slated to appear for testimony in court on Wednesday – hours before the third Republican primary debate.

Ahead of his appearance, Mr Trump reposted several of his past Truth Social posts where he attacked Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Last week, the judge expanded the gag order in the case to include Mr Trump’s attorneys following repeated comments made about the court clerk.

In other Trumpworld news, the former president is requesting special counsel Jack Smith keep it brief when submitting filings to a federal judge in the government’s 2020 election subversion and January 6 case.

In a filing to Judge Tanya Chutkan on Saturday, Mr Trump’s defence team asked that the judge prohibit Mr Smith’s prosecution team from exceeding the 45-page limit in an “oversized” filing that responds to Mr Trump’s attempt to have the case thrown out.

Alex Woodward is reporting from inside the courtroom for The Independent.

Key Points

• Fraud trial judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

• Ivanka Trump loses appeal to delay testimony in New York civil fraud trial

• ‘So sad to see my sons being persecuted’, says Trump

• Furious fraud trial judge assails Trump attorneys after Donald Jr and Eric testimony

19:44 , Oliver O'Connell

A rhythm develops in court of seeing more documents bearing Trump’s signature, with more clauses requiring accurate statements of financial condition and net worth, for loans at various Trump properties.

He says he has complied with all of these clauses.

19:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump continues to argue that there was no fraud because the banks “got all their money back” and the loan was “paid off in full” and the lenders were “thrilled”.

“There was no loss of money. They made a lot of money, and everyone is trying to figure out why you're doing it ... I understand it. It's called ‘politics’.”

19:40 , Oliver O'Connell

“It was a very successful loan as opposed to people who don’t have successful loans. … If interest was due on a Saturday, it was paid on a Friday,” Trump said, unprompted, after an exchange between his attorneys and the judge.

“I paid off part of it a long time ago, I think, over the last fairly short period of time,” he said. “I will check that exactly.”

He said Eric convinced him to pay it off.

19:32 , Oliver O'Connell

The loan was signed in November 2012 and the document affirms that financial statements submitted in connection are “true and correct in all material respects” and that Trump’s liquid assets be no less than $50m and his net worth must be no less than $2.5bn.

Trump signed the document.

Court resumes after lunch break

19:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump did not address the media on his way back into the courtroom after lunch, just giving a thumbs up.

Back on the stand, he is asked about a loan agreement with Deutsche Bank in which he is required to maintain a net worth of $2.5bn for the term of the loan. His signature is on the document.

Trump keeps saying he had a lot of “cash” at the time, “for a long time,” and that “they always wanted to make sure the cash was substantial.”

He says that the contract, which does not say this, meant he could have “a lot of cash” instead. Trump says he believes he complied with the terms.

The Attorney General’s office says Trump’s net worth was far below $2.5bn.

Trump allies planning to invoke Insurrection Act if he wins in 2024

19:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s conservative allies are crafting a blueprint for a Republican presidency in 2025 which could include the use of US troops to put down protests and acts of civil disobedience across the US resulting from a Trump 2024 election victory.

In an extensive report published on Sunday, The Washington Post detailed the work being done under the umbrella of “Project 2025”, an effort by a coalition of conservative groups to prepare a policy and governing agenda for a GOP president. Though none of its connections to the Trump campaign are official, the Post reports that the coalition has ties to a number of members of Mr Trump’s inner circle, including most prominently Jeffrey Clark, the former assistant US attorney general who is now facing criminal charges in Fulton County, Georgia.

John Bowden reports.

Trump may invoke Insurrection Act to bar protests if he wins 2024 race, says report

Trump posts photo of judge during lunch break

19:19 , Oliver O'Connell

Court sketches: Trump testifies

19:13 , Oliver O'Connell

Analysis: How Donald Trump’s fraud trial became his presidential campaign

18:55 , Oliver O'Connell

From the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Alex Woodward writes:

The New York State Supreme Court building on Centre Street is a historic landmark dripping with dramatic classical Roman-inspired architecture, with a cavernous circular interior surrounded by the stairwells that wind around it. It was formerly the Tweed Courthouse, named after the corrupt “Boss” Tweed figure of Tammany Hall infamy.

A wide staircase leads to the massive granite columns in the front of the building. Dramatic afternoon light beams into the short hallway in front of heavy wooden doors outside room 300 on the third floor.

Over the last month, the hallway and the courtroom on the other side of it have been filled with members of the press, photographers and video cameras. For five weeks, it has been Donald Trump’s most reliable pulpit.

Until the moment he is called to the witness stand on Monday 6 November, Mr Trump has never been under any obligation to attend the civil trial stemming from a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James that threatens his family’s vast business and real estate empire.

Read on...

US Politics | Latest news, comment and analysis | The Independent

Watch: Trump attorney Alina Habba complains about judge outside court

18:37 , Oliver O'Connell

To counter Maga influence, conservative lawyers launch Society for Rule of Law

18:25 , Oliver O'Connell

A group of preeminent conservative lawyers who opposed former president Donald Trump’s efforts to manipulate the legal system are launching a new, long-term project aimed at fostering respect for the US constitution and the rule of law in the legal profession.

The group, which initially began operating in 2018 under the name Checks and Balances, includes preeminent conservative legal figures such as J Michael Luttig, the former Fourth Circuit judge who was shortlisted as a Supreme Court pick during the George W Bush administration, and George Conway, who was former president Donald Trump’s pick to run the Justice Department civil division before he became a prominent critic of the ex-president.

Unlike other groups formed by anti-Trump conservatives during Mr Trump’s presidency, the Checks and Balances group has been a bit of a shoestring operation, until now operating with a small budget raised from its’ members.

But a source familiar with the group’s plans told The Independent that a decision was made by the group’s board to seek outside funding for the purposes of a major relaunch and rebranding operation as the “Society for the Rule of Law,” which has now acquired the proper licenses to operate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with an affiliated 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organisation that can undertake some political work. The society’s roll-out will include a “Rule of Law summit” taking place on Wednesday evening in Washington.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Conservative lawyers to launch Society for Rule of Law to counter Maga movement

NY AG mocks Trump claim at trial

18:09 , Oliver O'Connell

17:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump sits up and smirks with his arms crossed when Kise stands up to object to a line of questions about a 2012 interview with The Wall Street Journal.

That year, they told a reporter that 40 Wall Street was worth $600m. He said he doesn’t remember if he is the “DJT” in an email about it. He also doesn’t know if his email at the Trump Organization is his email.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Not that I know. Might be.”

He eventually conceded it was him.

Court breaks for lunch. Trump makes no comment outside the courtroom to the waiting media.

17:48 , Oliver O'Connell

The court was told about a 2015 Forbes article, which says that Trump was very much involved in inflating his assets, and cited a recorded conversation at the time.

Trump counsel Chris Kise objects and when it is played for the court, he calls the recording inaudible. Justice Engoron agrees.

The former president does not like Forbes, famous for its rich list and for discovering the lie about the size of the Trump Tower penthouse.

As Trump rants about the magazine, Justice Engoron appears to have backed off from interjecting and is letting NYAG counsel Wallace deal with the former president as he sees fit.

Full story: Red-faced Trump rages at judge during historic fraud trial testimony

17:40 , Oliver O'Connell

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s trial following years of fraud allegations has repeatedly ordered his attorneys to “control” him for his evasive and meandering answers on the witness stand.

Within the first hour of his testimony on Monday, an increasingly frustrated Judge Arthur Engoron and counsel with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James have tried to get him to answer questions about his net worth and assets without giving speeches from the stand.

His answers are not only “nonresponsive, they’re repetitive,” the judge said.

Over the next hour, he accused Ms James of trying to “demean” and “hurt” him politically, slammed her as a “political hack” and called the case a “disgrace”.

Gesturing with his hands as he fumed on the witness stand, he turned his complaints towards the judge.

Alex Woodward reports from the courtroom.

Red-faced Trump rages at judge during historic fraud trial testimony

Trump attacks judge and New York AG

17:25 , Oliver O'Connell

17:21 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump is asked who was responsible for making sure the financial statements were compliant with GAAP, (generally accepted accounting principles, the guiding rules for putting those documents together).

“Were they supposed to be compliant with GAAP? I’m not sure that’s true,” Trump says.

He adds that accounting firms hired by him “had to do something. They got paid a lot of money to do this work.”

“I told two top people to work with the accounting firm to give them anything they needed,” he says.

Trump is asked who was responsible for identifying fraud at the Trump Organization.

He responds sleepily: “Everybody.”

17:16 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump isn’t looking at the judge when he says this, but he’s gesturing with his hands.

“You ruled against me and you said I was a fraud,” he says, raising his voice and getting redder in the face.

“He called me a fraud, and he didn’t know anything about me.”

“He’s the one who didn’t value the property correctly,” Trump says, fuming. “How do you call a man a fraud who has a property that’s 50 to 100 times more … It’s a terrible thing you’ve done.”

There’s a beat.

NY AG counsel Kevin Wallace says: “Are you done?”

“Yeah,” the former president replies.

17:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump says any valuations (over or under) in his statements of financial condition would not have any material effect today because the properties are now worth “much more”.

“I’m worth billions more, so anything that would be a little bit low would be nonmaterial,” he says.

Trump brings up his statements’ “disclaimer” clauses now to argue that even if there were “material” impacts, the banks and lenders etc who relied on the statements should’ve done their own due diligence.

“Probably the statements would be good. Again if there was a mistake it was nonmaterial. And if it was material … we have a disclaimer clause … Don’t under any circumstances count on anything here,” he says.

“That’s why we shouldn’t have a case here,” he adds, saying that other courts would accept them, “except for this particular judge”.

Trump is asked whether those statements are worthless.

“I don’t think they’re worthless at all. Frankly with the disclaimer clause, if there’s any mistake the disclaimer clause covers it,” he says.

He’s now going after the case and the attorney general, saying her office is trying to “demean me” and “hurt me – probably for political reasons, and for her, definitely for political reasons”.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, as usual, is in the courtroom watching everything unfold.

17:02 , Oliver O'Connell

As attorneys talk about Trump’s rambling testimony defending his Aberdeen properties, he sits back, crosses his arms, and watches with his chin up. When he’s asked questions again, he uncrosses his arms, leans forward slightly and hunches his shoulders a bit.

NYAG’s office points to Allen Weisselberg’s 2014 statement to UK regulators, stating that the Trump Organization did not intend to develop the Aberdeen properties, because of wind farms.

“I’m not a windmill person,” Trump says.

“They’ll probably come down, like all wind farms come down,” Trump says. “They’re not on the property, they’re miles out … Regardless we have the right to build a very big project.”

16:56 , Oliver O'Connell

Questioning turns to Trump’s Scottish property near Aberdeen.

In an unrelated aside from Trump, a vintage 2016 era tweet: “Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe”

Judge Engoron immediately jumps in: “Irrelevant, irrelevant, irrelevant.”

Trump, quietly: “It is.”

“An artistic expression, the greatest golf course ever built. We’ve gotten reviews saying, One of the greatest pieces of land we’ve ever seen.”

“I’m not looking to build, I’m doing a lot of other things right now,” he says. “I just want to sit with it. It’s called an investment.”

(He confirms he is building there right now.)

16:47 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump is asked whether he said that Mar-a-Lago will “forever be a club”?

“No, I don’t think so – intends, so, I would personally never change it. If someone later on, my children, if they want to change it, I mean they have the right to do if they want to.”

He’s shown an article from the Palm Beach Post with a quote from him: “We waited until it became a great success … it will forever be a club.”

Trump says he said that for “bravado” and not with “legal intent”.

That “intends” comes from the deed: “The Club and Trump intend to forever extinguish their right to develop or use the Property for any purpose other than club use.”

He also confirms that he gets tax benefits from its use as a club.

16:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump is asked about the valuations of his Trump Tower penthouse, Mar-a-Lago, and a joint venture with Vornado.

The former president concedes that the valuation of the penthouse was too high (it was listed at three times its actual size).

“They took 10,000 feet per floor, and they went times three. But they didn’t take out elevator shafts and different things,” he says.

On Mar-a-Lago, Trump acknowledges it is an “exclusive private club” — whether it is that or a private residence is important for its valuation.

Trump says he believes the property is worth “between a billion and a billion five”.

He keeps saying that the defence team will have experts testify to all of this to validate his testimony, “in two weeks or nine weeks or wherever this thing goes.”

“Its biggest value is to use it as a club and residential simultaneously,” he says.

Court resumes and Trump continues testimony

16:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Questioning resumes with the 2014 evaluation of Trump’s Seven Springs estate. Trump valued it at $291m and says he actually decided to drop that value.

“I thought it was high,” Trump says. “And they dropped the value.”

“Is the Seven Springs [conservation] easement donation under review by the IRS?” Wallace asks.

“Not that I know of,” Trump says.

“Again, I haven’t spent a lot of time looking at these statements because their value [is so low],” Trump says.

16:20 , Oliver O'Connell

16:01 , Oliver O'Connell

Asked about the valuation of 40 Wall Street, Trump is asked whether he approved it.

“I accepted it,” he said. “I had very many different things. … Other people did it, but I didn’t say make it higher or make it lower.”

He is asked whether it was based on true and accurate information.

In just a three-word reply, Trump says: “I suppose so.”

Court takes a mid-morning break of 15 minutes and Trump walks out of court in front of his attorneys.

15:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump has been admonished by the judge several times in less than an hour.

Kise argues that it’s “more efficient” to have him explain himself on the stand.

“This is a situation where you have on the stand a candidate for president of the United States … and so the most efficient way I would ask the court is to listen to what he has to say and you weigh it,” he adds. “The court needs to hear what he has to say about these statements and why they’re reliable.”

He says he’s “happy to talk to him about making the answers more contained”.

Judge Engoron fires back, booming into the mic: “These people are not here to hear what he has to say. He is here to answer questions. … Sit down already.”

Trump, on the witness stand after a beat: “This is a very unfair trial. And I hope the public is watching.”

15:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Wallace is trying to pin down whether Weisselberg’s numbers for Trump Tower in 2014 were accurate.

“I guess so. I can’t really answer that. I guess so. It’s a number I wouldn’t sell it for,” Trump says.

We’re moving to 40 Wall Street, which was valued at $550m. Trump is asked whether this is accurate.

Trump revs up with: “Well, let’s see,” before rambling about the potential use of the property and then says the valuation is “low”.

Judge Engoron, to Kise: “I beseech you, to control him. If you can’t, I will.”

15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump boasts about his financial statements: “It's a nice compilation of assets. It's a great statement. [...] It's a lot of cash. [...] The banks came to me. They wanted to make deals with me.”

Judge: “Stricken! Stricken!”

Wallace asks: “If anything, you think the valuations that they used were too low, is that correct?”

“Absolutely,” he responds.

Trump’s answers are not only “nonresponsive, they’re repetitive,” the judge says.

Judge Engoron, a second time: “Mr Kise, will you control your witness?”

15:36 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump’s testimony and the defence overall so far: The statements of financial condition show much less value than the real dollar amount.

“It was the opposite of your case. Your case is that I had no money at all,” Trump says.

He described the NYAG’s case as saying Trump “wrote up phoney things and defrauded banks”.

“There was no victim, and then you say, you defrauded them,” he added.

Judge Engoron: “Can you control your client? This is not a political realm.”

“I’ve asked several times to answer the question. I don’t think we want editorialising. We’ll be here forever and will accomplish nothing,” he adds.

“You’re in control of the courtroom. Not me,” Kise responds.

“Again, we’re dealing with an extraordinary situation here,” he adds.

The judge has previously reminded everyone to stop starting sentences with “again”.

15:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump is asked whether — in light of his expertise in real estate — he thought the values were off for any properties in those statements.

“Yeah. Both high and low.”

He cites the low: Mar-a-Lago, 40 Wall Street and Doral, among them.

“The values are far bigger than what’s on the financial statements,” before going off on a rambling list of reasons why he thinks so.

“The question was what properties were undervalued or overvalued, not why you think so,” the judge says.

He interrupts the NYAG’s counsel to espouse about “brand value”.

The Trump brand value would add “tens of millions of dollars” to his net worth, he said.

“It’s an asset. Coca-Cola includes it. … I became president because of my brand value. I sell books at levels that are incredible,” he continued.

Judge Engoron interrupts again, asking counsel: “Did you ask for an essay on brand value?”

The judge and the NYAG’s office are really trying to get him to answer simple questions without speeches.

15:24 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump is asked about the 2014 statement of financial condition.

“First of all, that was so long ago, well beyond the statute of limitations,” he said. “I’m sure the judge will rule against me, he always rules against me.”

Judge Engoron, to Kise, referencing his earlier objection: “Is that comment a necessary part of the ‘narrative’?”

Kise asked to give, “according to The New York Times this morning, the future president, a little latitude to explain himself.”

“You can attack me, you can do whatever you want, just answer the question,” the judge replied.

15:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Here, Judge Engoron interrupts.

“I would like to move things along a little faster. Please, answer the questions, no speeches,” he said. “Some of your answers are not in response to a question.”

Trump attorney Christopher Kise objects.

Judge Engoron says: “Please, let’s just continue.”

15:14 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump was asked about the statements of financial condition — the documents that are very much at the heart of the case which showed inflated valuations of assets and his own net worth: “They were just something you would have for yourself if you were borrowing money … They were not really documents that the banks paid much attention to … They looked at the deal. … They were not that important.”

“They just weren’t a very important element in the banks’ decision-making process. And we’ll explain that as the trial goes along. Crazy trial, as it goes along.”

He said his defence will offer up bankers to “explain.”

“These are very substantial bankers,” he says.

15:12 , Oliver O'Connell

Asked why he appointed them to run the trust while he was in the White House, Trump criticised “Democratic district attorneys, AG and US attorneys were coming after me.”

“All Democrats, all Trump haters ... weaponisation, we call it,” he said. “[Donald Jr] would be running the business with Eric and I had good confidence in them.”

Asked to clarify if the trust was to avoid investigations, he said: “I think moreso the fact I was in politics.”

Questioning begins

15:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Questioning of the former president begins with Wallace asking about the corporate structure and his ownership of the Trump Organization and when the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust was formed in 2016.

“Pretty much when I won, I formed the trust.”

“It was primarily when I thought about running,” he said. “Pretty much about the time that I run … I felt there would be a conflict of interest … so I formed the trust … Even though I would be allowed to do that.”

He appointed Weisselberg to run it with Donald Jr because “he was very good at what he did.”

“We really liked him,” he said.

As for Don Jr: “He’s a hard-working boy.”

Trump takes the stand

15:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump arrived in court in a blue shirt and blue tie, walking slowly, face slightly toward the ground, before giving a wink and a hello to Secret Service and police waiting at the defence table. He walked in behind attorneys Christopher Kise and Alina Habba.

They are joined by Alan Garten, and others, including Trump defence lawyers Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles plus campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung and erstwhile strategist Jason Miller.

After a pool spray from a group of photojournalists, New York Attorney General’s counsel Kevin Wallace says: “The People call Donald J Trump.”

The former president rises and saunters across the room to the witness stand.

Watch: Trump’s remarks outside courtroom ahead of his testimony

14:58 , Oliver O'Connell

In pictures: Outside the courthouse

14:55 , Oliver O'Connell

NYAG says case is about numbers and ‘numbers don’t lie'

14:46 , Oliver O'Connell

New York Attorney General Letitia James has entered the courtroom.

She stopped to make brief remarks to the assembled media outside the courthouse.

“It’s going to be an interesting day but numbers and facts matter.”

The scene at the courthouse

14:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward writes:

A long line of reporters and photographers snaked through police barricades outside the steps of the New York State Supreme Court building in lower Manhattan, where Donald Trump will testify in a trial surrounding years of allegations of fraud.

The trial follows a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James that finds Trump and his chief associates defrauded banks and insurers by inflating his net worth and assets by as much as $2bn a year over a decade.

Her lawsuit seeks to recover $250m in ill-gotten gains and to effectively block the Trump family from doing business in the state, dealing a potentially crushing blow to his vast real-estate empire.

The proceedings continue on Monday at the start of the trial’s sixth week inside Judge Arthur Engoron’s courtroom on the third floor, where Trump’s adult sons, his former chief associates and allies turned state witnesses have already provided hours of testimony. Trump, followed by his daughter Ivanka on Wednesday, will be the last witnesses presented by the attorney general.

The former president’s turn on the stand marks a historic first among his mountain of civil and criminal litigation against him as he seeks the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

Defendant Trump already made a surprise, brief appearance on the stand two weeks ago, in the middle of a day of testimony from Michael Cohen, and after the former president was once again accused of violating a gag order that blocks parties in the case from disparaging court staff.

When he testifies under what is expected to be at least a day of questioning from counsel with the attorney general, he will be the first former president to testify as a defendant in decades.

It’s also his first time in the courtroom since he abruptly walked out of proceedings after his attorneys failed to convince a judge to issue an immediate verdict in his favour, and after the judge fined him a second time for violating a trial gag order for his disparaging remarks about the judge’s chief clerk.

His testimony also comes after two days of testimony from his sons Donald Jr and Eric Trump, who both claimed that they had nothing to do with the creation of their father’s statements of financial condition, the allegedly fraudulent documents at the centre of the case, provided to financial institutions.

The judge, frequently targeted by Trump on his Truth Social and in rants steps outside the courtroom’s doors, has already issued a summary judgment finding him liable for fraud. The bench trial, with the judge serving as both judge and jury, will determine how much, if anything, he is liable for, and whether the attorney general can succeed on six other claims, including falsifying business documents, insurance fraud, and conspiracy counts attached to each of them.

Trump arrives at New York State Supreme Court

14:34 , Oliver O'Connell

In depth: How Donald Trump’s fraud trial became his presidential campaign

14:33 , Oliver O'Connell

From the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Alex Woodward writes:

The New York State Supreme Court building on Centre Street is a historic landmark dripping with dramatic classical Roman-inspired architecture, with a cavernous circular interior surrounded by the stairwells that wind around it. It was formerly the Tweed Courthouse, named after the corrupt “Boss” Tweed figure of Tammany Hall infamy.

A wide staircase leads to the massive granite columns in the front of the building. Dramatic afternoon light beams into the short hallway in front of heavy wooden doors outside room 300 on the third floor.

Over the last month, the hallway and the courtroom on the other side of it have been filled with members of the press, photographers and video cameras. For five weeks, it has been Donald Trump’s most reliable pulpit.

Until the moment he is called to the witness stand on Monday 6 November, Mr Trump has never been under any obligation to attend the civil trial stemming from a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James that threatens his family’s vast business and real estate empire.

Read on...

What to expect as Trump takes the stand at New York civil fraud trial

Trump sends fundraising email ahead of trial testimony

14:00 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump’s campaign has sent a new fundraising email asking supporters to send in cash ahead of his testimony at the New York civil fraud trial.

Read the email below:

Patriot, 1 year from today, Americans will cast their vote for the next President of the United States.At such a critical moment, I would love nothing more than to be talking to voters about the very important issues on your mind and the many solutions I can (and will) deliver as your next President. That’s what an election should be about.But instead, I am being forced to take the witness stand tomorrow in a SHAM trial in New York City where an extremely anti-Trump Attorney General is trying to impose the “corporate death penalty” upon me and even my family.It’s an absolute disgrace what is happening to our country.Crooked Joe’s regime is weaponizing the legal system to try and destroy his LEADING opponent who’s beating him in the polls by 10 points.This is Election Interference plain and simple. No reasonable person can deny it.Democrats know they’re on the brink of losing to us in an epic landslide. And now with only 1 year to go until the election, they see that our movement has only grown stronger.So, they’re accelerating the attacks and forcing me to stand trial in their never-ending witch hunts.But with your support, we will prove that NOTHING – not even the most vicious acts of Election Interference imaginable – can stop the greatest political movement in history.”

Trump rants on Truth Social ahead of testimony

13:41 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Monday morning before making his way to the courthouse where he will testify in his fraud trial.

“Getting ready to head to the Downtown Lower Manhattan Courthouse to testify in one of the many cases that were instigated and brought by my POLITICAL OPPONENT, Crooked Joe Biden, through agencies and surrogates, for purposes of ELECTION INTERFERENCE,” he raged.

“This is the first time this method of cheating in an election has been so blatantly used in the USA as a POLITICAL WEAPON! Mostly done in Third World Countries. Got a really Biased, Nasty, Club controlled, but often overturned, Judge, a Racist, Evil, and Corrupt Attorney General, BUT A CASE THAT, ACCORDING TO ALMOST ALL LEGAL SCHOLARS, HAS ZERO MERIT. A dark day for our Country. WITCH HUNT!”

His presidential campaign also fired off a fundraising email:

“Patriot,1 year from today, Americans will cast their vote for the next President of the United States.At such a critical moment, I would love nothing more than to be talking to voters about the very important issues on your mind and the many solutions I can (and will) deliver as your next President. That’s what an election should be about.But instead, I am being forced to take the witness stand tomorrow in a SHAM trial in New York City where an extremely anti-Trump Attorney General is trying to impose the “corporate death penalty” upon me and even my family.It’s an absolute disgrace what is happening to our country.Crooked Joe’s regime is weaponizing the legal system to try and destroy his LEADING opponent who’s beating him in the polls by 10 points.This is Election Interference plain and simple. No reasonable person can deny it.Democrats know they’re on the brink of losing to us in an epic landslide. And now with only 1 year to go until the election, they see that our movement has only grown stronger.So, they’re accelerating the attacks and forcing me to stand trial in their never-ending witch hunts.But with your support, we will prove that NOTHING – not even the most vicious acts of Election Interference imaginable – can stop the greatest political movement in history.”

WATCH LIVE: Donald Trump to testify in New York civil fraud trial

13:20 , Rachel Sharp

Gag order expanded to include Trump attorneys in fraud trial

12:50 , Alex Woodward

The New York judge overseeing a case that could collapse Donald Trump’s business empire has expanded a gag order to include the former president’s attorneys after their in-court comments about his chief clerk.

An order from Judge Arthur Engoron on 3 November arrived one day after he assailed Mr Trump’s attorneys for openly criticising the judge’s principal law clerk for advising him throughout the trial.

The judge imposed a gag order earlier this month that blocks any parties from making comments about the court’s staff after the former president made a series of false and disparaging remarks about her outside the courtroom and on his Truth Social account.

Mr Trump already has violated the order twice, incurring $15,000 in fines.

After hours of testimony from Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump this week, which lawyers for the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said were “extremely” favourable in their case targeting the Trump Organization, lead attorney Christopher Kise launched into a tirade on Friday about the clerk’s perceived “bias”, allegations outlined in a right-wing news website, and what he feels like are “two adversaries” on the bench.

Mr Kise drew audible groans and laughter from the courtroom when he pointed to allegations about the clerk that appeared in Breitbart, a website formerly operated by Mr Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon.

In an order issued on Friday afternoon, the judge said Mr Trump’s attorneys have made “on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks” about Ms Greenfield, “falsely accusing her of bias against them and improperly influencing the ongoing bench trial.”

Mr Trump’s lawyers “are not entitled to the confidential communications amongst me and my court staff, who are hired specifically to aid me in carrying out my adjudicative responsibilities,” he added. “Nor are they entitled to continue referencing my staff in the record.”

Judge Engoron said attorneys’ failure to abide by the terms of the order will result in “serious sanctions” against them.

Will Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial be televised?

12:20 , Oliver O'Connell

In a historic moment for America, Donald Trump is set to give testimony under oath today in a case that threatens to topple his business empire.

The former president is expected to take the stand in his civil fraud trial in New York on Monday, days after his adult sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr testified last week.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit back in September 2022 accusing Mr Trump, his adult sons Don Jr and Eric, the Trump Organization and several executives of widespread business fraud including overinflating the company’s value for years.

Mr Trump has already been found liable for fraud – in a bombshell ruling from the judge just days before the case was headed to trial.

Now, the judge will determine what penalties Mr Trump should face.

Read on...

Trump falsely claims '60 Minutes' episode proves Pence could flip 2020 election

11:50 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has falsely claimed that Sunday night’s “60 Minutes” episode proves Mike Pence could have overturned the 2020 election results.

“60 Minutes? So, if the Vice President didn’t have the power to act (Sending votes back to Legislatures for rechecking and rapid approval, UNLESS THEY FOUND FRAUD, OR SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE VOTE COUNTING!), why did the RINOS & Democrats get together and CHANGE THE LAW so that (A) Vice President in the future wouldn’t do what these people said he couldn’t do? If he couldn’t do it, they would not have changed the law,” he ranted on Truth Social on Sunday.

“Those same people would have told you, but only AFTER the Election, that a V.P. HAD the right to send them back to the States for recertification, and they didn’t like that, so they changed the law, taking away that right. I disagree because if Fraud is found, fix it! 60 Minutes: “Last year, Democrats and Republicans past an Electoral Count Law. It now CLARIFIES a Vice President’s role is to read, not judge, the votes.” The fact that they had to CLARIFY THE LAW means that there was UNCERTAINTY, which means that it was open to INTERPRETATION. It could have been done!”

Mr Trump fuelled the January 6 Capitol riot by falsely claiming that his then vice president could certify the election results in his favour – instead of President Joe Biden who the American people elected.

When Mr Pence refused, his followers chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as they rampaged the US Capitol that day.

What to expect as Trump takes the stand at New York civil fraud trial

11:20 , Rachel Sharp

The New York State Supreme Court building on Centre Street is a historic landmark dripping with dramatic classical Roman-inspired architecture, with a cavernous circular interior surrounded by the stairwells that wind around it. It was formerly the Tweed Courthouse, named after the corrupt “Boss” Tweed figure of Tammany Hall infamy.

A wide staircase leads to the massive granite columns in the front of the building. Dramatic afternoon light beams into the short hallway in front of heavy wooden doors outside room 300 on the third floor.

Over the last month, the hallway and the courtroom on the other side of it have been filled with members of the press, photographers and video cameras. For five weeks, it has been Donald Trump’s most reliable pulpit.

Until the moment he is called to the witness stand on Monday 6 November, Mr Trump has never been under any obligation to attend the civil trial stemming from a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James that threatens his family’s vast business and real estate empire.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward reports:

What to expect as Trump takes the stand at New York civil fraud trial

Trump lashes out at judge and AG James ahead of trial testimony

10:50 , Rachel Sharp

Ahead of his appearance on the stand at his New York civil fraud trial on Monday, Donald Trump reposted several of his past Truth Social posts where he attacked Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“This Rigged Trial, brought by the Racist New York State A.G. Letitia James before Trump and developer Hating Judge, Arthur Engoron, which should have never been brought in that the so-called STAR WITNESS, SleazeBag Lawyer (for many people) Michael Cohen, admitted last week on the stand that he LIED, and also that your favorite President, Donald J. Trump, or anyone from the Trump Organization, NEVER TOLD HIM TO INFLATE VALUES ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, the opposite of what he told the A.G. in order to get this HOAX started,” he reTruthed.

“Therefore, on that fact alone, this Fake Case should be dismissed. Additionally, however, the Financial Statements Values are Conservative (LOW!), Mar-a-Lago is worth MUCH MORE than $18,000,000, there is a 100% Disclaimer Clause on the 1st page of the Statements, the Banks and Insurance Companies were paid in full, no defaults, they all made money, and there is no Victim (except me!). Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!”

Trump to testify in New York civil fraud trial today

10:21 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump is headed for New York to give landmark testimony in the civil fraud trial that threatens to topple his business empire.

The former president is expected to take the stand in the case today, days after his adult sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr testified last week.

His daughter Ivanka Trump is slated to appear for testimony in court on Wednesday – hours before the third Republican primary debate.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward will be in the courtroom giving you all the latest coverage.

Where do all of Trump’s criminal charges and lawsuits currently stand?

06:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The former president faces criminal charges from DC to Palm Beach and Manhattan to Atlanta. The Independent’s Josh Marcus runs down where each one currently stands.

Tracking Trump’s criminal charges and lawsuits - and where they stand

What does Melania Trump think of fraud case against her husband?

05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Melania Trump hasn’t spoken publicly about the case, but the former president has told reporters at the courthouse what he thinks she feels about the trial...

Trump reveals how Melania feels about his civil fraud trial

04:00 , Oliver O'Connell

2024 ballot trials ask: What even is an insurrection?

During oral arguments before the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday, the justices returned to a question at the centre of an effort to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot: What is an insurrection?

But for the justices weighing whether to apply Section 3 – dubbed the “insurrection clause” – of the 14th Amendment to Mr Trump’s election eligibility, it requires pinpointing who gets to define an insurrection and when one occurs.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment contains a Civil War-era provision that disqualifies a person from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking the oath of office. However, it does not define insurrection or what it means to engage in one.

Ariana Baio reports.

Effort to remove Trump from ballot raises question: What is an insurrection?

Voices: Trump’s children learnt their father’s best tricks - and it could be his downfall

02:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Elise Seyfried writes:

I used to resent one of my co-workers who habitually came in late, left early, even helped themselves to other people’s work. There seemed to be no consequences for them, ever. “They’re getting away with murder!” I would sputter in frustration. I understood this to be just a figure of speech; I never really believed things could escalate to actual mayhem.

I thought of this colleague when, in 2016, Donald Trump boasted on tape that he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and not lose voters. “Figure of speech!” I thought at the time. But then came the next seven years, and the endless cascade of lies and double-dealing from the 45th President. And yet Trump seemed to be correct in his belief that accountability was for suckers.

Until perhaps, at long last, now.

Read the full article...

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?

Chris Christie responds to crowd boos at Florida Republican event

Sunday 5 November 2023 23:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Chris Christie waged a battle with a Trump-loving audience at the Florida Freedom Summit, slamming the crowd for being afraid of the truth and detached from reality.

The former New Jersey governor was greeted with boos at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee outside Orlando on Saturday.

Mr Christie, who’s waging what’s seen by many as a doomed campaign to take down Mr Trump, faced the audience’s wrath immediately after entering the stage, with the booing continuing throughout his 15-minute speech, according to CBS News.

“Your anger against the truth is reprehensible,” he told the crowd. “The problem is you want to shout down any voice that says anything different than what you want to hear.”

“You can go and boo about it as much as you like, but it doesn’t change the truth and the truth is coming,” he added.

“What a shock, you’re for Trump. I’m going to fall over dead. The problem is you fear the truth,” Mr Christie said.

“I assume that you’re yelling for $33 trillion in debt,” he told the audience. “It must be one of the things you’re for. You’re probably for it. Because you won’t be here to pay for it. But our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be here to pay for it.”

READ MORE

DC election trial: Trump asks appeals court to let him attack witnesses in Jan 6 case

Sunday 5 November 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Attorneys for former president Donald Trump have asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn a district court order barring him from attacking or disparaging witnesses and other figures connected to the election subversion and conspiracy case pending against him in Washington.

In court papers filed late Thursday with the appellate court, Mr Trump’s legal team argues that the gag order imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on 16 October was inappropriate and an infringement on his right to free speech because he is “the leading candidate for President of the United States”.

At the time she entered the order, Judge Chutkan acknowledged Mr Trump’s status as a candidate and said her order would not bar him from “criticising the government generally ... or the Justice Department” or statements characterising his prosecution as “politically motivated”.

But she said she would prohibit anyone involved in the case from “targeting” court personnel, prosecutors, or their families.

She also prohibited statements about witnesses or potential witnesses, or about their testimony and noted that the ex-president’s past conduct and the tendency of those targeted by him to receive threats and harassment figured prominently in her decision to impose the order.

Read more...

ICYMI: Ivanka Trump loses appeal to delay New York civil fraud trial testimony

Sunday 5 November 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump lost an appeal to postpone her testimony in her father’s $250m civil fraud lawsuit.

An interim appeals court swiftly denied her motion to seek a temporary stay on Thursday night for testimony on 8 November after her attorney said she would encounter “undue hardship” as it was scheduled “in the middle of a school week”.

“Ms Trump, who resides in Florida with her three minor children, will suffer undue hardship if a stay is denied and she is required to testify at trial in New York in the middle of a school week, in a case she has already been dismissed from, before her appeal is heard,” her attorney said in an appeal filed Thursday.

Ivanka Trump loses appeal to delay testifying in New York $250m civil fraud trial

Trump to take the stand Monday in civil fraud trial

Sunday 5 November 2023 18:38 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump is set to take the stand in his $250m civil fraud trial in New York on Monday.

The former president’s testimony is expected to also conclude on Monday, but it may continue on Wednesday following the court’s election day closure on Tuesday, CNN notes.

The trial may determine the future of Mr Trump’s business empire in New York – state Attorney General Letitia James is seeking damages and to bar the ex-president from doing business in the state.

His daughter Ivanka Trump is set to testify on Wednesday.

Trump’s legal team complains special counsel Jack Smith’s filings are too long

Sunday 5 November 2023 18:00 , Ariana Baio

Donald Trump’s legal team is requesting special counsel Jack Smith keep it brief when submitting filings to a federal judge in the government’s 2020 election subversion and January 6 case.

In a two-page filing sent to Judge Tanya Chutkan on Saturday, Mr Trump’s defence team asked that the judge prohibit Mr Smith’s prosecution team from exceeding the 45-page limit in an “oversized” filing that responds to Mr Trump’s attempt to have the case thrown out.

At the end of October, Mr Trump filed four motions to dismiss the federal case against him on statutory and constitutional grounds.

Mr Smith first asked Judge Chutkan to allow the prosecution to exceed the 45-page limit before they submit their response to Mr Trump’s motions.

But the ex-president’s team says it is unnecessary and believes Mr Smith should file four separate responses to the motions to dismiss in order to “avoid confusion over the application of any arguments to the parties’ respective briefing.”

READ MORE

Trump slams DeSantis with latest insult: ‘Wounded falling bird from the skies’

Sunday 5 November 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump went after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in their shared home state with a new insult, calling him “a wounded falling bird from the skies”.

Both Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis attended the Florida Freedom Summit at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee outside Orlando on Saturday. They were joined by some of their fellow 2024 presidential candidates – former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and biotech entrepreneur turned anti-woke campaigner Vivek Ramaswamy.

The candidate increasingly seen as the only non-Trump alternative able to possibly take on the former president, former South Carolina Governor and Trump UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, didn’t attend.

After each of them filed to be on the ballot in the 2024 Florida primary, the candidates addressed the gathered audience of GOP adherents.

Mr Trump, who is expected to win the Republican nomination even amid his deepening legal woes, predictably garnered the most attention at the event.

“My people said, ‘Sir, don’t hit him,’” Mr Trump said regarding the Florida Governor and his former ally turned adversary. “‘He’s a Republican.’ I said, ‘I don’t care if he’s a Republican.’ And we hit him hard and now he’s like a wounded falling bird from the skies.”

READ MORE

Trump is already accusing his 2024 rivals of cheating

Sunday 5 November 2023 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Although more than three months remain before the 2024 Iowa caucus kicks into gear, former President Donald Trump has already begun accusing his political rivals of cheating.

In a video posted on the Republican frontrunner’s Instagram page on Tuesday evening, Mr Trump said, “You know the other side does cheat, and we’re not gonna let that happen.”

He encouraged Iowa caucus-goers to “do whatever is necessary” on 15 January to “make America great again.”

“If you do, we will win. We will win big and that’s what you have to do,” the former president added.

Mr Trump is no stranger to bogus election fraud claims.

Trump is already accusing his 2024 rivals of cheating

Why were Trump’s attorneys called out for misogyny?

Sunday 5 November 2023 14:30 , Oliver O'Connell

After hours of testimony from Donald Trump’s adult sons that the office of New York Attorney General called “extremely” favourable in its case against his business empire, attorneys for the former president raged at the judge overseeing the case, throwing a last-minute grenade into Thursday’s trial.

Judge Arthur Engoron snapped at Trump attorney Christopher Kise, who mentioned the judge’s chief clerk, the subject of disparaging comments from Mr Trump that prompted a gag order he subsequently violated twice.

“Do not refer to my staff again,” the judge said. “If there’s any further reference to anyone on my staff … I will include a standing gag order to include [attorneys].”

Judge Engoron suggested that there’s a “bit of misogyny” that fuels the comments against his female clerk, which Mr Trump’s attorneys flatly denied.

Trump team called out for ‘misogyny’ after Donald Jr and Eric testify in fraud trial

Fraud trial judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

Sunday 5 November 2023 13:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The New York judge overseeing a case that could collapse Donald Trump’s business empire has expanded a gag order to include the former president’s attorneys after their in-court comments about his chief clerk.

An order from Judge Arthur Engoron on 3 November arrived one day after he assailed Mr Trump’s attorneys for openly criticising the judge’s principal law clerk for advising him throughout the trial.

The judge imposed a gag order earlier this month that blocks any parties from making comments about the court’s staff after the former president made a series of false and disparaging remarks about her outside the courtroom and on his Truth Social account.

Mr Trump already has violated the order twice, incurring $15,000 in fines.

After hours of testimony from Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump this week, which lawyers for the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said were “extremely” favourable in their case targeting the Trump Organization, lead attorney Christopher Kise launched into a tirade on Friday about the clerk’s perceived “bias”, allegations outlined in a right-wing news website, and what he feels like are “two adversaries” on the bench.

Judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

Giuliani should be worried, says Jenna Ellis lawyer

Sunday 5 November 2023 10:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Lawyers for Jenna Ellis, the former lawyer for Donald Trump and co-defendant in the Fulton County election subversion indictment, said in an interview that Rudy Giuliani “should be worried” about the case.

Ms Ellis’s attorneys — Frank Hogue and his wife and co-counsel Laura Hogue — spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about their client’s recent plea deal. She is the fourth of 19 defendants to accept an offer from prosecutors.

The case was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and of the four criminal indictments with former president Trump at the centre, it is the most sprawling, encapsulating multiple plots to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.

Ms Ellis pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, however, she was sentenced under the First Offender Act to five years probation.

This could come to an end after three years of good behaviour and she would not have a criminal record.

Crucially for prosecutors, Ms Ellis agreed to cooperate with the case going forward. This potentially makes her a star witness against fellow defendants including the former president and Mr Giuliani.

Read more...

2024 ballot trials ask: What even is an insurrection?

Sunday 5 November 2023 07:00 , Oliver O'Connell

During oral arguments before the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday, the justices returned to a question at the centre of an effort to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot: What is an insurrection?

But for the justices weighing whether to apply Section 3 – dubbed the “insurrection clause” – of the 14th Amendment to Mr Trump’s election eligibility, it requires pinpointing who gets to define an insurrection and when one occurs.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment contains a Civil War-era provision that disqualifies a person from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking the oath of office. However, it does not define insurrection or what it means to engage in one.

Ariana Baio reports.

Effort to remove Trump from ballot raises question: What is an insurrection?

DC election trial: Trump asks appeals court to let him attack witnesses in Jan 6 case

Sunday 5 November 2023 03:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Attorneys for former president Donald Trump have asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn a district court order barring him from attacking or disparaging witnesses and other figures connected to the election subversion and conspiracy case pending against him in Washington.

In court papers filed late Thursday with the appellate court, Mr Trump’s legal team argues that the gag order imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on 16 October was inappropriate and an infringement on his right to free speech because he is “the leading candidate for President of the United States”.

At the time she entered the order, Judge Chutkan acknowledged Mr Trump’s status as a candidate and said her order would not bar him from “criticising the government generally ... or the Justice Department” or statements characterising his prosecution as “politically motivated”.

But she said she would prohibit anyone involved in the case from “targeting” court personnel, prosecutors, or their families.

She also prohibited statements about witnesses or potential witnesses, or about their testimony and noted that the ex-president’s past conduct and the tendency of those targeted by him to receive threats and harassment figured prominently in her decision to impose the order.

Trump asks DC appeals court to let him attack witnesses in Jan 6 case

‘Make me look sexy,’ Don Jr asks courtroom sketch artist

Sunday 5 November 2023 01:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr was called to testify in a New York fraud trial this week, and took an unusual step to protect his image; he reportedly asked a courtroom sketch artist to “make me look sexy.”

The request allegedly came during a rest period in the case on Thursday. He had been testifying for several hours about his involvement in questionable financial statements made by the Trump Organization that a judge already deemed fraudulent.

Once his testimony was finished, the court took a break, and Mr Trump Jr rushed over to a sketch artist, Jane Rosenberg, who was there on assignment for Reuters.

Graig Graziosi has the story.

Trump Jr asked courtroom sketch artist to make him ‘look sexy’

Trump’s plan? Embarrass DeSantis by flipping his endorsements

Saturday 4 November 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump and his allies are attempting to win over influential Florida Republicans who previously endorsed Governor Ron DeSantis.

Two people told NBC News that as many as six GOP lawmakers from the Sunshine State could flip from Mr DeSantis to the former president as soon as next week.

The scheme is planned to come to fruition amid the Florida Freedom Summit set to take place on Saturday, which will be attended by all the major GOP presidential candidates.

The goal is for Florida lawmakers on the state level to come out for Mr Trump next week – the third GOP primary debate is set to take place on Wednesday in Miami but Mr Trump has indicated that he will not take part.

“It’s coming,” one person told NBC. “Exact number not yet said, but it will be close to 10.”

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Trump plots to embarrass DeSantis by flipping his endorsements

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

Saturday 4 November 2023 21:00 , 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?

Full story: Fraud trial judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

Saturday 4 November 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The New York judge overseeing a case that could collapse Donald Trump’s business empire has expanded a gag order to include the former president’s attorneys after their in-court comments about his chief clerk.

An order from Judge Arthur Engoron on 3 November arrived one day after he assailed Mr Trump’s attorneys for openly criticising the judge’s principal law clerk for advising him throughout the trial.

The judge imposed a gag order earlier this month that blocks any parties from making comments about the court’s staff after the former president made a series of false and disparaging remarks about her outside the courtroom and on his Truth Social account.

Mr Trump already has violated the order twice, incurring $15,000 in fines.

After hours of testimony from Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump this week, which lawyers for the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said were “extremely” favourable in their case targeting the Trump Organization, lead attorney Christopher Kise launched into a tirade on Friday about the clerk’s perceived “bias”, allegations outlined in a right-wing news website, and what he feels like are “two adversaries” on the bench.

Judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

When was Trump last in court?

Saturday 4 November 2023 17:00 , Oliver O'Connell

With Donald Trump set to testify in his fraud trial on Monday, you’re probably wondering when he was last in court at his own trial (he’s not obligated to attend as it’s a civil case).

As we’ve seen this week, he certainly wasn’t there to support his two eldest sons as they took the stand — even after Eric dutifully attended behind him each day he sat at the defence table.

Perhaps he’ll stick around for Ivanka’s testimony on Wednesday?

Here’s our coverage of the last time he was in court and how it ended with him storming out — perhaps an indication we should all buckle up on Monday...

Trump called to witness stand and fined $10k for violating gag order in fraud trial

Ex-Trump White House chief Meadows sued by publisher over bogus election claims

Saturday 4 November 2023 16:51 , Gustaf Kilander

The publisher of a book written by Mark Meadows has sued the former Trump White House chief of staff, claiming that he violated the terms of an agreement when he included false statements about former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen.

All Seasons Press filed the lawsuit in Sarasota County in Florida on Friday, arguing that Mr Meadows “promised and represented that ‘all statements contained in the Work are true and based on reasonable research for accuracy’ and that he ‘has not made any misrepresentations to the Publisher about the Work’”.

The publisher added that Mr Meadows, a former Tea Party and North Carolina congressman, caused All Seasons Press “to suffer significant monetary and reputational damage when the media widely reported … that he warned President Trump against claiming that election fraud corrupted the electoral votes cast in the 2020 Presidential Election and that neither he nor former President Trump actually believed such claims”.

The lawsuit follows reporting by ABC News that Mr Meadows received immunity to testify before a grand jury in the investigation headed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, during which the ex-chief is reported to have gone against the version of events in his own book.

The book – The Chief’s Chief – was published in 2021.

READ MORE

Special counsel doesn’t want Trump trial to turn into a TV spectacle

Saturday 4 November 2023 15:35 , Ariana Baio

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge in Washington DC to prohibit media organisations from televising the criminal trial proceedings in the government’s case against Donald Trump regarding his alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and January 6.

In a filing sent to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday, special counsel Jack Smith cited a longstanding judicial rule that bars the broadcasting of federal criminal trials and said the rule should be no different for the ex-president.

Under Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a court “must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.”

Mr Smith said that the rule is in place purely “to avoid the risks that policymakers have determined cameras pose to the fair administration of justice” and that it should remain for Mr Trump to be fairly prosecuted.

But several media organisations, including The New York Times, The Associated Press, NBC Universal and more, have said the unprecedented case against the ex-president is clearly in the public interest and would benefit from being broadcast.

READ MORE

Voices: Trump’s children learnt their father’s best tricks - and it could be his downfall

Saturday 4 November 2023 15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Elise Seyfried writes:

I used to resent one of my co-workers who habitually came in late, left early, even helped themselves to other people’s work. There seemed to be no consequences for them, ever. “They’re getting away with murder!” I would sputter in frustration. I understood this to be just a figure of speech; I never really believed things could escalate to actual mayhem.

I thought of this colleague when, in 2016, Donald Trump boasted on tape that he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave and not lose voters. “Figure of speech!” I thought at the time. But then came the next seven years, and the endless cascade of lies and double-dealing from the 45th President. And yet Trump seemed to be correct in his belief that accountability was for suckers.

Until perhaps, at long last, now.

Read the full article...

GOP Rep Ken Buck plots scorched-earth exit from Congress

Saturday 4 November 2023 13:55 , Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri

Rep. Ken Buck has had enough.

When the Colorado Republican announced this past week that he would not seek reelection, he began with the type of criticism of Democratic policies that is standard fare for a hard-line conservative. But then Buck turned his ire to fellow Republicans, spending most of the three-minute announcement video accusing them of being “obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”

Buck’s scorched-earth approach caught few on Capitol Hill by surprise.

With a deadpan demeanor, an independent streak and a background as a federal prosecutor, Buck has gained national prominence as a House Republican fed up with Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and the Trump allies in Congress who amplify them. It’s a stand few others in the GOP are taking and is a remarkable turn that shows just how deeply Trump’s once-fringe lies about that race have settled into the Republican mainstream.

Buck regularly appears on networks such as CNN and, with no plans to leave Congress before the end of his term, he probably will be a prominent foil to Republicans during his final months in office. His political heresy extends to the impeachment inquiry into Biden, which Buck has dismissed as baseless.

“Our nation is on a collision course with reality, and a steadfast commitment to truth — even uncomfortable truths — is the only way forward,” Buck said in the video.

READ MORE

ICYMI: Ivanka Trump loses appeal to delay New York civil fraud trial testimony

Saturday 4 November 2023 13:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump lost an appeal to postpone her testimony in her father’s $250m civil fraud lawsuit.

An interim appeals court swiftly denied her motion to seek temporary stay on Thursday night for a testimony on 8 November after her attorney said she would encounter “undue hardship” as it was scheduled “in the middle of a school week”.

“Ms Trump, who resides in Florida with her three minor children, will suffer undue hardship if a stay is denied and she is required to testify at trial in New York in the middle of a school week, in a case she has already been dismissed from, before her appeal is heard,” her attorney said in an appeal filed Thursday.

Read more...

Appeals courts temporarily lifts Trump’s gag in election fraud case

Saturday 4 November 2023 12:51 , AP

A federal appeals court temporarily lifted a gag order on Donald Trump in his 2020 election interference case in Washington on Friday — the latest twist in the legal fight over the restrictions on the former president’s speech.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision puts a hold on the limited gag order to give the judges time to consider Trump’s request for a longer pause on the restrictions while his appeals play out. The appeals court said the temporary pause “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits” of Trump’s bid.

The court set oral arguments for Nov. 20 before a panel of three judges — all appointees of Democratic presidents.

An attorney for Trump declined to comment on Friday.

The gag order, imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, bars Trump from making public statements targeting prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses in the case accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election he lost to President Joe Biden. It still allows the former president to assert his innocence and his claims that the case against him is politically motivated.

Chutkan, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama reimposed the gag order on Sunday, after prosecutors pointed to Trump’s recent social media comments about his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

It’s the most serious restriction a court has put on the speech of the GOP presidential primary frontrunner and criminal defendant in four separate cases. Gag orders are not unheard of in high-profile cases, but courts have never had to wrestle before with whether they can curtail the speech of a presidential candidate.

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George Santos sinks lower with vile attack on GOP lawmaker’s son

Saturday 4 November 2023 11:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Serial liar George Santos unleashed a vile attack on the son of a fellow Republican lawmaker, calling him a “felon” and a “drug dealer” who has been “poisoning people on the streets with meth”.

The revolting diatribe came about after the GOP Rep Steve Womack revealed his disappointment that Mr Santos had survived a vote to expel him from Congress on Wednesday.

“Last night, the House saw its shadow. Unfortunately, this means there will be two more weeks of Santos,” Mr Womack quipped on X, formerly Twitter.

In response, the embattled New York congressman chose to launch a venomous and highly personal attack on Mr Womack’s son James Womack.

Rachel Sharp reports on what he said.

George Santos unleashes vile attack on GOP lawmaker’s son

‘Vaping groping’ Lauren Boebert slammed by Marjorie Taylor Greene

Saturday 4 November 2023 09:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Marjorie Taylor Greene has lashed out at “vaping groping” Lauren Boebert in the latest spat between the friends turned sworn foes.

The Georgia congresswoman had gone on the attack against fellow Republican Rep Chip Roy after he voted against her resolution to censure Muslim lawmaker Rashida Tlaib over her stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

Mr Roy was one of 23 Republicans who joined 199 Democrats in rejecting Ms Greene’s measure and defended the move in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Rep. Rashida Tlaib has repeatedly made outrageous remarks toward Israel and the Jewish people. Her conduct is unbecoming of a member of Congress and certainly worthy of condemnation - if not censure,” Mr Roy wrote on X.

The post clearly rattled Ms Greene who fired off an angry reply – while managing to take aim at her fellow MAGA fan but sworn rival Ms Boebert in the process.

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Watch: Eric Trump claims world ‘laughing about what’s going on'

Saturday 4 November 2023 06:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Jimmy Kimmel rips Donald Trump Jr over testimony

Saturday 4 November 2023 03:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Jimmy Kimmel served Donald Trump Jr a brutal mockery after he took to the witness stand on Wednesday in a $250 million fraud lawsuit against the Trump family business brought by the New York attorney general.

The former president’s son testified over fraudulent documents concerning the financial status of the real estate company, the Trump Organization.

Mr Trump Jr, who denies any involvement alongside his brother Eric Trump, made a witty remark about regretting not wearing make-up as photographers lined the courtroom.

One person who certainly did not find Mr Trump Jr’s jokes funny was talk show host Mr Kimmel.

Amelia Neath has the story.

Jimmy Kimmel tears down Trump Jr after fraud trial

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

Saturday 4 November 2023 01:30 , 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?

Saturday 4 November 2023 00:40 , Alex Woodward

In an order issued on Friday afternoon, the judge said Mr Trump’s attorneys have made “on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks” about Ms Greenfield, “falsely accusing her of bias against them and improperly influencing the ongoing bench trial.”

“These arguments have no basis,” the judge wrote.

The heated exchanges came moments before Eric Trump’s final round of questioning on the witness stand.

His father and co-defendant in the case is next. Mr Trump will testify on Monday.

Ivanka Trump, who successfully removed herself as a co-defendant in the attorney general’s $250m lawsuit earlier this year, will testify on Wednesday. She lost her appeals to block or delay her testimony.

The lawsuit alleges that the former president, his adult sons and their chief associates defrauded financial institutions for years by inflating his net worth and assets to fraudulently obtain favourable business deals.

In September, Judge Engoron issued a summary judgment finding the defendants liable for fraud. The trial, which could last through the weekend before Christmas, is considering the attorney general’s attempts to recover tens of millions of dollars from the Trumps’ allegedly ill-gotten gains.

Judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

Saturday 4 November 2023 00:20 , Alex Woodward

Mr Kise drew audible groans and laughter from the courtroom when he pointed to allegations about the clerk that appeared in Breitbart, a website formerly operated by Mr Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon.

“I’ll let everyone in the room decide what they think about Breitbart,” the judge said.

The article in Breitbart is solely sourced from the man who claims to be behind a social media account (which describes itself as “like a clandestine intelligence organization”) filled with false and inflammatory statements surrounding the case. False attacks from the account that targeted Judge Engoron’s clerk Allison Greenfield were shared by Mr Trump, which prompted the judge’s gag order.

That man, Brock Fredin, also launched a website using Ms Greenfield’s name one day after that gag order was imposed.

“I think the defense will have to make serious consideration to seeking a mistrial” if those allegations are substantiated, Mr Kise told the judge on Friday.

Kevin Wallace with the office of attorney general criticised the Trump attorneys’ “sideshow” that he said is “designed to interrupt our ability to put an end to this.”

“If there’s something improper between a judge and a clerk passing notes, you should make your motion now,” he added.

Continued...

Full story: Fraud trial judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

Saturday 4 November 2023 00:00 , Alex Woodward

The New York judge overseeing a case that could collapse Donald Trump’s business empire has expanded a gag order to include the former president’s attorneys after their in-court comments about his chief clerk.

An order from Judge Arthur Engoron on 3 November arrived one day after he assailed Mr Trump’s attorneys for openly criticising the judge’s principal law clerk for advising him throughout the trial.

The judge imposed a gag order earlier this month that blocks any parties from making comments about the court’s staff after the former president made a series of false and disparaging remarks about her outside the courtroom and on his Truth Social account.

Mr Trump already has violated the order twice, incurring $15,000 in fines.

After hours of testimony from Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump this week, which lawyers for the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said were “extremely” favourable in their case targeting the Trump Organization, lead attorney Christopher Kise launched into a tirade on Friday about the clerk’s perceived “bias”, allegations outlined in a right-wing news website, and what he feels like are “two adversaries” on the bench.

Continued...

Giuliani should be worried, says Jenna Ellis lawyer

Friday 3 November 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Lawyers for Jenna Ellis, the former lawyer for Donald Trump and co-defendant in the Fulton County election subversion indictment, said in an interview that Rudy Giuliani “should be worried” about the case.

Ms Ellis’s attorneys — Frank Hogue and his wife and co-counsel Laura Hogue — spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about their client’s recent plea deal. She is the fourth of 19 defendants to accept an offer from prosecutors.

The case was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and of the four criminal indictments with former president Trump at the centre, it is the most sprawling, encapsulating multiple plots to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.

Ms Ellis pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, however, she was sentenced under the First Offender Act to five years probation.

This could come to an end after three years of good behaviour and she would not have a criminal record.

Crucially for prosecutors, Ms Ellis agreed to cooperate with the case going forward. This potentially makes her a star witness against fellow defendants including the former president and Mr Giuliani.

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2024 ballot trials ask: What even is an insurrection?

Friday 3 November 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

During oral arguments before the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday, the justices returned to a question at the centre of an effort to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot: What is an insurrection?

But for the justices weighing whether to apply Section 3 – dubbed the “insurrection clause” – of the 14th Amendment to Mr Trump’s election eligibility, it requires pinpointing who gets to define an insurrection and when one occurs.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment contains a Civil War-era provision that disqualifies a person from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking the oath of office. However, it does not define insurrection or what it means to engage in one.

Ariana Baio reports.

Effort to remove Trump from ballot raises question: What is an insurrection?

DC election trial: Trump asks appeals court to let him attack witnesses in Jan 6 case

Friday 3 November 2023 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Attorneys for former president Donald Trump have asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn a district court order barring him from attacking or disparaging witnesses and other figures connected to the election subversion and conspiracy case pending against him in Washington.

In court papers filed late Thursday with the appellate court, Mr Trump’s legal team argues that the gag order imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on 16 October was inappropriate and an infringement on his right to free speech because he is “the leading candidate for President of the United States”.

At the time she entered the order, Judge Chutkan acknowledged Mr Trump’s status as a candidate and said her order would not bar him from “criticising the government generally ... or the Justice Department” or statements characterising his prosecution as “politically motivated”.

But she said she would prohibit anyone involved in the case from “targeting” court personnel, prosecutors, or their families.

She also prohibited statements about witnesses or potential witnesses, or about their testimony and noted that the ex-president’s past conduct and the tendency of those targeted by him to receive threats and harassment figured prominently in her decision to impose the order.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Full story: Fraud trial judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys

Friday 3 November 2023 20:40 , Oliver O'Connell

The New York judge overseeing a case that could collapse Donald Trump’s business empire has expanded a gag order to include the former president’s attorneys after their in-court comments about his chief clerk.

An order from Judge Arthur Engoron on 3 November arrived one day after he assailed Mr Trump’s attorneys for openly criticising the judge’s principal law clerk for advising him throughout the trial.

The judge imposed a gag order earlier this month that blocks any parties from making comments about the court’s staff after the former president made a series of false and disparaging remarks about her outside the courtroom and on his Truth Social account.

Mr Trump already has violated the order twice, incurring $15,000 in fines.

After hours of testimony from Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump this week, which lawyers for the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said were “extremely” favourable in their case targeting the Trump Organization, lead attorney Christopher Kise launched into a tirade on Friday about the clerk’s perceived “bias”, allegations outlined in a right-wing news website, and what he feels like are “two adversaries” on the bench.

Alex Woodward has been watching the trial unfold in court for The Independent, read the rest of his report here:

Fraud trial judge expands gag order to include Trump attorneys