Trump receives middle finger greeting at UFC before SNL cold open - Live

Donald Trump was given a standing ovation from a Madison Square Gardens crowd on Saturday night as he entered the New York City arena to watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 295.

But amongst the applause, cameras captured actress Nia Renee Hill, the wife of comedian Bill Burr, appear to flash two middle fingers at the former president.

Mr Trump was accompanied by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and UFC president Dana White as he made his way ringside after the preliminary bouts were over.

His son Donald Trump Jr and Kid Rock were also among the 19,000-strong crowd.

He earlier delivered a speech in Claremont, New Hampshire, where he once again mistakenly claimed that Barack Obama was the current president.

Over on Saturday Night Live, actor James Austin Johnson played Trump in the sketch show’s cold open as he gatecrashed the Republican presidential debate.

Johnson mocked his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination as they remained frozen behind him — just as they are in the polls.

Key Points

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

• Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

• Trump team reveals first witness for defence in NY fraud trial

• Trump takes credit for Manchin not running for re-election

• ‘I don’t recall’: Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

• Voices: Whinging into the void on the Day of the Don

ICYMI: Ivanka Trump roasted over trial testimony by Jimmy Kimmel

09:00 , Bevan Hurley

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel roasted Ivanka Trump on Wednesday night, after she struggled to recall much as she gave testimony in her father’s $250 million civil fraud trial.

Ms Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter, was the last of the Trump children to testify in Donald Trump’s case in New York on Wednesday.

The former president, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, and other Trump Organization executives and associates are currently being sued for defrauding banks and investors by overvaluing Mr Trump’s net worth and assets by as much as $2.2bn a year to gain more favourable financing terms. Mr Trump has denied the allegations.

Ms Trump hired her own attorney and successfully removed herself as a defendant in the case earlier this year, but her attempts to dodge testifying ultimately failed.

Jimmy Kimmel roasts Ivanka Trump over trial testimony

Trump receives middle finger greeting from Bill Burr’s wife at UFC

07:00 , Bevan Hurley

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

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

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

Mr Trump entered the arena after the preliminary bouts accompanied by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and UFC president Dana White.

Full story below

Trump receives middle finger greeting from Bill Burr’s wife at UFC

SNL’s Trump crashes GOP debate and mocks rivals in cold open

05:00 , Bevan Hurley

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

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

SNL’s Trump crashes GOP debate and mocks rivals in cold open

Biden and Harris should make way for Democrats who can actually beat Trump

03:00 , Bevan Hurley

Eric Lewis writes for Independent Voices

“In this complex and difficult time, there is one proposition that is inarguable: Donald Trump cannot be elected president of the United States without endangering American democracy, the rule of law, nuclear security and countless other requisites of a stable and secure world.

No risk should be taken which might materially increase the likelihood that Trump and his cronies will be settling scores at home and abroad in January 2025. So, the polling data released on Sunday by the New York Times and Siena College, showing Trump ahead in five of six swing states, cannot be ignored. Nor can the indications of significant defections in the Democratic base of Black, and especially Hispanic, voters.”

Read Eric’s full opinion piece below.

Biden and Harris should make way for Democrats who can beat Trump | Eric Lewis

ICYMI: Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

01:30 , Bevan Hurley

Days before Donald Trump’s attorneys mount their month-long case to defend the former president from fraud allegations that threaten his business empire, one of his chief allies in Congress filed an ethics complaint against the judge presiding over the trial.

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

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

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

Ms Stefanik accused the judge of “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” while overseeing a “disgraceful lawsuit” against the Trump family’s business.

Alex Woodward reports.

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

ICYMI: Judge Aileen Cannon rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Sunday 12 November 2023 23:30 , Bevan Hurley

The judge overseeing the criminal case against former president Donald Trump in the Southern District of Florida has rejected the ex-president’s most recent attempt to delay his trial on charges that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed a probe into how he still had classified documents at his home long after his presidency had ended.

In an order issued on Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Mr Trump’s request to delay the trial that she scheduled for 20 May 2024 earlier this year.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Trump intends to weaponise DOJ and FBI against political enemies

Sunday 12 November 2023 22:30 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump has issued an alarming threat to weaponise the Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI against his political enemies if he succeeds in taking back the White House in 2024.

Speaking to Univision in an interview aired on Thursday night, the former president suggested that he would use the federal agencies to go after and indict his rivals – something he claims his rivals have done to him.

“You say they’ve weaponised the Justice Department, they weaponised the FBI. Would you do the same if you’re re-elected?” journalist Enrique Acevedo asked him.

Here’s how the former president responded.

Trump says he would weaponise DOJ and FBI against political enemies

Trump joins news orgs to ‘demand’ 2020 conspiracy trial is aired on TV

Sunday 12 November 2023 21:30 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump rarely is on the side of mainstream media organisations, but in a federal court filing submitted late Friday, he joined with outlets like the Associated Press in pushing for his federal election interference case in Washington to be aired live on TV.

“President Trump absolutely agrees, and in fact demands, that these proceedings should be fully televised so that the American public can see firsthand that this case, just like others, is nothing more than a dreamt-up unconstitutional charade that should never be allowed to happen again,” the former president’s lawyers wrote in a brief.

The special counsel’s office has opposed efforts to put the trial on air, citing longstanding federal court rules against cameras in the courtroom.

Here’s more info on the issue of Trump’s potential made-for-TV trials.

Will Donald Trump’s trial be televised?

Ivanka Trump roasted over trial testimony by Jimmy Kimmel

Sunday 12 November 2023 20:30 , Bevan Hurley

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel roasted Ivanka Trump on Wednesday night, after she struggled to recall much as she gave testimony in her father’s $250 million civil fraud trial.

Ms Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter, was the last of the Trump children to testify in Donald Trump’s case in New York on Wednesday.

The former president, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, and other Trump Organization executives and associates are currently being sued for defrauding banks and investors by overvaluing Mr Trump’s net worth and assets by as much as $2.2bn a year to gain more favourable financing terms. Mr Trump has denied the allegations.

Ms Trump hired her own attorney and successfully removed herself as a defendant in the case earlier this year, but her attempts to dodge testifying ultimately failed.

Jimmy Kimmel roasts Ivanka Trump over trial testimony

SNL’s Trump crashes GOP debate and mocks rivals in cold open

Sunday 12 November 2023 19:30 , Bevan Hurley

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

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

SNL’s Trump crashes GOP debate and mocks rivals in cold open

Trump receives middle finger greeting from Bill Burr’s wife at UFC

Sunday 12 November 2023 18:35 , Bevan Hurley

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

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

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

Mr Trump entered the arena after the preliminary bouts accompanied by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and UFC president Dana White.

Full story below

Trump receives middle finger greeting from Bill Burr’s wife at UFC

Sunday 12 November 2023 14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

ICYMI: Judge Aileen Cannon rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Sunday 12 November 2023 14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The judge overseeing the criminal case against former president Donald Trump in the Southern District of Florida has rejected the ex-president’s most recent attempt to delay his trial on charges that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed a probe into how he still had classified documents at his home long after his presidency had ended.

In an order issued on Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Mr Trump’s request to delay the trial that she scheduled for 20 May 2024 earlier this year.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Sunday 12 November 2023 13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Days before Donald Trump’s attorneys mount their month-long case to defend the former president from fraud allegations that threaten his business empire, one of his chief allies in Congress filed an ethics complaint against the judge presiding over the trial.

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

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

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

Ms Stefanik accused the judge of “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” while overseeing a “disgraceful lawsuit” against the Trump family’s business.

Alex Woodward reports.

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

NY fraud trial: Smiling Ivanka grilled on Donald Trump’s net worth

Sunday 12 November 2023 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Documents capturing Donald Trump’s allegedly grossly inflated net worth and assets in his real-estate empire are at the heart of a case that threatens to collapse the family business.

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump said they had nothing to do with them. The former president downplayed their existence entirely but said he would “look at them” and maybe offer “suggestions”. They blame the accountants, and the accountants blame the Trumps. Michael Cohen also said he was “tasked” with coming up with “whatever number Mr Trump told us to”.

As for Ivanka Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter who stepped away from the family business to join him at the White House, she can’t recall much of anything about emails and documents surrounding favourable business deals under scrutiny from New York’s attorney general.

Alex Woodward watched proceedings in the courtroom in Lower Manhattan.

Ivanka grilled on Donald Trump’s net worth in fraud trial testimony

‘Insurrection’ lawsuit to keep Trump from primary tossed by Minnesota court

Sunday 12 November 2023 10:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The Minnesota Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to bar former president Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot.

The challenge, from a bipartisan group of state voters, sought to block Mr Trump’s campaign under a 14th Amendment provision forbidding candidates who “engaged in insurrection.”

The state appellate court held in a brief ruling on Wednesday that the Civil War-era measure did not apply to the Minnesota primary process, which it argued was a fundamentally local process outside the purview of the US Constitution.

Josh Marcus reports.

Minnesota court tosses ‘insurrection’ lawsuit to keep Trump from primary

Sunday 12 November 2023 08:45 , Oliver O'Connell

‘Trump is not qualified to be president - he doesn’t even have to proven guilty’

GOP ‘high on their own supply’ of election lies, says MSNBC host

Sunday 12 November 2023 06:45 , Oliver O'Connell

MSNBC host Ari Melber quoted the movie Scarface and said that Republicans had bought into too many of their own lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Melber spoke on Thursday evening about how Republicans faced massive electoral defeats in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia and noted how the Republican Party is now in thrall to the wing that supports former president Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election.

“The fact that the Trump wing of the party embraced denialism has hurt the party’s ability to get anywhere near competitive,” he said. “If you’re watching this and want a healthy democracy, that’s a bad thing. If you’re watching and want Republicans to keep losing elections you’re hoping they keep making this mistake.”

Melber then played a clip from the movie Scarface wherein Elvira Hancock, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, said “Lesson two, don’t get high on your own supply.”

Eric Garcia reports.

Republicans ‘high on their own supply’ of election lies, says MSNBC host

No Trump, no ratings?

Sunday 12 November 2023 04:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The third Republican presidential primary debate only drew in about 7 million viewers, making it the least-watched debate of the election season this year.

The NBC News broadcast aired during primetime, between 8pm and 10pm on Wednesday, and delivered 6.8m television viewers, of which 1.3m were in the 25-54 age demographic favoured by advertisers, according to Nielsen Media Research. All told including streaming, NBC News said it attracted about 7.5 million viewers.

The viewership data does not include those who watched the event on streaming services or viewed clips on social media and video streaming sites like YouTube.

Third GOP debate brought in lowest ratings yet

Trump bid to delay classified documents trial rejected by judge he appointed

Sunday 12 November 2023 02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The judge overseeing the criminal case against former president Donald Trump in the Southern District of Florida has rejected the ex-president’s most recent attempt to delay his trial on charges that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed a probe into how he still had classified documents at his home long after his presidency had ended.

In an order issued on Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Mr Trump’s request to delay the trial that she scheduled for 20 May 2024 earlier this year.

Judge Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Mr Trump and confirmed just weeks before he left office, left open the possibility that she would step in to aid his efforts to push any trial back until after next year’s presidential election in hopes that he will win and be able to order prosecutors to drop the charges after he is sworn in for a second term.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Trump intends to weaponise DOJ and FBI against political enemies

Sunday 12 November 2023 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has issued an alarming threat to weaponise the Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI against his political enemies if he succeeds in taking back the White House in 2024.

Speaking to Univision in an interview aired on Thursday night, the former president suggested that he would use the federal agencies to go after and indict his rivals – something he claims his rivals have done to him.

“You say they’ve weaponised the Justice Department, they weaponised the FBI. Would you do the same if you’re re-elected?” journalist Enrique Acevedo asked him.

Here’s how the former president responded.

Trump says he would weaponise DOJ and FBI against political enemies

Don Jr gets another turn in the spotlight at NY fraud trial

Saturday 11 November 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s legal team have now revealed who will be the first witness called for the defence in the civil fraud trial in New York.

The former president’s son Donald Trump Jr will take the stand on Monday morning for what marks the start of the defence’s case as they seek to prevent the Trump family business empire from being toppled in the Big Apple.

Don Jr has already taken to the stand once in the case as a witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office on 2 and 3 November, where he struggled to remember much about his role at the Trump Organization.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Donald Trump Jr gets another turn in the spotlight at NY fraud trial

Saturday 11 November 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivanka Trump roasted over trial testimony by Jimmy Kimmel

Saturday 11 November 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel roasted Ivanka Trump on Wednesday night, after she struggled to recall much as she gave testimony in her father’s $250 million civil fraud trial.

Ms Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter, was the last of the Trump children to testify in Donald Trump’s case in New York on Wednesday.

The former president, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, and other Trump Organization executives and associates are currently being sued for defrauding banks and investors by overvaluing Mr Trump’s net worth and assets by as much as $2.2bn a year to gain more favourable financing terms. Mr Trump has denied the allegations.

Ms Trump hired her own attorney and successfully removed herself as a defendant in the case earlier this year, but her attempts to dodge testifying ultimately failed.

Jimmy Kimmel roasts Ivanka Trump over trial testimony

Saturday 11 November 2023 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Jan 6 suspect surrenders to police after 4-day manhunt

Saturday 11 November 2023 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The manhunt for Capitol riot suspect Gregory Yetman ended peacefully when he surrendered to authorities days after he fled his pending arrest.

Mr Yetman, 47, was arrested on Friday in New Jersey without incident, according to the FBI.

He has been charged with several crimes relating to the Capitol riot, including assaulting officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

FBI agents and police in New Jersey attempted to locate and arrest Mr Yetman on 6 November after obtaining an arrest warrant. When law enforcement officers approached to serve the warrant, Mr Yetman allegedly ran off, hopped a fence, and darted toward a set of train tracks near a heavily wooded area.

Capitol riot suspect surrenders to police after 4-day manhunt

Saturday 11 November 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump joins news orgs to ‘demand’ 2020 conspiracy trial is aired on TV

Saturday 11 November 2023 17:22 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump rarely is on the side of mainstream media organisations, but in a federal court filing submitted late Friday, he joined with outlets like the Associated Press in pushing for his federal election interference case in Washington to be aired live on TV.

“President Trump absolutely agrees, and in fact demands, that these proceedings should be fully televised so that the American public can see firsthand that this case, just like others, is nothing more than a dreamt-up unconstitutional charade that should never be allowed to happen again,” the former president’s lawyers wrote in a brief.

The special counsel’s office has opposed efforts to put the trial on air, citing longstanding federal court rules against cameras in the courtroom.

Here’s more info on the issue of Trump’s potential made-for-TV trials.

Will Donald Trump’s trial be televised?

What the maid saw...

Saturday 11 November 2023 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell

New information is being revealed about the scope of Jack Smith’s investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago and depicts a startling number of seemingly random people now caught up in his prosecution.

A CNN report on Thursday detailed for the first time how Mr Smith’s team of prosecutors is considering calling a number of lower-level staff at Mr Trump’s sprawling resort complex in Palm Beach to testify in the case against the former president.

Those unnamed staffers include a maid assigned to clean Mr Trump’s living area, a woodworker who was called to the premises for work on a project in Mr Trump’s bedroom, and even the ex-president’s personal chauffeur, according to CNN.

John Bowden has the story.

Plumber and maid among Mar-a-Lago staff who may testify against Trump, report says

Saturday 11 November 2023 15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Saturday 11 November 2023 15:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Days before Donald Trump’s attorneys mount their month-long case to defend the former president from fraud allegations that threaten his business empire, one of his chief allies in Congress filed an ethics complaint against the judge presiding over the trial.

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

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

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

Ms Stefanik accused the judge of “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” while overseeing a “disgraceful lawsuit” against the Trump family’s business.

Alex Woodward reports.

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Trump: Israel losing public relations battle over Gaza war

Saturday 11 November 2023 14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

As Israel is fighting a war against Hamas, former President Donald Trump suggested that the country is losing a separate conflict – a battle of public relations.

“I think Israel has to do a better job of public relations, frankly, because the other side is beating them at the public relations front,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Univision, obtained by Semafor.

The former president previously bashed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he “was not prepared” for the Hamas attack on 7 October, in which hundreds of people were kidnapped and more than 1,000 were killed. He also said Mr Netanyahu “let us down” before the killing of Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

In the latest interview, Mr Trump refined his take, calling the Israeli leader “strong.”

Trump says Israel is losing the public relations battle with Gaza war

Voices: These anti-Trump lawyers are looking beyond Trump to a wider threat

Saturday 11 November 2023 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Andrew Feinberg writes:

Before George Conway was a semi-regular fixture on cable news shows for his commentary about Donald Trump’s legal troubles, a contributing columnist at The Washington Post or the author of a feature-length story in The Atlantic questioning the mental competency of the then-President of the United States, he played a not-so-insignificant role in another movement against an American president.

In the early 1990s, the Yale Law School graduate was one of a small team of volunteer litigators who assisted a woman named Paula Jones in pursuing a sexual harassment lawsuit against then-president Bill Clinton all the way to the Supreme Court, where the case of Clinton v Jones established that a president was not immune from lawsuits arising out of conduct that took place before he took office.

In the intervening decades between those heady days leading to just the second presidential impeachment in US history and the tumultuous presidency of Donald Trump, Conway and many of the people he surrounded himself with during the Clinton years went on to become pillars of the conservative legal movement and upstanding members of a set in Republican high society that has reshaped the federal judiciary.

But on Wednesday, the former Federalist Society board member stood in a basement at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington to explain why he and a group of Bush and Reagan administration alumni were launching a new legal movement which they hope will counter the threat posed by not just a second term of a Donald Trump presidency, but the authoritarian movement Trump has made the centre of GOP politics and legal thought.

These anti-Trump lawyers are looking beyond Trump to a wider threat

Donald Trump keeps attacking New York fraud trial, despite gag order

Saturday 11 November 2023 17:03 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump is continuing to last out at key figures in his New York fraud trial, despite being fined multiple times for violating a gag order that bars him from attacking court staff.

“Judge Engoron should end the ridiculous Political Witch Hunt against me,” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “I have TOTALLY WON THIS CASE, which should never have been brought. The only Fraud was committed by A.G. Letitia James in convincing the Judge that Mar-a-Lago was only worth $18,000,000 (in order to make my ‘numbers’ look bad), when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount. She campaigned on ‘getting Trump.’ She should be prosecuted!”

As Alex Woodward has reported for The Independent, Mr Trump has been fined multiple times for his comments about court staff.

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

‘You don’t like him?’: Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Saturday 11 November 2023 10:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump seemed dumbfounded during a Wednesday night rally after his mentioning the name of a Republican congressman drew jeers from the audience.

Mr Trump visited Hialeah, Florida to hold a counter-rally as the third GOP presidential primary debate was underway nearby.

During the rally, Mr Trump name dropped Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida — but only after butchering his name on a first attempt — and was met with a wave of boos from the audience.

Mr Trump seemed genuinely surprised by the response.

Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Voices: Why the GOP debates are increasingly meaningless without Trump

Saturday 11 November 2023 08:45 , Oliver O'Connell

John Bowden writes:

The anti-Trump right remains desperate to topple his control of the GOP, yet unable to find anyone who can do so. Months of campaigning from the likes of Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy have failed to excite the Republican donor class just as they have failed to rally GOP voters who still back Mr Trump by a massive margin.

And Wednesday night’s debate did little to change that. Mr Trump was mentioned sporadically by both the moderators and candidates, but without the frontrunner present the criticism of his policies and record as president seemed less effective. The big attention-grabbing moment of the night had nothing to do with him; it played out when Mr Ramaswamy took a swipe at Ms Haley’s daughter over her TikTok usage, prompting the South Carolinian to label him “scum”.

Right now, it’s hard to say what, if anything, could move the needle in the GOP primary in any meaningful way. But it does seem clear that the debates are not going to do it, not as long as Mr Trump refuses to attend.

Read more:

Why the GOP debates are increasingly meaningless without Trump

Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Saturday 11 November 2023 06:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivanka Trump became the fourth and final member of the Trump family to give testimony in her father’s high-profile civil fraud case.

The former first daughter attended the lower Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday after exhausting her attempts to avoid testifying in the trial, that threatens her family’s business and vast real-estate empire.

However, unlike her father – who gave evidence two days earlier – Ms Trump’s remarks on the stand were not infused with fiery rhetoric, grandiose statements or back-chat to judge Arthur Engoron.

In many ways, her testimony was unremarkable. But she repeatedly said she “could not recall” the details or documents about her involvement with major projects she later said she was “proud” to work on, or whether she was involved with her father’s financial statements that Judge Engoron has already determined were fraudulent.

Click here are some of the stand-out moments from her evidence

Georgia man charged over threat to kill Marjorie Taylor Greene

Saturday 11 November 2023 04:45 , Oliver O'Connell

A Georgia man has been charged with threatening to kill far-right Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, her family, and staff.

Sean Patrick Cirillo, 34, of Macon, Georgia allegedly called the congresswoman’s office and threatened to shoot and kill her, Ms Greene’s office said.

“I’m going to murder her; I’m going to shoot her in the (expletive) head and kill her, Okay,” the suspect said on the call, which was shared with CNN. “Tell the FBI.”

And the suspect yelled: “You’re going to die. Your family is going to die.”

Graeme Massie has the details.

Man charged over threat to kill Marjorie Taylor Greene

Ari Melber: Republicans ‘high on their own supply’ of election lies

Saturday 11 November 2023 03:45 , Oliver O'Connell

MSNBC host Ari Melber quoted the movie Scarface and said that Republicans had bought into too many of their own lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Melber spoke on Thursday evening about how Republicans faced massive electoral defeats in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia and noted how the Republican Party is now in thrall to the wing that supports former president Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election.

“The fact that the Trump wing of the party embraced denialism has hurt the party’s ability to get anywhere near competitive,” he said. “If you’re watching this and want a healthy democracy, that’s a bad thing. If you’re watching and want Republicans to keep losing elections you’re hoping they keep making this mistake.”

Melber then played a clip from the movie Scarface wherein Elvira Hancock, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, said “Lesson two, don’t get high on your own supply.”

Eric Garcia reports.

Republicans ‘high on their own supply’ of election lies, says MSNBC host

Election officials in five states receive letters containing substances including fentanyl

Saturday 11 November 2023 02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Election officials are keeping a watchful eye on letters that arrive after a series of envelopes containing suspicious substances were sent to officials in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington this past week.

Several election offices reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Postal Service Inspection Service that they received envelopes containing a “white powdery substance” and a threatening note about elections.

In Pierce County, Washington the auditor’s office shared a letter accompanied by the suspicious substance that read “End elections now”, according to The Associated Press.

Another “very similar” letter sent to the elections office in King County, Washington during the August primary contained fentanyl, elections director Julie Wise said.

Now, federal law enforcement officials are looking for the person responsible for sending the letters.

Letters containing suspicious substances sent to election officials in five states

Voices: GOP grapples with election losses: ‘It just means that the Republican platform sucks’

Saturday 11 November 2023 02:15 , Mike Bedigan

Eric Garcia writes:

“It just means that the Republican platform sucks, and that’s not what America wants,” Sen John Fetterman (D-PA) told The Independent. Mr Fetterman, of course, largely won his Senate seat in Pennsylvania last year on the back of the Dobbs backlash, especially when his Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz said that “women, doctors, local political leaders” should make decisions on abortion.

“And unfortunately, the states have to rebuild abortion in after the Supreme Court, but that’s exactly what they’re doing because that’s what the people want,” he said.

And Republicans seem to understand that abortion motivates voters. Sen Thom Tillis (R-NC) tried to note that all three contests were low-turnout races. But he also warned that this could lead to Democrats putting more abortion referendums on state ballots come 2024.

GOP grapples with election losses: ‘It just means that the Republican platform sucks’

Trump’s lawyers are preparing his fraud defence. He already claims he ‘won’

Saturday 11 November 2023 01:42 , Mike Bedigan

After six weeks and more than a dozen witnesses, Donald Trump and his attorneys are trying to put an end to a trial in lower Manhattan that could collapse the former president’s family business and his vast real-estate empire.

On Thursday, Mr Trump’s attorneys asked the judge for a verdict in their favour. On Friday, the former president went further, writing on his Truth Social platform on that he had “TOTALLY WON”, despite the high-profile civil suit having just reached the halfway mark.

Alex Woodward has the full story:

Trump’s lawyers are preparing his fraud defence. He already claims he ‘won’

Third Republican debate brought in lowest ratings yet of 2024 election season

Saturday 11 November 2023 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The third Republican presidential primary debate only drew in about 7 million viewers, making it the least-watched debate of the election season this year.

The NBC News broadcast aired during primetime, between 8pm and 10pm on Wednesday, and delivered 6.8m television viewers, of which 1.3m were in the 25-54 age demographic favoured by advertisers, according to Nielsen Media Research. All told including streaming, NBC News said it attracted about 7.5 million viwers.

The viewership data does not include those who watched the event on streaming services or viewed clips on social media and video streaming sites like YouTube.

Graig Graziosi reports.

Third GOP debate brought in lowest ratings yet

Trump wants to weaponise DOJ and FBI against political enemies

Friday 10 November 2023 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has issued an alarming threat to weaponise the Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI against his political enemies if he succeeds in taking back the White House in 2024.

Speaking to Univision in an interview aired on Thursday night, the former president suggested that he would use the federal agencies to go after and indict his rivals – something he claims his rivals have done to him.

“You say they’ve weaponised the Justice Department, they weaponised the FBI. Would you do the same if you’re re-elected?” journalist Enrique Acevedo asked him.

“Well, he’s unleashed something that everybody, we’ve all known about this for a hundred years,” Mr Trump said, in an apparent reference to President Joe Biden.

“We’ve watched other countries do it and, in some cases, effective and in other cases, the country’s overthrown or it’s been totally ineffective. But we’ve watched this for a long time, and it’s not unique, but it’s unique for the United States.”

Read the full article

Jan 6 suspect surrenders to police after 4-day manhunt

Friday 10 November 2023 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The manhunt for Capitol riot suspect Gregory Yetman ended peacefully when he surrendered to authorities days after he fled his pending arrest.

Mr Yetman, 47, was arrested on Friday in New Jersey without incident, according to the FBI.

He has been charged with several crimes relating to the Capitol riot, including assaulting officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

FBI agents and police in New Jersey attempted to locate and arrest Mr Yetman on 6 November after obtaining an arrest warrant. When law enforcement officers approached to serve the warrant, Mr Yetman allegedly ran off, hopped a fence, and darted toward a set of train tracks near a heavily wooded area.

Graig Graziosi reports.

Capitol riot suspect surrenders to police after 4-day manhunt

‘You don’t like him?’ Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Friday 10 November 2023 23:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump seemed dumbfounded during a Wednesday night rally after his mentioning the name of a Republican congressman drew jeers from the audience.

Mr Trump visited Hialeah, Florida to hold a counter-rally as the third GOP presidential primary debate was underway nearby.

During the rally, Mr Trump name dropped Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida — but only after butchering his name on a first attempt — and was met with a wave of boos from the audience.

Mr Trump seemed genuinely surprised by the response.

Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Don Jr to return to stand on Monday

Friday 10 November 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s legal team have now revealed who will be the first witness called for the defence in the civil fraud trial in New York.

The former president’s son Donald Trump Jr will take the stand on Monday morning for what marks the start of the defence’s case as they seek to prevent the Trump family business empire from being toppled in the Big Apple.

Don Jr has already taken to the stand once in the case as a witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office on 2 and 3 November, where he struggled to remember much about his role at the Trump Organization.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Donald Trump Jr gets another turn in the spotlight at NY fraud trial

Full story: Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Friday 10 November 2023 22:26 , Oliver O'Connell

Days before Donald Trump’s attorneys mount their month-long case to defend the former president from fraud allegations that threaten his business empire, one of his chief allies in Congress filed an ethics complaint against the judge presiding over the trial.

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

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

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

Ms Stefanik accused the judge of “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” while overseeing a “disgraceful lawsuit” against the Trump family’s business.

Alex Woodward reports.

Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump fraud trial judge

Friday 10 November 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell

‘Trump is not qualified to be president - he doesn’t even have to proven guilty’

Ivanka Trump roasted by Jimmy Kimmel over fraud trial testimony

Friday 10 November 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel roasted Ivanka Trump on Wednesday night, after she struggled to recall much as she gave testimony in her father’s $250 million civil fraud trial.

Ms Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter, was the last of the Trump children to testify in Donald Trump’s case in New York on Wednesday.

The former president, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, and other Trump Organization executives and associates are currently being sued for defrauding banks and investors by overvaluing Mr Trump’s net worth and assets by as much as $2.2bn a year to gain more favourable financing terms. Mr Trump has denied the allegations.

Ms Trump hired her own attorney and successfully removed herself as a defendant in the case earlier this year, but her attempts to dodge testifying ultimately failed.

Martha McHardy has the story.

Jimmy Kimmel roasts Ivanka Trump over trial testimony

Georgia man charged over threat to kill Marjorie Taylor Greene

Friday 10 November 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A Georgia man has been charged with threatening to kill far-right Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, her family, and staff.

Sean Patrick Cirillo, 34, of Macon, Georgia allegedly called the congresswoman’s office and threatened to shoot and kill her, Ms Greene’s office said.

“I’m going to murder her; I’m going to shoot her in the (expletive) head and kill her, Okay,” the suspect said on the call, which was shared with CNN. “Tell the FBI.”

And the suspect yelled: “You’re going to die. Your family is going to die.”

Graeme Massie has the details.

Man charged over threat to kill Marjorie Taylor Greene

Trump: Israel losing public relations battle over Gaza war

Friday 10 November 2023 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell

As Israel is fighting a war against Hamas, former President Donald Trump suggested that the country is losing a separate conflict – a battle of public relations.

“I think Israel has to do a better job of public relations, frankly, because the other side is beating them at the public relations front,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Univision, obtained by Semafor.

The former president previously bashed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he “was not prepared” for the Hamas attack on 7 October, in which hundreds of people were kidnapped and more than 1,000 were killed. He also said Mr Netanyahu “let us down” before the killing of Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

In the latest interview, Mr Trump refined his take, calling the Israeli leader “strong.”

Read the full article

Trump bid to delay classified documents trial rejected by judge

Friday 10 November 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The judge overseeing the criminal case against former president Donald Trump in the Southern District of Florida has rejected the ex-president’s most recent attempt to delay his trial on charges that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed a probe into how he still had classified documents at his home long after his presidency had ended.

In an order issued on Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Mr Trump’s request to delay the trial that she scheduled for 20 May 2024 earlier this year.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Ari Melber: Republicans ‘high on their own supply’ of election lies

Friday 10 November 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

MSNBC host Ari Melber quoted the movie Scarface and said that Republicans had bought into too many of their own lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Melber spoke on Thursday evening about how Republicans faced massive electoral defeats in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia and noted how the Republican Party is now in thrall to the wing that supports former president Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election.

“The fact that the Trump wing of the party embraced denialism has hurt the party’s ability to get anywhere near competitive,” he said. “If you’re watching this and want a healthy democracy, that’s a bad thing. If you’re watching and want Republicans to keep losing elections you’re hoping they keep making this mistake.”

Melber then played a clip from the movie Scarface wherein Elvira Hancock, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, said “Lesson two, don’t get high on your own supply.”

Eric Garcia reports.

Republicans ‘high on their own supply’ of election lies, says MSNBC host

What the maid saw...

Friday 10 November 2023 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell

New information is being revealed about the scope of Jack Smith’s investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago and depicts a startling number of seemingly random people now caught up in his prosecution.

A CNN report on Thursday detailed for the first time how Mr Smith’s team of prosecutors is considering calling a number of lower-level staff at Mr Trump’s sprawling resort complex in Palm Beach to testify in the case against the former president.

Those unnamed staffers include a maid assigned to clean Mr Trump’s living area, a woodworker who was called to the premises for work on a project in Mr Trump’s bedroom, and even the ex-president’s personal chauffeur, according to CNN.

John Bowden has the story.

Plumber and maid among Mar-a-Lago staff who may testify against Trump, report says

Elisa Stefanik files ethics complaint against judge in Trump fraud trial

Friday 10 November 2023 20:02 , Oliver O'Connell

New York Republican Rep Elisa Stefanik has filed a judicial ethics complaint against Justice Arthur Engoron, the New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

In a letter to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Ms Stefanik accuses Judge Engoron of showing “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” toward the former president.

The New York lawmaker writes:

This judge’s bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system, where Judge Engoron is not honoring the defendant’s rights to due process and a fair trial. These serious concerns are exacerbated by the fact that the defendant is the leading candidate for President of the United States, and it appears the judicial system is being politicized to affect the outcome of the campaign.

Simply put, Judge Engoron has displayed a clear judicial bias against the defendant throughout the case, breaking several rules in the New York Code of Judicial Conduct.

Mr Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the judge online and while testifying had to be reined in on several occasions to stop him from delivering campaign-style speeches from the witness box.

Election officials in five states receive letters containing substances including fentanyl

Friday 10 November 2023 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Election officials are keeping a watchful eye on letters that arrive after a series of envelopes containing suspicious substances were sent to officials in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington this past week.

Several election offices reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Postal Service Inspection Service that they received envelopes containing a “white powdery substance” and a threatening note about elections.

In Pierce County, Washington the auditor’s office shared a letter accompanied by the suspicious substance that read “End elections now”, according to The Associated Press.

Another “very similar” letter sent to the elections office in King County, Washington during the August primary contained fentanyl, elections director Julie Wise said.

Now, federal law enforcement officials are looking for the person responsible for sending the letters.

Read the full report by Ariana Baio

Voices: Why the GOP debates are increasingly meaningless without Trump

Friday 10 November 2023 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

John Bowden writes:

The anti-Trump right remains desperate to topple his control of the GOP, yet unable to find anyone who can do so. Months of campaigning from the likes of Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy have failed to excite the Republican donor class just as they have failed to rally GOP voters who still back Mr Trump by a massive margin.

And Wednesday night’s debate did little to change that. Mr Trump was mentioned sporadically by both the moderators and candidates, but without the frontrunner present the criticism of his policies and record as president seemed less effective. The big attention-grabbing moment of the night had nothing to do with him; it played out when Mr Ramaswamy took a swipe at Ms Haley’s daughter over her TikTok usage, prompting the South Carolinian to label him “scum”.

Right now, it’s hard to say what, if anything, could move the needle in the GOP primary in any meaningful way. But it does seem clear that the debates are not going to do it, not as long as Mr Trump refuses to attend.

Continue reading...

Voices: GOP grapples with election losses: ‘It just means that the Republican platform sucks’

Friday 10 November 2023 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

“It just means that the Republican platform sucks, and that’s not what America wants,” Sen John Fetterman (D-PA) told The Independent. Mr Fetterman, of course, largely won his Senate seat in Pennsylvania last year on the back of the Dobbs backlash, especially when his Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz said that “women, doctors, local political leaders” should make decisions on abortion.

“And unfortunately, the states have to rebuild abortion in after the Supreme Court, but that’s exactly what they’re doing because that’s what the people want,” he said.

And Republicans seem to understand that abortion motivates voters. Sen Thom Tillis (R-NC) tried to note that all three contests were low-turnout races. But he also warned that this could lead to Democrats putting more abortion referendums on state ballots come 2024.

GOP grapples with election losses: ‘It just means that the Republican platform sucks’

‘Insurrection’ lawsuit to keep Trump from Minnesota primary tossed out by court

Friday 10 November 2023 19:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The Minnesota Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to bar former president Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot.

The challenge, from a bipartisan group of state voters, sought to block Mr Trump’s campaign under a 14th Amendment provision forbidding candidates who “engaged in insurrection.”

The state appellate court held in a brief ruling on Wednesday that the Civil War-era measure did not apply to the Minnesota primary process, which it argued was a fundamentally local process outside the purview of the US Constitution.

Josh Marcus has the details.

Minnesota court tosses ‘insurrection’ lawsuit to keep Trump from primary

Tucker Carlson as vice president?

Friday 10 November 2023 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump said he will consider Tucker Carlson as his potential running mate.

The former president was asked on the conservative podcast The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show if he could have Carlson on his list of potential vice presidents.

“Oh wow,” replied Mr Trump before talking about how his interview with the former Fox News host “broke every record in history”.

Shweta Sharma has the story.

Trump floats Tucker Carlson as potential vice president

Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Friday 10 November 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivanka Trump became the fourth and final member of the Trump family to give testimony in her father’s high-profile civil fraud case.

The former first daughter attended the lower Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday after exhausting her attempts to avoid testifying in the trial, that threatens her family’s business and vast real-estate empire.

However, unlike her father – who gave evidence two days earlier – Ms Trump’s remarks on the stand were not infused with fiery rhetoric, grandiose statements or back-chat to judge Arthur Engoron.

In many ways, her testimony was unremarkable. But she repeatedly said she “could not recall” the details or documents about her involvement with major projects she later said she was “proud” to work on, or whether she was involved with her father’s financial statements that Judge Engoron has already determined were fraudulent.

Here are some of the stand-out moments from her evidence:

‘Who’s she?’: Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Voices: These anti-Trump lawyers are looking beyond Trump to a wider threat

Friday 10 November 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Andrew Feinberg writes:

Before George Conway was a semi-regular fixture on cable news shows for his commentary about Donald Trump’s legal troubles, a contributing columnist at The Washington Post or the author of a feature-length story in The Atlantic questioning the mental competency of the then-President of the United States, he played a not-so-insignificant role in another movement against an American president.

In the early 1990s, the Yale Law School graduate was one of a small team of volunteer litigators who assisted a woman named Paula Jones in pursuing a sexual harassment lawsuit against then-president Bill Clinton all the way to the Supreme Court, where the case of Clinton v Jones established that a president was not immune from lawsuits arising out of conduct that took place before he took office.

In the intervening decades between those heady days leading to just the second presidential impeachment in US history and the tumultuous presidency of Donald Trump, Conway and many of the people he surrounded himself with during the Clinton years went on to become pillars of the conservative legal movement and upstanding members of a set in Republican high society that has reshaped the federal judiciary.

But on Wednesday, the former Federalist Society board member stood in a basement at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington to explain why he and a group of Bush and Reagan administration alumni were launching a new legal movement which they hope will counter the threat posed by not just a second term of a Donald Trump presidency, but the authoritarian movement Trump has made the centre of GOP politics and legal thought.

Continue reading...

Trump wants to weaponise DOJ and FBI against political enemies

Friday 10 November 2023 17:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has issued an alarming threat to weaponise the Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI against his political enemies if he succeeds in taking back the White House in 2024.

Speaking to Univision in an interview aired on Thursday night, the former president suggested that he would use the federal agencies to go after and indict his rivals – something he claims his rivals have done to him.

“You say they’ve weaponised the Justice Department, they weaponised the FBI. Would you do the same if you’re re-elected?” journalist Enrique Acevedo asked him.

Read the former president’s full response here and take particular note of his clever invention of a new idiom:

Donald Trump

Trump: Israel losing public relations battle over Gaza war

Friday 10 November 2023 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell

As Israel is fighting a war against Hamas, former President Donald Trump suggested that the country is losing a separate conflict – a battle of public relations.

“I think Israel has to do a better job of public relations, frankly, because the other side is beating them at the public relations front,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Univision, obtained by Semafor.

The former president previously bashed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he “was not prepared” for the Hamas attack on 7 October, in which hundreds of people were kidnapped and more than 1,000 were killed. He also said Mr Netanyahu “let us down” before the killing of Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

In the latest interview, Mr Trump refined his take, calling the Israeli leader “strong.”

Kelly Rissman reports.

Trump says Israel is losing the public relations battle with Gaza war

Breaking: Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Friday 10 November 2023 16:28 , Oliver O'Connell

The judge overseeing the criminal case against former president Donald Trump in the Southern District of Florida has rejected the ex-president’s most recent attempt to delay his trial on charges that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed a probe into how he still had classified documents at his home long after his presidency had ended.

In an order issued on Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Mr Trump’s request to delay the trial that she scheduled for 20 May 2024 earlier this year.

Judge Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Mr Trump and confirmed just weeks before he left office, left open the possibility that she would step in to aid his efforts to push any trial back until after next year’s presidential election in hopes that he will win and be able to order prosecutors to drop the charges after he is sworn in for a second term.

She wrote in her order that she would consider more requests to delay Mr Trump’s trial during a scheduling conference on 1 March.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Judge rejects Trump bid to delay classified documents trial

Trump continues to rail against fraud case

Friday 10 November 2023 16:19 , Oliver O'Connell

He won’t stop... here’s the latest from the former president’s keyboard via Truth Social:

Judge Engoron should end the ridiculous Political Witch Hunt against me. I have TOTALLY WON THIS CASE, which should never have been brought. The only Fraud was committed by A.G. Letitia James in convincing the Judge that Mar-a-Lago was only worth $18,000,000 (in order to make my “numbers” look bad), when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount. She campaigned on “getting Trump.” She should be prosecuted!

Independent readers give verdict on whether Trump should be president again

Friday 10 November 2023 16:15 , Oliver O'Connell

‘Trump is not qualified to be president - he doesn’t even have to proven guilty’

Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Friday 10 November 2023 15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivanka Trump became the fourth and final member of the Trump family to give testimony in her father’s high-profile civil fraud case.

The former first daughter attended the lower Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday after exhausting her attempts to avoid testifying in the trial, that threatens her family’s business and vast real-estate empire.

However, unlike her father – who gave evidence two days earlier – Ms Trump’s remarks on the stand were not infused with fiery rhetoric, grandiose statements or back-chat to judge Arthur Engoron.

In many ways, her testimony was unremarkable. But she repeatedly said she “could not recall” the details or documents about her involvement with major projects she later said she was “proud” to work on, or whether she was involved with her father’s financial statements that Judge Engoron has already determined were fraudulent.

Here are some of the stand-out moments from her evidence.

‘You don’t like him?’: Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Friday 10 November 2023 15:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump seemed dumbfounded during a Wednesday night rally after his mentioning the name of a Republican congressman drew jeers from the audience.

Mr Trump visited Hialeah, Florida to hold a counter-rally as the third GOP presidential primary debate was underway nearby.

During the rally, Mr Trump name dropped Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida — but only after butchering his name on a first attempt — and was met with a wave of boos from the audience.

Mr Trump seemed genuinely surprised by the response.

“Oh! You don’t like him?” Mr Trump asked.

Graig Graziosi has the story...

Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Trump continues to declare victory in civil case despite judge ruling he is liable for fraud

Friday 10 November 2023 15:06 , Oliver O'Connell

With defence arguments due to start on Monday with his son Donald Trump Jr back on the witness stand, former president Donald Trump continues to declare victory over the New York Attorney General in his civil fraud trial — despite Judge Arthur Engoron having already found him and his company liable for defrauding banks and insurers.

Here’s what he had to say on Truth Social last night:

We have totally proven our innocence in the FAKE A.G. “case.” We have WON ON EVERY POINT, including the fact that their so-called “Star” witness is a complete FRAUD, who openly admitted in Court that he lied, and that the information he gave to the bloodthirsty and disgraceful Attorney General was not factual or true. HE MADE IT ALL UP! Then today, Judge Engoron admitted that his original decision on Fraud was incorrect when he said “I’M NOT HERE TO VALUE THESE PROPERTIES. I’M HERE TO DECIDE WHETHER THESE STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION WERE FRAUDULENT.” Well, the Fraud that he said I committed was based on the values that were set. That’s what the whole case is about! He and the Attorney General knowingly put down ridiculously LOW VALUES on assets, like Mar-a-Lago ($18.000.000) so that they could say my Financial Statement numbers were “INFLATED” when, in fact, they were NOT…..Therefore he should immediately REVERSE HIS WRONGFUL AND TOTALLY DISCREDITED SUMMARY JUDGEMENT DECISION.

If you made it through all of that angry regurgitation and random capitalisation, here’s some more from about 30 minutes later:

Judge Engoron just did whatever the Corrupt Attorney General told him to do, a puppet, including using Valuations so LOW that they are Fraudulent. HE & LETITIA JAMES COMMITTED THE FRAUD, I DIDN’T. He Valued Mar-a-Lago at $18,000,000 in order to make me look guilty of Fraud, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount. Now he’s trying to say that he didn’t really say that, but he put it down in writing in his Opinion. Judicial and Prosecutorial Misconduct!

For clarification, here’s our reporting on what Judge Engoron said yesterday (from Thursday’s live blog post at 2.32pm ET):

Turning to a different issue, the judge clarifies what his role is and is not: “I'm not here to value these properties. I'm here to decide whether these statements of financial condition were fraudulent.”

He is referring to an insinuation by the former president that he personally assigned a lowball value to Mar-a-Lago when he did not. The $18m figure cited came from an independent appraisal from 2011.

Trump deflects by deriding ‘Breaking Fake News’ over classified documents case witnesses

Friday 10 November 2023 14:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump turned his attention away from his ongoing civil fraud trial to attack a story broken by CNN on Thursday that included on the witness list for the federal classified documents trial are a number of Mar-a-Lago staff members.

The former president still maintains (as in his civil case) that he did nothing wrong, had every right to take top-secret materials from the White House when he left office, and that everyone else has done far worse things and he’s the victim and... you get the point.

Here’s what he posted this morning:

Fake News CNN just did a story, leaked by Deranged Prosecutor Jack Smith and his massive team of Radical Left Lunatics, that various people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago. Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act. I even supplied, upon request, Security Tapes to these Election Interfering Thugs. Is this really “Breaking News?” No, it’s “Breaking Fake News.” But what about all of the papers, boxes, and documents found at NUMEROUS Crooked Joe Biden places, like his garage floor by his cherished Corvette, or CHINATOWN where it was just learned that boxes moved freely in and out. He doesn’t come under the Presidential Records Act because he wasn’t President at the time. Deranged Jack Smith has spent over $100,000,000 investigating me on this phony Russia, Russia, Russia, type Scam. How much $’s have they spent investigating Crooked Joe on his much bigger boxes deal?

And here’s our coverage of the story, courtesy of John Bowden in Washington, DC:

Plumber and maid among Mar-a-Lago staff who may testify against Trump, report says

Don Jr to be first witness for defence in Trump civil fraud trial

Friday 10 November 2023 14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr will be the first witness for the defence at the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York when lawyers for former president Donald Trump begin setting out their case refuting the charges against the family and their company on Monday.

The New York Attorney General’s office rested its case on Wednesday and today was denied a motion to limit certain expert witnesses from testifying for the defence.

They had argued such testimony would be irrelevant but Judge Arthur Engoron said he would allow them to testify as he wanted to be thorough: “I don’t want a retrial of this case, I don’t want to be reversed.”

Their testimony will however be limited to relevant topics that fall in line with his pretrial ruling that the Trumps were liable for fraud.

A last-ditch attempt by the defence team to toss out the remaining six charges against the defendants is yet to be ruled on, but with the court closed tomorrow in observance of Veterans’ Day it is likely that the judge will rule that the case must proceed as planned on Monday.

Beyond the charges of fraud, the remaining six counts in the case include falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit the alleged fraud.

Don Jr testified as a witness for the plaintiff (New York State) last week. Here’s our coverage of his testimony:

Donald Trump Jr quips he ‘should have worn make-up’ in NY fraud trial

Tucker Carlson as Trump’s vice president?

Friday 10 November 2023 13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump said he will consider Tucker Carlson as his potential running mate.

The former president was asked on the conservative podcast The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show if he could have Carlson on his list of potential vice presidents.

“Oh wow,” replied Mr Trump before talking about how his interview with the former Fox News host “broke every record in history”.

“Yeah, I think it just hit over 300 million people,” he said.

“But it was for that evening over 207 million, it then got to 275 [million] within a day or two and the biggest ever was Oprah’s interview with Michael Jackson, which was 125 million.” The former president did not provide any evidence to back his claims.

Trump floats Tucker Carlson as potential vice president

ICYMI: Smiling Ivanka grilled on father’s net worth at fraud trial

Friday 10 November 2023 11:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Documents capturing Donald Trump’s allegedly grossly inflated net worth and assets in his real-estate empire are at the heart of a case that threatens to collapse the family business.

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump said they had nothing to do with them. The former president downplayed their existence entirely but said he would “look at them” and maybe offer “suggestions”. They blame the accountants, and the accountants blame the Trumps. Michael Cohen also said he was “tasked” with coming up with “whatever number Mr Trump told us to”.

As for Ivanka Trump, the former president’s oldest daughter who stepped away from the family business to join him at the White House, she can’t recall much of anything about emails and documents surrounding favourable business deals under scrutiny from New York’s attorney general.

Ms Trump walked briskly into New York Supreme Court on Wednesday morning in a dark suit and smiled as she entered Judge Arthur Engoron’s third-floor courtroom.

Across more than four hours of testimony, Ms Trump spoke softly and deliberately and flashed polite smiles from the witness stand, a stark contrast to her father’s meandering half-finished thoughts in his turbulent courtroom appearance.

Read more...

Donald Trump Jr to return to stand as first defence witness in NY fraud trial

Friday 10 November 2023 11:10 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump’s legal team have now revealed who will be the first witness called for the defence in the civil fraud trial in New York.

The former president’s son Donald Trump Jr will take the stand on Monday morning for what marks the start of the defence’s case as they seek to prevent the Trump family business empire from being toppled in the Big Apple.

Don Jr has already taken to the stand once in the case as a witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office on 2 and 3 November, where he struggled to remember much about his role at the Trump Organization.

During courtroom testimony, he denied knowledge of the fraudulent financial statements at the heart of the $250m case – pushing the responsibility onto accountants who he said “had an incredible, intimate knowledge” of the documents.

“I relied on them,” he said on the stand.

Read more...

Donald Trump Jr to return as first defence witness in NY fraud trial

‘Insurrection’ lawsuit to keep Trump from primary tossed out by Minnesota court

Friday 10 November 2023 10:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The Minnesota Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to bar former president Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot.

The challenge, from a bipartisan group of state voters, sought to block Mr Trump’s campaign under a 14th Amendment provision forbidding candidates who “engaged in insurrection.”

The state appellate court held in a brief ruling on Wednesday that the Civil War-era measure did not apply to the Minnesota primary process, which it argued was a fundamentally local process outside the purview of the US Constitution.

“There is no state statute that prohibits a major political party from placing on the presidential nomination primary ballot, or sending delegates to the national convention supporting, a candidate who is ineligible to hold office,” the ruling reads.

The court left open the possibility that the voters could challenge Donald Trump’s inclusion on the general election ballot in 2024.

Minnesota court tosses ‘insurrection’ lawsuit to keep Trump from primary

Trump: ‘Stench of McConnell’ for Republican candidate’s defeat

Friday 10 November 2023 09:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump insisted Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was to blame for Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron losing to his opponent on Tuesday night, claiming the relationship was “too much to bear” for voters.

“Daniel Cameron lost because he couldn’t alleviate the stench of Mitch McConnell,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“I told him early that’s a big burden to overcome,” the ex-president said while adding that Mr McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader is “kryptonite” for GOP candidates.

Mr McConnell and Mr Cameron are close colleagues and allies. Many Republicans believed Mr Cameron’s campaign would be successful because he had the backing of Mr McConnell.

Sadly for Mr Cameron, it was not to be...

Trump blames the ‘stench of McConnell’ for Republican candidate’s defeat

Trump team reveals first witness for defence in NY fraud trial

Friday 10 November 2023 09:30 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump’s legal team have now revealed the first witness to be called for the defence in the civil fraud trial in New York.

The former president’s son Donald Trump Jr will take the stand on Monday morning for what marks the start of the defence’s case as they seek to prevent the Trump family business empire from being toppled in the Big Apple.

Don Jr has already taken to the stand once in the case as a witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, where he struggled to remember much about his role at the Trump Organization.

Ivanka Trump was the fourth and final family member – and the last prosecution witness – to testify on Wednesday, before the AG’s office rested its case.

As Nikki Haley’s star rises, can her poll numbers catch up with Trump?

Friday 10 November 2023 08:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikki Haley is known for a lot of firsts — the first Asian American woman to serve as governor in US history, the first Indian American member of a presidential Cabinet, the first woman of colour to run for the GOP nomination — but will she become the first woman to serve as US president?

Few think so.

On paper, Ms Haley is arguably the ideal GOP candidate. She boasts impressive foreign policy experience amid the bloody conflict in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas. She is the only woman in the race, giving her a sophisticated position to discuss reproductive rights as Republicans struggle to appeal to voters following the demise of Roe v Wade. Still, the 51-year-old can’t seem to catch up to Mr Trump. Ms Haley’s candidacy demonstrates a larger problem with the 2024 Republican race — no one can touch him.

However, some have argued that her path to the White House isn’t as far-reaching as it once was, as her star has risen in recent weeks. As of the beginning of November, she is tied with rival candidate Florida Gov Ron DeSantis for the spot trailing the prominent frontrunner.

Read the full article by Kelly Rissman

Christie blames Trump ‘poison’ for GOP election losses

Friday 10 November 2023 07:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former New Jersey governor and 2024 GOP hopeful Chris Christie has blamed Donald Trump’s “poison” for the Republican party’s disappointing results in the off-year elections.

Mr Christie, Mr Trump’s onetime staunch ally turned sworn nemesis, pointed out that the former president had endorsed Daniel Cameron in the Kentucky’s gubernatorial race – and that Mr Cameron then landed a major defeat in the red state.

“Cameron was a rising star in the Republican party until he decided to throw his lot in with Donald Trump,” he told CNN on Tuesday night.

“Let’s face it, Donald Trump is political and electoral poison down ballot.”

Read the full article.

ICYMI: Trump fumes about ‘beautiful’ Ivanka having to testify

Friday 10 November 2023 06:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has fumed about his “beautiful daughter” Ivanka Trump being forced to give testimony at his civil fraud trial, as the former first daughter heads to New York for her day in court.

Taking to Truth Social on Tuesday night, Mr Trump once again lashed out at “corrupt” New York Attorney General Letitia James and “Trump hating” Judge Arthur Engoron as he said that calling his daughter to the stand is “sad”.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Trump fumes about ‘beautiful’ Ivanka taking stand at civil fraud trial

Jack Smith strikes at Trump’s ‘culmination’ of election lies

Friday 10 November 2023 05:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal judge in Washington DC to reject Donald Trump’s efforts to strike “inflammatory” descriptions of January 6 from the criminal indictment against him, saying Mr Trump is “responsible for the events at the Capitol” thus the statements are relevant.

In a filing sent to Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday, Mr Smith’s office explicitly attributed the ex-president’s behaviour on the days leading up to January 6 to the violent attack on the Capitol.

Special counsel strikes at Trump’s ‘culmination’ of election lies

Trump’s children testified at his New York civil fraud trial — but why?

Friday 10 November 2023 04:45 , 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?

Trump falsely claims ‘60 Minutes’ proves Pence could flip election

Friday 10 November 2023 03:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump falsely claimed that an episode of 60 Minutes and a recent federal law clarifying the electoral process backed up his unprecedented theory that former vice-president Mike Pence had the power to stop or overturn the counting of the 2020 election results.

Refering to the December 2022 Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, which was mentioned on a recent 60 Minutes broadcast, Mr Trump argued on Truth Social, “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!”

Legal scholars dispute this interpretation.

Read more...

ICYMI: Alina Habba says New York AG Letitia James ‘just not that bright

Friday 10 November 2023 02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump‘s attorney, Alina Habba, said the New York attorney general leading the civil case against the former president was “just not that bright.”

She made the comments on Monday.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is spearheading the former president’s civil trial. She has accused Mr Trump and the Trump Organization of inflating the value of his assets in order to secure better loans, and then devaluing his asset cost to avoid paying taxes. A judge already found Mr Trump liable for fraud, which may end with the further dismantling of his businesses in New York.

Ms Habba appeared on Newsmax on Monday to assure the network’s viewers that Ms James does not have a case against Mr Trump.

“She’s just not that bright. I’m sorry, I have to say it,” Ms Habba said. “I’ve seen their case; I’ve seen their lawyers. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Continued...

Biden jokes about recent falls in Illinois speech

Friday 10 November 2023 01:45 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden joked about his recent falls during a speech to auto workers in Illinois.

As there was a crash heard in the audience, Mr Biden shared a self-deprecating quip, saying “I want the press to know that wasn’t me,” seemingly in reference to the widespread reporting of his recent tumbles.

It was the first visit to the northern Illinois Stateline area by a sitting US president since Ronald Reagan visited his hometown Dixon to mark his 73rd birthday in February 1984.

Mr Biden has often responded to recent attacks on his age with humour, much like Mr Reagan did.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Biden jokes about his past falls in speech to auto union

Voices: Joe Manchin’s reign is over – with a middle finger to his own party

Friday 10 November 2023 00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

As much as he may have irritated Democrats, they realised they had to tolerate Mr Manchin because he had proven to be the only Democrat who could win in West Virginia. In one of his ads when he first ran for Senate in 2010, he shot a proposed cap and trade bill to curb climate change with a rifle and touted his support from the National Rifle Association.

Democrats hoped that pleasing him could convince Mr Manchin to seek re-election in a state where Donald Trump won every county, since they faced a tough map where they would be defending eight swing-state seats. But Mr Manchin remained purse-lipped about his plans.

When I asked whether Gov Andy Beshear’s victory in Kentucky, a neighbouring heavily working-class white Appalachian state similar to West Virginia, would impact his decision, he said flashed a grin and said, “Nothing impacts my decision except my family.”

Read more...

Joe Manchin’s reign is over – with a middle finger to his own party

Pro-Palestine protester interrupts Biden speech

Thursday 9 November 2023 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden’s speech to union workers in northern Illinois was interrupted by a protester calling on him to push for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

It was the first visit to the northern Illinois Stateline area by a sitting US president since Ronald Reagan visited his hometown Dixon to mark his 73rd birthday in February 1984.

Mr Biden joined members of the United Auto Workers union, saying that he sees “the future here in Belvidere” just east of Rockford, adding that the Stellantis auto plant is the “beating heart of the community” as it reopened following the union striking a deal with the automakers.

“President Biden, you need to call for a ceasefire in Gaza,” a protester yelled during Mr Biden’s speech, but she was soon drowned out by the auto workers chanting “we love Joe”.

Pro-Palestine protester interrupts Biden speech

Trump: Israel losing public relations battle in Gaza war

Thursday 9 November 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

As Israel is fighting a war against Hamas, former President Donald Trump suggested that the country is losing a separate conflict – a battle of public relations.

“I think Israel has to do a better job of public relations, frankly, because the other side is beating them at the public relations front,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Univision, obtained by Semafor.

The former president previously bashed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he “was not prepared” for the Hamas attack on 7 October, in which hundreds of people were kidnapped and more than 1,000 were killed. He also said Mr Netanyahu “let us down” before the killing of Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

In the latest interview, Mr Trump refined his take, calling the Israeli leader “strong.”

Kelly Rissman has the details.

Trump says Israel is losing the public relations battle with Gaza war

Thursday 9 November 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Biden makes sign of the cross after mentioning Trump

Don Jr to be first witness for defence in Trump civil fraud trial

Thursday 9 November 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump Jr will be the first witness for the defence at the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York when lawyers for former president Donald Trump begin setting out their case refuting the charges against the family and their company on Monday.

The New York Attorney General’s office rested its case on Wednesday and today was denied a motion to limit certain expert witnesses from testifying for the defence.

They had argued such testimony would be irrelevant but Judge Arthur Engoron said he would allow them to testify as he wanted to be thorough: “I don’t want a retrial of this case, I don’t want to be reversed.”

Their testimony will however be limited to relevant topics that fall in line with his pretrial ruling that the Trumps were liable for fraud.

A last-ditch attempt by the defence team to toss out the remaining six charges against the defendants is yet to be ruled on, but with the court closed tomorrow in observance of Veterans’ Day it is likely that the judge will rule that the case must proceed as planned on Monday.

Beyond the charges of fraud, the remaining six counts in the case include falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit the alleged fraud.

Don Jr testified as a witness for the plaintiff (New York State) last week. Here’s our coverage of his testimony:

Donald Trump Jr quips he ‘should have worn make-up’ in NY fraud trial

McCarthy attacks fellow Republican Gaetz after House speaker ouster

Thursday 9 November 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Kevin McCarthy has attacked his Republican critics who unceremoniously ousted him as House speaker last month.

The California lawmaker unloaded on Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to remove him, and said that the Republican Party would benefit “tremendously” if he was no longer in the House.

Mr McCarthy, who lost his job when eight Republicans turned against him and voted with Democrats, also said that Rep Nancy Mace does not deserve to hold onto her South Carolina seat in 2024.

The former speaker told CNN that Mr Gaetz should face “consequences” for forcing the vote that saw him removed. Mr McCarthy was replaced in the job by Mike Johnson after a chaotic 22-day period in which multiple candidates failed to get enough votes to secure the job.

Graeme Massie reports.

Kevin McCarthy attacks fellow Republican Matt Gaetz after House speaker ouster

Mar-a-Lago staff may testify at Trump classified documents trial, report says

Thursday 9 November 2023 21:19 , Oliver O'Connell

CNN reports:

A plumber, a maid, a chauffeur and a woodworker are among Mar-a-Lago staffers and contract workers who federal prosecutors may call to testify against former President Donald Trump and his two co-defendants at their upcoming criminal trial in Florida, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation.

CNN has assembled a comprehensive picture of how prosecutors are structuring their case against Trump over his mishandling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

While some of the witnesses who may be called to testify hail from Trump’s inner circle, including his career in business, as a political candidate and from his time in the White House, other potential witnesses are the types of workers rarely noticed by Mar-a-Lago’s wealthy guests, according to the sources.

Voices: Why the GOP debates are increasingly meaningless without Trump

Thursday 9 November 2023 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

John Bowden writes:

Mr Trump was mentioned sporadically by both the moderators and candidates, but without the frontrunner present the criticism of his policies and record as president seemed less effective. The big attention-grabbing moment of the night had nothing to do with him; it played out when Mr Ramaswamy took a swipe at Ms Haley’s daughter over her TikTok usage, prompting the South Carolinian to label him “scum”.

Right now, it’s hard to say what, if anything, could move the needle in the GOP primary in any meaningful way. But it does seem clear that the debates are not going to do it, not as long as Mr Trump refuses to attend.

Read the full article...

Why the GOP debates are increasingly meaningless without Trump

Manchin not ruling out run for president, report says

Thursday 9 November 2023 20:39 , Oliver O'Connell

‘You don’t like him?’: Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Thursday 9 November 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump seemed dumbfounded during a Wednesday night rally after his mentioning the name of a Republican congressman drew jeers from the audience.

Mr Trump visited Hialeah, Florida to hold a counter-rally as the third GOP presidential primary debate was underway nearby.

During the rally, Mr Trump name-dropped Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida — but only after butchering his name on a first attempt — and was met with a wave of boos from the audience.

Mr Trump seemed genuinely surprised by the response.

Graig Graziosi has the story.

Trump surprised as crowd boos GOP congressman

Trump takes credit for Manchin not running for re-election

Thursday 9 November 2023 20:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Obviously, Donald Trump is taking credit for Joe Manchin not running for reelection to the US Senate in West Virginia.

Because I Endorsed Big Jim Justice of West Virginia for the U.S. Senate, and he has taken a commanding lead, Democrat Joe Manchin has decided not to seek re-election. Looking good for Big Jim!

Full story: Democratic Senator Joe Manchin won’t seek re-election

Thursday 9 November 2023 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV), the conservative Democratic Senator from the arch-Republican state of West Virginia whose aversion to more liberal policies often dictated the course of President Joe Biden’s domestic policy agenda, announced on Thursday that he would not run for re-election.

Eric Garcia reports for The Independent on this developing story.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin won’t seek re-election

Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Thursday 9 November 2023 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivanka Trump became the fourth and final member of the Trump family to give testimony in her father’s high-profile civil fraud case.

The former first daughter attended the lower Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday after exhausting her attempts to avoid testifying in the trial, that threatens her family’s business and vast real-estate empire.

However, unlike her father – who gave evidence two days earlier – Ms Trump’s remarks on the stand were not infused with fiery rhetoric, grandiose statements or back-chat to Judge Arthur Engoron.

In many ways, her testimony was unremarkable. But she repeatedly said she “could not recall” the details or documents about her involvement with major projects she later said she was “proud” to work on, or whether she was involved with her father’s financial statements that Judge Engoron has already determined were fraudulent.

Mike Bedigan rounds up some of the stand-out moments from her evidence:

‘Who’s she?’: Key moments from Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website