2024-03-26 13:15:37
Donald Trump appears in New York court for hearing in hush money case
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Donald Trump’s experienced a day of mixed fortunes in the courtroom on Monday as the judge presiding over his hush money case in Manhattan ruled the trial could go ahead as planned with jury selection on 15 April while a New York appeals court granted him a major win on the day his $464m fraud bond had been due.
Mr Trump attended the pretrial hearing on the hush money case and said afterwards he would have “no problem testifying”, adding that he expects to become “more popular” if he is ultimately convicted because his supporters know the case against him is a “scam.”
Meanwhile, the Republican presidential candidate was unexpectedly handed a 10-day extension to pay $175m of the total fraud judgement against him as the deadline day for that payment dawned.
Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is worth billions of dollars but that much of that value is tied up in the Trump Organization and his brand-building real estate holdings.
New York attorney general Letitia James responded by saying the defendant “is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud”.
On Tuesday, his Truth Social platform will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange as a public company.
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Trump takes aim at hush-money judge and his daughter
Donald Trump has lashed out at Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter on Truth Social.
Judge Merchan is presiding over the New York criminal hush-money case brought against the former president by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Here’s what Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform this morning:
Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. In other words, he hates me! His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam “Shifty” Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem)Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden. He was recently the judge on an unrelated trial of a long term employee, elderly and not in good health. This judge treated him viciously, telling him either you cooperate or I’m putting you in jail for 15 years. He pled, and went to jail for very minor offenses, highly unusual, served 4 months in Rikers, and now they are after him again, this time for allegedly lying (doesn’t look like a lie to me!), and they threatened him again with 15 years if he doesn’t say something bad about “TRUMP.” He is devastated and scared! These COUNTRY DESTROYING SCOUNDRELS & THUGS HAVE NO CASE AGAINST ME. WITCH HUNT!
Oliver O’Connell26 March 2024 14:02
Murkowski says she’s considering quitting Republican Party over Trump
Lisa Murkowski’s future in the GOP is now publicly in question as the Alaska senator says she is grappling with the reality that her party is set to nominate the twice-impeached former president who faces 88 criminal charges for the presidency.
The centrist Republican has broken with her party’s base several times in recent years, including in the second Trump impeachment trial, and now cannot stomach the prospect of him becoming the party’s presidential nominee.
John Bowden has more on her dilemma.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 13:45
McDaniel hiring backlash continues on NBC
The network’s decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel continues to face criticism from pundits on air, with Lawrence O’Donnell particularly damning in deriding the Trump ally for dropping “Romney” from her surname to please the former president over his hatred of her uncle Mitt Romney.
Here’s John Bowden on Chuck Todd’s reaction to McDaniel.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 13:15
Hutchinson slams MAGA representatives for ‘lying to their constituents’
Strong stuff from the former Trump administration aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who bravely spoke out to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack about the then-president’s activities on that infamous day.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 12:45
Trump claimed he had $500m ‘in cash’ for his campaign. Will he use it now? ‘None of your business’
Last week, Trump claimed he had “almost” $500m “in cash” that he obtained “through hard work, talent and luck.”
He said that “substantial amount” was intended to fund his presidential campaign.
Days later, facing an imminent deadline to post an appeals bond of nearly half a billion dollars to block enforcement of civil fraud judgment against him, the former president suggested he had “a similar amount in my bank account” and he “intended to use much of that hard earned money on running for President.”
But after a New York appeals court allowed him to post a $175m bond up to 10 days after Monday’s deadline to come up with the cash, the Republican Party’s likely nominee for president said it’s “none of your business” if he actually puts up any of his own money for his campaign.
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 12:15
Georgia racketeering case: Fani Willis denies ethics dispute delayed Trump prosecution
Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis disputed that her office’s prosecution of Trump over his efforts to pressure state officials in Georgia to change the 2020 election results was in any way hindered or slowed down by the dispute over her relationship with a prosecutor on the case.
John Bowden has the latest from the Peach State.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 11:45
Biden derides ‘feeble, confused and tired’ Trump for comparing himself to Jesus
Trump posted this on the aforementioned Truth Social yesterday, amid his time of trials.
It drew this delightfully withering response from the Biden campaign.
Incidentally, over on Fox News, it was Charles Manson, not Christ, to whom Trump was likened, unwisely, by pundit Marc Thiessen, who griped: “None of this would be happening if Donald Trump wasn’t running for president. They’ve issued 91 indictments against Donald Trump.
“Charles Manson faced 10… They’ve got multiple cases trying to bankrupt him.”
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 11:15
Trump’s Truth Social platform hits Wall Street today
Trump World never sleeps and, today, his Truth Social platform will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange as a public company, with the former president tipped to make a cool and timely $3.5bn from the venture if he sells his 78m shares at the first opportunity in six months time, all being well.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 10:45
Trump bond lifelife branded ‘absolute travesty’ and proof that ‘lawfare’ not working against him
Here’s a little reaction to yesterday’s move by the five-judge panel on the New York appeals court to delay and discount Trump’s bond deadline.
Letitia James was defiant in the face of disappointment.
Former New York assistant attorney general Tristan Snell called it an “absolute travesty” and an “absolute gross miscarriage of justice” on MSNBC while ex-Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele said the decision made “absolutely no sense”.
But Trump lawyer Alina Habba was jubilant.
For Trump ally Steve Bannon, it was proof that conventional “lawfare” simply does not work against the 45th president.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 10:15
Trump’s latest gaffe-riddled press conference sees him forgetting name of New York’s governor
After emerging from Judge Merchan’s courtroom, Trump spoke briefly to reporters.
He then held a rambling press conference at his nearby 40 Wall Street property – which could yet be seized by New York attorney general Letitia James – a gathering that was laced with blunders and “contentious” statements, a selection of which you can see for yourself below.
“You can’t have an election in the middle of a political season,” he declares, before pledging to “bring crime back to law and order”.
Here’s Mike Bedigan’s round-up, starting with Trump’s confusion over who precisely is New York’s current governor.
Joe Sommerlad26 March 2024 09:45
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