Former President Donald Trump will take part in a Fox News town hall on Tuesday, one night before the next Republican debate.
Sean Hannity will host the pre-taped event, which will be held in Davenport, Iowa. Hannity moderated Thursday night’s debate between California Governor Gavin Newsom and Trump rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Mr Trump was riled up by a new ad by the Lincoln Project that he claims uses Artificial Intelligence to make him look “as bad and pathetic as Crooked Joe Biden”. The ad was broadcast on Fox News.
Meanwhile, A judge has denied an attempt for a fast-tracked appeal of his gag order in his New York fraud trial, days after a ruling allowed the order to stay in place after court filings revealed the scope of abuse and harassment Judge Arthur Engoron’s staff has received.
Monday’s latest appeals court ruling means that the former president will likely still face a gag order when he makes his expected return to New York State Supreme Court next week..
His son Eric Trump was due to take the stand for a second time on Wednesday as a witness for the defence but now will not.
Key Points
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Judge denies Trump’s attempt for quick appeal on gag order
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Trump’s ‘co-opted’ GOP should lose House majority, says Cheney
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Trump isn’t immune from January 6 lawsuits, federal appeals court rules
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Faced with new gag order covering court staff, Trump attacks judge’s wife
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Trump rails against Lincoln Project ad
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NY fraud trial: Eric Trump will not testify again as planned
Voices: Trump continues down path of dominance as GOP rivals scramble for second place
20:30 , Oliver O’Connell
John Bowden writes:
The fourth Republican debate is set for Wednesday, for whatever that’s worth.
Donald Trump, the race’s frontrunner, will not be in attendance. Having skipped three onstage clashes of candidates so far without any negative consequences whatsoever, the former president will complete his mockery of the nominating contest this month by refusing to attend the final debate before voters head to the polls next month in Iowa and begin the race proper.
There are zero signs that Wednesday’s debate will matter. A poll by NewsNation, the network hosting tomorrow’s event in Alabama, found Mr Trump in control of six in 10 GOP voters nationally this week — a clean 50-point margin over Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, his two closest rivals. Worse for them, only a small fraction of the GOP indicated in the poll that a conviction in any of his four criminal cases would change their views, meaning that short of Mr Trump exiting the race, the minds of most voters are likely made up.
This spells more than one problem for the GOP’s traditionalist-to-neoconservative wing, which never really embraced Donald Trump beyond the vehicle that he presented for the confirmation of conservative justices and the advancement of some conservative economic policy.
Continued…
Trump continues down path of dominance as GOP rivals scramble for second place
Giuliani skips confrontation with Georgia election workers
20:24 , Oliver O’Connell
Rudy Giuliani failed to appear in court today for a pre-trial hearing in the defamation case against him filed by Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
Per Politico:
Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers who have been tormented by harassment and threats since 2020, were prepared Tuesday to confront the man they view as the chief instigator of their suffering: Rudy Giuliani.
But Giuliani was a no-show at a federal court hearing in the duo’s defamation lawsuit, prompting a lashing for his attorney by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who had ordered Giuliani to be present.
“How could you have missed that?” Howell asked Giuliani’s attorney, Joe Sibley, incredulously, when he took the blame for Giuliani’s absence.
“My mistake,” Sibley replied, prompting Howell to ask whether he was “falling on his sword” for the former mayor. Sibley insisted he wasn’t but rather that he simply had misunderstood Howell’s order requiring Giuliani’s presence at the hearing, the final session before the civil damages case goes before a jury next week.
Here’s the full story of Ms Freeman and Ms Moss’s case against the former New York mayor:
Trump made life hell for two Black women. He will have to answer for it in court
GOP debate: What the candidates have said about the Israel-Hamas conflict
20:00 , Oliver O’Connell
The onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict was a major theme of the third Republican primary debate on 8 November, with candidates declaring their support for Israel in varying degrees.
Since the war began in early October, there have been disagreements regarding how the US should back Israel as an ally while also trying to protect the innocent Palestinians caught in the crossfire.
Candidates were under more pressure this time around because they were given more time to answer thoughtfully thanks to the dwindling number of participants who met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) stricter criteria.
What the GOP debate candidates have said about the Israel-Hamas conflict
19:50 , Oliver O’Connell
Alex Woodward reports:
Trump family attorney Clifford Robert told the court that the defence “has decided not to call” Eric Trump to the stand but offered no other explanation, it seems.
The defence only has two other witnesses — an NYU professor who will talk about GAAP and valuations, and Donald Trump — so they can’t move up anything left on the schedule.
Yesterday, Mr Trump lost his attempt to get a fast-tracked appeal hearing on the gag order ruling in the state appeals court, and his attorneys really don’t want him back on the stand under the order.
Lead Trump attorney Christopher Kise made a lengthy request to postpone the former president’s testimony until the appeals court has ruled.
Asked by Justice Arthur Engoron what they thought about the request, attorneys for New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office replied: “Absolutely not.”
To which the judge added: “Absolutely not. No way. No how. It’s a nonstarter.”
Justice Engoron then told Kise, jovially: “You tried.”
After a slight pause, the judge added: “And I gave it a deep thought, as well.”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 5, 2023
NY fraud trial: Eric Trump will not testify again as planned
19:41 , Oliver O’Connell
MSNBC reports that Eric Trump will not testify for a second time at the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York as had been expected.
Former president Donald Trump’s second son had already been a witness for the prosecution alongside his brother Donald Trump Jr and his father and had been billed to appear again on Wednesday.
The former president is still expected to testify again on 11 December as the final witness at the trial.
Trump attacks De Niro as ‘total loser’
19:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump has finally responded to an attack by Robert De Niro in an awards speech last week.
The latest row between the long-feuding duo began when Mr De Niro hit out at the former president while presenting a tribute award for Celine Song’s drama Past Lives at the Gotham Awards on 27 November.
As he took to the stage and began reading from a teleprompter, the actor realised that some of his prepared remarks against Mr Trump had been omitted.
“The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out. I didn’t know about it,” he said before pulling out his phone to read the unedited version.
Read what the actor had to say…
Democrat megadonor takes up call to back Haley and thwart Trump
19:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Just a week after JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon urged even liberal Democrats to help Nikki Haley’s campaign to give Republicans an alternative to Donald Trump, one Democrat megadonor has done just that.
Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting the former UN ambassador’s 2024 campaign to be the GOP nominee in 2024.
The New York Times confirmed the donation had been made with Dmitri Mehlhorn, a political adviser to Mr Hoffman.
Mr Mehlhorn told the outlet that the pro-Haley super PAC SFA Fund Inc was specifically asked if it would take money from a Democrat who actively supports President Joe Biden, and they said yes.
Read on…
Democrat megadonor gives to Nikki Haley super PAC to help thwart Trump
Trump denies being depressed after Jan 6 Capitol riot
19:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump is pushing back on claims that he stopped eating in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot – instead saying he was actually eating “too much”.
Last week, an extract from former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney’s new book was released, revealing details of the GOP party’s response to the violent insurrection.
In the memoir Oath and Honor, set to be released this Tuesday, Ms Cheney writes about the moment that she learned then-GOP leader Kevin McCarthy had gone to visit Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
Trump denies being depressed after Jan 6 and insists he was eating ‘too much’
Jack Smith gives preview of evidence in Trump’s federal election interference case
18:30 , Oliver O’Connell
In a new court filing, Special Counsel Jack Smith has given a preview of the evidence they will provide in the federal election interference case against Donald Trump.
The document lays out six types of evidence that will be presented at trial, which is scheduled to begin on 4 March 2024.
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Historical Evidence of the Defendant’s Consistent Plan of Baselessly Claiming Election Fraud
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Historical Evidence of the Defendant’s Common Plan to Refuse to Commit to a Peaceful Transition of Power
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Evidence of the Defendant and Co-Conspirators’ Knowledge of the Unfavorable Election Results and Motive and Intent to Subvert Them
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Pre- and Post-Conspiracy Evidence That the Defendant and Co-Conspirators Suppressed Proof Their Fraud Claims Were False and Retaliated Against Officials Who Undermined Their Criminal Plans
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Pre- and Post-Conspiracy Evidence of the Defendant’s Public Attacks on Individuals, Encouragement of Violence, and Knowledge of the Foreseeable Consequences
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Post-Conspiracy Evidence of the Defendant’s Steadfast Support and Endorsement of Rioters
Read the full filing here.
More details to follow…
Speaker Johnson admits to protecting Jan 6 rioters from charges
18:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to admit that he is protecting people who breached the halls of Congress on January 6 from potential prosecution from the US Department of Justice.
Mr Johnson has pledged the release of thousands of hours of raw footage from the attack on the US Capitol, fulfilling a promise to far-right members of his party who have downplayed the riots and accused federal law enforcement of selectively prosecuting political opponents who stormed the halls of Congress.
“We have to blur some faces of persons who participated in the events of that day because we don’t want them to be retaliated against, and to be charged by the DOJ, and to have other, you know, concerns and problems,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Johnson played a central effort among House Republicans to reject Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election, a campaign supported by baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud that fuelled the Capitol attacks.
Read Alex Woodward’s full report
ICYMI: Trump calls Biden ‘destroyer’ of democracy despite own efforts to overturn 2020 election
18:00 , AP
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday attempted to turn the tables on his likely rival in November, President Joe Biden, arguing that the man whose election victory Trump tried to overturn is “the destroyer of American democracy.”
Trump’s allegations about Biden, a Democrat, echo the ones that Biden has been making for years against his predecessor. As Trump has dominated the Republican presidential primary and talked about targeting his rivals and the news media if he wins the White House again, Biden has stepped up his own warnings, contending Trump is “ determined to destroy American democracy.”
On Saturday, Trump made his most explicit argument to date on why voters should instead see his rival as the bigger democratic threat. Trump repeated his longstanding contention that the four criminal indictments against him show Biden is misusing the federal justice system against his rival.
Continue reading…
Gaetz frets about House GOP’s precarious majority after Santos expulsion
17:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Florida Rep Matt Gaetz is worried.
The controversial right-wing lawmaker fears that following the expulsion of disgraced former congressman George Santos, the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives is in peril
Specifically, he believes that other GOP lawmakers may also soon exit the lower chamber of Congress.
Speaking on The Charlie Kirk Show, Mr Gaetz, who in October led the ousting of former speaker Kevin McCarthy, said: “Our willingness to self-mutilate on these things really impairs our ability to get the job done.”
He called the expulsion of Mr Santos “tactically stupid” in the context of the narrow majority.
Read on…
Matt Gaetz frets about precarious Republican majority after George Santos exit
In depth: Megyn Kelly’s rise was tied to Trump. Can she shine at a debate without him?
17:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Kelly Rissman writes:
Megyn Kelly made headlines in 2015 when she confronted Donald Trump at a presidential debate. Now as the fourth GOP primary debate approaches, she could have another starpower moment as moderator — but it will have to be without the former president.
Kelly, a lawyer-turned-journalist, was moderating her first presidential debate when Mr Trump, a real-estate-mogul-turned-politician, was competing in his first GOP primary debate. In this potent interaction, their paths changed forever.
The exchange made her into something of a cultural icon and boosted her career, at least temporarily, while it set the tone for his soon-to-be successful campaign.
She is a lawyer, he’s in legal trouble. He was accused of sexual misconduct, while she was allegedly the victim of someone else’s. At almost every intersection, they are coming from opposite ends of the spectrum, but have each, separately, carved out a niche rightwing audience.
And when they come together, no one can turn away.
On 6 December, the duelling duo could have had a chance to go head-to-head again — but Mr Trump refuses to participate.
Continue reading…
Megyn Kelly’s career rose after high-profile Trump feud. Can she still break through?
As new details emerge, Florida GOP chair denies rape
17:00 , Oliver O’Connell
The defiant chair of the Florida Republican Party has denied allegations of rape made against him by a woman he and his wife were having a consensual affair with, as disturbing new details have emerged about the alleged attack.
Christian Ziegler, 40, told members of the state GOP that he and wife Bridget Ziegler, co-founder of the far-right Moms for Liberty parent’s rights group, were being unfairly targeted because they are “such loud political voices”.
Bevan Hurley reports.
Florida GOP chair denies rape claims as disturbing new details emerge
Watch: Speaker Johnson says new Jan 6 tapes will blur out faces so rioters won’t be charged
16:45 , Oliver O’Connell
ICYMI: Trump tries to blame DeSantis for Florida State playoffs snub
16:35 , Oliver O’Connell
The College Football Playoff Committee’s snubbing of Florida State has officially become an issue in the 2024 Republican primary.
On Sunday, the undefeated Seminoles faced a crushing decision from the panel which decides the four teams to compete in the annual championship between two of the biggest college football conferences in the US: the Big Ten, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The reason for their exclusion, despite their perfect record, was the benching of their star quarterback Jordan Travis due to a season-ending leg injury.
Florida State’s fans and coaches alike were enraged by the decision. Head coach Mike Norvell wrote in a statement: “I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the game.”
He added: “What is the point of playing games?”
John Bowden reports.
Trump tries to blame DeSantis for Florida State Football playoffs snub
First signs of jury selection in Trump’s federal election interference case
16:28 , Oliver O’Connell
NBC News reports that the first signs of the start of jury selection in the federal election interference case against Donald Trump may have just landed in mailboxes across the District of Columbia. The trial is scheduled to start in three months on 4 March 2024.
Per reporter Jonathan Allen:
Potential jurors in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference trial may know they are in the pool now.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has sent prospective jurors a “pre-screening” form asking about their availability to appear in person Feb. 9 to fill out a written questionnaire for use in the jury selection process for a March 4 trial. A resident in Washington, D.C., who received one of the forms in the mail Monday shared an image of it with NBC News.
Though the form does not name or refer to the defendant directly, the court had earlier set those dates for the questionnaire and the start of Trump’s trial. The form advises potential jurors that their trial “may last approximately three months after jury selection is completed,” which is consistent with estimates of the timetable for Trump’s trial.
Recipients were also notified that the in-person written questionnaire is different from the online version, which is often the only one used in federal trials.
Gaetz accuses media of ‘greenlighting’ Trump assassination
16:20 , Oliver O’Connell
Far-right Florida Rep Matt Gaetz has claimed that the press is “green-lighting” the assassination of former President Donald Trump by reporting on what a second Trump term would look like.
On Monday, Mr Gaetz tweeted “They’re obviously green-lighting assassination” and included a screenshot from a Washington Post op-ed by Post Opinions contributing editor Robert Kagan bearing the headline “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending”.
Responding to Mr Gaetz, Condé Nast Legal Affairs Editor Luke Zaleski noted that “There is nothing you can say or do to confront Maga gaslighting that won’t be met with more MAGA gaslighting”.
“They’ll say anything to make themselves the victim and hero in everything. And there is nothing you can say to do anything about it. That is the MAGA gaslighting paradox,” he added.
The image for the op-ed was a split image with the top being the head of a statue of Roman dictator Julius Ceaser, who was assassinated in 44BC, and the bottom being the face of Mr Trump.
Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC:
Matt Gaetz accuses media of ‘greenlighting’ Trump assassination
Watch: Cheney warns Trump is telling us every single day what he will do if he wins in 2024
16:10 , Oliver O’Connell
Who will be on the debate stage on Wednesday night?
15:55 , Oliver O’Connell
Four candidates have so far qualified for the fourth Republican primary debate, set to be hosted by NewsNation on 6 December.
Former Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and biotech entrepreneur and anti-woke author Vivek Ramaswamy have all qualified for the Wednesday night showdown at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
The debate will be moderated by former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, now of SiriusXM, NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, and Eliana Johnson, the editor of the Washington Free Beacon.
Read on…
Who qualified for the fourth GOP debate?
Watch: Cheney says GOP may not be salvageable and new party may be needed
15:45 , Oliver O’Connell
.@Liz_Cheney on the future of the GOP: “I don’t know if our party can be saved. We may need to build a new party…But I think those issues have to come after this 2024 cycle, because the focus right now has to be on making sure we don’t return Donald Trump to the White House.” pic.twitter.com/KrgsP04lur
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) December 5, 2023
Fourth GOP debate key moment for NewsNation cable network
15:35 , AP
By airing the fourth Republican presidential primary debate scheduled for Wednesday — again, minus Donald Trump — the young NewsNation television network will almost certainly reach the largest audience in its history.
Yet with two of the three debate moderators associated with conservative media and not NewsNation, including podcast star Megyn Kelly, the event threatens to be at odds with the centrist image the network is trying to cultivate.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity and allows us to have more people fully sample the network and see who we are and what we’re doing,” said Cherie Grzech, NewsNation’s senior vice president of news and politics.
Her advice to those who have doubts about how NewsNation can pull it off: Just watch.
Read the full article…
Watch: Cheney delivers warning about Trump second term
15:29 , Oliver O’Connell
.@Liz_Cheney: “People need to think about what it means when a president won’t enforce court rulings he disagrees with. As soon as that happens…we’re unraveling the fundamental structures and systems that make us a nation of laws, so there won’t be any guardrails to stop him.” pic.twitter.com/lRdInRP8zL
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) December 5, 2023
Trump still dominates GOP field as fourth debate looms
15:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Ahead of the fourth GOP debate in Alabama, Donald Trump is in his most comfortable polling position yet.
The ex-president remains atop the GOP field in a major way, having consolidated support from six in 10 Republican voters nationally according to a NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released on Monday. Though Mr Trump will not appear this Wednesday for the debate held by NewsNation alongside his GOP fellows, his decision to skip the 2023-24 debate cycle appears to not have hurt his chances in the slightest.
Indeed, the poll shows few pieces of good news for his opponents. Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley are statistically tied, at 11 and 10 per cent respectively, while the former president’s base of support appears to trust him more on the most important issues to voters this year, including the economy.
John Bowden has the latest from Washington, DC.
Poll shows Donald Trump dominating GOP field as rivals sputter
Did Paramount block Kelsey Grammer from being asked about Trump support by BBC?
14:50 , Oliver O’Connell
The BBC has claimed that Kelsey Grammer was prevented from talking about Donald Trump by a Paramount PR person during a radio interview this morning.
Grammer, who plays Frasier Crane in the recently rebooted sitcom, is a Republican and noted Trump supporter, but according to a journalist working for the corporation, the topic of the former president was swiftly shut down during a new interview.
While appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme , the actor was asked if he was still backing Trump. Journalist Justin Webb asked Grammer: “You mentioned Roseanne [Barr] early on who had a great comeback but also was a Trump supporter. You were a Trump supporter, I’m fascinated to know if you still are?”
Jacob Stolworthy reports on what happened next.
BBC claims Frasier PR shut down Kelsey Grammer questions about his support for Trump
Watch the Lincoln Project ad that angered Trump
14:32 , Oliver O’Connell
Alarm over Trump’s call to supporters to ‘go into’ cities and ‘watch’ elections
14:24 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump’s call to his supporters to “guard” and “watch” ballot counting in cities with large Black populations has raised alarms among elections officials and voting rights advocates bracing for more threats to elections fuelled by his bogus narrative of widespread fraud.
During a rally in Ankeny, Iowa on Saturday, the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president justified his demands to “go into” cities with the same baseless allegations that surrounding the 2020 presidential election.
He falsely claimed that “they cheated like hell, they know it, and you’ll never find out all the ways but we don’t need all the ways,” adding that the “most important part of what’s coming up is to guard the vote.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Trump’s call to ‘go into’ cities and ‘watch’ elections sounds alarms
Full story: Trump will face gag order during fraud trial testimony after another courtroom loss
13:00 , Alex Woodward
An appeals court judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request for a fast-tracked appeal of his gag order in his New York fraud trial, days before he is scheduled to return to the witness stand before his attorneys bring their case to a close.
The latest decision effectively guarantees that Trump will remain under a gag order through the final days of his defence team’s presentations in a civil trial that could imperil the family’s vast real estate empire.
Trump loses latest attempt to block his fraud trial gag order
Trump rails against coverage of his rallies
12:43 , Megan Sheets
Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Monday night to accuse his rivals of using artificial intelligence in attack ads against him.
“The perverts and losers at the failed and once disbanded Lincoln Project, and others, are using A.I.(Artificial Intelligence) in their Fake television commercials in order to make me look as bad and pathetic as Crooked Joe Biden, not an easy thing to do,” he wrote.
“FoxNews shouldn’t run these ads, just as low ratings CNN & MSDNC will not, under any circumstances, run negative ads on Biden or the Democrats. They are, after all, in-kind campaign contributors to the Dems!”
There is no known evidence of AI being used in attack ads.
Poll shows Donald Trump dominating GOP field as rivals sputter
12:00 , Alex Woodward
Ahead of the fourth GOP debate in Alabama, Donald Trump is in his most comfortable polling position yet.
The ex-president remains atop the GOP field in a major way, having consolidated support from six in 10 Republican voters nationally according to a NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released on Monday.
Poll shows Donald Trump dominating GOP field as rivals sputter
Who qualified for the fourth GOP debate?
11:00 , Alex Woodward
Trump is skipping another debate, leaving only three candidates left on the stage
Four candidates for the GOP’s nomination for president have qualified to appear at the next primary debate scheduled for Wednesday night.
Trump is among them, but he won’t be there, as usual. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy will be the only three candidates on the stage.
Who qualified for the fourth GOP debate?
Election officials and voting rights groups sound the alarm over Trump’s latest threat to elections
10:00 , Alex Woodward
Trump’s call to his supporters to “guard” and “watch” ballot counting in cities with large Black populations has raised alarms among elections officials and voting rights advocates bracing for more threats to elections fuelled by his bogus narrative of widespread fraud.
“The most important part of what’s coming up is to guard the vote, and you should go into Detroit, and you should go into Philadelphia, and you should go into some of these places – Atlanta – and you should go into some of these places, and we gotta watch those votes when they come in,” he told supporters in Iowa on Saturday.
He then falsely claimed that ballots are “shoved around in wheelbarrows and dumped on the floor”.
The president of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund called his comments “lawless intimidation,” and a grim reminder of 2020.
Trump’s call to ‘go into’ cities and ‘watch’ elections sounds alarms
Eric Garcia: ‘Trump uses Obamacare as a distraction. Biden sees an opportunity’
09:00 , Alex Woodward
Democratic officials and Joe Biden are leaping on Donald Trump’s revived threats to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
The Independent’s Eric Garcia writes:
Trump never seemed to care much about the intricacies of health care policy. He famously said as president that “nobody knew health care could be so complicated,” which his direct predecessor Barack Obama could have told him. But many Americans see threats to their health care as more immediate to their wellbeing than still-hypothetical plans for Mr Trump to turn the government into his own personal bludgeoning tool. And Democrats seem to recognize this and have responded accordingly.
Trump is using Obamacare as a distraction. Biden sees an opportunity
ICYMI: Trump launches belated attack on Robert De Niro: ‘Total loser’
08:00 , Alex Woodward
Last week, Robert De Niro criticised Trump from the stage of the Gotham Awards, delivering a stinging rebuke from the stage with what he said was the unedited version of his remarks that were previously cut off from the event.
Trump “can’t hide his soul,” he said. “He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature and shows his disrespect for example using Pocahontas as a slur.”
Days later, Trump fired back on his Truth Social: “Robert De Niro, whose acting talents have greatly diminished, with his reputation now shot, must even use a teleprompter for his foul and disgusting language, so disrespectful to our Country.”
Trump launches belated attack on Robert De Niro: ‘Total loser’
ICYMI: North Dakota governor Doug Burgum suspends his 2024 campaign
07:00 , Alex Woodward
North Dakota’s Governor Doug Burgum ended his campaign for the presidency on Monday ahead of the fourth Republican primary debate in Alabama.
Burgum, 67, poured millions of his own money into his presidential bid but after an initial meetup of the candidates in August failed to reach the polling requirements necessary for attendance at successive GOP primary debates. He sought to run on his record as governor, but had little name recogniton at the national level.
His departure from the race for the GOP’s 2024 nomination for president winnows a field that Donald Trump hopes to dominate.
North Dakota governor Doug Burgum suspends his 2024 campaign
ICYMI: Trump attorney charged in Georgia 2020 case begins cooperating in Nevada probe
05:00 , Alex Woodward
The state-level criminal investigation into the 2020 election “fake electors” plot in Nevada has secured the cooperation of a key witness: Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer who orchestrated the scheme to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state.
He has agreed to meet with investigators in the state in a bid to avoid prosecution there.
Chesebro pleaded guilty to charges relating to the plot in Georgia and as part of that plea deal has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the sprawling racketeering case against former president Donald Trump and 14 other co-defendants.
Trump ‘fake electors’ attorney begins cooperating in Nevada probe
ICYMI: Judge shoots down Giuliani’s attempt to avoid a jury trial in defamation case
03:00 , Alex Woodward
Rudy Giuliani is heading back to court.
Giuliani will face a jury trial, as planned, to determine damages surrounding a defamation case from two election workers in Georgia who sued the former president’s attorney for the death threats and harassment they faced as a result of his false statements about them in the wake of 2020 elections.
A weekend ruling from the federal judge overseeing the case dismissed his request, calling some of his arguments “simply nonsense” and flat-out “incorrect”.
More background on the case from The Independent:
Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis could testify in election workers’ defamation trial
Did one of Trump’s co-defendants threaten a witness?
02:00 , Alex Woodward
Trevian Kutti, a former Kanye West publicist and co-defendant alongside Donald Trump in the sprawling election subversion case in Georgia, appears to have threatened a witness in the case, violating the terms of her bond that keeps her out of jail.
In comments on Instagram Live over the weekend, she appeared to threaten Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman, who along with her daughter Shaye Moss has faced a wave of abuse and harassment that is at the centre of the charges facing Ms Kutti.
“There’s a woman sitting somewhere who knows this whole thing is a lie,” she said. “There’s a woman sitting somewhere who knows that I’m going to f**** her whole life up when this is done.”
Her $75,000 bond agreement prohibits her from intimidating co-defendants and witnesses, obstructing justice or posting on social media about the facts of the case.
Legal experts predict Fani Willis might ask a judge to revoke her bond.
Good morning from Fulton County: I suspect we’ll see a motion to revoke Trevian Kutti’s consent bond for witness intimidation of Ruby Freeman within the next two hours and would not be shocked if she’s indicted again for an additional racketeering act by the Grand Jury. #gapol
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) December 4, 2023
ICYMI: Liz Cheney wants Trump’s ‘co-opted’ GOP to lose its House majority
01:00 , Alex Woodward
Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney offered a dire warning about Trump’s potential return to the White House on Sunday, going as far to say that the GOP must lost its House majority to block Trump’s “collaborator” Mike Johnson from holding onto his role as speaker.
Ms Cheney was asked what would happen if he is still speaker come January 2025.
“He can’t be,” she said. “You know, we’re facing a situation with respect to the 2024 election, where it’s an existential crisis and we have to ensure that we don’t have a situation where an election that might be thrown into the House of Representatives is overseen by a Republican majority.”
Liz Cheney wants Trump’s ‘co-opted’ GOP to lose House majority
McCarthy limps towards possible exit from Congress after year of bruising speakership
00:00 , Alex Woodward
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was third in line to the presidency just a few months ago. Soon, he may not be in Washington at all.
The Independent’s John Bowden reports from DC:
Judge in Trump election conspiracy case rules he does not have presidential immunity
Full story: Trump will face gag order during fraud trial testimony after another courtroom loss
Monday 4 December 2023 23:33 , Alex Woodward
An appeals court judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request for a fast-tracked appeal of his gag order in his New York fraud trial, days before he is scheduled to return to the witness stand before his attorneys bring their case to a close.
On Monday, the former president’s legal team asked a state appeals court for a fast-tracked appeal process to challenge last week’s decision that keeps the gag order in place. A judge denied the request, and his lawyers will instead have to make their case before a full panel of judges next week.
The decision effectively guarantees that Mr Trump will remain under a gag order through the final days of his defence team’s presentations in a civil trial that could imperil the family’s vast real estate empire.
Trump loses latest attempt to block his fraud trial gag order
A university made a MAGA congressman its president. Is it a sign of things to come in higher ed?
Monday 4 December 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward
In Ohio, Youngstown State University students, faculty, alumni, and community members were outraged to find out that Republican US Rep Bill Johnson — who has no background in education of any kind — was offered the contract to be the university’s new president with only two hours notice and without any public input.
Johnson, who joined spurious 2020 challenges to attempt to invalidate millions of votes in that year’s presidential election, has previously invoked right-wing grievances against “cancel culture” and “indoctrination” on college campuses. University donors are now looking for the exits.
The Independent’s Graig Graziosi reports:
An Ohio community is furious after college makes MAGA congressman president
Just in: Judge denies Trump’s attempt for quick appeal on gag order
Monday 4 December 2023 21:28 , Alex Woodward
An appeals court judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request for a swift appeal of his gag order in his New York fraud trial, meaning that the former president will have to make his case before a full panel of judges.
His attorneys will have a chance to argue before a full appeals court on Monday.
Last week, another appeals court allowed the gag order to stand, after court filings revealed the wave of abusive messages and credible death threats to Judge Arthur Engoron and his staff.
Trump then immediately attacked the judge’s wife.
Trump immediately attacks judge’s wife after gag order reinstated in fraud trial
Trump is expected to return to his fraud trial this week
Monday 4 December 2023 21:21 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump hasn’t been inside New York State Supreme Court since his testimony last month in a fraud trial that could imperil his family’s real estate empire.
He is reportedly expected to return to Judge Arthur Engoron’s courtroom on Thursday.
Trump also will testify again, this time as the final witness for the defence, a week from today.
Eric Trump will testify for a second time this week on Wednesday.
New: Donald Trump to return Thursday to his NY civil fraud trial, according to a person with knowledge.
We expect Trump’s final defense expert to take the stand that day, Eli Bartov. Trump himself will re-take the stand Monday, Nov. 11 as the final witness.
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) December 4, 2023
‘No question’ Trump will try to stay in office as long as he can, Liz Cheney says
Monday 4 December 2023 20:45 , Alex Woodward
Former US Rep Liz Cheney has warned that there is “no question” Trump would leave office if he is elected next year.
NBC’s Savannah Guthrie on Today on Monday asked Ms Cheney whether Trump would “try to stay in power forever,” if elected.
“Absolutely. He’s already done it once,” she said.
NBC’s Savannah Guthrie: “Do you believe if Donald Trump were elected next year … that he would never leave office?”
Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney: “There’s no question.”
Guthrie: “You think he would try to stay in power forever?”
Cheney: “Absolutely. He’s already done it once.” pic.twitter.com/896GqtXzam
— The Recount (@therecount) December 4, 2023
Trump tries to blame DeSantis for Florida State Football playoffs snub
Monday 4 December 2023 20:30 , Alex Woodward
Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, given the history of Donald Trump and his bullying of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the former president wrote on Truth Social early Monday morning that Floridians should actually “blame” the state’s governor for Florida State’s exclusion from the upcoming playoff series set to begin on 1 January.
Trump tries to blame DeSantis for Florida State Football playoffs snub
Trump’s violent rhetoric charts his campaign warpath
Monday 4 December 2023 20:15 , Alex Woodward
Trump sees the criminal indictments and civil cases against him as part of a Democratic conspiracy that is “weaponising” the federal government to keep him away from the White House, and he appears ready to do the same to his political opponents if he’s elected.
The leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president is giving his supporters permission to dehumanise and degrade his political opponents as he does, priming their acceptance of political violence against the “other” side, while absolving them of responsibility for it, according to urgent warnings from scholars and legal analysts.
Trump’s violent rhetoric charts his campaign warpath
Trump is skipping another debate, leaving only three candidates left on the stage
Monday 4 December 2023 19:45 , Alex Woodward
Four candidates for the GOP’s nomination for president have qualified to appear at the next primary debate scheduled for Wednesday night.
Trump is among them, but he won’t be there, as usual. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy will be the only three candidates on the stage.
Who qualified for the fourth GOP debate?
Trump’s call to ‘go into’ cities and ‘watch’ elections sounds alarms from election officials and voting rights groups
Monday 4 December 2023 19:15 , Alex Woodward
Trump’s call to his supporters to “guard” and “watch” ballot counting in cities with large Black populations has raised alarms among elections officials and voting rights advocates bracing for more threats to elections fuelled by his bogus narrative of widespread fraud.
“The most important part of what’s coming up is to guard the vote, and you should go into Detroit, and you should go into Philadelphia, and you should go into some of these places – Atlanta – and you should go into some of these places, and we gotta watch those votes when they come in,” he told supporters in Iowa on Saturday.
He then falsely claimed that ballots are “shoved around in wheelbarrows and dumped on the floor”.
The president of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund called his comments “lawless intimidation,” and a grim reminder of 2020.
Trump’s call to ‘go into’ cities and ‘watch’ elections sounds alarms
Eric Garcia: ‘Trump uses Obamacare as a distraction. Biden sees an opportunity’
Monday 4 December 2023 18:45 , Alex Woodward
Democratic officials and Joe Biden are leaping on Donald Trump’s revived threats to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
The Independent’s Eric Garcia writes:
Mr Trump never seemed to care much about the intricacies of health care policy. He famously said as president that “nobody knew health care could be so complicated,” which his direct predecessor Barack Obama could have told him. But many Americans see threats to their health care as more immediate to their wellbeing than still-hypothetical plans for Mr Trump to turn the government into his own personal bludgeoning tool. And Democrats seem to recognize this and have responded accordingly.
Trump is using Obamacare as a distraction. Biden sees an opportunity
Just in: Trump’s attorneys will argue for gag order appeal in New York today
Monday 4 December 2023 18:18 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s attorneys in his fraud trial in New York are asking another appeals court this afternoon to allow the state’s highest court to weigh in on the fate of a gag order in the case.
Oral arguments will begin this afternoon following a request for an expedited review of their appeal, after a state appellate court allowed Judge Arthur Engoron’s gag order to stand last week.
Stay tuned.
ICYMI: Trump attorney charged in Georgia 2020 case begins cooperating in Nevada probe
Monday 4 December 2023 17:39 , Alex Woodward
The state-level criminal investigation into the 2020 election “fake electors” plot in Nevada has secured the cooperation of a key witness: Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer who orchestrated the scheme to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state.
He has agreed to meet with investigators in the state in a bid to avoid prosecution there.
Chesebro pleaded guilty to charges relating to the plot in Georgia and as part of that plea deal has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the sprawling racketeering case against former president Donald Trump and 14 other co-defendants.
Trump ‘fake electors’ attorney begins cooperating in Nevada probe
Just in: North Dakota governor Doug Burgum suspends 2024 campaign
Monday 4 December 2023 16:45 , Alex Woodward
North Dakota’s Governor Doug Burgum ended his campaign for the presidency on Monday ahead of the fourth Republican primary debate in Alabama.
Burgum, 67, poured millions of his own money into his presidential bid but after an initial meetup of the candidates in August failed to reach the polling requirements necessary for attendance at successive GOP primary debates. He sought to run on his record as governor, but had little name recogniton at the national level.
His departure from the race for the GOP’s 2024 nomination for president winnows a field that Donald Trump hopes to dominate.
North Dakota governor Doug Burgum suspends his 2024 campaign
Full story: Trump launches belated attack on Robert De Niro
Monday 4 December 2023 16:30 , Alex Woodward
Trump finally responded to criticism from Robert De Niro aired during an awards speech last week.
The actor hit out at the former president during the Gotham Awards on 27 November, saying that Trump “can’t hide his soul”.
“He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature and shows his disrespect, for example, using Pocahontas as a slur.”
Trump launches belated attack on Robert De Niro: ‘Total loser’
Did one of Trump’s co-defendants threaten a witness?
Monday 4 December 2023 16:15 , Alex Woodward
Trevian Kutti, a former Kanye West publicist and co-defendant alongside Donald Trump in the sprawling election subversion case in Georgia, appears to have threatened a witness in the case, violating the terms of her bond that keeps her out of jail.
In comments on Instagram Live over the weekend, she appeared to threaten Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman, who along with her daughter Shaye Moss has faced a wave of abuse and harassment that is at the centre of the charges facing Ms Kutti.
“There’s a woman sitting somewhere who knows this whole thing is a lie,” she said. “There’s a woman sitting somewhere who knows that I’m going to f**** her whole life up when this is done.”
Her $75,000 bond agreement prohibits her from intimidating co-defendants and witnesses, obstructing justice or posting on social media about the facts of the case.
Legal experts predict Fani Willis might ask a judge to revoke her bond.
Good morning from Fulton County: I suspect we’ll see a motion to revoke Trevian Kutti’s consent bond for witness intimidation of Ruby Freeman within the next two hours and would not be shocked if she’s indicted again for an additional racketeering act by the Grand Jury. #gapol
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) December 4, 2023
Just in: Trump to appeal New York gag order to state’s highest court
Monday 4 December 2023 15:45 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s legal team is seeking an appeal of a New York appellate court decision that allowed a gag order in his fraud trial to remain in place.
His attorneys are seeking permission to appeal to the state’s highest court, claiming that the former president suffers “irreparable injury daily, as they are silenced on matters implicating the appearance of bias and impropriety on the bench during a trial of immense stakes,” despite a wave of death threats and abuse his comments have inspired against the court’s staff.
A state appeals court had temporarily paused the order from Judge Arthur Engoron, but last week, the panel agreed to let it stand, after court filings revealed the scale of harassment the court has received.
After the gag order was upheld, Trump attacked the judge’s wife.
Trump immediately attacks judge’s wife after gag order reinstated in fraud trial
Judge shoots down Giuliani’s attempt to avoid a jury trial in defamation case
Monday 4 December 2023 15:15 , Alex Woodward
Rudy Giuliani is heading back to court.
Giuliani will face a jury trial, as planned, to determine damages surrounding a defamation case from two election workers in Georgia who sued the former president’s attorney for the death threats and harassment they faced as a result of his false statements about them in the wake of 2020 elections.
A weekend ruling from the federal judge overseeing the case dismissed his request, calling some of his arguments “simply nonsense” and flat-out “incorrect”.
More background on the case from The Independent:
Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis could testify in election workers’ defamation trial
Monday 4 December 2023 14:45 , Alex Woodward
Good morning from New York.
Donald Trump’s fraud trial resumes in lower Manhattan this morning, the beginning of the end of the defence’s arguments in a trial entering its 10th week. Eric Trump is scheduled to testify on Wednesday. A week from today, the former president will be on the witness stand.
Meanwhile, on Friday night, Trump was dealt a second of two legal blows that day in his attempts to evade liability for events surrounding the January 6 attack. Earlier in the day, a judge allowed lawsuits blaming him for violence to move forward, and the judge overseeing his election subversion case rejected his claim of “presidential immunity” in a blistering ruling.
More on that late-night Friday decision here:
Judge in Trump election conspiracy case rules he does not have presidential immunity
Gaetz frets about House GOP’s precarious majority after Santos expulsion
Monday 4 December 2023 14:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Florida US Rep Matt Gaetz is worried.
The controversial right-wing lawmaker fears that following the expulsion of disgraced former congressman George Santos, the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives is in peril
Matt Gaetz frets about precarious Republican majority after George Santos exit
Santos threatens ex-colleagues with ethics complaints after expulsion
Monday 4 December 2023 14:10 , Oliver O’Connell
Having said he would leave Congress “graciously” were he expelled, disgraced former congressman George Santos appears out for revenge against those lawmakers who supported his expulsion in Friday’s landslide vote.
After his exit from the Capitol on Friday afternoon there was silence from the ex-Republican congressman.
That is, until 11.35pm when he took to his personal account on X and wrote of his intention to file ethics complaints against four of his former colleagues. The Independent has contacted their offices for comment and received responses from two.
Read on…
George Santos threatens ex-colleagues with ethics complaints after expulsion
McCarthy limps towards possible exit from Congress
Monday 4 December 2023 13:50 , Oliver O’Connell
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was third in line to the presidency just a few months ago. Soon, he may not be in Washington at all.
The California congressman endured a grinding nine months as leader of a fractured and bitter Republican caucus, one that may have been destined to cast him aside from the very beginning. Following a last-minute deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown in October, he was unceremoniously ousted by one of his most polarising foes: Matt Gaetz of Florida, leading a cadre of Republican malcontents with their own varying complaints about Mr McCarthy’s leadership.
John Bowden looks at what might happen next.
McCarthy limps towards possible exit from Congress after year of bruising speakership
ICYMI: Trump can’t be on trial in Georgia if he’s president, attorneys argue
Monday 4 December 2023 13:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump shouldn’t be on trial in Georgia during his 2024 presidential campaign, and, if he wins that election, he shouldn’t be on trial until he leaves the White House, his attorneys told the judge overseeing a criminal case surrounding his efforts to overturn the results of the last election he lost.
The former president and leading candidate for the Republican nomination next year is criminally accused of joining a conspiracy to unlawfully subvert the state’s election results.
Prosecutors in Fulton County have proposed an August 2024 trial date, which his attorneys have called “election interference.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Trump can’t be on trial in Georgia if he’s president, attorneys argue
WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel mocks claim that Trump stopped eating after January 6
Monday 4 December 2023 13:15 , Rachel Sharp
Lindsey Graham warns Liz Cheney ‘world will be truly on fire’ if Trump not re-elected
Monday 4 December 2023 13:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump’s most ardent supplicants, had a warning for former rep Liz Cheney in an appearance on CNN this morning.
On State of the Union host Dana Bash turned to the topic of Ms Cheney’s new book Oath and Honor in which she dishes the dirt on fellow Republicans who reverted to backing Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot.
Bash asked the South Carolina senator about Ms Cheney saying that the US is “sleepwalking into a dictatorship” if Trump returns to the White House in 2024.
First Senator Graham bashed President Joe Biden:
Yeah. I think a continuation of the Biden presidency would be a disaster for peace and prosperity at home and abroad. Our border is broken. The only person really going to fix a broken border is Donald Trump.
When he was president, none of this stuff was going on in Ukraine. Hamas and all of these other terrorist groups were afraid of Trump. I think Liz’s hatred of Trump is real. I understand why people don’t like what he does and says at times, but in terms of actions and results, he was far better president [than] Biden.
Then he warned the former lawmaker:
If we have four more years of this, Liz Cheney, we won’t recognise America and the world will be truly on fire.
Trump denies he wasn’t eating after Jan 6 – he was eating ‘too much’
Monday 4 December 2023 12:40 , Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump is pushing back on claims that he stopped eating in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot – instead saying he was actually eating “too much”.
Last week, an extract from former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney’s new book was released, revealing details of the GOP party’s response to the violent insurrection.
In the memoir Oath and Honor, set to be released this Tuesday, Ms Cheney writes about the moment that she learned then-GOP leader Kevin McCarthy had gone to visit Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.
When she confronted Mr McCarthy over the meeting, Ms Cheney – a staunch and vocal Mr Trump critic – he is said to have told her he had gone to visit him because the former president’s inner circle was growing concerned about his health.
This apparent concern was founded on the fact that Mr Trump wasn’t eating, the book claims.
Read the full story:
Trump denies he wasn’t eating after Jan 6 – he was eating ‘too much’
Trump calls Biden ‘destroyer’ of democracy despite own efforts to overturn 2020 election
Monday 4 December 2023 12:15 , AP
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday attempted to turn the tables on his likely rival in November, President Joe Biden, arguing that the man whose election victory Trump tried to overturn is “the destroyer of American democracy.”
Trump’s allegations about Biden, a Democrat, echo the ones that Biden has been making for years against his predecessor. As Trump has dominated the Republican presidential primary and talked about targeting his rivals and the news media if he wins the White House again, Biden has stepped up his own warnings, contending Trump is “ determined to destroy American democracy.”
On Saturday, Trump made his most explicit argument to date on why voters should instead see his rival as the bigger democratic threat.
Trump calls Biden destroyer of democracy despite own 2020 election subversion cases
A university made a MAGA congressman its president. Is it a sign of things to come in higher ed?
Monday 4 December 2023 11:45 , Rachel Sharp
In the heart of downtown Youngstown, Ohio, inside a conference room where the Youngstown State University board of trustees hold their meetings, a chorus of angry boos rang out when it was decided the college’s next president would be an election-denying MAGA congressman.
With little forewarning, YSU’s trustees selected Congressman Bill Johnson — one of five Ohio Republican congressmen to back a bogus Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate millions of legitimate votes in the 2020 election — as the university’s new president.
Three of the board members — all appointed to their positions by Republican Governor Mike DeWine — contributed to Mr Johnson’s congressional runs, according to the Youngstown Vindicator. Mr Johnson announced he would not seek re-election at the end of his term.
The only dissenting vote, YSU Trustee Molly Seals, said “I do not think the congressman is right for this job” in a statement.
Students, faculty, alumni, and community members were outraged to find out that Mr Johnson — who has no background in education of any kind — was offered the contract with only two hours notice and without any public input, according to local broadcaster WKBN.
The Independent’s Graig Graziosi reports:
An Ohio community is furious after college makes MAGA congressman president
What happens at the GOP convention if Trump is convicted? Don’t ask the RNC…
Monday 4 December 2023 11:15 , AP
The Republican National Committee’s rules for next year’s nominating contest and convention were released this week without addressing a question the GOP could well face next summer: can the party’s delegates vote for a different candidate if the presumptive nominee is convicted of a felony?
Former President Donald Trump is under four criminal indictments that will proceed through the GOP primary season, an overlap of legal and political calendars with no precedent in American politics. Fifteen states and American Samoa hold their GOP primaries on 5 March, known as Super Tuesday, which is also the day after his first trial is scheduled to begin in Washington on charges that he unlawfully sought to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump is dominating the Republican field and may secure much of the support he needs by Super Tuesday, by which time almost half of the delegates who select the nominee at the GOP convention will have been awarded. Even if he were to be convicted in Washington or another trial, top party leaders and many voters have indicated they would stand by Trump anyway. And Trump and his allies are pushing to dismiss and delay the trials and have worked with state parties to craft rules favourable to him.
The RNC rules don’t include any provisions specific to the unprecedented scenario unfolding.
Read the full article…
Trump launches belated attack on De Niro over awards speech
Monday 4 December 2023 10:54 , Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump has launched a belated attack on Robert De Niro after the star jabbed the former president in an awards ceremony speech last week.
The Hollywood actor was left fuming when he took to the stage at the the Gotham Awards in New York City on 27 November and noticed his speech had been censored to remove anti-Trump remarks.
Almost one week on, Mr Trump appears to have learnt about the incident – lashing out at De Niro on Truth Social.
“Robert De Niro, whose acting talents have greatly diminished, with his reputation now shot, must even use a teleprompter for his foul and disgusting language, so disrespectful to our Country,” he fumed.
“He has become unwatchable both in movies, and with the FOOLS that destroyed the Academy Awards, bringing them from one of the top shows in the Country to a Low Rated afterthought. De Niro should focus on his life, which is a mess, rather than the lives of others. He has become a total loser, as the World watches, waits, and laughs!”
Watch: Bizarre moment Trump claims even his opponents say he had ‘one of the great presidencies’
Monday 4 December 2023 10:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Cheney wants Trump’s ‘co-opted’ GOP to lose House majority
Monday 4 December 2023 09:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman and one of Donald Trump’s greatest foes, has given a dire warning about the possibility of the former president returning to the White House.
Speaking on CBS Sunday Morning she even went as far as saying she would like the GOP to lose its House majority to prevent “collaborator” Mike Johnson from holding onto his role as speaker.
Ms Cheney spoke with John Dickerson of CBS News about the looming danger to democracy posed by Mr Trump as explored in her new book Oath and Honor.
After saying that Mr Johnson was “absolutely” a collaborator in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, Ms Cheney was asked what would happen if he is still speaker come January 2025.
Continued…
Liz Cheney wants Trump’s ‘co-opted’ GOP to lose House majority
Watch: DeSantis dodges Trump Nazi rhetoric question, asks why Trump is running at all
Monday 4 December 2023 08:15 , Oliver O’Connell
WELKER: Trump is using language that people say harkens back to Nazi Germany. Do you think that language is presidential?
DeSANTIS: I think even beyond that, the issue is, why are you running? … Trump’s whole this is retribution for himself. What about all the other people? pic.twitter.com/zLtFkKntIF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 3, 2023
Kenneth Chesebro begins cooperating in Nevada fake elector probe
Monday 4 December 2023 06:15 , Oliver O’Connell
The state-level criminal investigation into the 2020 election “fake electors” plot in Nevada has secured the cooperation of a key witness — Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer who orchestrated the scheme to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state.
Both CNN and The Washington Post report that Mr Chesebro has agreed to meet with investigators in the state in a bid to avoid prosecution there.
He pleaded guilty to charges relating to the plot in Georgia and as part of that plea deal has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the sprawling racketeering case against former president Donald Trump and 14 other co-defendants.
Mr Chesebro also agreed to cooperate with any relevant cases in the future both inside and outside the state.
Continue reading the full article
Trump does not have presidential immunity, judge rules
Monday 4 December 2023 04:15 , Oliver O’Connell
The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s federal election conspiracy case in Washington DC has rejected a motion to dismiss the case based on his argument that he enjoys presidential immunity.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, said that the former president’s time in officer did not bestow on him “the divine right of kings” to evade criminal accountability.
It comes as a long-awaited federal appeals court ruling also determined that Mr Trump can be held civilly liable for inciting the riots at the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 in the wake of his 2020 loss.
Lawyers for Mr Trump had also tried to use his presidential “immunity” as a shield from the litigation.
In her ruling on Friday, Judge Chutkan said: “[The] defendant’s four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens.”
The decision tees up a legal fight over the scope of presidential power that could ultimately reach the US Supreme Court.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Judge in Trump election conspiracy case rules he does not have presidential immunity
Speaker Johnson wrote intro for book filled with conspiracies and homophobia
Monday 4 December 2023 03:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wrote the introduction to a 2022 book that included baseless debunked conspiracy theories as well as homophobic slurs.
In addition to writing the foreword, the Louisiana lawmaker actively promoted the book by Scott McKay, a politics blogger, CNN reported.
Indeed, the speaker pushed the book on social media and dedicated an episode of his podcast to it.
The Revivalist Manifesto includes conspiracies often championed by the far-right, including the infamous discredited “Pizzagate” hoax concerning a high-ranking paedophile ring in Washington DC, and the unfounded conspiracy that the Democratic National Committee’s emails were not hacked in 2016 but leaked.
House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote foreword for conspiracy-laden book