Trump says 2024 election will be ‘single most important day in history of our country’
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Donald Trump is expected to appear in federal court in Florida today as he fights to have the criminal case into his alleged mishandling of classified documents thrown out.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon will consider two motions brought by the former president’s attorneys seeking to dismiss the case, claiming that – under their interpretation of the Presidential Records Act – Mr Trump had the authority to designate the documents as personal and hold onto them after leaving the White House. Special counsel Jack Smith argues that the documents are not personal but presidential records and so he did not have the authority to retain them. The second motion for dismissal centres around the Espionage Act.
The hearing will take place at 10am ET in Fort Pierce.
It comes one day after Mr Trump scored a minor win in his election interference case in Georgia, when the judge threw out a handful of charges from the original indictment.
On Wednesday, Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court ruled that the six charges, three of which apply to Mr Trump, should be “quashed” – but that the state can seek reindictment on the charges at a later date.
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CEO of company that guaranteed Trump’s E Jean Carroll bond says ‘we don’t take sides’
He wrote on Wednesday that Chubb’s participation “has nothing to do with the underlying merits or with favouring any of the parties in the case”.
Mr Greenburg said the bond if “fully collateralized” though did not reveal which assets are being used as collateral.
“As the surety, we don’t take sides, it would be wrong for us to do so and we are in no way supporting the defendant. We are supporting and are part of the justice system plumbing included in this case,” the letter said. “When Chubb issues an appeal bond, it isn’t making judgments about the claims, even when the claims involve alleged reprehensible conduct.”
“I fully realize how polarizing and emotional this case and the defendant are and how easy it would be for Chubb to just say no. However, we support the rule of law and our role in it. We considered this the right thing to do and we frankly left our own personal feelings aside.”
A further letter from the company also clarified that while Mr Greenburg was appointed to a trade advisory panel by the former president in 2018, he also served on the committee under President Joe Biden.
Chubb is a global provider of insurance products and is the largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company in the world.
Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 12:15
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TikTok: The one issue on which Republicans won’t go along with Trump
In the years since Donald Trump took over the Republican Party, elected officials have almost never crossed him. The cost of doing so has always been too high.
They didn’t cross him when he broke GOP orthodoxy on free trade. They elected not to buck him when transcript of a phone call revealed he wanted to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Many still voted to object to the election results after Capitol riot. And just last month, they torpedoed a bill that swapped restrictions on immigration for aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
But on Wednesday, Republicans found a line they were willing to cross with the once and potentially future president: TikTok.
Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 11:30
Trump wildly claims the Clintons hid classified documents in socks and destroyed things with acid
Rachel Sharp 14 March 2024 11:00
Analysis: How much will gerrymandering actually affect the 2024 election?
But looking at the state legislature over the last decade, you would see a solidly red state.
Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 10:30
Trump says he’s ‘proud of Lara’ over RNC takeover
Donald Trump has said he’s “proud of Lara” after he secured his grip on the Republican National Committee.
Last week, the campaign organisation elected former North Carolina GOP chair and RNC general counsel Michael Whatley as its new chair following the departure of Ronna McDaniel.
Mr Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was elected vice-chair of the RNC, cementing the Trump family’s control of how Republican campaign cash gets spent.
Days later, Lara boasted that the RNC had brought in a major fundraising haul in recent days.
“Proud of Lara. Big things happening!!!” Mr Trump responded on Truth Social on Wednesday night. (Truth Social)
Rachel Sharp 14 March 2024 10:00
Full story: Georgia judge drops six charges against Trump and co-defendants in election case
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election interference case in Georgia has dismissed several charges against the former president and five of his co-defendants but has stressed that his decision “does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee did not throw out the racketeering charges facing all defendants in the sweeping election interference case and has refused to throw out certain “overt acts” in the indictment against them.
The judge dismissed three charges against Mr Trump stemming from an alleged pressure campaign to solicit state officials to violate their oaths of office and subvert Georgia’s election results to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.
Alex Woodward has the details: Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 09:30
Trump expected to attend hearing seeking to dismiss Mar-a-Lago classified documents case
Donald Trump is expected to appear in federal court in Florida today as he fights to have the criminal case into his alleged mishandling of classified documents thrown out.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon will consider two motions brought by the former president’s attorneys seeking to dismiss the case, claiming that – under their interpretation of the Presidential Records Act – Mr Trump had the authority to designate the documents as personal and hold onto them after leaving the White House.
Special counsel Jack Smith argues that the documents are not personal but presidential records and so he did not have the authority to retain them. The second motion for dismissal centres around the Espionage Act.
The hearing will take place at 10am ET in Fort Pierce.
Rachel Sharp 14 March 2024 08:59
Trump’s alleged Hitler comments get the ‘Late Night’ treatment from Seth Meyers
“According to a new book, former president Trump has praised Adolf Hitler in private conversation with aides and once said, quote, ‘Hitler did some good things.’” Meyers said in a recent episode of Late Night.
“Oh, come on, I don’t believe he said that once,” the host added, with emphasis on that last word.
Amelia Neath has the story: Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 08:30
Trump blames lawyers’ advice for hush money scheme
The former president is expected to argue, at least in part, that he can’t be held responsible for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to an adult film star because he was acting on the advice of his lawyers.
But the notice from his attorneys on Tuesday claims that Mr Trump won’t make a “formal” use of what is typically called an “advice-of-counsel” defence.
Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 07:00
Crooked Joe v… Honest Don???
Amelia Neath has the story…
Oliver O’Connell 14 March 2024 05:00
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