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Post by Webster on Mar 21, 2023 14:33:00 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 21, 2023 14:34:04 GMT -5
Anti-Trump protesters in New York City today. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images A protester in support of the former president. Republicans have accused Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of prosecuting Trump while ignoring the city’s crime. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters
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Post by Webster on Mar 21, 2023 14:35:02 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 21, 2023 15:28:49 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 21, 2023 15:31:48 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 21, 2023 15:42:23 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2023 14:36:40 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Seeking 'spectacle', Trump wants to be handcuffed if indictedIt will be a moment many of his foes have anticipated for years – and one Donald Trump is only too happy to make happen. If he is indicted by the grand jury convened by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg to look into whether he falsified records related to a hush money payment made just before the 2016 presidential election, Trump wants to be handcuffed when he appears at the courthouse, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports. The reasons are as Trumpian as you’d expect. Here’s more from the story: Donald Trump has told advisers that he wants to be handcuffed when he makes an appearance in court, if he is indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, multiple sources close to the former president have said.
The former president has reasoned that since he would need to go to the courthouse and surrender himself to authorities for fingerprinting and a mug shot anyway, the sources said, he might as well turn everything into a “spectacle”.
Trump’s increasing insistence that he wants to be handcuffed behind his back for a perp walk appears to come from various motivations, including that he wants to project defiance in the face of what he sees as an unfair prosecution and that it would galvanize his base for his 2024 presidential campaign.
But above all, people close to Trump said, he was deeply anxious that any special arrangements – like making his first court appearance by video link or skulking into the courthouse – would make him look weak or like a loser.
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2023 14:38:01 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Rightwing House Republican Matt Gaetz wants Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis to prevent New York authorities from forcing Donald Trump to travel to the state in the event he is indicted. The Florida congressman made the case in an appearance this morning on NewsNation – even though reports indicate Trump, a former New Yorker whose official residence is now Florida, appears willing to appear in Manhattan to answer the charges:
One reason why Trump may not fight his apparent indictment in New York tooth and nail: it could be lucrative. The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt reports: Donald Trump is attempting to capitalize on his anticipated arrest over hush money payments to an adult film star by bombarding supporters with fundraising emails to support his presidential election campaign.
In a series of messages in recent days Trump and his acolytes have urged people to donate to the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, established to support Trump’s bid for president in 2024. The emails paint Trump as the victim of a political agenda of a varying cast of “globalist power brokers”, the “deep state” and “witch hunt-crazed radicals”. Each ends with a plea for donations, the language used changing slightly each time.
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2023 14:41:24 GMT -5
A protester holds a placard against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg and billionaire investor George Soros outside Bragg’s office. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters Alvin Bragg arriving at court today. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2023 14:42:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Grand jury that could indict Trump will not meet todayThe Manhattan grand jury considering whether to indict Donald Trump for allegedly facilitating a hush money payment ahead of the 2016 election has been told not to meet today, according to media reports. Insider and the New York Times cited two unnamed sources saying today’s meeting has been called off. The grand jurors are debating whether to recommend charges for the former president over his payment to adult film actor and director Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump. Insider reports that it appears unlikely the grand jury will meet at all this week, potentially delaying the indictment till next week. It was unclear why today’s meeting had been called off.
The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell has confirmed that the Manhattan grand jury considering whether to indict Donald Trump will not be meeting today:
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Post by Webster on Mar 22, 2023 14:44:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Jury may hear from additional witness – sourceHugo Lowell, the Guardian’s man for all things Trump-related, is in New York and has filed the following report from Manhattan criminal court, where the grand jury in the Stormy Daniels hush money case would usually meet on a Wednesday but we now know will not today. The Manhattan grand jury expected to consider criminal charges against Donald Trump will not meet on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, and is on standby about meeting on Thursday. The reason for the schedule change was not immediately clear. The grand jury meets in the afternoons on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays but is not required to meet three times every week. It may hear from an additional witness before being asked to vote on whether to return an indictment in connection with the hush money payment, the source said. The adjournment sparked speculation among people close to Donald Trump, advisers asking if it signalled weaknesses in the case being prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, or whether there was more damning evidence to come. A spokesperson for the district attorney did not respond to a request for comment. What charges Bragg might seek remains unclear, though some members of Trump’s legal team believe the most likely scenario involves falsifying business records coupled with tax fraud. Trump has been resigned to criminal charges and has repeatedly insisted he wants to be handcuffed when he appears in court, the Guardian has reported. The former president has reasoned that since he would need to go to Manhattan criminal court for fingerprinting and a mugshot, sources said, he might as well seek to turn it into a spectacle. Trump’s insistence that he wants to be handcuffed behind his back for a perp walk appears to come from motivations including a desire to show defiance for what he sees as an unfair prosecution, and to have the whole affair galvanize his base for the 2024 presidential campaign. But above all, sources close to Trump said, he is deeply anxious that any special arrangements, like making his first appearance by video link or skulking into the courthouse via an obscure entrance, would make him look weak or like a loser. Trump’s legal team has recommended Trump allow them to quietly turn him in and schedule a remote appearance, even citing Secret Service guidance about security. But Trump has rejected that approach. Over the weekend, he told various allies he didn’t care if someone shot him, as he would become “a martyr” if so. He also said that if he got shot, he would probably win the presidency in 2024, the sources said.
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Post by Webster on Mar 23, 2023 13:43:01 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 23, 2023 13:43:36 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 24, 2023 12:39:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Meanwhile, on Truth Social, the former president is warning darkly of the possibility that “death and destruction” would follow if he was indicted by the Manhattan district attorney in a case involving hush money paid to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. With memories of the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol still fresh, Republicans nervously sought to tamp down Trump’s earlier calls for supporters to protest ahead of a potential indictment. But Trump has criticized calls for calm and peace, vaguely and then explicitly raising the possibility of violence. In the post, Trump again proclaimed his innocence and asked why Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, would bring charges knowing “that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our country”.
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Post by Webster on Mar 27, 2023 12:53:19 GMT -5
(The Guardian) We begin the new week where we left the last, watching for a grand jury in New York City to reconvene and possibly hand down a criminal indictment of Donald Trump for paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels. The episode has turned into something of a three-ring circus, with the former president railing against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg at a weekend rally in Texas, having previously told supporters, falsely, that he would be arrested last week. He wasn’t, and one of his attorneys admitted on Sunday that the ex-president’s unfounded remarks about his imminent detention were mere speculation prompted by “rumors”. The grand jury, meanwhile, did not sit on Thursday or Friday, and we’re waiting to see if it gets back to business today. We’ll bring you any developments as they happen.
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