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Post by Webster on Mar 31, 2023 15:43:41 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 31, 2023 15:44:13 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 31, 2023 15:44:51 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:08:28 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Source: lunchtime departure for Trump flightDonald Trump is expected to fly to New York around noon today, according to sources in Florida, ahead of his historic arraignment tomorrow on charges of covering up a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. As the former president packs his overnight case this morning at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, there’s a lot swirling both inside and outside the Manhattan courtroom. New York state supreme court judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule imminently on a motion filed by several media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post, for permission to broadcast Tuesday afternoon’s hearing. They also want Merchan to unseal the indictment against Trump, details of which are as yet unclear, other than it contains more than 30 charges and reportedly at least one felony for falsifying documents relating to the pay-off. In support of the motion, lawyers for the media outlets insist: The right of access is at its zenith when applied to the first ever indictment of a former US president.Lawyers for the former president, meanwhile, say they are expecting Merchan to issue a gag order Monday, or at his arraignment, on all parties in the case, after Trump maintained a furious tirade against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg over the weekend. Such an order could substantially impact what Trump will have to say in comments he is scheduled to make from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, immediately after returning from New York. As for today, Trump’s flight is expected to leave Palm Beach international airport at midday, and arrive at LaGuardia airport in New York about 3pm, reports said. He will spend the night at his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan.
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:08:56 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:09:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba has made a prickly appearance on CNN’s This Morning, insisting that a mugshot of her boss, something usually required of all defendants when they are arraigned in New York state court, would be merely “theatrics”. Habba told host Don Lemon: Mugshots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He’s the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country, right now, so there’s no need for that.There was, CNN reported Monday, still uncertainty about whether Trump would be photographed. The network said there were fears that such an image would be leaked. Habba accused Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, without evidence, of leaking details of the indictment to the media, calling it “30 to 34 counts of garbage”. Bragg, she said, was “a woke DA who’s now bringing a misdemeanor, stacking it, and trying to make it a felony.”. Things turned more hostile when Lemon challenged Habba’s assertion that she was only looking for tax documents when she allegedly rifled through classified papers allegedly stashed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida: I’m not in a deposition right now and I’m not going to continue this conversation.
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:10:31 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:12:24 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump leaves Mar-a-Lago for Manhattan court dateDonald Trump is on his way to New York for his arraignment tomorrow on criminal charges related to his pay-off of an adult film star. The former president’s motorcade has just left his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida en route to Palm Beach international airport, where he will board his private jet to LaGuardia airport in New York. A fleet of black secret service SUVs and other vehicles pulled out of the resort gates shortly after 12.15pm for the short ride to the airport. Trump himself was not visible behind the blacked out glass of the vehicles, as pockets of his supporters waved flags and shouted support towards the motorcade. Trump is expected to land shortly after 3pm ET, and will likely head straight for his residence at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Tomorrow, he will surrender to authorities for his afternoon arraignment on a reported 30-34 charges that he attempted to cover-up a $130,000 payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels immediately before the 2016 presidential election. New York state supreme court judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule imminently on a motion filed by several media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post, for permission to broadcast Tuesday afternoon’s hearing. They also want Merchan to unseal the indictment against Trump, details of which are as yet unclear, other than it contains more than 30 charges and reportedly at least one felony for falsifying documents relating to the pay-off. In support of the motion, lawyers for the media outlets insist: The right of access is at its zenith when applied to the first ever indictment of a former US president.Lawyers for the former president, meanwhile, say they are expecting Merchan to issue a gag order Monday, or at his arraignment, on all parties in the case, after Trump maintained a furious tirade against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg over the weekend. Such an order could substantially impact what Trump will have to say in comments he is scheduled to make from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, immediately after returning from New York.
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:19:11 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 3, 2023 13:19:58 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump hires new lead counselDonald Trump has hired a new lead counsel one day ahead of his historic arraignment in New York on criminal obstruction charges, Politico is reporting. He is Todd Blanche, a leading white-collar criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, the news outlet says. Blanche was until recently a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He said in an email obtained by Politico that he was resigning because: “I have been asked to represent Trump in the recently charged DA case, and after much thought/consideration, I have decided it is the best thing for me to do and an opportunity I should not pass up.” He is a former assistant US attorney in the Manhattan US attorney’s office, and previously represented Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager and acolyte who served a prison term for unregistered lobbying, tax fraud, bank fraud and money laundering before Trump pardoned him in December 2020. Another former client was Igor Furman, as associate of Rudy Giuliani. Furman pleaded guilty in a campaign finance case brought by the Manhattan US attorney’s office.
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Post by Webster on Apr 4, 2023 2:06:06 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 4, 2023 12:12:44 GMT -5
(The Guardian) It is worth noting that today’s proceedings in Manhattan are expected to be relatively brief, and that being charged will not prevent Donald Trump running for the Republican nomination, or indeed the presidency. Even a conviction would not prevent that, although the projected timeframe for the case is such that it may not even get back to court before the election in November 2024. After today’s arraignment, Trump is expected to be released by authorities because the charges against him don’t require that bail be set. Associated Press report that a demonstration of support is expected, and that New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, had a message for Trump fans heading to the city, saying on Monday “While there may be some rabble rousers thinking of coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves.” Trump pollster John McLaughlin said the former president would approach the day with “dignity”. “He will be a gentleman,” McLaughlin said. “He’ll show strength and he’ll show dignity and … we’ll get through this and win the election.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 4, 2023 12:13:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, writes for the Guardian today, arguing that every indictment will make Trump stronger – and Republicans wilder: Between the motion of Trump’s first indictment and the act of the last Republican primary, more than a year from now, on 4 June 2024, the shadow will fall on the only party with an actual nomination contest. Trump’s pandemonium will only have an electoral valence for the foreseeable future in its precincts. His damage to the constitution, the national security of the United States and the rule of law will be extensive, but his most intense and focused political destruction will be circumscribed within the Republican party.
From the report of every new indictment to its reality, Republican radicalization will accelerate. Every concrete count will confirm every conspiracy theory. Every prosecution and trial, staggered over months and into the election year, from New York to Georgia to Washington, will be a shock driving Republicans further to Trump. Every Republican candidate running for every office will be compelled to declare as a matter of faith that Trump is being unjustly persecuted or be themselves branded traitors.
Stephen Collinson at CNN offered this analysis earlier this morning, writing that today’s courthouse appearance is not Donald Trump’s only woe: The ex-president – the first to face criminal charges – also appears to face serious problems in a potentially more perilous case involving his alleged mishandling of secret documents being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith. Charges look like an increasing possibility as the Justice Department secures evidence about Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Smith’s prosecutors have secured daily notes, texts, emails and photographs and are focused on cataloguing how Trump handled classified records around Mar-a-Lago and those who may have witnessed the former president with them. The new details coincide with signs the Justice Department is taking steps consistent with the end of an investigation.
Monday was a dark day for Trump. He was returning to his old stomping ground in Manhattan under duress, to turn himself in on Tuesday over the first-ever criminal charges ever laid against an ex-president. Trump has long been a force of nature who rebels against constraints and has always been impossible for his staff to control. But now he will be subject to the dictates of a judge and the rules and conventions of the legal system, which will be far harder for him to disrupt and divert than the institutions of political accountability he has subverted.
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Post by Webster on Apr 4, 2023 12:15:22 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The Hill this morning is carrying some quotes from Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former member of the House Republican leadership. Weber is warning that the indictment of former president Donald Trump sets a dangerous precedent. He argues that the impeachment of Bill Clinton lowered the bar for what might be considered an impeachable offence, and that the Stormy Daniels hush money case is doing the same, and risks people attempting political prosecutions of their opponents in the future. He said: I think it’s bad for America, bad for the Republican Party and it’s bad for the political system in our country. Once you start down this path, there’s no way you’re going to reverse it. That’s what we saw with impeachment.
We’re going to see political prosecutions brought, some of them for meritorious reasons, some of them to advance the careers of the prosecutors. But all of this is harmful to America and our political process. There are people in this vast country of ours who have less than sterling motivations and you want them to be inhibited by rules that we’ve established, informal rules, that are designed to protect the whole system.
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Post by Webster on Apr 4, 2023 12:21:51 GMT -5
(The Guardian) CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Kristen Holmes report that sources close to Donald Trump have said that the former president is keen to speak while in New York today, ahead of his already planned speech this evening. They write: Former President Donald Trump is eager to speak publicly about his indictment, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking.
Though he is not scheduled to speak until he arrives at Mar-a-Lago tonight, Trump has weighed saying something while still in Manhattan. He had initially considered doing so outside the courthouse but decided against that because of security considerations.
It remains unclear if he will talk while in New York, and advisers have urged him to hold off until he has the command of his own ballroom tonight, where hundreds of his supporters, surrogates and friends are expected to gather. Advisers have warned Trump that any unplanned remarks put him at high risk of hurting his case. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech is expected to have legal eyes on it before he delivers it tonight.
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