Wisconsin ethics panel calls for felony charges against Trump fundraising group

Commission says Save America Joint Fundraising Committee evaded campaign finance laws in effort to oust Trump foe

Donald Trump’s legal woes continue in Wisconsin, where the state’s ethics commission has recommended felony charges against Trump’s Save America Joint Fundraising Committee for its alleged role in a plot to bypass campaign finance limits.

Trump is already facing 91 felony charges in criminal cases across multiple states related to his political and business dealings. The newest allegations in Wisconsin were first reported on Friday by the news site WisPolitics.

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‘We need a bigger bazooka’: Liz Truss takes aim at left ‘deep state’ at CPAC

Hawking a book to many empty seats, former UK prime minister spoke at Maryland’s Conservative Political Action Conference

Liz Truss, the former British prime minister, has made a fresh bid for political relevance by addressing a far-right conference in the US, railing against Joe Biden, transgender rights and a so-called leftwing-run deep state.

Truss was greeted by gentle applause and dozens of empty seats when she walked on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the National Harbor in Maryland. CPAC styles itself as the biggest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world but is now widely seen as a glorified Donald Trump campaign rally, drawing speakers only from the populist right of the Republican party.

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White House could use federal law to control US-Mexico border crossings

Biden administration considering using immigration law used by Trump after Republicans rejected a negotiated immigration bill

The White House is considering using provisions of federal immigration law repeatedly tapped by Donald Trump to unilaterally enact a sweeping crackdown at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.

The administration, stymied by Republican lawmakers who rejected a negotiated border bill earlier this month, has been exploring options that Joe Biden could deploy on his own without congressional approval, multiple officials and others familiar with the talks said. But the plans are nowhere near finalized and it’s unclear how the administration would draft any such executive actions in a way that would survive the inevitable legal challenges. The officials and those familiar with the talks spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to comment on private White House discussions.

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Ex-CNN anchor John Avlon announces Congress run to defeat ‘Maga minions’

Journalist seeks to flip Long Island seat as a Democrat to build ‘broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump’

The former Daily Beast editor and CNN anchor John Avlon announced his candidacy for US Congress in New York as a Democrat, seeking to flip a seat on Long Island, where Republicans saw surprising gains in the 2022 midterm elections.

In a video announcement, Avlon said he was running to help Democrats win back the House from Donald Trump’s “Maga minions”.

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‘I refuse to quit’: Nikki Haley declares no fear of retribution from Trump

‘I feel no need to kiss the ring,’ says Republican candidate as she turns up rhetorical heat ahead of South Carolina primary

A defiant Nikki Haley on Tuesday declared no fear of retribution from Donald Trump as she persists in her efforts to compete against the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, saying: “I feel no need to kiss the ring.”

Haley approaches the South Carolina primary on Saturday, her home state where she was previously governor, a long way behind Trump but turning up the rhetorical heat.

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Trump’s trial calendar becomes clearer – as do his delay tactics

Hush-money trial will begin on 25 March, with federal case on allegations over 2020 election hinging on supreme court action

Donald Trump’s legal calendar is coming into sharper relief after a New York judge affirmed last week that the ex-president’s first criminal trial – on charges that he manipulated the 2016 election by concealing hush money payments to an adult film star – will proceed to trial in Manhattan next month.

A federal case in Washington over the former president’s alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election had been expected to go first. But when Trump filed appeals on grounds of presidential immunity last year, the presiding US district judge, Tanya Chutkan, was forced to put the case on hold.

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After a bad legal week for Trump, even worse could be on the horizon

The ex-president is scrambling to come up with $450m after the judgment in his fraud trial as the next case looms

Donald Trump was already reeling from multiple legal setbacks when a New York judge last week handed the former president a staggering defeat in his civil fraud case, ordering him to pay roughly $450m to the state after finding him liable for conspiracy to manipulate his net worth.

The decision by Justice Arthur Engoron capped a bad legal week for Trump, who had watched his lawyers attempt to get access to sealed filings in a classified documents case in Florida and then watched his lawyers lose their attempt to delay his first criminal trial in New York.

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Trump acknowledges Navalny’s death days later, without mentioning Putin

Ex-president links Russian opposition leader’s death to his own political grievances after criticism from Haley

Donald Trump has offered a belated acknowledgement of the purportedly sudden death of Alexei Navalny, three days after the Russian opposition leader collapsed in one of Russia’s penal colonies. But Trump failed to join with – or acknowledge – international outrage at Navalny’s political nemesis, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network. The former US president and presumptive Republican White House nominee added: “It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction.”

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Ronald Reagan’s daughter says he would be ‘appalled’ by current political tenor

‘He didn’t understand lack of civility. He didn’t understand attacking another person,’ says Patti Davis of former US president

The daughter of former president Ronald Reagan has hit out at contemporary White House politics, saying she thinks her late father would be “appalled” by the personal tenor of current political discourse.

“I think he’d be appalled … it was just more civilized,” Patti Davis told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “He didn’t understand lack of civility. He didn’t understand attacking another person. … He didn’t understand cruelty. And that’s what we’re dealing with now.

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New York governor seeks to quell business owners’ fears after Trump ruling

Kathy Hochul says law-abiding businesspeople have ‘nothing to worry about’ after question on state’s commercial climate

The New York governor has told business owners in her state that there is “nothing to worry about” after Donald Trump was fined $355m and temporarily banned from engaging in commerce in the state when he lost his civil fraud trial Friday.

In an interview on the New York radio show the Cats Roundtable with the supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis, Kathy Hochul sought to quell fears in some quarters that the penalties handed to Trump for engaging in fraudulent business practices could chill the state’s commercial climate.

This article was amended on 18 February 2024 to correct a misspelling. An earlier version referred to “venal” rather than “venial” sin.

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Trump launches gold high top sneaker line a day after $350m court ruling

‘Never Surrender High-Tops’ cost $399 and arrive on the market just after judge hands former US president huge penalty

Donald Trump has launched his own sneaker brand, a day after a New York judge ordered him to pay $354.9m in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders.

“I’ve wanted to do this a long time,” the former US president said, as he unveiled what he called the first official Trump footwear at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia, a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.”

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With business empire on brink of abyss, tycoon Trump recasts himself as victim

Former president’s business fortune risks slipping from his grasp after ruling, while he marches closer to the Republican nomination

From Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to the Trump Building on Wall Street, the Trump World Tower by the United Nations to the Trump International overlooking Central Park, Donald Trump has stamped his name in golden letters on skyscrapers across New York City.

This real estate empire was the springboard for Trump’s ascent from tabloid fodder to reality TV stardom, and ultimately the presidency, all built on his self-projected image as America’s most famous businessman.

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Donald Trump banned from running businesses in New York for three years – live

Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay more than $350m in fines and barred him from running New York businesses for three years

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis’ father took the stand now, testifying about threats she faced at the home he lived in with her in 2019 and 2020, before she moved to a new place after people outside her house called her slurs and threatened her there.

John Floyd, Willis’ dad, was asked about her romantic relationships and how often he saw people she had dated, including special prosecutor Nathan Wade. He said he hadn’t met Wade until 2023, and a previous boyfriend he saw often in earlier years was a disc jockey. (Previous testimony from a former friend of Willis claimed the two started dating much earlier than they’d claimed.)

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Donald Trump ordered to pay over $350m in New York financial fraud case

Trump also banned from running any New York corporation or entity for three years in devastating blow for ex-president

Donald Trump, his eldest sons and associates have been ordered to pay over $350m by a New York judge who found them guilty of intentionally committing financial fraud over the course of a decade.

“The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience,” judge Arthur Engoron wrote in his decision. In a devastating blow for the former president who had built his reputation as a successful real estate developer, Engoron barred Trump and two other executives from serving as officers or directors of any corporation or entity in New York for three years. His sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr, were banned for two years.

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Personal questions, and a witness stays mum: key moments from the Fani Willis hearing

Willis and her special prosecutor Nathan Wade took the stand during a stormy hearing about the pair’s romantic relationship

On the first day of a heated hearing, the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis and her deputy, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, took the stand, hoping to put an end to the allegations that their past relationship threatens the criminal case against Donald Trump and his allies in their attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

A defendant in the Trump case, Mike Roman, is seeking to have Willis and Wade disqualified, alleging their relationship constituted a conflict of interest. His lawyer attempted to prove Willis financially benefitted from her relationship with Wade.

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‘I’m not on trial’: Fani Willis denies wrongdoing over relationship with Trump prosecutor

Fulton county DA rejects accusations that relationship with Nathan Wade should lead to disqualification from election case

Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney, vehemently denied wrongdoing while testifying at a court hearing on Thursday as she rebutted accusations that her romantic relationship with a deputy prosecutor on the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump meant she should be disqualified from the case.

The district attorney testified that her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade started months after he was retained to work on the case, charging Trump over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state, and ended in summer 2023.

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Donald Trump again threatens to sacrifice Nato allies to Russia

The ex-president said that ‘if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect’ at rally in South Carolina

Donald Trump has doubled down on his threat to undermine Nato, repeating his threat not to protect countries he believes do not pay enough to maintain the alliance and claiming such nations “laugh at the stupidity” of the US.

On Wednesday night, at a rally in South Carolina, Trump said: “I’ve been saying, ‘Look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect, OK?’ And [Joe] Biden who said, ‘Oh, this is so bad. This is so terrible that he would say that.’ No … nobody’s paying their bills.

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Trump set to attend Stormy Daniels hush-money court hearing in New York

Judge in Manhattan to rule on several issues including Trump’s motion to throw out case involving payment to adult film star

Donald Trump is expected to appear in Manhattan state court on Thursday morning for a hearing in his hush-money criminal case involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels and the playboy model Karen McDougal.

The judge, Juan Merchan, is expected to announce his decision on several issues, including the former US president’s motion to throw out the case.

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Putin says he prefers Biden to Trump and mocks Tucker Carlson’s questions

Russian president says Biden is ‘more predictable’, in remarks likely to be attempt to make mischief in US election

Vladimir Putin has said he would prefer a Joe Biden presidency to a Donald Trump one and mocked the former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson for a “lack of sharp questions” during their interview at the Kremlin last week.

Asked by a Russian state journalist on Wednesday to choose between Biden and Trump, Putin said without hesitation that the current US president was “more experienced, predictable, an old-school politician”, but added: “We will work with any US president who the American people have confidence in.”

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UK could contribute to nuclear shield if Trump wins, suggests German minister

Comments draw Britain into debate about European security without US providing bulk of Nato’s nuclear deterrent

The UK could contribute to a new European nuclear shield if Donald Trump becomes US president again, a senior German minister has suggested, drawing British politicians into the debate about how Europe’s security could be bolstered in the event of the Republican frontrunner winning in November.

Questions over a European nuclear deterrence have intensified after Trump’s remarks on Saturday that he would not defend any Nato member that failed to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence – and would even encourage Russia to continue attacking.

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