Category Archives: Donald Trump

Judge says E Jean Carroll allegation Trump raped her is ‘substantially true’ in court dismissal

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Ex-president claimed that writer defamed him when saying he raped her, but judge said term is commonly ‘used and understood’ in context

Donald Trump suffered another legal reversal on Monday, losing his counterclaim for defamation against E Jean Carroll, the writer against whom he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and fined $5m, and who continues to pursue a separate defamation case against him.

Dismissing the counterclaim, a judge in New York, Lewis A Kaplan, said that when Carroll repeated her allegation that Trump raped her, her words were “substantially true”. Kaplan also set out in detail why it may be said that Trump raped Carroll.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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DeSantis says Trump ‘of course lost’ in 2020 when pressed in interview

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Florida Republican governor admits Biden won as Trump leads DeSantis by more than 30 points in most polling averages

“Of course” Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Ron DeSantis said in an interview broadcast Monday – after being pressed on the issue.

Appearing on NBC, the Florida governor and nearest challenger to Trump for the nomination in 2024 was asked: “Yes or no – did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”

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Nancy Pelosi calls indictments against Trump ‘beautiful and intricate’

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Trump antagonist and former House speaker also says classified documents and 2020 election interference charges are ‘exquisite’

Indictments of Donald Trump regarding his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and his retention of classified information are “exquisite … beautiful and intricate”, the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

“The indictments against the president are exquisite,” Pelosi, 83 and a regular antagonist of the 77-year-old former president, told New York magazine in an interview published on Monday.

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Donald Trump gloats about USA’s Women’s World Cup elimination

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Ex-president’s open criticism of team started in 2019, when Megan Rapinoe said she wouldn’t visit White House after winning

Less than 24 hours after the US women’s national team suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of their longtime nemesis Sweden in the second round of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Donald Trump gloated about the team’s elimination on social media.

The former president, a longtime vocal critic of the team, specifically Megan Rapinoe, a blue-haired talisman and outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate who missed a crucial penalty during the final moments of the game, said that the team’s loss is “fully emblematic of what is happening to our great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden”.

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Pence would be ‘best witness’ in Trump election conspiracy trial, attorney says

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John Lauro slams indictment as full of holes and says Mike Pence could help former boss fight off 2020 election conspiracy charges

Donald Trump’s attorney has suggested that Mike Pence could help his former boss fight off the 2020 election-related criminal conspiracy charges against Trump, claiming that the former vice-president would be the “best witness” for the defence.

In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, attorney John Lauro played down differences between the former president and Pence’s accounts of what happened in the run up to the 6 January 2021 certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, whose supporters attacked the US Capitol that day.

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Pence has ‘no plans to testify’ against Trump but vows to ‘obey the law’

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‘We’ll respond to the call of the law, if it comes and we’ll just tell the truth,’ says former vice-president during CBS interview

Former vice-president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence said that he has “no plans to testify” against Donald Trump but vowed to “obey the law”.

In a recent interview after federal prosecutors charged Trump over his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Pence was asked by CBS correspondent Major Garrett whether he would be a witness against Trump if the case went to trial.

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Inside Trump’s ‘alternate electors’ plot to steal the vote in Georgia

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We piece together the astonishing story of how 16 men and women tried to reshape the course of US history

At 11.30am on 14 December 2020, Greg Bluestein, a political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, hurried into the Georgia state capitol at the start of what he knew would be a momentous day. He was one of a handful of reporters who were to witness the casting of electoral college votes which would officially hand Joe Biden victory in the critical battleground state – and with it the US presidency.

As Bluestein rushed up to the state senate chamber where the 16 Democratic electors were assembling ahead of the historic vote, he passed meeting room 216. He noticed a gaggle of people milling around its heavy wooden door, among them some of the 16 Republican electors chosen to represent Donald Trump should he have won the Georgia race.

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Trump uses UFC in bid to reach new demographic of voters

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Former president’s sit-down to discuss combat sports part of strategy to cater to young men with little interest in politics

During a stretch of campaign stops taking place under the specter of a potential indictment, Donald Trump managed to make time for a sit-down interview on an unlikely platform: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Recorded just before Trump’s appearance at a UFC event in Las Vegas in July, the interview offered a rare departure from the controversial president’s politically charged interviews, instead focusing on his background as a boxing promoter, his all-time favorite combat sports matches, and the hypothetical walkout song he would pick if he were a fighter himself. The hosts described Trump as a “genuine fight fan” and their enthusiasm was palpable as he shared insights on promoting the likes of Mike Tyson during the 1980s.

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Trump looked like ‘scared puppy’ on way to court, Nancy Pelosi says

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Former speaker says she ‘didn’t see any bravado or confidence’ in comments likely to enrage Trump, a longtime Pelosi foe

Donald Trump looked like “a scared puppy” before his arraignment in court in Washington on charges related to his election subversion, Nancy Pelosi said, comments likely to anger an ex-president the former US House speaker has long delighted in baiting.

“I wasn’t in the courtroom of course but when I saw his coming out of his car and this or that, I saw a scared puppy,” Pelosi told MSNBC.

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John Bolton suggests US will leave Nato if ‘erratic’ Trump wins in 2024

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Ex-national security adviser calls former boss ‘irrational’ and criticizes Republicans who support him on foreign policy

Ex-national security adviser John Bolton issued harsh remarks against his former boss and the leading 2024 Republican presidential candidate, saying that the US will likely withdraw from Nato if Donald Trump wins the election.

In an interview with the Hill on Thursday, Bolton criticized the former president’s foreign policy after an op-ed he wrote earlier this week called Trump’s behavior “erratic, irrational and unconstrained”.

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Crowds gather under stormy skies for glimpse of Trump in court – again

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Road closures and a huge police presence meant Trump slipped into court out of public view – but onlookers made their voices heard

After hearing that Donald Trump would appear at a federal courthouse in downtown Washington to answer charges filed against him for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, Joan Batista made plans to be outside, celebrating what she viewed as the former president’s long overdue comeuppance.

But when she arrived at the E Barrett Prettyman US courthouse, what she saw bothered her. City trucks equipped with snow plows blocked roads, hundreds of police monitored the building’s entrances and reporters from all around the world ringed its perimeter, hoping for a glimpse of the former president.

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Trump pleads not guilty to four charges over efforts to overturn 2020 election

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Ex-president arraigned on four felony counts related to ‘criminal scheme’ to remain in office as Trump laments ‘sad day for America’

Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, marking the third time this year the former president has been forced to respond to a criminal indictment.

Trump was arrested and arraigned on four felony counts outlined in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

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Trump arraignment key takeaways: four charges and a swift return date

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The ex-president was hit with four felony counts over efforts to overturn the election, and another hearing is due this month

Donald Trump’s third arraignment took place in a Washington courthouse on Thursday, the usual throng of media and smattering of protestors outside.

But as routine as a Trump indictment may seem to the public eye, this was the first time the former president has faced accountability for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.

Conspiracy against rights.

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Trump pleads not guilty to January 6 charges and claims arraignment is ‘sad day for America’ – as it happened

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In the minutes after the Trump indictment was filed in federal district court in Washington, conservative commentators rapidly scrambled to his defense. Rightwing pundits lined up to compare the charges to “criminalizing thoughts” and the dropping of “fifteen dozen” atomic bombs – and that was just on Fox News.

Rightwing TV channel Newsmax, which has drained some of Fox News’s audience in recent months, brought on Rudy Giuliani, an unnamed co-conspirator in Tuesday’s indictment, who railed for seven minutes about Hillary Clinton’s emails and Biden being a “crooked president”.

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Trump lawyer hints defense will focus on free speech; ex-president will not have mugshot taken – live

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John Lauro claims four criminal charges over efforts to overturn 2020 election ‘absurd’; US officials say Trump will have fingerprints taken but no photo

It’s just gone 8 am in Washington DC.

I’m going to hand over now to the US politics live blogger, Chris Stein, who will guide you through the rest of the day.

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Trump faces four criminal counts as six co-conspirators listed in January 6 indictment – as it happened

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Special counsel Jack Smith to seek speedy trial and says January 6 was ‘fueled by lies’

University of Virginia political guru Larry Sabato took a look at the New York Times/Siena College poll released today, and what he found does not look good for Democrats:

The firm behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline said today that it expects work on the controversial natural gas conduit to be completed by the end of the year.

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The indictment against Trump in 2020 election interference inquiry – full text

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Federal prosecutors have charged Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election

Federal prosecutors have charged Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the latest criminal case before the former president that comes just weeks after he was charged with retaining national defense information.

You can read the indictment here in full:

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Trump’s latest indictment finally holds him to account for 2020 election plot

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Past efforts to hold Trump accountable for the violence and his broader election subversion campaign have fallen short

Unlike Donald Trump’s first two indictments, the former president’s third set of criminal charges stands out as the first major legal effort to hold him accountable for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Pro-democracy experts welcomed the indictment, announced on Tuesday by the office of special counsel Jack Smith, as a victory for the rule of law that could help fortify America’s election systems in the face of ongoing threats from Trump and his allies.

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‘A rerun of a soap opera’: Republican governor warns against Trump 2024 bid

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New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu attacks ex-president and says his 2024 bid is a far cry from his victorious 2016 run

Donald Trump’s campaign for president is a far cry from his victorious run for the White House in 2016, his fellow Republican and New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu said on Sunday.

“This is not the Donald Trump of 2016, don’t fool yourself,” Sununu – who recently passed on an Oval Office run of his own in part to elevate his credibility in speaking out against the ex-president – said during an interview on ABC’s This Week. “He doesn’t have the energy, he doesn’t have the fastball, he basically is droning on for 90 minutes in his long-form speeches about his legal battles, as opposed to talking about the future of this country.”

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Judge throws out Donald Trump’s $475m ‘big lie’ defamation lawsuit against CNN

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Judge Raag Singhal ruled that CNN’s words were opinion and could not be the subject of a defamation claim

A federal judge has thrown out Donald Trump’s $475m defamation lawsuit against CNN, in which the former president claimed the network’s description of his claims of election fraud as the “big lie” associated him with Adolf Hitler.

In a ruling late on Friday night, US judge Raag Singhal, who was nominated by Trump in 2019, said CNN’s words were opinion, not fact, and therefore could not be the subject of a defamation claim.

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