Letitia James condemns ‘the Donald Trump show’ as former president leaves fraud trial
Donald Trump’s attempt to halt his civil trial for fraud in New York has been denied by an appeals judge.
The former president hoped to pause legal proceedings brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James while he appeals a pre-trial ruling by Judge Arthur Engoron that he and his co-defendants defrauded banks and insurers by grossly inflating the value of their assets.
Justice Peter Moulton did grant a stay in the enforcement of the termination of their business certificates in New York which will now go before a panel of judges. The trial will resume next week.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has been accused of sharing some of America’s nuclear secrets with a foreign billionaire who is a member of his Mar-a-Lago club.
Sources told ABC News that the former president discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with Anthony Pratt. Mr Trump has denied doing so, but Mr Pratt is said to have passed information on to more than a dozen foreign officials, journalists and some of his employees.
In other news, Mr Trump has thrown his support behind Ohio Rep Jim Jordan to be the new Speaker of the House.
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Giuliani has failed to pay nearly $550,000 in taxes, IRS reveals
Rudy Giuliani’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, has been placed under a federal tax lien by the IRS, as the former mayor owes over half a million dollars in unpaid taxes, records reveal.
The notice of a federal tax lien — in the amount of $549,435.26 — was filed on 1 September, according to Palm Beach County records. Mr Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, reacted to the reports by saying: “Mayor Giuliani is suing Joe Biden for defamation, and I get asked about a potential tax issue. You just can’t make this stuff up.”
He later told CNN: “Giuliani, through his accountant, has a formal agreement with the IRS to pay off the liability.”
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser records show Mr Giuliani’s Palm Beach condo to have a value of more than $3m.
Kelly Rissman6 October 2023 22:20
Trump ally Laura Loomer raises hell at DeSantis fundraiser
Laura Loomer, who was once labelled “mentally unstable and a documented liar” by right-wing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, was filmed shouting through a closed door with a megaphone at the event on Thursday.
Addressing Mr DeSantis, Ms Loomer shouted: “You are never going to be president of the United States of America. You are never going to beat President Donald Trump.”
“You have $5 million cash on hand, you’re an absentee governor — you need to drop out and endorse President Trump who is sitting inside a New York City courtroom today,” she continued, adding: “Shame on you, Ron DeSantis.”
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 21:50
Nikki Haley rises in polls to become Trump’s top GOP rival
Mr DeSantis and Donald Trump have been the only two names to pull significant numbers in polling since the Republican presidential primary began. While Mr Trump commands a significant lead over Mr DeSantis, the Florida governor was still the clear favorite among candidates who sought to challenge the former president.
For a short time, the party seemed to be warming to anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, but polling has cooled, and likely due in no small part to the lashing he received at the hands of Ms Haley.
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 21:35
Trump fails in attempt to halt New York fraud trial
An appellate judge at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan has blocked Donald Trump’s attempt to pause a blockbuster civil trial on fraud allegations while he continues to challenge a judge’s sweeping order that threatens to cancel his business licenses in the state.
The order issued on 6 October rejected the former president’s attempts to halt the trial, which entered its fifth day on Friday, but the judge agreed to stay a ruling that cancels his business certificates, a sanction that came in a surprise order from Judge Arthur Engoron last week finding Mr Trump liable for fraud.
By cancelling business certificates in New York held by the former president and his co-defendants — his sons, associates, and the Trump Organization — Judge Engoron effectively directed that those companies be dissolved by the end of October.
Judge Peter Moulton said at the outset of oral arguments on Friday afternoon that he was unlikely to halt the trial.
Oliver O’Connell & Alex Woodward6 October 2023 21:21
Full story: Trump denies sharing classified submarine details with Mar-a-Lago member
Former president Donald Trump is claiming that he never disclosed highly classified information about American nuclear-powered submarines and their weaponry to a wealthy Australian who pays for a membership at the ex-president’s Mar-a-Lago social club.
Mr Trump, who in June was charged with multiple counts of unlawful retention of national defence information, conspiracy and obstruction of justice for allegedly hoarding highly classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida property, allegedly shared the information about US nuclear-powered submarines — typically considered among the US Navy’s most highly-guarded secrets, with an Aussie billionaire called Anthony Pratt.
Andrew Feinberg6 October 2023 21:10
Trump DC case judge denies slew of third-party filings
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the Washington, DC federal case against Donald Trump for his role in efforts to subvert the 2020 election, has denied a slew of third-party filings attached to the case.
Jordan Fischer of WUSA9 reports: “Former President Trump’s D.C. case has been drawing a lot of third-party filings and Judge Chutkan periodically denies batches of them at a time. Today’s batch includes a “motion to decriminalize” which is… not a thing.”
He adds: “Here’s the whole last batch of third-party filings Judge Chutkan has rejected. There are situations in which you can file motions if you’re not a party in a criminal case — media orgs do it to request access to exhibits, for example — but generally they’re not going anywhere.”
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 21:00
A conservative hellraiser in the House, now Jim Jordan is Trump’s top choice for speaker
Once called a ‘legislative terrorist’ who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election, Jim Jordan is now an odds-on favourite to replace Kevin McCarthy.
Eric Garcia filed this profile of the Ohio Republican for The Independent.
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 20:50
Breaking: McCarthy considering resigning from the House, report says
The former speaker who was ousted from the post earlier this week has indicated that he’ll remain at least past next week’s election to pick his successor.
This is a developing story…
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 20:40
On Thursday, Engoron issued an order setting procedures for enforcing his ruling. He gave both sides until Oct. 26 to submit names of potential receivers and gave Trump and other defendants seven days to provide a court-appointed monitor, retired federal judge Barbara Jones, with a list of all entities covered by the ruling.
He also ordered the defendants to give Jones advance notice of any application for new business licenses in any jurisdiction and any attempts to create new entities to “hold or acquire the assets” of a company that’s being dissolved under the ruling.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Engoron had “no rationale or legal authority” to impose what they described as “the corporate death penalty.” They also rapped the judge for not being clear in explaining the real world effects of his decision.
At a pretrial hearing on Sept. 26, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise pressed Engoron to clarify whether his ruling meant Trump would be required simply to close up some corporate entities or if he’d be forced to relinquish some of his most prized assets.
Engoron said he wasn’t “prepared to issue a ruling right now.”
“Perhaps most alarming is (the court’s) incomprehension of the sweeping and significant consequences of its own ruling,” Trump’s lawyers said in their appeal Friday, describing Engoron’s ruling as an “overbroad directive that sows confusion and chaos in its implementation.”
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 20:35
James’ office said it was willing to discuss delaying enforcement of Engoron’s ruling until after the trial and a decision on six remaining claims in her lawsuit against Trump and other defendants. But, only if the trial proceeds as scheduled, Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan wrote in a letter to the appellate court.
Fan argued against “upending an ongoing trial midstream,” noting the extensive court planning and security resources expended for Trump to attend the first three days of testimony, special arrangements for press and public access, and the impact that a delay would have on witnesses who’ve cleared their schedules to testify.
“The defendants can continue to try to delay and stall, but the evidence is clear, and our case is strong. We are confident justice will prevail,” James said.
Engoron ruled last week that Trump committed years of fraud as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to fame and the White House.
The judge, ruling on the top claim in James’ lawsuit, found that Trump routinely deceived banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the value of assets on his annual financial statements, which were used in making deals and securing loans.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing that some of his assets are worth far more than what’s listed on the statements.
Oliver O’Connell6 October 2023 20:25