Trump caught on tape pressuring Wayne County officials not to certify election: Live

“I think this case will be handled quickly. I think it could be 9-0 in the Supreme Court for Trump,” Ty Cobb has insisted in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett.

“I do believe it could be 9-0, because I think the law is clear.”

He continued: “The real key issue in this case is — is Trump an officer in the United States in the context in which that term is used in the Article 3 of the 14th Amendment. And in 2010, Chief Justice [John] Roberts explained in free enterprise that people don’t vote for officers of the United States.

“The Supreme Court though will not hesitate to move quickly on this; they know what the stakes are. They know what their responsibility is. And they can delay some of these Colorado dates to the extent that they feel they’re obligated to or have to.”

The US Secret Service has reportedly opened a preliminary investigation into former Dukes of Hazzard and Smallville star John Schneider after he allegedly called for President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden to be “publicly hung”.

Deadline first published a screenshot of a since-delete, which appeared late on Wednesday seemingly from the 63-year-old’s account – just hours after Schneider came second in the season 10 finale of The Masked Singer while dressed as a doughnut.

The post read: “Mr President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hung. Your son too. Your response is…? Sincerely, John Schneider.”

The post came as a response to the president’s own post warning that Trump “poses many threats to our country” and places American democracy at risk.

The actor has since denied threatening the president, responding to Deadline with a statement declaring: “Seriously, folks? This is my final comment on this. I neither said nor implied any such thing. Despite headlines claiming otherwise, in my post, I absolutely did not call for an act of violence or threaten a US president as many other celebrities have done in the past.”

As conservatives resume their annual complaints about the non-existent “war on Christmas”, Jay Black offers his suggestions for what the Republican presidential contenders might like to find beneath their trees this holiday season.

Team Trump filed a motion yesterday asking a federal appeals court to delay his defamation case against the former magazine columnist E Jean Carroll, which is currently set for 16 January, as his schedule becomes ever-more complicated.

The 90-day stay would allow his attorneys more time to consider their next moves, which could include attempting to involve the US Supreme Court, already ruling on his “presidential immunity” defence and likely to become involved in the Colorado affair once Trump appeals.

“The requested stays are necessary and appropriate to give President Trump an opportunity to fully litigate his entitlement to present an immunity defence in the underlying proceedings, including pursuing the appeal in the Supreme Court if necessary,” his attorneys wrote.

“The significance of these issues is illustrated by, among other things, last week’s filings with the Supreme Court by special counsel Jack Smith regarding President Trump’s presidential immunity appeal arising from a criminal case in the District of Columbia.

“That case is stayed pending resolution of the appeal, as this case should be, and the possibility that the Supreme Court may soon address President Trump’s immunity further supports the requested stays.”

Speaking during an interview with David Brody on CBN, the Florida governor made the surprising argument that the many legal woes of the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination have prevented the real issues from being aired.

“I would say if I could have one thing change, I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff,” he said.

“I mean, honestly, I think that, you know, from [Manhattan district attorney] Alvin Bragg on, I’ve criticised the cases, I think, you know, someone like a Bragg would not have brought that case if it was anyone other than Donald Trump.

“And so, you know, someone like that’s distorting justice, which is bad, but I also think it distorted the primary and I think it’s been, those have kind of been the main issues that have happened.”

Asked if he thought Trump’s grievance narrative had proved a boost to him, DeSantis answered: “It’s both that, but then also, it’s just crowded out, I think, so much other stuff and it’s sucked out a lot of oxygen, and so, you know, some of these guys like Bragg, you know, that they abused their power.

“I mean, incidentally, he’s a [George] Soros-backed prosecutor – I’m the only one in the country, I’ve removed two, one from Tampa and one from Orlando – and it does show you that they view law as an extension of politics, and that gets very, very dangerous when this country goes down that road.”

You might think it was time he started attacking Trump outright to boost his flagging campaign, rather than trying to please his followers in the hope that the favourite drops out, but whatever.

Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room last night and agreed with the Colorado Supreme Court’s rationale for dropping Trump from the ballot, stating that the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibiting oath-violating insurrectionists from seeking public office “could not be any clearer” .

Trump has until 4 January 2024 to appeal the ruling in Colorado by escalating it to conservative-majority US Supreme Court, where it is widely expected to be overturned.

“This is a chance for these [US Supreme Court] justices to show that they really mean it when they talk about textualism, when they talk about originalism. The plain text of the Constitution could not be any clearer,” Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, told the show.

“If Donald Trump is not disqualified from holding office again after what he did on January 6 in the weeks leading up to it, then who is disqualified? Why would they read an entire provision out of the constitution? So this is their opportunity to behave like real Supreme Court justices.”

“What’s Trump been up to on social media overnight?”, I hear you cry.

You name it. Laying into Joe Biden and Barack Obama, insisting he is the victim of a giant neverending legal conspiracy, saying that Democrats wish death on coal miners (yup), repeating his attacks on illegal immigrants poisoning the blood of the nation and even posting choice clips from the golf course (“Now watch this drive”).

There’s really something for everyone this Christmas season.

Here’s a little more from Amelia Neath on the comedian’s takedown of the 45th president over his veneration of notorious authoritarians from the pages of history to the present day.

Late night host Seth Meyers offered a witty account of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment this week in order to explain the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, declaring: “The only way this amendment could apply any more directly to Donald Trump is if it said: ‘No person shall hold any office who hasn’t previously taken an oath to support the Constitution and the United States shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, including any flamboyant land-owning weirdos whose ties are too long and won’t stop complaining about how toilets don’t flush and windmills killing birds.’”

Katie Hawkinson was watching.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has pointedly refused to join his Republican rival Vivek Ramaswamy in boycotting next year’s presidential election in Colorado.

Ramaswamy, who is vying with DeSantis for the GOP nomination in 2024, suggested on Wednesday that candidates should withdraw from the ballot unless Trump is also allowed to run.