Trump condemns ‘nation-destroying ruling’ after appeals court denies immunity defence: Latest updates
LIVE – Updated at 08:32
A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump does not have “immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while in office, landing another major blow to his efforts to evade criminal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys are expected to swiftly appeal to the full bench of appeals court judges, or up to the US Supreme Court, teeing up another major constitutional test involving Mr Trump’s campaign at the nation’s highest court.
Reacting to the news, the former president called the court’s decision “nation-destroying”.
The ruling comes after new polling from CNN that found that most Americans believe there should be a verdict on Mr Trump’s election subversion charges ahead of November’s presidential election.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Newsmax, the former president suggested that the US no longer had “free and fair elections” and called the country “pathetic”.
In other remarks, he also appeared to signal the end of Ronna McDaniel’s tenure as Republican National Committee chair, ridiculed Joe Biden for passing on a Super Bowl interview, and had some kind words for King Charles III following his cancer diagnosis.
Key Points
- Trump does not have immunity from election conspiracy charges, appeals court rules
- Trump lashes out at ‘nation-destroying ruling’
- Most Americans want Trump election subversion charges verdict before 2024 vote, poll reveals
- Trump taunts Haley ahead of Nevada by declaring primaries ‘seem to be over’
Poll: Most Americans don’t trust Supreme Court to rule fairly on 2024 election cases
08:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Most Americans doubt the US Supreme Court’s fairness in deciding Donald Trump’s legal cases relating to the 2024 presidential election, a new poll has revealed.
According to a CNN poll released on Monday, 58 per cent of respondents said they did not trust the Supreme Court to make the “right decisions”.
When asked if they trusted the Supreme Court, 58 per cent of respondents either said “not at all” or “just some”.
Only a small group – 11 per cent of respondents – said they trusted the Supreme Court “a great deal” and 31 per cent said “a moderate amount”.
Maroosha Muzaffar digs into the numbers:
Most Americans don’t trust Supreme Court to rule fairly on 2024 election cases – poll
Christie warns a Trump second term will be a ‘vendetta presidency’
06:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Chris Christie has warned that a second Donald Trump term in the White House would become a “vendetta presidency” where the former president would go after those he feels have wronged him.
Speaking with ABC News in his first interview since dropping out of the Republican race, Mr Christie said that a second Trump administration would have a massive personnel problem.
Gustaf Kilander has the story:
Chris Christie warns a Trump second term will be a ‘vendetta presidency’
Trump lashes out at ‘nation-destroying ruling’
04:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump has lashed out at what he claims to be a “nation-destroying ruling” after his presidential immunity defence was struck down by an appeals court.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, the former president called the appeals court’s ruling “nation-destroying” and repeated his baseless allegation that his multiple criminal indictments are a “political weapon” directed by President Joe Biden against him.
“A President of the United States must have Full Immunity in order to properly function and do what has to be done for the good of our Country,” Mr Trump wrote.
“A Nation-destroying ruling like this cannot be allowed to stand. If not overturned, as it should be, this decision would terribly injure not only the Presidency, but the Life, Breath, and Success of our Country.”
Gustaf Kilander and Alex Woodward report:
Trump lashes out at ‘nation-destroying ruling’ after immunity defence struck down
Recap: Trump does not have immunity from election conspiracy charges, appeals court rules
02:15 , Oliver O’Connell
A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump does not have “immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while he was in office, landing another major blow to his efforts to evade criminal charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys are expected to swiftly appeal to the full bench of appeals court judges, or up to the US Supreme Court, teeing up another major constitutional test involving Mr Trump’s campaign at the nation’s highest court.
“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” judges with the US District Court of Appeals in Washington DC wrote on Tuesday. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as president no longer protects him against this prosecution.”
Alex Woodward reports:
Appeals court rejects Trump’s immunity claim in Jan 6 case
Haley signals to Trump that she’s in it for the long haul
01:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Nikki Haley isn’t going anywhere.
At least, that’s the message her campaign is trying to get across this week as February begins and the battle for her home state of South Carolina ramps up.
Still trailing Donald Trump by a hefty margin in all national polling and most surveys of upcoming primary states, the former governor and UN ambassador is battling a perception that was born months before Iowa and New Hampshire voted: the idea that the race is over.
That idea became reality for many Republicans, particularly in Washington, after Mr Trump’s twin victories in the first two states of 2024. But Ms Haley is holding on like a barnacle, clinging to an 11-point margin of defeat in New Hampshire and her belief that she can close that gap even further in a state where she was governor for eight years.
John Bowden reports:
Nikki Haley signals to Donald Trump that she’s in it for the long haul
Trump and Elvis do have one thing in common, says Jimmy Kimmel
00:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday mocked Donald Trump for comparing himself to Elvis Presley.
Amid preparations for the Nevada Republican primary and caucuses this week, the former president took time to ask his followers on Truth Social for their thoughts on his similarity to the “King of Rock and Roll”.
“For so many years people have been saying that Elvis and I look alike,” Mr Trump posted on Saturday, alongside an image comprising half of Elvis’ face lined up with half of his own.
“Now this pic has been going all over the place. What do you think?”
Mr Kimmel had a cutting response to Mr Trump on his show on Monday night.
Kimmel says Trump and Elvis have one thing in common: ‘He too will die on a toilet’
Call Trump a ‘sick f***’ in public, Seth Meyers tells Biden
00:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Seth Meyers pleads with Joe Biden to “let it rip” after reports of the president calling Donald Trump a “sick f***” behind closed doors.
As if the election campaigns could not get any more bizarre, from Donald Trump two-timing his campaign journey with his plethora of court cases to Nikki Haley’s drop-out refusal, reports now say that Joe Biden has had some choice words to say about Mr Trump.
Much to the Late Night host’s delight, Mr Meyers revelled in the claims that Mr Biden calls Mr Trump a “sick f***” who delights in seeing other people’s misfortunes to his longtime friends and close aides, according to Politico, who cited three unidentified people who have heard him say this.
The Politico report also added that Mr Biden recently called Mr Trump a “f****** ass****,” according to one of the people who spoke to the president.
Amelia Neath has the story:
Seth Meyers tells Biden to ‘let it rip’ and call Trump a ‘sick f***’ in public
Tuesday 6 February 2024 23:45 , Oliver O’Connell
How might Trump still beat Haley in the Nevada primary tonight?
Tuesday 6 February 2024 23:15 , Joe Sommerlad
As if election season weren’t complicated enough already, Nevada Republicans are holding both a primary and a caucus this year – effectively giving registered conservative voters two chances to declare their preferred candidate for the party’s presidential nomination.
The situation is the result of a dispute between the state and the local branch of the Republican Party over a bipartisan bill passed by Nevada’s state legislature in 2021.
That bill stipulated that the Silver State must hold political primaries if more than one candidate is in contention for a given race, doing away with the old party-run caucus system traditionally employed.
As a result, a mandatory state-run Republican primary is underway today.
Continue reading…
How Nikki Haley could lose to Trump in Nevada – even though he’s not on the ballot
Voices: McConnell surrenders to Maga – and leaves allies behind
Tuesday 6 February 2024 22:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all but acknowledged on Tuesday that the security bill that included provisions for border security and restrictions to immigration in exchange for money for Ukraine will not pass the Senate.
As we at The Independent’sInside Washington newsletter like to say, what McConnell does not says matters as much as what he does. And after he gave a few condescending pats on the head to Republican Oklahoma Senator James Lankford for being the sacrificial lamb in these negotiations, he said “it’s been made pretty clear to us by the speaker that it will not become law.”
But this ignores the fact that even before most senators had a chance to look at the text of the bill, Republicans immediately began coming out in opposition to it. Indeed, Republican senators oppose it so robustly that Lankford, the very person who negotiated the bill, said he does know if he will vote to end debate on the bill this week.
Continue reading…
McConnell surrenders to Maga – and leaves allies behind
Trump campaign lashes out in response to Biden speech on border bill
Tuesday 6 February 2024 22:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump 2024 campaign, released a statement in response to President Joe Biden’s speech regarding the border that he delivered earlier today.
“We need a President who will use his executive authority to shut the border down.”
Here’s our coverage of the president’s remarks:
Biden hits out at Trump and Republican allies for blocking border bill
Tuesday 6 February 2024 22:06 , Oliver O’Connell
Georgia election subversion: Fani Willis gets backing of ethics experts over conflict-of-interest allegations
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:56 , Oliver O’Connell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a group of 17 ethics experts, former prosecutors, and defence attorney filed a “friend of the court” brief late on Monday in support of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, writing that she does not have any conflicts that warrant her disqualification from the Georgia election interference case brought against Donald Trump.
“Disqualifying conflicts,” the group wrote, “occur when a prosecutor’s previous representation of a defendant gives the prosecutor forbidden access to confidential information about the defendant or a conflict otherwise directly impacts fairness and due process owed a defendant.”
“That kind of conflict is not at issue here,” they said.
Among the signatories are former Georgia-based federal prosecutor Amy Lee Copeland, onetime DeKalb Country District Attorney J Tom Morgan and Richard Painter, the top White House ethics lawyer during the George W Bush administration.
The brief lays out why Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee should dismiss multiple court motions alleging Ms Willis acted improperly by not disclosing a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the attorney she hired in the case against the former president and his 14 co-defendants.
Ms Willis acknowledged the relationship in a court filing last week but denied she had improperly benefited financially.
An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for 15 February, which Ms Willis has urged Judge McAfee to cancel.
Here’s some of Alex Woodward’s earlier reporting:
Fani Willis rejects ‘salacious’ accusations in Trump election crimes case
The US is ‘just so pathetic’ says Trump
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump struck a less than patriotic note during an interview with Newsmax on Monday when he claimed that America was “just so pathetic” under his successor Joe Biden.
In a wide-ranging discussion with the conservative broadcaster’s anchor Rob Schmitt, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination claimed that the United States’s status on the world stage has badly diminished since he left the White House in January 2021 due to, as he sees it, President Biden’s mishandling of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
“The country is just, it’s so pathetic,” he told Mr Schmitt. “And you know other countries are watching this…”
Joe Sommerlad has the details:
Trump claims the US is ‘just so pathetic’ in ranting Newsmax interview
Trump tells followers to give Bud Light a ‘Second Chance’
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:38 , Oliver O’Connell
It’s an election year and Donald Trump is thinking about donations… which is probably why he wants his followers to move on from their anger at Bud Light and parent company Anheuser-Busch over the casting of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in an ad.
The company’s political donations have traditionally tilted toward Republicans, so the former president heaped praise on the company in a post on Truth Social.
Some Maga followers got over their outrage about the ad quicker than others…
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Who is Trump eyeing as his running mate?
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has finally revealed who he is eyeing as his potential vice president.
In an interview with Fox News, airing on Sunday, the former president revealed that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott are currently on the short list to become his running mate in the 2024 election.
“We have some many good people in the Republican Party,” Mr Trump told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Trump finally reveals who he’s eyeing for vice president
Watch live as the House votes on whether to impeach border chief Alejandro Mayorkas
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:07 , Oliver O’Connell
Maga lawmakers try to rewrite what happened on Jan 6
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:00 , Ariana Baio
More than 60 House Republicans have joined a resolution, led by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, that declares former president Donald Trump did not engage in an insurrection on January 6 – just days before the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case.
In a heated press conference on Tuesday, Mr Gaetz was joined by several notable Trump-allied Representatives to claim the January 6th attack on the Capitol was not an insurrection, Mr Trump did not engaged in the surrection and that the Colorado Supreme Court erred in their decision to remove the former president from the ballot for engaging in such.
“We are here today to authoritatively express that President Trump did not commit an insurrection and we believe Congress has a unique role in making that declaration,” Mr Gaetz said.
“It’s not the jobs of the state, especially not the job of some bureaucrats in Colorado to make that assessment,” he added.
Read the full article…
Tuesday 6 February 2024 20:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Hot mic moment was ‘complete mistake’, Chris Christie admits as he breaks silence
Poll: Most Americans don’t trust Supreme Court to rule fairly on 2024 election cases
Tuesday 6 February 2024 20:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Most Americans doubted the Supreme Court’s fairness in deciding legal cases related to the 2024 election cases, a new poll revealed.
According to a CNN poll released on Monday, 58 per cent of respondents said they did not trust the SCOTUS to make the “right decisions”.
When asked if they trusted the Supreme Court, 58 per cent of respondents either said “not at all” or “just some”.
Only a small group – 11 per cent of respondents – said they trusted the SCOTUS “a great deal” and 31 per cent said “a moderate amount”.
Maroosha Muzaffar reports:
Most Americans don’t trust Supreme Court to rule fairly on 2024 election cases – poll
Full story: Trump’s fraud trial judge demands answers about Weisselberg’s alleged courtroom lies
Tuesday 6 February 2024 20:10 , Oliver O’Connell
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s sprawling civil fraud case in New York wants answers following reports that one of the former president’s co-defendants is arranging a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors on a perjury charge for lying in his courtroom.
In a message to attorneys on Tuesday, New York County Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron said he wants to know whether the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg is now “changing his tune” and admitting to lying under oath during the fraud trial.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the disgraced executive is negotiating a plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on a perjury charge – at the same that Judge Engoron is preparing a final judgment in the case.
Alex Woodward has been following the trial and filed this report:
Trump’s fraud trial judge demands answers about Weisselberg’s ‘perjury’
Chris Christie warns of Trump ‘vendetta presidency’
Tuesday 6 February 2024 19:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Chris Christie has warned that a second Donald Trump term in the White House would become a “vendetta presidency” where the former president would go after those he feels have wronged him.
Speaking with ABC News in his first interview since dropping out of the Republican race, Mr Christie said that a second Trump administration would have a massive personnel problem.
“Mayhem. Absolute mayhem,” he predicted about the future of the country should Mr Trump win the 2024 presidential election.
Gustaf Kilander reports:
Chris Christie warns a Trump second term will be a ‘vendetta presidency’
Biden supporting super PAC to spend $40m attacking Trump over legal crises
Tuesday 6 February 2024 19:43 , Joe Sommerlad
The Unite the Country super PAC is reportedly set to spend a huge chunk of change amplifying Donald Trump’s many, many legal problems to make the case for a second Joe Biden term.
NBC reports that the group believes that while Trump has, so far, managed to turn adversity to his advantage and spin his four criminal indictments and 91 felony charges into a grand conspiracy narrative with which to whip up conservative support (and fundraising), his success rate could soon taper off once the general election contest cranks into gear in earnest.
Steve Schale, the group’s director, says more moderate Republicans could begin to become wary of Trump’s legal travails, particularly if they result in criminal convictions or even jail time, and could be persuaded to turn blue for Biden.
“We feel like this section of the electorate is critical, if not the critical, swing vote,” Schale says.
“We plan on leaning in early and often on this.”
Giuliani owes $40,000 in golf club membership fees, bankruptcy filings show
Tuesday 6 February 2024 19:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani owes almost $40,000 in golf club membership fees, according to bankruptcy filings.
Court documents show Mr Giuliani owes $38,520 in unpaid membership fees to Emerland Dunes Country Club, based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The claim is listed as “disputed”.
He also owes $647 to Trump International Golf Club, according to the documents.
Mr Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December, days after a federal judge ordered him to “immediately” pay more than $148m to a pair of Georgia election workers a jury determined he defamed in a decision he called “absurd”.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Rudy Giuliani ‘owes $40,000’ in golf club membership fees
Full story: Biden hits out at Trump and Republican allies for blocking border bill
Tuesday 6 February 2024 19:00 , Oliver O’Connell
President Joe Biden on Tuesday took direct aim at Republicans in Congress and the man they take direction from, former president Donald Trump, slamming both for blocking a carefully-crafted bipartisan compromise bill that would implement sweeping changes in the US immigration system and provision defence assistance funds for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
In remarks from the State Dining Room at the White House, Mr Biden described the legislation crafted by White House negotiators and a group of senators led by Republican James Lankford of Oklahoma, Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Arizona independent Kyrsten Sinema as a “bipartisan agreement that represents the most fair, humane reforms in our immigration system in a long time and the toughest set of reforms to secure the border ever”.
He also acknowledged that at this time, “all indications” show the bill has no chance of advancing in either the House or Senate, and laid out the “simple reason” Republicans are blocking the bill.
“Why? A simple reason, Donald Trump,” he said.
Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent from the White House:
Biden hits out at Trump and Republican allies for blocking border bill
A Colorado Republican is suing to kick Trump off the ballot. She says she’s worried for democracy’s survival
Tuesday 6 February 2024 18:49 , Oliver O’Connell
Alex Woodward spoke with 91-year-old Norma Anderson, who made history as a state lawmaker in Colorado.
Now she wants former president Donald Trump disqualified from holding office under a constitutional challenge at the Supreme Court.
The Colorado Republican suing to kick Donald Trump off the ballot
Watch: Biden lays failure of border bill squarely at Trump’s feet
Tuesday 6 February 2024 18:42 , Oliver O’Connell
In remarks this lunchtime about the failure of bipartisan legislation to address the crisis at the southern border, President Joe Biden said: “All indications are this bill won’t even move forward…why? A simple reason; Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically…He’d rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it.”
“So, for the last 24 hours he’s done nothing I’m told but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate and threaten them and trying to intimidate them to vote against this proposal. And it looks like they’re caving.”
Trump lashes out at ‘nation-destroying ruling’
Tuesday 6 February 2024 18:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump has slammed what he called the “nation-destroying ruling” after his presidential immunity defence was struck down in an appeals court.
In an all-caps post on his Truth Social account on Monday night, he claimed that without immunity, “every president that leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party”.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung echoed Mr Trump’s remark in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling.
Continue reading…
Trump lashes out at ‘nation-destroying ruling’ after immunity defence struck down
Seth Meyers’ advice to Biden when talking about Trump
Tuesday 6 February 2024 18:08 , Oliver O’Connell
Seth Meyers pleads with Joe Biden to “let it rip” after reports of the president calling Donald Trump a “sick f***” behind closed doors.
As if the election campaigns could not get any more bizarre, from Donald Trump two-timing his campaign journey with his plethora of court cases to Nikki Haley’s drop-out refusal, reports now say that Joe Biden has had some choice words to say about Mr Trump.
Much to the Late Night host’s delight, Mr Meyers revelled in the claims that Mr Biden calls Mr Trump a “sick f***” who delights in seeing other people’s misfortunes to his longtime friends and close aides, according to Politico, who cited three unidentified people who have heard him say this.
Amelia Neath has the story:
Seth Meyers tells Biden to ‘let it rip’ and call Trump a ‘sick f***’ in public
‘SAVE PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY: Trump reacts to appeals court decision
Tuesday 6 February 2024 17:50 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump has personally reacted to the appeals court decision that stated he is not immune from criminal prosecution for his 2020 election interference charges.
Following an earlier statement from his campaign spokesperson, the former president wrote on Truth Social:
A President of the United States must have Full Immunity in order to properly function and do what has to be done for the good of our Country. A Nation-destroying ruling like this cannot be allowed to stand. If not overturned, as it should be, this decision would terribly injure not only the Presidency, but the Life, Breath, and Success of our Country. A President will be afraid to act for fear of the opposite Party’s Vicious Retribution after leaving Office. I know from personal experience because I am going through it right now. It will become a Political Weapon used for Election Interference. Even our Elections will be corrupted and under siege. So bad, and so dangerous for our Nation. SAVE PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY!
You can read the full ruling here which refutes all of Mr Trump’s arguments.
Alex Woodward has been following the case and filed this report earlier today:
Appeals court rejects Trump’s immunity claim in Jan 6 case
Ann Coulter offers brutal advice for Trump: ‘Die’
Tuesday 6 February 2024 17:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter did not mince her words when asked what Trump could do to “help us take America back”.
“Maybe he could die?” she wrote on X.
Coulter was previously one of Trump’s most prominent supporters. In 2016, she endorsed the former president and authored a book, In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!
However, she turned against the former president after accusing him of “betraying” his voters by failing to complete the much-touted wall along the US-Mexico border to stop the flow of undocumented migrants.
She has since been an outspoken critic, describing him as “the biggest wimp ever to serve” and “a gigantic baby” who “can barely speak English”.
Martha McHardy has more.
Ann Coulter offers brutal advice for Trump: ‘Die’
Trump civil fraud trial: Judge asks if Weisselberg is ‘changing his tune’ over perjury
Tuesday 6 February 2024 17:21 , Oliver O’Connell
Justice Arthur Engoron has written to the New York attorney general’s office and Donald Trump’s legal team concerning last week’s reporting that former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg is in negotiation to plead guilty to perjury.
The judge writes: “I of course want to know whether Mr. Weisselberg is now changing his tune, and whether he is admitting he lied under oath in my courtroom at this trial.”
He notes that while the New York Times article in question revolves around the reported size of the Trump Tower penthouse, he also would like to know whether this also impacts his other testimony.
“I do not want to ignore anything in a case of this magnitude.”
Judge Engoron asks the attorneys in the fraud case for their takes on how he should proceed on this matter, “if at all, including the timing of the final decision” and says they should respond by Wednesday at 5pm.
Read the full letter here
Here’s our reporting on Weisselberg’s apparent negotiations:
Former Trump executive reportedly in talks to plead guilty to perjury
Jimmy Kimmel notes Trump and Elvis do have one thing in common
Tuesday 6 February 2024 17:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday mocked Donald Trump for comparing himself to Elvis Presley.
Amid preparations for the Nevada Republican primary and caucuses this week, the former president took time to ask his followers on Truth Social for their thoughts on his similarity to the “King of Rock and Roll”.
“For so many years people have been saying that Elvis and I look alike,” Mr Trump posted on Saturday, alongside an image comprising half of Elvis’ face lined up with half of his own.
“Now this pic has been going all over the place. What do you think?”
Mr Kimmel had a cutting response to Mr Trump on his show on Monday night.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Kimmel says Trump and Elvis have one thing in common: ‘He too will die on a toilet’
Watch: Gaetz urges fellow lawmakers to support resolution stating Trump did not engage in insurrection
Tuesday 6 February 2024 17:10 , Oliver O’Connell
Newsmax interview: Trump claims the US is ‘just so pathetic’
Tuesday 6 February 2024 16:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump struck a less than patriotic note during an interview with Newsmax on Monday when he claimed that America was “just so pathetic” under his successor Joe Biden.
In a wide-ranging discussion with the conservative broadcaster’s anchor Rob Schmitt, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination claimed that the United States’s status on the world stage has badly diminished since he left the White House in January 2021 due to, as he sees it, President Biden’s mishandling of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
“The country is just, it’s so pathetic,” he told Mr Schmitt. “And you know other countries are watching this…”
Joe Sommerlad reports:
Trump claims the US is ‘just so pathetic’ in ranting Newsmax interview
Watch: Might the Supreme Court not take the case?
Tuesday 6 February 2024 16:06 , Oliver O’Connell
Neal Katyal, former principal deputy solicitor general of the United States, doesn’t think that the Supreme Court will take the case. Here’s what he told MSNBC this morning:
Trump immunity case: What options does the Supreme Court have now?
Tuesday 6 February 2024 16:01 , Oliver O’Connell
What might the Supreme Court do next given the Trump team is expected to appeal the decision?
Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas School of Law believes the court has two options: “It can deny Trump’s forthcoming stay request, and clear the way for the prosecution to proceed quickly; or it can grant the stay—and expedite its review of the merits of today’s ruling, with a decision by June.”
He adds: “Either way, I expect the Court to rule on the stay application either late next week or early the week of February 19. So we should know a *lot* more about the timing of the next steps sometime in the next two weeks.”
Trump spokesperson reacts to court ruling
Tuesday 6 February 2024 15:52 , Oliver O’Connell
“If immunity is not granted to a President, every future President who leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party. Without complete immunity, a President of the United States would not be able to properly function! Deranged Jack Smith’s prosecution of President Trump for his Presidential, official acts is unconstitutional under the doctrine of Presidential Immunity and the Separation of Powers. Prosecuting a President for official acts violates the Constitution and threatens the bedrock of our Republic. President Trump respectfully disagrees with the DC Circuit’s decision and will appeal it in order to safeguard the Presidency and the Constitution.”
— Steven Cheung, spokesperson for Donald Trump
Here’s what the panel of judges had to say about the threat of indictments to former presidents:
Additionally, former President Trump’s “predictive judgment” of a torrent of politically motivated prosecutions “finds little support in either history or the relatively narrow compass of the issues raised in this particular case,” … as former President Trump acknowledges that this is the first time since the Founding that a former President has been federally indicted. Weighing these factors, we conclude that the risk that former Presidents will be unduly harassed by meritless federal criminal prosecutions appears slight.
Further on in their ruling the justices add:
It would be a striking paradox if the President, who alone is vested with the constitutional duty to ‘take care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ were the sole officer capable of defying those laws with impunity.
Trump stance would collapse separation of powers, court says
Tuesday 6 February 2024 15:44 , Oliver O’Connell
Per the US District Court panel:
We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results. Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.
At bottom, former President Trump’s stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches. Presidential immunity against federal indictment would mean that, as to the President, the Congress could not legislate, the Executive could not prosecute and the Judiciary could not review. We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter.
Careful evaluation of these concerns leads us to conclude that there is no functional justification for immunizing former Presidents from federal prosecution in general or for immunizing former President Trump from the specific charges in the Indictment. In so holding, we act, “not in derogation of the separation of powers, but to maintain their proper balance.”
Read the full ruling here
Trump wrote angry all-caps post about presidential immunity late on Monday
Tuesday 6 February 2024 15:31 , Oliver O’Connell
Did Donald Trump and his legal team get a heads-up on the appeals court decision?
Or was this Truth Social post from 11.25pm on Monday just part of his usual late-night online ranting?
Full story: Trump does not have immunity from election conspiracy charges, appeals court rules
Tuesday 6 February 2024 15:15 , Alex Woodward
A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump does not have “immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while he was in office, landing another major blow to his efforts to evade criminal charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys are expected to swiftly appeal to the full bench of appeals court judges, or up to the US Supreme Court, teeing up another major constitutional test involving Mr Trump’s campaign at the nation’s highest court.
Last year’s federal grand jury indictment outlines a multi-state scheme from Mr Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, culminating in his failure to stop a mob’s violent breach of the US Capitol on January 6. He faces four criminal charges, including conspiracy and obstruction.
Continue reading:
Appeals court rejects Trump’s immunity claim in Jan 6 case
Trump NOT immune from prosecution, DC Circuit rules
Tuesday 6 February 2024 15:07 , Oliver O’Connell
Former president Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution over the election conspiracy charges against him, the US District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled in a 3-0 decision by the panel of judges.
“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.”
Read the full ruling here
This is a developing story…
JD Vance shut down after suggesting Trump could defy Supreme Court
Tuesday 6 February 2024 14:45 , Joe Sommerlad
Republican senator JD Vance – who is reportedly being considered for Donald Trump’s potential administration – repeated baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election and falsely asserted that Trump as president could defy the US Supreme Court.
The Ohio senator told ABC News on Sunday that unlike then-vice-president Mike Pence, he would not have certified the results of the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed is the “legitimate way” to handle contested results from states that Trump lost.
There is no provision in the US Constitution to do so, nor is there any evidence of widespread election fraud that manipulated 2020’s outcome against Trump.
Here’s Alex Woodward on the storm of condemnation his comments have attracted.
JD Vance shut down after suggesting Trump could defy Supreme Court
Biden says he has to ‘hold my Irish temper’ when talking about Trump
Tuesday 6 February 2024 14:15 , Joe Sommerlad
President Joe Biden told a group of donors to his re-election bid on Sunday that the mere thought of his predecessor’s callous attitude towards the nation’s military veterans and honoured war dead forces him to expend extra energy to keep his anger in check.
Andrew Feinberg has more.
Biden says he has to ‘hold my Irish temper’ when talking Trump at campaign fundraiser
Christie warns a Trump second term will be a ‘vendetta presidency’
Tuesday 6 February 2024 14:00 , Joe Sommerlad
Speaking with ABC News in his first interview since dropping out of the Republican race about a month ago, the former New Jersey governor said a second Trump administration would amount to a “vendetta presidency” and have a massive personnel problem.
Gustaf Kilander has more.
Chris Christie warns a Trump second term will be a ‘vendetta presidency’
The hidden way Trump could still beat Haley in today’s Nevada primary
Tuesday 6 February 2024 13:45 , Joe Sommerlad
As if election season weren’t complicated enough already, Nevada Republicans are holding both a primary and a caucus this year – effectively giving registered conservative voters two chances to declare their preferred candidate for the party’s presidential nomination.
The situation is the result of a dispute between the state and the local branch of the Republican party over a bipartisan bill passed by Nevada’s state legislature in 2021.
The bill stipulated that the Silver State must hold political primaries if more than one candidate is in contention for a given race, doing away with the old party-run caucus system traditionally employed.
As a result, a mandatory state-run Republican primary will be held on Tuesday 6 February.
However, the state Republican party pushed back on this plan and organised that caucuses will also take place on Thursday 8 February.
Under the Nevada Republican party’s rules, candidates are barred from running in both the primary and in the caucuses.
This odd state of play has divided the contenders into two camps and means that Nikki Haley and Donald Trump will not go head-to-head this time around, as they did in Iowa and New Hampshire, but that doesn’t mean Trump supporters can’t spoil her party in the primary.
Here’s how.
The hidden way Trump could still beat Haley in the Nevada primary
Majority of Americans don’t trust Supreme Court to rule fairly on 2024 election cases, poll finds
Tuesday 6 February 2024 13:15 , Joe Sommerlad
Here’s Maroosha Muzaffar with more from the same poll, which also identified a large proportion of the American electorate suspicious of the conservative-majority on the Supreme Court.
Most Americans don’t trust Supreme Court to rule fairly on 2024 election cases – poll
Most Americans want verdict on Trump election charges before 2024 vote, poll finds
Tuesday 6 February 2024 12:45 , Joe Sommerlad
Nearly half of Americans say that they want federal courts to reach a verdict on Donald Trump’s criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election before votes are cast in this year’s presidential election.
A CNN poll released on Monday found that 43 per cent of Americans see a resolution to that matter as a necessity given that Trump is likely to be the Republican nominee for president this year.
The share of respondents who agreed was markedly higher than the percentage of Americans who said it wasn’t important to their vote, which was around one in five, or the share who said the trial should be postponed until after the election (which was just 11 per cent). A further 16 per cent said they hoped the trial would conclude before November, but were not overly concerned with the outcome’s timing.
The poll is another piece in the growing pile of evidence suggesting that the greatest threat to Trump’s desired second term (beyond his unparalleled unfavourability ratings) remains his four criminal trials. The ex-president is facing a total of 91 felony counts, with prosecutors in two separate jurisdictions are alleging that he committed criminal acts in the course of attempting to reverse Joe Biden’s lawful victory in the 2020 election.
John Bowden takes a closer look.
Most Americans want verdict on Trump election charges before 2024 vote, poll finds
TV roundup: Hannity offended by Biden, Roy offended by Haley, Habba offended by everything
Tuesday 6 February 2024 12:15 , Joe Sommerlad
Fox’s Sean Hannity last night pronounced his delicate sensibilities upset by reports that President Biden refers to Donald Trump as a “sick f***” in private, which the anchor felt was not becoming for a “grandfather figure”, conveniently overlooking the septuagenarian Trump’s own history of bad language (alluding to “s***hole countries” etc).
On CNN, Texas Republican congressman Chip Roy told Kaitlan Collins that Nikki Haley’s cameo on Saturday Night Live over the weekend indicated that she is not “representing the conservatives which I represent”.
Back on Newsmax, Trump lawyer Alina Habba complained about pretty much everything relating to last month’s $83.3m defamation award to E Jean Carroll by a New York jury, still smarting from an embarrassing defeat.