Trump ‘immunity’ claim in election interference case goes before Supreme Court: Live
Donald Trump claims there was ‘no fraud whatsoever’ at New York for trial
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Donald Trump’s claim that “presidential immunity” protects him from prosecution in his federal election interference case will soon be heard by the US Supreme Court.
On Monday, special counsel Jack Smith asked the nation’s highest court to expedite and rule on the matter speedily – something the court agreed to do just hours later. Mr Trump now has until 4pm on 20 December to respond.
The latest twist in the case comes as Mr Trump’s civil fraud trial is wrapping up in New York.
The former president was expected to return to the stand on Monday but suddenly backed out of testifying in an all-caps Truth Social rant on Sunday.
Also in Washington, DC, the defamation trial of Trump lawyer and former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani got underway following the selection of an eight-person jury.
A judge has already found Mr Giuliani liable for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss by falsely claiming they committed election fraud.
On Monday, Mr Giuliani spewed his defamatory comments once again outside the courtroom.
Next up, the jury is shown deposition excerpts from Christina Bobb who says she was put in touch with Giuliani after the 2020 election by Chanel Rion of One America News.
A text is shown in which Giuliani asks her on 4 December 2020 to send Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers a copy of the Georgia surveillance video showing Ms Moss and Ms Freeman exchanging ginger mints.
In her message to Bowers, she refers to it as proof of “illegal ballot stuffing”.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 21:37
Guliani defamation trial: Video depositions shown to jury
Two Trump World video depositions are shown to the jury after Ms Moss’s testimony concludes.
The first is from former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik and concerns a strategic communications plan shared by Giuliani’s team that targeted Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss by name.
Kerik eventually shared the plan with the January 6th Committee.
Jurors are also shown a tweet from Kerik falsely accusing the two plaintiffs of electoral misconduct.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 21:33
A second rebuttal witness takes the stand despite objections from Kise. Judge Engoron says he will allow questioning to proceed for now.
Eric Lewis, an accounting professor at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, is objected to on the grounds he’s not a certified public accountant and does not have any research work or published articles or books, according to the defence team.
On the stand, Professor Lewis says he does, in fact, conduct academic research, before listing his qualifications.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 21:26
In cross-examination by the Trump legal team, Mr Sneddon tells Chris Robert that he didn’t remember who defendant Jeff McConney was until he was contacted recently by the New York AG’s office, and that he didn’t know the inaccurate 30,000 square footage figure for the triplex was an issue until told about it.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 21:20
As questioning continues, we learn that it was former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg who gave Mr Sneddon the false square footage of the Trump penthouse.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 21:16
NY fraud trial: Rebuttal witnesses
As expected from the morning session, Donald Trump’s team really doesn’t want rebuttal witnesses to mention anything that relates to previous testimony.
Earlier, Trump attorney Christopher Kise was furiously objecting to the judge’s consideration of rebuttal witnesses from the New York attorney general’s office, and now, after the NY AG’s team introduces Kevin Sneddon, a former Trump International Realty executive who can talk about the size of Trump’s triplex penthouse, Mr Kise again stands up to object.
As we all know by now, the penthouse was falsely valued based on having 30,000 square footage. It’s actually less than 11,000.
Who came up with that valuation, and under whose direction, and for what reason? Those haven’t been answered – yet…
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 21:13
On redirect, plaintiffs’ attorney John Langford begins by asking Ms Moss if she would like to be working now, to which she responds that in an ideal world, she would still be working at “the only job I’ve known” but no longer has a sense of purpose.
“Most days now I pray that God does not wake me up and I just disappear.”
She continues by saying she rarely goes out, and if she does, she is never alone. Security accompanies her even in Washington to attend the trial.
Langford asks her what she thinks Giuliani meant when he compared her to a bank robber and says she and her mother were passing USB sticks like “vials of heroine or cocaine”.
“That’s what he thinks when he looks at Black people,” she responds.
Giuliani shakes his head as he sits at the defence table.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 20:58
Trump resorts to old excuse over his ‘dictator’ comments – he was ‘joking’
As Donald Trump continues to face vocal condemnations after refusing to deny that he would be a “dictator” during his second term, the former president is turning to a familiar excuse to explain his eyebrow-raising remarks.
The ex-president has been at the centre of a small firestorm since his appearance last Wednesday on Fox News for a town hall-style interview with Sean Hannity, his counter-programming for the fourth GOP presidential debate. During that interview, a visibly flustered Hannity was left sputtering after Mr Trump’s off-colour quip about whether he would act with authoritarian tendencies if returned to power.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 20:40
Giuliani defamation trial: Moss says harassment continues
Ms Moss says that the harassment continues.
People have found her new home and sent her cut-up clippings of her face.
That was just a few months ago. She’s blocked people from being able to message her on Facebook, she blocked on LinkedIn, and she signed up for DeleteMe. They even went after her Pinterest.
Sibley asks if she or her mother have had it worse, to which Ms Moss replies that it’s “like two people getting jumped, and deciding who got jumped worse”.
Asking about her mental health and diagnosis, Sibley questions whether there is anything in her medical records that attributes it to Giuliani.
“It started with Trump and his homeboys… his allies.”
Cross-examination concludes and the court goes on a short break.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 20:27
NY fraud trial: Defence rests (for real)
Donald Trump’s legal team has officially rested its case in their client’s fraud trial – but lead attorney Chris Kise is asking the judge for a fourth time (or fifth?) for a directed verdict, arguing that there is “no evidence of fraud, no victims, no damage”.
They’ll submit this in writing but Judge Arthur Engoron is likely to shoot that down, again.
“There’s no way I’m going to grant that, but [you can] send me something,” the judge says.
“This is a colossal waste of resources,” New York attorney general’s office counsel Kevin Wallace tells Justice Engoron. “We already have a 45-page PowerPoint presentation on a directed verdict from Mr Kise.”
“This is silly,” he says.
The trial moves on to the NY AG’s rebuttal witnesses.
Oliver O’Connell12 December 2023 20:15
