Trump news today: Supreme Court will decide if Trump can be kept off 2024 ballots after Jan 6

Despite his chaotic one-term presidency ending in violent disorder on the steps of the legislative complex, swiftly followed by an unprecedented second impeachment, Mr Trump continues to ride high in the polls and believes he is on course to become the first deposed American commander-in-chief to regain the White House since Grover Cleveland achieved that feat way back in March 1893.

His supporters remain nonplussed about the four criminal indictments he faces and the numerous legal fires his attorneys are battling on multiple fronts, cheerily dismissing his travails as the inevitable consequence of widespread but oddly invisible Democratic corruption while seemingly unconvinced by any of the alternative candidates the GOP has thrown up as it seeks to unseat Joe Biden.

But as Mr Trump strides towards the nomination, determined to rewrite the record on his crowning disgrace and refute the idea put forward in Colorado and Maine that he is an insurrectionist ineligible for office, it is worth re-emphasising the significance of the worst attack on the heart of American democracy since the Capitol was set alight by vengeful British soldiers on 24 August 1814, particularly as a new poll suggests a quarter of Americans still believe it was all a plot orchestrated by the FBI.

Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters charged with storming the U.S. Capitol have faced the same choice in the three years since the attack: either admit their guilt and accept the consequences or take their chances on a trial in hopes of securing a rare acquittal.

Those who have who gambled — and lost — on a trial have received significantly longer prison sentences than those who took responsibility for joining the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, an Associated Press review of court records shows.

The AP‘s analysis of Capitol riot sentencing data reinforces a firmly established tenet of the U.S. criminal justice system: Pleading guilty and cooperating with authorities carries a substantial benefit when it comes time for sentencing.

″On one hand, the Constitution guarantees the accused a right to a jury trial. It’s a fundamental constitutional right. But the reality is that if you exercise that right … you’re likely to be punished more severely than you would have been had you pled guilty to the offense,” said Jimmy Gurulé, a University of Notre Dame law professor and former federal prosecutor.

More than 700 defendants have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the Jan. 6 attack, while over 150 others have opted for a trial decided by a judge or jury in Washington, D.C. It’s no surprise most cases have ended in a plea deal — many rioters were captured on video inside the Capitol and later gloated about their actions on social media, making it difficult for their lawyers to mount much of a defense.

An historic ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court in December disqualified the former president from appearing on 2024 presidential ballots, teeing up a politically explosive case at the nation’s highest court, where three of the justices were appointed by Mr Trump.

The Supreme Court will now review the Colorado court’s ruling that Mr Trump is ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office.

Oral arguments will begin 8 February 2024.

Read more about the case from Alex Woodward.

In his first major campaign speech of 2024, President Joe Biden said Donald Trump’s actions on 6 January 2021 were among the “worst derelictions of duty” by a US president.

“The topic of my speech today is deadly serious,” Mr Biden said at the top of his speech Friday.

“Today we gather…just one day before January 6. A day forever seared our memory because it was on that day we nearly lost America, lost it all,” he said in a speech Friday afternoon in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. “Today we’re here to answer the most important question: Is democracy still America’s sacred cause?”

Mr Biden minced no words in his speech, telling voters Mr Trump is willing to “sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.”

“Trump did nothing, it was among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history,” Mr Biden said of the former President’s actions during the Capitol riot.

Former president Donald Trump’s lawyer implied that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh should overturn efforts to keep Mr Trump off the ballot as a favour for the former president supporting him during his confirmation process.

Alina Habba, Mr Trump’s attorney, spoke on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Thursday evening to explain how Mr Trump’s legal team formally asked that the Supreme Court overturn a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that found him constitutionally ineligible to appear on the ballot this year.

“I think it should be a slam dunk in the Supreme Court,” Ms Habba said. “I have faith in them. You know, people like Kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the president went through hell to get into place. He’ll step up.”

Mr Trump nominated Mr Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018 and continued to support him even as he faced accusations during of sexual assault, which Mr Kavanaugh vehemently denied. In addition, Mr Trump attacked Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault when she and Ms Ford were teenagers.

Read more from Martha McHardy and Eric Garcia.

President Joe Biden compared Donald Trump’s rhetoric to that of Nazi Germany during a Friday campaign speech in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

“He calls those who will oppose him, ‘vermin,’” Mr Biden said. “He talks about the blood of America has been poisoned, echoing the same exact language used in Nazi Germany.”

Mr Biden made a similar point last month, and in September 2020 he compared Mr Trump to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Friday’s speech focused on Mr Trump’s role in the 6 January 2021 insurrection, with Mr Biden saying the former president is “willing to sacrifice our democracy.”

In a sprawling civil case alleging years of fraud within his real estate empire, Donald Trump and his co-defendants should be forced to pay more than $370m and effectively barred from doing business in New York, the state’s Attorney General Letitia James argued Friday.

The filings arrive one week before closing arguments in the case. Judge Arthur Engoron is expected to issue a decision by the end of January.

Get the details from Alex Woodward.

CEO of NRA resigned on Friday just days ahead of trial against New York AG currently prosecuting Trump

Wayne LaPierre, the longtime CEO and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), is stepping down from the organization just days ahead of his trial against New York Attorney General Letitia James, the same prosecutor currently trying Donald Trump for fraud.

The trial is scheduled to begin early next week.

Learn more from Ariana Baio.