Trump hits out at New York AG as Bidens’ Christmas video mocked: Live

Donald Trump has lashed out at New York attorney general Letitia James on Truth Social, calling her “politically biased and motivated” in her investigation of his financial statements, which he insists were really “undervalued”.

“I am worth Billions of Dollars more than is shown on my very Conservative Financial Statements, THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE A.G. WITCH HUNT!!!” the Republican presidential front-runner fumed.

The outburst came as Mr Trump lost his latest bid to overturn a gag order imposed on him in the civil fraud trial, which is supposed to prohibit him from attacking court staff.

Testimony in the trial wrapped earlier this week and Justice Arthur Engoron will next hear oral arguments on 11 January, after which he has said he aims to deliver his final judgement by the end of that month.

You can read that rant in its entirety below.

Former Trump-connected attorney Kenneth Chesebro has reached a plea deal with Georgia prosecutors after he was part of a plot to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in the state – the first Democrat to win Georgia on the presidential level since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Chesebro has now been working with the prosecution regarding what has become known as the “fake elector” plot to keep Mr Trump in the White House.

Last week, the state appeals court rejected the former president’s last-ditch attempt to fast track an appeal of the orders before he was scheduled to testify as a headlining defence witness in a case that threatens the future of the Trump Organization and his vast real estate empire.

He backed out of testifying hours before he was due in court, claiming that he “wanted” to testify but that the judge overseeing his case took away his “constitutional right to defend myself.”

On Thursday, a four-page ruling from a three-judge appeals court panel found that the “gravity of potential harm” against him is small and denied his attempt to overturn the orders.

Donald Trump has said he will be a dictator “just for day one” of his presidency if he is re-elected amid a spate of grim warnings over consequences if the twice-impeached and criminally indicted former president wins the 2024 presidential election.

Without the privileges and prestige of the presidency to protect him, Mr Trump is facing serious lawsuits and criminal indictments across New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington.

Federal officials, local prosecutors and individuals are going after him for everything from his private conduct to his political maneuvering during the 2020 election.

If even one of these efforts proves successful, the US could see its first-ever former president behind bars.

Here, The Independent explains each major case.

Firefighters responded to reports of a “suspicious odour” at the courthouse at around 4pm on Wednesday to find the fire already extinguished.

Al Baker, a court spokesperson, told The Independent that – after starting the small fire – the man had used a fire extinguisher on the fourth floor, releasing fumes into the air.

Three floors of the building, located at 60 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, were evacuated amid the chaos.

Amelia Neath has the details.

“I just took a physical, you’ll be happy to hear,” the 77-year-old told his supporters.

“I passed with flying colours. And I took a cognitive exam. I said, ‘Doctor, give me anything you want. I want to take it.’”

Not content with bragging about having “aced” those tests, he claimed to be in better shape than former president Mr Obama, aged 62, by invoking the opinion of his former White House doctor Ronny Jackson turned Texas congressman.

Oversight panel ranking member tells The Independent that a GOP-authored contempt resolution against Hunter Biden won’t be justified.

Read the full story from Eric Garcia and Andrew Feinberg:

Late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel gave some of our favourite Christmas songs the Donald Trump treatment on Wednesday night as he promoted a spoof holiday album by the former president.

In a fake record titled “MAGA-nificent sounds of Christmas,” Mr Kimmel and his team set the weird sounds that Mr Trump sometimes emits ― like “bing, bong, bing, bong” ― at rallies and interviews to holiday classics including “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night”.

The songs were played during a fake commercial before viewers were told they were “available exclusively by the cash register at T.J. Max”.

Martha McHardy has the story:

The Associated Press reports:

The man charged with setting a small fire at the courthouse hosting Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial burned papers bearing complaints about criminal justice, prosecutors said Thursday.

Wednesday’s fire forced an evacuation of the main Manhattan civil court building hours after testimony wrapped up in the former president’s trial. But there was no indication the two events were related.

The 38-year-old man was arraigned Thursday on attempted arson and reckless endangerment charges. Bail was set at $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond.

It’s not clear what brought the man to the courthouse, familiar to many TV viewers as a backdrop for “Law & Order,” “Night Court” and other shows.

While on the fourth floor late Wednesday afternoon, the man set ablaze papers with handwritten criticisms of the criminal justice system, prosecutors said at his arraignment at a criminal courthouse down the street.

They said that after the man ignited the documents, he pulled an alarm and started dousing them with a fire extinguisher.

“I started the fire, then I put it out,” he told a court officer, according to a court complaint.

Here’s our earlier reporting on the incident: