Trump says his $355m fraud penalty is ‘a form of Navalny’
Donald Trump could see his assets seized and even lose his buildings in New York if he cannot pay the $355m fine in his civil fraud case, state attorney general Letitia James has warned.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgement, then we will seek judgement enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” Ms James said in an interview with ABC News.
“We are prepared to make sure that the judgement is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day.”
Mr Trump took part in a Fox News town hall event in South Carolina on Tuesday evening in which he again compared his own legal struggles to the shocking fate of the late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.
The former president said last week’s verdict against him amounted to “a form of Navalny”, adding: “It is a form of communism or fascism.”
Elsewhere at the town hall, Mr Trump hinted at a shortlist of possible running mates as he pursues the Republican presidential nomination and committed to debating Joe Biden but struggled with questions about illegal immigration and classified documents.
ICYMI: Supreme Court rejects appeals from Trump-allied ‘Kraken’ lawyers
A rejection from the nation’s highest court on Tuesday will leave in place a 2023 ruling from a federal appeals court in Michigan that upheld the sanctions against them.
Sidney Powell and Lin Wood – among a team of so-called “Kraken” attorneys who pursued bogus legal efforts to overturn Mr Trump’s loss in 2020 – faced legal consequences in federal court in 2021 for a spurious lawsuit to reject Michigan’s results.
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 20:15
Georgia governor reveals he spoke to Trump 2020 election investigators ‘months ago’
“I basically told them the same thing I told the special grand juries: that I follow the law and the Constitution and answered all their questions truthfully,” Mr Kemp told Kaitlan Collins.
Mr Kemp said the interview did not last very long and that he did not remember when exactly it took place.
Dan Gooding has the story:
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 20:00
Biden’s brother accuses House Republicans of ‘flat-out lying’ at impeachment inquiry
James Biden, the brother of President Joe Biden, said in his opening statement as he testified in the Republican impeachment inquiry that those who argued that he used his connection to his brother to enrich himself are “either mistaken, ill-informed, or flat-out lying”.
“In every business venture in which I have been involved, I have relied on my own talent, judgment, skill, and personal relationships—and never my status as Joe Biden’s brother,” he said in the statement on Wednesday.
Gustaf Kilander and Andrew Feinberg report from Washington, DC:
Biden’s brother accuses House Republicans of ‘flat-out lying’
James Biden, the brother of President Joe Biden, said in his opening statement as he testified in the Republican impeachment inquiry that those who argued that he used his connection to his brother to enrich himself are “either mistaken, ill-informed, or flat-out lying”.
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 19:45
It all comes back to Trump… and Russia
Andrew Feinberg writes that it has become increasingly apparent that the sources of whatever “dirt” Republicans claim to have on President Joe Biden and his family can all be traced back to one man…
Read his full report for The Independent:
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 19:30
Put on the spot, Trump struggles to answer when asked for proof of Biden ‘corruption’
“But they say there’s no evidence that Joe Biden received any financial benefit personally. And to that you say?” Ingraham asked Mr Trump.
Martha McHardy reports on what he had to say in response:
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 19:15
Despite pulling out of 2020 event, Trump challenges Biden to debate him
Despite refusing to show up for any of the Republican primary debates – or for the presidential debates in 2020 – Donald Trump is now challenging President Joe Biden to debate him this time around.
Speaking at a town hall on Fox News Tuesday night, the former president and Republican frontrunner said there was “an obligation” for the pair to go head-to-head in the lead-up to the election in November.
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 18:45
CPAC: Truss goes full Trump
Liz Truss has delivered an apocalyptic warning that “the West is doomed” unless right-wing politicians like her are put in power to save it.
Ms Truss made her controversial comments in an article for Fox News, the right-wing US television station credited with helping Mr Trump win power.
Andy Gregory reports on what the failed prime minister had to say:
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 18:15
Supreme Court approval rating falls to one of its lowest ever
The approval rating of the nation’s highest court stands at 40 per cent, according to the latest poll released by Marquette Law School on Wednesday.
The latest numbers rival only those of July 2022, when only 38 per cent of US adults said they approved of the Supreme Court and 61 per cent disapproved – just after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 17:45
Trump finally reveals his shortlist for vice-president
And somehow Ron DeSantis made the cut?
Taking part in a Fox News town hall in South Carolina ahead of the state’s Republican primary on Saturday, Mr Trump was presented with a list of rumoured contenders by moderator Laura Ingraham that featured such popular GOP figures as former presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott, Florida congressman Byron Donalds and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem as well as, much more improbably, Mr DeSantis.
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 17:15
Trump campaign says he will wrap up nomination by 12 March
Having widened his polling lead over fellow candidate Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina, Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign has released a memo saying they expect him to wrap up the Republican Party’s nomination by 12 March, moving up their initial prediction by a week.
In the memo published on Tuesday, the campaign projects he will exceed the 1,215-delegate threshold on that date, which is after Super Tuesday but coincides with primaries in Hawaii, Washington, Mississippi, and Georgia. There are a total of 2,429 Republican delegates nationwide.
Back in December, the campaign said it believed Mr Trump would seal the deal on 19 March when Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio hold their primaries.
They also predict he will take all 50 delegates in Saturday’s primary in South Carolina.
Ms Haley’s campaign is described as “broken down” in the memo and the former governor is referred to as a “wailing loser hell-bent on an alternative reality”.
Should Mr Trump have secured the majority of the delegates by 12 March, he still wouldn’t be the official candidate until the Republican National Convention on 15-18 July in Milwaukee.
Ms Haley has vowed to stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday.
Oliver O’Connell21 February 2024 16:45