Trump judge slammed by Jack Smith as candidate sues Truth Social co-founders: Live – The Independent

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Republican returns to campaign trail in Michigan and Wisconsin to rail against illegal immigration and compare himself to notorious Chicago crimelord Al Capone
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Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has urged US district judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida, to reject the Republican presidential candidate’s contention that he had any claim to personal ownership over the boxes of top secret files reclaimed by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.
The former president refused to return the documents to the National Archives when requested, leading Mr Smith to issue a federal indictment, with the special counsel now calling on Judge Cannon to ignore Mr Trump’s claim that he designated the information “personal” while president as “pure fiction”.
Elsewhere, Mr Trump is suing his fellow co-founders of the parent company behind Truth Social, former Apprentice contestants Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, to try to wrestle ownership of the company from them.
The candidate also returned to the campaign trail in Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday, where he revived his “bloodbath” rhetoric on illegal immigrants and attacked President Joe Biden on everything from the border to golf.
Mr Trump also warned that the country would “cease to exist” if he lost November’s election, proclaimed a “Christian Visibility Day” and compared himself to notorious gangster Al Capone.
The former president has been quiet on Truth Social so far today, simply posting an uncaptioned picture of him golfing.
Which presumably means he’s taking another day off from campaigning or preparing for trial or attacking members of the judiciary and legal profession…
Richard Hall writes:
Donald Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet on what is likely to be one of the biggest foreign policy issues of his second term, should he win in November. But in the few interviews and statements he has given on Israel and the war in Gaza, the former president has shown signs that he may be cooling in his support for the longtime US ally.
In a recent interview, the former president spoke about how he had been disturbed by images and videos showing civilians bearing the brunt of the onslaught and called for an end to the war.
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Trump’s recent comments on Gaza have been interpreted as a sign that his previous unyielding support for Israel is not guaranteed in a second term, Richard Hall writes
Joe Sommerlad report:
Peter Navarro, the jailed former trade adviser to Donald Trump, has called on US Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch to reconsider Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision to reject his plea to be allowed to remain out of prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.
Navarro, 74, surrendered to authorities on 19 March to begin a four-month sentence at the low-security FCI Miami prison in Florida after he was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to provide testimony or documentary evidence when requested by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
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Former Trump trade adviser makes long-shot appeal to escape prison
Politico reports that Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign and the Republican National Committee raised $65.6m in March, ending the month with $93.1m in cash on hand.
The total covers a range of fundraising vehicles for the former president’s goal of returning to the White House, and all will have to disclose their activities to the Federal Election Commission later this month.
Allies of Mr Trump hope it will ease some concerns that President Joe Biden is way ahead of his Republican rival in terms of fundraising, though no figures have emerged from the Democrats as of yet. It is known that the president raised $26m in a single night during a New York City fundraiser attended by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama last week.
In February, the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised $53m, ending the month with $155m on hand.
Mr Trump’s raised $20.3m in February with $40.9m on hand.
Gustaf Kilander explains how Mr Eastman got disbarred (a decision that he is appealing).
‘Eastman failed to uphold his primary duty of honesty and breached his ethical obligations by presenting falsehoods to bolster his legal arguments,’ judge writes
A new poll from The Wall Street Journal shows Donald Trump leading Joe Biden in seven key battleground states, but within the margin of error (+/-4 points) in most.
A week after Donald Trump’s motion to delay his criminal hush-money trial due to pretrial publicity, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg files opposition—noting this is Trump’s eighth delay request.
The DAs’ reasons are the same as they brought up in last week’s hearing: it’s unlikely to abate, jury selection can mitigate this, and the former president is making things worse.
Ariana Baio writes:
The argument from Alvin Bragg is that Mr Trump is making his own publicity by speaking about this trial and that if anything, the defence’s filing means it is possible to find impartial jurors.
Further: “…despite being asked to identify new information unavailable the last time his request was denied on February 15, 2024, defendant has littered his motion with dozens of untrue allegations based on events that date back three years or more—most of which were already considered and rejected in prior decisions by this Court.”
Donald Trump has promised his Christian followers that election day on 5 November will serve as “Christian Visibility Day”, predicting it will be an occasion “when Christians turn out in numbers that nobody has ever seen before” to vote him back into the White House.
The Republican presidential contender was speaking at a rally at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday evening when he made the remark, an allusion to the spurious outrage among Republicans caused by Trans Visibility Day happening to coincide with Easter Sunday this year.
Properly known as International Transgender Day of Visibility but often shortened to Trans Visibility Day, the date to recognise members of America’s transgender community was founded by Michigan-based activist Rachel Crandall in 2009 and has taken place on 31 March every year since.
In 2024, due to a quirk caused by the spring equinox, Easter Sunday fell on the same date.
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Republican presidential candidate panders to evangelicals by stoking spurious outrage against Joe Biden after long-established Trans Visibility Day happens to coincide with Easter Sunday
Baffled. Perplexed. Bemused.
Legal commentators weren’t sure what to make of Judge Aileen Cannon’s order regarding the jury questionnaire in Donald Trump’s classified documents case when it was issued in March, as reflected by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s response last night.
Here’s what we reported at the time:
Noting how “woefully unclear” Judge Cannon’s language is, legal commentator and MSNBC host Katie Phang pondered: “The PRA is clear. As is the Espionage Act. Not sure why Cannon is struggling with these concepts.”
National security lawyer Bradley Moss also posted on X on Monday evening: “This second scenario is legally insane. If that were the case, then just grant Trump’s motion to dismiss on PRA grounds so DOJ bring it to the 11th circuit for a quick reversal.”
Longtime Trump foe George Conway was even more scathing: “In the decades that I have been a lawyer, this is the most bizarre order I’ve ever seen issued by a federal judge. What makes that all the more amazing is that the second and third most bizarre orders I’ve ever seen in federal court were also issued by Judge Cannon in this case.”
He later wrote: “Okay, I’ve seen enough. Not only should Aileen Cannon not be sitting on this case, but she should not be sitting on the federal bench at all. This is utterly nuts.”
Continue reading…
‘This is the most bizarre order I’ve ever seen issued by a federal judge,’ says Trump critic George Conway
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Donald Trump in Grand Rapids, Michigan
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