The Supreme Court’s decision to hear oral arguments in Donald Trump’s immunity-appeal case on Thursday may appear to advance the rule of law. After all, few, if anyone, thinks that a majority of the court will conclude that a former president is completely immune from federal criminal liability. But the court’s decision to review the […]
Read MoreTag: Trump, Donald J
National Enquirer’s Help for Trump Broke Norms Even in the Tabloid World
The National Enquirer was more than a friendly media outlet for Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. It was a powerful, national political weapon that was thrust into the service of a single candidate, in violation of campaign finance law. The tabloid’s former publisher, David Pecker, testified nonchalantly on Tuesday about how the tabloid […]
Read MoreWill Justice Merchan Find Trump in Contempt of Court?
April 15, 2024, 2:47 p.m. ET April 15, 2024, 2:47 p.m. ET The scene outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.Credit…Josh Cochran Beyond seeing its historical importance, those of us covering the Trump trial expected the first day to be relatively uneventful, with housekeeping details and rules of the road for jury selection. But it turned […]
Read MoreTrump Flips Script in Election Case to Justify Immunity Defense
When the Supreme Court considers Donald J. Trump’s sweeping claims of executive immunity on Thursday, it will break new legal ground, mulling for the first time the question of whether a former president can avoid being prosecuted for things he did in office. But in coming up with the argument, Mr. Trump used a tactic […]
Read MoreDonald Trump on Trial
A criminal trial is often a contest between competing stories. In the trial of Donald Trump that’s just begun, prosecutors used their opening statement yesterday to tell a story about a man they say lied — and broke the law — to get elected president. The prosecutors said that Trump had paid $130,000 in hush […]
Read MoreA Salacious Conspiracy or Just 34 Pieces of Paper?
The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion […]
Read MoreTrump Set to Receive $1 Billion Extra Trump Media Shares
Former President Donald J. Trump’s already sizable stake in his social media company is set to jump by more than $1 billion, as he’s rewarded with additional shares in the parent of Truth Social — the result of its stock price staying high in recent weeks. The windfall comes at a crucial time for Mr. […]
Read MoreBiden to Give Abortion-Focused Speech in Florida, Tying State Ban to Trump
President Biden is expected to condemn a six-week abortion ban that will soon take effect in Florida — and blame former President Donald J. Trump for its enactment — during a speech on Tuesday in Tampa. The Biden campaign has made abortion one of its top issues, as polling shows it is one of the […]
Read MoreJan. 6 Rioters Should Not Catch a Break From the Supreme Court
Imagine that during a Supreme Court argument, protesters angry about the case storm the court building. The mob breaks doors and windows and assaults security officers while forcing its way into the chamber. Some shout that they want to hang the chief justice. The justices and attorneys are forced to flee for their lives. It’s […]
Read MoreThe Sinking Arizona Town Where Water and Politics Collide
In Arizona’s deeply conservative La Paz County, the most urgent issue facing many voters is not inflation or illegal immigration. It is the water being pumped from under their feet. Giant farms have turned Arizona’s remote deserts about 100 miles west of Phoenix as green as fairways — the product of extracting an ocean of […]
Read MoreThe Bragg Case Against Trump Is a Historic Mistake
About a year ago, when Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, indicted former President Donald Trump, I was critical of the case and called it an embarrassment. I thought an array of legal problems would and should lead to long delays in federal courts. After listening to Monday’s opening statement by prosecutors, I still think […]
Read MoreCould Trump Go to Prison? If He Does, the Secret Service Goes, Too
The U.S. Secret Service is in the business of protecting the president, whether he’s inside the Oval Office or visiting a foreign war zone. But protecting a former president in prison? The prospect is unprecedented. That would be the challenge if Donald J. Trump — whom the agency is required by law to protect around […]
Read MoreTrump to Fight Gag Order in Hush Money Trial Before Key Witness Testifies
Manhattan prosecutors are poised to push their case against Donald J. Trump into a critical new phase on Tuesday, as they prepare to question a key witness and urge the judge to hold the former president in contempt for attacking witnesses and jurors in the landmark trial. The case, the first criminal trial of an […]
Read MoreOn Earth Day, Biden Spotlights Climate Investments to Contrast With Republicans
President Biden announced $7 billion in grants for solar power projects on Monday and tried to draw a contrast with Republicans who want to roll back his policies on climate change. In remarks at Prince William Forest in Virginia, Mr. Biden said the money from his signature climate and energy law, the Inflation Reduction Act, […]
Read MoreTrump Was Warned to Return Records to Archives, Unsealed Documents Say
In late November 2021, as officials at the National Archives were trying to persuade former President Donald J. Trump to return a trove of records he had taken from the White House when he left office, one of Mr. Trump’s associates advised him in the sharpest terms possible to give the materials back, newly unsealed […]
Read MoreTrump Calls for More Protests Outside Trial: ‘Rally Behind MAGA’
Donald J. Trump was evidently not happy with what he saw out the window of his chauffeured S.U.V. as he rode through Lower Manhattan on Monday morning for the beginning of opening arguments in his first criminal trial. The scene that confronted him as he approached the dingy courthouse at 100 Centre Street was underwhelming. […]
Read MoreTrump and Attorney General Agree on Minor Changes to $175 Million Bond
The New York attorney general’s office and representatives for Donald J. Trump agreed in court on Monday to slightly modify the terms of a $175 million bond posted by the former president in his civil fraud case after the state questioned the qualifications of the company that provided it and sought to have it rejected. […]
Read More5 Takeaways From Opening Statements in Trump’s Hush-Money Trial
Monday marked another key moment in the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump: opening statements, during which the former president listened quietly to the prosecution’s allegations of crimes, and the defense’s counterargument that he was a simple man, wrongly accused. The jury that will decide Mr. Trump’s case concentrated intently on the statements, which began […]
Read MoreHow Cable News Covered Day 1 of Trump’s Criminal Trial
A little after 10:30 a.m., just as a prosecutor began delivering his opening statement in Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, CNN’s chief legal correspondent, Paula Reid, had a live on-air update. “We’re learning that Trump is sitting back in his chair,” Ms. Reid said, “and not even looking at the prosecutor as he speaks.” […]
Read MoreHow Tabloids Used ‘Catch-and-Kill’ to Trade on Secrets of Celebrities
“Catch-and-kill” is a term coined by old-time tabloid editors for buying the exclusive rights to stories, or “catching” them, for the specific purpose of ensuring the information never becomes public. That’s the “killing” part. Why would anyone want to spend money on a story that it never intends to publish? In the world of tabloid […]
Read MoreInside Trump’s Complicated Relationship With Law Enforcement
On Jan. 19, 2021, as part of a series of pardons on his last full day in office, President Donald J. Trump commuted the sentence of a man who had spent almost 30 years of a life sentence in federal prison for what prosecutors said was his role in the murder of an undercover police […]
Read MoreTrump’s Criminal Hush-Money Trial Will Not Be Televised
The Manhattan criminal trial of Donald J. Trump will be closely followed around the world. But you will not be able to watch the proceedings on TV. There will be no video feed aired live from the courtroom. Nor will there be an audio feed, as some federal courts allow. New York courts generally do […]
Read MoreOpening Statements in Trump’s Criminal Trial to Begin Monday
The first criminal trial of an American president will debut on Monday for a jury of 12 New Yorkers, as prosecutors and defense lawyers deliver opening statements that provide dueling interpretations of the evidence against Donald J. Trump. The unprecedented case, which centers on Mr. Trump’s efforts to cover up a sex scandal involving a […]
Read MoreHow Donald J. Trump’s Criminal Trial Will Unfold
On Monday morning, a Manhattan jury will hear opening statements in People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president. It is the next phase of a criminal trial that will unfold like any other — even though it has a defendant like no […]
Read MoreLiz Cheney: The Supreme Court Should Rule Swiftly on Trump’s Immunity Claim
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Donald Trump’s arguments that he is immune from prosecution for his efforts to steal the 2020 presidential election. It is likely that all — or nearly all — of the justices agree that a former president who attempted to seize power and remain in office illegally can […]
Read MoreDismissed Trump Jurors Describe Intense Days in a Glaring Spotlight
The two Manhattan residents were led into the courtroom to fulfill a foundational civic duty: to be interviewed as prospective jurors. But in the room when they arrived was a defendant, Donald J. Trump, unlike any in American history. Both would-be jurors, a man and a woman, were eventually excused. But the experience thrust them […]
Read MoreTrump’s Trial Challenge: Being Stripped of Control
“Sir, can you please have a seat.” Donald J. Trump had stood up to leave the Manhattan criminal courtroom as Justice Juan M. Merchan was wrapping up a scheduling discussion on Tuesday. But the judge had not yet adjourned the court or left the bench. Mr. Trump, the 45th president of the United States and […]
Read MoreWill a Mountain of Evidence Be Enough to Convict Trump?
In the official record, the case is known as the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, and, for now, the people have the stronger hand: They have insider witnesses, a favorable jury pool and a lurid set of facts about a presidential candidate, a payoff and a porn star. On […]
Read MoreTracing the Trail of Hush-Money Deals That Led to Trump’s Prosecution
Donald J. Trump and two confidants hatched a plan in August 2015 to boost his upstart presidential campaign, prosecutors say. They carried it out, and Mr. Trump won the election. Nearly nine years later, Mr. Trump will face the same men, Michael Cohen and David Pecker. But unlike at that long-ago meeting, he won’t be […]
Read MoreTrump Slows Campaign Spending as He Tries to Close Cash Gap With Biden
Former President Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign committee ended March with $45 million on hand, federal filings showed Saturday, as he tries to close the fund-raising gap with President Biden. But Mr. Trump’s campaign is spending much less than it was at the start of the year, which has helped it inch closer. In March, […]
Read MoreJohnson, Like Pence, Does What Passes for Brave in Today’s G.O.P.: His Job
The accolades directed at Speaker Mike Johnson in recent days for finally defying the right wing of his party and allowing an aid bill for Ukraine to move through the House might have seemed a tad excessive. After all, a speaker’s entire job is to move legislation through the House, and as Saturday’s vote to […]
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