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Donald Trump returned to court for the latest instalment of his New York hush money trial on Thursday, where the jury heard further testimony from a former tabloid mogul who detailed the “catch-and-kill” scheme at the heart of the case.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified about his agreement with his “mentor” Mr Trump and ex-attorney Michael Cohen to suppress stories about the defendant’s alleged affairs.
The cross-examination of Mr Pecker by defence lawyer Emil Bove will likely wrap up on Friday.
Justice Juan Merchan is yet to rule on whether Mr Trump should be held in contempt and fined $10,000 for allegedly violating a trial gag order by posting about witnesses and jurors on Truth Social.
Elsewhere, in Washington DC, attorneys for the former president delivered oral arguments in front of the US Supreme Court in support of his “presidential immunity” defence against prosecution in a landmark hearing.
The justices appeared poised to accept at least a portion of Mr Trump’s argument but could take several weeks to issue a ruling.
In other legal news, the Republican presidential candidate had his latest efforts to overturn the E Jean Carroll verdict against him dismissed.
Alex Woodward is providing live updates from the courthouse in Manhattan.
Watch: Trump’s courthouse remarks in full
Donald Trump claims yesterday in court went “very well” and the case should “be over” if it weren’t for the “highly-conflicted” judge.
The former president also remarked about his Supreme Court argument on presidential immunity and the “freezing courtroom”.
Oliver O’Connell26 April 2024 14:35
Trump wishes Melania a happy birthday
Donald Trump begins his daily remarks to the media by wishing his wife Melania a happy birthday, saying he will join her down in Florida this evening.
The former president says he would be with her if it weren’t for his trial.
No Trump family members have attended the trial so far but are free to do so…
Oliver O’Connell26 April 2024 14:31
Trump again claims his supporters can’t get to courthouse
And yet people protesting against him don’t seem to have a problem getting there?
Oliver O’Connell26 April 2024 14:27
Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions
Here’s the latest on Trump Media and Technology, parent company of Truth Social, whose share price has fluctuated pretty wildly since its recent launch on the Nasdaq exchange but which is at least earning someone a few bucks.
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 14:15
MAGA conspiracy blog files for bankruptcy amid defamation lawsuits
Bad news for MAGA as the popular conservative blog Gateway Pundit is filing for bankruptcy amid a string of defamation lawsuits it is facing.
Launched in 2004, the site has been a hotbed of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, school shootings and other topics since its founding and has staunchly promoted by Trump and his allies.
The site was even granted White House press credentials during his administration.
But its peddling of conspiracy theories has landed the blog in hot water in recent years and it is now facing a string of lawsuits alleging it promoted bogus claims about the 2020 election.
In a message posted on the site on Wednesday, the blog’s founder, Jim Hoft, said the outlet had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection “as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks” and that this was “not an admission of fault or culpability”.
Here’s Martha McHardy’s report.
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 14:00
The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that
Catch-and-kill. Checkbook journalism. Secret deals. Friends helping friends.
Even by National Enquirer standards, testimony by its former publisher David Pecker at Trump‘s hush money trial this week has revealed an astonishing level of corruption at America’s best-known tabloid and may one day be seen as the moment it effectively died.
“It just has zero credibility,” said Lachlan Cartwright, executive editor of The Enquirer from 2014 to 2017.
“Whatever sort of credibility it had was totally damaged by what happened in court this week.”
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 13:45
Don Jr and Eric ‘helping to pick next Trump officials and staffers’
Trump’s adult sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, are reportedly playing a central role in drawing up a list of potential candidates to join a second Trump administration in anticipation of their father’s victory over Joe Biden in November’s presidential election.
The brothers are not running the transition team, leaving that responsibility to the Trump campaign’s senior adviser, Susie Wiles, but are instead playing a lead role in vetting prospective officials and staffers on ideological grounds.
By doing so, they reportedly hope to ensure a greater degree of loyalty than the former president experienced during his chaotic first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021.
Don Jr in particular has made it his mission “to keep the John Boltons of the world outside a second Trump administration”, one insider told Axios, referring to the Republican’s estranged former national security adviser, a foreign policy hawk who has become a potent critic since being dismissed in September 2019.
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 13:30
Team Biden hits back after Trump dismisses Charlottesville as ‘little peanut’
The Republican presidential candidate/criminal defendant may come to regret bringing up the notorious “Unite the Right” rally in his recent denunciation of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on American college campuses.
Here’s Graig Graziosi’s report on his distinctly unhelpful comments.
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 13:15
Live: Donald Trump’s hush money trial continues in New York
Here’s your livestream link with the trial due to resume again shortly in Manhattan.
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 13:00
Raskin denounces conservative Supreme Court justices as ‘partisan operatives’ helping Trump
Bravo to the redoubtable Maryland Democrat for this.
Joe Sommerlad26 April 2024 12:45
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