Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Trump Arrives In Miami For First Court Appearance Over Documents Charges

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Former President Donald Trump arrived in Miami on Monday, a day ahead of his first court appearance on 37 felony charges accusing him of illegally taking highly classified documents from the White House to his Florida club and refusing to return them.

Upon arrival, he headed to Miami’s Trump National Doral, where he’s expected to spend the night before his court appearance. A crowd of about 40 supporters lined the route to his golf club, reporters on the scene said, but Trump did not roll down his window or acknowledge them.

Trump has said that Tuesday’s court session will take place at 3pm (8pm UK time) and he will plead not guilty on all charges. It’s not yet clear whether the former president will appear before Judge Aileen Cannon, the federal judge assigned to the case, or a magistrate judge, as often happens in this kind of initial hearing.

Trump is expected to go through an arraignment ― the formal reading of charges before a defendant ― and enter his not guilty plea on Tuesday, though it’s possible the judge may save that for a later date.

The ex-president is expected to head to Miami’s Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse ahead of his appearance before the judge, for processing and ― most likely ― electronic fingerprinting. But reporters covering Miami courts say it’s unlikely Trump will be visible to the public.

“The public won’t see him,” Jay Weaver, who covers federal courts for the Miami Herald, told NPR on Sunday. “I mean, the reality is that when he surrenders, it’ll probably be done through an underground garage.”

Despite that, large crowds are expected at the courthouse on Tuesday.

“Make no mistake about it, we’re taking this event extremely serious,” the city’s police chief, Manny Morales, said during a press conference. “We’re ready. Ready for it to be over and done.”

There was a chaotic scene outside of Trump’s arraignment on separate state charges in April. That event, in New York City, drew hundreds of supporters and detractors, some dressed in orange jumpsuits and Trump masks. Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos showed up outside the courthouse to support Trump.

Cameras are generally not allowed in federal courts, so the public likely won’t get a glimpse of Trump in court for this indictment.

After the court hearing, Trump is expected to fly to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he’s said he will deliver remarks at 8.15pm (1.15am UK time).

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Ex-RNC Chair Hits Republicans With A Harsh Truth About 2024

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Former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele has issued a stark reality check for anti-Donald Trump Republicans.

“I will repeat once again, for all those who think otherwise, Donald Trump will be the nominee of this party until someone decides that they’re prepared to lose this primary in order to win a general election and beat Joe Biden,” Steele warned on Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat.”

“That clamoring sound you hear is the donor and establishment political class saying we need someone in this race now,” Steele said later in the interview, but he then added: “My submission to all of them is, ‘Y’all too late. Y’all too late.’”

Steele said that, had he still been at the RNC, he would have gotten members to decide which one candidate they wanted to back to go after Trump and then put all resources behind them.

The party “has leverage” to shape the outcome, he said, but currently isn’t using it amid Trump’s rising in the polls and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) faltering campaign launch.

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Donald Trump Responds To E Jean Carroll Rape Verdict

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Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday reacted to the verdict in a rape trial brought by the writer E Jean Carroll ― telling his Truth Social followers: “THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE.”

“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS,” Trump subsequently posted. “THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”

Carroll was able to sue under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allows sexual abuse survivors a one-time chance to file civil suits in spite of any relevant statutes of limitations.

Trump refused to testify at the trial, then falsely claimed he was “not allowed to speak or defend” himself, and described his own decision not to speak as “unconstitutional silencing”.

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Jury Sides With E Jean Carroll In Civil Rape Trial Against Donald Trump

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A Manhattan jury sided with advice columnist E Jean Carroll in her civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, whom she says raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.

The panel reached its decision Tuesday after less than three hours of deliberation, finding him liable for sexual abuse — but not rape — and ordering him to pay a total of $5 million in various damages, CNN reported.

Trump never appeared in court once.

Carroll beamed and squeezed the hand of one of her attorneys, Roberta Kaplan, as she exited the courthouse.

“We’re very happy,” she told a crowd of reporters, declining to comment further.

Trump, meanwhile, reacted angrily on social media, calling the verdict “A DISGRACE” and “A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”

Carroll was able to sue for battery under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, passed last year to allow people who were sexually abused a one-time chance to file civil suits despite any relevant statutes of limitations.

She also accused Trump of defamation, as the former president has repeatedly responded to her claims with an array of personal insults. Trump has said Carroll was a liar and called her claim a “hoax,” which could not be true because Carroll was not his “type”. He also suggested she was too old at the time of the alleged incident to compel his sexual interest, although they would have been nearly the same age.

Carroll sought unspecified punitive and compensatory damages from the court.

Over several days’ worth of testimony before the panel of jurors and US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the former Elle magazine columnist recounted the chance encounter with Trump in either late 1995 or early 1996. (She said that despite wishing she could pin down a more precise date, she could not.) She bumped into Trump while leaving Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman luxury department store, she said.

In this courtroom sketch, in Federal Court, in New York, Thursday, April 27, 2023, E Jean Carroll, center, testifies on the witness stand as a photo of her and Donald Trump, along with his wife Ivana and Carroll's former husband, is shown on a screen. The photo was taken prior to the alleged assault. The jury is in the foreground.
In this courtroom sketch, in Federal Court, in New York, Thursday, April 27, 2023, E Jean Carroll, center, testifies on the witness stand as a photo of her and Donald Trump, along with his wife Ivana and Carroll’s former husband, is shown on a screen. The photo was taken prior to the alleged assault. The jury is in the foreground.

AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams

“Hey, you’re that advice, lady!” Trump allegedly told her.

“Hey, you’re that real estate tycoon!” she said that she responded.

Carroll said that Trump asked for her help in picking out a gift for a female friend and that she agreed because it sounded fun. But their friendly banter throughout the store gave way to Trump’s alleged attack

In the lingerie section, Carroll said Trump told her to try on a lace bodysuit, and she replied by joking that he should try it on. Trump then allegedly trapped her in a dressing room, using his body weight to prevent her from escaping.

“The first push, I thought, ‘He couldn’t have meant that.’ I thought he had made a mistake. I thought it was very strange,” Carroll testified, per CNN.

E Jean Carroll, seen here in an April 26 sketch, occasionally spoke through tears during her testimony about the alleged rape.
E Jean Carroll, seen here in an April 26 sketch, occasionally spoke through tears during her testimony about the alleged rape.

Elizabeth Williams via Associated Press

“We had just been laughing 12, 15 seconds before, and here I am being pushed up against the wall. It just didn’t make any sense,” she said. “Then he put his mouth against mine, and then I understood.”

She said that she struggled.

“But he had pulled down my tights, and his fingers went into my vagina, and it was extremely painful,” Carroll testified, per Politico. “Extremely painful because he put his hand inside me and curved his fingers. As I’m sitting here today, I can still feel it.”

“Then he inserted his penis,” Carroll said in court. She added that she had “so much adrenaline” running through her at the time that she was not sure whether she spoke but was able to run away after a few minutes.

Carroll testified that she has not had sex since.

She confided in two friends, she said and chose not to tell anyone else until going public with her story in 2019.

In her lawsuit, lawyers for Carroll said she “resented the fact that practically every woman who courageously came forward with their stories of abuse was subjected to questions like ‘why didn’t you scream.’”

In one of the more tense parts of the trial, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina asked precisely that.

“You can’t beat up on me for not screaming,” Carroll told Tacopina, several news outlets reported.

Joe Tacopina, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, arrives at court on April 27.
Joe Tacopina, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, arrives at court on April 27.

Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images

“One of the reasons women don’t come forward is because they’re always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’ Some women scream; some women don’t. It keeps women silent,” Carroll added, according to The Washington Post.

She then raised her voice to add: “He raped me whether I screamed or not!”

Tacopina’s lines of questioning were often met with resistance by Kaplan, who told him he was being “argumentative” and “repetitive,” The New York Times reported.

But he still used his time questioning Carroll to cast doubt on her story, pointing to the lack of a concrete timeframe and any police report. Tacopina also suggested it would have been very strange for Carroll not to have encountered any Bergdorf Goodman employees.

Carroll said that one of the main contributing factors to her decision to go public was the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the fall of 2017. She had been reluctant to speak up during the 2016 election because her mother was in poor health, and she saw how Trump’s supporters rallied around him when other women alleged abuse. However, she eventually came forward after her mother died and after she saw how the MeToo movement galvanized support for people who endured sexual harassment and assault.

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5 Key Moments From Donald Trump’s Bonkers Deposition Video

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Around 45 minutes of video deposition given by former President Donald Trump was released to the public on Friday as the civil trial brought by writer E Jean Carroll began winding down in a New York federal court.

Carroll says that Trump trapped her in a dressing room and raped her at the luxury Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s after a chance encounter. She was able to sue for battery in addition to defamation under a recent state law that gave sexual assault victims a one-time chance to bring lawsuits in spite of any relevant statutes of limitations.

Although Carroll does not recall the precise date of the alleged assault, not having filed a police report out of concern for the negative attention it would bring, she has been able to narrow the timeframe to late 1995 or early 1996.

Her lawyers rested her case on Thursday. Along with the advice columnist herself, they called to the stand friends whom she says she confided in, and other women who say Trump sexually assaulted them.

Trump’s side is not expected to call any witnesses — nor has the former president appeared in court — but US District Judge Lewis Kaplan is giving him until Sunday in case he changes his mind. Trump has consistently denied the allegations and dismissed Carroll as a political operative.

Written excerpts of his deposition have already been made public in the course of the lawsuit, but the video had not been seen outside of the courtroom until several news outlets successfully petitioned for its release.

It is certainly something. Watch below, and read on for key takeaways.

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Trump confused Carroll for second wife Marla Maples in a party photograph.

One of Trump’s main defenses has been saying that he would not have raped Carroll because she was not his “type”. He doubled down on the argument in his deposition.

“The only difference between me and other people is I’m honest,” he told Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan.

Trump was then shown a black-and-white photograph from a late 1980s event showing himself and Maples speaking with Carroll and her then-husband John Johnson, an NBC news anchor. He confused the two women.

“The person you just pointed to is Carroll,” Kaplan told him, pointing out Maples nearby.

She asked: “I take it the three women you’ve married are all your type.”

“Yeah,” Trump replied.

Trump defended his infamous “grab ’em by the pussy” comments.

Kaplan played the 2004 Access Hollywood tape for Trump where he infamously says, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

“Well, historically, that’s true with stars,” Trump told Kaplan afterward.

“It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the pussy?” she asked.

“Well, that’s — if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true,” Trump said.

“Unfortunately or fortunately,” he added.

He claimed he could not remember whether he dated Maples while still married to first wife, Ivana.

Kaplan asked Trump to affirm that he dated women outside of his marriages and official relationships, given that part of Carroll’s story is that Trump told her he was at the store to pick out a gift for an unspecified female friend.

Kaplan asked if he saw Maples while still married to his first wife, Ivana Trump.

“It could be a lapover, but I don’t really know,” Trump said.

His failing marriage and relationship with Maples was thoroughly chronicled in tabloids at the time; a 1990 feature in Vanity Fair reported that Trump had “moved [Maples] onto his luxe yacht” in the summer of 1989. Trump’s divorce from Ivana was finalized in 1991.

He told Carroll’s lawyer that she was not his type, either.

Trump appeared to grow frustrated with Kaplan as she pressed him with questions about some of the other women who have accused him of sexual assault.

He responded with comments on the women’s appearances before shifting focus to the woman in front of him.

“You wouldn’t be a choice of mine either, to be honest with you. I hope you’re not insulted,” Trump told Kaplan. “I would not under any circumstances have any interest in you. I’m honest when I say it.”

And suggested that Carroll enjoyed being sexually assaulted.

Trump brought up an interview Carroll gave to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2019, shortly after coming forward with her rape accusation. At one point, she argued that people tend to think of rape “as being sexy” due to sexual “fantasies”, but said that her experience was simply very painful.

“She actually indicated that she loved it,” Trump told Kaplan. “In fact, I think she said it was sexy, didn’t she?”

Kaplan replied, “Sir, I just want to confirm: It’s your testimony that E. Jean Carroll said that she loved being sexually assaulted by you?”

“Well, based on her interview with Anderson Cooper, I believe that’s what took place … I think she said that rape is sexy, which it’s not, by the way,” Trump said.

Asked whether he knew Carroll had been speaking about other people’s views, Trump told Kaplan she would have to watch the interview to see for herself.

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