The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a> is set to hear oral arguments on Thursday about whether former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> can invoke presidential immunity to shield himself from federal prosecution. 
The court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-takes-up-trump-immunity-claim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to take the case in February after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/appeals-court-denies-trumps-immunity-claim-in-2020-election-interference-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled against</a> an immunity claim Trump had asserted to shield himself from special counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s 2020 election case. Trump has contended that presidential immunity is necessary to ensure that presidents are able to do their jobs without fear of political retaliation. 
“If a President does not have Immunity, the Opposing Party, during his/her term in Office, can extort and blackmail the President by saying that, ‘if you don’t give us everything we want, we will Indict you for things you did while in Office,’ even if everything done was totally Legal and Appropriate. That would be the end of the Presidency, and our Country, as we know it, and is just one of the many Traps there would be for a President without Presidential Immunity,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112298099795296351" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Truth Social last Friday. 
“Obama, Bush, and soon, Crooked Joe Biden, would all be in BIG TROUBLE. If a President doesn’t have IMMUNITY, he/she will be nothing more than a ‘Ceremonial’ President, rarely having the courage to do what has to be done for our Country,” the former president added. “This is not what the Founders had in mind! Protect Presidential Immunity.”
The Supreme Court will hear <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/politics/trump-supreme-court-immunity-case.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arguments</a> on “whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”
The former president has been <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-hear-arguments-trump-presidential-immunity-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked</a> from attending the Supreme Court arguments because a judge has ordered that he must stay in New York for his trial over alleged payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels. 
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“A president has to have immunity,” Trump said Thursday morning outside of the courtroom for Bragg’s case. “If you don’t have immunity, you just have a ceremonial president.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump on today’s Supreme Court arguments: “A president HAS to have immunity” <a href="https://t.co/bXzBLNlbbs">pic.twitter.com/bXzBLNlbbs</a>
&mdash; RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/RSBNetwork/status/1783445200020414801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Smith, who accused Trump of engaging in an illegal effort to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election, previously hoped the Supreme Court would weigh in on the issue in December, hoping to fast-track the case. The Supreme Court denied that effort, and its decision to hear the case in April will likely make it difficult for a trial to be scheduled prior to the 2024 presidential election if they rule against Trump. 
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Trump is <a href="https://apnews.com/live/trump-supreme-court-immunity-updates#0000018f-14f9-d5aa-a3df-97f97d240000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">represented</a> by D. John Sauer, who was previously Missouri’s Solicitor General and Deputy Attorney General for special litigation in Missouri. Sauer also clerked for former conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. 
Former U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Michael R. Dreeben, who was part of Smith’s team that investigated Trump over the 2020 election charges, will argue against Trump&#8217;s assertion of presidential immunity. Dreeben was also part of special counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s probe into whether Trump&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign conspired with Russia to influence the election.

Donald Trump Makes An Appearance In Manhattan Ahead Of Court

Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Whether Trump Has Immunity From Federal Prosecution

2020 Election

Alvin Bragg

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

Immunity

Jack Smith

New York

Supreme Court

Boston University law professor Jed Handelsman Shugerman delivered a blistering New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/opinion/bragg-trump-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guest essay</a> trashing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg&#8217;s case against former President Donald Trump.
Shugerman titled the piece, &#8220;I thought the Bragg case against Trump was a legal embarrassment. Now I think it’s a historic mistake&#8221; — and then argued that in addition to the hush-money case against Trump being thin at best, the arguments being used to support it bordered on absurd.
The professor&#8217;s comments came on the heels of Monday&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-avenatti-claims-he-is-willing-to-testify-in-trump-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening statements</a> — which he cited as the reason he now believes prosecutors in the case have made a &#8220;historic mistake.&#8221;
&#8220;Their vague allegation about &#8216;a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election&#8217; has me more concerned than ever about their unprecedented use of state law and their persistent avoidance of specifying an election crime or a valid theory of fraud,&#8221; Shugerman wrote, noting that the prosecutors appeared to be attempting to use state laws to shoehorn in a case that belonged in federal jurisdiction.
He went on to explain that there was a way to do that — if prosecutors argued that Trump had been attempting to deceive state regulators. But they didn&#8217;t.
Instead, Bragg&#8217;s office argued that Trump had committed &#8220;election fraud&#8221; by attempting to &#8220;unlawfully influence&#8221; the 2016 presidential election.
The problems with that argument, Shugerman said, were simple: &#8220;It is legal for a candidate to pay for a nondisclosure agreement. Hush money is unseemly, but it is legal.&#8221;
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&#8220;None of the relevant state or federal statutes refer to filing violations as fraud. Calling it &#8216;election fraud&#8217; is a legal and strategic mistake, exaggerating the case and setting up the jury with high expectations that the prosecutors cannot meet,&#8221; Shugerman continued.
Shugerman concluded by saying that while he agreed both sides should get the chance to make their cases before the court, this particular case should be held up as an example of the system getting things wrong.
&#8220;Eight years after the alleged crime itself, it is reasonable to ask if this is more about Manhattan politics than New York law. This case should serve as a cautionary tale about broader prosecutorial abuses in America — and promote bipartisan reforms of our partisan prosecutorial system,&#8221; he wrote.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg

Law Professor Scorches Alvin Bragg In NYT Op-Ed, Calls Trial ‘Historic Mistake,’ ‘Legal Embarrassment’

Law Professor Scorches Alvin Bragg In NYT Op-Ed, Calls Trial 'Historic Mistake,' 'Legal Embarrassment'

Courts

Manhattan

U.S.

The 12-person jury has been selected for former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial over accusations that he falsified business records related to payments made before the 2016 election by one of his lawyers. 
Lawyers for Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are still working on selecting alternates in case any of the primary jurors has an emergency. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts brought by Bragg’s office and denied that he authorized Michael Cohen to make payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. 
The jurors on the case <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/18/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/what-we-know-about-the-jury-00153194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">include</a> an investment banker, a security engineer, a retired man from Lebanon, a speech therapist, a man who works at an eyewear company, a product developer, a physical therapist, a salesman, a corporate lawyer, an educator, a software engineer, and a civil litigator. There are seven men and five women on the jury.
One woman on the jury, whom Trump’s team was unable to remove, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-manhattan-stormy-daniels-michael-cohen-b514cb52bb31a82579cb827c40166173" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that she thought Trump was “very selfish and self-serving,” and that she didn’t “really appreciate that from any public servant.”
Five additional alternates need to be selected after one was selected on Thursday. The selection of the jurors has been difficult as many New Yorkers have strong opinions about the former president. On Thursday, one juror <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/juror-selected-for-trump-trial-dismissed-after-its-revealed-he-was-arrested-for-tearing-down-right-leaning-posters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was dismissed</a> after it was discovered that he had previously been arrested for tearing down Right-leaning political posters.
Another juror also left after saying that she did not think she would be able to be impartial. “I definitely have concerns. I don’t think I can be fair,” she said, adding that “outside influence” would “interfere” with her judgment.
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The trial is being overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, a donor to President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, whom Trump has repeatedly attempted to have removed from the case. 
Trump has said the case is election interference, saying on Thursday that he was supposed to be out campaigning instead of being stuck in court all day. “It really is a shame. This country is devolving into a third world country between having no borders, having no justice, we have no justice, and having a press that doesn’t want to cover the facts,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

Trump Manhattan criminal court

Full Jury Selected For Trump New York Criminal Trial As Opening Arguments Approach

Stormy Daniels

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested that former President Donald Trump should be thrown in jail for 30 days if he violates a gag order that was imposed by hush-money trial Judge Juan Merchan.
Bragg&#8217;s office filed a motion on Tuesday calling on the court to hold Trump accountable and suggesting that additional fines or even jail time would be reasonable responses if Trump spoke publicly about jurors, court staff, or witnesses in the trial.
WATCH:
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BREAKING.🚨
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg files motion to hold Trump in contempt for violating &#39;gag order&#39;<a href="https://t.co/pQngFOqaTY">pic.twitter.com/pQngFOqaTY</a>
&mdash; Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1780246985473134879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This Court should again admonish defendant to comply with his obligations under the order. And finally, this Court should warn defendant that future violations of the Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines, but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days,&#8221; Bragg&#8217;s filing read.
&#8220;It is absolutely critical that defendant immediately halt any conduct that would violate the April 1 order’s narrow restrictions to protect the integrity of the ongoing trial,&#8221; Bragg&#8217;s filing continued. &#8220;A finding of criminal contempt, imposition of sanctions, and stark warnings from this Court are the minimum remedies necessary to achieve this indispensable objective.&#8221;
The filing alleged that Trump had already violated the order on three separate occasions — each of which would carry a fine of $1000.
According to Bragg&#8217;s filing, Trump&#8217;s comments via social media on former porn star Stormy Daniels and his own former attorney Michael Cohen amount to attacks against &#8220;known witnesses&#8221; and &#8220;unquestionably violate the Court&#8217;s April 1 order.&#8221; Bragg further accused the former president of engaging in such attacks as &#8220;deliberate and intended to intimidate this Court and impede the orderly administration of this trial.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
News:
Prosecutors release their written arguments for finding Trump in contempt for posts that they say &quot;unquestionably&quot; violate the gag order.
Full filing in the thread. <a href="https://t.co/XdXfMYnZjB">pic.twitter.com/XdXfMYnZjB</a>
&mdash; Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) <a href="https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1780234338547712244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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After the first day of the trial, some 50 potential jurors were dismissed and the former president complained to reporters about Judge Merchan — who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-may-be-forced-to-miss-his-own-scotus-hearing-sons-graduation-due-to-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refused to allow</a> him to miss court for a Supreme Court hearing on presidential immunity and suggested he could prevent Trump from attending his son Barron&#8217;s graduation in mid-May.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Manhattan DA Wants Trump Thrown In Jail For 30 Days If He Violates Gag Order

Former President Donald Trump lashed out on Monday after learning that Justice Juan Merchan <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/15/us-news/trump-fumes-that-judge-in-hush-money-trial-could-force-him-to-skip-son-barrons-graduation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected him to be in court</a> for every part of his Manhattan hush-money trial — even if that meant missing a Supreme Court hearing on the presidential immunity issue and his son Barron&#8217;s high school graduation.
&#8220;I was looking forward to that graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge does not allow me to escape this scam,&#8221; Trump told reporters at the New York Supreme Court following the trial&#8217;s first day.
The former president&#8217;s defense team had asked that the trial break for the day on May 17 so that Trump could attend Barron&#8217;s graduation ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida, with his family.
Merchan did not immediately deny the request, saying instead that it would depend on how the trial was progressing at the time. &#8220;It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial,&#8221; he said.
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Merchan made it clear that he expected Trump to be present throughout the trial — which may last as long as eight weeks and is scheduled every weekday except Wednesdays — even if that meant missing oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of presidential immunity.
&#8220;Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court … is also a big deal,&#8221; Merchan said to Trump attorney Todd Blanche. &#8220;I will see him here next week.&#8221;
Trump lashed out at Merchan again after that exchange, telling reporters, &#8220;He won’t allow me to leave here for a half-a-day to go to D.C. and go before the United States Supreme Court, because he thinks he’s superior, I guess, than the Supreme Court &#8230;&#8221;
Merchan has not ruled on Trump&#8217;s request to attend Barron&#8217;s graduation, but the former president took to Truth Social to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-falsely-tells-supporters-judge-133324416.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tell followers</a> that he would &#8220;likely&#8221; be barred from missing court to attend the ceremony.

Celebrity Sightings In New York City – August 10, 2022

Trump May Be Forced To Miss His Own SCOTUS Hearing, Son’s Graduation Due To Hush Money Trial

Trump May Be Forced To Miss His Own SCOTUS Hearing, Son's Graduation Due To Hush Money Trial

Politics

trial

Former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin admitted that she was worried about the prospect of a Trump supporter being able to &#8220;sneak onto&#8221; the jury in the former president&#8217;s Manhattan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/where-all-the-trump-cases-stand-as-hush-money-trial-begins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hush-money trial</a> but shared no such concerns that Trump haters might do so.
Hostin made the comments during Tuesday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;The View,&#8221; telling her co-hosts on the ABC midday talk show that she did not believe anyone who supported Donald Trump could be impartial when it came time to examine the evidence and deliver a verdict.
WATCH:
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Former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin fears a Trump supporter will &quot;sneak onto that jury.&quot; She suggests the surefire way to get onto the jury is to say &quot;I hate Trump.&quot; She&#39;s not worried about a Trump hater sneaking onto the jury. <a href="https://t.co/nHkXdyHKMV">pic.twitter.com/nHkXdyHKMV</a>
&mdash; Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1780252932664868872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Hostin began by noting that the obvious difficulty in finding a jury for Trump&#8217;s case stemmed from the fact that everyone knew who he was, and most people had strong feelings about him one way or the other.
&#8220;They are never going to find someone who doesn&#8217;t know about the former twice-impeached loser president, right?&#8221; she began with her standard Trump insult and referred to the trial as her own personal &#8220;Super Bowl.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;re never going to find that. But what I did find also interesting about my Super Bowl is that — ah — the legal teams will be checking the jurors&#8217; social media to see if they can assess the truthfulness and intention of what they said during voir dire, which is their questioning,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I think that&#8217;s really really important because if you start liking Trump&#8217;s – and you follow Trump&#8217;s stuff on social media, are you going to — can you be impartial? I don&#8217;t really think so.&#8221;
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Hostin went on to suggest that Trump supporters might lie to get themselves on the jury so that they could force a mistrial.
&#8220;You get one person that sneaks onto that jury with untoward feelings, that person can hang that jury,&#8221; she complained.
&#8220;How do you sneak onto a jury, you have to be called,&#8221; Joy Behar protested.
&#8220;You lie,&#8221; Hostin replied, suggesting that Trump supporters could potentially lie their way onto the Manhattan jury simply by claiming that they &#8220;hate&#8221; the former president. &#8220;You say, &#8216;I hate Trump, but I can be impartial.&#8217; And all of a sudden that&#8217;s the person who won&#8217;t vote to convict.&#8221;

American Ballet Theatre’s 2022 Fall Gala

Former Fed Prosecutor Apparently Fine With Trump-Haters On Hush-Money Jury, Terrified A Trump Supporter Will ‘Sneak’ In

Former Fed Prosecutor Apparently Fine With Trump-Haters On Hush-Money Jury, Terrified A Trump Supporter Will 'Sneak' In

Media

Sunny Hostin

The View

With jury selection getting underway in the New York hush-money case on Monday after a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/14/trump-trial-hush-money-delay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-month delay</a>, the slate of criminal trials that former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> faces as he runs for re-election has begun in earnest.
A grand jury voted last spring to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-indicted-on-34-felony-counts-of-conspiracy-falsifying-business-records-pleads-not-guilty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indict</a> Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to allegedly cover up payments, including to adult film star Stormy Daniels, in a bid to conceal damaging information as part of a <a href="https://manhattanda.org/district-attorney-bragg-announces-34-count-felony-indictment-of-former-president-donald-j-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“catch-and-kill”</a> scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-blasts-hush-money-case-ahead-of-jury-selection-attack-on-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assailed the case</a> brought by Manhattan District Attorney <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alvin-bragg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alvin Bragg</a> ahead of jury selection. &#8220;This is a political persecution, a persecution like never before. Nobody has ever seen anything like it,&#8221; he said.
Prosecutors <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/04/15/prosecutors-want-trump-fined-3000-for-violating-judge-merchans-gag-order/?sh=49e49877749d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> Trump should be fined for allegedly violating his gag order after criticizing potential witnesses. Jury selection <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/15/jury-selection-trump-hush-money-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could take weeks</a> as prospective jurors are vetted until 12 people and several alternates are picked. Opening statements and testimony <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/15/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/no-access-hollywood-tape-00152240" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may not even start</a> until May.
Trump has broadly denied any wrongdoing in three other criminal cases that have not reached the trial stage. He has also been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-steele-dossier-uk-lawsuit-russia-55427915a83f33a8ead484109b8a89f6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-fined-350-million-in-civil-business-fraud-trial-banned-from-doing-business-in-ny-for-3-years#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pay hundreds of millions</a> of dollars in civil litigation, including as part of a New York business fraud judgment that the former president is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-new-york-civil-fraud-appeal-letitia-james-2f8cc521e00e4a34a1342b961c1416ce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealing</a>.
<h4>Fani Willis: 2020 Election Interference Case In Fulton County</h4>
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fulton-county-prosecutors-have-another-recording-of-trump-pressuring-georgia-house-speaker-to-overturn-election-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fani Willis</a> is leading a 2020 election interference case against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> and his allies. Trump and 18 co-defendants pleaded not guilty to a bevy of charges, but four of them have since taken <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/fourth-trump-co-defendant-takes-plea-deal-in-georgia-election-interference-case/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plea deals</a>.
The case got sidetracked as the defense raised concerns about Willis and her special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, having an improper relationship. A judge allowed Willis to stay on the case Wade <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nathan-wade-steps-down-as-special-prosecutor-in-trump-georgia-case-following-judges-ruling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resigned</a> in March. Afterward, CNN reported Willis <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/politics/fani-willis-trump-georgia-trial/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hoped</a> to have the trial before the 2024 election.
Willis has <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/special-reports/ga-trump-investigation/fulton-county-da-court-appeals-decline-review-disqualification-ruling/85-43861f0b-9934-4ab7-8d21-591ab3332656" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested an</a> appeals court uphold the ruling after the defense <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/29/trump-fani-willis-nathan-wade-georgia-election/77209956-ee03-11ee-8f2c-380a821c02db_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sought a review</a>. She said in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fani-willis-responds-to-jordans-demand-for-docs-after-contempt-threat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent letter</a> to House GOP investigators seeking documents that &#8220;nothing that you do will derail the efforts of my staff and I to bring the election interference prosecution to trial.&#8221;
<h4>Jack Smith: 2020 Election Interference Case And Classified Documents Case</h4>
The two remaining criminal matters hanging over Trump are being spearheaded by special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jack-smith">Jack Smith</a>. One case accuses Trump of unlawfully plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The other pertains to Trump&#8217;s handling of classified documents after leaving office and his allegedly trying to obstruct an investigation into his retention of those records.
Smith has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-matt-gaetz-calls-on-doj-inspector-general-to-investigate-jack-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> the Supreme Court to fast-track consideration of Trump’s presidential immunity claim to clear the way for a trial in the election case in Washington, D.C., which has already blown past the presiding judge&#8217;s plan for a March 4 start date. The high court <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaBower/status/1765450613066715420" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is expected to hear</a> oral arguments on April 25.
The trial in Smith&#8217;s documents case has been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-trial-date-documents-case-may-20-2024/">set to begin on May 20</a> in Florida, though the judge in that matter has indicated she may postpone it. Prosecutors have proposed the trial be pushed back to July 8 while Trump&#8217;s legal team <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-jack-smith-propose-new-trial-dates-classified-docs-case-rcna141272" target="_blank" rel="noopener">settled on August 12</a> as their preferred start date after pressing for it to start after the November election.
Trump is now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, after his major rivals dropped out and he secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination, even as much of his time and resources have gone into the court battles and paying legal bills. He has claimed that prosecutors and others are waging a &#8220;witch hunt&#8221; against him in an effort to boost his 2024 rival President Joe Biden.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump

Where All The Trump Cases Stand As Hush-Money Trial Begins

2024 Election

Fani Willis

Readers Pass

Former President Donald Trump called his New York hush-money case “political persecution” and an “attack on America” ahead of the start of proceedings in the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president.
Trump arrived at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday ahead of jury selection for his first of four expected criminal trials. Trump and his legal team are facing off against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide alleged hush-money payments made to the porn actress known as Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Trump assailed the case in comments ahead of the start of proceedings.
“This is an assault on America. Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Trump said. “Every legal scholar says this case is nonsense, it should never have been brought. … They’ve said it. People that don’t necessarily follow or like Donald Trump said this was an outrage that this case was brought.”
“This is a political persecution, a persecution like never before. Nobody has ever seen anything like it,” he continued. “It is an assault on America. And that’s why I’m very proud to be here. This is an assault on our country, and it’s a country that’s failing. It’s a country that’s run by an incompetent man who’s very much involved in this case.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
JUST IN &#8212; President Trump addresses reporters ahead of Day 1 of his hush money trial:
&quot;This is a persecution like never before. It is an assault on America and that’s why I&#39;m very proud to be here.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/VW0CQKrtMq">pic.twitter.com/VW0CQKrtMq</a>
&mdash; Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1779866850903339164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump is the presumed Republican nominee for president to face off against President Joe Biden again for the White House in November.
The trial will be overseen by New York Justice Juan Merchan, who has had a tense relationship with the former president. Merchan has “gagged” Trump, or restricted what Trump is allowed to say about the case.
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Trump was first gagged last month from commenting on potential jurors or members of Bragg’s staff. The judge expanded the gag order on April 1 after Trump criticized the judge and his daughter for her ties to elected Democrats.
If convicted, Trump faces potential prison time. Each count carries a four-year maximum sentence, though Merchan would have wide latitude in deciding Trump’s sentence, potentially forgoing any prison time, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trumps-trial-new-york-today-hush-money-jury-selection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a>.

Trump Blasts Hush-Money Case Ahead Of Jury Selection: ‘Attack On America’

New York City

Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree perjury related to his testimony in former President Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial. 
Weisselberg, 76, was hit with perjury charges by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after his testimony for the civil fraud case brought by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. James had charged Weisselberg, alongside Trump and others, with scheming to deceive banks and insurers about Trump&#8217;s wealth. In a March deal with Bragg&#8217;s office, Weisselberg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-trump-org-cfo-pleads-guilty-to-perjury-in-connection-with-ny-civil-business-fraud-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded guilty</a> to lying during deposition testimonies in July 2020 and May 2023 and while on the stand during the trial in October 2023. 
His sentencing on Wednesday took less than five minutes as his plea deal stipulated that he would spend five months behind bars for the charges. After Judge Laurie Peterson asked him if he would like to speak to the court, Weisselberg said, “No, your honor,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/weisselberg-trump-perjury-new-york-b76cde56c6cb983ab8789f95d5a0c6c0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press. He is expected to be held at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. 
In his plea deal, Weisselberg admitted lying to investigators about the size of the Midtown Trump Tower triplex in Manhattan. 
Trump&#8217;s lawyers have <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/ap-top-news/2024/03/20/judge-says-michael-cohen-may-have-committed-perjury-refuses-to-end-his-probation-early" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Bragg of a double standard by going after Weisselberg but not pursuing charges against former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, a key witness in Bragg&#8217;s case against Trump over alleged &#8220;hush money&#8221; payments to Stormy Daniels. They said that Bragg made a “conscious choice to ignore obvious and admitted criminal conduct by Cohen and to instead deploy unethical, strong-armed tactics against an innocent man in his late 70s underscores the irresponsibility of your conduct in office.&#8221;
In other legal filings, Trump&#8217;s lawyers suggested that Weisselberg may have taken a plea deal to avoid a harsher prison sentence. 
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“To be clear, counsel for Defendants have no ‘knowledge’ that Mr. Weisselberg made false statements during the trial; to the contrary, many believe that Mr. Weisselberg only made such admissions because he was being threatened with life in prison,” the lawyers <a href="https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=4Mw_PLUS_liQHtW0qI2VG_PLUS_8d07g==" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a filing to Judge Arthur Engoran, who oversaw James&#8217;s case against Trump. “Indeed, counsel for defendants have no more &#8216;knowledge&#8217; that Mr. Weisselberg made these purportedly false statements than the Court or any other person who read of his highly publicized guilty plea.” 
Weisselberg, whose legal bills have been paid for by the Trump Organization, previously spent time in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
In the civil fraud case, Engoron sided with James and the prosecution in February, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-fined-350-million-in-civil-business-fraud-trial-banned-from-doing-business-in-ny-for-3-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordering</a> Trump to pay $350 million, which has increased to $454 million, including interest, and barring Trump and his sons from running their business in New York for two to three years. Bragg&#8217;s criminal court case is slated to start on April 15.

Former Trump Finance Chief Allen Weisselberg To Plead Guilty To Perjury

Former Trump Exec Sentenced To 5 Months In Prison Over Testimony In Civil Fraud Case

Perjury

Trump Organization

Dozens of questions were released this week that were contained on the questionnaire that is being to select the jurors in former President Donald Trump&#8217;s upcoming criminal trial in Manhattan.
The trial, which is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-lawyers-ask-new-york-appeals-court-delay-weeks-criminal-trial-rcna146867">slated</a> to begin next week, centers around alleged hush money payments that Trump is accused of making to an adult entertainer during the 2016 presidential election.
The former president was indicted a year ago by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 felony counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.
Jurors were asked questions about where they live, how long they&#8217;ve lived there, whether they were New York natives, what they do for work, who their employer is, their educational background, if they are married and have children, what they do for fun, and any hobbies they may have.
They were also asked what organizations or activist groups they are involved in, if they&#8217;ve ever served on a jury before, and if they know anyone who has been the victim of a crime.
Jurors were asked about what media organizations and websites they watch, read, and listen to, including search engines, social media platforms, digital publications, newspapers, podcasts, and radio shows.
They were asked if they or any family and friends have ever been employed by a law enforcement agency, have ever served in federal, state, or local government; or have any kind of legal background.
Jurors were asked if any experience or interaction has ever caused them to form any opinion about law enforcement if they or anyone they know have ever been accused or convicted of committing a crime.
Some of the other questions included:
<ul>
<li class="p1">Do you have any political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs or opinions which might prevent you from following the Court&#8217;s instructions on the law or which might slant your approach to this case?</li>
<li class="p1">Do you have any political, moral, intellectual or religious beliefs or opinions that would interfere with your ability to render a verdict in this criminal case?</li>
<li>Do you have a health condition that might interfere with your ability to be here on the appointed days and times or otherwise prevent you from serving as a juror?</li>
<li>Without telling us the name(s), do you take any medication that would prevent you from being able to concentrate or pay attention during the proceedings or during the deliberations?</li>
<li>Court proceedings normally end around 4:30 in the afternoon though on rare occasions, we might work beyond that. Would your schedule and responsibilities permit you to work later if it were absolutely necessary to complete that day&#8217;s work?</li>
<li>Do you practice a religion that would prevent you from sitting as a juror on any particular weekday or weeknight?</li>
<li>Can you give us an assurance that you will be fair and impartial and not base your decision in this case upon a bias or prejudice in favor of or against a person who may appear in this trial, on account of that person&#8217;s race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, sexual orientation or political views?</li>
<li>Can you promise to guard against allowing stereotypes or attitudes about individuals or about groups of people, referred to as an implicit bias, influence your decision?</li>
<li>Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked for any company or organization that is owned or run by Donald Trump or anyone in his family?</li>
<li>Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for a Trump presidential campaign, the Trump presidential administration, or any other political entity affiliated with Mr. Trump?</li>
<li>Have you ever attended a rally of campaign event for Donald Trump?</li>
<li>Are you signed up for or have you ever been signed up for, subscribed to, or followed any newsletter or email listserv run by or on behalf of Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization?</li>
<li>Do you currently follow Donald Trump on any social media site or have you done so in the past?</li>
<li>Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for any and-Trump group or organization?</li>
<li>Have you ever attended a rally or campaign event for any anti-Trump group or organization?</li>
<li>Do you have any feelings of opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?</li>
<li>Can you give us your assurance that you will decide this case solely on the evidence you see and hear in this courtroom and the law as the judge gives it?</li>
<li>Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump, or the fact that he is a current candidate for president that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?</li>
</ul>

2024 LIV Golf Championship in Florida

7-Page Juror Questionnaire For Trump’s Upcoming Manhattan Criminal Trial Is Released

New York Justice Juan Merchan expanded his gag order against former President Donald Trump on Monday, further limiting the Republican presidential candidate&#8217;s criticisms of family members of lawyers and jurists.
In a five-page ruling, Merchan scolded Trump for his posts on Truth Social targeting the judge&#8217;s daughter, Loren, who has served as an executive at a leftist political consulting firm that has worked with clients like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/4568757-trumps-gag-order-in-hush-money-case-expanded-to-include-judges-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose. It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game’ for Defendant’s vitriol,” Merchan wrote.
In the hush money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg against Trump, the former president stands accused of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up an alleged affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels. The hush money case, widely viewed as the weakest case against the former president, was the first in a slew of criminal charges against Trump and made Trump the first ex-president to be charged with a crime. Trump has denied sending Daniels any hush money along with denying the alleged affair between them.
The trial is set to begin on April 15 after Merchan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-delays-trumps-hush-money-case-heres-where-the-former-presidents-4-criminal-trials-now-stand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delayed</a> it last month to give Trump&#8217;s legal team time to review a new dump of 100,000 pages of material that could be used as evidence in the case.
In his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-issues-gag-order-on-trump-ahead-of-new-york-criminal-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initial gag order</a> last week, Merchan — who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-overseeing-trumps-hush-money-case-donated-to-bidens-2020-presidential-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donated</a> to Biden&#8217;s campaign against Trump in 2020 — restricted Trump&#8217;s ability to speak out about witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors involved in the criminal case, but the judge&#8217;s order didn&#8217;t apply to him or his family. Following the gag order, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rails-against-judge-daughter-following-gag-order-in-ny-criminal-case-an-acute-case-of-trump-derangement-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slammed</a> Merchan and his daughter, writing that Loren “represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals.”
Trump&#8217;s lawyers argued that the leading presidential candidate&#8217;s social media posts about the judge and his daughter are protected by the First Amendment and “necessary and appropriate in the current environment.”
Merchan disagreed, saying that the lawyers&#8217; arguments are &#8220;farcical&#8221; and calling Trump&#8217;s posts &#8220;dangerous rhetoric,&#8221; according to The Hill.
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Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112201335389709319" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the expanded gag order, writing on Truth Social on Tuesday morning that Merchan &#8220;should be recused, and the case should be thrown out.&#8221;
&#8220;I just was informed that another corrupt New York Judge, Juan Merchan, GAGGED me so that I can not talk about the corruption and conflicts taking place in his courtroom with respect to a case that everyone, including the D.A., felt should never have been brought,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;They can talk about me, but I can’t talk about them??? That sounds fair, doesn’t it? This Judge should be recused, and the case should be thrown out. There has virtually never been a more conflicted judge than this one. ELECTION INTERFERENCE at its worst!&#8221;

Judge Expands Gag Order Against Trump In Hush Money Case

Court

Judge

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> judge has placed a gag order on former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> restricting his ability to speak out about witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors involved in the criminal case brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The case accuses the former president of falsifying business records related to payments made before the 2016 election by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels. Trump has pled not guilty to the 34 counts brought by Bragg’s office and denied claims that he ever had a relationship with Daniels.
Judge Juan Merchan, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-dismisses-trumps-attempt-to-delay-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scheduled</a> the trial to begin on April 15, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-new-york-hush-money-case-places-limited/story?id=108510449" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday that Trump would be restricted from making statements on those testifying against him, like Cohen, who is testifying for Bragg. Trump is also restricted from speaking out about prosecutors and jurors, according to the gag order.
Merchan said that previous statements Trump made about individuals involved in the case &#8220;were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating,&#8221; and &#8220;a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.”
&#8220;The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof,&#8221; the judge said.
&#8220;Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impending the orderly administration of this Court,&#8221; Merchan added. &#8220;Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the immanency of the risk of harm is now paramount.&#8221;
Trump had previously tried to have the trial delayed, but Merchan, a donor to President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, rejected his arguments on Monday.
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Before the gag order was issued, Trump said in a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112162726199012291" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> that Bragg’s case against him was pushed by the Biden administration and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“D.A. Bragg fought everyone about trying this ‘no crime’ case, but Crooked Joe Biden’s ‘Thugs’ pushed him to go forward, and pushed him hard,” Trump said. “They wanted him to go after ME, Crooked’s Political Opponent. He just didn’t want to do it. They ended up sending Matthew Colangelo, Merrick Garland’s ‘right hand,’ after a stop at the Corrupt and Racist New York State A.G. Letecia ‘Peekaboo’ James’ Office, to directly oversee the D.A., perhaps to make sure that Bragg followed their illegal orders and commands. He eventually agreed to do the ‘case’ that he never wanted to do.”
Bragg’s case, which has been widely viewed as the weakest case against the former president, was the first in a slew of criminal charges against Trump and made Trump the first ex-president to be charged with a crime.

Former President Donald Trump Attends Pre-Trial Hearing In New York Hush Money Case

Judge Issues Gag Order On Trump Ahead Of New York Criminal Trial

Michael Cohen

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