Trump news today: Trump rejects last chance to testify as Georgia ‘fake electors’ take immunity deals

Former President Donald Trump has rejected his final probability to testify at a civil trial the place a longtime recommendation columnist has accused him of raping her in a luxurious division retailer dressing room in 1996.

Ex-Fox host is barred from different media work whereas below Fox contract.

Talking to reporters whereas {golfing} at his Doonbeg resort on Thursday, Mr Trump mentioned he would “in all probability attend” the trial, which is listening to its closing day of proof earlier than closing arguments subsequent week.

“I used to be falsely accused by this lady, I don’t know who she is – it’s ridiculous,” he mentioned.

“I’ll be going again early as a result of a lady made a declare that’s completely false, it’s pretend.”

The ultimate witness in E Jean Carroll’s civil lawsuit in opposition to former president Donald Trump that accuses him of rape and defamation gave proof on Thursday.

Carol Martin is among the two buddies that Ms Carroll spoke to concerning the alleged assault, which the longtime Elle recommendation columnist says occurred in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room within the mid-Nineteen Nineties.

Ms Martin was questioned at a Manhattan federal court docket about an e-mail she despatched to Ms Carroll concerning the former president in 2017, reported Enterprise Insider.

The e-mail was despatched just some weeks earlier than Ms Carroll would begin work on “What do we’d like males for?” – the 2019 e book during which she publicly accused Mr Trump of rape for the primary time.

In September 2017 Ms Martin despatched Ms Carroll an article making enjoyable of Mr Trump.

A Mar-a-Lago insider helps Particular Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the previous president’s dealing with of high secret paperwork at his luxurious Florida property, a report says.

Federal investigators have issued a string of recent subpoenas within the probe and are attempting to find if Mr Trump ordered containers containing confidential paperwork to be moved out of a storage room as the federal government tried to get better them, sources informed The New York Instances.

The Particular Counsel’s prosecutors are attempting to ascertain if Mr Trump tried to cover some paperwork even after the Justice Division points a subpoena for his or her return final Might, reported the newspaper.

The insider, whose id has not been launched, reportedly supplied investigators with an image of the Mar-a-Lago storage room the place the paperwork have been saved.

The newspaper says it’s not recognized what else data the witness could have supplied, or how lengthy they might have been cooperating with the Justice Division.

Sources informed ABC Information that the Florida governor could launch his full 2024 presidential marketing campaign in June and skip the exploratory committee part altogether.

Though he has but to formally declare he’ll tackle Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, his staff has reportedly already begun debate prep with Mr DeSantis.

The shift in techniques is a mirrored image of the group’s position as unofficial paramilitary backers of no matter the principle Republican precedence of the day is.

Chuck Tanner, analysis director of the Institute for Analysis and Training on Human Rights, informed the BBC that the current assaults on LGBTQ+ folks present the Proud Boys performing as “far-right muscle.”

“They’re not the motion thinkers out in entrance, they chase a whole lot of points,” he mentioned.

Republican Kari Lake’s attorneys have been sanctioned $2,000 Thursday by the Arizona Supreme Court docket of their unsuccessful problem of her defeat within the governor’s race final yr to Democrat Katie Hobbs.

In an order, the state’s highest court docket mentioned Lake’s legal professional made “false factual statements” that greater than 35,000 ballots had been improperly added to the whole poll depend. The court docket, nevertheless, refused to order Lake to pay legal professional charges to cowl the prices of defending Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in Lake’s attraction.

Chief Justice Robert Brutinel cited Lake’s problem over signature verification stays unresolved.

Hobbs and Fontes mentioned Lake and her attorneys ought to face sanctions for baselessly claiming that over 35,000 ballots have been inserted into the race at a facility the place a contractor scanned mail-in ballots to arrange them for county election staff to course of and depend.

When the excessive court docket first confronted Lake’s problem in late March, justices mentioned the proof doesn’t present that over 35,000 ballots have been added to the vote depend in Maricopa County, residence to greater than 60% of the state’s voters.

Decide Kaplan additionally denied a movement for a mistrial by Mr Trump’s attorneys, and steadily scolded his lead counsel Joe Tacopina for his “repetitive, argumentative and inappropriate” questioning of Ms Carroll.

He additionally warned Mr Trump to “chorus” from making inflammatory feedback concerning the case that might incite violence.

Talking in Eire, Mr Trump described Decide Kaplan as a “tough choose”.

“He doesn’t like me very a lot, he was appointed by Invoice Clinton,” he mentioned.

He claimed Ms Carroll was a “Democrat” and that the lawsuit was a “political rip-off”.

“Due to that I’ve to depart Eire and I’ve to depart Scotland the place I’ve nice properties, I’ve to depart early.

“I don’t must however I select to.”