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Donald Trump spent the weekend having a meltdown about the prospect of being indicted by Manhattan prosecutors over his 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Obviously, those potential charges are probably at the top of his mind, given the strong likelihood that (1) they are actually coming and (2) may be coming this week. But unfortunately for the ex-president, an indictment in New York isnt the only very real legal issue he is grappling with at the moment, as his lawyers made clear on Monday.

In a court filing, attorneys for Trump demanded the final report from the Fulton County special grand jury that investigated Trump and his allies attempt to overthrow the election be suppressed, claiming that the results of the investigation cannot be relied upon and, therefore, must be suppressed given the constitutional violations. In addition to arguing that Robert C.I. McBurney, the supervising judge in the case, failed to protect the most basic procedural and substantive constitutional rights of all individuals discussed, Trumps lawyers also claimed that Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis engaged in instances of forensic misconduct and improper extrajudicial activity, and should be removed from the case.

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Its not hard to see why Team Trump is going to the ends of the earth to destroy the report generated by the special grand jury. While only a small excerpt was released in February, the jury made clear in its findings that (1) despite Trumps claims, there absolutely was not widespread fraud in Georgias 2020 presidential election; and (2) that one or more people appear to have lied to the jury, which is, yes, a crime. As for its recommendations re: which individuals should be charged, jury forewoman Emily Kohrs told The New York Times last month it was not a short list, adding of whether or not Trump was on it: Youre not going to be shocked. Its not rocket science. Speaking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, another juror said of the groups report: A lots gonna come out sooner or late. And its gonna be massive. Its gonna be massive.

Trumps legal team also claimed in its Monday filing that Kohrs had divulged the jurys deliberations in her series of interviews, though Judge McBurney did not appear to see it that way. Legal experts told the Times they doubt her comments would have an impact on the case, noting that the special grand jury does not actually issue indictments, a job that would be left to a regular grand jury.

As for Willis, its not really at all surprising that Trumps lawyers want her booted from the case, given that she appears prepared to actually hold the ex-president and his pals accountable for their actions. Per CNN:

Atlanta-area prosecutors are considering bringing racketeering and conspiracy charges in connection withDonald Trumps effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. Investigators have a large volume of substantial evidence related to a possible conspiracy from inside and outside the state, including recordings of phone calls, emails, text messages, documents, and testimony before a special grand jury. Their work, the source said, underscores the belief that the push to help Trump was not just a grassroots effort that originated inside the state.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could make decisions on charges this spring, the source said. Willis will bring her charging recommendations to the regularly seated grand juries, who each serve two-month terms. Two regular Fulton County grand juries were seated in early March, and the next batch of two are scheduled to be sworn-in early May. The Fulton County probe expanded beyond the Trump phone calls to include false claims of election fraud to state lawmakers, the fake elector scheme, efforts by unauthorized individuals to access voting machines in one Georgia county and threats and harassment against election workers.

The reason that I am a fan of RICO is, I think jurors are very, very intelligent, Willis said last year. They want to know what happened. They want to make an accurate decision about someones life. And so RICO is a tool that allows a prosecutors office and law enforcement to tell the whole story.

Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers in Georgia are currently trying to pass legislation that would allow them to more easily fire prosecutors and district attorneyslike, for instance, Willis.

This isnot actually how the law works

Trumps attorney appears to preview his defense

Well, this is an extremely disturbing threat (and allegation)

Elsewhere!

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Earth to Hit Critical Warming Threshold by Early 2030s, Climate Panel Says (NYT)

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Trump isnt giving up on Fox News even after its bigwigs privately trashed him (NBC News)

Rupert Murdoch is engaged for the 5th time at the age of 92 (VF)

Man, 52, Arrested for Spring Break Mistake (TSG)

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Donald Trumps Lawyers Seem Pretty Panicked Hes Going to be Indicted in Georgia Too - Vanity Fair

Donald Trump; Tucker Carlson. Shane Bevel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tucker Carlson said this week that a "wounded" Donald Trump called him up after it was revealed that the Fox News star said he "passionately" hated the former US president in private text messages that were made public.

"I'm pretty straightforward. I love Trump, like as a person. I think Trump is funny and insightful," Carlson said on Monday during a radio appearance on WABC's "Bo Snerdley's Rush Hour" show, adding that he "spent four years defending" Trump's "policies" and that he would "defend them again" that night.

Carlson added, "And I said this to Trump when he called me, you know, all wounded about those texts. That was a moment in time where I was absolutely infuriated."

The primetime host's eye-opening text messages about Trump were recently released as part of a trove of court evidence in election-technology company Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

Carlson who has long been one of Trump's most stalwart defenders on camera secretly fantasized about not having to cover Trump after the 2020 election, saying in a text message in January 2021, "I hate him passionately," the court filings showed.

On the day of the deadly US Capitol riot, Carlson called Trump a "demonic force" in a text message to his producer, according to court documents.

Carlson said during his Monday radio appearance that he was "enraged" his texts were pulled.

"Those were all grabbed completely illegitimately, in my opinion, in this court case, which I guess I'm not allowed to talk about, but I'm enraged that my private texts were pulled," Carlson said.

Carlson said he sent the texts about hating Trump while he was frustrated with the former president's campaign after Trump's loss to President Joe Biden.

"Those particular texts were pulled at the moment where I was texting with one of my producers because some idiot on the Trump campaign had sent us the name of these dead voters who had voted," Carlson said. "And we went, and I repeated them on air, and it turns out, some of them were alive."

"So, I was just, I felt humiliated," said Carlson.

Carlson said he was "so mad by the incompetence of that campaign, which was completely incompetent."

"I can't stand getting the facts wrong," Carlson continued. "At the time, I was just blaming the Trump campaign, and I was livid."

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Donald Trump called after 'hate' texts revealed, Tucker Carlson says - Business Insider

Workers began erecting barricades around the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse this week, bracing for a potential, unprecedented moment: Donald Trump arriving to face charges in a hush money probe, making him the first president in US history to face criminal charges.

Mr Trump announced over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, and called on his supporters to protest what he called the corrupt and highly political Manhattan district attorneys office,

PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK! Mr Trump blared on social media.

Follow our live coverage on Trump here

However, Team Trump soon began to rein in the former president. The probe into hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign crawled on with additional witnesses through Monday and the grand jury didnt meet on Tuesday.

A Trump spokesperson clarified the former presidents team has been given no notification of an impending arrest beside illegal leaks.

Since then several media outlets have speculated on exactly when the legal move will come.

Now, it appears Mr Trump could be indicted as soon as Wednesday.

The Manhattan grand jury will convene at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon where they are expected to hear from at least one more witness.

It is not clear who this witness is.

After hearing from all witnesses, the jury will then vote on whether or not to indict Mr Trump.

If an indictment is handed down, the former president is not expected to appear in court until sometime next week.

What doesnt appear to be in doubt is that indictment is on the cards. Trump was given a chance to go before the grand jury - a typical sign that the office is preparing to indict. The grand jury will also need to vote on the indictment but voting down charges is highly irregular.

Trump himself is waiting it out in Florida while it is unclear whether any additional witnesses might be summoned as the grand jury recovenes.

Police and security officials met on Monday at the New York Police Department headquarters to plan for a potential arrest of Mr Trump.

Story continues

Well be discussing how we bring Trump in, a source involved in the planning told Politico, No decisions have been made yet.

Mr Trumps lawyers said over the weekend the president will surrender if indicted and there wont be a stand-off at Mar-a-Lago.

A defendant who surrenders usually reports to the DA office for a pre-scheduled appointment. Mr Trump will need to have his fingerprints and mugshot taken. Karen Agnifilo, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorneys office, told the Wall Street Journal that Trump would then be interviewed by detective investigators and arrested.

And he would be issued a rap sheet reflecting this arrest, like every other person who is arrested and fingerprinted in this country, said Ms. Agnifilo.

She added that Trump would likely be spared being held in a holding cell like most defendents awaiting arraignment.

Supporters of Mr Trump, ranging from the New York Young Republicans to far-right figure Laura Loomer, said they planned to hold demonstrations to protest the charges at various sites around the country, while on far-right messageboards, some discussed preventing law enforcement from reaching Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Mr Trumps main rival in the GOP 2024 field, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, spoke out on Monday about the potential charges.

"I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some kind of alleged affair," Mr DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City. "I cant speak to that."

The former president also faces legal threats from a probe in Georgia examining his efforts to flip the 2020 election results, a federal special counsel investigating his role in the January 6 insurrection, and a New York suit alleging Mr Trump conducted corrupt business practices.

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Will Donald Trump be arrested today? The former presidents moving indictment timeline - Yahoo! Voices

Republicans on Monday braced for the impact of the impending indictment of former President Donald J. Trump, with his allies on Capitol Hill flexing their investigative powers to target the prosecutor pursuing Mr. Trump while the leading rival for the 2024 G.O.P. presidential nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, took his first swipe at Mr. Trumps personal conduct.

Mr. Trumps call over the weekend for his supporters to take to the streets in protest of what he described as his looming arrest left even some of his allies on the right fearful about what would come next. Memories are still fresh from Jan. 6, 2021, when Mr. Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol in a violent riot that has since resulted in more than 1,000 arrests.

With police barricades going up outside the Criminal Courts Building in Manhattan on Monday, prominent Republicans, including Mr. Trumps allies, were divided over whether to encourage mass protests. Some influential voices on the right urged caution and for his supporters to stay away, particularly from New York, where any potential unrest would invite prosecution from the same official who is expected to charge Mr. Trump. Others said not protesting the indictment of a former president was tantamount to ceding their constitutional rights.

I get that there are some fears and concerns based on what happened on Jan. 6, said Gavin Wax, the president of the New York Young Republican Club, which organized a demonstration in Manhattan on Monday evening that was sparsely attended, with the news media vastly outnumbering protesters. But its ridiculous and pathetic and nihilistic to say that a conservative cant peacefully protest.

The days events represented an uneasy calm before an expected political and legal firestorm. A Manhattan grand jury is expected to soon indict Mr. Trump in connection with hush money payments that kept a pornographic actress, Stormy Daniels, from speaking out in 2016 about an affair she said she had with Mr. Trump years earlier.

Three Republican House committee chairmen made an extraordinary pre-emptive strike on Monday against the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, demanding that he provide communications, documents and testimony about his investigation, a rare attempt by Congress to involve itself in an active criminal inquiry.

Referring to the expected indictment, Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, James R. Comer of Kentucky and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin wrote, If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode the confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.

Mr. Trumps lawyers have quietly pushed the Republican-led House to intervene. Last month, a Trump lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, wrote to Mr. Jordan calling on Congress to investigate the egregious abuse of power by what he called a rogue local district attorney, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times.

The expected indictment is already roiling the 2024 campaign trail.

In Florida, Mr. DeSantis, who had faced pressure from Trump allies to speak out against the case, broke two days of silence on Monday, joining the chorus of other Republicans who have accused Mr. Bragg of weaponizing his office.

But Mr. DeSantis went further. The governor, who has not yet declared his candidacy for president but is traveling the country, including to key early primary states, needled Mr. Trump over the conduct at the heart of the investigation.

I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair, Mr. DeSantis said to chuckles from the crowd at the event in Panama City, Fla. I just, I cant speak to that.

But what I can speak to, he continued, is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many, many years ago, to try to use something about porn star hush-money payments, you know, thats an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office.

Mr. Trump fired back in his characteristically caustic and personal terms, making insinuations about the governors sexuality and raising questions about whether Mr. DeSantis who is married to a woman was inappropriately involved with students when he was a teacher in his early 20s.

Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when hes unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are underage (or possibly a man!). Im sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do! Mr. Trump wrote on his social media site.

Mr. DeSantis, who has tried to avoid engaging with Mr. Trumps intensifying attacks, has previously waved away the former presidents allegations of relationships with students. I dont spend my time trying to smear other Republicans, he said last month.

Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the highest-ranking member of the House so far to endorse Mr. Trump, predicted in an interview that the expected indictment only strengthens President Trump moving forward. And Mr. Trump did in fact score an endorsement from Mr. DeSantiss home state on Monday from Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who indicated that the expected indictment had pushed her to unequivocally choose sides.

This is unheard-of, and Americans should see it for what it is: an abuse of power and fascist overreach of the justice system, Ms. Luna said in a statement to The Times.

Mr. Trump has long measured the strength of his political standing by the blunt metric of the size of the crowds that show up for him, in good times and in bad. When the Access Hollywood video first broke in 2016, Mr. Trump found comfort in the small band of supporters who stood in solidarity with Trump signs outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, visiting them briefly with a fist pump. And, once he became president, the first mini-drama of his White House tenure was related to his insistent exaggerations about the crowd size at his inauguration.

And so there was little surprise, despite the shadow of Jan. 6, that he exhorted his supporters on his social media site on Saturday to PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!

On Saturday, Mr. Trump has scheduled his first large rally of the 2024 campaign in Waco, Texas far from any courthouse. The timing coincides with the 30th anniversary of the federal governments standoff and eventual deadly siege in Waco of a compound run by the Branch Davidian religious sect an iconic event in right-wing, antigovernment lore.

While the rally is expected to be well attended, prominent online pro-Trump voices have not all heeded and repeated the former presidents call for supporters to mobilize at protests.

Better to stay home, advised Jeffrey Clark, the former Justice Department official who was nearly named acting attorney general by Mr. Trump in late 2020 as the president sought to overturn his election loss.

Some Trump allies have indulged in unfounded conspiracy theories about entrapment, claiming that the federal government would somehow infiltrate any protest to encourage violence, or that left-wing agitators would initiate violence or spur crowds toward it.

How many Feds/Fed assets are in place to turn protest against the political arrest of Pres Trump into violence? Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who is one of Mr. Trumps close allies, wrote on Twitter.

Jesse Kelly, a syndicated right-wing radio host, said on Monday that whats happening to Trump is beyond injustice but still pressed Trump supporters to stay away from any protests.

In one tweet, Mr. Kelly complained that Mr. Trump had not helped with the legal bills of those involved in Jan. 6. In another, he included a screenshot of Mr. Trump urging people to protest and captioned it, This is abuse of his followers and I despise it.

Late Monday, Mr. Trump tried to call into a streaming Prayers for Trump call co-hosted by Roger J. Stone Jr., his longest-serving confidant. As technical difficulties disrupted their connection, Mr. Stone called for people to be peaceful, civil and legal in their protests.

As House Republicans gathered this week in Orlando, Fla., ostensibly to plot their policy agenda and how to position themselves for the coming fiscal fights on Capitol Hill, the disruptive force that Mr. Trump remains for the party was on display, even as G.O.P. lawmakers lined up almost uniformly against his prosecution.

The Republican speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, who owes his post in part to Mr. Trumps support, was among those urging Trump supporters to stay away from protests on Sunday, for instance. I dont think people should protest this, no, he said.

Ms. Stefanik, one of Mr. Trumps most fervent defenders, dissented. I do believe people have a constitutional right of freedom of speech to speak up when they disagree, she said.

A few hundred miles away, Mr. DeSantis was attempting his own high-wire balancing act when it comes to Mr. Trump. He criticized Mr. Bragg as a Soros-funded prosecutor, using the familiar language of the right to bash George Soros, the liberal billionaire philanthropist, for his indirect financial support. At the same time, Mr. DeSantis appeared to minimize the significance of a former president facing potential criminal charges.

Weve got so many things pending in front of the Legislature, Mr. DeSantis said. Ive got to spend my time on issues that actually matter to people.

Reporting was contributed by Alan Feuer, Luke Broadwater, Michael C. Bender and Chelsia Rose Marcius.

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A Looming Trump Indictment Takes Center Stage for the GOP - The New York Times

The rhetoric between the two likely Republican frontrunners in the 2024 presidential race is heating up.

As former President Donald Trump focuses on possible criminal charges, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken the chance to draw a contrast between himself and the former president, even though he hasnt announced his candidacy yet.

I have what it takes to be president and I can beat (President Joe) Biden, DeSantis said, indicating he is likely to jump in the race.

Whether he is setting the stage for 2024, or trying to catch up to Trump in the polls, DeSantis has started taking jabs at Trump, including in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, snippets of which appeared in a New York Post column.

Other possible and declared Republican candidates including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have been hesitant to criticize the former president.

Meanwhile, Trump has focused most of his attacks on DeSantis.

Trump took to Truth Social to respond to DeSantis interview with Morgan, saying DeSantis is too busy chatting with a Ratings Challenged TV Host from England, (and) desperately trying to rescue his failing Campaign, while Trump is fielding off the radical Left lunatics, Persecutors and unfair Prosecutors who want to destroy us all.

In another post, Trump said that (DeSantis) should take a look at his Polls, which are crashing like few people have seen before. Thats because hes merely an average REPUBLICAN Governor who has great Public Relations, far better than deserved.

This type of division in the party is common ahead of the 2024 presidential primary, Republican consultant Doug Heye told Al Jazeera.

In his interview with Morgan, DeSantis said he would have approached COVID-19 differently than Trump did. For one, he said he would have fired Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the U.S. task force overseeing the pandemic.

I think he got way too big for his britches, and I think he did a lot of damage, he said.

As for the nickname Ron DeSanctimonious, the Florida governor said: I dont know how to spell the sanctimonious one. I dont really know what it means, but I kinda like it. Its long, its got a lot of vowels, he said, adding, I mean, you can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner

Before the interview with Morgan, DeSantis took a swipe at Trump over payments to Stormy Daniels, saying, I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.

Then during the interview, DeSantis drew a distinction over their governing styles. So, the way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board, and I think thats something thats very important, he said.

As of Wednesday evening, Trump was on a posting spree on Truth Social, attacking DeSantis by listing out statistics for where Florida stands compared to the rest of the U.S.

On Education, Florida ranks #39 in Health & Safety in the Country, #50 in Affordability, and #30 in Education & Childcare, HARDLY GREATNESS THERE! he said in one of the six posts.

He also jumped on DeSantis coronavirus remarks, saying the onus of the decision-making fell on the governors. For COVID Death Rates Per State, Ron, as Governor of Florida, did worse than New York, Trump said.

The response to DeSantis interview wasnt entirely favorable. As Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator, said on Twitter, Republicans are fine with critiques of Trump...so long as they arent perceived as lending ammo to the media and the Left.

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, wrote on Twitter that DeSantis is finally showing his true colors.

Some GOP lawmakers sound like they may be starting to take sides in the upcoming race. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas,sounded disapproving of Trumps behavior during an appearance on Glenn Becks radio show.

Look, at the end of the day, you cannot walk away from the fact that the former president clearly paid a porn star off to hush up right before an election. That occurred, Roy said, per The Hill.

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What did DeSantis say about Donald Trump, and how did Trump ... - Deseret News