Trump stays away from campaign trail as judge allows Georgia 2020 election trial to be televised: Live updates

Trump stays away from campaign trail as judge allows Georgia 2020 election trial to be televised: Live updates

Donald Trump’s mug shot

Donald Trump is shying away from the campaign trail after pleading not guilty to all charges levelled against him in the Georgia election interference case and waived his right to an arraignment, scheduled for 6 September in Fulton County. His lawyers also moved to sever his case from any co-defendants who opted for a speedy trial.

Some of Mr Trump’s 18 co-defendants have also waived their in-person arraignments, including Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Trevian Kutti, Ray Smith, and Rudy Giuliani. The remainder are still expected to appear for the hearing next week.

In a late-night Truth Social rant the former president posted: “I am being “railroaded” by a highly partisan and corrupt system of INJUSTICE, headed up by an opponent who is losing in the polls and, simultaneously with all of this, destroying our once Great Country!”

The rant came hours after Judge Scott McAfee had ruled that Mr Trump’s trial in Fulton County and all of its accompanying court hearings would be televised and live-streamed to the world.

Meanwhile, an anti-Trump Republican group has illuminated New York City’s Times Square with a billboard displaying all 91 charges against the former president as well as buying ad-time on Fox News.

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Vivek Ramaswamy doubles down on voting for Trump if he is convicted

GOP 2024 presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has doubled down on his decisiont to vote for Donald Trump, even if the former president is convicted in one of his four ongoing legal battles.

George Stephanopoulos asked Mr Ramaswamy on ABC’s “This Week” why he thought it would be “ok” for a convicted felon to serve as the president.

“I do not want to see us become a banana republic where the administrative police state uses police force to eliminate opponents from competition,” Mr Ramaswamy said. “That’s not the way it works.”

He added that “I will pick who I believe the best next president should be,” before saying he believed he should be the president, but that he would support the Republican nominee.

Graig Graziosi3 September 2023 23:00

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Democratic Senator Tim Kaine says ‘strong argument’ for Trump’s disqualification under 14th Amendment

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said he believes there’s a “strong case” for Donald Trump to be disqualified from the 2024 presidential race based on the 14th Amendment.

“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment, and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power of as is laid out in the Constitution,” Mr Kaine said during an interview on ABC “This Week.” “So I think there’s a powerful argument to be made.”

He said that the 14th Amendment “is specific” in a section concerning the ineligibility for office of an individual who previously took an oath to defend the Constitution but “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” barring amnesty granted by a two-thirds vote of the Congress.

He said that the issue would likely be settled in the courts.

Graig Graziosi3 September 2023 21:42

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All Trump’s criminal charges and lawsuits – and where they stand

Republican group launches ‘Trump Rap Sheet’ campaign on Times Square billboard

Donald Trump has never been more vulnerable.

Without the privileges and prestige of the presidency to protect him, Mr Trump is facing serious lawsuits and criminal indictments across New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington.

Federal officials, local prosecutors, and individuals are going after him for everything from his private conduct to his political maneuvering during the 2020 election. If even just one of these efforts are successful, the US could see its first-ever former president in prison.

Here, The Independent explains each major case:

Oliver O’Connell3 September 2023 16:45

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Coming soon to a screen near you…

Yes, the American public (and presumably a sizeable international audience) will be able to gather around their phones, tablets, and flat screens and watch the entirety of Donald Trump’s trial for allegedly attempting to subvert the presidential election in Georgia.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee announced on Thursday that he would allow all hearings and trials in the case to appear on a YouTube stream. The court will operate the stream.

The judge will also allow pool coverage for television, photography and radio, he announced.

Get. The. Popcorn. Ready.

Graig Graziosi3 September 2023 15:00

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Recap: Trump moves to sever his own Georgia election fraud case from co-defendants seeking speedy trial

Donald Trump has moved to sever Georgia case from the defendants seeking a speedy trial, arguing that it would violate his right to a fair process.

“President Trump moves the Court to sever his case from those of his co-defendants who have demanded a speedy trial … and who have a scheduled trial date of October 23, 2023,” lawyer Steven Sadow wrote in a filing on Thursday.

The filing states that the timeline wouldn’t allow for the counsel to “have sufficient time to prepare President Trump’s case”.

Gustaf Kilander3 September 2023 12:45

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Georgia governor rejects MAGA push to impeach Fani Willis

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has pushed back on calls from within the state Republican Party to impeach or defund Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

“As long as I’m governor, we are going to follow the law and the Constitution – regardless of who it helps politically,” the governor said.

Oliver O’Connell3 September 2023 08:45

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Fani Willis: The Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump

Her first day as the chief prosecutor for Fulton County came with news that then-President Donald Trump attempted to pressure Georgia‘s top election officials to reverse his loss in the state during the 2020 presidential election.

A phone call between Mr Trump and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was published by The Washington Post late at night on 3 January, 2021.

Hours later, Fani Willis would walk into her first day on the job as Fulton County’s district attorney, an office that is now spearheading a criminal investigation into Mr Trump, with the phone call serving as a central damning piece of evidence against him.

Alex Woodward3 September 2023 04:45

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Trump phone interview with right-wing network is so disastrous that people think it was an AI hoax

A right-wing network’s phone interview with Donald Trump went so poorly that social media users are speculating the voice on the line was an AI impersonator.

Real America’s Voice aired an “exclusive” interview with the former president on Thursday – but it didn’t exactly go to plan.

The 17-minute call with hosts John Soloman and Amanda Head was plagued by consistent cut-outs as the stiff voice purported to be Mr Trump shifted dramatically.

When Real America’s Voice shared a clip of the interview on X, users were quick to speculate that Soloman and Head had been duped by a prank caller or a fake, artificially intelligent version of Mr Trump.

“A fringe, far-right ‘tv news’ network tried to pass off a fake AI Trump tonight to their viewers as a legitimate interview with the disgraced former president,” William Legate wrote. READ MORE:

Graig Graziosi3 September 2023 03:00

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Will Donald Trump go to prison?

Donald Trump faces four criminal indictments in three separate jurisdictions. Nearly 100 felony criminal charges are leveled against the former president, who remains the odds-on favourite to win the 2024 Republican primary.

As his legal battles grow more complex by the day, a serious question has emerged: Whether Mr Trump will win the nomination and campaign for the general election as a convicted criminal.

That possibility, in turn, raises another, simpler question: Will the 45th President of the United States go to prison? READ MORE:

Graig Graziosi3 September 2023 01:30

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Recap: Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election subversion case

Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia election subversion case to charges that he took part in criminal conspiracies in connection to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.

The former president entered the plea on Thursday morning, waiving a formal arraignment following the 13 felony counts being filed against him.

Gustaf Kilander3 September 2023 00:45