From 3h ago
Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegedly hoarding government secrets at his Mar-a-Lago resort and frustrating efforts by the federal government to retrieve them at his ongoing arraignment in Miami, Reuters reports.
Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr took to social media as their father pleaded not guilty in the courthouse.
Eric retweeted a post by the Republican congressman Jim Jordan that said there were different standards of justice for the Trump and Biden families.
While Donald Trump Jr praised Ohio senator, JD Vance, for saying he wouldblock all nominees to the Department of Justice over the indictment against the former president.
Ohio senator, JD Vance, who was endorsed by Donald Trump in his 2022 race, has said he would block all nominees to the Department of Justice “until Merrick Garland stops using his agency to harass Joe Biden’s political opponents”.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Vance called the former president “merely the latest victim of a Department of Justice that cares more about politics than law enforcement” and said he would “grind [Garland’s] department to a halt” in protest of “the unprecedented political prosecution” of Trump.
Vance said:
Starting today, I will hold all Department of Justice nominations. If Merrick Garland wants to use these officials to harass Joe Biden’s political opponents, we will grind his department to a halt.
Vance’s hold will just slow down the confirmation process for DoJ nominees, who will now all need to go through a procedural vote and a confirmation vote.
As Punchbowl News’ John Bresnahan points out, the Ohio senator’s announcement doesn’t really change anything.
As we reported earlier, Donald Trump’s personal valet Walt Nauta was not arraigned today as his lawyer was not admitted to practice in the southern district of Florida.
Nauta is now scheduled to be arraigned on 27 June.
A navy veteran from Guam, Nauta worked as a White House valet during the Trump administration and moved to Florida following the 2020 election to become Trump’s personal aide.
Prosecutors allege that Nauta was a point person for Trump whenever he wanted to access or hide the boxes of classified documents.
The indictment states that Trump directed Nauta to transport various documents to Trump’s personal residence and that Nauta helped Trump try to conceal the boxes of top secret information from the FBI. Nauta also texted two Trump employees about the documents, in one case sending a photo of a tipped-over box and classified documents spilled out on the floor of a storage room.
Nauta faces several charges including conspiracy and making false statements, such as telling investigators that he didn’t know where the boxes of classified documents were being stored. He is the only person other than Trump charged in the case.
Here’s a guide to the most important people involved in the indictment against Trump:
Donald Trump has boarded his private plane in Miami, and is heading to his luxury golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
He is expected to make a statement on today’s criminal proceedings at a fundraising event later today.
A judge has said E Jean Carroll, the writer who won a $5m jury verdict against Donald Trump last month, can pursue a separate defamation lawsuit against the former president.
The writer and former Elle magazine columnist had sought to amend her original defamation lawsuit filed in 2019 so she could try to seek additional punitive damages after Trump repeated statements a federal jury found to be defamatory.
A New York jury last month found Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll in a New York department store in 1996. The jury found that the former president “sexually abused” Carroll, defined as subjecting her to sexual contact without consent by use of force, and for the purpose of sexual gratification. But the jury did not find that Trump raped her. Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $2m for battery and $3m for defamation.
Carroll then sought to amend her separate defamation lawsuit over a similar denial by Trump in June, in which he told a White House reporter that the rape never happened and that Carroll was not his “type”. The revision also sought to incorporate Trump’s comments made in a CNN town hall, where he called Carroll’s account “fake” and labeled her a “whack job”.
Here’s a clip of Donald Trump arriving at the Miami courthouse earlier this afternoon for his formal arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Donald Trump’s visit to the famous downtown Miami restaurant Versailles, where he was greeted by supporters, was pre-planned and part of his team’s attempt to control his image, HuffPost’s SV Dáte writes.
As the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman points out, Trump is determined to fight the battle in the court of public opinion for as long as possible, including by having his co-defendant Walt Nauta close by him today.
After he left court, Fox News showed Trump visiting a cafe in Miami and being greeted like a wronged hero.
Supporters gathered around him and prayed for him. Someone shouted: “Jesus loves you!”
Trump smiled and waved to the crowd and declared: “Food for everyone!” The crowd erupted in applause and cheers. One yelled: “Keep fighting, sir!”
Then, ahead of Trump’s 77th birthday tomorrow, the patrons broke out in a chorus of “Happy birthday dear Donald, happy birthday to you!”
The former president remarked:
Some birthday! We’ve got a government that’s out of control.
He then made brief comments about “a rigged deal”, suggesting that “we have a country that is in decline like never before,” and promising to speak more in Bedminster, New Jersey tonight.
Someone shouted: “God bless Donald Trump!” as he departed and returned to his motorcade.
Donald Trump has stopped by the Miami restaurant, Versailles, after the conclusion of his court hearing, where he told customers that he would pay “for food for everyone”.
A group of people appeared to pray as he entered the cafe, while a crowd sang happy birthday to the former president, who turns 77 tomorrow.
Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta was also seen in the restaurant.
Earlier we reported that a protester was seen running in front of Donald Trump’s motorcade as it departed the courthouse in Miami.
Here’s the clip of the man being tackled by security services, as shared by MSNBC’s Manny Fidel:
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
