US Politics

The Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, won the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday, securing his first full term and delivering a 51st seat to bolster his party’s majority in the chamber. Here is a look at what the pastor and politician stands for – from abortion to policing and voting rights – in his own words

Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majority
Warnock’s win in Georgia is a bad omen for Trump – but there’s no room for complacency More

Georgia’s runoff was a resounding rebuke of Trumpism. Will Republicans hear it?Lloyd GreenCome January, Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues will face a 51-49 Senate Democratic majority – making Biden’s job a little easier Tuesday delivered a spate of bad news for Donald Trump and the Republican party. First, Bennie Thompson, chairman of the January 6 committee, announced that criminal referrals to the US Department of Justice would be forthcoming. A few hours later, a Manhattan jury convicted the Trump Organization on 17 counts of tax fraud, conspiracy and falsification. According to prosecutors, the former president was complicit.And now, the incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock has prevailed in a hard-fought runoff. Georgia again rejected Herschel Walker and Donald Trump, his patron.Come January, Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues in the US Senate will be staring at an actual 51-49 Democratic majority. The president’s nominees will have an easier time winning confirmation. In the end, the minority leader and his caucus will bear a portion of the cost of those abortions Walker reportedly paid for.The ex-University of Georgia football great now joins the ranks of other Trump-endorsed casualties: Pennsylvania’s Dr Oz and Doug Mastriano; Arizona’s Kari Lake and Blake Masters; Michigan’s Tudor Dixon. Unfortunately for them, swing-state America yearned for normal.Trump’s big lie emerged as a turn-off. His recent call for the US constitution to be scrapped injured himself and Walker.By the numbers, “three in 10 strong Trump supporters accept or are indifferent to white supremacist views,” according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll taken in the aftermath of the hate-fest in Charlottesville.The Republican party is its own twilight zone. But Georgia is no longer Trump country.He lost the Peach state to Biden two years ago. On the eve of the January 2021 insurrection, both of his picks finished second in the state’s Senate run-offs. Walker’s flame-out is part of the continuum.In contrast to Walker, Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican incumbent, threaded the political needle. On election day last month, he won despite defying Trump.Most notably, the governor and his posse refused to nullify the 2020 election. Kemp even testified before a Fulton county, Georgia, grand jury, which may yet indict “45” and his hangers-on. Rudy Giuliani is officially a target in the inquiry. Jeopardy is in the air.In hindsight, helping preserve democracy from Trump’s onslaught proved itself to be smart politics. This past May, Kemp, Georgia’s attorney general Chris Carr, and Brad Raffensperger, Trump’s bête noire and Georgia’s secretary of state, all survived primary challenges. Courage can come with an upside.On that note, Jay Walker, a Kemp adviser, repeatedly told deep-pocketed donors that the governor was ready to gut his primary challenger, David Perdue, Trump’s pick and a defeated former US senator. “We’re going to go fucking scorched-earth,” Walker supposedly said.Most recently, Kemp took aim at Trump for his dinner with Ye, the antisemitic recording artist formerly known as Kanye West, and Nick Fuentes, his white supremacist, Holocaust-denying sidekick. “Racism, antisemitism, and denial of the Holocaust have no place in the Republican Party and are completely un-American,” Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Sadly, he stands out as an exception within the Republican party. Once upon a time, Trump and his legal minions brayed against tyranny. Not any more.With Trump in office it was hello, praetorian. These days, it’s crickets and spinelessness.Take Jay Sekulow, Trump’s personal lawyer. In an April 2016 brief to the US supreme court, Sekulow attacked Obama as a despot.Warnock’s win in Georgia is a bad omen for Trump – but there’s no room for complacencyRead moreEchoing James Madison, founding father and fourth president, Sekulow thundered that the “accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands … may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny”.Likewise, McConnell and 44 of his Republican colleagues accused Obama of seeking to “usurp” their powers when it came to recess appointments. To be sure, McConnell has remained silent in the face of ethnic slurs hurled at his wife by Trump.Fittingly, the family of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, refused to shake hands with McConnell and the Trump toady Kevin McCarthy at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. Ken Sicknick, the late officer’s brother, told CBS News that the Republican leaders “have no idea what integrity is”.In 2016, Paul LePage, then governor of Maine, actually treated Trump’s bubbling authoritarianism as a plus. “Our constitution is not only broken,” he declared. “We need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country.”LePage’s dream is the Republicans’ reality – and democracy’s nightmare. “When someone tells you they want to abolish the constitution … and they’re a wannabe dictator, believe them,” Olivia Troye, Mike Pence’s national security adviser, tweeted. “And when Republicans refuse to condemn it, believe what that means as well.”The question facing Kemp and the rest of the Republican leadership is whether they confront their Caesar. One thing is certain: if elected, Walker would have willingly rolled over. And he is far from alone.“The real question is what does the base of the party think,” Senator Mitt Romney recently acknowledged. “And they’re still firmly behind him.”
Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
TopicsUS politicsOpinionGeorgiaUS midterm elections 2022Donald TrumpUS SenatecommentReuse this content More

Republican Herschel Walker conceded defeat in his Georgia runoff for a Senate seat against Raphael Warnock on Tuesday. Walker said: ‘There’s no excuses in life. And I’m not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. That’s what we got to do.’ 
Walker told his supporters at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta to continue to ‘believe in America and its elected officials, thanking them for their prayers and efforts. ‘I said, ‘you guys, I’ve done a lot of stuff. You talk about Heisman Trophy, talk about all the athletic award, business awards I’ve won. But the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life is run for this Senate seat right here”

Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majority 
Raphael Warnock wins crucial Georgia runoff election – as it happened More

Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majorityIncumbent Democrat fends off challenge from Republican Herschel Walker to gain party’s 51st seat01:29The Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, won the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday, securing his first full term and delivering a 51st seat to bolster his party’s majority in the chamber.The Associated Press called the race about three and a half hours after polls closed in Georgia, as Warnock led the Republican candidate, Herschel Walker, by approximately 40,000 votes.Shortly after that, Warnock took the stage at his campaign’s victory party to thank his supporters. A pastor at the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr once preached, Warnock has held one of Georgia’s two Senate seats since winning a special election in 2021. As he began his remarks in Atlanta, supporters chanted: “Six more years!”Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majorityRead moreWarnock told the crowd: “After a hard-fought campaign – or should I say campaigns – it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: the people have spoken.”One of 12 children born to a father who was also a pastor and a mother who once picked cotton, Warnock reflected on the unlikelihood of his path to the Senate. His mother was with him at his victory party, after she had the opportunity to again cast a ballot for her son.“I am Georgia,” Warnock said. “I am an example and an iteration of its history, of its pain and its promise, of the brutality and the possibility. But because this is America, because we always have a path to make our country greater against unspeakable odds, here we stand together. Thank you, Georgia.”Joe Biden called Warnock to congratulate him, describing his victory as a defeat of Republican extremism and Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” philosophy.Warnock’s win in Georgia is a bad omen for Trump – but there’s no room for complacencyRead more“Tonight Georgia voters stood up for our democracy, rejected Ultra MAGAism, and most importantly: sent a good man back to the Senate,” the president said on Twitter.Walker conceded, acknowledging that his campaign had fallen short and expressing gratitude to his team. The Republican explicitly thanked election officials who ensured the runoff was managed effectively, quelling concerns he might refuse to accept the result.“I don’t want any of you to stop believing in America,” Walker told supporters. “I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the constitution and believe in our elected officials … Always, always cast your vote no matter whatever is happening.”Walker’s loss came a month after the national midterm elections, when neither he or Warnock secured enough support to win outright, thus requiring the runoff. The runoff was just the latest in a series of very close races in Georgia, reflecting the state’s relatively new status as a toss-up after decades of being considered safely Republican.Nearly 2 million Georgians cast ballots before election day, and those early voters appeared to significantly favor Warnock. Republicans were counting on a strong election day turnout, but Walker’s support on Tuesday was not enough to get him across the line.01:14The race had been upended several times by controversy surrounding Walker, a former University of Georgia and NFL football player who won the Republican primary after receiving Trump’s endorsement.Multiple women previously in relationships with Walker accused him of pressuring them to have abortions, despite his staunch anti-abortion views. In the final weeks of the runoff, Walker also faced questions over reports that he received a tax break intended for primary residences on his home in Texas.Walker’s defeat will likely intensify questions over Trump’s standing in the Republican party. Overall, Trump-endorsed candidates fared poorly in this election season, prompting questions from some of the former president’s critics over whether he has pushed his party to an unpopular extreme.Walker’s failure will be particularly worrisome for Trump given that Republicans swept other top statewide races in Georgia. Two of those candidates, the incumbent governor, Brian Kemp, and secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, attracted Trump’s ire for pushing back against his efforts to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory, the first time a Democrat took Georgia since 1992.Before the result was called, the former Republican congressman Will Hurd said on Twitter: “If Walker loses tonight, it will be the sixth time in a row a Democrat beat Trump or a Trump-endorsed statewide candidate in Georgia. It’s time to move on, build the future with conservative principles, and get rid of the crazy bullshit.”Some rightwing leaders suggested the runoff result raised questions about Trump’s hopes of recapturing the White House, after he announced a third consecutive presidential bid last month.“Conservatives across the country are tired of losing,” Bob Vander Plaats, president of the group the Family Leader, said on Twitter. “#2024 is key to winning the future again. #ChooseWell.”The runoff did not determine control of the Senate, as Democrats had already won enough seats to maintain their hold for two years.But Warnock’s victory does give Democrats a crucial 51st seat, allowing them to abandon their current power-sharing agreement with Republicans. A 51-seat majority will also provide some wiggle room when it comes to close committee votes and nomination fights. That new dynamic could make the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, less reliant on centrists like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to pass legislation and confirm nominees.The 51-seat majority could also help Democrats offer a counterweight to investigations expected to be launched by House Republicans, who took the majority in the lower chamber after the midterms last month. Now that they have a clear majority in the Senate, Democrats will be able to issue subpoenas without Republican support.“51!” Schumer said in a joyous tweet. He later added: “Senator Warnock’s well-earned victory is a victory for Georgia, and a victory for democracy and against MAGA Republican extremist policies.”TopicsUS politicsGeorgiaUS midterm elections 2022US SenateDemocratsRepublicansUS CongressnewsReuse this content More

That’s all from me tonight. Incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock secured victory, and bolstered his party’s lead in the chamber after a hard-fought, expensive, and drawn out race. Trump-endorsed Republican Herschel Walker accepted defeat in a brief, subdued speech.Warnock, who became the first Black senator to represent Georgia two years ago, secured his his first full, six-year term tonight. In a victory speech, he noted thee significance of the moment. “I am Georgia,” he said. “I am an example and iteration of its history, of its pain and its promiseFor more news and analysis on the race, read on:Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majorityRead moreWarnock’s win in Georgia is a bad omen for Trump – but there’s no room for complacencyRead moreJoe Biden said he called Raphael Warnock to congratulate him. ‘Tonight Georgia voters stood up for our democracy, rejected Ultra MAGAism, and most importantly: sent a good man back to the Senate,” the president said. Just called @SenatorWarnock to congratulate him on his win.Tonight Georgia voters stood up for our democracy, rejected Ultra MAGAism, and most importantly: sent a good man back to the Senate. Here’s to six more years. pic.twitter.com/ibx5aprVs3— President Biden (@POTUS) December 7, 2022
“I am Georgia,” Warnock said. “I am an example and iteration of its history, of its pain and its promise … But because this is America, because we always have a path to make this country greater against unspeakable odds, here we stand together.”He mentioned his mother, who was a sharecropper. “She grew up in the 1950s … picking someone else’s cotton and someone else’s tobacco, but tonight, she helped pick her youngest son to be a United States senator,” he said.In an energized speech, Warnock mentioned the importance of protecting voting rights.“Just because people endured long lines … the rain, and the cold, and all kinds of tricks in order to vote doesn’t mean that voter suppression does not exist,” he said. “It simply means that you, the people, have decided that your voices will not be silenced.”“It is my honor to utter the four most powerful words spoken in a democracy: the people have spoken,” Warnock told his jubilant supporters.The senator thanked supporters and family.“Voting is faith put into action,” he said. “And Georgia, you have been praying with your lips and your legs.”Herschel Walker spoke to supporters at his election night event at the College Football Hall of Fame, accepting defeat.“I’m never going to stop fighting for Georgia,” he said, thanking his supporters, donors and team. “We put up one heck of a fight.”After Walker endorsed Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 elections, it was unclear if he would accept the results. In his brief speech, Walker did not say whether he had called his opponent to concede.“I don’t want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the constitution and believe in our elected officials and most of all, continue to pray for them,” Walker said.Sanity strikes again.Raphael Warnock’s victory over Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff caps an election season in which the normal, the sensible and the fans of fact regained their voice and gave hope that, after long years in which American democracy was feared to be at death’s door, the patient is rallying.In simple mathematics, the win gives Democrats 51 seats to Republicans’ 49 in the Senate, speeding up confirmation of Joe Biden’s administrative and judicial nominees and starving the conservative West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin of some of the oxygen he enjoys as the swing vote.But more philosophically, it serves as another corrective to the notion that all America suddenly went mad on 8 November 2016, the day Donald Trump was elected instead of Hillary Clinton. Looking back, it’s pertinent to recall that Trump lost the popular vote by nearly three million and benefited from a unique cocktail of circumstances that included entrenched misogyny and running against the ultimate establishment politician.Read more:Warnock’s win in Georgia is a bad omen for Trump – but there’s no room for complacencyRead moreDemocrat Raphael Warnock has secured victory in Georgia’s senate runoff, the AP projects. Warnock, the incumbent senator, has won his first full term and bolstered his party’s lead in the chamber. Joe Biden is feeling optimistic. “We’re going to win. We’re going to win Georgia,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. With 92% of votes tallied, Warnock is maintaining a narrow lead. With 87% of the votes tabulated so far, the race remains close.But much of the remaining vote is in the Atlanta area, which leans Democratic – and will likely be promising for Warnock. At the election night watch party fo the Democrat, director Spike Lee spoke too supporters, as CNN on big screens showed Warnock with a lead.Meanwhile,Walker’s watch party at the College Football Hall of Fame appeared to be more subdued.Another column on tonight’s race for those who want to read further as they watch the results crawl in. Robert Reich, former US labor secretary, on how the biggest loser if Raphael Warnock wins tonight won’t be his Republican rival, Herschel Walker…If Raphael Warnock wins today’s Senate runoff in Georgia, Senate Democrats will gain a 51-49 majority – providing them with some insurance if Arizona voters boot out Kyrsten Sinema in 2024, while at the same time reducing the power of the West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin to control the Democrat’s agenda.In other words: a win-win.But it could prove an even bigger Democratic win. That’s because the biggest loser in a Warnock victory won’t be his Republican rival, Herschel Walker.It will be Donald Trump.Walker’s entire candidacy was a Trump creation – not unlike Trump University, Trump Airline, Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks.And like those businesses, the Walker candidacy appears to have sunk under a miasma of ineptitude, lies and embarrassing allegations – in this case, of domestic abuse, semi-secret children and payments for abortions for multiple women.Full column:The Georgia Senate runoff is a referendum on Trump’s zombie grasp on America | Robert ReichRead moreGabe Sterling, the Georgia elections official and aide to the secretary of state who became a national name when he and his boss, Brad Raffensperger, stood up to Donald Trump in his attempt to overturn the presidential election in 2020, has been telling CNN what he thinks the results reported so far say.He says: “We don’t know what they say. We have a lot of rural counties that have uploaded nothing yet.”He also reports some drama:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We had one car carrying one of the vote cards damaged, jaws of life out there, both poll workers are OK, they’ve turned down medical attention and going to the hospital but they were able to retrieve that vote card and get it to county headquarters. I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that happens on election day because you have thousands of people out there doing their jobs.”About turnout, Sterling reports that it is very high for a midterms runoff..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}My nightmare was 1.4 million of turnout today and guess what guys, it was gonna be 1.4 million. It’s a tight race, it’s going to be a while … we’re looking at probably 3.3 million [turnout overall]. These are record numbers, guys, especially for a runoff election. So I’m just excited that so many voters get to express their voice.”In bad news for tired editors in empty newsrooms, Sterling also said: “I just tweeted out, it’s gonna be a long night and guess what, it’s gonna be a long night.”Some further reading as the lead changes hands again, Walker nudging a fraction of a point ahead.Steve Phillips – founder of Democracy in Color and author of Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority – on why white evangelicals in Georgia have shown their true colors in voting for Herschel Walker, a Republican mired in unchristian scandal …Why do we have such low expectations for white voters? The midterm elections brought into stark relief just how many white voters are willing to make a mockery of showing any pretense of concern for democracy, good governance or even the barest qualifications for our country’s highest offices. As unfortunate as that behavior is, what’s even more dangerous for the future of the country is how resigned the rest of the country has become to the anti-democratic and intellectually unjustifiable voting patterns of much of white America.Full read:Georgia Senate voters have a moral choice. White Christians are choosing hypocrisy | Steve PhillipsRead more More

AnalysisWarnock’s win in Georgia is a bad omen for Trump – but there’s no room for complacencyDavid Smith Washington bureau chiefWalker’s Senate runoff loss might be viewed as the last nail in Trump’s political coffin, but 2024 will reveal the rebirth or the death of Trumpism Sanity strikes again.Raphael Warnock’s victory over Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff caps an election season in which the normal, the sensible and the fans of fact regained their voice and gave hope that, after long years in which American democracy was feared to be at death’s door, the patient is rallying.Georgia runoff election: Raphael Warnock wins crucial Senate race – follow liveRead moreIn simple mathematics, the win gives Democrats 51 seats to Republicans’ 49 in the Senate, speeding up confirmation of Joe Biden’s administrative and judicial nominees and starving the conservative West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin of some of the oxygen he enjoys as the swing vote.But more philosophically, it serves as another corrective to the notion that all America suddenly went mad on 8 November 2016, the day Donald Trump was elected instead of Hillary Clinton. Looking back, it’s pertinent to recall that Trump lost the popular vote by nearly three million and benefited from a unique cocktail of circumstances that included entrenched misogyny and running against the ultimate establishment politician.Since then, election after election has demonstrated that Trump’s brand was never what the majority of Americans wanted. Admittedly he improved his vote total in 2020, but he still lost to Joe Biden by seven million. The rout of Trump-endorsed election deniers in last month’s midterms has made even some Republicans understand that the man who despises “losers” is the biggest loser of all.In a normal political universe, then, Walker’s defeat on Tuesday would be the final nail in Trump’s political coffin. The former American football star was the ultimate Trumpian candidate: a political neophyte famous for something entirely unrelated to politics; braggadocious claims of business acumen; scandals over abusive behaviour towards women and hypocrisy over abortion; weird and wild statements on random topics.Visiting Georgia while Biden and Trump stayed away, Barack Obama observed: “Since the last time I was here, Mr Walker has been talking about issues that are of great importance to the people of Georgia. Like whether it’s better to be a vampire or a werewolf. This is a debate that I must confess I once had myself. When I was seven. Then I grew up.”In the Trump era it has become a commonplace that “nothing matters”. Tuesday’s result suggests that some things do matter after all. In particular, candidate quality still matters.This explains why, even though Republicans won every statewide election in Georgia last month, Biden beat Trump here in 2020 and Democrats won both Senate seats in 2021 thanks to Warnock and Jon Ossoff. (When primaries are thrown in, Warnock has now won six elections in just two years.)Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majorityRead moreCandidate quality is a two-way street. Walker did not just lose the election. Warnock won it, outworking and outraising his opponent, touting his work on issues such as maternal mortality, highlighting his record in helping propel Biden’s legislative agenda through the Senate and deftly choosing when to ignore Walker and when to put the boot in.At a rally at a church in Gainesville on Sunday, Warnock asked: “How do you tell your children to tell the truth – and vote for Herschel Walker, who won’t tell you the truth about the basic facts of his life? I’m in church, so that’s all I’m going to say about that.”Warnock, 53, the first Black senator from Georgia, has now secured a full six-year term and a place among the Democrats’ rising stars. Every candidate needs a story and he has one, telling how his octogenarian mother used her “hands that once picked somebody else’s cotton” to “cast a ballot for her youngest son to be a United States senator”, adding: “Only in America is my story possible.”He is also a powerful orator, a skill honed as senior minister of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist church, where Martin Luther King Jr used to preach, and joins faith-driven liberals such as Pete Buttigieg and the Rev William Barber in challenging the Christian right’s dominance of the moral agenda. Warnock is fond of saying: “I’m not a senator that used to be a pastor. I’m a pastor who happens to serve in the Senate.”Even so, after Thursday it is still a case, as EM Forster put it, of two cheers for democracy rather than three. Trump arguably remains the favourite for the Republican nomination in 2024. His party has just regained a majority in the House of Representatives and is teeing up partisan investigations aplenty. In more ordinary times, it would have seemed unthinkable that a candidate such as Walker could come anywhere close to a runoff in the first place.Which means there is no room for complacency and everything to play for. The next election could spell the rebirth or the death of Trumpism. And nowhere will do more to tip the scales towards hope or despair than Georgia.TopicsGeorgiaUS politicsDemocratsRepublicansDonald TrumpanalysisReuse this content More

AnalysisTax fraud verdict again exposes illusion of Trump the master businessmanDavid Smith in WashingtonThe former president can add tax fraud to his accomplishments after his company was convicted of a 15-year criminal scheme When sorrows come, Shakespeare observed, they come not single spies, but in battalions. The same goes for former US president Donald Trump’s legal troubles.The latest trouble for Trump strikes at the heart of his identity as a wealthy businessman who wrote the bestselling book The Art of the Deal. On Tuesday his company was convicted of a 15-year criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities.Trump Organization guilty of tax fraud, New York jury findsRead more“Add tax fraud to the long list of Trump’s accomplishments,” tweeted Adam Schiff, chairman of the House of Representatives’ intelligence committee.The case centered on charges that the Trump Organization, which operates hotels, golf courses and other assets around the world, paid personal expenses like rent and car leases for top executives without reporting the income, and paid them bonuses as if they were independent contractors.Trump himself was not charged but prosecutors alleged that he “knew exactly what was going on”. During his closing argument, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showed jurors a lease Trump signed for a company-paid apartment and a memo Trump initialed authorising a pay cut for another executive who got perks.“Mr Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud,” Steinglass argued.In a normal political universe, such a revelation would sink Trump’s hopes of a White House comeback in 2024. But given that he once boasted he could shoot someone in the middle of New York’s Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes, explicitly sanctioning tax fraud might not quite cut it.Indeed, as comedian Dave Chappelle noted in a recent Saturday Night Live monologue, Trump has turned his ability to bend and break rules into a political virtue. “He said, ‘I know the system is rigged because I use it.’” When Hillary Clinton accused him of not paying taxes, Trump retorted: “That makes me smart.”In Chappelle’s view, this rare willingness to expose what goes on behind the doors of the rich man’s club endeared Trump to working-class voters in 2016. The implication is that you would do it too, if you could, so good on him.But six years later, the political landscape is different and the act is looking tired to many, even – increasingly – in his own party. No previous former US president, and no previous presidential candidate, has faced such a mountain of allegations and investigations.The Trump Organization also separately faces a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state attorney general Letitia James. She wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: “Today’s guilty verdict against the Trump Organization shows that we will hold individuals and organizations accountable when they violate our laws to line their pockets.”Trump himself is being investigated by the justice department over his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021 and his attempts to overturn the November 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.A prosecutor in Georgia is scrutinising Trump and his allies over an attempt to subvert democracy in that state. Last month the US supreme court cleared the way for the handover of the former president’s tax returns to a congressional committee.In the attrition of legal trench warfare, these cases may be gradually wearing down Trump’s political resilience, especially combined with three successive elections that suggest he is more of a loser than a winner.His winning argument in 2016 was that, having cultivated the image of a successful businessman on his reality TV show The Apprentice, he could now bring the same acumen to governing the country. And in a sense, he did: with fraud, deceit and contempt for the rule of law.TopicsUS newsUS politicsanalysisReuse this content More

A jury in New York has convicted the Trump Organization of criminal tax fraud in a major blow for the former president.Although Donald Trump was not personally on trial, prosecutors insisted he was fully aware of the 15-year scheme in which they said executives were enriched by off-the-books perks to make up for lower salaries, reducing the company’s tax liabilities.The 12-person jury in New York’s state court was sent out to deliberate on Monday morning after a six-week trial in which Trump Organization lawyers pinned blame for the fraud solely on the greed of longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.The former close ally of Trump accepted a plea deal earlier this year admitting fraud in exchange for a five-month prison sentence. Prosecutors laid out a case heavily reliant on Weisselberg’s testimony.The criminal case against the Trump Organization was started by previous Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance and continued by his successor, Alvin Bragg. Bragg said in a statement today:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}In Manhattan, no corporation is above the law. For 13 years the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation got away with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes.
Today’s verdict holds these Trump companies accountable for their long-running criminal scheme, in addition to Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who has pled guilty, testified at trial and will now be sentenced to serve time in jail.”“This was a case about greed and cheating.”Manhattan DA reacts to the Trump Organization’s conviction on all counts of the indictment. Developing https://t.co/HJ6axUwsdN pic.twitter.com/2DPmZaFkVO— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 6, 2022
The original indictment against the former president’s business empire read: “Beginning from at least 2005 to on or about June 30, 2021, the defendants and others devised and operated a scheme to defraud federal, New York State, and New York City tax authorities.“One of the largest individual beneficiaries of the defendants’ scheme was Allen Weisselberg. During the operation of the scheme, the defendants arranged for Weisselberg to receive in direct employee compensation from the Trump Organization in the approximate amount of $1.76 million.”None of the Trumps was charged.The tax fraud case against Donald Trump’s business empire was brought by the Manhattan district attorney.A jury found two corporate entities at the Trump Organization guilty on all 17 counts brought in this trial, including conspiracy charges and falsifying business records, the Associated Press reports.The verdict came on the second day of deliberations following a trial in which the Trump Org was accused of being complicit in a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on job perks such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars.The conviction is a validation for New York prosecutors, who have spent three years investigating the former president and his businesses, though the penalties aren’t expected to be severe enough to jeopardize the future of Trump’s company.As punishment, the Trump Organization could be fined up to $1.6 million — a relatively small amount for a company of its size, though the conviction might make some of its future deals more complicated.Trump, who recently announced he was running for president again, has said the case against his company was part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” waged against him by vindictive Democrats.Trump himself was not on trial but prosecutors alleged he “knew exactly what was going on” with the scheme, though he and the company’s lawyers have denied that.The case against the company was built largely around testimony from the Trump Organization’s former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to charges that he manipulated the company’s books and his own compensation package to illegally reduce his taxes.Neither Donald Trump himself or any of his family members were charged.Weisselberg took the stand having made a plea deal and attempted to take responsibility for the crimes.This case is unrelated to the civil case brought against the Trump Organization by New York state attorney general Letitia James.It’s a sweep for prosecutors of the Trump Organization in the trial in New York.Trump Organization entities GUILTY on all counts at criminal tax fraud trial.— Shayna Jacobs (@shaynajacobs) December 6, 2022
Tax fraud, conspiracy, the whole nine yards.THE TRUMP PAYROLL CORPORATION: 1 SCHEME TO DEFRAUD IN THE FIRST DEGREE – Guilty2 CONSPIRACY IN THE FOURTH DEGREE – Guilty3 CRIMINAL TAX FRAUD IN THE THIRD DEGREE – Guilty4 CRIMINAL TAX FRAUD IN THE THIRD DEGREE – Guilty5 CRIMINAL TAX FRAUD IN THE FOURTH DEGREE – Guilty— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 6, 2022
A jury in New York has convicted the Trump Organization of criminal tax fraud in a major blow for the former president.Although Donald Trump was not personally on trial, prosecutors insisted he was fully aware of the 15-year scheme in which they said executives were enriched by off-the-books perks to make up for lower salaries, reducing the company’s tax liabilities.The 12-person jury in New York’s state court was sent out to deliberate on Monday morning after a six-week trial in which Trump Organization lawyers pinned blame for the fraud solely on the greed of longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.The former close ally of Trump accepted a plea deal earlier this year admitting fraud in exchange for a five-month prison sentence. Prosecutors laid out a case heavily reliant on Weisselberg’s testimony.McConnell criticized Donald Trump today about Trump’s previous calls to terminate the constitution. Without mentioning Trump’s name, McConnell said that Trump would likely have a harder time winning the presidency for a second time. From Politico: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Anyone seeking the presidency who thinks that the Constitution could somehow be suspended or not followed, it seems to me would have a very hard time being sworn in as the president of the United States.McConnell would not directly answer questions if he would support Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Other Republicans have attempted to distance themselves from Trump following Trump’s comments about the constitution, Politico reported. A former West Virginian politician that went to prison over his role in the Jan 6 attacks announced that he is running for Congress, reported Politico.Derrick Evans announced his run for Congress on Tuesday: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}After months of soul-searching, I am ready to step back into the political arena. Right now, my eyes are on Capitol Hill.More from Politico: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}A source familiar with the bid said Evans would explore running in the district currently held by Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.). The state’s other House seat is open, as Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) mounts a Senate bid against Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), but Miller has no plans for a similar bid.Read the full article here. Here’s video of McConnell answering questions as to why representatives of Capitol police would not shake his hand during the ceremony: Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) dodges a question then walks away after being asked about Capitol police officers and their families refusing to shake his hand at a ceremony honoring them: “I’d respond by saying today we gave the gold medal to the heroes of Jan. 6.” pic.twitter.com/X2FEqmwlZP— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) December 6, 2022
The Justice Department special counsel has issued its first known subpoenas in an investigation into Trump documents and Jan 6. More from the Associated Press: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed officials in Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, asking for communications with or involving former President Donald Trump, his campaign aides and a list of allies involved in his efforts to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The requests, issued to Milwaukee and Dane counties in Wisconsin; Wayne County, Michigan; and Maricopa County, Arizona, are the first known subpoenas by Smith, who was named special counsel last month by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at Trump’s Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the violent storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump’s frantic efforts to remain in power.The subpoenas, first reported by The Washington Post, are the clearest indication yet that Smith’s work will include an examination of the fake electors that were part of Trump’s efforts to subvert the election count and certification.Read the full article here. More on the Congressional gold medal ceremony for officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan 6 attack. Video from the ceremony shows representatives for those receiving the award shaking hands with Senator majority leader Chuck Schumer, but walking past Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy. From C-SPAN’s Howard Mortman:During Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Jan. 6 police, representatives of those receiving awards shake hands with Schumer then walk past McConnell and McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/YGjKXRGtiZ— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) December 6, 2022
Mike Fanone, a former police officer who was attacked by rioters during the Jan 6 attack, says he was heckled during the Congressional gold medal ceremony today.From NBC News:NEW: Members of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Operations Division heckled former Officer Mike Fanone at the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, Fanone tells me. “They called me a piece of shit and mockingly called me a great fucking hero while clapping,” he said.— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 6, 2022
Fanone says they called him a disgrace, said he was not a cop anymore, and said he didn’t belong at the ceremony. It happened in the rotunda, he said.— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 6, 2022
Jean-Pierre was asked about any last-minute efforts for Biden to boost Warnock ahead of Georgia’s runoff election today.Jean-Pierre said she had to respond carefully given the Hatch Act, which limits political activity some civil service members can participate in.But Jean-Pierre pointed to phone banking Biden did for Warnock last week in Boston, where Biden raised money on Warnock’s behalf.Jean-Pierre said: “He’s always said he’s willing to do whatever it takes, whatever Senator Warnock needs, for him to be helpful.”Here are comments from Jean-Pierre from yesterday about Republicans criticism of Biden when it comes to the US-Mexico border . From the Guardian’s David Smith: Jean-Pierre on border: “What are congressional Republicans going to do to actually deal with this issue?.. Why don’t they work with us? Why don’t they actually do something?… They’re playing political games and doing political stunts.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 5, 2022
Joe Biden is now on his way to Arizona, where he will visit a semiconductor facility. A gaggle is now taking place on Air Force One, led by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Listen here. Biden is facing pushback from Republicans for his decision not to visit the US-Mexico border during this trip, with Biden telling a reporter from Fox News that “there are more important things going on.” NEW: President Biden says he’ll be going to Arizona but tells our @pdoocy he won’t visit the border because “there are more important things going on…they’re going to invest billions of dollars in a new enterprise,” referring to a CHIPS plant he’ll be visiting in AZ. @FoxNews— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 6, 2022
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has renominated his leadership team, including a new position for Hawaii senator Brian Schatz to the newly created deputy conference secretary position, reported Politico. From Politico: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}According to text of the letter, Schumer will nominate:
– Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) for Democratic whip
– Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) for chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee
– Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for chair of the Steering Committee
– Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for vice chair of the conference
– Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) for vice chair of the conference
– Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for chair of outreach
– Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for vice chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee
– Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) for Senate Democratic Conference secretary
– Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) for vice chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee
– Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) for vice chair of outreach
– Schatz for deputy Democratic Conference secretaryMore on McCarthy’s remarks at the Congressional gold medal ceremony. From the Associated Press’ Farnoush Amiri: GOP Leader McConnell taking more poignant approach to honoring Jan. 6 officers than McCarthy: “When an unhinged mob tried to come between the Congress and our constitutional duty, the Capitol Police fought to defend not just this institution, but our system of self government.”— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) December 6, 2022 More