Today's recap
The last day of Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial set off a frenzy in New York on Thursday morning, with a bomb squad called to the home of the judge overseeing the case and crowds of reporters and spectators packing the courtroom to see the trial’s end.
Thursday was the last chance for Trump’s team to make an appeal to Judge Arthur Engoron, who will decide whether Trump will be fined as much as $370m for falsifying financial statements to inflate his net worth.
Before the hearing, police in Nassau county on Long Island said they responded to a security incident at Engoron’s residence at 5.30am. Engoron and his staff have been frequent targets of vitriolic criticism from Trump throughout the case, and his office has been bombarded with death threats.
After sitting quietly during his attorneys’ closing arguments, the former president launched into a rant. Trump insisted that he was persecuted by “someone running for office”, referring to Letitia James, the New York attorney general who brought the case against him.
A small group of anti-Trump protesters briefly blocked traffic in front of the courthouse holding a banner and chanting “No dictators in the USA!”
Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise called the case “insane” and said James was prosecuting a “victimless” offense.
-
Judge Arthur Engoron says he intends to release his decision by the end of the month.
– Dominic Rushe and Lauren Aratani in New York
Updated
“I will do my best and I hope to issue a final decision in this case by January 31,” said Judge Arthur Engoron. “Not a promise. Not a guarantee. But I’m reasonably confident I’ll be able to do that.”
Here’s a review of how the day unfolded:
Updated
Per reporters in the courtroom, closing arguments in Donald Trump’s civil trial have now concluded.
Attorneys for both parties are leaving the room, and Judge Arthur Engoron says he intends to release his decision by the end of the month.
Updated
Judge says he will decide Trump civil penalties by 31 January - report
Judge Arthur Engoron just said he will aim to release his decision in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial by the end of the month, MSNBC reports:
Engoron: I will do my best to issue my opinion by Jan. 31 and am “reasonably confident that I will be able to do so.”
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, wants the former president to pay $370m and be banned from the real estate industry for life, among other penalties, for fraudulently inflating the value of his assets to secure better financial terms.
Updated
In a different courtroom on the other side of the country, Hunter Biden just entered a plea of not guilty to federal tax charges that were recently leveled against him.
Here’s more on that, from the Associated Press:
President Joe Biden’s son pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 campaign.
Hunter Biden has been accused of nine felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. The charges stem from what federal prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to skip out on paying the $1.4 million he owed to the IRS and instead use the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle that by his own admission included drugs and alcohol.
“We’re here today because you’ve been accused by the United States of a criminal offense,” Judge Mark Scarsi said to Biden, who entered the not guilty plea himself.
The judge set a tentative trial date of June 20 during the half-hour-long hearing.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has also been charged in Delaware with lying in October 2018 on a federal form for gun purchasers when he swore he wasn’t using or addicted to illegal drugs. He was addicted to crack cocaine at the time. He’s also accused of possessing the gun illegally and has pleaded not guilty in that case.
The accusations all come from a yearslong federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax and business dealings that had been expected to wind down over the summer with a plea deal in which he would have gotten two years’ probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges. He also would have avoided prosecution on the gun charge if he stayed out of trouble.
From July, here’s the Guardian’s Joan E Greve with an explainer on how a deal with prosecutors for Biden to avoid going to trial on the allegations suddenly collapsed:
Updated
New York prosecutors again demand $370m penalty against Trump for real estate fraud - report
Prosecutors for the New York attorney general, Letitia James, have reiterated that they would like to see a $370m penalty and lifetime ban from the real estate business for Donald Trump in his civil fraud trial, the Messenger reports:
Summations return to AG's counsel Kevin Wallace one more time to describe the relief the state is requesting, e.g. the ~$370M disgorgement, lifetime NY real estate industry ban, and other injunctions.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
They said the weighty penalty was necessary because Trump kept breaking the law even after authorities began investigating his business practices:
Wallace notes that the severity of the punishment depends in part on whether it was an isolated incident.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
It wasn't; it was pervasive, he answers.
"The conduct continued even while the defendants were under investigation by the Manhattan DA and by our office," he adds.
Updated
Prosecutors with the New York attorney general’s office are delivering their closing arguments at Donald Trump’s New York fraud trial.
Trump left the building after delivering a bizarre impromptu rant, which was cut off by the judge, who called for a lunch break.
State attorney Kevin Wallace said that Trump’s lawyers relied on expert testimony, rather than witness testimony or documented evidence, to bolster their arguments. At one point, Wallace put up a presentation slide that showed the 11 expert witnesses the defense had called during the trial. He noted that many of the expert witnesses were purposely shown limited evidence, and a handful of them were close allies of Trump.
“They cannot argue that Trump’s triplex was in fact 30,000 sq ft,” Wallace said. “Or that unsold units at Trump Park Avenue weren’t rent stabilized.”
Wallace also argued that the loans the Trump Organization received with the inflated financial statements were “critical to the business” and the business was strapped for cash in the mid-2010s as the company pursued renovation of properties and Trump was running for president.
“They could have cut costs or sell assets, but these interest rates were vital to the operation of the company,” Wallace said, adding that Trump was also able to run for president with the loans bolstering his company. “They didn’t have to choose between their priorities.”
Updated
Arguments in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial have now resumed, MSNBC reports, and will probably conclude soon:
NEW: In the final stretch of their closing argument, the New York AG’s office focuses on Trump’s own intent. He testified he reviewed and approved the final versions of the statements of financial condition and occasionally had comments.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Hunter Biden is being arraigned in Los Angeles today on federal tax charges recently filed against him. Expect to hear plenty about this from Republicans as Joe Biden’s re-election campaign continues:
Hunter Biden is expected to be arraigned on Thursday on federal tax charges in a Los Angeles courthouse.
Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is expected to plead not guilty to nine tax-related charges that were filed in December. Three of the charges faced by Joe Biden’s son are felony counts, and he could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty.
“The defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4m in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” the 56-page indictment said, adding that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”.
Hunter Biden is expected to plead not guilty.
Closing arguments in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial are now paused while the court takes a brief recess, the Messenger reports.
Here’s the Guardian’s Dominic Rushe and Lauren Aratani with a recap of what has happened so far today:
Updated
Back at Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, his attorney Chris Kise has repeatedly interrupted Kevin Wallace, who is delivering closing arguments on behalf of the New York attorney general, Letitia James.
It appears to be a tactic on Kise’s part. From MSNBC:
Chris Kise just interrupted Wallace, who described the 11 experts as a “murderer’s row,” which Kise screamed was “outrageous.” Engoron is unmoved; Wallace notes Lawrence Moens’s valuation of Mar-a-Lago is only possible if one ignores the legal restrictions on the use of…
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Kise is back on his feet, objecting that there is no evidence to support another of Wallace’s arguments: that the Trump Org. was bleeding cash. “Chris, just stop!” Wallace blurts. Engoron diffuses what could have devolved quickly.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
(What Kise is doing is tactical. He is purposefully trying to break Wallace’s flow—and is doing so with some success.)
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Updated
Trump says he 'will go to all of my trials'
Donald Trump has been spending quite a bit of time in court lately, and plans to continue doing so, even though he is also campaigning for president.
In remarks this afternoon, after going on a tirade against the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and Judge Arthur Engoron during the closing arguments of his civil fraud trial and then leaving the courtroom, Trump said he would attend all of his trials in person:
Former President Trump: "I want to go to all of my trials. These are all set up by Biden and the Democrats. This is their new form of cheating." pic.twitter.com/mV7mLJt6qt
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 11, 2024
That is potentially quite a lot of court proceedings. Trump has been indicted four times at the state and federal level, and is also embroiled in multiple civil suits. He will have to balance these legal matters with his quest to win the Republican presidential nomination – which polls show he is the favorite to do – and beat Joe Biden in the November general election.
Updated
White House condemns threats against judges after New York bomb scare
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has condemned a recent wave of threats targeting elected officials and judges.
Her comments at the daily White House press briefing came after a bomb squad was dispatched to the home of judge Arthur Engoron this morning, ahead of the start of the closing arguments in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
“We condemn any violence or threats against any judges … or anyone. … We are going to continue to be steadfast about that,” Jean-Pierre said.
Lawyer for the former president have spent today making Trump’s case before Engoron, who will decide whether Trump will be fined as much as $370m for falsifying financial statements to inflate his net worth.
Ahead of the hearing, police in Nassau county on Long Island said they responded to a security incident at Engoron’s residence at 5.30am. Engoron and his staff have been frequent targets of vitriolic criticism from Trump throughout the case, and his office has been bombarded with death threats.
More on that here:
Prosecutors begin closing arguments in Trump fraud trial - report
New York attorney general Letitia James’s prosecutors have now started delivering their closing arguments in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, the Messenger reports:
Lawyer Kevin Wallace is telling the court that the former president’s arguments in his defense were based on facts already known to be invalid. Trump is not in the room, the Messenger says, having left after his unexpected tirade at the conclusion of his side’s closing arguments:
Assistant AG Kevin Wallace kicks off his closing arguments with a Watergate reference:
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
"What did the defendants know, and when did they know it?"
Wallace:
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
"You certainly did not hear that the numbers the defendants used were accurate."
Wallace describes Trump's efforts to shift the blame to accounting firm Mazars as one of the defense's "undead arguments."
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
Updated
John Kirby was also questioned on the hospitalization of the US secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, and why the White House was not informed in a timely manner that the Pentagon chief transferred his authority to his deputy.
On Thursday, the Pentagon’s internal watchdog said a review will be conducted surrounding the secrecy of Austin’s health condition and why the defense department waited days to inform the White House about the transfer of authority.
Austin is still hospitalized. He is being treated for complications from prostate cancer surgery.
Kirby said the lack of communication was a learning opportunity and that it shouldn’t have happened.
Updated
Meanwhile, as South Africa formally accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the United Nations’ top court, John Kirby, spokesperson for the US national security council, answered questions about the war in Gaza in a White House press briefing.
When asked if the US will accept any penalties or punishments handed down by the international court, Kirby said: “I’m not going to get into hypotheticals here. We’ve made our position clear.” He said the Biden administration sees “no indication Israel is violating laws surrounding armed conflict”.
He was also asked about the timeline of the US’s pleas to Israel to de-escalate the violence in Gaza, to which he responded: “You’ll have to talk to the IDF.”
The Guardian is also running a global live blog on Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider situation in the Middle East, which you can follow here.
Updated
The day so far
After hours of closing arguments by his attorneys, Donald Trump went on a surprise tirade in the Manhattan courtroom where his civil fraud trial is being held, accusing Judge Arthur Engoron and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, of bias against him. He then left the courtroom, and prosecutors now are expected to deliver their final statements in the case that could see Engoron impose severe penalties on the former president and his co-defendants.
Here’s a look back at the day so far:
Police investigated a bomb threat at Engoron’s home just before closing arguments began this morning.
On the campaign trail in Iowa, Trump took credit for the downfall of Roe v Wade.
Anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the courthouse briefly blocked traffic this morning.
Updated
Trump leaves courtroom after accusing judge, attorney general of bias - report
Donald Trump walked out of the courtroom after excoriating both New York attorney general Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron for the civil fraud accusations against him, MSNBC reports:
Trump goes on — without any interruption from Engoron or her team — and attacks James, accusing her of election interference. “You have your own agenda,” Trump angrily says to Engoron. “You can’t listen for more than one minute!”
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Engoron pleads with Kise, “Mr. Kise, please control your client.” Trump nonetheless accuses James of going after him for her political gain, including an allegedly “failed” run for Governor, at which point Engoron shuts it down.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
But it’s too late. Everything Trump wanted to say was said. And now, having said it, he has left the courtroom after insisting James should pay him for the havoc she’s wreaked on his company.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Updated
Trump says he's being 'politically persecuted', in surprise address at civil fraud trial - report
Donald Trump has started addressing the court in the closing arguments of his civil fraud trial, MSNBC reports.
The former president had asked to deliver the closing arguments himself, rather than his attorneys, but Judge Arthur Engoron rejected that request yesterday. It was unclear if he was going to speak in the courtroom today, but MSNBC reports that Trump began talking shortly after his lawyer Chris Kise asked Engoron for permission:
NEW: Chris Kise asks for permission to have Trump speak. Engoron, “Do you promise to just comment on the facts and the law?” Trump starts talking immediately without agreeing.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
“This was a political witch hunt; we should receive damages for what they have taken our company through. They have no documents—they have nothing!” The only thing they have, Trump concedes, is the triplex, which was a mistake.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
“I am not sure the dollar amount would have been that far off, if you want to know!” But Trump continues, “I am an innocent man. I have been politically persecuted. . . . This statute is vicious.”
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Updated
Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba is relying heavily on sarcasm in her closing arguments, the Messenger reports.
While the New York attorney general, Letitia James, successfully argued that Trump and his co-defendants knowingly inflated the value of his organization’s assets to get better financial terms, Habba argued that the former president was guilty only of committing “human error”:
Habba's summations have been laced with heavy sarcasm and grand, dismissive gestures.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
A representative quote: "Some fraud! What a fraudster!"
In the same sarcastic tone, Habba disputes that Trump intentionally inflated the size of his New York triplex.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
“Explain to me, if you’re trying to commit fraud, why you would put in writing to a real estate agent, 'Excuse me, can you tell me how big this apartment is?'”
Habba:
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
"We’re human beings. He did his best."
She calls it "human error."
Updated
Donald Trump’s attorneys are continuing their closing arguments after a short break, with Alina Habba now up for the former president, MSNBC reports:
Alina Habba, prowling the well of the courtroom, said this case started before Tish James was elected, pointing at the Attorney General. Engoron reminds her to stick to the facts, which she says she is trying to do, but that James’s conduct is part of the factual record. 1/
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
She has not proven her case in the 44 days of this trial, Habba argues. “You’re right, Your Honor, you’re not a pushover,” she agrees. But Michael Cohen thinks you are, and that’s why he lied on the stand, Habba says.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Michael Cohen is, of course, Trump’s former attorney and fixer, who has since turned against him. He testified in October that he inflated the value of Trump’s assets to “whatever number Mr Trump told us to”.
Republicans in Congress and elsewhere who are allied with Donald Trump have accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the federal government against their enemies.
Trump’s attorney Chris Kise is making a similar argument as his civil fraud trial draws to a close, MSNBC reports:
The Trump civil fraud case is not just victimless, but is bigger than Trump and “extremely dangerous.” It’s the weaponization of Executive Law 63(12), Chris Kise insists, and it’s “preposterous” for the AG to “attack demonstrably successful real estate” businesses.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
“It’s not a license for the AG to strip individuals of all their property” just because she says so based on her interpretation of a “consumer fraud statute.” “Don’t do it, Your Honor.” And with that, Kise sits down.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Donald Trump’s attorney Chris Kise called Donald Trump’s civil fraud ‘victimless’, the Messenger reports:
Kise argues that the AG is going after Trump in a "victimless" offense.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
"It's insane," he says.
The AG's counsel Kevin Wallace argued it wasn't "victimless" in opening statements, and the state almost certainly will dispute this assertion this afternoon.
Per MSNBC, it looks like Kise will soon finish his closing arguments. He is currently arguing the charges against Trump are unconstitutional:
Kise claims he’ll be done in roughly 5 minutes, but before he concludes, he asserts that the remedies the AG seeks are not only unsupported by the evidence but are also unconstitutional. How so? 1/
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
He says the relief would violate the Excessive Fines Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Takings Clause (as the relief sought would prevent Trump from disposing of his own property), and the Commerce Clause in that it would prohibit non-party New York businesses from transacting…
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Updated
Here are some images from the Manhattan courtroom, just before closing arguments got under way in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial:
Updated
Donald Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise accused the New York attorney general, Letitia James, of “dragging Trump through the door” in the case.
“Trump is an industry expert. He’s been dealing with banks for 50 years,” Kise said. He repeated arguments made by the defense team over the course of the trial: that the lenders Trump worked with weren’t defrauded and that the financial statements at the center of the case were prepared by the Trump Organization’s “multimillion-dollar” accounting company, Mazars USA.
Kise cited the Trump Organization’s brand value as evidence that the company had accurately valued, or even undervalued, its assets. He also argued that a disclaimer on the financial statement made clear to lenders to use the information at their discretion.
Engoron, in his pre-trial judgment, had struck down much of these arguments.
“These non-party disclaimers do not insulate defendants from liability,” Engoron had written.
There have been moments in Kise’s arguments when Engoron appeared to be growing impatient. At one point, the judge told him that he does not have to accept testimony if he doesn’t find it credible.
Updated
Central to New York attorney general Letitia James’s case against Donald Trump has been her claim that he deliberately inflated the value of Mar-a-Lago (among other properties) to secure better loan terms.
Chris Kise is arguing that the sprawling Florida resort is, in fact, a “single-family home” under the laws of Palm Beach, MSNBC reports, noting that James’s prosecutors will probably hit back strongly at this:
Kise is now arguing that Trump is entitled to value Mar-a-Lago as a single family residence because nothing in Trump’s agreement with the Town of Palm Beach prohibits it. Suffice it to say that I expect a robust answer to this by the AG’s office.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Reporters in the courtroom say Donald Trump’s attorney Chris Kise is arguing that that the New York attorney general, Letitia James, failed to prove the former president and his co-defendants committed fraud in his business dealings.
From MSNBC:
Trump lawyer Chris Kise argues they should win because according to two expert witnesses, Eli Bartov and Jason Flemmons, there were no indicia of fraud in the statements of financial condition.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Unsaid: The fact that Bartov never looked at the underlying supporting data that would have revealed the valuation methods and assumptions used therein and what made them allegedly fraudulent.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Per the Messenger, he’s also saying Trump is important to New York’s real estate market:
Kise says the AG is trying to "put someone who's been part of the fabric" of the New York State real estate industry out of business.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
Updated
I’m in the courthouse for Donald Trump’s fraud trial, and the courtroom is packed to the brim with reporters and spectators.
Judge Arthur Engoron allowed photographers to take photos of the former president sitting with his attorneys at the defense table. Trump is wearing a navy suit and a red tie and is sitting next to attorneys Christopher Kise and Alina Habba.
“I see the usual mixture of anticipation and dread out there,” Engoron joked as the room waited for the photographers. “Trust me, this will be painless.”
“They don’t look any different than a month ago,” Engoron remarked.
The judge started with brief remarks marking the end of the trial.
“We are here on the last today of a trial that commenced October 2,” Engoron said, thanking the attorneys for “how hard you all worked”.
Trump’s attorney Kise is kicking things off today with closing arguments for the defense. He has about two hours to lay things out for Engoron. In the afternoon, prosecutors for the New York attorney general’s office will deliver their closing arguments.
Kise started the speech off by emphasizing there is no jury in the civil trial. “If there was a jury in that box, I’d be looking at them right now,” he said.
Updated
Closing arguments begin in Trump's New York civil fraud trial
Closing arguments have officially started in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
His defense attorneys are up first, and MSNBC reports Judge Arthur Engoron has given them about two and a half hours to make their case. Arguing for Trump is former Florida solicitor general Chris Kise:
Engoron, after setting out the time limits for today’s closing, congratulates and thanks the lawyers for their diligence and timely filings. Chris Kise is up, and with his co-counsel, he has until 12:45 to sum up (with one 15 min. break allowed).
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) January 11, 2024
Updated
Judge Arthur Engoron briefly allowed photographers and videographers into the courtroom.
Per their images, Donald Trump was seated with his attorneys at the defense table. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, was in the audience behind him and to his right. Her prosecutors were at the table across from him.
Updated
A large crowd of reporters were gathered outside the courthouse this morning in anticipation of Donald Trump’s arrival at his New York fraud trial for closing arguments.
The scene was reminiscent of other key days in the trial, such as when former Trump fixer Michael Cohen testified in October, and when Trump took the stand in November. Of the 44 days in the trial, which began in early October, only a few have drawn such a crowd.
Today’s closing arguments will be the formal ending of the trial. Attorneys for both sides had issued written closing briefs, summarizing their view of how the trial went. Today is the last chance for Trump’s team to make an in-person appeal to Judge Arthur Engoron.
Trump is expected to show up to court today, though he will likely not speak. Engoron struck down his request to make his own closing statement, saying there should be no campaign speeches in the courtroom.
Trump stands accused of falsifying business records to boost his net worth. He is being sued for $370m.
A small group of anti-Trump protestors briefly blocked traffic in front of the courthouse holding a banner and chanting “No dictators in the USA!” The group had shown up on the first day of the trial and had then chanted “Trump lies all the time!”
When New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, ascended the courthouse steps, the small crowd, now standing in the park across the street, chanted “Thank you, Tish!”
Updated
Trump arrives for closing arguments in New York civil fraud trial - report
The Messenger reports that Donald Trump has entered the courtroom for the closing arguments in the civil fraud case brought against him by the New York attorney general, Letitia James:
Now:
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 11, 2024
Trump enters the courtroom, followed by his son Eric Trump, and his lawyers.
Updated
Donald Trump is expected in the Manhattan courtroom today for closing arguments in his civil fraud trial (which he wanted to make himself). Yesterday, he was in Iowa, where the Guardian’s David Smith reports he took credit for the supreme court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v Wade and allowing states to ban abortion:
Donald Trump, the former US president, boasted about the “miracle” of ending the constitutional right to abortion but warned that Republicans who tout extreme bans are being “decimated” in elections.
Trump was put on the spot on Wednesday during a Fox News town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, his latest attempt at counter-programming a Republican debate that was being shown on CNN at the same time.
A female voter, undecided between Trump and rival Ron DeSantis, raised concerns over the Republican frontrunner’s recent attempts to back away from abortion restrictions unpopular in elections and opinion polls.
She said: “I’ve been vocal in celebrating with you all of your pro-life victories from the past but then in this campaign you’ve also blamed pro-lifers for some of the GOP losses around the country and you’ve called heartbeat laws like Iowa’s terrible.”
The voter added: “I’d just like some clarity on this because it’s such an important question to me. I’d like for you to reassure me that you can protect all life, every person’s right to life without compromise.”
Updated
Ahead of presenting the closing arguments in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, offered a summary of the case against the former president on X:
Trump and his team intentionally misrepresented the value of his assets.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 11, 2024
Mar-a-Lago:
⛔️Trump’s value: $739 million
✅Appraised value: $25 million
And knowingly lied about the size of his apartment in NYC to inflate its value:
⛔️Trump’s size: 30,000 sqft
✅True size: 10,966 sqft
They regularly and intentionally pretended that legal restrictions on properties didn’t exist to inflate these values.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 11, 2024
Take the 12 apartments on Park Avenue that they pretended were not rent-stabilized.
Park Avenue:
⛔️Trump’s value: ~$50 million
✅True value: $739,000
Trump used his falsely inflated net worth to obtain a host of benefits.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 11, 2024
More favorable loans and insurance coverage that saved him hundreds of millions of dollars.
Obtaining these loans at discounted rates was absolutely critical to the Trump Organization staying afloat.
Updated
According to the Daily Beast, “more than half a dozen police cars and a bomb squad rushed” to Judge Arthur Engoron’s Long Island home after a bomb threat was phoned in.
The message was “perceived as a blatant attempt to delay the trial’s closing arguments”, and a spokesman for the Nassau county police said they have opened an “active investigation”.
Updated
Police investigate bomb threat at judge's home - reports
Police are investigating a bomb threat made against the judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the fraud trial of Donald Trump and his family business empire in New York, NBC reports.
A law enforcement bomb squad went to the judge’s home in Nassau county, on the outskirts of New York City, yesterday, sources told the TV station. It is not known if Engoron or anyone else was home at the time.
Engoron is expected at court in Manhattan today to sit as closing arguments are presented in the New York attorney general Letitia James’s civil fraud case against Trump, his sons Don Jr and Eric and other senior figures in the New York-based Trump Organization, the family real estate empire.
Updated
Trump to attend closing arguments in New York fraud trial
Donald Trump’s lawyers will make their closing arguments in a New York court room today as they attempt to see off a legal judgment that could impose a $370m fraud fine on the former president’s family firm and ban it from doing business in the state, where the Trump Organization real estate empire is based.
The former US president reportedly planned to deliver his own closing statement at the trial – a last chance to defend himself against charges he inflated the value of his assets on financial statements for profit. But the judge overseeing the civil case blocked that move on Wednesday.
The New York fraud trial had been on a nearly month-long break for the holidays since December after 11 weeks of witness testimony. It is unclear when Engoron will issue a verdict, though he has indicated he will make a decision by the end of the month. Because the trial is a bench trial, there is no jury, and Engoron is the sole decider of the case.
In a pre-trial ruling, Engoron already found Trump, his adult sons and the former Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney guilty of fraud, saying they botched the value of various Trump properties on government forms.
More details here and more background here.
Updated
Trump expected in New York for closing arguments in civil fraud trial
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Today, in New York City, Donald Trump will take yet another break from the campaign trail to appear for the closing arguments in the civil fraud trial the New York attorney general, Letitia James, brought against his business empire. The former president, who is no lawyer, intended to deliver the arguments himself in court, but that was knocked down yesterday by Arthur Engoron, the judge hearing the case. The stakes are high for Trump, since Engoron has already found he and his co-defendants engaged in fraud for years, and is now considering what penalties to levy against them.
The trial’s conclusion takes place four days before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses on Monday, which the former president is expected to win. That would put him on course to once again claim the party’s nomination, despite Trump facing 91 criminal charges in four cases, in addition to ongoing civil cases. We’ll cover today’s proceedings – Trump included – live.
It’s been a lively last 12 hours and the next 12 are set to be just as fascinating. Here’s what’s going on:
Donald Trump’s lawyers will make their closing arguments as they attempt to see off a civil case judgment that could impose a $370m fraud fine on his family firm and ban it from doing business in New York state.
Before heading to the court house in New York today, the former US president said at a Fox News town hall in Des Moines last night that the overturning of Roe v Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion, by a US supreme court he helped to tip rightwards was a “miracle”, and also that he knows who his running mate will be if he wins the Republican nomination for president, though he’s not telling. The town hall was his alternative to taking part in …
… The last GOP debate before Monday’s Iowa caucuses, last night, where just two of the three rivals who qualified for the event were in a hostile head-to-head clash. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis traded insults and accusations, shortly after their trailing rival Chris Christie suspended his 2024 campaign.
Joe Biden has been hosting top donors and others for private lunches at the White House in an effort to bolster support for his re-election campaign, the Washington Post reports, while Axios added that the White House counsel’s office has advised the president to stop giving big donors tours of the Oval Office, to avoid an ethics problem.
Hunter Biden, hot from his unexpected visit to Capitol Hill to attend a House committee hearing where the Republican majority wants to hold him in contempt of Congress, will have to show up in a Los Angeles court room today. The president’s son is expected to deny tax offenses.
The Guardian is also running global live blogs on Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider situation in the Middle East, which you can follow here, and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which you can follow here.
Updated
