Closing summary
We’re closing the US politics blog now after what was an extraordinary day, on two fronts, in the various legal cases against Donald Trump.
In Georgia, the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis gave testimony in a fiery first day of a misconduct hearing that could see her removed from the election interference case against the former president. “I’m not on trial here,” she insisted in one of many angry exchanges over her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Willis tussled with Trump lawyer Steve Sadow over the “tough conversation” she had with Nathan Wade ending their relationship and, crucially, when it occurred. Telling Sadow “you don’t have to yell at me,” Willis said their relationship was over before she indicted Trump last August.
Willis insisted she paid Wade back for money he spent on two cruises and other trips he took with her in 2022 and early 2023.
Willis accused Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for another Trump co-defendant, of telling lies about her in another heated exchange.
Wade also took the stand, confirming their relationship ended last summer.
Robin Yeartie, a former friend of Willis who worked in her office, testified the relationship began before Wade was hired.
In New York, a judge set a 25 March start date for Trump’s trial on charges he made illegal hush-money payments to adult movie star Stormy Daniels, and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The two stories dominated the day.
Also today:
The White House confirmed it was monitoring a “troubling” Russian anti-satellite weapon.
US regulators cleared the way for Trump’s Truth Social internet platform to merge with with the private Digital World company.
Join us again tomorrow, when we’ll have more from the second day of the Fani Willis misconduct hearing.
Updated
Willis misconduct hearing concludes for the day
A fiery first day of the misconduct case against Fani Willis, in which a judge will decide if the Fulton county district attorney will be disqualified from prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump, has just wrapped up for the day.
The final exchange was Harry MacDougald, lawyer for Trump co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, asking Willis about any financial gifts above $100 she received from Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired for the case, and with whom she had a romantic relationship.
Willis says she never received any, other than him paying for dinner. She says she reimbursed him for everything, and pushed back when McDougald said there was nothing to prove she had withdrawn any cash to do so.
“That’s not accurate,” Willis replied.
It was a tamer exchange than those that preceded it. In one particularly hostile moment, Willis accused an attorney of repeatedly lying about her, and in another furiously exclaimed: “I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”
Judge McAfee has told all parties to reconvene at 9am ET on Friday. It’s been quite a day.
Updated
Steve Sadow’s questioning of Fani Willis has now concluded, and the judge overseeing the misconduct hearing, Scott McAfee, says there’s time for a few more questions before he wraps the hearing up for the day.
Next up is Allyn Stockton, lawyer for Trump’s co-defendant and former attorney Rudy Giuliani, who opened with questions about travel Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade might have made together, including trips to Washington DC that Willis has already denied took place.
Next, he’s wondering about Willis’s hiring practices and contract-issuing procedures as Fulton county district attorney.
It’s not yet clear where he’s going with it, but he seems to be suggesting there might be something improper about the status of employment of two of Wade’s colleagues who reportedly did work for her Willis’s office.
Willis testifies about moment relationship with Wade ended
Steve Sadow and Fani Willis are now tussling over the “tough conversation” she had with Nathan Wade ending their relationship and, crucially, when it occurred.
“The physical relationship was over pre-indictment,” Willis aid, referring to the criminal election interference charges she brought, aided by special prosecutor Wade, against Donald Trump in Georgia in August 2023.
But she said women and men “think differently” about what might constitute the end of a relationship. She also said there was a good deal of tension in her relationship with Wade towards the end:
He told me one time only thing a woman can do for him is make him a sandwich. We would have brutal arguments about the fact that I am your equal.
I don’t need anything from a man. A man is not a plan. A man is a companion. And so there was tension always in our relationship, which is why I always gave him his money back.
I don’t need anybody to foot my bills. The only man who’s ever footed my bills completely is my daddy.
Sadow tried again. “The romantic relationship ended before the indictment was returned. Yes or no?” he said.
“To a man, yes,” Willis replied.
Updated
Willis tells Trump lawyer: 'Don't yell at me'
Steve Sadow, an attorney for Donald Trump, is next to question Fani Willis, and their exchanges are even more hostile than those that preceded them.
“You don’t have to yell at me. I’m able to understand. So I would ask you to not yell at me,” Willis replied when Sadow asked a question about her living arrangements during the period she was having a relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Willis is also repeatedly claiming the phrasing of Sadow’s questions is “inaccurate”, as is definition of “romantic” to describe her relationship with Wade.
“A romantic relationship doesn’t necessarily have to be just sex. It can be dating, it can be holding hands. It can be any of those things that one might call romantic. I’m asking you whether or not prior to November 1st 2021 there was a romantic relationship with Mr Wade,” Sadow said.
Willis replied: “I do not consider our relationship to have become romantic until early 2022 … sometime between February and April.”
Updated
Almost inevitably, Donald Trump has now weighed in with an emailed attack on Fani Willis, and almost as inevitably it’s a fundraising appeal from his campaign, which is clearly watching today’s courtroom drama closely:
Fani Willis was responsible for taking my mugshot! First she coordinated with the Biden White House to take me down! Then she hired her lover to go after me and paid him with taxpayer dollars,” an email to supporters says, repeating numerous unverified allegations.
But now, right now, her corruption is being broadcast live to the whole world. I told you she’s corrupt as hell.”
The email concludes with the oft-heard claim of a “witch-hunt” and a request to “patriots” to chip in to defeat Willis.
Updated
Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney questioning Fani Willis, is asking why she chose to run for district attorney, citing a claim that Willis said she didn’t want to be “finally effed-up again”.
It appears relevant because Donald Trump has claimed Willis ran for the office because she was out to get him.
Willis says she felt that with her experience she was “the appropriate person” for what was a tough job:
It was a huge sacrifice to be district attorney in Fulton County. I was doing just fine. I had a municipal court judgeship that was paying me 100 something thousand a year, and we got to show up twice a week … [the] easiest thing I’ve ever done in life.
I also had private clients that were paying me to represent them, so I was able to have a law practice and raise two daughters by myself. They were times in life where things were hard.
So I was telling people I don’t really want to for DA. I’m in a good position right now, I got this easy job that I enjoy being the chief judge of the city of South Fulton, making money at the law firm, and I’m not sure that I want to make the sacrifice.
Eventually, I prayed. I think that I was the appropriate person.
Merchant’s questioning of Willis has now concluded.
Updated
Judge remarks on heated atmosphere in courtroom, calling on all parties to control their tempers
Judge Scott McAfee says the heated atmosphere in the courtroom needs to cool down, and ordered a short break.
When the session resumed, with Fani Willis still on the stand, he admonished all parties to respect the decorum of the court.
Here’s my colleague Sam Levine’s latest take on this afternoon’s fiery proceedings:
In her time on the stand, Fani Willis has twice sought to remind the audience about the stakes of the case. At issue isn’t her relationship with Wade, but democracy. “Ms Merchant’s interests are contrary to democracy your honor, not to mine,” she said at one point.
In a heated exchange later she said “You’re confused... I’m not on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020.”
Willis’s testimony so far has sought to explain some of the biggest questions from Wade’s testimony this morning.
Explaining why she repaid Wade in cash for travel, Willis explained that she has always kept significant amounts of cash wherever she lays her head. She took from that stash to repay Wade. She has also been blunter about calling out “lies” in motions seeking to disqualify her.
By way of explanation, Ashleigh Merchant, mentioned above, is the attorney currently involved in the back-and-forth with Willis on the stand. She represents Michael Roman, one of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the election interference case that Willis is prosecuting.
Updated
Willis: 'I'm not on trial. These people are on trial for stealing an election'
In one furious outburst, Fani Willis is angrily pushing back at what she says are personal attacks on her and Nathan Wade, and says opposing attorneys should focus their attention elsewhere.
Asked if she objected to records of flights she took with Wade being demanded, she said:
I object to you getting records. You’ve been intrusive into people’s personal lives. You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
Willis is also defending Wade’s character, saying they are “good friends”.
The judge has ordered another short break.
Updated
There were only a handful of trips together with Nathan Wade, Fani Willis is now telling the court:
We went to Aruba, I consider that one trip. On New Year’s Eve, we went on a cruise to the Bahamas. That’s the second trip.
We went to Belize. That was my trip, that was, you know, his 50th [birthday] and then Napa Valley. We went around May. I don’t know the dates, but it seems to me like it was close to Mother’s Day.
And those are the only trips.
Willis tells hearing about a cruise Wade booked, saying: 'I gave him the money back'
Fani Willis is talking about two cruises out of Miami that she took with Nathan Wade, one in October 2022.
She says Wade booked and paid for the first one, but she reimbursed him “whatever it was”:
He is the one that would book the travel. But we need to be clear when we’re talking about just because he’s booked it doesn’t mean I consider him ever having taken me any place.
He paid for the cruise and the fights… whatever he told me it was, I gave him the money back.
She was asked where the cash came from:
I am sure that the source of the money is always the work sweat and tears of me.
For many, many years, I have kept money in my house… on my worst day probably only $500 or $1,000. And my best days, I probably had $15,000 in my house, cash.
There’s always going to be cash in my house or wherever I’m laying my head.
But Willis said she never paid Wade more than $2,500 in any one payment.
Updated
The Guardian’s Sam Levine is tweeting from the courtroom about Fani Willis’s testimony.
The Fulton county district attorney is angry about “lies” told her earlier in the case, including by her former friend Robin Yeartie, who testified today that a relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade began before she hired him to work on Donald Trump’s election interference case.
She’s being asked about her dealings with Yeartie, and vacations she allegedly took with Wade.
Willis on Robin Yeartie: "There's a saying 'no good deed goes unpunished.' I think that she betrayed our friendship."
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Willis:"I've probably said some choice things about some lies that were told"
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Updated
Willis furious at 'lies' told in court about her
Fani Willis said she was “very anxious” to testify today, and ran from her office to get to the courtroom when she heard special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s testimony had concluded.
She said she had some “choice words” about the motion to disqualify her from Donald Trump’s election interference case but denies she had any substantive conversation with Wade, or anybody else about it:
I would not have. I don’t believe I’ve had any conversation with him that is substantive related to this.
Willis has adopted a defensive, verging on aggressive stance, and says she takes exception to allegations she slept with Wade the first day she met him, at a conference:
Your motion tried to implicate I slept with him at that conference, which I find to be extremely offensive. Mr Wade was my teacher.
It’s highly offensive when they replicate that you slept with somebody the first day you met with them, and I take exception to this.
Updated
Willis takes stand in election interference case
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has just taken the stand in the election interference case in Georgia.
Almost as soon as she sat down, the judge called a five-minute break for certain documents to be copied and distributed.
She’ll be testifying soon about the nature of her relationship with, and cash payments to special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who wrapped up his lengthy period of testimony just now.
Stick with us…
Breaking news: Fani Willis withdrew an objection to testifying at an evidentiary hearing and is now taking the stand. "I'm ready to go," Willis said.
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Updated
Rumours that Russia is planning to deploy nuclear weapons in space have been dampened down by experts who say that while such technology is possible, there is no need to push the panic button.
The furore kicked off on Wednesday when the head of the US House of Representatives’ intelligence committee, Mike Turner, called for the Biden administration to declassify information on what he called a “serious national security threat”.
While Turner gave no further details, it was later reported by news outlets, citing unnamed sources, to involve Russia’s potential deployment of a nuclear anti-satellite weapon in space. The Kremlin dismissed the claim as a “malicious fabrication”.
Dr Bleddyn Bowen, an associate professor at the University of Leicester who specialises in outer space international relations and warfare, said the the lack of detail was no reason to panic. “It’s so vague and cryptic, it could be a number of different things. [But] no matter what they are, none of them are a big deal, to be honest. Everyone needs to calm down about this.”
Russia is bound by several legal restrictions regarding the use or presence of nuclear weapons in space. Article 4 of the Outer Space treaty (1967) bans nuclear weapons from being put into orbit, installed on celestial bodies or otherwise stationed in outer space, while the New Start treaty aims to reduce the number of deployable nuclear arms. The Partial Nuclear Test Ban treaty (1963) bans nuclear explosions in space.
You can read more here.
The White House just announced that the US will engage with Russia and allies on the Outer Space treaty and has no intention of violating it.
Updated
Biden requests direct diplomatic engagement with Moscow over reported Russian anti-satellite space weapons program
The White House national security spokesman John Kirby is telling reporters gathered in the west wing a little more detail about the “serious national security threat” that emerged into the public eye yesterday.
“It’s not an active capability,” Kirby said, after confirming that the threat was related to “an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing, while adding that “there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety.”
Kirby did not elaborate on reports that the new capability is about Russian plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space.
Kirby said Joe Biden has directed a series of actions by the administration, including briefings to congressional leaders and direct diplomatic engagement with Russia about the program.
The administration has not permitted more information to be made public yet, the spokesman said.
It was a surprise yesterday when the head of the House intelligence committee, Mike Turner, called for the Biden administration to declassify information on what he called a “serious national security threat”.
The emerging Russian system can’t directly cause “physical destruction” on Earth, Kirby just said.
Updated
The White House media briefing is underway. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opens by lamenting the mass shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, yesterday.
Gunfire erupted towards the end of the victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs football team, after they won the Super Bowl last weekend.
She repeated the White House’s call for the US Congress to ban assault weapons for the general public.
Joe Biden has frequently called for such a ban during his presidency, so far to no avail.
Updated
Nathan Wade: romantic relationship with Fani Willis ended last summer
Georgia Trump case special prosecutor Nathan Wade told the hearing in Atlanta that his romantic relationship with district attorney Fani Willis ended in the summer of 2023.
He couldn’t tell the court exactly when.
“Forgive me, I’m a man, we don’t do the date thing,” he said.
There then followed an excruciating exchange between the lawyer for one of the defendants in the election interference case that Willis and Wade are leading and Wade.
Nathan asked if the lawyer, who was using euphemism, wanted to know if he was still having “sexual intercourse” with Willis after that indeterminate time in the summer of 2023. The lawyer said he did.
“No,” Wade said.
But he said they remained close friends. He did not think others in the DA’s office knew about their romantic relationship because they worked hard to keep it private.
Wade says his relationship with Fani Willis ended in the summer of 2023. Around June. "Forgive me, I'm a man, we don't do the date thing," he said.
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Updated
We’re back in the hearing in Atlanta after a lunch recess and Craig Gillen, a defense attorney for former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, is pressing prosecutor Nathan Wade, who is on the stand, on the lack of records showing that district attorney Fani Willis reimbursed him.
Wade says he didn’t deposit the cash in his bank account and that there’s no records of it. He declined to specify what exactly he would keep the cash
This is a key point of contention because Gillen and other defense lawyers are trying to show that Wade used his income from the Fulton county DA’s office to enrich Willis. Wade and Willis have rebutted that accusation saying they split expenses roughly equally.
Wade acknowledges he has no deposit slips or other records showing Fani Willis paid him back in cash for travel.
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Wade was asked if he gave an interview to the author of the book Find Me The Votes. He said he did not. The book discusses Willis’s financial circumstances.
Wade: "I haven't given an interview to any media. None. I'd like to though," he adds
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Updated
Interim summary
Hello again, US politics live blog readers. It’s been a split-screen day, with hearings in two criminal cases against Donald Trump, one in New York and one in Georgia.
The New York hearing wrapped up and Trump is due to stand trial on March 25, an unprecedented event for a US president. The Georgia misconduct hearing involving the lead prosecutors in the election interference case there has just resumed after lunch.
The White House weekday media briefing has been put back to 1.45pm ET.
Here’s where thing stand:
Donald Trump spoke outside the court room in New York moments ago, after the 100-minute hearing in his hush money criminal case took place, and as well as blasting this case he accused Joe Biden’s administration, New York district attorney Letitia James and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of coordinating legal attacks on him.
Georgia special prosecutor Nathan Wade is on the stand in Trump’s election interference case in Atlanta, in a misconduct hearing, being asked about trips he took after he and district attorney Fani Willis became romantically involved and, crucially, how such trips were paid for.
Former Fulton county district attorney’s office employee Robin Yeartie, also previously a friend of Willis, testified that Willis’s romantic relationship with Wade began before he was hired prosecution of Trump. Such details are crucial in the determination of conflicts of interest of which the two are accused by one of the defendants in the case. Yeartie’s testimony directly contradicts Willis’s statement that her personal relationship with Wade didn’t begin until after Wade was hired as special prosecutor in the case against Trump and others.
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis is expected to be called to the stand in court in Atlanta, in the misconduct hearing against her and special prosecutor Nathan Wade. It’s expected to be a two-day hearing.
Judge Juan Merchan informed the hush money hearing in New York that the criminal case against Trump will move forward next month. He denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case. The trial will begin on March 25.
Donald Trump turned up at a New York court to attend a hearing in the criminal case in which he is charged in Manhattan Supreme Court with falsifying business records related to his alleged payoffs to cover up extramarital affairs in advance of the 2016 election.
Updated
Trump leaves court, slams legal and political foes
Donald Trump spoke outside the court room in New York moments ago, after the 100-minute hearing in his hush money criminal case took place, and as well as blasting this case he accused Joe Biden’s administration, New York district attorney Letitia James and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of coordinating legal attacks on him.
Tomorrow we expect a decision from Judge Arthur Engoron in the civil fraud case brought against Trump, his two older sons Don Jr and Eric and others running the family business empire, the Trump Organization.
Bragg is bringing the prosecution in the hush money case, where jury selection will begin on March 25, the first of the four criminal cases Trump is facing.
As for Washington, Trump has been indicted in two federal criminal cases, one involving election interference culminating in the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the other related to, essentially, illegally retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.
The hearing in the Georgia case is now resuming after the lunch break. Simultaneously we are waiting for the daily White House press briefing to begin in the west wing.
Updated
Donald Trump has come before the cameras outside the court room in New York, following the hearing in which the judge refused to throw out the hush money criminal case against him.
The former president is making an anti-immigrant rant at the moment. He also says legal scholars say he hasn’t committed a crime in this case.
Now he’s slamming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) and how it’s more expensive for the US than for its allies. “The Nato countries have to pay up…they are laughing at us.”
Of his case: “It’s election interference by Biden….but I’m honored to sit here day after day after day.”
He says he will be in court by day and campaign for his reelection to the White House by night.
In the Georgia hearing, defendant Michael Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, has been going through vacations prosecutor Nathan Wade and district attorney Fani Willis took together, in painstaking detail.
She’s trying to show that Willis benefitted financially from Wade – something the two prosecutors vehemently deny. Merchant walked through vacations the two took to the central American nation of Belize, Napa Valley in California, and the Caribbean island of Aruba.
“Our relationship wasn’t a secret. It was just private,” he said.
Wade has said that even though they traveled together, they split expenses roughly equally. But Merchant has seized on the fact that Wade has only produced a single receipt showing Willis paying for travel. Wade said he frequently would pay for things and then Willis would reimburse him in cash.
In March of 2023, for example, he paid for a trip to Belize for the two of them. But the trip, Wade testified, was actually a birthday trip for him and Willis wound up reimbursing him in cash for everything.
When they traveled, Wade said the two didn’t keep a ledger over who paid for what, but would roughly split expenses when they traveled.
“She’s a very independent proud woman. She’s going to insist she pays her own way,” she said. “In a relationship, ma’am, particularly men, we don’t go asking back for anything.”
Updated
The two most prominent co-defendants of Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference racketeering case are the former president’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and his former attorney (and ex-mayor of New York), Rudi Giuliani.
No defendants are in court today, but lawyers representing Meadows and Giuliani are there.
Meadows has been trying, unsuccessfully, to move his case to federal court.
As my colleague Hugo Lowell previously reported here, Meadows was charged last August with violating the state racketeering statute alongside Trump and other co-defendants by the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, over their efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment also included a charge against Meadows for his role in setting up Trump’s infamous recorded phone call on 2 January 2021 asking the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” 11,780 votes so he could win the battleground state.
The Georgia court has just declared a break for lunch.
Updated
Georgia special prosecutor Nathan Wade questioned on stand
Georgia special prosecutor Nathan Wade is on the stand being asked about trips he took after he and district attorney Fani Willis became romantically involved and, crucially, how such trips were paid for.
Wade is wearing a pale grey suit and looks uncomfortable, but is pushing back on minutiae about whether he did or did not rent a cabin in Tennessee for a stay with Willis, how trips for paid for, who paid whom back and how, that kind of thing.
As the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell, who is also in court, sums up:
At this Fulton County hearing, the three main questions at issue: whether Willis financially benefited from hiring Wade, when the romantic relationship started, and whether the romantic relationship was ongoing. w @neonflag @srl https://t.co/N4NJWjvxT2
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 15, 2024
Updated
It’s quite the scene at the Fulton county court in Atlanta, Georgia, for the hearing in the election interference case against Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants.
The Guardian’s George Chidi is there.
The courthouse isn't quite as locked down and abuzz today as when the Fulton County grand jury was indicting Trump and crew, but it's close. Media have staged across the street. Deputies roam the halls.
— George Chidi (@neonflag) February 15, 2024
One vignette:
The hallway of this courtroom is Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/OyjqXzfN3l
— George Chidi (@neonflag) February 15, 2024
Spin room 1:
Two attorneys - from very different legal perspectives - approached me a moment ago to explain just how much trouble Willis and Wade appear to be in. @DaveOedel David Oedel is a Federalist Society law professor at Mercer, while @lawyerschiff Josh Schiffer is a defense attorney.
— George Chidi (@neonflag) February 15, 2024
Spin room 2:
Both basically say Fani Willis and Nathan Wade are going to get blown off this case. Wade has a perjury problem now, because witness testimony directly contradicts a sworn affidavit saying he had not been in a romantic relationship, they said.
— George Chidi (@neonflag) February 15, 2024
Updated
Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor in the criminal case against Donald Trump in Georgia, is himself on the stand in a misconduct hearing in that case against him and district attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the case.
The two are accused by one of Trump’s co-defendants of a conflict of interest that should warrant them being thrown off the case, based on their romantic relationship, which they have admitted.
The district attorney’s office has vehemently rejected the claim that the romantic relationship gave rise to a conflict, arguing in court filings that there was no impropriety under the law and there was no financial benefit to either Willis or Wade, as has been alleged.
There is a lot of discussion on the crucial question of when their romantic relationship began, how he was hired onto the case as her No. 2 and whether they inappropriately benefited from public funds spent in the case.
Having heard a witness say their relationship began in 2019, well before Trump was prosecuted, Wade is contradicting that. Wade and Willis claim they got together only after they started working on the case together – in March 2022, according to Wade.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine is watching.
New: Nathan Wade says his relationship with Willis began in "early 2022." Says around March of 2022. He previously only had given the year.
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Donald Trump must be huddling with his legal team after the hearing in his hush money case in New York wrapped up, in which the judge threw out his attempt to have the case dismissed.
Meanwhile, what of Stormy Daniels, the porn movie actor and producer whom he’s accused of breaking laws to pay off, in a convoluted scheme that amounted to alleged falsification of business records, as he tried to shut her up during the 2016 election campaign, about an affair she maintains they had in the past, but he denies?
She’s posting on X/Twitter and Instagram about a documentary about her, Stormy, which is headlining at the South By South West (SXSW) festival next month.
Accepted into the SXSW film festival is absolutely mind boggling! What an honor for my story to be premiering alongside so many huge films opening night! pic.twitter.com/miZp3oafbi
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) February 8, 2024
The case also involves a pay-off to Karen McDougal. You can read an archive article about her from the Guardian’s Maya Yang, here.
Updated
As we await Donald Trump’s departure from the court house in New York, in his hush money case, the hearing in his election interference case in Georgia is in full swing.
There’s already explosive testimony in the evidentiary hearing in Atlanta on whether district attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the criminal case against Trump and a host of co-defendants.
Robin Yeartie, a former friend of Willis, testified that she had “no doubt” Willis and Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in the case, were in a relationship before she hired him to work on the Trump case. That’s significant because Wade said in an affidavit to the court their relationship only began after he was hired.
Anna Cross, a lawyer for Willis, sought to uncercut Yeartie’s testimony. She noted that Yeartie had resigned from the district attorney’s office in 2022 and suggested she had a falling out with Willis. Cross suggested that Willis told Yeartie she was going to be fired for poor performance.
Yeartie also said on the stand that she had no knowledge of Willis and Wade living together, paying for each other’s expenses, or going on vacation together. That information is critical because it could establish whether their relationship meant there was an actual substantial conflict for Willis.
Wade is currently on the stand. More shortly.
Updated
All eyes are now on the classically dreary and echoing corridor outside the court room in the state court house in lower Manhattan, as we await Donald Trump’s departure.
Police and court security officers are milling around and there is a small enclosure formed of crowd barricades to corral Trump in safety if he chooses to stop and address the assembled media.
He did so on the way in, decrying the hush money case against him as illegitimate and accusing the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, of harboring political plants in his office.
In classic style Trump, who has been criminally charged in two election interference cases, one federal and one state in Georgia, bounced that phrase back at the public, labeling his prosecution in New York “election interference” by the Democrats.
We’ll have all the latest from the hearing in the Georgia state court case shortly.
Updated
The hearing in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case in New York has wrapped up.
Judge Juan Merchan refused to dismiss the case, as Trump has been requesting.
The trial is set to go ahead on March 25, the first of the four criminal cases against Trump.
The former president has denied all the charges.
In the New York case, Trump was charged last April with 34 counts related to the alleged falsification of business records as part of a purported scheme to cover up extramarital affairs.
This conspiracy, in turn, was meant to influence the 2016 election, prosecutors say.
We’ll see if Trump says anything in the corridor outside the court, on his way out.
Updated
Fani Willis friend tells hearing DA's relationship with Wade began before he was hired
A friend of Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis testified just earlier in the Georgia hearing in the criminal election interference case against Donald Trump and co-defendants.
A former Fulton county district attorney’s office employee, Robin Yeartie, testified that Willis’s personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade began before he was hired in the election interference case against Trump, the Associated Press reports.
Yeartie’s testimony directly contradicts Willis’s statement that her personal relationship with Wade didn’t begin until after Wade was hired as special prosecutor in the case against Trump and others.
Willis hired outside lawyer Wade to help investigate whether Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Wade has led the team prosecuting the case since an indictment was returned last August.
Willis’ removal would be a stunning development in the most sprawling of the four criminal cases against Trump. An additional delay would likely lessen the chance that a trial would be held before the November election. He is currently the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for president.
New: Robin Yeartie, a college friend of Fani Willis, just tesified at an evidentiary hearing that Willis and Wade began dating shortly after a municipal conference in 2019. This contradicts what Wade said in an affidavit (he said they started a romantic relationship in 2022)
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Updated
Georgia prosecutor Nathan Wade takes stand at hearing
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade has taken the stand in the Georgia hearing. He is wearing a pale grey suit and is being asked about his divorce from his wife.
This is relevant in relation to his romantic relationship with Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.
The two are leading the prosecution in the election interference state criminal case against Donald Trump and a slew of co-defendants.
Willis is expected to take the stand later.
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Fani Willis will be called to the stand in hearing in Georgia Trump case
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis is expected to be called to the stand in court in Atlanta, in the misconduct hearing against her and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
We’re not sure when that will happen. Right now, witnesses have been taking the stand, including one now testifying that Willis and Wade began their romantic relationship in 2019, long before they were leading the team prosecuting Donald Trump for charges relating to election interference and racketeering.
One of Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia case is seeking to have Willis and Wade thrown off the case, which would turn the whole thing upside down. Defendant Michael Roman claims their romantic relationship and related expenditure of public funds is a conflict of interest.
Judge Scott MacAfee is presiding. This is the first day of what is expected to be a two-day hearing.
Meanwhile, in New York it looks like the hearing in Trump’s hush money case in front of Judge Juan Merchan is wrapping up shortly.
Unlike other recent proceedings, including the writer E Jean Carroll’s most recent defamation case, Trump is behaving inside the courtroom in New York today.
Granted, this proceeding is just 50 minutes in and moving quickly, and there isn’t a jury to perform in front of, but Trump seems mostly calm.
He’s listening to the proceedings and has whispered briefly to his attorney. The hearing is ongoing, so only time will tell whether Trump has an in-courtroom outburst or storms off.
Donald Trump’s legal team is continuing to argue in court in New York that it’s not fair to expect the former president to stand trial in March because it’s still in the thick of the 2024 presidential election.
Trump is ahead of rival Nikki Haley in his pursuit of the Republican nomination for the White House in November.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche has been pushing in court to delay the trial, scheduled for March 25.
“As the court is aware, we are in the middle of primary season,” Blanche said, explaining, there are two key time periods in any election, especially one for president of the United States.
One is primary season and the other is general election season; he noted there are 27 primaries in March.
“It is completely election interference to say: ‘You are going to sit in this courtroom in Manhattan when there is no reason for it’,” Blanche said. “What about his rights?”
The hearing in New York that Trump is attending, in the hush money case, is cracking along. There is no live feed to the outside world so we rely on reporters in the court room, who are disseminating highlights.
Meanwhile, the hearing in the election interference case in Georgia is expected to last two days and has rows of lawyers attending and will call multiple witnesses, so is getting underway at what the general public would consider a snail’s pace.
For the Guardian in New York, Victoria Bekiempis sends this dispatch from the court room:
While the trial date [March 25} seemed open and shut for Judge Juan Merchan, Trump’s team nevertheless fought his scheduling decision, claiming it violated Trump’s rights.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche pointed to the ex-president’s classified documents case in Florida, which is expected to start in May. Trump couldn’t possibly prepare for that trial, Blanche argued, if he’s present for the Manhattan case.
“That is an constitutional violation in our view, judge,” Blanche said of Trump being unable to prepare for his defense, later saying, “It’s truly an impossible position for anyone to be in.”
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The judge in the New York case, Juan Merchan, has issued a 30-page written decision to accompany the announcement he just made in court that he has denied Donald Trump’s request to dismiss the hush money case.
Trump originally turned himself in last April, sparking an extraordinary scene in New York that marked the first time in American history a former US president had faced criminal charges.
Trump had earlier been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. he has cast himself as a “completely innocent person” and has repeatedly denounced the charges, as he did again today, as part of a broader conspiracy designed by Democrats to damage his political prospects. Prosecutors say the case against Trump has nothing to do with politics.
The grand jury heard evidence related to a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, who says she had an extra-marital affair with Trump in 2006, something the former president has denied. Also to a payment to Karen McDougal.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, made the payment during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep them from going public about alleged affairs. He was later reimbursed by Trump, by then the president.
The payments to Cohen were recorded by the Trump Organization as legal expenses. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal tax evasion and campaign-finance violation charges. Trump denies all the charges.
The criminal case against Donald Trump in New York will now be the first of the four the former president is facing to go to trial.
The trial is due to begin in Manhattan on March 25. The federal election interference case against Trump had been slated to go first, beginning on March 4, but that has been delayed.
Trump admitted, upon arriving in court in New York today, that delaying cases was his strategy and his aim in the hush money case.
Trump is also indicted in Georgia on a state election interference case, where there’s a hearing this morning. And in a federal case being heard in Florida related to accusations that he illegally retained classified documents after leaving the office of the presidency and obstructing justice in trying to hide some of the material after the government had asked for it back.
Judge in New York refuses to dismiss case against Trump
Judge Juan Merchan got right to the point when proceedings kicked off, informing the court that Trump’s case will move forward next month.
“Defendant’s motions to dismiss have been denied,” Merchan said, indicating that a written decision is now available.
Merchan said shortly thereafter: “We’re moving ahead to jury selection on March 25.”
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The hearing in Atlanta, Georgia, is underway. The lawyers for the multiple defendants remaining in the election interference case are introducing themselves.
In New York Trump has walked into the court room in person to listen to the hearing there.
The Guardian has reporters in court for the hearings in both cases and, as well as this live blog, we’ll be bringing you stories with news highlights and analysis as the day unfolds.
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Trump is saying he should be out on the election campaign trail, not in a court room in New York.
He said he should be doing an event in South Carolina instead, where the Republican primary is being held on Saturday, February 24.
But Trump is not obliged to be in court today, he’s turned up for the hearing voluntarily. He could be in South Carolina if he so chose.
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“This is not a crime,” Donald Trump just said as he arrived for the court hearing in New York, about his hush money criminal case.
The former US president says: “This is a terrible time for this country, it’s a dark time.”
He says the streets are where the crime is. “The streets are so different from when I left New York, it’s dirty and it’s crime ridden…[but the criminal case] is just a way of hurting me in the election.”
Trump says he’s talk more later. “We want delays, obviously.”
Donald Trump has reportedly arrived at the court house in Manhattan for the hearing in his criminal case there. There will be no audio or video feed for the public from the court room during the proceedings.
But there is a camera stream from a corridor near the court. Journalists and security officials are waiting there to watch Trump arrive for the hearing and, possibly, offer remarks.
The former president is not obliged to attend this hearing but, as with various other proceedings in his various criminal and civil cases lately, he has chosen to turn up.
Crucial hearings in two Trump criminal cases, in New York and Georgia
There are potentially pivotal court hearings in two of Donald Trump’s criminal cases today, with the former US president expected to turn up to the proceedings in New York.
That is the so-called hush money case, where he has been charged by the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts related to the alleged falsification of business records as part of a purported scheme to cover up extramarital affairs. This conspiracy, in turn, was meant to influence the 2016 election, prosecutors said.
Trump’s indictment in this case marked the first time in US history that a former president was charged with a crime. He has pleaded not guilty. The hearing could be quite quick, with decisions coming from Judge Juan Merchan this morning on several issues, including Trump’s motion to throw out the case.
In Atlanta, Georgia, Judge Scott McAffee will examine whether Fulton county prosecutors charging Trump and his allies over efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia had improper romantic relations that merit being disqualified from bringing the case.
One of Trump’s co-defendant that case, Michael Roman, is seeking to have the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis and her top deputy, Nathan Wade, saying their relationship and related financial matters constitute a conflict of interest.
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In New York City, the state courthouse in downtown Manhattan at 100 Centre Street is abuzz with activity in anticipation of Donald Trump’s arrival for the proceeding in his hush money case.
Dozens of journalists lined up across the street very early this morning, standing in the sub-freezing temperatures under blue skies and sunshine.
They are all waiting to secure a seat inside the courtroom or overflow viewing room.
Trump is charged in Manhattan Supreme Court with falsifying business records related to his alleged payoffs to cover up extramarital affairs in advance of the 2016 election, including to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump denies the charges and denies he had sex with Daniels in the past, while he was married to Melania Trump.
The judge in this case, Juan Merchan, is expected to issue decisions during today’s proceeding, including on Trump’s push to dismiss the case.
Trump to attend NY hush money court case as hearing takes place in Georgia election case to assess prosecutors' integrity
Good morning, US politics live blog readers, it’s chiefly a tale of two Trump court cases today. There are hearings in the non-federal criminal cases – the New York hush money case and the Georgia election interference case. Donald Trump, the former US president and Republican frontrunner for the 2024 nomination, is expected to exercise his option to appear in court in Manhattan.
Joe Biden, current US president and Democratic Party frontrunner for the 2024 nomination as he seeks a second term, has no events on his public schedule and will be in Washington, DC, presumably dealing with the Middle East crisis and domestic matters.
The Senate is out today, the House of Representatives is in.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Donald Trump is expected to appear in Manhattan state court this morning for a hearing in his hush-money criminal case involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels and the playboy model Karen McDougal. There is no live stream from the court room. He is attending voluntarily and will sit at the defendant’s table. Hearing begins 9.30am ET.
Judge Juan Merchan is expected to announce his decision on several issues, including the former US president’s motion to throw out the case. Merchan is also expected to announce whether Trump’s trial will start on 25 March. Should Trump’s trial begin on this date, it would be the first of four criminal cases against him to go before a jury.
Judge Scott McAfee, presiding in Atlanta, Georgia, will examine whether Fulton county prosecutors charging Donald Trump and his allies over efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia had improper romantic relations that merit being disqualified from bringing the case. We plan to bring you a live feed. The hearing is due to begin at 9.30am ET and last two days.
The prosecutors, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade risk being disqualified from the case as a result of their relationship because it constituted a conflict of interest, accusers say, while they say there is no conflict. Trump’s co-defendant in the case, Michael Roman, first raised the issue of their relationship, which has prompted the pivotal hearing.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, prosecuting Donald Trump on federal charges involving the former president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, last night urged the US supreme court to reject Trump’s bid to further delay trial proceedings as he presses his claim of immunity. If the justices do not immediately reject Trump’s request Smith asked the court to take up the case and hear it on a fast-track basis.
