key events
A funder of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and several other right-wing Republican candidates will not run in next year’s election, The Guardian reports. Edward Helmore Report:
Technology billionaire Peter Thiel Donald Trump in 2016 and poured millions of dollars into underperforming Maga candidates in subsequent election cycles, confirming rumors that he would abandon political funding in 2024.
In an interview with The Atlantic Monthly, Thiel said voting for Trump “was like a cry for help that wasn’t clear” and that things weren’t going the way he had hoped when he donated $1.25 million to Trump and a Trump-affiliated political fund eight years ago. .
“I did a lot of things wrong,” he said. “It was crazier than I thought. More dangerous than I thought. They couldn’t make the most basic parts of government work. So that’s — I think this part is probably more dangerous than I thought. My low expectations were even worse.”
Thiel told the magazine that Trump called him earlier this year to raise $10 million — an amount that matched his donations to Blake Masters and J.D. Vance same. Hillbilly Elegy that won a Senate seat in Ohio.
When Thiel declined Trump’s request, he said the former president told him he was “very sad to hear the news, very sad.” He later heard that Trump insulted him in front of Masters, calling him a “fucking scumbag.”
Donald Trump recently spent a lot of time in a New York City courtroom, where a judge was deciding how much to punish his business empire for civil fraud he discovered.Earlier this week, Trump accepted witnesses to testify The Guardian Lauren Alatani Described as “his most expensive rally ever”. Here’s more information:
when Donald Trump He took the witness stand Monday morning for what may be his most expensive rally ever.
This was supposed to be his chance He took sides in a $250 million fraud trial that threatened to end his business career in New York state. On the witness stand, Trump mentioned crime and “election interference” in New York City as if he were in front of a crowd.
“A lot of people are leaving New York … It’s a shame that the attorney general sits here all day long,” Trump said. “It’s sad that we have a hostile judge.”
For anyone who has watched a Trump rally, the former president’s appearance on the witness stand will feel familiar. Outside, producers lined up to get in. Rows of television cameras were parked outside the venue. Protesters were inspired. The presiding judge is the sole decider of the case and the fine to be imposed. But when Trump comes to town, the circus ensues.
Even his testimony was reminiscent of his rallies. His remarks about his real estate company were wistful, boastful and bizarre. “If I wanted to build something, I built a very big ballroom, a big ballroom built by me, and it was very big,” Trump said of leveraging the value of Mar-a-Lago. Speaking about his Scottish golf club, he promised: “At some point, when I’m very old, I’m going to do the most beautiful thing you’re going to see,” without revealing the specifics.
Donald Trump will have a heavy schedule of court appointments early next year, in the middle of the primary season.
Here is a summary of all trial dates and other proceedings scheduled in the criminal and civil lawsuits facing the former president and current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination:
Federal judge temporarily refuses to change trial date in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago case
In a new legal filing, a federal judge Erin Cannon Decided to retain May 20 next year as trial start date Donald Trump and his co-defendants are accused of storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and conspiring to keep them from falling into government hands.
But Cannon did grant the defense’s request to delay the deadline for confidential evidence in the trial, which could ultimately push back the start date of the proceedings — although Cannon did not expressly order that in today’s filing.
Trump considers suing political opponents if elected president in 2024
Donald Trump face 91 felony charges spread across four criminal indictments but remains the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. The former president said in an interview that if he returns to the White House next year, he could order the FBI and Justice Department to prosecute his political opponents, arguing that he is simply repeating what the Biden administration did to him.
Here’s more from The Guardian Sam Levine:
Donald Trump said he would use the FBI and Justice Department to go after political opponents if he returns to the White House next year, a move that will further stoke concerns about what a second term for Trump might mean.
Trump made the above remarks When interviewed Asked a host of legal questions by host Enrique Acevedo of the Spanish television network Univision, he said: “You said they have weaponized the judiciary, they have also weaponized the FBI. If you are re-elected, you will do the same thing ? “? “
“They’ve done it, but if they want to follow through, yes, things will definitely turn around,” Trump responded. “They’ve released the genie out of the box.”
“When you’re president and you’re doing a good job and you’re popular, you don’t go after them to win an election. They sue to win an election. They call it weaponization,” Trump added. “But yeah, they did some things that allowed the next party, I mean, if someone, if I happened to become president and I saw someone doing a great job, hit me really hard, I Go ahead and sue them, and in most cases, they’ll go bankrupt. They’ll be out. They’ll be out of the election.”
Moderate House Republicans call for dropping Biden impeachment inquiry, saying president isn’t popular enough – report
One of the unfinished business ahead of House Republicans is the impeachment inquiry Joe Biden.shortly before he was kicked out of the speaker’s office, Kevin McCarthy Authorized an investigation into unsubstantiated corruption allegations against the president, focusing on his son’s overseas business activities, Hunter Biden, and other family members.After someone heard Not going so well For Republicans, the investigation stalled after McCarthy was ousted, and the party spent weeks trying to find a replacement.
new speakers Mike Johnson Recently saying he would decide soon whether to continue the investigation, the Oversight Committee Chairman last Wednesday James Comer Subpoenas were issued to Hunter Biden and two others he believed could prove wrongdoing by the president. But today, The Washington Post reports Some moderate Republicans believe that because of the president’s Poor poll numbersJohnson seemed to agree.
Here’s more from their story:
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) explained Johnson’s comments about the investigation at the Republican Governance Group’s weekly lunch on Tuesday, saying: “We’ll go wherever the evidence is, but we’re not there yet. One step.” We said, look, we can’t even get one Democratic vote on this right now.I think voters will reject their position when they see Biden’s case [policies] —But felonies and misdemeanors?I don’t think we’ve seen that yet and there’s not enough data to really make a case, I think. [Johnson] I really agree with us on this. “
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Johnson said he had been “intellectually consistent” in warning against rushing investigations at press conferences last week, after accusing Biden of bribing or pressuring foreign leaders. During an appearance on Fox News this summer, Johnson accused Biden of using taxpayer resources to fire Ukraine’s top prosecutor to benefit his son’s business dealings — a charge widely disputed by U.S. and foreign officials. another interview “In fact, if all the evidence points to what we believe to be the outcome, then this is probably an impeachable offense,” Johnson said on Fox News last week.
But in a private meeting with moderates this week, Johnson appeared to agree with Republican lawmakers who argued that because Biden’s poll numbers are so weak, impeaching him is less politically necessary, according to Bacon and others who attended the meeting. Small.
“Is this practical? Does it make sense? It’s important to connect the dots,” Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., said after the meeting. There’s no point moving forward unless the dots can be connected and I think that’s the message he’s trying to convey to us and we appreciate that.”
A week into the U.S. government shutdown, all eyes are on House Speaker Johnson
Good morning, American Politics Blog readers. Once again, the U.S. government is days away from a shutdown and has no concrete plans to avoid it.Much of today’s focus will be on Mike JohnsonThe House speaker, a Republican, is tasked with getting legislation to fund the government through his unruly and deeply divided chamber.This is an especially dangerous assignment for him because his predecessor Kevin McCarthy He was forced out weeks ago after working with Democrats to keep the government open, and some of the dynamics that led to the end of his term remain in place in the House.
Johnson reportedly wants to introduce a bill that would fund different parts of the government at different times, but many lawmakers believe that would be too complex and unlikely to gain much support in the Senate.In the Senate, Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer He is said to be moving forward with his own bill to keep the government open, but that will of course require approval from the House of Representatives, where conservative lawmakers want deep spending cuts.Lawmakers have considerable puzzles to unravel, and the stakes are high. If they don’t, the shutdown will begin after November 17, with unpredictable consequences for both parties, and Joe Biden.
Here’s what else happened today:
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Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping The White House just announced that the leaders of China and the United States will hold a meeting on November 15. It will be their first meeting in a year, and the leaders “will discuss issues in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, the continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication, and a range of topics.” Regional and Global Issues”.
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senate republicans try to disrupt Democrats on the Judiciary Committee yesterday sought to subpoena two prominent conservative activists involved in arranging luxury travel for Supreme Court justices.
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Derek Kilmer and Brian Higginswhether Democratic or Republican bradwinstrupIt was announced yesterday that they would be retiring from the House of Representatives. No one represents a competitive constituency.