House Republicans rally to Trump’s defense with call for DA Alvin Bragg to testify – live

GOP scrambles as Trump indictment looms

Donald Trump is the Republican party’s once and potentially future president, since he is again running for the party’s nomination in 2024. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s looming indictment has thus put the party in a pickle – but could also have its benefits.

GOP politicians spent the weekend reacting to the news that an indictment was coming, with several saying it would ultimately be a good thing for Trump’s presidential chances. Here’s Senator Lindsey Graham, a top ally of the former president:

Even his former vice-president-turned-naysayer Mike Pence called the Manhattan district attorney’s case a “politically charged prosecution”, before bringing up one of the GOP’s usual attack lines.

“I’m taken aback at the idea of indicting a former President of the United States, at a time when there’s a crime wave in New York City … the fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority, I think is, just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country,” he told ABC News.

That said, Trump seemed to be going it alone when he called for his supporters to protest the indictment. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy – another Trump ally – was quick to swat that idea down:

Updated at 09.34 EDT

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Meanwhile, at the White House, Joe Biden just vetoed the first bill of his administration: Republican-backed legislation that overturns a labor department rule allowing retirement fund managers to consider aspects like good corporate governance and climate change risks in their investment strategies.

In a brief video released by the White House, Biden said the legislation was the work of the Republican party’s extreme right flank:

It passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with only one Democratic vote, while in the Senate, it was able to pass only after centrist senators Joe Manchin and Jon Tester, who represent red states and are up for re-election next year, voted for it.

The day so far

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg appears set to indict Donald Trump for the hush money payment he allegedly facilitated to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. The history-making charges could come as soon as today, reports indicate, and been met with a furious reaction from Trump and his allies in the House GOP, who are demanding Bragg sit for an interview and hand over documents. Meanwhile, police in New York are preparing to arrest the former president, and for the possibility that Trump’s supporters heed his call made over the weekend for protests.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

Now, some news from yet another one of the investigations into Donald Trump, this one involving his possession of classified documents.

On Friday, the special federal prosecutor handling that inquiry, Jack Smith, won a court ruling compelling more testimony from Trump’s attorney Evan Corcoran. Corcoran had already appeared before a grand jury convened by Smith to investigate the government secrets found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, but cited attorney-client privilege to avoid answering some questions.

In response to a petition from Smith, a federal judge overruled Corcoran’s privilege claims, finding that some of the advice he gave Trump could have been used to commit a crime.

Today, CNN said they’d spotted Corcoran going into the Washington DC federal courthouse where the grand jury is hearing testimony – indicating that he may be about to tell Smith whatever he tried to avoid saying:

Donald Trump could be indicted as soon as today or Wednesday, Politico reports.

New York law enforcement officials are meeting today at police department headquarters to plan for the possibility that he will be arrested, the report said. “We’ll be discussing how we bring Trump in,” a person involved in planning for his arrest said. “No decisions have been made yet.”

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida who is Donald Trump’s closest rival for the Republican presidential nomination, has broken his silence over Trump’s looming indictment in New York.

Ron DeSantis. Photograph: Phil Sears/AP

He did so by mocking the notion that hush money payments to a porn star might be seen as indictable conduct, and repeating an antisemitic dogwhistle.

An indictment is expected this week. On Sunday, the New York Times reported that Trump allies were pressing DeSantis to join Trump allies in Congress in condemning Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney. On Monday morning, speaking to reporters at a college in Panama City, the governor did.

Asked about the prospect of Trump being extradited to New York (the former president having been a Florida resident since leaving power), DeSantis said: “So I’ve seen rumors swirl. I’ve not seen any facts yet. And so I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“But I do know this, that the Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor. And so he like other Soros-funded prosecutors, they weaponise their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety”.

George Soros, a Hungarian-American progressive financier and philanthropist, is a boogeyman for Republicans and a regular target for antisemitic invective.

DeSantis mentioned “Soros funded prosecutors” five times in a two-minute answer about Trump’s hush money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels.

That included a boast about “remov[ing] one from office”, presumably a reference to the case of Andrew Warren, a Democrat twice elected in Hillsborough county but suspended for saying he would not pursue charges against anyone seeking an abortion or gender transition treatment.

DeSantis also tried to hit Bragg over his record on crime, a common Republican tactic.

To laughter, DeSantis said: “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I can’t speak to that.

“But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago, to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, you know, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponising the office and I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”

Trump insider: no extradition fight

In messages viewed by the Guardian, a Trump campaign insider predicts that the former president will not attempt to avoid appearing for arraignment in New York City, if or when an expected indictment over his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels is handed down.

“He will go to NYC for sure,” the insider wrote, adding: “No video arraignments.”

At the weekend, Trump said he would be arrested on Tuesday and called for supporters to protest. Trump staffers then said they did not know when an indictment or arrest might happen.

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who is expected to bring the indictment, told staff preparations were being made to ensure their safety.

Trump rose to fame as a property magnate in New York but since leaving power in Washington he has been resident in Florida.

An attempt to resist extradition would be a considerable headache for Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida who remains Trump’s closest rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

House GOP summons Manhattan district attorney

House Republicans are rushing to the defense of Donald Trump by demanding testimony and documents from Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who is said to be on the verge of indicting the former president for a hush money payment he allegedly arranged before the 2016 election.

In a letter sent today to Bragg, the GOP chairs of the oversight, administration and judiciary committees accuse Bragg of being “about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority: the indictment of a former President of the United States and current declared candidate for that office.

This indictment comes after years of your office searching for a basis — any basis —on which to bring charges, ultimately settling on a novel legal theory untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities declined to pursue. If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election. In light of the serious consequences of your actions, we expect that you will testify about what plainly appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision.”

They demand that Bragg sit for an interview by Thursday morning, as well as turn over documents related to his office’s communications with the justice department and federal law enforcement about Trump, its use and receipt of federal funds, and the actions of two former prosecutors.

“Your decision to pursue such a politically motivated prosecution — while adopting progressive criminal justice policies that allow career “criminals [to] run [] the streets” of Manhattan —requires congressional scrutiny about how public safety funds appropriated by Congress are implemented by local law-enforcement agencies,” the letter concludes.

But what if Trump is indicted in New York and refuses to travel from his Florida residence to face the charges? That would put the ball in the court of a political player who is undoubtedly watching the case against Trump closely.

As the New York Times reports, the Florida governor would have a role to play in the chance that the former president tries to avoid the charges in New York, where he used to live before changing his residence to the southern state:

Surrender, some might argue, is not in the confrontational former president’s DNA, and he often seems to relish antagonizing and attacking the prosecutors who have investigated him.

In the unlikely event that the former president refuses to surrender, he would put Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, his leading but undeclared rival for the Republican nomination, in an awkward political position. Under law, the role of Mr. DeSantis would be essentially ministerial and he would have few legal options other than approving an extradition request from New York.

Still, if New York prosecutors sought Mr. Trump’s extradition, Mr. DeSantis would face an unenviable dilemma. He would be compelled to choose between authorizing an arrest warrant for Mr. Trump and inflaming his base, or attempting in some way to aide his Republican rival, and possibly face legal action as a result.

DeSantis is viewed as the strongest Republican challenger to Trump for the party’s nomination next year, though he has yet to formally announce a run. Trump has started attacking DeSantis by name as their rivalry has grown, but as the Times report makes clear, could end up needing the governor’s assistance if he decides to fight the Manhattan district attorney tooth and nail.

Despite all the indictment news, the grand jury that would recommend charges hasn’t finished it’s work yet, the Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt and Hugo Lowell report:

Donald Trump has cheered the news that a former adviser to Michael Cohen will testify before a Manhattan grand jury investigating the ex-president’s alleged role in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Robert J Costello, a one-time legal adviser to former Trump attorney Cohen, is scheduled to appear before the grand jury on Monday, where he is expected to give testimony “attacking the credibility of Cohen’s statements”, Associated Press reported.

Cohen, a former Trump lawyer, pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges involving $130,000 paid to Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election. Daniels claims she had sex with the former president before he took office, though Trump denies the allegation.

If Donald Trump were indicted, what would happen next? Would he be handcuffed and taken to jail? Would the fact that he’s a former president matter?

The New York Times looked into the finer points of a felony indictment, which might happen to Trump within days as a result of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Here’s what they found:

If Mr. Trump is indeed indicted and arraigned, it will be one of the most unusual and closely watched court proceedings in New York history. And accommodation may be made for the former president.

While it is standard for defendants arrested on felony charges to be handcuffed, it is unclear whether they will make an exception for Mr. Trump because of his status. Most defendants have their hands cuffed behind their backs, but some white-collar defendants who are deemed to pose less of a danger have their hands secured in front of them.

After an arraignment, Mr. Trump would likely be released on his own recognizance because an indictment likely would contain only nonviolent felony charges; under New York law, prosecutors cannot request bail in most such cases.

Mr. Trump will almost certainly be accompanied at every step of the process — from the moment he is taken into custody until his appearance before a judge — by armed agents of the United States Secret Service, who are required by law to protect him at all times. Security in the courthouse is provided by New York State court officers, an agency with which the Secret Service has worked in the past. The chief spokesman for the Secret Service, Anthony J. Guglielmi, said he could not comment on any security arrangements for the former president.

It may take several days for the former president to appear at the courthouse. Once he has been indicted, prosecutors are expected to contact the former president’s defense lawyers to negotiate his surrender, a common practice in white-collar investigations when prosecutors have been in touch with defense attorneys.

Some lawyers working for Mr. Trump, who is running for president a third time, have said he will surrender to face the charges and fly from his Florida estate to New York for the arraignment.

Courtesy of CBS News, here’s the scene outside the Manhattan criminal courthouse where the grand jury that could indict Donald Trump is convening:

Stacked together in the frame are metal barricades that the New York police department uses to control crowds, such as those Trump has called to protest ahead of his possible indictment.

Updated at 10.11 EDT

Georgia prosecutor could bring racketeering, conspiracy charges in Trump election meddling case

An Atlanta-area prosecutor could bring racketeering and conspiracy charges in the investigation into Donald Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, CNN reports today. The charges are being considered by Fulton county district attorney Fanni Willis, who convened a special grand jury to look into the attempt by the then-president and his allies to disrupt Joe Biden’s election victory in the state.

The inquiry is one of several stemming from Trump’s election subversion campaign, and CNN said Willis will likely make a charging decision “this spring” – meaning soon, because in North America, spring starts today. Here’s more from CNN:

Investigators have a large volume of substantial evidence related to a possible conspiracy from inside and outside the state, including recordings of phone calls, emails, text messages, documents, and testimony before a special grand jury.

Their work, the source said, underscores the belief that the push to help Trump was not just a grassroots effort that originated inside the state.

The special grand jury met for roughly seven months in Atlanta and heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including some of Trump’s closest advisers from his final weeks in the White House. It recommended issuing multiple indictments in their final report, according to the jury foreperson who spoke out in a media blitz.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could make decisions on charges this spring, the source said. Willis will bring her charging recommendations to the regularly seated grand juries, who each serve two-month terms. Two regular Fulton County grand juries were seated in early March, and the next batch of two are scheduled to be sworn-in early May.

Investigators have at least three recordings of Trump pressuring Georgia officials, including a phone call that he made to the Georgia House speaker to push for a special session to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.

There is also a recording of Trump’s call to a top investigator with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office in December 2020, while they were looking into quashed allegations of irregularities with signature-matching in Cobb County in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg isn’t the only prosecutor breathing down Donald Trump’s neck. As the Guardian’s Peter Stone reports, other investigations into the former president appear to be heating up:

As Donald Trump runs again for the White House, he’s dogged by four criminal investigations that have gained momentum, including two focused on Trump’s zealous drive to overturn his 2020 election loss, raising the odds he will face charges in one or more inquiries in coming weeks or months, say former federal prosecutors.

All four inquiries have accelerated in recent months with numerous subpoenas to close Trump associates and testimony by key witnesses before grand juries in Washington DC, Georgia and New York, that pose growing legal threats to Trump, plus several of his ex-lawyers and allies.

Two investigations are homing in on Trump’s nonstop efforts to thwart his 2020 election loss with bogus fraud charges, while others are looking into Trump’s retention of hundreds of classified documents post his presidency, and Trump’s role in a $130,000 hush money payment in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels with whom he allegedly had an affair.

GOP scrambles as Trump indictment looms

Donald Trump is the Republican party’s once and potentially future president, since he is again running for the party’s nomination in 2024. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s looming indictment has thus put the party in a pickle – but could also have its benefits.

GOP politicians spent the weekend reacting to the news that an indictment was coming, with several saying it would ultimately be a good thing for Trump’s presidential chances. Here’s Senator Lindsey Graham, a top ally of the former president:

Even his former vice-president-turned-naysayer Mike Pence called the Manhattan district attorney’s case a “politically charged prosecution”, before bringing up one of the GOP’s usual attack lines.

“I’m taken aback at the idea of indicting a former President of the United States, at a time when there’s a crime wave in New York City … the fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority, I think is, just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country,” he told ABC News.

That said, Trump seemed to be going it alone when he called for his supporters to protest the indictment. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy – another Trump ally – was quick to swat that idea down:

Updated at 09.34 EDT

Washington girds for possible Trump indictment, protests

Good morning, US politics blog readers. We’re at the start of what could be a history-making week in the United States. Manhattan’s district attorney Alvin Bragg appears to be getting ready to bring charges against Donald Trump for the alleged hush money payment he made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election, which would make him the first American president ever to be indicted. Over the weekend, Trump said he’d be arrested on Tuesday and called for his supporters to protest – which is worrying, considering what happened the last time he issued such a plea. The former president may be getting ahead of himself, and his attorneys have since declared that they have no specific knowledge on when an indictment could happen. But if it comes, it would be a huge development in the many investigations that Trump has been embroiled in ever since he left the White House.

Here’s what else is happening today: