SRN - Political News

New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design seems to face skepticism from judge in lawsuit

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s one-of-a-kind method of drawing primary ballots prompted some apparent skepticism from a federal judge Monday as he considered a legal challenge claiming the system favors preferred candidates of establishment party leaders.

The hearing Monday in federal court in Trenton unfolded a day after the state attorney general said he considered the longstanding system unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was filed by Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and others seeking to stop the state’s so-called county line system of primary ballot design. The outcome could determine whether that ballot design is carried into a contentious June 4 Democratic Senate primary pitting Kim against first lady Tammy Murphy.

Unique in the country, New Jersey brackets candidates together who run on the same party slogan, often with those who get the county political party backing in prime position.

Kim appeared in U.S. District Court and testified Monday.

His contest against the first lady came about after U.S. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted on federal bribery charges last September, prompting Kim to declare his candidacy a day later. Murphy, a first-time candidate and the spouse of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, joined the contest in November.

Menendez hasn’t announced his plans, but many Democrats have abandoned him, calling for his resignation. He’s pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the charges.

Meanwhile, shortly after Murphy’s entrance to the race party leaders in several populous counties including Bergen and Essex backed the first lady in a signal that she would get the county line.

Tammy Murphy has said she’s competing in the system that’s in place in the state. Kim began calling for the end of the system, which has been reviled by a number of influential progressive groups in the state.

U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi set aside Monday to decide whether to grant an emergency injunction to end the county line system. March 25 is the filing deadline for the primary, and he told defendants’ attorneys in court that he wouldn’t take too much time “so you can force the court to be able to say, ‘It’s too late, Judge’.”

It’s unclear when he would rule on the matter, but he gave attorneys until later in the week to address the attorney general’s statement.

At times, he sounded skeptical of the attorneys for the defendants — most of the state’s county clerks whose job it is to design and implement ballots.

He responded tersely to a defendant’s attorney who argued that the current system had been in place for 100 years.

“The argument that because this is how we’ve always done it is how it should be done is not going to work in this court,” he said.

At one point, when an attorney for the defendants said political parties have a right to associate and endorse their candidates, Quraishi responded with a question.

“Why does it have to be they also control the ballot,” he asked.

The attorney, William Tambussi, responded that the law allows for slogans, which is how parties identify themselves, on the ballot.

Kim, a three-term congressman, watched hours of testimony and cross-examination of an elections expert his attorneys brought as a witness before taking the stand himself.

He said that while first considering a run for office in 2018, he was told of the importance of getting the county line and that it was “seen as very much determinative of if I would be successful.”

But Kim had reservations about the system, he said, pointing out that he did not always know all the candidates he was bracketed with on the ballot.

“I felt like I had no choice (but) to participate,” he said.

The defendants had argued there isn’t enough time to overhaul the ballots in time for the primary, and their attorneys cast the elections expert Kim’s attorney’s put forward as a witness as lacking knowledge and experience in New Jersey.

A day before the testimony, Attorney General Matt Platkin lobbed what one defendant’s attorney called a “litigation grenade” into the case, submitting a letter to the judge concluding that the state’s primary ballot system was “unconstitutional” and that he wouldn’t defend it.

Quraishi seemed irked by the letter, saying that he wasn’t sure he should consider it. He added that the attorney general could simply have said he wasn’t going to intervene in the case.

“He’s lobbing his opinion from the cheap seats,” the judge said. “He’s not here today.”

The attorney general’s office declined to comment beyond Platkin’s letter.

Outside the courthouse, a couple of dozen protesters carried signs reading “abolish the line” and chanted: “This is what democracy looks like.”


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Donald Trump endorses Ohio congressional candidate Derek Merrin just hours before polls open

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former President Donald Trump issued a last-minute endorsement in a highly sought northwest Ohio congressional district Monday, backing state Rep. Derek Merrin over a rival Republican whom Trump’s closest ally in the state has described as “a rock-solid conservative.”

Trump’s decision came about 18 hours before polls were set to open on Ohio’s primary election — and less than 48 hours after Trump campaigned in the state on behalf of Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, his pick for U.S. Senate.

“Derek Merrin is an incredible America First Patriot who is running for Congress in Ohio’s 9th District against a RINO, Craig Riedel, who is no friend of MAGA,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “As your next Congressman, Derek will fight hard to Secure our Border, Stop Inflation, Support our Military / Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., tapped Merrin, 38, as his pick to take on Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur, 77, the longest-serving woman in Congress, this fall. Kaptur is viewed as among the most vulnerable Democrats in the nation.

Merrin drew statewide attention for leading an intraparty rebellion in the Ohio House last year after a bitter fight over the speakership.

Johnson recruited Merrin after audio surfaced of Riedel criticizing Trump, which raised concerns about his electability in a state that’s twice supported Trump’s presidential bids by strong margins. But that was months ago, back in December, begging the question of why Trump didn’t weigh in earlier.

Notably, Riedel’s campaign recently began airing a searing Merrin attack ad — blasting the legislator as “a top henchman” to then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. Householder was convicted last year in the largest bribery scheme in state history and sentenced in June to 20 years in prison. The ad suggests “speculation swirls Merrin could be charged next.”

In backing Merrin, Trump parted ways with his best known Ohio ally: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan. Jordan originally endorsed Riedel and stuck by him even after the remarks involving Trump came to light.

Jordan said, “Craig Riedel is a rock-solid conservative who understands that parents, not the government, know what is best for their children. He will fight to cut spending, lower taxes, uphold the Second Amendment, and protect traditional family values.”

Trump’s 11th-hour decision to get involved is merely the latest twist in what has been a roller coaster of a primary marked by swift entries and exits, candidate gaffes and bouncing endorsements. At one point, Johnson, Jordan and the state’s Republican senator, JD Vance, were aligned with three different candidates.

Vance had backed J.R. Majewski, the party’s 2022 nominee, before he suddenly withdrew from the race earlier this month after facing criticism for remarks he made during a podcast denigrating Special Olympics athletes.


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Trump seeks to appeal decision not to disqualify district attorney from Georgia election case

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and other defendants in Georgia’s election interference case filed court papers Monday seeking to appeal a judge’s ruling not to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from their prosecution or dismiss the charges.

The resignation of the special prosecutor with whom Willis had a romantic relationship is not enough to correct the appearance of impropriety the judge found, according to a court filing by attorneys for Trump, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and five other defendants.

“Whether District Attorney Willis and her Office are permitted to continue representing the State of Georgia in prosecuting the Defendants in this action is of the utmost importance to this case, and ensuring the appellate courts have the opportunity to weigh in on these matters pre-trial is paramount,” they wrote.

The filing asks Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to grant a certificate that would allow his decision to be reviewed by the Georgia Court of Appeals. A spokesman for Willis said the district attorney’s office couldn’t comment.

McAfee ruled Friday that special prosecutor Nathan Wade had to leave the case or Willis couldn’t continue to pursue the charges. Wade later resigned, allowing Willis to remain on the most sprawling of four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

McAfee did not find that Willis’ relationship with Wade amounted to a conflict of interest but said the allegations created an “appearance of impropriety” that infected the prosecution team.

Attorneys for Trump and the other defendants who joined Monday’s filing said a failure to remove Willis now could imperil any convictions and force a retrial if an appeals court later finds it was warranted.

“Neither the Court nor the Parties should run an unnecessary risk of having to go through that process more than once,” they wrote.

Willis hired Wade in 2021 to lead the team to investigate and ultimately prosecute Trump and 18 others on charges that they illegally tried to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia in 2020. The case uses a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power.

Willis and Wade testified at a hearing last month that they had engaged in a romantic relationship, but they rejected the idea that Willis improperly benefited from it, as lawyers for Trump and some of his co-defendants alleged. Willis and Wade insisted they didn’t begin dating until after he became special prosecutor and the relationship ended in the summer of 2023. They both said that Willis either paid for things herself or used cash to reimburse Wade for travel expenses.

McAfee wrote that there was insufficient evidence that Willis had a personal stake in the prosecution. And he said he was unable to “conclusively establish by a preponderance of the evidence” whether Willis and Wade began dating before or after he was hired as special prosecutor.

“However, an odor of mendacity remains,” the judge wrote.

The judge also called a speech Willis gave at a historic Black church in Atlanta less than a week after the allegations of her relationship with Wade surfaced “legally improper.” Willis complained in those remarks that people had questioned her decision to hire Wade and questioned his qualifications, seeming to suggest the criticism arose from the fact that she and Wade are Black.

Monday’s filing cited the speech and argued an appellate court would likely find it and the appearance of impropriety McAfee found sufficient to disqualify Willis.


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Trump loses bid to block Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels testimony at hush money trial

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump on Monday lost a bid to block testimony from Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels at his upcoming trial on charges stemming from hush money that Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, paid Daniels, a porn star, before the 2016 election.

Trump last month asked Justice Juan Merchan to block their testimony, arguing Cohen had a history of lying and would likely lie again, and that Daniels – whose real name is Stephanie Clifford – would seek to use the trial to monetize her story.

In rejecting Trump’s request to block Cohen’s testimony, Merchan wrote he was unaware of any basis for Trump’s “rationale that a prosecution witness should be kept off the witness stand because his credibility has been called into question.”

The Republican presidential candidate has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursement of Cohen for the payment to Daniels for her silence about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denies an encounter.

A trial had initially been scheduled for March 25, but last week was delayed until at least mid-April due to a last-minute dispute over evidence disclosure. Merchan is expected to decide on a new trial date after a March 25 court hearing.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office charged Trump last year, declined to comment. Trump’s lawyers also declined to comment.

The case is one of four criminal indictments Trump faces as he prepares for an expected challenge to Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

He has also pleaded not guilty in the other cases, which focus on his efforts to reverse his 2020 loss to Biden and his handling of government documents after leaving office in 2021.

In the Manhattan case, prosecutors argue the Daniels payoff was part of a broader “catch-and-kill” scheme Trump and Cohen hatched to buy the silence of people with negative information about the candidate. Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws in 2018.

Merchan on Monday also denied Trump’s request to exclude testimony from or any evidence about the three people who received hush money payments. These included Daniels, a doorman and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who says she had an affair with Trump, which he also denies.

“The evidence and testimony surrounding these individuals is inextricably intertwined with the narrative of events and is necessary background for the jury,” Merchan wrote.

Prosecutors argued the October 2016 payment to Daniels was made as the Trump campaign panicked about his standing with female voters, following the leak of an “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump boasted about forcing himself on women.

In a modest victory for Trump, Merchan said prosecutors could ask witnesses about the tape, but agreed with Trump that playing the clip itself for the jury could cause him “undue prejudice.” The judge said he may reconsider that ruling “should the Defense open the door.”

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Dan Whitcomb; editing by Deepa Babington and Howard Goller)


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Trump wants to appeal Georgia ruling that kept prosecutor on his case

By Andrew Goudsward

(Reuters) -Donald Trump on Monday asked a Georgia judge to allow him to appeal a ruling keeping the lead prosecutor on the state’s criminal case against the former U.S. president over his attempts to overturn his election defeat.

The filing by Trump, the Republican presidential challenger, and several of his co-defendants, continues their effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over allegations that she received an improper financial benefit from a romance with a special prosecutor assigned to the case.

The appeal could give Trump another opportunity to delay the case, a primary legal strategy as he faces four simultaneous criminal prosecutions while seeking a return to the White House. Trump has so far succeeded in delaying the start of all of the trials.

Lawyers for Trump and eight co-defendants wrote in the filing that the disqualification issue is “of the utmost importance to this case” and said it was “paramount” that a state appeals court weighs in before a trial.

A spokesperson for Willis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled on March 15 that Willis and her office could continue prosecuting the case as long as her former romantic partner Nathan Wade stepped aside, which Wade agreed to do. McAfee found that the relationship had not created a conflict of interest requiring disqualification, but he criticized the prosecutors for a “tremendous lapse in judgment.”

McAfee will need to give permission for Trump and his co-defendants to immediately appeal the ruling and a state appeals court would then have to agree to take the case. If the appeals court agrees to decide the issue, Trump could ask to pause the case in its entirety during the appeal, which would likely take months to resolve.

If the appeals court does not accept the case now, Trump and his co-defendants could raise the issue again after a trial.

The disqualification bid has already sidetracked the election interference case since January when Trump co-defendant Michael Roman revealed that Willis and Wade had vacationed together while Wade was paid by the government for his work on the case.

Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but denied that either received an improper benefit or tainted the prosecution.

Trump and 14 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other charges stemming from what prosecutors allege was a scheme to overturn Trump’s narrow defeat in Georgia in the 2020 election. Four people initially charged have pleaded guilty.

A trial date has not yet been set.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)


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Netanyahu agrees to send Israeli officials to Washington to discuss prospective Rafah operation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss with Biden administration officials a prospective Rafah operation as each side is looking to make “clear to the other its perspective,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

The agreement to hold talks about Rafah came as Biden and Netanyahu spoke Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, as the divide has grown between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and Israel’s conduct during the war, according to the White House. Sullivan said the talks will happen in the coming days and are expected to involve military, intelligence and humanitarian experts.

The White House has been skeptical of Netanyahu’s plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack.

Sullivan said Biden in the call once again urged Netanyahu not to carry out a Rafah operation. At the coming talks, he said U.S. officials will lay out “an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion.”

“The president has rejected, and did again today, the straw man that raising questions about Rafah is the same as raising questions about defeating Hamas,” Sullivan said. “That’s just nonsense. Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.”

The call comes after Republicans in Washington and Israeli officials were quick to express outrage after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections. They accused the Democratic leader of breaking the unwritten rule against interfering in a close ally’s electoral politics.

Biden hasn’t endorsed Schumer’s call for election but said he thought he gave a “good speech” that reflected the concerns of many Americans. Netanyahu raised concerns about the calls by Schumer for new elections, Sullivan said.

Biden administration officials have warned that they would not support an operation in Rafah without the Israelis presenting a credible plan to ensure the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians. Israel has yet to present such a plan, according to White House officials.

Netanyahu in a statement after the call made no direct mention of the tension.

“We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s goals: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never (again) constitutes a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals,” Netanyahu said.

The Biden-Netanyahu call also came as a new report warned that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza’s population to the brink of starvation. The report came from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a partnership of more than a dozen governments, U.N. aid and other agencies that determines the severity of food crises.

Netanyahu lashed out against the American criticism on Sunday, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”

Netanyahu told Fox News Channel that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and he denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate.

“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”

Even as they express frustration about aspects of the Israeli operations, the White House acknowledges that Israel has made significant progress in degrading Hamas. And Sullivan revealed on Monday that an Israeli operation last week killed Hamas’ third in command, Marwan Issa.

“The president told the prime minister again today that we share the goal of defeating Hamas, but we just believe you need a coherent and sustainable strategy to make that happen,” Sullivan said.

Biden after his State of the Union address earlier this month was caught on a hot mic telling a Democratic ally that he has told Netanyahu they would have a “come to Jesus” meeting over the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. His frustration with Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war was also on display in a recent MSNBC interview, in which he asserted Netanyahu was “hurting Israel.”

“He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden said of Netanyahu in the MSNBC interview. “But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken. He’s hurting … in my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel.”

The president announced during his State of the Union address that the U.S. military would help establish a temporary pier aimed at boosting the amount of aid getting into the territory. The U.S. military has also been air-dropping aid into Gaza.

The Biden administration resorted to the unusual workarounds after months of appealing to Israel, a top recipient of military aid, to step up access and protection for trucks bearing humanitarian goods for Gaza.

The five-month war was triggered after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack, rampaging through communities, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking around 250 hostages.

Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. The war has killed over 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and a quarter of the population faces starvation.

This story has been corrected to properly attribute a new report that said “famine is imminent” in Gaza to the Integrated Food Service Phase Classification. It was previously attributed to the World Food Program.

Frankel reported from Jerusalem. AP journalists Chris Megerian and Sagar Meghani contributed reporting.


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Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan will not run with No Labels as it seeks a 2024 candidate

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a leading contender in No Labels’ push to recruit a presidential nominee, has ruled out a 2024 bid.

Duncan, a Republican, had been in communication with the centrist group in recent weeks about running for the White House under the No Labels banner this fall. The well-funded organization has already secured ballot access in more than a dozen states.

“After careful deliberation, I have withdrawn my name from consideration for the No Labels presidential ticket,” Duncan said in a statement. “It was an honor to be approached, and I am grateful to all those who are engaged in good-faith efforts to offer Americans a better choice than the Trump vs. Biden re-match.”

The former Georgia leader becomes the latest would-be candidate to turn down No Labels, a list that includes Republican former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, Republican former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Democratic retiring West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.

No Labels has been working aggressively — and privately — to field a so-called “unity ticket” designed to provide voters with an alternative to former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the general election.

Polls suggest many Americans don’t want a 2020 rematch, a dynamic No Labels sees as an opening to offer a bipartisan ticket. But Democrats are especially worried that a No Labels candidate would undermine Biden’s reelection.

Duncan, who has been critical of Trump, said he would continue focusing on efforts to improve the GOP “so we can elect more common-sense conservative candidates in the future.”

Duncan’s announcement comes less than two weeks after No Labels’ delegates voted to move forward with the process of nominating a candidate.

No Labels did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Duncan’s announcement.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.


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Trump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.

The former president’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented.”

Trump’s lawyers asked the state’s intermediate appeals court to overturn a previous ruling requiring that he post a bond covering the full amount in order to halt enforcement while he appeals the judgment in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit.

With interest, Trump owes $456.8 million. In all, he and co-defendants, including his company, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and other executives, owe $467.3 million. To obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral worth $557 million, Trump’s lawyers said.

Trump is appealing Judge Arthur Engoron ruling in February that he, his company and top executives, including his sons, schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.

Among other penalties, the judge put strict limitations on the ability of Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, to do business.

Trump has until March 25 to pay the judgment or obtain a court order known as a stay which would prevent enforcement while he is appealing. James, a Democrat, has said she will seek to seize some of Trump’s assets if he is unable to pay.

James’ office declined comment Monday on Trump’s inability to secure a bond.

In a court filing last week, Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan wrote that a full bond was necessary, in part, because Trump’s lawyers “have never demonstrated that Mr. Trump’s liquid assets — which may fluctuate over time — will be enough to satisfy the full amount of this judgment following appeal.”

Trump’s lawyers asked the intermediate appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court, to consider oral arguments on its request, and they preemptively sought permission to appeal a losing result to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

Trump is asking a full panel of the Appellate Division to stay the judgment while he appeals. His lawyers previously proposed posting a $100 million bond, but Appellate Division Judge Anil Singh rejected that after an emergency hearing on Feb. 28. A stay is a legal mechanism pausing collection of a judgment during an appeal.

Singh did grant some of Trump’s requests, including pausing a three-year ban on him seeking loans from New York banks.

An insurance broker friend enlisted by Trump to assist in obtaining a bond wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that few bonding companies will consider issuing a bond of the size required.

The remaining bonding companies will not “accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,” but “will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities).”

“A bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses,” broker Gary Giulietti wrote.

Giulietti, who acts as an insurance broker for Trump’s company, testified at Trump’s civil fraud trial as an expert witness called by the former president’s defense lawyers. In his ruling, Engoron observed that some of Giulietti’s testimony was contradicted by other witnesses, including a different defense expert.

Engoron wrote that in his more than 20 years as a judge, he’d “never encountered an expert witness who not only was a close personal friend of a party, but also had a personal financial interest in the outcome of the case for which he is being offered as an expert.” He noted that Giulietti’s company collected $1.2 million in commissions on its Trump accounts in 2022.

Trump appealed on Feb. 26, a few days after the judgment was made official. His lawyers have asked the Appellate Division to decide whether Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and whether he abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction.

Trump wasn’t required to pay his penalty or post a bond in order to appeal, and filing the appeal did not automatically halt enforcement of the judgment.

Trump would receive an automatic stay if he were to put up money, assets or an appeal bond covering what he owes. He also had the option, which he’s now exercising, to ask the appeals court to grant a stay with a bond for a lower amount.

Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.

In January, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. Trump recently posted a bond covering that amount while he appeals.

That’s in addition to the $5 million a jury awarded Carroll in a related trial last year. Trump has put more than $5.5 million in an escrow account while he appeals that decision.


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Supreme Court rejects appeal by former New Mexico county commissioner banned for Jan. 6 insurrection

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office over his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Former Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin, a cowboy pastor who rode to national political fame by embracing then-President Donald Trump with a series of horseback caravans, is the only elected official thus far to be banned from office in connection with the Capitol attack, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory over Trump.

At a 2022 trial in state district court, Griffin received the first disqualification from office in over a century under a provision of the 14th Amendment written to prevent former Confederates from serving in government after the Civil War.

Though the Supreme Court ruled this month that states don’t have the ability to bar Trump or other candidates for federal offices from the ballot, the justices said different rules apply to state and local candidates.

“We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office,” the justices wrote in an unsigned opinion.

The outcome of Griffin’s case could bolster efforts to hold other state and local elected officials accountable for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack.

Griffin, a Republican, was convicted separately in federal court of entering a restricted area on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 and received a 14-day prison sentence. The sentence was offset by time served after his arrest in Washington, where he had returned to protest Biden’s 2021 inauguration. That conviction is under appeal.

Griffin contends that he entered the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 without recognizing that it had been designated as a restricted area and that he attempted to lead a crowd in prayer using a bullhorn, without engaging in violence.

The recent ruling in the Trump case shut down a push in dozens of states to end Trump’s Republican candidacy for president over claims he helped instigate the insurrection to try to prevent Biden, a Democrat, from replacing him in the White House in 2020.

The accusations of insurrection against Griffin were filed on behalf of three New Mexico residents by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning group that also brought the lawsuit in Colorado to disqualify Trump.

CREW has outlined the case for investigating several current state legislators who went to Washington on Jan. 6.

In Griffin’s 2022 trial in state district court, New Mexico Judge Francis Mathew recognized the Jan. 6 attack as an insurrection and ruled that Griffin aided that insurrection, without engaging in violence, contributing to a delay in Congress’ election certification proceedings.

Griffin’s appeal of the disqualification asserted that only Congress, and not a state court, has the power to enforce the anti-insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment by legislation, and it urged the Supreme Court to rule on whether the events on Jan. 6 constituted an “insurrection” as defined in the Constitution.

It also invoked Griffin’s rights to free speech protections.

“If the decision … is to stand, at least in New Mexico, it is now the crime of insurrection to gather people to pray together for the United States of America on the unmarked restricted grounds of the Capitol building,” Florida-based defense attorney Peter Ticktin argued on behalf of Griffin in court filings.

At trial, Mathew, the judge, called Griffin’s free-speech arguments self-serving and not credible, noting that the then-commissioner spread lies about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump in a series of speeches at rallies during a cross-country journey starting in New Mexico, calling on crowds to go with him to Washington on Jan. 6 and join the “war” over the presidential election results.

Mathew said recordings by a videographer accompanying Griffin outside the U.S. Capitol showed that the county commissioner “incited the mob, even after seeing members of the mob a short distance away attack police officers and violently try to break into the Capitol building.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court later refused to hear the case after Griffin missed procedural deadlines.

Griffin on Monday said the Supreme Court took “the coward’s way out” in dismissing his appeal without comment, calling it “the greatest attack on our democracy to date.”

“When civil courtrooms can remove elected officials, it sets a very dangerous precedent,” Griffin said. “Personally, I’m very disappointed and equally concerned about the future of our political system.”

On the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack this year, Griffin cast himself as the victim of political persecution as he spoke to a gathering in the rural community of Gillette, Wyoming, at the invitation of a county Republican Party.

“God is really allowing me to experience some amazing days,” Griffin said. “Jan. 6 was a day like no other. It was a day where a type of patriotism was expressed that I’d never seen before, and I was honored to be there.”

In 2019, Griffin forged a group of rodeo acquaintances into the promotional group called Cowboys for Trump, which staged horseback parades to support Trump’s conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions.

While still a county commissioner, Griffin joined with Republican colleagues in refusing to certify results of the June 2022 primary election based on distrust of the voting systems used to tally the vote, even though the county’s election official said there were no problems. The board ultimately certified the election on a 2-1 vote with Griffin still voting no based on a “gut feeling.”

Griffin withstood a recall petition drive in 2021. After his disqualification from office, Griffin was tried and acquitted by a jury in his home county in March 2023 of allegations that he declined to register and disclose donors to Cowboys for Trump.

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Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Riccardi reported from Denver.


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Trump fails to secure bond for $454 million judgment in civil fraud case as asset seizures loom

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a bond to cover a $454 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case has been rejected by 30 surety companies, his lawyers said on Monday, inching him closer to the possibility of having his properties seized.

The former president must either pay the sum out of his own pocket or post a bond to stave off the state’s seizure while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 judgment against him for misstating property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Trump, two of his adult children and other Trump Organization executives had so far approached the 30 companies through four separate brokers without success, his lawyers said. The other defendants face judgments totaling $10 million.

A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses his appeal and proves unable to pay.

The case, brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James in September 2022, is one of several legal travails the businessman-turned-Republican candidate faces as he seeks a Nov. 5 election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

Trump, 77, has denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal the judgment, which threatens his family’s real estate empire.

He must post cash or a bond within 30 days of Engoron’s formal entry of the order on Feb. 23 or risk the state seizing some of the Trump Organization’s assets to ensure James can collect. Thirty days end on March 25.

In a court filing on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment, arguing the amount was excessive. It was unclear when the court, known as the Appellate Division, would rule.

The lawyers asked that Trump instead be allowed to post a $100 million bond while he appeals the judgment.

Gary Giulietti, an executive with insurance brokerage the Lockton Companies hired by Trump to help get a bond, wrote in the court filing that a bond for the full $464 million is not possible under the circumstances presented.

Giulietti said many sureties would not issue bonds above $100 million and were willing to accept only cash or securities – not real estate – as collateral.

“Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on Defendants,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Before a three-month, non-jury trial began in October, Engoron found Trump had engaged in fraud by overvaluing properties including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, and various office buildings and golf courses.

The trial dealt mostly with damages. In the Feb. 16 decision, Engoron wrote that Trump and the other defendants “are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”

Trump this month posted a $91.6 million bond to cover an $83.3 million defamation verdict for the writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals, in a case that arose from his branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago. He has denied wrongdoing.

He has also pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, his handling of government documents after leaving office in 2021, and hush money paid before his 2016 election win to a porn star who said she had a sexual encounter with him.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)


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