Donald Trump appeals $454m ruling in New York civil fraud case
Donald Trump has appealed his $454m New York civil fraud judgment, challenging a judgeâs ruling that he manipulated the value of his properties to obtain advantageous loan and insurance rates as he grew his real estate empire.
The former presidentâs lawyers filed a notice of appeal on Monday asking the stateâs mid-level appeals court to overturn Judge Arthur Engoronâs ruling in a civil fraud lawsuit brought in 2022 by New York attorney general Letitia James.
Engoron found that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
The judgment, which includes $354m in penalties plus $100m in pre-judgement interest following the three-month, non-jury trial that concluded on 16 February, will continue to accrue interest if the former president fails to pay.
The former president, who has repeatedly described the prosecution as a âwitch-huntâ, has denied all wrongdoing.
Key events
Following Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDanielâs announcement that she would step down, her co-chair Drew McKissick has also announced his resignation.
McKissick, who serves as the chair of the South Carolina Republican party, is also expected to stand down on 8 March. In a statement, he said:
Iâm honored to have had the privilege to serve as RNC Co-Chair for this past year, as well as to have worked with so many grassroots leaders to help make our party successful. Itâs what drives me.
He added that he was looking forward to working with the RNC and Donald Trumpâs campaign âto make sure that we WIN this November by taking back the White House, the Senate and maintaining our majority in the House of Representatives.â
Koch brothers-backed group stops spending for Nikki Haley
Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP), the conservative Super Pac backed by billionaire Charles Koch, announced it has paused its financial support of former South Carolina governor Nikki Haleyâs bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
AFP Action said it âwholeheartedlyâ supports Haleyâs plan to keep campaigning but that its backing would only come in the form of words. The announcement on Sunday came a day after Haley lost her home stateâs GOP primary to Donald Trump. The statement said:
Given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we donât believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory. And so while we will continue to endorse her, we will focus our resources where we can make the difference. And thatâs the US Senate and House.
Haleyâs campaign described the group as a âgreat organization and ally in the fight for freedom and conservative governmentâ and insisted it has âplenty of fuel to keep goingâ.
Joanna Walters
The US Congress is lurching into a new week of political chaos.
Lawmakers are not only trying to avoid a partial government shutdown but also deal with hard right House Republicansâ push for an election-year impeachment trial of the Biden administrationâs top official dealing with the US-Mexico border, homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Reuters reports.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is also grasping for a way forward on vital US aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and plans to hear closed-door testimony from Joe Bidenâs son, Hunter Biden, in an impeachment probe that has failed so far to turn up evidence of wrongdoing by the president.
Congress has been characterized by Republican brinkmanship and muddled priorities over the past year, more so since Donald Trump undermined a bipartisan border deal in the Senate and now wants aid to US allies extended as loans.
Almost two months have passed since Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed on a $1.59 trillion discretionary spending level for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, without the needed legislation to follow.
Itâs becoming more chaotic. The longer Congress is dysfunctional, the further they fall behind on very time-sensitive, high-priority legislation,â said Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute.
Some hardliners are threatening to oust Johnson as speaker, if the Christian conservative allows a vote on the $95bn foreign aid bill that passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Joe Biden plans to meet with Schumer, Johnson and other congressional leaders on Tuesday.
Joanna Walters
House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill to keep the government funded (as well as Ukraineâs resistance to Russia and other needs) and under pressure from the right wingers of his own Republican party in the House to be the speaker of ânoâ when it comes to anything the Democrats want.
In this atmosphere, Johnson posted on X/Twitter yesterday that he hoped to reach a conclusion on government spending âas soon as possibleâ.
Despite the counterproductive rhetoric in Leader Schumerâs letter, the House has worked nonstop, and is continuing to work in good faith, to reach agreement with the Senate on compromise government funding bills in advance of the deadlines.â°â°Our position is that of the American⦠https://t.co/mZ0PFVN9oc
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 26, 2024
Heâs in a public ding-dong with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer amid efforts to deal with the prospect of a partial government shutdown by the end of Friday.
Schumer said in a letter to colleagues last night:
Unfortunately, extreme House Republicans have shown theyâre more capable of causing chaos than passing legislation. It is my sincere hope that in the face of a disruptive shutdown that would hurt our economy and make American families less safe, Speaker Johnson will step up to once again buck the extremists in his caucus and do the right thing.
Johnson posted, in part:
Despite the counterproductive rhetoric in Leader Schumerâs letter, the House has worked nonstop, and is continuing to work in good faith, to reach agreement with the Senate on compromise government funding bills in advance of the deadlines. Our position is that of the American people and our mission is to take steps to rein in Democratsâ overspending and policies that are harming the economy, raising prices, and making everyday life harder for our constituents.
Reuters writes that funding is due to run out on 1 March for some federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, while others like the Defense Department face a 8 March deadline.
Biden to hold talks aimed at preventing government shutdown
Joanna Walters
Joe Biden is planning to meet with congressional leaders in Washington tomorrow as he once again tries to head off the looming prospect of a partial government shutdown at midnight on Friday.
The US president aims to impress upon leading congressional representatives and senators from both parties that there is increasing âurgencyâ to pass a funding bill this week, the White House said yesterday.
Biden is also intending to discuss the stalled national security bill that provides assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Reuters reported.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat on Capitol Hill, issued a statement saying that no deal has been struck â while calling on the Republican House Speaker, Mike Johnson, to âstep upâ and agree to a compromise.
A short term spending bill was passed in January in a bipartisan vote after fraught negotiations, and signed by Biden. Thatâs about to run out.
Martin Pengelly
The second-highest ranking Republican in the US Senate, John Thune of South Dakota, endorsed for president Donald Trump â the man he previously called âinexcusableâ for seeking to overturn the 2020 election and inciting the deadly January 6 attack on Congress.
Multiple media outlets reported Thuneâs endorsement. They also swiftly pointed out statements made by Thune after the 2021 US Capitol attack, now linked to nine deaths, more than 1,200 arrests and hundreds of convictions, some for seditious conspiracy.
âThe impeachment trial is over and former President Trump has been acquitted,â Thune said on 13 February 2021, after only seven Republicans voted to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection and thereby bar him from office.
My vote to acquit should not be viewed as exoneration for his conduct on January 6 ⦠or in the days and weeks leading up to it. What former President Trump did to undermine faith in our election system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power is inexcusable.
Saying he voted to acquit because Trump had left office, and following his Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, who excoriated Trump after voting to acquit, Thune added: âI have faith in the American people and the strength of our democracy.â
Thune previously endorsed Tim Scott, the South Carolina senator now widely seen to be pursuing selection as Trumpâs nominee for vice-president. Trump has often attacked Thune.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDanielâs resignation is another sign of Donald Trumpâs status as the GOPâs de factor leader.
McDanielâs decision to step down on 8 March comes less than 48 hours after Trumpâs resounding victory in the South Carolina primary over the stateâs former governor Nikki Haley, virtually guaranteeing his place as the Republican presidential nominee.
The RNC elections will give Trump an opportunity to underline his influence over the party, adding further pressure on Haley to step aside.
Trump handpicked McDaniel shortly after the 2016 presidential election, after Reince Priebus left the post to become his first chief of staff at the White House. She was the first woman to lead the RNC.
But McDanielâs days appeared numbered after Trump was lukewarm about her performance on Fox News earlier this month. âI think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did OK initially in the RNC,â Trump said in the interview. âI would say right now thereâll probably be some changes made.â
Trumpâs about-face towards McDaniel, who is among a diminishing number of people he has not attacked on social media, came after months of pressure from his rightwing media allies and activists who blamed the RNC chair â not the former president â for the partyâs poor performance in the 2022 midterms.
Biden to visit US-Mexico border on same day as Trump
Joe Biden is set to make a rare visit the US-Mexico border on Thursday to meet with US border patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders, a White House official said.
The president will travel to the southern border city of Brownsville, Texas, according to the official, on the same day that Donald Trump has already scheduled a border trip, the New York Times reported.
Biden will reiterate calls for congressional Republicans to provide the funding needed for additional US border patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more, Reuters cited the White House official as saying.
Trump is expected to be in Eagle Pass, Texas, on the same day, according to reports.
If upheld, Judge Arthur Engoronâs ruling would force Donald Trump to give up a sizable chunk of his fortune as he pursues the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden in the November presidential election.
Trump has maintained that he is worth several billion dollars, and in a deposition last year said he had about $400m in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.
Donald Trumpâs appeal against his New York civil fraud judgment means that the legal fight over the former presidentâs business practices will persist into the thick of the presidential primary season, and likely beyond.
The appeals court could potential put Judge Arthur Engoronâs ruling on hold during an appeals process that could last a year or longer.
Trump faces 91 felony charges as well as mounting legal fees and vast financial penalties that he has tapped his campaign fund to help pay. But his legal travails have only strengthened his support.
Engoronâs 16 February ruling, which includes $354m in penalties plus $100m in pre-judgement interest, will increase by nearly $112,000 per day until Trump pays.
Trump already put $5.5m into a state-controlled escrow account to cover the first defamation judgment that he owes E Jean Carroll. He owes another $83m to Carroll following a late January federal court ruling that he had defamed her again.
Donald Trump appeals $454m ruling in New York civil fraud case
Donald Trump has appealed his $454m New York civil fraud judgment, challenging a judgeâs ruling that he manipulated the value of his properties to obtain advantageous loan and insurance rates as he grew his real estate empire.
The former presidentâs lawyers filed a notice of appeal on Monday asking the stateâs mid-level appeals court to overturn Judge Arthur Engoronâs ruling in a civil fraud lawsuit brought in 2022 by New York attorney general Letitia James.
Engoron found that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
The judgment, which includes $354m in penalties plus $100m in pre-judgement interest following the three-month, non-jury trial that concluded on 16 February, will continue to accrue interest if the former president fails to pay.
The former president, who has repeatedly described the prosecution as a âwitch-huntâ, has denied all wrongdoing.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel announces resignation
Nina Lakhani
The chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) plans to stand down beginning next week, paving the way for a slate of Donald Trump loyalists to lead the party in the run-up to the November general elections.
Ronna McDaniel announced her decision to step down just days after the former president endorsed the North Carolina Republican party chair, Michael Whatley, to lead the RNC; his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to be its co-chair; and his close campaign aide Chris LaCivita as the partyâs chief operating officer.
McDanielâs decision to step down on 8 March comes less than 48 hours after Trumpâs resounding victory in the South Carolina primary over the stateâs former governor Nikki Haley, virtually guaranteeing his place as the Republican presidential nominee.
The RNC elections will give Trump an opportunity to underline his influence over the party, adding further pressure on Haley to step aside. Trumpâs popularity among the Republican base remains solid, despite facing a slew of criminal and civil legal battles in multiple jurisdictions.
RNC chair Ronna McDaniel to step down as Trump moves to consolidate power
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel has formally announced her resignation after weeks of public pressure from Donald Trump, as he pushes to assert control over the party at the height of the presidential primary season.
McDaniel announced her decision to step down from her position on 8 March, days after Super Tuesday, so as to âallow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosingâ in a statement this morning. She added:
The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.
Her announcement came after Trump easily won the South Carolina primary on Saturday and after he endorsed North Carolinaâs GOP chair, Michael Whatley, to replace her. Trump also picked his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to serve as committee co-chair.
Hereâs what else weâre watching:
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A conservative Super Pac founded by the billionaire Koch brothers has said it will no longer spend money on Nikki Haleyâs Republican presidential campaign.
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Joe Biden is set to meet with congressional leaders at the White House this week ahead of another potential partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
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Hunter Biden has said in a rare interview that he sees remaining sober as crucial not only to his life, but for the election effort to keep Trump out of the Oval Office.