Trump trial updates: Expert witness Eli Bartov claims ‘no fraud’ in New York civil case

A group of 10 Republicans who acted as “fake electors” in the 2020 presidential election and signed official-looking paperwork claiming Donald Trump won Wisconsin have settled a lawsuit against them.

They have agreed to withdraw their inaccurate filings, acknowledge Joe Biden won the presidency and not serve as presidential electors in 2024 or in any election where Trump is on the ballot.

The 10 fake electors will send a statement to the government offices that received the Electoral College votes saying that their actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results”.

The former New Jersey governor lost his cool and attacked Mr Ramaswamy over his stance on ending Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, claiming he wanted to appease Vladimir Putin and trusted Moscow over China.

Graeme Massie has the story.

Towards the end of her discussion with Glenn Beck on his show, Megyn Kelly was asked if she thought Donald Trump was going to jail.

I’m starting to worry. I didn’t — he definitely will get convicted, in multiple jurisdictions. But Andy McCarthy, who is very smart on these things, was pointing out that Judge Chutkan in DC, in the federal case, on J6, you know she hates him. In DC, the jury is going to hate them.

That he thinks there’s a — there’s some pretty good odds, she will not release him from jail, pending appeal after his lengthy conviction.

Asked what that would do to the system, Kelly said that was why Republicans need “an undercard”, to which Beck added: “Somebody has to run all the way to the end”.

He then asked: “Is that just chaos in the streets?”

America will burn if they put Trump in jail before this election. It will burn. I don’t want it.

I just see the reality, the same as you do. And we will need the National Guard city to city. You know, MAGA is going to rise up. And there will be a lot of sympathizers who understand it, and won’t try to stop it.

They cannot be allowed to do that.

Wednesday night’s showdown in Alabama touched on issues which previous debates skipped over — most glaringly, the GOP’s culture war against transgender Americans. But the main feature of the last meetup of the four underdog Republican candidates seems to have been the animosity which spilled out into view at multiple points.

Obviously, the frontrunner, Donald Trump, was once again absent. So none of this really mattered in the grand scheme of the 2024 Republican primary; he is the wide favourite to win the nomination, and remains so after tonight. But what tonight’s debate really did was illustrate the greater state of the modern Republican Party, and what kind of candidate everyone who is not Donald Trump, the Republican insiders, believe their party wants to see — if not now, then in 2028.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the last Republican debate of the year, and probably the election cycle, as we prepare for the Iowa caucuses next month.

Eli Bartov, the accounting professor testifying as an expert for Donald Trump’s defence at his New York fraud trial, says he charges $1,350/hour and has worked on the civil fraud case for approximately 650 hours.

That means he’s getting at least $877,500 for his work, paid for by the Trump Organization and Trump’s Save America PAC.

Mike Sisak of the Associated Press notes that the meter is still running as cross-examination by counsel for the New York Attorney General’s office has only just begun.

Mr Bartov will return to the stand on Tuesday after Mr Trump testifies again on Monday.

Following her return as a debate moderator on Wednesday, Megyn Kelly called into Glenn Beck’s show to talk about the debate and who won and who lost (Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley respectively).

Asked by Beck whether former president Donald Trump “has faded from where he was in 2020”, Kelly responded:

I mean, I would take him over Joe Biden any day of the week.

I don’t think he will fill out this term, never mind the second.

But there’s no question that Trump has lost a step. Or multiple steps. He is confusing Joe Biden from Obama.

I know he’s saying, he intentionally did that. Go back and look at the clips. It wasn’t intentional. Anyone could have a slip of the tongue. It’s happened to him repeatedly.

The reference about how someone will get us into World War II.

Confusing countries. Confusing cities where — it’s happening more and more. With all due respect to Trump. This is what happens when you’re 77 years old. Trump seems inhuman, but he’s not inhuman. He’s a human. He’s a man. DeSantis didn’t lie — Father Time spares no one —was a good one.

So, look, if it’s between Trump and Biden, I don’t think there’s any question who is more fit, more capable.

But are we really going to pretend that Donald Trump is just as vibrant and mentally sharp as he was [in 2016]? Well, okay.

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger describes himself as politically “homeless,” at odds with a party he views as “anti-constitutionalist.” He believes former President Donald Trump will be the 2024 Republican nominee — and if that’s the case, Kinzinger intends to vote for President Biden.

“If a run as an independent for Liz Cheney damages Donald Trump, then I think it’s smart. Go for it, right?” Kinzinger said. “The only concern I have, and this is with any third-party attempt is, you know, are you going to just take away from Joe Biden?…Donald Trump is the big threat to the country in 2024.”

Asked about Trump’s sizable polling lead in the race for GOP nominee, Kinzinger said, “If I was betting Vegas odds right now, I would put all my money [that] Donald Trump will be the nominee.”

The District of Columbia Circuit clerk sets a 26 December 2023 deadline for filing various key pieces of paperwork in Donald Trump’s appeal of Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision denying his motions to dismiss Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal election interference case.

This is important considering the scheduled 4 March 2024 trial date and the timing of any appeal or Supreme Court case.

Here’s the background to the Trump team’s efforts to dismiss or delay the case:

The case in Colorado is among dozens of legal challenges across the country that throw Mr Trump’s eligibility into question, pointing to a constitutional amendment that prohibits anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office.

So far, no courts have found Mr Trump ineligible. But after a week-long trial last month, a state judge in Colorado ruled that while the former president supported the insurrection, a ban from office doesn’t apply to presidents.

An appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, where all seven justices are Democratic appointees, challenges not only whether the former president was responsible for provoking his supporters to riot at the US Capitol on January 6, but also whether that should make him ineligible for returning to the White House.

Donald Trump is well-known for a lot of things: his divisiveness, his career in real estate, The Apprentice, his lawsuits, for being the only president to be impeached twice. But perhaps nothing has infiltrated society more than Mr Trump’s unique linguistic style.

Whether he’s posting on Truth Social, speaking at a campaign rally, or testifying in court, Mr Trump never seems to be at a loss for words — and sometimes, he even makes up new ones.

From uttering gaffes to tweeting typos (like “covfefe”) to misreading words (like “Nambia”) to dismissing his opponent with a harsh nickname, his terminology quickly turns iconic.

Here, The Independent offers a dictionary guide to the Mr Trump’s most memorable phrases: