Trump lawyers don’t want him on trial in Georgia until at least 2029: Live

Donald Trump’s latest violent, authoritarian visions in his 2024 campaign for the presidency are building on his platform of self-described retribution.

They are also increasingly colliding with the multiple criminal investigations and lawsuits against him, as prosecutors and judges hope to rely on gag orders to rein in his rhetoric, which has invited hundreds of abusive messages and credible death threats from his supporters against the judges and prosecutors involved.

The leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president is giving his supporters permission to dehumanise and degrade his political opponents as he does, priming their acceptance of political violence against the “other” side, while absolving them of responsibility for it, according to urgent warnings from scholars and legal analysts.

Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark wanted to push back their deadlines for pre-trial motions and discovery in the Georgia election interference case.

After attorneys argued on their behalf in Fulton County court today, Judge Scott McAfee said he will grant a two-month extension to 1 February, which could significantly alter the timeline for the rest of the trial and their co-defendants.

Meadows and Clark, along with Trump, are reportedly not up for consideration for plea deals, and the judge overseeing the case will have to determine whether to try the 15 defendants all at once or split them up.

Prosecutors requested an August 2024 trial date.

Both men have busy legal calendars. Meadows and Clark are trying to move the case to federal court, and Clark is also facing his own possible disbarment in proceedings that are underway in Washington DC.

Former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has privately said he “passionately” hates Donald Trump. He has described him as a “demonic force” and a “destroyer” that he “can’t wait” to ignore. Carlson says he plans to vote for him in 2024.

The far-right commentator was fired from the network in the wake of a record-breaking settlement in a defamation case stemming from the former president’s election lies.

On Thursday, he told Roseanne Barr on her podcast that he has “always agreed” with Mr Trump’s policies but became an “active Trump supporter” following the law enforcement search of his Mar-a-Lago estate last summer.

Trump shouldn’t be on trial in Georgia during his 2024 presidential campaign, and, if he wins that election, he shouldn’t be on trial until he leaves the White House, his attorneys told the judge overseeing a criminal case surrounding his efforts to overturn the results of the last election he lost.

The latest from the Fulton County case:

A former Black Lives Matter organiser in Rhode Island endorsed Donald Trump this week, an announcement that the chapter and national groups have condemned, stressing that he not longer is affiliated with the group.

“This is a publicity stunt,” according to a statement. “The right-wing continues to use and amplify fringe Black voices to create an idea of broad support for their corrupt candidates.”

Trump, who previously accused the movement against racial injustice of “hating” and “destoying” the US, has welcomed the endorsement, a move that organisers argue is a bad-faith distortion and exploitation of the group and its message.

The White House and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are already shooting down Republican claims that the House’s impeachment probe into President Joe Biden is being obstructed or stonewalled by the Biden administration and members of the president’s family.

A memo reviewed by The Independent lays out the case against GOP claims targeting the president, while House Speaker Mike Johnson and top Republicans lay the groundwork for a formal impeachment investigation, which has thus far produced no evidence of any wrongdoing.

A former server is suing Donald Trump’s National Golf Club in Bedminster, alleging she was sexually harassed and coerced into sex by one of her supervisors before she was tricked into signing an illegal non-disclosure agreement by his lawyer, Alina Habba.

The lawsuit was filed in New Jersey this week

Today’s mammoth pre-trial hearing in Georgia has been wading into some major arguments around the First Amendment and the trial schedule, including whether Trump can even be tried at all if he’s back in the White House.

According to his attorney Steven Sadow, “this trial would not take place at all until he left office.”

Attorneys also argued that Trump shouldn’t be on trial at all while he campaigns for the presidency. Should he win the election next year, he wouldn’t be on trial in this case until at least 2029, according to his attorneys.

“Can you imagine … not being able to campaign because he’s in some form or fashion in a courtroom defending himself?” they argued, calling it “the most effective election interference.”

“This trial does not constitute election interference,” Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade told Judge Scott McAfee. “I don’t think it in any way impedes defendant Trump’s ability to campaign or do whatever he needs to do to seek office.”

Following the death of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the nation’s highest court, Trump offered his condolences on Truth Social, touting her relationship with his late sister.

“Melania and I are saddened by the loss of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. She was a great friend of my Sister, the amazing Judge Marianne Trump Barry, who left us just a few weeks ago. My wonderful Sister and Justice O’Connor had deep respect and admiration for one another’s intellect and fairness, with Marianne receiving the Sandra Day O’Connor Medal of Honor. We send our deepest condolences and prayers to the entire O’Connor family.”

The Independent’s Ariana Baio reports on her death:

Donald Trump defended his co-defendant Bob Cheeley on Truth Social while Cheeley’s attorney began a First Amendment defense in court.

Cheeley is “a “highly respected lawyer and man of deep faith” who is being persecuted, along with the rest of us, for no reason,” Trump wrote.

He blasted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as “radical left” and “totally out-of-control”.

Cheeley, who mounted spurious election lawsuits, is charged along with Trump in the RICO case alleging a criminal enterprise to overturn 2020 election results in Georgia. Cheeley also is charged with perjury and soliciting a public officer to violate their oath.