Trump makes wild claims about presidential immunity and Biden’s ‘crimes’: Live

Mr Trump was removed from their GOP primary ballots because of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot when his supporters attempted to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in their false and baseless belief that the election had been stolen.

While Mr Trump has been charged with wrongdoing in relation to the Capitol riot, his allies often make the point that he hasn’t been criminally charged with “insurrection”.

The Trump team is set to file a challenge in a Maine state court to the secretary of state’s decision to block Mr Trump from appearing on the ballot, while the ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Mr Trump will be challenged in the US Supreme Court.

The former president appointed three of the six conservative justices on the court. The three liberals were appointed by Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The remaining three conservatives were appointed by George HW Bush and George W Bush.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that any officer who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution cannot “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.

Donald Trump has begun 2024 by defending his allegations that the 2020 election was stolen by claiming it was his duty as president to make such unfounded accusations that ultimately led to the storming of the US Capitol on January 6.

Page 1: The Failing New York Times: “Prosecutors Ask Appeals Court to Reject Donald Trump’s Immunity Claims. The filing by special counsel, (Deranged) Jack Smith, was the latest in a fight over WHETHER FORMER PRESIDENTS CAN BE HELD CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS IN OFFICE.” First of all, I did nothing wrong, and while it should not even matter, I was not campaigning—The 2020 Election was LONG OVER. What I was doing is bringing to light the fact that the Election was, without question, Rigged and Stolen. As President, and Commander-in-Chief, it was my duty to do so! If I did not do this, I would have been in violation of my Oath of Office….

Here come the grievances:

Page 2: We cannot let our Elections ever be CORRUPTED again. Many Democrats challenged 2016, and nothing was done to them. Biden had me Indicted! They spied on my Campaign, started the Fake Russia,Russia,Russia Hoax, Lied to Congress, Abused FISA, Stuffed Ballot Boxes, Misused 51 Intelligence Agents, Illegal FBI/Twitter Files, Facebook Lock Boxes, Never Got State Legislatures to approve Election Changes, Harassed Election Observers, and much more….

And finally the list of “crimes” he alleges were committed by President Joe Biden:

Page 3: REMEMBER, if I don’t have Presidential Immunity, then Crooked Joe Biden doesn’t have it either, and he would certainly be Prosecuted for his many ACTUAL CRIMES, including illegally receiving massive amounts of money from foreign countries, including China, Ukraine, and Russia, paying off Ukraine to fire an unfriendly prosecutor, allowing millions of people to illegally Enter and Destroy our Country, SURRENDERING in Afghanistan, with Hundreds Dead, many Americans Left Behind, and handing over Billions of Dollars Worth of the Best Military Equipment anywhere on Earth, the Decimation of American Wealth through the Green New Scam, and so much more. REMEMBER, Crooked Joe Biden and his CORRUPT JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, D.A.’s and A.G.’s, has attacked his Political Opponent at a level never seen before in this Country, and wants desperately to PUT “TRUMP” IN PRISON. He is playing a very dangerous game, and the great people of America WILL NOT STAND FOR IT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

Happy New Year, everyone.

Glenn Kirschner, who worked for six years as a prosecutor for the US Army and 24 years for the US government, told Sky News that the weight of Republican witnesses against Mr Trump would make it very difficult for him to claim he was being unfairly persecuted.

“I think the odds of a conviction are extremely high,” Mr Kirschner told Sky News.

Io Dodds has the full story:

Ms Boebert, the right-wing firebrand congresswoman and ardent supporter of former president Donald Trump, appeared on former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast.

Mr Bannon noted how Democrats had raised $10m against Ms Boebert since her 2022 race, when she narrowly beat Democrat Adam Frisch by 546 votes, mostly from the ski town of Aspen.

Eric Garcia has the story.

The holidays have ended, which means people are finally done seeing their dysfunctional families and inevitably talking about politics. But the annual political chatter amid extra servings and presents will have been a little different when someone is a politician themselves.

Currently, Washington is split, with Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate, but Republicans controlling the House of Representatives by a slim margin, which has led to its loudest and most right-wing voices all but dictating the direction of GOP leadership and deposing a speaker.

Meanwhile, a bevy of Republican candidates are running to challenge former president Donald Trump, but none have even put up the semblance of a legitimate challenge to the former president. Conversely, no credible Democrat with wide name recognition seems to be willing to challenge President Joe Biden.

So as we get ready for another election year, here are the biggest political losers.

Following the Colorado ruling, all four of Mr Trump’s rival GOP candidates put on something of a united front and spoke out to slam the move.

On Thursday, they all once again criticised the decision coming out of Maine.

Section Three of the amendment prohibits those who take part in insurrections or aid enemies of the US government from taking office.

To date, such challenges have been brought in both federal district and state courts across at least 16 states.

While Mr Trump says he plans to appeal the Colorado decision, likely taking the case up to the US Supreme Court, he is also preparing for challenges, appeals and decisions in other states.

Glenn Kirschner, who worked for six years as a prosecutor for the US Army and 24 years for the US government, told Sky News that the weight of Republican witnesses against Mr Trump would make it very difficult for him to claim he was being unfairly persecuted.

“I think the odds of a conviction are extremely high,” Mr Kirschner told Sky News.

Io Dodds has the full story:

Mr Trump was removed from their GOP primary ballots because of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot when his supporters attempted to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in their false and baseless belief that the election had been stolen.

While Mr Trump has been charged with wrongdoing in relation to the Capitol riot, his allies often make the point that he hasn’t been criminally charged with “insurrection”.