Trump fraud trial gag order paused by appeals court judge: Live

The funding package, which passed the Senate against the opposition of one Democrat and 10 Republicans, keeps parts of the government up and running until early next year. The bill extends funding for military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Department of Energy until 19 January and the rest of the government until 2 February.

House Republicans pushed for the two-pronged measure in the hope that it would block the passing of a massive “omnibus” funding package – which typically includes all 12 major spending bills – as they believe the omnibus procedure prevents spending cuts.

The continuing resolution passed by both chambers doesn’t include any aid to either Israel or Ukraine, which were important issues for Democrats.

Here’s what happens next:

The source of the leak of several witness proffer videos in Donald Trump’s sweeping RICO election interference case in Georgia has now been revealed.

Mr Miller told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that he was coming clean so that he could “sleep well tonight” and to prevent anyone else from shouldering the blame – after legal teams for Mr Trump and co-defendant Rudy Giuliani sought to pin the leak on District Attorney Fani Willis’ office.

In a rambling Truth Social rant, the former president called the reality TV star-turned-social justice campaigner the “World’s most overrated celebrity.”

His criticism comes as Jonathan Karl writes in his new book, Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party, how the reality star leveraged her celebrity to urge the then-president to commute certain prison sentences.

Read the full response from the former president:

The proposed subpoenas also seek testimony from former US Attorney General Bill Barr, former deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, and former US Attorney Richard Donoghue.

Hunter Biden seeks information “that goes to the heart of his defense that this is, possibly, a vindictive or selective prosecution arising from an unrelenting pressure campaign beginning in the last administration,” according to Mr Biden’s attorneys.

Mr Trump, 77, spoke in Claremont, New Hampshire, telling the crowd in his usual grievance-laden parlance: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections.”

The former president has refused to accept the results of the 2020 election and continues to lie, falsely claiming that it was stolen.

Donald Trump’s former attorney, who was found liable for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, could be called to testify about his false statements as well as his team’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to a Tuesday filing with an outline of the case.

Jenna Ellis, among attorneys alongside Mr Giuliani who launched a spurious legal campaign to overturn election results, also is on the trial’s witness list, along with other Trump-connected figures Bernie Kerik and Christina Bobb, among others.

A trial is scheduled to begin on 11 December and will last up to four days.

Finally, The Rock has come back to Capitol Hill.

Things have really gone downhill if the 10-time WWE world champion, former winner of the Royal Rumble and star of The Fast and Furious saga Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the least violent man on the Hill this week. Indeed, if we are to believe Rep Tim Burchett (R-TN), the person who did deliver the sharpest elbow this week was former speaker Kevin McCarthy.

But senators somehow found time amid their scramble to vote to keep the government open to meet with Mr Johnson to talk about military recruitment.

(Much to her chagrin, Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has a well-publicised crush on Mr Johnson, told me that she didn’t get to meet Mr Johnson when I asked her).

Inevitably, this only added to the speculation that Mr Johnson would run for president.

He testified that the valuations of a property can differ widely. Asked how common it is for appraisers to disagree on a valuation he replied: “Very common.”

Mr Laposa gave the same response to how often non-appraisers differ in opinion.

After a short break, Judge Arthur Engoron overruled an objection from the Attorney General’s office seeking to limit Mr Laposa’s testimony.

“To me it’s not even close, objection overruled, there’s no jury. Given this guy’s experience…30 plus years…I want to hear what he has to say about valuation,” Justice Engoron says.

Mr Laposa refers to two valuation concepts: market value and investment value.

Market value is the price that an asset is currently being offered for in the marketplace, while investment value is what an investor is willing to pay for the asset. He concluded that the NY AG is using market value in its complaint which he said he considered “flawed” as it doesn’t take into account the potential investment value of the properties.

Giving the example of the 40 Wall Street skyscraper, A Capital One appraisal from 2012 gives it a value of $220m with a projection that it will rise to $260m by the end of 2015.

Another appraisal by Cushman & Wakefield in June of 2015 says the same property is worth $540m.

Court adjourns for the day. Mr Laposa will resume his testimony at 10am tomorrow.