Related: Congressman Mike Turner rejects Trump’s call to terminate constitution
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Donald Trump failed to disclose a $19.8m loan from a conglomerate with links to North Korea when he was the president of the US, reported Forbes citing documents obtained by the New York attorney general.
The former president had an unreported liability that he owed to South Korean company Daewoo, while he was running for the White House in 2016. He paid off the loan just five months into his presidency, the documents revealed.
The report comes as jurors in the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial started deliberating yesterday, following four weeks of testimony about executive pay practices at Mr Trump’s real estate company that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal scheme which went on for at least 15 years.
During approximately four hours of deliberations on Monday, jurors sent one note to the judge requesting clarification on one of the charges. The jury will resume deliberations today.
The twice-impeached president has also been in the line of fire over his remarks calling for “termination” of parts of the US constitution to overturn the 2020 election, with the White House demanding more Republicans to come forward and rebuke him.
Trump failed to disclose $19.8m loan while he was president, says report
Donald Trump did not disclose a $19.8m loan from a South Korean conglomerate with links to North Korea when he was the president of the US, according to a new report.
The documents obtained by the New York attorney general showed an unreported liability Mr Trump owed to South Korean company Daewoo, reported Forbes.
Mr Trump owed millions of dollars to the company while he was running for the White House in 2016 and paid off the loan just after five months into his presidency, the documents revealed.
He did not list the debt as candidates are expected to in their financial disclosure filings and seemed to have acted with some urgency to clear the debt off his balance sheet, the report said.
My colleague Shweta Sharma reports:
Trump’s non-disclosure of loan could have posed conflict of interest but did not violate laws
ICYMI: Giuliani defends his 2020 election challenges as he faces professional sanctions
Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is being questioned by a committee at the Washington DC Bar Board of Professional Responsibility to determine whether he violated ethics rules with his federal court challenges to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
During his testimony on Monday, he echoed baseless claims about the election and complained that federal investigators have “persecuted” him.
Disciplinary counsel Hamilton Fox dismissed his legal challenge as “frivolous” and argued that Mr Giuliani has “weaponised his law license” to “undermine the Constitution to which he, like all members of the District of Columbia Bar, took an oath to support.”
He was suspended from the New York bar last year for his “false and misleading” statements about the 2020 election.
Proceedings in the hearing are expected to last through this week. The committee then will draft a report and issue recommendations to the full board for disciplinary actions.
ICYMI: Trump falsely claims he never called to ‘terminate’ US constitution despite having said exactly that
Trump’s suggestion that he would endorse the “termination” of the Constitution after his 2020 election loss, a race that he continues to falsely claim was “stolen” from him and marred by widespread fraud, was met with a resounding rebuke from Democratic and Republican officials.
In an apparent response to criticism, the former president posted on Truth Social to claim he never said what he said just two days earlier.
The former president appeared to contradict himself on Truth Social
John Bolton may ‘seriously consider’ presidential run after Trump’s ‘disqualifying’ statement
Former Trump-era national security adviser John Bolton said he would consider running for president to “stop some of the things Trump has done to the party” after the former president suggested he would “terminate” the Constitution after falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“I’d like to see Shermanesque statements from all the potential candidates,” he said. “If I don’t see that, then I’m going to seriously consider getting in.”
Mr Bolton called Trump’s statement “disqualifying.”
Trump is the only candidate who has so far formally announced a run for the GOP nomination in 2024.
Trump’s political action committee is paying legal bills for Mar-a-Lago witnesses
(AP)
Trump’s Save America political action committee is paying legal bills for key witnesses involved in the federal investigation into his mishandling of White House documents at his Florida compound, according to The Washington Post.
The former president’s fundraising arm is supporting former administration officials Kash Patel and Dan Scavino as well as Trump valet Walt Nauta, according to the report.
Mr Nauta reportedly told federal investigators that Trump instructed him to move boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
They are reportedly being represented by Brand Woodward Law, which was paid $120,000 by Save America.
Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in 2020 election defamation case over bogus voting machines claims
Fox Corporation chair Rupert Murdoch will be forced to answer questions under oath next about his network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election as part of a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which is accused of purposefully airing false claims about Dominion Voting Systems during the 2020 presidential election.
According to a filing in Delaware, Mr Murdoch’s deposition will be performed remotely via video conference on December 13 and 14. The filings were first reported by The Washington Post.
During a hearing in October, Dominion attorney Justin Nelson argued that the network’s coverage was “an orchestrated effort,” not just the responsibility of “each host individually,” but “across Fox News as a company.”
Mr Murdoch’s son Lachlan Murdoch was deposed on Monday.
Arizona certifies election results as Kari Lake threatens lawsuit
Arizona officials have certified the state’s results from 2022 elections, what has historically been a routine ceremony but has faced unrelenting scrutiny from conspiracy theroists and the candidates and supporters who have refused to accept the outcome.
“Arizona had a successful election. But too often, throughout the process, powerful voices proliferated misinformation that threatened to disenfranchise voters,” said Arizona secretary of state Katie Hobbs, who defeated Kari Lake in the governor’s race.
“Democracy prevailed, but it’s not out of the woods,” she added on Monday, pointing to the surge in so-called election deniers and the likely challenges ahead in 2024 elections.
Also signing the certifications were Governor Doug Ducey and Arizona attorney general Mark Brnovich – both of whom are Republicans.
Ms Lake and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem, both of whom have amplified bogus election-related conspiracies, were endorsed by Trump. Both lost their races. Republican candidate for attorney general Abe Hamedeh, a third so-called election denier running for one of three top statewide offices in Arizona and who also is endorsed by Trump, is trailing Democrat Kris Mayes by 500 votes. A winner has not been declared in that race.
Ms Lake told far-right conspiracy theorist Steve Bannon that her campaign is “ready to go with what we believe to be an exceptional lawsuit.”
“And we believe we will be victorious in that lawsuit,” she said.
Chuck Schumer: ‘Trump can’t seem to go a week without doing or saying something disgusting, dishonourable or disqualifying'
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned Trump’s latest antidemocratic attack in remarks from the Senate floor on Monday, delivering a rebuke of the former president’s comments on Truth Social suggesting the “termination” of the Constitution after his 2020 election loss.
“Donald Trump cannot seem to go a week without doing or saying something disgusting, dishonourable, or frankly disqualifying for high office,” he said.
He also condemned his dinner with antisemitic far-right influencers Kanye West and Nick Fuentes as well as his recent remarks calling fo the suspension of laws “because he lost the 2020 elechion,” Mr Schumer said.
“Aside from the pettiness and the ego of that, it’s as if Donald Trump is on a mission to find new ways to sink lower and lower at the detriment of America,” he said.
Republicans distance themselves from Trump’s remarks: ‘He goes from MAGA to RINO’
Lindsey Graham said he understood Trump’s anger but told The Independent his remarks about terminating the Constitution or laws was “very inappropriate.”
“He’s frustrated because of the, you know, bias in the media and Democrats controlling Twitter and Russia, joke of investigation,” he said. “But the statement was inappropriate and I’m glad to see him clarify.”
More from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:
“I don’t think there was an escape clause to not defend the Constitution,” Senator Roy Blunt tells The Independent.
White House rebukes Trump’s calls to suspend Constitution over 2020 election
Over the weekend, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said that “attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned.”
“You cannot only love America when you win,” he added.
