Source: lunchtime departure for Trump flight
Donald Trump is expected to fly to New York around noon today, according to sources in Florida, ahead of his historic arraignment tomorrow on charges of covering up a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
As the former president packs his overnight case this morning at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, there’s a lot swirling both inside and outside the Manhattan courtroom.
New York state supreme court judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule imminently on a motion filed by several media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post, for permission to broadcast Tuesday afternoon’s hearing.
They also want Merchan to unseal the indictment against Trump, details of which are as yet unclear, other than it contains more than 30 charges and reportedly at least one felony for falsifying documents relating to the pay-off.
In support of the motion, lawyers for the media outlets insist:
The right of access is at its zenith when applied to the first ever indictment of a former US president.
Lawyers for the former president, meanwhile, say they are expecting Merchan to issue a gag order Monday, or at his arraignment, on all parties in the case, after Trump maintained a furious tirade against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg over the weekend.
Such an order could substantially impact what Trump will have to say in comments he is scheduled to make from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, immediately after returning from New York.
As for today, Trump’s flight is expected to leave Palm Beach international airport at midday, and arrive at LaGuardia airport in New York about 3pm, reports said. He will spend the night at his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan.
While we await further developments, take a read of my colleague Hugo Lowell’s account here of the ex-president’s plans to stay on offense:
Key events
DeSantis signs permitless carry for Florida
Florida, number three in the nation for mass shootings, is now a permitless carry state for firearms after Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial measure into law on Monday.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis, renowned for showcasing his signing of other pieces of legislation at high-profile, stage managed events with large numbers of supporters, chose to instead sign this one quietly at the state capitol, with fewer than two dozen present.
The only notification from the governor’s office was an email informing media that he had received the “public safety bill” from the state legislature and had until 10 April to sign it.
The law, which allows anybody over 18 to legally carry a concealed weapon, removes all permitting and training regulations. It was immediately condemned by gun control advocates.
I have said often @GovRonDeSantis is a fraud & weak. This morning without announcement, he signed permitless carry. He was afraid for Floridians to watch. Ron, your weakness won’t make you less responsible. The inevitable next shooting because of this will be because of you.
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) April 3, 2023
“He was afraid for Floridians to watch,” said a tweet from Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime Guttenberg was among the victims of the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida.
“Ron, your weakness won’t make you less responsible. The inevitable next shooting because of this will be because of you.”
We’re learning more about the intelligence collected by the Chinese spy balloon that infamously traversed the skies above the US before being shot down by a military jet in February.
It turns out the balloon gathered more information that originally believed, flying over some military bases on multiple occasions and sending the information back to Beijing in real time, NBC News reported on Monday.
The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani writes:
Its flight was closely tracked as it glided from Alaska to Montana, where the US Department of Defense stores some nuclear assets at the Malmstrom air force base. The balloon sped up as China tried to get it out of American airspace as quickly as possible.
[Joe] Biden’s administration played down the balloon’s capabilities at the time. But after it was shot down, the White House confirmed the vessel was carrying equipment capable of intercepting and geolocating communications.
Read the full story:
Donald Trump has the support of at least one world leader as he prepares to be arraigned on criminal charges, none other than Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.
The hard right politician is the only one we know of to publicly tweet his backing, telling Trump on Monday to “keep on fighting” and that “we are with you”.
Orbán does not specify who the “we” is.
There’s movement in another of the criminal investigations hovering over Donald Trump. Fox News host Bret Baier said Monday he’d learned that “multiple secret service agents connected to [the] former president” have received subpoenas to testify Friday to a Washington DC grand jury.
The justice department, through independent special counsel Jack Smith, is investigating Trump in two areas: his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, including the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection; and his improper handling and storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after leaving office.
FOX News is told multiple U.S. Secret Service agents connected to Former President Donald Trump have been subpoenaed & are expected to testify before the D.C. grand jury likely on Friday. The grand jury appearances are related to the Special Counsel Jack Smith probe into the…
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) April 3, 2023
Baier says the latest subpoenas are related to the documents inquiry.
The Washington Post reported Monday that the justice department had obtained more evidence that Trump obstructed the investigation, even after receiving a subpoena to return any documents immediately.
“Investigators now suspect, based on witness statements, security camera footage, and other documentary evidence, that boxes including classified material were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area after the subpoena was served, and that Trump personally examined at least some of those boxes,” the Post reported.
In keeping with long-standing tradition, the justice department would not comment on the report.
Lawyers for the former president insist the investigation is a “witch hunt”.
Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba has made a prickly appearance on CNN’s This Morning, insisting that a mugshot of her boss, something usually required of all defendants when they are arraigned in New York state court, would be merely “theatrics”.
Habba told host Don Lemon:
Mugshots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He’s the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country, right now, so there’s no need for that.
There was, CNN reported Monday, still uncertainty about whether Trump would be photographed. The network said there were fears that such an image would be leaked.
Habba accused Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, without evidence, of leaking details of the indictment to the media, calling it “30 to 34 counts of garbage”.
Bragg, she said, was “a woke DA who’s now bringing a misdemeanor, stacking it, and trying to make it a felony.”.
Things turned more hostile when Lemon challenged Habba’s assertion that she was only looking for tax documents when she allegedly rifled through classified papers allegedly stashed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida:
I’m not in a deposition right now and I’m not going to continue this conversation.
Poll: Majority of Americans approve of Trump indictment
Six of 10 Americans say they approve of the indictment of Donald Trump for covering up a pay-off to a porn star, according to a CNN poll published Monday.
Contrasting the former president’s assertion of widespread anger and outrage, 60% say they agree with the decision by a Manhattan grand jury to bring charges.
Six in 10 approve of the indictment of Trump, a CNN poll finds, but most Americans say politics played at least some role in it, a CNN poll findshttps://t.co/QktM07rxJD
— CNN (@CNN) April 3, 2023
Democrats, unsurprisingly, are the biggest supporters, 94% approving, including 71% who say they “strongly approve”. Republicans have a 79% disapproval rate, with 54% “strongly disapproving”. Independents were 62% in favor.
Still, three-quarters of Americans say politics played at least some role in the decision to indict Trump, including 52% who said it played a major role, CNN found.
You can read the full poll here.
Source: lunchtime departure for Trump flight
Donald Trump is expected to fly to New York around noon today, according to sources in Florida, ahead of his historic arraignment tomorrow on charges of covering up a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
As the former president packs his overnight case this morning at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, there’s a lot swirling both inside and outside the Manhattan courtroom.
New York state supreme court judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule imminently on a motion filed by several media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post, for permission to broadcast Tuesday afternoon’s hearing.
They also want Merchan to unseal the indictment against Trump, details of which are as yet unclear, other than it contains more than 30 charges and reportedly at least one felony for falsifying documents relating to the pay-off.
In support of the motion, lawyers for the media outlets insist:
The right of access is at its zenith when applied to the first ever indictment of a former US president.
Lawyers for the former president, meanwhile, say they are expecting Merchan to issue a gag order Monday, or at his arraignment, on all parties in the case, after Trump maintained a furious tirade against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg over the weekend.
Such an order could substantially impact what Trump will have to say in comments he is scheduled to make from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, immediately after returning from New York.
As for today, Trump’s flight is expected to leave Palm Beach international airport at midday, and arrive at LaGuardia airport in New York about 3pm, reports said. He will spend the night at his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan.
While we await further developments, take a read of my colleague Hugo Lowell’s account here of the ex-president’s plans to stay on offense:
Good morning and happy Monday to all our politics blog readers. Reporters are on the ground at Palm Beach international airport, Florida, from where Donald Trump is expected to fly to New York later today for Tuesday’s state court arraignment for covering up a hush money payment to an adult movie star.
It’s a historic occasion any way you shake it. No sitting or past president has ever been indicted on any criminal charges, and this case brought by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg is only one of four investigations under way into the twice-impeached former commander-in-chief.
Trump had, according to contrasting reports, either a “calm weekend” playing golf at his Trump International golf course in Florida, or a couple of days furiously bashing out rage-filled invective on social media while promising in expletive-laden rants to escalate his attacks on Bragg.
Much more of that to come today, please stick with us.
Here’s what else we’re watching today:
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Joe Biden continues his Invest in America tour in Minnesota’s Hennepin county, where he will deliver remarks this afternoon praising his economic agenda for strong jobs growth, a surge in manufacturing and clean energy.
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There’s no formal White House media briefing, but principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton will “gaggle” with reporters at lunchtime aboard Air Force One en route to Minnesota.
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Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson has thrown his hat into the ring for the Republican party’s 2024 election, hoping to cash in on Trump’s legal troubles and offering himself to moderate voters as a more palatable alternative.
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It’s quieter in Washington DC, where Congress has begun its two-week Easter recess.
