Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba was overheard on the phone with her client, Donald Trump, on Wednesday as she was walking through the courthouse.
According to MSNBC's Lisa Rubin, Habba said: “'Hi, sir, I am in the elevator in the courtroom.' Pause. 'I will knock them dead.'”
Trump's adult sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are scheduled to testify on Wednesday through Friday this week, with his daughter Ivanka expected to take the stand after her father next week. Thus far, Eric has claimed that he had no real role in the appraisals because he was "pouring concrete" — meaning he manages properties rather than gets involved in the business side.
"As someone who has studied the case filings and watched much of the trial in person, I know that Eric, who insisted at his deposition that his participation in developing certain properties was at a 'very macro' level and that he was 'focused on pouring concrete, not accounting,' was not just more enmeshed with the operation of the Trump Organization than most understand; he was also allegedly heavily involved in the valuation of several of the assets at issue," she wrote.
In the case of the Trump Organization's New York estate Seven Springs, for example, Eric Trump was actually living on site as the project moved forward.
The House Ethics Committee released a statement Tuesday saying it had gathered a mountain of evidence in its investigation of Rep. George Santos (R-NY) — and it expected to announce its next steps on or before Nov. 17.
Punchbowl News shared the release from the committee, which details the extent of the evidence collected and people questioned.
"The ISC [Investigative Subcommittee] has contacted approximately 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized 37 subpoenas. The Committee's nonpartisan staff and the ISC Members have put countless hours into this investigation, which has been a priority for the investigative team and involved a significant amount of the Committee's resources," it said.
In May, Santos was indicted by the Justice Department on 13 criminal charges, and then hit by another 23 in a superseding indictment earlier this month. Charges include wire fraud, falsifying records and identity theft.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Several New York Republicans launched a push to try to throw Santos out of his Long Island seat before the 2024 election. Santos has announced he will run for reelection.
Only a few weeks ago, Santos' former campaign treasurer pleaded guilty as part of a deal in court over working with Santos to commit wire fraud and identity theft, among other charges.
“That’s basis enough for an expulsion. You don’t get to come here based on lying to all your voters and all your contributors. That is a minimum standard that should be enough, I think, for two-thirds of the House to expel,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) said on Thursday when the New York Republican's resolution to remove him was introduced, the Washington Post reported.
Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) isn't taking any complaints from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
McConnell has been largely quiet about the fellow members of his party causing their caucus political issues. Today, that changed, according to Punchbowl News.
During the Senate Republican caucus lunch meeting, McConnell attacked Hawley about his bill targeting Citizens United. Hawley is claiming to be fighting back against corporate spending in politics, but his opponent disagrees.
Hawley's Democratic challenger, Lucas Knuce, said on social media that the bill is performative and nothing more than a "campaign prop." He alleged that Hawley has been taking checks for the maximum donation endorsed by the group Citizens United itself.
McConnell reportedly told Hawley the only reason that he is in the Senate at all is due to the Senate Leadership Fund — which can take unregulated, unlimited contributions for candidates and campaigns.
McConnell is said to have further told the GOP senators that if anyone signs onto the bill, they're going to get challenged from the right in a primary election. It's a direct threat to remove someone from Congress electorally.
"Ironically, however, it would not stop the conservative group that upended modern election law. Citizens United is itself a non-profit and, therefore, wouldn’t be affected," the report said.
A trial is unfolding in Colorado over whether Donald Trump can be on the 2024 ballot after claims that he has violated the 14th Amendment, which states that nobody who takes part in an insurrection can hold public office. On Tuesday, he sued another state in an effort to kill the same argument.
Bridge Michigan reported Trump's attorneys are suing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to ensure he remains on that ballot.
According to a Sept. 29 complaint from a group called Free Speech for the People, Trump "incited" an angry mob of supporters to a "violent insurrection" on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the certification of the 2020 election.
Trump's countersuit claims that the 14th Amendment does not apply to the president or candidates and requires Congress to decide how it is enforced. A judge in New Hampshire agreed with that argument earlier this month and threw out a 14th Amendment claim in that state.
When the president, vice president, members of Congress, the Senate, or the judiciary are sworn into office they are required to say that they will uphold the Constitution, which includes the 14th Amendment.
The Trump attorney, Lansing-based attorney David Kallman, goes on to say that Jan. 6 was not a "riot" and doesn't fall under the description of an "insurrection" as outlined in the 14th Amendment. An insurrection is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a violent uprising against an authority or government." A riot, by contrast, is defined as "a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd."
Benson has already said publicly she wouldn't keep Trump from the ballot unless a court tells her she must do so.
"Michigan Election Law does not empower the Secretary of State to unilaterally determine a presidential candidate ineligible for the presidential primary or general election" because of the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause, Benson's office said in an Oct. 16 court filing.
"Court of Claims Judge Robert Redford denied Trump's requests, largely on technical grounds, but suggested the former president file a separate complaint to be consolidated with those suits ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Nov. 6," said the report.
Several 14th Amendment claims against Trump have been filed around the country. The ongoing Colorado case is the first to go to trial.
Washington Post columnist Philip Bump revealed in a piece Tuesday that he recently started getting a barrage of text messages asking that he support a number of Republican causes. The texts, he said, oddly came from figures including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Donald Trump's attorney John Eastman and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
"I am curious," said the well-known liberal writer, "As to whether this was a change in approach by Republican fundraisers or an effort to troll me with spam personally, but that’s beside the point."
On Monday evening, he said, he received a request to donate to Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who is chairing an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden.
“40 FBI Informants. In the Biden Family. For 15 years,” the text told him. “It’s Chairman Comer and you need to read this”
The message linked to a WinRed fundraising page — it struck Bump as bizarre that Comer was desperately trying to fundraise off of his hearings.
"After all, the allegation about the informants wasn’t something that came from his and his party’s efforts," Bump wrote. "The pitch couches that a bit, asserting in boldface text that '[i]t has come to light' that these informants purportedly existed. But there’s no news release about it from the normally news-release-enthusiastic House majority and no mention of it on Comer’s X/Twitter feed. The account for the Oversight Committee did mention it once, pointing back to the source of the claim: Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-IA)."
Grassley and Comer have been coordinating on the Biden investigation, suggesting that the president and his family were involved with some kind of bribery scheme with foreigners. "No evidence corroborating the claim has emerged; evidence undercutting it is generally ignored," Bump wrote.
This month, Grassley sent a letter to the FBI and Attorney General Merrick Garland claiming the FBI, under President Donald Trump and Biden, put off investigations into the claims. Implying that he's getting information from the FBI itself, Grassley admits, "I've been made aware that at one point in time the FBI maintained over 40 Confidential Human Sources that provided criminal information relating to Joe Biden, James Biden and Hunter Biden." He didn't share other information to substantiate or verify it.
"That Comer is raising money off Grassley’s claim — raising money by exaggerating the claim to assert that there were 40 informants for 50 years — is the point," wrote Bump.
"This wasn’t his work; it was simply an allegation that those who would respond to an 'I’m fighting Biden for you' appeal would find compelling. I once referred to Comer’s efforts as a fishing expedition, but he’s not simply throwing out bait to see what he gets, he’s throwing out as much bait as he can to vacuum up as many fish as there are in the sea."
Bump closed by explaining it's easy to twist the story into a scandal, particularly when Comer, Grassley and Fox are pushing the same claims of conspiracy.
"It’s like Trump and election fraud: He keeps saying the election was stolen, so all sorts of things that very much aren’t evidence of that point are granted the default assumption that they are," said Bump.
"Comer takes pixelated images of checks and well-edited videos claiming that Biden’s on the take, puts them on a hook and tosses it into the right-wing ecosystem. Then he refreshes his WinRed page to see how much his 2024 reelection bid is bringing in."
"The Atlantic's" Peter Wehner, who also serves as a senior fellow at the faith-based Trinity Forum, is accusing the new Republican speaker of being a religious "zealot."
Writing Tuesday, Wehner wrote that, unlike many Republicans, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) appears "to be a true believer."
"A polite and mild-mannered zealot, to be sure, especially by MAGA standards, but a zealot nonetheless," Wehner said. "And what makes this doubly painful for many of us is that he uses his Christian faith to sacralize his fanaticism and assault on truth. I can’t help thinking this isn’t quite what Jesus had in mind."
Wehner's Trinity Forum laments the "lack of spiritual and character formation in leaders." Writing about faith, including the Christian faith, he explained that there are many ways that it can manifest into "presuppositions and perspectives," some of which aren't consistent with the key tenets of the religion and its text.
He described Johnson as having "ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination," which has experienced considerable fracturing over the years over women in the pulpit, LGBTQ+ equality and the coverup of preacher sexual abuse.
Johnson, Wehner said, "believes in a literal reading of the Bible, including the Book of Genesis," meaning he believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old, there was an actual garden of Eden and that all humankind spawned from Adam and Eve.
Johnson is "a close friend of Ken Ham, the CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis, and provided legal services to that ministry in 2015." He operates the "Ark Encounter" creationist museum, and Johnson once tried to secure taxpayer funding for it.
Among Johnson's controversial comments are a suggestion that school shootings come from teaching evolution in school. He also equated homosexuality with incest and bestiality. He went so far as to advocate for criminalizing gay sex.
Wehner went on to highlight Johnson's relationship with David Barton, another fringe evangelical who opposes the separation of church and state. Echoing the sentiment, Johnson claimed, “The Founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around." Wehner explained that comes directly from Barton's ideology.
When former Donald Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty in a Fulton County, Georgia courtroom, she made sure to tearfully point out that she is, "An attorney who is also a Christian."
But writing for the Charlotte Observer, columnist Issac Bailey couldn't help but notice that Ellis' faith didn't stop her from misbehaving in the past.
"Those are the words of Jenna Ellis, a woman who helped former President Donald Trump perpetrate a lie about the 2020 election that has threatened our democracy like little else in modern times," wrote Bailey. "Which begs the question: Does declaring oneself Christian mean much of anything these days? Has it ever?"
The Pew Research Center reported that in 2020, Trump increased his support among white evangelical Protestants to 84 percent after getting 77 percent in 2016.
So, Ellis' practice may be more indicative of the broad range of the religion after all.
Bailey spoke about his own life growing up in the church before even knowing what "church" was about. But even he doesn't know what it means if someone says they are a Christian these days, he said.
"It’s not a superficial question, for in this country, and especially in the South, declaring yourself Christian is essentially a prerequisite for holding public office, with only a sprinkling of exceptions, despite the principle of a separation between church and state," he explained. "Ask an atheist, Muslim or Jew if you doubt me."
Ellis said that not only was she a Trump attorney who, "helped perpetrate a fraud on the American public, but that she was a Christian," Bailey cited, as if confused by the concept. She also did it while pleading guilty to one of the biggest moments in political history. He attributed this to the faith of Christianity leaving out the Christ.
"It’s about fitting in, about a shortcut to respectability," he said. "There’s no need to be ethical, to actually love fellow human beings as Christ called us to, to sacrifice for the greater good the way he sacrificed for us. All that’s required is saying the magic words. I’m a Christian. There’s no need to check your biases about people who seem foreign or who don’t fit neatly into a supposed gender or sex binary, no need to check the facts or avoid following obviously-arrogantly immoral men like Trump. Just say 'I’m a Christian,' and your work is done."
"Late Night" show host Seth Meyers had a field day skewering Donald Trump for various senior moments and especially for stepping into it on-stage when he botched Sioux Falls, South Dakota for Sioux City, Iowa — where he was actually stumping.
"A very big hello to a place where we've done very well... Sioux Falls," the 45th president said during a rally speech at the Orpheum Theatre on Sunday. "Thank you very much, Sioux Falls."
The crowd reacted with mixed laughter among some boos and awkward jeers.
Trump then welcomed a man to the stage, who was later identified as state Sen. Brad Zaun, who spoke about his pride to being the first person to endorse the former president. Both men embraced and Zaun could be heard on the hot mic telling Trump: "You're in Sioux City, not Sioux Falls."
Trump could be seen gathering himself and telling him, "Oh. Oh, all right."
He then returned to the lectern to seemingly dress up the gaffe.
"So, Sioux City, let me ask you how many people come — how many people come from Sioux City," Trump asked as the crowd cheered. "How many? Huh? Who does't come from Sioux City?"
More cheers.
The entire slip-up had the host pouncing during his "Closer Look" segment on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" show.
"Nice save dude," said a grinning Meyers. "As soon as someone told him he was wrong, he came back to the mic and said the words 'Sioux City' as many times as possible."
Channeling Trump's voice, Meyers said, "Sioux City. We Love Sioux City. And what better time to be in Sioux City than the fall?"
He continued the bit by pushing Trump's brand, along with his strength and smarts.
"Nothing beats Sioux City in the Fall," he said, still in Trump mode. "Nothing beats Sioux City Falls. Or as I call them: Sioux Falls. So, as you can see earlier, that was not a mistake. It was an abbreviation."
To cover his bases, Meyers suggested Trump would then turn to quickly ad-lib, an absurd alternative excuse to convince any doubters in the Sioux City crowd.
The comedian cajoled: "Also, if you're not buying that, here's a quick hello to my friend in the front row — Sue Falls. We call her that because she trips a lot, and also, it's her given name."
The entire monologue came after Meyers plead a lengthy blooper reel where Trump was featured mistaking Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for Turkey (Turkey's prime minister is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan), taking a bow for defeating former President Barack Obama (when he actually defeated Hillary Clinton), and claiming windmills were driving whales "batty" to score some energy points.
"Normally, you have to stay till after the credits to get a blooper reel that long," Meyers mused.
One of his favorites form the reel was a Tulsa speech where Trump was mocking Biden and said, "You know, when you do that, you may as well just walk off the stage because the speech is a disaster."
He compared the moment when "Biden so much as stumbles" to Trump's ignorance and confusion. For Biden, Democrats freak out and start talking about who else they can get to run. Republicans are a little different.
"When Trump screws up, Republicans are like, 'Ok, we live in Sioux Falls now. Who cares?' When Trump's president, he's going to rename it on a map with Sharpie," Meyers said, harkening back to the days when Trump doctored an official hurricane map simply because he had no idea what was actually unfolding. It ultimately became known as "SharpieGate." Trump then took the map with him to Mar-a-Lago, as if no one would then remember it happened.
Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman flattened one of Donald Trump's lawyers, furious over the Georgia plea deals.
Writing for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he cited Steven Sadow's recent complaint that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was improperly using the RICO laws (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) to force people into turning against Trump.
As someone who has prosecuted people under RICO statutes, Akerman called the claim nonsense.
"This so-called RICO case is nothing more than a bargaining chip for DA Willis," complained Sadow. But as Akerman explained, there's nothing wrong or illegal about using it because RICO laws come with as much as a 20-year sentence. It behooves a co-defendant with minor roles to look for a way out.
"For prosecutors and defense lawyers, bargaining for a less serious crime is standard operating procedure," explained Akerman.
He also noted that prosecutors use a similar deal after trials when a defendant is convicted and gets a big sentence. "In those instances, the convicted defendant is incentivized to enter into a cooperation agreement and testify against others to reduce the imposed sentence," he wrote. He further said that it's how Watergate was cracked, using the hefty prison sentence the Watergate burglars were about to get, one agreed to cooperate. He led them straight to Richard Nixon.
"Charging or convicting a criminal defendant of a serious crime is not the only mechanism in a prosecutor’s toolbox to force a defendant to cooperate and testify truthfully," he continued. "Under the 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, a prosecutor cannot force someone with knowledge of a crime to cooperate unless the prosecutor grants that person immunity from prosecution. With immunity, a person no longer has a Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify because what they say cannot be used to convict them of a crime. However, immunized testimony can be used to convict others of a crime."
He mentioned former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Last week, it was reported he got an immunity deal from special counsel Jack Smith in the 2020 election case. Meadows is also under indictment in Fulton County.
He also said that given the speedy trial date of March 4, 2024, there simply isn't enough time to convict Meadows first and then try and craft a plea agreement after the fact.
"In Georgia, for example, the four defendants whom the District Attorney permitted to plead to crimes other than the RICO count in return for their promise to testify, all gave recorded video statements," Akerman closed.
"This was done prior to their pleas being formally entered before presiding Judge Scott McAfee. The fact that Mr. Meadows reportedly provided similar statements about his knowledge of Mr. Trump’s plot to undermine the peaceful transfer of power prior to being granted immunity by Jack Smith has to be terrifying to Mr. Trump," he said.
A prized GOP donor wants Donald Trump to serve a term in the big house, not the White House.
Hedge fund billionaire investor Leon Cooperman is fearful of the 45th president becoming the 47th.
“It would be terrible for the country if Donald Trump were reelected,” Cooperman told CNN in a rare public rebuke by a deep-pocketed Republican donor. “He’s a divisive human being who belongs in jail.”
Cooperman expressed frustration over a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024, likening them both to “bad choices.”
He told CNN that come November, he expects neither Trump (who is the current frontrunner in the race) nor Biden will be their party's nominee.
And if they are the only two — he will abstain from voting entirely.
“I’m looking for centrists, not radical left or right,” he said.
Federal records show that Cooperman already donated $1,000 to former Gov. Chris Christie’s 2024 campaign over the summer.
Cooperman admitted that he was so anti-Trump back in 2020 that he ended up going for the current president.
He continued: "It was a vote against Trump, to be honest with you.
"I think the saddest thing for our country with 330-odd million people — we had these two choices."
A Trump spokesman countered Cooperman, offering a statement to the outlet arguing Trump “will be the nominee and will beat Biden because he’s the only person who can supercharge the economy, secure our border, safeguard communities and put an end to unnecessary wars.”
“Americans want to return to a prosperous nation, and there’s only one person who can do that – President Trump."
An Alabama state lawmaker under federal indictment for bribery just got remanded to jail to await trial after FaceTiming with a witness in his case in violation of a court order, reported The Daily Beast on Monday.
"Rep. John Rogers, a Democrat who has spent four decades in the state legislature, denies violating a court order not to contact anyone in his case and said it was 'an erroneous phone call made by someone,'" said the report. "According to AL.com, his spokesman says Rogers accidentally dialed his accountant who has the same last name as the witness."
Rogers is accused of trying to bribe the founder of a gospel music nonprofit to lie to the FBI about an alleged kickback scheme. That founder was the person FaceTimed.
The state of Alabama has become legendary for its local corruption cases, and a number of current and former lawmakers in both parties have been prosecuted in spectacular incidents.
In 2018, a GOP state lawmaker in Alabama named Jack Williams, along with a California health care executive and the former chair of the state Republican Party, were all arrested as part of an alleged bribery scheme to pass legislation that would force the state's largest insurer to cover treatment at the California executive's facilities.
More recently, last year, former GOP state Rep. Perry Hooper Jr. was arrested on sexual abuse charges against a hostess and later sued the City of Montgomery and its police chief, alleging he was being persecuted for being a Donald Trump supporter.
Former President Donald Trump has spent the better part of the past few years claiming that President Joe Biden is in some sort of cognitive decline and that he's too old to be president. Trump is just a few years younger than Biden.
But now an MSNBC panel agreed it may have been a projection the whole time.
One of Trump's favorite things to mock Biden for is when he said the wrong state during a rally. While it had happened to Biden as he referred to Nevada when he meant New Hampshire, one video was falsely changed to make it look as if Biden was referring to Minnesota while he was in Florida.
Steve Guest, the former rapid response director for the GOP, posted a clip of Biden during the New Hampshire incident, writing: “Joe Biden confuses states AGAIN. This is a pattern."
Now, it seems Trump is suffering from the same problem. While in Sioux City, Iowa, Trump said hello to Sioux Falls, S.D. A staffer then rushed out to tell him he was in Iowa. He didn't correct himself, that would be admitting he was wrong. Instead, he simply said the correct name of the city and asked how many people actually lived there and were attending the event. In an interview, he seemed to keep mixing up Biden with former President Barack Obama. He had to be corrected.
"Again, I misspeak," confessed Nicolle Wallace. "I talk on TV for a job. It's not about that. It's about smearing and insulting your opponent with something you do pretty regularly. ... I do not think that Donald Trump should be president again, but I do not take cheap shots from this chair and that wasn't the attempt. The point is what Donald Trump and many of his allies are trying to do to President Joe Biden is to sort of seed concerns about his age by pointing out and amplifying verbal gaffes. And we thought, as a show, that we would try to shine the light on the glass house in which Trump lives and that's what that sound was about."
Conservative commentator and Bulwark editor Charlie Sykes said that there's no way Trump will ever stop, going so far as to say Trump is "addicted to projection."
"How many of the things he accuses his opponents of are actually things that he engages in," said Sykes. "But I have to say that with Donald Trump — and, by the way, Donald Trump is going to be in a rich environment for gaffes, But the problem is not the gaffes it's the substance. This weekend when he didn't know whether he was in Sioux Falls or Sioux City he's talking about bringing back the Muslim ban. He's praising authoritarians. He's talking about deporting people who engage in speech he doesn't like. And he continues to talk about, you know, bragging about threatening our allies that he would not defend them against Russia."
He noted that back in the day, 20 years ago, such things were disqualifying for a presidential candidate. He urged people not to take their eye off the substance of what Trump says by being distracted by the gaffes "every single day."
"I think that there's a certain level of exhaustion," Sykes said.
Wallace brought up the autocratic piece of the equation, following it with Trump being confused about which country Viktor Orbán leads, accidently saying Turkey. At another moment, Trump claimed that "Hungary fronts on both Ukraine and Russia." It doesn't. Hungary actually borders several countries, one of which is the country where his third wife was born.
Princeton University Professor Eddie Glaude began by addressing Trump's "cognitive decline" which Sykes said was a very real concern. While it was discussed early in his term, it has remained largely unaddressed until the recent parade of gaffes. But Glaude sees something else afoot.
"Trump's sole purpose is to deliver red meat to the base and to deliver the policies that will satisfy the base," said the political science scholar. "It's not about his cognitive capabilities, it's about his ability to, in some ways, mobilize grievance and some sense of disaffection on the part of that Republican base in order to get what they think they want, the country that they want. There is a collective shrug because it doesn't really matter whether or not he is smart. It doesn't really matter in the end whether he has the capacity to sit in the Oval Office. It only matters that he opens the way to what we might consider those grabbing hold of the country who believe that it's under existential threat if that makes sense."
Former President Donald Trump will see his daughter Ivanka take the stand to testify in the New York civil fraud trial next week, after his two adult sons. Ms. Trump failed to get exempted from being subpoenaed.
Trump biographer Tim O'Brien explained just how devastating this will be for the former president on Monday's edition of MSNBC's "The ReidOut."
"She really is a billionaire, thanks to the Saudis giving her husband a big check," said anchor Joy Reid. "Tim, the boys can't make their father love them no matter what they say in the testimony. That's just a thing. How much do you think that Ivanka, who — Donald Trump has talked about her like he's kind of married to her, which is kind of creepy and gross. How much do you think her testimony destabilizes him?"
O'Brien explained how much Trump "prizes Ivanka" and sees her as the "Aryan trope he can parade around," as if she is some representation of perfection from "his own gene pool."
"He's been, over the years, embarrassed by his boys, to a certain extent, both of the boys are fenceposts, and he hasn't really ever had the same pride in them that he's taken in Ivanka," explained the biographer. "And I think she, over the years, has made sure to stay in his good graces, while not going completely off the reservation in any way. But she's never been as robustly in his corner and as completely MAGA as the boys are. And what you have here now, I think, it's interesting that her testimony now has been delayed to come after his, because she's going to have to listen to what the boys say and find out what the boys say, and then what her father says, and then there's going to be documents."
Ultimately, he continued, "I think the prosecutors are going to paint her into a corner factually."
"It won't really matter what her allegiances are or how she wants to play her father's graces," explained O'Brien. "She's going to have to figure out whether or not she wants to perjure herself in the courtroom and whether or not the fact pattern is completely damning in her own role that Donald Trump and his sons and she have all played, which is to routinely and artificially inflate the value of Trump's holdings or to deflate them in order to cheat the tax man or goad banks into lending him money, depending on what their preferences are. Those are essentially the two things that are in play in this court case. And Ivanka becomes a material witness, which I don't think she wants to be."
