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Letitia James laid trap to keep Trump Org from fleeing the state: legal analyst

With Judge Arthur Engoron expected to hand down a ruling on Friday on the amount of damages Donald Trump and his Trump Organization will have to pay — up to a possible $370 million in ill-gotten profits for committing financial fraud — MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin explained in a new column why the former president is caught in a trap.

As Rubin noted, New York Attorney General Letitia James has been playing the long game anticipating the former president would try to pack up his operation and move it to Florida where he and his children, Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka all now reside.

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Tensions could boil over at RNC as Trump 'drains resources' from the party: reporter

Journalist Marc Caputo told The New Republic's Greg Sargent on his podcast this week that Trump's takeover of the Republican National Committee could cause friction if he uses it to pay his legal bills at the expense of down-ballot races in the 2024 election cycle.

In particular, Caputo said the prospects of a worsening legal landscape for Trump could have a cascading effect on party finances.

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'Irretrievably incompetent' GOP 'circling the drain' after witness fiasco: MSNBC guest

Reacting to the indictment of an FBI source who provided Republicans with derogatory information being used against President Joe Biden which turned out to be false, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner expressed disgust with the House GOP members who made the man a central focus of the impeachment efforts.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the former prosecutor labeled House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) and his cohort of Biden-attacking members "irretrievably incompetent."

Addressing the revelation that 43-year-old Alexander Smirnov is facing two counts of allegedly handing the FBI false information about the president and his son, Hunter Biden, during the 2020 presidential campaign, Kirschner dryly explained how witnesses are supposed to be vetted for truthfulness.

ALSO READ: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands

"Here's the thing," he told host Mika Brzezinski. "Any time you're dealing with a source, the three most important words are corroboration, corroboration, and corroboration. The fact that the Republicans would rely on somebody like this, who has now been criminally indicted for providing false information about Hunter Biden and potentially, by extension, President Biden, the fact that Republican members of Congress would rely on this raises the question, you know, are they sort of irretrievably incompetent, or do they just turn a blind eye to the credibility of the evidence that they're using in what is one of the most consequential moves: an impeachment hearing against a president of the United States."

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Dragging feet by Supreme Court suggests immunity ruling will go in Trump's favor: legal expert

Donald Trump is fighting to get time on his side as he urges the Supreme Court to halt his federal election trial while he continues to appeal his immunity case, according to a legal expert who's watching the case.

Every minute that clicks by as he works through appeals over his claim that the office of the president makes him immune from prosecution works in his favor, according to former litigator Lisa Rubin.

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'Big nothing burger': Fani Willis hearing failed to turn up evidence of corruption

MSNBC's Joyce Vance argued on Friday that the first day of hearings into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis turned up no evidence that should force her off the Georgia election interference case.

The prosecutor strongly denied that she and special investigator Nathan Wade had begun their relationship before his hiring or lived together, and she insisted she had repaid him in cash for travel purchased on her behalf, and Vance told "Morning Joe" she didn't hear anything that should disqualify her from pursuing her case against Donald Trump.

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Trump has 'nowhere to run, nowhere to hide' as court cases grind him down: ex-prosecutor

Reflecting on Donald Trump's criminal hush money case looming within weeks, combined with his massive multiple million dollar losses in civil trials to writer E. Jean Carroll, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner claimed the former president is being ground down by his legal problems.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday, the ex-prosecutor stated that with at least four criminal trials also on tap for the former president, he is increasingly finding himself in a corner with nowhere to go.

ALSO READ: 11 ways Trump doesn't become president

Noting Trump's fraud trial date of March 25 seems set in stone, Kirschner told the hosts, "Not to mix apples and oranges, but the unabated string of losses in civil cases that Donald Trump has suffered: E. Jean Carroll 1 and 2, the fraud trial which he lost on the merits and we're waiting to see how large the money judgment might be that's handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron, and, actually, another case Trump lost by proxy, the Trump Organization criminal conviction — that's his namesake, his organization — convicted of a 15-year long scheme to defraud in the first degree, I think all of those losses are important foreshadowing for what is about to hit Donald Trump in the criminal cases."

"When the rules of evidence and the rule of law applies, he will have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide," he added. "If you think civil verdicts were dramatic that were entered against Donald Trump, I don't think you've seen anything yet," he added. Wait for these criminal trials to get underway."

Watch below or at the link.

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'MAGA revolt' took down Ronna McDaniel after she didn't back Trump's 'hogwash' claims

A new report from the Washington Post indicates that Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel's ouster was a long time coming.

In fact, it all began when McDaniel refused to get fully behind attorney Sidney Powell's claims that the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez had engaged in a decade-spanning conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from former President Donald Trump.

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Matt Gaetz text messages, photos handed to House by woman in sex traffic investigation

Members of the House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) over accusations of having sex with underage women, drug parties, and public corruption are in possession of Gaetz texts and photos from a woman who was part of a sex trafficking investigation.

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, the unidentified woman affirmed that she was over 21 at the time and that the sex was consensual at the drug and alcohol-fueled party.

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Trump melts down over Fani Willis testimony

Donald Trump melted down after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took the witness stand in a hearing to determine whether she would remain on the election interference case.

The district attorney defiantly faced down questions from Trump's lawyers about her relationship with special investigator Nathan Wade and their payments for travel and meals together, and the former president reacted to her fiery cross-examination testimony with a late-night Truth Social post claiming vindication.

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'Donald's day sucked': Mary Trump says her uncle is getting 'bad news' legally

Donald Trump's own niece on Thursday said the former president is getting hit with waves of "bad news," and that more is on the way.

Mary Trump, who recently said Trump is furious after finally having to face accountability in a courtroom, celebrated after the former president faced some setbacks.

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Trump's next move could show his money is 'smoke and mirrors': ex-president's biographer

If Trump can't pony up enough cash in the $83.3 million award to columnist E. Jean Carroll that the court ruled he must pay even while awaiting appeal — it will prove he's a pretend billionaire.

It would also suggest the Don can't possibly come close to covering the $370 million disgorgement in the New York civil fraud case, according to one of his biographers.

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'Trump nodded at him': CNN reporter describes how Trump signals to his lawyers in court

Former President Donald Trump's attorney caught his client's nod and moved to push his trial date forward in the case involving an adult film actress, a CNN reporter said Thursday.

On Thursday, Trump's attorney Todd Blanche was remonstrated by Judge Juan Merchan after he ruled the former president must face trial starting March 25th. The case involves a payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

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Michael Cohen expects 'nastier' questions than Fani Willis in his Trump trial testimony

Trump's one-time lawyer and former fixer expects a "nastier" line of questioning than the one Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis endured.

Michael Cohen said that he will testify in Trump's hush money criminal case but is preparing for a tough time on the witness stand.

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