Fact check: Trump repeats baseless claims about Biden orchestrating his trials
CNN
Former President Donald Trump repeated some familiar baseless claims in remarks on Monday after major developments in two of his New York legal cases. He spoke after a judge set an April 15 date for the beginning of his Manhattan, New York, criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records in relation to a hush money scheme, and, separately, an appeals court reduced the bond he must put up after being found liable for civil fraud.
Former President Donald Trump repeated some familiar baseless claims in remarks on Monday after major developments in two of his New York legal cases. He spoke after a judge set an April 15 date for the beginning of his Manhattan criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records in relation to a hush money scheme, and, separately, an appeals court reduced the bond he must put up after being found liable for civil fraud. Trump claimed that “this is all Biden-run things” and that “these are all Biden trials.” He also claimed that Matthew Colangelo, a former senior Justice Department official who now works for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, had been “put into” the district attorney’s office by President Joe Biden. Facts First: There is no basis for Trump’s claims. First, there is no evidence that Biden has been involved in bringing or running any of the criminal or civil cases against Trump; the Manhattan prosecution is being led by Bragg and the civil fraud case by New York Attorney General Letitia James, both elected officials who do not report to the president or the federal Justice Department. Second, there is no evidence that Biden had anything to do with Colangelo’s decision to leave the federal Justice Department and join the district attorney’s office in 2022 as senior counsel to Bragg. Colangelo and Bragg knew each other before Bragg was elected Manhattan district attorney. James filed the lawsuit that led to Trump’s civil fraud trial in September 2022 – about two months before Trump launched his 2024 campaign. The lawsuit emerged from an investigation she began in 2019, roughly two years before Biden succeeded Trump as president. And there is no sign that Biden has had any role in bringing criminal charges against Trump in Manhattan or Fulton County, Georgia; those prosecutions have been led by elected local district attorneys. Trump’s two federal indictments, meanwhile, were brought by a special counsel, Jack Smith. Smith was appointed in November 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, but that is not proof that Biden was involved in the prosecution effort, much less that Biden personally ordered the indictments as Trump has previously claimed; Garland has said that he would resign if Biden ever asked him to take action against Trump but that he was sure that would never happen. It’s worth noting that grand juries made up of ordinary citizens – in New York, Georgia, Florida and Washington, DC – approved the indictments in each of Trump’s four criminal cases.
President Donald Trump issued a stark threat to defense contracting companies on Wednesday, saying he would seek to limit stock buybacks and executive salaries unless they improve their delivery of weapons systems to the US military hours before saying he’d decided to substantially increase the defense budget.
Temir Porras, who was ousted President Nicolás Maduro’s chief of staff from 2007-2013, tells CNN’s Isa Soares that he cares about the stability of his country and that the leadership in Venezuela is showing “maturity and balance in the movement they’re making.”
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis strongly criticized White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s recent comments suggesting the US should take control of Greenland, calling the remarks “amateurish” and “absurd,” and urging President Donald Trump to fire people who give that kind of advice.
It was as telling a moment as any when it comes to the Republican Party’s relationship with President Donald Trump.
While the Trump administration insists the US will run Venezuela, it’s not that simple. Many of President Nicolás Maduro’s loyalists are still in positions of power. CNN’s Rafael Romo reports.
Four days since US President Donald Trump’s most strident military move yet, the gulf grows between his claim that the United States will “run” Venezuela and the reality of a continued dictatorship on the ground.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he plans to call a special session in April for the Republican-dominated legislature to draw new congressional districts, joining the redistricting arms race.
As part of its claims of widespread fraud in the federal safety net, the Trump administration is halting $10 billion in funding for several programs in five Democrat-led states.
The Trump administration has outlined a number of demands that Venezuela must agree to order to resume oil production, two senior White House officials told CNN.
Minnesota state representatives are set to testify during a Republican-led House Oversight Committee hearing on allegations of fraud and misuse of federal funds in the state. Follow for live updates
On the heels of the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nícolas Maduro, President Donald Trump has ramped up his rhetoric around his desire to acquire Greenland, once again raising the prospect of military intervention, sparking fears across Europe and widespread condemnation.
Parched soil crunched under Jessica Rogers’ boots as she crossed the empty lot overlooking Palisades’ Stadium By the Sea. She sprayed her hose towards a cluster of leafy bushes growing at the base of a blackened tree.
The fate of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the United States remains in limbo after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.