A judge in New York has refused a request by Donald Trump’s legal team to have a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the writer E Jean Carroll dismissed, ensuring her allegations of sexual assault are heard while the president seeks re-election.
Mr Trump went after his domestic rivals over the Iran crisis during a wild campaign rally in Ohio on Thursday night, suggesting House speaker Nancy Pelosi would have leaked the US plan to assassinate Qassem Soleimani to the media had she had prior warning.
The president also told his supporters in Toledo the mission that killed the Quds commander was instigated to “preserve peace”, took credit for inspiring a revival of Christian faith in America and claimed 44th president Barack Obama had played too much golf in office and “violated the carbon footprint”.
On Friday, his administration announced sweeping and "punishing" sanctions against Iran, targeting key economic drivers like manufacturing, until the country "changes its behaviour", he said.
Meanwhile, the president's impeachment trial could start as early as next week, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that she intends to forward articles of impeachment to the Senate and end — for now — her standoff with Mitch McConnell.
The Senator Majority Leader has threatened to coordinate with the White House as the president faces trial, and Speaker Pelosi refused to send impeachment articles passed by House Democrats without assurance from Senate Republicans that witnesses could be called and evidence be presented in an impartial trial. In a statement announcing next week's plans, Ms Pelosi said "McConnell does not want to present witnesses and documents to Senators and the American people so they can make an independent judgment about the president's actions."
Read live coverage as it happened:
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.
Judge denies Trump request to dismiss lawsuit by rape accuser E Jean Carroll
A judge in New York has refused a request by Donald Trump’s legal team to have a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the writer E Jean Carroll dismissed, ensuring her allegations of sexual assault are heard while the president seeks re-election.
In a decision this week, a Manhattan judge declined to order a hearing on Trump's request to drop Carroll's defamation suit and to put evidence-gathering on hold in the meantime.
A lawyer for Trump, Lawrence Rosen, had argued the New York court shouldn't handle the case, saying that the president's statements weren't made in the state and that Trump currently lives in Washington, not New York, his longtime home.
Judge Doris Ling-Cohan said the argument wasn't properly backed up. "There is not even a tweet, much less an affadavit by defendant Trump in support," Ling-Cohan wrote in a decision provided to lawyers in the case on Thursday.
Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said she was pleased with the ruling. "We look forward to moving ahead in this case and proving that Donald Trump lied when he told the world that he did not rape our client and had not even met her," she said in a statement.
Carroll alleges in the suit that Trump smeared her and harmed her career. Many readers of her longtime Elle magazine column stopped writing to her for advice, according to the suit. It seeks unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump's statements.
Carroll accused Trump last summer of raping her in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
In a New York magazine piece and a subsequent book, Carroll said the two ran into each other, bantered and went to the lingerie department for Trump to pick out a gift for an unidentified woman. Then, she said, Trump grabbed her arm, maneuvered her into a fitting room and assaulted her.
Trump said in June that Carroll was "totally lying," calling the accusation "fake news." He said they had never met, though a 1987 photo shows them and their then-spouses at a social event. Trump dismissed the picture, saying he was just "standing with my coat on in a line."
Samuel Lovett has more.
Trump says Democrats would have leaked Iran intel at wild Ohio rally, claims to have inspired revival of faith and declares Obama played too much golf
The president went after his domestic rivals over the Iran crisis during a wild campaign rally in Ohio on Thursday night, suggesting House speaker Nancy Pelosi would have leaked the US plan to assassinate Qassem Soleimani to the media had she had prior warning.
Trump branded the killing of Soleimani “American justice” before mocking Pelosi's mental acuity and calling House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff a "pencil neck." He also nicknamed Vermont senator and potential 2020 rival Bernie Sanders "Crazy Bernie" for raising objections to how he had carried out the drone strike on the top Iranian general.
"We got a call. We heard where he was. He knew the way he was getting there," Trump told cheering supporters in Toledo. "We didn't have time to call up Nancy, who isn't operating with a full deck."
"They want us to tell them so they can leak it to their friends in the corrupt media," Trump added.
The president also told his supporters in Toledo the mission that killed the Quds commander was instigated to “preserve peace”, claimed 44th president Barack Obama had played too much golf in office and “violated the carbon footprint” and took credit for inspiring a revival of Christian faith in America.
He also said he hopes Joe Biden is chosen to face him in the presidential race so that he can hear the heckle "Where's Hunter?" during every debate and labelled all Democrats (42m registered American voters) "horrible people".
Trump also turned to a topic that frequently rankles him: the fact that he has never won a Nobel Prize. Referencing the 2019 Nobel Prize winner, Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed, Trump said that he himself deserved the honour instead.
"I made a deal. I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country," Trump said. "I said, 'What?' Did I have something to do with it? Yeah. But, you know, that's the way it is. As long as we know, it's all that matters."
Abiy was awarded the prize in October for his sweeping reforms and surprising embrace of a bitter rival.
Trump enters the election year flush with more than $100m (£76.5m) in campaign cash, a low unemployment rate and an unsettled Democratic presidential field. Yet, polling shows he remains vulnerable. In December, an AP-NORC poll showed his approval rating at 40 per cent.
Trump has never fallen into historic lows for a president's approval ratings, but Gallup polling shows his December rating registers lower than that of most recent presidents at the same point in their first terms. Notably, approval of Trump and Obama in the December before their re-election bid is roughly the same.
But Obama's approval rating never fell below 40 per cent in Gallup polling and he recovered slightly in the months leading up to his re-election to finish his first term with an average rating just below 50 per cent. Trump's approval rating has never been higher than 46 per cent in Gallup polling.
For Trump to win re-election, securing Ohio's 18 electoral votes will be critical. He won Ohio by eight points in 2016, after Obama held the state in 2008 and 2012.
Here's Andrew Buncombe's report.
Protester flies 'No War' banner at Trump rally
"Go home to mommy. They're going home to mommy," the president jeered at one protester who was removed from the Huntington Centre in Toldeo last night as other brave souls brandished a "No War" banner (albeit upside down).
(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)
It was, as is so often the case, a fine evening for people watching.
(Brittany Greeson/Getty)
(Brittany Greeson/Getty)
(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)
(Brittany Greeson/Getty)
Trump argues he should have won Nobel Peace Prize days after threatening to commit war crimes
My colleague Andy Gregory unpicks the president's extraordinary contention last night that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed, who was rightly lauded for establishing a historic ceasefire deal with neighbouring Eritrea after two decades of war.
Trump also took credit for the strength of the stock market and lower cancer death rates yesterday and such boasts are hardly new but this coming in the same week that he brought the world to the brink of armed conflict with Iran and threatened to blow up 52 of the country's cultural sites - a war crime - made the pronouncement pretty rich, even for him.
House passes war powers resolution to rein in reckless Trump
The House of Representatives yesterday voted to limit Donald Trump’s ability wage war against Iran.
In the latest attempt by Democrats on Capitol Hill to rein in what they consider repeated overreach by Trump and the executive branch, the chamber voted 224-194 to assert that the president must seek congressional approval before carrying out any further action against Tehran (incredibly, even Trump loyalist Matt Gaetz voted for it).
The vote went almost entirely along party lines, with just three Republicans joining Democrats in passing the measure. In the Senate, Democrats have sought to push through a similar measure - but Republicans there are in the majority.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the measure would "protect American lives and values" by limiting Trump’s military actions.
"The administration must de-escalate and must prevent further violence," she added.
Here's more from Andrew Buncombe.
Trump to roll back further environmental protections
While that was going on - and prior to jetting out for Ohio - Trump announced from the Roosevelt Room of the White House that he would be rolling back crucial environmental protections to allow oil companies and other industrial groups to break ground without meaningful federal oversight.
The president's proposed changes would remove consideration for a project's carbon footprint from federal assessments, effectively gutting the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires reviews of large-scale infrastructure projects before they're approved.
As with anything inconvenient to him, climate change is just a "hoax" you see.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Doubts grow over US insistence Qassem Soleimani posed 'imminent threat'
After making his latest disastrous environmental announcement, Trump took questions from the press and was again grilled about the assassination of Iranian Quds commander Qassem Soleimani, stating (without offering evidence) that the general had been planning to blow up an American embassy.
Asked about this by Laura Ingraham on Fox News in light of complaints by Republican senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee that they were insufficiently briefed by the administation, secretary of state Mike Pompeo looked mighty anxious but appeared to agree this was the case.
All of which is very interesting as Trump's warm-up man last night, vice president Mike Pence, said the rationale for the fatal drone strike was in response to the killing of an Iraqi-American contractor on 27 December, making no mention of the alleged Soleimani plot or any other "imminent threat". Hmmm.
Trump smears Democrats and attempts to portray himself as strongman after Ohio address
The president is out of bed and watching Fox, you will not be surprised to learn.
Last night he posted these outrageous smears against his opposition...
...and attempted to portray himself as a strongman on the world stage.
Majority feel less safe after Soleimni killing, poll finds
A majority of Americans now say they feel less safe as a result of the killing of Soleimani one week ago, according to a new survey.
The USA Today/Ipsos poll, conducted earlier this week as Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on two Iraqi military bases housing US troops, found that 55 per cent of American citizens said they believe their country is less safe because of Presdent Trump's actions.
Among respondents, 28 per cent said that America is "much less safe" because of the US military operation. By contrast, just 24 per cent of respondents said that the US is more safe because of Soleimani's killing. Twenty-one per cent said they "don't know."
Either way, it sounds like very few have been put at ease by Vice President Pence's shaky reassurances.
Senator and double amputee Iraq War veteran issues stunning rebuke to Doug Collins after he claims Democrats 'love' terrorists
Georgia congressman Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, appeared on Fox News on Wednesday night to tell Lou Dobbs the Democrats are "in love with terrorists".
Ilinois senator Tammy Duckworth, a captain in the Army National Guard who lost both her legs in a rocket attack on her Black Hawk helicopter during the Iraq War in 2004, has hit back in stunning style on Twitter with a lesson in patriotism for Collins.
Who are the winners and losers in the US-Iran crisis?
Patrick Cockburn has the answer to the above question below and argues that both sides have actually gained from this week's stand-off as it becomes clear neither wants war.
Trump blasting out retweets as Pompeo, Mnuchin ready Iran sanctions briefing
Since Trump's tweet about Fox and Friends this morning, we've seen new fewer than 27 more - almost all of which are from Republican Senators on a wide variety of policy matters, from war powers and impeachment to pensions for coal miners.
Very much a back-to-business message being sent out, lord help us, belied by the president's extremely slim official schedule for the day.
Mike Pompeo and Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin are set to give a rare press briefing on the new sanctions against Iran in a little while.
Best-selling writers challenge Stephanie Grisham to finally give press briefing in exchange for $200,000 charitable donation
Speaking of press briefings, the Trump administration hates giving them and rarely bothers.
But best-selling authors Don Winslow and Stephen King have had enough and are challenging Trump's press secretary Stephanie Grisham to offer the first in over 300 days in exchange for a combined $200,000 (£153,000) donation to St Jude's children's hospital in Tennessee.
Grisham did not reply to the above tweet but told Jake Tapper on CNN: “If you have $200,000 to play with, why not just help children because it’s a good thing to do? Donations to charity should never come with strings attached."
Winslow answered her: “First, we both regularly donate to charity. Second, why do all Trump officials refuse to answer the most basic questions they are asked? Stop evading, Stephanie. Let’s try again: Why have you not held any White House press briefings for over 300 days? What are you afraid of?”
Bernie Sanders hires protester Joe Biden told to 'vote for Trump'
The Vermont senator and 2020 candidate has reportedly embarrassed Joe Biden, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination, by hiring activist Carlos E Rojas, whom Biden told to go away and "vote for Trump" after he dared t ask him about immigrant deportations under the Obama administration in South Carolina back in November.
Rojas, who previously led the immigrant rights group Movimiento Cosecha, announced on Facebook that he will work for the Sanders campaign as Latino Constituency Organizer for Iowa ahead of the February Iowa Caucuses.
"As someone who is part of the immigrants rights movement, I believe Sanders has the most progressive platform when it comes to immigration, foreign policy and the best approach when it comes to basic needs like healthcare and education," Rojas wrote.
"For me, working for Bernie Sanders, is beyond Bernie Sanders - it is about redefining the path we, as a nation, started walking in 2016 under 45. It is about rejecting white supremacy and the scapegoating of vulnerable communities and embracing popular ideals that resonate with a majority of americans like #HealthCareForAll #FreeCollegeEducation #FightFor15 #AbolishICE #CloseTheCamps #CancelCollegeDebt #EndWarsNow etc."
But Rojas is not the only person of note Bernie has had dealings with this week...
Mitch McConnell signs onto Republican impeachment dismissal resolution and walks Trump through trial format
On impeachment, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto Republican senator Josh Hawley's resolution to change the upper chamber's rules and allow for the House articles (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) to be dismissed over Speaker Pelosi's decision to delay handing them over.
Hawley introduced to resolution earlier this week but his party do not currently have the votes to carry it through.
McConnell meanwhile spent part of yesterday in a private meeting with Trump, according to CNN, reportedly walking the president through the trial format and discussing the probable logistics of the process with him in detail.
Leader McConnell has already greatly annoyed Democrats by openly declaring he would not be an impartial player in the trial and would be taking his direction from the White House counsel, bragging about his intentions to Sean Hannity on Fox before Christmas.
President brands speaker 'least successful in history' after she ridicules him in Time interview
Trump is currently being nasty about Nancy Pelosi on Twitter, leaping on a passage from Time's new profile of her.
But Pelosi dismisses the significance of such attacks in the exact same interview, accusing him (astutely) of "always projecting".
Administration announces new sanctions against Iran
Mnuchin and Pompeo are speaking now in the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House on Iran and have announced new sanctions targeting "any individual owning, operating, trading with or assisting sectors of the Iranian economy, including construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining", 17 of which concern Tehran's steel and iron manufacturers.
Eight senior officials will also face sanctions, which, taken all together, will serve to cut the regime off from billions of dollars in revenue.
"We want Iran to simply behave like a normal nation," the secretary of state says. "We believe the sanctions that we impose today further that strategic objective."
Here's Pompeo attempting to clarify/fudge the question of whether Soleimani posed an "imminent threat" and intended to target America's embassies in the Middle East.
US tells Iraq it will not withdraw troops despite Iranian threats
Meanwhile, the State Department has told Baghdad it will not be withdawing its troops from the country any time soon.
Trump sent happy birthday message to Kim Jong-un
South Korea has said it conveyed a message from Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wishing him a happy birthday, which is believed to be on 8 January.
Returning from a visit to Washington, South Korea's presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong said Trump requested that Seoul deliver the message to Kim during a meeting at the White House this week. Chung did not disclose what the message specifically said, but said Seoul sent it to Pyongyang on Thursday through "proper means".
Kim last week opened the new year expressing deep frustration over stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration and vowed to bolster his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against "gangster-like" US sanctions and pressure. The North in past months has severed virtually all co-operation with the South, while demanding Seoul break away from Washington and restart inter-Korean economic projects held back by US-led sanctions. But the Koreas still operate a liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.
Seoul had lobbied hard for the resumption of nuclear negotiations, with Chung shuttling between Pyongyang and Washington to help set up the first summit between Kim and Trump in June 2018. But negotiations have faltered since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in February last year, when the US side rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Trump and Kim met again in June and agreed to resume negotiations but an October working-level meeting in Sweden broke down over what the North Koreans described as the Americans' "old stance and attitude".
Despite the standstill in talks, the duo have both described their personal relationship as good. Trump has boasted about the "beautiful" letters he has received from Kim.
North Korea has never officially confirmed Kim's birth date but, while covering a 2014 visit to the country by basketball player Dennis Rodman, state media said the former NBA star had organised an exhibition game on 8 January to celebrate Kim's birthday.
AP
