it, with a republican primary dominated by an ex-president who has centered his candidacy around his legal woes, look no further. this morning donald trump, fresh off a decisive win in the iowa caucuses, was at a federal courthouse in manhattan as the defendant in a second defamation trial brought by the writer e. jean carroll. this time there s no question of whether trump defamed her. judge kaplan has ruled trump is liable for remarks he made in 2019 mocking carroll s claim that he sexually assaulted her in a chance encounter at a department store dressing room in the 1990s. and trump is not allowed to dispute carroll s account. the question now is how much a jury should award e. jean carroll in damage for those comments. opening statements are currently under way. we ll have a live report from the courthouse when the trial wraps from the day. so far, donald trump was in the courtroom. alongside his lawyer, alina habba, as well as e. jean carroll and her attorneys. the firs
process to limit how american tax dollars are spent at the department of justice. i yield back. general lady from texas is recognized. good morning. you have value the independence of a special counsel. i do. you asked garland to allow you to continue the investigation saying we want to thank you and your office for permitting our inquiry to proceed with will without interfere answer as you assured the members of the judiciary committee would be the case during the confirmation hearings to become attorney general of the united states. you value your special counsel status. it a being a rat that garland let you proceed on your case as you wish. that s true. it was important you have to as special counsel your investigation was supposed to be independent because special counsels and attorneys are supposed to be independent, right? special counsel is. yes. they are supposed to be independent, is that correct? special counsel is independent of the attorney gener
welcome to the whole story. i m anderson cooper. the indictment of former president donald trump marks the first time in history a former president has faced federal charges. this is the second indictment for the former president, who was criminally charged by a manhattan grand jury in march on more than 30 counts of business fraud. now facing 37 federal charges relating to classified documents from his time in office that were uncovered by federal agents. a special counsel has been investigating this case since november of last year. he s pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. what makes the situation even more extraordinary is that mr. trump is also the current front-runner in the republican party for the 2024 election, which means he could be taking on president joe biden, while a special counsel appointed by the attorney general is working to convict him. trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. over the next hour, our pamela brown lays out everything we know
case to get the ball rolling on getting security clearances to handle classified material. cannon wants them to file a notice of compliance for this coming tuesday. meanwhile, donald trump responded to his indictment with aggressive threats against president joe biden and the justice department. here is what he said a few hours after his arraignment. i will not point to a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the united states of america, joe biden. and the entire biden crime family. i will, totally, obliterate the deep state. in new reporting, the new york time says that while trump hammers the justice department, vowing to use it to go after his enemies, his allies are laying out a strategy to, basically, eliminates the doj s independence from the white house. earlier, democratic congressman, eric swalwell, warned at that specific plan could have devastating results for the country. the risk is more political violence of a gr
liable for everything he did while he was in office. didn t get away with anything yet. we have a criminal justice system in this country. we have civil litigation. and former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one. even mitch mcconnell knew back in 2021 that trump can face criminal charges. well, now, trump s lawyer is making the absurd argument that a president can commit all kinds of heinous crimes and remain immune from prosecution forever. unless he s impeached and convicted. also tonight, trump s rhetoric is having dangerous consequences. as both special counsel jack smith and judge tanya chutkan are targets of swatting. and trump s big hope for 2024, he says he hopes the u.s. economy crashes some time soon. which of course, would leave huge numbers of his maga supporters jobless and broke. but we begin tonight with a hypothetical question. could a sitting president sell pardons or military secrets or order the navy seals to assassinate a