Trump hits back at Jack Smith case in presidential immunity appeal filing: Live

Nikki Haley is reporting her strongest fundraising quarter so far as the former governor and ambassador storms into January ascendant in polling, money and attention.

The Haley campaign reported on Wednesday that it had taken in a “stunning” $24m in contributions in the final quarter of 2023. The total, campaign officials said in a press release, was more than double any previous quarter’s fundraising sum.

Her impressive haul is indicative of one thing: She is heading into the beginning of primary and caucus season with serious momentum behind her campaign, and may very well now be the Republican with the most credible chance of dethroning Donald Trump as the frontrunner for her party’s nomination. Mr Trump remains far ahead of Ms Haley in national polling of the Republican field, but has seen his former representative to the UN close the gap in New Hampshire. She has simultaneously pulled ahead of Ron DeSantis in some Iowa polling, too.

The legal files are part of a long-running defamation lawsuit brought by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre against his former fixer and convicted child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.

Although the case was settled in 2017, Maxwell’s attorneys had fought for the names to continue to remain private. Their objection was lifted in 2022, a year after she was convicted and sentenced to two decades in prison.

In December, New York Judge Loretta Preska issued an order to unseal materials connected to the case.

The list has become very political, as we reported earlier this week:

The pair face-off in a CNN-hosted debate next week. Here’s what you need to know:

A federal judge has dismissed part of a lawsuit against Donald Trump brought by the partner of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after being attacked by rioters during the 6 January 2021 insurrection.

But the judge permitted other parts of the lawsuit on two counts in his split decision, including the allegation that the former president and two men, Julian Khater and George Tanios, who were accused of attacking the officer, were engaged in a conspiracy to “violate civil rights”.

The judge also dismissed the wrongful death claim in the lawsuit against the two men.

The appeals court brief filed by Donald Trump’s lawyers regarding his claims of presidential immunity cites an anonymously authored compilation of debunked and voter fraud claims that the former president posted to Truth Social on Tuesday morning.

As Alex Woodward reports:

The latest argument from Mr Trump’s attorneys cites a lengthy report he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that revives debunked and unverified allegations of election fraud, relying on reports from fake, far-right and conspiracy theory-driven websites that have amplified Mr Trump’s narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from and rigged against him.

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The White House is hitting out at Republicans’ failure to approve needed border security funding and their plan to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as House Speaker Mike Johnson and the House GOP continue to blame President Joe Biden and his administration for continuing record migrant arrivals along the US-Mexico border.

It has been more than two months since Mr Biden asked Congress to enact a supplemental appropriations bill to fund critical national defence and security needs, including billions for stepped-up border enforcement and processing of asylum seekers.

The president again called on Congress to act upon his return to the White House on Tuesday when he was asked what he planned to do about the continued glut of migrant crossings.

Mr Biden, who had just alighted from Marine One after a weeklong sojourn in St Croix, told reporters: “We’ve got to do something. They ought to give me the money I need to protect the border.”