Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Despite outside “distractions” the Department of Homeland Security is focused on keeping the American people safe, the acting deputy secretary told ABC News.

Acting Deputy Secretary Kristie Canegallo said the department, including Mayorkas, is working “day in and day out” to keep Americans safe and highlighted some of what the department accomplished in 2023.

Those “distractions” are presumably House Republicans, who are holding an impeachment hearing against Mayorkas on Wednesday due to their belief that he has failed to do enough to secure the border — a critique the secretary has rejected.

“We are focused on building on the work that we’ve done over the past year to prevent and prepare for and respond to so many threats,” Canegallo told ABC News. “When you think about what we’re managing, whether it’s the 25 natural disasters that had more than $1 billion in damages, strategic competition and aggression from nation states, that historic growth in global migration [or] transnational crime, there’s just so much that this department is managing, and Secretary Mayorkas has really been able to drive us to make historic investments in our workforce in innovation and partnerships, and notwithstanding some significant challenges, there’s a lot that we have to be proud of,” she said.

House Republicans, who are holding an impeachment hearing against Mayorkas on Wednesday, have said he hasn’t done enough to secure the border — a critique the secretary has rejected.

During the past year, the department seized over 48,500 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill every American 33 times over, according to statistics provided by the department.

DHS stopped more fentanyl and arrested more drug traffickers in the last two years than the previous five years combined, according to the department.

The acting deputy secretary said the strategy in combatting fentanyl coming into the United States uses the intelligence gathered, the “smarts” of agents along the southwest border and “new technology” on the southwest border.

“More than 90% of fentanyl is coming in through ports of entry primarily in vehicles that are driven by US citizens,” Canegallo said. “We’ve really been intensifying our efforts along the border to disrupt those that federal smuggling, working very closely with our Mexican counterparts.”

Mayorkas said communities are safer because of DHS’ efforts.

“Our communities are safer and more resilient, our economy is more secure, and our government is more prepared thanks to the unprecedented work of the DHS workforce,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

“From managing a historic level of global migration, to helping secure travel for a record number of Americans, rescuing children from online sexual exploitation, and leading operations that kept fentanyl off our streets, DHS took dramatic steps this past year to enhance the security and readiness of our nation,” he added.

The southwest border has seen a historic increase in migrants apprehended, capped off by an all-time in December, when there were 302,000 migrants encountered along the southwest border.

The acting deputy secretary maintained that there is still positive news about border security despite the staggering figures.

“There is a lot to be proud of, our work to combat fentanyl, our work to improve security, and that’s what we’re focused on as opposed to distractions or whatever is happening on the hill,” she said. “If members were serious about wanting to address some of our immigration challenges, there are opportunities for them to do so and that’s what we’re very focused on in our conversations with the Senate.”

Beyond the border, Canegallo said DHS is focusing on the “challenges” to faith-based communities in the U.S. and other threats in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attacks in Israel.

At airports around the U.S., the department says that the Transportation Security Administration has seized 6,500 guns at airports, setting an all-time record. TSA also screened 850 million travel passengers in 2023, a record-setting year for travel, DHS said.

In 2023, the Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) responded to 25 natural disasters, the most ever in the agency’s history, the department said.

DHS also touted its authority to investigate crimes against children. Homeland Security Investigations, the largest law enforcement arm of the department, was responsible for helping identify and rescue 1,110 children in 2023, the acting deputy secretary said.

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(WASHINGTON) — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez went to the Senate floor Tuesday to defiantly address accusations of wrongdoing.

Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty to all prior counts, pushed backed on the federal superseding indictment charging him in an alleged corruption scheme with Egyptians and Qataris.

The superseding indictment, filed earlier this month by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, accuses the New Jersey Democrat of making positive comments about Qatar in exchange for items of value, including luxury wristwatches valued between $10,000 and $24,000.

Addressing his Senate colleagues, Menendez said that the latest accusations are baseless and misleading and that the U.S. attorney’s office “is engaged not in a prosecution, but a persecution.”

“I’m innocent — and I intend to prove my innocence, not just for me, but for the precedent this case will set for you and future members of the Senate,” Menendez said.

“I have received nothing, absolutely nothing from the government of Qatar or on behalf of the government of Qatar to promote their image or their issues,” Menendez, who had been chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before stepping aside, said.

He complained bitterly about federal prosecutors filing multiple superseding indictments since September.

“It allows the government to keep the sensational story in the press. It poisons the jury pool and it seeks to convict me in the court of public opinion,” he said.

“They seek a victory, not justice. It’s an unfortunate reality but prosecutors sometimes shoot first before they even know all the facts,” he said.

“The government seeks to use baseless conjecture, not facts, to create the connective tissue to substantiate the allegations,” Menedez said. “They show a picture of watches but not proof of receiving any such gifts.”

Menendez, who choked up while speaking at times, said he is “suffering greatly” as a result of the accusations.

“After 50 years of public service, this is not how I wanted to celebrate my golden jubilee,” he said. “But I have never violated the public trust. I have been a patriot for my country.”

A majority of his Democratic Senate colleagues have previously called on Menendez to resign.

The federal prosecutors who have indicted Menendez declined to comment on his floor speech declaring his innocence.

Menendez, who has been charged with conspiring to act as an agent of Egypt and other alleged offenses, is scheduled to stand trial in May. He had sought a two-month delay to account for what his lawyers described as voluminous evidence that required more time to examine.

Menendez said at his trial he intends to explain why investigators found wads of cash and gold bars in his possession.

“There is no evidence of the giving or receiving of cash and gold bars,” Menendez added.

The senator has said he will not step down from office and has strongly denounced the charges.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was treated for prostate cancer in December, which led to a urinary tract infection and serious intestinal complications, the Pentagon said Tuesday — answering questions about his secretive hospitalization and the botched notification process that followed.

On Dec. 22, Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Medical Center and underwent minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat and cure prostate cancer, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. He was under general anesthesia during the procedure, Ryder added.

The next day, Austin was discharged and went home, Ryder said. However, on Jan. 1, Austin was admitted again with complications from the Dec. 22 procedure determined to be a urinary tract infection.

On Jan. 2, Austin was transferred to the intensive care unit after an evaluation revealed abdominal fluid collections impairing the functions of small intestines, Ryder said.

“He continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery although this can be a slow process,” Walter Reed said in a statement. “During this stay, Secretary Austin never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia.”

The Pentagon has come under fire for not being more transparent about information regarding Austin’s hospitalization, which until Tuesday, had been characterized as a “minor, elective procedure.” The White House learned about Austin’s condition three day after he was hospitalized; Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks had not been informed in advance and was on vacation in Puerto Rico when Austin was hospitalized, a U.S. official told ABC News.

Austin’s prostate cancer and its treatment are “deeply personal,” Ryder said during Tuesday’s press briefing.

“As I’ve highlighted, it’s prostate cancer and the associated procedures are obviously deeply personal, and so again, you know, we’ll continue to work hard to make sure we are being as transparent as possible moving forward and again, wish the secretary a speedy recovery,” Ryder said.

From the hospital, Austin is “in contact with his senior staff and has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor dod day-to-day operations,” Ryder said.

“He continues to stay very actively engaged with his senior staff and is making important decisions about national security and defense,” Ryder said.

On Monday, Ryder apologized for not being more transparent about Austin’s hospitalization. Ryder said he was informed about Austin’s hospitalization on Tuesday, Jan. 2 — and roughtly two days later went to the podium on Thursday afternoon for an on-camera briefing.

The White House is now ordering a review of Cabinet protocols for delegating authority after the fallout from Austin’s undisclosed hospitalization, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.

The White House memo directs departments and agencies to submit their existing protocols for review by Jan. 12.

The memo, written by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, says that while the review is ongoing, Cabinet agencies must adhere to procedures, including notifying the White House when agencies anticipate a delegation of authority and documenting the delegation of authority in writing.

The protocols will be reviewed to ensure they address the following: delegation criteria, decision-making authority, applicable documentation, notification procedures, and rescission of delegation.

The memo says agencies should ensure “delegations are issued when a Cabinet Member is traveling to areas with limited or no access to communication, undergoing hospitalization or a medical procedure requiring general anesthesia, or otherwise in a circumstance when he or she may be unreachable.

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(NEW YORK) — For weeks, former President Donald Trump’s campaign teased a ramp-up in events in the new year ahead of the Iowa caucuses next Monday.

Yet, with only four weekend rallies scheduled, the Trump campaign continues to hold limited events, facing multiple hurdles, including weather delays, canceled surrogate events and, now, two voluntary courtroom appearances.

Though Trump will be back in the state Wednesday for a Fox News town hall, he doesn’t have any public campaign appearances until Saturday — holding two events on Jan. 13 then, and two events on Sunday — on the eve of the Iowa GOP caucus day.

Rather than spending time in the state in the final stretch of the Iowa caucuses, Trump instead has chosen to make two court appearances this week. While he wasn’t required to be present in the courtroom, Trump was attending Tuesday’s appeals court arguments on his efforts to dismiss the federal election subversion case over presidential immunity. He has also said he wants to attend closing arguments in his New York civil fraud trial expected to conclude this week, though he isn’t required to do so either.

As Trump deals with 91 felony charges across four indictments and multiple civil cases — in all of which he has denied wrongdoing — his legal schedule and campaign schedule are anticipated to continue to collide after that, forcing him to choose between court appearances and campaign appearances at pivotal moments in the election cycle.

On Jan. 16, the day after the first GOP contest of the year — just as Trump is expected to start campaigning for the first in the nation primary in New Hampshire on Jan. 23 — another civil trial is set to start in a second defamation case to determine damages Trump would have to pay after a jury found him liable in a case involving sexual abuse allegations made by columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Last week, Trump’s legal team’s request to delay the trial was denied. He isn’t required to be in the courtroom for the proceedings.

And on the day of the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments to determine whether Trump is eligible to access the Colorado Republican primary ballot.

The following month, on March 4, on the eve of Super Tuesday when sixteen states and territories are set to hold their GOP primary contests, a trial in special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case is set to begin at the federal court in Washington, D.C.

As a defendant in a criminal case, Trump would be expected to attend this trial unless the presiding judge grants a waiver. Whether Trump actually has to appear in person for the trial has not been settled yet.

Trump’s legal team is attempting to move the March 4 trial date but if the trial moves ahead as scheduled, it could significantly impede his campaigning — although some political experts have said that if Trump wins Iowa and New Hampshire, it might not impact his primary campaign so much.

On the campaign trail, Trump has claimed that the legal battles he faces are efforts by his political opponents to interfere with his campaign, though he has also claimed that the indictments and the court challenges have only boosted him in the polls and fundraising.

But Trump campaign advisers have already cautioned how tricky the balance will be juggling Trump’s political calendar with his legal one — the campaign calling it “a scheduling nightmare.”

“The goal is to take him off the trail at a very critical time and it’s our job to make it less of a critical time,” Susie Wiles, one of Trump’s top campaign advisers, told reporters last month.

Before going back to the Washington courthouse this week, Trump kicked off his 2024 election year campaign schedule with his four-stop Iowa swing last Friday and Saturday, facing weather delays that forced him to be nearly three-and-a-half hours late for his second stop of the day on Saturday.

Hopping from Sioux Center to Mason City and then from Newton to Clinton, Trump touted confidence in his lead over his Republican contenders who are far behind him in the polls according to 538’s polling average, but stressed to his supporters the importance of actually coming out to caucus for him on Jan. 15, saying he’s “not taking any chances.”

“Get out and vote — don’t listen to the polls,” Trump said at his Clinton rally Saturday night. “Pretend you’re one point down … You have to get out and you have to vote, vote, vote.”

Instead of Trump himself appearing before the voters, his campaign has planned for a blitz of surrogates to fan out across the state in order to spread Trump’s message for him in the final stretch in Iowa, urging people to caucus while telling their own personal interactions with the former president.

Stumping for his father last week, Eric Trump called his father mid-speech as he was emphasizing his point about how much of a family man he says Donald Trump is.

“He always picks up, he’s good with a cell phone,” Eric Trump said as he was calling.

“Every single day that he was in the White House, when I was governor, I got to be on offense,” South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem, whose name has been floated as a potential vice-presidential candidate pick, said at the first surrogate event of the year in Sioux City. “Ever since Joe Biden got into the White House, I’ve been on defense.”

But even those surrogate plans have not gone off without a hitch as a winter storm heading into Iowa caused the Trump team to have to cancel two events featuring Arkansas GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. A surrogate event on Tuesday was set to feature former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and stand-up comedian Roseanne Barr; however, Barr also had to cancel her scheduled appearance due to weather issues.

Though the snowstorm is affecting multiple candidates who have had to alter their campaign schedules, with an already light schedule, the new holes in the Trump schedule is more glaring.

Though retail politicking and facetime has become a crucial part of winning in a state like Iowa, Trump’s absence seems to not have hindered support in the Hawkeye State as supporters either dismiss Trump’s lack of campaign events or point to one of his central campaign messages that his legal battles are only happening in order to interfere with his presidential chances.

“I’ve met President Trump twice, had like a 30 second conversation with him. He’s always on the run. And he’s a very smart, intelligent person. And I know what he’s doing is for the best of the interest for the office that he’s running for, the best interest for Iowa voters and for the entire nation,” Trenton Eilander, a Trump caucus captain, told ABC News.

Meanwhile, Trump’s legal battles have done little to turn his supporters away — many of them even say they’d vote for him even if he’s convicted.

“No, I’ll vote for him,” said Wanda Kruse from Marble Rock, Iowa, who attended his rally in Mason City, Iowa, on the eve of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, when asked if her vote would be affected if he’s convicted in any of the charges he faces. “I feel that it’s trying to distract everyone from the election — maybe they’re trumped up.”

 

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Defense’s press secretary apologized Monday for not being more transparent about information regarding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recent hospitalization — which the White House learned about three days after he was hospitalized for complications resulting from what was characterized as “a minor, elective procedure.”

Austin had an elective procedure on Dec. 22 and then went home the next day; however, on Jan. 1, “he began experiencing severe pain and was transported” back to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Department of Defense press secretary.

Ryder said he was informed about Austin’s hospitalization on Tuesday, Jan. 2. The White House learned about it on Thursday night; Congress was first notified hospitalization on Friday afternoon — shortly before it was made public in a Pentagon news release.

“I recognized that I should have tried to learn more, and to press for an earlier public acknowledgement,” Ryder said Monday to the Pentagon press corps. “So I want to offer my apologies and my pledge to learn from this experience. And I will do everything I can to meet the standard that you expect from us.”

Ryder knew of Austin’s hospitalization when he went to the podium on Thursday afternoon for an on-camera briefing — but said he had not followed up on Austin’s condition.

On Tuesday, Austin’s Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen was sick with the flu, but she was made aware of his hospitalization, as was Austin’s senior military aide, Ryder said. However, Magsamen’s illness caused a delay in the notifications, he added.

“We are currently reviewing how we can approve these notification procedures to include White House and congressional notifications,” Ryder said.

Ryder offered additional details about which of the country’s top defense officials knew what and when.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was made aware of Austin’s hospitalization on Thursday, Ryder said. She worked with Magsamen on a plan to notify the White House and Congress as well as issue a press statement, he added. It appears it took them almost a full day to contact Congress and work up a press release that was issued Friday afternoon.

The surprise disclosure of Austin’s hospitalization had raised questions inside and outside of government about why it was disclosed so late into his medical treatments.

Hicks had not been informed in advance and was on vacation in Puerto Rico when Austin was hospitalized, a U.S. official told ABC News. Hicks — who has regularly made routine decisions on behalf of Austin — was automatically tasked with assuming his authorities.

Austin is no longer in the ICU, but remained hospitalized Monday. He is making good progress and is in some discomfort, Ryder said.

“We do not have a specific date for his release from the hospital at this time but will continue to provide daily updates until then,” Ryder said Monday evening.

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(WASHINGTON) — The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case was the victim of swatting Sunday night at her Washington, D.C., home, law enforcement sources told ABC News Monday.

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement it responded to a house in the District around 10 p.m. for a report of a shooting, which did not occur.

That home belonged to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, sources said, who has been the target of frequent Trump attacks in speeches and on his social media platform.

The situation was quickly contained and there was no further incident, law enforcement sources said.

The swatting incident came as Trump’s lawyers prepared to argue before a federal appeals court on Tuesday that Chutkan’s ruling rejecting Trump’s claim of “presidential immunity” should be reversed.

In recent weeks, state and federal officials have been the target of swatting incidents around the country, according to statements from their offices.

U.S. Marshals, which protect federal judges, did not comment.

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(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Christian Ziegler on Monday was voted out as chair of the Florida Republican Party, weeks after being pushed to resign from his position as police continue to investigate a rape accusation against him that he denies.

The vote to remove Zeigler occurred during a closed-door meeting on Monday afternoon in Tallahassee. The state party’s vice chair, Evan Power, was elected as the new chair.

“What we did today was come together and close this chapter and move on to move forward to continue to win elections in Florida,” Power told reporters after the meeting.

Ziegler was accused late last year of raping a woman with whom he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder and Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, had a consensual sexual relationship.

Bridget Ziegler has not publicly commented on the allegations against her husband and has not been accused of a crime.

Sarasota police have been investigating the sexual abuse claim but Christian Ziegler has not been charged with a crime.

An attorney for him has said in a statement to news outlets, in part, “We are confident that once the police investigation is concluded that no charges will be filed and Mr. Ziegler will be completely exonerated.”

Michael Thompson, Florida’s Lee County Republican chairman and a member of the state party, told ABC News on Monday that removing Ziegler was the right thing to do.

“[This vote] is basically going to send a message to everyone in the Republican Party and even outside the Republican Party that it doesn’t matter if you’re a publicly elected official or a party official, you’re gonna be held accountable,” Thompson said.

Florida Republicans have in recent years won a string of major political victories in a famous swing state.

Power, newly chosen as chairman, told reporters that “we’re going to start right now fundraising for the party. You can’t do anything in this party without money. So that’s our No. 1 priority. We’re going to start building the infrastructure in our county party so that we can continue to win and win big.”

Leading Republicans in the state, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, had called on Ziegler to step down after the rape accusation became public, but he declined.

Before being removed as chair, Ziegler was suspended during a meeting in December when party members voted to cut his salary and strip him of his duties as chairman.

In late November, DeSantis said the accusation against Ziegler was “very serious.”

“I don’t see how he can continue with that investigation ongoing given the gravity of those situations,” DeSantis said then. “And so, I think he should step aside and think he should attend to that. He’s innocent until proven guilty, but we just can’t have a party chair that is under that type of scrutiny.”

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(WASHINGTON) — It’s a key question in a case that could not only set constitutional precedent but also have major consequences in the 2024 election: What is “presidential immunity” and how, if at all, does it apply to former President Donald Trump regarding his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss?

On Tuesday, Trump’s claim of “absolute immunity” from prosecution in his federal election inference case will be put to the test in arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The former president, who denies all wrongdoing, contends his actions after the election and on Jan. 6, 2021, were related not to his role as a candidate but to his official constitutional duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” — in this case to investigate alleged but unproven election fraud.

Because of that, he argues, he’s protected from criminal liability. He points as well to his being acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial on charges of “incitement of insurrection” as another shield from litigation.

Special counsel Jack Smith asserts Trump “is wrong” and that his arguments “threaten to undermine democracy.”

The case, which is likely to wind up back before the U.S. Supreme Court, will chart new legal ground, experts told ABC News as they broke down the history and precedent of “presidential immunity.”

“These are novel issues and they’re going to have to create new law,” said attorney Stanley Brand, a former House of Representatives general counsel whose law firm represents several former Trump aides.

Trump has posted on social media that he will attend the Jan. 9 hearing. In the post, he also continued his claim that he was “entitled” as president to immunity, arguing he was no longer campaigning but “looking for voter fraud … and otherwise running our country.”

Here’s what you need to know.

What the Constitution, framers say about ‘presidential immunity’

David Schultz, a professor at the University of Minnesota and national expert in constitutional law, said there is “nothing in the text of the Constitution that speaks to immunity in one way or another.”

But there is textual evidence from the Constitution’s framers — including Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton — about how they viewed the issue.

“We have language from some framers indicating that even if there might have been some immunity while a person was president of the United States, once they’ve left office there’s no immunity and they could be charged with the crime,” Schultz said.

Such statements were used in a 2000 Department of Justice memo that found the Constitution permits a former president to be indicted and tried for the same offenses for which they were acquitted in an impeachment trial, Schultz noted.

Smith’s team, in its brief to the appeals court, also cited the nation’s founders. They wrote Trump’s immunity claim would essentially allow presidents to act criminally to remain in office, something “the Founders did not intend and would never have countenanced.”

What the courts have said so far

Trump has, in some shape or form, tried to claim immunity in nearly all the legal troubles that have come his way since leaving office and has so far been rebuffed.

In the federal election interference case specifically, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss the case on the basis of immunity. Chutkan blisteringly wrote that whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the position “does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”

And in a Jan. 6-related civil suit brought against Trump by some U.S. Capitol Police officers, a federal appeals court similarly ruled that the former president is not entitled to absolute immunity.

Last month, another court also shot down his attempt to claim immunity in a defamation suit brought by E. Jean Carroll.

Experts weigh in on Trump’s arguments

A group of legal experts, including former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb and former impeachment special counsel Norman Eisen, sounded the alarm over Trump’s claim of “absolute immunity.”

In a call with reporters last week, Eisen called the idea “abhorrent to American law” while Cobb said it was important to “emphasize that no man is above the law, that is fundamentally the American approach to freedom and governance.”

University of Chicago law professor Aziz Huq told ABC News that while the questions presented are unique — as Trump is the first sitting or former president to be criminally indicted — he believed the arguments for immunity were “exceptionally weak.”

Specifically, he was skeptical of Trump’s defense that the Constitution’s impeachment clause or double jeopardy shields him from liability. Huq highlighted a statement from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said during Trump’s second impeachment trial that “impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice.”

“We have a criminal justice system in this country,” McConnell said at the time. “We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.”

Brand, on the other hand, said he thought Trump could have success when it comes to arguing some of his conduct fell within the “outer perimeter” of his official duties — a phrase Trump’s team has focused on from a 1982 Supreme Court ruling involving Richard Nixon and questions of immunity. In that case, the court ruled presidents can’t be held liable in civil cases for actions they undertook as part of their official duties, though it said nothing of criminal cases after a president leaves office.

“It’s complicated,” Brand said. “Some of the things that are actually alleged, I think, could be conceived by a court as coming within his privilege. And while that might not require the dismissal of the entire case, it could wind up paring the evidence and some of the allegations.”

One thing both experts agreed on is that timing is critical to resolve the issue before the November election.

Brand said he didn’t see the issue getting resolved by March 4, which is currently the trial’s start date.

Smith tried to fast-track the case by asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the immunity question but the justices declined to take it up on an expedited basis, instead sending it to the appeals court first.

“There is almost never a stop clock running in the background, and that makes this case very different from any other criminal case,” Huq said.

ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

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(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Christian Ziegler, who is facing a rape allegation that he denies, on Monday was voted out as the Florida Republican Party chair during a closed-door meeting in Tallahassee, a source familiar tells ABC News.

Ziegler is being investigated by police but has not been charged with a crime.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had called for him to “step aside.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s legal team on Monday filed multiple new motions in Georgia seeking to dismiss the Fulton County election interference case against him on grounds that include presidential immunity, which they say “shields him from criminal prosecution.”

“Historical practice over 234 years confirms that the power to indict a current or former President for official acts does not exist,” the 67-page motion argued.

“The indictment in this case charges President Trump for acts that lie at the heart of his official responsibilities as President,” the motion said. “The indictment is barred by presidential immunity and should be dismissed with prejudice.”

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jena Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

The new motions come as Trump continues his legal battle over his presidential immunity claims in his federal election interference case, where he is expected to be in attendance Tuesday when the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals hears arguments in that case.

In two additional motions filed in Fulton County Monday, Trump also sought to dismiss the Georgia election case on the grounds of double jeopardy and lack of due process.

The former president has blasted the district attorney’s investigation as being politically motivated.

 

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