Trump attends wake of slain NYPD officer: Latest updates

After Trump posted an unhinged screed on Truth Social targeting both Judge Merchan and his 34-year-old daughter Loren this week, ranting about an X post she allegedly made showing him behind bars, a spokesperson for the New York Office of Court Administration (OCA) has said the account in question no longer belongs to Ms Merchan.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, OCA spokesperson Al Baker said: “The X, formerly Twitter, account being attributed to Judge Merchan’s daughter no longer belongs to her since she deleted it approximately a year ago.

“It is not linked to her email address, nor has she posted under that screenname since she deleted the account.

“Rather, it represents the reconstitution, last April, and manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned.”

That did not stop the false story getting another runout on Newsmax last night, however.

Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov holds her own again on The Five observing that, in terms of fundraising: “The RNC is in complete tatters. The DNC is cruising.”

Contrasting that with Donald Trump flogging bibles for $60 to pay his legal fees, she unsurprisingly gets a little bit of pushback from her co-hosts:

Democrats did not arrest the former president. Grand juries indicted him on criminal charges based on evidence of crimes they believe he committed.

One might think that if you were to stand trial on criminal charges, ranting publicly about the judge and members of his family migth now work in your favour. Donald Trump thinks differently.

Here’s what the former president had to say on Truth Social this afternoon in his third such attack:

Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately. His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me. She works for Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, and other Radical Leftists who Campaign on “Getting Trump,” and fundraise off the “Biden Indictments” – including this Witch Hunt, which her father “presides” over, a TOTAL Conflict – and attacking Biden’s Political Opponent through the Courts. Former D.A. Cy Vance refused to bring this case, as did all Federal Agencies, including “Elections.”

Page 2: In this Country, we have the Right to Justice for All. As Andy McCarthy stated, “We should think of Bragg as falsifying his Prosecution” and, as Jonathan Turley said, “It’s illegally pathetic – THERE WAS NO CRIME!” Virtually every Legal Scholar says it’s not a case, has never been brought before, it’s not criminal, and it shouldn’t exist except for the fact that we have a Biased, Conflicted, and Corrupt Judge and D.A. in charge. Dismiss this ridiculous Non-Case, and MAKE THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM GREAT AGAIN!

This all comes after Judge Juan Merchan imposed a limited gag order on Mr Trump, as Alex Woodward reports:

The hush money trial brought against Mr Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg begins on 15 April in New York.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC:

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, related the conversation on Twitter and thanked Speaker Mike Johnson for his and the US’s “critical support of Ukraine since the start of Russia‘s full-scale invasion”. He also described briefing the Speaker on an uptick in Russian missile, bombing and drone attacks in the weeks since funding for Ukraine’s defence has stalled in Congress.

Mr Diller was shot and killed as he was doing traffic stops this week. On Monday, he approached a car that was illegally parked with a fellow officer. The suspects in the car – Lindy Jones and Guy Rivera – refused to roll down the windows or to move their car. They also didn’t show their hands when asked to. Mr Rivera then shot Mr Diller, who died after being taken to hospital.

In a statement to The Independent on Thursday, Mr Gonell said of Mr Trump:

When the White House was asked for comment on the invitation for President Joe Biden to testify, they directed reporters to the following tweet from Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, posted last week:

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Passing of Former US Senator Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman and I served together in the U.S. Senate for 20 years. He was principled, steadfast, and unafraid to stand up for what he thought was right. He was a friend.

Joe’s fierce spirit of independence is the essence of the American story. He was the grandson of immigrants; his dad ran a small business; and Joe was the first in his family to graduate from college. After law school, he quickly left a law firm job for a life of public service.

As a leader in Connecticut’s legislature, as state Attorney General, and as a committed Senate colleague, Joe championed the environment, gun safety, and reproductive freedom. He wrote landmark legislation repealing discriminatory restrictions on LGBTQ Americans serving in our military. He played a key role in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of 9/11. And his historic bid for the Vice Presidency, as the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket, took our nation one step closer to realizing the full promise of America.

Joe believed in a shared purpose of serving something bigger than ourselves. He lived the values of his faith as he worked to repair the wounds of the world. And he did so with his beloved family by his side – his dear Hadassah, and his wonderful children and grandchildren.

Jewish liturgy says of “those who serve the needs of the community faithfully, may God grant them their reward.” Our hearts today are with the Lieberman family, and with those who loved Joe across Connecticut and across our nation, which he served faithfully for so long.

The House Oversight Committee has sent President Joe Biden an invitation to testify before Congress on 16 April regarding the flailing Republican-led impeachment inquiry against him that has turned up no evidence of crimes or wrongdoing.

The letter asks him to attend “in light of the yawning gap between your public statements and the evidence assembled by the Committee, as well as the White House’s obstruction”.

Retired Capitol Police Sgt Aqulino Gonell commented on Donald Trump’s appearance at the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller: “This is the same person who calls the rioters ‘patriots, political prisoners, and hostages’ instead of calling them for what they are…convicted criminals…

“…Imagine Trump calling the criminal who killed this officer in NYC ‘a hostage’ or anything but a criminal. That’s what he is doing to the Jan 6 criminals who beat officers and breach the Capitol…

“The death of the officer in NY is tragic and reminds all of us of the sacrifices and commitment the men and women in uniform make every day… I hope the full extent of the law is applied to bring this officer’s killer to justice.”