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If there is a ground zero for US election trauma, it’s probably Georgia.

It’s the state that gave us the election interference case, the Donald Trump mugshot, and his telephone call to the secretary of state asking for more votes.

The Republican nominee is still among those facing prosecution – although the case has been paused, pending an investigation into the Fulton County District Attorney.

Courts in Georgia are still dealing with the elections.

Legal challenges to the voting system feature among more than 90 cases across America.

They have been brought, primarily, by Republicans who claim a flawed system needs restructuring.

Democrats dismiss it as political theatre, orchestrated by Trump, designed to sow mistrust and chaos.

Donald Trump speaking at a Turning Point campaign rally this week. 
Pic: AP
Image:
Donald Trump speaking at a campaign rally this week.
Pic: AP

They point to his repeated claims of “cheaters” as evidence he is laying the ground to challenge any Kamala Harris victory.

Both are gearing up for lengthy court challenges following the election.

Democrats are focused particularly on their expectation that Trump will claim victory on election night prematurely, and task teams of lawyers with litigating a route to the presidency.

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Harris plan if Trump declares victory early

Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state of Georgia, has announced two million people have already engaged in early voting in the state.

Asked by Sky News if Trump’s repeated claims of cheating in the 2024 election process had been helpful, he replied voters should refer any concerns to him.

“It doesn’t phase me,” he said. “I just continue to put my head down and do my job. I think if people want to find out what’s really going on, just ask Brad.”

In recent days a Georgia judge has rejected as “illegal, unconstitutional, and invalid” an attempt by Republicans to enforce new practices in the election process.

They included the hand-counting of votes and the right to examine any election-related documentation “prior to the certification of results”.

Opponents said the documents could have involved anything from training manuals to poll watcher credentials – they dismissed the legal action as a spurious effort to undermine faith in the legitimacy of election results.

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Janelle King, a Republican member of the Georgia State Election Board, has supported legal challenges.

She, along with fellow Republicans on the board, which oversees the state’s elections, were dubbed by Trump as “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory”.

Asked whether her actions encouraged disruption and delay, she told Sky News: “I would say that that’s all hypothetical, just like his statement is.

“There’s nothing that would indicate that that will happen.

“I think what causes people to distrust the election is when you present a proposal of rules that you feel will strengthen the election process, and then a judge who has no clue about our election process tells us it’s unconstitutional.

“That’s what causes distrust in the election process.”

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Trump’s legacy and how he changed America

The election process

Following the US election on 5 November, the counting of votes will designate so-called “electors”, charged with affirming the voters’ choice in the respective states.

On 17 December, the electors meet in their respective state houses and register the vote for their chosen candidate.

On or before 3 January 2025, when the new Congress assembles, the electors’ certificates are sent to Capitol Hill.

On 6 January 2025, Congress meets in session to certify the election and declare who has won the election.

On 20 January 2025 – Inauguration Day – the president-elect and vice president-elect take the Oath of Office and become president and vice president of the United States.

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The dates are “pinch-points” in the process, liable to legal challenge.

A febrile political environment would raise the spectre of acrimony, protest, and violence of the recent past.

At the very least, it would create uncertainty.

Ezra Rosenberg, director of the non-partisan Voting Rights Project which exists to defend the right to vote, told Sky News: “It could be that some of these suits are being brought knowing that they’re going to lose, and maybe they’re setting up a post-election challenge of some sort. I have no idea.

“What bothers me more is that we put an iota of uncertainty in the mind of eligible voters as to whether or not they’re about to vote and that just should not be permitted to happen.”

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Trump pick Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be US attorney general

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Trump pick Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be US attorney general

Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.

Mr Gaetz, a controversial pick to be the country’s top legal official, said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.

The Florida Republican had faced significant scrutiny over a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.

He said in a post on the X social media platform: “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ (Department of Justice) must be in place and ready on Day 1.

“I remain fully committed to seeing that Donald Trump is the most successful president in history. I will forever be honoured that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”

Mr Trump said in a post on his own social media site, Truth Social, that Mr Gaetz had a “wonderful future”.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” he wrote.

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“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect.”

Mr Gaetz previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl, which ended in February 2023 without him facing any criminal charges.

He has always denied the allegations.

He has also been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over wider allegations including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.

The inquiry was dropped on Wednesday 13 November when Mr Gaetz left Congress – the only forum where the committee has jurisdiction.

The Senate ethics committee is deadlocked on whether their report can be released.

Mr Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Mr Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that he could face resistance from members of his own party.

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Dad who called 911 for help during break-in killed by Las Vegas police officer

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Dad who called 911 for help during break-in killed by Las Vegas police officer

A 43-year-old man was shot dead by police after calling 911 to report intruders had entered his home in Las Vegas.

Brandon Durham was at home with his 15-year-old daughter when he called the emergency line to report armed intruders were trying to break into his property on 12 November.

Bodycam footage shows Mr Durham struggling with a person over a knife in the moments before he was shot and killed at the scene.

“The loss of life in any type of incident like this is always tragic, and it’s something we take very seriously,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said on Thursday.

The force is investigating the incident.

Mr Durham called 911 to report multiple people were outside shooting at his residence in Las Vegas’ Sunset Park neighbourhood, where he had been staying with his 15-year-old daughter, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reports.

It was one of multiple emergency calls reporting a shooting in the area.

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Mr Durham then said someone had managed to get into his home through the front and back doors of the property and he was locking himself in the bathroom, according to a police statement from 14 November, two days after the incident.

Officers reported to the scene at approximately 12:40am and could hear screaming from inside the residence.

One of the officers, Alexander Bookman, kicked open the front door and once inside, saw Mr Durham and another individual, later identified as 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux, struggling over a knife in a doorway.

Mr Bookman ordered them to drop the knife and about two seconds later, the officer fired the gun and Mr Durham appeared to be struck, the bodycam footage shows.

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Both Mr Durham and Mr Boudreaux fell to the ground and the officer fired another five shots. Roughly three seconds are believed to have gone by between the first and last shot, NBC reports.

Attempts were made to save the 43-year-old but he died at the scene.

Ms Boudreaux was taken into custody and is facing charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon domestic violence; willful or wanton disregard of safety of persons resulting in death; and child abuse, neglect or endangerment.

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Homeless man charged in plot to bomb New York Stock Exchange

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Homeless man charged in plot to bomb New York Stock Exchange

A homeless man has been arrested and charged over a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.

The 30-year-old man from Florida, Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, having unveiled some of his plans to undercover agents, according to the FBI.

They began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was holding “bomb-making schematics” in a storage unit.

Bomb-making sketches, many watches with timers, electronic circuit boards and other electronics that could be used for building explosive devices were found, the FBI said.

It also said he told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to detonate the bomb the week before Thanksgiving and that the stock exchange in lower Manhattan would be a popular site to target, and that doing so “will wake people up”.

An agent also allegedly recorded him saying: “I feel like Bin Laden.”

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He described how he hoped the bomb would “reboot” the US government, explaining that it would be “like a small nuke went off,” killing everyone inside the building, according to court documents.

The documents also claim he had rewired two-way radios so that they could work as remote triggers for an explosive device and planned to wear a disguise when planting the explosives.

Yener, who had also searched online for things related to bomb-making since 2017, was sacked from his job at a restaurant in Florida last year after his former supervisor said he threatened to “go Parkland shooter in this place”, the FBI added.

He had his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and will be detained while he awaits a trial.

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