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Donald Trump - Former President of the USA's legal troubles

Trump challenges $454m penalty in New York civil fraud case​

Donald Trump is appealing against a New York judge's ruling that he must pay $454m (£360m) in penalties and interest in a civil fraud case.

This month's judgement was $355m, but the amount has soared with interest, which will keep accruing by at least $112,000 per day.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has said if Mr Trump does not pay, she will seek to seize some of his assets.

He was found to have inflated property values to obtain better loan terms.

Judge Arthur Engoron also banned the former US president from doing business in the state for three years.

Monday's appeal from the Republican presidential frontrunner means yet another legal case of his will drag further into election season as he prepares for a likely rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden in November.

Mr Trump had said all along he planned on appealing against the ruling, calling it a political witch hunt.

His lawyer, Alina Habba, said on Monday they hope the appeal court "will overturn this egregious fine and take the necessary steps to restore the public faith in New York's legal system".

In their court filing, the attorneys said they were asking the appellate division to decide whether Judge Engoron's court "committed errors of law and/or fact" and whether it "abused its discretion" or "acted in excess of its jurisdiction".

The former president's lawyers have also argued that he was wrongly sued under a consumer-protection statute typically used to rein in businesses that rip off customers.

Mr Trump's legal team has previously challenged rulings by Judge Engoron at least 10 times, including a gag order.

The appeals process could last a year or longer.

Mr Trump could be granted a pause on collection of the judgement if he offers up money, assets or an appeal bond covering the amount owed. It is unclear what route he will take.

Mr Trump's two adult sons and co-defendants, Donald Jr and Eric, were ordered to pay $4m each and are barred for two years from doing business in New York. They have maintained there was no wrongdoing and joined their father's appeal on Monday.

Adding to the drain on his cash reserves, the ex-president was last month ordered to pay $83m after losing a defamation case to E Jean Carroll, a woman he was found to have sexually abused.

According to a Forbes estimate, Mr Trump is worth about $2.6bn. Though it is unclear how much cash he has on hand, he testified last year he has $400m in liquid assets.

The civil trial that began in October focused mostly on determining penalties against Mr Trump since Judge Engoron had already ruled the ex-president liable for business fraud.

He faces another case in his hometown of New York City next month. In those criminal proceedings, it is alleged that Mr Trump falsified business records to conceal hush money paid to an adult film star before the 2016 election.

On Monday, the Manhattan prosecutor who is bringing that case asked a judge for a gag order on Mr Trump.

The district attorney's office said such a measure was needed to protect jurors, witnesses and court staff from Mr Trump's "long history of making public and inflammatory remarks".

Source: BCC
 
Former President Donald Trump must come up with the full bond amount to cover the $454 million verdict in the civil fraud trial, an appeals court judge ruled Wednesday.

Associate Justice Anil Singh, however, lifted a ban on Trump’s ability to obtain loans from a New York bank, which could allow him to access the equity in his assets to back the full bond amount.

Singh denied Trump’s request to delay his obligation to post $454 million until a full appellate panel hears his motion to stay enforcement of that judgment until his appeals of the civil fraud ruling are over.


 

He will win the elections anyway​

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Trump to attend major Mar-a-Lago classified documents hearing as Fani Willis probe draws to close​

Two key hearings are taking place today in Donald Trump’s criminal cases, as Judge Aileen Cannon will consider a trial date for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case and the disqualification hearing of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis enters its final stage.

The former president is expected to attend the 10am hearing in Florida federal court in the classified documents case, where the judge could agree with the prosecution’s request for the trial to begin in July or Mr Trump’s request for August – or neither.

The schedules of the many cases brought against the former president at the state and federal levels are getting increasingly entangled. The former president’s plea for “presidential immunity” in his federal election interference case will now be heard by the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court.

Oral arguments will take place on 22 April in the middle of the primary election calendar and amid the compressed schedule of court battles as prosecutors try to keep them on track ahead of the 2024 election.

Meanwhile, Illinois has become the third state, alongside Colorado and Maine, to remove him from its ballots, under the 14th Amendment.

Source: The Independent
 
Trump classified documents trial date undecided as Fani Willis probe draws to close

As former president’s trial schedule gets increasingly complex, a classified documents trial date is being considered and lawyers will make final arguments in disqualification hearing of Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Trump’s classified documents trial date could be set today

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Two key hearings are taking place today in Donald Trump’s criminal cases, as Judge Aileen Cannon will consider a trial date for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case and the disqualification hearing of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis enters its final stage.

The former president is attending the Florida hearing for the classified documents case. Judge Cannon seems sceptical of the prosecution’s request for the trial to begin in July, given the potential for preparation to overlap with the New York hush-money trial scheduled for six weeks from 25 March.

Many cases brought against Mr Trump at the state and federal levels are increasingly entangled.

It was also clarified by special counsel Jack Smith’s team that, as charges have already been filed, they comply with Justice Department policy on investigative actions before an election.

In Georgia, Judge Scott McAfee kicked off closing arguments concerning Ms Willis’s continued involvement in the sprawling election interference case by giving each side 90 minutes to present their case.

Meanwhile, the former president’s plea for “presidential immunity” in his federal election interference case will now be heard by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court with oral arguments scheduled to take place on 22

Defence attorney Richard Rice alleges Fani Willis lived Robin Leach’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous “off the backs” of the case and taxpayers.

Pointing to cell phone records and texts in 2019 and 2021 between Ms Willis and Ms Wade, he said: “I don’t even think lovestruck teenagers text that much.”

“Teenagers have a name for those kinds of calls and I won’t get into that here,” he said in reference to the contention that Mr Wade drove to Ms Willis’s condo late at night shortly after texting her.

SOURCE: The Independent
 
A federal judge on Thursday denied Donald Trump's request to delay enforcement of the writer E. Jean Carroll's $83.3 million verdict in her recent defamation case.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan adds to pressure on the former U.S. president to line up an acceptable bond during his expected appeal.

Kaplan made the verdict official on Feb. 8, and gave Trump 30 days to post a bond or come up with cash during his appeal, which is expected to challenge the jury's finding of liability and the amount of damages.

Trump had sought to delay enforcement of the verdict until the judge ruled on his motions to throw it out, which he filed on Tuesday.

But the judge said Trump should not have waited 25 days after the verdict before seeking a delay.


Reuters
 
Donald Trump on Friday posted a $91.6 million bond to cover the defamation verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll, and began his appeal of the case that arose from his branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago.

The bond from Federal Insurance Co, part of the insurer Chubb , would cover Carroll's $83.3 million judgment if Trump were to lose his appeal of the Jan. 26 verdict and refuse to pay.

The posting of a bond also means Carroll, 80, wouldn't collect on the judgment during the appeals process, which could take years.

The appeal stemmed from a Manhattan jury's conclusion that Trump had defamed Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, in June 2019 by denying that he raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.

Trump faced a March 11 deadline to obtain the bond or set aside cash for the judgment after the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, refused his bid for a temporary reprieve.


Reuters
 
Donald Trump's Georgia judge dismisses some criminal charges

The judge overseeing an election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia has thrown out some criminal charges, but left most in place.

Judge Scott McAfee found six counts in the 41-count indictment against Mr Trump and some of his co-defendants, including Rudy Giuliani, lacked detail.

But he said the charges can be refiled at a later date.

Mr Trump was among 19 people charged with a conspiracy to overturn the state's 2020 election results.

"The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned's opinion, fatal," Judge McAfee wrote in his order on Wednesday.

He said the charges do not provide the accused with enough information to prepare their legal defences "intelligently", adding that "this does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed".

Mr McAfee was randomly assigned the Trump case in 2023, just six months after being appointed as a judge by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican.

He previously worked as a prosecutor, including for the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who led the investigation into the former president.

Mr McAfee's ruling affects three of the 13 charges against Mr Trump.

They relate to a call Mr Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he told him: "All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have."

One of the charges accused the former president of soliciting public officials to break the law by violating their oath of office.

But Mr McAfee said the indictment was not specific enough about exactly what Mr Trump wanted the officials to do.

The other dismissed charges apply to some of his most prominent co-defendants: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Mark Meadows.

In his order, Judge McAfee said the charges "contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited".

It comes as a win for Mr Trump and his co-defendants, who had filed to dismiss the charge. Prosecutors could now choose to refile the charges with more information in their allegation, or let the ruling stand and focus on the other charges.

The group had initially faced 41 total charges. The former president is facing up to 20 years in prison in Georgia if convicted of the most severe charge of racketeering.

In a statement, Mr Trump's lawyer in the Georgia case, Steve Sadow, called the ruling "a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts".

"The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference, and should be dismissed."

Mr Trump, who is running for president against Joe Biden in November, has slammed the case as politically motivated.

The Georgia ruling does not address the defence's effort to dismiss Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over ethics claims that she had an improper relationship with a lawyer she hired to work on the case.

Mr McAfee is expected to rule on the the ethics complaint soon. If he finds that his former boss should be removed from the case, a trial could be delayed for months.

Mr Trump is the defendant in four criminal cases as well as several civil lawsuits.

On Tuesday, the judge in his defamation lawsuit brought by writer E Jean Carroll accepted a $92m (£72m) bond from Mr Trump while the former president appeals against the verdict. A jury in January found Mr Trump owed the former columnist millions of dollars for defamation when he denied he sexually assaulted her.

If he loses his appeal, the bond ensures Ms Carroll will be paid.

He has also been ordered to pay over $450m to the state of New York after he was found to have committed fraud by lying to banks about the value of his properties.

BBC
 

Trump unable to get $464m bond in New York fraud case, his lawyers say​

Donald Trump cannot find a private company to guarantee the $464m (£365m) he has been ordered to pay in a New York civil fraud case.

The former president must either pay the full amount in cash or secure a bond in order to continue his appeal.

Mr Trump's lawyers said on Monday that securing a bond of that size was a "practical impossibility".

For a fee, a bonding company would guarantee the full amount to the New York court.

They would then have to pay it if Mr Trump loses his appeal and cannot do so himself.

Mr Trump's team spent "countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world", the lawyers wrote in a court filing, but concluded that "very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude".

The lawyers said they had approached 30 companies without success.

Mr Trump's two eldest sons also must pay millions of dollars in the case.

Along with ordering Mr Trump to pay the penalty, New York Judge Arthur Engoron banned him from running any businesses in the state for three years after he found the former president falsely inflated assets to secure better loan deals.

A judge paused Mr Trump's business ban last month, but denied his bid to provide a smaller bond amount, $100m, to cover the fine.

In the latest filing, the former president's lawyers included an affidavit from a president of a private insurance firm, who said that "simply put, a bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen".

"In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses," the lawyers also said.

Mr Trump's unprecedented legal situation makes it difficult to predict next steps, said former federal prosecutor Diana Florence, who also said that penalties on this scale are usually levied against large companies.

His legal team has been playing a delay game as he appeals the verdict, she said, but now "he might be out of rope".

New York's attorney general has vowed to seize his assets if he does not pay the fraud judgement. There is also interest on the penalty hanging over his head, which is accruing by at least $112,000 per day until he pays.

Trump's lawyers said bond companies would not accept "hard assets such as real estate as collateral" for the bond, but only cash or "cash equivalents", such as investments that can be quickly liquidated.

"He's facing the very real possibility that the AG will begin to liquidate [his assets], and he's really dependent on whether a court is willing to give him more time," Ms Florence said.

According to a Forbes estimate, Mr Trump is worth about $2.6bn. He also testified last year that he had $400m in liquid assets.

But the $464m judgement is not his only expense. He was ordered to pay $83m in January after losing a defamation case to E Jean Carroll, a woman he was found to have sexually abused. He has already posted a bond in that case.

Source: BBC
 

Trump needs a $464m bond in six days. What if he can't get it?​

Donald Trump's lawyers are asking a New York court to put a $464m (£365m) fine in a civil fraud case on hold, as the former president finds himself in a precarious financial situation that could ultimately see his most prized properties taken.

If Mr Trump wants to continue his appeal in the case, he must submit the full amount in cash or secure a bond from a private company by 25 March.

But on Monday, his lawyers said that despite their "diligent efforts" it had been "practically impossible" to find a company willing to act as a guarantor of the full sum and asked for a pause.

"We really are in a moment of serious crisis for Trump personally, as well as for his business," said Professor Will Thomas from the University of Michigan Ross Business School.

So with the clock seemingly ticking, here's what could happen next in the case.

1) Trump gets a pause
A panel of appeals court judges will decide by 25 March whether the $464m judgement can be paused while Mr Trump appeals.

This would be a best case scenario for the former president, who is no doubt eager to avoid having to pay an estimated 16% of what Forbes reports is his $2.6bn net worth.

The fact that Mr Trump has assets in the state of New York that can be seized, however, could reassure a court that he would be able to pay the penalty if he lost the appeal, according to Mr Thomas.

"I think it is very likely that he will get some kind of stay - unless they find some other stopgap option," he told the BBC.

Renato Mariotti, a lawyer who represents large real-estate developers, said it was hard to predict how the court would treat a former president.

"But my clients wouldn't get a pause," he said.

2) He secures a bond
Mr Trump could still find a way to secure a bond - for a fee - if his request for a stay is rejected, although according to his lawyers, this could be difficult.

The bonding company would be agreeing to pay the financial penalty if Mr Trump loses his appeal and cannot do so himself.

But his legal team said they had already approached 30 companies without success.

To secure a bond, an individual has to demonstrate to the company providing the guarantee that they have enough liquidity - usually in the form of cash plus stocks or securities which can be sold quickly - to cover the amount.

Mr Mariotti said the fact he could not secure a bond could mean two things: "Trump is not nearly as wealthy as he has led the public to believe - or he didn't prepare for this possible judgement."

3) A compromise option
The New York appeals court could come back to Mr Trump with a middle-of-the-road option, experts said.

The court could require Mr Trump to post a bond of a smaller amount while he appeals against the ruling.

Mr Trump, however, has already asked an appeals court to allow him to post a bond covering $100m instead. His lawyers argued he would "suffer irreparable harm" if forced to pay the full sum up front.

That request was rejected by a judge.

Alternatively, the court could ask Mr Trump to sign a sworn statement saying he has assets in New York and understands they could be seized if he loses the appeal, Mr Thomas said.

Ultimately, if Mr Trump does not get a pause and the court offers no compromise option, he could appeal directly to New York's Court of Appeals.

But with a deadline of 25 March to pay the judgement or post a bond, he is working on a tight timeline.

4) Mr Trump pays the penalty
Without a bond to cover the full amount, Mr Trump could attempt to pay the judgement with his own money.

He told a court last year that he had $400m in liquid assets.

To get cash quickly to cover the rest of the fine, experts said he could try to refinance his properties or quickly sell some of his assets - but selling real estate properties could take time.

He could also declare bankruptcy, which would allow him to avoid paying the judgement.

But bankruptcy could be costly - and prove a hit to Mr Trump's reputation in an election year, Mr Thomas said. "Practically, it's the most devastating thing that Donald Trump could ever do to his self image," he said.

5) New York takes Trump's assets
If Mr Trump cannot find a way to pay the fraud judgement or secure a bond by 25 March, the New York Attorney General Letitia James can begin to collect the fee and take his assets.

She has said she will do so if he fails to pay.

Experts say this is another worst case scenario for Mr Trump, as he could lose some of his most famous properties.

They can take any of his buildings - not just those in New York - including the 58-floor Trump Tower and his sprawling Florida club, Mar-a-Lago.

Ms James would likely not sell these assets until the appeals process is over, Mr Thomas said. This is because if she were to lose the appeal to Mr Trump, her office would have to pay him back after losing value on properties they sold quickly.

But if Ms James does eventually sell the assets, there would be a court-ordered process to do so, with the first $464m going to New York state to pay the judgement, and any money left over going to Mr Trump, said Mitchell Epner, an attorney who handles commercial litigation.

Mr Epner said the state could seize multiple assets, as none of Mr Trump's properties on their own appear to be worth $450m.

Source: BBC
 
Donald Trump cannot find the $557m (£438m) bond he needs to pause enforcement of a civil fraud trial judgement against him because it is too much money, his lawyers have said.

The former president was fined $454m (£356m) after being found guilty of scheming for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.

If he is unable to find the bond amount, his assets could be seized instead, starting as soon as next week.


SKY News
 
Trump sues ABC News and host Stephanopoulos over rape claim

Former US President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News and its presenter George Stephanopoulos for on-air comments.

Mr Stephanopoulos asked congresswoman Nancy Mace in an interview why she backs Mr Trump despite him being found "liable for rape".

Last year, a New York civil court found Mr Trump sexually abused E Jean Carroll in 1996.

But the jury did not find the former president had raped her.

The judge in the case later stated that the claim that Mr Trump had raped Ms Carroll was "substantially true... albeit [with his fingers] rather than with his penis". Under New York law, rape can only be committed with genitals.

Ms Carroll was awarded $83.3m (£65m) for battery and defamation over disparaging comments made by Mr Trump when he denied her accusation.

ABC declined to comment on Tuesday about Mr Trump's lawsuit against the network.

The legal action was filed by Mr Trump in Florida on Monday. It argues that statements in the interview were "false, intentional, malicious and designed to cause harm".

The 10 March interview on ABC's This Week programme began with an archive clip of Ms Mace - a South Carolina Republican who has advocated on behalf of rape victims - talking about dealing with her own previous experience of sexual assault. She has previously spoken about how she was raped by a classmate when she was 16 years old.

"You endorsed Donald Trump for president," Mr Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton White House spokesman, said to Ms Mace. "Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony that we just saw?"

Ms Mace said she was offended by the line of questioning.

"You're trying to shame me this morning, and I find it offensive, and it's why women won't come forward" to report rape, she said.

She also drew a distinction between sexual assault and rape and said the allegation against Mr Trump was not proven in a criminal court. And she alleged that Ms Carroll had joked about the settlement and made a "mockery" of rape.

Mr Trump, who is the presumptive Republican White House candidate, has a history of filing defamation suits against the news media, most of which have been unsuccessful.

BBC
 
New York attorney general's office takes initial step to prepare to seize Trump's assets, including golf course and private estate north of Manhattan.

CNN
 

Trump in line for potential multi-million dollar windfall with Truth Social merger​

Donald Trump’s social media platform launched in the volatile aftermath of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol is headed for Wall Street.

Shareholders of his Truth Social platform have voted to take the company public, a move that could raise the former president’s net worth by tens of millions of dollars as he desperately tries to find cash for the court-ordered judgments against him.

This comes as New York Attorney General Letitia James has begun preparing the ground to seize Mr Trump’s assets in anticipation of his not being able to meet the $464m bond in his Big Apple fraud trial, the deadline for which falls on Monday.

It emerged on Thursday that Ms James registered the judgement from the months-long trial with the county clerk’s office in New York’s Westchester County on 7 March, suggesting she is taking steps towards repossessing the Republican presidential candidate’s Seven Springs estate and Trump National Golf Club in the area.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee subsequently whined on Truth Social that her actions were “sooo unconstitutional and unfair” and would “leave an irreparable stain on New York state and its judicial system”.

Source: The Independent
 
Trump claims he has nearly $500 million in cash after lawyers said he couldn’t post bond

Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, launched in the volatile aftermath of the January 6 attack, is headed for Wall Street.

Shareholders of his social media platform have voted to take the company public, a move that could earn the former president tens of millions of dollars at a time when he desperately needs cash to satisfy the court-ordered judgments against him.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is preparing to seize Mr Trump’s assets if he is unable to come up with the $464m bond in his Manhattan fraud trial by this Monday’s deadline.

Ms James registered the judgement with the Westchester county clerk’s office on 7 March, suggesting that she may seize Mr Trump’s Seven Springs estate and Trump National Golf Club in the New York county.

The Republican presidential nominee has complained on Truth Social that her actions were “sooo unconstitutional and unfair” and would “leave an irreparable stain on New York state and its judicial system”.

Source: The Independent
 
Trump wins last-minute reprieve as judge cuts fraud bond to $175m

A judge in New York has granted Donald Trump's request to pause his $464m (£365m) fraud judgement, giving him 10 days to put up a reduced sum of $175m.

The former president's legal team had previously said he was unable to secure a bond from a private company for the full amount.

He had faced a deadline of Monday to post the $464m bond.

If he had failed to do, the authorities in New York could have started to seize his bank accounts and properties.

But on Monday, he was granted a last-minute reprieve by an appeals court. "I greatly respect the decision," he said. "We will abide by the decision... and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash."

At a news conference, Mr Trump suggested he would post the new sum in cash. "I don't need to borrow money - I have a lot of money," he said. "I have much more than that in cash."

If he pays the reduced $175m bond, it would protect his assets while he continues his appeal.

The court also agreed to delay the enforcement of other penalties that were part of the original judgement, such as barring the former president and his elder sons from running businesses in New York.

But the court left in place a monitor that is overseeing Mr Trump's businesses and can sound alarms if they find any misconduct.

Mr Trump was found liable earlier this year for repeatedly inflating the value of his assets.

To secure a bond, an individual has to demonstrate to the company providing the guarantee that they have enough liquidity, usually in the form of cash or stocks.

Mr Trump testified last year that he had as much as $400m in cash. Forbes gave a similar estimate in September 2023 - around $423m in cash and liquid assets.

Last week his lawyers said he had been unable to cover the $464m penalty despite approaching 30 financial companies to provide a bond.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, said on Monday that Mr Trump was "still facing accountability for his staggering fraud".

"The $464m judgement - plus interest - against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands," she said in a statement.

The appellate court's decision on Monday is a victory for Mr Trump, said Will Thomas, a professor at the University of Michigan Ross Business School, who noted that the former president is being allowed to appeal without paying the cost of a full appeal bond.

Mitchell Epner, a lawyer who handles commercial litigation, said he was surprised by the court's decision to grant Mr Trump a stay.

Just last week, Mr Trump said on social media that he had $500m in cash, an amount that would nearly cover collateral for a bond in the full amount. That comment undercut his argument he could not secure a $464m bond, Mr Epner and other experts told the BBC.



BBC
 
Trump to face jurors in April before facing US voters in November

A New York judge's decision on Monday to set an April 15 trial date for Donald Trump's criminal hush-money case ups the odds the former president will face at least one verdict that could complicate his bid to retake the White House on Nov. 5.

In another New York courtroom on Monday, a ruling in a separate case bought Trump some financial breathing room as he tries to build a campaign war chest and keep his real-estate empire intact.

The twin rulings highlighted the multiple legal perils that the Republican candidate faces as he tries to take back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden.

In the hush-money case, Trump stands accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Trump's lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to help him win the election.

 
Trump faces gag order in New York hush money criminal case

Donald Trump was issued a judge's gag order on Tuesday barring him from publicly commenting about witnesses and court staff ahead of his April 15 criminal trial involving hush money paid to a porn star.

Justice Juan Merchan granted a request by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting Trump, the former president and now the Republican candidate to challenge President Joe Biden for the White House.

"His statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating," Merchan wrote, referring to some of Trump's previous attacks on witnesses, prosecutors and judges in various legal cases he faces.

"Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administration of this court," wrote the judge, who presides in the New York State Supreme Court.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide reimbursements to his former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she claimed to have had with Trump a decade earlier.


 
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in New York hush-money criminal case

Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order ahead of his April 15 hush-money criminal trial, suggesting without evidence that the veteran jurist was kowtowing to his daughter's interests as a Democratic political consultant. The former president objected in particular to what he claimed was her posting of a social media photo showing him behind bars.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, complained on social media that the gag order issued Tuesday was “illegal, un-American, unConstitutional." He said Judge Juan M. Merchan was “wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement” by Democratic rivals and urged him to step aside from the case.

The gag order, which prosecutors had requested, bars Trump from either making or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about jurors and potential witnesses in the hush-money trial, such as his lawyer turned nemesis Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels. It also prohibits any statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff, prosecution team or their families.

It does not bar comments about Merchan or his family, nor does it prohibit criticism of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting Trump.


 
Am reading the Trump Media IPO was successful and Trump selling his shares will see his net worth increase by $6-7 billion. However he can't sell his shares for the next 6 months.
 
A sitting federal judge on Thursday harshly criticized Donald Trump’s attacks on the judge overseeing the former president’s criminal case tied to alleged hush money payments, telling CNN that such statements threaten the viability of the American legal system.

US District Judge Reggie Walton spoke with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” in the wake of Trump’s attacks on Judge Juan Merchan, which helped prompt the New York judge to issue a gag order on the former president earlier this week. It is unusual for federal judges to speak publicly, especially about specific political or legal situations.


CNN
 
Trump pushes legal challenges in two cases

Donald Trump's attorneys pushed two legal challenges before Easter weekend.

His camp is appealing against a verdict from a Georgia judge allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on an election subversion case.

They also aim to stop the expansion of a gag order, limiting Mr Trump's speech, in a New York hush money case.

The Republican presidential nominee faces four legal cases, and these two are the most likely to be heard in court before the US elections.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the cases, and claimed he is being politically persecuted.

Mr Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia case, which accuses them of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, have alleged that Ms Willis financially benefitted from an improper romantic relationship with Nathan Wade - a prosecutor she hired to lead the case.

Judge Scott McAfee - who is overseeing the case - held two weeks of chaotic hearings that included fiery testimony from Ms Willis. She admitted to the relationship but denied benefitting from it financially.

In the end, the judge sided with Ms Willis, though he said the relationship had the "appearance of impropriety" and demanded Mr Wade or Ms Willis step down. Mr Wade did so within hours.

In a 51-page motion filed on Friday before the Georgia Court of Appeals, Mr Trump and eight of his co-defendants argued Ms Willis should also be removed - which would greatly delay the case or could lead to it being dismissed.

Mr Trump and other co-defendants' lawyers said Mr Wade's resignation did not sufficiently address the "appearance of impropriety" that "cast a pall over these entire proceedings".

"The trial court was bound by existing case law to not only require Wade's disqualification (which occurred) but also to require the disqualification of DA Willis and her entire office," the attorneys said in the filing.

CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has reported that Ms Willis intends to play a prominent role in the case, which the judge has ordered to proceed if Mr Trump appeals.

Meanwhile, in New York, Mr Trump is embroiled in other legal battles while he awaits the start of his first criminal trial over the alleged falsification of business records related to a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

This week, the justice in the case, Juan Merchan, granted a request from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to impose a gag order on Mr Trump barring him from making statements about jurors and witnesses or intimidating court staff.

On Friday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sought to clarify - and possibly expand - the gag order barring Mr Trump from attacking court staff and their family members.

His motion came after Mr Trump insulted Justice Merchan's daughter in a social media post before the gag order was issued.

Mr Bragg asked Justice Merchan to "make abundantly clear" that the gag order applied to "family members of the Court", the district attorney and other individuals mentioned in the gag order.

He also asked the judge to "warn" Mr Trump "and direct him to immediately desist".

If Mr Trump does not, the prosecutor argues, he should face sanctions.

The former president's attorney, Todd Blanche, denied that his client had violated the gag order and argued that the judge's daughter was not a part of it.

He wrote that there was nothing wrong with the social media posts.

"Contrary to the People's suggestion, the Court cannot 'direct' President Trump to do something that the gag order does not require," he said.

BBC
 
Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case have appealed Judge Scott McAfee’s decision to not disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over a relationship with her lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade, who has since left the case.

In a filing submitted to the Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon, attorneys for the former president and the co-defendants claimed that allowing Ms Willis to remain on their case would result in errors in each trial and cause public mistrust in the judicial system.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has attacked the daughter of the judge in his hush-money case yet again, just days after a gag order was issued.

“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,” he wrote in a Truth Social rant.

Mr Trump may risk penalties after New York Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money case, earlier this week banned him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors, lawyers, court staff and their families.

Source: The Independent
 

Will Truth Social solve Donald Trump's money problems?​

The share price of Donald Trump's media company has fallen from last week's high when it officially listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

But it is still worth more than $7bn (£5.6bn) at current prices - an astonishing sum given the business behind it.

So what is the Truth Social platform, who owns it, how many users does it have, and how much money does it make? And is it the answer to Mr Trump's spiralling legal bills?

What are Trump Media and Truth Social?

Trump Media & Technology Group was founded in 2021 after Mr Trump lost the presidential election and was temporarily booted from major social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, which accused him of inciting violence.

Source: BBC
 
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said it would be "my great honor" to go to jail for violating a gag order imposed by the judge who will hear his upcoming trial on charges stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star.

"If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOR," Trump posted on Saturday on his Truth Social platform.

Trump was referring to Justice Juan Merchan, who will preside over his trial in New York state court in Manhattan on criminal charges of covering up a $130,000 payment before the 2016 election to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged sexual encounter.



Reuters
 
Donald Trump launches last-minute attempt to delay criminal trial in New York

A week before he's scheduled to stand trial, former President Donald Trump has launched a last-minute attempt Monday to delay his criminal trial in New York, move the case out of Manhattan and loosen the restrictions imposed on his speech.

His attorneys asked an intermediary appellate court to stay the April 15 trial date, arguing overwhelming pretrial publicity made it impossible to find a fair and impartial jury even with a rigorous jury selection process.

"In terms of prejudicial pretrial publicity in this county, this case stands alone," defense attorney Emil Bove said, arguing there had not been a case with so much attention since the 1999 police killing of Amadou Diallo.

In a brief argument before the Appellate Division First Department, the defense suggested that too many people in Manhattan have a negative opinion of Trump.
“When bias against the defendant is this engrained, has taken root to this extent, voir dire cannot be trusted to clear that up,” Bove said. “Jury selection cannot proceed in a fair manner next week in this county.”

A prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said there’s nothing to suggest potential jurors in Manhattan were “uniquely susceptible” to negative pretrial publicity since Trump is a national, even global, figure.

“The idea of transferring venue here is misguided,” the prosecutor, Steven Wu, said. “The mere fact that they know about this case is not an indication of bias.”


ABC News
 

Trump loses bid to delay hush money trial pending gag order appeal​

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Tuesday lost his second last-ditch bid in as many days to delay his April 15 trial on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.

The former U.S. president's lawyers argued at a hearing in a mid-level state appeals court that the trial should be delayed to give him a chance to challenge a gag order in the case.

Associate Justice Cynthia Kern swiftly denied the delay request, but a full panel of appeals judges will later consider the Republican presidential candidate's underlying challenge to the gag order.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, in a statement called the trial a witch hunt and said the legal team would continue to fight against it.

A separate judge on Monday denied Trump's request to delay the trial while he tries to move the case out of heavily Democratic Manhattan. His lawyers said a survey of Manhattan residents they conducted showed 61% of respondents thought Trump was guilty and 70% had a negative opinion of him.

At Tuesday's hearing, Trump's lawyer Emil Bove said Justice Juan Merchan's order restricting his public comments should be modified to let him respond to public criticism leveled by potential witnesses in the case.

"The First Amendment harms arising from this gag order right now are irreparable," Bove said.

Merchan imposed the order last month barring Trump from verbal attacks on potential witnesses, court staff and individual prosecutors after finding he made statements in various legal cases that the judge called "threatening, inflammatory" and "denigrating."

The judge expanded the order to cover his relatives and those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after Trump disparaged Merchan's daughter online.

The order does not restrict Trump's speech about Merchan or Bragg.

Steven Wu, a lawyer with Bragg's office, said at Tuesday's Appellate Division hearing that the trial should not be delayed since Trump's lawyers could have made the appeal earlier.

He also said his office had to increase security due to Trump's statements, and that potential witnesses were reluctant to testify because of Trump's comments.

"They know what their names in the press may lead to," Wu said. "This is a pattern of misconduct that causes predictable, terrifying consequences."

Trump is accused of covering up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence before the 2016 presidential election about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump a decade earlier.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denied any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

The case is one of four criminal indictments Trump faces as he prepares to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in their Nov. 5 U.S. election rematch. He has sought to delay proceedings in all cases until after the election, and the hush money case is the only one with a firm trial date.

The other cases stem from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving the presidency in 2021. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Source: Reuters
 
Trump plans ‘election integrity’ press conference as Mike Johnson visits Mar-a-Lago

It comes ahead of jury selection beginning in the former president’s hush money case on Monday

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Donald Trump is expected to give a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago on election integrity with House Speaker Mike Johnson making a visit.

“Election integrity” is a phrase that Trump often uses to describe the lie that the 2020 election was rigged and unfounded concerns about future mass voter fraud. It comes as Johnson faces an ongoing threat to his job from Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican firebrand.

Trump has lost three last-ditch bids in three days to delay his hush money trial – with the landmark case looming in a matter of days.

On Wednesday, a New York appeals court judge rejected his latest effort to stall the case based on arguments of New York Justice Juan Merchan’s “refusal” to recuse himself or to hear Mr Trump’s argument of “presidential immunity”.

Jury selection is set to begin on Monday 15 April.

Meanwhile, Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing Mr Trump’s criminal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, has sided with special counsel Jack Smith’s office and agreed that the names of government witnesses in the case should remain secret, due to concerns for their safe.

Source: The Independent
 
Trump's hush money trial will not be delayed because of publicity, judge rules

The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money criminal case rejected the former U.S. president's bid to delay Monday's scheduled trial on the ground that substantial pre-trial publicity would make the proceedings unfair.

Trump had sought an indefinite delay, saying media coverage was prejudiced against him, and finding an acceptable jury in Manhattan would be tough because the borough was "overwhelmingly biased" against him.

But in a decision on Friday, Justice Juan Merchan said an indefinite adjournment was "not tenable."

Merchan also said Trump himself generated much of the publicity surrounding his legal troubles, including through "unrelenting media posts" attacking people he blamed for them.

"The situation defendant finds himself in now is not new to him and (is) at least in part, of his own doing," Merchan wrote.

Prosecutors argued the publicity was not likely to drop, and it would be "perverse" to reward Trump with a delay based on media attention he courted.

They also said thorough questioning of prospective jurors would likely find enough who could decide the case fairly.

Trump is the Republican presidential candidate in an expected Nov. 5 election rematch against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump's campaign, said in an email: "President Trump and his legal team will continue fighting against this Biden Trial and all of the other Witch Hunts."



 
Trump Says He Intends to Testify in His Manhattan Criminal Case

Jury selection begins Monday in the prosecution of Donald J. Trump on charges of covering up a sex scandal. He said he would try to sway jurors personally, though he has backed away in the past.

Donald J. Trump has often promised to take the stand, and sometimes followed through.Credit...Pool photo by Justin Lane

Taking questions Friday from reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump, when asked whether he would take the stand, responded that he would.

“I’m testifying. I tell the truth,” he said, standing just off a sunny patio of the private club with Speaker Mike Johnson behind him. “I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there’s no case. They have no case.”

A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has charged Mr. Trump with 34 felonies, declined to comment on his remarks.

Despite Mr. Trump’s comments, it is far from a sure thing that he will testify. Instead, his comments initiate a familiar two-step: It will not be clear whether the former president will take the stand until the moment he actually does.

Mr. Trump will most likely wait to see whether the prosecution presents a strong case — and whether the judge presiding over the trial plans to restrict prosecutors’ efforts to cross-examine him, according to people with knowledge of his planning.

In past cases, Mr. Trump has wavered after saying that he would testify, including during his civil fraud trial last year, when he canceled his defense testimony the day before he was scheduled to take the stand.

When he was called to testify by the New York attorney general’s office, which filed the case, it did not go well. The judge in the case, who found Mr. Trump liable for conspiring to inflate his net worth, criticized the former president for not answering directly and questioned his credibility.

Testifying in a criminal case would be even riskier. In the trial scheduled to start next week, Mr. Trump is for the first time facing the threat of criminal conviction. He will be at a disadvantage with a jury in Manhattan, a heavily Democratic county.

“Jury selection is largely luck,” Mr. Trump said in his remarks on Friday. “It depends who you get.”

The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, accused Mr. Trump of coordinating the hush-money payment to the porn star, Stormy Daniels, during the 2016 election. The $130,000 payment bought her silence as she was shopping a story about a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump was charged with falsifying documents to cover up that payment.

Mr. Trump denies the charges, and having had sex with Ms. Daniels. He has cast Mr. Bragg’s case as a politically motivated witch hunt.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.

Michael Gold is a political correspondent for The Times covering the campaigns of Donald J. Trump and other candidates in the 2024 presidential elections. More about Michael Gold

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

Ben Protess is an investigative reporter at The Times, writing about public corruption. He has been covering the various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies. More about Ben Protess

Source: The New York Times
 
Trump repeats attack on ex-lawyer on eve of trial despite gag order

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the former president wrote, "Has disgraced attorney and felon Michael Cohen been prosecuted for LYING? Only TRUMP people get prosecuted by this Judge and these thugs!"

Cohen is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution at the trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Monday and will be the first criminal trial ever of a former American president.

Prosecutors have accused Trump of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to buy her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Cohen has said Trump ordered him to make the payment and then arranged for him to be reimbursed.

Trump has pleaded not guilty, and has denied having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, imposed a gag order on Trump in March at prosecutors' request, blocking him from speaking about witnesses concerning their participation in the case.

He extended the order on April 1 to cover his own family members and those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, though Merchan and Bragg themselves are not included.

The district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in November's election, has claimed he is the victim of political persecution.

At a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Trump called Merchan "highly conflicted and corrupt" and accused Bragg of trying to prevent him from defeating President Joe Biden.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges that he violated campaign finance law through the payment to Daniels. He separately pleaded guilty later that year to lying to Congress in 2017 about a real estate project in Moscow, though he says he did so to protect Trump.

Trump went after both Cohen and Daniels - another likely prosecution witness - on Truth Social earlier this week, calling them "sleaze bags."


Reuters
 

Donald Trump’s landmark hush money trial begins in New York​


Donald Trump took his seat Monday in the New York courtroom, becoming the first ex-president in US history to stand criminal trial, a seismic moment in the already explosive 2024 presidential campaign.

The Republican struck a defiant stance, telling a throng of journalists outside the gritty Manhattan courthouse that his trial was an “outrage” and an “assault on America.”

He then strode into the courtroom, walking past nine rows of wooden benches with a stern expression and followed by his legal team.

The scandal-plagued 77-year-old is accused of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels to shield his 2016 election campaign from a last-minute upheaval.

The so-called hush money affair is only one of four criminal cases hanging over Trump, including historic prosecutions against the Republican’s alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election and prevent the winner, Joe Biden, from taking office.

If convicted in the hush money case, Trump would potentially face years in prison, but legal observers consider this unlikely.

Even so, the prospect of Trump becoming a convicted felon throws an unprecedented wild card into an already unpredictable November 5 election, where he wants to defeat Biden and return to power.

The hard-right populist is running on dark vows of “vengeance” and seeking to spin his criminal cases as evidence of persecution.

On Monday his campaign released a video portraying Trump with the trappings of the presidency and warning his supporters that “they want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedoms.”

Attempting to keep up his trademark bravado, Trump said last week that he will take the stand in the trial -- a highly unusual and often risky move for defendants.

The trial starts with what could be multiple days of jury selection. A pool of ordinary citizens convened by Judge Juan Merchan must answer a questionnaire including checks on whether they have been members of far-right groups.

The actual charges revolve around highly technical finance laws.

Trump is accused of illegally covering up remittances to his longtime attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, who was using the funds to pay Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about the alleged sexual encounter in the final weeks of the 2016 election campaign.

A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 over the payments made to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, with the ex-president charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.

He denies the charges and says the encounter with Clifford and another with a Playboy nude model, whose story he also allegedly covered up, did not happen.

Trump also claims he will not get a fair trial in heavily Democratic New York.

Even if convicted, he would be able to appeal and would not be barred from continuing to run, or even being elected president on November 5.

Trump’s other three criminal cases -- centered on his alleged hoarding of top-secret documents in Florida after he left the White House and his involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 election -- all face multiple delays.

In the New York case, Trump has repeatedly failed to secure meaningful delays, and Merchan has signaled he will run the trial with a firm hand.

Last week, the judge extended an existing gag order, in place to prevent Trump from attacking those involved in the trial, widening it to cover family members of the judge and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the lead prosecutor.

The expansion of the order came after Trump lashed out at Merchan and his daughter in a series of posts on Truth Social.

 
Trump trial: Dozens of jurors rejected as they say they cannot be impartial

Donald Trump's unprecedented criminal trial has begun with half of a group of potential jurors ruled out within minutes on impartiality grounds.

Mr Trump denies falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Sixty of 96 potential jurors were quick to say in the New York court that they could not be impartial.

Those left were then asked multiple questions, including about their news and book reading habits.

"I just couldn't do it," one prospective juror was heard saying as she left court on Monday.

The dismissals were an indication of how challenging it could be to find a group of 12 impartial jurors for a case concerned with a high-profile sex scandal involving a former president running once again for the White House.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office alleges that Mr Trump directed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 (£104,000) in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter that the former president denies took place.

Prosecutors say he did so to "unlawfully influence" the 2016 election. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection began in the afternoon. The judge started by dismissing jurors who raised their hand to say they could not be impartial, leaving around 34 people.

Those left were then grilled on 42 questions in the jury questionnaire, including on their news-reading habits, whether they had attended any Trump rallies or read any of the former president's books.

Eighteen were placed at random in the jury box, and they answered the questionnaire one by one.

One man from Midtown Manhattan said that he read the Wall Street Journal. Another from the Upper West Side said his radio habits included listening to whatever was on when he was in the shower. He later clarified he meant NPR.

Neither was dismissed immediately.

A woman was asked: "Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former president Donald Trump, or the fact that he is a current candidate for president, that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?"

She simply replied "yes" and was dismissed, although Mr Trump's team initially objected to excusing her for reasons they did not explain.

All jurors will remain anonymous due to the high-profile nature of the case, although Mr Trump's legal team and prosecutors will know their identities.

Quiet in the court

The accused stayed quiet during the day, speaking to his lawyers in a hushed tone while maintaining a stern expression. He said three words in the entirety of the morning to the judge, New York Justice Juan Merchan - all "yes", when asked about what conduct was required in court.

But outside of the court, Mr Trump said the trial was "nonsense" and an "assault on America".

Mr Trump's public remarks about the case were the subject of several minutes of debate during the morning in court.

Prosecutors argued some of Mr Trump's posts on his social media site, Truth Social, violated a gag order Justice Merchan imposed on him. The order bars Mr Trump from making public comments about people related to the case, including potential witnesses.

The order was expanded to relatives of those involved after Mr Trump attacked Justice Merchan's daughter on social media.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office asked Justice Merchan to fine Mr Trump $3,000 (£2,400) in total for three posts. That includes a post on Saturday when he called his former attorney - and future trial witness - Michael Cohen a "disgraced attorney and felon".

The judge set a hearing date of 24 April to make a decision.

The judge used the morning to resolve what evidence would be permissible in court.

The defence and prosecution sparred over leaked audio of Mr Trump that came out just before the 2016 election. In the clip, taken from a recording of NBC show Access Hollywood, Mr Trump talks about grabbing women by their genitals.

Prosecutors asked to include an email chain between Trump campaign officials and the Washington Post reporter who broke the Access Hollywood story, which included a transcript of the tape.

The judge refused to allow the audio to be played for jurors, but said prosecutors could refer to what Mr Trump said on the tape.

Throughout the day, Mr Trump was cheered on by dozens of people who rallied peacefully but loudly outside court.

They included a man playing The Star-Spangled Banner on the flute for hours and a Trump impersonator wearing a blond wig and red tie.

There were others decidedly less enthusiastic about the former president. One held a banner that stated: "Convict Trump already."

The hush-money trial is just one of four criminal cases the former president is facing. But it could be the only one to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election, a rematch between Mr Trump, a Republican, and the incumbent, Joe Biden, a Democrat.

If convicted, Mr Trump would be the first major-party nominee to run for president as a convicted felon. No law prevents him from doing so.

Justice Merchan also rejected a defence request that Mr Trump be excused from the trial next Thursday so that he can attend Supreme Court arguments on the immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases.

"Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal," Justice Merchan said, before adding: "A trial in New York Supreme Court… is also a big deal. I will see him here next week."

BBC
 

US Supreme Court leans toward Jan. 6 rioter in obstruction case, with Trump implications​


WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled skepticism toward an obstruction charge brought by the Justice Department against a Pennsylvania man in the 2021 Capitol attack - a case with possible implications for the prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The justices heard arguments in Joseph Fischer's appeal of a lower court's ruling rejecting his attempt to escape a federal charge of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding - the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's victory over Trump that the rioters sought to prevent on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump, the Republican candidate challenging the Democratic president in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, faces the same charge in a criminal case brought against him last year by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

The conservative justices, who form a 6-3 majority, expressed concerns about the decision by federal prosecutors to apply to Fischer's case an obstruction provision in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a law passed after the accounting fraud scandal at now-defunct energy company Enron. They grilled U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar about the law's sweep, how it should be interpreted and whether the charge was necessary given the range of other criminal counts brought against Jan. 6 defendants.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared wary that a broad reading of the law could encroach on non-violent protests, emphasizing the maximum penalty of 20 years in prison under the obstruction charge.

"Would a sit-in that disrupts a trial, or access to a federal courthouse, qualify?" Gorsuch asked Prelogar. "Would a heckler in today's (Supreme Court) audience qualify, or at the State of the Union address?"

Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts seemed inclined to view the law narrowly, suggesting it might apply only to defendants who alter or destroy evidence - an interpretation that Fischer has asked the court to embrace.

Fischer is accused of charging at police guarding a Capitol entrance during the attack. Fischer, at the time a member of the North Cornwall Township police in Pennsylvania, got inside and pressed up against an officer's riot shield as police attempted to clear rioters, according to prosecutors. He remained in the Capitol for four minutes before police pushed him out.

Jeffrey Green, a lawyer for Fischer, said prosecutors had misapplied the "Enron-driven evidence-tampering statute" to his client's case.

"Attempting to stop a vote count or something like that is a very different act than actually changing a document or altering a document," Green told the justices.

Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan challenged Green's narrow view of the law, suggesting that lawmakers had aimed to craft an expansive statute.

"They wanted to cover every base," Sotomayor told Green.

Source: Reuters
 
First 7 jurors are chosen for Trump’s hush money criminal trial; 11 more still needed

The first seven jurors for Donald Trump’s hush money trial were seated Tuesday after lawyers grilled the jury pool about their social media posts, political views and personal lives to decide who can sit in fair judgment of the former president.

The panelists who were selected are an information technology worker, an English teacher, an oncology nurse, a sales professional, a software engineer and two lawyers.

Eleven more people still must be sworn in before opening statements begin as early as next week in the first criminal trial of a former commander in chief. It’s a moment of reckoning for Trump, who has tried to put off his prosecutions until after the November election and casts himself as the victim of a politically motivated justice system.

The trial puts Trump’s legal problems at the center of his closely contested race against President Joe Biden. It’s the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to reach trial, and it may be the only one to return a verdict before voters decide whether to elect the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

The methodical process unfolding in the Manhattan courtroom highlights the challenge of finding people who can fairly judge the polarizing defendant in the city where he built his real estate empire before being elected president in 2016. Even so, jury selection moved quicker than expected Tuesday afternoon. It was set to resume Thursday.

On his way out of the courthouse, Trump stopped in the hallway to rail against the case to reporters, accusing Judge Juan Merchan of “rushing” the trial. He has denied any wrongdoing.

“We are going to continue our fight against this judge,” said Trump, who pushed unsuccessfully to have Merchan removed from the case.

During an appearance later Tuesday at a bodega in Harlem, Trump was asked what he thought of the jurors he had seen. He said it was “a little bit early to see,” adding, “We’ll see what happens.”

Over two days, dozens of potential jurors have been excused after saying they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments. Trump’s lawyers challenged a handful of people over social media posts, and one person was dismissed over a 2017 post about Trump that said “Lock him up!”

Several would-be jurors told the judge they believed they could decide the case fairly, no matter their feelings about Trump or his policies as president.

Trump looked on in the courtroom as potential jurors — whose names are known only to prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams — shared details of their lives and impressions of him. The judge admonished Trump at one point after he spoke loudly and gestured while the judge questioned one woman about a social media post.

“I don’t know what he was uttering, but it was audible and he was gesturing. And he was speaking in the direction of the juror,” Merchan said. “I won’t tolerate that. I will not tolerate any jurors being intimidated in this courtroom.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass took Trump’s notoriety head-on, telling the jury pool that attorneys were not looking for people who had been “living under a rock for the past eight years.” They just needed to keep an open mind.

“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics … it’s not a referendum on the Trump presidency or a popularity contest or who you’re going to vote for in November. We don’t care. This case is about whether this man broke the law,” he said.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious — and, he says, bogus — stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign.

With the trial expected to last for six weeks or more, several jury pool members brought up plans they have for Memorial Day and beyond.

One man was excused after saying he feared his ability to be impartial could be compromised by “unconscious bias” from growing up in Texas and working in finance with people who “intellectually tend to slant Republican.”

“I’m not sure that I can say beyond a reasonable doubt that I can be fair,” another person told the judge. “I can try. But I’m not 100% sure I can be fair.” She was also dismissed.

One person chosen to sit on the jury said he found Trump “fascinating,” adding that he “walks into a room and he sets people off one way or another.”

Another woman said she disagrees with Trump’s policies and sometimes finds herself frustrated by him. But she pledged to be fair and impartial, telling defense lawyer Todd Blanche that she would give her “level-headed best” if she were picked for the jury.

“I didn’t sleep last night thinking about could I do that,” she said.

Trump broke into a grin, nodding his head in an exaggerated manner, when one person said he had read two of the former president’s books, “The Art of the Deal” and “How to Get Rich.” The man, who said some of his wife’s family members are lobbyists for the Republican Party, said he didn’t think there was anything that would prevent him from looking at the case fairly.

“I feel that no one’s above the law,” he said.

The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the encounter ever happened.

Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen were falsely logged as legal fees. The prosecution has described the money as being part of a scheme to bury damaging stories Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly as Trump’s reputation was suffering at the time from comments he made about women.

Trump has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment and that it was designed to stop Daniels from going public about the alleged encounter. But Trump has said it had nothing to do with the campaign. He hinted Tuesday at the defense his legal team will mount, telling reporters: “I was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense.”

“That’s exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?” Trump said.

If convicted of falsifying business records, Trump faces up to four years in prison, though there’s no guarantee he will get time behind bars.

SOURCE: https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial-new-york-dd1a8dcc063b7ad0fbe14af6e8724c2f
 

Trump due back in court as hunt for jurors goes on​


The process of picking 12 jurors plus six alternates is under way. Seven have been picked so far out of hundreds.

In the first criminal trial of a former US president, Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records. He denies any wrongdoing.

If he testifies, he could face questions about recent defeats in other cases.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is leading the case, says he will ask about Mr Trump's legal losses to attack his credibility.

A court filing made public on Wednesday shows that Mr Bragg intends to question Mr Trump about his New York civil fraud trial defeat, in which he was handed a nearly half-billion-dollar financial penalty.

Mr Trump has denied the allegations against him in that case and is appealing the ruling.

Prosecutors would also question Mr Trump about jury verdicts finding him liable for defamation and sexual abuse of the writer E Jean Carroll - another issue he is appealing.

Judge Juan Merchan has not determined whether Mr Bragg's office will be allowed to raise these points during cross-examination, should Mr Trump choose to testify in the hush-money case.

Mr Trump has previously said he would have "no problem" doing so.

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records linked to a $130,000 (£104,000) payment that was made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

He has also denied having an affair with Ms Daniels. Prosecutors say Mr Trump directed his former lawyer to pay Ms Daniels to stay quiet during his successful presidential run that year.

It will be up to the jury to decide whether he is innocent, guilty, or if a consensus cannot be reached.

But in New York City - the place where Mr Trump built his fame and real estate empire - the task of finding 12 jurors with no opinion of the former president has proven complex.

On the opening day of trial, the first batch of candidates was immediately halved when dozens raised their hands to indicate they could not be impartial about Mr Trump.

Even prosecutors and Mr Trump's lawyers acknowledged in court that the task was nearly impossible.

Despite the challenge, there are hopes the selection process could conclude this week, allowing opening statements to begin as soon as Monday.

www.bbc.com

Trump due back in court as hunt for jurors goes on

Selecting an impartial jury has proven a complex task in New York, where Mr Trump has a long history.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
A juror seated in Trump's hush money trial has been dismissed after expressing concerns over aspects of her identity made public

CNN
 
Jury selection is ongoing on day three of Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York - the first criminal trial of a former president

Two jurors selected earlier this week have now been excused, but Thursday saw another two confirmed to replace them
One of the excused jurors said she had privacy concerns because family and friends discovered she had been selected
It prompted the judge to tell the media to limit the personal descriptions of potential jurors

Dozens of potential jurors were dismissed on Monday and Tuesday after saying they could not be impartial.

Prosecutors say Trump has on 10 occasions breached a gag order designed to stop him attacking those involved in the case
Trump is accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before he won the 2016 election

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of fraud and also denies having an affair with Daniels
 
Trump criminal case: Full 12-person jury seated in Manhattan

A full jury has been sworn in for ex-US President Donald Trump's historic criminal trial in New York City.

"We have our jury," Justice Juan Merchan declared after selecting the final member of the 12-person panel. Two jurors had to be excused earlier.

Some experts thought the process might take two weeks, but things moved quickly after Mr Trump's team ran out of challenges.

The court could hear opening arguments as soon as Monday.

The trial, the first ever in which a former US president is the defendant, stems from a hush-money payment to a porn star.

As Mr Trump left court on Thursday evening, he showed dozens of printed media articles criticising the Manhattan charges against him, which he said were "political".

"It's a very unfair, very bad thing," said the Republican, who will challenge President Joe Biden, a Democrat, for the White House in November's election.

"The whole world is watching this hoax." He also took issue with the temperature in the courtroom, saying it is "freezing in there".



BBC
 
Man sets himself on fire in protest area outside Trump trial

A man has set himself on fire outside the courthouse in New York where former US President Donald Trump is on trial.

The man was in a designated protest area for pro and anti-Trump demonstrators outside the Manhattan courthouse.

The New York Police Department said it has opened an investigation after its officers responded to the fire at around 1:37pm local time (6:37pm UK time).

The force added that the man has been taken to hospital and is in a critical condition.

It comes after jury selection for Trump's hush money trial concluded with 12 people, and six alternatives, chosen to decide whether the former US president covered up payments to women who alleged they had affairs with him.

Footage shared on social media shows a man lying on his back on the pavement outside the courthouse while the lower part of his body is on fire.

Another man sprays him with a fire extinguisher which appears to put the fire out.


SKY News
 
5 big takeaways from Day 4 of Trump's hush money trial

After four days of jury selection, Donald Trump has a full jury in his New York criminal hush money trial, where he's facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Judge Juan Merchan swore in five additional alternate jurors on Friday and scheduled opening statements for Monday.

Tensions ran high in the courtroom at times Friday, as defense attorneys attempted to grill potential witnesses about their social media histories and opinions on the former president. Two potential jurors broke down to tears during questioning, telling the judge they were too anxious about the case to serve as fair jurors. Both were excused.

Here are four big takeaways from the fourth day of the historic trial:

Alternate jurors sworn in
Five additional alternate jurors were sworn in to hear the case on Friday.

"We have now completed jury selection for this case," Judge Merchan said.

The alternate jurors are five women and one man. Below is a breakdown of all the alternates:

Alternate Juror No. 1: Female, Analyst for Asset Manager

Alternate Juror No. 2: Female, Unemployed

Alternate Juror No. 3: Male, Audio Professional

Alternate Juror No. 4: Female, Contract Specialist

Alternate Juror No. 5: Female, Creative Operations for Clothing Company

Alternate Juror No. 6: Female, Project Manager for Construction Company


ABC News
 
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump's Manhattan hush money trial dies

A man who set himself on fire outside the Manhattan court where former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial is being held has died.

Maxwell Azzarello, 37, doused himself in a liquid before throwing conspiracy-theory pamphlets into the air.

It happened as the jury selection for Mr Trump's trial was completed.

He was taken to hospital on Friday in critical condition, where he later died, CBS News - the BBC's US partner - confirmed.

Mr Trump was in the building to attend jury selection, where he has had a security detail, but the former president left during the incident.

New York City police said early on Saturday that Mr Azzarello was declared dead by hospital staff, NBC reported.

Court security had not been breached in Friday's incident, emergency officials said. The case, which had just completed alternate jury selection, resumed later in the afternoon. Opening statements are expected to begin on Monday.

Investigators said they had received a 911 emergency call at around 13:30 local time (18:30 BMT) telling them that a man had lit himself on fire.

They identified him as Maxwell Azzarello, 37, who had arrived in New York from his home in Florida sometime in the past week. He had no criminal record in New York, and his family in Florida were unaware that he had travelled to the city.

New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said Mr Azzarello was seen "shuffling around" in the park before reaching into a bag for the flammable liquid and pamphlets.

The pamphlets were "propaganda-based", said Chief Maddrey, adding that they were regarding a "conspiracy theory".

There was a massive police presence outside the courthouse because of the trial, and officers quickly ran into the park shouting for a fire extinguisher. Mr Azzarello was carried away on a stretcher, his body badly burned. The police said he was taken to a hospital burn centre in critical condition.

Witness Julie Berman told reporters: "It was hot, and it didn't make a lot sense. The whole thing happened so fast... it took me like 20 seconds to figure out what was going on."

NYPD investigators were later seen collecting pamphlets that Mr Azzarello had scattered before self-immolating. They have deemed the area safe.

Investigators are still interviewing witnesses and said he didn't appear to say anything before setting fire to himself.

Three NYPD officers and one court officer had minor injuries after helping to extinguish the blaze.

Officials said they will now reassess security outside the court.

BBC
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MenInG said:
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump's Manhattan hush money trial dies

A man who set himself on fire outside the Manhattan court where former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial is being held has died.

Maxwell Azzarello, 37, doused himself in a liquid before throwing conspiracy-theory pamphlets into the air.

It happened as the jury selection for Mr Trump's trial was completed.

He was taken to hospital on Friday in critical condition, where he later died, CBS News - the BBC's US partner - confirmed.

Mr Trump was in the building to attend jury selection, where he has had a security detail, but the former president left during the incident.

New York City police said early on Saturday that Mr Azzarello was declared dead by hospital staff, NBC reported.

Court security had not been breached in Friday's incident, emergency officials said. The case, which had just completed alternate jury selection, resumed later in the afternoon. Opening statements are expected to begin on Monday.

Investigators said they had received a 911 emergency call at around 13:30 local time (18:30 BMT) telling them that a man had lit himself on fire.

They identified him as Maxwell Azzarello, 37, who had arrived in New York from his home in Florida sometime in the past week. He had no criminal record in New York, and his family in Florida were unaware that he had travelled to the city.

New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said Mr Azzarello was seen "shuffling around" in the park before reaching into a bag for the flammable liquid and pamphlets.

The pamphlets were "propaganda-based", said Chief Maddrey, adding that they were regarding a "conspiracy theory".

There was a massive police presence outside the courthouse because of the trial, and officers quickly ran into the park shouting for a fire extinguisher. Mr Azzarello was carried away on a stretcher, his body badly burned. The police said he was taken to a hospital burn centre in critical condition.

Witness Julie Berman told reporters: "It was hot, and it didn't make a lot sense. The whole thing happened so fast... it took me like 20 seconds to figure out what was going on."

NYPD investigators were later seen collecting pamphlets that Mr Azzarello had scattered before self-immolating. They have deemed the area safe.

Investigators are still interviewing witnesses and said he didn't appear to say anything before setting fire to himself.

Three NYPD officers and one court officer had minor injuries after helping to extinguish the blaze.

Officials said they will now reassess security outside the court.

BBC
Click to expand...
WHy would he do that. Was he mad? He died for nothing.
 
What the world's media makes of Trump going on trial

Pictures of Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom have accompanied countless front-page stories about the first-ever criminal trial of a serving or former US president.

That coverage has not been limited to the US. The world's media have carried the story - remarking on the man who wants to return to the White House and the case against him.

Mr Trump denies 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to a $130,000 payment made by his lawyer to buy the silence of an adult film star just before the 2016 election. She alleges they had an affair; he denies the story.

So how is the historic trial being covered, from Beijing to Rome? We asked our colleagues at BBC Monitoring, which tracks and analyses media around the world.

'SleepyDon' trial presents US with unprecedented problems - China

Chinese media have covered Mr Trump's trial but it hasn't featured as prominently on the news agenda as one might expect. Still, it offered the media another opportunity to show what's seen as the chaos and polarisation of US politics.

English-language reporting focused on facts of the case. State news agency Xinhua's English-language edition highlighted that Donald Trump was the first former president to stand a criminal trial. It also quoted the accused as describing the trial as "political persecution" and saying the country was "failing". China Daily, the state-run English-language newspaper, focused on jury selection, during which more than 50 of the 96 first potential jurors were excused after saying that they could not be fair.

Domestic-facing state-affiliated outlet The Paper provided infographics and timelines of the trial, and cited US surveys as showing polarised views on it among US voters. It also zoomed in on conflicting reports about the possible impact on the general election in November.

State-owned China News Service (CNS) talked about "unprecedented problems" facing the US judicial system if Mr Trump were to win in November but also be convicted.

Nationalist daily Global Times cited high interest rates, inflation and the crisis in the Middle East as showcasing Mr Trump's notion that the world had spun out of control under the Biden administration.

But the state-run tabloid did not spare the Republican either. It provided a colourful report on 16 April focusing on reports that he had fallen asleep in court, posting a meme ridiculing him as "#SleepyDon".

'Mesmerised and alarmed' - Latin America

From Mexico and Cuba to Argentina, media coverage reflected the keen interest with which political events in the US are followed south of the border. Multiple stories on the Trump trial emphasised its "historical" nature.

Most of the reports made a point of publishing striking photos of a stern-looking Trump seated in what outlets highlighted was the "accused's bench" - this was likely to be viewed as righteous justice by many of his critics in Latin America.

The mere possibility of another Trump presidency is both mesmerising and potentially alarming for many Latin American leaders, governments and societies that vividly recall his scathing anti-migrant comments and what they saw as barely-concealed scorn for struggling developing countries during his previous term in the White House.

Argentina-based Latin American news website Infobae published an extensive story on the "Colombian judge that will have the last word in the trial against Donald Trump", noting that Judge Juan Merchan had "not flinched in decreeing a gag order against Trump".

Some of the Latin American reports did slip into commentary, such as Mexican left-wing daily La Jornada which said that Mr Trump was "accused not of being a saviour and defender of his country as he says, but of trying to cover up payments to a porn star which sought to silence an illicit sexual encounter".

Top Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo adopted a clearly anti-Trump position in a 16 April editorial entitled "Trump and the unthinkable" which posed questions about a scenario in which he was jailed and then pardoned himself as president. It urged American voters to avert that scenario at the ballot box.

'Fabricated case' - Russia

A pro-Trump bias was in evidence in much of the coverage. On state TV Rossiya 1's main evening news, the presenter used the Russian slang word "bespredel", which roughly translates to utter lawlessness and abuse of power, in reference to the trial and other criminal charges faced by Trump.

Court proceedings were consistently linked to the race for the White House by several outlets. Olga Skabeyeva, host of Rossiya 1's 60 Minut (60 Minutes) political talk show, said the only chance Trump's enemies had to defeat him in the election was to imprison him. "In this regard, a case was fabricated about a bribe for the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels," Skabeyeva concluded.

In the government-owned daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Igor Dunayevsky wrote: "Democratic politicians do not hide their hopes that the hunt for Donald Trump will prevent him from participating in the 2024 elections."

Russian state media have consistently mocked the current US president as "senile" and a person not really in control of events. Donald Trump on the other hand has had a much easier ride on pro-Kremlin outlets.

'Far-fetched indictment' - Europe

Across the Atlantic, an editorial in Le Temps in Switzerland described the indictment as far-fetched, questioning whether the revelation of an alleged affair with Stormy Daniels would really have influenced voters in the 2016 election given what they already knew about Mr Trump.

"As he once again solicits the vote of Americans, it would be distressing if Donald Trump responded only for the falsification of accounting documents in New York and not for the attack on the Capitol and against American democracy," it said.

The New York reporter for Italy's left-wing Il Manifesto newspaper described the spectacle outside the courthouse and concluded with a pointed remark that it all added up to a "hypnotic reiteration of the normalisation, or reduction to a freak, of the Trump threat".

Opinion writer Jędrzej Bielecki took a wider view in the Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita. He said the trial would be a "spectacular example of the strength of the rule of law in America, to which, at least theoretically, everyone, both the powerful and the weakest, must answer".

BBC
 
Donald Trump trial day 5 recap: Lawyers make opening plays in sweeping hush money case

The heart of former President Donald Trump's New York hush money trial, overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, kicked off on Monday with opening statements and witness testimony.

Matthew Colangelo delivered the opening argument for the prosecution, alleging that the former president's actions were "election fraud, pure and simple." Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, criticized accounts from Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels, telling the jury "There's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election."

Jurors are deciding whether Trump falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment from Cohen to Daniels.

Trump authorized the payment in order to keep Daniels from hurting his 2016 presidential campaign by going public with her story that the pair had sex, according to the prosecutors. Trump denies Daniels' claim and has pleaded not guilty.

David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer’s parent company, was the first witness called to the stand in the case. He's expected to face further questions about how the company routinely paid for scandalous stories that it didn’t publish, under what others called a “catch-and-kill” strategy.


USA Today
 
Trump trial: Prosecution say hush money was 'pure election fraud'

The prosecution in Donald Trump's hush-money trial accused the former president of a criminal conspiracy and cover-up to hide a sex scandal ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

"It was election fraud, pure and simple," a lawyer told the jury during opening statements on Monday at the historic trial in New York.

Setting out the case for the defence, Mr Trump's lawyer said his client had committed no crimes and that it was not illegal to try to influence an election.

"He is cloaked in innocence," he added.

Mr Trump is accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 (£104,500) payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before he won the race for the White House back in 2016.

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and also denies having an alleged sexual encounter with Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

At the start of the second week of the criminal trial in Manhattan - the first ever of a former US president - each side set out the case they will present to the jury. The first witness, tabloid publisher David Pecker, also took the stand briefly and will continue his testimony on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the court that Michael Cohen, Mr Trump's former lawyer and confidant, worked with the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, to "cook the books" at Mr Trump's direction.

Prosecutors alleged that the scheme to disguise how Cohen was reimbursed for the payment to Ms Daniels involved falsifying three forms of records - invoices, ledger entries and cheques.

Mr Trump said in his business records that those payments were "for legal services pursuant to a retainer agreement" with Mr Cohen, Mr Colangelo told the jury.

"Those were lies," the prosecutor said.

Critically for this case, he said that Mr Trump was motivated to provide the payoff so voters did not learn of the alleged encounter with Ms Daniels.

Prosecutors said that this cover-up should be considered election interference, which constituted a second crime. That elevated the charge of falsifying business records from a lower-level misdemeanour into a more serious felony.

They claimed the infamous Access Hollywood tape, which surfaced weeks before the 2016 election and showed Mr Trump bragging about being able to have sex with anyone because he is famous, had panicked his campaign.

"The defendant and his campaign staff were deeply concerned that it would irreparably damage his standing with female voters in particular," Mr Colangelo told the court.

But when Ms Daniels came forward a day later alleging a sexual encounter with Mr Trump, it compounded the problem created by the tape, Mr Colangelo alleged.

The public disclosure "would have been devastating to his campaign, so at Trump's direction Cohen negotiated a deal", Mr Colangelo told the jurors. The prosecution alleges Mr Pecker - the former boss at American Media Inc, which owns the National Enquirer - and Mr Cohen discussed how to keep it quiet.

The defence's rebuttal was fairly simple in comparison.

Mr Blanche appeared intent on casting prosecutors' star witness - Cohen - as an untrustworthy former employee with an axe to grind against the former president.

"He's a convicted felon and a convicted perjurer - he's an admitted liar," Mr Blanche said of Cohen.

He also zeroed in on Ms Daniels, who he said had earned "hundreds of thousands" of dollars with her claims. The defence lawyer told the jury to discount her as a witness.

He went on to dismiss the examples of allegedly false records as "34 pieces of paper" that did not involve his client.

As for the case prosecutors made for election interference, Mr Blanche denied that his client had done anything illegal even if he had attempted to sway voters.

"There's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election," Mr Blanche said. "It's called democracy."

The trial is expected to last about another six weeks, but legal experts say opening statements are particularly important as an opportunity to shape jurors' views on the case.

"You need to start out strong in a case like this," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the BBC.

Mr Rahmani noted that the prosecution's efforts to elevate this to an election interference case may be tough with a jury that includes two lawyers.

"It's clear the records were false business records, but to take that next step to prove they were in furtherance of, or to cover up, a campaign finance contribution, is a more difficult legal argument and they're going to need to do a lot more than that in my opinion.

"This is going to come down to Michael Cohen," he concluded, and whether his testimony backs up what he has said in the past and whether he has documents to prove it.

BBC
 
The judge in Donald Trump's hush-money trial is holding a hearing this morning to determine if he violated a gag order

The order bans the former president from verbally attacking those involved in the case - including the jury and witnesses
Prosecutors say Trump has already violated the order 10 times and want him to be fined thousands of dollars.

After the gag order hearing, the historic New York hush-money trial will resume with the first witness.

David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, who’s alleged to have bought and buried damaging stories about Trump, will continue his testimony
 
A grand jury in Arizona has handed up an indictment against former President Donald Trump’s allies over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign.

Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani are among those who have been indicted, according to a source familiar with the investigation.


CNN
 
The Supreme Court appeared ready to reject former President Donald Trump’s claims of sweeping immunity and the broad protections he has sought to shut down his federal election subversion case, but also reluctant to give special counsel Jack Smith carte blanche to pursue those charges.

After nearly three hours of oral arguments, several of the justices seemed willing to embrace a result that could jeopardize the ability to hold a trial before the November election.

Much of the hearing focused on whether there should be a distinction between official acts by Trump pursuant to his presidential duties and his private conduct.


CNN
 
Will Trump triumph in this case?
===
David Pecker is clearly uncomfortable and thinking about his answers carefully, as the defence asks him about his non-prosecution agreement.

Emil Bove’s questioning tries to insinuate that there was pressure for Pecker to cooperate with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office because he was in the middle of a $100 million deal for the Hudson News Group to acquire AMI's National Enquirer and two other tabloids.

Pecker says they could’ve closed the deal subject to the investigation being completed.

But he does concede under further cross examination that if AMI was indicted, it would’ve affected the value of its assets.
 
Trump campaign accused of breaking federal law by hiding millions in legal payments

Acomplaint filed with the Federal Election Commission has alleged that the Trump campaign and its related political committees have potentially violated federal law by concealing who is being paid for much of the former president’s legal work.

The complaint, which was filed with the FEC by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a nonprofit government watchdog, alleges that Trump’s campaign and four other related political committees reimbursed compliance firm Red Curve Solutions $7.2 million for legal fees and expenses between 7 December 2022 and 18 March 2024.

However, Red Curve “does not appear to offer any legal services,” CLC noted in the complaint.

According to the company’s LinkedIn page, Red Curve Solutions helps political campaigns with a range of services, including “comprehensive budgeting, accounting and financial management and compliance services.”

The company is managed by Bradley Crate, who serves as treasurer for the Trump campaign and the four other committees, according to the complaint.

The complaint adds that the arrangement between the Trump Campaign and Red Curve “seems designed to obscure the true recipients of a noteworthy portion of Trump’s legal bills and, in doing so, seems to violate federal law.”

CLC is asking the FEC to investigate the payments immediately, citing the fact that the arrangement is ongoing.

“Red Curve appears to have been fronting legal costs for Trump since at least December 2022, with Trump-affiliated committees repaying the company later,” CLC said in the complaint. “This arrangement appears to violate FEC rules that require campaigns to disclose not only the entity being reimbursed (here, Red Curve) but also the underlying vendor.”

The complaint goes on to say that the fact that the committees and the company—which specializes in campaign finance reporting services—did not properly itemize these reimbursements “undermines the bedrock transparency” of public disclosure laws.

In the filing, the Trump campaign is also accused of violating a federal prohibition on corporate political contributions with its arrangement with Red Curve.

As a limited liability corporation, Red Curve “would be legally barred from making any contributions, such as an in-kind contribution or advance, to Trump’s campaign and any other ‘hard money’ committee – even if that payment or advance is fully reimbursed,” the complaint states.

CLC director of federal reform Saurav Ghosh told The Daily Beast, who originally reported the allegations, says the public should not be deprived of its right to know exactly who Trump-connected political groups are paying.

“Available information points to the conclusion that Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and other Trump-affiliated committees violated federal law by obscuring who they paid for legal services and how much they paid for those services,” Ghosh said in a statement.

“Voters have a right to know exactly how these Trump-affiliated committees are spending their money, particularly since it is unprecedented to see political candidates or committees spending such massive amounts of money on legal expenses.”

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign and Red Curve for comment.

Figures released by the FEC earlier this week revealed that Mr Trump’s legal fees are taking a chunk out of his campaign funds, with the Save America political action committee (PAC), which is connected to the Trump campaign, spending $3.7m on legal fees for the former president in March.

While Save America has not disclosed the details of how much it has spent on each of Trump’s legal cases, its filings show that since the start of 2023 it has spent more than $59 million on lawyer fees.

MTrump, who is the first US president to go on trial, is currently on trial accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an alleged bid to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels for an alleged affair Daniels says they had. Trump denies both the affair and all the charges against him.

He is also involved in two other criminal cases related to his alleged attempts to conspire to overturn the result of the 2020 election and another case related to retaining classified documents.

But his legal troubles do not start or end there. He also lost a trial last year stemming from a blockbuster lawsuit accusing him of lying about his wealth and assets for years as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to stardom and the White House.

A judge ordered him to pay a $454 million penalty in connection with the case. However, the decision was halted after Mr Trump posted a $175 million bond, preventing the state from seizing his assets to satisfy the debt while he appeals the judge’s decision.

Meanwhile, he posted a $91.6 million bond in a defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll, and a $175 million bond in a fraud case involving falsifying business records.

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.


The Independent
 
Trump trial shown expletive-laden texts on Stormy Daniels deal

In October 2016, lawyer Keith Davidson was promised "the easiest deal" he had ever done in his life.

On Tuesday, he found himself on the stand in the first criminal trial of a former US president, reading aloud profanity-ridden text messages that led to that deal.

Prosecutors have charged Donald Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, for allegedly covering up evidence of this hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Mr Davidson testified about his role in brokering the payout to keep Ms Daniels silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and denies having sex with Ms Daniels.

Text messages displayed in court on Tuesday showed the haggling over Ms Daniels' payout kicked into high gear after the October 2016 release of the Access Hollywood tape.

The infamous 2006 recording captured Mr Trump boasting on a hot mic that he could grab women's genitals without their consent because he was famous.

Prosecutors have argued Mr Trump was desperate to bury Ms Daniel's story in the aftermath of the tape's release, because an additional allegation of a sexual encounter with an adult film star could doom his presidential bid. They have cast the case as one of election interference.

Or, as Mr Davidson put it in a text message to National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard after the tape was released, Ms Daniels "talking…is the final nail in the coffin….but he really is f— already."

"Trump is f—," Mr Howard texted back. "Wave the white flag. It's over people!"


www.bbc.com

Trump trial shown expletive-laden texts on Stormy Daniels deal

A lawyer testified about a deal to pay for Ms Daniels' silence about allegedly having sex with Mr Trump.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Judge fines Trump $9,000, threatens jail for contempt in hush money trial

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial fined the former U.S. president $9,000 for contempt of court on Tuesday and said he would consider jailing him if he continued to violate a gag order.

In a written order, Justice Juan Merchan said the fine may not be enough to serve as a deterrent for the wealthy businessman-turned-politician and lamented he did not have the authority to impose a higher penalty.

"Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment," Merchan wrote.

Merchan had imposed the gag order to prevent Trump from criticizing witnesses and others involved in the case.

The judge fined Trump $1,000 for each of nine online statements that he said violated his order not to criticize witnesses or other participants in the trial. Prosecutors had flagged 10 posts as possible violations.


 
Ex-aide Hope Hicks gets emotional during Trump trial testimony

Former White House aide Hope Hicks became emotional towards the end of her testimony Friday afternoon during former US President Donald Trump's hush-money trial.

Ms Hicks served as Mr Trump's campaign spokesperson during 2016 and was a close confidante.

Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal the payment.

He has denied all wrongdoing.

Ms Hicks served as the Trump campaign's press secretary and held two stints as the White House communications director. She said after taking the stand in the New York courtroom: "I'm really nervous.''

Ms Hicks also teared up at one point on the stand after a Trump lawyer asked if a White House position had been created so she could come on board. She returned after taking a short break.

Hicks testified about her experience working with the former president and learning of the Access Hollywood tape recorded in 2005 that shows Mr Trump saying he could "grab women" by their genitals because he was famous. It surfaced weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

Ms Hicks started her testimony by answering questions about the events surrounding the tape's release.

She said at the time she was "a little stunned" to hear the tape and added she had "the sense that this was going to be a massive story".

The Washington Post obtained the tape, and the reporter on the story, David Fahrenthold, emailed Ms Hicks asking for comment from Trump's presidential campaign.

She testified that his email was her first warning about the tape and reviewed the email on a screen in the courtroom.

Ms. Hicks said she forwarded the email to several top campaign staffers, including Jason Miller, Kellyanne Conway, and Steve Bannon.

She said in the email: "1) Need to hear the tape to be sure. 2) deny, deny, deny".

Ms Hicks told the court it was a "reflex" to write "deny, deny, deny.''

Campaign aides then had a meeting, during which they shared the email with Mr Trump, Ms Hicks said.

"Everyone was just absorbing the shock of it... He [Trump] said that didn't sound like something he would say," Ms Hicks said during her testimony.

"I was concerned, very concerned," she told the court.

"It complicated where we were trying to go with the campaign. It was pulling us backwards in a way that was going to be hard to overcome."

When asked how Donald Trump reacted to the tape, Ms Hicks said she thinks Trump felt the recording was "pretty standard stuff for two guys chatting with each other".

Hicks later answered questions about Trump's reaction to a Wall Street Journal story, which alleged affairs with multiple women, including Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Hicks said Trump worried about the story. "He was concerned how it would be viewed by his wife and he wanted me to make sure that the newspapers weren't delivered to their residence that morning," she testified.

Prosecutors asked Ms Hicks about messages she exchanged with Mr Cohen after the Wall Street Journal published the story.

Mr Cohen wrote to Hicks that the story was "lots of innuendos with little facts". Hicks responded: "I agree with most of that" but said the article would get traction because "the media is the worst".

Mr Cohen later replied to say the story was getting "little to no traction".

Hicks explained in court that the story attracted a smaller audience than the story about the Access Hollywood tape.

Throughout her testimony, even when detailing behind-the-scenes responses to damaging news, Ms Hicks often spoke positively about her former boss. She reserved her harshest assessments for Cohen.

Asked if she would agree that Cohen would protect Mr Trump out of the "kindness of his heart", as the former president had claimed, Ms Hicks replied: "That would be out of character for Michael.''

Ms Hicks said that while Cohen was not involved in the campaign directly, he frequently tried to inject himself into it.

"He liked to call himself 'Fixer' or 'Mr Fix-it'," Hicks said. "And it was only because he first broke it."

Ms Hicks also testified about David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer magazine.

She said she did not recall being at a 2015 meeting between the former president, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and Mr Pecker, according to her testimony. It was during this meeting that Pecker agreed to suppress negative stories about Trump - including alleged affairs - to help boost his campaign, Pecker testified.

Mr. Pecker was involved in the hush-money payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy her story about an alleged affair with Trump, he testified last week.

Ms Hicks recalled phone calls between Mr Pecker and Trump, including one in which Trump congratulated Pecker on a story about Trump political opponent Dr Ben Carson and accusations of medical malpractice.

"This is Pulitzer worthy," Trump told Pecker, according to Hicks.

Earlier this week, the court ruled that Mr. Trump violated a gag order imposed during the trial nine times. He was fined $9,000, or $1,000 per violation, and paid the fine Thursday. Friday was the deadline.

The fine was paid via cashier's cheques to the court clerk, one in the amount of $2,000 and one for $7,000.

BBC
 

Judge warns Trump of potential jail time for violating gag order​

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - The judge in Donald Trump's criminal trial fined him $1,000 and held him in contempt of court for a 10th time on Monday for violating a gag order and warned that further violations could land the former president in jail.

Justice Juan Merchan said the nine $1,000 fines he had imposed so far did not seem to be deterring the wealthy business mogul from violating the order, which bars him from speaking publicly about jurors and witnesses in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

“I do not want to impose a jail sanction and have done everything I can to avoid doing so. But I will if necessary,” Merchan said before the jury entered.

Imprisonment would be an unprecedented step in the historic trial, which stems from a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 election.

After Merchan's ruling, jurors heard testimony from a former Trump employee that could bolster prosecutors' case that Trump falsified business records to cover up the hush money payment.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.

As he imposed the fine, Merchan said he considered jail time “truly the last resort” as it would disrupt the trial, pose extraordinary security challenges and complicate the 2024 presidential election, in which the Republican Trump seeks to win the White House back from Democratic President Joe Biden.

But he said Trump’s “continued, willful” violations of the gag order amounted to a “direct attack on the rule of law.”

Merchan imposed the 10th $1,000 fine on Monday for an April 22 broadcast interview in which the former president said: "That jury was picked so fast - 95% Democrats. The area's mostly all Democrat."

Merchan found that other statements flagged by prosecutors that mentioned witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker did not violate the order.

The gag order prevents Trump from making statements about jurors, witnesses and families of the judge and prosecutors if meant to interfere with the case. Violations are punishable by fines of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 30 days.

Last week Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine social media posts that he ruled had violated the gag order.

Trump complains frequently that the gag order limits his ability to make his case to voters in his comeback White House bid.
"He's taken away my constitutional right to speak," Trump told reporters outside the courtroom before the start of the 12th day of trial.

 
Trump Hints He's Willing To Violate Gag Order And Go To Jail

Former President Donald Trump seemed to hint on Monday that he’s willing to go to jail rather than comply with a gag order issued by the New York judge overseeing his hush money trial.

On Monday, New York state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan found Trump to be in contempt of court for again violating a gag order and warned the former president that future violations could mean a trip to jail.

Trump suggested he was OK with that possibility when he spoke to the media outside the Manhattan courtroom.

“This judge is giving me a gag order and said you’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump griped. “And frankly, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”


ca.news.yahoo.com

Trump Hints He's Willing To Violate Gag Order And Go To Jail

Social media posts were filled with encouragement for the former president to continue his defiance of the judge in hopes he'll actually get put behind bars.
ca.news.yahoo.com ca.news.yahoo.com
 
Daniels describes going to Trump's penthouse room in the hush money trial

Daniels testified in detail about her first intimate encounter with Trump, saying she thought she was going to dinner with him a restaurant before he came onto her in his hotel room.

Following directions she said she received from Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, Daniels said she arrived at his hotel and took the elevator to the top floor, where she met Schiller, who was outside the door to Trump's penthouse suite. "It was cracked open and Keith was standing there, and he said 'nice to meet you' and so I walked in," she said.

"There wasn’t really a room it was more like a foyer, black and white tile floors, big beautiful mahogany table with flowers," she said, explaining that she still expected to go downstairs to a restaurant in the hotel.

Source: CNBC
 
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