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Post by Webster on Mar 27, 2023 12:54:50 GMT -5
(The Guardian) A criminal indictment for Donald Trump for paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels could come as early as today, as the former president continues to rail against the “fake” investigation by New York prosecutors. We’re waiting for confirmation that a grand jury convened by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has reconvened on Monday, as expected, to hear final testimony in the case sparked by Trump’s alleged efforts to silence Daniels about their affair before the 2016 election. Security has been stepped up around the Lower Manhattan courthouse where the jury has been meeting in secret, according to ABC News and other media outlets. Bragg received death threats last week, and a suspicious white powder was sent to his office. The former president, meanwhile, spent the weekend furiously denouncing the inquiry on social media, and at a rally in Texas, having previously told supporters falsely that he would be arrested last week. He wasn’t, and one of his attorneys admitted on Sunday that Trump’s unfounded remarks about his imminent detention were mere speculation prompted by “rumors”. Trump has also drawn ire from opponents and some fellow Republicans for his “reckless” rhetoric warning of “death and destruction” if he is indicted. “He’s going to get someone killed,” Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said. The jury is mulling a felony charge of falsifying business records against Trump after he allegedly tried to hide a $130,000 payment to Daniels, with whom he has denied an affair. It’s one of four current investigations dragging down Trump’s campaign for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination. There’s been movement in recent weeks in the justice department’s inquiries into his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, and mishandling of classified documents he hid at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after leaving office. And in Georgia, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis is looking into his call to the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in January 2021 asking him to “find 11,780 votes” to reverse Biden’s victory in the state.
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Post by Webster on Mar 27, 2023 13:05:29 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump New York grand jury back in sessionThe New York grand jury investigating Donald Trump over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels is back at work, and is hearing more evidence Monday, the Associated Press reports. It’s still unclear, however, when the panel, which is meeting in a state office building in Lower Manhattan, might be asked to vote on a possible criminal indictment for the former president. Today’s reconvening was the first time the panel heard testimony since last Monday, the day before Trump, falsely, insisted he was to be arrested. The AP said it confirmed the developments with “a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss secretive proceedings”. Uncertain is whether any additional witnesses might be called to testify. Trump, meanwhile, spent the weekend furiously denouncing the inquiry on social media, and at a rally in Texas, having previously told supporters of his upcoming arrest. That didn’t happen, and one of his attorneys admitted on Sunday that Trump’s unfounded remarks about his imminent detention were mere speculation prompted by “rumors”. Trump has also drawn ire from opponents and some fellow Republicans for his “reckless” rhetoric warning of “death and destruction” if he is indicted. “He’s going to get someone killed,” Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said. The jury is mulling a felony charge of falsifying business records against Trump after he allegedly tried to hide a $130,000 payment to Daniels, with whom he has denied an affair. It’s one of four current investigations dragging down Trump’s campaign for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination. There’s been movement in recent weeks in the justice department’s inquiries into his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, and mishandling of classified documents he hid at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after leaving office. And in Georgia, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis is looking into his call to the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in January 2021 asking him to “find 11,780 votes” to reverse Biden’s victory in the state.
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Post by Webster on Mar 29, 2023 14:22:48 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump indictment may not come till late April – reportDonald Trump’s expected indictment over his hush money payment to the adult film maker and actor Stormy Daniels may be delayed for a month, Politico reports, because of a scheduled hiatus for the grand jury in the case in Manhattan. The site’s report is based on an anonymous source “familiar with the proceedings”. Politico said “the break would push any indictment of the former president to late April at the earliest”, but added that the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, could change the grand jury schedule and ask it to convene during planned breaks. Bragg’s office did not comment. Trump first denied then admitted reimbursing his former fixer, Michael Cohen, for $130,000 paid to Daniels in 2016 to be quiet about the affair she claims and which Trump denies. The former president claims to be the victim of prosecutorial political and racial bias. Bragg is Black. Trump and Republican supporters have accused Bragg of doing the bidding of George Soros, the progressive philanthropist – an attack line with established antisemitic overtones. Trump has also predicted his own arrest and appeared to threaten violence against Bragg. Running for president in 2024, he also faces legal jeopardy over his election subversion at the state and federal levels, his business affairs, his retention of classified records and an allegation of rape in New York. He denies all wrongdoing.
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 16:45:30 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump has been indicted in New York, over a hush money payment made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, the New York Times reported on Thursday. The paper cited four people with knowledge of the matter. No former US president has ever been criminally indicted. The news is set to shake the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, in which Trump leads most polls. Trump also faces legal jeopardy over his election subversion and incitement of the January 6 attack on Congress; his attempts to overturn the 2020 result in Georgia; his retention of classified records; his business dealings; and a defamation suit arising from an allegation of rape by the writer E Jean Carroll, which Trump denies. Daniels claims an affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies the affair but has admitted directing his then lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to pay Daniels $130,000 for her silence. Cohen was also revealed to have arranged for $150,000 to be paid to Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who claimed to have an affair with Trump. That payment was made by David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper, which squashed the story. Trump has admitted reimbursing Cohen with payments the Trump Organization logged as legal expenses. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 and was president from 2017 to 2021. News of the payment to Daniels broke in January 2018. Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law, contributing to a three-year prison sentence handed down in December 2018. Investigations of the Daniels payment have dragged on. Earlier this year, Mark Pomerantz, an experienced New York prosecutor who resigned from Bragg’s team then wrote a book, called the payment a “zombie case” which would not die. Earlier this month, Cohen testified before the grand jury in the Manhattan hush money case. Hope Hicks and Kellyanne Conway, former White House aides, reportedly spoke to prosecutors, as did Daniels, Pecker and Jeffrey McConney, senior vice-president and controller of the Trump Organization. Trump did not testify. He denies wrongdoing, claiming the payments represented extortion. Earlier this week, a Trump lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told MSNBC Trump had simply taken advice from his lawyer, Cohen, which was “not a crime”. Tacopina also said the payments to Cohen were simply “legal fees”. Trump’s lawyers are expected to seek to delay the case. Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor in New York, said Trump would in all likelihood not head swiftly to court. Writing for MSNBC, Weissmann said: “Beyond Trump’s notorious abuse of the legal system by throwing sand in the gears to slow things down, a criminal case takes time.” He added: “There is no end of motions that can be filed to delay a trial, which could easily cause the litigation to be ongoing during the Republican primary season [in 2024] – something a court could also find is reason to delay any trial date. Indeed, even in a more quotidian case, having a trial within a year of indictment would be quick.”
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:07:26 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:10:08 GMT -5
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Post by Newsman on Mar 30, 2023 17:34:04 GMT -5
...historic news coming out of Manhattan this evening... (The Guardian) Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the indictment of Donald Trump, the former president and current presidential candidate, on criminal charges related to his hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. It is a historic move. No former president has ever been criminally indicted. We are waiting for details to emerge and for reactions from Trump or his legal team. Daniels says she had a short sexual affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies that. Trump also denies wrongdoing, despite admitting reimbursing the $130,000 payment made by his then lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, as election day approached in late 2016. Trump claims to have been a victim of extortion, and says, via lawyers, he initially lied, saying he knew nothing of the payment, because it involved a non-disclosure agreement. News of the Daniels payment broke in early 2018, when Trump was president. Cohen later pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, contributing to a three-year custodial sentence. Trump faces wide-ranging legal jeopardy, also including investigations of his election subversion at federal and state levels, a civil suit over his business affairs in New York and a defamation trial arising from a rape allegation by the writer E Jean Carroll. He denies all wrongdoing. In the Manhattan hush money case, as in the investigation of his election subversion in Georgia, where an indictment is thought to be imminent, Trump claims to be the victim of prosecutorial racism. According to Mark Pomerantz, a New York prosecutor who worked under Bragg, as the Manhattan DA continued an investigation begun by his predecessor, the Daniels payment came to be seen as a “zombie case” that simply would not die. It has now risen to bite Trump, potentially roiling the race for the Republican nomination to face Joe Biden at the polls next year.
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:40:09 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump and his legal team were reportedly not given advance warning that an indictment was coming down. But they have now been informed of the decision, the Associated Press has confirmed. We have not heard yet from the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, whose office is in charge of that case. A lawyer for Trump said moments ago that the former president has now been told that he’s been indicted. It has not been made public what the charges are or whether such charges will be of misdemeanor or felony status. The grand jury will have filed the indictment under seal. Observers believe this has taken the president’s team, at least in the moment, by surprise, where they are gathered at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
A lawyer for Donald Trump says the former president has been informed that he’s been indicted in New York on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with adult film star Stormy Daniels. This is a jolt to Trump’s bid to retake the White House in 2024, the Associated Press reports. The grand jury in New York’s indictment of Trump, 76, is an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings. It is likely to galvanize critics who say Trump lied and cheated his way to the top and embolden his base of devoted voters who believe the Republican former president and current candidate is being unfairly targeted by a Democratic prosecutor (who took over this case from a predecessor Democratic prosecutor). But there is no doubt that almost everyone has been blindsided by tonight’s development after it was understood that the grand jury was not ready to vote yet on an indictment.
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:41:10 GMT -5
(The Guardian) "No one is above the law": Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyerMichael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer who ended up turning against his former boss, serving time in prison in relation to the Daniels case and testifying in front of this grand jury in New York, has issued a statement. “This is the first time a president of the United States, current or former, has been indicted. I take no pride in issuing this statement and I would also like to remind everyone of the presumption of innocence, as provided by the due process clause. However, I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law, even a former president. Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter but rather just the beginning. “Now that these charges have been filed it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself. The two things I wish to say at this time are that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided to the district attorney in New York.” Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 late in to the 2016 election campaign, to keep quiet about her account that she had sex with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies. Cohen was subsequently reimbursed by Trump, which was followed by allegations that this was not properly treated as a campaign expenditure and broke the law.
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:41:31 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:42:13 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump previously said he would continue campaigning for the Republican party’s nomination even if charged with a crime. The specific charges are not yet known and the indictment will likely be announced in the coming days, the New York Times reported and Reuters writes. Trump will have to travel to Manhattan for fingerprinting and other processing at that point. Susan Necheles, a lawyer representing Trump, said she was informed of the indictment but did not know when he would surrender. A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the indictment. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, who is in charge of this case, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump, 76, sought re-election in 2020 but was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has falsely claimed he lost to Biden due to widespread voting fraud and has called the investigation that led to his indictment a “political witch hunt.” Bragg’s office last year won the criminal conviction of Trump’s real estate company for fraud, but Trump himself was not charged. The Manhattan investigation is one of several legal challenges facing Trump, and the charges could hurt his presidential comeback attempt. Some 44% of Republicans said he should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week. Michael Cohen has said Trump directed hush payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had a sexual relationship with him. Trump has denied having affairs with either woman. Federal prosecutors examined the Daniels payoff in 2018, leading to a prison sentence for Cohen but no charges against Trump. As a reminder: No former or sitting US president has ever faced criminal charges. Trump also faces two criminal investigations by a special counsel appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland and one by a local prosecutor in Georgia.
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:42:35 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:43:01 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 17:45:11 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 30, 2023 18:36:16 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Indictment is unprecedentedThe indictment of Donald Trump, the former president and current presidential candidate, on criminal charges related to his hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, is historic. No former president has ever been criminally indicted. We are waiting for details to emerge and for reactions from Trump or his legal team. Daniels says she had a short affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies that. Trump also denies wrongdoing, despite admitting reimbursing the $130,000 payment made by his then lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, as election day approached in late 2016. Trump claims to have been a victim of extortion, and says, via lawyers, he initially lied, saying he knew nothing of the payment, because it involved a non-disclosure agreement. News of the Daniels payment broke in early 2018, when Trump was president. Cohen later pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, contributing to a three-year custodial sentence. We do not yet know what the charges are, the indictment, voted for by a grand jury late this afternoon in New York, is under seal. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is in charge of this criminal case but we have not heard from him yet today. Charges are likely to relate to falsification of business records, it’s unknown yet whether charges will be misdemeanors or a felony, if an additional crime is alleged, such as campaign finance violation. Trump expected to appear in court next week – reportsDonald Trump is expected to be arraigned some time next week, appearing in criminal court in New York to formally face the charges in this case. There’s no official notification yet on exactly when the former president will surrender to the authorities and appear in court. As a reminder, tonight’s news of the indictment came as a shock in the moment because, after so much build up and expectation that he was going to be indicted in recent weeks, there had been word that the grand jury was not yet ready to vote on criminal charges after all. But late afternoon today, the news came out, via the New York Times, that the grand jury had voted to indict and filed the indictment under seal in New York. A number of outlets are now reporting that Trump will surrender to the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, early next week. Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis just told CNN that the indictment is not a surprise, but the timing was, in the end.
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