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real-human
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Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 12:57 am Post subject: |
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Trump better hire some more lawyers... smackdown...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/alvin-bragg-torpedoes-donald-trump-s-attempt-to-move-hush-money-case-to-federal-court-report/ar-AA1bUBGh?cvid=ea645c5cf14f4ba19b73165b1a6f9fd6&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&ei=9
Alvin Bragg torpedoes Donald Trump’s attempt to move hush money case to federal court: report
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Prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday smacked down former President Donald Trump's attempts to relocate the Stormy Daniels hush money trial from New York to federal court.
The case is part of the thirty-four-count indictment filed against Trump by Bragg in April.
"Defendant's alleged criminal conduct here is similarly divorced from any official duty or responsibility: the pre-election scheme and $130,000 payment to an adult film actress predated defendant's inauguration, and his post-inauguration actions all derived from this pre-inauguration conduct, rather than any presidential duty, because defendant sought to conceal facts and to reimburse payments that preceded his time in office," District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office wrote in filings obtained by The Hill.
Although the outlet noted that "under federal law, federal officers can move criminal prosecutions against them from state to federal court when the allegations relate to an official act and they raise a 'colorable federal defense,'" Bragg's team explained that "under these circumstances, defendant has failed to establish that the criminal conduct alleged here related to any acts performed under color of the Office of the President."
Bragg also refuted Trump World's insistence that the Florida resident is a target of political persecution.
"This claim fails because 'protective jurisdiction' does not exist as a recognized basis for federal court jurisdiction," Bragg said, "and because defendant could not satisfy the predicates for invoking that theoretical basis for federal court jurisdiction even if it did exist." |
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real-human
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/n-y-attorney-general-s-trump-lawsuit-ready-for-trial-her-office-says/ar-AA1eEzZS?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=85afb656b95b40a8a12e6fb170ccf459&ei=16
N.Y. attorney general's Trump lawsuit "ready for trial," her office says
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New York Attorney General Letitia James' office says it is ready to proceed with a trial stemming from its $250 million lawsuit claiming former President Donald Trump, two of his children and his company engaged in widespread fraud.
"The case is ready for trial," wrote Kevin Wallace, senior enforcement counsel for the office, in a filing Monday.
The September 2022 lawsuit accused members of the Trump family and Trump Organization executives of orchestrating an extensive fraudulent scheme related to valuations of property and Trump's personal financial statements. Allegations against Ivanka Trump have since been dismissed by a New York appeals court.
The lawsuit is seeking $250 million and sanctions that would effectively cease the company's operations in New York. The Trumps and the company have vehemently denied wrongdoing.
Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump have all sat for depositions in the case. During Trump's first deposition, in August 2022, before the lawsuit was filed, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination more than 400 times.
He was deposed again in April, that time answering questions in James' New York City office for about eight hours.
The case is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2, a date the the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, previously described as "set in stone." Engoron has rejected repeated attempts by Trump attorneys to push that date back.
The trial comes amid a legal maelstrom surrounding Trump, who is again running for president. In April, he was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, which charged him with 34 felonies in connection with reimbursements for an alleged "hush money" payment made to an adult film star before the 2016 election. He has entered a not guilty plea in that case, which is scheduled for trial in March 2024.
In May, Trump was found liable by a jury for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll after a federal civil trial. He is appealing.
In June, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with 37 felonies related to alleged "willful retention" of national security information after leaving the White House. Last week, three more counts against him were added via a superseding indictment. Trump has entered a not guilty plea in that case, which is scheduled for trial in May 2024.
In July, Trump announced in a social media post that he received a letter identifying him as a target in a federal investigation into the January 6, 2021 insurrection and attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost. Trump has not been charged in connection with that investigation and has denied wrongdoing in connection with those events.
Later this month, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated a grand jury there may consider charges related to her office's two-year investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn that state's election results after Trump lost. |
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real-human
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Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14892 Location: on earth
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Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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trump as president getting 17 million from china and no one knows what it was for...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP6_gYq42LE
BREAKING NEWS: IRS Whistleblowers Continue Testifying Before Oversight Committee About Bidens—Part 2
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real-human
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Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-fumes-over-leaked-audio-that-alleges-he-demanded-melania-parade-around-white-house-in-a-bikini/ar-AA1iHUCg?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=4099401fe98f4cf0a3eaaa8fc7c241e9&ei=76
Trump fumes over leaked audio that alleges he demanded Melania parade around White House in a bikini
Quote: | onald Trump slammed a New York Times report on covert audio recordings that disclosed a series of unsavory claims about him, including various allegations from an Australian billionaire about his interactions with the former president.
The New York Times on Sunday documented information contained within recordings shared with the publication by 60 Minutes Australia, which also aired commentary from magnate Anthony Pratt. The Australian businessman and Trump reportedly did not know each other well prior to the 2016 presidential election; however, Pratt soon "played the game," becoming a member at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, bolstering support for him publicly, and purchasing newspaper ads that endorsed Trump as a savvy job creator. In 2020, as Election Day approached, Pratt indicated via a message obtained by federal investigators that, '“If Potus is having his election party at mar Lago I’ll book as many rooms as available." As Salon's Heather Digby Parton points out, Pratt "did things like spend a million dollars for New Year's Eve party tickets that were sold to everyone else for $50,000."
However, despite Pratt and Trump's seemingly genial and financially lucrative affiliations, Pratt has since become wrapped up in the ex-president's legal woes, having already submitted to an interview with prosecutors in Trump's classified documents case in Florida. Pratt in the interview reportedly shared that Trump had told him secret information about American nuclear submarines, a claim which Trump has refuted.
In the newly leaked audio, Pratt reportedly remarked that Trump's business tactics were "like the mafia," also claiming that Trump in 2019 shared aspects of a conversation with Iraq's leader days before a U.S. drone strike would hit Baghdad. Trump also allegedly discussed a scandalized phone call between himself and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he effectively attempted to extort Zelensky's government. The call would play a pivotal role in Trump's first impeachment. “That was nothing compared to what I usually do,” Trump reportedly said in Pratt’s recounting.
"The private comments," wrote Times' reporters Ben Protess, Maggie Haberman, Alan Feuer, and Jonathan Swan, "captured while Mr. Trump was still president, provide a rare glimpse into how a businessman on the other side of Mr. Trump’s transactions actually viewed the New York real estate developer’s tactics — with a mix of blunt acknowledgment and admiration for someone so willing to test the boundaries of the presidency."
Pratt in the audio clips also claimed that Trump asked his wife and former first lady Melania to parade around Mar-A-Lago in a bikini "so all the other guys could get a look at what they were missing," adding that Melania ultimately retorted “I’ll do that when you walk around with me in your bikini.”
Trump blasted the report as "Fake News" on his TruthSocial platform late Sunday night, calling Pratt a "red-haired weirdo."
"The Failing New York Times story, leaked by Deranged Jack Smith and the Biden 'Political Opponent Abuser' DOJ, about a red haired weirdo from Australia, named Anthony Pratt, is Fake News," Trump fumed. "I never spoke to him about Submarines, but I did speak to him about creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania, because that’s what I’m all about - JOBS, A GREAT ECONOMY, LOW TAXES, NO INFLATION, ENERGY DOMINANCE, STRONG BORDERS, NO ENDLESS WARS, LOW INTEREST RATES, and much more! Maggie Hagerman and the Misfits never called me for a comment. Why would they, they just write anything they want. Whether it’s correct or not is of ZERO importance to them. “All the News That’s Unfit To Print.” That’s why we call it the Fake News!" |
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real-human
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Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14892 Location: on earth
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2023 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/busted-newly-unveiled-recording-blows-up-key-trump-defense-at-fraud-trial/ar-AA1kINhZ?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=9f51bd9b596e42db93c10b7a6db97a23&ei=61
Busted: Newly unveiled recording blows up key Trump defense at fraud trial
Quote: | At his civil fraud trial in New York, former President Donald Trump tried to distance himself from past financial statements that improperly tripled the size of his personal penthouse in Trump Tower.
Specifically, Trump tried to claim that he had nothing to do with that gross overvaluation of his own property and he instead tried to pin the blame on others within the Trump Organization for the error.
However, a new audio recording obtained by Forbes reveals that Trump back in 2015 recited the false square footage numbers of the penthouse during an interview where he boasted about his assets.
“This is the entire floor of Trump Tower, just so you understand,” Trump said in the interview. “This isn’t like, I’ll show you. Now, this wraps all around the building. All around the elevators. And I have three times three. So there’s like 11,000 feet on a floor. So I have three. So 33,000—and I have the roof.”
In fact, the total square footage of the apartment was just under 11,000 square feet.
Forbes also notes that the recording undercuts Trump's claims made at the trial that he had personally noticed the problem and had ordered his accountants to correct it.
"In fact, Forbes uncovered the square-footage discrepancy and informed Weisselberg and McConney that the apartment was 10,996 square feet in February of 2017," writes Forbes. "The Trump Organization nonetheless continued to use the incorrect square footage on a net-worth statement dated mid-March. Forbes then published an article headlined 'Donald Trump Has Been Lying About The Size Of His Penthouse' in May 2017. It was only after that story came out—while Donald Trump was in the White House—that the Trump Organization changed its calculation to reflect the true square footage of the apartment." |
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real-human
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Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14892 Location: on earth
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2023 8:14 am Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-lie-is-still-a-lie-ny-judge-says-expert-lost-all-credibility-tosses-trump-s-civil-fraud-case-motion/ar-AA1lHMmG?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=da347f8b11ab4f57fe6dbf26cc32abd5&ei=17
'A lie is still a lie': NY judge says expert 'lost all credibility' — tosses Trump’s civil fraud case motion
Quote: | Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Monday dismissed, “for at least the fifth time,” former President Donald Trump’s motion “for a directed verdict” in his New York civil fraud trial case, The Messenger reports.
“A lie is still a lie,” Engoron noted In his 3-page ruling, writing:
Defendants also trot out two of their standard canards, that valuations are subjective and that the law only penalizes “material” deviations. These both fall into the category of “Let no one be fooled." Valuations, as elucidated ad nauseam in this trial, can be based on different criteria analyzed in different ways. But a lie is still a lie.
Engoron continued:
Valuing occupied residences as if vacant, valuing restricted land as if unrestricted, valuing an apartment as if it were triple its actual size, valuing property many times the amount of concealed appraisals, valuing planned buildings as if completed and ready to rent, valuing golf courses with brand premium while claiming not to, and valuing restricted funds as cash, are not subjective differences of opinion, they are misstatements at best and fraud at worst.
The ruling also referenced Trump’s expert witnesses, including Eli BartovEli Bartov, a tenured NYU Stern School of Business professor who was paid “nearly $900,000” in legal fees to testify for the former president.
Earlier this month, Bartov testified on behalf of Trump in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ fraud case against the former president, telling the court it’s “absurd to argue that ... any bank or any lender would make lending decision based on a statement of financial condition."
"By doggedly attempting to justify every misstatement, Professor Bartov lost all credibility," Engoron wrote.
The judge noted Bartov’s “overarching point was that the subject’s statements of financial condition were accurate in every respect.”
READ MORE: NYU professor hired by Trump defense for $900k calls NY AG’s complaint 'absurd'
But, for Engoron, that just proves “for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say." |
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real-human
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Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14892 Location: on earth
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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wow this lawyer really puts it together on the additional findings by a mutually agreed upon moderator judge and what she found. Listen to the beginning of the video... She nails it..
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-loan-millions-civil-fraud-trial-verdict-rcna136601?
Why Donald Trump’s mysterious $48 million loan matters
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As devoted Trump trial watchers know, Judge Arthur Engoron said he hoped to release his ruling by today — Jan. 31 — in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump; his adult sons, Eric and Don Jr.; multiple Trump-owned companies; and others.
And as we wait, I decided last night to take a closer look at the letter sent to Engoron by former federal Judge Barbara Jones last Friday, when I was consumed with the verdict in another Trump civil trial — E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation case.
You might remember that Jones was initially appointed as an independent monitor of the Trump Organization in late 2022, when the New York AG’s office obtained a preliminary injunction in the case based on its initial showing of long-standing fraud throughout the organization’s financial statements. Jones — whose appointment was agreed to by both sides — has served in that capacity since, and she submits semi-regular reports to Engoron.
In her most recent report, as many have noted, she not only identified a variety of irregularities but also flagged something potentially more significant: the absence of any loan agreement memorializing what she understood to be a $48 million loan to Trump from Chicago Unit Acquisition, an entity affiliated with his Chicago building. That loan, which reportedly was made in 2012, seems to have been repeatedly included among Trump’s liabilities in his U.S. Office of Government Ethics-required financial disclosures in 2018, 2019, 2020 and just days before leaving office in 2021. Yet in her letter, Jones noted that in her recent discussions with the Trump Organization, the company “indicated that it has determined that this loan never existed.”
What’s more, Jones’ letter implies that Trump’s present-day disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics are similarly flawed. Indeed, a review of Trump’s 2023 personal financial disclosure report, which he filed as a presidential candidate in April of last year, reflects the loan as an existing liability, not an extinguished one. If the loan never existed, that means that Trump — while under a court-appointed monitorship — was lying to the federal government and misleading the monitor.
What could this all mean? After all, Trump’s team has rebutted Jones’ account, insisting that executives never told Jones the loan hadn’t existed and providing a recent memo — without any identifiable author — simply stating that the loan was no longer due or payable.
But if there never was any loan, the consequences could be significant — though not necessarily in the way others have suggested. Yes, if Trump received $48 million but never repaid it, that should have had tax consequences. But I am far more interested in how Engoron could be influenced by the discrepancies between how Trump has reported the loan and how he has documented it.
Recall that the New York AG has asked Engoron not only to claw back $370 million in ill-gotten gains from Trump and the other defendants, but also to order a variety of injunctive relief that would prevent Trump and others from doing otherwise lawful acts. That relief includes bans, whether permanently for Trump or more temporarily for Eric and Don Jr., on their participation in the New York real estate industry and their service as directors and officers of New York companies.
In requesting said relief, the attorney general’s office argued that the defendants not only have “a demonstrated history of creating and using false financial documents,” but also that their conduct is likely to recur without such measures. Why? Because, the AG’s office argues, Trump and the others’ unlawful financial conduct persisted throughout the attorney general’s investigation and even after the monitor’s appointment. That Jones has uncovered what could be even further evidence of fraud, as recently as last year, could be the cherry on top of the sundae that Engoron serves Trump. |
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real-human
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:05 am Post subject: |
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https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-stuck-new-york-stormy-daniels-case-1884550
Donald Trump Will Be Stuck in New York
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Former President Donald Trump will be required to attend his upcoming trial in person in New York City, limiting his ability to travel outside of the state for several weeks amid his presidential campaign.
Trump is set to face trial for charges of allegedly falsifying business documents in connection to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Judge Juan Merchan this week scheduled the trial to begin on April 15, 2024, setting the stage for Trump's first criminal trial ahead of the presidential election in November.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last year charged Trump in a 34-count indictment over the alleged hush money payment, which prosecutors allege was intended to prevent Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, from discussing her claims of having an affair with the former president.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case, denied having an affair with Daniels and accused Bragg of targeting him for political purposes.
Legal experts say the trial could last for several weeks, and New York law requires defendants to be personally present during a trial for a criminal indictment.
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New York law states, "A defendant must be personally present during the trial of an indictment."
It continues: "Provided, however, that a defendant who conducts himself in so disorderly and disruptive a manner that his trial cannot be carried on with him in the courtroom may be removed from the courtroom if, after he has been warned by the court that he will be removed if he continues such conduct, he continues to engage in such conduct."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.
The trial threatens to interfere with Trump's ability to campaign next month as he remains the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 election. He appears set to face off against President Joe Biden in a rematch of 2020 in November, with polls showing a tight race in crucial swing states.
Trump will be stuck in New York
Former President Donald Trump in New York City on March 25. Trump will be required to attend his New York criminal trial in person next month.
MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO/GETTY IMAGES
The length of the trial depends on several factors, including how long jury selection takes and whether Judge Merchan opts for half days or takes days off to attend to other cases.
Former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore discussed how the trial could affect his campaigning during an interview on Fox News this week.
"The way that criminal trials work in New York is that you have to be there every single day, and so depending on how long the presentation is, that's how long you stay on," he said.
The "big unknown" is how long the jury selection will last, Parlatore said.
"Is that going to be something they can get done in three days, or are they going to lose the whole panel and have to go a few weeks with just jury selection?" he said. |
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real-human
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Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14892 Location: on earth
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Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2024 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/it-s-clearly-strategic-why-trump-kept-attacking-judges-families/ar-BB1kVEwi?cvid=c3b28cccf1eb487ea5be6e0619918bcc&ocid=winp2fptaskbar&ei=13&sc=shoreline
‘It’s clearly strategic’: Why Trump kept attacking judges’ families
Quote: | NEW YORK — Every time prosecutors and judges tried to muzzle Donald Trump, he lashed out at their families.
In three different court cases over the past six months, judges imposed gag orders that restrained the former president from vilifying witnesses, court employees and others involved in the proceedings against him. In each case, Trump responded by verbally attacking not only the prosecutors and judges themselves, but also their family members.
“It’s clearly strategic,” said Ty Cobb, who served as a White House lawyer under Trump but has become a frequent critic of the former president.
“His attacks are designed around his traditional approach to delegitimizing the proceedings.”
Late Monday, one of the judges tried to stop him.
After Trump spent several days denigrating the adult daughter of Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Trump’s Manhattan criminal case, Merchan issued an expanded gag order barring Trump from attacking the judge’s own family. Merchan also expanded the gag to cover the family of the lead prosecutor, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well,” Merchan wrote. “Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”
Related video: Judge has enough of Trump's attacks on family members; extends gag order on 'defendant's vitriol' (MSNBC)
his lawyers told the court that they'd been unable to
It’s not just the rule of law that’s under threat. Outside the courtroom, Trump’s judges have faced persistent threats to their personal safety, including “swatting” calls directed at their homes and a racist voicemail threatening murder.
Merchan’s new directive came after Bragg urged him to “clarify” whether an earlier gag order, which Merchan issued last week, applied to comments on the judge’s own family.
“This issue is not complicated,” Bragg’s team wrote. “Family members of trial participants must be strictly off-limits. Defendant’s insistence to the contrary bespeaks a dangerous sense of entitlement to instigate fear and even physical harm to the loved ones of those he sees in the courtroom.”
In his latest fusillade on social media, unleashed within days of Merchan’s original gag order, Trump called Merchan’s daughter a “Rabid Trump Hater” due to her work at a digital marketing agency that has Democratic clients. And he claimed that she had used an image of Trump behind bars as a profile picture for a social media account, although a court official said she had abandoned and deleted that account, and that it had been taken over by someone else.
Trump has launched similar attacks in other cases, using flimsy claims about judges’ relatives in a purported effort to show the judges’ own political biases.
While he was on trial last year in a civil case for business fraud, Trump went after Justice Aruthur Engoron’s wife, sharing posts that claimed she had displayed anti-Trump messages on social media. She said the account in question wasn’t hers.
And in Trump’s federal criminal case in Washington, D.C., on charges that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election, he shared a post claiming that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is from a “Marxist family.” He also went after the family of the lead prosecutor in the case, special counsel Jack Smith, saying that Smith’s “wife and family despise me much more than he does.”
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Just as Donald Trump’s attacks on family members follow a pattern, his lawyers have also repeatedly defended those attacks by saying that Trump has a First Amendment right to make them.
Just as Donald Trump’s attacks on family members follow a pattern, his lawyers have also repeatedly defended those attacks by saying that Trump has a First Amendment right to make them.
© Morry Gash/AP
In all three cases, Trump exploited the fact that the versions of the gag orders in effect at the time did not explicitly bar him from attacking the relatives of judges or prosecutors. For instance, in the Manhattan case, in which Trump is accused of falsifying business records in the process of covering up a sex scandal that could have hurt him in the 2016 presidential campaign, Merchan’s original gag order restricted comments about family members of “the court’s staff” — a reference that did not clearly cover the family of the judge himself.
Trump’s attorneys opposed the original gag order as well as Bragg’s effort to clarify or expand it, saying that any new conditions would violate Trump’s right to free speech.
And they wrote that “President Trump’s comments concerning Your Honor’s daughter are, properly understood, a criticism of the Court’s prior decision not to recuse itself” — a reference to Merchan’s decision last year not to step down from the case. Trump had argued at the time that Merchan should recuse himself due in part to his daughter’s work for Democratic candidates.
Just as Trump’s attacks on family members follow a pattern, his lawyers have also repeatedly defended those attacks by saying that Trump, particularly as a candidate for president, has a First Amendment right to make them.
In a court hearing last year in the federal election case, Chutkan questioned Trump’s attacks on Smith’s wife, asking, “In what world, in what case would it be allowable for a criminal defendant to attack a prosecutor's family?”
Trump’s lawyer, John Lauro, defended the comments as a free speech exercise. “Your Honor, I don't think there was an attack on a family member,” Lauro said. “What it was was an indication that there might be political bias in light of Mr. Smith, and certainly a First Amendment exercise of speech would allow a criminal defendant to observe that a prosecution is politically biased.”
On Friday, a federal judge who is not involved in any of the Trump cases gave a television interview in which he criticized Trump’s rhetoric — an unusual step, as sitting judges typically refrain from commenting on pending cases.
“It’s very disconcerting to have someone making comments about a judge,” U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton told CNN. “And it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they’re directed at one’s family.”
He added: “It is an attack on the rule of law when judges are threatened, and particularly when their family is threatened.” |
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