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☆ Takeaways from the second day of jury selection in Trump’s hush money trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Jeremy Herb | Lauren Del Valle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

That process prompted Judge Juan Merchan to sternly admonish Trump for his conduct toward the first juror questioned about her social media. That gave Trump’s team the chance to mine their public social media postings to be ready for their challenges to the judge. As for the three jurors Merchan did not strike: Trump’s side used its preemptory challenges to remove all of them anyway. The juror was later struck for cause by the judge on a challenge from Trump’s team over his social media posts. But the judge is hoping to wrap up jury selection this week.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Juan Merchan, admonish Trump, foreperson, Trump, Trump’s, Todd Blanche, Merchan, –, Joe Biden, “, ” Merchan, Blanche, Joshua Steinglass, Michael Cohen, Steinglass, it’s, meanwhile, that’s Organizations: CNN, Trump, Facebook, Prosecutors, Democrat Locations: New York, Ireland

☆ Former president of Honduras convicted in U.S. of aiding drug traffickers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez testifies during his trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges in federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., March 6, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted Friday in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used his military and national police force to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States. The jury returned its verdict at a federal court after a two week trial, which has been closely followed in his home country. The scene in the courtroom was subdued and Hernandez seemed relaxed as the verdict on three counts was announced by the jury foreperson. In remarks to the jury before they left the courtroom, Judge P. Kevin Castel praised jurors for reaching a unanimous verdict, which was necessary for a conviction.

Persons: Juan Orlando Hernandez, Juan Orlando Hernández, Renato Stabile, Hernandez, P, Kevin Castel Organizations: Central, Defense Locations: Honduras, Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Honduran, New York, United States, Central American, Tegucigalpa

☆ Fani Willis Affair Claims Are Nothing More Than Bad Optics: Experts
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Associated Press | Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Allegations have surfaced of an affair between Fulton County DA Fani Willis and an attorney she hired. AdvertisementFulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hired attorney Nathan Wade to lead the Georgia prosecution of Donald Trump and 18 others over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The lawyer is seeking to get the indictment tossed and to remove Willis and Wade from the case. Outside of any effect on this case, Willis, an elected Democrat, is up for reelection this year, and this could become a campaign issue depending on how she ultimately responds. Records show Wade billed for what he described as "travel to Athens; conf with White House Counsel" in May 2022.

Persons: Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, Willis, Donald Trump, —, Wade, Wade —, Trump, vies, it's, Rahmani, Anthony Michael Kreis, Ashleigh Merchant, Michael Roman, Merchant, unseal, Joycelyn Wade, Joycelyn, Jeff DiSantis, John Floyd, Anna Cross, Wade's, Thurbert Baker, Baker, It's, Neil Warren, foreperson, Georgia —, There's, Peter Strzok, Robert James, that's, I've, James Organizations: Service, Trump, West, Trial, Georgia State University, Associated Press, White, Caribbean, AP, Defense, White House, Records, DC Locations: Fulton County, Georgia, Napa Valley , Florida, Caribbean, Wade's, San Francisco, Belize, Panama, Australia, Miami, Cobb County, Athens, Russia, DeKalb County , Georgia

They said the court clerk, in charge of helping jurors and ensuring the trial ran efficiently, also had private conversations with the jury foreperson and pressured jurors to come to a quick verdict. And she pressured jurors to reach a guilty verdict quickly so she could profit from it,” defense attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian wrote. Hill’s book discusses how her Christian faith helped her navigate the sudden fame and responsibility that came with the Murdaugh trial. She said she became convinced of Murdaugh’s guilt when jurors and court officials visited the family home where the shootings happened. “I was mostly concerned about Alex being found innocent when I knew in my heart he was guilty,” Hill wrote.

Persons: —, Alex Murdaugh, Rebecca Hill, Clifton Newman, Murdaugh, Hill, “, Jim Griffin, Dick Harpootlian, didn't, Neil Gordon, “ I’ve, ” Gordon, Alex, ” Hill, Murdaugh didn't Organizations: COLUMBIA, Hampton County Guardian, South Carolina Attorney General's Locations: South Carolina, Colleton, Southern, Hampton County

☆ Trump Georgia election juror names to be kept secret until trial ends, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee hears motions from attorneys representing Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell in Atlanta on Sept. 6, 2023. The identities of jurors for the Georgia election interference case of former President Donald Trump will be kept secret until the end of the trial, a judge ordered Monday. Those jurors "shall be identified by number only in court filings or in open court during the pendency of trial," Judge Scott McAfee wrote in the ruling in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta. Parties in the case are barred from disclosing the names, addresses, telephone numbers or identifying employment information of the jury or any prospective jurors, McAfee wrote. The judge's ruling follows violent threats made against officials in Fulton County, which prompted an FBI investigation.

Persons: Scott McAfee, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Donald Trump, McAfee Organizations: Fulton County Superior Court, Trump Locations: Fulton, Atlanta, Georgia, Fulton County

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Attorneys for convicted murder Alex Murdaugh want a new trial, accusing the court clerk of improperly influencing the jury. They're accusing the court clerk at his double murder trial of telling jurors not to trust him when he testified in his own defense. They say she also had private conversations with the jury foreperson, and pressured jurors to come to a quick verdict. The request filed by Murdaugh's lawyers on Tuesday also accuses Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill of giving jury members business cards from reporters. Murdaugh's lawyers said Hill's conduct was so egregious, it tainted the entire trial.

Persons: Alex Murdaugh, They're, Rebecca Hill, ” “, Hill, ”, Jim Griffin, Dick Harpootlian, Murdaugh, Murdaugh's, Clifton Newman, “ I’m, “, Hill's Organizations: COLUMBIA, South, South Carolina Court of, Associated Press, Division Locations: Colleton, New York City, South Carolina, Hill, Carolina

☆ Opinion: Fani Willis is taking a major gamble on the Trump case
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Opinion Jennifer Rodgers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This argument has been partially successful with US District Judge Aileen Cannon in the federal classified documents case. It is unclear whether the judge assigned to the Georgia case would be amenable to delay arguments. I expect that, as in the New York case, where the judge recently denied such a motion, Trump will seek to move the case against him to federal court. While those decisions may not be binding on the Georgia judge, they will be informative as he considers the issues. As president, Trump would have the power to scuttle the federal cases and a greater ability to avoid accountability in the state cases as well.

Persons: Jennifer Rodgers, Fani Willis, Donald Trump, Trump —, Trump, Willis, Willis —, —, Team Trump, Aileen Cannon, Cannon, Scott McAfee, Mark Meadows, it’s, Biden, Brad Raffensperger, Willis ’ Organizations: New York University School of Law, Columbia Law School, CNN, Trump, Team, US, Fulton County Superior, Biden, Washington , DC, Georgia, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Fulton County, Georgia, New York, Georgia’s, Atlanta, Washington ,

☆ Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia election interference indictment include Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and Kanye West's former publicist
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Lloyd Lee | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump was indicted again Monday in connection to his efforts to overturn Georgia's election results. Fulton County DA Fani Willis charged the former president with 13 crimes including racketeering. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. In February, the foreperson for the Fulton County grand jury, who heard months worth of witness testimony told CNN, that the amount of recommended indictments was "not a short list." More than 75 witnesses were called before the grand jury throughout the probe, per CNN.

Persons: Trump, Fani Willis, Donald Trump, Willis, Joe Biden's, David Shafer, Cathleen Latham, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Cheseboro, Jeffrey Clark, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith III, Mark Meadows, Michael Roman, Robert Cheeley, Shawn Still, Stephen Lee Harrison Floyd, Sydney Powell, Sydney Powell Scott Hall, Misty Hampton, — Organizations: Fulton, Trump, Service, CNN, Republican, Georgia Republican, Ray Smith III Former Trump, GOP, Trump Trevian, Kanye West Dallas, Sydney Powell Scott, Fulton County Republican Locations: Fulton County, Wall, Silicon, Georgia, Coffee County, Michael Roman Georgia, Chicago

☆ Takeaways from the arraignment of Donald Trump in the special counsel’s election subversion case
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

There were hints of a similar strategy in the first hearing in the election subversion case. Key prosecutors make their public debutThursday marked the public debut of the Smith team that will handle the election subversion prosecution. Smith himself attended the hearing, as he did for Trump’s first appearance in the classified documents case in Florida earlier this year. Windom – who moved from the US attorney’s office in Maryland to play a central role in the federal election subversion investigation, spoke on behalf of the government Thursday. In the election subversion case, Trump’s attorneys have previewed arguments that the case should be moved elsewhere, given the city’s political bent.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Jack Smith’s, Smith, John Lauro, they’ll, ” Lauro, Thomas Windom, Tanya Chutkan, Fani Willis, There’s, Jean Carroll, Windom –, Molly Gaston, Gaston, Steve Bannon, Rick Gates –, –, Paul Manafort, Lauro, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Evan Corcoran, He’s, he’ll, didn’t, ”, he’s Organizations: CNN, Trump, Republican, Fulton, New, DC US, Justice Department, Trump . New Trump, Capitol, Metropolitan Locations: Washington, DC, Georgia, Fulton County, Manhattan, New York, Florida, Maryland, Manhattan’s, egging

After the verdict on Friday, juror Mitchell Vasseur, 63, told Reuters that he and his fellow jurors felt badly for Hsu, but ultimately determined that Autopilot was not at fault. Jury foreperson Olivia Apsher, 31, said the Autopilot system reminds drivers when they are not adequately taking control. "There are audible warnings and visual warnings both for the driver, indicating that it is your responsibility." The trial unfolded in Los Angeles Superior Court over three weeks and featured testimony from three Tesla engineers. Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Los Angeles, and Dan Levine and Hyun Joo Jin in San Francisco Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Georgia's Senate runoff in 2021, text messages show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It’s unclear what if any evidence he has in his possession related to the Coffee County breach. Penrose and Logan were also named in a state-level criminal investigation in Michigan alleging they participated in a conspiracy to seize voting machines there. A local election official helped them gain access to sensitive voting data which they downloaded onto a portable hard drive. Bundren was part of the team enlisted by Trump’s lawyers to find evidence of widespread voter fraud after the 2020 election. Bundren helped oversee the multi-state push to access voting machines on behalf of the Trump legal team, according to several documents obtained by CNN.

☆ How a Trump arrest would play out: Yes, he'll be fingerprinted. No, he probably won't be handcuffed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Laura Italiano | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Trump is likely to be fingerprinted, swabbed for the state DNA database, and photographed for his mugshot. Trump has been indicted in the Manhattan district attorney's five-year investigation into his personal and business finances, Insider reported Thursday, but he'll be treated like any defendant moving forward — with many key exceptions. "That's called 'walking it through,'" explains Diana Florence, a former white-collar crime prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney's office. That's what typically happens in white-collar indictments, said Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former chief assistant with the Manhattan district attorney's office. But even if Trump does need to surrender in person, Secret Service would likely give the perp walk a hard pass.

☆ Trump's 'hush money' grand jury may have already voted. But the DA can slow-walk filing an indictment, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It's possible the Trump 'hush-money' grand jury has already voted to indict, ex-prosecutors say. NBC reported Tuesday that the grand jury is not meeting for the rest of this week. The grand jury last met on Monday afternoon, hearing testimony from former Trump ally and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. And already, the office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg has had to deal with hoax bomb threats and an anthrax scare. The post was soon deleted and Trump attorney Joe Tacopina has said the image was posted by a staffer, not by Trump himself.

☆ The Trump rape case jurors will go to court in secret so Trump can't harass them
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Ashley Collman | Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A judge has ruled the jurors will be kept anonymous in the upcoming defamation trial against Donald Trump. Judge Kaplan said he'll keep them secret so Trump and his supporters can't harass them. E. Jean Carroll, who accuses Trump raped her in the 90s, is suing Trump for defamation and battery. But Kaplan wrote that Leish's arguments for keeping the jurors public were "unpersuasive" in convincing him that the public interest in the case outweighs the jurors' safety. E. Jean Carroll.

☆ Trump wants to block Georgia prosecutors from using evidence in monthslong special grand jury investigation into his election interference
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

They argued the special grand jury investigating him was unconstitutional and unfair. Between May of 2022 and January of this year, a special purpose grand jury heard evidence from dozens of witnesses, including Raffensperger, Georgia Gov. The special purpose grand jury doesn't have the power to bring indictments, but it completed its work with a secret report in January, which makes recommendations for criminal charges. Willis must now decide whether to refer the findings and evidence it collected to an ordinary grand jury, which can bring criminal charges. In the new filing, Trump's attorneys argue the Georgia statute to authorize the special purpose grand jury have been rarely invoked, and raise unsettled constitutional questions.

☆ Notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dan Berman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and says the probe by Bragg, a Democrat, is politically motivated. According to the lawsuit, the Trump Organization deceived lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of his properties using misleading appraisals. A federal judge ruled that Trump and FBI Director Christopher Wray can be deposed for two hours each as part of the lawsuit. “What (Trump’s lawsuit) lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,” US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote. Woodward later released “The Trump Tapes,” an audiobook featuring eight hours of raw interviews with Trump interspersed with the author’s commentary.

☆ Not so fast. A New York grand jury will hear a final surprise witness on Monday and won't vote on Trump indictment until it's over.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Manhattan grand jury will continue hearing evidence Monday in the Trump hush-money investigation. A final witness must testify before the panel can deliberate and then vote on a possible indictment. News of a Monday grand jury witness was first reported by CNN. The surprise final witness provides an updated clue to the timing of a possible indictment of Trump and of any co-defendants. Experts who have described the Manhattan grand jury process to Insider say there are several steps between the final testimony and the vote.

☆ Grand jury in Georgia heard recording of Trump call to state House speaker -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Eric Beech | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The existence of such a recording, or that it was played for the 23-member special grand jury during the course of its eight-month investigation, has not been previously reported. Ralston and other state legislative leaders never called a special session, and the Georgia House speaker himself testified before the special Fulton County grand jury in July 2022, according to local media accounts. The George elections grand jury also is known to have examined a previously disclosed call Trump made on Jan. 2, 2021, to then-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger falsely claiming that the November election results were fraudulent. That report, submitted to the Fulton County district attorney in January before the panel was dissolved, included who the grand jury recommended should be indicted. The special grand jury, unlike a regular grand jury, was not empowered to issue indictments, only recommendations, and the decision on whether to press charges ultimately rests with the district attorney, Fani Willis.

☆ Atlanta DA Fani Willis loves using a law designed for going after the mob. She may use it to charge Trump.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The law — designed for going after the mob — makes sense for her investigation into Donald Trump, experts say. In her time in the district attorney's office, Willis has aggressively used Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute. One sprawling 56-count RICO case, against the rapper Young Thug's alleged gang, is in its second month of jury selection ahead of what's expected to be a nine-month trial. But if she were to bring a case, experts believe RICO charges are likely. Rahmani cautioned that a RICO case may make Willis look too aggressive.

☆ Here's how a Trump indictment would play out: Yes, he'll be fingerprinted. No, he probably won't be handcuffed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Here are predictions for how this historic event would roll out, courtesy of some of Manhattan's top defense lawyers, former high-ranking prosecutors, and a retired Secret Service special agent. "They can tell the foreperson come back two weeks from Wednesday, or something," to sign the revised indictment, Florence said. There can always be a leak, of course, somewhere between indictment and arraignment, which is the court proceeding where Trump would plead not guilty. But even if Trump does need to surrender in person, Secret Service would likely give the perp walk a hard pass. "That walk is not going to happen," said Pickle, the former Secret Service special agent.

☆ Inside the Trump grand jury room — '40s-era furniture, linoleum-topped desks, and a looming indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Instead, the grand jury room where Donald Trump could become the first former president to be criminally indicted is a drab, un-Trumplike space, seemingly too ordinary for its purpose. After each presentation, she'd wait, seated on one of those same chairs, as grand jurors deliberated behind closed doors. "And yes, sometimes there are people who will drive the other 22 grand jurors crazy with off-the-wall questions." There needs to be at least 16 grand jurors present out of the originally selected 23 to have a voting quorum. The prosecutor, meanwhile, will sit on that old, uncomfortable wooden chair just outside the grand jury room, and wait for the buzzer.

☆ A juror in Georgia's Trump investigation gabbed about her experience on TV. Experts say that's actually OK.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The forewoman of Georgia's special grand jury investigating Trump gave a series of media interviews. Kohrs declined, however, to answer the question on everyone's mind: Whether the special grand jury, in its still-secret report, recommended criminal charges against Trump himself. Willis empaneled the special grand jury in May 2022. Fani Willis, right, will now choose whether to impanel an ordinary grand jury to consider charges against Trump. That extra step between Kohrs's special purpose grand jury, and another grand jury that has yet to be empaneled, is another reason why Kohrs's comments are of little consequence, Rahmani said.

☆ The Trump Grand Jury Media Tour
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Grand juries aren’t intended to be media spectacles, but add Emily Kohrs to the list of people who have lost their bearings in the vicinity of Donald Trump. Ms. Kohrs, age 30, was the foreperson of a Georgia special grand jury examining the possibility of criminal interference in the state’s 2020 election. The grand jury’s report hasn’t been released in full, and the public hasn’t been told whether it recommends charges against Mr. Trump, his aides, or both. Ms. Kohrs keeps teasing. As for Mr. Trump: “We definitely discussed him a lot in the room.”

"If that (further revelations from Kohrs) occurs, then the question will be, do they have to start the grand jury process from scratch? The special grand jury heard testimony behind closed doors including from Trump allies such as Republican U.S. Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney steering the investigation, must decide whether to bring the panel's charging recommendations to a regular grand jury. "There still has to be an independent assessment by the district attorney and a subsequent grand jury who hands up the indictment," Weinstein said. "Any grand jury in Fulton County is going to have a huge diversity of viewpoints, politics and backgrounds," Cooke said.

☆ The forewoman of the Georgia grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election is now causing a headache for prosecutors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The foreperson in the special grand jury in Georgia investigating Trump has given a media tour. Emily Kohrs, the foreperson in the grand jury, has in recent days given candid interviews about the panel's work to outlets including CNN, MSNBC and The New York Times. Kohrs was authorised to speak to the media but not to discuss details of the grand jury report. However some legal experts say that Kohrs did not break any laws in the interviews, so has not compromised the investigation. Excerpts from the grand jury's report released earlier in February revealed few details, but found that the 2020 election in Georgia had not been marred by widespread fraud, as Trump claimed.

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