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☆ Alvin Bragg: Who is the New York prosecutor who got Trump indicted?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Companies Trump Organization Inc FollowNEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's indictment has thrust into the spotlight Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor whose office convinced a New York grand jury to bring the first criminal charges ever against a former U.S. president. Bragg, 49, took office in January 2022, the first Black person elected Manhattan District Attorney. In 2021, Bragg won a crowded primary for the Democratic nomination to succeed Cyrus Vance as Manhattan District Attorney. "I've done this type of work under this type of scrutiny," Bragg said during the campaign, referring to the case against the Trump Foundation. Bragg came under criticism last year for declining to bring charges against Trump over his family real estate company's business practices.

[1/2] General view of the site of the derailment of a train carrying hazardous waste, in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Alan FreedWASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) over the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The state of Ohio filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern earlier this month. The U.S. lawsuit seeks to hold Norfolk Southern "accountable for unlawfully polluting the nation’s waterways and to ensure it pays the full cost of the environmental cleanup." Norfolk Southern did not immediately comment.

[1/3] View of the "Rust" movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Drone BaseMarch 31 (Reuters) - A Santa Fe judge on Friday was to consider a plea deal that could bring the first conviction for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust" in New Mexico. Santa Fe District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer was to preside over a virtual hearing in Halls' case scheduled for noon ET on Friday. As first assistant director, Halls was responsible for set safety on "Rust." Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for firearms safety and training, will enter the same plea, according to her lawyer.

Industry Insight Insights in Action: Corporate law departments find their outside firms’ innovation lagging, but there may be little incentive to changeZach Warren March 24, 2023

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican energy reform bill intended to bolster U.S. oil and gas production while scaling back climate initiatives, the first major legislation of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's majority. The House passed the Lower Energy Costs Act by a mostly partisan 225-204 vote. The bill would deliver on a top 2022 Republican campaign pledge to lower Americans' energy costs but faces little chance of making it through the Democratic-led Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has declared it "dead on arrival." "The Senate is not going to waste our time on a bill that sets America back decades on our transition to clean energy," Schumer said in a Senate speech shortly before the House vote. Party disagreement over the House bill partly reflected gaping divisions over how to streamline permitting for energy projects, a goal otherwise shared by both Republicans and Democrats.

"Phhhoto has failed in its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to allege sufficient facts that cure the untimeliness of all of its federal claims," Matsumoto wrote. The court declined to allow Phhhoto to fine-tune its case and bring another complaint. Phhhoto's lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged Facebook aimed to "crush" the photo-sharing application, which called itself in court filings "an innovative nascent competitor." Facebook is defending against claims from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., federal court that the company abused its personal social networking dominance. The case is Phhhoto Inc v Meta Platforms, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No.

A grand jury of New Yorkers has brought charges against the former president, Trump's lawyer Susan Necheles said on Thursday. The inquiry opened and shut so many times that it came to be known as a "zombie case," Pomerantz said. In the federal case, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and testified that Trump directed him to pay Daniels and another woman. 'BACK INTO THE GRAVE'After hiring an outside law firm for advice, Vance's office decided not to bring any charges, Pomerantz wrote. "The 'zombie' case," Pomerantz wrote, "went back into the grave."

March 30 (Reuters) - A jury in Utah ruled on Thursday that Oscar-winning actor Gwyneth Paltrow was not responsible for injuries sustained by a man during a ski slope collision at an upscale Park City resort in 2016. He said the injuries led to a traumatic brain injury and had sought more than $300,000 in damages from Paltrow at a civil trial. Gwyneth Paltrow looks on as her attorney objects during the closing arguments of her trial, in Park City, Utah, U.S., March 30, 2023. Rick Bowmer/Pool via REUTERSThe eight-person jury sided with Paltrow, ruling that Sanderson was 100% at fault, and awarded Paltrow the $1 in symbolic damages that she had asked for in a countersuit. Both fell to the ground with Paltrow on top of Sanderson, in a heap of skis and limbs, she said.

The specific charges are not yet known and the indictment will likely be announced in the coming days, the New York Times reported. Below is reaction to news of the indictment:FORMER REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE ADAM KINZINGER: "Today is a somber day for our nation. Donald Trump committed many crimes, but this indictment should be a reminder that in America, NO ONE is above the law. DEMOCRATIC U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF ON TWITTER: "The indictment of a former president is unprecedented. SENATOR TED CRUZ ON TWITTER: "The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds.

Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Only the Justice Department can decide whether to charge Trump, who has called the Democratic-led panel's investigation a politically motivated sham. Trump has accused the Justice Department of engaging in a partisan witch hunt. NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL LAWSUITNew York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and his Trump Organization last September for fraud. The second lawsuit could go to trial on April 25, after a U.S. judge in January called Trump's bid to dismiss it "absurd."

☆ Trump's alleged hush money payments and the path to criminal charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

AUGUST 2018Cohen pleads guilty to criminal charges in Manhattan federal court, including campaign finance violations over the hush money payments. DECEMBER 2018Trump, on Twitter, calls the hush money payments a "simple private transaction." AUGUST 2019Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney at the time, issues a subpoena to the Trump Organization - Trump's family real estate company - for records of hush money payments. Trump himself is not charged with a crime, and the indictment contains no references to hush money payments. JANUARY 2023Bragg's office begins presenting evidence about Trump's alleged role in the 2016 hush money payments to a grand jury.

March 30 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) was sued on Thursday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency's second lawsuit this week accusing the largest U.S. retailer of discrimination against workers with disabilities. The lawsuit was filed three days after the EEOC sued Walmart for firing Adrian Tucker, a deli worker in a Statesville, North Carolina store, because she had too many "unauthorized" absences related to her Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition. Both lawsuits accused Walmart of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, and sought back pay and punitive damages. The case is EEOC v Wal-Mart Stores East LP, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina, No.

In the data privacy case, Google has said its Chrome browser users consented to the company's data collection. The sanction in the data privacy action is not the first time Van Keulen has punished Google in the same case. The new sanctions order and the prior one from May 2022 addressed internal Google evidence concerning consumer use of the company's private browsing mode. Google, according to the judge's order, will be barred from relying on certain employee witnesses in the case. Van Keulen also said Google must pay fees associated with two experts working for the plaintiffs, and must also pay a $79,000 fine.

[1/5] Grammy award-winning Fugees rapper Prakazrel (Pras) Michel, who is facing criminal charges in an alleged illegal lobbying campaign, arrives for opening arguments in his trial at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., March 30, 2023. "This is a case about foreign money, influence and concealment," Lockhart said during her opening statement in Washington on Thursday. "Through this scheme, the defendant duped the Obama campaign," Lockhart told the jury. For his work on these two lobbying campaigns on behalf of Low and China, prosecutors said Michel was paid $70 million. Low remains a fugitive in the Michel case.

The officers along with a registered nurse face counts of involuntary manslaughter and assault in the death of 38-year-old Edward Bronstein in Burbank, California, prosecutors said. "These officers had a legal duty to Mr. Bronstein," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said on Wednesday during a news conference. The death of Bronstein, who was white, came less than two months before the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was pinned to the ground in Minneapolis by police officers as he pleaded, "I can't breathe." In the California traffic stop, two of the officers who were charged had pulled Bronstein over on Interstate 5 for suspected driving under the influence. While pinned, Bronstein repeatedly screamed, "I can't breathe," and begged for help before becoming unresponsive, the prosecutor said.

☆ FTX's Bankman-Fried to plead not guilty to campaign finance, China bribery charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - Indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty on Thursday to new U.S. criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities. Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters he also plans to plead not guilty to the new 13-count indictment. Bankman-Fried is confined to his parents' Palo Alto, California, home on $250 million bond pending trial. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Re/Max Holdings Inc FollowMarch 29 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago on Wednesday ruled that home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors and a group of real estate brokerages of conspiring to inflate commission rates can move forward as a class action. In a statement, The National Association of Realtors said it was "disappointed" in the decision and defended industry listing practices. The lawsuit challenges a requirement that sellers make "blanket unilateral offers of compensation" to buyers' brokers when a home goes on sale via a multiple listing service. That system puts pressure on sellers to offer high commissions to attract buyers' brokers, the sellers claimed. The case is Moehrl et al v. The National Association of Realtors et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No.

The grand jury has been hearing evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney's office about possible crimes related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. The Washington Post, citing two people familiar with the matter, said the grand jury hiatus was due in part to a pre-scheduled two-week break starting April 10, following the April 9 Easter holiday. A law enforcement source told Reuters the grand jury is not expected to reconvene on the Trump case until after Easter, without providing a specific date. Grand jury proceedings are secret. The grand jury is believed to meet generally on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

The grand jury has been hearing evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney's office about possible crimes related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. The payment was in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter Daniels said she had with Trump a decade earlier. A law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear exactly when after the holiday the grand jury would hear evidence again in the Trump case. Grand jury proceedings are secret. The grand jury is believed to generally meet on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged crypto firm Beaxy.com and several executives for registration failures on Wednesday, expanding regulators' push to rein in the industry. That structure, which is common throughout the crypto industry, is one that the SEC's chair has criticized for conflicts of interest and risks to investors. On Monday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance, accusing the world's largest crypto exchange of violating rules preventing illegal activity. The next day, prosecutors in New York added a Chinese bribery charge to their fraud case against Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Another man, Brian Peterson, was accused of acting as an unregistered dealer by providing marketing services to Beaxy.

NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF.N) will pay $3.5 million to settle New York Attorney General Letitia James' claims that the largest U.S. title insurer illegally conspired with rivals not to solicit each other's employees. Under an agreement made public on Wednesday, Fidelity also agreed to end all "no-poach" agreements within 30 days, and cooperate with James' probe into the title insurance industry. James said no-poach agreements, whether written or oral, reduce competition for workers, resulting in lower wages and benefits and impeding career growth. It promised to notify James' office if it learned of illegal no-poach agreements over the next 10 years. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

March 28 (Reuters) - Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), will be interviewed under oath over the bank's relationship with late sex offender and former client Jeffrey Epstein, a lawyer involved in the case said on Tuesday. Epstein had been a JPMorgan client from 2000 to 2013 - five years after he pleaded guilty to a Florida prostitution charge. He had been friendly with Epstein but expressed regret for the relationship and has denied any involvement in Epstein's illegal activity. Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), where Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, is also being sued by the financier's accusers. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell at age 66 in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Bankman-Fried is expected to be arraigned on the new indictment on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court. The new indictment said Bankman-Fried ordered the $40 million cryptocurrency payment to a private wallet from Alameda's main trading account, to persuade Chinese government authorities to unfreeze Alameda accounts with more than $1 billion of cryptocurrency. Prosecutors said the Alameda accounts had been frozen as part of an investigation into an unnamed Alameda counterparty, and Bankman-Fried's prior efforts to lobby Chinese officials to lift the freeze were unsuccessful. They also said Bankman-Fried around November 2021 authorized a transfer of tens of millions of dollars of additional cryptocurrency to "complete" the bribe. Concerns that Bankman-Fried might tamper with witnesses prompted Kaplan to threaten jailing him unless tighter restrictions could be worked out.

Epstein had been a JPMorgan client from 2000 to 2013, with the last five years coming after he had pleaded guilty to a Florida prostitution charge. The bank is also suing Jes Staley, a former private banking chief and later Barclays Plc (BARC.L) chief executive who had been friendly with Epstein. JPMorgan wants Staley to reimburse it for eight years of compensation and damages it might incur in the other lawsuits. Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), where Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, is also being sued by the financier's accusers. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell at age 66 in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

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