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☆ Jamaal Bowman may be the most endangered Squad member. He doesn't seem alarmed.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Advertisement"He was recruited by AIPAC to run against us because we called for a permanent cease-fire," Bowman said of Latimer. In January, Bowman lost the support of the liberal pro-Israel group J Street over his rhetoric on Israel. Like Bowman, Latimer has a blunt and direct speaking style that sometimes leades to gaffes, such as his invocation of the racist lynching of Emmett Till when commenting on the sexual misconduct allegations against then-Gov. When asked about Bowman's charge of racism, Latimer pointed to his appointment of Ken Jenkins, a Black man, as his deputy county executive. Bowman and Latimer have known each other for nearly four years, first meeting for coffee after the congressman's 2020 primary victory.

Persons: Jamaal Bowman, George Latimer —, Worker's, Bowman, Latimer, Sen, Shelley Mayer, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, George Santos, haven't, we're, Bryan Metzger, He's, Cori Bush of, Bernie Sanders's, —, Benjamin Netanyahu, Selcuk, — Bowman, Y'all, Israel, Bowman's, he's, Eliot Engel, George Latimer, Republican Rob Astorino, Jeenah, let's, Emmett Till, Andrew Cuomo, Ken Jenkins, he'd, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Kean of, who's, I'm, Joe Biden, Republican megadonors, Donald Trump, MAGA, Usamah Adrabi, deriding Latimer, they've, what's, Harrison, it's, They're, I've, Bowman —, that's Organizations: Westchester, Democratic Party, Capitol, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Democratic, Israel, AIPAC, Getty, J, Republican, Washington, Working Families Party, Hamas, that's, Business, Mount Vernon High School, Apple Locations: Port Chester , New York, Congress, Westchester County, Mount Vernon, Port Chester, Cori Bush of Missouri, Israel, Queens , New York, Anadolu, Gaza, Westchester, Rye —, York, Latimer, White Plains , New York, Pennsylvania, Tom Kean of New Jersey, New York, California, Bronx, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Scarsdale, Rye, Harrison, Mount Vernon , New York, American

☆ The biggest bombshells from Michael Cohen's testimony were all in Trump's own words
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

But in his under-oath testimony for Trump's criminal trial Monday, Cohen placed Trump firmly in the room where it happened. AdvertisementIn 2015, Trump told Cohen he would run for president. When Cohen told Trump about it, his response was, "She's really beautiful," Cohen said. According to Cohen, Trump's goal was to postpone the payment until after the November 2016 election, at which point he didn't think it would matter. "I used quite a few expletives," complaining to Weisselberg, Cohen told jurors.

Persons: —, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump's, Cohen, Trump, Trump's, Daniels, Karen McDougal, Donald Trump, Jon Kopaloff, Curtis Means, Steve Granitz, " Cohen, David Pecker, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz's, Lee Harvey Oswald, Marco Rubio, Pecker, Melania Trump, — Cohen, TheDirty.com, Keith Davidson, Allen Weisselberg, Brendan McDermid, didn't, Weisselberg, Cohen he'd, Allen, Michael, stiffed, Susan Hoffinger Organizations: Service, Business, Trump, American Media Inc, National Enquirer, AMI, Republican, Washington Post, Manhattan Criminal Court, Reuters, Trump Organization Locations: Manhattan, Trump, Mar, Florida

☆ Michael Cohen testifies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Justin Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s onetime fixer and now the star witness at his criminal trial, today described for jurors how Trump told him to pay off Stormy Daniels: “Just do it.”The testimonies of Cohen and Daniels are intended to show jurors that Trump falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to buy Daniels’s silence about a sexual encounter. Trump faces 34 felony counts related to the records, and probation or up to four years in prison if convicted. Cohen testified that when Trump ordered him to pay Daniels off, Cohen financed the payment with a home equity line of credit. The former Trump fixer’s testimony ground away at the defense’s assertion that Trump wasn’t aware of Cohen’s actions. Instead, Cohen testified, Trump was a micromanager in the process to head off a story that would have been “catastrophic” for his presidential campaign in 2016.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Stormy Daniels, “, Cohen, Daniels Organizations: Trump

☆ Cohen Testimony Begins Climax of Case Against Trump: 5 Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Jesse Mckinley | Kate Christobek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The $130,000 payment led to the charges against the former president: that Mr. Trump falsified 34 business records to hide a reimbursement to Mr. Cohen. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels. Here are five takeaways from Mr. Trump’s 16th day on trial:Cohen brought four weeks together in one day. Since testimony began April 22, prosecutors have been stitching together the motive and methods of the $130,000 payment, using evidence like phone logs, emails and text messages and witness testimony. Mr. Cohen brought many of those moments to life, describing Mr. Trump’s micromanagement and his campaign’s panic after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape just before the 2016 election.

Persons: Michael D, Cohen, Donald J, Trump’s, ”, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Daniels, Mr, Trump’s micromanagement

☆ Trump vs. His Nemesis: Michael Cohen to Take the Stand Monday
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Ben Protess | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And on Monday, as Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial enters its fifth week, they will finally meet him: Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer and the prosecutions’s star witness. Mr. Cohen, once Mr. Trump’s loyal attack dog and now his dedicated antagonist, will take the stand in the first criminal trial of an American president. He is expected to testify that he did so at Mr. Trump’s direction. He is also likely to say that, once Mr. Trump was in the White House, the president reimbursed him after the two met in the Oval Office in February 2017. And he will almost certainly confirm the crux of the prosecution’s case: that Mr. Trump orchestrated a plan to falsify records that disguised the reimbursement as ordinary legal expenses.

Persons: Donald J, Michael D, Cohen, Trump’s, Trump

☆ Jean Smart Is Having a Third Act for the Ages
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( J Wortham | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The slight is hurled early on in “Hacks,” the popular HBO series starring Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, a seasoned comedian who teams up with a younger one named Ava (Hannah Einbinder) to freshen up her act. Deborah, meanwhile, sees Ava as a bit of a hack herself — an entitled and spoiled young internet persona who was canceled for posting a joke about a closeted senator. Deborah is a workaholic on the verge of bitter, someone who grew tired of being cut and so became a knife. Just how far is Deborah Vance willing to go? In one of the show’s funniest moments, Deborah bluntly asks Ava, “You a lesbian?” Ava leans back in her chair while considering the question.

Persons: Jean Smart, Deborah Vance, Ava, Hannah Einbinder, Deborah —, Deborah, —, Z, “, ” Ava, Deborah doesn’t, Rachel Maddow’s Organizations: HBO Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Michael Cohen, former attorney for Donald Trump, leaves after attending the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Oct. 24, 2023. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial. There is his tortured history with Trump, for whom he served as personal attorney and problem-zapper until his practices came under federal investigation. That led to felony convictions and prison for Cohen but no charges against Trump, by then in the White House. Those arrangements, which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office portrays as a multipronged scheme to keep information from voters, are now under a microscope at Trump's hush money trial.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, Cohen, Trump, Richard Serafini, Loyalist, Cohen's, dings, Alvin Bragg's, reimbursements, Stormy Daniels, Daniels Organizations: Trump Organization, Court, Reuters, Trump, FBI, National Enquirer, Manhattan Locations: New York, Manhattan, New York City, Florida

☆ Opinion: Michael Cohen has lied. Here’s why the Trump jury can believe him
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Pecker explained that for the scheme to further benefit Trump’s campaign, he later set in motion the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump claimed Cohen made the payment on his own and not at Trump’s direction, but Hicks did not believe him. He testified that he was under the belief that Cohen needed Trump’s approval to wire any funds and that Trump was the source. Former Trump Organization accountant Deborah Tarasoff also told the jury that Trump was directly involved in reimbursing Cohen. She spoke at length about how Trump continued to focus on personal and Trump Organization business minutiae while in the White House.

Persons: Norman Eisen, “, Donald Trump, CNN — Michael Cohen, Trump, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Norm Eisen, Daniels, David Pecker, Pecker, Hope Hicks, ” Hicks, Hicks, Allen Weisselberg, ” Trump, Weisselberg, Keith Davidson, Davidson, Deborah Tarasoff, reimbursing Cohen, Tarasoff, Donald J, Eric Trump, Reimbursing Cohen Cohen, Trump’s, Jeffrey McConney, I’ve, ” McConney, Madeleine Westerhout, Westerhout, Sally Franklin, ” Organizations: CNN, Trump, American Media, National Enquirer, Trump Organization, Trump Revocable Trust, White House, White, Twitter, Facebook, Random, “ Trump, The Trump Organization Locations: Trump’s Manhattan, Manhattan, Trump, “

AdvertisementThe unprecedented criminal trial of a former US president has delivered several stunning moments so far. Jurors get a peek at the 34 records at the heart of the caseTwo weeks into Trump's trial, jurors finally saw the paperwork at the heart of the matter. A courtroom sketch of Stormy Daniels on the witness stand in Donald Trump's hush-money trial. On the stand, Daniels said Trump told her she reminded him of his daughter, commenting on her blond hair and beauty. Trump's legal team requested a mistrial on the basis of Daniel's testimony.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen —, Hope Hicks, Cohen, Daniels, Hicks, Andrew Harnik, Jeffrey McConney, Deborah Tarassoff —, Alvin Bragg, Stephanie Clifford, Donald Trump's, Jane Rosenberg, Juan Merchan, audibly, Merchan, Judge Merchan, MARK PETERSON, Donald, Von ShitzInPantz, Todd Blanche, Joe Biden, Blanche, Cohen's Organizations: Service, Business, White House, Trump, White House Communications, AP, Trump Organization, Prosecutors, Reuters, Truth, Manhattan Criminal, Getty Locations: Manhattan, Lake Tahoe, New York City

☆ Opinion | Rita, Anita, My Mother and Me
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Deborah Paredez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Some Latina mothers teach their daughters how to spoon masa or plátano onto a corn husk or banana leaf when making tamales or pasteles. My Latina mother taught me to love musicals. Perhaps it’s because, like all musicals, “West Side Story” is a complex form of representation that revels in both its messiness and its marvelousness. My mother was showing me a diva who could move across these imposed limits. Many of us have cataloged and condemned the musical’s depictions of criminal youth and blatantly sexual women all speaking in exaggerated accents.

Persons: Barbra Streisand, Fanny Brice, Diana Ross, Rita Moreno, Anita, ” Organizations: Broadway Locations: “, America

☆ Man Charged in Bronx Sexual Assault Partly Captured on Disturbing Video
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Hurubie Meko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The video captures a disturbing sequence: A woman can be seen walking along a sidewalk in the Bronx on an early May morning, when a man, his face covered, approaches from behind. The scenes captured on the video sowed fear among many residents of the South Bronx. On Saturday, the police said they had arrested a man — Kashaan Parks, 39, also of the Bronx — in connection with the assault. Parks had been arrested two other times: Once in 2018 for domestic assault, and in 2013 for theft of service in the transit system. The woman, who was not named, went to Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx after the attack.

Persons: Kashaan, Parks, Joseph Kenny Organizations: Parks, 152nd, Lincoln Hospital, Police Department Locations: Bronx, Kashaan Parks, South Bronx

☆ Trump's worst rebukes from NY judges were all for attacks on women who made him look bad in court
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Cowbells herald a third Trump outburstDonald Trump at his criminal hush-money trial with lawyers Todd Blanche, left, and Emil Bove. I will not tolerate that," state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan complained of Trump to defense lawyer Todd Blanche, his voice raised. Then there was Stormy DanielsA courtroom sketch of Stormy Daniels on the witness stand in Donald Trump's hush-money trial. Defense lawyer Susan Necheles questions Stormy Daniels as Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan look on. Advertisement"As recently as, I believe, Wednesday night, he was on TikTok," Blanche, the defense lawyer, complained to Merchan before court broke for the week on Friday.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Trump, riled Trump, they're, Debbie Walsh, Walsh, Donald Trump's, Allison Greenfield, enemies.i Curtis, David Dee Delgado, Arthur Engoron, who'd, Greenfield, Jean Carroll Donald Trump, Jean Carroll, Andrew Kelly, Luiz C . Ribeiro, Lewis Kaplan, audibly —, Carroll, Roberta Kaplan, Cowbells, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, Jabin, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniel, Joe Biden's, Juan Merchan, Stormy Daniels, Jane Rosenberg, Daniels, swatting Trump, Merchan, audibly, — Daniels, Blanche, Susan Necheles, Mary Altaffer, Michael Cohen Cohen — Trump's, fining Trump, Cohen, he's, MAGA Organizations: Service, Business, Trump, Center for American Women, REUTERS, New York Daily News, Tribune, Getty, Reuters, GOP, AP Locations: Manhattan, York, New, New York City, Lake Tahoe, New York

☆ Miss Colorado didn't want to enable the Miss USA organization's 'abusive power' so she's giving up her title in support
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Anneta Konstantinides | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Their announcements marked the first time a Miss USA or Miss Teen USA had given up their title in the pageant's 72-year history. "I think so many women forget their power, and organizations like Miss USA remind women how powerful you can become," Lemus told Business Insider. Taking a stand against Miss USA leadershipTo walk away from a title — whether state or national — is unprecedented in the Miss USA organization. "But if I didn't, it would almost enable the abusive power that is happening with the current Miss USA management." Both Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava and Miss USA Noelia Voigt resigned this week.

Persons: —, Miss Colorado Arianna Lemus, Miss USA Noelia Voigt, Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, Lemus, Voigt, Srivastava, Instagram, Claudia Michelle —, Michelle, Former Miss Montana Dani Walker, Laylah Rose hasn't, Lemus —, Miss USA, she's, Miss Kansas Haley Berger, Berger, Laylah Rose, Voight, Craig Barritt, Max Sebrechts, Crystle Stewart, Rose, Dakota Amber Hulse, wasn't, Arianna Lemus, Arianna, Hulse, …, it's Organizations: Service, USA, Miss, Miss Teen USA, Business, Miss USA, BI, Miss Hawaii, Former Miss, Miss Colorado Locations: Miss USA, Miss Hawaii Savannah, Miss Colorado

☆ Trump could face a $100 million tax bill after the IRS says he tried to write off the same losses twice on his Chicago skyscraper
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewFormer President Donald Trump could face a $100 million tax bill after the IRS said he twice sought to write off the same losses on his struggling 92-story Chicago skyscraper, according to a New York Times and ProPublica report. In the IRS inquiry, acquired by The Times and ProPublica, the agency said Trump tried to claim tax benefits from financial losses associated with the project and that he practically wrote off those losses twice. Trump's first tax write-off for the Chicago tower came in his 2008 tax return, when sales at the building faltered below expectations. AdvertisementIn that year's tax return, Trump noted that he lost up to $651 million on the project, according to The Times and ProPublica. AdvertisementAfter looking at the inquiry, The Times and ProPublica — and tax experts — concluded that the revision pursued by the IRS would give Trump an updated tax bill exceeding $100 million, excluding any additional penalties.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Trump, Trump's, ProPublica, Eric Trump, Jean Carroll, Carroll Organizations: Service, New York Times, Trump International, Tower, Chicago Sun, Times, Business, The Times, IRS, Trump, Trump Organization, Chicago, Prosecutors Locations: Chicago, Tower Chicago, New York

☆ Racism Alleged at Multiple Globe Life Affiliates
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Susan Antilla | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

"If I'd brought it up, I would have been blackballed," he told BI. She told BI that Lobello frequently sent her racist memes he found online that contained the N-word. AdvertisementBell, in the hat at right, at a team dinner for an AIL agency then known as Giglione-Ackerman. In the areas she was assigned, she told BI, "most of the people were uninsurable" because of poor health, hard drug use, and poverty. If you work at Globe Life or AIL and have information to share about the company, please contact Susan Antilla at susan.antilla1@gmail.com .

Persons: Domenico Bertini, Chris Selejan, Rob Gray, James " Bo, E, Gentile, Organization —, Frank Svoboda, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Fuzzy Panda, Scott Dehning, AIL, Dehning, Jennifer Haworth, I'd, John L, Ann Marie Arcadi, Gray, Eric Giglione, Giglione, Bell, He'd, Brian W, Fraser, Popeyes, Morgan Lobello, Lobello she'd, y'all, Lobello, David Zophin, Ackerman, Andy Mercado, texted, quieted, Bell's, Raynaldo Lafontant, David Ackerman, Lafontant, Mercado, Sarah Reay, Reay, Debra Gamble, Gamble, Nicole Korkolis, Donnaya Presberry, Presberry, Abeni, Mayfield, Amy Williamson, Abeni Mayfield, Rosem Morton, Silvana Pajor Flores, Pajor Flores, Susan Antilla Organizations: Globe Life, Business, Globe, New York Stock Exchange, Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, Organization, BI, Department of Justice, Research, Latina, Ackerman Agency, New Jersey Superior Court, SEAT, Giglione, Commission, Professional Employees International Union, Liberty National Division, Liberty National, Edison, AIL Locations: Kentucky, Bertini, Pennsylvania, McKinney , Texas, Michigan, West Virginia, New Jersey, Argentina, Aurora , Colorado, Edison , New Jersey, Edison, Giglione, Morgantown , West Virginia, Moon Township , Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Columbia , Maryland, Cumberland , Maryland, Kansas, Waco , Texas, Colorado, AIL, susan.antilla1@gmail.com

☆ Live Updates: Former White House Aide Will Return to Stand in Trump Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The judge denied the request and Mr. Trump’s second motion this week for a mistrial. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels. Credit... Todd Heisler/The New York TimesThe defense did get Ms. Daniels to concede that she had made money from the scandal. When Ms. Daniels stepped down from the stand Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump stared at a monitor, not glancing up as she walked by. Image Madeleine Westerhout described life in the Oval Office, including Mr. Trump signing checks there.

Persons: Donald J, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Susan Necheles, Daniels’s, Necheles, ”, Daniels, Trump’s, Todd Blanche, Juan M, Todd Heisler, Mr, Necheles’s, “, Ms, Lucas Jackson, Thursday’s, Madeleine Westerhout, Bill O’Reilly —, Erin Schaff, Westerhout, Michael D, Cohen Organizations: Trump, New York Times, Trump . Credit, Trump glowered, Prosecutors, White House, The New York Times Locations: Nevada, Lake Tahoe, Trump .

☆ Several Witnesses Have Brought Up Keith Schiller, Trump’s Bodyguard. Where Is He?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Schiller was the person who got her phone number for Mr. Trump after they met at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006 in Lake Tahoe, Nev., Ms. Daniels testified this week. Mr. Schiller also invited Ms. Daniels to meet Mr. Trump for dinner that night, she said, and let her into Mr. Trump’s hotel suite when she showed up. The witness who took the stand after Ms. Daniels also brought up Mr. Schiller. The witness, Rebecca Manochio, a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization, said that when Mr. Trump became president, she sent personal checks that required his signature to Mr. Schiller. And Mr. Schiller returned the signed checks to her via FedEx.

Persons: Donald J, Stormy Daniels, Keith Schiller, Schiller, Trump, Daniels, Rebecca Manochio Organizations: Trump Organization, Mr, FedEx Locations: Lake Tahoe, Nev, Trump’s

☆ Guyana: Nigel Dharamlall accused of sexual assault by another woman
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The accuser, economist Sarah Aneesah Hakh, told an online press conference held in the capital Georgetown that former Minister Nigel Dharamlall sexually assaulted her in 2020 and 2021. Hakh said the first alleged incident occurred during a business meeting when Dharamlall was Guyana’s senior minister of regional development. He has been photographed recently with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. In a March statement, Guyanese women’s rights group Red Thread criticized officials for failing the accuser. During their meeting, Hakh alleges Dharamlall tried to remove her clothes.

Persons: Sarah Aneesah Hakh, Nigel Dharamlall, Hakh, Dharamlall, ” Hakh, Irfaan Ali, Bharrat Jagdeo, “, ”, Ali, ‘, they’re Organizations: CNN, People’s Progressive Party, ” CNN, Anna Regina State House, Dharamlall, Guyanese Locations: Guyana, Georgetown, Guyanese, Cummings

Officials are urging those who have been rescued from the floods not to return to their homes. Carlos Fabal/AFP/Getty ImagesA horse was found stranded on a rooftop in a flooded area in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday, May 8. It had been stuck on the roof for four days surrounded by flood water in the municipality of Canoas in the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Sul. Agencia Brasil, the sate-run news agency, has reported the rescue of more than 2,000 animals since the floods impacted Rio Grande du Sol, including dogs, cats, chickens, and pigs. Cars are surrounded by flooded streets after heavy rain in Canoas, in Rio Grande do Sul state, on May 9, 2024.

Persons: INMET, Katiane Mello, James Vargas, Carlos Fabal, –, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, El Niño, Carlos Macedo, Adriano Machado Organizations: CNN, Getty, Globo, Agencia Brasil, AP Brazilian Air Force Soldiers, Brasilia Air Force Base, Reuters Locations: Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay, Porto Alegre, Eldorado do Sul, AFP, Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul, Paulo’s, Canoas, Rio Grande, Sol, Pacific, Reuters Rio Grande do Sul

☆ Former White House Aide Returns to Stand in Trump’s Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former White House aide who worked closely with Donald J. Trump testified on Thursday about a significant meeting between Mr. Trump and his personal lawyer that is at the center of Mr. Trump’s criminal trial, the first prosecution of a former American president. Ms. Westerhout will return to the stand Friday, facing additional questions from Mr. Trump’s legal team. She took questions Thursday after two days of sometimes graphic and frequently heated testimony by Ms. Daniels. Ms. Daniels denied repeated accusations by Mr. Trump’s lawyers that she was motivated by money in divulging the sexual encounter, and that her account on the stand was inconsistent with others she has given in the past. Ms. Daniels also offered a quick retort when Mr. Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles said she has sought to make money off the ordeal: “Not unlike Mr. Trump.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Madeleine Westerhout, Michael D, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Westerhout, Ms, Daniels, Susan Necheles, ” Organizations: White House, Mr Locations: American, Lake Tahoe, Nev

☆ A Norwegian Cruise Line worker is accused of stabbing people on board with scissors
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A cruise ship worker was accused of stabbing a passenger and attacking crew members. AdvertisementA cruise ship employee was arrested after he allegedly used scissors to stab three people aboard a ship that was traveling to Alaska. The employee, identified as Ntando Sogoni from South Africa, had recently started working on Norwegian Encore, a ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Matthew Judy cited by AP News. The US Department of Transportation keeps a record of reported crimes on cruise ships through quarterly reports. The district attorney's office, Juneau's police department, Sogoni's lawyer, and Norwegian Cruise Line did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: —, Matthew Judy, Sogoni Organizations: Service, Norwegian Cruise, AP News, FBI, US Department of Transportation, Cruise Locations: Alaska, Seattle, South Africa, Norwegian, Sogoni, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Juneau

Donald Trump is heading into the most perilous phase of his hush money trial aside from the moment when the jury retires to consider its verdict. Merchan also instructed Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, to rein in his client after complaining that the defendant had cursed audibly and shaken his head during Daniels’ testimony. The judge was concerned that the jury might notice the witness being intimidated — which he warned he could not allow to continue. So far, Trump — who has launched searing attacks on the judge — has managed to refrain from openly attacking Daniels since she took the stand. And her appearance is only an appetizer for expected explosive evidence in the coming days of the biggest star witness, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.

Persons: Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Judge Juan Merchan, Merchan, Todd Blanche, Daniels, —, Michael Cohen Organizations: Trump, Trump —

CNN —Judge Juan Merchan called out former President Donald Trump’s defense team during their motion for a mistrial Thursday afternoon, telling them there were many times they could have objected to Stormy Daniels’ testimony, but did not. For the second time this week, Merchan expressed surprise that Trump’s lawyers had not objected more when Daniels was on the stand. And for the second time this week, Merchan rejected their motion for a mistrial. Merchan specifically pointed to Daniels’ testimony about the trailer park, in which Daniels suggested Trump told her she would be stuck living in a trailer park before they had sex in 2006. Merchan also referred back to the defense’s opening statement when Blanche denied there was ever a sexual encounter between Daniels and Trump.

Persons: Juan Merchan, Donald Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Merchan, Daniels, Todd Blanche, Daniels ’, Trump, Susan Necheles, ” Merchan, Blanche, CNN’s Laura Dolan Organizations: CNN, Trump

The "Access Hollywood" tape sent the RNC reeling, she testified of working there at the time. Westerhout said RNC officials were so concerned, they began planning how to replace Trump. AdvertisementThe "Access Hollywood" tape was so damaging to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign that the Republican National Committee began planning how to replace him as the GOP's presidential candidate, his ex-executive assistant testified on Thursday. Madeleine Westerhout, who worked as an assistant to a top RNC official before she served as Trump's assistant in the White House, described the post-tape tumult to the jury in Trump's New York criminal hush-money trial. The notorious 2005 tape, which circulated ahead of the 2016 presidential election, was highly damaging to the Trump campaign, prosecutors have told jurors.

Persons: Madeleine Westerhout, Westerhout, —, Donald Trump's, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, He's, Todd Blanche, Trump's, Michael Cohen, It's, Blanche, Cohen Organizations: White House, RNC, Trump, Service, Republican National Committee, Prosecutors, Attorney's Office Locations: Trump's New York, Manhattan, Lake

☆ Stormy Daniels Returns to the Stand
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The woman who said she had a one-night sexual encounter with a man who became president will take the witness stand again on Thursday in a Lower Manhattan courtroom. The witness, Stormy Daniels, on Tuesday started to tell her account — sometimes nervously, sometimes graphically and often quickly — of a liaison in a Nevada hotel suite with that man, Donald J. Trump. The court session took its weekly Wednesday break with Ms. Daniels about to discuss the $130,000 hush-money deal paid by Mr. Trump’s former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, in the days before the 2016 election. The 34 felony counts against Mr. Trump stem from his repayment to Mr. Cohen after he became president, and the recording of the checks as “legal expenses” at the Trump Organization. Prosecutors say it was a deliberate mislabeling meant to conceal the hush-money deal and amount to a falsification of business records.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Donald J, Trump, Daniels, Trump’s, Michael D, Cohen Organizations: United, Trump Organization, Prosecutors Locations: Lower Manhattan, Nevada, United States

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