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☆ Jon Stewart marvels at how Trump has committed 'so many crimes' he got 'bored' at his own trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Jon Stewart couldn't help roasting Donald Trump over reports of him falling asleep in court. Stewart was referencing The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, who said Trump nodded off "a few times" in court. "He's snoring. Advertisement"The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart says he's amused that former President Donald Trump might have dozed off on the opening day of his first criminal trial. "Imagine committing so many crimes, you get bored at your own trial," Stewart said of Trump on Monday night's episode.

Persons: Jon Stewart couldn't, Donald Trump, Stewart, Maggie Haberman, Trump, He's, —, Jon Stewart, he's, Stormy Daniels Organizations: New York Times, Service, Trump, The New

☆ Did Donald Trump fall asleep in court? Why the trial is posing challenges for reporters and the public
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Did Donald Trump fall asleep in court? As the first criminal trial of a former American president commenced Monday, The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman delivered a stunning report from the Manhattan courtroom. “This is 100% Fake News coming from ‘journalists’ who weren’t even in the court room,” a Trump campaign spokesperson later insisted. The Trump campaign forcefully denying Haberman and other reporters’ accounts quickly created two versions of events for people at home to choose to believe: Trump or Haberman. One of the concerns has been that by welcoming the public into the courtroom, cases will transform into public spectacles, similar to the O.J.

Persons: Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman, Trump, “, ”, Susanne Craig, Joe ”, snooze, ’, Haberman, Simpson Organizations: New, New York CNN, The New York Times, Trump, Republican, MSNBC, Fake, Fox News Locations: New York, American, Manhattan, Trump, Haberman, Federal

☆ A Weary Trump Appears to Doze Off in Courtroom Ahead of Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Maggie Haberman | More About Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump seemed alternately irritated and exhausted Monday morning, as his lawyers and prosecutors hashed out pretrial motions before jury selection in his criminal case. Even as a judge was hearing arguments on last-minute issues in a criminal case that centers on salacious allegations and threatens to upend his bid for the presidency, Mr. Trump appeared to nod off a few times, his mouth going slack and his head drooping onto his chest. The former president’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, passed him notes for several minutes before Mr. Trump appeared to jolt awake and notice them. At other times, Mr. Trump whispered and exchanged notes with Mr. Blanche. He sat motionless while his own words from the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape — on which bragged about grabbing women’s genitals — were read from a transcript by a prosecutor.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Todd Blanche, jolt, Blanche

Follow our live coverage of Trump’s hush money trial. The start of Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial on Monday thrusts the 2024 presidential race into uncharted territory and Mr. Trump back into the public spotlight in ways he hasn’t been since he left the White House more than three years ago. The trial will begin with perhaps the most scrutinized jury selection since the trial of O.J. “This looks like no other presidential campaign in the history of the country,” said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster who has worked on past presidential races. “It kind of puts the regular presidential campaign on sabbatical.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, hasn’t, O.J, Simpson, ”, Neil Newhouse, Republican pollster Organizations: White, Republican Locations: Manhattan, New York City

After years of investigation and weeks of delay, the criminal case known as the People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump went to trial Monday, with hundreds of citizens summoned to potentially join a jury that will decide the fate of the first American president to face prosecution. The judge immediately excused them. One prospective juror, a woman in her 30s, was heard outside the courtroom saying, “I just couldn’t do it.”The prospective jurors, who represented a cross-section of Manhattanites of various ages and demographics, filed past Mr. Trump and into the rows of a dingy courtroom. Some strained their necks for a glance at the former president. He stood and turned after the judge introduced him as the defendant, flashing them a tight-lipped smile.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “ Locations: New York

☆ New York trial of Donald Trump: an unusual request on trial Day 1
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Of the first group of 96 potential jurors who crammed into the courtroom, more than half were immediately excused for saying they could not be fair and impartial. A Manhattan jury also found Trump’s business, the Trump Organization, guilty of tax evasion, although Trump was not personally named in that case. And here is an excellent visual timeline of the entire hush money scandal. It was Cohen who orchestrated the hush money payments and who pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating campaign finance law, for which he served time in prison. Trump is accused by New York of falsifying business records when he paid Cohen back for the hush money scheme.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, CNN’s Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb, Scannell, “, ” Scannell, Jeffrey Abramson, ”, ” Abramson, Jean Carroll, Abramson, Judge Juan Merchan, Kellyanne Conway, Rudy Giuliani, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, McDougal – She’s, Trump’s, Melania, Barron, Merchan, Carroll –, Carroll, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Maggie Haberman, Jake Tapper Organizations: CNN, America, Democracy, New, Trump, Trump Organization, National Enquirer, Trump . ►, Enquirer, – Prosecutors, New York Times Locations: Manhattan, sidebars, New York, Trump

The first criminal trial of Donald J. Trump will begin on Monday, and the 45th president thinks he can win — no matter what the jury decides. Mr. Trump will aim to spin any outcome to his benefit and, if convicted, to become the first felon to win the White House. Manhattan prosecutors, who have accused Mr. Trump of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal, hold advantages that include a list of insider witnesses and a jury pool drawn from one of the country’s most liberal counties. Mr. Trump and some aides and lawyers privately concede that a jury is unlikely to outright acquit him, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. So Mr. Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, is seeking to write his own reality, telling a story that he believes could pave his return to the White House.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: White, Republican Locations: Manhattan

☆ Inside Donald Trump’s Embrace of the Jan. 6 Rioters
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Alan Feuer | Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two days before former President Donald J. Trump was booked at an Atlanta jail on his fourth indictment, he held an event at his golf club in New Jersey for another group of people facing criminal charges: rioters accused of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Standing next to a portrait of himself portrayed as James Bond, Mr. Trump told the defendants and their families that they had suffered greatly, but that all of that would change if he won another term. “People who have been treated unfairly are going to be treated extremely, extremely fairly,” he said to a round of applause at the event last August in Bedminster, N.J. “What you’ve suffered is just ridiculous,” he added. “But it’s going to be OK.”That private event was emblematic of how Mr. Trump has embraced dozens of Jan. 6 defendants and their relatives and highlights how he has sought to undermine law enforcement when it suits him, while he also puts forth a law-and-order campaign.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, James Bond, ”, you’ve Locations: Atlanta, New Jersey, Bedminster, N.J

Lawyers representing the State of New York and Donald J. Trump will help select the 12 people who will decide the former president’s fate. The lawyers will try to divine unspoken political biases, opinions about law enforcement and other hidden agendas. The potential jurors, who could face public anger and threats if they are chosen, will be asked about their education, occupations, families and news sources. The questions will drill slowly deeper: Potential jurors, all from one of the state’s most liberal counties, will be asked to reveal whether they volunteered for or against Mr. Trump. Perhaps most critically, they will be asked whether their feelings would interfere with their ability to be fair.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: State Locations: Manhattan, American, New York

Allies of Donald J. Trump are discussing ways to elevate third-party candidates in battleground states to divert votes away from President Biden, along with other covert tactics to diminish Democratic votes. They plan to promote the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a “champion for choice” to give voters for whom abortion is a top issue — and who also don’t like Mr. Biden — another option on the ballot, according to one person who is involved in the effort and who, like several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. Trump allies also plan to amplify the progressive environmental records of Mr. Kennedy and the expected Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, in key states — contrasting their policies against the record-high oil production under Mr. Biden that has disappointed some climate activists. A third parallel effort in Michigan is meant to diminish Democratic turnout in November by amplifying Muslim voters’ concerns about Mr. Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Trump allies are discussing running ads in Dearborn, Mich., and other parts of the state with large Muslim populations that would thank Mr. Biden for standing with Israel, according to three people familiar with the effort, which is expected to be led by an outside group unaffiliated with the Trump campaign.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Mr, Kennedy, Jill Stein Organizations: Democratic, Green Party Locations: Michigan, Gaza, Dearborn, Mich, Israel

Jared Kushner’s investment fund is not especially large by global finance standards. His $3 billion fund is financed almost entirely from overseas investors with whom he worked when he served as a senior adviser in the Trump White House. He has taken money from government wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as from Terry Gou, a founder of Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer, whose role in Mr. Kushner’s firm has not been previously disclosed. Mr. Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, is collecting approximately $40 million a year in management fees from those investors even before any share of profits earned on investments. He has made 10 investments to date, totaling $1.2 billion, many of them in companies based abroad.

Persons: Jared, Donald J, Trump, Terry Gou, Kushner’s Organizations: Trump White House, United Arab, Foxconn, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr, Affinity Partners Locations: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan

Former President Donald J. Trump said in a video statement on Monday that abortion rights should be left up to the states, remarks that came after months of mixed signals on an issue that he and his advisers have worried could cost him dearly in the election. Mr. Trump said his view was that the states should decide through legislation, and that “whatever they decide must be the law of the land, and in this case, the law of the state.” But he added that he was “strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.”“Many states will be different, many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be,” Mr. Trump said in the video, which he posted on his Truth Social website. “At the end of the day, it’s all about will of the people,” he added. “That’s where we are right now and that’s what we want — the will of the people.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, ”, Mr Organizations: “

Follow our live coverage of Trump’s hush money trial. Mr. Blanche recently bought a home in Palm Beach County near Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. He brought his family to Mr. Trump’s campaign celebration there on Super Tuesday. And during Mr. Trump’s first criminal trial, set to begin in Manhattan on April 15, he will use space at 40 Wall Street, the former president’s office tower near the courthouse. After a well-credentialed career as a federal prosecutor and a white-collar defense lawyer, Mr. Blanche, 49, has bet his professional future on representing Mr. Trump, the first former U.S. president to be indicted.

Persons: Todd Blanche, Donald J, Trump, Blanche, Trump’s Organizations: New York Democrat, Florida Republican Locations: Palm Beach, Mr, Lago, Manhattan, U.S

☆ Trump Spoke Recently With Saudi Leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Jonathan Swan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump spoke recently with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, their first publicly disclosed conversation since Mr. Trump left office in January 2021, according to two people briefed on the discussion who were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It was unclear what the two men discussed and whether it was their only conversation since Mr. Trump’s departure from the White House. Neither representatives for Mr. Trump nor an official of the Saudi government responded to requests for comment. If President Biden manages to clinch a trilateral megadeal — which would probably include a Saudi-Israeli peace agreement, an Israeli commitment to a two-state solution, a U.S.-Saudi defense treaty and U.S.-Saudi understandings on a civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia — he will need support from two-thirds of senators to ratify the U.S.-Saudi treaty. Mr. Trump, as the presumptive Republican nominee in firm command of his party, could potentially either block any deal or greenlight it for congressional Republicans.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump’s, Biden, Saudi Arabia — Organizations: Mr, U.S ., Republican, Republicans Locations: Saudi, Israel, U.S, Saudi Arabia

Donald J. Trump watched anxiously from the White House in April 2018 as news broke about federal agents searching the home of Michael D. Cohen, the man entrusted to conceal some of the president’s deepest secrets. After initially coming to Mr. Cohen’s defense, Mr. Trump washed his hands of his fixer within weeks, brushing aside Mr. Cohen’s feelers about a pardon and disavowing his legal bills. Mr. Trump took a different tack when prosecutors shifted their scrutiny to Allen H. Weisselberg, the Trump family’s longtime financial gatekeeper. Mr. Trump’s company paid Mr. Weisselberg’s legal bills and awarded him a $2 million severance, with a condition: He could not voluntarily cooperate with any law enforcement agency. But prosecutors say Mr. Weisselberg lied during his testimony, and this month he pleaded guilty to perjury.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Cohen’s, Allen H, Weisselberg, Mr Organizations: White House, Trump Locations: Manhattan, U.S

On Tuesday, lawyers for Ms. Lake indicated she would not dispute the facts of a defamation lawsuit that Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County recorder, had filed against her. But they seem to be more durable and pervasive in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, riling up residents long after campaigns have closed up shop. Credit... Rebecca Noble for The New York TimesThe numbers back up Arizona’s outsize role in election fraud claims. At a news conference on Monday, Gary M. Restaino, the U.S. attorney for Arizona, said seven of the nation’s roughly 18 federal cases regarding election threats involved people targeting Arizona election officials, though the suspects are not Arizonans. Image Bill Gates, a Maricopa County supervisor, during Arizona’s primary presidential election in Phoenix earlier in March.

Persons: Joseph R, Biden, Donald J, Kari Lake, Trump, baselessly, hasn’t, Lake, Stephen Richer, Richer, —, ”, Joshua Garland, Rebecca Noble, Gary M, “, Mr, Restaino, Lake’s, ” Mr, they’re, Katie Hobbs, Bill Gates, Gates, Lake —, ‘, ’ ‘, ’ ”, “ It’s Organizations: Republican, Arizona State University, “, The New York Times, Arizona, U.S, Supreme, Lake’s Democratic, Mr, Republicans Locations: Arizona, Maricopa, Maricopa County, Phoenix, Georgia, U.S, . Credit, Gitmo

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, added a new item to the list: a $60 Bible. Days before Easter, Mr. Trump posted a video on his social media platform in which he encouraged his supporters to buy the “God Bless the USA Bible,” named after the ballad by the country singer Lee Greenwood, which Mr. Trump plays as he takes the stage at his rallies. “All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” said Mr. Trump, who before entering politics was not overtly religious and who notably stumbled while referencing a book of the Bible during his 2016 campaign. “It’s a lot of people’s favorite book.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ”, Lee Greenwood, “

☆ Trump Isn’t Reaching Out to Haley and Her Voters. Will It Matter?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Nikki Haley dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in early March, she withheld endorsing Donald J. Trump and extended a pointed invitation for him to court her and the political coalition she constructed. “This is now his time for choosing,” she said then. There has never been very much magnanimity in the MAGA movement. Even out of the race, Ms. Haley has continued to pull in a significant number of voters in ongoing primary contests. Across the five swing states that have held primaries so far — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada — a total of about 750,000 people cast ballots for Ms. Haley.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump, ”, MAGA, Biden, Haley Locations: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada

☆ Trump’s Financial Squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald Trump has 10 days to come up with a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case. After that, he may be on the hook for the full penalty in the case: almost half a billion dollars. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, sued Trump and the Trump Organization in 2022. She accused them of committing widespread fraud over a decade by inflating the values of properties, at times by as much as $2 billion a year. Trump has insisted that since his lenders weren’t stiffed, there were no victims, and that he considers the judgment corrupt.

Persons: Donald Trump, Letitia James, Trump, James, weren’t Organizations: New, Trump Organization Locations: New York

Mr. Trump, casting the disclosure as evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, has asked Justice Merchan to delay the trial 90 days, or throw out the case altogether. The tentative April 15 trial date, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday, provides “a more than reasonable amount of time” for Mr. Trump to review the information. It is unclear whether the judge will set a trial date on Monday or rule later this week. If he sets the case for trial next month, Mr. Trump would for the first time face the prospect of time behind bars. Here’s what else you need to know about Mr. Trump’s daunting day:

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Mr, Stormy Daniels, Juan M, Merchan, Michael D, Cohen, Trump’s, Alvin L, Bragg Organizations: New, Mr Locations: Manhattan, American

At 11 a.m. Monday, a New York appeals court made Donald J. Trump’s day, rescuing him from financial devastation in a civil fraud case. By noon, the New York judge overseeing his criminal case had nearly ruined it, setting Mr. Trump’s trial for next month and all but ensuring he will hold the dubious distinction of becoming the first former American president to be criminally prosecuted. The contrasting outcomes of Mr. Trump’s twin New York legal crises — a triumph in the civil case and a setback in the criminal one — set the former president on a winding path as he seeks to navigate around an array of legal troubles to recapture the White House. Unfolding in rapid succession in his hometown courts, the day’s events captured the disorienting reality of having a candidate who is also a defendant. And they showed that nothing about the six months until Election Day will be easy, linear or normal — for Mr. Trump or the nation.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Trump Organizations: New, Mr Locations: New York, American, York

☆ Trump Will Face His Greatest Fears as Two Legal Threats Coincide Monday
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Ben Protess | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump is expected to spend his Monday morning in the courtroom of a New York judge who might soon preside over his criminal trial and, ultimately, throw him behind bars. And that’s not even the legal predicament that worries Mr. Trump most that day. To avoid a mortal threat to the Trump Organization, Mr. Trump must persuade another company to post a bond on his behalf, promising that it will cover the judgment if he loses a pending appeal and fails to pay. Unless Mr. Trump strikes an 11th-hour deal, Ms. James could freeze his bank accounts, and begin the long and complicated process of seizing some of his properties. And barring Mr. Trump’s lawyers achieving an improbable legal triumph, the judge in his criminal case could set a trial date for as soon as next month.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, —, Letitia James, James Organizations: New, Trump Organization, Mr Locations: New York, Manhattan

☆ Trump's lawyers dance for him when he's in the courtroom. At a criminal trial, that could torpedo his chances of winning.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

And at a criminal trial, causing a ruckus can bring its own consequences. In a criminal trial, Trump, along with his eager-to-please lawyers, must attend every day. he quipped in response to an argument from one of Trump's lawyers. Technically, Trump faces a maximum of four years in prison for each count he's charged with in his criminal case. The criminal trial will give Trump a chance to hold multiple campaign-boosting rallies before the hallway cameras each day.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, they're, Trump, he's, Jean Carroll, Juan Merchan, Carroll, Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's, Arthur Engoron, shrewdly, TIMOTHY A, CLARY, Stormy Daniels, Melania Trump, Kaplan, Eliza Orlins, Orlins, there's, Susan Necheles, Steven Hirsch, Maggie Haberman's, huff, Lewis Kaplan, Alina Habba, Randy Zelin, they've, Engoron, Letitia James of, York —, Kaplan quizzed, Merchan, He's, Donald Trump's, Seth Wenig Merchan, Prosecutors, Zelin, OJ, I'm Organizations: Service, Secret Service, Business, Trump, New York, sophistry, Attorneys, Getty, Manhattan Criminal, Trump Organization, New York Times, Truth, New, AP, Merchan Locations: Manhattan, New York, New York City, Brooklyn, York, America, U.S, Trump

In 2013, two years before he began running for president, Mr. Trump — Mr. Kushner’s father-in-law — told a top Serbian government official that he wanted to build a luxury hotel on the site. Associates of the Trump Organization traveled to Belgrade to inspect the location. The project did not come together before Mr. Trump’s election in 2016, and after being sworn in he vowed to not do any new foreign deals. But developing the site would again draw interest from Mr. Trump’s circle. Richard Grenell, whom Mr. Trump had appointed as a special envoy in the Balkans, pushed a related plan during the Trump administration that Serbia and the United States jointly work to rebuild the Defense Ministry site.

Persons: Jared Kushner, Donald J, Trump, Kushner, Kushner’s, —, Richard Grenell Organizations: Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, NATO, The New York Times, Serbian, Associates, Trump Organization, United, Defense Ministry Locations: Belgrade, Serbian, Balkans, Serbia, United States, American

The schedule seemed stacked against Donald J. Trump: four criminal trials in four cities, all in the same year he is running for president. But rather than doom Mr. Trump, the chaotic calendar might just save him. Mr. Trump, who as president helped reshape the federal judiciary, has already persuaded the Supreme Court to delay his trial in Washington. The case in Manhattan, where Mr. Trump is accused of covering up a sex scandal during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, was the only one not mired in potential postponements. On Friday, Justice Juan M. Merchan, who is overseeing the case, delayed the trial at least three weeks, until mid-April.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Juan M, Merchan Organizations: Trump Locations: Washington, Florida, Georgia, Manhattan

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