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Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump did not discipline Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg after finding out he'd been cheating on his taxes — and later gave him a raise to make up for the shortfall, the ex-CFO testified Friday. Trump's eldest sons took over control of the company following the 2016 presidential election. He pleaded guilty in August and agreed to testify truthfully against his employer in return for a five month jail sentence. Pressed by prosecutors on Friday, he said, "There was some benefits to the company but primarily it was due to my greed." Did a long time executive pay tax on the use of a company car, or a company apartment, or payments (not even taken by us as a tax deduction!)

Asked by Trump lawyer Alan Futerfas in cross-examination whether Trump or anyone else in the company gave him permission to "commit tax fraud," Weisselberg said, "No." Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and attorney Alan Futerfas in court in New York on Thursday. Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, left, arrives in court in New York on Thursday. He also agreed “to testify truthfully at the upcoming trial of the Trump Organization” or face up to five to 15 years in prison. He testified earlier Thursday that the Trump Organization cleaned up its business practices after Trump was elected president because of the extra scrutiny it was under.

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass has been elected mayor of Los Angeles, NBC News projected Wednesday, making her the city's first female to hold the role. Caruso spent about $100 million on his campaign. “With my whole heart, I’m ready.”Bass is a former community organizer who became the first Black woman speaker of the state Assembly in 2008. She's the first Black woman and second Black person to be elected mayor of the country's second most populous city. The first Black mayor, Tom Bradley, held the job from 1973 to 1993.

A Chinese intelligence officer convicted of conspiring and attempting to steal sensitive trade secrets from a U.S. company was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison. The Justice Department had asked that Yanjun Xu, 42, get 25 years behind bars for his "very extensive" yearslong scheme to steal secrets from U.S. aviation companies. Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileXu is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges, Justice Department officials said. "Xu targeted multiple employees at multiple international aviation companies over multiple years. They noted that his scheme to steal secrets from GE wasn’t successful and said he was just following his country's orders.

Weisselberg, 75, said Trump was aware that compensation for executives included perks such as apartments and luxury cars in lieu of extra salary. The company later announced Weisselberg was being removed as CFO, but he testified Tuesday that his duties — and his salary — have largely remained the same. Lawyers for the Trump companies named in the indictment have argued that Weisselberg was the lone bad actor, and that both the company and Trump should not be blamed. Weisselberg said Tuesday that he first went to work for Trump's father Fred Trump in 1973, and has worked for Donald Trump since 1986. Other potential witnesses in the trial could include Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and his daughter Ivanka Trump.

Rudy Giuliani will not face criminal charges in a grand jury investigation that looked into whether he violated U.S. lobbying laws in his dealings with Ukraine, prosecutors said Monday. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and whether he ran afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Robert Costello, Giuliani’s attorney, told NBC News that he and his client are pleased with the formal decision not to bring charges in that investigation is now public. Costello, a former U.S. attorney in the office Giuliani once led, said Monday that it was unusual for prosecutors to release letters like the court filing revealing no charges against Giuliani. The judge presiding over that case, Arthur Engoron, said a decision outlining her specific "duties, powers and fees will be "forthcoming shortly."

Former President Donald Trump described in great detail Thursday night how he purportedly delivered a 2018 election win to now-Gov. Ron DeSantis by sending FBI agents to stop "ballot theft" in a major Florida county. Her comment on Twitter was in response to Trump's statement about the Florida elections that year. “The Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office has no documentation of any federal law enforcement presence during the 2018 elections,” Ivan Castro, spokesman for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, told the newspaper. "We conclude that the November 2018 election was not efficiently and effectively conducted.

Prosecutors in Manhattan charged the company with being involved in a 15-year tax fraud scheme. Asked whether former President Donald Trump, who was running the business at the time, was aware of the scheme, McConney said Weisselberg told him that Trump knew about it. He said the payments system stopped after Trump was elected president and one of his tax advisers, Sheri Dillon, reviewed the company's business practices. On cross-examination by Trump company lawyer Susan Necheles, McConney painted Weisselberg as the lone bad actor, calling him a "micromanager" who had to sign off on all financial decisions. Weisselberg, who worked for Trump for decades and was indicted alongside the company last year, pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges in August.

As the political world settled in for a long wait to know who will control Congress, Republicans began finger-pointing Wednesday about whether former President Donald Trump was to blame for their lackluster election night. The Georgia Senate race is headed to a December runoff, NBC News projects, making it increasingly likely control of the upper chamber won't be decided until then. "Now that it’s obvious the @gop should expel the Trump family from its future lexicon," Trump critic and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted Wednesday morning. Vance at an Ohio Republican Party election night watch party in Columbus on Tuesday. Will Hurd, a former Republican congressman from Texas, tweeted of the election results, "It’s the candidates, stupid."

Officials in Philadelphia voted at an emergency meeting Tuesday morning to reinstate a security measure that could dramatically slow vote counting in Pennsylvania's most populous city. The procedure, known as poll book reconciliation, requires temporarily halting vote counting to scan poll books into the voting system to ensure those who've voted in person did not also vote by mail. Philadelphia is the only one of the 67 counties in the battleground state that will use the procedure during the count. Turnout is expected to be much higher Tuesday, with the hotly-contested Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz. He also said his group had been trying to work with Philadelphia election officials for weeks, and "if there are delays, only the commissioners are to blame."

Former President Donald Trump’s longtime friend and former fundraiser, Tom Barrack, was found not guilty Friday of charges that he acted as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration and then lied to the FBI about those contacts. In addition, he was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI about his UAE contacts during a 2019 interview with federal agents. Prosecutors largely built their case around texts and email messages Barrack and Grimes exchanged with an Emirati businessman named Rashid Al Malik, whom they described as their go-between for the pair's dealings with Emirati officials. The messages showed UAE officials giving feedback to Barrack about what he should say in TV interviews and input about what Trump should say about energy policy in a 2016 campaign speech. Barrack denied sharing that information while testifying in his own defense, and also denied having lied to the FBI.

A New York state judge on Thursday ordered an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization's financial statements following allegations that the company has been vastly overstating its assets. In a hearing in state Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan, Trump attorney Chris Kise argued the move was unnecessary and could hamper the company's business. The motion for a preliminary injunction said Trump Organization representatives created a new company with the same name in Delaware six days before James’ office brought the suit. The company then filed paperwork to register Trump Organization II LLC in New York on Sept. 21, the same day the civil action was filed. In a letter to Engoron on Thursday morning, James' office said the trust documents "pertain to ownership and control of the business assets."

Barrack, 75, is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors allege he used his decades-long friendship with Trump to “illegally provide” government officials from the UAE with access to — and information about — the president and top officials. Jackson told jurors that the government’s claim of overwhelming evidence against Barrack was “a joke,” and that there was “nothing nefarious” about his client’s dealings with Emirati officials. Jackson further argued the government had no direct evidence that Barrack had struck a deal with the UAE. Grimes' attorney, Abbe Lowell, disputed that his client was an unregistered foreign agent, saying he did what his boss Barrack told him to do, not what UAE officials requested.

The criminal trial focused on the Trump Organization was delayed until next week after a witness in the case tested positive for Covid on Tuesday. McConney, the first witness to be called in the case, had been coughing frequently since taking the stand on Monday. The judge presiding over the case, acting state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, adjourned the case until Nov. 7. McConney acknowledged on the stand that Trump signed $359,000 in checks for tuition for Weisselberg's grandchildren in the years before he was elected president. Weisselberg had been expected to testify next week, but McConney's illness will likely push back Weisselberg's testimony to mid-November.

Jury selection begins Monday in a civil trial for a group of protesters who are suing former President Donald Trump and his company over allegations that they were assaulted by security personnel outside Trump Tower in New York in 2015. Five protesters filed the suit against Trump, the Trump Organization and his presidential campaign in 2015 after they said they were roughed up outside of Trump Tower while protesting comments then-candidate Trump made about Mexicans. Trump sat for a videotaped deposition in the case in October 2021, which will be played in court and will serve as his trial testimony. That testimony was later refuted by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen during his own videotaped deposition. Like Trump, Cohen will not appear in person at the trial, but lawyers will play his four-hour videotaped deposition for the jury as his trial testimony.

Opening arguments are set to begin Monday in the high-profile criminal case against the Trump Organization, the former president's family-run company that helped make him a household name. The star witness for prosecutors will be Allen Weisselberg, the company’s longtime chief financial officer who is currently on paid leave from the Trump Organization. He was indicted alongside the Trump Organization last year after a yearslong investigation into the company’s financial practices by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The Trump Organization faces up to about $1.6 million in penalties if convicted on all counts. They're seeking unspecified money damages, and the trial will feature videotaped testimony that Trump gave in the case last year.

After he received the request, Barrack said, he turned to employees at his private equity fund, Colony Capital, to draft Trump's remarks. Prosecutors allege that in doing so, Barrack was trying to cash in on his ties to Trump while acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE. Barrack testified that one of the points of the energy comments was to reassure foreign governments after a blistering speech Trump had given about foreign policy, in which he bashed China and Middle Eastern countries. Barrack testified that he, indeed, ran the draft speech by his UAE contacts and wound up incorporating some of their suggestions. But Trump and his campaign essentially threw out that version of the speech, Barrack said, in favor of one he considered "imbecilic."

Barrack, 75, is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent and lying to the FBI. Prosecutors said UAE officials also pressed Barrack for details on who Trump would pick for various high-level jobs, including CIA director and at the State and Defense departments. Barrack's lawyers have said their client is his own man and was doing what he thought was right — not acting as an Emirati agent. Even viewed in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence shows only that the 'UAE' sometimes asked Mr. Barrack to do something, or to consider doing something, and Mr. Barrack then decided for himself whether he would do it or not." He said that Barrack had pushed him to convince then-President Trump to support Qatar in a blockade over the UAE.

The Trump Organization and Weisselberg, its longtime chief financial officer, were indicted last year following a yearslong investigation into the company's financial practices by the Manhattan district attorney's office. He also agreed "to testify truthfully at the upcoming trial of the Trump Organization" or face a sentence of up to 5 to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said. Under New York law, the Trump Organization faces up to about $1.6 million in penalties if convicted on all counts. “The scheme also allowed the Trump Organization to evade the payment of payroll taxes that the Trump Organization was required to pay in connection with employee compensation,” the indictment said. The trial comes at an already perilous time for Trump and his company.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked the Supreme Court on Friday to halt a subpoena compelling him to testify in a Georgia county prosecutor’s criminal probe of potential interference in the 2020 election. Graham’s request comes a day after a federal appeals court ordered him to testify in the grand jury investigation that has already ensnared Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani. "Without a stay, Senator Lindsey Graham will soon be questioned by a local Georgia prosecutor and her ad hoc investigative body about his protected 'Speech or Debate' related to the 2020 election," the filing says. The grand jury in Georgia was convened earlier this year to assist Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others. The grand jury wants to question Graham about the circumstances of two phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his office after the election.

Share this -Link copiedSteve Bannon sentenced to four months Bannon was sentenced to four months in federal prison along with a $6,500 fine. He noted Bannon had not been employed in the executive branch for several years and so was unlikely to possess information that would be covered by executive privilege. Share this -Link copiedNo comments from Bannon Bannon declined to make a comment before the judge imposes his sentence, saying his lawyers had spoken for him. The committee countered that executive privilege should not extend to Bannon, because he was not working for the White House at the time. Share this -Link copiedThis isn't the end of Bannon's legal troubles Bannon has more legal problems on the horizon.

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., must testify before a Georgia grand jury examining possible election interference in the state two years ago. It also sided with the lower court's finding that "there is significant dispute about whether his phone calls with Georgia election officials were legislative investigations at all." Willis has said publicly she’s investigating a pair of post-election phone calls Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, and his staff. Graham has been fighting the subpoena since it was issued in July, turning to federal court after an unsuccessful bid to challenge it in state court. The Fulton County grand jury is currently in a “quiet period” through Election Day, Nov. 8.

☆ Judge says Trump knew his voter fraud numbers were false, orders ex-lawyer to give more emails to Jan. 6 committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | Dareh Gregorian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

In his order, Judge David Carter found Eastman should hand over eight documents under the "crime-fraud exception" to attorney-client and attorney work privileges. But, the judge said, Trump signed off on the suit, "swearing under oath" that the numbers were correct, anyway. Nevertheless, the judge noted, "Trump and his attorneys ultimately filed the complaint with the same inaccurate numbers without rectifying, clarifying, or otherwise changing them. Andy Cross / The Denver Post via Getty Images file“The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public, the judge ruled. The Jan. 6 committee, which has prominently featured Eastman in its hearings, had subpoenaed Eastman's emails from his former workplace, Chapman University.

The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal appeals court to vacate an order appointing a special master to review documents seized during the FBI's search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate — and to throw out Trump's legal challenge altogether. The 11th Circuit also blocked the special master and Trump's lawyers from being able to review those classified documents, citing the DOJ's national security concerns. The Justice Department also said that Trump's team has not provided any evidence the documents were wrongly seized or that the former president has any need for their return. Trump's team is scheduled to file its response in the case on Nov. 10. Trump's team had sought to allow the special master, federal Judge Raymond Dearie, to review the more than 100 documents taken from Mar-a-Lago that were marked classified.

A federal judge in Texas on Friday extended an order temporarily allowing hundreds of thousands of young immigrants enrolled in a program to work and study in the U.S. without fear of being deported. The administration's revised version of DACA, aimed at codifying and strengthening the protections, is set to go into effect on Oct. 31. Texas, which is home to over 100,000 people enlisted in the DACA program, filed suit to end the program in 2018, alleging that the program is illegal because it should have been created by legislation, not executive order. Hanen agreed that the program was unlawful his July 2021 ruling. The program narrowly survived a different challenge before the high court in a 5-4 ruling in 2020, but the court now has a larger conservative majority.

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