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☆ Trump sues former lawyer Michael Cohen, key witness in Manhattan DA probe, for $500 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former President Donald Trump sued his onetime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on Wednesday, seeking at least $500 million for alleged breaches of contract and "unjust enrichment." The allegations against Cohen, whose once-close relationship with Trump imploded in 2018, come as the disbarred lawyer has become a key witness against the former president in a criminal case in Manhattan. It centers on hush money payments made before the 2016 presidential election, which Cohen facilitated for Trump. The spokesman said in a statement that the lawsuit and Cohen's alleged wrongdoings "stand for themselves." The complaint alleged Cohen's fiduciary obligations owed to Trump "survive the attorney-client relationship and Defendant's disbarment and are still in effect today."

☆ Donald Trump's arraignment: key takeaways include 2 warnings from the judge that he behave himself
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Takeaways from Tuesday's arraignment include two separate times the judge warned Trump to behave. The judge also nixed Trump's hope of just staying home on his next court date, December 4. Prosecutors had just handed the judge a thick packet of examples of what Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy called Trump's "threatening rhetoric." "May we ask that President Trump, his presence be waived just for that date?" The defense and prosecution are hoping to reach an agreement on the protective order, Trump attorney Susan Necheles said.

☆ Prosecutors say they're concerned Trump's social media invective will intimidate jurors and witnesses in a potential trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Prosecutors told a judge they're concerned Trump's rhetoric could intimidate jurors and witnesses. Trump's lawyers pushed back, saying the judge warned all parties not to use inappropriate language. NBC News producer Adam Reiss reported that prosecutors said they were worried that Trump's rhetoric could also intimidate jurors and witnesses in a potential trial. Merchan "did not admonish" Trump, Joe Tacopina, a defense attorney for the former president, said after the proceedings. Trump's team also pointed out that Michael Cohen, Trump's former longtime fixer who is a key witness in the DA's case, has also made public statements that could affect future proceedings.

☆ Manhattan DA sheds new light on National Enquirer publisher's efforts to boost Trump 2016 campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unveiled new details Tuesday about the role the National Enquirer's then-publisher played in boosting former President Donald Trump's winning 2016 campaign. The Trump, AMI and Pecker alliance continued through the 2016 election and the former president's inauguration, according to Bragg's investigation. Outside of the McDougal payment, the tabloid suppressed or published various stories related to Trump or his opponents during the election. The Manhattan DA revealed new examples of how the relationship worked among Pecker, AMI and Trump. AMI purchased the information from the Doorman without fully investigating his claims, but the AMI CEO directed that the deal take place because of his agreement with the Defendant [Trump] and Lawyer A [Cohen]."

☆ Trump indictment, arraignment and gag order explained in hush money case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to be arraigned at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday following his indictment on criminal charges after a probe into hush money paid to a porn star. INDICTMENTAn indictment is a court document containing charges that were voted on by a grand jury, a group of people who decide whether a prosecutor has enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. An indictment formally charges a defendant with a crime and provides a basis for legal prosecution. BAILJudges in New York state criminal court have three options for bail: They can set bail, order a defendant released without bail, or order a defendant's detention. GAG ORDERA gag order is when a judge prohibits lawyers, parties and witnesses from talking about a case in public.

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - A social media influencer who once had 58,000 Twitter followers was convicted by a federal jury of election interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race over a voter suppression scheme, the Justice Department said late on Friday. Douglass Mackey, also known as “Ricky Vaughn,” was convicted of the charge of conspiracy against rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote, the Justice Department said in a statement. In 2016, Mackey, 33, established an audience on Twitter with 58,000 followers. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization, Vaughn has in the past openly supported hate groups. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, Editing by Franklin PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump rape case: After years of back and forth over Trump's DNA, jurors won't even hear about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A judge ruled Monday that DNA evidence can't be mentioned at Trump's upcoming rape trial. E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for defamation and battery over her claim he raped her in the mid-1990s. When Trump brought Joe Tacopina onto the case earlier this year, the new attorney made a last-minute offer to submit Trump's DNA sample. While DNA evidence was thrown out of the case, Trump's lawyers continued to fight for the chance to question Carroll about her comments insinuating she had DNA evidence to prove her sexual-assault claim. She also acknowledged in her deposition that she publicly claimed to have Trump's DNA.

Peter Coker Jr., left, is issued search warrants from police at his villa on the southern resort island of Phuket, Thailand, Jan. 11, 2023. NEWARK, N.J. – A former fugitive in the securities fraud case involving a New Jersey deli company once valued at $100 million renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2019, prosecutors revealed Thursday as they asked a judge to deny him bail. In the same letter, prosecutors said Coker Jr. had "stood to make tens of millions of dollars" from a hoped-for reverse merger of the deli company, which the goal of the "complex, long-term fraud' spanning at least seven years that grossly inflated its stock price. CNBC in 2021 published several dozen articles that exposed eyebrow-raising consulting agreements, troubled legal histories, and other issues related to people connected to the deli company. I have no intention to return to live or work in the U.S., and have therefore decided to renounce my U.S.

☆ Here's what Trump's possible arrest in New York could look like
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Anti-Trump demonstrators protest outside the Manhattan District Attorney's office in New York City on March 21, 2023. But even if the grand jury hearing evidence in the probe does vote for an indictment, it's unclear when Trump would be arrested. Here's how the process could go:SurrenderThe grand jury was impaneled in January to determine whether there was enough evidence in Bragg's probe to charge Trump with a crime. Given Trump's recent calls for protests, prosecutors may have an incentive to give Trump a shorter surrender date, Bachner said. Once at the DA's office, Trump would be formally arrested, he'd be fingerprinted, get his mugshot taken and be interviewed by DA detectives for an arrest report.

On Monday, grand jurors heard more than two hours of testimony from Robert Costello, an attorney for Trump ally Rudy Giuliani. Instead, Cohen waited outside the grand jury room Monday, at the ready should he be called before the grand jury again to challenge Costello's testimony, Davis said. The grand jury would still need to be "charged," the process when prosecutors explain the potential indictment count by count. Following the charge, the grand jurors would deliberate and vote. Grand jurors frequently accomplish these tasks quickly, according to former Manhattan prosecutor John Moscow, who handled hundreds of white-collar criminal cases before going into private practice.

☆ Donald Trump could be charged any day - what happens next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Trump has denied the affair, and his lawyer has accused Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, of extortion. Were he charged, Trump would become the first former U.S. president to face criminal prosecution. While serving as president, Trump reimbursed Cohen for the Daniels payments, and federal prosecutors who charged Cohen said in court papers that the payments were falsely recorded as for legal services. Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told CNBC on Friday that Trump would surrender if charged. If Trump refused to come in voluntarily, prosecutors could seek to have him extradited from Florida, where he currently resides.

☆ Manhattan DA is discussing security around court ahead of a potential Trump indictment: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Law enforcement agencies in New York are reportedly taking security precautions ahead of a possible indictment against Donald Trump. A representative for the Manhattan district attorney's office didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. "When you're surrendering someone that has any degree of notoriety, more security-conscious issues always exist," Bachner told Insider. Courts in Manhattan and Atlanta — where Trump also faces a potential criminal case — have prepared for potential chaos, Insider previously reported. "We are one of the few court systems nationally who have a law-enforcement arm under our roof," Chalfen told Insider.

☆ A Capitol riot suspect tricked a judge into letting him travel and then schmoozed with other Jan. 6 defendants at a conference, feds say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Capitol riot suspect tricked a court into allowing him to attend CPAC, prosecutors allege. The suspect asked the court if he could travel to Washington, DC to attend another Jan. 6 trial. Instead, he spent more than 12 hours at CPAC schmoozing with fellow January 6 defendants, prosecutors allege. Garcia told the court he would travel in his RV and stay in Virginia or Maryland, and not Washington, DC. Garcia went on to mock the situation on social media, prosecutors claimed.

☆ A Capitol riot suspect tricked a judge into letting him travel, then schmoozed with other Jan. 6 defendants at a conference, feds say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Capitol riot suspect tricked a court into allowing him to attend CPAC, prosecutors allege. The suspect asked the court if he could travel to Washington, DC to attend another Jan. 6 trial. Instead, he spent more than 12 hours at CPAC schmoozing with fellow January 6 defendants, prosecutors allege. Garcia told the court he would travel in his RV and stay in Virginia or Maryland, and not Washington, DC. Defense attorneys for Garica argued that Garcia's trip to CPAC "was not a violation of defendant's conditions," the court papers say.

☆ Read Murdoch’s Deposition in the Fox-Dominion Case Files
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

newspapers in the United States, and the plaintiff had also begun various libel actions against those other papers. Furthermore, Fox misstates the damages causation standard that will be at issue at trial. While Delaware law employs the rule of "but for" causation, New York law-which governs this case-applies a different standard. For proving special damages, New York requires only that the tortious conduct was "a substantial factor in the plaintiff's injury." See Brown v. New York, 31 N.Y.3d 514, 519 (2018); N.Y. Pattern Jury Instr.

Prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to proceed with their case against Anderson Lee Aldrich on all charges filed in the Nov. 19 shooting rampage at Club Q club in Colorado Springs, the El Paso County district judge ruled. Besides multiple counts of first-degree murder, Aldrich faces dozens of counts of attempted murder and assault, as well as hate-crimes charges alleging the attack was motivated by prejudice against victims' sexual or gender identities. Thursday's ruling capped a two-day preliminary hearing in which prosecutors outlined their case for trying Aldrich on all charges. A hand-sketched map of Club Q was also found in a search of the defendant's home, Gasper said. Two patrons with military training subdued Aldrich and held the suspect until police arrived, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Prosecutors will cross examine Richard "Alex" Murdaugh for a second day on Friday, one day after the disbarred South Carolina attorney took the stand and denied any involvement in the murder of his wife and son but admitted to lying to investigators. Waters told the judge that he stil had some financial matters to go over before tackling the "other evidence". He said would likely need three to four hours to finish cross examination when court resumes on Friday at 9:30 a.m. Murdaugh, 54, testified that he lied because he was suffering from paranoia tied to a years-long addiction to opiods, and did not trust the police. Murdaugh, the scion of an influential South Carolina legal family, was indicted by a grand jury in July on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in connection with the shootings.

☆ Accused Colorado LGBTQ club shooter back in court for preliminary hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

One of the men pistol-whipped Aldrich as others pummeled the accused assailant, leaving the suspect with multiple injuries that required hospitalization. Aldrich's lawyers have asserted in court filings that their client identifies as "non-binary" in gender and prefers them/they pronouns. At a previous court hearing, a defense lawyer intimated that Aldrich may have been in the club previously, including on the night of the massacre. El Paso County District Judge Michael McHenry was assigned to preside over the preliminary hearing, which was scheduled to run for three days, according to the court docket. The Q nightclub shooting is not the defendant's first brush with the law.

☆ U.S. judge extends FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's bail restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | 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: +4 min

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonCompanies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday extended a ban on FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried's ability to contact employees of companies he once controlled and use encrypted messaging technology while out on bail awaiting trial on fraud charges. As a condition of his release on $250 million bond, the judge also prevented Bankman-Fried from using messaging apps such as Signal that let users auto-delete messages. A prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, told the judge that the people were connected with FTX but not central to the government case and not expected to testify. Bankman-Fried had also agreed to withdraw his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where he had lived and where the exchange was based, to face the criminal charges.

☆ A judge won't let Sam Bankman-Fried use any messaging apps that auto-delete texts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A federal judge in New York banned Sam Bankman-Fried from using messaging apps that auto-delete texts. Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried used the encryption app Signal to send messages while detained at his parents' home. "I'm far less interested in the defendant's convenience than the risk of deleting messages," Kaplan said at a hearing Thursday. The terms the parties had proposed would have barred Bankman-Fried from using apps like Signal, which encrypt messages and allow users to delete them automatically after a set period of time. Kaplan was also concerned about Bankman-Fried encrypting messages in a way that would keep them out of the hands of prosecutors.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday temporarily barred FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting current or former employees of the cryptocurrency exchange or his Alameda Research hedge fund, and from using encrypted messaging tools including Signal. He was arrested in December on charges of looting billions of FTX customer funds, and lying to investors and lenders. Prosecutors last week cited a Signal message Bankman-Fried sent on Jan. 15 to the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate, referred to in court papers as "Witness-1." The order does not apply to Bankman-Fried's immediate family members, and he may communicate with FTX or Alameda employees if lawyers are present. At next week's hearing, Kaplan will also consider a request by Bankman-Fried's lawyers to allow him to access and transfer cryptocurrency.

☆ People who posted Sam Bankman-Fried's bail should be named, U.S. judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | Industry Insight | Upcoming Sec Climate Disclosure Rules Bring Urgency To Esg Data Strategy Planning | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ruled in favor of several media outlets including Reuters that sought the names. The judge said that while the public had only a "weak" right to know who Bankman-Fried's guarantors were, it outweighed Bankman-Fried's arguments for confidentiality, including that the guarantors' safety could be imperiled. Kaplan disagreed, noting that long before bail was posted, the parents had faced "intense public scrutiny" over their relationship with their son, who was once worth an estimated $26 billion. They said there was less "stigma" from being associated with Bankman-Fried than from being associated with the late sex offender. Other media seeking to identify Bankman-Fried's guarantors included the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, CoinDesk, Dow Jones, the Financial Times, Insider, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

☆ U.S. says FTX founder Bankman-Fried needs limits on communications, asset access
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They argued those assets were "vulnerable to exploitation and in need of protection from the defendant." Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, who represent Bankman-Fried, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In Monday's letter, prosecutors called the message an effort to "improperly influence" the general counsel, no matter how benign it might seem. Bankman-Fried's lawyers have said their client was trying simply to provide assistance to the general counsel, and has not been not using the auto-delete feature. They also proposed that Bankman-Fried not be allowed to talk with select colleagues, including former Alameda chief Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Zixiao "Gary" Wang and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh.

☆ U.S. seeks tighter bail for FTX founder Bankman-Fried to prevent tampering
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Citing Bankman-Fried's "recent attempts to contact prospective witnesses," prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to ban Bankman-Fried from communicating with current or former employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund, other than family, unless a lawyer is present. They also asked that Bankman-Fried not use Signal or other encrypted call and messaging applications, though he could still communicate through text messages, email and the phone. In Friday's letter, prosecutors cited a Signal message on Jan. 15 from Bankman-Fried to "Witness-1," the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate. Bankman-Fried expressed interest in having a "constructive relationship" or "at least vet things with each other." In seeking to keep Bankman-Fried off Signal, prosecutors said he had in 2021 directed that many Signal and Slack communications be autodeleted within 30 days.

☆ Department of Justice calls to bar Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting FTX employees after allegations of witness tampering
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The DOJ asked the court to stop him from contacting employees via encrypted apps like Signal. Prosecutors requested that the conditions of Bankman-Fried's bond be changed so he is no longer allowed to contact employees, who the DOJ considers potential witnesses against the former executive, without a lawyer present. While witness tampering is often associated with threats or intimidation, the DOJ's letter notes that conversations can also be deemed as interference in an investigation. "Efforts by the defendant to improve his relationship with potential witnesses that may testify against him may itself constitute witness tampering," the letter states. "Were the defendant to 'vet' his version of relevant events with potential witnesses, that might have the effect of discouraging witnesses from testifying in a manner contrary to the defendant's narrative."

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