Thread: Legal Charges Against Trump

• Georgia special grand jury investigating 2020 election finishes its work

The special grand grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued an order Monday dissolving the special grand jury. The order says the grand jurors completed a final report and that a majority of the county's superior court judges voted to dissolve the special grand jury.

"The Court thanks the grand jurors for their dedication, professionalism, and significant commitment of time and attention to this important matter," the order said. "It was no small sacrifice to serve."

The end of the special grand jury moves the investigation one step closer to possible criminal charges against Trump and others.

Over the course of about six months, the special grand jury has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including numerous close Trump associates and assorted high-ranking Georgia state officials. The case is among several around the country that threaten legal peril for the former president as he seeks a second term in 2024.

Special grand juries in Georgia cannot issue indictments but instead can issue a final report recommending actions to be taken. It is then up to the district attorney to decide whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury.

Georgia law says that grand juries are "authorized to recommend to the court the publication of the whole or any part of their general presentments and to prescribe the manner of publication" and that the judge must follow that recommendation. The special grand jury voted to recommend that its report be published, McBurney wrote in his order.

"Unresolved is the question of whether the special purpose grand jury's final report constitutes a presentment," the judge wrote, adding that he will hold a hearing on Jan. 24 on that issue. He said the district attorney's office and news outlets will be given a chance to make arguments at that hearing.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation in early 2021, shortly after a recording surfaced of a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. During that call, the president suggested the state's top elections official could "find" the votes needed to overturn Trump's loss in the state.

Since then it has become clear that Willis is focusing on several different areas: phone calls made to Georgia officials by Trump and his allies; false statements made by Trump associates before Georgia legislative committees; a panel of 16 Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state's "duly elected and qualified" electors; the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in January 2021; alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker; and breaches of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county.

Lawyers for Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and Trump attorney, confirmed before he was questioned by the special grand jury in August that they were told he faces possible criminal charges. The 16 Republican fake electors have also been told they are targets of the investigation, according to public court filings. It is possible that others have also been notified they are targets of the investigation.

Trump and his allies have consistently denied any wrongdoing, with the former president repeatedly describing his call with Raffensperger as "perfect" and dismissing Willis' investigation as a "strictly political Witch Hunt!"

Georgia Code SS 15-12-80 (2019) - Publication of general presentments :: 2019 Georgia Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

• Allen Weisselberg Sentenced to 5 Months

Ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg Gets Five Months Behind Bars, as Judge Bemoans Sentence Couldn’t Have Been ‘Much Greater’

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, will be trading his office in the glitzy Trump Tower for a cell in one of the most scandal-beset prisons in the country after pleading guilty to a series of financial crimes in connection with his work for the former president’s real estate empire.

New York Judge Juan Manuel Merchan on Tuesday sentenced the 75-year-old Weisselberg to five months in prison to be served at Rikers Island immediately. He appeared to dress for that outcome, skipping his usual business suit in favor of a North Face fleece and navy sweatpants.

The judge said that Weisselberg’s testimony at the Trump Organization criminal trial, over which he also presided, gave him pause about the lenient prison sentence he had agreed to hand down in the current case.

“Were it not because I made that promise, I would not be imposing a five-month sentence. I would be imposing a much greater sentence,” Merchan said in court. “Most significantly was the $6,000 payroll payment to Mr. Weisselberg’s wife and the reason I find that so offensive is that it was driven purely by greed.”

Merchan explained how Weisselberg was “earning upwards of seven figures” and clearly “did not need that money.” However, he still “found a way” to make sure that his wife received sufficient payroll income so she could “one day benefit from social security payments she was not entitled to.”

The sentence was previously agreed to by Weisselberg and prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in exchange for the longtime Trump executive pleading guilty to 15 separate criminal charges and testifying against the Trump Organization and Trump Payroll Corp, which were convicted last month on more than a dozen felony charges.

In addition to the time in prison, Judge Merchan also sentenced Weisselberg to five years of post-release probation and ordered him to make full repayment of taxes, penalties, and interest due to New York City and New York State tax authorities totaling $1,994,321.

• Ex-Trump Org exec sentenced to 5 months in jail over tax fraud scheme
  

• NY federal judge delays unsealing parts of Trump deposition in defamation lawsuit

A New York federal judge on Monday delayed the unsealing of a portion of former President Trump’s deposition from a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the mid-1990s.

Earlier Monday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan initially ordered the unsealing of 34 pages from the testimony Trump gave in October in the defamation case. Just hours later, Kaplan granted a request by Trump’s team to delay the release for three more days to give them more time to file an objection to the unsealing of the deposition.

Kaplan said in his initial order that Trump’s lawyers failed to respond to Carroll’s lawyers within a three-day window on the question of whether the sealed pages should remain completely sealed or partially sealed. The question brought by Carroll’s lawyers on whether the deposition could be unsealed was filed in mid-December.

Trump’s attorneys said they did not file a formal objection to the unsealing because they misunderstood a previous order given by the judge. They said they had thought the “burden” to explain why the unsealing of the deposition was necessary fell on Carroll’s team, not Trump’s, and subsequently asked for three extra days to file a formal objection to the unsealing.

Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump in 2019, alleging that he defamed her by casting doubts on her credibility and making comments about her appearance. Trump sat for the deposition last fall, after he repeatedly tried to delay the case.

In November, Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump for the alleged sexual assault that took place in either 1995 or 1996, after a new New York law was enacted. She alleged that Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store. Trump has denied this happened, including in a 2019 interview with The Hill in which Trump said Carroll was “totally lying” and “not my type.”

Under the new New York’s Adult Survivors Act, survivors of sexual assault can file a legal claim within a one-year window, even if the statute of limitations has passed. Those who file a claim must have been over 18 years old when the alleged crime occurred.

Trump’s lawyers argued to the top D.C. court Tuesday that his statements about the defamation case were a part of his role as president. If Trump’s statements during his time as president are ruled to fall under the protection of law, the Carroll’s defamation lawsuit will likely not succeed.

Trump Campaign Officials Hit With New January 6 Subpoenas

A “wide-ranging” subpoena sent to Trump campaign officials last month shows that special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation is increasingly focused on new areas of interest, including fundraising efforts and potential efforts to influence witness testimony, according to The Washington Post.

The DOJ issued the four-page subpoena to multiple Trump campaign officials in early December, seeking more than “two dozen categories of information,” according to the report. One part of the subpoena asks Trump campaign officials if anyone paid for their legal representation and paperwork related to any such agreement.

The subpoena also seeks “all documents and communications” related to Trump’s fundraising activities for a litany of groups outside of his Save America PAC, which has already come under scrutiny. The new subpoenas seek documents related to the Make America Great Again PAC, the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, including documents related to the “formation, funding and/or use of money” of the groups.

The subpoena also seeks documents related to the creation of an “Election Defense Fund,” which Trump officials ostensibly formed created to raise money from grassroots donors after Trump’s election loss. Officials later testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that the fund technically did not exist but was a way to raise money from people who bought into Trump’s Big Lie.

Prosecutors’ interest in the payments comes after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the Jan. 6 committee that she was initially represented by a Trump-linked lawyer who would not tell her who was paying his fees and said she did not need a formal written retention agreement.

“I was like, ‘I probably should sign an engagement letter.’ And he said, ‘No, no, no. We’re not doing that. Don’t worry. We have you taken care of,'” she told the panel, according to a transcript of the interview.

After her initial interview with the committee, the lawyer told Hutchinson that the people paying his fees would not want her to agree to additional interviews unless she is required to do so by a new subpoena, according to her testimony.

“‘Trump world will not continue paying your legal bills if you don’t have that second subpoena,'” Hutchinson recalled him saying, after hiring a new lawyer.

“At the heart of these subpoenas, in addition to previously reported investigation into fundraising fraud, there appears to be an inquiry into whether witness testimony was being improperly influenced. It’s always about the obstruction,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

“The efforts to influence and/or even intimidate witnesses has always stuck out for me too,” agreed MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin.

Along with information on the payments and fundraising, the subpoena also seeks campaign communications about Dominion and Smartmatic, two voting technology companies that faced a torrent of false allegations accusing them of election fraud.

It also asks for information related to the Trump campaign’s fake elector scheme, which included more than 100 individuals in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico and Michigan.

The subpoena also asks for information related to any internal analysis of the former president’s fraud claims and documents related to the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse. The Jan. 6 committee found that numerous Trump officials found that there was no basis for his election fraud claims but he continued to push the lies on social media and at the rally preceding the deadly Capitol riot.

The report comes as the “grand jury has accelerated its activities in recent weeks, bringing in a rapid-fire series of witnesses, both high and low level,” according to the Post.

Some of the witnesses in recent weeks returned for their second appearance before the grand jury. One source familiar with one of the grand jury appearances told ABC News it was “far more intense than round one.”

• Trump Organization sentenced to maximum fine following tax fraud conviction

Former President Donald Trump's namesake family real estate firm was sentenced to the maximum allowable fine Friday in New York following its conviction on 17 counts, include a 13-year scheme to defraud.

The company will pay a fine of just over $1.6 million.

While a prosecutor, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass, conceded the amount is a fraction of the company's earnings, he called the scheme it was convicted of "far-reaching and brazen."

"The sheer magnitude of this fraud merits the largest financial sanction authorized by law," Steinglass said. "The defendants cultivated a pervasive culture of fraud."

Judge Juan Merchan imposed the maximum sentence and scolded the defense for continuing to blame the company's accountant for the fraud.

"It's not what the evidence has showed and it's not what the jury found," Merchan said.

He gave the company 14 days to pay.

The verdict, delivered Dec. 6, held the Trump Organization liable for the criminal conduct of some of its top executives, mainly Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer who was sent to jail on Rikers Island earlier this week for arranging nearly $2 million of his compensation off the books.

Trump himself was not charged and the company's defense attorneys said he did not know about the scheme. However, his name came up dozens of times, mainly on defense examination of witnesses.

Defense attorney Michael van der Veen said in his closing statement that jurors "heard no evidence in this case that Mr. Trump or any of his children were aware of anything improper."

Prosecutors said the former president sanctioned fraud. They showed the jury checks Trump signed and a memo he initialed

"This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not true," Steinglass said during his closing statement.

"I want to be very clear, we don't think that is enough" Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters of the fine after the sentencing. "Our laws in this state need to change in order to capture this type of decade-plus systemic and egregious fraud that was captured so well today by the ADA and laid bare for you and most importantly for the jury throughout this trial."

Prosecutors said the Trump Organization arranged for Weisselberg and other company executives to receive part of their compensation in perks, like private school tuition and car payments, to evade taxes. In doing so, prosecutors said the executives had some intent to help the company pay less in salaries, bonuses and payroll taxes.

The defense argued the executives never intended to benefit the company and said the scheme the executives hatched was motivated solely by personal greed.

The trial revealed potentially embarrassing details about Trump, including nearly $1 billion in operating losses Trump reported over a two-year period in 2009 and 2010.

Trump's outside accountant also testified that Trump reported losses each year for eight years from 2009 to 2018, some of the same years Trump was touting his business acumen on reality television and on the campaign trail.

"This was a case about greed and cheating. In Manhattan, no corporation is above the law," Bragg said at the time the verdict was announced last month. "For 13 years the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation got away with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes."

In addition to the fine, the Trump Organization faces potential collateral consequences that could be more severe if banks call in loans or business partners cancel contracts due to internal clauses that prohibit doing business with felons.

• Donald Trump Can't Dismiss E. Jean Carroll's Rape Suit

‘Without Merit’: Judge Rejects Trump’s Demands to Dismiss E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuit Accusing Him of Rape

A trial is currently scheduled later this year in April.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...mtd-ruling.pdf

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• Trump Deposition Unsealed Lashes Out at E. Jean Carroll

Donald Trump Deposition Unsealed: Lashes Out at Rape Accuser — ‘I Think She’s Sick, Mentally Sick’

“I know nothing about her,” Trump said of Carroll. “I think she’s sick, mentally sick.”

Calling the famed columnist a “nut job,” Trump also doubled down on the same rape denials that inspired Carroll’s defamation suit, saying once again she’s “not my type.”

“I will tell you I made that statement, and I said, while it’s politically incorrect, she’s not my type,” Trump said. “And that’s 100 percent true. She’s not my type.”

All 48 pages: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...on-excerpt.pdf

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A couple, just for fun.

• 16 Michigan GOP electors sued over documents claiming Trump won 2020 election

A number of Michigan GOP electors were named in a lawsuit after they falsely declared in official documents that former President Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Kent County Circuit Court, three Democratic presidential electors accused the 16 Republicans of submitting fraudulent election certificates in a scheme “to steal the election and install the losing candidate as President.” Michigan’s Democratic electorate had already filed their official documentation certifying President Biden’s win.

The lawsuit alleges that the GOP electorates created a fake election “certificate signed by the defendants and styled ‘Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Michigan, which they offered as an official public record.”

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• Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon seeks to change attorneys in fundraising fraud case

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has asked a judge to let him change lawyers as he defends himself against charges that he defrauded donors to the "We Build the Wall" campaign that was supposed to raise money for former President Donald Trump's signature domestic project.

Echoing his support of the pro-Trump crowd that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Bannon told reporters as he entered the courtroom Thursday that the recent election in Brazil was "stolen" from far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro and that protesters who stormed three government buildings in Brazil's capital on Sunday were "freedom fighters."

Bannon ignored questions from reporters asking if he was advising anyone in Brazil's protest movement.

Inside the courtroom, Bannon attorney David Schoen told Judge Juan Merchan that "irreconcilable differences have arisen" on Bannon's defense team.

"We certainly don't need to show good cause and we don't need to go into detail," Schoen said.

Merchan, however, was skeptical.

"With all due respect, I believe you're 100% wrong," the judge said. "The question is, is this being done to delay the proceedings?"

https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-advi...ry?id=96390326

• DOJ subpoenaed Wayne County for Trump-related records

DOJ's Wayne County subpoena asked for communications involving Trump, his campaign

The special counsel leading the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into interference in the 2020 presidential election subpoenaed Wayne County's election commission in late November to seek records involving former President Donald Trump and his campaign.

The grand jury subpoena dated Nov. 22 from Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice, asked the Wayne County Election Commission to produce records from Trump and his aides covering communications from June 2020 through President Joe Biden's inauguration.

It mirrors a similar one from Smith seeking records from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson asking for communications between her office and Trump campaign officials. Benson and the Wayne County Clerk's Office previously disclosed the existence of the subpoenas.

The Free Press obtained a copy of the subpoena through a public records request. The letter attached to the subpoena from Smith asked the commission not to disclose the subpoena but noted that it wasn't required to do so. "Any such disclosure could impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with the enforcement of the law," reads the letter from Smith.

Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett, Wayne County Probate Court Chief Judge Freddie Burton Jr. and Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree sit on the commission responsible for providing ballots and election supplies to local election officials.

The subpoena asked for records involving more than a dozen Trump allies. The list includes Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, who testified before the state House Oversight Committee as part of House lawmakers’ investigation into the 2020 election. During the hearing, the pair urged lawmakers to take action that would have awarded the state's Electoral College votes to Trump despite his loss in the state by more than 154,000 votes.

The subpoena also asked the commission to produce documents containing communications with Sidney Powell, who led a legal effort in Michigan to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A federal judge sanctioned Powell and other lawyers involved in the so-called "Kraken" lawsuit in Michigan. In a blistering order blasting Powell and her team, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Linda Parker accused the group of abusing the legal system to undermine voters' faith in the electoral process.

Powell and her team appealed the sanctions and await a ruling from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether they must pay more than $175,000 in fines.

Others named in the subpoena include prominent Trump allies, including those who fought the results of the 2020 election: Kenneth Chesebro, Justin Clark, Joe DiGenova, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, Bernard Kerik, Bruce Marks, Cleta Mitchell, Matthew Morgan, Kurt Olsen, William Olson, Stefan Passantino, Bill Stepien, Victoria Toensing, James Troupis and L. Lin Wood Jr.

Trump targeted Michigan and other battleground states in his quest to thwart the will of voters following his 2020 election loss. Hundreds of audits, court rulings and post-election reviews have upheld the results of the election that year.
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Couple extra.

faces a maximum penalty of five years for each count

• Wife of ex-congressional candidate charged with 52 counts of voter fraud

The wife of a northwestern Iowa county supervisor has been charged with 52 counts of voter fraud for her actions during her husband’s failed bid to run for Congress in 2020, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

Driving the news: Kim Phuong Taylor, of Sioux City, Iowa, allegedly filled out and forced others to submit dozens of voter registrations, ballot request forms and absentee ballots that had false information as her husband sought the Republican nomination for the state’s 4th U.S. Congressional District, the DOJ said.

Taylor allegedly signed documents for voters without their permission and allegedly told voters that they could sign documents for relatives who weren’t present, according to the DOJ.

She faces 26 counts of providing false information in registering and voting, as well as three counts of registration fraud and 23 counts of fraudulent voting.

Taylor, if convicted, faces a maximum penalty of five years for each count, the DOJ said.

Context: Her husband, Jeremy Taylor, is a former Iowa House member who finished third in a race for the Republican nomination for Iowa's 4th U.S. Congressional District seat, the Associated Press reports. The winner, Randy Feenstra, was elected to Congress in November 2022.

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• Florida judge rejects DeSantis' bid to toss out migrant flight lawsuit

A Florida judge on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over his bid to transport migrants, per the Miami Herald.

Driving the news: Leon County Circuit Court Judge John C. Cooper set a Jan. 30 trial date to hear the case brought on by Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo (D), who accused the governor of unlawfully using taxpayer money to fly nearly 50 undocumented migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard last September.

• DeSantis’ lawyers attempted to get the case from Pizzo, who is suing as a private citizen, tossed out.
• The judge did, however, agree to drop the state's Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, as a defendant.

Catch up quick: Pizzo sued DeSantis and other state officials over their effort to transport migrants, saying it violated the state program because the migrants were not in the country illegally and their flight did not originate in Florida.

• At least two other lawsuits have been filed over the matter.

By the numbers: The state is facing a hefty price tag for the whole affair.

• The Florida Department of Transportation paid the aviation company that conducted the migrant flights nearly $1.6 million.
• The state may also end up paying up to $1 million to defend itself in a class action filed by the migrants.

On and on, the endless stream of c+p Landreth propaganda

Oh dear, bottled it again.

Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn his $250 million lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James, ABC News reports.

The withdrawal comes after U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks warned Trump's legal team that the lawsuit was borderline frivolous.
"Plaintiff, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, by and through his undersigned counsel and pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i), hereby voluntarily dismisses his claims in this action against Defendant, LETITIA JAMES, without prejudice," the letter said.
The lawsuit sought to shield Trump's revocable trust from James, who is suing the Trump Organization for fraudulent conduct.

^late again school girl. It's already posted

If Trump raped Jean Carrol, it's likely he's acted in a similar manner dozens of times.

Originally Posted by Topper

Thanks for the link to the pdf, SL, I want to see the list of people trump has to pay money back to....

I think I have what you’re looking for to the penny

more detail in the link above

I hope Hillary makes the check the former president sends her public....

Problem?

Helen Kennedy - Hang on. The section chief of Cyber-Counterintelligence at FBI Headquarters in 2015-2016 - when Russia was trying to help Trump win via hacking - was on Deripaska’s payroll? When did he first start taking bribes from the same guy who was in business with Trump’s campaign manager? https://twitter.com/HelenKennedy/sta...82994750939136

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• Former top FBI official Charles McGonigal arrested over ties to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska

A former top FBI official in New York has been arrested over his ties to a Russian oligarch, law enforcement sources told ABC News Monday.

Charles McGonigal, who was the special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the FBI's New York Field Office, is under arrest over his ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States and criminally charged last year with violating those sanctions.

McGonigal retired from the FBI in 2018. He was arrested Saturday afternoon after he arrived at JFK Airport following travel in Sri Lanka, the sources said.

McGonigal pleaded not guilty to the four-count indictment unsealed Monday in Manhattan.

The judge ordered him released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond plus restrictions on his travel and prohibitions on contacting anyone associated with the case.

He was charged along with a court interpreter, Sergey Shestakov, who also worked with Deripaska.

McGonigal, 54, is charged with violating U.S. sanctions by trying to get Deripaska off the sanctions list. McGonigal is one of the highest ranking former FBI officials ever charged with a crime.

McGonigal and Shestakov, who worked for the FBI investigating oligarchs, allegedly agreed in 2021 to investigate a rival Russian oligarch in return for payments from Deripaska, according to the Justice Department. McGonigal and Shestakov are accused of receiving payments through shell companies and forging signatures in order to keep it a secret that Deripaska was paying them.

Both face money laundering charges in addition to charges for violating sanctions. Each of four counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

• Donald Trump Withdraws Second Suit Against AG Letitia James

Trump Withdraws Another Case Opposing New York AG’s Fraud Probe After Brutal Sanctions Order For ‘Frivolous’ Litigation

Former President Donald Trump withdrew another case opposing New York Attorney General Letitia James’ fraud investigation and lawsuit — this time, ending a pending appeal before the Manhattan-based Second Circuit.

“I am pleased that Donald Trump has withdrawn both of his pending actions against my office,” James said in a statement. “As we have shown all along, we have a legitimate legal case against him and his organization, and we cannot be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing it.”

This is the second reversal by Trump’s legal team since a federal judge in Florida issued a brutal sanctions order on his pattern of filing “frivolous” and “vexatious” litigation.

The stipulation for voluntary dismissal, signed by Trump’s attorney Alina Habba, withdraws the appeal “with prejudice,” meaning that it never will be refiled.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...-dismissal.pdf

^ I'm guessing it would have cost a ton more money in sanctions and dearest Alina her law license.

^it time, some of these attorneys will find it difficult to work with him for any amount of money offered

• Judge considers release of grand jury report on Trump Georgia election probe

A Georgia judge said Tuesday that he would not make any "rash decisions" on whether to release a report by a special grand jury on its investigation into whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies unlawfully attempted to interfere with the 2020 election results.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said he would rule at a later date and reach out with any questions on the points made by the Fulton County district attorney's office and news organizations on the grand jury’s report, which is expected to include recommendations on possible criminal prosecution.

District Attorney Fani Willis argued that the disclosure of the report could violate the rights of potential defendants and could negatively affect the ability to prosecute those who may be charged with crimes. She said the special grand jury heard from a total of 75 witnesses during the course of the investigation.

“We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and we think for future defendants to be treated fairly, it is not appropriate at this time for this report to be released,” Willis said.

If McBurney ultimately decides to disseminate the recently completed report, as the special grand jury urged, he must also determine whether any parts of it should be redacted.

A coalition of news organizations, including the Associated Press, argued in favor of the report’s release in full, saying in a filing Monday that the document “is a court record subject to a presumption of openness” under state court rules and the state and federal constitutions. The media group said public interest in the report is “extraordinary” and there “are no countervailing interests sufficient to overcome the presumption.”

I hope we see the former president on trial with Cohen testifying against him. I'm guessing Cohen will do it with a smile on his face and absolute joy in his heart.

^jail time could be up to 4 years

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• Letitia James Wants Trump Sanctioned for 'False Denials'

New York AG Wants Trump Sanctioned for ‘Demonstrably False Denials’ in Fraud Suit

New York State Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge to sanction former President Donald Trump for making “demonstrably false denials” in his answer to her $250 million lawsuit against his business empire.

Calling Trump’s answers to her complaint “deficient in a host of ways,” the attorney general’s senior enforcement counsel Kevin Wallace writes: “Defendants falsely deny facts they have admitted in other proceedings, they deny knowledge sufficient to respond to factual allegations that are plainly within their knowledge, and they propound affirmative defenses that have been repeatedly rejected by this Court as frivolous and without merit.”

Pointing to one example, they claim that the former president falsely denied serving as “inactive president” of the Trump Organization during his time at the White House.

“But the allegation that Mr. Trump was the ‘inactive president of the Trump Organization,’ while in the White House, is taken directly from his own sworn testimony in Galicia v. Trump on October 18, 2021,” the attorney general’s letter states, referring to the since-settled lawsuit against Trump over his security guards’ alleged assault of protesters.

During a deposition in that case, Trump was asked about his position with his company during his tenure.

“I would say that I was an inactive president and now I’m active again,” Trump responded in a videotaped deposition, whose transcript is excerpted in court papers.

James also accused son Eric Trump of making denials contradicted by the public record.

“Defendant Eric Trump denies that Seven Springs LLC purchased property in December 1995 for $7.5 million after having admitted those same facts in the Special Proceeding,” the letter states.

The fraud investigation into Trump Organization looked into several properties in New York, Chicago, and Scotland, seeking discrepancies in the company’s financial filings. Seven Springs, a 212-acre Westchester estate whose president is Eric Trump, was one of those properties, along with Trump International Golf Club Scotland, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, Trump Park Avenue, and 40 Wall Street.

“The Court has already admonished Defendants and their counsel for their continued invocation of meritless legal claims but exercised its discretion in not imposing such sanctions, ‘having made its point,'” Wallace wrote. “It does not appear that this point was taken, however, and OAG would ask the Court to renew the issue.”

Before the attorney general filed her lawsuit, Engoron granted sanctions against Trump for failing to comply with her subpoenas during the investigation.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documen...ond_no-483.pdf

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Just for fun.

• Video of Trump deposition in New York fraud probe shows former president taking the Fifth, repeating "same answer"

Newly released video obtained by CBS News provides the first look at former President Donald Trump's deposition last summer in the New York attorney general's civil fraud investigation.

Trump sat for questioning under oath on Aug. 10, and the video shows him politely answering the opening questions from state Attorney General Letitia James.

Wearing a dark blue suit, red tie and American flag lapel pin, sitting in front of a camera in a downtown Manhattan conference room, Trump answered "yes" when asked by James if he was familiar with the rules for giving a deposition. But as the questioning about his finances began in earnest, the former president—and now candidate for that same office—invoked the Fifth Amendment and continued to do so for nearly four hours.

Transcripts of portions of Trump's deposition were included as an exhibit filed by the New York Attorney General's Office on Oct. 13 in its $250 million lawsuit against Trump, three of his children and his company. Those sections of Trump's deposition were no longer confidential once the exhibit was filed. That office initially denied CBS News' request, under New York's Freedom of Information Law, for video that aligned with those transcript portions. An appeals officer reversed that decision.

"Anything you say in this examination may be used in a civil proceeding, and that can include a civil enforcement proceeding or a criminal action. Do you understand that?" James asked.

"I think," Trump replied.

"Is that yes?" James asked.

"I don't know what I did wrong, but the answer is yes, I do understand," Trump said.

"You have the right to refuse to answer any question if a truthful answer to the question would tend to incriminate you. Do you understand that?" James continued.

"Yes," Trump replied.

"And any willful misstatement by you may constitute perjury. Do you understand that, sir?"

"Yes."

Cohen says he turned over cellphones to Manhattan prosecutors investigating Trump hush-money payments

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen on Wednesday revealed that he recently turned over his cellphones to Manhattan prosecutors who are investigating hush-money payments paid to adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 elections.

“Most recently, they asked for my cellphones because they want to be able to extract from it the voice recordings that I had had with Keith Davidson, former attorney to Stormy Daniels before Michael Avenatti, as well as a bunch of emails, text messages and so on,” Cohen told Don Lemon on “CNN’s This Morning.”

The phones, which were previously taken by federal investigators in 2018, are “new to the district attorney,” Cohen said. He noted that his cellphone can serve as evidence if the investigation is moved forward, which he suspects will happen.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to eight charges, including bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance violations. This also included one count of making an excessive campaign contribution on Oct. 27, 2016, the same date that Cohen paid Daniels in a nondisclosure agreement over an affair Daniels says she had with former President Trump.

The New York Times reported that the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) is escalating his criminal investigation into Trump by showing evidence of hush-money payments to Daniels to a grand jury. The Times added that showing evidence demonstrates that Bragg is closer to making a decision for or against formally charging Trump with criminal charges.

When shown the newly released video of Trump pleading the Fifth more than 400 times in a deposition he gave in August, Cohen said that Trump could “not keep track of the lies” he tells.

“I mean, Donald cannot keep track of the lies that he tells,” he said. “And so what better way than to stop a fool from being deposed and hurting himself further than to come to plead the Fifth at least 400 times.”

Trump is also facing other legal challenges, including questions into actions he may have taken in Georgia’s 2020 election and an investigation into his handling of classified documents that were found in his Mar-a-Lago home last year.

• Judge allows Capitol Police officers' civil lawsuit against Trump and January 6 rioters to proceed

A federal judge has allowed another civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol to proceed.

US District Judge Amit Mehta on Thursday denied a request by Trump – and several far-right activists who were also sued for their connection to the Capitol siege – to toss the case out.

The suit was brought by US Capitol Police officers who claim Trump and others violated both federal and Washington, DC, law for conduct linked to the riot that interrupted Congress’ certification of the 2020 election.

In keeping the claims against Trump alive, Mehta pointed to an opinion he wrote last year rejecting claims of immunity Trump raised to challenge similar January 6 lawsuits against him.

Mehta, who sits on DC’s federal court, said in a Thursday opinion that the Capitol Police officers’ lawsuit could also move forward against several other individuals as well, including members of far-right militia groups such as the Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and the Proud Boys.

Mehta, however, is dismissing the police officers’ case against far-right figures Roger Stone and Ali Alexander.

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Extra

• California seeks disbarment of Eastman following Trump memo

The California State Bar is seeking disbarment of attorney John Eastman, who crafted memos for the Trump campaign encouraging Vice President Mike Pence to buck his ceremonial duty to certify the 2020 election results.

Eastman crafted two memos for the Trump campaign outlining strategies for reversing then-President Trump’s loss to President Biden, including another encouraging states to certify Trump’s loss as a victory.

The filing notice for disciplinary charges points to false statements regarding voter fraud and his comments at the rally near the White House on Jan. 6 as the basis for the disbarment.

“The 11 charges arise from allegations that Eastman engaged in a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by obstructing the count of electoral votes of certain states,” the State Bar of California wrote in a press release announcing the move.

Eastman has since March of last year been under investigation by the State Bar, which is a regulatory agency housed within the California Supreme Court. The charges against him will now be heard in disciplinary proceedings, at which point California’s State Bar Court will determine whether to revoke his law license.

An attorney for Eastman said he stands by his legal advice and that he was being targeted by the bar for providing legal advice they may disagree with.

“Any lawyer engaged to provide his or her legal assessment in a dynamic, consequential, and often emotional arena should be deeply troubled by the notion that a licensing authority (bar) can take their license if they do not like the lawyer’s advice, or find the advocacy distasteful,” attorney Randall Miller said.

“The foundation of any engagement is that the lawyer shall protect the client’s interests, at every turn. This is includes raising all viable options. The attorney’s role is as an advisor, the client as the decider.”

Eastman was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 committee early into its investigation and challenged the compulsion for documents and testimony, teeing up a case that would result in a key ruling.

Judge David Carter ruled that Eastman’s work for the Trump campaign could not be protected through attorney-client privilege, determining he more likely than not engaged in criminal activity in seeking to unwind the election, invalidating the protections of the privilege.

The bar also cites Eastman’s Jan. 6 speech as a factor, noting his comments around fraud shortly before a mob of pro-Trump supporters descended on the Capitol.

“Eastman knew, or should have known, that the factual premise for his proposals―that massive fraud was at play―was false, and that Trump had lost his bid for re-election,” a statement by the association said.

“Eastman ignored these truths when he spoke at the ‘Save America March’ on January 6, 2020, inciting the crowd to take action when, with the intent to convince them that the outcome of the presidential election had been affected by fraud, he said that ‘dead people had voted’ in the presidential election, that Dominion voting machines had fraudulently manipulated the election results, and that Vice President Pence did not deserve to be in office if he did not delay the counting of electoral votes. These statements contributed to provoking the crowd that participated in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that occurred after the rally,” the association concluded.

Eastman is one of several lawyers associated with the Trump campaign to face repercussions for their false statements relating to voter fraud.

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Little more - a possible 10-year sentence

• Douglass Mackey Loses Bid to Toss Election Interference Case

Pro-Trump Twitter Troll Loses First Amendment Challenge Against Election Interference Charges

Douglass Mackey, the far-right Twitter troll known by the handle Ricky Vaughn, failed to persuade a federal judge that his alleged attempt to interfere with the 2020 presidential election was First Amendment-protected speech.

Taking his online identity from Charlie Sheen’s character in the movie Major League, Mackey was unmasked by the Huffington Post in 2018 as the Manhattan man behind the Vaughn account. The then-influencer had been known to frequently boost pro-Donald Trump content while publishing antisemitic and white nationalist memes and propaganda.

Nearly one year ago, federal prosecutors alleged that Mackey crossed the line into illegality when he spread memes apparently telling Hillary Clinton supporters to “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home.” The meme encouraged supporters to text “Hillary” to 59925, and prosecutors said that this design showed his tweets had wide reach.

“On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “[Candidate’s first name]” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which was used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by the defendant and his co-conspirators,” the Justice Department said.

Facing a charge against him that carries a possible 10-year sentence, Mackey has advanced a multi-pronged attack to attempt to dismiss it before a trial.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, a Bill Clinton appointee, set each of those arguments aside in a short docket entry on Wednesday.