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      New York governor considers face-mask ban on subway to deter crime

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      New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, is considering reimposing a ban on face masks in the Big Apple’s transit system over allegations that masked protesters are taking advantage of identity-concealing face wear to stage antisemitic attacks.The governor has not spelled out details of the policy or people who may be exempted. But she has said that she is motivated to act by “a group donning masks that took over a subway car, scaring riders and chanting things about [Nazi dictator Adolf] Hitler and wiping out Jews”.Hochul may have been referring to a recent episode involving a pro-Palestinian rally in which a man led a small group on a New York City subway car in chanting: “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist – this is your chance to get out.”Another man is reported to have shouted allusions to the Holocaust, saying: “I wish Hitler was still here. He would’ve wiped all you out.”However, neither men was reported to have been masked.“We will not tolerate individuals using masks to evade responsibility for criminal or threatening behavior,” Hochul said on Thursday, adding that “on a subway, people should not be able to hide behind a mask to commit crimes”.The potential move comes close to four years after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic during which New Yorkers initially struggled to obtain enough masks to slow the spread of the virus. Masks then became a defining feature of the era, but recommendations to wear them have been dropped as protective vaccines have become available and the rate of spread has slowed.New York has historically had a push-and-pull relationship with face coverings dating to 1845, when they were banned in response to attacks by tenant farmers on landlords. That ban was repealed in 2020 in response to Covid, and masks became mandatory for two years until September 2022.Hochul, who last week put on hold a plan to charge drivers for entering lower Manhattan over concerns it could interfere with the city’s ongoing economic recovery, said the mask issue was “complex”.“We’re just listening to people and addressing their needs and taking them very seriously,” she added.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionPro-Palestinian demonstrators have said that wearing masks is necessary because of police surveillance and threats by some employers in the finance industry that participating in demonstrations could render protesters unemployable.On this issue, Hochul appears to have the backing of the New York City mayor, Eric Adams. He told the political talk-radio show Cats & Cosby this week that “people have hid under the guise of wearing a mask for Covid to commit criminal acts and vile acts. Now is the time to go back to the way it was pre-Covid, where you should not be able to wear a mask at protests and our subway systems and other places.”Adams went on to invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. “Those civil rights leaders did not hide their faces,” Adams said. “They stood up. In contrast to that, the [Ku Klux] Klan hid their faces. Cowards hide their faces when they want to do something disgraceful.”The Associated Press contributed reporting More

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      Hillary Clinton endorses challenger for Jamaal Bowman’s New York House seat

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      Hillary Clinton endorsed the primary challenger in representative Jamaal Bowman’s vulnerable re-election race in New York.The former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate gave her support to George Latimer, the Westchester county executive who has received significant support from the pro-Israel lobby group Aipac.“With Trump on the ballot, we need strong, principled Democrats in Congress more than ever,” Clinton wrote on X on Wednesday. “In Congress, [Latimer] will protect abortion rights, stand up to the NRA, and fight for President Biden’s agenda – just like he’s always done.”In a statement, Latimer said it was a “deep honor” to receive Clinton’s support. “Her voice gives even more momentum to our grassroots campaign, which keeps gaining strength because we stand strongly and honestly for our values and for our belief in delivering meaningful results for the communities we serve,” he said.Hours after Clinton’s announcement, Senator Bernie Sanders said in a post to X that he would be speaking at a rally for Bowman, hosted by the New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.“AIPAC, funded by rightwing billionaires, supports extremist Republican candidates. They will spend $100m against progressives this year, including $25m against [Bowman],” said Sanders, referring to the pro-Israel lobby.“Democrats must unite against this Super Pac. I look forward to joining Jamaal & [Ocasio-Cortez] in New York.”The upcoming race between Bowman and Latimer has grown increasingly contentious as the candidates’ divided stances on Israel’s deadly war in Gaza has become the focus.View image in fullscreenBowman has remained critical of Israel, like other progressive House representatives. Meanwhile, Latimer has received significant support from the the United Democracy Project, a Super Pac affiliated with Aipac, NBC News reported. The Super Pac has already spent millions on campaign funding to unseat Bowman.The latest endorsement for Latimer could increase his predicted sizable lead ahead of the 25 June primary election.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionLatimer holds a 17-point lead over Bowman, according to a survey by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill.Bowman has faced challenges during his tenure. The progressive representative was censured in December by mostly House Republicans after pulling the fire alarm in a congressional office building while the chamber was in session.He said that he pulled the alarm by mistake, while critics accuse him of doing so to delay a vote.Bowman faced additional backlash after a personal blog of his that included conspiracy theories on the September 11 attacks resurfaced. More

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      New York probation officers to interview Trump prior to his criminal sentencing

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      Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed by New York probation officials Monday, a required step before his July sentencing in his criminal hush-money case, according to three people familiar with the plan.The former president will do the interview via a computer video conference from his residence at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, the people told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the plans publicly.One of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, will be present for the interview. People convicted of crimes in New York usually meet with probation officials without their lawyers, but the judge in Trump’s case, Juan Merchan, said in a letter Friday that he would allow Blanche’s presence.The usual purpose of a pre-sentencing probation interview is to prepare a report that will tell the judge more about the defendant, and potentially help determine the proper punishment for the crime.Such reports are typically prepared by a probation officer, a social worker or a psychologist working for the probation department who interviews the defendant and possibly that person’s family and friends, as well as people affected by the crime.Present reports include a defendant’s personal history, criminal record and recommendations for sentencing. It will also include information about employment and any obligations to help care for a family member. It is also a chance for a defendant to say why they think they deserve a lighter punishment.A jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records at his own company as part of a broader scheme to buy the silence of people who might have told embarrassing stories about him during the 2016 presidential campaign. One $130,000 payment went to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump, which he denied.Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, says he is innocent of any crime and that the criminal case was brought to hurt his chances to regain the White House.Following Trump’s historic conviction, a New York Times/Siena College post-verdict analysis of nearly 2,000 interviews with voters found that Trump’s advantage over Joe Biden narrowed from three to one point.Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement Sunday that the president’s Democratic party allies “continue to ramp up their ongoing Witch-Hunts, further abusing and misusing the power of their offices to interfere in the presidential election”.“President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case,” he said.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionMerchan has scheduled Trump’s sentencing for 11 July. He has discretion to impose a wide range of punishments, ranging from probation and community service to up to four years in prison.In his first rally earlier this week following his conviction, Trump, who is appealing his conviction, issued foreboding threats.“Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out, or we’re not going to have a country any longer,” Trump said at a Turning Point Action event in Phoenix, Arizona.Meanwhile, reports have emerged of New York police planning to revoke Trump’s license to carry a gun as a result of his conviction.Speaking to CNN anonymously, a New York police department official said that it will complete its investigation “that will likely lead to revocation of his license”. More

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      Businessman testifies he promised Bob Menendez up to $250,000 in bribes

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      A New Jersey businessman took his star turn on the witness stand on Friday in the bribery case against US senator Bob Menendez, telling a jury he believed he had a $200,000-$250,000 deal in 2018 for the Democrat to pressure the state attorney general’s office to stop investigating his friends and family.Jose Uribe testified in Manhattan federal court in the afternoon, providing key testimony against Menendez and two other businessmen charged in a conspiracy along with Menendez’s wife. Next week, Menendez’s lawyers will get to cross-examine the naturalized US citizen.“Next week we get the truth,” Menendez said just before stepping into a car that carried him away from Manhattan federal court, where he has been on trial for the last month.Uribe, 57, who pleaded guilty to charges in a March cooperation deal, was the star witness for the government in its bid to win a conviction against the senator, who once held the powerful post as chair of the Senate foreign relations committee. He was forced out of the position after he was criminally charged last fall.Menendez, 70, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted gold bars, cash and a luxury car in return for doing favors for the businessmen. Two businessmen and Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, also have pleaded not guilty. Nadine Menendez’s trial has been postponed until at least July after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.Uribe testified that he had been close friends with Wael Hana, who is on trial with Menendez, when Hana told him in early 2018 that New Jersey state criminal investigations swirling around the trucking business of a friend of his and Uribe’s own insurance business could be largely put to rest if he was willing to spend $200,000 to $250,000.Uribe said Hana told him that he would go to Nadine Arslanian (her name before she married the senator), who had begun dating Menendez that year, and then “Nadine would go to Senator Menendez”, although Uribe did not testify about how the couple could resolve multiple investigations.Uribe said he held a 13 July 2018 political fundraiser for Menendez, which the senator attended, raising $50,000. He said he attended an afterparty with Menendez and Arslanian that included cocktails, along with “some laughs, some jokes and some dancing”, but there was no mention of the work he expected Menendez to do on his behalf.View image in fullscreen“It was a crowded and loud place,” Uribe said.He said his confidence that the deal was working faded in the fall when an investigator from the attorney general’s office asked to interview his employee.“I was not happy,” he said.Assistant US attorney Lara Pomerantz showed jurors a series of text messages between Uribe and Hana in which Uribe pressed his friend to get the senator to stop the criminal investigations.“Please be sure that your friend knows about this,” Uribe wrote to Hana in one text.Pomerantz asked whom he was referring to as “your friend”.“Senator Menendez,” Uribe responded. Hana, according to the texts, responded: “I will.”Hana arranged for Uribe to have dinner with Menendez and Arslanian at a restaurant in October 2018, but Uribe testified there was no mention of the deal.“Nothing was discussed there of value, I will say,” Uribe testified. “It was a … pointless meeting.”Uribe said he began communicating directly with Nadine Arslanian in March 2019 and promised that he would buy her a car if she delivered on the deal to get the senator to shut down New Jersey criminal investigations.“She agreed to the terms,” he said.When the prosecutor asked Uribe what he understood the terms of the deal to mean, he said he understood that Nadine Arslanian would contact Menendez and get him to use his “influence and power to do anything possible to stop and kill” the investigations.On Thursday, former New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Grewal testified that Menendez in an early 2019 telephone call and in a September 2019 office meeting tried to talk to him about a criminal investigation. Grewal said he followed his policy and refused to do so, telling Menendez to contact defense lawyers so they could reach out to trial-level prosecutors or the judge.Uribe, of Clifton, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in March, saying during his plea that he gave Nadine Menendez a Mercedes-Benz in return for her husband “using his power and influence as a United States senator to get a favorable outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates”.Uribe was accused of buying the luxury car for Nadine Menendez after her previous car had been destroyed when she struck and killed a man crossing the street. She did not face criminal charges in connection with that crash. More

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      ‘Slap in the face’: outrage after New York governor halts congestion pricing

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      An 11th-hour decision to halt a plan to charge a fee for cars entering the heart of New York City has provoked outrage from environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers, potentially scuppering hopes of congestion pricing taking hold in any US city in the near future.New York City was, on 30 June, primed to be the first American city to toll drivers in its traffic-clogged centre, with cars entering Manhattan south of 60th Street set to be charged $15 a day in a plan heralded as a landmark moment in tackling air pollution, helping curb carbon emissions and providing a funding boost for New York’s sprawling yet beleaguered public transit system.Yet on Wednesday, New York’s governor Kathy Hochul said she had come to the “difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences”, adding that she had ordered her administration to “indefinitely pause” the system.Hochul cited concerns over the plan’s cost to low-income people who drive into Manhattan at a time of relatively high inflation, although a political calculation has also shaped the governor’s thinking, with suburban districts near to New York City rife with car-owning voters expected to be closely contested in November elections.But supporters of the plan say that New York has missed a crucial opportunity to follow cities around the world, such as London and Stockholm, that have managed to enact congestion pricing in a successful way, with lawsuits now expected to try to force through the scheme.“I’ve been in touch with a lot of urban planners and city officials around the country and I can’t remember these people being as furious as they have been in the last 24 hours,” said David Zipper, a transportation expert and senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative.“New York is America’s biggest city, with the lowest levels of car ownership and highest share of transit ridership – you’d expect to see congestion pricing there first. Los Angeles and Boston were looking to New York, this could’ve spread nationwide, and yet Hochul has decided that low-income residents matter less than a few grumpy suburbanites. It’s deflating and it’s a slap in the face.”The decision is “disastrous to both the city and the broader economic region since the benefits of free-flowing traffic and faster commutes outweigh the costs”, said Rich Geddes, an infrastructure expect at Cornell University.“Some cite concerns about equity associated with congestion pricing, but traffic congestion itself disproportionately hurts the poor, with city buses and other public transportation stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.”Hochul herself was until recently a vocal backer of congestion pricing, which would’ve generated around $1bn a year in revenue destined for upgrades to the accessibility and signaling in New York’s creaking subway system, as well as a fleet of new electric buses.“Fewer cars means safer streets, cleaner air and more room to maneuver for pedestrians and bicyclists,” the governor said just two weeks ago. “In that way, expanded train service or an extra subway stop can actually change the trajectory of someone’s life. That’s powerful. That’s what cities are meant to do.”In December, at a rally in support of congestion pricing, Hochul said, somewhat ironically, that “leaders are called upon to envision a better future, be bold in the implementation and execution, and be undaunted by the opposition”.Transportation is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, although advocates for the plan have largely focused on its more immediate benefits – cutting air pollution that worsens conditions such as asthma in city residents, as well as freeing up space in New York’s famously clotted streets. Around 700,000 vehicles enter the lower half of Manhattan each day, often at a crawl – the average travel speed is now around 7mph, down from around 9mph 15 years ago.Around half of New York City households do not have a car, with 85% of commuters to Manhattan using the city’s network of subways, trains and buses to get there. It’s estimated that only 1.5% of all commuters under the plan would pay the full $15 fee.“We cannot allow a vocal minority of drivers who don’t qualify for exemptions and discounts to dictate our policy decisions,” said Jerry Nadler, a Democrat whose House of Representative district includes central Manhattan.The decision was celebrated by opponents, however, who have pointed to worries over congestion pricing’s financial impact as well as concerns that it would simply displace pollution to places near Manhattan, such as the Bronx.Some of the fiercest criticism of the plan came from neighboring New Jersey, with the state’s governor suing in an attempt to halt it. “Jersey families, their wallets and the environment won big,” said Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat who claimed that commuters from the state would be hardest hit. “As I always say, don’t mess with Jersey.”In New York, lawmakers are now faced with a budget hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which each day moves more people by subway alone than passengers on all flights across the entire US but will not be able to undertake planned upgrades if the $1bn not be replaced by a new payroll or business tax.There seems no immediate solution to this. Liz Krueger, a state senator and chair of the senate finance committee, said Hochul’s decision is “reckless” and a “staggering error”. She added: “The legislature certainly will not be rushing to raise taxes on hard-working New York City residents and small businesses.”Zipper said the episode should not feed into a “myth” that Americans have a unique love affair with cars compared to other countries. “It’s more like a forced marriage, which is to our detriment, because it prevents us from seeing how better urban life could be,” he said. “It’s frustrating.” More

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      Trump’s gun license to be revoked following conviction, media reports say

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      Donald Trump’s license to carry a gun is expected to be revoked by the New York City police department now that he has been convicted of a felony, according to reports on Wednesday evening.The former president once boasted that he was so popular with the electorate, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” He made the claim in January 2016 during the Iowa caucuses campaign.Trump’s permit to carry a concealed weapon was suspended in April last year after he was indicted on charges of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, according to CNN.Now, the NYPD is preparing to revoke Trump’s license altogether, CNN first reported, followed by NBC, with the latter citing a police spokesperson.Last week Trump was found guilty on 34 charges stemming from a hush-money scheme to influence the 2016 election, including felony falsification of business records.Prosecutors successfully argued that Trump falsely recorded payment he made to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, to cover fees paid to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about an affair with Trump.Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election, will retain some privileges not afforded to all US felons. It appears he will still be able to vote in the November race, because New York – the state where the hush-money trial took place – is one of 23 states where people convicted of a felony can vote as long as they are not incarcerated.Trump is due to be sentenced on 11 July but experts say it is unlikely that he will serve time in jail. Trump has denounced the historic conviction as a “rigged trial”.More details soon … More

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      Trump lawyers and prosecutors at odds over lifting gag order before sentencing

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      As Donald Trump fights for Judge Juan Merchan to lift a gag order barring him from speaking publicly about key figures in his New York trial, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are urging the judge to keep the order in place.“The court has an obligation to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice at least through the sentencing hearing and the resolution of any post-trial motions,” wrote the prosecutors in a letter on Wednesday.During the trial – over Trump’s efforts to bury a sex scandal before the 2016 election – Trump repeatedly inveighed on social media against figures connected to the case, including witnesses and the judge’s daughter, who has worked as a Democratic consultant.In response, Merchan issued a series of orders barring Trump from speaking publicly about jurors, witnesses and the family of the judge.The trial concluded on 30 May, with the jury finding Trump guilty on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with the former president.Prosecutors had said they wanted the gag order to “protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding and avoid prejudice to the jury”. In the order, Merchan noted prosecutors had sought the restrictions “for the duration of the trial”. He did not specify when they would be lifted.Trump’s lawyers Todd Blanche told the Associated Press last Friday that it was his understanding the gag order would expire when the trial ended and that he would seek clarity from Merchan, which he did on Tuesday.“It’s a little bit of the theater of the absurd at this point, right? Michael Cohen is no longer a witness in this trial,” Blanche told the AP. “The trial is over. The same thing with all the other witnesses. So, we’ll see. I don’t mean that in any way as being disrespectful of the judge and the process. I just want to be careful and understand when it no longer applies.”In a letter on Tuesday, Blanche and Emil Bove asked Merchan to end the gag order, arguing there was nothing to justify “continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump” now that the trial is over.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAmong other reasons, the lawyers said Trump was entitled to “unrestrained campaign advocacy” in light of President Joe Biden’s public comments about the verdict last Friday, and continued public criticism of him by Cohen and Daniels, both key prosecution witnesses.Trump’s lawyers also contend the gag order must go away so he is free to fully address the case and his conviction with the first presidential debate scheduled for 27 June.The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.Trump has continued to operate under the belief that he is still muzzled, telling reporters on Friday at Trump Tower: “I’m under a gag order, nasty gag order.”Referring to Cohen, Trump said, “I’m not allowed to use his name because of the gag order” before slamming his former lawyer-turned-courtroom foe as “a sleazebag”.During the trial, Merchan held Trump in contempt of court, fined him $10,000 for multiple violations of the gag order and threatened to put him in jail if he did it again.Trump’s use of the term “sleazebag” to describe Cohen just before the trial rankled prosecutors, but was not considered a gag order violation by the judge. Merchan declined to sanction Trump for a 10 April social media post, which referred to Cohen and Daniels by that insult.The judge said at the time that Trump’s contention that he was responding to previous posts by Cohen that were critical of him “is sufficient to give” him pause on whether prosecutors met their burden in demonstrating that the post was out of bounds.Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 11 July. More

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      Trump hails Republicans for defending him and calls conviction ‘a scam’

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      Donald Trump on Sunday lauded the Republican party for rallying behind him in the wake of his conviction on 34 felony charges in a hush-money case aimed at influencing the 2016 election.Trump made the comments in his first sit-down press interview since the guilty verdict was returned on Friday that held he falsified business records linked to an illicit affair with adult actor Stormy Daniels. The former US president appeared on Sunday in a taped interview on Fox & Friends, a friendly forum on the rightwing channel and in which he was served up a series of softball questions by a trio of Fox hosts.Throughout the interview, Trump derided the conviction, baselessly characterizing it as political weaponization of the US justice system, while thanking the Republican party for largely supporting him.“People get it. It’s a scam,” he said, speaking of the trial. “And the Republican party … they’ve stuck together in this. They see it’s a weaponization of the justice department of the FBI and that’s all coming out of Washington.”Nearly all senior Republican leaders have vociferously defended Trump, echoing his claims the convictions were politically motivated, including the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, the House majority leader Steve Scalise, and the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. Since the verdict Trump campaign officials say they have also seen a funding boost of tens of millions of dollars in donations from supporters.Trump and the Fox News interviewers characterized the “weaponization” as similar to corruption in Latin American governments. He also claimed his attorney’s objections were routinely denied through the trial, while the prosecution were given preferential treatment: all familiar attack lines and conspiracy theories that Trump has peddled for months.“These people are sick, they’re sick, they’re deranged,” said Trump. “The enemy from within, they are doing damage in this country,” claiming his political opponents want to “quadruple” taxes. He dismissed New York and Washington DC as partisan areas where Republicans receive “virtually no votes”.He cited his campaign has received an influx of donations since the conviction, nearly $53m and claimed it has bumped his approval ratings in polls against Biden.A Reuters poll found one in 10 Republicans are less likely to vote for Trump following the conviction. A Morning Consult poll found 49% of independents and 15% of Republicans think Trump should end his presidential campaign as a result of the conviction.Over the course of the trial, Trump’s position in head to head surveys with Joe Biden did not shift much as he frequently maintained a narrow lead over his Democratic opponent. Trump also kept performing strongly in the key swing states needed to win the 2024 race for the White House. Strategists from both the Trump and Biden campaigns will eagerly be watching fresh polls this week to see if the verdict has had any meaningful impact on Trump’s support.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionTrump will be sentenced later this month just before the Republican party convention that is almost certain to nominate him to be the party’s presidential candidate.Trump responded to the possibility that he could face jail time for his conviction. “I don’t know that the public would stand it, you know, I don’t. I think I think it would be tough for the public to take, you know at a certain point, there’s a breaking point,” he told FoxTrump also faces three other criminal trials: one over an attempt to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia, another about his handling of sensitive documents after leaving office and a third on his actions around the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington DC. However, all three have faced significant delays and are seen as unlikely to play out before November’s presidential election. More