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      ‘Expect the unexpected’: Trump fraud trial becomes family affair

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      Donald Trump’s fraud trial becomes a family affair this week as three of his children, and the former president himself, prepare to be called to the witness stand in New York.Trump’s appearances in court so far have been controversial, to say the least. The former president has railed against the prosecution, calling it a “witch-hunt”, and has been threatened with jail for attacking one of the court’s clerks on social media.Donald and Eric Trump invoked their fifth amendment right against self-incrimination hundreds of times in their pre-trial depositions. If any of the Trump family were to do the same on the witness stand, the judge would be entitled to draw an adverse inference. The upcoming days could stretch both Trump’s and the court’s patience to the breaking point.First up on the witness stand on Wednesday will be Donald Trump Jr, followed by Eric Trump on Thursday. The two sons are also listed as defendants in the case against the Trump company, other executives and their father, who is expected to take the stand on 6 November.Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump is waiting for an appeals court to rule on whether she has to testify in the trial. Trump’s eldest daughter was removed as a defendant in the case over the summer because the claims brought against her were too old. If the court rules Ivanka Trump has to testify, she will take the stand on 8 November.On current standing, the trial looks like an uphill battle for the family. Judge Arthur Engoron has already found Trump and his adult sons guilty of financial fraud for inflating the value of their assets on state financial documents to boost their net worth. If an appellate court upholds the ruling, Trump will essentially lose all ability to operate his real estate business in New York.Even though Trump does not face prison time for the issues in the case, Engoron has already threatened to send Trump to jail for violating his gag order. Trump has had to pay $15,000 in fines for failing to remove a social media post about Engoron’s principal law clerk – the post that had earned him the gag order in the first place – along with making inflammatory comments outside the courtroom. The judge interpreted the comments to be about his clerk and briefly put Trump on the witness stand to explain himself.At times, two trials appear to be taking place in Manhattan’s supreme court, one inside the courtroom and another in the court of opinion. Trump has used his appearances almost as mini campaign stops – attacking the prosecution and the Biden administration.It is unclear how Trump or his adult sons, who are also known for making incendiary comments on behalf of their father, will operate on the witness stand. While the former president has – generally – behaved in court, Trump has continued to blast Engoron on social media and outside the courtroom.“I truly believe he is CRAZY, but certainly, at minimum, CRAZED in his hatred of me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on 28 October, calling Engoron a “Trump Hating, Unhinged Judge, who ruled me guilty before this Witch Hunt Trial even started”.Eric Trump, the only one of Trump’s children to make an appearance in court so far, went on Fox News earlier in October to say that “these monsters want to have my father in a courthouse.”“Look at the portfolio of properties, they’re incredible,” he said. “No one has done more for the New York City skyline than Donald Trump.”As easy as it is to make those claims to Fox News, much of the case relies on thousands of pages of documents that have been submitted as evidence.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“There’s enough evidence in this case to fill this courtroom,” Engoron said, when Trump’s lawyers tried to dismiss the case based on Michael Cohen’s testimony last week.So even if the Trump family remains evasive on the stand – perhaps saying “I don’t recall” to many of the questions – they will probably have to face the facts and figures shown in the documents, said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University. It’s the reason prosecutors put witnesses on the stand in the first place, even if they may not cooperate much.“Some of the family members may take the bait and make explanations” for what is shown in the documents, she added. “With witnesses, even when you try to prepare them, expect the unexpected.”The trial, now in its fifth week, has had at least 19 witnesses take the stand so far. Engoron is using the actual trial to decide the fine Trump will have to pay. The attorney general’s office is asking for at least $250m in disgorgement. It is a bench trial, meaning there is no jury, and Engoron is the sole decider of the case.So far, witnesses ranging from former Trump Organization executives and Trump accountants to real estate executives have testified about the Trump family’s involvement in obtaining various loans using inflated financial figures.Trump and his team have maintained throughout the trial that the New York attorney general’s case is politically motivated and that Trump actually deflated the value of the assets on the financial documents.That Trump is scheduled to testify after his two sons means the former president will get the brunt of their unanswered questions, said Levenson. The attorney general’s office has indicated it will rest its case after the Trump family, including Ivanka Trump, finish testifying.“It’s going to box Trump in a bit,” Levenson said. “Will his children let him take the fall for it?” More

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      Trump’s son Donald Jr to testify at real estate fraud trial in New York

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      Donald Trump’s eldest son will take the stand today at the New York civil fraud trial surrounding the former president’s business empire.Donald Trump Jr, a defendant in the case alongside his father, is set to testify as the judge considers whether the Trump Organization and its top executives lied about the value of its properties.Both Don Jr and his brother Eric – executive vice-presidents at the company – are due to be questioned in court this week. Donald Trump, a former president, is expected to testify next week, before his daughter, Ivanka, who is not a defendant in the case, is set to appear.In an interview with Newsmax on Monday, Don Jr claimed the “mainstream media, the people in [Washington] DC … want to throw Trump in jail for a thousand years and/or the death penalty. Truly sick stuff, but this is why we fight.”Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his family business committed fraud. Engoron is using this trial – focused on remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records – to decide on punishment.The $250m fraud case against the former president, his eldest sons and other Trump executives has been brought by the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James.The trial is a bench trial, with no jury. Engoron is presiding over the case, and will be the sole decider. Because this is a civil trial, Trump will not be sent to prison if found guilty. While he is not required to appear in court, he has on several occasions, including for last week’s testimony by Michael Cohen, his former fixer.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionEngoron imposed a gag order on Trump after he criticised the judge’s law clerk on social media. He has since fined the former president twice: first $5,000 after the offending post remained online, and then $10,000 for comments outside the court last week that he concluded amounted to a further attack. More

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      George Santos pleads not guilty to new fraud charges

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      US congressman George Santos pleaded not guilty on Friday to revised charges accusing him of several frauds, including making tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on credit cards belonging to some of his campaign donors.The New York Republican appeared at a courthouse on Long Island to enter a plea to the new allegations. He had already pleaded not guilty to other charges, first filed in May, accusing him of lying to Congress about his wealth, applying for and receiving unemployment benefits, even though he had a job, and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses like designer clothing.The court appearance came the morning after some of Santos’ Republican colleagues from New York launched an effort to expel him from Congress.Santos’ attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and a tentative court date of 9 September 2024 was set.Santos has been free on bail while he awaits trial. He has denied any serious wrongdoing and blamed irregularities in his government regulatory filings on his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, who he claims “went rogue”.Marks in turn has implicated Santos. She told a judge when she recently pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge that she had helped Santos trick Republican party officials into supporting his run for office in 2022 through bogus Federal Election Committee filings that made him look richer than he really was, partly by listing an imaginary $500,000 loan that had supposedly come from his personal wealth.Santos has continued to represent his New York district in Congress since he was charged, rejecting calls for his resignation from several fellow New York Republicans.Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, who represents a congressional district next to the one that elected Santos, introduced a resolution on Thursday calling for Santos to be expelled from the House, saying he wasn’t fit to serve his constituents. He was joined by four other New York Republicans, US representatives Nick LaLota, Michael Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams.Santos posted a cryptic note on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: “Everything has an end in life,” but later added three points of clarification.“1. I have not cleared out my office. 2. I’m not resigning. 3. I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking,” he wrote.He has previously said he intends to run for re-election next year, though he could face a lengthy prison term if convicted.During his successful 2022 run for office, Santos was buoyed by an uplifting life story that was later revealed to be rife with fabrications. Among other things, he never worked for the major Wall Street investment firms where he claimed to have been employed, didn’t go to the college where he claimed to have been a star volleyball player, and misled people about having Jewish heritage. More

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      New York: more than 100 arrested after Israel-Hamas war protest blocks traffic

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      New York City police arrested more than 130 anti-war protesters after hundreds of people blocked traffic on Fifth Avenue on Friday night.A crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and marched in the rain from Bryant Park to the Midtown Manhattan office of the New York US senator Kirsten Gillibrand.“Senator Gillibrand, we will not stop until you call for a ceasefire,” a crowd, led by the New York state assemblymember Zohran Kwame Mamdani, chanted in front of her office.The demonstration was co-organized by the Democratic Socialists of America and other activist groups. Throughout the night, protesters called for a ceasefire and denounced the murder of Israelis and Palestinians.“Unfortunately, our political leaders seem to keep failing to learn that lesson again and again that war is not the answer,” Jeremy Cohan, a co-chair of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, told local news station WABC.About 8pm local time, a crowd of police officers gathered around the rows of demonstrators blocking traffic and began making arrests. Protesters on the sidewalks shouted “shame on you!” at the officers. Those arrested were handcuffed, transported on white buses and issued summonses to appear in court.In a statement, the New York police department (NYPD) said a total of 137 people were taken into custody by officers on the scene.The arrests are the latest this week after mass protests against the Israel-Hamas war. On Wednesday, more than 300 demonstrators at the US Capitol were arrested by police after gathering inside the building. Participants in an earlier demonstration at the White House also were arrested.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionMeeting with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, Joe Biden vowed to provide Israel with security needs, at the same time appealing to Netanyahu that Israel not be “consumed” by its rage against Hamas. On Friday, the president submitted a $106bn request for Congress for military and humanitarian aid for Israel and Ukraine, along with humanitarian assistance for Gaza.Congress will not be able to approve the aid request until a new speaker for the US House is chosen. Selecting a speaker is a conflict among House Republicans that has been ongoing for weeks. More

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      ‘Trump show is over,’ says New York attorney general as third day of fraud trial ends

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      The New York attorney general, Letitia James, told reporters on Wednesday that “the Trump show is over” as the third day of the former US president’s civil fraud trial wrapped up in Manhattan.James and Trump both returned to the trial a day after Trump ran afoul of the judge by denigrating a key court staffer in a social media post.Outside court, James called Trump’s appearance at the civil trial – which he is not required to attend – a “political stunt” and a “fundraising stop”.Trump has spent the first three days of the trial attacking James and Judge Arthur Engoron in press gatherings outside court. He is expected to return to Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.“I will not be bullied,” James said. “Justice will be served.”The former US president and Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race is voluntarily taking time out from the campaign trail to attend the trial. James’s lawsuit accuses Trump and his business of deceiving banks, insurers and others by providing financial statements that greatly exaggerated his wealth.Trump formally appealed a judge’s refusal to dismiss James’s civil fraud lawsuit against him and his family business on Wednesday. The appeal was filed as Trump sat in a the courtroom, watching an accountant who used to work for him testify as the state’s first witness.Engoron already has ruled that Trump committed fraud by inflating the values of prized assets including his Trump Tower penthouse. The ruling could, if upheld on appeal, cost Trump control of his signature skyscraper and some other properties.Trump denies any wrongdoing. With familiar rhetoric, on his way into court on Wednesday, he called James “incompetent”, portrayed her as part of a broader Democratic effort to weaken his 2024 prospects and termed the trial “a disgrace”.Trump has frequently vented in the courthouse hallway and on social media about the trial, James and Judge Engoron, also a Democrat.But after he assailed Engoron’s principal law clerk on social media on Tuesday, the judge imposed a limited gag order, commanding all participants in the trial not to hurl personal attacks at court staffers. The judge told Trump to delete the “disparaging, untrue and personally identifying post”, and the former president took it down.The non-jury trial concerns six claims that remained in the lawsuit after Engoron’s pretrial ruling, and the trial is to determine how much Trump might owe in penalties. James is seeking $250m and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.On Wednesday, an accountant who prepared Trump’s financial statements for years was to continue testifying as a witness for the state. James’s lawyers are trying to show that Trump and others at his company had full control over the preparation of the statements.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe accountant, Donald Bender, told the court on Tuesday that the Trump Organization didn’t always supply all the documents needed to produce the statements, despite attesting in letters to the accounting firm that the company had provided all financial records and hadn’t “knowingly withheld” relevant data.During cross-examination, Bender acknowledged he missed a change in information about the size of the Trump Tower apartment.The defense lawyer Jesus Suarez seized on that, telling Bender that Trump’s company and employees were “going through hell” because “you missed it”.Bender responded: “We didn’t screw it up. The Trump Organization made a mistake, and we didn’t catch it.”Trump plans to testify later in the trial.Agencies contributed to this article More

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      ‘No one is above the law’: attorney general on Donald Trump’s civil fraud case – video

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      Trump arrived at a New York court just a few miles south of Trump Tower on Monday for the first day of a fraud trial that could end up with the former US president and his family business paying hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and has already threatened to end his business career in the city where it started. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, has accused Trump of using false and misleading financial statements from 2011 to 2021 to make himself and his businesses wealthier, helping him broker deals and obtain financing. Based on her office’s three-year investigation, James is arguing that Trump owes at least $250m for committing fraud More

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      New York City public hospitals to offer abortion care via telehealth

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      New York City public hospitals will now offer abortion care via telehealth, placing them among the first public health systems in the US to do so.The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, announced on Monday that abortion pill prescriptions would now be available by telephone or online, adding that such access can happen from “the comfort of your home”.As a result of the move, New York City residents will now be able to connect with health practitioners for those prescriptions, building on previous legislations to protect abortions rights in New York.“If you are clinically eligible, that provider will be able to prescribe abortion medication that would be delivered to your New York City address within days,” Adams said during Monday’s announcement.“We will not stand idly by as these attacks continue and the far-rights seeks to strip our citizens of their basic rights,” Adams added, referring to abortion restrictions being legislated across the country.Abortion rights organizations celebrated Monday’s announcement as an essential step to protect reproductive rights.“Today marks a historic win for abortion access in New York City,” said Wendy Stark, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York.“When we make abortion care more accessible, we empower individuals to make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their futures,” Stark added.The expanded access to abortion care comes after the supreme court’s elimination last year of the federal abortion rights established by Roe v Wade.Since then, at least 20 states have passed restrictions on abortions, the New York Times reports.Fourteen states, mainly in the south, have enacted total bans on the medical procedure.US courts have also limited access to abortion medication. In August, a US appeals court ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should be regulated according to rules set prior to 2016.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn August 2022, Adams signed legislation protecting the right to abortions in New York City after the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.The measures signed by Adams – six in total – also made abortion medication free at all of New York’s department of health and mental hygiene clinics.The New York state legislature has also passed legislation protecting medical professionals in the state who provide abortion pills to patients in places where the procedure is banned, the New York Times reported.Other Democratic-led cities and states have passed similar measures protecting reproductive rights.In January, the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, signed legislation expanding abortion access by allowing more practitioners to provide the medical procedure and mandating that agencies in the state cover the procedure, the television news outlet WTTW reported. More

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      Letitia James: the fearless attorney general threatening Trump’s business

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      New York attorney general Letitia James has never shied away from taking on powerful adversaries – from the National Rifle Association to former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.On Monday she will take on her biggest case yet: a fraud trial that threatens the very foundation of Donald Trump’s New York real estate empire.Critics have accused the 64-year-old career prosecutor of using her office, with 1,700 staff and over 700 assistant attorneys general, for political purposes. To others, the Democrat is a heroic figure: the first woman elected as New York’s attorney general and the first Black person to serve in the role. A fearless prosecutor who has taken on cases others would walk away from.Like Trump, “Tish” James was born and raised in New York City. It’s about the only thing they have in common. Raised with her seven siblings in Brooklyn, James attended public schools in the city before getting her law degree at Howard University in Washington DC.She started her law career as a public defender before entering New York politics as a councilmember and then as public advocate, the first Black woman to hold the watchdog role. James’s passions were clear from the start – she filed a record number of suits on behalf of tenants, seniors and people with disabilities. James became New York state attorney general in 2018.Few think her ambitions stop there. Top state prosecutor has often been the jumping off point for a run for New York’s governorship, which James briefly attempted last year.The Trump trial will thrust James further into the spotlight and she is off to an impressive start. James has already claimed one victory in the case. Last week, the New York judge Arthur Engoron ruled the real estate developer had committed fraud for years as he built his empire by inflating the value of his holdings. In an early win for James, Engoron revoked the business licenses of Trump and his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, essentially barring them from doing business in the state.This week, Engoron will hear arguments on a potential fine, which could be at least $250m.“I come from a long line of very strong, tough women. We stick to our principles and stand up for what we believe in, which is fundamental fairness, which is my raison d’être,” James told Elle Magazine in 2017.As attorney general, she has worked for more funding for pre-trial services, the reform of bail laws for minor offenses, treatments for the mental health crisis, cracking down on ghost guns and defending the state’s gun laws restricting the public carrying of firearms.James has also said she wants to prioritize antitrust investigations and consumer protections, and focus on reducing tenant evictions amid skyrocketing rents in the city and state.Last year, James suspended her campaign for New York governor, saying she wanted to “finish the job” with her ongoing investigations, including overseeing a sexual harassment investigation into former governor Cuomo that led to his resignation, an inquiry into the NRA and fraudulent financial practices of the former president.In interviews during her campaign, James said that not pursuing evidence of wrongdoing by Trump or the NRA would have been a “dereliction of my duty” and rejected claims that her legal pursuits were not on behalf of New Yorkers but her “own personal ambitions”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“I make no apologies, because this is who I am, and this is what I do,” James added.On the same day that she ended her campaign, reports said she was looking to sit Trump for a deposition as part of her civil investigation into his business practices. Trump has called James “a renegade and out of control prosecutor”, dismissed the case as “crazy” and a “witch-hunt”, and invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination 400 times.Trump maintains his innocence and his lawyers are appealing the pre-trial ruling. But outside observers believe this case will be a real test of Trump’s – often successful – bluster.Andrew Lieb, a real estate attorney and legal political analyst, says James is doing no more or less than what attorneys general do. The fact that Trump received a pre-trial ruling in his fraud trial shows just how clear the case against him was.“He was so outrageous, pompous and immune to order and business practices that someone had to do something about it. It was like spitting and saying it’s raining,” Lieb said. “It’s not like he took a $10m property and said it was worth $11m. He took a $10m property and said it was worth over $100m.”James, he says, will go down as an effective attorney general. “She’s effective in that she won. No one remembers how you played the game, they just remember that you won.” More