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      New York attorney general alleges Trump firm misled banks and tax officials

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      New York attorney general alleges Trump firm misled banks and tax officialsCourt filing says investigators are seeking to question Donald Trump and his two eldest children The New York attorney general’s office has told a court that its investigators have uncovered evidence that Donald Trump’s company used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to get loans and tax benefits.The court filing late on Tuesday said state authorities had not yet decided whether to bring a civil lawsuit in connection with the allegations, but that investigators needed to question Trump and his two eldest children as part of their inquiries.The former US president and his lawyers say the investigation is politically motivated.In the court documents, the office of the attorney general, Letitia James, gave its most detailed accounting yet of its investigation into allegations that Trump’s company repeatedly misstated the value of assets to get favourable loan terms or reduce its tax burden.Using personal financial statements from 2004 to 2020 that were filed by Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars, the attorney general’s office said the Trump Organization overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions.New York attorney general subpoenas Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump – reportRead moreThe company misreported the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse, saying it was nearly three times its actual size – a difference in value of about $200m (£147m), James’s office alleged, citing deposition testimony from Trump’s longtime financial chief Allen Weisselberg, who was charged last year with tax fraud in a parallel criminal investigation.Valuations of Trump golf clubs in Westchester county, New York and Scotland were inflated, the attorney general’s office says, with the Trump Organization claiming that multiple, ultimately nonexistent mansions worth millions of dollars had been built on the family’s family estate. The company also claimed that there were $150,000 initiation fees into Trump’s Westchester golf course that were never collected.Citing this new additional evidence that Trump and the Trump Organization made fraudulent and misleading asset valuations to boost their appearance to potential lenders and investors, James’ office detailed its findings in a court motion seeking to force Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr to comply with subpoenas seeking their testimony.Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for the Trumps.Trump’s legal team has sought to block the subpoenas, calling them “an unprecedented and unconstitutional manoeuvre”. They say James is improperly attempting to obtain testimony that could then be used in the parallel criminal investigation, being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg.Trump sued James in federal court last month, seeking to put an end to her investigation. In the suit, his lawyers claimed the attorney general, a Democrat, had violated the Republican’s constitutional rights in a “thinly veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates”.In the past, the Republican ex-president has decried James’s and Bragg’s investigations as part of a “witch-hunt”.In a statement late on Tuesday, James’s office said it had not decided whether the evidence outlined in the court papers merited legal action, but the investigation should proceed unimpeded.How Trump’s $50m golf club became $1.4m when it came time to pay taxRead more“For more than two years, the Trump Organization has used delay tactics and litigation in an attempt to thwart a legitimate investigation into its financial dealings,” James said.“No one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them. We will not be deterred in our efforts to continue this investigation and ensure that no one is above the law.”Although James’s civil investigation is separate from the criminal investigation, her office has been involved in both, sending several lawyers to work side by side with prosecutors from the Manhattan DA’s office.One judge has previously sided with James on other matters relating to the investigation, including making another Trump son, the Trump Organization executive Eric Trump, testify after his lawyers abruptly cancelled a scheduled deposition.Last year, the Manhattan district attorney brought tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he and the company evaded taxes on lucrative fringe benefits paid to executives.Both investigations are at least partly related to allegations made in news reports and by Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets. Associated Press contributed to this reportTopicsDonald TrumpUS taxationNew YorkUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      New York man charged with threatening to kill Donald Trump

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      New York man charged with threatening to kill Donald TrumpThomas Welnicki expressed interest in killing then president in interview with Capitol police in July 2020, complaint says A New York man upset with what he perceived as Donald Trump’s threat to democracy was criminally charged on Monday with threatening to kill the former president, who he once referred to as Hitler.Congressman Jim Jordan refuses to cooperate with 6 January committeeRead moreAccording to an unsealed complaint, Thomas Welnicki, 72, from Rockaway Beach, expressed interest in killing the then president in an interview with US Capitol police in July 2020 and in several calls to the Secret Service the following year.Welnicki was charged with threatening to kill, kidnap and inflict bodily harm on Trump.“Mr Welnicki intended no harm to anyone,” said his lawyer, Deirdre von Dornum, attorney-in-charge of the federal defender’s office in Brooklyn.“He was expressing how distraught he was at what he saw as the threats to our democracy posed by former President Trump.”Lawyers and spokesmen for Trump did not respond to requests for comment.Trump was identified as “Individual-1” in the complaint, which was filed in Brooklyn federal court. A footnote said “Individual-1” was president from 20 January 2017 to 20 January 2021.Welnicki allegedly told Capitol police that if Trump lost the 2020 election and refused to leave office, he would “acquire weapons” and “take him down”.According to the complaint, in one voicemail left with the Secret Service, Welnicki said he would “do anything I can to take out” Trump.“Oh yeah, that’s a threat to come and arrest me,” he was quoted as saying. “I will do anything I can to take out [Trump] and his 12 monkeys … if I had the opportunity to do it in Manhattan, that would be awesome … tomorrow [Trump] will be in Georgia, maybe I will.”The complaint said the “12 monkeys” were unnamed members of Congress who Welnicki believed supported Trump. It also said Welnicki believed there would be a $350,000 reward for killing Trump.According to the complaint, the voicemail was recorded “on or about” 4 January 2021.Trump spoke in Georgia on 4 January, in support of two Republican senators in run-off elections and to advance his lie about electoral fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden.Two days later, on 6 January, Trump told supporters in Washington to “fight like hell” to overturn the election. Five people died in the ensuing attack on the US Capitol. More than 100 police officers were hurt.The complaint said Welnicki’s threats continued in the autumn of 2021, when he likened Trump to Adolf Hitler and referred to Trump’s children.On 2 December 2021, he allegedly told the Secret Service: “The new civil war could break out and taking up arms against the government is justified when ballots don’t matter.”Trump was given the codename “Mogul” by the Secret Service – and was the subject of security scares.In June 2016, for example, a British man was arrested at a rally in Las Vegas after trying to steal a police officer’s gun. The man told police his aim had been to kill Trump, then a candidate for president.In March 2017, an intruder who said he hoped to speak to Trump breached the White House walls via the US treasury.TopicsDonald TrumpUS politicsNew YorknewsReuse this content More

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      Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announces positive Covid test

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      Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announces positive Covid testProgressive congresswoman ‘experiencing symptoms’Office says political star had booster vaccine shot last year The Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for Covid-19.Biden health chief endures Fox News grilling over mixed Covid messagingRead moreIn a statement on Sunday evening, the office of the New York progressive said she was “experiencing symptoms and recovering at home.“The congresswoman received her booster shot this fall and encourages everyone to get their booster and follow all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance”.New York is experiencing a huge surge of Covid cases linked to the Omicron variant, placing strain on hospitals and public health resources.The city has posted high rates of vaccination.Earlier, in an interview on Fox News Sunday, the director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky, was asked about the severity of the Omicron variant compared to the Delta variant.Walensky said: “We are starting to see data from other countries that indicate on a person-by-person basis it may not be. However, given the volume of cases that we’re seeing with Omicron we very well may see death rates rise dramatically.”According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 837,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the US. Around two-thirds of the eligible population is considered fully vaccinated but resistance to public health measures stoked by conservative politicians and media has dogged the federal response.Walensky also emphasised the importance of vaccination and booster shots, saying: “We have seen with the Omicron variant that prior infection protects you less well than it had … with prior variants.“Right now, I think the most important thing to do is to protect Americans. We do that by getting them vaccinated and getting them boosted.”TopicsAlexandria Ocasio-CortezCoronavirusNew YorkUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      New York will allow non-citizens to vote under controversial law

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      New York will allow non-citizens to vote under controversial law A watershed moment for the most populous US city as opponents vow to challenge the law More than 800,000 non-citizens and “Dreamers” could vote in New York City municipal elections as early as next year, after Mayor Eric Adams allowed legislation to become law on Sunday.Opponents have vowed to challenge the law, which the city council approved a month ago. Unless a judge halts its implementation, New York is the first major US city to grant widespread municipal voting rights to non-citizens.More than a dozen communities across the US allow non-citizens to vote in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont. Non-citizens cannot vote for president or Congress, or in state elections.The New York board of elections must begin an implementation plan by July, including registration rules and provisions to create separate ballots for municipal races.New York mayor Eric Adams faces nepotism claim over job for brotherRead moreIt’s a watershed moment for the most populous US city, where legally documented non-citizens comprise nearly one in nine of 7 million voting-age inhabitants. The movement to win voting rights for non-citizens prevailed after numerous setbacks.The measure would allow non-citizens who have been lawful permanent residents of the city for at least 30 days, as well as those authorized to work in the US, including Dreamers, to help select the mayor, council members, borough presidents, comptroller and public advocate.Dreamers are young migrants brought to the US illegally as children who would benefit from the never-passed Dream Act, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows them to remain in the US if they meet certain criteria.The first elections in which non-citizens would be allowed to vote are in 2023.“We build a stronger democracy when we include the voices of immigrants,” said former council member Ydanis Rodriguez, who led the charge for the legislation.Rodriguez, who Adams appointed transportation commissioner, thanked the mayor for his support and expects a vigorous defense against any legal challenges.Adams raised concern about the month-long residency standard, but later said those concerns did not mean he would veto the bill. While there was some question whether Adams could stop the bill, a 30-day time limit to take action expired at the stroke of midnight.Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Adams said: “I did not change my mind. I supported the concept of the bill. The one aspect of that I had a problem with and I thought was problematic was the 30-day part.“… I’m a big believer in conversation, we have to start talking to each other and not at each other. And after hearing [colleagues’] rationale and their theories behind it, I thought it was more important to not veto the bill.”Adams added: “In New York City, 47% of Brooklyn speak a language other than English at home. And so I think it’s imperative that people who are in a local municipality have the right to decide who’s going to govern them, and I support the overall concept of that bill.”Former mayor Bill de Blasio had similar concerns to Adams but did not move to veto the measure before vacating City Hall at the end of the year.Opponents say the council lacks the authority on its own to grant voting rights to noncitizens and should have first sought action by state lawmakers.Some states, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado and Florida, have adopted rules that would preempt any attempts to pass laws like the one in New York City.Asked what he would say to people who say the bill “makes a mockery of the idea of American citizenship”, Adams told CNN: “You know, membership has its privileges.“Being a member of what we call United States of America is a great privilege and I would tell them to keep doing it … don’t let anything take you away from that mission. This legislation is not going to do that. Keep becoming a citizen of this country.”TopicsNew YorkEric AdamsUS politicsUS immigrationnewsReuse this content More

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      Progressives concerned as Eric Adams takes helm as New York mayor

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      Progressives concerned as Eric Adams takes helm as New York mayorHomelessness, safe housing, police brutality and racial injustice – does Bill de Blasio’s replacement have the policies to fix them? For many New Yorkers, the inauguration of Eric Adams as the 110th mayor of New York City – and only the second Black person to serve in the position – has evoked a range of feelings, from excitement at the possibility of change to confusion and concern.‘Generals don’t lead from the back’: New York mayor Eric Adams seeks bold start Read moreAdams’ rise through city and state politics was fairly typical. In addition to serving as a New York police captain, he was the Brooklyn borough president and a state senator. But he remains an unconventional, even enigmatic figure. There are questions surrounding his home address and curiosity about his plant-based diet, but information about his actual policies remain scarce.“Where Eric Adams has thrived, in many ways, is in really failing to lay out a vision,” said Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the New York Working Families party. “His transition has been defined by personality, less [by] an agenda for the city.”Progressives and advocates working across multiple sectors have voiced concerns at the slow emergence of Adams’ plans and priorities, and worry about positions he has taken including increasing the use of the heavily criticized “stop-and-frisk” policy and resurrecting plainclothes policemen units.Adams’ ascent comes at a crucial time in New York history, as the city seeks to emerge from the pandemic and the economic and social chaos that has come with it.New York’s ballooning homelessness crisis, primarily caused by a lack of affordable housing, is one of the largest issues Adam must contend with. In 2020, more than 120,000 people, including children, slept in the New York municipal shelter system, with homelessness reaching the highest levels since the Great Depression.Covid presented additional challenges, spreading rapidly among homeless populations.Advocates have widely supported Adams’ priority of increasing permanent, affordable housing in a city which has some of America’s most expensive rents. But many have raised concerns about Adams’ main plan: converting 25,000 hotel rooms into permanent apartments, noting zoning and conversion requirements many hotels do not meet.Public housing, managed by the New York Public Housing Association, is another area where Adams has faced pushback. Adams supports privatizing public housing units as well as selling air rights above public housing units. Activists have said such actions, presented as an opportunity to raise capital for blighted buildings, are ineffective and that oversight for private landlords when it comes to addressing housing issues like mold and lead paint would become even more difficult.“His focus is going to be on his big-money donors. That’s been his track record all along. That’s not a secret,” said Fight for NYCHA core member Louis Flores.“We expect him to continue down that road, and for public housing that he’s going to support policies that benefit the real estate development industry at the expense of the public housing residents.”Slice of life: New York’s famed $1 street pizza under threat from rising costsRead moreDespite ambiguities around some of Adams’ plans for addressing homelessness, some experts are hopeful delays in appointments – and Adams’ reputation for flexibility – could be an opportunity for his administration to receive input from community leaders on how to address the crisis, including through the creation of a deputy to oversee homelessness and affordable housing.”Having a bit more of a deliberative process is ultimately going to be more impactful than coming out on day one with an ambitious target for the number of units of affordable housing that should be created that might not actually have the impact of reducing homelessness and housing insecurity,” said Jacquelyn Simone, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless.Proposed changes to policing are another point of tension.Adams, who has described assault at the hands of an NYPD officer as inspiration for joining public service, has faced criticism for his plans to resurrect controversial plainclothes units, an anti-crime department in the NYPD involved in a number of shootings, and increase use of stop-and-frisk, a policy critics have condemned as racially discriminatory.While Adams and his newly appointed NYPD commissioner, Keechant Sewell, the first Black woman to lead the department, have supported these policies and vowed to use properly trained, “emotionally intelligent” officers, progressive have argued that previous training attempts have failed, with many officers continually excused for misconduct.“What does the emotional intelligence of an officer matter if he’s got you up against the wall, patting you down,” said Kesi Foster, a lead organizer with the nonprofit Make the Road New York and a steering committee member with Communities United for Police Reform.Simone said: “The ways to solve unsheltered homelessness is not through policing and pushing people from one corner to another.”Other policing initiatives Adams has sponsored have met criticism, specifically when it comes to New York’s troubled jail system.While Adams has publicly supported closing down Rikers Island, a jail with notoriously poor conditions where several people have died in pre-trial custody, he has also promised to bring back solitary confinement to Rikers, reversing a previous ban on a practice several experts have called “inhumane”.Eric Adams sworn in as mayor of New York CityRead moreAdams has publicly opposed bail reform measures, meant to curtail pre-trial detention but rolled back, citing debunked claims that releases have spurred increases in crime.“Changing the bail bill is not going to achieve the outcome the mayor wants. We’re hoping that we can convince him of that during his tenure,” said Marie Ndiaye, supervising attorney of the Decarceration Project at the Legal Aid Society.“Getting wishy-washy on bail reform is pretty scary because there’s a pretty linear correlation between the rollbacks and the jail population increasing,” said Sara Rahimi of the nonprofit Emergency Release Fund.In general, advocates contend there is more to be learned about Adams as more appointments are made, but given his comments so far, many are approaching the mayor-elect with caution and timid hope of being able to advance progressive policy.“Cautiously optimistic and cautiously pessimistic all at once would be the way to go there,” said Ndiaye.TopicsNew YorkUS politicsUS policingUS crimeUS domestic policyHomelessnessHousingnewsReuse this content More

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      ‘Generals don’t lead from the back’: New York mayor Eric Adams seeks bold start

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      ‘Generals don’t lead from the back’: New York mayor Eric Adams seeks bold start Significant challenges await the newly sworn-in leader of the most populous US city Eric Adams’s first two days in office would resonate with any weary New York commuter: a subway ride featuring a brawl requiring the attendance of police, then the challenge of negotiating Manhattan traffic on a rented bike.Fauci agrees hospitalization figures a better guide to Omicron than case count Read more“This is an amazing city,” the new mayor told ABC on Sunday. “You know, riding a city bike in, taking the train in, interacting with New Yorkers: generals don’t lead their troops from the back.“They lead their troops from the front. I’m going to lead my city into this victory from the front. And people tell me this is a difficult job. Darn it, I want it to be a difficult job.”Significant challenges await the newly sworn-in leader of the most populous US city, a Democrat who trounced the Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa in November to become New York’s second Black mayor after David Dinkins, who was in office from 1990 to 1993.“New York can and should be the center of the universe again,” said Adams in an inaugural address themed largely around getting to grips with an Omicron-fueled coronavirus surge that has slowed parts of the city to a crawl.The police and fire departments are reporting sickness rates of around 20% and three subway lines have been suspended because of staff shortages.Adams succeeds as mayor Bill de Blasio, another Democrat who despite becoming hugely unpopular has signalled a run for governor.The city, the new mayor said, had endured “two years of continuous crisis, and that insults our very nature as New Yorkers”.On Saturday, hours after his midnight swearing-in ceremony in Times Square, the 61-year-old rode the subway to work, greeting residents and calling 911 to report a brawl between three men.By the time officers arrived, the fight – witnessed by reporters accompanying the mayor – was over. Adams, a cop himself for 22 years, said he wished police had stuck around longer.On Sunday he was up early again, cycling to City Hall and an appearance on ABC’s This Week in which he called on New Yorkers to get vaccinated and boosted.“It’s going to prevent you from dying,” he said. “It’s going to alleviate the possibility of you being hospitalised and going on a ventilator.“To those who are not vaccinated: ‘Stop it. It’s time to get vaccinated. It’s time to have the booster shots. You’re endangering yourself and you’re endangering the public and your family as well’.”Adams, who is keeping de Blasio’s vaccine mandate for private employers, said consideration of a booster mandate for city employees including cops, firefighters and sanitation workers was “our next move and decision”.His host, George Stephanopoulos, challenged Adams on his campaign pledge to tackle soaring crime rates, especially gun violence.“The balance is not just heavy-handed policing, it’s public safety and justice,” Adams said.“We’re going to go after gangs, we’re going to take down some of the large gangs in our city. We’re going to zero in on gangs. We’re going to reinstitute a plainclothes anti-gun unit and zero in on those guns.”TopicsNew YorkCoronavirusUS policingUS crimeUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      New York presses ahead with New Year’s Eve party despite record Covid cases

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      New York presses ahead with New Year’s Eve party despite record Covid cases ‘We’re fighting our way through this,’ says outgoing mayor Bill de Blasio, but decision is in contrast to public health messaging New York City’s leaders are pushing ahead with plans for the annual New Year’s Eve party in Times Square despite record numbers of new Covid infections driven by the Omicron variant.Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is set to step down at midnight on Saturday, told NBC’s Today show that pressing ahead with the public celebration would show “that we’re moving forward, and we want to show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this.“It’s really important to not give up in the face of this,” he added.De Blasio has already scaled back celebrations from the “full-strength” celebration he originally approved. Crowds will be limited to 15,000, down from 60,000 pre-pandemic, and everyone who enters must wear a mask.But the decision to press ahead comes in contrast to public health messaging from Washington and decisions in other large, populous cities, including San Francisco and Atlanta, to cancel their events.On Wednesday, White House health advisor Dr Anthony Fauci said he approved of small, at-home New Year’s Eve gatherings among vaccinated and boosted individuals but urged Americans to cancel plans to attend larger gatherings.“If your plans are to go to a 40- to 50-person New Year’s Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, I would strongly recommend that this year we do not do that,” Fauci said at a Covid-19 briefing.De Blasio said Thursday: “Our health-care leadership believes this is the right way to do it.” He said his administration had not held discussions about canceling or reducing the “ball drop” event further.“We’ve got to send a message to the world. New York City is open,” he said, adding that the festivities at Times Square would “show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this”.Incoming mayor Eric Adams cancelled his inauguration party, but is still scheduled to take his oath in Times Square soon after the ball drop. He expressed hope on Thursday that 2022 would be “a new beginning of our resiliency”.New York governor Kathy Hochul released figures on Thursday showing that the city, state and country are all breaking records for newly confirmed Covid-19 infections. New York state has set a new high in the average number of daily reported cases for the last 11 days.Across the state, more than 7,700 are currently hospitalized with the virus and the number is increasing. The city reported a record number of new, confirmed cases – more than 39,590 – on Tuesday, according to New York state figures.“As we approach the New Year it is vitally important that we don’t let our guard down in our fight against the pandemic,” Hochul said. “We have the tools and we know what works – mask up, get vaccinated, get boosted, and exercise caution in large gatherings, especially this weekend.”The decision to press on with the Times Square party has received criticism from other elected officials. Mark Levine, who takes over as Manhattan borough president tonight, called for the event to be cancelled.“We are not doing enough to slow this,” he said on Twitter. “Now is the time to act. Time is of the essence.”That warning comes as one fifth of the city’s police force is out due to virus infections, according to NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea.Kelly Doran, an emergency physician with NYU Langone, tweeted: “Pretty unreal to me that NYC is still holding its big New Year’s Eve bash tomorrow when Covid cases are higher than ever, hospitals are having to call in visiting help & cancel elective surgeries, and FDNY is pleading with the public not to call 911.”As many as 20% of the city’s restaurants and bars are temporarily shuttered and owners report a sharp drop in trade. On Thursday, some of the thousands of tourists visiting the city for New Year said they were not unduly inconvenienced by the sharp rise in Covid infections.“We prefer to go to places where there are less people. On New Year’s eve we will stay in our hotel,” said Antonio Palmeri, visiting from Turin with friends. “But it is our dream to be in New York so we are happy to be here.”Tourists visiting the bronze charging bull on lower Wall Street on Friday said while they were anxious about the number of cases, they wanted to continue enjoying their visits.“The reality is that everyone is fatigued by the pandemic, and at this point everyone knows they should be doing what they can to stay safe, but at this point we’re in a fuck it phase,” said Ben Martin, visiting from Boston.“If the government is telling us to be less careful by cutting quarantine times in half, and we should go back to work, we’re all in the space of like whatever…We don’t have the energy to keep stressing as much.”TopicsNew YorkBill de BlasioUS politicsCoronavirusOmicron variantnewsReuse this content More

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      New York attorney general vows Trump investigation will proceed ‘undeterred’

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      New York attorney general vows Trump investigation will proceed ‘undeterred’Former president sues Letitia James on grounds of political bias in effort to halt inquiry into his business affairs

      Trump unnerved as Capitol attack investigation closes in
      The New York attorney general, Letitia James, said on Monday her investigation of Donald Trump’s business affairs would continue “undeterred”, despite Trump suing to stop it on grounds of political bias, “because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump”.How Trump’s $50m golf club became $1.4m when it came time to pay taxRead moreThe New York Times first reported Trump’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Syracuse, New York. It alleges that James, a Democrat, “is guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent”.James is investigating whether the Trump Organization manipulated valuations of its real estate properties.In one such instance, as Trump ran for president in 2016, the Guardian reported on differing valuations of a golf club outside New York City. The headline: How Trump’s $50m golf club became $1.4m when it came time to pay tax.The Washington Post and other outlets have reported similar alleged practices at other Trump properties.Last year, investigators working for James interviewed Eric Trump, one of the former president’s sons and a Trump Organization executive. James went to court to enforce a subpoena and a judge forced the younger Trump to testify, after his lawyers canceled a deposition.In an investigation that could only result in civil charges, James recently said she would seek to question Donald Trump under oath.It is rare for law enforcement agencies to issue a civil subpoena for testimony from a person also the subject of a related criminal investigation, partly because the person could simply cite their fifth amendment right to remain silent.It is unlikely Trump’s lawyers would allow him to be deposed unless they were sure his testimony could not be used against him in a criminal case.Trump’s business and tax affairs are also the subject of a criminal investigation run by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, which has been in progress for more than three years. James joined that investigation in May.The Manhattan case includes a focus on whether the Trump Organization overstated the value of some real estate assets to obtain loans and tax benefits.In their lawsuit against James, who recently announced a run for governor of New York before stepping back, Trump and the Trump Organization claim the attorney general has violated their rights under the US constitution by pursuing a politically motivated investigation.Trump and the company pointed to public statements James made before she was elected as attorney general.The lawsuit also made a plainly political play of its own, echoing Trump’s language in office and on the campaign trail when it said: “Rather than diligently prosecuting actual crimes in the state of New York – which are steadily on the rise – James has instead allocated precious taxpayer resources towards a frivolous witch hunt.”Trump and the Trump Organization are seeking a court order barring the investigation from going forward.In a statement, Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said: “By filing this lawsuit, we intend to not only hold her accountable for her blatant constitutional violations, but to stop her bitter crusade to punish her political opponent in its tracks.”In her own statement, James said: “The Trump Organization has continually sought to delay our investigation into its business dealings and now Donald Trump and his namesake company have filed a lawsuit as an attempted collateral attack on that investigation.“To be clear, neither Mr Trump nor the Trump Organization get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions. Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump.”James also noted that in August 2020 she “filed a motion to compel the Trump Organization to provide … documents and testimony from multiple witnesses regarding several, specific Trump Organization properties and transactions.“Since then, the court has ruled in Attorney General James’ favor multiple times.”Last month, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen – who served a three-year sentence for offences including campaign finance violations relating to a payoff to the porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims an affair with Trump – was asked about the prospect of Trump being indicted in the criminal investigation in Manhattan.Cohen said he was confident prosecutors could “indict Donald Trump tomorrow if they really wanted and be successful”.Asked if he was “confident you did help Donald Trump commit crimes”, Cohen told NBC: “I can assure you that Donald Trump is guilty of his own crimes. Was I involved in much of the inflation and deflation of his assets? The answer to that is yes.”In July, the longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in what a prosecutor in Vance’s office called a “sweeping and audacious” 15-year tax fraud.TopicsDonald TrumpUS politicsNew YorkUS taxationnewsReuse this content More