Tuesday, Mar 21st
Last update06:22:53 AM GMT
Political Glance
Four members of the far-right group known as the Oath Keepers have been convicted for their roles in the deadly Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, as the United States government continues to pursue criminal charges against participants.
Oath Keeper associates Sandra Ruth Parker, Laura Steele, Connie Meggs and William Isaacs were found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding and various other felony and misdemeanour charges on Monday. They face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Robert Costello, a lawyer who had a falling out with the star government witness in the Trump investigation, arrived Monday afternoon at the building where the grand jury has been meeting after being invited to appear before the panel. His testimony was expected to give the former president an indirect opportunity to make a case that he shouldn't face criminal charges over hush money paid to a porn star during his 2016 campaign.
Donald Trump is bracing for his most legally perilous week since he left the White House, with the Manhattan district attorney likely to bring criminal charges against him over his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, as he huddled this weekend to strategize his legal and political responses.
The former US president has posted in all-caps on his Truth Social platform that he expected to be “ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK” and called for his supporters to engage in protests – an ominous echo of his tweets urging protests in the lead-up to the January 6 US Capitol attack.
Trump’s post was nothing more than guesswork about when Alvin Bragg might bring charges, sources close to Trump said, after he saw media reporting that the district attorney’s office had contacted the US secret service about security in the event of an indictment.
A new judge took over leadership of the U.S. trial court in Washington on Friday, inheriting oversight of secret proceedings involving special counsel criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump's retention of classified documents and efforts by him and his allies to undo his 2020 election loss.
James "Jeb" Boasberg became chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, replacing Judge Beryl Howell as her seven-year term comes to an end.
The chief judge has sole discretion over sealed federal grand jury proceedings. That means Boasberg immediately takes over responsibility for handling certain issues that may arise in the special counsel investigations involving Trump, who in November announced he was seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Top executives at Donald Trump’s social media company started to become concerned last spring about $8m that they had accepted from opaque entities in two emergency loans when its auditors sought further details about the payments, according to documents, emails and sources familiar with the matter.
The payments had come at a critical time for Trump Media – which runs the Truth Social platform – because it was running out of cash after its planned merger with a blank check company known as DWAC that would have unlocked $1.3bn in capital stalled pending an SEC investigation.
But the financing, which came in the form of a $2m loan from an entity called Paxum Bank registered in Dominica in December 2021 and a $6m loan from an entity called ES Family Trust in February 2022, had been arranged in a hurry and Trump Media knew next to nothing about the emergency lenders.
Testimony from former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged for the payment and already has been convicted and served prison time, could help bring the first charges in history against a former president.
Trump's advisers Tuesday made clear they had no specific knowledge of the timing of any possible indictment, even as the former president made the comments on Truth Social, the social media network he founded.
Danielle Filson, a spokesperson for Manhattan's District Attorney's office, declined to comment on the former president's statement.
Donald Trump’s main lawyer involved in turning over classified-marked documents at the Mar-a-Lago resort to the justice department last year must provide additional testimony in the criminal investigation, a top federal judge ruled on Friday, overriding his objections of attorney-client privilege protections.
The ruling marks a major moment in the investigation into Trump’s unauthorized retention of national security materials and obstruction of justice that could open up new avenues of information to the special counsel overseeing the matter.
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