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Tag: Manhattan

  • House committee meets to discuss public release of Trump’s tax returns

    House committee meets to discuss public release of Trump’s tax returns

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    Washington — The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to publicly release years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which he has long tried to shield.

    Committee Chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat from Massachusetts, has kept a close hold on the panel’s actions, including whether the panel will meet in a public or private session. Minutes after the committee convened, it voted to go into a closed-door session to consider its next steps regarding the returns. The panel is expected to reopen the session for a final vote on next steps, and lawmakers agreed to release the transcript from its private session if any taxpayer information is released.

    If lawmakers move forward with plans to release the returns, it’s unclear how quickly that would happen. But after a yearslong battle that ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court clearing the way last month for the Treasury Department to send the returns to Congress, Democrats are under pressure to act aggressively. 

    The committee received six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses. And with just two weeks left until Republicans formally take control of the House, Tuesday’s meeting could be the last opportunity for Democrats to disclose whatever information they have gleaned.

    Before committee members convened to discuss the release of Trump’s tax information, Rep. Kevin Brady, the panel’s top Republican, said the consequences of making the returns public would extend beyond the former president.

    “Our concern is not whether the president should have made his tax returns public as is traditional, nor about the accuracy of his tax returns. That is for the IRS and the taxpayer for determine,” he said in a press conference. “Our concern is that if taken, this committee action will set a terrible precedent that unleashes a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond the former president and overturns decades of privacy protections for average Americans.”

    politics
    Reps. Richard Neal and Kevin Brady arrive for a House Ways and Means Committee hearing to discuss tax returns from former President Donald Trump and whether to make them public on Dec. 20, 2022.

    MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images


    Brady, of Texas, said that in the future, the heads of the Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee, which under federal law can request certain individuals’ tax returns, “will have nearly unlimited power to target and make public the tax returns of private citizens.”

    Trump has long had a complicated relationship with his personal income taxes.

    As a presidential candidate in 2016, he broke decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax forms to the public. He bragged during a presidential debate that year that he was “smart” because he paid no federal taxes and later claimed he wouldn’t personally benefit from the 2017 tax cuts he signed into law that favored people with extreme wealth, asking Americans to simply take him at his word.

    Tax records would have been a useful metric for judging his success in business. The image of a savvy businessman was key to a political brand honed during his years as a tabloid magnet and star of “The Apprentice” television show. They also could reveal any financial obligations — including foreign debts — that could influence how he governed.

    But Americans were largely in the dark about Trump’s relationship with the IRS until October 2018 and September 2020, when The New York Times published two separate series based on leaked tax records.

    The Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 articles showed how Trump received a modern equivalent of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate holdings, with much of that money coming from what the Times called “tax dodges” in the 1990s. Trump sued the Times and his niece, Mary Trump, in 2021 for providing the records to the newspaper. In November, Mary Trump asked an appeals court to overturn a judge’s decision to reject her claims that her uncle and two of his siblings defrauded her of millions of dollars in a 2001 family settlement.

    The 2020 articles showed that Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018. Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the past 15 years because he generally lost more money than he made.

    The articles exposed deep inequities in the U.S. tax code as Trump, a reputed multi-billionaire, paid little in federal income taxes. IRS figures indicate that the average tax filer paid roughly $12,200 in 2017, about 16 times more than the former president paid.

    Details about Trump’s income from foreign operations and debt levels were also contained in the tax filings, which the former president derided as “fake news.”

    At the time of the 2020 articles, Neal said he saw an ethical problem in Trump overseeing a federal agency that he has also battled with legal filings.

    “Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary,” Neal said in 2020. “It is essential that the IRS’s presidential audit program remain free of interference.”

    The Manhattan district attorney’s office also obtained copies of Trump’s tax records in February 2021 after after a protracted legal fight that included two trips to the Supreme Court.

    The office, then led by District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., had subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm in 2019, seeking access to eight years of Trump’s tax returns and related documents.

    The DA’s office issued the subpoena after Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress that Trump had misled tax officials, insurers and business associates about the value of his assets. Those allegations are the subject of a fraud lawsuit that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed against Trump and his company in September.

    Trump’s longtime accountant, Donald Bender, testified at the Trump Organization’s recent criminal trial that Trump reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010.

    Bender, a partner at Mazars USA LLP who spent years preparing Trump’s personal tax returns, said Trump’s reported losses from 2009 to 2018 included net operating losses from some of the many businesses he owns through his Trump Organization.

    The Trump Organization was convicted earlier this month on tax fraud charges for helping some executives dodge taxes on company-paid perks such as apartments and luxury cars.

    The current Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, told CBS News in an interview last week that his office’s investigation into Trump and his businesses continues.

    “We’re going to do our talking in the courtroom,” Bragg said. “We’re working everyday.”


    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg discusses Trump criminal probe

    07:40

    Trump, who refused to release his returns during his 2016 presidential campaign and his four years in the White House while claiming that he was under IRS audit, has argued there is little to be gleaned from the tax returns even as he has fought to keep them private.

    “You can’t learn much from tax returns, but it is illegal to release them if they are not yours!” he complained on his social media network last weekend.

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  • Central Park gate honors wrongly imprisoned ‘Exonerated 5’

    Central Park gate honors wrongly imprisoned ‘Exonerated 5’

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    NEW YORK — At a small patch of Central Park flanking New York’s Harlem neighborhood, scores came Monday to remember the injustice that imprisoned five Black and Latino teenagers after they were wrongly accused and convicted of the 1989 rape of a white jogger.

    They arrived in the chill of a late fall morning, some singing hymns, to dedicate a park entry to the men once known as the Central Park Five, but now remembered as the Exonerated Five.

    The entryway, located on the northern perimeter of the park between Fifth Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard, will be known as the “Gate of the Exonerated.” It commemorates the miscarriage of justice that not only befell the five men, organizers say, but the unknown others who might have been wrongly imprisoned.

    “This is a moment. This is legacy time,” said one of the men, Yusef Salaam.

    “We are here because we persevere,” he said to a cheering crowd.

    Monday was the first time Raymond Santana, another of the men, now in his 40s, has returned to Central Park since that fateful day 33 years ago.

    Santana was 14 and Salaam was 16 when they and three others — Kevin Richardson, 14; Korey Wise, 16; and Antron McCray, 15 — were wrongly tried for the rape of a 28-year-old woman, whose brutal attack left her with permanent injuries and no memory of the assault. The high-profile incident prompted police to round up Black and Brown men and boys in connection with the rape.

    “We were babies, who had no dealing with the law. Never knew what Miranda was,” said Santana, as he recounted a time of confusion when police rustled him up and began interrogating him.

    Matias Reyes, a murderer and serial rapist already in prison, would later confess to the crime.

    Soon after, the convictions of the Central Park Five were thrown out in 2002 after the men served six to 13 years in prison.

    “It needs to be known what we went through. We went to hell and back,” said Richardson. “We have these scars that nobody sees.”

    The three men — Wise and McCray could not attend — spoke about how the criminal justice system is stacked against people of color.

    The gate, they said, would stand as reminder of the injustice of the past but also of those still being committed today.

    “This is an important time right here — the Gate of the Exonerated, this is for everybody,” Richardson said. “Everybody that’s been wronged by cops.”

    The modest remembrance — words etched in stone on a waist-high wall — was years in the making.

    Other entrances to the park have been labeled to reflect groups of people who live and work in the city, with names like Artisans’ Gate, Scholars’ Gate and Strangers’ Gate.

    Mayor Eric Adams, who was just starting his career as a New York City police officer during the 1989 episode, arrived to the ceremony to pay tribute to the men.

    “To these soldiers here, you personify the Black male experience,” the mayor, who is also Black, said to the men.

    Alvin Bragg, who now leads the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, apologized for their ordeal.

    “The truth is we shouldn’t be here today,” he said, alluding to past mistakes.

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  • R. Kelly Manager Sentenced For Calling In Shooting Threat At Theater

    R. Kelly Manager Sentenced For Calling In Shooting Threat At Theater

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    NEW YORK (AP) — R. Kelly’s onetime manager was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for calling in a shooting threat that halted a screening of a damning documentary about the R&B star.

    The punishment won’t add to the time ex-manager Donnell Russell is already set to serve for a different effort to squelch sexual abuse claims against Kelly.

    Russell told a Manhattan federal judge Monday that he had “made bad judgments” while briefly working with the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer.

    “I’m not a horrible person,” Russell said.

    Russell said he reconnected with Kelly, a fellow Chicagoan he’d met decades earlier, as the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was facing a growing series of accusations that eventually fueled Kelly’s sex trafficking and racketeering conviction last year. Russell said he set out to help Kelly with intellectual property matters that he thought could yield the performer money to pay legal bills.

    But prosecutors said Russell also worked on something else: trying to suppress the abuse allegations. He tried to intimidate at least one accuser, threatened to sue over Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” series and eventually phoned in the warning that shut down the documentary’s 2018 Manhattan premiere, according to prosecutors.

    The series spotlighted allegations that Kelly had sexually abused women and girls. Some accusers were set to speak at a panel discussion after the premiere.

    The phone call claimed that someone at the event had a gun and intended to fire. The screening was canceled and the theater evacuated.

    “I was happy that it ended. I didn’t question how it ended,” Russell said in court Monday, adding that he recognizes that people have “a moral obligation” to make sure that things they get involved in are proper.

    Prosecutors linked Russell to the episode through phone records and a text he sent about police potentially arriving at the venue. At trial, his defense argued that there were lots of phone calls to the theater that day and that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove he committed a crime.

    A jury convicted Russell in July of threatening physical harm through interstate communication, while acquitting him of conspiracy.

    Days after the verdict, Russell pleaded guilty to an interstate stalking charge involving one of Kelly’s sexual abuse accusers. A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced Russell last month to 20 months in prison for conduct that included sending threatening messages to the woman and later publishing explicit photos of her online.

    Russell, 47, is due to turn himself in next year to serve his sentences in both cases simultaneously.

    At Monday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe said Russell had engaged in “serious criminal conduct” in “a misguided attempt to protect someone who was a prolific abuser.”

    Kelly was sentenced in June to 30 years in prison in his sex trafficking and racketeering case in Brooklyn federal court.

    In September, a Chicago federal jury convicted him of producing child pornography and enticing girls for sex, though jurors cleared him of a charge of rigging his state-level child pornography trial in 2008. He is set to be sentenced Feb. 23 in that case.

    Kelly also faces state-level charges in Chicago and in Minnesota related to sexual misconduct allegations. He has pleaded not guilty in Chicago. The singer has yet to be brought to Minnesota’s Hennepin County to answer the charges there, but one of his lawyers called the case “beyond absurd” when it was announced.

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  • Important Parcel Along Brooklyn’s Waterfront Signals Transformation Of Greenpoint

    Important Parcel Along Brooklyn’s Waterfront Signals Transformation Of Greenpoint

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    Every hipster knows that Brooklyn is what Manhattan used to be: the desired destination of young creative people. Now, one of the last major parcels along the East River that speaks of the area’s history is the site of a brilliant new building that evoke Greenpoint’s former life as a boat-building mecca.

    “This project is a deep dive into understanding the neighborhood, the anonymous builders of its warehouses, its nautical heritage and the many industries that supported the boat-building business,” says architect Morris Adjmi, the revered architect responsible for leading the revitalization of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg expansion. “To design this building was to gain an appreciation for the history and context of the area.”

    The residential building, called The Huron, places two towers atop a long, linear narrow footprint to form a nautical shape, like a ship with two smoke stacks.

    “Those two towers refer to history, but they also mean that there are far more units with views in the building,” Morris Adjmi explains. “The view is a wonderful aspect of the location: everyone who has visited the site with me has been blown away by the views.”

    Directly across the East River from central Manhattan, The Huron looks at the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and other Manhattan landmarks. The views also include the East River, Brooklyn and Queens.

    “All over the country, we have made efforts to revitalize our waterfronts,” Adjmi says. “A park along the river in front of the building is an example.”

    The city has also installed ferry stops along the Brooklyn waterfront.

    The Huron features 171 residences, from studio to four-bedroom for-sale apartments, with more than 23,000 square feet of private outdoor space among 67 residences.

    “Because there are a lot of corners in this building, there is a lot of outdoor space,” Adjmi says.

    The Huron contains a wealth of amenities totaling over 30,000 square feet. There is an 8,000-square-foot private park and playground above a brick podium base on the second level, coined the Treehouse Playground due to its elevation and a nod to its design. Two rooftops on the West Tower and the East Tower will offer some of the most enviable private outdoor amenity spaces in the New York City region with lounge furniture, commercial caliber BBQs, and a sprawling passive lawn ideal for picnics and sunsets. The 50-foot indoor saltwater pool overlooks the East River and Manhattan skyline. Additional amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center equipped with Peloton bikes, a Movement studio with full-length mirrors, a ballet bar, and TV, and men’s and women’s locker rooms with saunas. There will be a Resident Lounge with a pool table, fireplace and TV, a dining room complemented with a cozy fireplace and a catering pantry for entertaining, and a beautiful co-working area with pods, integrated booth seating, TV and conference table.

    Morris Adjmi designed the sophisticated spaces with hand-glazed tiles, marble mosaic and terrazzo flooring, and white oak paired with stripped-down elements such as blackened patinated metal. Furniture and materials in the amenities spaces were locally sourced by an array of Brooklyn artisans.

    On the second level is an elevated private park, featuring passive and active recreation for children. The Explorer’s Room, a children’s playroom, is stocked with KiwiCo crates and kid’s furniture, and the Nook, a casual hangout, is outfitted with table games, state-of-the-art TV, and comfy seating.

    The Huron will offer 24-hour concierge service in a dramatic arrival lobby with a featuring a pink Onyx countertop and woven leather. Ample storage includes a package room with refrigerated space, bike storage and additional storage space. There is an attended parking garage on-site and a pet wash.

    Greenpoint is situated on the northernmost point in Brooklyn, north of Williamsburg and south of Long Island City. The Huron is approximately 25 minutes to Midtown Manhattan. The Greenpoint Ferry stop and the G train are minutes away.

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    Regina Cole, Contributor

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  • R. Kelly manager gets a year in prison for theater threat

    R. Kelly manager gets a year in prison for theater threat

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    NEW YORK — R. Kelly’s onetime manager was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for calling in a shooting threat that halted a screening of a damning documentary about the R&B star.

    The punishment won’t add to the time ex-manager Donnell Russell is already set to serve for a different effort to squelch sexual abuse claims against Kelly.

    Russell told a Manhattan federal judge Monday that he had “made bad judgments” while briefly working with the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer.

    “I’m not a horrible person,” Russell said.

    Russell said he reconnected with Kelly, a fellow Chicagoan he’d met decades earlier, as the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was facing a growing series of accusations that eventually fueled Kelly’s sex trafficking and racketeering conviction last year. Russell said he set out to help Kelly with intellectual property matters that he thought could yield the performer money to pay legal bills.

    But prosecutors said Russell also worked on something else: trying to suppress the abuse allegations. He tried to intimidate at least one accuser, threatened to sue over Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” series and eventually phoned in the warning that shut down the documentary’s 2018 Manhattan premiere, according to prosecutors.

    The series spotlighted allegations that Kelly had sexually abused women and girls. Some accusers were set to speak at a panel discussion after the premiere.

    The phone call claimed that someone at the event had a gun and intended to fire. The screening was canceled and the theater evacuated.

    “I was happy that it ended. I didn’t question how it ended,” Russell said in court Monday, adding that he recognizes that people have “a moral obligation” to make sure that things they get involved in are proper.

    Prosecutors linked Russell to the episode through phone records and a text he sent about police potentially arriving at the venue. At trial, his defense argued that there were lots of phone calls to the theater that day and that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove he committed a crime.

    A jury convicted Russell in July of threatening physical harm through interstate communication, while acquitting him of conspiracy.

    Days after the verdict, Russell pleaded guilty to an interstate stalking charge involving one of Kelly’s sexual abuse accusers. A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced Russell last month to 20 months in prison for conduct that included sending threatening messages to the woman and later publishing explicit photos of her online.

    Russell, 47, is due to turn himself in next year to serve his sentences in both cases simultaneously.

    At Monday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe said Russell had engaged in “serious criminal conduct” in “a misguided attempt to protect someone who was a prolific abuser.”

    Kelly was sentenced in June to 30 years in prison in his sex trafficking and racketeering case in Brooklyn federal court.

    In September, a Chicago federal jury convicted him of producing child pornography and enticing girls for sex, though jurors cleared him of a charge of rigging his state-level child pornography trial in 2008. He is set to be sentenced Feb. 23 in that case.

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  • The latest on Donald Trump’s many legal clouds | CNN Politics

    The latest on Donald Trump’s many legal clouds | CNN Politics

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    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    Former President Donald Trump has been campaigning in between his many different court appearances for much of the year.

    But his decision to attend the first day of his $250 million civil fraud trial in New York created another opportunity to appear on camera from inside a courtroom when the judge allowed photographers to document the moment before proceedings got underway.

    Keeping track of the dizzying array of civil and criminal cases is a full-time job.

    He is charged with crimes related to conduct:

    • Before his presidency – a hush money scheme that may have helped him win the White House in 2016.
    • During his presidency – his effort to stay in the White House by overturning the 2020 election.
    • After his presidency – his treatment of classified material and alleged attempts to hide it from the National Archives.

    Trump denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty in all of the criminal cases. He alleges a “witch hunt” against him. But each trial has its own distinct storyline to follow.

    Here’s an updated list of developments in Trump’s very complicated set of court cases, beginning with the one playing out in Manhattan this week.

    The civil fraud trial, unlike Trump’s multiple criminal indictments, does not carry the danger of a felony conviction and jail time, but it could very well cost him some of his most prized possessions, including Trump Tower.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the $250 million lawsuit in September 2022, alleging that Trump and his co-defendants committed repeated fraud in inflating assets on financial statements to get better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.

    Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his adult sons are liable for fraud for inflating the value of his golf courses, hotels and homes on financial statements to secure loans.

    The trial portion of the case, playing out in court in Manhattan, will assess what damages will be levied against Trump and how Engoron’s decision to strip Trump of his New York business licenses will play out.

    In May, a federal jury in Manhattan found Trump sexually abused former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and awarded her about $5 million.

    A separate civil defamation lawsuit will only need to decide how much money Trump has to pay her. That case for January 15 – the same day Iowa Republicans will hold their caucuses, the first date on the presidential primary calendar.

    In August, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election. The former president was arraigned in a Washington, DC, courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty.

    The case is based in part on a scheme to create slates of fake electors in key states won by President Joe Biden.

    In late September, Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s request that she recuse herself from the case. Chutkan, a Barack Obama appointee, has overseen civil and criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, insurrection and has repeatedly exceeded what prosecutors have requested for convicted rioters’ prison sentences.

    Chutkan set the trial’s start date for March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday, when the largest batch of presidential primaries will occur. The trial marks the first of Trump’s criminal cases expected to proceed.

    Trump has been charged in Manhattan criminal court with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his role in a hush money payment scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels late in the 2016 presidential campaign.

    The former president pleaded not guilty at his April arraignment in Manhattan.

    Prosecutors, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accuse Trump of falsifying business records with the intent to conceal $130,000 in payments to Daniels made by former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to guarantee her silence about an alleged affair.

    Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

    The trial was originally scheduled to begin in late March 2024, but Judge Juan Merchan has suggested the date could move. The next court date is scheduled for February.

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is using racketeering violations to charge a broad criminal conspiracy against Trump and 18 others in their efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia.

    The probe was launched in 2021 following Trump’s call that January with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the president pushed the Republican official to “find” votes to overturn the election results.

    The August indictment also includes how Trump’s team allegedly misled state officials in Georgia; organized fake electors; harassed an election worker; and breached election equipment in rural Coffee County, Georgia.

    One co-defendant, bail bondsman Scott Hall, has pleaded guilty to five counts in the case.

    Fulton County prosecutors have signaled they could offer plea deals to other co-defendants.

    Willis this week issued a subpoena to former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, a Trump ally, who in turn demanded an immunity deal in exchange for testimony.

    Trial for two co-defendants is expected to begin this month and could last three to five months. A trial date has not been set for Trump, who has pleaded not guilty.

    Federal criminal court in Florida: Mishandling classified material

    Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges brought by Smith over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Smith added three additional counts in a superseding indictment.

    The investigation centers on sensitive documents that Trump brought to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after his White House term ended in January 2021.

    The National Archives, charged with collecting and sorting presidential material, has previously said that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from Mar-a-Lago, including some classified records.

    Trump was also caught on tape in a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the former president discussed holding secret documents he did not declassify.

    Smith’s additional charges allege that Trump and his employees attempted to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage sought by the grand jury investigating the mishandling of the records.

    Trial is not expected until May, after most presidential primaries have concluded.

    There are other cases to note:

    Trump’s namesake business, the Trump Organization, was convicted in December by a New York jury of tax fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records in what prosecutors say was a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation provided to employees.

    Manhattan prosecutors told a jury the case was about “greed and cheating,” laying out a scheme within the Trump Organization to pay high-level executives in perks such as luxury cars and apartments without paying taxes on them.

    Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to his role in the tax scheme. He was released after serving four months in jail at Rikers Island.

    Several members of the US Capitol Police and Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police are suing Trump, saying his words and actions incited the 2021 riot.

    The various cases accuse Trump of directing assault and battery; aiding and abetting assault and battery; and violating Washington laws that prohibit the incitement of riots and disorderly conduct.

    In August, Trump requested to put on hold the lawsuit related to the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, citing his various criminal trials. The estate of Sicknick, who died after responding to the attack on the Capitol, is suing two rioters involved in the attack and Trump for his alleged role in egging it on.

    Other lawsuits have been put on hold while a federal appeals court considers whether Trump had absolute immunity as the sitting president.

    Former top FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, who was fired in 2018 after the revelation that he criticized Trump in text messages, sued the Justice Department, alleging he was terminated improperly.

    In summer 2017, former special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election after an internal investigation revealed texts with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page that could be read as exhibiting political bias.

    Strzok and Page were constant targets of verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, part of the larger ire the then-president expressed toward the FBI during the Russia investigation. Trump repeatedly and publicly called for Strzok’s ouster until he was fired in August 2018.

    Trump is set to be deposed this month as part of the case, according to Politico.

    A federal judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, several ex-FBI officials and more than two dozen other people and entities that he claims conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign with fabricated information tying him to Russia.

    “What (Trump’s lawsuit) lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,” US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote.

    Trump appealed the decision, but Middlebrooks also ruled that the former president and his attorneys are liable for nearly $1 million in sanctions for bringing the case.

    Trump launched a Hail Mary bid in July to revive the sprawling lawsuit, relying on a recent report from special counsel John Durham that criticized the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.

    Trump’s former lawyer Cohen sued Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and others, alleging they put him back in jail to prevent him from promoting his upcoming book while under home confinement.

    Cohen was serving the remainder of his sentence for lying to Congress and campaign violations at home, due to Covid-19 concerns, when he started an anti-Trump social media campaign in summer 2020. Cohen said that he was sent back to prison in retaliation and that he spent 16 days in solitary confinement.

    A federal judge threw out the lawsuit in November. District Judge Lewis Liman said he was empathetic to Cohen’s position but that Supreme Court precedent bars him from allowing the case to move forward.

    Trump sued journalist Bob Woodward in January for alleged copyright violations, claiming Woodward released audio from their interviews without Trump’s consent.

    Woodward and publisher Simon & Schuster said Trump’s case is without merit and moved for its dismissal.

    Woodward conducted several interviews with Trump for his book “Rage,” published in September 2020. Woodward later released “The Trump Tapes,” an audiobook featuring eight hours of raw interviews with Trump interspersed with the author’s commentary.

    Trump-filed lawsuits: The New York Times, Mary Trump and CNN

    The former president is suing his niece and The New York Times in New York state court over the disclosure of his tax information.

    A New York judge dismissed The New York Times from Trump’s lawsuit regarding disclosure of his tax returns and ordered Trump to pay the newspaper’s legal fees. Trump is still suing his niece Mary Trump for disclosure of the tax documents. She had tried to sue him for defrauding her out of millions after the death of his father, but the suit was dismissed.

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  • Prosecutor: Evidence shows Trump ‘explicitly’ OK’d tax fraud

    Prosecutor: Evidence shows Trump ‘explicitly’ OK’d tax fraud

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    NEW YORK (AP) — In the end, it wasn’t a last-minute smoking gun but a prosecutor insisting that evidence shows Donald Trump was aware of a scheme that his Trump Organization’s executives hatched to avoid paying personal income taxes on millions of dollars worth of company-paid perks.

    After telling jurors on Thursday that Trump “knew exactly what was going on” with the scheme, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joshua Steinglass followed up by citing trial evidence and testimony that he said made clear “Mr. Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud.”

    Steinglass, speaking on the last day before deliberations at the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud, showed jurors a lease Trump signed for one executive’s Manhattan apartment and a memo the former president initialed authorizing a pay cut for another executive who got perks.

    He also cited Weisselberg’s claim, during his three days of testimony, that he told Trump he would pay him back after Trump agreed to cover his grandchildren’s hefty private school tuition cost. Weisselberg then adjusted his payroll records to cut his pre-tax salary by the cost of the tuition.

    “I mention this all to show that this whole narrative that Mr. Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real,” Steinglass said.

    Trump himself is not on trial, as Steinglass reminded jurors, but Judge Juan Manuel Merchan gave him the green light to talk about Trump’s possible awareness of the scheme after the company’s lawyers, in their summations, claimed that Trump knew nothing about it.

    Trump has denied knowing that Weisselberg and other executives were dodging taxes, writing on his Truth Social platform this week: “There was no gain for ‘Trump,’ and we had no knowledge of it.”

    After Steinglass finished Friday, Trump Organization lawyer Michael van der Veen asked Merchan to declare a mistrial, arguing that the prosecutor had irreparably harmed the defense by effectively portraying Trump as a co-conspirator in the tax fraud scheme.

    “I don’t believe it’s necessary to declare a mistrial. That’s not really even a thought,” Merchan said, agreeing to instead caution jurors about Steinglass’ remarks.

    But Steinglass’ sudden focus on Trump’s knowledge of the scheme, right as the Trump company’s trial was ambling to a conclusion, begged the question: Why wasn’t he charged, too?

    The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment, citing the ongoing trial. District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who inherited the case when he took office in January, has said that an investigation of Trump is “active and ongoing,” and that no decision has been made on whether to charge him.

    The Trump Organization, the entity through which Trump manages his golf courses, hotels and other ventures, is charged with helping some top executives avoid paying income taxes on non-monetary compensation. The company’s case is the only trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s office’s three-year investigation of Trump and his business practices.

    Prosecutors argue that the company is liable because Weisselberg and an underling he worked with on the scheme, controller Jeffrey McConney, were “high managerial” agents entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $1 million.

    The defense has alleged that Weisselberg came up with the tax dodge scheme on his own, without Trump or the Trump family knowing, and that the company didn’t benefit from his actions.

    “We are here today for one reason and one reason only: the greed of Allen Weisselberg,” Trump Organization lawyer Susan Necheles said Thursday.

    Weisselberg testified that Trump didn’t know, but that the Trump Organization did derive some benefit because it didn’t have to pay him as much in actual salary. Van der Veen peppered his summation Thursday with the defense’s mantra: “Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg.”

    “Their entire theory of the case is a fraud,” Steinglass said Friday morning before the jury entered the courtroom, as company lawyers were seeking to temper his rhetoric.

    One company-paid Manhattan apartment even went to Weisselberg’s son, Barry, ostensibly so he could respond quickly to emergencies at the Central Park ice rink the company managed.

    “This is all part of the Trump executive compensation package: free cars for you, free cars for your wife, free apartments for you, free apartments for your kids,” Steinglass said. Barry Weisselberg, he quipped, “wasn’t living on a Zamboni in Wollman Rink. He was living in an apartment on Central Park South.”

    At the outset of the trial, Merchan cautioned the defense and prosecution to avoid talking about Trump so as to not give jurors the impression that longtime real estate honcho was, or should have been, sitting at the defense table.

    But the judge noted Friday that the tenor of the trial changed after defense lawyers and prosecutors frequently mentioned Trump during arguments and testimony, even though he did not testify and did not attend the trial.

    Steinglass, wrapping his summation, told jurors that Trump was “the elephant that’s not in the room.”

    __

    Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.

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  • Police bust illegal Manhattan street vendors, seize $10M+ worth of luxury knock offs

    Police bust illegal Manhattan street vendors, seize $10M+ worth of luxury knock offs

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    MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) — More $10 million worth of bogus goods were taken off the streets in New York City, thanks to a big bust by police.

    The corner of Canal Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan is a New York City tourist destination for all the wrong reasons, but it was deserted Monday night.

    The fake Rolex watches were all gone, along with the Gucci handbags, and the Louis Vuitton shoes.

    NYPD officers carted away three truckloads of luxury knock-offs, while arresting the brazen street vendors who sold them.

    “Sidewalks were blocked, there was property everywhere, merchandise everywhere, and this really impacts local businesses in a negative manner,” NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said.

    Fake Rolex watches were selling for $75. Even at that price, authorities say the counterfeit goods they seized had a street value of more than $10 million.

    One man said he saw the raid, as officers swept in and made the arrests.

    “All you saw was NYPD jumping out unmarked cars, marked cars, paddy wagons,” an unnamed witness said. “They cleared the whole thing from here to here. And these guys used to sit up all night. Rolex watches, everything you can imagine. Yves St. Laurent? All this stuff.”

    The original complaint came from a shopkeeper on Broadway who asked not to be identified.

    The shopkeeper told Eyewitness News reporter N.J. Burkett off camera that the illegal vendors had taken over the streets, that the sidewalks were, at times, impassable, and that he begged the precinct to do something about it.

    In planning the raid, police worked with luxury goods manufacturers who examined the merchandise in advance to certify it was counterfeit.

    “He or she will look at the property and say, ‘This is this is not authentic. This is a knockoff bag. This is a fake pair of sneakers.’ And that point, we make the arrest,” Maddrey said.

    A total of 17 vendors were arrested.

    If convicted, they face felony charges that, on a first offense, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Although, the actual sentence would be determined by a judge.

    ALSO READ | 16-year-old stabbed by another teen inside Staten Island Mall

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  • NYPD officers, bystander save man who fell on subway tracks

    NYPD officers, bystander save man who fell on subway tracks

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    Two New York City police officers raced to save a man who fell on the tracks at a Manhattan subway station, plucking him out of the way of an oncoming train in a daring rescue captured by an officer’s body camera

    NEW YORK — Two New York City police officers and a bystander raced to save a man who fell on the tracks at a Manhattan subway station, plucking him out of the way of an oncoming train in a daring rescue captured by an officer’s body camera.

    The incident happened around 4 p.m. Thursday at the 116th Street station in East Harlem. The man, whom police said fell by accident, was taken to a hospital with injuries to his hand and back.

    Officers Brunel Victor and Taufique Bokth were on patrol at the station when they saw a commotion and heard a scream from the opposite side of the station, police said.

    They ran up and down stairs, through an emergency exit and onto the tracks, pulling the man to safety with the assistance of a bystander who was already trying to help, police said.

    Bystanders then helped the officers climb back to the platform, just before a 6 train pulled into the station.

    “Our daily thing is to help people. We don’t care what if we have to put ourselves on the line. That’s why we do, that’s why we take this job,” Victor told WABC-TV.

    Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell praised the officers in a tweet, writing: “The heroics of NY’s Finest always amazes me…. the courage is second nature. Join me in saluting these great cops!”

    Officers Victor and Bokth were assigned to the subway station as part of Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to beef up security in the system.

    Janno Lieber, the chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority which runs the subway system, said having extra officers posted to trains and stations “not only helps riders feel safer, but in this case enabled brave officers and a good Samaritan — in the finest tradition of New Yorkers helping each other — to save a life.”

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  • Police: Man with ax, sword asked to enter NY Times newsroom

    Police: Man with ax, sword asked to enter NY Times newsroom

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    NEW YORK — A man with an ax and a sword went into the lobby of the New York Times building on Thursday and asked to speak the political section, authorities said, then handed over his weapons and waited for emergency personnel when he was denied entry.

    The New York Police Department said officers responded to the Times’ building in midtown Manhattan shortly after noon after getting a 911 call about a man with a knife.

    When officers arrived, building security told them the man had the two weapons, and made the request to speak with the specific part of the newspaper staff.

    He was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

    A representative said in a statement that the Times was grateful to police “for responding to an incident in our lobby that was resolved quickly and peacefully.”

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  • NYC probes battery-linked fire that injured over 3 dozen

    NYC probes battery-linked fire that injured over 3 dozen

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    NEW YORK — Authorities on Sunday were investigating a New York City high-rise fire that injured over three dozen people and was traced to a faulty lithium-ion battery, the latest in a fast-growing series of battery blazes that have fire officials concerned.

    The Red Cross said Sunday it provided temporary lodging and some emergency money to two people displaced by Saturday’s fire, which spurred a dramatic and rare rope rescue 20 stories above Manhattan’s East 52nd Street, a few blocks from the United Nations’ headquarters.

    In an updated patient count, the Fire Department said Sunday that a total of 43 civilians, firefighters and police officers were injured.

    Two civilians were taken to a hospital in critical condition and two in serious condition, the fire department said.

    NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital said it received 34 patients from the fire and had released 28 as of Sunday evening. The hospital wouldn’t provide specifics on individual patients’ conditions.

    Officials were looking into whether the 37-story apartment building had a fire alarm, whether any doors were left open, and other questions. Authorities have pinpointed the cause of the blaze as a lithium-ion battery related to a “micromobility” device, a term for e-bikes, electric scooters and other items that help people get around.

    Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said there were at least five bikes in the apartment where the fire started. Investigators believe an occupant did bike repairs, Flynn said.

    Citywide, nearly 200 blazes and six fire deaths this year have been tied to “micromobility” device batteries, marking “an exponential increase” in such fires over the last few years, Flynn said at a news conference Saturday.

    Among the victims: an 8-year-old girl killed when an electric scooter battery sparked a fire in Queens in September, and a woman and a 5-year-old girl killed in August in Harlem by a fire that was blamed on a scooter battery.

    The Fire Department has repeatedly urged users of such batteries to follow the manufacturer’s charging and storage instructions, employ only the manufacturer’s cord and power adapter, stop using a battery if it overheats, and follow other safety guidance.

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  • At least 38 injured, 2 critically, in a Manhattan apartment fire | CNN

    At least 38 injured, 2 critically, in a Manhattan apartment fire | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least 38 people were injured in a Manhattan apartment building fire Saturday morning, which authorities believe was caused by a lithium ion battery connected to a micromobility device.

    Of the injuries, two were critical, five were serious and the rest minor, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a news conference.

    Authorities received calls about fire and smoke at the building on East 52nd Street shortly before 10:30 a.m., the commissioner said. Fire units were on scene in “just over three minutes” after first receiving reports and encountered a “heavy fire condition” on the building’s 20th floor, FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb said during the news conference.

    Two civilians were rescued from the apartment with the fire, Leeb said. Fire personnel used ropes to make the rescues, he said.

    “Fire, EMS and dispatch did an extraordinary job rescuing a number of civilians, including an incredible roof rescue,” Kavanagh said, adding that fire personnel were working in “unbelievably dangerous conditions.”

    The blaze was “close to our 200th fire this year where the cause of the fire is a lithium ion battery from a micromobility device,” Dan Flynn, the chief fire marshal, said.

    Authorities believe that the occupant in the apartment where the fire likely began had been repairing bikes in the building, Flynn said.

    The fire likely started “right behind the front door,” Flynn added. At least five bikes were recovered from the apartment, he said.

    “We are heading into the cold winter season, fires do go up, and so we really implore all New Yorkers to ensure that they and their families are safe,” Kavanagh, the fire commissioner, said. “We also want to emphasize the rising cause of fires from e-bikes and to ensure that families are making sure that they are following the safest possible way to use these, including not charging them overnight when they are asleep, including making sure they are certified and that the batteries that they are using are not damaged in any way.”

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  • Officials: NY fire caused by lithium battery injures 38

    Officials: NY fire caused by lithium battery injures 38

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    More than three dozen people have been injured, two critically, in a fire at a high-rise apartment building in Manhattan caused by a faulty battery

    NEW YORK — More than three dozen people were injured, two critically, in a fire at a high-rise apartment building in Manhattan caused by a faulty battery, fire officials said.

    The blaze broke out Saturday morning in the 37-story building on East 52nd Street, near the East River. Videos posted online showed people hanging out of apartment windows as firefighters used ropes to scale the building and smoke poured out of a window.

    Some residents above the floor where the fire started escaped to the roof, fire officials said.

    At a news conference, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said the fire started in a 20th-floor apartment from a lithium battery connected to an unspecified micromobility device.

    Thirty-eight people were injured, including two in critical condition and five in serious condition, fire officials said. Fire officials were not sure how many families were displaced by the fire.

    Several people have died in fires linked to micromobility devices in New York. An electric scooter battery sparked a fire that killed an 8-year-old girl in Queens in September, and a woman and a 5-year-old girl were killed in August in Harlem by a fire that was blamed on a scooter battery. A fire linked to an e-scooter killed a 9-year-old boy in Queens in September 2021.

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  • Market Comparison: What $3 Million-10 Million Buys In Manhattan

    Market Comparison: What $3 Million-10 Million Buys In Manhattan

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    We are all familiar with the saying that when it comes to making an investment in real estate: it’s all about location, location, location. In addition to finding a home that is conveniently located smack dab in the city, high-net-worth buyers today are also seeking well-appointed homes that come with all the comforts of modern living in 2022.

    From incredible city views to lavish amenities designed to spoil you, here’s a look at three spectacular Manhattan homes that offer both unprecedented luxury and unparalleled convenience.

    Spectacular City Views of the Lower East Side

    This luxurious 1,595-square-foot Manhattan condo offers a taste of modern living with its stunning finishes. From the soaring 12-foot concrete ceilings to the stunning white oak floors, the spacious interior boasts a flexible open floor plan. Designed as a split two-bedroom, you could convert this easily into a three-bedroom home if you needed some extra space. The oversized industrial-style windows throughout the unit let in an abundance of natural light during the day and offer spectacular skyline views of the city at night.

    The gourmet kitchen features high-end appliances, a wine fridge and a gorgeous Nero Marquina marble backsplash. A nearby primary suite features Blue de Savoie marble floors in the bathroom, a European walnut double sink vanity and a Bianco Dolomiti marble shower. The private 197-square-foot terrace is the perfect spot to soak in city living.

    Located on the Lower East Side, the 89-unit building features an Equinox fitness center on the main level along with a 4,300-square-foot rooftop terrace that has two outdoor kitchens. There is also a 24-hour concierge on the first floor.

    Price: $3,690,000

    Beds/Baths: 3/2.5

    Square footage: 1,595

    Represented by: Mick Distasio and John Dugan, Elegran

    MORE FROM FORBESGrand Mansion Near Toronto Occupies A Prime Spot In Gated Golf EnclaveBy Lauren Beale

    Modernized Historic Home on Bowery

    This impressive two-level residence was completely renovated in 2018 to pave the way for a modern minimalist style. The open floor plan now boasts soaring ceilings, oversized windows, exposed brick walls and gorgeous hardwood floors. On the upper level, you will find a gourmet chef’s kitchen with an oversized center island, cozy breakfast bar, lots of custom cabinetry for storage and stone countertops. There is a spacious dining room and living room on this level as well.

    From here, you can access the partially covered outdoor trellis that would be ideal to enjoy al fresco dining. The three bedrooms can be found on the lower level. A gorgeous primary suite boasts a sitting area, wood-burning fireplace, dual built-in closets and a recently renovated bathroom with a soaking tub and walk-in shower.

    Located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, 259 Bowery is a six-story building that was built in 1910 and converted to condos in 1999. Just steps from restaurants, cafes and shops, the spacious condo also offers a beautiful outdoor terrace and a keyed elevator to easily transport you to each level of the home.

    Price: $5,999,000

    Beds/Baths: 3/3

    Square footage: 3,700

    Represented by: David Ghoneim and Vincent Pergola, Elegran

    MORE FROM FORBESInside Russell Wilson’s New Neighborhood: Denver’s Cherry Hills VillageBy Spencer Elliott

    High Profile on Fifth Ave

    From the Chevron pattern floors and custom millwork to the 2,000-square-foot private wing with a spa-inspired primary bathroom, every luxurious detail was considered when it came to shaping this designer-done residence at 212 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The bright and spacious home features soaring ceilings more than 11 feet high while a grand kitchen boasts a minimalist design, high-end appliances and a large marble island with seating for up to six. Even the stylish bathrooms here offer breathtaking city views from the oversized windows that you can enjoy from a soaking tub.

    Located in Flatiron/Union Square, the 48-unit, neo-Gothic building was recently converted into residences that now offer a 24-hour concierge, a Jay Wright-designed fitness center, a yoga studio, a golf simulator, an entertainment room for the kids and a resident lounge. Originally built as a manufacturing building in the early 1900s, this prewar stalwart is located in the northwest corner of Madison Square Park and steps to an abundance of nearby shops and restaurants. Private storage space is also included.

    Price: $10,250,000

    Beds/Baths: 3/3.5

    Square footage: 3,078

    Represented by: Nick Montalbano and Ashley Reidy, Elegran

    Manhattan Market Update

    In recent months, the Manhattan market saw a slight cooling in September but remains stronger overall when compared with historical averages, according to an October 2022 market report from top New York-based brokerage Elegran. The report notes “that for the past four months, Manhattan’s contract volume has been at or very near parity with the historical average, which is a victorious headline given that ^GSPC (the S&P 500 index) ended September down 25% YTD and mortgage rates ended September higher by 100% YTD.”

    With rising interest rates, a volatile stock market and threats looming about a recession, what does that mean for buyers and investors? The good news for buyers is that as market competition lessened over the summer, the fall months offer increased opportunities for negotiation considerations and decreased bidding wars. For investors and homebuyers alike, locations like Manhattan remain a sound investment spot “as a low volatility hard asset

    Elegran is an exclusive member of Forbes Global Properties, a consumer marketplace and membership network of elite brokerages selling the world’s most luxurious homes. Search more luxury listings here.

    MORE FROM FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES

    MORE FROM FORBESMr.C-Branded Residences Come To The Dubai WaterfrontBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBESModern Home Near Austin Showcases One Architect’s VisionBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBES$19.6 Million La Jolla Compound Makes The Most Of Endless Pacific SunsetsBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBES$6 Million Perch Offering Bird’s-Eye View Of Greater Austin Lands A BuyerBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBES$15 Million Oceanfront Bahamas Retreat Can Handle A Party CrowdBy Kellie Speed

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  • Men exonerated in Malcolm X killing to receive $36 million

    Men exonerated in Malcolm X killing to receive $36 million

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    NEW YORK — The city of New York is settling lawsuits filed on behalf of two men who were exonerated last year for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, agreeing to pay $26 million for the wrongful convictions which led to both men spending decades behind bars.

    The state of New York will pay an additional $10 million. David Shanies, an attorney representing the men, confirmed the settlements on Sunday.

    “Muhammad Aziz, Khalil Islam, and their families suffered because of these unjust convictions for more than 50 years,” said Shanies said in an email. “The City recognized the grave injustices done here, and I commend the sincerity and speed with which the Comptroller’s Office and the Corporation Counsel moved to resolve the lawsuits.”

    Shanies said the settlements send a message that “police and prosecutorial misconduct cause tremendous damage, and we must remain vigilant to identify and correct injustices.”

    Last year, a Manhattan judge dismissed the convictions of Aziz, now 84, and Islam, who died in 2009, after prosecutors said new evidence of witness intimidation and suppression of exculpatory evidence had undermined the case against the men. Then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. apologized for law enforcement’s “serious, unacceptable violations of law and the public trust.”

    The New York City Law Department, through a spokesperson, said Sunday it “stands by” Vance’s opinion that the men were wrongfully convicted and the financial agreement “brings some measure of justice to individuals who spent decades in prison and bore the stigma of being falsely accused of murdering an iconic figure.”

    Shanies said over the next few weeks the settlement documents will be signed and the New York court that handles probate matters will have to approve the settlement for Islam’s estate. The total $36 million will be divided equally between Aziz and the estate of Islam.

    Aziz and Islam, who maintained their innocence from the start in the 1965 killing at Upper Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, were paroled in the 1980s.

    Malcolm X gained national prominence as the voice of the Nation of Islam, exhorting Black people to claim their civil rights “by any means necessary.” His autobiography, written with Alex Haley, remains a classic work of modern American literature.

    Near the end of Malcolm X’s life, he split with the Black Muslim organization and, after a trip to Mecca, started speaking about the potential for racial unity. It earned him the ire of some in the Nation of Islam, who saw him as a traitor.

    He was shot to death while beginning a speech Feb. 21, 1965. He was 39.

    Aziz and Islam, then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, and a third man were convicted of murder in March 1966. They were sentenced to life in prison.

    The third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim — also known as Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan — admitted to shooting Malcolm X but said neither Aziz nor Islam was involved. The two offered alibis, and no physical evidence linked them to the crime. The case hinged on eyewitnesses, although there were inconsistencies in their testimony.

    Attorneys for Aziz and Islam said in complaints that both Aziz and Islam were at their homes in the Bronx when Malcolm X was killed. They said Aziz spent 20 years in prison and more than 55 years living with the hardship and indignity attendant to being unjustly branded as a convicted murderer of one of the most important civil rights leaders in history.

    Islam spent 22 years in prison and died still hoping to clear his name.

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  • Colorado businessman set for retrial over border wall fund

    Colorado businessman set for retrial over border wall fund

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    NEW YORK — A Colorado businessman returns to New York Monday for a retrial on charges that he cheated thousands of donors to a $25 million online crowdfunding “We Build The Wall” campaign to construct a wall along the southern U.S. border.

    Timothy Shea’s first trial ended in early June without a verdict when jurors informed the judge that continuing to deliberate would leave them “further entrenched in our opposing views.”

    The case once included as a defendant Steve Bannon, a onetime top adviser to former President Donald Trump. Trump pardoned Bannon just before leaving office last year. Two others charged in the case pleaded guilty.

    The deadlocked jury came days after 11 jurors sent a note to the judge claiming one juror was politically biased against the government and in favor of Shea after labeling the rest of them as liberals and complaining the trial should have been held in a southern state.

    Jury selection in the second trial begins Monday morning in a Manhattan federal court.

    Last month, Judge Analisa Torres rejected Shea’s request to move the trial to Colorado on the grounds that “political polarization” in New York and publicity about his first trial made it impossible for him to get a fair result in Manhattan.

    She wrote that a jury note in his first trial might have indicated that differences in political opinions affected the jury’s deliberations, but he had not shown that those differences reflected a prejudice against him. And she said he had not explained why “political polarization” would be less pronounced in Colorado or anywhere else.

    Shea, of Castle Rock, Colorado, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and falsification of records charges lodged against him after questions arose over how donations were spent from a campaign that raised about $25 million for a wall. Only a few miles of wall were built.

    Prosecutors said Shea and other fund organizers promised investors that all donations would fund a wall, but Shea and the others eventually pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars for themselves.

    Shea’s lawyers said he acted honorably in the fundraising campaign and did not commit a crime.

    Shea owns an energy drink company, Winning Energy, whose cans have featured a cartoon superhero image of Trump and claim to contain “12 oz. of liberal tears.”

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  • NYC opens emergency center for influx of bused migrants

    NYC opens emergency center for influx of bused migrants

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    NEW YORK — A complex of giant tents built on an island is set to open Wednesday as New York City’s latest temporary shelter for an influx of international migrants being bused into the city by southern border states.

    The humanitarian relief center on Randall’s Island is intended to be a temporary waystation for single, adult men — many from Venezuela — who have been arriving several times per week on buses chartered predominantly from Texas.

    Spartan and utilitarian, the tents include cots for up to 500 people, laundry facilities, a dining hall and phones for residents to make international calls.

    The city’s plan is to bring single men to the facility once they arrive at the main Manhattan bus terminal and to house them there for a period of days while determining next steps, officials said. Families with children are being housed in a hotel.

    “We needed a different type of operation that gave us the time and space to welcome people, provide them a warm meal shower, a place to sleep, to understand their medical needs, to really then work with them to figure out what their next step is going to be,” said Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.

    The white, plastic-walled tents also include a space where migrants can meet with case workers to determine their next steps, as well as a recreational room with televisions, video games and board games. In the sleeping area, row upon row of green cots stretch out, each one with a pillow, some sheets and a blanket, and some towels. The city said it will be able to double the sleeping capacity of the tents, if needed.

    In recent months, New York City has seen an unexpected increase in migrants seeking asylum in the United States who have been sent to the city from other states including Texas and Arizona. The influx has put a strain on the city’s shelter system, leading officials to look for other places to house people and proposing the temporary tent facilities.

    New York City’s homeless shelter system is now bursting with more than 63,300 residents. While there are fewer families in the shelters now than there were in the years before the pandemic, the number of single men has soared since the spring, largely because of the influx of migrants. There were more than 20,000 single adults in the shelter system Monday, up 23% from the nightly average in July.

    Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency earlier this month, calling the increased demand being put on the city “not sustainable.”

    The tents were initially planned for a far-off corner of the Bronx, but were moved after concerns about flooding and criticism from immigrant advocates over the remote location. Iscol said the Randall’s Island location was safe from flooding.

    Advocates remain concerned even with the new location, questioning what conditions migrants will be kept in, and whether the support they get will be adequate.

    Randall’s Island is located in the waters between the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. Five bridges connect it to the three boroughs, and the city’s subway system is a bus ride or walk away.

    It’s already put to a variety of uses — there are numerous athletic fields, as well as Icahn Stadium, a track and field facility. There’s also a psychiatric hospital and a fire academy for the Fire Department of New York.

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  • Nikola founder’s trial ready for jury after final arguments

    Nikola founder’s trial ready for jury after final arguments

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    NEW YORK — The fate of Nikola Corp ’s founder will be in the hands of a jury after he was portrayed Thursday in closing arguments by a prosecutor as a habitual liar, and by his lawyer as an inspiring visionary being unjustly prosecuted.

    Trevor Milton, 40, has pleaded not guilty to securities and wire fraud. In 2020, he resigned from the company he founded in a Utah basement six years ago.

    Deliberations will begin Friday in the Manhattan federal criminal trial, after it was delayed for over a week after Milton’s lawyer tested positive for the coronavirus.

    In closings Thursday, defense attorney Marc Mukasey urged acquittal, saying there was “a stunning lack of evidence” that his client ever intended to cheat investors.

    “The government never proved fraud,” Mukasey said. “There were no crimes here and Trevor Milton is not guilty.”

    In 2020, Nikola’s stock price plunged and investors suffered heavy losses as reports questioned Milton’s claims that the company had already produced zero-emission 18-wheel trucks.

    The company paid $125 million last year to settle a civil case against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nikola, which continues to operate from an Arizona headquarters, didn’t admit any wrongdoing.

    In his closing rebuttal argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky insisted the evidence was overwhelming that Milton lied repeatedly to make it seem Nikola had produced operable trucks fueled by hydrogen gas and that the company had billions of dollars in contracts when they didn’t exist.

    Podolsky said Milton wanted to get rich and learned that he could dupe investors into supporting Nikola through lies, like when he claimed Nikola had built its own revolutionary truck that was actually a General Motors Corp. product with Nikola’s logo stamped onto it.

    Another example was when he sped up the video of a truck rolling down a hill to make it seem like the company had developed a fully functioning truck when it had not, the prosecutor said.

    “The lies. That is what this case is about,” Podolsky said.

    He said Milton went on television news programs to tell his lies and tweeted them as well.

    Podolsky told jurors not to accept Mukasey’s explanations for his client’s behavior, including arguments that Milton had the support of the company’s board of directors and was not warned by anyone to stop conveying his enthusiasm for Nikola publicly.

    “This is the robber blaming the guard for not stopping him,” he said.

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  • Trump angrily lashes out after his deposition is ordered

    Trump angrily lashes out after his deposition is ordered

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    NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump angrily lashed out Wednesday, calling the nation’s legal system a “broken disgrace” after a judge ruled he must answer questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit lodged by a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s.

    He also called the 2019 lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, “a hoax and a lie.”

    The outburst late in the day came hours after U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan rejected a request by his lawyers to delay a deposition scheduled for Oct. 19.

    Kaplan is presiding over the case in which Carroll said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s. He called the lawsuit “a complete con job.”

    “I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event,” Trump said.

    “She completely made up a story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City Department Store and, within minutes, ‘swooned’ her. It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years,” he said.

    Then he grumbled: “Now all I have to do is go through years more of legal nonsense in order to clear my name of her and her lawyer’s phony attacks on me. This can only happen to ‘Trump’!”

    Carroll is scheduled to be deposed on Friday.

    Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said she was pleased with the judge’s ruling and looked forward to filing new claims next month “and moving forward to trial with all dispatch” after New York state passed the Adult Survivors Act, allowing her to sue for damages for the alleged rape without the statute of limitations blocking it.

    After Trump’s statement was released, a spokesperson for Kaplan’s firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, said the “latest statement from Donald Trump obviously does not merit a response.”

    Trump’s legal team has tried various legal tactics to delay the lawsuit and prevent him from being questioned by Carroll’s attorneys. But Judge Kaplan wrote that it was time to move forward, especially given the “advanced age” of Carroll, 78, and Trump, 76, and perhaps other witnesses.

    “The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong,” he wrote.

    Carroll’s lawsuit claims that Trump damaged her reputation in 2019 when he denied raping her. Trump’s legal team has been trying to quash the lawsuit by arguing that the Republican was just doing his job as president when he denied the allegations, including when he dismissed his accuser as “not my type.”

    Trump doubled down on the comment in his statement Wednesday, saying: “And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type! She has no idea what day, what week, what month, what year, or what decade this so-called ‘event’ supposedly took place. The reason she doesn’t know is because it never happened, and she doesn’t want to get caught up with details or facts that can be proven wrong.”

    Whether Trump will remain the defendant in the original lawsuit is a key question because if Trump was acting within the scope of his duties as a federal employee, the U.S. government would become the defendant in the case.

    The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a split decision last month that Trump was a federal employee when he commented on Carroll’s claims. But it asked another court in Washington to decide whether Trump’s public statements occurred during the scope of his employment.

    Kaplan, the judge, said Trump has repeatedly tried to delay the collection of evidence in the lawsuit.

    “Given his conduct so far in this case, Mr. Trump’s position regarding the burdens of discovery is inexcusable,” he wrote. “As this Court previously has observed, Mr. Trump has litigated this case since it began in 2019 with the effect and probably the purpose of delaying it.”

    The judge noted that the collection of evidence for the lawsuit to go to trial was virtually concluded, except for the depositions of Trump and Carroll.

    “Mr. Trump has conducted extensive discovery of the plaintiff, yet produced virtually none himself,” Kaplan said. “Completing these depositions — which already have been delayed for years — would impose no undue burden on Mr. Trump, let alone any irreparable injury.”

    The judge also said the deposition could be useful when Carroll’s lawyer next month files the new lawsuit.

    Whether the rape occurred is central to the defamation claims, as well as the anticipated new lawsuit, the judge said.

    ———

    Associated Press Writer Jill Colvin reported from Washington

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  • Federal judge halts key parts of New York’s new gun law

    Federal judge halts key parts of New York’s new gun law

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    ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s latest attempt to restrict who can carry a handgun in public and where firearms can be brought was picked apart Thursday by a federal judge, who ruled that multiple provisions in a state law passed this year are unconstitutional.

    In a ruling that doesn’t take effect immediately, U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby struck down key elements of the state’s hurried attempt to rewrite its handgun laws after the old ones were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.

    The state can’t ban people from carrying guns in New York City’s subway system or Times Square, the judge ruled, though he said it did have a right to exclude guns from certain other locations, including schools.

    Several of the state’s new licensing rules went too far, he wrote, including one that required applicants to be of “good moral character,” and another that made applicants turn over information about their social media accounts.

    The end result was a licensing scheme that prohibited people from carrying a handgun for self-defense unless the applicant could persuade licensing officials that they wouldn’t use it to hurt themselves or others, the judge wrote.

    “Simply stated, instead of moving toward becoming a shall-issue jurisdiction, New York State has further entrenched itself as a shall-not-issue jurisdiction. And, by doing so, it has further reduced a first-class constitutional right to bear arms in public for self defense … into a mere request,” wrote Suddaby, who sits in Syracuse.

    Suddaby, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, put his decision on hold for three days to allow the state to challenge it in a higher court.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office filed an appeal later Thursday.

    “Today’s decision comes in the wake of mass shootings and rampant gun violence hurting communities here in New York and across the country. While the decision preserves portions of the law, we believe the entire law must be preserved as enacted,” said James, a Democrat.

    Legislators rewrote the state’s handgun laws this summer after a Supreme Court ruling invalidated New York’s old system for granting permits to carry handguns outside the home. The high court struck down the state’s longstanding requirement that people demonstrate an unusual threat to their safety to qualify for such a license.

    The new law, which went into effect Sept. 1, broadly expanded who could get a handgun license, but it increased training requirements for applicants and required them to turn over more private information, including a list of everyone living in their home. The state also created a long list of places where firearms would be banned.

    Suddaby’s ruling upheld the state’s right to exclude guns from certain “sensitive locations,” but only in instances where there were “historical analogues” for such rules, meaning guns have been banned from such places in the past.

    Rules prohibiting most people from carrying guns into schools, government buildings, polling places and places of worship were OK, the judge wrote. But the state couldn’t put new bans on people from carrying handguns on public transportation systems, in summer camps or places where alcohol is consumed.

    Suddaby also dealt a blow to a provision prohibiting people from bringing guns onto someone else’s property unless the owners give permission — by posting a sign in a shop window, for instance.

    Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, defended the state’s laws as “common-sense restrictions.”

    “While this decision leaves aspects of the law in place, it is deeply disappointing that the Judge wants to limit my ability to keep New Yorkers safe and to prevent more senseless gun violence,” Hochul said.

    There have been several federal challenges to the new law from gun rights advocates who argue the legislation violates the Second Amendment and free speech rights.

    This lawsuit was bought by six gun owners from upstate New York who claim the law infringes on their constitutional rights. Most of the plaintiffs have licenses to carry and argue the law keeps them from holding a weapon in designated sensitive places like state parks or church.

    One plaintiff intends to apply for a carry permit but is unwilling to share social media posts or character references with investigators, according to the federal complaint.

    Suddaby telegraphed his ruling five weeks ago when he threw out a previous challenge to the law on technical grounds. The plaintiff in that case then teamed up with five other gun owners and sued again, expanding the list of defendants to include state district attorneys and sheriffs who were charged with enforcing the law.

    New York is among a half-dozen states that had provisions of their gun laws invalidated by the Supreme Court.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and David B. Caruso contributed from New York City.

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