All posts tagged: hush

Trump files formal notice of plan to appeal hush money conviction

Trump files formal notice of plan to appeal hush money conviction

Published by Sam

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media amid his trial on charges of covering up hush money payments linked to alleged extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 16, 2024. Angela Weiss | Via Reuters President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday formally notified a New York state court of Trump’s intent to appeal his criminal conviction on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star. In the notice, Trump’s lawyers said they would appeal both the jury’s May 30, 2024, guilty verdict and Justice Juan Merchan’s Jan. 10, 2025, sentence of unconditional discharge to a mid-level state appeals court. The sentence, imposed just days before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration to a second White House term, meant he will face no jail time or other legal punishment, but that a former judgment of guilt would be placed on his record. Trump, the first-ever sitting or former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, has long said he planned to appeal. After filing the formal …

Jurors ask to rehear testimony from key witnesses in Trump hush money trial

Jurors ask to rehear testimony from key witnesses in Trump hush money trial

Published by Sam

The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial ended its first day of deliberations without a verdict Wednesday but asked to rehear testimony from key witnesses about the alleged hush money scheme at the heart of the history-making case. The 12-person jury was sent home around 4 p.m. after about 4 1/2 hours of deliberations. The process is to resume Thursday, when jurors are expected to rehear the requested testimony and at least part of the judge’s legal instructions meant to guide them on the law. The notes sent to the judge with the requests were the first burst of communication with the court after the panel of seven men and five women was sent to a private room just before 11:30 a.m. to begin weighing a verdict. “It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours,” Judge Juan M. Merchan told jurors before dispatching them to begin deliberations, reminding them of their vow during the selection process to judge the case fairly and impartially. It’s unclear how long the deliberations …

Stormy Daniels trolls Trump after testifying in hush money trial

Stormy Daniels trolls Trump after testifying in hush money trial

Published by skeptic

Adult film star Stormy Daniels Stormy Daniels trolled former President Trump and his legal team after testifying Thursday in the New York hush money trial.  “Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Oh…wait.  Nevermind,” Daniels said in a Thursday post on social media platform X.  Daniels’ swipe came after Trump and his legal team complained about her testimony on Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday, the former president’s team tried to amend Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order so that he could respond to Daniels’ testimony. They argued that since she had completed her testimony, any possibility of her being intimated had passed.  His legal team also tried to have a mistrial declared, claiming that her testimony revealed far too much about the alleged sexual encounter in 2006 with the former president.  Merchan denied both attempts.  Daniels’ shot at Trump on X was also an apparent reference to him potentially taking the stand in the case and confronting the claims she made. Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles, the only woman …

Stormy Daniels testifies against Donald Trump in New York hush money trial

Stormy Daniels testifies against Donald Trump in New York hush money trial

Published by skeptic

Judge Juan Merchan presides over proceedings Tuesday as Stormy Daniels, far right, answers questions on direct examination by assistant district attorney Susan Hoffinger in Manhattan criminal court as former President Donald Trump and defense attorney Todd Blanche look on. Elizabeth Williams/AP hide caption toggle caption Elizabeth Williams/AP Judge Juan Merchan presides over proceedings Tuesday as Stormy Daniels, far right, answers questions on direct examination by assistant district attorney Susan Hoffinger in Manhattan criminal court as former President Donald Trump and defense attorney Todd Blanche look on. Elizabeth Williams/AP NEW YORK — Adult film actor Stormy Daniels took the stand for a second day in the criminal trial against Donald Trump on Thursday, sparring with his lawyer over her motives for signing the settlement and nondisclosure agreement at the center of the trial. Trump lawyer Susan Necheles’ cross examination turned heated over questions aimed at discrediting Daniels. For example, Necheles pressed Daniels on her role as an adult film director and screenwriter: “So you have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex appear real?” …

Stormy Daniels to testify about hush money, alleged sex with ex-president

Stormy Daniels to testify about hush money, alleged sex with ex-president

Published by skeptic

This is developing news. Check back for updates throughout the day. Porn star Stormy Daniels is expected to testify Tuesday in the New York criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump, NBC News reported. Daniels is at the center of the historic case in which Trump is charged with falsifying business records related to a payment made to keep Daniels from speaking before the 2016 presidential election about alleged sex with Trump in 2006. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 less than two weeks before that election, which Trump went on to win. The scheme by Trump, who reimbursed Cohen while he was president, amounted to an attempt to unlawfully influence the election, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. News of Daniels’ expected appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court came after Trump posted — and then quickly deleted — a statement raging about the witness schedule and the judge in his trial. Trump sent that Truth Social post less than one day after Judge Juan Merchan threatened the former president with jail time, for …

Trump’s Hush Money Trial Turns to a New Phase: the Paper Trail | National News

Trump’s Hush Money Trial Turns to a New Phase: the Paper Trail | National News

Published by skeptic

After spending weeks building a narrative that Donald Trump and his inner circle went to great lengths to conceal hush money payments made to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters with the former president, the prosecution on Monday delivered the receipts. In what amounted to a boring but seemingly bulletproof testimony, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team walked jurors through bank statements, invoices, emails and handwritten notes that appeared to bolster their case, showing how a series of payments made to Trump’s former lawyer were disguised as legal expenses when in fact they were reimbursements for money he paid to silence a former porn star, and that the money came directly from Trump’s personal bank account. Trump, the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial, is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business documents to cover up allegations of extramarital affairs that threatened his 2016 White House campaign. He pleaded not guilty. Taking the stand for most of Monday was Jeffrey McConney, who worked as the corporate controller at the Trump Organization, and …

Trump Is Warned About Jail Time For Further Gag Order Violations In Hush Money Trial

Trump Is Warned About Jail Time For Further Gag Order Violations In Hush Money Trial

Published by skeptic

Former President Donald Trump has been found in contempt of court for violating his gag order once again, as his criminal hush money trial entered its fourth week. He was also warned that, going forward, overstepping the bounds of the order could land him behind bars. Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in order to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan fined the former president $1,000 for attacking the trial’s jurors and the process of selecting them while speaking in the courthouse hallway after opening statements last month. “You know [the judge is] rushing the trial like crazy. Nobody’s ever seen a thing go like this,” Trump said in the offending comments, on April 22. “That jury was picked so fast — 95% Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat… just a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation, that I can tell you.” Merchan, writing in his order, found that Trump had “again …

Judge threatens Trump with jail for hush money trial gag order violations

Judge threatens Trump with jail for hush money trial gag order violations

Published by skeptic

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom, as his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 continues, at Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S., May 6, 2024. Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters This is developing news. Check back for updates throughout the day. A judge on Monday delivered a dire warning to Donald Trump: Stop violating the court’s orders, or you will be thrown in jail. “The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well,” Judge Juan Merchan told Trump in Manhattan Supreme Court, where the former president is on trial in a criminal hush money case. “I do not want to propose a jail sanction,” Merchan said, but “that I will, if necessary.” The ultimatum came less than a week after the judge held Trump in contempt of court for nine violations of …

Key Witness Says Trump Did Not Personally Ask Him To Carry Out ‘Hush Money’ Payments

Key Witness Says Trump Did Not Personally Ask Him To Carry Out ‘Hush Money’ Payments

Published by skeptic

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Former President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 6, 2024. (Peter Foley/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) A witness in former President Donald Trump’s New York “hush money” trial on Monday appeared to confirm his attorneys’ claims that payments at the center of the case were legal expenses and that he was not personally directed by the former president to make those payments. Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney testified Monday that payments that were sent to former attorney Michael Cohen were legal expenses, confirming defense attorneys’ arguments. “Michael Cohen was a lawyer?” Trump defense attorney Emil Bove asked Mr. McConney. “Sure, yes,” he replied. “And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?” asked Mr. Bove. “Yes,” said Mr. McConney. Later, Mr. McConney said that President Trump and Trump Organization official Allen Weisselberg never told him to log the payments to Mr. Cohen …