Donald Trump's lawyers have just 24 hours to hand over evidence to prosecutors or risk seeing it banned from the former president's criminal hush money trial, according to a reporter inside the courtroom. New York City Judge Juan Merchan set the deadline Monday after Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass said Trump's attorneys had failed to turn over any of the exhibits they plan to use in the former president's defense, according to Law 360 reporter Stewart Bishop. Trump's legal team was...
Juan Merchan reserves judgment on prosecutors' request for maximum fine but
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money election interference case appears poised to rule that the former president repeatedly violated his gag order. But what’s much less clear is how he chooses a punishment that preserves judicial integrity and avoids political theater.It won’t be easy. After an hour-long hearing, which concluded with Judge Juan Merchan warning Trump’s attorney that he is “losing all credibility with this court,” an angry Trump stormed out of the courtroom, refusing to...
A Michigan judge warned that disparaging online comments about witnesses could lead to contempt charges, highlighting concerns about witness intimidation in a high-profile case involving so-called "fake electors." District Court Judge Kristin Simmons addressed the issue on Tuesday during a hearing. She pointed out that making negative comments about witnesses on social media platforms like Facebook could be seen as an attempt to intimidate. The case centers around 16 individuals, including...
The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial on Tuesday warned that Trump's lawyer was "losing all credibility" in his arguments that the former president should not be punished for violating a gag order in the case. Justice Juan Merchan said he would not immediately rule on prosecutors' request
New York Justice Juan Merchan blasted Todd Blanche, an attorney for Donald Trump, for suggesting his client should not have to attend his criminal trial next week. At the conclusion of the first day of Trump's hush money trial, Blanche sought permission for his client to be absent from the courtroom for Wednesday campaign events and to attend a Supreme Court hearing next Thursday.Merchan initially seemed open to the proposal."Blanche says that the campaign has taken pains to schedule events on...
Victoria Taft is an award-winning journalist, writer and terrestrial radio talk host, heard in Seattle and on the rest of the Left Coast. Listen to her twice weekly “
American Idol’s Luke Bryan took to the stage this Sunday during Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Week. The country star performed Small Town by John Mellencamp without a hitch but during another on-stage appearance this April, he suffered a brutal fall. Outside of American Idol, Luke is taking to the stage across the US […]
Former President Donald Trump's trial antics are already starting to hurt him, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman explained to MSNBC's Joy Reid on Friday — and make life hell for his attorneys.The problem is, he explained, Trump's repeated penchant for attacking witnesses and violating gag orders has led to prosecutors keeping a witness who will testify at trial secret, and the judge allowing that would effectively be a "serious sanction" against Trump's behavior that will make preparing his...
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has denied Donald Trump's classified document co-defendants' motions to dismiss. In her eight-page order, Cannon rejected efforts by Trump's aide Walt Nauta and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira to get the cases against them tossed, reported MSNBC host and legal analyst Katie Phang. She tweeted that Cannon shot down Nauta's request to be spared of a trial and instead "finds that the indictment puts him on enough notice so that he can adequately...
Jose A. Perez, a grassroots supporter of Donald Trump, has requested permission to file an amicus brief in the ongoing classified documents case against the former president, according to court filings on Thursday.In legal filings, Perez told U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon that the prosecution of Trump interfered with his constitutional rights to vote and to election integrity. He claimed that the Department of Justice had been weaponized against Trump and his supporters.The brief...
Donald Trump's lawyers returned from the lunch recess Tuesday to declare that they'd discovered a number of social media posts from potential jurors that contradicted answers given during questioning, and claimed that some showed "hostility" toward the ex-president. But Judge Juan Merchan hit back at Trump lawyer Todd Blanche."We can't go on like this," he said, talking about the nitpicking of potential jurors who disagree with Trump on policy issues. MSNBC host Katie Phang reported one...