Jordan subpoenas former senior prosecutor in Manhattan DA's office in connection to probe of Trump
Source: CNN Politics
CNN — House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan subpoenaed former New York County Special Assistant District Attorney Mark Pomerantz for his role investigating Donald Trump and his business empire – as House Republicans attempt to frame the recent indictment against the former President as politically motivated.
The move comes as Jordan has left the door open on whether to take the unprecedented step to subpoena Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as part of the larger House Republican effort to discredit the case he has brought against Trump. Pomerantz resigned from the Manhattan DA’s office in 2022 and said in his resignation letter that former President was “guilty of numerous felony violations” in connection to his annual financial statements. He resigned one day after Bragg informed him that he wasn’t prepared to move forward with criminal charges at that point.
The committee wrote in a statement announcing the subpoena that, “Pomerantz’s public statements about the investigation strongly suggest that Bragg’s prosecution of President Trump is politically motivated.” Jordan first requested Pomerantz to cooperate voluntarily on March 22, but said Pomerantz advised that the New York County District Attorney’s Office had directed him not to cooperate.
The deposition date has been set for April 20, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by CNN. CNN has reached out to Pomerantz for comment. Jordan telegraphed his decision to subpoena Pomerantz in an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday by saying, “we think we’d like to talk to him and start to get some answers. That may be an easier route to pursue initially than Mr. Bragg.” Bragg’s office has responded to Jordan’s requests and has said they are willing to meet.
New York Times: “While nothing is certain, there are numerous signs that she may go big, with a more kaleidoscopic indictment charging not only Mr. Trump, but perhaps a dozen or more of his allies.”
“Her investigation has targeted a wide range of conduct centered around efforts to subvert the democratic process and overturn Mr. Trump’s 2020 election loss. Nearly 20 people are already known to have been told that they are targets who could face charges, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer, and David Shafer, the head of the Georgia Republican Party.”
“For Mr. Trump, the possibility of a second and potentially more complex criminal indictment in another state underscores the blizzard of legal challenges he is facing, even as he emerges as the clear front-runner among Republican presidential candidates.”
BRAGG is suing Jim JORDAN and House Republicans for attacks on Trump prosecution
Tweet text:
Kyle Cheney
@kyledcheney
·
Follow
NEWS: BRAGG is suing Jim JORDAN and House Republicans for what he says is an "unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack" on his Trump probe.
The lawsuit:
courtlistener.com
Complaint – #1 in Bragg v. Jordan (S.D.N.Y., 1:23-cv-03032) – CourtListener.com
COMPLAINT against Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, Jim Jordan, Mark F. Pomerantz. (Filing Fee $ 402.00, Receipt Number ANYSDC-27591650)Document filed by Alvin...
11:40 AM · Apr 11, 2023
- A brand new ABC news poll shows that Trump's favorability rating has fallen to just 25%.
- Former advisor Stephen Miller has just testified before Special Counsel Jack Smith's January 6th Grand Jury.
- New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron has ordered his accounting firm, Whitley Penn to hand over tax documents to NYAG Letitia James in her fraud investigation.
No delay for Trump in rape accuser's trial, more discovery allowed
Source: Reuters
A U.S. judge on Thursday said Donald Trump's defamation trial over whether he raped a writer in the mid-1990s will begin as scheduled on April 25, rejecting the former president's bid for a delay but letting him learn more about how his accuser is paying her legal bills.
They said the involvement of Hoffman, a prominent Democratic donor, raised the question of whether Carroll sued Trump, a Republican, to advance a political agenda.
In a two-page order, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said Hoffman's role had nothing directly to do with whether Trump defamed Carroll by calling her rape claim a hoax in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.
But the judge said Hoffman's involvement "might prove relevant" to Carroll's credibility, after she testified under oath last October that no one else was paying her legal fees.
Trump answers questions for 7 hours in New York attorney general's fraud lawsuit [View all]
Source: Market Watch
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump answered questions for nearly seven hours Thursday during his second deposition in a legal battle with New York’s attorney general over his company’s business practices, reversing an earlier decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and remain silent.
The Republican met all day with lawyers for Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump last year. Her lawsuit claims Trump and his family misled banks and business associates by giving them false information about his net worth and the value of assets such as hotels and golf courses.
Shortly after Trump entered the Manhattan skyscraper that houses James’ offices, his attorney, Alina Habba, said he was “not only willing but also eager to testify.”
“He remains resolute in his stance that he has nothing to conceal, and he looks forward to educating the Attorney General about the immense success of his multi-billion dollar company,” Habba said in a statement.
A top Trump lawyer has recused himself from Mar-a-Lago documents case
Source: Washington Post
One of former president Donald Trump’s top lawyers on the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case is no longer working on the matter after he appeared before a federal grand jury last month, according to people familiar with the move.
Corcoran is still representing Trump in other cases, such as special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information they are not allowed to disclose.
Prosecutors investigating Trump taking classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago Club after leaving office won a court fight that allowed them to question Corcoran when judges ruled that he could not use attorney-client privilege to avoid disclosing information about his communications with Trump. Prosecutors cited an exception to the legal principle that lawyers must keep confidential what they are told by their clients when there is evidence that a client used the attorney’s legal services in furtherance of a crime.
The move comes as the Justice Department is increasingly focused on possible obstruction by Trump in the investigation into the documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home, and whether Trump took or directed others to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records
California Bar Slaps Trump Lawyer John Eastman with 11 Disciplinary Charges for 'False' Election Fra
Source: Law & Crime
The California bar slapped former President Donald Trump’s attorney John Eastman with nearly a dozen disciplinary charges for “false and misleading statements” alleging fraud in the 2020 election.
The State Bar of California’s Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona intends to seek Eastman’s disbarment for alleged violations of Business and Professions Code section 6106, which punishes making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of “moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption.”
“There is nothing more sacrosanct to our American democracy than free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power,” Cardona said in a statement. “For California attorneys, adherence to the U.S. and California Constitutions is their highest legal duty. The Notice of Disciplinary Charges alleges that Mr. Eastman violated this duty in furtherance of an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land — an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy — for which he must be held accountable.”
Eastman is the author of the so-called “coup memo,” a six-point plan to overturn the election results.
“The 11 charges arise from allegations that Eastman engaged in a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by obstructing the count of electoral votes of certain states,” the bar wrote in a press release.
Fulton DA offered immunity to 'fake' electors, asks for attorney to removed from case, motion shows
Source: WSBTV
ATLANTA -- The Fulton County District Attorney's Office has offered immunity deals to several fake electors who gathered at the State Capitol in 2020 to cast Electoral College votes for former President Donald Trump.
The revelation was made public on Tuesday in a filing from the DA's office, which also asked that one of the attorneys representing those electors be disqualified from the case.
According to the filing, Kimberly Burroughs Debrow, who represents 10 of the electors, failed to inform her clients about the potential immunity deals after they were offered last summer.
In the filing, Willis said Debrow's representation of the 10 electors has become an "impracticable and ethical mess" after interviews with some of the electors last week showed that they told the investigation team that "no potential offer of immunity was ever brought to them in 2022."
Federal appeals court temporarily blocks congressional testimomy of former prosecutor
Source: USA Today
A federal appeals panel temporarily blocked the testimony Thursday of a former prosecutor in the New York investigation of Donald Trump while the case is argued.
The administrative decision at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halts a deposition scheduled Thursday at 10 a.m. at the House Judiciary Committee for Mark Pomerantz, who used to work in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.
Under the order from court clerk Catherine Wolfe, Bragg must submit his written arguments by 3 p.m. Friday and Jordan must repond by 3 p.m. Saturday, so a three-judge panel of the appeals court can decide the case.
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Pomerantz to ask about Bragg's investigation of Trump. The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to make hush payments to an adult film actress.
TRUMP THE RAPIST .... What to Expect in the E. Jean Carroll-Donald Trump Rape Trial
When Carroll’s legal team presents her case, the central part of the case will be her testimony that she was raped by Donald Trump in a dressing room in the lingerie section of Bergdorf Goodman.
A long-time reporter and television host, Carroll is used to public speaking and has repeated her account of the rape in numerous interviews over the last four years, in addition to her deposition in this case. Many people (not on the jury) have been persuaded that she is telling the truth.
But Carroll will be allowed to present more than her testimony that she was raped by Donald Trump.
Two witnesses (Carol Martin and Lisa Birnbach) will testify that Carroll told them of the rape shortly after it occurred, and that Carroll has had a consistent account of the rape for more than 25 years. Carol Martin may be particularly persuasive to jurors over the age of 50. She was the first African-American female local news anchor in New York, several daily WCBS newscasts from the 1970s until 1994. Ms. Birnbach also is famous for writing the bestsellers The Official Preppy Handbook and Lisa Birnbach’s College Book (which was required reading for NY-area college applicants).
Two other witnesses will testify that the former president sexually assaulted them: Jessica Leeds and Natasha Steynoff.
'Reacting to a CNN report that Trump operatives were making plans to use breached voting data to not only undercut the 2020 presidential election results but also to give the GOP control of the Senate, one legal analyst stated the former president's legal woes have just grown exponentially worse...."What we have here is the unauthorized access to this privileged computer data. There is a conspiracy to acquire and improperly distribute that data. There is probably a crime of interfering with the rights of the people of Georgia to have a free and fair election."
"And this is a series of crimes, a pattern of criminal activity, then it could possibly violate the Georgia RICO statute, which criminalizes a series of criminal activities by the same person or group of persons, so there's a lot of stake here,"
Trump probe: DA urges law enforcement to prep for indictments this summer
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Monday said she would announce this summer whether former President Donald Trump and his allies would be charged with crimes related to alleged interference in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Willis revealed the timetable in a letter to local law enforcement in which she asked them to be ready for “heightened security and preparedness” because she predicted her announcement “may provoke a significant public reaction.”
In the letters, Willis said she will announce possible criminal indictments between July 11 and Sept. 1, sending one of the strongest signals yet that she’s on the verge of trying to obtain an indictment against Trump and his supporters.
“Please accept this correspondence as notice to allow you sufficient time to prepare the Sheriff’s Office and coordinate with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public,” Willis wrote to Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat.
Similar letters were hand delivered to Darin Schierbaum, Atlanta’s chief of police, and Matthew Kallmyer, director of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.
Fani Willis is going to announce whether any charges will be filed between July 11 and September 1, she told law enforcement in a letter today.
Story:
Quote
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Monday said she would announce this summer whether former President Donald Trump and his allies would be charged with crimes related to alleged interference in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Willis revealed the timetable in a letter to local law enforcement in which she asked them to be ready for “heightened security and preparedness” because she predicted her announcement “may provoke a significant public reaction.”
In the letters, Willis said she will announce possible criminal indictments between July 11 and Sept. 1, sending one of the strongest signals yet that she’s on the verge of trying to obtain an indictment against Trump and his supporters.
Trump Can’t Stop Pence From Testifying to Jan. 6 Grand Jury, Court Rules
The ruling by an appeals court paved the way for the former vice president to appear before a federal grand jury as early as this week.
A federal appeals court rejected on Wednesday night an emergency attempt by former President Donald J. Trump to stop former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying in front of a grand jury investigating Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The 11th-hour ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia paved the way for Mr. Pence to appear before the federal grand jury as early as this week.
Mr. Pence has always been a potentially important witness in the inquiry because of conversations he took part in at the White House in the weeks leading up to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. During that time, Mr. Trump repeatedly pressed Mr. Pence to use his ceremonial role overseeing the congressional count of Electoral College votes to block or delay certification of his defeat.
