Trump Corruption

CNN reports: Lawyers for former President Donald Trump said his $175 million bond posted to satisfy the judgement in the New York civil fraud case is financially sound, and they asked the judge to set aside the attorney general’s challenge to the bond and award him costs and fees. In court filings, Trump said the bond secured by Knight Specialty …

Politico reports: Justice Juan Merchan has officially impaneled the first six jurors who will decide whether Donald Trump is guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a sex scandal. The six individuals were sworn in after various other prospective jurors were removed from the pool this afternoon. Some were dismissed by the judge “for cause” after lawyers successfully argued that …

NBC News reports: After the questioning of a juror, Merchan admonished Trump for seeming to talk in a way that was audible. “I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make this crystal clear,” Merchan said. Merchan allowed the juror, whose Facebook post was at issue, to enter the courtroom so that Trump’s lawyer, Blanche, …

Mediaite reports: Kash Patel, who served as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense in former President Donald Trump’s administration and is widely expected to be tapped for a national security role in a prospective second term, is hawking pills that claim to reverse the effects of the Covid vaccines. In a Truth Social post over the weekend, …

The New York Times reports: In January 2018, when she first saw reports that her husband had paid off a porn star, Melania Trump was furious. She jetted off to Palm Beach, leaving the president to languish in Washington. As a criminal trial against Mr. Trump opened on Monday, on charges that he had falsified records to cover up that …

Mediaite reports: Several reporters in attendance at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial shared on the air and social media that for the second day in a row, Trump fell asleep in court. CNN contributor Norm Eisen tweeted on Tuesday: “Trump is asleep again” at nearly 11:00 AM. And his account was corroborated by others on site. Maggie Haberman’s …

The Huffington Post reports: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a motion to hold Trump in contempt over repeatedly violating a gag order by attacking witnesses, including his former attorney Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels, on social media. “Defendant is not above the law, and he cannot simply disregard judicial orders that upset him,” Bragg wrote. “And …

Kyle Cheney writes for Politico: Donald Trump is learning a hard lesson: Criminal defendants don’t get to set their own schedules. Three times on Monday the former president asked Justice Juan Merchan to cut him loose from his hush money trial to attend to other matters — some personal, some political and some legal. Three times the judge responded with, …

Via press release from the Biden-Harris campaign: Wake Up Donald: After Stormy Abortion Ban Coverage, Trump Poll Memo Attempts to Hush Panic The Trump campaign is in full-on panic mode over abortion. This morning, they put out a desperate polling memo (that didn’t cover the full days of fallout, and egregiously misrepresents Trump and Biden’s positions) to try and hush …

Posted last night to Trump’s Truth Social account: Who will explain for me, to my wonderful son, Barron, who is a GREAT Student at a fantastic School, that his Dad will likely not be allowed to attend his Graduation Ceremony, something that we have been talking about for years, because a seriously Conflicted and Corrupt New York State Judge wants …

The Associated Press reports: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ‘ office potentially violated state laws on purchasing, state property and government records when it purchased a $19,000 lectern for the Republican governor that’s prompted nationwide attention, an audit requested by lawmakers said Monday. Legislative auditors referred the findings in the long-awaited audit of the lectern to local prosecutors and the …

Axios reports: Donald Trump’s meme stock fell on Monday, just like it has fallen on most of the 14 days it has traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It closed at $26.61 per share, down 18% from Friday’s close and down 66% from its March 26 high of $79.38. The latest drop came after the social-media company released a 217-page …

USA Today reports: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and prominent election denier, who unsuccessfully argued his rights were violated when FBI agents seized his phone in 2022. The federal government was investigating the sharing of sensitive information from Colorado’s computerized voting systems. Lindell was a key ally of Donald …

And the hits today just keep coming: Judge Juan Merchan issued former President Donald Trump a stern warning about his attendance at his criminal trial: Show up or be arrested. Trump, the first former president to ever stand trial as a criminal defendant, attended the first day of his trial on Monday — where several motions were decided upon before …

Mediaite reports: CNN commentator and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported former President Donald Trump “appears to be sleeping” in the courtroom at his election interference-hush money trial. Trump’s trial — on 34 felony counts in the case that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels— began Monday morning with …

CNN reports: Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now bringing up some of Trump’s recent Truth Social posts saying they violate the gag order to not make statements about potential witnesses. Among the posts, prosecutors cite one from Wednesday when Trump references “two sleazebags,” which, in the context, are Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels. Some of the requests happening in court from …

Politico reports: In his first moments on the bench, Justice Juan Merchan denied Donald Trump’s bid to get the judge to recuse himself from the case. As Trump watched, stone-faced, from the defense table, Merchan reviewed the former president’s court filings arguing that the judge should step down, which largely centered on Merchan’s adult daughter’s work for a consulting firm …

“I’m proud to do it for you. Have a good time watching. I will be forced to sit fully gagged. I’m not allowed to talk. They want to take away my constitutional right to talk. I have a crooked judge. This has never happened before by the way. Fully gagged before a highly conflicted and corrupt judge who suffers from …

CNBC reports: Shares of Trump Media plunged more than 17% in the pre-trading hours Monday after the company filed to issue millions of additional shares of stock. The company behind the Truth Social app, which trades under the stock ticker DJT on the Nasdaq, fell nearly 20% last week. Several years into existence, Truth Social has barely any advertising revenue. …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: The NYPD has ramped up security as Former President Donald Trump spends this week in a Lower Manhattan courthouse for his hush money trial. Barricades line Fifth Avenue near Trump’s home in Manhattan. 56th Street is closed between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Periodic road closures will go into effect as the former president travels …