(NEW YORK) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a sweeping bill that prohibits the use of state funds for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices at state agencies, higher education institutions and other public entities.
“My administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses – or wherever else for that matter – to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe,” Ivey said in a March 20 statement to news outlets.
The legislation was quickly criticized by civil rights and advocacy groups, arguing that similar policies impede on the freedom of speech.
“Today, the Alabama government has failed our children,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “The ongoing assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion is part of an anti-Black agenda that seeks to revert our nation back to a time where Black students and teachers were denied adequate access to the classroom. We refuse to go back.”
DEI, as defined by professionals in that field, is aimed at correcting inequities within an organization — this could include implementing accessibility measures for people with disabilities, correcting discriminatory hiring practices, addressing gender and racial pay inequities, anti-bias training and more.
The bill, SB129, would also “authorize certain public entities to discipline or terminate employees or contractors who violate this act.”
The bill also prohibits certain public entities “from promoting, endorsing, or requiring affirmation of or certain divisive concepts relating to race, sex, or religion,” “conditioning enrollment or attendance in certain classes or training on the basis of race or color” and will require higher education institutions to ensure that “multiple occupancy restrooms are designated for use based on biological sex.”
The legislation is the most recent effort in an ongoing conservative-backed movement to restrict programs, curriculum and activities that tackle race, gender, sex, and more.
Similar bills, including Florida’s Stop WOKE Act which restricts race-related teachings and training in schools, have faced legal challenges that have limited the impact of these policies.
The Alabama law goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2024.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk together as they prepare to vote at a polling station setup in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Mar. 19, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump has boasted that his assets include the “Mona Lisas” of real estate, but the former president risks losing some of those properties and unraveling his personal finances if he can’t satisfy the judgment in his $464 million civil fraud case by next week.
New York Attorney General Letitia James could ask the court to freeze Trump’s bank accounts, begin collecting rent from the tenants of his buildings, subpoena the former president for his personal financial information including tax returns, and request that the New York City Sheriff auction his trophy properties within months, according to multiple experts in the judgment collection industry who spoke with ABC News.
In a filing this week, Trump’s lawyers told the court that securing a bond for the full judgment was a “practical impossibility” after over 30 insurance companies declined to accept Trump’s cash and properties as collateral.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James said in an exclusive interview with ABC News last month.
However, the process of enforcing the massive judgment would likely require navigating a maze of limited liability companies, constant roadblocks by defense attorneys and technical challenges — slowing the process of collecting from a former president one of the largest judgments in New York history.
“You can’t just say, ‘It’s Trump Tower, so I’m going to take it,'” said Steven Yudin, a New York judgment enforcement attorney. “I’m sure Donald Trump does not own Trump Tower in his own name; you would have to unravel that.”
Last month, Judge Arthur Engoron determined that Trump, his sons, and their co-defendants engaged in a decade of fraudulent business by inflating the former president’s net worth. Engoron temporarily barred Trump and his sons from doing business in New York and imposed a judgment of $464 million for disgorgement and pre-judgment interest. Last month, A New York appellate judge denied Trump’s request for a delay of the enforcement of the judgment but temporarily lifted the court’s ban on Trump and his sons running New York companies.
On Thursday, Trump defended the financial strength of his company and said his decision about posting a bond would be “guided by the courts.”
“Billions of dollars of value, billions of dollars in properties, but they’d like to take the cash away, so I can’t use it on the campaign,” Trump said, though his campaign has largely used funds from donors.
In a statement to ABC News, Trump’s attorney Chris Kise described James’ most recent filing in the case — where she suggested Trump secure multiple smaller bonds or put up his properties with the court — as a “brazen abuse of power.”
“The Attorney General’s latest filing demonstrates her continued willingness to misrepresent the facts and misconstrue applicable law in her political crusade against President Trump,” Kise said.
What happens if Trump can’t get a bond?
If Trump and his co-defendants are unable to pay the full balance of the judgment in an account with the court, secure a bond, or consent to have his buildings held by the court by Monday, the New York Attorney General could ask the court to enforce the $464 million judgment.
The process will likely be lengthy given the defendants and immense size of the bond, according to trial attorney Kevin O’Brien, especially if James opts to seize the former president’s properties.
“That’s going to be a long process, and it’s not going to happen overnight,” O’Brien said. “These properties are huge, they have debt … and they have tenants.”
James’ investigation of Trump revealed wide-reaching misrepresentations in the former president’s financial statements between 2011 and 2021. According to judgment enforcement attorney Peter Agulnick, James could attempt to get a fuller picture of the former president’s finances, including involving the Trump Organization’s independent monitor Barbara Jones.
“You could subpoena the judgment debtor and require him to give his tax returns and all sorts of documents concerning his financial condition and assets,” he said.
If Trump has money in savings or brokerage accounts, James could attempt to freeze those assets to satisfy a portion of the judgment, according to Steven Cohen, a New York attorney whose work includes enforcing judgments. James could also ask to impose restraining notices on the Trump Organization’s tenants so they pay rent to New York’s Sheriff’s office — and contribute to the judgment — rather than to the former president’s companies.
One challenge to the collection efforts could be the Trump Organization’s complex corporate structure, which creates a barrier between the defendants in the case — Trump, his sons, the Trump Organization, and the holding companies for some buildings — and the mechanisms that exist to collect judgments.
“People like him have a lot of layers of ownership, so it’s going to take some effort to unravel that and get his assets,” attorney Yudin said.
Could Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago be seized?
James could ask the New York Supreme Court to force Trump to auction off his shares in his New York properties — such as Trump Tower or 40 Wall Street among others — through either a receiver or the New York City Sheriff.
“The more unique the asset, the more you probably want a receiver,” judgment collection attorney Kenneth Katz said. “A sheriff is not going to go out and try and find buyers; they’re just going to say, ‘Six weeks from now, we’re going to sell this building, anyone who is interested will show up.'”
While James could attempt to enforce the judgment through the sale of out-of-state properties, seizing a property like Mar-a-Lago would require additional steps like registering the judgment in Florida, and states often include restrictions on seizing a defendant’s personal residence.
“I’m going to assume they’re going to go to the New York properties first because that’s the easiest thing to do,” Cohen said.
In an interview with ABC News, James suggested Trump’s 40 Wall Street skyscraper — which neighbors the New York Attorney General’s Manhattan office — was a potential asset she could seize.
“We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day,” James said.
The judgment collection process normally takes years or months, but the Trump case could also be expedited due to the high-profile defendants, according to Cohen. Trump’s lawyers are likely to attempt to stop the process along the way, potentially slowing the pace of the sales until after New York courts finish hearing Trump’s appeal.
“There are things to do to slow the process down. You’re always going to be met with roadblocks and resistance,” Yudin said.
Does Trump have enough money to pay the bond?
While the former president claims to be worth over $10 billion — largely due to his “brand value” — the exact amount of cash held by the president is unknown.
In a deposition last year, Trump claimed he has over $400 million in cash, and his statement of financial condition in 2021 listed that he had $294 million in cash and cash equivalents. Since that financial statement was issued, Trump profited $126 million from the sale of a Washington, D.C. hotel and $60 million from the sale of a New York golf course.
Trump could potentially make billions from his stake in the company behind his Truth Social social media platform, Trump Media & Technology Group — which is set to merge with Digital World Acquisition Corporation later this month — but Trump would not be able to sell those shares for at least six months.
Trump also faced similar issues securing a bond for his $83.3 million judgment in his defamation case.
In that case, the former president ended up using a brokerage account to collateralize a bond through the massive insurance company Chubb, but the company declined to issue a bond for the fraud case using Trump’s properties as collateral.
Why does Trump’s team believe a delay is necessary?
Trump’s lawyers have insisted that despite the issues securing a bond, the company is strong financially and will not attempt to avoid enforcement of the penalty, which James has suggested.
“While it is my understanding that the Trump Organization is in a strong liquidity position, it does not have $1 billion in cash or cash equivalents,” Trump’s broker said in a recent filing.
Defense lawyers have instead argued that the decision in the case was fundamentally flawed and is bound to be overturned on appeal. Selling the properties to post a bond would cause irrevocable harm to the company, according to Trump’s lawyers.
“Once you scramble the egg, you can’t unscramble. If he’s forced to put these properties on the block now, what if he wins the appeal?” O’Brien said.
Lawyers for the New York Attorney General pushed back on the request — noting he could instead secure multiple bonds or hand over control of his buildings to the court — and argued Trump can’t secure a bond because his “holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim.”
“There’s an irony about a situation where he had been puffing up his net worth, and now when it serves the opposite purpose, his incentive is to basically beat them down to say, ‘I have very few assets under my control,'” said Columbia law professor Eric Talley.
(NEW YORK) — Over 10 days into the search for missing college student Riley Strain, his family said they’re starting to have difficult conversations.
“Put yourself in our shoes,” Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told ABC News on Wednesday. “Your family, your brother, your sister — they’ve been missing for almost two weeks.”
“Everybody knows it, everybody’s thinking it — those conversations are starting to happen,” he said. “It’s not what we want. And I understand that people want to know what we’re feeling — we’re feeling frustrated, we’re feeling hurt, we’re feeling depressed.”
“Nobody knows what happened to Riley,” he said.
Strain, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Missouri, went missing on March 8 after a night out in Nashville, Tennessee.
Strain and his Delta Chi fraternity brothers were in Nashville for their fraternity formal and went out in the city’s Broadway area.
Whiteid said Strain spoke to his mom multiple times a day. On the night of March 8, Whiteid said Strain FaceTimed his mom from a bar and didn’t sound intoxicated.
Strain and his mom exchanged more texts after the FaceTime call, Whiteid said. The last text Strain sent to his mom that night was, “I love you.”
Surveillance cameras and police body cameras captured Strain’s last known movements from about 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Police released body camera video of Strain speaking to a police officer around 9:50 p.m. The officer asked how he was doing, and Strain, walking alone, responded, “I’m good, how are you?”
Whiteid said Strain sounded like his usual polite self in that interaction with the officer.
“Why he didn’t ask for help, I can’t answer,” Whiteid said. “It makes no sense.”
Police said there is no evidence of foul play.
On Sunday, Strain’s bank card was found on the embankment between Gay Street and the Cumberland River, near Riverfront Park, police said.
Authorities have been searching by foot, by drone and by boat, including using boats with sonar equipment, according to police.
The United Cajun Navy has also arrived in Nashville to help and is organizing volunteers. David Flagg of the United Cajun Navy said they’re searching the river and are putting together a “structured and organized ground search.”
And the search is now stretching beyond Nashville, with authorities on Wednesday shutting down a dam to look through debris about 30 miles downstream from the riverbanks where Strain was last seen, according to Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN-TV.
“We feel very confident with everything that’s moving forward,” Whiteid said of the police investigation, city support and volunteer searches. “There’s not a playbook we can go by when, you know, something like this happens, so the more experienced people you can have in your corner, the better.”
Whiteid said that he believes “somebody’s seen something, somebody knows something.”
“They just have to realize they need to share that information with us,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison during a hearing in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday for his role in two attacks, including the torture of two Black men, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dedmon received the maximum sentence for the January 2023 torture of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker and for the assault of another man during an incident in December 2022 during a traffic stop. According to federal prosecutors, Dedmon was the organizer of both attacks and as the fourth of six to be sentenced, has received the harshest sentence so far.
“I want to tell them I’m sorry for what they went through, what they are going through,” Dedmon said during the sentencing hearing, per WAPT. “If I [could] take every bit of it back, I promise I would.”
Dedmon and a group of five additional white former law enforcement officers pleaded guilty to a total of 16 felonies related to the racially motivated torture and sexual assault of Jenkins and Parker, as well as a subsequent plan to cover up their crimes.
Earlier on Wednesday, former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison for his role in the incident.
Opdyke cried during the sentencing, according to WAPT, and said that his time in prison so far has helped him reflect on “how I transformed into the monster I became that night.”
“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told the victims. “I wish I could take away your suffering.”
Former Rankin County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon is also set to be sentenced on Wednesday, are the third and fourth defendants to be sentenced in the case.
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward was sentenced on Tuesday to 241 months, or about 20 years, while Jeffrey Middleton received a 17 1/2-year sentence for his role in the incident, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The remaining two officers who pleaded guilty in this case — former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Brett McAlpin and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield — are set to be sentenced during hearings on Thursday.,”These defendants will spend 20 years and 17.5 years in prison for their heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Tuesday following the first round of sentencing.
“The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who violate constitutional rights, and in so doing, betray the public trust,” his statement concluded.
In their guilty pleas, the six former law enforcement officers admitted to breaking into a home where Jenkins and Parker were residing without a warrant after a white neighbor reported that the men were staying with a white woman and alleged “suspicious” activity. They then proceeded to arrest the two men “without probable cause” that they committed any crimes, according to the DOJ.
Some of the defendants were part of a group of shift officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad” because of their “willingness to use excessive force and not report it,” according to charging documents. The group was summoned by Dedmon to the home where Jenkins and Parker were residing, according to the DOJ, after McAlpin asked him to investigate.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, mocked them with racial slurs, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy, forced them to strip naked and shower together and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
Following the incident, the two victims faced false charges for months, according to the DOJ, stemming from the officers’ plan to cover up their actions by tampering with and planting evidence, including drugs and a gun.
ABC News has reached out to the officers but requests for comment were not returned.
Jenkins and Parker, along with their attorney Malik Shabazz, told reporters on Monday that they have been struggling with the enduring trauma of the brutal attack. Following Elward’s sentencing on Tuesday, the two men told Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT that justice has been done.
Elward, who pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in the indictment — discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence — stood up in the courtroom and apologized to the victims, according to WAPT, saying, “I hate myself for it. I accept my responsibility.”
Parker stood up and told Elward that he forgives him, and later that afternoon told WAPT that while he forgives “what is done,” Elward “still did what he did and he has to be punished.”
Asked if he also forgives Elward, Jenkins told WAPT, “I don’t know. No, no, because if he wouldn’t have got caught, he’d still be doing the same thing.”
The charges the officers pleaded guilty to include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They also pleaded guilty to similar state charges and are awaiting sentencing in the state case. State sentences will be served concurrently.
Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three additional federal felony offenses related to a separate incident that took place on Dec. 4, 2022, per the DOJ.
The U.S. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in Feb. 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit.
“It’s in court, and we’re fighting,” Shabazz told ABC News on Monday when asked about the status of the lawsuit.
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(BOISE, Idaho) — An inmate escaped from an Idaho hospital Wednesday with an accomplice who opened fire on the correction officers transporting him, striking two, in a “brazen” attack, authorities said.
Both suspects remain at large following the early morning “ambush,” the Idaho Department of Correction said.
The Idaho Department of Correction inmate, Skylar Meade, had been transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise for unscheduled medical treatment, authorities said. As correction officers were preparing to transport him back to prison around 2:15 a.m. local time, an unknown individual “attacked and fired” at the officers, Boise police said.
One officer is in critical but stable condition, and the second has serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
A third correction officer was shot by a Boise officer who responded to reports of an active shooter inside the hospital’s emergency department, Boise police said. The officer fired his weapon at an armed individual near the entrance who was determined to be an Idaho Department of Correction officer, police said. The correction officer was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The hospital was temporarily locked down as Boise officers searched the area for the shooting suspect, police said. Investigators ultimately determined that Meade and his accomplice fled in a gray four-door sedan, possibly a Honda Civic, just prior to Boise officers arriving, police said.
“This brazen, violent, and apparently coordinated attack on Idaho Department of Corrections personnel, to facilitate an escape of a dangerous inmate, was carried out right in front of the Emergency Department, where people come for medical help, often in the direst circumstances,” Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said in a statement. “I am grateful this harrowing incident did not result in loss of life, and we are monitoring the wounded IDOC officers with great hope for a full and speedy recovery of all involved.”
Authorities are working to determine the identity of the accomplice amid the ongoing search for the suspects, Winegar told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a very dynamic, unfolding incident, and we are searching as quickly as we can, following every lead we can,” Winegar said.
“They could be anywhere at this point,” he later said.
Idaho Department of Correction director Josh Tewalt told reporters they are investigating how the attack was planned and working to identify any other accomplices who may have been involved in facilitating Meade’s escape.
The inmate “engaged in self-injurious behavior” Tuesday night, and prison medical staff determined he needed to be transported off-site for care, Tewalt said.
Meade, 31, has most recently been serving time at a maximum security prison in Kuna for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a firearm enhancement, according to police and Idaho Department of Correction records. His sentence was through October 2036, with parole eligibility starting in October 2026, the correction records show.
Meade has been incarcerated since October 2016 and has prior convictions including felony possession of a controlled substance, grand theft and introduction of contraband into a correctional facility, police said.
Authorities urged anyone who may have contact with the two suspects to call 911.
“They are armed, dangerous, and have shown they are willing to use extreme violence in furtherance of their criminal activity,” Winegar said.
Meade was described by authorities as a white, 5-foot-6 man weighing 150 pounds with hazel eyes and brown hair. He has tattoos on his arms, chest, calf, abdomen and face.
Following the lockdown, the hospital has since resumed normal operations.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the officer shooting, Boise police said.
(JEANETTE, Pa.) — Four young children and one adult were killed in a devastating house fire in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, officials said.
The victims were: a 1-month-old girl, Korbyn John; a 3-year-old boy, Keagan John; a 6-year-old girl, Kinzleigh John; a 7-year-old boy, Kyson John; and a 27-year-old man, Tyler King, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office said.
The blaze was reported just after midnight at a house in Jeanette, about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh, and burned the entire home to the ground, according to fire officials and the coroner.
Three people — an adult and two children — were rescued, firefighters told reporters.
Neighbor Jack Mull told Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE that he helped rescued the mom and two children.
“I ran over to try to get in downstairs but it was just too hot, too many flames,” he said. “I run in the backyard here, and I grabbed the ladder, went over. And the mother, Miranda, she was on the roof on the back side. So I went to try to help her with the baby.”
Mull said the mother tried to go back inside to save the rest of her family.
All that was left standing at the family’s home was the chimney.
The fire also destroyed the house next door. Everyone in the neighboring home escaped safely, according to WTAE.
“We have lost multiple members of our school district and community in this devastating incident,” Jeannette City School District Matthew Jones said in a letter to families. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those who have tragically passed away.”
He said counselors and social workers will be available to help grieving students.
“Please know that our entire school community stands with the family and friends of those lost and we offer our deepest condolences and unwavering support,” Jones said.
(ATLANTA) — Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday cleared the way for former President Donald Trump to appeal the judge’s ruling that ultimately kept Fulton County DA Fani Willis on the election interference case.
McAfee granted the joint request from Trump and some of his codefendants to obtain a certificate of immediate review — which allows them now to appeal the ruling up to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
McAfee in his order said the order “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had.”
It will now be up to the Georgia Court of Appeals to determine whether or not to take the issue.
McAfee said he intends to keep moving forward with the case while Trump and his codefendants pursue their appeal.
“The Court intends to continue addressing the many other unrelated pending pretrial motions, regardless of whether the petition is granted within 45 days of filing, and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the appellate court,” the order said.
Trump’s attorney in a statement called the move from McAfee “highly significant.”
“The defense is optimistic that appellate review will lead to the case being dismissed and the DA being disqualified,” said Steve Sadow, Trump’s attorney.
The DA’s office in a statement highlighted the McAfee’s decision to keep the case moving, saying they will “work to move [the case] forward to trial as quickly as possible.”
“As the case is not stayed during the appeal, this office will work to move it forward to trial as quickly as possible,” spokesperson Jeff Disantis said in a statement. “We will limit our comment on the appellate matter to what we file with the Court of Appeals during the briefing process.”
Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor in Trump’s election interference case, resigned Friday as special prosecutor following a ruling by McAfee. Wade’s resignation came hours after McAfee declined to outright disqualify Willis, but ruled either she or Wade must step aside from the case due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” stemming from a romantic relationship between Willis and Wade.
(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is pushing back on Donald Trump’s “extraordinary” request for a stay of his $464 million civil fraud judgment, arguing the former president’s recent request was unreliable, procedurally improper and based on a flawed premise.
“There is nothing unusual about even billion-dollar judgments being fully bonded on appeal,” Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan said in a filing this morning. “Defendants object to a possible ‘fire sale’ if they were to sell assets to generate cash to use as collateral for a bond or as a deposit —but the alternative would be to shift the risk of executing on defendants’ illiquid assets to OAG.”
Earlier this week, Trump’s lawyers argued that the former president is unable to secure a bond for the judgment – having been rejected by over 30 insurance companies – due to its size and his need to post properties as collateral.
The AG argued that the former president has failed to demonstrate his effort to secure a bond using properties as collateral, suggesting the issue is a product of Trump’s doing because his “holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim.”
“Defendants supply no documentary evidence that demonstrates precisely what real property they offered to sureties, on what terms that property was offered, or precisely why the sureties were unwilling to accept the assets,” the filing said. “As far as the Court can infer, sureties may have refused to accept defendants’ specific holdings as collateral because using Mr. Trump’s real estate will generally need ‘a property appraisal’ … and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim.”
If Trump is unable to secure a single bond for the $464 million judgment, James said the former president could attempt to secure multiple smaller bonds – “$100 or $200 million apiece” – or consent to have his real-estate interests held by the Supreme Court to satisfy the judgment.
“The use of real estate as collateral for an appeal bond is hardly impossible as a general matter,” the filing said.
The AG’s filing also criticized Trump’s attempt to introduce two affirmations from both Trump Organization General Counsel Alan Garten — who James alleged was “personally involved in the fraudulent and illegal conduct that gave rise to the judgment in this case” – and Trump’s broker Gary Giulietti. James characterized the two affirmations as “unreliable.”
“The affirmation from Gary Giulietti does not disclose that he was an expert witness for defendants at trial or that Supreme Court found Mr. Giulietti’s trial testimony to lack credibility,” the filing said. “Moreover, Mr. Giulietti has a ‘personal financial interest in the outcome of the case,’ because his company earns commission from the Trump Organization, including $1.2 million in 2022.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization described the Attorney General’s claims about the Garten affirmation as “reckless, unethical and sanctionable.”
“The Court made no such finding. The AG’s gross misstatement is reckless, unethical and sanctionable,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC News.
Judge Arthur Engoron in February ordered Trump to pay $464 million in disgorgement and interest after holding him liable for doing a decade’s worth of business with fraudulent financial statements that overvalued his real estate holdings and hyped his wealth. Trump was also barred from leading any New York company for three years. His sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also fined $4 million apiece and barred for two years. They denied any wrongdoing.
(NEW YORK) – Two teenage boys have been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of a 21-year-old man whose body was found in a remote desert area in Utah County, according to police.
The 15-year-old and a 17-year-old have been booked into the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center on multiple felony charges related to the murder, the Taylorsville Police Department said in a press release.
Police had been searching for 21-year-old Alex Franco, who was abducted Sunday, according to police.
Franco was last seen alive getting into a white Jeep Liberty on Sunday afternoon, according to police. Witnesses reported hearing a possible single gunshot and the vehicle then sped away.
Police found a vehicle suspected to be the one involved in the abduction on Monday and further investigation led to the arrest of two teenage suspects, according to police.
Franco’s body was found with what appeared to be a single gunshot wound, police said.
Police believe they arrested the person responsible for Franco’s shooting but they are “actively working on contacting others who may have been present during the homicide,” according to police.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison during a hearing in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi on Wednesday for his role in torture of two Black men, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Opdyke is the third to be sentenced out of a group of six white former law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a total of 16 felonies related to the January 2023 racially motivated torture and sexual assault of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, as well as a subsequent plan to cover up their crimes.
He cried during the sentencing, according to WAPT, and said that his time in prison so far has helped him reflect on “how I transformed into the monster I became that night.”
“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told the victims. “I wish I could take away your suffering.”
Former Rankin County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon is also set to be sentenced on Wednesday, are the third and fourth defendants to be sentenced in the case.
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward was sentenced on Tuesday to 241 months, or about 20 years, while Jeffrey Middleton received a 17 1/2-year sentence for his role in the incident, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The remaining two officers who pleaded guilty in this case — former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Brett McAlpin and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield — are set to be sentenced during hearings on Thursday.
“These defendants will spend 20 years and 17.5 years in prison for their heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Tuesday following the first round of sentencing.
“The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who violate constitutional rights, and in so doing, betray the public trust,” his statement concluded.
In their guilty pleas, the six former law enforcement officers admitted to breaking into a home where Jenkins and Parker were residing without a warrant after a white neighbor reported that the men were staying with a white woman and alleged “suspicious” activity. They then proceeded to arrest the two men “without probable cause” that they committed any crimes, according to the DOJ.
Some of the defendants were part of a group of shift officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad” because of their “willingness to use excessive force and not report it,” according to charging documents. The group was summoned by Dedmon to the home where Jenkins and Parker were residing, according to the DOJ, after McAlpin asked him to investigate.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, mocked them with racial slurs, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy, forced them to strip naked and shower together and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
Following the incident, the two victims faced false charges for months, according to the DOJ, stemming from the officers’ plan to cover up their actions by tampering with and planting evidence, including drugs and a gun.
ABC News has reached out to the officers but requests for comment were not returned.
Jenkins and Parker, along with their attorney Malik Shabazz, told reporters on Monday that they have been struggling with the enduring trauma of the brutal attack. Following Elward’s sentencing on Tuesday, the two men told Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT that justice has been done.
Elward, who pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in the indictment — discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence — stood up in the courtroom and apologized to the victims, according to WAPT, saying, “I hate myself for it. I accept my responsibility.”
Parker stood up and told Elward that he forgives him, and later that afternoon told WAPT that while he forgives “what is done,” Elward “still did what he did and he has to be punished.”
Asked if he also forgives Elward, Jenkins told WAPT, “I don’t know. No, no, because if he wouldn’t have got caught, he’d still be doing the same thing.”
The charges the officers pleaded guilty to include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They also pleaded guilty to similar state charges and are awaiting sentencing in the state case. State sentences will be served concurrently.
Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three additional federal felony offenses related to a separate incident that took place on Dec. 4, 2022, per the DOJ.
The U.S. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in Feb. 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit.
“It’s in court, and we’re fighting,” Shabazz told ABC News on Monday when asked about the status of the lawsuit.
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
