(NEW YORK) — The 4.8 magnitude earthquake that rattled the tristate area Friday morning left residents doubting what they had just experienced.
“I felt like there was a roller coaster under my house going 1,000 miles an hour,” Carol Nicolaidis of Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News. “I first thought pipes were exploding under my house.”
The earthquake that hit New Jersey Friday morning could be felt as far south as Washington, D.C., and as far north as Maine, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“I was sitting in my living room and I saw the walls shaking; it felt like a wave,” Nicolaidis said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the quake one of the largest on the East Coast in the last century.
There have been no reports of injuries or major infrastructure damage, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. But there were reports of “limited damage” in Lebanon, New Jersey, near the quake’s epicenter.
Students at New York’s Rye Country Day School thought the earthquake was “the coolest thing ever,” Gail Sestito, dean of Grades 7 and 8 and a middle school science instructor, told ABC News.
“Many said they saw the lights shaking a little and the smart board vibrate. But mostly we heard it — sounded like students running down the hall,” she said.
There’s a 46% chance there could be an aftershock of over 3.0 in magnitude within the next week, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“If you feel an aftershock, drop to the floor, cover your head and neck, and take cover under a solid piece of furniture, next to an interior wall, or in a doorway,” Adams said in a statement.
(WASHINGTON) — A blockbuster jobs report on Friday delivered the latest sign of strong U.S. economic performance, defying the lukewarm feelings held by many Americans, some experts told ABC News.
Employers hired 303,000 workers last month, blowing past economist expectations of 214,000 jobs added, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%, hovering near a 50-year low.
The hiring far surpassed the average number of jobs added each month over the previous year, suggesting an acceleration in performance for one of the key metrics used to assess the nation’s economic health.
“This morning’s blowout jobs numbers show that the economy isn’t showing any signs of slowing down,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for North Carolina-based Independent Advisor Alliance, told ABC News in a statement.
However, the strong job gains coincided with a slight dip in consumer sentiment last month, according to a University of Michigan survey. Attitudes about the economy improved in previous months but remain well below pre-pandemic levels, the survey showed.
The uneasy feelings about the economy have weighed down President Joe Biden’s approval ratings on his leadership on the issue. Only 37% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, a Gallup poll last month showed.
Despite a booming job market and robust economic growth, the economy remains saddled with higher-than-normal inflation.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of 9.1% but it remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%.
The gap between economic performance and consumer attitudes stems from residual frustration about the months-long bout of high inflation as well as bias tied to political partisanship, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told ABC News.
“Many Americans remain unconvinced about the economy’s strength, but this reflects in part the previously high inflation and that many are paying much more for food, rent, and other living costs,” Zandi said. “It also reflects the nation’s fractured politics, as many are looking through their political prism when making assessments about the economy’s performance.”
Biden touted the jobs data in a statement on Friday, celebrating 15 million jobs created since he took office.
“That’s 15 million more people who have the dignity and respect that comes with a paycheck,” Biden said. “We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hardworking families.”
The blockbuster jobs data arrives during a sustained period of high borrowing costs, which typically weigh on economic activity and company hiring. In theory, the high interest rates depress consumer demand and lower inflation.
At a meeting last month, the Fed opted to keep rates highly elevated. The Fed Funds rate remains between 5.25% and 5.5%, matching its highest level since 2001.
The Fed, however, said last month that it still intends to make three interest rate cuts this year. The next opportunity for a rate decision will take place at a central bank meeting next month.
Economists differed about the implications of the jobs report for the timing of a potential rate cut.
Some experts suggested that the show of economic strength would prompt the Fed to delay a rate cut, since such a move could trigger a burst of demand and a rebound of inflation.
While others said a cooling-off of wage increases detailed in the report would nudge the Fed toward a rate cut, because the pay slowdown eases the risk of price hikes made in an effort to offset rising labor costs.
“Continued hot job growth will reinforce the Fed’s cautious approach towards rate cuts as some Fed officials will likely see job growth as still too hot for comfort,” Lydia Boussour, senior economist at consulting firm EY, told ABC News in a statement.
But economists who spoke to ABC News agreed that the jobs report offered evidence of a U.S. economy in good health.
The three major stock indexes, meanwhile, inched upward in early trading on Friday.
“A strong labor report is a good thing for the economy, even if it delays the Fed’s rate cuts,” Bret Kenwell, a U.S. investment analyst at eToro, told ABC News in a statement.
(MOUNTAIN CITY, Tenn.) — When police found Billy Payne and his fiancée Billie Jean Hayworth shot execution-style in a rural Tennessee home with their 7-month-old son Tyler alive in Hayworth’s arms in 2012, it sparked an investigation that would lead them to discover a complex murder concocted by a woman who was in the middle of a social media feud.
Jenelle Potter has been serving two concurrent life sentences for the murders after she was convicted in 2015. Prosecutors contend that Potter deceived her parents and her boyfriend into thinking that the couple threatened her before her father, Marvin “Buddy” Potter, committed the slayings.
Even all these years later, investigators said they still struggle with the horrors of the incident.
“The little boy…just thinking about him laying there just breaks my heart,” Mountain City Police Department Assistant Chief, Joe Woodard, who helped investigate the case, told “20/20.”
“20/20” will explore the case in an episode airing April 5 at 9 p.m. ET and streaming on Hulu the next day with archival interviews of Potter and her mother before their prison sentences, key investigators and friends of the victims.
The show will also feature interrogation tapes and courtroom footage of the case and the latest updates.
Potter told “20/20” in 2015 that she had trouble adjusting and didn’t make many friends when her family moved to Mountain City, Tennessee, in 2005.
“I didn’t grow up here,” Potter, now 42, told “20/20” in 2015. “People here do not like outsiders.”
She befriended pharmacy clerk Tracy Greenwell and the two started hanging out, along with Greenwell’s brother, Billy Payne. Potter also had a relationship with Greenwell’s cousin, Jamie Curd, behind the back of her strict parents.
Trouble started to brew when Potter claimed she was getting harassing messages on her Facebook page and accused Hayworth of being behind them.
Eventually, Potter, Hayworth and Payne stopped being friends on Facebook.
A few days after the couple was found dead, investigators questioned Marvin, Jenelle and Barbara in their home.
“We knew that they had trouble with [Hayworth and Payne],” Woodard told “20/20.”
During the interview, Jenelle appeared to be hiding her romantic relationship with Curd from her parents. He was later was later brought in for questioning by police.
After being told he failed a polygraph test, Curd admitted that he and Janelle’s dad, Marvin, went to Payne and Hayworth’s home where he says Marvin killed them.
“I didn’t truly believe that Buddy Potter was capable of doing this,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Scott Lott said in 2015. “Because Buddy did have some health issues.”
With this new information, police brought Marvin in for questioning.
While being questioned by detectives, Marvin said, “I’ve had my life threatened. My wife has been threatened. They’ve threatened to take Jenelle, cut her head off.”
Lott then arranged for Marvin to call his wife Barbara.
On the call, Marvin is heard telling his wife: “Before you find out from somebody else, I want you to know, I was involved in it. I did it…At least some of it.” “That’s as close to a confession as we got from him,” said Lott in 2015.
While Marvin was being questioned, police executed a search warrant on the Potter house.
Assistant Chief Woodard said investigators found an “arsenal” of weapons around the home. They also discovered printed photos of the victim and her friends in the living room.
Authorities seized 51 items from the house, including their family computer. When they impounded Marvin’s truck, they found bags of shredded documents.
An agent meticulously reconstructed more than 100 pages of what appeared to be thousands of emails sent to the Potter family.
“After combing through them, it appeared there was some type of conspiracy here. They kept referring to a guy Chris that’s supposedly a CIA operative or something,” Lott said in 2015.
The CIA agent “Chris” had been corresponding with Barbara and warning her about threats to her daughter’s life.
On the Potters’ computer, police analysis found that emails sent from CIA agent Chris all came from the same IP address at the home where the Potters lived. Prosecutors contended Jenelle was pretending to be Chris and used the false identity to fool her parents and to goad Marvin Potter into the killing. They also say the threats of rape and murder against Jenelle were false and fabricated by her.
“Social media allowed Jenelle Potter to be someone that she wasn’t,” Brooks said. “She could assume a different identity and be as hateful as she wanted to be.”
In August 2013, authorities arrested Jenelle and Barbara for the murders of Payne and Hayworth.
A few months later, in October 2013, Marvin was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to two life sentences. Curd agreed to a plea deal of two concurrent sentences of 25 years in prison for facilitation of first degree murder and testified against Jenelle and Barbara. He has been released on parole.
In May 2015 Jenelle and Barbara were convicted after a seven-day trial and sentenced to life in prison two months later.
In an interview with “20/20” after the conviction, Jenelle and Barbara denied that they were involved in the murders of Payne and Hayworth.
“I didn’t hate [Hayworth and Payne]. I just disliked them. I wanted [them] to quit. I wanted the harassment to stop,” Jenelle Potter said.
Both Jenelle and Marvin lost appeals on their cases and are serving their sentences.
In 2021, Barbara’s murder conviction was overturned because her lawyer, who also represented Marvin, had a conflict of interest. Instead of being retried she pled guilty to the lesser charge of facilitation of murder. She is now eligible for parole in 2028.
Friends and family of the victims say the one thing that remains etched in their minds is baby Tyler and how he has to live the rest of his entire life without his mom and dad.
“He was her world,” Thomas said of Hayworth. “Just this glow she had about her when he came into the world was just unbelievable.”
(NEW YORK) — A 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the Northeast Friday morning, shaking buildings from Philadelphia to New Jersey to New York City to Connecticut to Westchester, New York.
The earthquake was centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Reports of injuries were not immediately clear.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport are all on a ground stop while runways are inspected for damage.
Con Edison said there are no reports of outages or damage.
There is no damage or service disruption to New York City’s subway system, according to the MTA.
New York City schools are staying open as normal, according to the city’s Department of Education press secretary, Nathaniel Styer.
“At this time, there is no indication that our buildings were compromised, and our facilities staff are quickly and thoroughly inspecting buildings to ensure safety. The safest place for our kids right now is in our schools,” Styer said.
The New York City mayor’s office said there’s no immediate reports of damage in the city but crews are still assessing the impacts.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the quake was felt throughout New York.
“My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” she wrote on social media.
Cars at the Holland Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan are being temporarily held so the tunnel can be inspected, according to the Port Authority.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
At least 10 states have implemented restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Some of these policies ban state funds from being used for diversity-based programs, activities, and offices on college campuses, as seen in Alabama. Some states, like Texas, ban diversity offices at universities altogether. Florida’s law also targets diversity training or programs in private workplaces.
Legislators in at least 19 other states have proposed similar restrictions, although several efforts have failed to pass or were vetoed.
DEI, as defined by professionals in the field, is intended to correct 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.
DEI practices have their roots in the anti-discrimination legislative movement of the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act were born, according to past interviews with DEI professionals.
Though every DEI program may be different, professionals say they are aimed at addressing exclusionary practices concerning race, age, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, economic class and more.
Anti-DEI efforts spark debate
The recent wave of efforts to target diversity programs seemingly began after the Supreme Court set new limits on affirmative action, a policy that allowed higher education institutions to use race as one factor among many in student admissions to address historical inequalities.
Supporters of legislation against diversity programs claim they promote “radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. suggests.
“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,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey when signing an anti-DEI bill in March.
Critics of anti-DEI legislation, including national and state teachers unions and free speech advocacy groups, likened these laws to censorship and say they will halt progress addressing inequality.
“This is all about silencing students,” United Faculty of Florida union’s president Andrew Gothard said in an interview with local news outlet WLRN. “It’s about silencing faculty. It’s about withholding funding from individuals who have beliefs, speak ideas, or take actions that would disagree with the politics of elected leaders.”
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called legislation targeting DEI “very deliberate attempts to seek division in our schools,” in a recent roundtable, according to the National Education Association, the largest labor union in the United States.
Impact of anti-DEI legislation
Since anti-DEI policies have been implemented, some universities – including the University of Texas, the University of Florida and the University of North Florida – have disbanded offices and programming related to diversity.
The University of Texas discontinued programs and activities within the Division of Campus and Community Engagement and laid off employees in DEI-related positions.
The office said it integrated “access and belonging into the University’s core mission” and connected “intellectual resources to communities across Texas and offer education to those who may face the most significant challenges in accessing it.”
As a result, longstanding UT programs such as “New Black Student Weekend, Adelante, CultivAsian…Latino Leadership Council, Native American and Indigenous Collective, [and] Students for Equity and Diversity,” all have been shuttered, reported the Texas Observer this week.
Earlier this year, the University of North Florida closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, including the women’s, interfaith, intercultural, and LGBTQ centers, to comply with restrictions, according to local news reports.
The University of Florida also eliminated all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions at the university to comply with recent Board of Governors restrictions.
These changes have come amid ongoing scrutiny against higher education institutions and diversity.
Social inequities have long impacted access to higher education for students of color, poor students, and other marginalized groups – such as economic inequality, segregation and academic inequity in K-12 schools. This has led to the continued underrepresentation of these groups in four-year institutions.
“DEI programs recruit and retain BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented faculty and students to repair decades of discriminatory policies and practices that excluded them from higher education,” said the ACLU in a statement on anti-DEI laws. “The far right, however, claims that DEI programs universally promote undeserving people who only advance because they check a box.”
The NEA has said that schools across the country are shuttering access to information and resources geared toward marginalized groups because of the restrictions.
The group also has said teachers are self-censoring their classrooms when it comes to social or political topics in the classroom because of legislative restrictions on discussions on race, gender and sexual orientation.
They’ve cited concerns over losing their job or lawsuits from angry parents.
This kind of legislation’s ability to hold up in court remains unclear.
Judges have blocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” Act in Florida from restricting race-related training or programs in the workplace and higher education, arguing that the law’s restrictions are unenforceable and violate the First Amendment.
A composite showing progression of a total solar eclipse in El Molle, Chile, July 2, 2019. — Courtesy of Stan Honda
(NEW YORK) — The historic total solar eclipse on April 8 is set to be one of the most photographed events this year.
In the U.S., 31 million people already live inside the path of totality and millions are likely to travel to cities within that path, watching the moon pass over and then completely block the face of the sun for a short period.
It’s a phenomenon that almost every viewer will want to capture in a photograph, but it may be difficult to figure out what’s the best gear to use or how to set up.
Eclipse Across America, will air live Monday, April 8, beginning at 2 p.m. ET on ABC, ABC News Live, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Disney+ and Hulu as well as network social media platforms.
Photographer Stan Honda, who is based in New York City, has photographed three total solar eclipses and at least 10 partial solar eclipses. He gave his tips to ABC News on the best ways to capture this rare celestial event.
Before you start taking pictures, wear eclipse glasses
One of the most important things, before and as you are setting up equipment, is to never look up at phases of the partial eclipse — when the moon is partly obscuring the sun — without wearing eclipse glasses.
Looking up with the naked eye or regular sunglasses can burn the retina, leading to long-lasting — even permanent — damage. The glasses can only be removed during the totality period, when the sun is completely blocked by the moon.
Make sure the glasses are certified ISO 12312-2, which is the international safety standard for products designed for direct viewing of the sun.
This standard does not apply to solar filters that fit in the front of devices such as camera lenses, so make sure you’re purchasing a proper solar filter to fit when photographing the partial phases of the eclipse.
Keep the setup simple
If you’ll be taking photographs with a professional or digital camera, Honda recommends keeping the set-up as simple as possible.
The type of lens you use will depend on what kind of photographs you would like to capture, but Honda says he tries to use two types of lenses for his photographs.
The first is a long telephoto lens to get a close view of the sun during the eclipse and the second is a wider angle lens to capture both the eclipse and the landscape around you.
“To me, that’s almost a more interesting picture because it places the eclipse in a location,” he said of the wider-angle photographs. “When you zoom in and when you do close-ups of the sun, it isolates it up in space, and you’re not really sure where you are. The wide-angle ones really show the location where you are, and often can show people, things like that.”
For amateur photographers, or those experiencing their first total solar eclipse, Honda recommends using just one camera, one lens and a tripod.
“I always tell people, especially if this is your first total eclipse, try not to think too much about the photography because you really want to see it with your own eyes,” he said. “If you’re spending all the time trying to fiddle around with your cameras, then it’s sort of a lost opportunity to experience this just unbelievable event.”
What if I’m using a smartphone?
With the majority of Americans owning smartphones, millions will likely capture the event with an iPhone or Android camera.
Honda recommends keeping the basic settings on the phone and pointing the camera toward the sun and moon during totality. He adds that it’s not worth capturing the partial phases unless you have a solar filter over the camera lens.
“Don’t zoom in. A wide shot will probably work OK, and it will show the surrounding environment,” he said. “I’ve seen good photos, some videos and even a panorama on phone cameras taken during total eclipses. Like with the bigger cameras, try a few shots but then make sure to watch with your own eyes.”
He added that recording a short video of the eclipse on a smartphone might also be useful because it will also record the sound of the surrounding environment, such as people in the area.
Plan for the weather
Weather can play a factor in how your eclipse photograph turns out. If the cloud cover — the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds — is higher than average, it might be more difficult to capture picture-perfect moments.
Honda will be in Fredericksburg, Texas, during the eclipse, which has historically low cloud cover in early April compared to other parts of the country, he says.
If your plans are to be in an area in the path of totality and the forecast calls for a cloudy day, Honda recommends being flexible.
“If you’re in a location where there is a probability of weather, keep track of the cloud cover,” he said. “If weather is coming in, try to be mobile … check out the roads like a day or two before and figure out a plan to try to get to a different location.”
Even if there are clouds in the sky, it will still be darker during the period of totality and good photographs can still be taken, Honda said.
Practice, practice, practice
To make sure you understand your camera’s capabilities, Honda said it’s a good idea to practice taking pictures with your camera.
Even NASA recommends practicing. The federal space agency advises eclipse observers to become familiar with the adjustable exposures to help darken or lighten an image as well as practicing how to manually focus the camera.
“Practice a lot before April 8,” Honda said. “If it’s clear where you are, the sun’s up and you definitely could practice a little bit of trying to get the sun in the frame.”
Enjoy the moment
While it can be enjoyable to capture a great photo of the eclipse, the most important thing is to enjoy the event you’re witnessing, Honda said.
“It’s one of these just completely amazing events that you’ll never ever forget,” he said. “I think the best thing is to try to really enjoy the eclipse as much as you can because it could it really could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned Thursday whether the California company that underwrote former President Donald Trump’s $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case is financially qualified to handle a bond of that size.
In a court filing, James requested that Knight Specialty Insurance Company submit papers demonstrating it is financially capable of paying the bond should Trump lose his appeal in the case.
The California company is not registered with the New York Department of Financial Services.
The dispute is part of the nearly half-billion-dollar civil fraud judgment imposed on the former president after New York Judge Arthur Engoron in February found Trump and his adult sons liable for using “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate his net worth in order to get more favorable loan terms.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has appealed the decision in the case.
In a brief interview with ABC News, the chairman of Knight Specialty’s parent company, Don Hankey, said he had “no concerns at all.”
“Seldom do our applications or our bonds get turned down,” said Hankey. “I imagine it is being scrutinized very carefully, and they’re checking to make sure all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed.”
“It’s a large amount for anybody,” Hankey said.
Trump’s defense attorney, Christopher Kise, blasted the attorney general for questioning the surety.
“Yet another witch hunt!” Kise said in a statement provided to ABC News. “After hiding out in silence following an embarrassing loss in the First Department … the Attorney General now seeks to stir up some equally baseless public quarrel in a desperate effort to regain relevance.”
Judge Engoron has scheduled a hearing to discuss the bond on April 22.
(LOS ANGELES) — A Los Angeles money storage facility was ransacked on Easter Sunday, leaving a hole in the building’s roof and tens of millions of dollars vanished, sources told ABC News.
Sources said the exact amount that was stolen is not known, but it is believed to be in the tens of millions, which would make it one of the largest cash heists in Los Angeles’ history.
The FBI and Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation into the burglary is ongoing.
Where was the theft?
The multi-million-dollar theft took place Sunday, March 31 at a money storage facility in Sylmar, in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, law enforcement sources said.
Sources told KABC-TV’s Eyewitness News that the theft happened at a GardaWorld facility in the LA suburb of Sylmar.
GardaWorld is “one of the largest privately owned integrated security and risk” companies internationally, that partners with private companies, governments, humanitarian organizations and multinationals, according to the company’s website.
How did it happen?
The burglars managed to break into the money storage facility completely undetected on Sunday, law enforcement sources said, noting that the first report of the theft was Monday morning.
Officials briefed on the investigation believe the burglars broke through the facility’s roof and managed to enter the area where the money is kept, which may have been a vault.
KABC’s news helicopter AIR7 HD flew over the facility Wednesday and captured footage of “an apparent hole on the side of the building that was boarded up,” as well as “a pile of debris” next to it.
However, it’s currently unconfirmed if that damage is related to the burglary, KABC reported.
How much was stolen?
The exact amount of money that was stolen in the heist has not been officially confirmed, but law enforcement sources say it is believed to be in the tens of millions.
The Los Angeles Times, the first to report the theft, wrote the “thieves made off with as much as $30 million,” citing an LA police official.
Who are the suspects?
Law enforcement sources say there are no suspects in the theft at this point. However, due to the sophistication of the heist, the operation indicates a crew of some kind is responsible, the sources say.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, an unnamed employee questioned if the heist could have been an “inside job.”
“It’s just mind-blowing that you would never suspect it,” the employee said. “$30 million in the Valley, gone. How? Why? I’m still trying to process it. Was it an inside job? Was it just one person? Was it a group? You know, there’s a lot of questions.”
Previous Los Angeles heists
While the details surrounding the massive burglary are still being investigated, Los Angeles has faced several high-profile cash heists in recent history.
On July 11, 2022, jewelry, gemstones, luxury watches and more valuables worth as much as $100 million were stolen from a Brink’s transport vehicle when the driver pulled over at a rest stop in Lebec, an area about 70 miles north of LA.
The largest cash heist in Los Angeles history before Sunday’s incident took place in 1997, when a Dunbar Armored facility in the Fashion District was robbed of $18.9 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
On September 12, 1997, a group of thieves led by Allen Pace III, a regional safety inspector for the facility at the time, reportedly broke into the building, stole several bags of cash, and destroyed security footage.
After evading arrest for two years, Pace and his accomplices were eventually caught through a money-laundering scheme and sentenced to prison, according to the newspaper.
(MIAMI) — A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s attempt to have his classified documents case dismissed based on the Presidential Records Act.
Trump’s attorneys had argued, as part of four motions to dismiss, that Trump should have been able to have custody of the documents in question, even after he was president, due to the Presidential Records Act.
Judge Aileen Cannon last month denied another of Trump’s motions seeking to dismiss the case based on unconstitutional vagueness.
The former president has also sought dismissal on the grounds of presidential immunity, and on claims that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.
In her order Thursday, Judge Cannon also took a swipe at the special counsel over his filing late Tuesday that urged her to to reverse course on proposed jury instructions.
Smith, in Tuesday’s filing, urged Cannon to reverse course on entertaining the idea that Trump had any personal ownership over the classified materials he has been charged with unlawfully possessing.
Judge Cannon said she is declining Smith’s demand that she state her position over whether the Presidential Records Act will play any role in jury instructions, calling it “unprecedented and unjust.”
“The Court’s Order soliciting preliminary draft instructions on certain counts should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition on any essential element or asserted defense in this case,” Cannon wrote. “Nor should it be interpreted as anything other than what it was: a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties’ competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case of first impression.”
The judge also brushed off Smith’s suggestion he could seek intervention by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to order her to clarify her position, writing, “As always any party remains free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke, as permitted by law.”
Trump pleaded not guilty last June to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
Trump has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Matt Gaetz’s deposition in a civil defamation case brought by a longtime friend has been moved to June after initially being set for April 5, multiple sources told ABC News.
Gaetz was subpoenaed in March by attorneys representing the woman who was at the center of a yearslong investigation into accusations that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor, ABC News was first to report last month.
Gaetz’s longtime friend, Chris Dorworth, brought the defamation suit against the woman and others, including the Florida congressman’s former friend Joel Greenberg, alleging he was defamed during the Justice Department’s probe into the matter. The probe ended last year with no charges being brought against Gaetz.
Gaetz is not a party to the defamation lawsuit.
The deposition could see Gaetz asked under oath about about whether he had sexual relations with the woman when she was a minor.
Gaetz’s office did not respond to request for comment from ABC News.
