U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Sherbs
(NEW YORK) — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell seized over a ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $32.2 million dollars on Tuesday, according to authorities.
The two separate seizures, which took place in international waters of the Caribbean Sea, totalled 2,450 pounds of cocaine and led to the arrest of six smugglers, according to a statement by the United States Coast Guard following the incident.
“Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Coast Guard crews and agency partners involved with this interdiction, Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell brought these suspected smugglers and illicit contraband ashore for prosecution,” said Lt. Cmdr. Colin Weaver, Commanding Officer. “Coast Guard crews continue to deliver on our important missions of homeland and maritime security to save lives and thwart transnational criminal organizations operating in the Caribbean.”
The six suspected smugglers that were apprehended will now face prosecution in federal courts by the Department of Justice.
“These interdictions relate to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces designated investigations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach,” the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The seizures involved crews from the USCG Cutter Richard Dixon, the USCG Cutter Dauntless and the Joint Interagency Task Force South.
“Detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. The Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs,” officials said.
“Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension,” said the U.S Coast Guard. “Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the U.S. Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, headquartered in Miami.”
(WASHINGTON) — The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is the latest public official to fall victim to a swatting incident, according to law enforcement sources.
Steven Dettelbach was swatted at his home over the holidays, sources confirmed to ABC News.
Local law enforcement quickly engaged with the ATF security detail and determined there was no threat to the director, sources said.
ATF declined to comment.
Dettelbach was appointed by President Joe Biden and sworn in as director in July 2022.
Dettelbach joins special counsel Jack Smith and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan as the latest swatting victims.
Special counsel Smith was targeted with a swatting call at his Maryland home on Christmas Day, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Montgomery County Police quickly engaged with the U.S. Marshals and determined there was no threat to Smith, sources said.
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate election interference and mishandling of classified documents.
Chutkan, the federal judge who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal case in Washington D.C. was swatted on Sunday, according to law enforcement sources.
The U.S. Marshals who protect both Smith and Chutkan declined to comment and the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
(WASHINGTON) — Former Oath Keeper Ray Epps was sentenced to one year of probation on Tuesday for his role during the attack at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
In addition to the year of probation, Epps received a $25 fine, $500 restitution and 100 hours of community service.
Before his sentencing, Epps said that he never should have believed claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
“Truth is not always found in the places I used to trust,” Epps said in court on Tuesday, appearing virtually and noting that what he called “Trump cult” turned on him.
The former Oath Keeper pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds. Epps faced a maximum of one year in prison and one year of probation. Prosecutors had asked that he serve six months of prison.
Epps was sentenced Tuesday as former President Donald Trump — who himself echoed conspiracy theories that Epps was an undercover government agent — appeared in court for his arguments on his claims of presidential immunity.
That conspiracy theory was later debunked, and Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News in 2023 over attacks against him by former host Tucker Carlson.
Fox News has moved to dismiss the suit arguing that the statements were opinion and not defamatory facts. That motion is reportedly pending a hearing.
Prosecutors called out those who they say “falsely called out Mr. Epps as an FBI plant.”
“They have publicly blamed Mr. Epps for what happened that day and for other persons being charged and convicted. Their lies have led to real threats against Mr. Epps, his wife, and his family,” the government said.
Prosecutors noted at length that Epps never entered the Capitol and did not charge him with engaging in any violence or destruction on Jan. 6.
“This guy was trying to turn people against me. … He was calling me ‘boomer,’ and it’s his generation’s fault that we’re in the position we’re in,” Epps told investigators.
Epps turned himself in to the FBI and voluntarily sat for an interview with the FBI and publicly testified before the House Select Committee in January 2022. He had no prior arrests.
But prosecutors maintained that Epps should still receive jail time for his role.
“He didn’t start the riot. He made it worse,” prosecutor Michael Gordon told the judge.
Prosecutors tried to paint Epps as “eager to take advantage of others” and argued that by joining the riot, Epps “did the exact same thing he was accusing Antifa of being responsible for.”
Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge all agreed on one point: that Epps’ world was upended after Jan. 6.
Prosecutors argued on Tuesday that “Ray Epps has been unfairly scapegoated” in the aftermath of Jan. 6, despite their contention that “he is not innocent.”
“While many defendants have been vilified in a way unique to Jan. 6, you seem to be the first to have suffered for what you didn’t do,” Chief Judge James Boasberg said during sentencing.
Boasberg noted that Epps “had to live life like a fugitive because of lies others spread.” Epps now lives in a trailer in the woods, his attorney, Edward Ungvarsky, wrote in a court filing.
An attorney for Epps wrote in a court document that Epps “has been attacked, defamed, and vilified — and after a decision that his actions at the Capitol did not warrant prosecution, a 180-degree turnaround by the government, with the threat of a request for prison time, after his name became dragged through the mud by right-wing political dramaturges who used the (correct) lack of prosecution as a social media and public cudgel against the Garland Justice Department.”
Epps vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to fighting for the truth, including debunking accusations of election deniers.
In September 2023, Ungvarsky asked that Epps be allowed to keep his firearms, despite the standard requirement that defendants turn in their guns. Boasberg denied the request but invited Ungvarsky to file a motion and said he would consider it in this case.
Epps will be able to freely travel with no restrictions.
(NEW YORK) — An online petition is calling for the release of Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, a 19-year-old Guatemalan migrant who was charged with aggravated manslaughter after a Florida police officer collapsed and later died following a struggle while attempting to arrest the teen.
The Change.org petition, which was started on Jan. 3 by Mariana Blanco of the nonprofit The Guatemalan-Maya Center, has gained a lot of traction in recent days. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had garnered over 443,000 signatures.
Aguilar Mendez’s lawyer, Phillip Arroyo, told ABC News that signatures on the online petition are being directed to the U.S. Department of Justice and the St. Johns County’s Sheriff’s Office. Arroyo has also requested the State Attorney’s Office of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida to drop the charges against the teen.
“It’s a grave injustice, and they know it,” Arroyo said. “The facts of this case and the evidence in this case do not support the charge that he is facing.”
On May 19, 2023, Aguilar Mendez was on the phone with his mother outside the Motel 8 building where he was staying when Sgt. Michael Kunovich, an officer with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office in St. Augustine, Florida, approached the teen, according to Arroyo.
Body camera video and audio of the incident reviewed by ABC News shows Kuvonich calling the dispatcher and describing Aguilar Mendez as a “suspicious Hispanic male,” but he never specified why he thought Aguilar Mendez was suspicious.
Kunovich proceeded to ask Aguilar Mendez a series of questions, which the teen seemed to struggle to understand. Aguilar Mendez, who his attorney says is from a small indigenous community in Guatemala and primarily speaks the ancient indigenous language Mam, can be seen in the body camera video trying to explain to Kunovich that he was just eating and tells him on two occasions that he does not speak English.
The officer then asked Aguilar Mendez if he had any weapons on him and grabs Aguilar Mendez by the arm. Aguilar Mendez then begins to walk away and a struggle ensues. Kunovich calls for reinforcement as he attempts to handcuff Aguilar Mendez.
During the incident, which lasted about eight-and-a-half minutes, additional officers responded to the scene. Aguilar Mendez is thrown to the ground, held in a chokehold, pinned down by officers, and tased on multiple occasions.
According to Arroyo, five minutes after Aguilar Mendez was handcuffed and put into the patrol car, Kunovich suffered a heart attack.
That same night, Aguilar Mendez was charged with murder for Kunovich’s death. The charges were later reduced by the state of Florida to aggravated homicide of a police officer, which is punishable by life in prison. He has been in jail without bond since.
ABC News obtained a copy of the autopsy report, which concluded Kunovich died of natural causes after suffering cardiac dysrhythmia, which may have been a result of the severe heart disease he was noted to have, a prior heart attack, or heart and lung deterioration due to smoking.
“These cardiac changes, while recent, predate the struggle with the subject,” the report said. “The circumstances do not fully meet the criteria for a homicide manner of death.”
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office declined ABC News’ request for comment.
According to police records from the incident obtained by ABC News, Aguilar Mendez “armed himself with a folding pocket knife, which he retrieved from his shorts pockets.”
Body camera video reviewed by ABC News does not clearly show the moment Aguilar Mendez allegedly grabbed the knife from his pocket, but officers can be heard telling Aguilar Mendez to drop the knife. The teen tells the officers that he needs the knife to cut up watermelon.
Aguilar Mendez was recently declared by the court as being mentally incompetent to stand trial due to his lack of understanding of the American criminal justice system, Arroyo told ABC News. A judge has put the case on pause as Aguilar Mendez is receiving help learning about the American criminal justice system before his case can proceed.
The State Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
“For the state to prove this beyond every reasonable doubt they have to establish that Mr. Aguilar [Mendez] knew that Officer Kunovich had a heart condition… and that despite knowing that Mr. Kunovich had a heart condition, he did something negligent that caused his death,” Arroyo said. “Nobody knew that Mr. Kunovich had a heart condition, much less our client.”
(NEW YORK) — Another batch of documents pertaining to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unsealed Tuesday.
The seven documents unsealed Tuesday total 1,482 pages. Over 215 documents have been released since last week.
The unsealed documents include several depositions from Ghislaine Maxwell, one from Epstein, one from alleged Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre and another from Sarah Ransome, an alleged adult victim of Epstein, who was referenced throughout Monday’s unsealing.
The records are part of a defamation lawsuit brought by Giuffre against Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime companion, that the two settled in 2017. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The Giuffre deposition included in the new batch comes from her testimony in a related case filed against her lawyers by former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz in a Florida state court. In that deposition, she names billionaire retail magnate Les Wexner as “one of the powerful business executives” that she was trafficked to.
Wexner, who in 1991 granted Epstein power-of-attorney over his personal finances, has never been charged with a crime. After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, ABC News obtained a message Wexner issued to employees at L Brands that said, “When Mr. Epstein was my personal money manager, he was involved in many aspects of my financial life. But let me assure you that I was NEVER aware of the illegal activity charged in the indictment.”
Following Epstein’s death in August 2019, Wexner accused Epstein of misappropriating “vast sums” of his personal fortune more than a decade earlier.
Wexner stepped down from his executive role at L Brands – the conglomerate behind retail staples Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and Pink – in February 2020.
Wexner’s charitable foundation did not immediately respond to ABC News’ messages seeking comment on the filings released Tuesday.
The deposition also contains the names of men Giuffre has previously claimed she had been trafficked to, including Britain’s Prince Andrew, Hyatt Hotel chief Thomas Pritzker, the late artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky and the late New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Pritzker and Richardson previously issued statements denying the allegations.
Minsky died in 2016, before Giuffre’s allegations naming him were released in 2019 by the 2nd Circuit.
Many of these documents have been unsealed and publicly available in various forms. The court is republishing them now with new portions unredacted.
The 134-page Epstein deposition had not been previously released but he was known to have invoked his Fifth Amendment right hundreds of times.
The records unsealed Monday included photos from Ransome and an exhibit that mentions discredited allegations Ransome made about former President Bill Clinton, former President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. She later admitted the claims were false.
Neither Clinton, nor Trump, nor Branson was accused by Giuffre, or anyone else besides Ransome, of any wrongdoing in the course of Giuffre’s defamation lawsuit against Maxwell. Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. Trump has said he cut-off contact with Epstein many years ago.
In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, the Virgin Group, on behalf of Branson, said Ransome’s allegations against him are “false, baseless, and unfounded.”
Prince Andrew has long denied allegations that he had sex with Giuffre on three occasions, as she has claimed in court records and interviews. In 2022, Andrew settled a case Giuffre brought against him.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted in 2021 of aiding Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women and girls. Her appeal will be heard in March.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $250 million civil lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric Trump and and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives are accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump’s net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The trial comes after the judge in the case ruled in a partial summary judgment that Trump had submitted “fraudulent valuations” for his assets, leaving the trial to determine additional actions and what penalty, if any, the defendants should receive.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have argued that Trump’s alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 09, 4:22 PM
Trump intends to deliver part of closing himself, say sources
Former President Trump intends to personally deliver part of the defense’s closing argument at the conclusion of his civil fraud trial in New York on Thursday, sources familiar with the former president’s strategy tell ABC News.
The defendants in the case — Trump, his two eldest sons and two former Trump Organization executives — are represented by three primary attorneys, Christopher Kise, Clifford Robert and Alina Habba. But sources say Trump himself is determined to deliver a portion of the closing statement.
The sources cautioned that plans for the defense’s closing argument remain fluid.
The Manhattan courtroom where the his trial has been held is currently in use for another high-profile trial involving the New York attorney general’s case against the National Rifle Association and Wayne LaPierre, and the judge in that case told jurors the trial would temporarily move to a different courtroom this week to accommodate Trump’s civil trial.
-Aaron Katersky and John Santucci
Jan 05, 1:23 PM
NY AG seeks $370M fine, NY real estate ban against Trump
New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a written brief filed a week before the trial’s closing arguments, asked the judge in the case to fine Trump over $370 million to disgorge profits from what James says is a decade of fraudulent business conduct, and to bar Trump for life from participating in the New York real estate industry.
The request for a $370 million fine, plus 9% annual interest, is a sharp increase from James’ initial request for disgorgement totaling roughly $250 million.
The largest portion of the requested fine stems from the business loans the Trump Organization obtained using allegedly fraudulent financial statements. Based on expert testimony, James argued that Trump cost his lenders $168,040,168, which the banks would have made if Trump was given the appropriate interest rate corresponding to the actual value of his assets.
In their defense filing, Trump’s lawyers called the attorney general’s theory for disgorgement “fundamentally flawed, saying that “No lenders testified that they would have done anything differently had they known about Trump’s misstatements, and James attempted to fill that evidentiary void with expert testimony, according to Trump’s lawyers.
Trump’s lawyers added that even if the attorney general proved that some of Trump’s profits were ill-gotten, they lack the authority under New York Executive Law 63(12) to request the disgorgement.
Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled for Jan. 11.
Dec 18, 5:17 PM
In blistering ruling, judge denies Trump’s motion for directed verdict
Judge Arthur Engoron has denied Donald Trump’s most recent motion for a directed verdict to end his civil fraud trial.
In a blistering ruling, the judge not only denied the motion but also opted to explain the flaws he sees in many of Trump’s arguments at trial.
Addressing the testimony of defense accounting expert Eli Bartov, who Trump proudly and repeatedly declared found “no accounting fraud of any kind,” Engoron flatly dismissed Bartov’s findings by saying he lost credibility by “doggedly attempting to justify every misstatement.”
“Bartov is a tenured professor, but all that his testimony proves is that for a million or so dollars, some experts will say whatever you want them to say,” Engoron wrote.
The judge also rejected assertions from Trump’s lawyers that any financial misstatements are beyond the case’s statute of limitations.
“Closing is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for future misstatements. All that §63(12) requires is a false statement used in business; the subject financial statements fit that definition ‘to a T,'” Engoron wrote.
Engoron also suggested he didn’t buy Trump’s argument that fining the former president for ill-gotten gains was not merited in the case because his lenders were happy with the transactions.
“That the instant lenders made millions of dollars and were happy with the transactions does not mean that they were not damaged by lending at lower interest rates than they otherwise would have,” he wrote.
Calling Trump’s claims “misstatements at best and fraud at worst,” Engoron wrote that “Valuations, as elucidated ad nauseum in this trial, can be based on different criteria analyzed in different ways. But a lie is still a lie.”
The judge ended his ruling by reminding the parties about the date for closing arguments in the case, currently set for Jan. 11.
Dec 18, 4:56 PM
Trump’s case does not age like fine wine, NY AG lawyer says
In a letter the Judge Arthur Engoron, a lawyer for the New York attorney general said Donald Trump’s most recent request for a directed verdict in the case is nothing more than a “political stunt designed to provide Mr. Trump, his co-defendants, and their counsel with sound bites for press conferences, Truth Social posts, and cable news appearances.”
Trump’s lawyers on Friday made their fifth motion for a directed verdict to end the case for lack of evidence, which Engoron earlier said he was all but certain to deny. The judge has rejected all four of Trump’s previous motions for a directed verdict.
“Unlike a fine Bordeaux, Defendants’ case for a directed verdict does not improve with age,” state attorney Andrew Amer wrote in Monday’s letter to the judge.
Amer also argued that Trump’s request was not merited given the evidence presented at trial, saying that “Nor does any of the testimony from the most ineffective team of experts that Defendants’ money can buy change the analysis.”
“Defendants are once again ‘whistling past the graveyard’ by relying on arguments the Court has already rejected,” Amer said, referring in part to Engoron’s pretrial partial summary judgment ruling, in which he found that Trump used fraudulent statements to conduct business.
Dec 15, 6:27 PM
Trump files 5th motion for directed verdict
Donald Trump’s lawyers made their fifth motion for a directed verdict in the former president’s fraud trial in a filing late Friday that appears destined to be rejected.
Judge Arthur Engoron all but guaranteed he would deny the request to end the trial when Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise announced his plans to file the motion earlier this week.
“There is no way I am going to grant that,” Engoron said on Tuesday. “You’d be wasting your time.”
Trump’s lawyers nevertheless filed their motion late Friday.
“In sum, there was no fraud, there were no victims, there has simply been no harm or actionable misconduct, and the Court must and should follow the law of the case regarding the scope of the claims at issue,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
In the filing, Trump’s attorneys targeted New York Attorney General Letitia James’ request to fine Trump nearly $400 million for ill-gotten gains by arguing that the state failed to demonstrate that Trump and his sons intended to defraud his lenders or that they engaged in a conspiracy to commit fraud.
“Not a single defense witness supported the notion of any alleged conspiracy, and in fact such testimony refuted fully the existence of the same,” the lawyers wrote, calling Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who testified about the alleged conspiracy, a “demonstrable, perpetual, and serial liar.”
They also argued that James failed to prove that any of Trump’s alleged misrepresentations would have materially changed the loans he received from his lenders, writing that the alleged misstatements had “no actual significance” to Trump’s lenders.
All four of Trump’s previous motions for a directed verdict to end the case for lack of evidence have been rejected by Judge Engoron.
Dec 15, 5:32 PM
Trump files notice he intends to appeal gag order decision
Donald Trump wants New York’s highest court to weigh in on the limited gag order in his civil fraud trial, according to a new filing Friday afternoon.
New York’s Appellate Division shot down Trump’s earlier challenge Thursday, determining that Trump used the incorrect legal avenue to challenge the limited gag order, which bars him from commenting on Judge Arthur Engoron’s staff.
In a notice of appeal filed Friday, Trump’s lawyers said they plan to appeal the decision to the Albany-based Court of Appeals — New York’s highest court.
It’s unclear if the Court of Appeals will consider the request because Trump also lost a motion for leave to appeal the gag order.
Dec 14, 1:42 PM
Trump’s gag order appeal stuck in ‘procedural purgatory’
Donald Trump appears to be out of options to appeal the limited gag orders in his civil fraud trial, with his own lawyer describing his options as “procedural purgatory.”
In addition to Thursday morning’s appellate decision denying Trump’s appeal, a panel of appellate judges issued an additional order Thursday denying his request to elevate his appeal to New York’s highest court.
The decision forces Trump back to Step 1: asking Judge Arthur Engoron to vacate the gag orders, then appealing the judge’s likely denial.
But the timeline for that process is unlikely to work in Trump’s favor, with the evidentiary portion of the trial having concluded Wednesday and closing arguments scheduled for Jan. 11.
“We filed the petition because the ordinary appellate process is essentially pointless in this context as it cannot possibly be completed in time to reverse the ongoing harm,” Trump attorney Chris Kise told ABC News in a statement regarding the gag orders, which prohibit Trump and attorneys from commenting on the judge’s staff.
“Unfortunately, the decision denies President Trump the only path available to expedited relief and places his fundamental Constitutional rights in a procedural purgatory,” Kise said.
Dec 14, 11:22 AM
Trump loses bid to throw out limited gag orders, fines
Donald Trump has lost his appeal to throw out the limited gag orders and associated fines in his civil fraud trial.
In a decision Thursday, New York’s Appellate Division, First Department rejected Trump’s request to annul and vacate the limited gag orders imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron that prohibit Trump and attorneys from commenting on the judge’s staff.
In November, Trump’s lawyers asked the Appellate Division to vacate the gag orders, citing a provision of New York state law to personally sue Judge Engoron. But the court said in today’s ruling that the method used to appeal the gag orders was an improper application of the law.
“To the extent there may have been appealable issues with respect to any of the procedures the court implemented in imposing the financial sanctions, the proper method of review would be to move to vacate the Contempt Orders, and then to take an appeal from the denial of those motions,” the ruling said, indicating that Trump should use the normal appellate process to pursue the vacating of the gag orders.
The court also determined that the “extraordinary remedy” requested by Trump’s lawyers did not match the minimal potential harm from barring statements about Engoron’s staff.
“Here, the gravity of potential harm is small, given that the Gag Order is narrow, limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the court’s staff,” the decision said.
Dec 13, 1:34 PM EST
Trump’s lawyers denounce trial as NY AG praises it
Donald Trump’s defense attorneys ended where they started, denouncing the former president’s civil fraud trial following the conclusion of court today.
“I feel exactly like I did before, three years ago. This case was a joke. We wasted three months,” Trump’s legal spokesperson Alina Habba told reporters.
Habba, however, acknowledged Trump’s unlikely chance of success in the trial while thanking Trump’s team of lawyers.
“I think they did an amazing job in a court where we had, frankly, lost before we even got to give any bit of evidence,” Habba said, referring in part to Judge Engoron’s pretrial partial summary judgment against Trump.
Trump attorney Chris Kise said he is optimistic that Trump will be successful in an eventual appeal.
In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that the trial “revealed the full extent” of Trump’s fraud and that she looks forward to closing arguments.
“While the judge already ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump engaged in years of significant fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family, this trial revealed the full extent of that fraud — and the defendants’ inability to disprove it. We look forward to presenting our closing argument on January 11,” James said.
Dec 13, 1:06 PM EST
State rests its case; closing arguments set for Jan. 11
The evidentiary portion of former President Trump’s civil fraud trial concluded with a combative cross-examination of the state’s rebuttal expert.
“The People rest,” state attorney Kevin Wallace said after testimony had wrapped up.
During the cross-examination of Cornell accounting professor Eric Lewis, defense attorney Jesus Suarez questioning whether he had “any other real world experience” in accounting other than in the classroom or reviewing documents for court cases. Lewis conceded he did not.
Court will adjourn until Jan. 11, when both sides will present closing arguments after submitting written summations.
Defense attorney Christopher Kise also promised to submit a written argument for a directed verdict that will ask Judge Engoron, for a fifth time, to end the case for lack of evidence. Engoron has not promised to even read such a filing, but said that he “probably” would.
After 11 weeks of heated exchanges, Trump attorney Chris Kise ended on a conciliatory note, thanking the court, the court reporters, and others for their work.
Wallace said it may be their first point of agreement.
Judge Engoron wished everyone happy holidays as he ended the day’s proceedings.
Dec 13, 11:48 AM EST
Rebuttal witness assails Trump’s disclosures
State attorney Kevin Wallace concluded his direct examination of the New York attorney general’s second and final rebuttal witness amid frequent objections by defense lawyers.
Lewis attempted to explain how Donald Trump’s statements of financial condition failed to disclose that he did not conduct a discounted cash flow analysis, contributing to the over-valuation of some of his assets.
“There is no mention of discounting or future value in the disclosure,” Lewis said, disagreeing with testimony from defense expert Jason Flemmons — as well as former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender, who testified as a state witness.
“Are you impeaching your own witness?” Engoron asked state attorneys regarding whether Bender’s testimony should no longer be considered credible.
“We didn’t feel the need to,” Wallace responded.
Lewis also suggested that Trump’s external accountants at Mazars had less of an obligation to highlight issues that Flemmons suggested, since they were only conducting a compilation report rather than a more intensive audit. While Mazars had an obligation to flag obvious issues, they were not responsible for ensuring Trump’s statements were compliant with generally accepted accounting principles, he testified.
“If while doing the compilation … something comes to the attention of the accounts that could be a GAAP departure, they have a responsibility to bring that issue to the client,” Lewis said regarding generally accepted accounting principles.
During the hour-long direct examination, defense lawyers objected at least 14 times, successfully interrupting the line of questions.
“I am lost,” Engoron asked at one point. “Can you put this together?”
The parade of objections visibly irritating Wallace, who voiced his displeasure.
“Petulant outbursts don’t really play well in the courtroom,” quipped Trump lawyer Chris Kise in response.
Dec 13, 10:23 AM EST
Trump dismisses possibility of settlement
In a post on social media, Donald Trump dismissed the idea that his civil fraud trial might result in a settlement.
“HE RULED THAT I WAS A FRAUD BEFORE HE EVEN SAW THE CASE, THEN TRIED TO GET ME TO SETTLE. A TOTAL HIT JOB,” Trump wrote about Judge Arthur Engoron.
Engoron has not addressed the possibility in court, but sounded sentimental this morning as he began what is likely to be the final day of the trial.
“In a strange way, I am going to miss this trial,” Engoron said. “It has been an experience.”
Dec 13, 9:14 AM EST
Accounting expert to testify in state’s rebuttal case
A day after Donald Trump’s lawyers rested their defense case that featured numerous expert witnesses, New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to call her own accounting expert as part of the state’s rebuttal case.
Cornell professor Eric Lewis was qualified as an accounting expert over the objections of Trump’s attorneys yesterday, and his direct examination is scheduled to begin this morning.
Lewis will likely address some of the findings reached by the defense’s accounting experts, Jason Flemmons and Eli Bartov, whose testimony that Trump had adequate disclaimers on his financial statements is at the center of the defense’s case.
Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise aggressively criticized Lewis’ qualifications during a lengthy voir dire session yesterday, but Judge Arthur Engoron remained convinced about Lewis’ ability to testify as an accounting expert.
Dec 12, 6:10 PM EST
Defense attorney blasts expert witness in rebuttal case
Donald Trump’s attorney Chris Kise unloaded on the second rebuttal witness called by New York Attorney General Letitia James after the defense had rested its case.
“The reason they brought this witness in here is, there is no one in the actual profession who would sustain the opinions they are asking of the witness,” Kise argued about Cornell professor of practice Eric Lewis, who Judge Engoron qualified as an expert in accounting.
Kise exasperatedly questioned Lewis during a prolonged voir dire about his qualifications, criticizing his experience while knocking Engoron in the process.
“You are a professor of practice with no practice in the field of accounting,” Kise told Lewis. “I probably have more experience in the practice of accounting than this witness.”
Engoron nevertheless deemed Lewis an expert in accounting over Kise’s objections that his expertise was “too broad” for the circumstances.
“I am not sure if anything will change a decision in this courtroom,” Kise argued.
Engoron appeared worn out by Kise’s lengthy attacks.
“Stop making speeches every time we have to discuss something,” Engoron said for the umpteenth time.
Court was subsequently adjourned for the day, with the state’s rebuttal case set to resume on Wednesday.
Dec 12, 4:36 PM EST
Ex-CFO inflated size of Trump’s penthouse, rebuttal witness says
With the defense having rested its case, state attorneys began what they expect to be a brief rebuttal case by calling to the stand Kevin Sneddon, a managing director at Trump International Realty between 2011 and 2012.
State attorneys asked Sneddon about one of the centerpieces of the attorney general’s complaint: Trump’s penthouse apartment in Trump Tower, which Trump claimed on his statements of financial condition was 30,000 square feet in size when the actual dimensions are a third of that. The overstated size allowed Trump to inflate the value of the apartment by over $200 million, Judge Arthur Engoron decided in his partial summary judgment.
During the defense’s case, a former Trump Organization executive blamed Sneddon for the error.
“The person running Trump International Realty at the time, Kevin Sneddon, sent me an email that the triplex was 30,000 square feet,” former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney testified.
Sneddon, however, testified that he received the 30,000 square foot figure directly from Trump’s main deputy: co-defendant and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Sneddon said that he received a phone call directly Weisselberg, who requested that he value Trump’s penthouse.
“I just knew it was the penthouse. I didn’t know much about the apartment itself,” Sneddon testified.
“I asked if I could see it. He said that was not possible. I asked if there was a floor plan or any specs. He said he did not have any of that information,” Sneddon said. “He said, ‘It’s quite large. I think it’s around 30,000 square feet.'”
When McConney emailed him in September 2012 to ask for help valuing Trump’s penthouse, Sneddon said he relied on the figure Weisselberg provided him — unknowingly providing inaccurate information to McConney.
“I already valued DJT’s triplex for Allen,” Sneddon wrote in an email shown at trial. “At 30,000 sq. ft., DJT’s triplex is worth between 4K and 6K per ft – or 120MM to 180MM.”
Trump’s attorney Chris Kise fiercely objected to most of Sneddon’s brief testimony, describing the questioning as a “free for all.”
During a short cross-examination, defense attorney Clifford Robert attempted to discredit the testimony of Sneddon — who did not testify in the state’s case — by suggesting Sneddon was primed by state attorneys so his testimony would align with the state’s theory of the case.
Dec 12, 3:30 PM EST
Defense rests its case, makes 5th motion to end trial
Donald Trump’s lawyers rested their case in the former president’s civil fraud trial, as New York Attorney General Letitia James watched from the gallery.
Defense attorneys undertook several “housekeeping items” before concluding their case, including adding expert reports to the trial record “for appellate purposes.”
“You’re going to appeal,” Judge Engoron deadpanned before breaking into laughter.
Both parties were argumentative until the end, squabbling over minor issues that threatened to draw out the defense’s case.
“We don’t want additional time, we want the case to end,” said state attorney Kevin Wallace.
With all housekeeping finished, Trump attorney Chris Kise announced, “We do rest.” He then made the defense’s fifth motion for a directed verdict to end the case, saying he planned to submit a written motion on Friday.
“There is no way I am going to grant that,” Judge Engoron responded. “You’d be wasting your time.”
Wallace criticized Kise’s plan to submit a written motion as “silly” and a “colossal waste of resources.”
“We have already won on summary judgment,” Wallace said in reference to Engoron’s pretrial ruling. “I don’t know what we are pretending is happening here.”
Dec 12, 2:33 PM EST
NY AG in attendance for conclusion of defense’s case
New York Attorney General Letitia James is attending the afternoon session of Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
Sitting in the gallery with her staff, James briefly walked into Judge Engoron’s chambers before the trial resumed following the midday break.
Trump’s legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, was also spotted entering the judge’s chambers for a separate meeting.
Court then resumed with defense attorneys conducting their redirect examination of accounting expert Eli Bartov.
Bartov is expected to be the defense’s last witness before they rest their case, which will likely be followed by a brief rebuttal case by the state.
Dec 12, 12:37 PM EST
State highlights ‘unpersuasive’ past testimony of defense expert
In an effort to discredit the defense’s accounting expert, state attorney Louis Solomon highlighted that Eli Bartov’s testimony was rejected by a judge when he testified as an expert for the New York attorney general in her trial against Exxon Mobil in 2019.
The judge in that case wrote in his ruling that Bartov’s testimony during that trial was “unpersuasive” and was “flatly contradicted by the weight of the evidence,” according to Solomon’s reading of the ruling in court.
Bartov said he was unaware of the ruling, and defense attorney Chris Kise objected to the line of questioning as irrelevant.
Bartov largely stuck to his initial testimony during two hours of cross-examination this morning, defending his overall finding while acknowledging his analysis found that Trump’s statements included some marginal overstatements that “did not impact significantly Deutsche Bank’s decision to extend loans.”
While Bartov agreed that, in the real estate business, “price gets set first, then valuation follows” he said he saw no evidence to support the attorney general’s allegation that Trump’s statements were reverse engineered to provide support for the values determined by Trump and his executives.
“Do you know if they were reverse engineered?” Solomon asked.
“I have no knowledge of that,” Bartov responded.
Present in the courtroom for Bartov’s testimony was Eric Trump, who made a surprise appearance in the gallery. Like his father, Eric Trump initially planned to take the stand during the defense’s case, but canceled his testimony.
Dec 12, 11:13 AM EST
Trump cites limited gag order for decision to not testify
In a social media post this morning, Donald Trump claimed he “wanted to testify on Monday” but blamed his decision not to testify on the trial’s limited gag order, which prohibits Trump from commenting on Judge Engoron’s staff.
When Trump on Sunday pulled out of his testimony, he touted the strength of his evidence and previous testimony as the reasons he decided not to take the stand.
“Anyway, the Judge, Arthur Engoron, put a GAG ORDER on me, even when I testify, totally taking away my constitutional right to defend myself. We are appealing, but how would you like to be a witness and not be allowed free snd [sic] honest speech,” Trump wrote today.
In a statement to ABC News on Monday, Trump attorney Chris Kise also partially blamed the limited gag order for his client’s decision not to testify.
“There is really nothing more to say to a Judge who has imposed an unconstitutional gag order and thus far appears to have ignored President Trump’s testimony and that of everyone else involved in the complex financial transactions at issue in the case,” Kise said.
In a court filing last week, Engoron’s attorney wrote that the limited gag order “does not prevent statements about Justice Engoron himself, not the Attorney General or her staff, not the substance of the claims and allegations against petitioners, not the facts or evidence or witness testimony, not the judicial process, nor any other topic concerning the underlying action.”
Dec 12, 10:41 AM EST
Trump attorney accuses state of withholding witnesses
Judge Arthur Engoron will allow the New York attorney general to call two witnesses during the state’s rebuttal case once the defense rests its case — over the objection of Trump attorney Chris Kise.
“The government has held these witnesses back,” Kise said, arguing against the decision.
While state attorney Kevin Wallace maintained that their two rebuttal witnesses — Cornell professor Eric Lewis and former Trump Organization executive Kevin Sneddon — would only address arguments already made in court, Kise argued that the witnesses would be used to backfill evidence that the defense team would not be able to address fully.
“It’s not rebuttal. It’s filling a hole,” Kise said, accusing the state of “gamesmanship” by withholding evidence.
Unconvinced by Kise’s argument, Engoron ruled that the witnesses would still be permitted to testify.
“I see no reason not to allow these two purported experts to testify,” Engoron said.
In response, Trump’s defense attorneys suggested they might attempt to present an additional witness after the state’s rebuttal case.
Dec 12, 9:36 AM EST
Trump’s defense expected to rest its case today
After presenting four weeks of testimony, Donald Trump’s lawyers are scheduled to rest their case in the former president’s civil fraud trial today.
With Trump no longer testifying as a defense witness, New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov will be Trump’s final witness.
Resuming his cross-examination this morning, Bartov is likely to face questions about inconsistencies and potential bias in his analysis of Trump’s financial statements. Paid an hourly rate of $1,350 for 650 hours of work, Bartov said last week that he received payments from both the Trump Organization and Trump’s Save America PAC.
Bartov strongly defended Trump’s statements of financial condition, the documents at the center of the New York attorney general’s case, during his testimony last week, saying that he could find “no evidence whatsoever for any accounting fraud.” Bartov also argued the documents were insignificant to the banks that loaned Trump money, which he said used their own analysis to make their loan decisions.
“It is impossible to argue — it is really absurd to argue — that Deutsche Bank or any bank or any lender would make lending decisions based on the statements of financial condition,” Bartov said. “This should close the book on this case.”
(LAS VEGAS) — A judge set bail at $750,000 for the one-time gang member charged in connection with the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Judge Carli Kierny also ruled that the suspect — Duane “Keffe D” Davis — can await trial under house arrest with electronic monitoring if able to post bail.
Davis, 60, has been held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas since his arrest on Sept. 29, 2023. He was charged with open murder with use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement in connection with the 1996 drive-by killing of Tupac.
During a hearing Tuesday addressing the defense’s request for release or reasonable bail, attorney Robert Arroyo argued that Davis was not a danger to the community, has been earning an honest living and “if he was going to run he would have did it” years ago.
“If Duane is so dangerous, if this case is so overwhelming, his guilt is so overwhelming … why did [authorities] wait 15 years to make the arrest?” Arroyo said.
Davis’ lawyers had asked that bail not exceed $100,000.
Prosecutors meanwhile claimed that Davis “presents a very, very high danger to the community,” in particular to witnesses who might testify against him at trial, and asked for no bail or a high bail. They had cited an October conversation between Davis and his son in which the pair used the term “green light,” which they allege is “authorization to kill.”
Davis’ lawyers claim prosecutors misconstrued what was said on those calls — that Davis was never planning to put a hit out on those cooperating in the case against him — rather, he was concerned there was word on the street that his own family was in danger.
Kierny said there were several factors to consider, including his length of residence in Henderson, Nevada, and a close relationship with his family, before issuing her decision on bail and house arrest.
Pending posting bail, Davis remains in the Clark County Detention Center.
Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson, whose office is prosecuting the case, told reporters he respected the judge’s decision and that she was “conscientious and thorough” in reaching it.
“We believe he is still a danger to the community, he is a danger to some of the witnesses and others,” Wolfson said. “My prosecutors argued just that, and I believe the judge agreed with our arguments today.”
Davis has pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance, a status conference, has been scheduled for Feb. 20.
His trial date is set for June 3.
The Clark County District Attorney’s Office alleges that the suspect was a feared gang member back in the 1990s and was the “shot caller” on the night of Sept. 7, 1996, when Shakur was gunned down while in the passenger seat of a stopped car by the Vegas Strip.
Until Davis’ arrest, no charges had ever been filed, and the case remained cold for nearly 30 years. Prosecutors allege though Davis did not pull the trigger, he was in the shooter’s car on that night and orchestrated Shakur’s death.
Davis claims to be one of two living witnesses, along with former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, to the Vegas shooting that killed the rapper, according to a search warrant released by police.
Hauke-Christian Dittrich/picture alliance via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — NASA announced Tuesday it is delaying its first-crewed missions to the moon in decades, delaying a moon flyby until September 2025 and an attempted landing on the moon until September 2026.
“To safely carry out these missions, agency leaders are adjusting the schedules for Artemis II and Artemis III to allow teams to work through challenges associated with first-time developments, operations, and integration,” NASA sad in a release.
Artemis II was scheduled to send four astronauts into space in 2024 for a lunar flyby before returning to Earth while Artemis III was planning to send four astronauts to the moon in 2025.
In its release, NASA said that during an Artemis flight test, teams discovered battery issues and challenges with a component that controls air ventilation and temperature control.
Additionally, NASA has been investigating why char layer pieces from its spacecraft’s heat shield were lost during the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I, which launched in November 2022 and was completed in December, marked the first step in an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development, and potentially even send a crewed mission to Mars.
“We are letting the hardware talk to us so that crew safety drives our decision-making. We will use the Artemis II flight test, and each flight that follows, to reduce risk for future Moon missions,” Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
“We are resolving challenges associated with first-time capabilities and operations, and we are closer than ever to establishing sustained exploration of Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis,” Koerner added.
The Artemis team will be made up of three Americans — Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Reid Wiseman — and one Canadian, Jeremy Hansen. Glover and Koch will be the first person of color and woman, respectively, to set foot on the lunar surface.
They are set to be first series of missions that NASA has used to send a crew to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, more than 50 years ago.
NASA said in is release that Artemis IV, the first mission to the Gateway lunar space station, remains on track for 2028.
“Artemis is a long-term exploration campaign to conduct science at the Moon with astronauts and prepare for future human missions to Mars,” Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development, and manager of NASA’s Moon to Mars Program Office at headquarters, said in a statement.
“That means we must get it right as we develop and fly our foundational systems so that we can safely carry out these missions,” Kshatriya said. “Crew safety is and will remain our number one priority.”
(NEW YORK) — At least three people were killed and multiple others injured across four states amid severe weather on Tuesday as a major storm system threatens parts of the East Coast.
More than a dozen tornadoes have been reported from Texas to Georgia since Monday, many occurring overnight and Tuesday morning in Florida’s Panhandle, as the major storm crossed the country.
A tornado hit the Panama City area in Bay County early Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
At least five people in the county were transported to hospitals with injuries, Bay County spokesperson Valerie Sale told ABC News. There are also reports of significant damage throughout the county due to the storm, Sale said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for northern Florida due to the severe weather threat. The order covers 49 counties in north and central Florida.
In Georgia, one person is dead after a tree fell on a vehicle while the driver was traveling on Highway 54 in Jonesboro Tuesday morning, police said.
In North Carolina, one person was killed and two critically injured at a mobile home park in Claremont following severe weather, Catawba County officials said. The National Weather Service is on the scene to evaluate if it was a tornado.
An 81-year-old woman in Cottonwood, Alabama, was killed Tuesday morning after a possible tornado blew her mobile home over several times while she was inside, according to the Houston County Coroner’s Office.
Tornado watches remain in effect along a large swath of the East Coast, from Florida into southern Virginia. The threat of strong, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes from severe thunderstorms will persist through the afternoon and into the early evening hours.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 500,000 customers in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest were without power, including more than 82,000 in Florida and more than 155,000 in the Carolinas.
The storm system is expected to swing north and bring flooding and damaging winds to the Northeast later Tuesday.
Flood watches are in effect along a large swath of the East Coast, including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.
Heavy rain is expected to gradually move up the Interstate 95 corridor through the afternoon and evening to Philadelphia and New York City, with a chance of flooding possible.
The worst impacts from this powerful storm are forecast to begin to unfold in parts of the Northeast by early Tuesday evening, first hitting the D.C./Baltimore area around 6 p.m. ET. with heavy rain and strong wind gusts sweeping in.
In the greater New York City metro area, the worst impacts are expected roughly between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET, with extremely heavy rain and very strong wind gusts.
Additionally, New England is predicting heavy rain on Tuesday night into Wednesday with possible flooding. An estimated 2 to 4 inches of rain is forecast in the Northeast on top of all the melting snow.
Strong damaging winds are expected to accompany the heavy rain as, locally, 50 to 65 mph gusts are possible from the Virginia coast all the way up to Maine. Power outages are possible in swathes of the Northeast.
On the back side of this storm, heavy snow is forecast from Missouri to Iowa and into Wisconsin and Michigan where, locally, up to 10 inches of snow could be possible.
Chicago will be right on the line of rain and snow with only a few inches of sloppy snow possible in the city and up to 5 to 10 inches west and north of the city.
2nd storm moving into West
A second storm is also moving into the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rockies with more heavy snow, strong winds and heavy rain for the coast.
A rare blizzard warning is in place for Oregon and Washington, just outside of Seattle and Portland, where some areas have not seen a blizzard warning issued in more than 10 years.
The storm will follow in the current storm’s footsteps and will bring more severe weather to the South with tornado and flood threats Friday and more heavy snow for the Midwest and the Great Lakes.
By Friday night into Saturday, the storm will move into the Northeast with more heavy rain, strong winds and flooding.
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The focus of the investigation into Friday’s midair emergency on an Alaska Airlines flight is focused on the single aircraft, but could be broadened as the National Transportation Safety Board learns more, board Chief Jennifer Homendy said.
“However, at some point we may need to go broader. But right now we have to figure out how this occurred with this aircraft,” Homendy said Tuesday on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.”
The door plug fell off the plane, a Boeing 737 Max 9, around 5:11 p.m. local time Friday as the aircraft with 171 passengers, including three babies and four unaccompanied minors, had climbed to 16,000 feet after taking off from Portland International Airport, according to the NTSB.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday, “Every Boeing 737-9 Max with a plug door will remain grounded until the FAA finds each can safely return to operation.”
“The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 Max to service,” the FAA said.
Boeing said it continues to be in “close contact” with its customers and the FAA about required inspections of certain 737 Max 9 planes.
“As part of the process, we are making updates based on their feedback and requirements,” the company said.
The fittings at the top of the door plug fractured, Homendy said. The NTSB examination has shown that those fittings were fractured, allowing the plug door to move upward and outward, she said.
“We don’t know if the bolts were loose. We don’t know if bolts were in there fractured or possibly the bolts weren’t there at all,” she said. “We have to determine that back in our laboratory.”
On Monday, United Airlines said it had found loose bolts on its 737 Max 9 fleet during inspections ordered after Friday’s incident involving an Alaska Airlines flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday it was temporarily grounding certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory until they were inspected. The FAA said the pause would affect about 171 planes worldwide.
Homendy said Tuesday she would feel safe flying on a 737 Max 9 now.
“I would feel safe flying right now,” Homendy said. “Our aviation system is the safest in the world.”
ABC News’ Amanda Maile, Sam Sweeney, Bill Hutchinson and Jon Haworth contributed to this report.
