Trump and co-defendants should post bond for full $464 million judgment, NY attorney general says

Trump and co-defendants should post bond for full 4 million judgment, NY attorney general says
Trump and co-defendants should post bond for full $464 million judgment, NY attorney general says
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(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that Donald Trump and his co-defendants should be required to post a bond to cover the $464 million judgment in their civil fraud case in a court filing Monday.

The attorney general’s office argued that the former president might be unable to satisfy the judgment or could attempt to evade penalties in the absence of a full bond.

“Moreover, there is significant risk that absent a full bond or deposit, defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult after an appeal,” Senior Assistant Solicitor Dennis Fan said in the filing.

Last month, Trump’s lawyers asked New York’s appellate court for an emergency stay of the enforcement of the $464 million judgment in his civil fraud case. Trump was fined $354.8 million plus approximately $100 million in prejudgment interest after Judge Arthur Engoron determined that he inflated his net worth to get more favorable loan terms.

Rather than post a bond for the total amount, Trump offered to secure a $100 million bond, arguing he would need to sell properties to pay the full amount. However, Judge Anil Singh declined to issue the stay of the penalties, leaving the larger question of Trump’s delay to a full panel of appellate judges.

In a filing Monday, Attorney General James reiterated that Trump should be treated with the same rules as any other defendant.

“To stay enforcement of a set monetary judgment pending appeal, the Legislature has required defendants to post a bond or deposit funds in the full amount of the judgment. That requirement applies to defendant Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants, just as it applies to any other appellant,” the filing said.

The AG’s filing said that Trump has also failed to prove his claim that he would have to sell buildings to pay off the judgment in the case, adding that Trump’s arguments run contrary to his earlier arguments about his wealth.

“First, defendants fail to provide any support for their unsubstantiated claim … that posting a bond or depositing funds is ‘impossible’ absent a sale of properties,” the filing said. “Defendants have never demonstrated that Mr. Trump’s liquid assets—which may fluctuate over time—will be enough to satisfy the full amount of this judgment following appeal.”

The filing also argued that Trump’s overall appeal of Judge Engoron’s ruling would likely fail given the “brazen fraud” in which the defendants engaged.

“Defendants are exceedingly unlikely to succeed on the merits of their appeal. Defendants engaged in brazen fraud and illegality to enrich themselves through the use of Mr. Trump’s false and misleading Statements of Financial Condition,” the filing said.

The former president has denied all wrongdoing in the case and appealed Engoron’s ruling.

Trump faces a deadline later this month to post a bond in the civil fraud case.

The former president obtained an appeals bond from the Virginia-based Federal Insurance Company totaling $91,630,000 to cover the $83 million judgment in the E. Jean Carrol case plus interest, according to a court filing from last Friday morning.

Trump requested the financial penalty in the defamation case be stalled while he appealed the case.

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Three children, two adults dead after school bus and semitruck collide in Illinois: Police

Three children, two adults dead after school bus and semitruck collide in Illinois: Police
Three children, two adults dead after school bus and semitruck collide in Illinois: Police
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(NEW YORK) — Three children and two adults died after a school bus collided with a semitruck on U.S. Route 24 in Illinois on Monday, authorities said.

The fatal collision between the school bus and the semitruck carrying sand happened on the highway at 11:30 a.m., local time, in Rushville, Illinois State Police said during a press briefing.

Preliminary reports indicate the bus was heading East on Route 24 and for an “unknown reason,” crossed over into the Westbound lanes in front of the semi-truck, police said.

Both vehicles erupted into flames after the collision, according to authorities.

The school bus was transporting three children at the time of the crash. The three children, as well as both drivers, were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

The children who died in the accident were preschoolers, Schuyler County Coroner Terry Millslagle told ABC News. All of the families of the victims have been contacted.

Later on Monday, Schuyler County coroner confirmed the deaths of the two adults, David Coufal, 72 and Angela Spiker, 57, as well as the deaths of the three children, Maria Miller, 5, Andrew Miller, 3 and Noah Driscoll, 3.

Schuyler-Industry Schools confirmed the incident with a “heavy heart” in a Facebook post on Monday.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce our school community has lost both staff and students in the traffic incident involving one of our school buses this morning,” the post read. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and our community.”

The school district canceled school on Tuesday and Wednesday, following the incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate.

“The NTSB, in coordination with Illinois State Police, is sending a team to conduct a safety investigation into Monday’s multivehicle collision involving a school bus and a truck tractor in combination with a semitrailer on U.S. Highway 24 in Rushville, Schuyler County, Illinois,” read a post on the NTSB X page.

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Deadly Wisconsin intersection crash victims identified, new details emerge

Deadly Wisconsin intersection crash victims identified, new details emerge
Deadly Wisconsin intersection crash victims identified, new details emerge
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(NEW YORK) — Investigators revealed the details Monday of the deadly crash on a Wisconsin highway last week and identified the nine people who were killed.

Eight of the victims who were killed were passengers in a van that allegedly collided with a semi-tractor truck, whose driver was the ninth fatal victim, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

The van victims were identified as James K. McCoy, 46, who was the driver, Linda Byler, 44, Lydia Byler, 24, Orla Schrock, 24, Ellen Schrock, 23, Delila Schrock, 21 and Suzanna Hertzler, 18, the sheriff’s office said. An unidentified 6-month-old child who was in the van was also killed, according to investigators.

A 2-year-old child who was in the van was taken to Marshfield Medical Center for injuries sustained in the crash and released to family members Monday, investigators said. All of the van’s passengers lived in Virginia, according to the sheriff’s office.

Daniel G. Liddicoat, 51, the truck’s driver, was also killed in the crash, according to investigators.

The sheriff’s office said they believed the semi-tractor, which was carrying milk, was traveling eastbound on Highway 95 near the Township of Dewhurst while the van was northbound on intersecting County Road J around 8 a.m. Friday.

The van allegedly entered the intersection and was struck by the semi on its driver’s side, according to investigators.

Liddicoat was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, investigators said.

After being struck by the truck, the van tipped onto its side, skidded east on the highway, and caught on fire with two occupants inside, according to the sheriff’s office. Seven passengers, including the 2-year-old survivor, were ejected from the van, according to investigators.

The van’s fatal victims were all declared dead at the scene by investigators.

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Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro ordered to report to jail on March 19

Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro ordered to report to jail on March 19
Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro ordered to report to jail on March 19
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(WASHINGTON) — Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro has been ordered to report to jail in Miami on March 19 to begin his four-month sentence after he defied a subpoena from the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Navarro was convinced in September of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide testimony and documents to the committee.

According to court papers filed late Sunday night by Navarro’s attorneys, he must report to prison in Miami by March 19 at 2 p.m. ET.

“Dr. Navarro has now been ordered to report to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Miami, on or before 2:00PM EDT on March 19, 2024,” Navarro’s attorney said. “Accordingly, Dr. Navarro respectfully reiterates his request for an administrative stay.”

Navarro, who was not allowed to stay out of jail pending his appeal, has been trying to convince a federal appeals court to stay his sentence while he attempts to overturn his conviction.

In testimony during Navarro’s trial, former Jan. 6 committee staff director David Buckley said the House panel had been seeking to question Navarro about efforts to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time.”

Navarro unsuccessfully argued that former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege over his testimony and document production.

Navarro would become the first former Trump adviser to report to jail for actions related to the Jan. 6 attack.

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Twenty-year-old backcountry skier dies after falling 600 feet on Mount Washington

Twenty-year-old backcountry skier dies after falling 600 feet on Mount Washington
Twenty-year-old backcountry skier dies after falling 600 feet on Mount Washington
Cavan Images/Getty Images

(GORHAM, N.H.) — A 20-year-old backcountry skier died after falling 600 feet down a ravine on Mount Washington in New Hampshire over the weekend, according to officials, who reported two other individuals were rescued from the area.

On Saturday, Madison Saltsburg fell roughly 600 vertical feet down Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington and suffered fatal traumatic injuries during the fall, according to a press release from the U.S. Forest Service on Sunday.

Responding officials from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center (MWAC) said they worked to evacuate Saltsburg off the mountain.

The MWAC Snow Ranger team responded to two other skiers who sustained traumatic injuries from rocks and ice while falling down the firm and icy snow surface, according to the release.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Mount Washington, predicting up to 1 foot of wet, heavy snow and strong winds.

“Throughout the year, this very steep ski mountaineering terrain, and other areas around Mount Washington, are subject to ever changing mountain hazards,” the U.S. Forest Service said. “These commonly include avalanches, open crevasse holes, icy steep slopes, and falling rocks and ice.”

Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeast of the U.S.

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Suspect in NYC subway attack that left woman’s feet severed was arrested in violent 2017 home invasion: Police

Suspect in NYC subway attack that left woman’s feet severed was arrested in violent 2017 home invasion: Police
Suspect in NYC subway attack that left woman’s feet severed was arrested in violent 2017 home invasion: Police
lechatnoir/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A 35-year-old man arrested on suspicion of pushing his girlfriend onto the New York City subway tracks causing both her feet to be severed by an incoming train, had been imprisoned for attacking a woman and threatening to hurl her child off a fire escape during a 2017 home invasion, according to police.

Christian Valdez was arrested following the Saturday morning domestic violence attack at the Fulton Street subway station in lower Manhattan, according to the New York Police Department.

Valdez, who listed his address as a women’s homeless shelter in Brooklyn, was captured about 9:30 p.m. ET in lower Manhattan, about 11 hours after the subway station attack, according to a police incident report.

The suspect has been charged with attempted murder and felony assault, according to police.

The incident unfolded around 10:30 a.m. Saturday during an argument on the Fulton Street subway station platform, according to police.

“Further investigation determined that the female was pushed onto the tracks by a 35-year-old male after they were engaged in a domestic dispute,” according to the NYPD incident report.

The 29-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was struck by a southbound No. 3 train, according to police.

The woman was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition, according to police.

NYPD officers called to the station found the victim conscious and responsive with injuries to her legs after being struck by the train, police said. Both of her feet had been amputated, police sources said.

Valdez was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Sunday afternoon. Information on whether he has hired an attorney or has been appointed one was not immediately available.

Valdez is the same man who was arrested in September 2017 for breaking into an apartment in the city’s Bronx borough, stabbing a woman who lived there and attempting to throw her 3-year-old daughter off a fire escape, police confirmed to ABC News.

During the 2017 attack, authorities said the mother tried to get away from Valdez by climbing onto her third-floor fire escape with her young daughter, but that Valdez followed her and struck her with a glass bottle before wrestling the child away. When the victim tried to take her daughter back, Valdez allegedly threatened to throw the girl over the railing, witnesses told ABC station WABC at the time.

A good Samaritan rushed to the rescue after hearing the commotion and seeing the suspect threatening the child, he told WABC at the time. The good Samaritan said he threw vases and other household items at Valdez before a second neighbor also intervened and grabbed the child from the suspect.

“I kicked the door open, I ran in, and I went to the fire escape,” said the good Samaritan, who didn’t want to be identified. “I told him, ‘Let her go! Let her go!'”

Valdez was convicted in 2020 of second-degree attempted assault stemming from the Bronx attack and sentenced to eight years in prison, according to court records reviewed by ABC News. Valdez was released from the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, on Jan. 9, 2023, according to records. He was on parole at the time of Saturday’s attack.

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Four adults, one juvenile killed in twin-engine plane crash near Virginia airport: Police

Four adults, one juvenile killed in twin-engine plane crash near Virginia airport: Police
Four adults, one juvenile killed in twin-engine plane crash near Virginia airport: Police
Perry Gerenday/Getty Images

(HOT SPRINGS, Va.) — Four adults and one juvenile were killed when a small plane crashed near Ingalls Airport in Virginia, the Virginia State Police said Sunday.

The plane — a twin-engine IAI Astra 1125 — crashed near the airport in Bath County around 3 p.m. local time, according to the FAA. The plane, described by police as a private jet, crashed into the woods in the 6200 block of Airport Rd. It caught fire on impact, the authorities said.

The Bath County Sheriff’s Office said its 911 Center received a call about a crash at 2:58 p.m. at Ingalls Field Airport in Hot Springs, Virginia. The Sheriff’s Department, Virginia State Police, and Hot Springs Fire and Rescue were dispatched to the scene.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash.

No further details were immediately available.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Sinead Hawkins contributed to this report.

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James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial continues

James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial continues
James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial continues
Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images

(PONTIAC, Mich.) — James Crumbley’s trial continued on Monday in its third day of testimony. The prosecution has sought to place blame on him, claiming he could have prevented the shooting if he had not ignored the warning signs exhibited by his son leading up to the November 2021 shooting.

The father of a Michigan school shooter is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter for his alleged role in the shooting. His son Ethan Crumbley, who was only 15 years old at the time of the shooting, killed four of his classmates and injured seven others.

Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed in the shooting.

James Crumbley’s trial comes weeks after Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of the same four charges. She will be sentenced in April. Their cases are a rare instance of parents being held criminally responsible in connection with a shooting carried out by their child.

Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December after he pleaded guilty to 24 counts including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death.

The parents had bought their son the gun used in the shooting just days before. Prosecutors have argued that the parents ignored warning signs raised against the shooter which could have prevented it from happening.

Among the signs was a meeting called by school officials the morning of the shooting after concerning and violent drawings were found on their son’s math test. After a school counselor spoke with Ethan Crumbley, they expressed concerns that he may harm himself.

School officials called the Crumbley parents to the school and told them their son needed immediate mental health care, offering them a list of facilities that could have provided him care that day. But, the parents allegedly told school officials they needed to return to work and could not take their son home.

The shooting happened that afternoon.

During Jennifer Crumbley’s trial, she admitted on the stand that she would have been able to leave work for the day on the morning of the shooting to care for her son. Her former boss had revealed she could have also brought her son to work with her if she needed to.

Last week, prosecutors argued that James Crumbley set his own hours and could have taken his son with him while he worked that day, since he was a DoorDash driver. Prosecutors also presented evidence that he had not yet signed onto work for the day before the meeting at the school, only logging on at 11 a.m.

James Crumbley also made a 911 call to police after news of the shooting had spread after he had discovered that the gun he purchased for his son was missing from their home. He identified his son as the suspected shooter, despite police not making that information public yet.

James Crumbley’s communications from prison have been limited by Judge Cheryl Matthews until the jury reaches a verdict after he allegedly made threats from prison toward an undisclosed person. He will be allowed to conduct research and communicate with his attorney on matters related to his defense.

Opening statements in the trial began on Thursday after the jury was seated on Wednesday. The jury consists of nine women and six men.

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James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial continues in son’s school mass shooting

James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial continues
James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial continues
Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images

(PONTIAC, Mich.) — James Crumbley’s trial continued on Monday in its third day of testimony. The prosecution has sought to place blame on him, claiming he could have prevented the shooting if he had not ignored the warning signs exhibited by his son leading up to the November 2021 shooting.

The father of a Michigan school shooter is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter for his alleged role in the shooting. His son Ethan Crumbley, who was only 15 years old at the time of the shooting, killed four of his classmates and injured seven others.

Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed in the shooting.

James Crumbley’s trial comes weeks after Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of the same four charges. She will be sentenced in April. Their cases are a rare instance of parents being held criminally responsible in connection with a shooting carried out by their child.

Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December after he pleaded guilty to 24 counts including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death.

The parents had bought their son the gun used in the shooting just days before. Prosecutors have argued that the parents ignored warning signs raised against the shooter which could have prevented it from happening.

Among the signs was a meeting called by school officials the morning of the shooting after concerning and violent drawings were found on their son’s math test. After a school counselor spoke with Ethan Crumbley, they expressed concerns that he may harm himself.

School officials called the Crumbley parents to the school and told them their son needed immediate mental health care, offering them a list of facilities that could have provided him care that day. But, the parents allegedly told school officials they needed to return to work and could not take their son home.

The shooting happened that afternoon.

During Jennifer Crumbley’s trial, she admitted on the stand that she would have been able to leave work for the day on the morning of the shooting to care for her son. Her former boss had revealed she could have also brought her son to work with her if she needed to.

Last week, prosecutors argued that James Crumbley set his own hours and could have taken his son with him while he worked that day, since he was a DoorDash driver. Prosecutors also presented evidence that he had not yet signed onto work for the day before the meeting at the school, only logging on at 11 a.m.

James Crumbley also made a 911 call to police after news of the shooting had spread after he had discovered that the gun he purchased for his son was missing from their home. He identified his son as the suspected shooter, despite police not making that information public yet.

James Crumbley’s communications from prison have been limited by Judge Cheryl Matthews until the jury reaches a verdict after he allegedly made threats from prison toward an undisclosed person. He will be allowed to conduct research and communicate with his attorney on matters related to his defense.

Opening statements in the trial began on Thursday after the jury was seated on Wednesday. The jury consists of nine women and six men.

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Educators say they fear Oklahoma law restricts teaching ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ book

Educators say they fear Oklahoma law restricts teaching ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ book
Educators say they fear Oklahoma law restricts teaching ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ book
ABC News

Some teachers in Oklahoma say they are afraid to teach a book that is the foundation of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” one the most talked about films of the year.

Nominated for 10 Oscars, the movie depicts the true story of white settlers who systematically murdered wealthy members of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma in the 1920s. The Native Americans became rich after oil was discovered on their land.

In northern Oklahoma, just minutes from the Osage Nation, high school English teacher Debra Thoreson says because of new laws in the state she is too nervous to teach the popular book on which the movie is based.

“If I were teaching that book, we’d get to what in society allowed that story to happen.” Thoreson told ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks on “This Week.” “What were the laws at the time? What were the social dynamics between races and genders? And you cannot get into that without people being uncomfortable.”

She says she’s worried having an in-depth conversation about that chapter in Oklahoma state history could put her teaching licenses and school at risk.

In 2021, the state’s Republican-led legislature passed House Bill 1775 which bans diversity training and limits discussions around race and sex in schools. Among other concepts it bans teaching that “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex,” according to the Oklahoma state Legislature.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, signed HB 1775 into law in May 2021.

“We can and should teach this history without labeling a young child as an oppressor or requiring he or she feel guilt or shame based on their race or sex,” Stitt told ABC News in a statement at the time. “I refuse to tolerate otherwise during a time when we are already so polarized.”

Some of the penalties for running afoul of this law include teachers losing their license and accreditation for schools being revoked, according to the law.

State educators and leaders of the Osage Nation are worried the law silences teachers and halts progress toward teaching a fuller, more accurate version of state history.

“Feel good history doesn’t help anybody,” Jim Gray, former chief of the Osage Nation, told Parks. “They don’t want to feel bad about what happened in the past. Well, I’m sorry to say that to my great grandfather who was taken out in the country and shot in the head. I owe it to him to tell that story.”

Gray and the author of the book “Killers of the Flower Moon,” David Grann, wrote in a New York Times op-ed that “at stake in these fights is not only factual accuracy. It is also how new generations will be taught to record and remember the past.”

Grann and Gray point out that in the 1920s members of the Osage tribe were forced to have white guardians to watch their money, calling the system abhorrently racist and part of a history that needs to be revealed.

“HB 1775 threatens to derail the progress tribes have made in recent years to provide an accurate history of our country and our state’s complex relationship with Native Americans in schools,” the inter-tribal council of five tribes in Oklahoma said in a joint statement when HB 1775 first passed.

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters insists the Osage murders can and should be taught in schools.

“We have had a major misinformation campaign from the radical left and the teachers union on this issue,” Walters told Parks. “What we have said is very specifically, you can’t tell somebody that they should be ashamed or feel that way about their skin color or their background.”

Oklahoma’s law curtailing discussions around race and sex is part of a national trend, according to Education Week. A total of 18 Republican-led states around the country have passed similar new legislation or bans.

The Oklahoma Board of Education has already punished Tulsa Public Schools for what it says were violations of the law by demoting its accreditation status back in 2022 because it said a training session for teachers included the concept of implicit bias — that people can carry prejudices sometimes without recognizing them.

Regan Killackey, a high school English teacher outside of Oklahoma City, is a plaintiff in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit targeting the state law.

“To understand someone else’s experience, they have to be able to see things from their perspective and if we do not allow students to actually step into someone else’s shoes … and understand the pain that they actually suffered, we’re doing them a disservice,” Killackey said.

Thoreson said she encourages any parent worried about how topics are taught to get involved and get to know their kids’ teachers. But until she feels less of a threat around potentially losing her license, she won’t teach “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

“It feels like we are regressing. It feels like we’ve had progress and some people are uncomfortable,” Thoreson said. “I’m not sure what they hope to gain from that. Except those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it. So — so, it’s terrifying.”

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