(NEW YORK) — FBI agents searched the Crown Heights home Thursday of Brianna Suggs, a campaign consultant and top fundraiser linked to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The agents descended on the home on Lincoln Place in Brooklyn Thursday morning. The FBI declined to immediately comment on the reason, but acknowledged agents were at the address.
Adams unexpectedly returned from Washington, D.C., to New York despite a day of planned meetings with White House officials and other big city mayors on immigration.
His office said at the time the mayor was returning to “address a matter” but declined to elaborate.
Suggs was apparently at her home at the time of the search warrant. She has not been arrested.
City Hall referred ABC News to the mayor’s campaign for comment.
“The campaign has always held itself to the highest standards,” Adams 2021 campaign counsel Vito Pitta said in a statement. “The campaign will of course comply with any inquiries, as appropriate.”
Suggs was an intern at Brooklyn Borough Hall when Adams was borough president in 2017, according to her Linkedin page, and coordinated fundraising for his 2021 mayoral campaign.
She says she raised $18.4 million for Adams’ 2021 campaign, and at least $900,000 so far for his 2025 reelection effort.
She also launched Brianna Suggs and Associates in June 2022.
(LAS VEGAS) — Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the suspect accused of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, pleaded not guilty to murder during his arraignment on Thursday.
Davis’ arraignment had been delayed twice as he sorted out his representation.
Davis — who was handcuffed and dressed in a blue jumpsuit — said in Las Vegas court on Thursday that he had not retained his own counsel. He was appointed a public defender and waived his right to a speedy trial. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 7.
The state said it does not plan to pursue the death penalty in the murder case. Davis asked Judge Tierra Jones for clarification after she inquired if prosecutors were “taking this to death review.”
As the hearing adjourned, Davis mentioned to the judge about wanting to appoint his own counsel. Jones responded that “for today’s purposes, to get this case moving, the special public defender will be appointed to represent you.”
Davis, 60, was indicted by a Clark County grand jury on one count of open murder with use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement in September, nearly 30 years after Tupac’s death. He has been detained since being arrested near his Las Vegas-area home on Sept. 29.
Shakur died on Sept. 7, 1996, at the age of 25, six days after being shot while in a car near the Las Vegas Strip. A white Cadillac pulled up alongside the car and “immediately began shooting,” police said.
The shooting occurred hours after a brawl at the MGM Grand between members and affiliates of two rival Compton, California, gangs — Mob Piru Bloods and the South Side Compton Crips — police said.
Police said Davis — who has admitted publicly to being in the Cadillac at the time of the shooting — was the Crips’ “shot caller.” He is accused of orchestrating the “retaliatory shooting” that killed Shakur.
Though Davis may not have fired the gun on Shakur himself, his say-so would have authorized the trigger pull, authorities have said. They also accused Davis of providing the gun used in the shooting.
Davis is the only living suspect in the homicide, according to police.
The case remained cold for decades until “reinvigorated” in 2018 when new information came to light — “specifically, Duane Davis’ own admissions to his involvement in this homicide investigation that he provided to numerous different media outlets,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Jason Johansson told reporters following Davis’ arrest.
(NEW YORK) — The FBI is accusing two tourists of swiping nearly $13,000 worth of sculptures in the early morning hours of a recent Carnival cruise from Baltimore to Bermuda.
On its website, Carnival Cruise Line says its ships feature “an ever-changing collection of fine art” and touts its onboard auctions, inviting customers to, “[s]ip some champagne, browse the gallery and bid on a piece to take home as a trip memento.”
But, according to the FBI, the two tourists allegedly took two expensive pieces home from the Carnival Legend ship a little over a month ago without bidding — or even paying at all. The duo has yet to be charged.
In court documents filed Tuesday in federal court in Baltimore, seeking permission to obtain a search warrant, the FBI says an art auctioneer working on the ship discovered the two pieces missing on Oct. 1, the day after the ship returned to Baltimore from a week at sea.
One of the missing pieces is a Lucite sculpture by American artist Robert Wyland titled “Kiss the Sea,” depicting two sea turtles. The size of a small backpack, it’s valued at $6,200, according to court documents. The other missing sculpture, a slightly smaller piece by American artist Marcus Glenn titled “Tappin’ the Keys for the Love,” depicts a man playing a piano with a heart in the background. It’s valued at $6,600, the FBI says.
When Carnival security personnel then reviewed footage from surveillance cameras on the ship, they saw two people shortly after 2 a.m. two days earlier allegedly walking into the art gallery “empty-handed,” only to walk out several minutes later carrying objects “consistent in appearance with the missing sculptures,” according to the FBI.
Further investigation identified the two people as a trucking company employee and his female companion, according to court documents. When an FBI agent then found the man’s profile on Facebook, the agent noticed a recently posted photo of the man “wearing what appears to be the same white dress shirt, dark-colored vest, and striped tie” from the surveillance video, according to court documents.
With a federal judge’s approval, the FBI then executed search warrants at their homes and recovered the missing sculptures, according to a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore.
ABC News is not naming the two suspects because it’s unclear if they will be charged. But in court documents, the FBI said it was looking into possible federal charges related to theft and transportation of stolen goods.
On its website, the cruise line says its onboard art auctions are far from the expected “room of too-serious old men, many wearing monocles, paying top-dollar for priceless antique works of art.”
Carnival Cruise Line did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $250 million lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr., and 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:
Nov 02, 8:38 AM EDT
Trump Jr. has helped run family’s business for a ‘long time,’ AG says
As Donald Trump Jr. prepares to return to the witness stand this morning, New York Attorney General Letitia James says the Trump Organization executive VP has been with the Trump Organization for a long time for someone who appears to have so little understanding of the business.
In a video posted to social media last night following Trump Jr.’s first day of testimony, James said the eldest son of former President Trump “claimed to have very little understanding of the accounting and legal mechanics of the family business — but we know he has been involved in running the Trump Organization for a long time.”
Trump Jr. testified yesterday that he relied on the expertise of others when he signed the company’s statements of financial condition, distancing himself from the documents at the heart of the attorney general’s case.
While he acknowledged that he had some of the “the most intimate knowledge” about some of the deals described in the statements, Trump Jr. reiterated that he did not have a role in putting the documents together.
“The accountants worked on it. That’s what we pay them to do,” Trump Jr. said.
Trump Jr. will return to the witness stand this morning, with his bother Eric Trump on deck to testify later today.
Nov 01, 5:36 PM EDT
‘I wasn’t involved’ with financial statements, Trump Jr. says
Before stepping down from the witness stand at the end of the afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. was asked repeatedly about his involvement in the Trump Organization’s statements of financial condition — the allegedly fraudulent documents that underpin the attorney general’s case.
Trump Jr., who signed and certified the accuracy of the statements while his father was president between 2016 and 2021, said that he was not involved in preparing the filings.
“I wasn’t involved in the compilation of this statement of financial condition,” Trump Jr. said, placing the responsibility on his accountants.
“Did you work on the statement of financial condition for June 30, 2017?” state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.
“I did not. The accountants worked on it. That’s what we paid them to do,” Trump Jr. said.
Throughout the afternoon, the tone of the proceedings alternated rapidly between lighthearted and heated, varying from playful interactions between Trump Jr. and Judge Engoron, to bitter spats between some of the lawyers.
“I know you don’t like it when good evidence comes in,” Faherty told the defense lawyers during one particularly heated exchange.
“There’s no reason to raise your voice,” Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer, Clifford Robert, responded.
Trump Jr. is scheduled to return to the stand tomorrow morning.
Nov 01, 4:40 PM EDT
Trump Jr. to resume testimony tomorrow
Donald Trump Jr. has stepped down from the witness stand.
He is due to return to the courtroom tomorrow morning to resume his direct examination.
Court is now adjourned for the day.
Nov 01, 4:25 PM EDT
“Move it along,” judge tells lawyer questioning Trump Jr.
Donald Trump Jr. and state attorney Colleen Faherty got into a rhythm of quick questions and answers during the first hour of direct examination.
“I moved to Florida, but kept the New York pace,” Trump Jr. joked at one point when asked by the judge to speak slower.
So far the state attorney has focused most of her questions on Trump Jr.’s broader roles and responsibilities at his family’s firm, rather than any specific allegations in the attorney general’s complaint.
“I don’t see where we are going at all with this,” Trump attorney Chris Kise said at one point regarding the questioning.
“Move it along as fast as you can,” Judge Engoron told Faherty.
Nov 01, 3:47 PM EDT
Trump Jr. pressed about departure of ex-CFO
Donald Trump Jr. struggled to answer questions when pressed about why former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg departed the family’s firm.
“Because some legal issues he got himself into,” Trump Jr. said, declining to offer specifics about Weisselberg’s guilty plea on tax evasion charges last year.
Previously giving lengthy answers to questions about his background and even smiling with the judge, Trump Jr. appeared tense on the witness stand as he answered questions about Weisselberg.
“The specific event was he was indicted,” Trump Jr. said.
He added that when began working for the Trump Organization as an executive vice president in the 2010s, Weisselberg outranked him. Trump Jr. would seek Weisselberg’s approval for certain business decisions such as refinancing loans.
“Who is above you in your role as an executive vice president in the Trump Organization?” state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.
“Obviously I would have reported to my father in that period of time … people like Allen Weisselberg would have still been senior to me,” Trump Jr. said of that time period.
Trump Jr. said he gained more responsibility in 2016 when his father became president and he was named a trustee of his father’s revocable trust. He said that he, Weisselberg and his brother Eric Trump became a kind of triumvirate running the Trump Organization.
“We stopped reporting to my father on decisions involving the business,” Trump Jr. said.
That relationship broke down once Weisselberg got himself into “legal issues,” Trump Jr. said. He testified that he could not recall the circumstances of Weisselberg’s exit, including the multimillion-dollar severance deal that Weisselberg received, which Weisselberg faced questions about during his own testimony earlier this month.
“I have no knowledge of the specifics of how it happened. He is no longer working at the Trump Organization,” Trump Jr. said of the former CFO.
Nov 01, 3:22 PM EDT
‘I leave it to my CPAs,’ Trump Jr. says of accounting standards
“Sounds very exciting, but no,” Donald Trump Jr. answered to a state attorney’s question about whether he knows about accounting certifications, professional organizations, or accounting standards other than GAAP, which stands for “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.”
“I know nothing about GAAP,” Trump Jr. said, adding, “I leave it to my CPAs.”
“I’m a real estate broker,” Trump Jr. said as he introduced himself on the witness stand. He testified that he began working in the family real estate business “right after 9/11,” working on Trump Park Avenue and the former Sun Times building in Chicago.
State attorney Colleen Faherty tried to pressed him on his lack of accounting knowledge, prompting several objections from the defense.
Judge Engoron sustained the objections and admonished Faherty against asking negative questions.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
Nov 01, 3:10 PM EDT
Trump Jr. to be questioned by assistant AG
Assistant New York Attorney General Colleen Faherty will start off the direct examination of Donald Trump Jr.
Faherty is familiar with questioning high-stakes witnesses, having led the direct examination of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen last week.
Her quick objections during Cohen’s cross-examination led Trump attorney Alina Habba to accuse Faherty of trying to “throw off” her game.
A seven-year veteran of the New York attorney general’s office and a former criminal defense attorney, Faherty has been a vocal presence in the courtroom since the start of the trial.
Her willingness to spar with Trump lawyer Chris Kise previously led to some heated exchanges in court, such as a sidebar when Faherty demanded Kise “be more respectful.”
“No,” Kise responded.
“That was rude,” Faherty replied.
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Donald Trump Jr. takes the stand
Donald Trump Jr. has taken the stand, where he will be the first of the former president’s children to testify.
Before taking the stand, Trump Jr. sat while news photographers snapped pictures.
“I should’ve worn makeup,” he quipped.
Nov 01, 2:30 PM EDT
Ivanka Trump appeals ruling requiring her to testify
One week ahead of her planned testimony, Ivanka Trump has appealed Judge Engoron’s decision to require her to testify in person at the Trump Organization’s fraud trial.
Ivanka Trump’s lawyer Bennet Moskowitz asked an appellate court to decide whether Engoron has jurisdiction to compel her testimony and whether the trial subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general were properly served.
Ivanka Trump, who is not a defendant in the case, is currently scheduled to testify next Wednesday as the final witness in the attorney general’s case before the defense presents its case.
Nov 01, 2:08 PM EDT
Donald Trump Jr. arrives at courthouse
Donald Trump Jr. has arrived at the New York State Supreme Courthouse with his attorney.
Unlike his father and his brother Eric Trump — who have visited the courtroom to watch the proceedings – Donald Trump Jr. has not stepped foot inside the courthouse for the trial until today.
A Trump Organization executive vice president, Trump Jr. is scheduled to testify in the case this afternoon.
Nov 01, 1:44 PM EDT
Defense presses state’s expert on his analysis
Defense lawyer Jesus Suarez spent the first hour of his cross-examination working to cast doubt on expert Michiel McCarty’s analysis, which found that Trump defrauded lenders out of $168 million in interest.
“Who created the universe of documents for you to review? It was the New York attorney general, right?” Suarez said before launching into a rapid-fire succession of questions regarding which lenders McCarty had spoken to in the course of his analysis.
“Did you ever interview anyone from Deutsche Bank?” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty said.
“Did you ever interview anyone from Ladder Capital?” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty repeated.
“Did you ever interview anyone from Mazars,” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty responded.
“Did you ever interview anyone from the Trump Organization?” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty said again.
Nov 01, 12:34 PM EDT
Defense assails judge after he tells them to speed up questioning
Only 15 minutes into what is expected to be a three-hour cross-examination, Judge Arthur Engoron snapped at defense lawyer Jesus Suarez for asking redundant questions.
“I see why this is going to take two or three hours. Some questions become three or four more questions,” Engoron said, interrupting the cross-examination to request that Suarez shorten his questions.
That prompted Trump lawyer Chris Kise to criticize Engoron for placing an unfair standard on the defense team.
“You never give them speeches. You never limit their questions,” Kise said about Engoron’s approach to the attorney general’s legal team. “I think it’s unfair.”
Kise stressed that the cross-examination of the state’s sole expert witness is particularly important since his testimony is likely to play into the judge’s calculation of Trump’s potential fine.
“This witness is the only witness they have that even hints … about ill-gotten gains,” Kise said.
Engoron, however, refused to back down.
“I stand by my rulings and statements,” the judge said.
Nov 01, 12:17 PM EDT
Expert agrees that high-net-worth borrowers get low rates
Defense attorney Jesus Suarez began what is expected to be a marathon cross examination of the state’s expert witness, Michiel McCarty, by attempting to use his words against him.
“Historically banks have been willing to lend to high-net-worth individuals at low rates because they get repaid?” Suarez said, citing McCarty’s direct examination.
“That is correct,” McCarty said.
Suarez then reminded McCarty that Trump’s loans were paid on time — a point that the former president has reiterated during his appearance in court and on social media.
Suarez then asked if McCarty had charged the attorney general’s office $950 per hour for his expert analysis.
“That’s my standard rate, yes,” said McCarty, who estimated that his total bill for his analysis was $350,000.
The state’s expert witness, Michiel McCarty, calculated that Donald Trump’s lenders lost $168 million in potential interest between 2014 and 2023, according to a report he presented in court.
McCarty’s testimony appeared to reinforce a central tenet of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case: that Trump’s misrepresentations in his financial statements cost banks potential earnings from interest, even if the banks made money on the loans.
State attorney Kevin Wallace directed McCarty to a footnote in Judge Engoron’s earlier summary judgment order about the concept of lost interest, in which Engoron said, “The subject loans made the banks lots of money; but the fraudulent SFCs [Statements of Financial Condition] cost the banks lots of money. The less collateral for a loan, the riskier it is, and a first principle of loan accounting is that as risk rises, so do interest rates. Thus, accurate SFCs would have allowed the lenders to make even more money than they did.”
McCarty, who said he agreed with this assessment, ultimately found that banks lost a total of $168,040,168 in potential interest from loans related to four of Trump’s properties in Miami, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Trump attorney Chris Kise fiercely objected, arguing that McCarty was testifying about facts not established during the trial. During questioning, state attorneys declined to ask a Deutsche Bank executive if the bank would have still done business with Trump had they known his financial statements were inflated.
“They are not ill-gotten gains if the bank does not testify it would have done it differently,” Kise said.
“I decided these were ill-gotten,” the Judge Engoron replied.
Following Wallace’s direct examination of McCarty, defense attorney Jesus Suarez began his cross-examination.
Nov 01, 11:03 AM EDT
State’s expert witness takes the stand
Listing companies like Marriott, Fannie Mae and AT&T, the New York attorney general’s lone expert witness, Michiel McCarty, began his testimony by outlining some of the deals he worked on during his nearly 50-year career.
McCarty said that he has worked as an expert witness on “dozens of cases” and testified at 15 trials. But he acknowledged that he had limited experience with the compilation of statements of financial condition, prompting an objection from Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise.
“It appears that he does not have the specific experience relevant to the purpose he is here,” Kise argued.
Deemed an expert by Judge Engoron, McCarty went on to explain the report he wrote after reviewing Trump’s finances.
Nov 01, 10:49 AM EDT
Former Trump Organization VP testifies about Ivanka Trump
Former Trump Organization VP David Orowitz testified about Ivanka Trump’s involvement with Trump’s Old Post Office property in Washington, D.C.
“Ivanka wanted me to change the language in the GAAP section. She asked that I review with you,” Orowitz wrote in a 2011 email to then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, referring to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles used in the preparation of financial documents.
Defense attorneys have previously tried to downplay the extent to which Ivanka Trump was involved in the representation of Trump’s finances.
Orowitz subsequently stepped down from the witness stand to make way for Michiel McCarty, the state’s sole expert witness, to begin his testimony.
Nov 01, 10:14 AM EDT
‘We have a busy day,’ judge says as court gets underway
“We have a busy day and a busy week, so let’s try to move things along,” Judge Engoron remarked as he brought the courtroom to order to begin the day’s proceedings.
“Would you like to continue your witness?” Engoron asked state attorney Eric Haren.
“We would,” said Haren, before calling back to the stand former Trump Organization vice president David Orowitz, who began his testimony yesterday afternoon.
Defense attorneys Chris Kise, Alina Habba, and Jesus Suarez are sitting at the counsel table, leaving one seat available for Donald Trump Jr., who has not yet appeared ahead of his scheduled testimony this afternoon.
Nov 01, 10:01 AM EDT
Trump rails against judge, gag order
Former President Trump continued to attack Judge Engoron this morning, calling him “crazy, totally unhinged, and dangerous” on his Truth Social platform.
“He then put a RIDICULOUS GAG ORDER ON ME, which we will appeal. He fines me at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote this morning.
Trump recently paid $15,000 in fines related to two violations of the limited gag order Engoron established that prohibits public statements about the judge’s staff.
Trump also complained about the potential fine that Engoron could impose in the case. During court yesterday, the judge remarked that disgorgement — fining Trump for profits made through fraudulent means — is a “clearly available remedy” in the case.
“Now they come up with something called ‘disgorgement.’ I never even heard of the term,” Trump said.
Engoron already 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.
Nov 01, 8:45 AM EDT
‘Leave my children alone,’ Trump says ahead of sons’ testimony
Former President Trump attacked Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James on social media ahead of today’s expected testimony from his son Donald Trump Jr.
“Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!” Trump wrote overnight on his Truth Social platform.
Donald Trump Jr. is expected to begin his testimony in the afternoon today.
If that testimony concludes today, his brother Eric Trump could also begin his testimony.
Both of them are executive vice presidents in the Trump Organization.
(LEWISTON, Maine) — More details are emerging about the suspected gunman in the mass shooting that unfolded at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing at least 18 people.
The suspect — Robert Card, a 40-year-old U.S. Army reservist from Bowdoin — was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after a massive manhunt at Maine Recycling, where he previously worked, officials said.
Arrest and search warrants for Card released this week offer more details into his declining mental health and why he may have targeted the two businesses — Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley, and Schemengees Bar & Grille — on Oct. 25.
Card’s brother told police that Card had been in a relationship for the past few months with someone he met at a cornhole competition at Schemengees, according to one of the arrest warrants. His brother went on to say that since the relationship ended Card started wearing hearing aids and “had been saying crazy things,” the arrest warrant affidavit stated.
One search warrant affidavit stated that the ex-girlfriend had two daughters. A person whose name was redacted from the document told law enforcement that Card would take the daughters out to eat and “that is where the pedophile thing in Robert’s head came from,” the affidavit stated. Card “felt that people were looking at him” when he was out with the two daughters, and “claimed that people were out to get him or were calling him a pedophile,” the affidavit stated.
Family members told authorities that Card “believed there was a conspiracy against him and people were accusing him of being a pedophile,” and that he believed businesses were “broadcasting online that Robert was a pedophile,” the arrest warrant affidavit stated. Those businesses included Schemengees and Sparetime Recreation (recently renamed to Just-In-Time Recreation), according to the affidavit.
“Robert also believed that his family was involved in the conspiracy,” the affidavit stated.
According to an affidavit related to a search warrant for information from Card’s phone, Card’s brother told authorities that he and his father tried to help his brother as much as they could but “Robert could not be reasoned with.”
Card agreed to have the code on his gun safe changed “for a period of time a few months ago,” but had a key to the safe and “had access to his firearms prior to the shootings,” the affidavit stated.
In the days following the shootings, authorities were working to gather information on all of Card’s firearm sales, transfers and purchases including ammunition, the documents show.
Three firearms were recovered from Card’s vehicle and on his body that appeared to have been purchased legally, officials said.
Amid the active manhunt, search applications also sought information on Card’s “pattern of life” leading up to the shootings — including who he had been talking to, locations he had been frequenting, any communications that discussed murder “or the motive or reasons for the crime of murder.”
One warrant specifically sought Card’s communications discussing businesses including Schemengees Bar, Sparetime Recreation and Maine Recycling, along with any language such as “pedophile” and “cornhole.”
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors told jurors they plan to present audio of the moments professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was fatally shot during opening statements in the murder trial of Texas yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong.
Armstrong, 35, was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Wilson, 25, who was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at a friend’s home in Austin on the night of May 11, 2022.
“The last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in terror,” Travis County prosecutor Rick Jones told jurors on Wednesday, saying they plan to play the audio from a nearby surveillance camera that captured the shooting during the trial. “You’ll hear those screams.”
“Those screams are followed by, ‘Pop! Pop!'” Jones continued, adding that Wilson was shot twice in the head, followed by silence, then a third time in the heart.
Jones told jurors prosecutors plan to present video, cellphone, ballistic and DNA evidence that proves Armstrong killed Wilson — including testimony from a DNA expert who will testify that there’s a “very strong likelihood” that Armstrong’s DNA was retrieved from Wilson’s bicycle, which was found outside the friend’s residence.
Defense attorney Geoffrey Puryear said in a brief opening statement that there is no camera footage of Armstrong at the scene and called the state’s forensic science “unreliable.”
He said the state and investigators were “so desperate to keep Kaitlin Armstrong in their crosshairs that they had tunnel vision and jumped to conclusions.”
Armstrong pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Wilson was once romantically linked to Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland, a fellow professional cyclist, and was found shot hours after meeting up with him, police said. Armstrong’s 2012 Jeep Cherokee was captured on surveillance footage from a neighboring home stopping outside the residence the night of the homicide, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Jones said prosecutors plan to present evidence that shows Armstrong had access to her boyfriend’s emails and text messages with Wilson, and that she was able to track Wilson’s location through a fitness app.
A day after being interviewed by police about Wilson’s murder, prosecutors say Armstrong sold her Jeep and later fled to Costa Rica. She was arrested in June 2022 following a 43-day search at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas.
Jones said that days before her arrest, Armstrong spent $6,425 on plastic surgery “to change her appearance.”
Puryear said that Armstrong is “passionate about traveling” and that in the days following the shooting “weird things” were happening at her home that “would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety.”
“That ultimately led to her decision to leave Austin,” he said.
Armstrong is also accused of attempting to escape from custody prior to the start of the trial. She was charged with escape causing bodily injury — a felony — after the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said she briefly evaded two corrections officers while being transported to an off-site medical appointment on Oct. 11.
Armstong has pleaded not guilty to the escape charge, which the judge on Monday agreed to allow the state to use in their case on Wilson’s murder.
(NEW YORK) — A Florida man has been charged with calling a Jewish organization and threatening to kill Jewish people, according to court documents unsealed by the Justice Department on Wednesday night.
Deep Alpesh Kumar Patel, a 21-year-old from Sarasota, Florida, allegedly called the World Jewish Congress in New York City and left a threatening voicemail, authorities said in a release.
“If I had a chance, I would kill every single one of you Israelis,” Patel is alleged to have said in an expletive-filled tirade, according to the Justice Department. “Every single one of you! Cause mass genocide of every single Israeli.”
When police officers interviewed Patel at his home, they say he confirmed that he made the call but denied threatening anyone.
“When the officers asked Patel to describe the content of the telephone calls, he explained that he had called Jewish centers to express his family’s anger with Israel for the genocide of the Palestinian people. Patel stated that he did not intend to scare or threaten anyone, but that he wanted to use the harshest language possible to convey his anger,” the complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida read.
A lawyer for Patel didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Earlier in the week, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate panel that Jewish people make up 2.4% of the U.S. population but receive nearly 60% of all the religious-based threats in the United States.
“The reality is that Jewish people are uniquely targeted by different terrorist organizations across the spectrum,” Wray said.
(REMERTON, Ga.) — A 21-year-old former high school soccer star in Georgia was struck and killed by a stray bullet as she was wrapping up her shift working at a bar over the weekend. Authorities said they are still searching for the shooter.
Brianna Long and other employees were closing The Pier bar in Remerton at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday when there was a shooting outside the bar. The bar had closed to customers at 2 a.m.
Long was taken to South Georgia Medical Center, where she later died.
Police said an early investigation suggests that there was an altercation outside The Pier that led to the shooting, according to the GBI.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death.
Long was selected from among 5,000 students as the Regional Winner for Positive Athlete Georgia, according to Paulding County High School.
Many customers were still outside the bar during the shooting and multiple vehicles were shot, according to the GBI. A GBI medical examiner will perform an autopsy.
The bar, where Long worked as a bartender, released a statement on Instagram, saying, “As most of you know we lost the beautiful soul of Brianna Long tragically and suddenly early Sunday Morning. Writing this seems impossible and is incredibly devastating, like a terrible nightmare we wish we could all wake up from.”
“It’s hard to find the right words because there is really nothing right about the situation,” the bar added. “If you knew Bri, you loved her. Her kindness and love radiated onto to everyone who had the opportunity to meet her, know her, and love her.”
The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information on the case is asked to call the GBI Thomasville Office at 229-225-4090 or the Remerton Police Department at 229-247-2320.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Desmond Mills Jr., one of the five former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, plans to change his plea to federal offenses, his attorney confirmed to ABC News.
The attorney, Blake Ballin, said Mills will be entering a change of plea during a hearing on Thursday. Mills previously pleaded not guilty back in September to federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction offenses.
Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, three days after a violent confrontation with police following a traffic stop.
The federal indictment alleges that Mills — along with Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith and Emmitt Martin III — deprived Nichols of his constitutional rights during the confrontation.
Each of the defendants, according to the indictment, were involved in beating Nichols during the Jan. 7 traffic stop and none relayed information about their assault to the Memphis police dispatcher, their supervisor or the EMTs and paramedics who were coming to the scene.
The officers allegedly spoke at the scene about how they had struck Nichols, “including hitting Nichols with straight haymakers and taking turns hitting him with so many pieces,” but they also did not relay that information to first responders or their supervisors even as his condition “deteriorated and he became unresponsive,” the indictment alleges.
The other four defendants pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
All five former officers also face state felony charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping, in connection with Nichols’ death. They pleaded not guilty.
The Memphis Police Department fired the five officers — who were on the department’s now-disbanded SCORPION unit — following an investigation into Nichols’ death.
Correction: This story has been updated to say Desmond Mills’ lawyer has announced his client will change his plea, but he has not said what the change of plea will be.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $250 million lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr., and 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:
Nov 01, 3:47 PM EDT
Trump Jr. pressed about departure of ex-CFO
Donald Trump Jr. struggled to answer questions when pressed about why former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg departed the family’s firm.
“Because some legal issues he got himself into,” Trump Jr. said, declining to offer specifics about Weisselberg’s guilty plea on tax evasion charges last year.
Previously giving lengthy answers to questions about his background and even smiling with the judge, Trump Jr. appeared tense on the witness stand as he answered questions about Weisselberg.
“The specific event was he was indicted,” Trump Jr. said.
He added that when began working for the Trump Organization as an executive vice president in the 2010s, Weisselberg outranked him. Trump Jr. would seek Weisselberg’s approval for certain business decisions such as refinancing loans.
“Who is above you in your role as an executive vice president in the Trump Organization?” state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.
“Obviously I would have reported to my father in that period of time … people like Allen Weisselberg would have still been senior to me,” Trump Jr. said of that time period.
Trump Jr. said he gained more responsibility in 2016 when his father became president and he was named a trustee of his father’s revocable trust. He said that he, Weisselberg and his brother Eric Trump became a kind of triumvirate running the Trump Organization.
“We stopped reporting to my father on decisions involving the business,” Trump Jr. said.
That relationship broke down once Weisselberg got himself into “legal issues,” Trump Jr. said. He testified that he could not recall the circumstances of Weisselberg’s exit, including the multimillion-dollar severance deal that Weisselberg received, which Weisselberg faced questions about during his own testimony earlier this month.
“I have no knowledge of the specifics of how it happened. He is no longer working at the Trump Organization,” Trump Jr. said of the former CFO.
Nov 01, 3:22 PM EDT
‘I leave it to my CPAs,’ Trump Jr. says of accounting standards
“Sounds very exciting, but no,” Donald Trump Jr. answered to a state attorney’s question about whether he knows about accounting certifications, professional organizations, or accounting standards other than GAAP, which stands for “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.”
“I know nothing about GAAP,” Trump Jr. said, adding, “I leave it to my CPAs.”
“I’m a real estate broker,” Trump Jr. said as he introduced himself on the witness stand. He testified that he began working in the family real estate business “right after 9/11,” working on Trump Park Avenue and the former Sun Times building in Chicago.
State attorney Colleen Faherty tried to pressed him on his lack of accounting knowledge, prompting several objections from the defense.
Judge Engoron sustained the objections and admonished Faherty against asking negative questions.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
Nov 01, 3:10 PM EDT
Trump Jr. to be questioned by assistant AG
Assistant New York Attorney General Colleen Faherty will start off the direct examination of Donald Trump Jr.
Faherty is familiar with questioning high-stakes witnesses, having led the direct examination of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen last week.
Her quick objections during Cohen’s cross-examination led Trump attorney Alina Habba to accuse Faherty of trying to “throw off” her game.
A seven-year veteran of the New York attorney general’s office and a former criminal defense attorney, Faherty has been a vocal presence in the courtroom since the start of the trial.
Her willingness to spar with Trump lawyer Chris Kise previously led to some heated exchanges in court, such as a sidebar when Faherty demanded Kise “be more respectful.”
“No,” Kise responded.
“That was rude,” Faherty replied.
Nov 01, 3:01 PM EDT
Donald Trump Jr. takes the stand
Donald Trump Jr. has taken the stand, where he will be the first of the former president’s children to testify.
Before taking the stand, Trump Jr. sat while news photographers snapped pictures.
“I should’ve worn makeup,” he quipped.
Nov 01, 2:30 PM EDT
Ivanka Trump appeals ruling requiring her to testify
One week ahead of her planned testimony, Ivanka Trump has appealed Judge Engoron’s decision to require her to testify in person at the Trump Organization’s fraud trial.
Ivanka Trump’s lawyer Bennet Moskowitz asked an appellate court to decide whether Engoron has jurisdiction to compel her testimony and whether the trial subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general were properly served.
Ivanka Trump, who is not a defendant in the case, is currently scheduled to testify next Wednesday as the final witness in the attorney general’s case before the defense presents its case.
Nov 01, 2:08 PM EDT
Donald Trump Jr. arrives at courthouse
Donald Trump Jr. has arrived at the New York State Supreme Courthouse with his attorney.
Unlike his father and his brother Eric Trump — who have visited the courtroom to watch the proceedings – Donald Trump Jr. has not stepped foot inside the courthouse for the trial until today.
A Trump Organization executive vice president, Trump Jr. is scheduled to testify in the case this afternoon.
Nov 01, 1:44 PM EDT
Defense presses state’s expert on his analysis
Defense lawyer Jesus Suarez spent the first hour of his cross-examination working to cast doubt on expert Michiel McCarty’s analysis, which found that Trump defrauded lenders out of $168 million in interest.
“Who created the universe of documents for you to review? It was the New York attorney general, right?” Suarez said before launching into a rapid-fire succession of questions regarding which lenders McCarty had spoken to in the course of his analysis.
“Did you ever interview anyone from Deutsche Bank?” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty said.
“Did you ever interview anyone from Ladder Capital?” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty repeated.
“Did you ever interview anyone from Mazars,” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty responded.
“Did you ever interview anyone from the Trump Organization?” Suarez asked.
“No,” McCarty said again.
Nov 01, 12:34 PM EDT
Defense assails judge after he tells them to speed up questioning
Only 15 minutes into what is expected to be a three-hour cross-examination, Judge Arthur Engoron snapped at defense lawyer Jesus Suarez for asking redundant questions.
“I see why this is going to take two or three hours. Some questions become three or four more questions,” Engoron said, interrupting the cross-examination to request that Suarez shorten his questions.
That prompted Trump lawyer Chris Kise to criticize Engoron for placing an unfair standard on the defense team.
“You never give them speeches. You never limit their questions,” Kise said about Engoron’s approach to the attorney general’s legal team. “I think it’s unfair.”
Kise stressed that the cross-examination of the state’s sole expert witness is particularly important since his testimony is likely to play into the judge’s calculation of Trump’s potential fine.
“This witness is the only witness they have that even hints … about ill-gotten gains,” Kise said.
Engoron, however, refused to back down.
“I stand by my rulings and statements,” the judge said.
Nov 01, 12:17 PM EDT
Expert agrees that high-net-worth borrowers get low rates
Defense attorney Jesus Suarez began what is expected to be a marathon cross examination of the state’s expert witness, Michiel McCarty, by attempting to use his words against him.
“Historically banks have been willing to lend to high-net-worth individuals at low rates because they get repaid?” Suarez said, citing McCarty’s direct examination.
“That is correct,” McCarty said.
Suarez then reminded McCarty that Trump’s loans were paid on time — a point that the former president has reiterated during his appearance in court and on social media.
Suarez then asked if McCarty had charged the attorney general’s office $950 per hour for his expert analysis.
“That’s my standard rate, yes,” said McCarty, who estimated that his total bill for his analysis was $350,000.
The state’s expert witness, Michiel McCarty, calculated that Donald Trump’s lenders lost $168 million in potential interest between 2014 and 2023, according to a report he presented in court.
McCarty’s testimony appeared to reinforce a central tenet of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case: that Trump’s misrepresentations in his financial statements cost banks potential earnings from interest, even if the banks made money on the loans.
State attorney Kevin Wallace directed McCarty to a footnote in Judge Engoron’s earlier summary judgment order about the concept of lost interest, in which Engoron said, “The subject loans made the banks lots of money; but the fraudulent SFCs [Statements of Financial Condition] cost the banks lots of money. The less collateral for a loan, the riskier it is, and a first principle of loan accounting is that as risk rises, so do interest rates. Thus, accurate SFCs would have allowed the lenders to make even more money than they did.”
McCarty, who said he agreed with this assessment, ultimately found that banks lost a total of $168,040,168 in potential interest from loans related to four of Trump’s properties in Miami, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Trump attorney Chris Kise fiercely objected, arguing that McCarty was testifying about facts not established during the trial. During questioning, state attorneys declined to ask a Deutsche Bank executive if the bank would have still done business with Trump had they known his financial statements were inflated.
“They are not ill-gotten gains if the bank does not testify it would have done it differently,” Kise said.
“I decided these were ill-gotten,” the Judge Engoron replied.
Following Wallace’s direct examination of McCarty, defense attorney Jesus Suarez began his cross-examination.
Nov 01, 11:03 AM EDT
State’s expert witness takes the stand
Listing companies like Marriott, Fannie Mae and AT&T, the New York attorney general’s lone expert witness, Michiel McCarty, began his testimony by outlining some of the deals he worked on during his nearly 50-year career.
McCarty said that he has worked as an expert witness on “dozens of cases” and testified at 15 trials. But he acknowledged that he had limited experience with the compilation of statements of financial condition, prompting an objection from Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise.
“It appears that he does not have the specific experience relevant to the purpose he is here,” Kise argued.
Deemed an expert by Judge Engoron, McCarty went on to explain the report he wrote after reviewing Trump’s finances.
Nov 01, 10:49 AM EDT
Former Trump Organization VP testifies about Ivanka Trump
Former Trump Organization VP David Orowitz testified about Ivanka Trump’s involvement with Trump’s Old Post Office property in Washington, D.C.
“Ivanka wanted me to change the language in the GAAP section. She asked that I review with you,” Orowitz wrote in a 2011 email to then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, referring to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles used in the preparation of financial documents.
Defense attorneys have previously tried to downplay the extent to which Ivanka Trump was involved in the representation of Trump’s finances.
Orowitz subsequently stepped down from the witness stand to make way for Michiel McCarty, the state’s sole expert witness, to begin his testimony.
Nov 01, 10:14 AM EDT
‘We have a busy day,’ judge says as court gets underway
“We have a busy day and a busy week, so let’s try to move things along,” Judge Engoron remarked as he brought the courtroom to order to begin the day’s proceedings.
“Would you like to continue your witness?” Engoron asked state attorney Eric Haren.
“We would,” said Haren, before calling back to the stand former Trump Organization vice president David Orowitz, who began his testimony yesterday afternoon.
Defense attorneys Chris Kise, Alina Habba, and Jesus Suarez are sitting at the counsel table, leaving one seat available for Donald Trump Jr., who has not yet appeared ahead of his scheduled testimony this afternoon.
Nov 01, 10:01 AM EDT
Trump rails against judge, gag order
Former President Trump continued to attack Judge Engoron this morning, calling him “crazy, totally unhinged, and dangerous” on his Truth Social platform.
“He then put a RIDICULOUS GAG ORDER ON ME, which we will appeal. He fines me at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote this morning.
Trump recently paid $15,000 in fines related to two violations of the limited gag order Engoron established that prohibits public statements about the judge’s staff.
Trump also complained about the potential fine that Engoron could impose in the case. During court yesterday, the judge remarked that disgorgement — fining Trump for profits made through fraudulent means — is a “clearly available remedy” in the case.
“Now they come up with something called ‘disgorgement.’ I never even heard of the term,” Trump said.
Engoron already 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.
Nov 01, 8:45 AM EDT
‘Leave my children alone,’ Trump says ahead of sons’ testimony
Former President Trump attacked Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James on social media ahead of today’s expected testimony from his son Donald Trump Jr.
“Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!” Trump wrote overnight on his Truth Social platform.
Donald Trump Jr. is expected to begin his testimony in the afternoon today.
If that testimony concludes today, his brother Eric Trump could also begin his testimony.
Both of them are executive vice presidents in the Trump Organization.
