(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.
(NEW YORK) — One worker is dead and rescue efforts are underway to locate another after an 11-story building collapsed Tuesday night at a shuttered coal plant in eastern Kentucky, officials said.
The coal sorting structure at Martin Mine Prep Plant in Martin County collapsed at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET, according to Kentucky Emergency Management.
Two workers became trapped “underneath multiple floors of concrete and steel,” the agency said in a statement.
Rescue efforts have been underway since Tuesday night. Emergency workers located one of the workers and spoke with him, though he has since died, according to Marion County Sheriff John Kirk. First responders have been unable to locate the other worker, Kirk said.
“We still are attempting to locate him, we are still considering [this] a rescue operation,” Kirk told Charleston, West Virginia, ABC affiliate WCHS on Wednesday.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency in Martin County to mobilize state resources.
“Kentucky, keep praying — but the scene is bad and we should be prepared for tough news out of Martin County,” Beshear said in a statement.
Multiple agencies have responded to the scene and are assisting in rescue efforts, including the National Guard’s Special Tactics Squadron K-9 search dog unit.
The two workers were helping demolish the building at the abandoned mine site on Wolf Creek, according to Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty.
Lafferty said in a social media post early Wednesday that he declared a local state of emergency in Martin County to help access additional rescue resources.
State Sen. Phillip Wheeler, whose district includes Martin County, said he is “deeply saddened” by news of the deadly collapse.
“This incident is a stark reminder of the inherent risks in any job and the unexpected nature of tragedy,” he said in a statement. “We are prepared to assist those affected by loss or injury and their families and the local government in any way we can.”
(NEW YORK) — The early winter weather that has already brought freezing temperatures and snowfall to portions of the U.S. is now on the move.
In the next 24 hours, dozens of record low temperatures are expected from Texas and all the way up to Maine, forecast show.
On Wednesday morning, 18 states from Texas to Connecticut were on alert for a freeze, including major cities such as Dallas, Atlanta, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
A lake effect snow warning was issued for northern Ohio and Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning, where some areas got up to 10 inches of snow.
By Thursday morning, the core of the coldest air will move into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, with temperatures in the teens possible in northern New England, and temperatures in the 20s and 30s expected along the I-95 corridor.
Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia could see its first freeze of the season, while New York City will be in the middle 30s. Temperatures in regions outside the Big Apple will see temperatures in the 20s.
The first measurable snow of the season fell on Halloween for millions of people in the Midwest.
Minneapolis saw nearly 3 inches of snow, marking the first white Halloween for the city since 1991, according to the NWS.
Chicago got almost an inch of snow on Tuesday, just the third time in history that the Windy City saw measurable snowfall on Halloween. The snow was so heavy and wet that thousands were left without power in western Michigan, as wet leaves that had not yet fallen were weighed down from the snow and onto power lines.
Regions just now of Grand Rapids, Michigan, saw up to 11 inches of snowfall, while Muskegon, Michigan, about 40 miles northeast near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, saw 8.8 inches of snow — the most on record.
Overnight, snow also fell near Cleveland and Erie, Pennsylvania, where some areas got more than 6 inches of snow.
Areas in western New York near Buffalo also saw snowfall, which caused slick roads and some accidents on Wednesday morning.
However, the winter-like weather is not expected to persist. Warmer weather is forecast for the weekend, with temperatures in the 60s expected along the I-95 corridor, and even reaching the 70s near Raleigh.
(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, 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.
(MIAMI) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday conducted his first known review of classified evidence shared by special counsel Jack Smith as part of his case against Trump for allegedly mishandling the nation’s secrets and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Trump joined his attorneys Tuesday in Miami for a visit to a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility — or SCIF — in order to view the highly classified materials gathered by Smith’s team over the course of their investigation, including those seized by the FBI during their search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022, the sources said.
Trump’s visit comes as the judge overseeing the probe, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, is set to hold a hearing Wednesday in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Trump’s request to extend the deadlines in the case. Cannon has paused any litigation involving the classified materials in question as she considers the request.
Last month, Cannon issued a protective order over the classified information central to the case, clearing the way for the special counsel to begin providing classified discovery materials to Trump and his lawyers to review in the SCIF.
According to public court filings, the material in the classified discovery includes “classified documents that had been stored at Mar-a-Lago as well as other classified material generated or obtained in the Government’s investigation, including documents related to witness interviews such as reports and transcripts.”
It’s standard procedure for defendants charged with illegal retention of national defense information to be able to review the classified evidence gathered against them, while adhering to a strict set of standards and rules barring them from disclosing that information.
Trump pleaded not guilty in June to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. His longtime aide, Walt Nauta, also pleaded not guilty to related charges.
Trump’s lawyers have said they have yet to gain access to a handful of the documents charged in Smith’s indictment against the former president.
The special counsel previously said that some documents were so sensitive that even the SCIF wasn’t sufficiently secure to store them, requiring alternate arrangements be made for viewing.
“Although the defense SCIF is now approved for the review and discussion of all classified discovery, it is not yet approved for the storage of certain extremely sensitive materials, which the Government has referred to as ‘special measures documents,'” the special counsel wrote in a court filing, noting that there are about 127 total pages designated as such.
In a subsequent filing, the government said that the SCIF had been approved to store the special measures documents, and that they were prepared to arrange for delivery of those documents.
The special counsel says they have produced about 5,431 pages of classified discovery to Trump and his defense counsel, which includes “four discs of photographs, audio recordings, and material extracted from electronic devices.”
(NEW YORK) — The Trump Organization’s $250 million civil fraud trial will become a family affair Wednesday when Donald Trump Jr. becomes the first of former President Donald Trump’s children to take the witness stand.
The trial, which is in its fifth week, centers on allegations that Donald Trump and his business fraudulently inflated his net worth to get better loans, secure insurance deals and burnish his reputation as a highly successful businessman.
Trump, who has blasted the trial as being politically motivated, denies all wrongdoing and has appealed a pretrial ruling that he used fraudulent statements to do business.
New York Attorney General Letitia James initially named the three Trump children who served as Trump Organization executive vice presidents — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — as defendants in her lawsuit, alleging that they were “intimately involved” in operating the family’s business.
“The public desire to inflate his net worth was well known amongst his children,” James alleged in her complaint.
Ivanka Trump was subsequently dismissed from the AG’s lawsuit in June because she was no longer with the firm by 2016.
The three children are each scheduled to testify in the trial over the coming week, beginning with Donald Trump Jr. and possibly Eric Trump on Wednesday. Donald Trump is currently scheduled to testify on Monday, and Ivanka Trump will serve as the state’s final witness next Wednesday.
An ardent defender of his father on the campaign trail and on social media, Trump Jr. is expected to face questions about his role managing Trump’s revocable trust — the mechanism his father used to prevent potential business conflicts while he was president.
In that capacity, Trump Jr. certified the accuracy of financial statements between 2016 and 2021, each of which is alleged by the attorney general to have been inflated.
James alleges that Trump Jr. was particularly involved in the commercial leasing of 40 Wall Street — one of the properties that Judge Arthur Engoron has already decided was overvalued in Trump’s financial statements by more than $300 million.
Trump Jr. could also face questions about why financial statements allegedly inflated the value of rent-stabilized units in the Trump Park Avenue building by 700%, ignoring the fixed rent of the units’ low-income residents. According to James, Trump Jr. remarked that the rent-stabilized tenants in Trump’s Park Avenue Building were “the bane of [his] existence for quite some time.”
When co-defendants and former Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney took the stand earlier in the trial, both said that Trump Jr. was not personally involved in the preparation of his father’s statement of financial condition — the allegedly fraudulent document that underpins the state’s case.
“There was never a material misrepresentation made by Eric Trump or Donald Trump Jr,” their lawyer Clifford Robert said during his opening statement.
However, Weisselberg also testified that Trump Jr. and his siblings became more involved in running the Trump Organization once their father became president in 2016, and that they received documents showing the internal finances of the company.
“They wanted to get up to speed on how the business was running,” Weisselberg testified.
Emails from Trump Jr. have been included in evidence presented during the trial, including a 2017 email chain from the Trump Organization’s general counsel about the value of Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower.
The forwarded email included a list of issues raised by a Forbes magazine reporter about Trump’s financial claims, including Trump’s claim that his penthouse was three times larger than its actual size of 10,996 square feet.
“Insane amount of stuff there,” Trump Jr. replied to the email.
Despite the error being called out, Trump Jr. and Weissberg still signed off on Trump’s 2016 financial statement that falsely claimed Trump’s triplex was 30,000 square feet and worth $327 million.
Ahead of his testimony, Trump Jr. has criticized the trial as a “sham” being held in a “kangaroo court.”
“It doesn’t matter what general practices and business will be. It doesn’t matter,” Trump Jr. said in a Monday interview with Newsmax.
“They have a narrative, they have an end goal, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get there,” he said, referring to the New York attorney general’s office.
(NEW YORK) — Suspected Maine gunman Robert Card allegedly targeted a bowling alley and bar he believed were broadcasting messages that he was a pedophile, according to an arrest warrant released Tuesday.
Card’s sister contacted police about two hours after the first shots were fired in last week’s rampage in Lewiston to say the suspect in the photograph authorities distributed was her brother, according to the warrant.
The sister told police that Card had “been delusional since a February 2023 bad break-up” and had lost weight, been hospitalized for mental health treatment and had stopped taking prescribed medication.
The sister told police Card believed the businesses where the shootings unfolded — Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley, and Schemengees Bar & Grille — were broadcasting messages that he was a pedophile, according to the warrant.
At least 18 people were killed in the Oct. 25. mass shooting. Card was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after a massive manhunt, officials said.
Card’s concerns over being labeled a pedophile began months before the shooting, according to a Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by ABC News via records requests.
His son told a Sagadahoc County deputy that around January “he noticed his father was starting to claim that people were saying things about him, while out in public,” the deputy wrote in the report.
Card’s son said his father was “likely hearing voices or starting to experience paranoia,” a “re-occurring theme” as Card claimed derogatory things were being said about him, “such as calling him a pedophile,” the deputy wrote.
In July, Card — an Army reservist — accused fellow soldiers of calling him a pedophile before getting into a physical confrontation with one of them, according to a letter from Card’s Army reserve unit sent to the sheriff’s office.
That incident led to Card being evaluated by an Army psychologist who determined he needed further treatment; Card was taken to Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah, New York for treatment and evaluation in mid-July and was released after 14 days, according to an email from a member of Card’s army reserve unit to the sheriff’s office.
The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office conducted a health and welfare check on Card at the request of his Army unit in September “after they became concerned for his well-being,” the Army said Tuesday. A reserve soldier expressed concern that Card was going to commit a mass shooting, documents from the sheriff’s office show.
In a police incident report on the welfare check, a responding officer wrote it had come to the Army Reserves’ attention that “Card is having psychotic episodes where he is hearing voices that are insulting him calling him a pedophile.”
Card refused to answer the door, according to the incident report.
(NEW YORK) — A police officer has been charged with third-degree assault for cruelty against a person after he fired his taser several times at a suspect in an Oct. 14 incident in Naugatuck, Connecticut.
The officer, Nicholas Kehoss, was arrested on Monday after the Naugatuck Police Department released body camera video showing the incident in which Kehoss deployed his taser after a brief pursuit of 33-year-old Jarell Day, who police say was being arrested for stealing $200 worth of beer.
The four-minute, forty-five-second video shows the moment Officer Kehoss and fellow Naugatuck officer John Williams first encounter Day in his car with several cases of beer in the back seat. As Williams attempted to open the passenger door, Day drove off.
Kehoss pursued Day’s vehicle, ultimately catching up to him when Day crashed into a pole. Kehoss got out of his vehicle and started running after Day, yelling “better [expletive] stop” as he drew his taser and fired at Day.
Kehoss told Day to get on his stomach and activated his taser again as Day rolled to his stomach and said “Officer, I’m sorry, I don’t know what the [expletive] happened.” Kehoss put his hand on Day’s face as he grabbed his hands and placed them behind Day’s back.
Day continued to plead with Kehoss before the officer said, “You’re getting another ride,” and fired his taser again as Day laid on his stomach on the ground.
Documents provided to ABC News by the Naugatuck Police Department show Kehoss has been disciplined by the department several times during his 13-year tenure as a police officer.
Most recently, Kehoss was suspended in Aug. 2022 for completing a version of what Police Chief C. Colin McAllister described as a “boxing-in maneuver” during a traffic stop, a move not authorized during that type of incident.
In a letter to the Naugatuck Police Commission notifying of the disciplinary action taken against Kehoss, Chief McAllister said the same tactic and boxing-in maneuver was cited as the underlying cause that led to Kehoss discharging his firearm at a suspect during a traffic stop incident in 2020.
In 2017, Kehoss responded to help during an attempted traffic stop by another officer, in which Kehoss claimed he’d been struck by the vehicle. An investigation into the incident stated that video evidence showed that Kehoss’ vehicle “clearly had not” been hit, adding that while “this review is unable to provide that officer Kehoss made a false report that his cruiser was struck by the suspect vehicle, it does find the situation troubling and raises reasonable doubt.”
The investigation also recommended Kehoss be “verbally counseled in regards to making radio transmissions that could be construed as trying to justify a pursuit, and that his actions in any future pursuit reviews be closely examined.”
Day is currently facing charges for robbery, larceny, interfering with an officer/resisting, reckless driving and disobeying the signal of an officer but was released on a $200,000 bond.
Kehoss was released on a $50,000 bond on Monday and is scheduled to appear at Waterbury Superior Court on Nov. 8.
Kehoss and Day did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
