(CONCORD, N.H.) — The trial of a 27-year-old drifter charged with fatally shooting a retired couple on a New Hampshire hiking trail began Tuesday with a prosecutor telling a jury that evidence will show that “he alone” is guilty of the grisly slayings, and a defense attorney countering police “got the wrong man.”
Logan Clegg is accused of murder and other crimes stemming from the 2022 killings of retired international humanitarian workers Stephen Reid, 67, and his wife Djeswende “Wendy” Reid, 66. The couple was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds on April 21, 2022, two days after they went for an afternoon walk on the Marsh Loop Trail, part of the Broken Ground Trails system, near their apartment in Concord, New Hampshire.
Clegg was arrested in Vermont about six months after the killings as he was about to fly to Germany using a phony Romanian passport, according to prosecutors.
He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, destroying and concealing evidence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty.
A jury of nine women and seven men was selected on Monday to hear the case in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.
In an opening statement, Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Meghan Hagaman told the panel the evidence will show beyond reasonable doubt that Clegg repeatedly shot the couple, whom he did not know, for no apparent reason, saying, “motive is not an element of the crimes charged.”
“After the murders, Clegg dragged their bodies into the woods, covered them in layers of leaves, debris and sticks, and after he murdered them, he ran and he hid,” Hagaman told the jury. “Despite his efforts to conceal the murders and his tracks, investigators uncovered them, and when he couldn’t run or hide anymore, he lied.”
She said Concord police investigators worked tirelessly on the case to identify Clegg as the alleged assailant in the crime, combing through hours of surveillance video from stores near the Marsh Loop Trail and sales receipts of items found at a campsite near the trail to place Clegg at the murder scene on day the Reids were killed.
“The defendant is the one and only person who is responsible for the murders of Stephen and Wendy,” Hagaman said.
She said detectives initially questioned Clegg, whom they encountered while canvassing the Marsh Loop Trail after Stephen Reids’ sister reported him and his wife missing on April 20, 2022, a day before their bodies were discovered.
Hagaman said Clegg used a fake name, Arthur Kelly, to identify himself to detectives looking for the Reids and claimed he had not seen them in the area.
The prosecutor said that after talking to the detectives, Clegg burned his campsite and fled the area, traveling to Boston and then to Burlington, Vermont, where he was arrested in October 2022 on a fugitive warrant. She said at the time of his arrest, Clegg had a backpack containing $7,000 cash and a 9mm handgun that ballistic tests determined matched shell casings found at Clegg’s campsite along the Marsh Loop Trail and bullet fragments at the murder scene.
But Clegg’s attorney, Caroline Smith, a New Hampshire public defender, told the jury in her opening statement that none of the prosecution’s evidence connects Clegg to the killings.
“The wrong man has been charged,” Smith said. “He had no connection to the Reids, he had no contact with the Reids and he did not murder the Reids.”
Smith said the only reason Clegg used a phony name to identify himself to detectives was because he was wanted for a parole violation in Utah, where he had been convicted in 2020 for burglary.
“The police were right to investigate him — he lived alone in a tent, he did have a gun and he did lie, but he moved around to try and hide his identity from the Concord police,” Smith said. “He was hiding from a probation violation out of Utah.”
She said Clegg immediately left Concord after police searching for the Reids spoke to him on the Marsh Loop Trail because “he did not want to be found, not because of a murder, but because of a probation violation.”
Smith said the ballistic evidence prosecutors plan to present during the trial does not definitively match shell casings and bullet fragments found at the crime scene to the gun Clegg had in his position when he was arrested, and that no DNA evidence connects Clegg to the slayings. She said the $7,000 Clegg had on him at the time he was caught was money he had saved from working at a store in Burlington.
Smith said the evidence will show that police didn’t find the shell casings at the crime scene until weeks after the Reids’ bodies were discovered, despite scanning the area with metal detectors. She suggested the real killer placed the shell casings at the crime scene after police had cleared the area and it was reopened to the public.
“The evidence of the shootings says it’s not Logan,” Smith said.” Logan’s actions raised the suspicions. “It is the evidence that gives you the answer here, and the evidence shows they got the wrong man.”
(NEW YORK) — Ohio’s K-12 education system has become the center of a legal battle between lawmakers and members of the State Board of Education.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine passed HB 33 in July as part of the state’s budget bill. The policy would transfer much of the power from the Board of Education, which includes publicly elected officials, to a governor-appointed director who would then appoint deputy directors.
Seven board members filed a lawsuit in September against its enforcement scheduled for Tuesday, prompting a preliminary injunction from a judge who called the transfer of power “unconstitutional.”
What the transfer of power would mean
The powers of the State Board of Education and the superintendent include adopting or developing standards for education and operations, issuing and revoking state charters, establishing or administering programs regarding scholarships, oversight, student achievement, and more.
When DeWine passed HB 33, the Ohio Department of Education would be renamed the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and would become a cabinet-level office led by governor appointees who would take over the duties of the board of education — some of whom are publicly elected.
According to the Department of Education, this new agency will be responsible for primary, secondary, special, and career-technical education in Ohio.
MORE: School culture wars push students to form banned book clubs, anti-censorship groups
“The current powers and duties of the State Board of Education will be divided between the State Board of Education and Department of Education and Workforce,” read a July statement from the Department of Education.
It continued, “But we want to assure you the members of the State Board and Department staff remain committed to student success and will continue to be available to support students, families, educators, schools and districts.”
The state board would retain power over hiring the superintendent, educator licenses, handling misconduct complaints, administering teacher and counselor evaluation systems, school district territory transfer disputes, overseeing the Teacher of the Year Program, and providing support to the Educator Standards board.
The Department of Education and Workforce will be responsible for the rest of the board’s former duties, according to the agency.
The original bill that this policy was a part of was held up in a House committee after being passed by the Senate.
In June, the Ohio Senate inserted a passage of the unpassed bill into a budget bill during a “last-minute conference committee” shortly before an impending deadline in which the budget bill needed to be passed, according to the complaint filed against the policy.
The passage, dubbed the “Education Takeover Rider” is more than 1,300 pages long and “was barely considered by the General Assembly” before it was passed on the last day of the fiscal year, board of education members say in their complaint against the passage.
The judge who issued the preliminary injunction said the “Education Takeover Rider” breaks several constitutional requirements for the passing of laws: bills must not contain more than one subject, must be considered by each house on three different days, and essentially eliminates the constitutionally created board.
“Nearly 70 years ago, the citizens of Ohio ratified a constitutional amendment that placed oversight and governance of Ohio’s education system in the hands of the newly created State Board of Education,” the lawsuit read.
“For more than half a century, the Board has operated as an independent body that is responsive and accountable to the Ohioans whose interests the Board’s members represent,” the lawsuit continued.
The plaintiffs also argued that the policy strips parents “of their voices in their children’s education and their rights to vote for and elect Board members who are authorized to perform substantive duties and responsibilities related to education policy for the betterment of their children’s education.”
(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 is back in the courtroom for the second day of the trial, in which he, 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 while lowering his tax burden.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have described him as a “master of finding value where others do not,” arguing that Trump’s alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.
Top headlines:
-Judge clarifies statute of limitations remarks
-Trump again attacks AG on way into court
-First witness eyes Trump’s decade-old financial statements
-Ex-accountant says statements were ‘Trump Org’s responsibility’
-Judge has already found that Trump overvalued his assets
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 03, 10:48 AM EDT
Judge clarifies statute of limitations remarks
Justice Arthur Engoron, who was a frequent target of Trump’s attacks yesterday, began the trial’s second day by clarifying some of his closing remarks about the statute of limitations in the case.
After court yesterday, Trump construed his remarks as a victory, suggesting “80% of the cases is over” after leaving court on Monday.
Engoron apologized for his comments and stated that any future real estate deals “restart” the statute of limitations — meaning that the attorney general’s office needs to “connect the dots” to include the evidence about a 2011 deal discussed on Monday.
“I understand that the defendants strongly disagree on this and will appeal on this ground,” Engoron said.
He concluded his remarks by reminding counsel not to relitigate issues already decided — something that Trump’s attorneys seemingly did on Day One of the trial.
“This trial is not an opportunity to relitigate what I have already decided … that is why we have appeals,” Engoron said.
Oct 03, 10:41 AM EDT
Trump again attacks AG on way into court
Former President Donald Trump continued his attacks on New York Attorney General Letitia James before entering the courtroom for the second day of his $250 million civil fraud trial in downtown Manhattan.
“She ran on the basis ‘I will get Trump’ without knowing anything about me,” he said to reporters outside court.
Both Trump and James are present this morning in court, where state attorneys are set to continue their direct examination of longtime Mazars accountant Donald Bender.
Oct 03, 7:14 AM EDT
Trump expected in court for second day
Former President Donald Trump signaled he will be in court again Tuesday morning in a post on his social media platform.
“See you in Court Tuesday morning,” Trump posted.
The former president then went on to attack New York Attorney General Letitia James. He claimed he had a “good day at trial” during Monday’s proceedings.
Oct 02, 6:15 PM EDT
First witness eyes Trump’s decade-old financial statements
Testifying about the preparation of the Trump Organization’s statements of financial condition in 2011, former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender said Trump executives largely provided the input data for statements, in addition to dictating the standards by which the work was completed.
“We would cut and paste that information into a new worksheet,” Bender said about the approach taken by Mazar after receiving new data from co-defendant Jeffrey McConney of the Trump Organization.
When asked about the compliance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles — which Bender testified are the standards for accounting in the United States — Bender repeatedly placed responsibility in the lap of the Trump organization.
“That was the Trump Organization’s responsibility,” Bender testified about GAAP compliance.
Bender acknowledged that he rarely questioned the inputs from the Trump Organization, and when he did, he largely dealt with McConney and executives other than Trump and his adult sons.
Repeatedly asked by the state attorney if Mazars would have issued the statements if they had known the Trump Organization included material misrepresentations in their data, Bender reiterated that Mazars would not have issued the statements.
When Judge Engoron remarked at the end of the trial day that the state would still need to present further evidence to prove that the 2011 statement was within the statute of limitations, Trump seized the statement as a partial victory.
“The last five minutes was outstanding, because the judge actually conceded that the statute of limitations … is in effect,” Trump told reporters as he was leaving court.
Engoron, however, did not completely rule out the 2011 evidence during trial, instead appearing to remind counsel that they need to show the 2011 statement represents an ongoing concern that falls within the statute of limitations.
Testimony is scheduled to resume on Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET.
Oct 02, 3:50 PM EDT
Ex-accountant says statements were ‘Trump Org’s responsibility’
Prosecutors have called their first witness to the stand: Donald Bender, a former accountant at Mazars USA, the firm that for years handled Trump’s taxes.
Bender testified at length about his involvement in compiling Trump’s statements of financial condition between 2011 and 2020, which he described as “balance [sheets] of Mr. Trump’s assets and liabilities.”
Bender said the standards and inputs for the statements were largely decided by Trump Organization executives.
“That was the Trump Organization’s responsibility,” Bender said about the accounting standard used in the statements.
As Bender answered the state’s questions, Trump was seen taking notes at the defense table.
Bender described spending roughly half his time on Trump’s business and personal financial matters toward the end of his career at Mazars.
The firm severed its business relationship with Trump last year after learning of the attorney general’s findings during the AG’s probe.
Oct 02, 1:19 PM EDT
Trump attorney says sons made no misrepresentations
An attorney for Donald Trump’s adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., added a brief opening statement of his own, defending his clients from accusations of wrongdoing.
“There was never a material misrepresentation made by Eric Trump or Donald Trump Jr.,” said Clifford Robert, the attorney for Trump’s adult sons, who help run the Trump Organization.
Robert said he disagrees “with just about everything” the state’s prosecutor said in his opening remarks, and took aim at the state’s star witness.
“Their major linchpin is Michael Cohen, a guy who lies to everyone,” Robert said of the former Trump attorney.
Lucien Bruggeman
Oct 02, 1:10 PM EDT
AG’s case sets ‘dangerous precedent,’ defense says
Attorney General Letitia James “is setting a very dangerous precedent for any business in the state of New York,” warned Trump attorney Alina Habba in her opening statement.
Habba told the court she hadn’t planned to make opening remarks, but that she felt moved to speak after hearing the state present its own opening statement. Habba accused the attorney general of targeting Trump before taking office, claiming the investigation and lawsuit were personal in nature.
“We are attacking a sitting president and two of his children and his employees for a statement of financial condition which is frankly worth less than what they are worth,” Habba said.
Habba reiterated many of the points made earlier by co-counsel Christopher Kise, highlighting the fact that “these lenders made money,” and arguing that “real estate is malleable — the values change.”
After Habba concluded her remarks, Judge Engeron engaged her in a series of follow-up questions, asking about her claim that the property appraisals at issue were “undervalued” by prosecutors.
Habba replied that “the Trump brand is worth something.”
Oct 02, 12:03 PM EDT
‘The attorney general has no case,’ defense counsel says
Former President Trump’s defense counsel will present a “very different picture of the evidence” than the prosecution alleges, and will demonstrate that “there are many ways to value assets,” according to opening remarks from Christopher Kise, Trump’s lead attorney.
“We think the evidence is going to establish … President Trump has made billions of dollars building one of the most successful real estate empires in the world,” Kise said, reiterating sentiments he conveyed in pretrial motions.
Kise offered a glimpse into the former president’s defense, including plans to present testimony from a New York University professor who will explain that “there is no one generally accepted procedure to determine the estimated current value” of a property.
Other defense witnesses, including four Deutsche Bank officers who were involved in approving Trump’s loans, will explain how they were able to craft their own independent risk analyses meant to mitigate the claims of fraud that are core to the state’s case.
“Anyone committing fraud does not tell the other side, ‘Please do your own analysis,'” Kise said regarding Trump’s instructions to lenders.
Kise also previewed plans to undermine the state’s key witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who Kise said has “lied to everyone and anyone he has come in contact with.”
Kise reiterated the defense’s claim that Trump did not commit fraud and that there were no victims of his alleged conduct.
“The attorney general has no case,” Kise said.
Oct 02, 11:28 AM EDT
Defendants were ‘lying year after year,’ prosecutors say
Prosecutors intend to prove in the coming months that “each defendant engaged in repeated, persistent, illegal acts in conduct of business,” according to the opening statement from Kevin Wallace of the attorney general’s office.
Referring to Judge Engoron’s partial summary judgment last week, Wallace said that “the people have already proven” that former President Trump used “false, misleading” statements that were “repeatedly [and] persistently used in the conduct of business.”
But prosecutors will further demonstrate that Trump and his co-defendants knew those statements were false and continued to peddle them anyway in furtherance of their alleged scheme, Wallace told the judge.
“The defendants were lying year after year,” he said.
Wallace played clips of video depositions to punctuate his remarks, including testimony from Trump himself, as well as Eric Trump and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen — whose congressional testimony years ago precipitated the state’s investigation and some of the key allegations underpinning their case.
“The goal was to use each of [Trump’s] assets and increase its value in order to get to the end result number,” Cohen said during his taped deposition. “It was essentially backing in numbers to each of the asset classes in order to attain the number that President Trump wanted.”
Trump and his co-defendants “knew that a high net worth was necessary to get and maintain certain financial benefits,” Wallace said, pointing to basic principles of accounting and finance.
Throughout Wallace’s remarks, the attorney general’s office flashed graphics on television screens inside the courtroom showing some of the alleged inflated values of Trump’s properties alongside the amounts the properties were appraised at.
Seated in his chair with his arms crossed, Trump visibly shook his head at times during the prosecutor’s opening statement. At one point he seemed to mutter something under his breath.
The former president whispered with his attorneys throughout.
Oct 02, 10:45 AM EDT
Opening statements underway
Opening statements are underway in former President Trump’s $250 million fraud trial.
Trump is seated between his attorneys Clifford Robert, Alina Habba and Christopher Kise.
Trump and his co-defendants face a bench trial, meaning that the sole arbiter of the case is Judge Arthur Engoron instead of a jury.
Oct 02, 10:19 AM EDT
Trump seated in courtroom
Former President Trump has taken a seat in the courtroom for the start of the trial.
“The crime is against me,” he told reporters outside the courtroom before he made his way inside.
He denounced the case in now-familiar terms, criticizing state Attorney General Letitia James as she sat inside the courtroom.
Trump also accused Judge Arthur Engoron of failing to account for the full value of his real estate portfolio, asserting his Mar-a-Lago estate is worth “50 to 100 times more” than the judge’s decision for partial summary judgment said last week.
“We have other properties, the same thing. So he devalued everything,” Trump said. “We have among the greatest properties in the world. and I have to go through this for political reasons.”
Engoron decided Trump’s statements of financial condition were fraudulent, but Trump said, “We have a clause in the contract that says, essentially, buyer beware.”
Oct 02, 10:09 AM EDT
Trump calls trial ‘political witch hunt’
Former President Trump, speaking to reporters on his arrival at the lower Manhattan courthouse, said the trial is a witch hunt resulting from his standing in the presidential polls.
“This is a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt of all time,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.
Trump said he is innocent of the accusations and that his portfolio has a much higher value than what the attorney general alleges.
Oct 02, 9:59 AM EDT
Trump attorneys call trial ‘election interference’
Members of Donald Trump’s legal team, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse prior to the start of the trial, called the fraud allegations against the former president “election interference.”
Trump’s attorneys said that Democrats were using the case to fight Trump’s efforts to retake the White House in 2024.
Oct 02, 9:43 AM EDT
Attorney general arrives at courthouse
New York Attorney General Letitia James has arrived at the courthouse in lower Manhattan.
“No matter how powerful you are, no matter how much money you think you may have, no one is above the law,” James said to the cameras before entering the courthouse.
“Today we will prove our case in court,” she said. “Justice will prevail.”
Demonstrators across the street from the courthouse cheered and applauded as the AG arrived.
Oct 02, 8:19 AM EDT
NY attorney general releases statement on 1st day of trial
New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement on Monday just hours before the first day of trial in her fraud case against former President Donald Trump.
“For years, Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth to enrich himself and cheat the system,” James said. “We won the foundation of our case last week and proved that his purported net worth has long been rooted in incredible fraud. In this country, there are consequences for this type of persistent fraud, and we look forward to demonstrating the full extent of his fraud and illegality during trial.”
“No matter how rich or powerful you are, there are not two sets of laws for people in this country,” she added. “The rule of law must apply equally to everyone, and it is my responsibility to make sure that it does.”
Oct 02, 8:14 AM EDT
Trial scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET
The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, et al, is scheduled to get underway in lower Manhattan at 10 a.m. with opening statements.
If opening statements are completed before the end of the day, the New York attorney general plans to begin her case by calling Trump’s former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender to the stand.
Mazars severed its business relationship with the former president last year after learning of the attorney general’s findings during the AG’s probe.
Oct 02, 7:10 AM EDT
Judge has already found that Trump overvalued his assets
Though Trump has denied all wrongdoing alleged by the attorney general, Judge Arthur Engoron has already decided the central allegation against Trump and his co-defendants, ruling in a pretrial hearing last week that the AG had provided “conclusive evidence” that Trump overvalued his assets between $812 million and $2.2 billion.
The judge then canceled the Trump Organization’s business certificates in New York, severely restricting Trump’s ability to conduct business in the state moving forward — a move that Trump attorney Alina Habba called “nonsensical” and “outrageously overreaching.”
“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air,” Engoron wrote, citing multiple arguments made by defense to justify the allegedly inflated valuations of Trump’s assets. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
Among the issues still to be determined at trial: What additional penalties Trump might face, and what might happen with the multiple causes of action included in the attorney general’s suit.
Oct 02, 6:43 AM EDT
Trump blasts judge ahead of trial
Former President Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on the judge overseeing and deciding his case, writing on Truth Social overnight that Justice Arthur Engoron should resign and be sanctioned for “abuse of power.”
Similar to his earlier post, Trump focused on the alleged inflated value of Mar-a-Lago, in addition to an appellate decision that his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to use to limit the timeframe of the case.
Oct 02, 6:39 AM EDT
Trump says he will attend trial’s opening
Former President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Sunday night that he intends to attend the opening of the trial.
“See you in court — Monday morning,” he wrote in a post.
Earlier Sunday, multiple sources familiar with the decision told ABC News that Trump was expecting to attend.
Trump will have no speaking role in court on Monday, but it is anticipated that he’ll return to the courthouse toward the end of the state’s case when court records show he will be called as a witness.
(NEW YORK) — A 47-year-old man charged with kidnapping 9-year-old Charlotte Sena at an upstate New York park and allegedly holding her in the cabinet of a camper he lived in next to his mother’s home has been identified by authorities.
Craig N. Ross Jr. is being held without bail Tuesday morning at the Saratoga County Correctional Facility on a charge of first-degree kidnapping, according to jail officials.
Charlotte was abducted from the Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, New York, on Saturday evening, according to New York State Police. She disappeared around dinnertime on Saturday, while out riding her bike in the campground alone, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
The girl’s family and other campers went looking for her, and her mother found her bike around 6:45 p.m. Saturday and called 911, police said. An Amber Alert was issued for the missing child Saturday night and an intense search involving up to 400 local, state and federal law enforcement officers was conducted at the sprawling park.
Hochul said at a Monday night news conference that the big break in the three-day search for the missing girl came early Monday morning, apparently from the suspect himself. At 4:20 a.m. a car pulled up to the Sena family’s home and what turned out to be a ransom note was left in the mailbox, Hochul said.
State police had been guarding the home while Sena’s parents were still at the campsite and discovered the note, Hochul said. They found a fingerprint that was later linked to a DWI from 1999 in Saratoga, the governor said.
Following what Hochul described as more research and detective work, officials located a double-wide house where the suspect’s mother lived and learned that Ross was staying in the camper behind the residence.
“After some resistance, the suspect was taken into custody,” Hochul said.
Charlotte was immediately discovered in a cabinet, the governor said. The fourth-grader was found in “good health,” according to police.
“She knew that she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands,” Hochul said.
Hochul added, “She’ll be going home. That’s the story. Charlotte will be going home.”
Authorities notified her parents at 6:32 p.m. ET.
“We are thrilled that she is home and we understand that the outcome is not what every family gets. A huge thank you to the FBI, the New York State Police, all of the agencies that were mobilized all of the families, friends, volunteers,” the Sena family said in a statement.
Ross of Ballston Spa, New York, has been charged with kidnapping in the first degree, an A-1 felony.
Following his arrest, Ross was questioned at the New York State Police barracks in Latham, New York, and then arraigned at the Milton Town Court. Details of the suspect’s interrogation were not released.
Additional charges are anticipated, officials said.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Stephanie Ramos contributed to this story.
(NEW YORK) — Americans’ cellphones will get an alert from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday. But don’t worry, there is no need to panic — it is only a test.
Every year, FEMA partners with national wireless carriers to run a test of the emergency alert system that is used to warn the public about national emergencies. FEMA, in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission, will be sending a WEA alert to cellphones, while an EAS test will be sent to televisions and radios.
Both tests will take place at 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday.
“If your mobile phone is on and within range of an active cell tower from a participating wireless provider, you should receive the national test. Wireless providers will transmit the national test for 30 minutes, but your phone should only receive it once,” according to an alert from FEMA.
In a pre-recorded video, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said using the alert system is vital during emergency situations to communicate to the public.
“We recognize that in disasters, seconds count,” Criswell said. “Getting alerts out promptly to our communities saves lives.”
She added, “We want to make sure that when it counts, we can keep you informed.”
(NEW YORK) — A U.S. Army vehicle flipped over on Monday, killing two service members and injuring 12 others in the Yukon Training Area in Alaska, Army officials said.
The vehicle, a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, or LMTV, had been carrying 17 soldiers on the outskirts of Salcha, Alaska, military officials said in a statement on Monday.
The crash involved only one vehicle, they said.
“First responders reached the scene and extracted the personnel and provided on-scene medical treatment until the soldiers could be medically evacuated by ground and air to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital in Fairbanks,” the statement said.
The troops had been in the Yukon Training Area, an about 257,000-acre expanse with “rounded, even-topped ridges with gentle side slopes” in the Middle Tanana Valley, according to the military.
The area sits just east of Eielson Air Force Base and about 30 miles from Fort Wainwright.
(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 appeared in the courtroom Monday for the first day of the trial, in which he, 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 while lowering his tax burden.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have described him as a “master of finding value where others do not,” arguing that Trump’s alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 03, 7:14 AM EDT
Trump expected in court for second day
Former President Donald Trump signaled he will be in court again Tuesday morning in a post on his social media platform.
“See you in Court Tuesday morning,” Trump posted.
The former president then went on to attack New York Attorney General Letitia James. He claimed he had a “good day at trial” during Monday’s proceedings.
Oct 02, 6:15 PM EDT
First witness eyes Trump’s decade-old financial statements
Testifying about the preparation of the Trump Organization’s statements of financial condition in 2011, former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender said Trump executives largely provided the input data for statements, in addition to dictating the standards by which the work was completed.
“We would cut and paste that information into a new worksheet,” Bender said about the approach taken by Mazar after receiving new data from co-defendant Jeffrey McConney of the Trump Organization.
When asked about the compliance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles — which Bender testified are the standards for accounting in the United States — Bender repeatedly placed responsibility in the lap of the Trump organization.
“That was the Trump Organization’s responsibility,” Bender testified about GAAP compliance.
Bender acknowledged that he rarely questioned the inputs from the Trump Organization, and when he did, he largely dealt with McConney and executives other than Trump and his adult sons.
Repeatedly asked by the state attorney if Mazars would have issued the statements if they had known the Trump Organization included material misrepresentations in their data, Bender reiterated that Mazars would not have issued the statements.
When Judge Engoron remarked at the end of the trial day that the state would still need to present further evidence to prove that the 2011 statement was within the statute of limitations, Trump seized the statement as a partial victory.
“The last five minutes was outstanding, because the judge actually conceded that the statute of limitations … is in effect,” Trump told reporters as he was leaving court.
Engoron, however, did not completely rule out the 2011 evidence during trial, instead appearing to remind counsel that they need to show the 2011 statement represents an ongoing concern that falls within the statute of limitations.
Testimony is scheduled to resume on Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET.
Oct 02, 3:50 PM EDT
Ex-accountant says statements were ‘Trump Org’s responsibility’
Prosecutors have called their first witness to the stand: Donald Bender, a former accountant at Mazars USA, the firm that for years handled Trump’s taxes.
Bender testified at length about his involvement in compiling Trump’s statements of financial condition between 2011 and 2020, which he described as “balance [sheets] of Mr. Trump’s assets and liabilities.”
Bender said the standards and inputs for the statements were largely decided by Trump Organization executives.
“That was the Trump Organization’s responsibility,” Bender said about the accounting standard used in the statements.
As Bender answered the state’s questions, Trump was seen taking notes at the defense table.
Bender described spending roughly half his time on Trump’s business and personal financial matters toward the end of his career at Mazars.
The firm severed its business relationship with Trump last year after learning of the attorney general’s findings during the AG’s probe.
Oct 02, 1:19 PM EDT
Trump attorney says sons made no misrepresentations
An attorney for Donald Trump’s adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., added a brief opening statement of his own, defending his clients from accusations of wrongdoing.
“There was never a material misrepresentation made by Eric Trump or Donald Trump Jr.,” said Clifford Robert, the attorney for Trump’s adult sons, who help run the Trump Organization.
Robert said he disagrees “with just about everything” the state’s prosecutor said in his opening remarks, and took aim at the state’s star witness.
“Their major linchpin is Michael Cohen, a guy who lies to everyone,” Robert said of the former Trump attorney.
Lucien Bruggeman
Oct 02, 1:10 PM EDT
AG’s case sets ‘dangerous precedent,’ defense says
Attorney General Letitia James “is setting a very dangerous precedent for any business in the state of New York,” warned Trump attorney Alina Habba in her opening statement.
Habba told the court she hadn’t planned to make opening remarks, but that she felt moved to speak after hearing the state present its own opening statement. Habba accused the attorney general of targeting Trump before taking office, claiming the investigation and lawsuit were personal in nature.
“We are attacking a sitting president and two of his children and his employees for a statement of financial condition which is frankly worth less than what they are worth,” Habba said.
Habba reiterated many of the points made earlier by co-counsel Christopher Kise, highlighting the fact that “these lenders made money,” and arguing that “real estate is malleable — the values change.”
After Habba concluded her remarks, Judge Engeron engaged her in a series of follow-up questions, asking about her claim that the property appraisals at issue were “undervalued” by prosecutors.
Habba replied that “the Trump brand is worth something.”
Oct 02, 12:03 PM EDT
‘The attorney general has no case,’ defense counsel says
Former President Trump’s defense counsel will present a “very different picture of the evidence” than the prosecution alleges, and will demonstrate that “there are many ways to value assets,” according to opening remarks from Christopher Kise, Trump’s lead attorney.
“We think the evidence is going to establish … President Trump has made billions of dollars building one of the most successful real estate empires in the world,” Kise said, reiterating sentiments he conveyed in pretrial motions.
Kise offered a glimpse into the former president’s defense, including plans to present testimony from a New York University professor who will explain that “there is no one generally accepted procedure to determine the estimated current value” of a property.
Other defense witnesses, including four Deutsche Bank officers who were involved in approving Trump’s loans, will explain how they were able to craft their own independent risk analyses meant to mitigate the claims of fraud that are core to the state’s case.
“Anyone committing fraud does not tell the other side, ‘Please do your own analysis,'” Kise said regarding Trump’s instructions to lenders.
Kise also previewed plans to undermine the state’s key witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who Kise said has “lied to everyone and anyone he has come in contact with.”
Kise reiterated the defense’s claim that Trump did not commit fraud and that there were no victims of his alleged conduct.
“The attorney general has no case,” Kise said.
Oct 02, 11:28 AM EDT
Defendants were ‘lying year after year,’ prosecutors say
Prosecutors intend to prove in the coming months that “each defendant engaged in repeated, persistent, illegal acts in conduct of business,” according to the opening statement from Kevin Wallace of the attorney general’s office.
Referring to Judge Engoron’s partial summary judgment last week, Wallace said that “the people have already proven” that former President Trump used “false, misleading” statements that were “repeatedly [and] persistently used in the conduct of business.”
But prosecutors will further demonstrate that Trump and his co-defendants knew those statements were false and continued to peddle them anyway in furtherance of their alleged scheme, Wallace told the judge.
“The defendants were lying year after year,” he said.
Wallace played clips of video depositions to punctuate his remarks, including testimony from Trump himself, as well as Eric Trump and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen — whose congressional testimony years ago precipitated the state’s investigation and some of the key allegations underpinning their case.
“The goal was to use each of [Trump’s] assets and increase its value in order to get to the end result number,” Cohen said during his taped deposition. “It was essentially backing in numbers to each of the asset classes in order to attain the number that President Trump wanted.”
Trump and his co-defendants “knew that a high net worth was necessary to get and maintain certain financial benefits,” Wallace said, pointing to basic principles of accounting and finance.
Throughout Wallace’s remarks, the attorney general’s office flashed graphics on television screens inside the courtroom showing some of the alleged inflated values of Trump’s properties alongside the amounts the properties were appraised at.
Seated in his chair with his arms crossed, Trump visibly shook his head at times during the prosecutor’s opening statement. At one point he seemed to mutter something under his breath.
The former president whispered with his attorneys throughout.
Oct 02, 10:45 AM EDT
Opening statements underway
Opening statements are underway in former President Trump’s $250 million fraud trial.
Trump is seated between his attorneys Clifford Robert, Alina Habba and Christopher Kise.
Trump and his co-defendants face a bench trial, meaning that the sole arbiter of the case is Judge Arthur Engoron instead of a jury.
Oct 02, 10:19 AM EDT
Trump seated in courtroom
Former President Trump has taken a seat in the courtroom for the start of the trial.
“The crime is against me,” he told reporters outside the courtroom before he made his way inside.
He denounced the case in now-familiar terms, criticizing state Attorney General Letitia James as she sat inside the courtroom.
Trump also accused Judge Arthur Engoron of failing to account for the full value of his real estate portfolio, asserting his Mar-a-Lago estate is worth “50 to 100 times more” than the judge’s decision for partial summary judgment said last week.
“We have other properties, the same thing. So he devalued everything,” Trump said. “We have among the greatest properties in the world. and I have to go through this for political reasons.”
Engoron decided Trump’s statements of financial condition were fraudulent, but Trump said, “We have a clause in the contract that says, essentially, buyer beware.”
Oct 02, 10:09 AM EDT
Trump calls trial ‘political witch hunt’
Former President Trump, speaking to reporters on his arrival at the lower Manhattan courthouse, said the trial is a witch hunt resulting from his standing in the presidential polls.
“This is a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt of all time,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.
Trump said he is innocent of the accusations and that his portfolio has a much higher value than what the attorney general alleges.
Oct 02, 9:59 AM EDT
Trump attorneys call trial ‘election interference’
Members of Donald Trump’s legal team, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse prior to the start of the trial, called the fraud allegations against the former president “election interference.”
Trump’s attorneys said that Democrats were using the case to fight Trump’s efforts to retake the White House in 2024.
Oct 02, 9:43 AM EDT
Attorney general arrives at courthouse
New York Attorney General Letitia James has arrived at the courthouse in lower Manhattan.
“No matter how powerful you are, no matter how much money you think you may have, no one is above the law,” James said to the cameras before entering the courthouse.
“Today we will prove our case in court,” she said. “Justice will prevail.”
Demonstrators across the street from the courthouse cheered and applauded as the AG arrived.
Oct 02, 8:19 AM EDT
NY attorney general releases statement on 1st day of trial
New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement on Monday just hours before the first day of trial in her fraud case against former President Donald Trump.
“For years, Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth to enrich himself and cheat the system,” James said. “We won the foundation of our case last week and proved that his purported net worth has long been rooted in incredible fraud. In this country, there are consequences for this type of persistent fraud, and we look forward to demonstrating the full extent of his fraud and illegality during trial.”
“No matter how rich or powerful you are, there are not two sets of laws for people in this country,” she added. “The rule of law must apply equally to everyone, and it is my responsibility to make sure that it does.”
Oct 02, 8:14 AM EDT
Trial scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET
The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, et al, is scheduled to get underway in lower Manhattan at 10 a.m. with opening statements.
If opening statements are completed before the end of the day, the New York attorney general plans to begin her case by calling Trump’s former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender to the stand.
Mazars severed its business relationship with the former president last year after learning of the attorney general’s findings during the AG’s probe.
Oct 02, 7:10 AM EDT
Judge has already found that Trump overvalued his assets
Though Trump has denied all wrongdoing alleged by the attorney general, Judge Arthur Engoron has already decided the central allegation against Trump and his co-defendants, ruling in a pretrial hearing last week that the AG had provided “conclusive evidence” that Trump overvalued his assets between $812 million and $2.2 billion.
The judge then canceled the Trump Organization’s business certificates in New York, severely restricting Trump’s ability to conduct business in the state moving forward — a move that Trump attorney Alina Habba called “nonsensical” and “outrageously overreaching.”
“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air,” Engoron wrote, citing multiple arguments made by defense to justify the allegedly inflated valuations of Trump’s assets. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
Among the issues still to be determined at trial: What additional penalties Trump might face, and what might happen with the multiple causes of action included in the attorney general’s suit.
Oct 02, 6:43 AM EDT
Trump blasts judge ahead of trial
Former President Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on the judge overseeing and deciding his case, writing on Truth Social overnight that Justice Arthur Engoron should resign and be sanctioned for “abuse of power.”
Similar to his earlier post, Trump focused on the alleged inflated value of Mar-a-Lago, in addition to an appellate decision that his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to use to limit the timeframe of the case.
Oct 02, 6:39 AM EDT
Trump says he will attend trial’s opening
Former President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Sunday night that he intends to attend the opening of the trial.
“See you in court — Monday morning,” he wrote in a post.
Earlier Sunday, multiple sources familiar with the decision told ABC News that Trump was expecting to attend.
Trump will have no speaking role in court on Monday, but it is anticipated that he’ll return to the courthouse toward the end of the state’s case when court records show he will be called as a witness.
(NEW YORK) — Hunter Biden returns Tuesday to the same Delaware courthouse where his federal plea deal fell apart more than two months ago — this time to face three felony gun charges leveled by the special counsel who negotiated that ill-fated agreement.
Attorneys for Hunter Biden have signaled he will enter a plea of not guilty to the charges, which include allegations that he lied on a federal form when he said he was drug-free at the time that he purchased a Colt revolver in October 2018.
Special counsel David Weiss indicted President Joe Biden’s son last month after a yearslong investigation. That probe appeared on the cusp of completion in June, when Weiss’ office brokered a two-pronged plea agreement with Hunter Biden’s legal team.
The deal, however, deteriorated under questioning by a federal judge in July.
The agreement would have allowed Hunter Biden to avoid prison time in exchange for a guilty plea on misdemeanor tax charges and a diversion agreement on one felony gun charge.
Instead, the younger Biden now faces a three-count felony indictment on gun charges and potentially more tax-related charges in the coming weeks or months. Prosecutors also suggested in open court that they may pursue charges related to Hunter Biden’s overseas business endeavors, including potential violation of foreign lobbying laws.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Biden, said on ABC News’ Good Morning America last month that, “on the facts, we think we’ll have a defense” to the gun charges.
Lowell initially sought to waive Hunter Biden’s court appearance, asking the court to allow him to enter his plea via video conference in order to limit what he called “the financial impact on government resources and the logistical burden on the downtown area of Wilmington.”
But prosecutors pushed back on that request and a federal magistrate judge ultimately ordered Hunter Biden to appear in person.
The hearing comes as Hunter Biden fights legal battles on several other fronts. Last week, House Republicans held the first hearing of their impeachment inquiry into President Biden, drawing largely on unproven ties between the president’s political career and his son’s business endeavors.
The younger Biden is also waging a legal counteroffensive against his most vocal critics and the alleged purveyors of personal data derived from a laptop he purportedly left at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2018.
If Hunter Biden is found guilty on the three gun-related charges, he could face up to 25 years in prison — though the Justice Department has said any sentence would likely fall far short of that maximum penalty.
(NEW YORK) — An estimated $1.2 billion jackpot is up for grabs in the next Powerball drawing on Wednesday night.
It’s now the third-largest purse in the American lottery game’s history and the biggest so far this year. It’s also the seventh-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever, according to a press release from Powerball.
The grand prize, which has an estimated cash value of $551.7 million, continued its ascent through billion dollar territory after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Monday night, Powerball said.
However, two tickets — purchased in Delaware and Michigan — matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. Two other tickets — sold in New York and South Carolina — matched all five white balls and won $2 million prizes by including Power Play, a feature that allows a winner to multiply the original amount of non-jackpot prizes for an additional $1 per play, according to Powerball.
The jackpot was previously won on July 19, when a ticket purchased in California matched all five white balls and the red Powerball to claim $1.08 billion. Since then, there have been 32 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, Powerball said.
Jackpot winners can either take the money as an immediate cash lump sum or in 30 annual payments over 29 years. Both advertised prize options do not include federal and jurisdictional taxes.
The jackpot grows based on game sales and interest, but the odds of winning the big prize stays the same — 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.
Powerball tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The drawings are also livestreamed online at Powerball.com.
(WASHINGTON) — A Department of Defense official has been charged with dogfighting, according to records unsealed by the Justice Department on Monday night.
Fredrick D. Moorefield Jr. — who serves as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control and Communications — allegedly engaged in dogfighting under the code name “GeeHad,” according to a statement from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s office.
“Moorefield … and [his] associates used [an] encrypted messaging application to discuss how to train dogs for illegal dogfighting, exchanged videos about dogfighting, and arranged and coordinated dogfights,” the statement read. “Moorefield … also discussed betting on dogfighting, discussed dogs that died as a result of dogfighting, and circulated media reports about dogfighters who had been caught by law enforcement. As further alleged in the affidavit, Moorefield … also discussed how to conceal [his] conduct from law enforcement.”
In one instance in 2018, the DOJ alleges that Moorfield disposed of two dogs who had been killed on his Maryland property that had wounds consistent with dogfighting. Officials eventually linked Moorfield to the dead dogs by identifying a piece of mail located with the dogs bodies, authorities said.
The agent who filed the complaint alleges that Moorefield “sponsored” the dogs in a dogfight.
Moorefield was allegedly involved in a larger dogfighting conspiracy called DMV Kennels, in what reassembled some sort of dogfighting league, the DOJ said in their statement.
The complaint alleges Moorefield had been dogfighting and training dogs to fight since at least 2009.
Prosecutors say they found “multiple” photographs, taken in March 2023, that show dogs in cages and wearing weighted collars — all hallmarks that are consistent with dogfighting training.
A known dogfighter who agreed to cooperate with the government confirmed that Moorefield was engaged in training dogs to fight and wagering on them.
Meanwhile, at least 12 dogs were seized between two properties belonging to Moorefield Jr. and his co-defendant, a barber who was also charged with dogfighting.
Telegram messages from September 2023 show that Moorefield was allegedly engaging in dogfighting and officials said that he admitted this to investigators when they came to search his property.
Following his arrest, authorities were able to seize items consistent with killing dogs after they lose in a fight.
“Twelve dogs were recovered and seized by the federal government,” officials announced. “Law enforcement also recovered veterinary steroids, training schedules, a carpet that appeared to be stained with blood, and a weighted dog vest with a patch reading ‘Geehad Kennels.’ In addition, law enforcement officers seized a device consisting of an electrical plug and jumper cables, which the affidavit alleges is consistent with devices used to execute dogs that lose dogfights.”
If convicted, Moorfield faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for possessing, training, or transporting animals for participation in an animal fighting venture.
