(NEW YORK) — If former President Donald Trump declines to attend his trial next week in which he stands accused of defaming and battering writer E. Jean Carroll, his attorney wants the jury to know it would be to spare New York City the burden of keeping him safe.
Trump “wishes to appear at trial,” defense attorney Joe Tacopina said in a pre-trial filing Wednesday, but asked the court to inform the jury about the “logistical burdens associated with his appearance in a courtroom.”
An attorney for Carroll chided the request, writing in a separate letter that “the notion that Mr. Trump would not appear as some sort of favor to the City of New York — and that the jury should be instructed as much — taxes the credulity of the credulous.”
Another Carroll attorney, Roberta Kaplan, pointed out that Trump has recently attended events around the country including an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, a meeting of the National Rifle Association, and a deposition as part of a different civil case.
“On Monday, he announced that he has scheduled a New Hampshire campaign event for next Thursday, April 27– in other words, in the middle of the trial in this case,” Kaplan said. “If Mr. Trump can find a way to attend wrestling championships, political conventions, civil depositions, and campaign functions, then surely he could surmount the logistics of attending his own federal trial.”
The former president has until this Thursday to let the court know for sure whether he’s coming.
In her suit, brought in November, Carroll alleges that Trump defamed her by calling her a liar when he denied her claim that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. She added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations.
A judge last week denied Trump’s attempt to delay the start of the trial, which is scheduled to get underway in New York on Tuesday.
Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s allegations.
(NEW YORK) — The search for three Americans missing off the coast of Mexico has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
“An exhaustive search was conducted by our international search and rescue partner, Mexico, with the U.S. Coast Guard and Canada providing additional search assets,” Coast Guard Cmdr. Gregory Higgins said in a statement. “SEMAR [The Mexican Navy] and U.S. Coast Guard assets worked hand-in-hand for all aspects of the case. Unfortunately, we found no evidence of the three Americans’ whereabouts or what might have happened. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of William Gross, Kerry O’Brien and Frank O’Brien.”
The Mexican Navy and Coast Guard spent “281 cumulative search hours covering approximately 200,057 square nautical miles, an area larger than the state of California, off Mexico’s northern Pacific coast with no sign of the missing sailing vessel nor its passengers,” the Coast Guard said.
Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien and Gross had not contacted friends, family, or maritime authorities since April 4.
The trio likely encountered “significant” weather and waves as they attempted to sail their 41-foot sailboat from Mazatlán to San Diego.
“When it started to reach into five, six, seven days and we started to get a little more concerned,” Kerry’s brother Mark Argall told ABC News.
Higgins had expressed concern that the weather in that region worsened around April 6, with swells and wind creating waves potentially over 20 feet high. The three were sailing a capable 41-foot fiberglass boat, with similar sailboats successfully circumnavigating the planet. However, the lack of clear information about the sailors’ location, partially attributable to the lack of GPS tracking and poor cellular service near the Baja peninsula, has left the families of the missing Americans uncertain about their loved ones’ whereabouts.
“We have all been spinning our wheels about the different scenarios that could have happened,” Gross’ daughter Melissa Spicuzza said.
Kerry and Frank O’Brien, a married couple, initially decided to travel to Mexico to sail a 41-foot LaFitte sailboat named “Ocean Bound” to San Diego after the boat underwent repairs near Mazatlán, Mexico, according to Argall.
The couple decided to hire Gross, a mechanic by trade and sailor with more than 50 years of experience, to help navigate the boat from Mazatlán to San Diego. Spicuzza recounted that friends of Gross would compare him to the 1980s fictional television character and improvisational savant MacGyver based on his ability to repair boats.
“Whatever it takes, he’ll get it rigged up. He’ll get it working,” Spicuzza described.
The Coast Guard believes the sailors left their slip (the equivalent of a parking spot for boats) on April 2. They eventually departed Mazatlán on April 4, based on Facebook posts and cellphone usage.
The sailors expected the trip across the Gulf of California to Cabo San Lucas, where they planned to pick up provisions, would take two days. However, the Coast Guard does not believe the sailors ever stopped in Cabo San Lucas. Since April 4, marinas throughout the Baja Peninsula have not contacted the vessel, nor have any search and rescue crews spotted it.
According to Higgins, the weather worsened around April 6, with winds of 30 knots, strong swells, and waves making navigation more challenging. Spicuzza added that the sail from Mexico to California is inherently tricky since sailors need to navigate against the wind and current.
“From the tip of Baja all the way back up to Alaska, you’re going against wind and current, so it’s a more difficult, exhausting sail, but of course, doable with the experience that’s on board,” Spicuzza.
Spicuzza added that the group’s initially planned 10-day journey was likely unrealistic. Sailing against the wind and current would require the sailors to tack frequently, essentially zig-zag to make progress despite sailing into the wind, which could extend the journey to two and half weeks.
Moreover, according to the Coast Guard, the boat lacks trackable GPS navigation, such as a satellite phone or a tracking beacon. The limited cellular service in that region of Mexico also makes triangulating the cell position difficult.
Robert H. Perry, the designer of the 41-foot sailboat, noted that their boat was likely manufactured in Taiwan 35 years ago. Despite its age, the fiberglass sailboat itself was a time-tested, ocean-navigating boat.
The travel circumstances have left family members uncertain about the status of their loved ones. Based on the timing, it appears possible they are “just going to roll into San Diego like nothing happened in maybe about a week,” Spicuzza suggested, with the radio silence attributable to some electronic issue. Alternatively, the Coast Guard has worked on plotting where their life raft might have drifted under current weather conditions.
“It’s just been a roller coaster of emotions the last several days; I want my dad home, I want him safe, [and] I want the O’Brien’s home safe,” Spicuzza said. “I’m very much looking forward to sitting around a table with all of them and joking about the time they got lost at sea – that is the hope.”
ABC News’ Elisha Asif, Helena Skinner, Zohreen Shah, and Amantha.Chery contributed to this report.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office will investigate the partial collapse of a parking garage that killed one and injured five others, a spokeswoman for the office confirmed Wednesday.
More than 50 cars were parked on the roof of the four-story Lower Manhattan building when it collapsed Tuesday afternoon, sending cars plummeting and killing one worker whose body remains trapped in the debris, officials said Wednesday.
The New York City Fire Department is slowly and methodically taking down the building. Gas tanks and electric vehicles in the debris are complicating the deconstruction process.
“This is an incredibly complex operation,” emergency management commissioner Zach Iscol said during a press briefing Wednesday. “The building is not structurally sound.”
The city is working to “safely demolish” the building while also removing the vehicles, he said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Wednesday that the deceased garage worker, who has not been publicly identified, also remains in the collapsed building. The man was a 59-year-old manager of the garage, sources said.
Four workers were treated at local hospitals following the collapse, while a fifth refused medical treatment, officials said. The New York Fire Department said it appears most if not all of the patients have since been released.
Department of Buildings acting Commissioner Kazimir Vilenchik said the building “pancaked,” and that the ceiling collapsed “all the way to the cellar floor.”
Firefighters went inside the building to search for victims but it was continuing to collapse so they evacuated. A robotic dog and a drone were brought in to continue to search the building. Officials believe that everyone is accounted for and there is no reason to believe this is anything but a structural collapse.
The exact cause of the collapse remains under investigation.
“There’s a thorough investigation that is going to happen with this building. And we’re going to learn from it,” Adams said.
A focus of the investigation is the weight of the vehicles parked on the roof and the age of the building, which was built in 1925.
The parking garage, which is owned by 57 Ann Street Realty Association, currently has four active violations, according to records from the New York City Department of Buildings.
The violations that remain open were recorded between 2003 and 2013.
One of the four violations still open is from Nov. 25, 2003, and has a severity status listed as “hazardous.” In the violation details, the department recorded the discovery of cracks in the concrete on the first floor, calling the concrete “defective.”
The company did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
The parking garage tenant, Enterprise Ann Parking LLC, said in a statement Wednesday: “This is a tragic event. We are devastated at the loss of one of our long-time employees and our thoughts are with his family and those who were injured in the accident. We thank all of the first responders who quickly attended to those who were impacted and appreciate their courageous work.”
“We are fully cooperating with city agencies and other authorities as they investigate this incident,” it added.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Mark Crudele and Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A North Carolina man allegedly shot a 6-year-old girl, her parents and an additional neighbor after a basketball rolled into his yard.
Local and federal law are still searching for the suspect, who was also charged with assaulting his girlfriend with a sledgehammer in December.
The Gaston County Police Department received a 911 call at 7:44 p.m. on Tuesday about a local shooting. Investigators later determined that 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary seriously injured one adult male and one juvenile female and that a separate female was grazed by a bullet while a second adult male was shot.
Neighbors told ABC News’ Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV that the shooting began after a basketball rolled into Singletary’s yard from a group of local children playing basketball in the street. Singletary allegedly fired a gun at a neighbor before approaching a father and son — William and 6-year-old Kinsley White. Both were transported to a local area hospital for treatment.
“Why did you shoot my daddy and me? Why did you shoot a kid’s dad?” Kinsley asked in an emotional interview, stitches visible on her cheek from the bullet fragments that hit her.
Family members say William White tried to draw gunfire towards himself to protect his family as Singletary unloaded an entire magazine toward his neighbor. White was shot in the back in his own front yard, according to his partner Ashley Hilderbrand.
“He looked at my husband and my daughter and told them, ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Hilderbrand said.
Gaston County Police have multiple warrants for Singletary’s arrest. He is charged with four counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
In December, Singletary was separately charged with assaulting his girlfriend with a mini sledgehammer, leading her to bleed profusely from the back of the head and forcing her inside an apartment for two hours.
“The victim further stated that Singletary told her that she could not leave until she had cleaned up all the evidence from the assault,” a press release from December read.
Singletary is still on the loose, with a statewide search now enlisting the U.S. Marshall’s Regional Fugitive Task Force.
“I want to say to the people of Gaston County — this sort of violence will not stand,” Gaston County Police Department’s Chief, Stephen M. Zill said.
The North Carolina shooting follows a string of similar incidents where seemingly ordinary mistakes have led to serious consequences involving firearms. Over the last week, two cheerleaders in Texas were shot after entering the wrong car in a parking lot, a woman in New York was killed after entering the wrong driveway and 16-year-old in Missouri was shot after ringing the doorbell to the wrong home.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has denied Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s request to block a congressional subpoena for a former prosecutor in Bragg’s office who investigated former President Donald Trump.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil on Wednesday declined to enjoin the subpoena for testimony about Trump’s indictment, clearing the way for Mark Pomerantz to be interviewed privately Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee.
Pomerantz was a special assistant district attorney who resigned in 2022 over Bragg’s unwillingness to pursue a case against Trump. After Pomerantz left Bragg’s office, he wrote a memoir about his experience, telling ABC News in February he felt “strongly you do have to apply the same legal standards to everyone, regardless of your president or pauper.”
The subpoena seeking testimony from Pomerantz is the first to be issued by the Republican-controlled committee. Bragg has sued the GOP chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, over the congressional probe, calling it a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” the office.
The decision is a win for Jordan, a Trump ally who subpoenaed Pomerantz as part of what he’s claimed is a probe into whether Bragg’s office used federal funds in the investigation of the former president.
Bragg’s office immediately said it was seeking a stay of the judge’s decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the District Court’s decision and are seeking a stay pending appeal,” said a spokesperson.
“In our federalist system, elected state and federal actors sometimes engage in political dogfights,” Vyskocil said in her ruling. “The Court does not endorse either side’s agenda. The sole question before the Court at this time is whether Bragg has a legal basis to quash a congressional subpoena that was issued with a valid legislative purpose. He does not.”
“It is not the role of the federal judiciary to dictate what legislation Congress may consider or how it should conduct its deliberations in that connection. Mr. Pomerantz must appear for the congressional deposition. No one is above the law,” Vyskocil’s decision said.
The judge urged Bragg and Jordan to “reach a mutually agreeable compromise” about the deposition of Pomerantz, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in Washington, D.C.
A spokesperson for Jordan celebrated the judge’s ruling.
“Today’s decision shows that Congress has the ability to conduct oversight and issue subpoenas to people like Mark Pomeranz, and we look forward to his deposition before the Judiciary Committee,” said spokesman Russell Dye.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — While there is much to learn about the alleged Pentagon leaker, reports have indicated suspect Jack Teixeira was driven by a desire to impress friends he made on the social media platform Discord.
Will that make a difference as the case moves forward?
Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested last week and charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents.
The charges collectively carry a maximum of 15 years in prison. Teixeira has yet to enter a plea.
Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor, said what struck him about the case so far is the purported motive. Unlike previous individuals associated with disclosing national security and military secrets, including Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning, Teixeira doesn’t appear to have been motivated by ideology or a sense of duty to inform the public.
“We’re much more familiar with individuals that appear to be whistleblowers or have a motive to disclose conduct they disagree with, and that’s not the case here,” Van Grack told ABC News.
The Washington Post interviewed a friend of Teixeira who described his motives as wanting to share the information he knew to a small private chat room whose members who bonded over their love of video games.
One Discord user who claimed to be a longtime member of the server where Teixeira is accused of sharing the classified information similarly told ABC News that Teixeira was not interested in “clout” or winning arguments, and “just wanted us to be informed, ahead of the news cycle.”
Still, Van Grack said motive has no major impact in terms of the law or the case the U.S. government will bring against Teixeira.
“Even if you do not intend to have harmed national security interests, the bottom line is you’ve now disclosed this to an infinite number of individuals and so the damage is done,” he said.
Steve Stransky, an attorney who previously served as senior counsel to the Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence Law Division, argued a person in Teixeira’s position would know leaking sensitive information could damage the U.S.
Stransky said once an individual gets to the level of security clearance Teixeira had, they would have received routine training and educational materials warning about the harm that could result from that information landing in the hands of unauthorized third parties.
“So, even if his motive was not to create a negative impact against U.S. foreign policy and national security, it was pretty clear that doing this could have those intended results,” Stransky told ABC News.
Federal prosecutors said in the 11-page criminal complaint that Teixeira possessed a high-level, top secret clearance known as Top Secret — Sensitive Compartmented Information.
Teixeira would’ve had to sign “lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement in which he would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges,” according to FBI Special Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff.
Questions have been raised about how the junior airman who provided IT support for the 102nd Intelligence Wing had such a high-level security clearance. The Air Force has opened its own investigation into how Teixeira could have had access to the classified documents that he allegedly posted online.
The criminal complaint, while not mentioning any claims about motive, alleged that Teixeira even used his top secret clearance to try to search for the word “leak” on April 6, around the time when media outlets began reporting on the unauthorized disclosure of documents.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday declined to divulge more details of the case but stressed the importance of national security, telling reporters, “We intend to send that message.”
Teixeira was due back in court Wednesday for a detention hearing, but a federal judge granted his team’s request for a delay for more time to address arguments for keeping him in federal custody.
(ST. LOUIS) — Tornadoes are possible in parts of the Heartland Wednesday, as severe weather is expected to move through the region.
A tornado watch has been issued for portions of six states — Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas — through 11 p.m. CDT Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.
Isolated tornadoes could be possible, especially in an enhanced risk area from Oklahoma City to Wichita Falls.
Huge hail and damaging wind gusts up to 75 mph are also possible as the storm system moves out of the West and into the Plains Wednesday night. An enhanced risk has been issued for areas including Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, for very large hail and significant, damaging winds.
By Thursday, the severe weather threat stretches from Austin, Texas, to St. Louis, Missouri. A line of severe storms is forecast to stretch across the region, packing damaging winds and large hail, from mid-afternoon into the overnight hours.
The storms may weaken a bit overnight Thursday as they move toward the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast, but severe activity could extend into Friday morning.
(DADEVILLE, Ala.) — Three people, including two teenagers, have been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a birthday party in Alabama over the weekend where four victims were killed and 32 others were injured.
Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, have each been charged with four counts of reckless murder. They have both been charged as adults. The suspects were arrested and officially charged on Tuesday.
Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, was arrested on Wednesday and also formally charged with four counts of reckless murder, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced.
Four victims are still in the hospital in critical condition.
The shooting took place at a crowded birthday party in the small town of Dadeville, located approximately 60 miles northeast of Montgomery, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
“Make no mistake, this is Alabama and when you pull out a gun, and you start shooting people, we’re gonna put you in jail,” Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sgt. Jeremy Burkett said at a press conference Wednesday.
Ty Reik McCullough and Travis McCullough will have a bond hearing within 72 hours where prosecutors will be asking for no bond, according to Mike Segrest, district attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Alabama.
Officials said they are still in the early stages of the investigation and more charges will be coming. Officials asked anyone who has information or was present at the shooting to come forward.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Segrest said. “We’re going to make sure every one of those victims has justice and not just the deceased.”
Officials did not reveal whether they have identified a motive for the shooting.
One of the victims killed in the shooting — 18-year-old Philstavious Dowdell — was attending his sister’s 16th birthday party, according to Segrest.
“There were so many kids in this venue and what they saw, they’re victims in this. Their families are victims of this,” Segrest said at a press conference Wednesday.
In addition to Dowdell, the three others killed in the shooting were identified as 23-year-old Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 19-year-old Marsiah Emmanuel Collins and 17-year-old Shaunkivia Nicole Smith.
(PLEASANTON, Calif.) — A 26-year-old Home Depot employee was fatally shot after confronting an alleged shoplifter armed with a handgun at a California store, authorities said.
The suspected shooter was detained along with an alleged accomplice after fleeing the scene in a getaway car, police said.
The shooting occurred around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday inside a Home Depot in Pleasanton, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Blake Mohs, an unarmed loss prevention employee, “attempted to stop a theft in progress when a struggle ensued,” the Pleasanton Police Department said in a statement. The female suspect was allegedly trying to leave the store with what was believed to be an electrical item when she “resisted and shot him,” police said.
Mohs later died from his injuries, police said.
“Blake’s life was cut short by this senseless act of violence that started as a theft and turned into a robbery and ended in his murder,” Pleasanton Lt. Erik Silacci said during a press briefing Wednesday.
The shooting suspect — identified by police as 32-year-old Benicia Knapps — allegedly escaped in a getaway car driven by David Guillory, 31, police said. Her 2-year-old child was also inside the car, according to police.
The suspects were detained shortly after the incident in Oakland by Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputies and the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered in a nearby intersection, police said. The child was also reunited with relatives, police said.
Guillory has been booked into Santa Rita County Jail on charges including obstruction, evading a police officer and child abuse, jail records show.
Knapps is at a hospital receiving medical treatment and will be booked once she is discharged, Silacci said. Police believe she may have been struck by the getaway car following the shooting, he said.
Knapps will be booked on charges including murder, robbery, child endangerment and conspiracy, Silacci said. Additional charges could be likely, he said.
Mohs was a Tri-Valley resident who planned to get married this summer, police said.
“We’re heartbroken over this senseless tragedy,” Home Depot said in a statement. “Blake was our associate and friend, and our hearts go out to his family and everyone who knew and loved him.”
Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown called the shooting “senseless.”
“To have a life cut short is heartbreaking and infuriating,” Brown said in a statement. “I’m joined by the City Council in offering our deepest condolences to Blake’s family, friends, loved ones, and to everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited GOP proposal to lift the debt limit and enact federal spending cuts.
Speaking on the House floor, McCarthy outlined what’s included in the so-called Limit, Save, Grow Act, designed to raise the debt limit into next year and also provide more than $4.5 trillion in savings.
“The American people have elected a divided government, and our government is a divine compromise,” McCarthy said. “That is why the House, the Senate and the White House should be negotiating a responsible debt limit increase right now.”
The legislation would claw back unspent COVID-19 money, block federal student loan cancellation, rescind billions of dollars for the Internal Revenue Service provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, end green tax credits and put in place stricter work requirements for federal aid programs. It would also limit government spending to pre-inflationary, fiscal year 2022 levels and limit spending increases to 1% per year, according to McCarthy.
President Joe Biden, who gave the proposal a chilly reception, last met with McCarthy to discuss the debt limit in February. Their standoff has intensified in recent weeks as lawmakers stare down a fast-approaching summer deadline to lift the debt ceiling or risk an economically catastrophic default.
In recent days, the House speaker has tried to amp up pressure on Biden and Democrats to negotiate. Biden and other party leaders have so far declined to do so as they push for a “clean” debt limit increase not tied to federal spending cuts.
“President Biden is skipping town to deliver a speech in Maryland, rather than sitting down to address the debt ceiling,” McCarthy said on Wednesday. “He’s giving America’s debt the Southern border treatment: ignore it and hope that it goes away.”
Biden shot back at the Republican leader during his Maryland event, taking aim at McCarthy’s debt ceiling comments delivered Monday at the New York Stock Exchange.
“They say they’re going to default unless I agree to all these wacko notions they have. Default would be worse than totally irresponsible,” Biden said.
Biden warned a default “would destroy this economy. And who do you think will hurt the most? You, hardworking people, the middle-class, neighborhoods I got raised in — not the super wealthy or the powerful, but working folks.”
The legislative text of the House GOP bill, which clocks in at 320 pages, was released shortly after McCarthy’s remarks.
McCarthy said the chamber will vote as early as next week on the plan. While it’s not yet clear he’ll have the 218 votes necessary to pass it, he expressed optimism about its prospects.
“We’re going to get there,” he told reporters. “I never give up. We’ll get them.”
-ABC News’ Gabe Ferris, Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
