(CHICAGO) — Brandon Johnson, a former public school teacher, will become Chicago’s next mayor.
Vallas conceded to Johnson on Tuesday even though the Chicago Board of Elections reported that mail-in votes for the runoff election will not be counted for days.
“To the Chicagoans who did not vote for me, here’s what I want you to know: That I care about you, I value you, and I want to hear from you. I want to work with you, and I’ll be the mayor for you, too,” Johnson said. “Tonight is a gateway to a new future for this city.”
Vallas, 69, was the majority front-runner in the February election where he and Johnson, 46, led a crowded pack of candidates, all of whom failed to receive more than 50% of the vote. In that election, incumbent Lori Lightfoot became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to fail to secure a second term.
“The only pathway forward in our city is together,” Vallas said during his concession speech late Tuesday. “The solutions we adopt and implement must work for all Chicagoans … It’s time for all Chicagoans to put aside their differences and to work together to support the daunting work ahead for Chicago’s next mayor.”
According to the Chicago Board of Elections, only 33% of those registered to vote in Chicago cast their ballots for Tuesday’s election.
In the six-week run-up to Tuesday, Vallas and Johnson sparred in numerous televised debates about issues like crime and education. However, underscoring the conversations was the obvious contrast between the progressive left of the Democratic Party, represented by Johnson, and the moderate wing of the party, represented by Vallas.
“You have Vallas being called a Republican and Johnson being called a Socialist. Those issues are designed, of course, to get a more reptilian brain response from voters, but they don’t tell us exactly where both campaigns are on the major issues rather than a broad brush,” said Arthur Lurigio, a criminologist at Loyola University Chicago. “Being extreme is in their interest.”
Johnson capitalized on comments Vallas made years ago about critical race theory and he has blasted both endorsements and campaign donations Vallas received from prominent Republicans like Darren Bailey, the Illinois senator who lost the state’s recent gubernatorial election, and a PAC founded by Betsy DeVos, the former education secretary under former President Donald Trump.
The insinuation that Vallas is a closet Republican — a smear in this reliably blue city — has appeared on yard signs, stickers and in a television ad that claims Vallas is “endorsed by the Chicago Republican Party.”
Last weekend, Republican Party Chairman Steve Boulton released a statement denouncing Johnson and said his “campaign is lying yet again” about the endorsement. “The ad is false, and under federal law, the broadcasters are under an obligation to pull the ads,” he said.
Vallas, who earned the endorsement of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, had blasted Johnson for comments he made years ago about defunding the police. Both men said they want to hire more detectives, although Vallas said he wants to fill more than 1,700 vacancies in the department, while Johnson said he wants resources directed to schools and mental health services. Vallas also said Johnson’s plan to raise $800 million in additional taxes would cripple the city’s economy.
Vallas earned the backing of prominent leaders within the state Democratic Party, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. Johnson, a former school teacher whose campaign was funded by the Chicago Teachers Union, was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump aired a litany of grievances about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other ongoing investigations against him during his first post-arraignment remarks.
The scene at Mar-a-Lago mirrored that of a campaign rally, with the former president shaking hands and pumping his fist as “God Bless the USA” — a signature Trump rally anthem — played through the speakers.
Trump took a defiant tone from the Mar-a-Lago podium, describing the charges brought against him as an “insult to our country” and painting them as an effort to “interfere with the upcoming 2024 election.”
“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump said Tuesday as he spoke out about his arrest for the first time.
“The only crime that I’ve committed is to fiercely defend our nation from those who seek them to destroy it,” he continued.
The 2024 presidential hopeful alluded to his status as a candidate for office, arguing the charges amounted to political persecution.
“They can’t beat us at the ballot box, so they try to beat us through the law,” he said.
He also at times attacked Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, as well as some members of their families. Spotted in the crowd at Mar-a-Lago were Trump’s children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump, Notably, his wife, Melania Trump, as well as daughter Ivanka Trump, son Barron Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner were not seen in the audience.
Trump had received a warning from Merchan hours earlier to refrain from language that could incite violence or jeopardize the well-being of any individuals, though the judge did not impose a gag order.
The former president targeted not only Bragg, but also most of the other legal matters in which Trump is currently entangled. Portions of his remarks were riddled with falsehoods as he ranted against the Department of Justice’s probe into his possible mishandling of classified information and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
Also in attendance at the Mar-a-Lago remarks were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Trump was indicted last week, becoming the first former president to ever officially face charges. He surrendered Tuesday afternoon at a lower Manhattan courthouse, where he was processed as a criminal defendant, including having his fingerprints taken. Appearing in court, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He’s denied all wrongdoing.
The statement of facts that accompanied the indictment alleged Trump orchestrated a “catch and kill” scheme to hide damaging information from the public during the 2016 presidential race, then fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal that criminal conduct.
Prosecutors said the scheme dated back to 2015 and continued while he was in the Oval Office, and included payments by others to two women who claimed to have heard long-denied affairs with Trump as well a a former doorman at Trump Tower who had claimed to have a story about Trump having a child out of wedlock, though the story wasn’t true.
Bragg spoke after Trump’s arraignment, emphasizing the law applies to every American “no matter who you are.”
“We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct,” the district attorney said.
Each count of falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump was formally charged in New York City Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to 2016 hush money payments, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to keep her quiet about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump, which Trump has long denied.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office say that Trump illegally falsified business records when his reimbursement of the funds to Cohen was logged in the Trump Organization’s books as a “monthly retainer” for Cohen’s legal services.
The former president, who has denied all wrongdoing, entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that Trump was accused of “falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”
“During the election, TRUMP and others employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws,” the statement said. “TRUMP is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.”
“According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, from August 2015 to December 2017, TRUMP orchestrated his ‘catch and kill’ scheme through a series of payments that he then concealed through months of false business entries,” the statement said. “In one instance, American Media Inc. (‘AMI’), paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman, who claimed to have a story about a child TRUMP had out of wedlock.”
“In a second instance, AMI paid $150,000 to a woman who alleged she had a sexual relationship with TRUMP. When TRUMP explicitly directed a lawyer who then worked for the Trump Organization as TRUMP’s Special Counsel to reimburse AMI in cash, the Special Counsel indicated to TRUMP that the payment should be made via a shell company and not by cash. AMI ultimately declined to accept reimbursement after consulting their counsel. AMI, which later admitted its conduct was unlawful in an agreement with federal prosecutors, made false entries in its business records concerning the true purpose of the $150,000 payment,” according to the statement.
“In a third instance — 12 days before the presidential general election — the Special Counsel wired $130,000 to an attorney for an adult film actress. The Special Counsel, who has since pleaded guilty and served time in prison for making the illegal campaign contribution, made the payment through a shell corporation funded through a bank in Manhattan,” the statement said.
“After winning the election, TRUMP reimbursed the Special Counsel through a series of monthly checks, first from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust — created in New York to hold the Trump Organization’s assets during TRUMP’s presidency — and later from TRUMP’s bank account. In total, 11 checks were issued for a phony purpose. Nine of those checks were signed by TRUMP. Each check was processed by the Trump Organization and illegally disguised as a payment for legal services rendered pursuant to a non-existent retainer agreement. In total, 34 false entries were made in New York business records to conceal the initial covert $130,000 payment. Further, participants in the scheme took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the reimbursements,” said the statement.
Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, was indicted on the charges on Thursday, becoming the first current or former U.S. president to be indicted for criminal conduct.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has arrived at a New York City courthouse for an arraignment after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week.
He is the first former U.S. president to be indicted. Although the document remains sealed, sources familiar told ABC News that Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 04, 4:47 PM EDT
Prosecution claims conflict of interest with Trump attorney
Prosecutors alleged during Tuesday’s hearing that one of former President Donald Trump’s attorneys, Joe Tacopina, has a conflict of interest in the case because of prior communications with Stormy Daniels.
Tacopina pushed back on that aggressively, telling Judge Juan Merchan that he “never met, never spoke” with Daniels, and said that an associate from his office did send Daniels a document and held preliminary conversations with her.
Trump said “yes,” when the judge asked him if he understood he had a right to conflict-free counsel.
Judge Merchan did not make any decision on this today.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin and Laura Romero
Apr 04, 4:24 PM EDT
Trump en route to Florida
Donald Trump’s plane left New York Tuesday afternoon to head back to Florida where the former president is expected to address the public from Mar-a-Lago Tuesday night.
Apr 04, 4:22 PM EDT
Bragg: ‘We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct’
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg claimed former President Donald Trump “repeatedly made false statements” on New York business records and made others do the same during a press briefing following Tuesday’s arraignment.
“These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are,” Bragg said. “We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.
“Bragg said the case, “like so many of our white-collar cases,” alleges that “someone lied again and again to protect their interests and evade the laws to which we are all held accountable.”
Bragg claimed Trump and his associates attempted to withhold negative information about him in a “catch-and-kill scheme” meant to bolster his candidacy for president.
“The evidence will show that Trump lied … to cover up crimes related to the 2016 presidential election,” Bragg said.
The payments to Michael Cohen were meant to “hide damaging information from the voting public,” he added.
When asked why his office was pursuing the case now, Bragg said there is more evidence in hand than his predecessor had.
Apr 04, 4:18 PM EDT
Dispute over possible trial date
Prosecutors asked for a trial date in January 2024.
Donald Trump’s legal team called that timeline “too aggressive” and suggested spring 2024 as an alternative.
Judge Juan Merchan did not weigh in.
Trump’s next in-person court appearance is set for Dec. 4. The defense counsel asked the judge to waive Trump’s appearance.
The judge acknowledged that Tuesday’s hearing was a “huge undertaking,” but said he would not immediately excuse Trump’s appearance, and said he would deny for the time being the defense counsel’s request “in the interest of transparency.”
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin and Laura Romero
Apr 04, 3:44 PM EDT
Indictment unsealed
The indictment against former President Donald Trump has been unsealed.
Prosecutors allege Trump “employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects,” and “went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”
Prosecutors allege, “In one instance, American Media Inc. (‘AMI’), paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman, who claimed to have a story about a child TRUMP had out of wedlock,” though the story wasn’t true.
“The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “The trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the People allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws.”
Apr 04, 3:29 PM EDT
Trump leaves courtroom
Former President Donald Trump left the courtroom at 3:25 p.m., nearly one hour after entering the room at 2:28 p.m.
Apr 04, 3:28 PM EDT
Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts
Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, according to a source in the courtroom. Trump entered the not guilty plea himself, sources said.
Trump waited in the courtroom for at least five minutes before Judge Juan Merchan arrived, and rose when the judge said, “all rise.”
“Let’s arraign Mr. Trump, please,” Merchan said.
Trump spoke quietly when he addressed the judge, including when he entered his not guilty plea.
Prosecutors asked for a protective order on the discovery materials, which would prevent Trump from disseminating those records.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s new defense attorney, at one point said, “I didn’t realize we were going to be giving opening statements.”
Blanche said Trump was “frustrated” and “upset” and had a right to express his views publicly.
The judge said he was not going to enact a gag order.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Olivia Rubin, Laura Romero and John Santucci
Apr 04, 2:41 PM EDT
Photo released of Trump at arraignment
A photo has been released of former President Donald Trump sitting between his attorneys at the defense table.
Still cameras were permitted to take photos in the courtroom before the hearing began, but Judge Juan Merchan barred video cameras from the proceedings.
Former President Donald Trump has entered a Manhattan courtroom for an unprecedented arraignment.
Trump didn’t speak to the press as he headed into the courtroom at 2:28 p.m., nearly one hour after he entered the courthouse at 1:23 p.m.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was brought into the courtroom before him, escorted in under the protection of officers.
Apr 04, 2:16 PM EDT
Trump processed, fingerprints taken
Former President Donald Trump has been processed as a criminal defendant, including having his fingerprints taken.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
Apr 04, 1:38 PM EDT
Trump posts while en route to court: ‘Can’t believe this is happening’
Former President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social while on his way to the Manhattan courthouse, saying that it “seems so SURREAL.”
“WOW, they are going to ARREST ME,” he wrote. “Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Apr 04, 1:35 PM EDT
Trump surrenders
Former President Donald Trump has surrendered at court in lower Manhattan for arraignment on criminal charges.
He traveled in a black SUV with his Secret Service detail. His two lawyers, Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles, were in another SUV.
The motorcade passed a man holding a sign reading, “No one is above the law.”
Although the document remains sealed, sources familiar told ABC News that Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies.
Still cameras will be permitted inside the courtroom to take photos before the hearing begins, but Judge Juan Merchan has barred video cameras from the proceedings.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is expected to address the media after Trump’s arraignment.
Apr 04, 1:09 PM EDT
Trump en route to courthouse
Former President Donald Trump has left Trump Tower and is now in a motorcade to a lower Manhattan courthouse to be arraigned.
Apr 04, 12:49 PM EDT
George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene outside courthouse
Protesters from both sides are gathering outside at Collect Pond Park, some with flags reading “Trump or Death.” Hundreds of people are inside the barricaded park, with pro-Trump supporters outnumbering the anti-Trump protesters and competing voices trading barbs and shouts.
Republican Reps. George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among the 50 to 60 Trump supporters at the scene.
Greene spoke outside the courthouse calling Trump’s indictment “election interference.”
She accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being a “tool for Democrats” to “hijack the 2024 presidential election.”
“Every single American should be concerned. They’re coming after President Trump today, they will come after you tomorrow. President Trump did nothing wrong,” she said.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who was also outside the courthouse, pushed back, shouting at Greene, “She should not be here.”
The streets surrounding the New York Criminal Court are largely blocked off. A robust police presence is busily shepherding onlookers past a row of television cameras.
Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., plan to attend Trump’s Tuesday night speech at Mar-a-Lago, aides told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Lauren Peller, Will Steakin and Jay O’Brien
Apr 04, 12:13 PM EDT
Trump spends morning working phones, speaking to aides and allies: Sources
Former President Donald Trump spent Monday night and Tuesday morning huddled with his legal team at Trump Tower preparing for his arraignment, sources told ABC News.
Trump was up early Tuesday morning working the phones and speaking to aides and allies ahead of his Tuesday afternoon arraignment, sources said.
Trump is expected to enter his not guilty plea himself, not through his lawyers, sources said. Trump’s legal team has still not seen the indictment or been informed of the charges, according to sources, who told ABC News the legal team expects to see it just minutes before the arraignment begins.
One person described Trump as “upbeat” and “relatively excited.” Another person said Trump is “not angry” and is resigned to the fact that this day has finally come.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
Apr 04, 11:21 AM EDT
Trump slams judge ahead of arraignment
Former President Donald Trump lashed out at the judge expected to preside over his arraignment in a Tuesday morning post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump attacked the judge and his family, without naming them, claiming they are known Trump haters, and claiming a potential trial would not be fair.
The former president has repeatedly gone after the judge and the Manhattan district attorney on social media in the days leading up to Tuesday’s arraignment.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Apr 04, 11:02 AM EDT
George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene outside courthouse
Former President Donald Trump isn’t expected in lower Manhattan for another few hours, but the circus outside the courthouse is well underway.
Protesters from both sides are gathering outside at Collect Pond Park, some with flags reading “Trump or Death.”
Republican Reps. George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among the 50 to 60 Trump supporters at the scene.
The streets surrounding the New York Criminal Court are largely blocked off. A robust police presence is busily shepherding onlookers past a row of television cameras.
Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., plan to attend Trump’s Tuesday night speech at Mar-a-Lago, aides told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Will Steakin and Jay O’Brien
Apr 04, 7:36 AM EDT
‘There will be no guilty plea,’ Trump’s lawyer says
Just hours before Donald Trump was expected to turn himself in to New York City authorities to face criminal charges, his lawyer Joe Tacopina insisted Friday that the former president will not be pleading guilty.
“Really, there’s a lot of mystery here because we’re doing something that’s never been done before,” Tacopina told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America.
“One thing I can assure you as I sit here today is there will be no guilty plea in this case,” he added. “That is one thing I can guarantee you.”
Tacopina said Trump won’t be put in handcuffs but “he’ll be processed the way anyone else would be, to a degree — again, with Secret Service involvement.”
“I think there will be a typical processing, which does not take long — 20, 30 minutes,” he said. “And then we’ll appear before a judge, you know, deal with a couple issues right off the bat and it won’t be a long day in court.”
That’s when authorities will unseal Trump’s indictment, revealing the exact charges against him.
“They have not shared it with us, won’t share it with us until it’s unsealed,” Tacopina said. “But we know the basis of the indictment and the factual allegations in the indictment.”
Trump’s defense team plans to make “a lot of motions” once they see the indictment, according to Tacopina.
“I don’t think this case is going to see a jury. I think it’s going to go away on papers,” he said. “I think there’s a legal challenge that will be made and should be made successfully.”
When asked about speculation that the judge might impose a gag order, Tacopina said there was “no indication” of that.
“It can’t happen in this case,” he added. “The defendant is the leading Republican candidate for the office of the president of the United States and will be campaigning. Hard to put a gag order when he’s going to be fielding questions about his current legal situation.”
After court, Trump plans to travel back to Palm Beach, Florida, where he will make a statement at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to Tacopina.
Trump’s attorney talks how he will fight criminal charges
Following Donald Trump’s unprecedented indictment by a Manhattan grand jury last Thursday, the former president begins the first steps in the criminal justice process.
Trump surrenders to authorities
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it has been in contact with Trump’s lawyers to arrange his surrender to authorities in order to begin criminal proceedings.
Trump, a Florida resident, traveled to New York City on Monday and spent the night at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan before his arraignment in lower Manhattan on Tuesday. The former president must adhere to the court’s deadline and be processed by authorities before heading to court for the unsealing of the indictment.
Trump is processed by authorities
Processing typically involves being fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot, but experts say those may not occur in Trump’s case because the former president is not a flight risk. Similarly, Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC News last Friday that the former “president will not be put in handcuffs.”
It is also unlikely that Trump will be publicly transported to the courtroom by police, according to Cheryl Bader, an associate clinical professor of law at Fordham University in New York City.
“With white-collar crime, we see that a lot of [suspects] have the privilege of being able to turn themselves in instead of being arrested and put in handcuffs,” Bader told ABC News during a recent interview.
Trump appears in court, makes plea
During the court appearance, which typically takes place in a courtroom without cameras in New York state, the former president will be read his charges and ordered to make a plea. Trump and his lawyers have indicated they intend to fight the indictment in court.
Following his plea, the judge will have the right to remand Trump on bail or release him on his own recognizance before adjourning for a future date. Bader said that judges rarely order suspects in white-collar crimes to be held in jail before their trial, and she expected that the judge will release Trump after the hearing.
In some cases, especially if the suspect is a flight risk, a judge may place restrictions on the suspect such as holding onto their passport, but Bader said it is unclear if the judge will go that far.
Judge hears motions, sets next court date
Following the judge’s order, Trump’s lawyers will have the opportunity to review the indictment charges and make motions regarding the case, including seeking to have the charges dismissed or evidence suppressed, or requesting a change of venue.
Several pre-trial hearings and motions are expected in the case, as Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly made claims that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation is a political attack, according to Bader.
“I’m sure the case is going to be very litigated and take a lot of time to wind its way through the system,” Bader told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Ivan Pereira and Will Steakin
Apr 03, 10:16 PM EDT
Judge issues decision on cameras in court Tuesday
Judge Juan Merchan will allow five pool still photographers to snap for several minutes before the arraignment formally starts, according to a decision issued Monday night.
No video cameras will be allowed, though Judge Merchan conceded, “That this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance cannot possibly be disputed. Never in the history of the United States has a sitting or past President been indicted on criminal charges.”
The judge said he needed to balance other interests.
No electronic devices will be allowed in either the main or overflow courtrooms, the judge ruled.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Apr 03, 4:25 PM EDT
Trump arrives at Trump Tower
Former President Donald Trump has arrived at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan where he’ll spend the night Monday before his arraignment in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.
Trump briefly waved as he departed his motorcade and walked into the side entrance of the building on 56th Street Monday afternoon.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
Apr 03, 3:41 PM EDT
Biden says he has faith in legal system, not worried about unrest
President Joe Biden said Monday he has faith in the legal system as he made his most extensive comments yet on former President Donald Trump’s indictment.
While touring a manufacturing facility in Minnesota, a reporter asked Biden if he was worried about unrest, and the president replied, “No. I have faith in the New York Police Department.”
Asked if he has faith in the legal system at this point, the president responded, “Yes.”
On Friday, in an exchange with reporters outside the White House, Biden repeatedly declined to comment on the indictment.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Apr 03, 3:37 PM EDT
Trump lands in New York City
Former President Donald Trump has just touched down in New York, ahead of his arraignment Tuesday.
Trump’s plane landed at LaGuardia Airport, and is now expected to head to Trump Tower.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
Apr 03, 1:50 PM EDT
Trump opposes cameras in court
Former President Donald Trump on Monday opposed the presence of cameras in the courtroom for his Tuesday arraignment.
“It will create a circus-like atmosphere at the arraignment, raise unique security concerns, and is inconsistent with President Trump’s presumption of innocence,” Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles said.
A coalition of news organizations, including ABC News, has filed motions with the court, seeking access to cover and record the hearing Tuesday.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to take a position on the matter.
Judge Juan Merchan has not yet ruled.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
Apr 03, 1:18 PM EDT
Trump expands legal team with top white-collar defense attorney
Former President Donald Trump is expanding his legal team, hiring a former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense attorney to lead his defense ahead of Tuesday’s arraignment, sources said.
Todd Blanche, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, recently resigned from his law firm to take on this new role, according to sources. Blanche has represented high-profile clients like Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and Igor Fruman, an ex-associate to Rudy Giuliani.
Blanche is expected to travel with Trump from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan to the courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, the sources said. Blanche didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
-ABC News’ John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
Apr 03, 1:00 PM EDT
Trump en route to New York
Former President Donald Trump has departed Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport bound for New York City.
Dozens of Trump supporters lined the streets to cheer the former president on as his motorcade headed to the airport.
Some wore shirts saying, “Trump did nothing wrong.”
“People want to support [Trump] because, basically, they see him as an underdog at this point, and which he is,” Whit Taylor told ABC News as he watched the motorcade. “He’s being harassed and pushed around by people who are just haters. I mean that’s the bottom line — they just hate people.”
Trump is expected to stay in Manhattan Monday night before appearing in court for an arraignment on Tuesday.
Apr 03, 12:38 PM EDT
No specific credible threat in NYC, mayor says
As New York City gears up for former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams said “there has been no specific credible threat.”
“All New Yorkers should go on with their regular activities” on Tuesday, Adams said at a news conference Monday, adding that New Yorkers should expect “some disruptions,” including traffic and street closures.
New Yorkers may also see an additional police presence, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. She encouraged people to use mass transit when possible.
Sewell said any protests should be peaceful and orderly.
The mayor warned that violence and vandalism won’t be tolerated, and said anyone caught participating in violence will be arrested.
Adams called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who said she’s planning to come to New York to support Trump, urging her and others to “be on your best behavior.”
Apr 03, 6:32 AM EDT
Poll shows plurality of the public supports Trump indictment
A plurality of Americans think former President Donald Trump should have been charged by a Manhattan grand jury with a history-making indictment.
According to the poll, 45% think Trump should have been charged with a crime in this case, whereas 32% don’t think so and 23% say they don’t know.
Democrats are, unsurprisingly, rallying behind the grand jury’s decision.
Almost nine in 10 Democrats (88%) think Trump should have been charged in the investigation by the Manhattan D.A., which has been probing a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels who alleges the two had an affair. Trump has long denied these claims.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
Apr 03, 6:01 AM EDT
‘I just don’t know what to expect to see,’ Trump’s lawyer says
Donald Trump’s lawyer doesn’t know what to expect when the former president is arraigned on Tuesday in New York City given the historic nature of Trump’s indictment, he said on Sunday.
“This is unprecedented. I don’t know. I’ve done a million arraignments in that courthouse with celebrities and whatnot. But this is a whole different thing. We have Secret Service involved. I understand they’re closing the courthouse for the afternoon. I just don’t know what to expect to see,” Joe Tacopina told ABC This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“What I hope is that we get in and out of there as quickly as possible, that it’s, at the end of the day, a typical arraignment where we stand before the judge, we say ‘not guilty,’ we set schedules to file motions and whatnot or discovery, and we move forward and get out of there,” Tacopina said.
-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod
Apr 03, 5:26 AM EDT
Trump expected to travel to New York on Monday
Former President Donald Trump is expected to travel to New York on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
He is expected to appear in court on Tuesday at the earliest, the sources said, on what is expected to be around two dozen counts – including felonies.
The exact charges are unknown since the indictment will not be unsealed until Trump appears in court.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Katherine Faulders, John Santucci
Apr 02, 11:09 AM EDT
Trump to speak at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday night
Following his expected arraignment on Tuesday in New York City, former President Donald Trump announced he would speak that evening from Mar-a-Lago.
The former president is slated to give remarks at 8:15 p.m., according to a press release.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
Apr 02, 10:33 AM EDT
America split on Trump indictment: Poll
While 45% of Americans believe former President Donald Trump should face charges in an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, 32% say he shouldn’t have been indicted, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Another 23% of American say they don’t know whether the nation’s 45th president should face charges.
While the charges have not been announced, a Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump had been hearing evidence in a $130,000 hush money payment Trump allegedly made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims they had an affair. Trump has denied the allegations.
The poll showed a split in opinions along party lines. While 88% of Democrats said Trump should face charges, 62%, of Republicans said the former president should not have been charged while 16% said he should be charged, and the remainder was uncertain.
About 47% of Americans polled say the charges are politically motivated, echoing the sentiment from top GOP figures. About 79% of Republicans hold that view.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
Mar 31, 6:08 PM EDT
Why Trump indictment might hinge on a ‘novel legal theory’
As legal experts speculate on what charges lay inside the sealed indictment ahead of former President Donald Trump’s expected surrender on Tuesday afternoon, many predict that prosecutors could try out a new legal theory to justify bringing the charges.
“This could be a novel legal theory,” said Kate Shaw, a law professor at Cardozo and ABC News contributor, speculating on what charges the public could see against Trump while stressing it’s unknown until the indictment is unsealed.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Mar 31, 5:31 PM EDT
Trump faces around 2 dozen counts, including felonies, sources say
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies, sources familiar with the sealed indictment told ABC News.
The exact charges remain unknown since the indictment will not be unsealed until Trump appears in court on Tuesday.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Mar 31, 4:51 PM EDT
Senate sergeant at arms warns of potential demonstration activity
The Senate sergeant at arms is warning of potential demonstration activity related to the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
“While law enforcement is not tracking any specific, credible threats against the Capitol or state offices, there is potential for demonstration activity,” an email obtained by ABC News said.
Capitol Police “is working with law enforcement partners, so you may observe a greater law enforcement presence on Capitol Hill,” the email said, adding that there could be “nationwide impacts to Senate state offices.”
The Capitol Police declined to comment and the sergeant at arms didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Mar 31, 12:56 PM EDT
Ivanka Trump speaks out
Former President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, reacted to the indictment on Instagram Friday, writing, “I love my father, and I love my country. Today, I am pained for both.”
She added, “I appreciate the voices across the political spectrum expressing support and concern.”
Mar 31, 12:30 PM EDT
How DA could use hush money payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal to bolster Trump case
Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News the Manhattan district attorney’s office is also investigating a $150,000 payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who, like Stormy Daniels, claimed to have had an affair with Donald Trump.
The former president has denied having an affair with either woman and has called the investigation a witch hunt.
McDougal was paid for the rights to her story in August 2016 by American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, which did not publish it, a practice known as catch and kill.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, has said he recorded Trump discussing reimbursement to American Media for the payment to McDougal, but the payment was never made.
Trump has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment but in a 2018 interview with Fox News, he claimed he wasn’t aware of any payment made to AMI to facilitate the alleged hush agreement.
Mar 31, 12:27 PM EDT
Judge signs order allowing DA to publicly acknowledge indictment
Judge Juan Merchan has signed this order allowing the Manhattan district attorney’s office to publicly acknowledge the indictment.
The People v Donald J Trump. This is the order allowing the DA to publicly acknowledge the indictment pic.twitter.com/leg9vDascr
(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 04, 3:35 PM EDT
US ‘working diligently’ to get WSJ reporter consular access: White House
The U.S. is continuing to push for consular access for Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Tuesday, adding that “this is a priority” for President Joe Biden.
Asked how worrying it was the U.S. still didn’t have consular access, Jean-Pierre said, “We’re concerned.”
“We’re taking this very seriously,” Jean-Pierre said, pointing to Secretary Antony Blinken’s conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over the weekend. “We’re working diligently, very hard to get a counselor to Evan.”
Jean-Pierre declined to say whether the U.S. was close to determining that Gershkovich was being “wrongfully detained” or provide a timeline of when that determination may happen, saying the State Department’s process “is currently ongoing.” That classification would allow the federal government to use more resources to try to free him.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Apr 04, 12:05 PM EDT
US announces $2.6B in new security aid for Ukraine
The Pentagon announced $2.6 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday.
The aid will come in two forms: a $500 million presidential drawdown authority package pulling from existing U.S. stockpiles (the 35th such package for Ukraine); and $2.1 billion from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds to procure new equipment.
Both the PDA and USAI packages are largely focused on providing munitions for Ukraine, including additional Patriot air-defense missiles and HIMARS ammunition. They also include anti-drone weapons, vehicles, communications equipment, spare parts and more.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Apr 03, 10:21 PM EDT
At least 501 children killed, almost 1,000 injured since February 2022: UNICEF chief
At least 501 children have been killed and almost 1,000 others injured since February 2022, Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, tweeted Monday.
“Another tragic milestone for Ukraine’s children and families,” she wrote, adding: “This is just the UN verified number. The real figure is likely far higher, and the toll on families affected is unimaginable.”
Apr 03, 1:45 PM EDT
Russia to arrest anyone who supports ICC warrant for Putin
The Russian State Duma will arrest anyone who agrees with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing him of committing war crimes, the State Duma said on its official Telegram channel Monday.
Russia will imprison those who “call for the implementation of the decision” of the International Criminal Court “on the arrest of Vladimir Putin accused of war crimes,” the State Duma of the Russian Federation said.
“The profile committees of the State Duma are preparing amendments to the Federal Law ‘On Security,’ which will prohibit the activities of the International Criminal Court and international bodies directed against the Russian Federation on our territory and its citizens,” Chairman of State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in March, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy
Apr 03, 5:11 AM EDT
Suspect arrested in St. Petersburg explosion, report says
A suspect in a St. Petersburg cafe blast that killed a Russian military blogger on Sunday has been arrested, Inferfax reported.
The Russian Investigative Committee said on Telegram that Darya Trepova was arrested on suspicion of involvement, the Russian wire service reported.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Apr 02, 5:21 PM EDT
Russia to move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus’ western border
Russia plans to move tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus to the country’s western borders, Boris Gryzlov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, said Sunday.
Gryzlov’s announcement comes just three days after Russia and the United States clashed in the United Nations over the Kremlin’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. U.S. officials denounced the move as a desperate attempt by Russia to avoid military defeat and “threaten the world with nuclear apocalypse.”
Gryzlov said in an address aired on the Belarusian STV channel that tactical nuclear weapons “will be moved to the western borders of our Union State and will increase the possibilities for ensuring our security.”
The western border of Belarus is shared by Poland, a NATO country supporting Ukraine. Russian forces have used Belarus as a staging ground for the war in Ukraine.
“This will be done despite the noise in Europe and the United States,” Gryzlov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the decision and slammed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, saying he “no longer decides which weapons are on his territory.”
“And does (Vladimir) Putin threaten the world? Of course, if Ukraine does not resist, it will fall, Putin will move on, we have emphasized this many times,” Zelenskyy said. “With the help of our friends and partners, our army will stand firm and win what is rightfully ours. Victory and our independence.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka that killed six people and injured at least 11.
In an address to his country Sunday night, Zelenskyy called Russia an “evil state” for targeting residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with long-range missiles.
“The evil state must be defeated,” Zelenskyy said.
Kostiantynivka, which is close to Bakhmut, is being used as a second-line staging area for Ukrainian troops holding the line on that part of the front.
Zelenskyy said the fighting in Bakhmut was “especially hot” on Sunday.
He predicted a day would come when Ukraine will “celebrate the last Russians being killed or driven out of currently Russian occupied territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Oblasts, as well as Crimea.”
A top Russian pro-war blogger has been killed in a bomb attack on a cafe in Russia, according to police.
The explosion on Sunday tore through a cafe in St. Petersburg, killing Vladlen Tatarsky, one of the best-known of the Russian military bloggers who have become influential during the war in Ukraine.
At least 30 other people were injured in the blast, according to the Ministry of Health. Video circulating online appeared to capture the aftermath, showing bloodied people emerging from the heavily damaged cafe.
The Russian Interior Ministry said an explosion has occurred in a cafe on the city’s Universitetskaya Embankment.
“One person was killed in the incident, it was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, the Russian Interior Ministry press center told reporters on Sunday.
Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, issued a statement describing Tatarsky as “a great patriot” of the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and Russia. Pushilin blamed the attack on the Kyiv regime, calling it a terrorist regime.
“A man with a difficult fate, Vladlen earned the respect of his comrades-in-arms because he lived and worked for the sake of truth and justice, for the sake of victory,” Pushilin said of Tatarsky. “He managed to fight, and in the status of a military correspondent to make his contribution.”
Pushilin said Tatarsky was to be awarded a medal “for the liberation of Mariupol” in eastern Ukraine.
It was the most serious bomb attack on a pro-war Russian figure inside Russia since the high-profile assassination of the Daria Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing last year.
Tatarsky was a Russian ultra-nationalist and one of the best-known military bloggers, who strongly supported the war in Ukraine. He had also criticized the execution of the war by Russia’s military command.
Tatarsky had become a significant source of information for how the war was being fought on the Russian side.
His killing will likely set off speculation on whether Ukraine or Russia was behind his killing, similar to the Dugina episode.
In the Dugina case, U.S. intelligence sources eventually told The New York Times that Ukraine was behind the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka that killed six people and injured at least 11.
In an address to his country Sunday night, Zelenskyy called Russia an “evil state” for targeting residential buildings in Kostiantynivka with long-range missiles.
“The evil state must be defeated,” Zelenskyy said.
Kostiantynivka, which is close to Bakhmut, is being used as a second-line staging area for Ukrainian troops holding the line on that part of the front.
Zelenskyy said the fighting in Bakhmut was “especially hot” on Sunday.
He predicted a day would come when Ukraine will “celebrate the last Russians being killed or driven out of currently Russian occupied territories, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Oblasts, as well as Crimea.”
A top Russian pro-war blogger has been killed in a bomb attack on a cafe in Russia, according to police.
The explosion on Sunday tore through a cafe in St. Petersburg, killing Vadim Tatarsky, one of the best-known of the Russian military bloggers who have become influential during the war in Ukraine.
At least 16 other people were injured in the blast, according to Russian police. Video circulating online appeared to capture the aftermath, showing bloodied people emerging from the heavily damaged cafe.
The Russian Interior Ministry said an explosion has occurred in a cafe on the city’s Universitetskaya Embankment.
“One person was killed in the incident, it was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky. Sixteen people were injured and are being examined by medics,” the Russian Interior Ministry press center told reporters on Sunday.
It was the most serious bomb attack on a pro-war Russian figure inside Russia since the high-profile assassination of the Daria Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing last year.
Tatarsky was a Russian ultra-nationalist and one of the best-known military bloggers, who strongly supported the war in Ukraine. He had also criticized the execution of the war by Russia’s military command.
Tatarsky had become a significant source of information for how the war was being fought on the Russian side.
His killing will likely set off speculation on whether Ukraine or Russia was behind his killing, similar to the Dugina episode.
In the Dugina case, U.S. intelligence sources eventually told The New York Times that Ukraine was behind the attack.
At least six civilians were killed and eight others were injured Sunday when Russian missiles slammed into houses and apartment buildings in an eastern Ukrainian city, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack occurred in downtown Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the site of the war’s fiercest fighting.
Andriy Yermak, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said at least six people were killed in the attack.
Three Russian S-300 long-range missiles and four other rockets hit homes and apartment buildings in Kostiantynivka, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor.
Kostiantynivka is about eight miles west of the embattled town of Bakhmut, currently the main hotspot of the war.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko
Apr 02, 11:33 AM EDT
Blinken speaks to Russian counterpart about arrested US journalist
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Kremlin to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a phone call Sunday with his Russian counterpart, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, conveying the United States’ “grave concern” over the “unacceptable detention” of a U.S. citizen, according to Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department.
“The secretary called for his immediate release. Secretary Blinken further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan,” said Patel, referring to the American held in Russia on espionage charges since 2018.
According to a read out of the phone call released by the Kremlin, Lavrov emphasized that Gershkovich “was taken red-handed while trying to obtain classified information, collecting data constituting a state secret under the guise of journalistic status.”
“In the light of the established facts of illegal activity of a U.S. citizen, of whose detention the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was notified in accordance with the established procedure, his further fate will be determined by the court,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin said that during the conversation, Lavrov emphasized officials in Washington and the Western media are “escalating the hype with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring.”
Blinken and Lavrov also spoke of the “importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work,” according to Patel.
Apr 02, 9:27 AM EDT
World media groups demand Kremlin release Wall Street Journal reporter
More than three dozen of the world’s top news media organizations are calling on Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The news groups joined the Wall Street Journal and the Committee to Protect Journalists, in penning a letter to Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, writing Gershkovich’s “is a journalist, not a spy.” The media organizations — including the Associated Press, New York Times, the Washington Post and The Times of London — wrote that Kershkovich’s “unwarranted and unjust arrest” represents “a significant escalation” of anti-press actions by the Russian government.
“Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalized and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law,” the letter reads.
The media groups urged Russia to immediately give Gershkovich access to a lawyer hired by the Wall Street Journal and allow him to communicate with his family.
The Kremlin has yet to publicly respond to the letter.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 31, 1:09 PM EDT
Finland set to join NATO in ‘coming days,’ Stoltenberg says
Finland will formally join NATO in the “coming days,” after the country was able to clear its final hurdle, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“Their membership will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities and strong democratic institutions. So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” Stoltenberg said in a statement Friday.
Turkey was the last of the 30 NATO allies to approve Finland’s bid to join the alliance.
Mar 30, 4:22 PM EDT
6 missiles fired at Kharkiv
Russia just struck Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine with multiple missiles, Ukrainian officials said Thursday night.
Local officials in Kharkiv said Russia fired six Soviet-era S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
ABC News reporters heard explosions outside the city center and saw Ukrainian air defense active just before and during the attacks.
There are currently no reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the strikes in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
There are also reports of Russian strikes in the Dnipro region.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Mar 30, 1:37 PM EDT
Russia to enlist 147,000 soldiers in April
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday ordering a spring conscription. Russia will call up 147,000 people to join the Russian Armed Forces from April 1 to April 15.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Mar 30, 11:10 AM EDT
Russia preparing to start another soldier recruitment, UK says
Russian media reporting suggests authorities are preparing to start a major military recruitment aiming to sign up an additional 400,000 troops, the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry assessed.
Russia is presenting the campaign as a drive for volunteer, professional personnel, rather than a new, mandatory mobilization. There is a realistic possibility that in practice this distinction will be blurred, and that regional authorities will try to meet their allocated recruitment targets by coercing men to join up, UK officials said.
Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly ‘volunteer model’ to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimize domestic dissent. It is highly unlikely that the campaign will attract 400,000 genuine volunteers, according to UK officials.
However, rebuilding Russia’s combat power in Ukraine will require more than just personnel; Russia needs more munitions and military equipment supplies than it currently has available, UK officials said.
Mar 30, 6:22 AM EDT WSJ ‘vehemently denies’ spying allegation against reporter
The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that it “vehemently denies” the spying allegations brought by Russia’s intelligence service against its reporter.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” a spokesperson for the WSJ said in a statement to ABC News. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”
Mar 30, 4:24 AM EDT WSJ reporter detained in Russia on spying charge
Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said on Thursday it had detained a journalist working for The Wall Street Journal on spying charges.
Russian state media cited an FSB statement saying Evan Gershkovich was detained in Ekaterinburg, a city in central Russia, and accusing him of collecting “state secrets” on an enterprise belonging to Russia’s military industrial complex on behalf of the United States.
A criminal case has been opened against him, the officials said.
“It is established that Evan Gershkovich, acting on the instruction of the American side, was collecting information consisting of state secrets, about the activity of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex. He was arrested in Ekaterinburg during an attempt to receive secret information,” Russian media said, quoting FSB officials.
Earlier reports from local media said that Gershkovich had been in Ekaterinburg reporting on the Wagner private military company.
Gershkovich is a reporter for the WSJ covering Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. He previously reported for Agence France-Presse and The Moscow Times, according to his WSJ profile. He also served as a news assistant at The New York Times.
Mar 28, 4:45 PM EDT
US will support special tribunal to try ‘crime of aggression’ against Russia
The U.S. will support the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute top Kremlin officials for Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, State Department officials said Tuesday, marking a significant shift for the Biden administration and a notable step toward outlining what accountability on the international stage might look like after the conflict.
A department spokesperson said the administration envisioned the tribunal would take the form of an international court that is “rooted in Ukraine’s judicial system” but ideally located in another European country.
The spokesperson added that such a mechanism would work to “facilitate broader international support and demonstrate Ukraine’s leadership in ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression” as well as “maximize the chances of achieving meaningful accountability for the crime of aggression.”
Ukraine and other Western countries have long called for a special tribunal, but until now, the U.S. has not publicly declared if it would support the creation of a new structure.
Mar 27, 12:21 PM EDT
Two dead, 29 hurt in Russian missile strike on Sloviansk
At least two people were killed and 29 were injured Monday morning when a pair of long-range Russian missiles slammed into buildings in a city in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
The two S-300 Russian missiles hit administrative and office buildings, and private homes in Sloviansk, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor.
Sloviansk is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where heavy fighting has been waged since the start of the war.
The missiles struck the city around 10:30 a.m. local time, Kyrylenko said.
He said the town of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region was also targeted in Monday’s missile attacks. Kyrylenko said a Russian missile “almost completely destroyed” an orphanage in Druzhkivka, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
“Another day that began with terrorism by the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine “will not forgive the torturing of our people.”
“All Russian terrorists will be defeated,” Zelenskyy said. “Everyone involved in this aggression will be held to account.”
Mar 26, 1:47 PM EDT
Ukrainian drone injures 3 inside Russia
Three people were injured in an explosion in the Kireevsky district of the Tula region on Sunday, Yekaterina Makarova, press secretary of the region’s Ministry of Health, told Interfax.
Russian authorities and law enforcement agencies said a Ukrainian drone with ammunition caused the explosion in the town far from the two countries’ border.
Kireevsk is about 180 miles from the border with Ukraine and 110 miles south of Moscow.
The Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Latvia-based Russian news outlet Meduza reported that the blast left a crater about 50 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep.
(GENEVA) — A new report published Monday by the World Health Organization found that a large number of adults — nearly 1 in 6 worldwide — are affected by infertility in their lifetime.
The WHO said that the new finding emphasizes the “urgent need to increase access to affordable, high-quality fertility care,” according to a press release.
The organization also reported that the new estimates found there is “limited variation” in the prevalence of infertility between regions and that rates are comparable among all countries and income levels.
Previous research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that 1 in 5 women in the United States, ages 15 to 49 years old with no prior births, are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying, which is considered infertility.
Both men and women can contribute to infertility.
Infertility expert Dr. Asima Ahmad is the chief medical officer and co-founder of Carrot Fertility. She said the new WHO report did not surprise her and that the number may be actually higher than reported.
“Previously, it was reported that 1 in 8 people experience infertility, but I have always thought that the true number was higher,” Ahmad told ABC News, adding that the WHO study only reported on female-male relationships with unprotected intercourse for one year without pregnancy, and that when same-sex couples, single-intending parents, or other individuals are factored in, the number of those seeking and needing fertility care is much higher.
She also stressed the importance of noting that while the “prevalence” of infertility is similar among countries, studying access to care in those countries is far more important.
“It’s also important to note that fertility care can be complex in many parts of the world,” she said. “Different countries and regions have varying laws and regulations around fertility care, which can make it even more complicated for individuals to access the treatments they need.”
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has arrived at a New York City courthouse for an arraignment after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week.
He is the first former U.S. president to be indicted. Although the document remains sealed, sources familiar told ABC News that Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 04, 1:35 PM EDT
Trump surrenders
Former President Donald Trump has surrendered at court in lower Manhattan for arraignment on criminal charges.
He traveled in a black SUV with his Secret Service detail. His two lawyers, Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles, were in another SUV.
The motorcade passed a man holding a sign reading, “No one is above the law.”
Although the document remains sealed, sources familiar told ABC News that Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies.
Still cameras will be permitted inside the courtroom to take photos before the hearing begins, but Judge Juan Merchan has barred video cameras from the proceedings.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is expected to address the media after Trump’s arraignment.
Apr 04, 1:09 PM EDT
Trump en route to courthouse
Former President Donald Trump has left Trump Tower and is now in a motorcade to a lower Manhattan courthouse to be arraigned.
Apr 04, 12:49 PM EDT
George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene outside courthouse
Protesters from both sides are gathering outside at Collect Pond Park, some with flags reading “Trump or Death.” Hundreds of people are inside the barricaded park, with pro-Trump supporters outnumbering the anti-Trump protesters and competing voices trading barbs and shouts.
Republican Reps. George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among the 50 to 60 Trump supporters at the scene.
Greene spoke outside the courthouse calling Trump’s indictment “election interference.”
She accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being a “tool for Democrats” to “hijack the 2024 presidential election.”
“Every single American should be concerned. They’re coming after President Trump today, they will come after you tomorrow. President Trump did nothing wrong,” she said.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who was also outside the courthouse, pushed back, shouting at Greene, “She should not be here.”
The streets surrounding the New York Criminal Court are largely blocked off. A robust police presence is busily shepherding onlookers past a row of television cameras.
Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., plan to attend Trump’s Tuesday night speech at Mar-a-Lago, aides told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Lauren Peller, Will Steakin and Jay O’Brien
Apr 04, 12:13 PM EDT
Trump spends morning working phones, speaking to aides and allies: Sources
Former President Donald Trump spent Monday night and Tuesday morning huddled with his legal team at Trump Tower preparing for his arraignment, sources told ABC News.
Trump was up early Tuesday morning working the phones and speaking to aides and allies ahead of his Tuesday afternoon arraignment, sources said.
Trump is expected to enter his not guilty plea himself, not through his lawyers, sources said. Trump’s legal team has still not seen the indictment or been informed of the charges, according to sources, who told ABC News the legal team expects to see it just minutes before the arraignment begins.
One person described Trump as “upbeat” and “relatively excited.” Another person said Trump is “not angry” and is resigned to the fact that this day has finally come.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
Apr 04, 11:21 AM EDT
Trump slams judge ahead of arraignment
Former President Donald Trump lashed out at the judge expected to preside over his arraignment in a Tuesday morning post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump attacked the judge and his family, without naming them, claiming they are known Trump haters, and claiming a potential trial would not be fair.
The former president has repeatedly gone after the judge and the Manhattan district attorney on social media in the days leading up to Tuesday’s arraignment.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Apr 04, 11:02 AM EDT
George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene outside courthouse
Former President Donald Trump isn’t expected in lower Manhattan for another few hours, but the circus outside the courthouse is well underway.
Protesters from both sides are gathering outside at Collect Pond Park, some with flags reading “Trump or Death.”
Republican Reps. George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among the 50 to 60 Trump supporters at the scene.
The streets surrounding the New York Criminal Court are largely blocked off. A robust police presence is busily shepherding onlookers past a row of television cameras.
Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., plan to attend Trump’s Tuesday night speech at Mar-a-Lago, aides told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Will Steakin and Jay O’Brien
Apr 04, 7:36 AM EDT
‘There will be no guilty plea,’ Trump’s lawyer says
Just hours before Donald Trump was expected to turn himself in to New York City authorities to face criminal charges, his lawyer Joe Tacopina insisted Friday that the former president will not be pleading guilty.
“Really, there’s a lot of mystery here because we’re doing something that’s never been done before,” Tacopina told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America.
“One thing I can assure you as I sit here today is there will be no guilty plea in this case,” he added. “That is one thing I can guarantee you.”
Tacopina said Trump won’t be put in handcuffs but “he’ll be processed the way anyone else would be, to a degree — again, with Secret Service involvement.”
“I think there will be a typical processing, which does not take long — 20, 30 minutes,” he said. “And then we’ll appear before a judge, you know, deal with a couple issues right off the bat and it won’t be a long day in court.”
That’s when authorities will unseal Trump’s indictment, revealing the exact charges against him.
“They have not shared it with us, won’t share it with us until it’s unsealed,” Tacopina said. “But we know the basis of the indictment and the factual allegations in the indictment.”
Trump’s defense team plans to make “a lot of motions” once they see the indictment, according to Tacopina.
“I don’t think this case is going to see a jury. I think it’s going to go away on papers,” he said. “I think there’s a legal challenge that will be made and should be made successfully.”
When asked about speculation that the judge might impose a gag order, Tacopina said there was “no indication” of that.
“It can’t happen in this case,” he added. “The defendant is the leading Republican candidate for the office of the president of the United States and will be campaigning. Hard to put a gag order when he’s going to be fielding questions about his current legal situation.”
After court, Trump plans to travel back to Palm Beach, Florida, where he will make a statement at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to Tacopina.
Trump’s attorney talks how he will fight criminal charges
Following Donald Trump’s unprecedented indictment by a Manhattan grand jury last Thursday, the former president begins the first steps in the criminal justice process.
Trump surrenders to authorities
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it has been in contact with Trump’s lawyers to arrange his surrender to authorities in order to begin criminal proceedings.
Trump, a Florida resident, traveled to New York City on Monday and spent the night at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan before his arraignment in lower Manhattan on Tuesday. The former president must adhere to the court’s deadline and be processed by authorities before heading to court for the unsealing of the indictment.
Trump is processed by authorities
Processing typically involves being fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot, but experts say those may not occur in Trump’s case because the former president is not a flight risk. Similarly, Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC News last Friday that the former “president will not be put in handcuffs.”
It is also unlikely that Trump will be publicly transported to the courtroom by police, according to Cheryl Bader, an associate clinical professor of law at Fordham University in New York City.
“With white-collar crime, we see that a lot of [suspects] have the privilege of being able to turn themselves in instead of being arrested and put in handcuffs,” Bader told ABC News during a recent interview.
Trump appears in court, makes plea
During the court appearance, which typically takes place in a courtroom without cameras in New York state, the former president will be read his charges and ordered to make a plea. Trump and his lawyers have indicated they intend to fight the indictment in court.
Following his plea, the judge will have the right to remand Trump on bail or release him on his own recognizance before adjourning for a future date. Bader said that judges rarely order suspects in white-collar crimes to be held in jail before their trial, and she expected that the judge will release Trump after the hearing.
In some cases, especially if the suspect is a flight risk, a judge may place restrictions on the suspect such as holding onto their passport, but Bader said it is unclear if the judge will go that far.
Judge hears motions, sets next court date
Following the judge’s order, Trump’s lawyers will have the opportunity to review the indictment charges and make motions regarding the case, including seeking to have the charges dismissed or evidence suppressed, or requesting a change of venue.
Several pre-trial hearings and motions are expected in the case, as Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly made claims that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation is a political attack, according to Bader.
“I’m sure the case is going to be very litigated and take a lot of time to wind its way through the system,” Bader told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Ivan Pereira and Will Steakin
Apr 03, 10:16 PM EDT
Judge issues decision on cameras in court Tuesday
Judge Juan Merchan will allow five pool still photographers to snap for several minutes before the arraignment formally starts, according to a decision issued Monday night.
No video cameras will be allowed, though Judge Merchan conceded, “That this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance cannot possibly be disputed. Never in the history of the United States has a sitting or past President been indicted on criminal charges.”
The judge said he needed to balance other interests.
No electronic devices will be allowed in either the main or overflow courtrooms, the judge ruled.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Apr 03, 4:25 PM EDT
Trump arrives at Trump Tower
Former President Donald Trump has arrived at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan where he’ll spend the night Monday before his arraignment in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.
Trump briefly waved as he departed his motorcade and walked into the side entrance of the building on 56th Street Monday afternoon.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
Apr 03, 3:41 PM EDT
Biden says he has faith in legal system, not worried about unrest
President Joe Biden said Monday he has faith in the legal system as he made his most extensive comments yet on former President Donald Trump’s indictment.
While touring a manufacturing facility in Minnesota, a reporter asked Biden if he was worried about unrest, and the president replied, “No. I have faith in the New York Police Department.”
Asked if he has faith in the legal system at this point, the president responded, “Yes.”
On Friday, in an exchange with reporters outside the White House, Biden repeatedly declined to comment on the indictment.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Apr 03, 3:37 PM EDT
Trump lands in New York City
Former President Donald Trump has just touched down in New York, ahead of his arraignment Tuesday.
Trump’s plane landed at LaGuardia Airport, and is now expected to head to Trump Tower.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
Apr 03, 1:50 PM EDT
Trump opposes cameras in court
Former President Donald Trump on Monday opposed the presence of cameras in the courtroom for his Tuesday arraignment.
“It will create a circus-like atmosphere at the arraignment, raise unique security concerns, and is inconsistent with President Trump’s presumption of innocence,” Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles said.
A coalition of news organizations, including ABC News, has filed motions with the court, seeking access to cover and record the hearing Tuesday.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to take a position on the matter.
Judge Juan Merchan has not yet ruled.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
Apr 03, 1:18 PM EDT
Trump expands legal team with top white-collar defense attorney
Former President Donald Trump is expanding his legal team, hiring a former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense attorney to lead his defense ahead of Tuesday’s arraignment, sources said.
Todd Blanche, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, recently resigned from his law firm to take on this new role, according to sources. Blanche has represented high-profile clients like Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and Igor Fruman, an ex-associate to Rudy Giuliani.
Blanche is expected to travel with Trump from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan to the courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, the sources said. Blanche didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
-ABC News’ John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
Apr 03, 1:00 PM EDT
Trump en route to New York
Former President Donald Trump has departed Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport bound for New York City.
Dozens of Trump supporters lined the streets to cheer the former president on as his motorcade headed to the airport.
Some wore shirts saying, “Trump did nothing wrong.”
“People want to support [Trump] because, basically, they see him as an underdog at this point, and which he is,” Whit Taylor told ABC News as he watched the motorcade. “He’s being harassed and pushed around by people who are just haters. I mean that’s the bottom line — they just hate people.”
Trump is expected to stay in Manhattan Monday night before appearing in court for an arraignment on Tuesday.
Apr 03, 12:38 PM EDT
No specific credible threat in NYC, mayor says
As New York City gears up for former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams said “there has been no specific credible threat.”
“All New Yorkers should go on with their regular activities” on Tuesday, Adams said at a news conference Monday, adding that New Yorkers should expect “some disruptions,” including traffic and street closures.
New Yorkers may also see an additional police presence, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. She encouraged people to use mass transit when possible.
Sewell said any protests should be peaceful and orderly.
The mayor warned that violence and vandalism won’t be tolerated, and said anyone caught participating in violence will be arrested.
Adams called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who said she’s planning to come to New York to support Trump, urging her and others to “be on your best behavior.”
Apr 03, 6:32 AM EDT
Poll shows plurality of the public supports Trump indictment
A plurality of Americans think former President Donald Trump should have been charged by a Manhattan grand jury with a history-making indictment.
According to the poll, 45% think Trump should have been charged with a crime in this case, whereas 32% don’t think so and 23% say they don’t know.
Democrats are, unsurprisingly, rallying behind the grand jury’s decision.
Almost nine in 10 Democrats (88%) think Trump should have been charged in the investigation by the Manhattan D.A., which has been probing a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels who alleges the two had an affair. Trump has long denied these claims.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
Apr 03, 6:01 AM EDT
‘I just don’t know what to expect to see,’ Trump’s lawyer says
Donald Trump’s lawyer doesn’t know what to expect when the former president is arraigned on Tuesday in New York City given the historic nature of Trump’s indictment, he said on Sunday.
“This is unprecedented. I don’t know. I’ve done a million arraignments in that courthouse with celebrities and whatnot. But this is a whole different thing. We have Secret Service involved. I understand they’re closing the courthouse for the afternoon. I just don’t know what to expect to see,” Joe Tacopina told ABC This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“What I hope is that we get in and out of there as quickly as possible, that it’s, at the end of the day, a typical arraignment where we stand before the judge, we say ‘not guilty,’ we set schedules to file motions and whatnot or discovery, and we move forward and get out of there,” Tacopina said.
-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod
Apr 03, 5:26 AM EDT
Trump expected to travel to New York on Monday
Former President Donald Trump is expected to travel to New York on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
He is expected to appear in court on Tuesday at the earliest, the sources said, on what is expected to be around two dozen counts – including felonies.
The exact charges are unknown since the indictment will not be unsealed until Trump appears in court.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Katherine Faulders, John Santucci
Apr 02, 11:09 AM EDT
Trump to speak at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday night
Following his expected arraignment on Tuesday in New York City, former President Donald Trump announced he would speak that evening from Mar-a-Lago.
The former president is slated to give remarks at 8:15 p.m., according to a press release.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin
Apr 02, 10:33 AM EDT
America split on Trump indictment: Poll
While 45% of Americans believe former President Donald Trump should face charges in an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, 32% say he shouldn’t have been indicted, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Another 23% of American say they don’t know whether the nation’s 45th president should face charges.
While the charges have not been announced, a Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump had been hearing evidence in a $130,000 hush money payment Trump allegedly made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims they had an affair. Trump has denied the allegations.
The poll showed a split in opinions along party lines. While 88% of Democrats said Trump should face charges, 62%, of Republicans said the former president should not have been charged while 16% said he should be charged, and the remainder was uncertain.
About 47% of Americans polled say the charges are politically motivated, echoing the sentiment from top GOP figures. About 79% of Republicans hold that view.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
Mar 31, 6:08 PM EDT
Why Trump indictment might hinge on a ‘novel legal theory’
As legal experts speculate on what charges lay inside the sealed indictment ahead of former President Donald Trump’s expected surrender on Tuesday afternoon, many predict that prosecutors could try out a new legal theory to justify bringing the charges.
“This could be a novel legal theory,” said Kate Shaw, a law professor at Cardozo and ABC News contributor, speculating on what charges the public could see against Trump while stressing it’s unknown until the indictment is unsealed.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Mar 31, 5:31 PM EDT
Trump faces around 2 dozen counts, including felonies, sources say
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies, sources familiar with the sealed indictment told ABC News.
The exact charges remain unknown since the indictment will not be unsealed until Trump appears in court on Tuesday.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Mar 31, 4:51 PM EDT
Senate sergeant at arms warns of potential demonstration activity
The Senate sergeant at arms is warning of potential demonstration activity related to the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
“While law enforcement is not tracking any specific, credible threats against the Capitol or state offices, there is potential for demonstration activity,” an email obtained by ABC News said.
Capitol Police “is working with law enforcement partners, so you may observe a greater law enforcement presence on Capitol Hill,” the email said, adding that there could be “nationwide impacts to Senate state offices.”
The Capitol Police declined to comment and the sergeant at arms didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Mar 31, 12:56 PM EDT
Ivanka Trump speaks out
Former President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, reacted to the indictment on Instagram Friday, writing, “I love my father, and I love my country. Today, I am pained for both.”
She added, “I appreciate the voices across the political spectrum expressing support and concern.”
Mar 31, 12:30 PM EDT
How DA could use hush money payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal to bolster Trump case
Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News the Manhattan district attorney’s office is also investigating a $150,000 payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who, like Stormy Daniels, claimed to have had an affair with Donald Trump.
The former president has denied having an affair with either woman and has called the investigation a witch hunt.
McDougal was paid for the rights to her story in August 2016 by American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, which did not publish it, a practice known as catch and kill.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, has said he recorded Trump discussing reimbursement to American Media for the payment to McDougal, but the payment was never made.
Trump has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment but in a 2018 interview with Fox News, he claimed he wasn’t aware of any payment made to AMI to facilitate the alleged hush agreement.
Mar 31, 12:27 PM EDT
Judge signs order allowing DA to publicly acknowledge indictment
Judge Juan Merchan has signed this order allowing the Manhattan district attorney’s office to publicly acknowledge the indictment.
The People v Donald J Trump. This is the order allowing the DA to publicly acknowledge the indictment pic.twitter.com/leg9vDascr
(LONDON) — A Russian prison monitor says he has visited Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in the Moscow jail where he is being held after being seized on spying charges last week.
Alexey Melnikov, who heads the Public Oversight Commission, told ABC News he visited Gershkovich in Lefortovo prison late Sunday evening and spoke for around 45 minutes with the American reporter, who he said was in good spirits.
“On the whole he was in a cheerful mood, you could say. We even joked a little,” Melnikov told ABC News, saying he thought it was perhaps a “self-defense reaction,” which can be quite common for people who are detained.
“He behaved himself entirely normally. He wasn’t in a depressed state, he was quite cheerful.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, arrested Gershkovich last Wednesday, while he was on a reporting trip 800 miles from Moscow in Yekaterinburg, and accused him of collecting classified information on behalf of the United States. The Wall Street Journal has “vehemently” denied the charges and most experts believe Russia has taken Gershkovich as a hostage amid tensions with the United States.
The U.S. government, as well as dozens of leading international news organisations have called the charges false and demanded Russia immediately release Gershkovich, who faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Gershkovich, 31, is currently awaiting trial in Lefortovo, a former KGB prison known for holding high-profile prisoners. He pleaded not guilty in a closed court hearing on Thursday, where his lawyer and media were not allowed in.
Russia has not permitted U.S. diplomats or Gershkovich’s lawyer to visit him since his arrest. WSJ Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said on Sunday no one from the newspaper or the U.S. government had been able to communicate with Gershkovich, but she said she was hopeful his lawyer would be able to this week.
Melnikov, whose commission is authorised by Russian law to inspect prison conditions, said that Gershkovich’s detention in Lefortovo so far followed standard practice and said he had not complained of any mistreatment by guards.
He said Gershkovich was currently alone in a two-man cell during a “quarantine” period, but that once he had tested negative for coronavirus he might receive a cellmate this week. According to Melnikov, the cell has a TV with 20-30 Russian channels, a radio and a kettle. He was being fed soup and porridge, Melnikov said, and was permitted to shower once a week.
“He can watch TV, he can read. He can listen to the radio. He has walks,” Melnikov said. Gershkovich should also be allowed to write and receive letters, he said, as long as they are written in Russian.
Gershkovich had joked that it was a pity the television didn’t have the sports channel, Match TV premier, because there was a soccer match Sunday he would have liked to watch, Melnikov said.
He said, Gershkovich is currently reading Life and Fate, the classic novel by Soviet war reporter Vasily Grossman describing the battle between Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany during World War II.
Gershkovich told him the jail “corresponded to his expectations,” Melnikov said.
Melnikov said his commission is strictly limited to discussing prison conditions and so was unable to ask Gershkovich about the charges against him.
Lefortovo is exceptionally strict, Melnikov said, which meant it can be isolating but that it lacked the chaotic violence common in other Russian jails. Unsanctioned communication with the outside world is impossible, he said.
Melnikov is secretary of the Public Oversight Commission, which is a semi-state body set up to monitor conditions in jails. He is also a member of the Russian presidential human rights council, which has been criticised as toothless and stacked with Kremlin loyalists.
Melnikov said when he visited on Sunday Gershkovich’s lawyer had not been granted access to him.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, on Sunday to demand Gershkovich’s immediate release, calling his detention unacceptable.
Blinken also called for the release of Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine imprisoned by Russia since 2018 on espionage charges the U.S. and his family say are false.
Experts believe Gershkovich’s case resembles Whelan’s and those of other Americans seized by the Kremlin in recent years as bargaining chips, including WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Trevor Reed. Griner and Reed were released in separate prisoner swaps over the past 12 months, in exchange for Russians held in U.S. prisons.
Griner over the weekend called for Gershkovich’s release and urged her supporters to “encourage the administration to continue to use every tool possible to bring Evan and all Americans home.”
“Our hearts are filled with great concern for Evan Gershkovitch [sic] and his family,” Griner wrote in a statement on Instagram, also expressing gratitude for the “Biden administration’s deep commitment to rescue Americans.”
Gershkovich, whose parents are Jewish emigres from the Soviet Union who moved to the U.S. in 1979, grew up speaking Russian in Princeton, New Jersey. He has worked in Russia since 2017, writing for Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times, before joining the WSJ just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“He said he felt privileged to be able to report from inside the country when many of our Russian colleagues and friends had to flee,” Pjotr Sauer, a Guardian correspondent covering Russia and close friend of Gershkovich wrote in an op-ed this week.
“For years, Evan did everything he could to tell the story of modern Russia. It is now our turn to keep the light shining on him. I want to have my friend back.”
(NEW YORK) — A crippled banking system, stubbornly high inflation, recession fears — the growing set of threats has tipped the U.S. into precarious economic territory but the leader of the nation’s largest bank is nonetheless optimistic about the financial outlook.
Resilient consumer spending and a strong job market have buoyed the economy, padding the savings of many households and buttressing them against a possible downturn, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said in an annual shareholder letter on Tuesday.
“When one talks about risk for too long, it begins to cloud your judgment,” Dimon said. “Looking ahead, the positives are huge.”
Consumer balance sheets are in “great shape,” Dimon added, noting that “unemployment is extremely low, and wages are going up, particularly at the low end.”
The unemployment rate stands at 3.6%, hovering near a 50-year low.
Meanwhile, Americans retain $1.2 trillion more “excess cash” in their checking accounts than they held before the pandemic, Dimon said, citing JPMorgan Chase data. Those savings have kept consumer spending relatively robust even as pandemic-era fiscal support fades further into the past.
Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
Still, the bank’s measure of excess savings held by U.S. households has fallen nearly by half since November 2021, suggesting that Americans have drawn down their accounts to contend with high inflation.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak, though it remains more than triple the Fed’s target of 2%.
To fight high prices, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates last month for the ninth time in a year, making its policy the most aggressive since the 1980s.
The Fed’s borrowing cost increases aim to slash prices by slowing the economy and choking off demand, but the approach risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession and putting millions out of work.
On top of these headwinds, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month, the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history, thrust the financial system into distress.
Acknowledging economic uncertainty and persistently high inflation, Dimon described last year as one marked by “significant challenges.”
Addressing the recent banking distress, he added, “The current crisis is not yet over, and even when it is behind us, there will be repercussions from it for years to come.”
In the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, some Democrats called for strengthening banking regulations that they say could have prevented the collapse. Such officials, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have focused their ire on a 2018 measure that weakened banking oversight imposed by the previous Dodd-Frank Act.
Rejecting calls for stronger regulation, Dimon said additional protections would not have prevented the recent banking crisis.
“Regarding the current disruption in the U.S. banking system, most of the risks were hiding in plain sight,” he said, referring to long-term treasury and mortgage bonds that were known to risk a loss of value if the Fed rapidly raised interest rates.
“It is unlikely that any recent change in regulatory requirements would have made a difference in what followed,” he added.
Returning to a sunny tone taken up elsewhere in the letter, Dimon downplayed the threat posed by the current financial distress.
“Recent events are nothing like what occurred during the 2008 global financial crisis,” he said.
A group of big banks, including JPMorgan Chase, made money from the recent banking distress, since a flood of depositors opened new accounts at large lenders amid the uncertainty.
JPMorgan Chase received a huge wave of customers and deposits, amounting to hundreds of accounts and billions of dollars, a source familiar with the matter previously told ABC News.
In his letter, Dimon rebuked the notion that JPMorgan Chase, or any bank, emerged from the turmoil unscathed.
“Any crisis that damages Americans’ trust in their banks damages all banks – a fact that was known even before this crisis,” Dimon said.
“While it is true that this bank crisis ‘benefited’ larger banks due to the inflow of deposits they received from smaller institutions, the notion that this meltdown was good for them in any way is absurd,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Heavy tornado activity is forecast in regions in the U.S. still reeling from a line of devastating tornadoes that killed dozens of people.
A major storm moving east on Tuesday is expected to produce another severe weather outbreak in America’s Heartland, bringing strong, long-track tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail. More than 41 million Americans are on alert for these severe weather conditions. Cities in the bull’s-eye include Little Rock, Arkansas, Springfield, Missouri and Davenport and Des Moines, Iowa, forecasts show.
As the storm moved through the Rocky Mountains and Southwest overnight, places like Utah saw wind gusts up to 135 mph and up to 17 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.
Severe storms could even reach as far south as Austin, Texas, and Dallas and as far north as Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin. The inclement weather is expected to begin Tuesday afternoon and last overnight into Wednesday, with nocturnal tornadoes possible from Arkansas to Illinois and Iowa.
The threats of damaging winds and tornadoes will continue east on Wednesday into the Great Lakes, Ohio and Tennessee River Valley. The storm system is expected to affect cities like Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago.
The forecast comes just days after a powerful storm system unleashed a line of violent tornadoes and severe thunderstorms across 14 states. At least nine EF3 tornadoes — wind speeds ranging from 136 to 165 mph — were confirmed to have touched down in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Delaware on Friday and Saturday.
The damage was especially extensive near Little Rock, Arkansas, where an apartment complex was left in ruins following the strong twisters. At least five people were killed in Arkansas as a result of the storms.
At least one EF4 tornado — with winds ranging from 166 to 200 mph — was confirmed in Iowa on Friday.
At least 32 people in nine states were killed in the storms.
