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Tag: trump prosecutions
Trump Attorney Warned Him Against Defying Secret Documents Subpoena

Trump Attorney Warned Him Against Defying Secret Documents Subpoena

Former President Donald Trump was warned last year that holding onto classified documents after he was subpoenaed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for their return to the National Archives could amount to obstruction of justice, according to records shared exclusively with The Guardian over the weekend.

"The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump's handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations," the outlet reports.

Noting special counsel Jack Smith's probe into why "Trump World" failed to return the requested materials, "prosecutors have fixated on Trump's valet Walt Nauta, after he told the Justice Department that Trump told him to move boxes out of the storage room before and after the subpoena. The activity was captured on subpoenaed surveillance footage, though there were gaps in the tapes," The Guardian reveals.

"The warning was one of several key moments that Corcoran preserved in roughly 50 pages of contemporaneous notes described to The Guardian on the condition of anonymity, which prosecutors have viewed in recent months as central to the criminal investigation," Washington correspondent Hugh Lowell writes.

"The notes revealed how Trump and Nauta had unusually detailed knowledge of the botched subpoena response, including where Corcoran intended to search and not search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, as well as when Corcoran was actually doing his search," Lowell continues, adding that "the notes ended up before the grand jury in Washington hearing evidence in the case after a US appeals court allowed attorney-client privilege to be pierced because judges believed Trump might have used Corcoran's legal advice in furtherance of a crime."

Lowell also explains from the notes that the room in which boxes filled with top-secret records were kept "might have been left unattended" during Trump World's search — which because it was incomplete prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to execute its own search warrant last August.

Furthermore, Trump was reportedly "irritated" with the subpoena as well as the "unusually detailed nature" of Corcoran's written accounts.

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

New York Judge Sets Trump Criminal Trial For February Or March

New York Judge Sets Trump Criminal Trial For February Or March

New York (AFP) - The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump's criminal case asked the prosecution and defense Thursday to agree a specific trial date for February or March next year.

The instruction means the historic trial over hush-money paid to a porn star will occur in the thick of the Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential race in which Trump is seeking to regain office.

Judge Juan Merchan said that once the date is fixed then all parties, including Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, should not schedule other events.

"He cannot agree to any speaking engagements, appearances," during the trial, Merchan said at the Manhattan state court, where Trump was not present.

His comments came during the first hearing in the case since Trump was arraigned last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Merchan heard arguments surrounding a request by prosecutors that Trump be prohibited from publicizing elements of the prosecution's case.

The judge said that once he makes a ruling Trump will be required to appear in court virtually via camera to be advised of it.

Trump denied the charges related to reimbursements to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutors say the 2016 payments were intended to silence Daniels over sex she says she had with the ex-president years earlier.

Trump is the first former or sitting president to ever be charged with a crime.

The criminal case is one of several legal challenges facing Trump as the 76-year-old Republican seeks a return to the White House in next year's election.

He is being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.

Danziger Draws

Danziger Draws

Jeff Danziger lives in New York City and Vermont. He is a long time cartoonist for The Rutland Herald and is represented by Counterpoint Syndicate. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons, a novel and a memoir. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.

'We're Both White Americans': SNL's Trump Compares Himself To Jesus (Again)

'We're Both White Americans': SNL's Trump Compares Himself To Jesus (Again)

“A famous, wonderful man arrested for no reason at all,” said SNL's fake Trump — played by cast member James Austin Johnson — during the opening of this week's edition of Saturday Night Live.

Standing in front of a re-enactment of the Last Supper, fake Trump added, “If you haven’t put it together folks, I’m comparing myself to Jesus. Again. And what better time than on his birthday, Easter? ...We’re both very tall, very popular, and both, frankly, white Americans."

In a shout-out to the "stand back and stand by" crowd, SNL's Trump continued, “A lot of his followers got in big, big trouble, just like mine. All because I told them exactly what Jesus would have said: 'Get very violent and start a war.'"

“Because I’m a self-made billionaire and Christ was—let’s call it what it is—a nepo baby. I mean, his dad was God. It’s pretty easy to start a religion when your daddy’s God.”SNL's Trump also attacked Ron DeSantis.

“And I’ve even got my very own Judas: Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis came to me with tears in his eyes. He said, ‘Help me, Mr. Trump. I’m going to lose my election.’ So I very generously pretended to like him. And then he did a Judas and now he can’t even get the gays out of Disney World. It’s an awful shame.”

Watch the full segment below: