Judge orders Steve Bannon to explain why he switched attorneys close to fraud trial
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(NEW YORK) — Steve Bannon must appear in court next week to explain why he switched lawyers so close to trial, a judge in New York ordered.
Bannon, once a senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, is scheduled to stand trial Feb. 25 on charges he defrauded donors of “We Build the Wall,” an online fundraising campaign to support a wall along the U.S. southern border.
Bannon hired Arthur Aidala after his prior attorneys moved to withdraw from the case and Judge April Newbauer said she wanted to “make an inquiry of the defendant” before she decided whether to allow it.
Aidala asked the judge to delay the trial’s start to give him time to read up on the case, insisting Bannon was “not looking to intentionally delay anything.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office saw it differently, arguing Bannon was “trying to make a substitution of counsel for the purpose of delay.”
Bannon’s money laundering and conspiracy case was originally scheduled for trial in 2023 but has been repeatedly delayed.
When trial does begin, prosecutors said they would ask for an anonymous jury.
A six-count indictment in 2022 charged Bannon and “We Build the Wall” itself with two counts of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison. There are additional felony counts of conspiracy and scheme to defraud along with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to defraud.
(NEW YORK) — A New York appeals judge has denied President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay the Jan. 10 sentencing in his criminal hush money case.
Trump’s sentencing will proceed as planned on Friday, pending potential additional legal maneuvers by the president-elect’s lawyers.
Judge Ellen Gesmer rejected Trump’s claim that the case should be delayed because of presidential immunity, after his attorney argued before the court that Trump is covered by presidential immunity that extends to him while he waits to be sworn in.
The appellate court heard arguments Tuesday in Trump’s lawsuit against the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as part of Trump’s effort to halt his sentencing following his criminal conviction in May.
“We should get a stay so that no further action happens,” defense attorney Todd Blanche said during oral arguments at the Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department. “The imposition is extraordinary.”
Judge Ellen Gesmer questioned whether immunity granted to sitting presidents extends to presidents-elect.
“I’m curious about that,” she said. “Do you have any support for a notion that presidential immunity extends to Presidents-elect?”
Blanche replied that he did not. “There has never been a case like this before, so no,” Blanche said.
Prosecutors said there is no evidence “whatsoever” to back the claim that presidential immunity applies to Trump prior to his inauguration on Jan. 20.
“The claim is so baseless that there is no support for an automatic stay here,” said Steven Wu of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. “There is a compelling public interest in seeing this process come to an end.”
The prosecutor noted that Trump’s sentencing was originally scheduled for July 11 and every delay since has been done at Trump’s request.
“If sentencing is to happen at all, now is the best time for it to happen,” Wu said.
Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Merchan initially scheduled Trump’s sentencing for July 11 before pushing it back in order to weigh if Trump’s conviction was impacted by the Supreme Court’s July ruling prohibiting the prosecution of a president for official acts undertaken while in office. Merchan subsequently ruled that Trump’s conviction related “entirely to unofficial conduct” and “poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch.”
Trump’s lawyers asked the appeals court to stop the proceedings — including his Jan. 10 sentencing — and to dismiss his conviction outright based on presidential immunity grounds.
“Justice Merchan’s erroneous decisions threaten the institution of the Presidency and run squarely against established precedent disallowing any criminal process against a President-Elect, as well as prohibiting the use of evidence of a President’s official acts against him in a criminal proceeding,” they argued in their suit.
Blanche and fellow defense lawyer Emil Bove, both of whom Trump has picked for top Justice Department posts in his incoming administration, claimed in the suit that Trump’s “undisputed absolute immunity” extends to his time as president-elect — an argument that Judge Merchan roundly denied last week.
The lawyers also claimed that the jury’s verdict was “erroneous” because they saw evidence related to official acts.
“President Trump brings this Article 78 proceeding to redress the serious and continuing infringement on his Presidential immunity from criminal process that he holds as the 45th and soon-to-be 47th President of the United States of America,” the filing said.
The president-elected faces up to four years in prison, but Merchan last week indicated that he would sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge — effectively a blemish on Trump’s record, without prison, fines or probation — saying that would strike a balance between the duties of president and the sanctity of the jury’s verdict.
Merchan on Monday denied a separate request by Trump to halt the sentencing in the case.
(NEW YORK) — Officials say two migrant teens were victims in a New York City stabbing, one fatally, after the teens were asked if they spoke English and they responded that they didn’t.
Officials say a trio of men approached the teens around 7:40 p.m. Thursday night, when one of the men asked if the teens spoke English. When the teens said they did not, they were attacked, according to police.
Police say they responded to a 911 call for an assault in Lower Manhattan. Upon arrival, officers found a 17-year-old male with a stab wound to the chest and an 18-year-old male with a stab wound to the left arm.
Emergency medical services responded and transported both teens to the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue location, according to officials.
The 17-year-old male, now identified by officials as Yeremi Colino, succumbed to his injuries and the 18-year-old male is in stable condition, the NYPD reports.
The surviving victim believed he was stabbed with a screwdriver, police said. A knife was recovered at the scene, according to police, who say they will test it for forensics.
The three suspects fled the stabbing on foot. They are described as being in their 20s with dark complexions.
One was wearing a green jacket, white pants and white sneakers. Second was wearing red pants and a red hooded sweatshirt with a black jacket, also had a black backpack. Third was wearing red sweatpants, red hooded sweatshirt, black jacket and blue and white sneakers.
There are no arrests at this time, and the investigation remains ongoing, according to police.
A tropical system churning in the Caribbean is forecast to strengthen into Tropical Storm Rafael on Monday as it takes aim at Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the Gulf Coast.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for Jamaica, where Rafael is forecast to bring heavy rain and mudslides Monday night into Tuesday morning. A hurricane warning has been issued for the Cayman Islands.
Rafael could strengthen to a hurricane by Tuesday night into Wednesday morning as it makes landfall in Cuba with heavy rain, strong winds, flash flooding and storm surge.
Rafael is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm by the end of the week.
By Saturday, Rafael could reach the U.S. Gulf Coast.
It’s too early to tell which parts of the Gulf Coast will see the worst conditions. Everyone from Texas to Florida should monitor the storm’s path.
