What Is a Heart Attack? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

sinopharm trials :: Article Creator

Judge Targeted With Bomb Threat Hours Before Closing Arguments In Trump Fraud Trial

A bomb threat was made against the home of Arthur Engoron just hours before the New York judge is scheduled to hear closing arguments in the state's civil fraud trial against Donald Trump.

According to The Daily Beast, which first broke the story, a source with close knowledge of the situation indicated that early Thursday morning about half a dozen police vehicles and a bomb squad were dispatched to Engoron's Long Island home.

Nassau County Police confirmed to Rolling Stone that the department is investigating a swatting incident that took place Thursday morning.

Engoron already found Trump liable for having committed fraud by overvaluing his properties and inflating his net worth over several years, thus deceiving banks, investors, and insurers. Throughout the trial, which will determine damages owed to the state and the ultimate fate of Trump's New York-based business empire, Engoron and his staff have been subjected to a barrage of attacks by supporters of the former president.

In November, the New York court system reported that Engoron and his clerk, Allison Greenfield, had received a "deluge [in] the court's chambers phone and the law clerk's personal cell phone, personal emails and social media accounts [of] hundreds of threatening, harassing, disparaging and antisemitic messages."

According to testimony given by Greenfield to Charles Hollon, a court officer-captain in the Department of Public Safety, the "threats against Justice Engoron and Ms. Greenfield are considered to be serious and credible and not hypothetical or speculative."

In recent weeks, judges and prosecutors associated with the criminal cases against Trump have been the victims of swatting attempts. Swatting is a form of harassment consisting of falsely reporting a crime — such as a shooting, bomb threat, or hostage situation — in an attempt to force an aggressive police response, and potential harm, to an unsuspecting victim.

Hunter Biden Trial Gets New Timeline

The Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden's tax case has tentatively scheduled to begin the trial in the thick of the 2024 presidential election season.

Biden, son of President Joe Biden, pleaded not guilty to nine felony and misdemeanor charges during an arraignment hearing in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday. The president's son is accused of attempting to evade payment of $1.4 million in personal taxes owed from 2016 to 2019.

U.S. District Judge Marc Scarsi, nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump multiple times before taking office in September 2020, announced a tentative trial date of June 20 during an approximately 30-minute hearing, according to the Associated Press.

Legal analyst Jonathan Turley, who testified in Trump's defense during the former president's first impeachment, wrote in a series of posts to X, formerly Twitter, that the trial date was "smack dab in the campaign season for President Biden."

Hunter Biden is pictured on Wednesday during a U.S. House hearing in Washington, D.C. Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges on Thursday, with a trial tentatively set to begin June 20. Kent Nishimura

Turley also pointed out that Scarsi previously sentenced a man to two years in prison for committing a crime similar to the allegations against Hunter Biden.

"The judge just set a trial date for June 2024 for Hunter Biden," wrote Turley. "That puts the trial smack dab in the campaign season for President Biden ... This is the best possible jurisdiction for any Biden to go to trial. However, this judge has previously sentenced someone who failed to pay roughly the same amount to two years in prison."

Turley went on to call Scarsi "a respected, no-nonsense judge who is likely to move the case along" and "a remarkably good fit for this tax case."

In February 2023, Scarsi sentenced a California man convicted of evading $1.6 million in taxes over a five-year period to 24 months behind bars.

Hunter Biden could face a maximum prison sentence of up to 17 years if convicted of all charges. He is also facing gun charges in Delaware, where he as also pleaded not guilty.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell via email on Thursday night.

Lowell previously told Newsweek in a statement that "if Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought."

He also accused U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump appointee whom Attorney General Merrick Garland chose in August as special counsel in the Biden case, of having "bowed to Republican pressure" by prosecuting the president's son.

Weiss was put on the case after a plea agreement that would have allowed Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and face no gun charges was nixed by U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, another Trump appointee.

Scarsi on Thursday allowed Biden to remain free pending trial, with conditions that include submitting to random drug tests, searching for a job and informing authorities of any international travel plans, according to Fox News. An initial pre-trial hearing is set to take place March 27.

Update 01/11/24, 6:55 p.M.: This article was updated with further information.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Trump 'Rehearsed' His Unhinged Fraud Trial Rant For Days Before The Judge Shut Him Up

Closing arguments in New York's civil fraud trial against Donald Trump took place on Thursday, and despite having been officially barred from personally delivering his defense's closing statements, the former president launched into an unauthorized rant before the court and Judge Arthur Engoron.

Sources told Rolling Stone that Trump had been rehearsing what he thought would be a blistering, dramatic conclusion to the case that will determine the fate of his business empire.

On Wednesday, the theatrical plan by Trump and his attorneys fell apart after Trump's legal team, led by Chris Kise, refused to agree to conditions that would restrict him from going off-topic or attacking individuals involved in the trial.

Trump didn't care.

Without waiting for Engoron's permission, Trump began delivering a grievance-laden tirade from the defense table after asking once again if he could address the court, calling the trial a "political witch hunt," and saying that "we should receive damages for what we went through."

"This is a fraud on me," Trump raved at the judge. "What's happened here, sir, is a fraud on me." The former president added that "We have a situation where I'm an innocent man I've been persecuted by somebody running for office and I think you have to go outside the bounds."

Engoron allowed the former president to speak for several minutes, before cutting him off and instructing Trump's attorneys to "please control your client."

According to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Rolling Stone, in recent weeks Trump had told several close allies of his intention to personally deliver a closing argument, and at times previewed some of the things he wanted to say before the judge. One of the sources describes it as the ex-president informally "rehearsing" his spite-filled court monologue for his friends.

Based on what the two sources relay to Rolling Stone this week, it appears Engoron's assumption that Trump would use the forum to rave about his own grievances was right on the money. The former president's private "rehearsing" of what he planned to say included haranguing the judge's staff, railing against the New York attorney general as "racist" and soft on crime, claiming that the trial was an example of the Democratic Party and Biden administration supposedly trying to "rig" the 2024 election, and gratuitously boasting of the values of his sprawling business and real-estate empire, among other jabs and bluster.

Editor's picks

The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

The 50 Worst Decisions in Movie History

The 100 Best Albums of 2023

After Engoron denied his request, a defiant Trump addressed reporters before entering the courtroom on Thursday, calling the trial a "disgrace" and a "terrible witch hunt."

"I want to speak, I want to make the summation," he said, adding that Engoron "is not letting me make the summation because I'll bring up things that he doesn't want to hear." The former president added that instead of delivering his remarks before the judge, he and his lawyers would be holding a press conference after the court adjourns.

In September of 2022, the state of New York sued the former president, his adult sons, several of his business associates, and the Trump Organization in civil court. New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleged that the conglomerate had "falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit."

A year later, Engoron ruled that the former president, his company, and several of the associates named in the lawsuit were liable for having committed fraud, and revoked the New York business licenses held by the defendants in the lawsuit — effectively destroying the Trump Organization's ability to conduct business in the state.

Protesters Crash Trump Rally, Call Him 'Climate Criminal': Watch

Trump Ends Bromance With Vivek Ramaswamy: He 'Is Not MAGA'

Trump Says We Should 'Keep the Oil' When 'We Obliterate Somebody'

The trial that has taken place over the last 44 days has no jury, and Engoron will directly determine the final penalties that will be leveled against the Trump family and its company.

Trump has adopted a similar tactic as he has in the slew of other criminal and civil litigation leveled against him since his departure from office: publicly attacking judges, prosecutors, and other individuals associated with the case.

Trump voluntarily attended multiple scheduled court dates in New York, taking advantage of the gaggles of reporters who'd gather at the courthouse by delivering rambling statements rife with attacks against Engoron, the New York attorney general, and others involved. He also attacked Engoron's clerk Allison Greenfield, as well as his wife on social media. The endless public targeting of court staff prompted Engoron to issue a partial gag order barring the former president, and anyone else involved in the trial, from "posting, emailing, or speaking publicly about any of my staff." The order was later expanded to include Trump's attorneys, who continued to attempt to impune Greenfield's work with Engoron.

Trump's relentless attacks against Engoron and his staff prompted a deluge of harassment and threats against the judge by the former president's supporters. In November, the New York court system reported that Engoron and Greenfield had been subjected to a barrage of "serious and credible" threats against their safety. On Thursday, hours before closing arguments were scheduled to take place, Engoron's home was swatted by a false bomb threat.

Engoron had no reason to think Trump would tone it down in court on Thursday. In one of the most chaotic moments of the trial, Engoron beseeched Trump's attorneys to "control" the former president during his witness testimony before the court. The judge cautioned Trump and his attorneys that "this is not a political rally" and that if the former president would not cooperate Engoron would be forced to "excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can."

Trending

How NFL Great Aaron Rodgers Lost Touch With Reality

Twitter Explodes With Antisemitic Misinfo After Secret Tunnel Found Under NYC Synagogue

'True Detective: Night Country' Premiere: Murder and Mysticism

Protesters Crash Trump Rally, Call Him 'Climate Criminal': Watch

Trump wanted to use the closing argument to get in a few more jabs, or as one of the people familiar with the matter puts it, he "just wanted to go off on the judge to his face one more time."

It seems that despite the restrictions placed upon him, Trump went ahead and did it anyway.

Search This Blog

Hypertension