This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — On Monday, 100 days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in New York City, the city that was once the epicenter of America’s coronavirus pandemic began to reopen. Gears of New York’s great economic machine that had gone idle for months began to turn as the city eased out of a stay-at-home order. Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) estimated that between 200,000 to 400,000 workers returned to work throughout the city’s five boroughs.“All New Yorkers should be proud you got us to this day,” de Blasio said at a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — On Monday, 100 days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in New York City, the city that was once the epicenter of America’s coronavirus pandemic began to reopen. Gears of New York’s great economic machine that had gone idle for months began to turn as the city eased out of a stay-at-home order. Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) estimated that between 200,000 to 400,000 workers returned to work throughout the city’s five boroughs.“All New Yorkers should be proud you got us to this day,” de Blasio said at a...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — The book manuscript being drafted by President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen alleges that Trump has made racist comments about his predecessor Barack Obama and the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, according to court filings made public Monday night that contend Cohen was sent back to prison this month as retaliation for seeking to publish his memoir before November's election.The lawsuit seeks Cohen’s immediate release from federal custody. He was , less than two months after he was...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — The book manuscript being drafted by President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen alleges that Trump has made racist comments about his predecessor Barack Obama and the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, according to court filings made public Monday night that contend Cohen was sent back to prison this month as retaliation for seeking to publish his memoir before November's election.The lawsuit seeks Cohen’s immediate release from federal custody. He was , less than two months after he was...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen released from prison to home confinement, saying the Justice Department's move to take him back into custody earlier this month was retaliation for writing a book about his former boss.U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said Cohen must be released by 2 p.m. Friday, after he is tested for the novel coronavirus. He has been held in a solitary setting at the federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., since being rearrested July 9.Before he...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen released from prison to home confinement, saying the Justice Department's move to take him back into custody earlier this month was retaliation for writing a book about his former boss.U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said Cohen must be released by 2 p.m. Friday, after he is tested for the novel coronavirus. He has been held in a solitary setting at the federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., since being rearrested July 9.Before he...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — President Trump and three of his adult children have been ordered by a federal judge to search through 15 years of business records for materials that could inform a lawsuit alleging they profited by promoting a marketing scam targeting vulnerable investors.Trump is being sued by four people who say they were duped into joining the multilevel marketing company ACN years ago because of his endorsement. The suit characterizes ACN as a pyramid scheme and accuses Trump of having made misleading claims as a paid...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — President Trump and three of his adult children have been ordered by a federal judge to search through 15 years of business records for materials that could inform a lawsuit alleging they profited by promoting a marketing scam targeting vulnerable investors.Trump is being sued by four people who say they were duped into joining the multilevel marketing company ACN years ago because of his endorsement. The suit characterizes ACN as a pyramid scheme and accuses Trump of having made misleading claims as a paid...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump on Sunday took a break from his election-focused tweetstorm to question the government’s reported counts of infections and deaths from the coronavirus. Meanwhile, despite the president’s denials, the nation’s death toll surpassed a grim milestone Sunday of more than 350,000.Speaking on the Sunday morning news shows, the nation’s top health officials, including Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams contradicted Trump’s...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump on Sunday took a break from his election-focused tweetstorm to question the government’s reported counts of infections and deaths from the coronavirus. Meanwhile, despite the president’s denials, the nation’s death toll surpassed a grim milestone Sunday of more than 350,000.Speaking on the Sunday morning news shows, the nation’s top health officials, including Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams contradicted Trump’s...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA federal judge Tuesday rejected the Justice Department’s bid to make the U.S. government the defendant in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says President Trump raped her decades ago, paving the way for the case to again proceed.In a 59-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote that Trump did not qualify as a government “employee” under federal law, nor was he acting “within the scope of his employment” when he denied during interviews in 2019 that he had raped journalist E. Jean Carroll in a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA federal judge Tuesday rejected the Justice Department’s bid to make the U.S. government the defendant in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says President Trump raped her decades ago, paving the way for the case to again proceed.In a 59-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote that Trump did not qualify as a government “employee” under federal law, nor was he acting “within the scope of his employment” when he denied during interviews in 2019 that he had raped journalist E. Jean Carroll in a...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — When Attorney General William P. Barr announced Friday night that Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman would step down and the post would be filled on an interim basis by the sitting chief prosecutor in neighboring New Jersey, Justice Department veterans and legal observers were baffled.Why would Barr not promote Berman's second-in-command, Audrey Strauss, as is customary while a president's new nominee awaits Senate confirmation?Among the attorney general's critics, an answer soon became evident: Berman's...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — When Attorney General William P. Barr announced Friday night that Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman would step down and the post would be filled on an interim basis by the sitting chief prosecutor in neighboring New Jersey, Justice Department veterans and legal observers were baffled.Why would Barr not promote Berman's second-in-command, Audrey Strauss, as is customary while a president's new nominee awaits Senate confirmation?Among the attorney general's critics, an answer soon became evident: Berman's...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — A federal judge has ordered lawyers for 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia to detail threats allegedly made against witnesses they may depose as part of their effort to prove the kingdom was involved in the 2001 terrorist attacks.The victims' attorneys have argued they need to protect for now the identities of potential witnesses, pointing to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as an example of the kind of danger faced by those who speak out against Saudi Arabia. Khashoggi, a contributing Washington Post...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — A federal judge has ordered lawyers for 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia to detail threats allegedly made against witnesses they may depose as part of their effort to prove the kingdom was involved in the 2001 terrorist attacks.The victims' attorneys have argued they need to protect for now the identities of potential witnesses, pointing to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as an example of the kind of danger faced by those who speak out against Saudi Arabia. Khashoggi, a contributing Washington Post...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA man linked by prosecutors to the Oath Keepers and Republican strategist Roger Stone was arrested Monday in New York and charged with criminal involvement in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.Roberto Minuta, 36, of Texas is accused of obstructing the formal counting of presidential election votes, trespassing and attempting to cover up his crimes. He was ordered released on a $125,000 bond over the objections of federal prosecutors.“I think it is not a stretch to think Mr. Minuta, if called upon to do so, would...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA man linked by prosecutors to the Oath Keepers and Republican strategist Roger Stone was arrested Monday in New York and charged with criminal involvement in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.Roberto Minuta, 36, of Texas is accused of obstructing the formal counting of presidential election votes, trespassing and attempting to cover up his crimes. He was ordered released on a $125,000 bond over the objections of federal prosecutors.“I think it is not a stretch to think Mr. Minuta, if called upon to do so, would...WW…