OnPolitics: Is Trump Fading? DeSantis Rising As 2024 Prospect In USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll
OnPolitics: Is Trump Fading? DeSantis Rising As 2024 Prospect In USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll https://digitalarkansasnews.com/onpolitics-is-trump-fading-desantis-rising-as-2024-prospect-in-usa-today-suffolk-poll/
Good afternoon, OnPolitics readers! It’s Politics Managing Editor Caren Bohan with a topic for conversation: Is DeSantis, not Trump, the future of the GOP?
A fresh poll in Donald Trump’s home state of Florida is raising new questions about the strength of the former president’s grip on the Republican party.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is emerging as an alternative to Trump for 2024 among GOP voters in the Sunshine state, according to a new USA TODAY Suffolk Poll, which finds DeSantis now leads Trump 48%-40% in a hypothetical presidential primary matchup.
That’s a big shift from the January survey which showed Trump ahead of the Florida governor, 47%-40%, reports USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.
Though neither has officially announced a presidential run, Trump has long been presumed to be the GOP front-runner.
Trump is still outpacing DeSantis among Republican voters nationally. While the Suffolk poll showed DeSantis riding high in Florida, a nationwide Politico/Morning Consult poll Wednesday showed Trump got the backing 52% of respondents versus 19% for DeSantis.
Still, the results of the Suffolk poll in Florida are significant, given the outsized influence the populous state has in the presidential nominating process and the prominence of both men in the state.
Trumpism minus the baggage?
Lately, some in the GOP are gravitating toward DeSantis, a onetime Trump protege, as someone who could deliver Trumpism without Trump — and without the baggage of multiple investigations and legal entanglements.
Following in Trump’s footsteps, DeSantis is increasingly making headlines as a top GOP culture warrior, most recently by sending 50 Venezuelan migrants by plane to Martha’s Vineyard.
The move was decried on the left as a ploy and tantamount to human trafficking given that many of the migrants said they were misled, but the media coverage has only enhanced DeSantis’ status with the Republican base.
It’s also enabling him to shape his political image around hardline immigration policies, the way Trump did when he launched his first presidential campaign in 2015.
Now, could the teacher could be bested by the student, asks USA TODAY Politics Correspondent Candy Woodall.
“He’s out-Trumping Trump,” says Sean Freeder, assistant political science professor at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Woodall noted that when Trump was president, he talked about transporting migrants from red states to blue states.
“DeSantis is actually doing it,” Freeder told Woodall. “While Trump continues his litigation of 2020, DeSantis is getting stuff done.”
More big takeaways from the USA TODAY/Suffolk poll
Dig deeper: Why moving migrants is about 2024, not the gubernatorial race
It’s Sarah Day Owen Wiskirchen, here with more top stories out of Washington:
Real quick: Stories that you’ll want to read
Fewer candidates debating: It’s less than eight weeks until Election Day, yet few debates are scheduled, even for key statewide contests in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Here’s why, analysts say.
Speaking of Trump’s legal troubles: The New York attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump and three of his children, accusing them of fraud.
Biden speaks out against Russia: In his United Nations address, President Joe Biden said Russian attacks on schools, hospitals, rail stations “should make your blood run cold.” Meanwhile, Putin is calling up reservists for ‘partial’ military mobilization.
Inflation and the economy are among the top issues for voters. Today the Federal Reserve increased interest rates again. What it could mean for this year and beyond.
What’s next On Politics: Reporter Ella Lee is following the trial of Capitol rioter Doug Jensen, one of the most high profile federal cases related to the Jan. 6 assault. Here’s a recap of the first day.
Like this newsletter? Sign up here for OnPolitics.
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Former Craighead County Clerk Sentenced To 57 Months In Prison For Wire Fraud
Former Craighead County Clerk Sentenced To 57 Months In Prison For Wire Fraud https://digitalarkansasnews.com/former-craighead-county-clerk-sentenced-to-57-months-in-prison-for-wire-fraud/
LITTLE ROCK—Former Craighead County Clerk Jacob Kade Holliday was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison today for taking more than $1.5 million in county money for his personal use. Holliday, 34, of Jonesboro, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James M. Moody, Jr., who also imposed three years of supervised release after Holliday completes his prison term.
In June 2020, Craighead County officials reported that a theft had occurred from the Craighead County Clerk’s office. The bank that managed the Clerk’s office account had flagged suspicious activity, and auditors concluded that approximately $1,579,057.03 was missing and had been moved to Holliday’s personal banking accounts.
Law enforcement interviewed Holliday, who admitted to taking the money to fund his businesses: Holliday Development and Management, LLC, and Total Healthcare, LLC, both of which operated restaurants and coffee shops in Jonesboro. Holliday told investigators he planned to pay the money back, but once the COVID-19 pandemic caused most of his businesses to close, he could not replace the money.
Holliday was indicted in December 2020, when a grand jury charged him with 11 counts of wire fraud for each withdrawal he made from the county account. He pleaded guilty in February of this year and acknowledged that his method was to make a transfer from the county account to one of his personal accounts and then get a cashier’s check from his personal account for the same amount. He pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the indictment, which charged him with wire fraud for his first fraudulent transfer of $101,782.97 on January 29, 2020. In his plea agreement, Holliday agreed to pay $1,579,057.03 in restitution to Craighead County.
Holliday is currently serving a 120-month sentence in a state case for forgery, and Judge Moody ordered that his federal sentence will not begin until the state sentence is completed. The FBI, Arkansas State Police, and Craighead County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Allison W. Bragg prosecuted the case.
# # #
This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at
https://www.justice.gov/edar
Twitter:
@EDARNEWS
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VIDEO: Madison Cunningham Performs https://digitalarkansasnews.com/video-madison-cunningham-performs/
Last night, acclaimed artist Madison Cunningham performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Cunningham’s new album Revealer is out now on Verve Forecast to critical praise. Listen HERE, and check out the webstore for an exclusive signed splatter vinyl HERE.
Madison is set to kick off her headline Revealer Tour this fall with Bendigo Fletcher supporting. Tickets are on sale HERE and complete list of dates below including Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta and more.
The album finds Cunningham working with Mike Elizondo (Twenty One Pilots, Gary Clark Jr.) as well as Tucker Martine (Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens) and longtime producer and collaborator Tyler Chester.
Watch the performance here:
MADISON CUNNINGHAM THE REVEALER TOUR
September 21-recordBAR-Kansas City, MO
September 23-Fox Theatre-Boulder, CO
September 24-Urban Lounge-Salt Lake City, UT
September 26-The Crocodile-Seattle, WA
September 27-The Biltmore Cabaret-Vancouver, BC
September 28-Wonder Ballroom-Portland, OR
September 30-Café Du Nord-San Francisco, CA
October 1-The Regent Theater-Los Angeles, CA
October 2-Ohana Festival-Dana Point, CA
October 3-Club Congress Plaza-Tucson, AZ
October 4-Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery-Santa Fe, NM
October 6-Beer City Music Hall-Oklahoma City, OK
October 7-Deep Ellum Art Co-Dallas, TX
October 8-George’s Majestic Lounge-Fayetteville, AR
October 11-Saturn-Birmingham, AL
October 12-Bijou Theatre-Knoxville, TN
October 13-Terminal West-Atlanta, GA
October 14-The Grey Eagle-Asheville, NC
October 15-Brooklyn Bowl Nashville-Nashville, TN
October 17-Haw River Ballroom-Saxapahaw, NC
October 18-The Jefferson Theater-Charlottesville, VA
October 20-The Sinclair-Cambridge, MA
October 21-Webster Hall-New York, NY
October 22-Capital Turnaround-Washington, DC
October 24-Thalia Hall-Chicago, IL
November 27-Broadcast-Glasgow, UK
November 29-Islington Assembly Hall-London, UK
December 1-Belleville-Oslo, NO
December 2-Nalen Klubb-Stockholm, SE
December 4-Vega Ideal Bar-Copenhagen, DK
December 6-Nochtspeicher-Hamburg, DE
December 8-Rotown-Rotterdam, NL
December 9-Paradiso Tuinzaal-Amsterdam, DL
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Analysis | Trumps Fate Likely To Be Determined Not By A Lawsuit But By Voters
Analysis | Trump’s Fate Likely To Be Determined Not By A Lawsuit But By Voters https://digitalarkansasnews.com/analysis-trumps-fate-likely-to-be-determined-not-by-a-lawsuit-but-by-voters/
We can trace the starting point to Feb. 27, 2019. On that day, Michael Cohen, a former attorney for President Donald Trump, appeared on Capitol Hill to answer questions about, among other things, how Trump’s private business was run. Cohen had unique insight into the question, having served as Trump’s right hand for years.
One of the things Cohen alleged was that the company had regularly inflated the valuations of its properties. Within days, regulators in New York state, where the Trump Organization is headquartered, had subpoenaed records from the company. Eventually, it became clear that New York Attorney General Letitia James was investigating a possible pattern of inflation — an investigation that resulted in the announcement on Wednesday of a broad lawsuit targeting Trump, three of his children and the company itself.
Compressing the timeline into one paragraph, though, downplays how much time passed. It’s been more than 900 days since Cohen offered testimony in that packed room at the Capitol. Since then, the Capitol was overrun by violent Trump supporters, and packed rooms fell dramatically out of fashion thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Or, put another way: If it takes another 900 days to resolve the lawsuit — certainly a duration well within the realm of possibility — it would come at some point in the spring of 2025.
Or, potentially, a year into a second Donald Trump presidency.
Politics are, of course, inextricable from the newly announced lawsuit. In part that’s because Trump is always so assiduous about dragging all of his external problems into the context of an overarching power structure eager to attack him. In part it’s because James, a Democrat, pledged to dig into Trump’s behavior when campaigning for her current position back in 2018.
That’s not to say that the allegations presented by her office on Wednesday are a political hit job (as Trump quickly took to Truth Social to claim). The filing, which runs into the hundreds of pages, suggests substantial grounds for a lawsuit. Asked by a Washington Post reporter whether Trump defenders were justified in claiming that the inflated metrics were simply standard business practices, James said they were not.
“This conduct cannot be brushed aside and dismissed as some sort of good-faith mistake,” James said during a news conference. “The statements of financial condition were greatly exaggerated, grossly inflated, objectively false — and therefore fraudulent and illegal.”
But this doesn’t extricate politics from the lawsuit’s existence. It may simply be that Trump’s elevation in national politics drew the spotlight to years of activity — even as it gave politicians like James and the members of Congress who questioned Cohen in 2019 fertile soil for their own ambitions.
The response to the suit will itself fall heavily along political lines. There’s a well-worn pattern by now, seven years after Trump first announced his candidacy in 2015: Some new investigation or question emerges about Trump’s behavior that, for any other person, would present a huge legal, political or ethical dilemma. His critics get enthusiastic and start poring over the details. Then, slowly, the situation resolves in a way that leaves Trump, his business and his political position mostly undamaged.
To some degree, this is precisely because Trump does such a good job of contextualizing probes as biased, inoculating his supporters against the allegations. It is also partly because many of these investigations have worst-case outcomes for Trump that could, in fact, be quite damaging — but the likelihood of those scenarios is slowly withered by legal machinations that grind the process down into dust or by agreements that end with Trump handing over some chunk of cash or shuttering some ancillary component of his empire. (Asked whether a settlement is possible here, James acknowledged that it is.)
This isn’t to say the probes lack merit; just as there are robust indicators of malfeasance in the new lawsuit, there have been many such indicators in years past. It’s simply to say that each new investigation of Trump is treated as existential by his opponents, even when so many have proved not to be. They are also presented as existential by Trump because that’s an effective mechanism for assuring that they end up somewhere far less damaging.
Also noteworthy is that James is targeting Trump’s old occupation, not his new one. He used to be a real estate salesman. Now he’s a right-wing rhetoric salesman, and lawsuits like James’s are good for business.
There has been some rumbling in recent weeks that Trump’s new business — maintaining an ideological grip on the Republican Party — has stumbled. An NBC News poll released over the weekend showed a dip in the number of Republicans who chose Trump over the party, a shift that some attributed to the damage Trump incurred from the Justice Department probe into the documents he had at Mar-a-Lago. But another NBC News poll conducted a few weeks after the search of that property (the value of which, James would like to point out, the Trump Organization appears to have wildly overinflated) found that his grip on the party had strengthened.
The reality is that Trump’s favorability among Republicans has been fairly steady over the past two years. When he was in office, he was viewed more positively by Republicans on net than he is now. But in weekly polling from YouGov conducted in 2022, his average net favorability within his party is plus-67 — Republicans are 67 points more likely to say they view him favorably than they are to say they view him unfavorably. In the past three weeks, since Mar-a-Lago, the average net favorability has been plus-65 points.
He’s about where he was in 2017.
It is possible that the new lawsuit in New York will hobble Trump’s business before November 2024. It’s certainly possible that, for those in Trump’s orbit who are cited in the suit, the long-term damage could be significant. And it’s also possible that Trump could soon face a federal indictment that makes things like the New York lawsuit pale as a personal threat.
The safest assumption, though, is that this lawsuit will quickly move to the background, with regular reports about new legal challenges and filings, that it will remain unresolved at least through the middle of 2024. That, by the time it’s resolved, we’ll already have a good sense of what the next chapter looks like for Trump.
By mid-2024, after all, we’ll have a better sense of how Trump’s new business endeavor is faring. Has his effort to control the GOP led to his earning the party’s presidential nomination once again? Or was his grip finally loosened as Republican voters opted for someone who wasn’t trailed by a parade of attorneys clutching microphones and paperwork?
Every new legal challenge to Trump is inherently remarkable simply because the breadth and nature of his activity, legal or not, were so unusual for an American president. The suit announced Wednesday targets that old universe of influence; Trump is already leveraging it to the benefit of his new one. His fate is almost certainly more heavily dependent on the success or failure of his new enterprise: Make America Great Again, Inc.
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AP News Summary At 2:44 P.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-244-p-m-edt/
Fed attacks inflation with another big hike and expects more
WASHINGTON (AP) — Intensifying its fight against high inflation, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a third straight time and signaled more large rate hikes to come — an aggressive pace that will heighten the risk of an eventual recession. The Fed’s move boosted its benchmark short-term rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 3% to 3.25%, the highest level since early 2008. The officials also forecast that they will further raise their benchmark rate to roughly 4.4% by year’s end, a full percentage point higher than they had forecast as recently as June.
Trump accused of vast fraud in suit by NY attorney general
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general has sued former President Donald Trump and his company, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit was filed Wednesday in state court in New York. It is the culmination of the Democrat’s three-year civil investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization. Three of Trump’s adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two longtime company executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney. Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said the lawsuit is “neither focused on the facts nor the law.”
Putin orders partial military call-up, sparking protests
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a partial mobilization of reservists in Russia, effective immediately. He risks a deeply unpopular step that follows humiliating setbacks for his troops nearly seven months after invading Ukraine. It’s the first mobilization in Russia since World War II. Western backers of Ukraine derided the move as an act of weakness. The Russian leader also warned the West he isn’t bluffing over using everything at his disposal to protect Russian territory, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to his nuclear arsenal. The partial mobilization came a day after Russian-occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine said they would hold votes on becoming part of Russia. Hundreds of people were arrested at protests across Russia.
Biden: Russia ‘shamelessly violated’ UN Charter in Ukraine
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NY Attorney General Sues Donald Trump And His Company
NY Attorney General Sues Donald Trump And His Company https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ny-attorney-general-sues-donald-trump-and-his-company/
NY attorney general sues Donald Trump and his company WMSN Fox 47 Madison
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New York Attorney General Files Civil Fraud Lawsuit Against Trump Some Of His Children And His Business
New York Attorney General Files Civil Fraud Lawsuit Against Trump, Some Of His Children And His Business https://digitalarkansasnews.com/new-york-attorney-general-files-civil-fraud-lawsuit-against-trump-some-of-his-children-and-his-business/
(CNN)The New York state attorney general filed a sweeping lawsuit Wednesday against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and the Trump Organization, alleging they were involved in an expansive fraud lasting over a decade that the former President used to enrich himself.
In the more than 200-page lawsuit, Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, alleges the fraud touched all aspects of the Trump business, including its properties and golf courses. According to the lawsuit, the Trump Organization deceived lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of his properties using misleading appraisals.
“This conduct cannot be brushed aside and dismissed as some sort of good-faith mistake,” James said at a news conference in New York.
“The statements of financial condition were greatly exaggerated, grossly inflated, objectively false, and therefore fraudulent and illegal,” she added. “And as a result of that we are seeking relief, and Mr. Trump, the Trump Organization, his family — they should all be held accountable.”
Trump and his children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Allen Weisselberg, former CFO for the Trump Organization, and Jeff McConney, another longtime company executive, are also named.
James said she believes state and criminal laws may have been violated and referred the matter to the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service.
The US attorney’s office declined to comment.
“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation were similar in nature, were committed by upper management at the Trump Organization as part of a common endeavor for each annual Statement, and were approved at the highest levels of the Trump Organization — including by Mr. Trump himself,” the lawsuit states.
As part of the lawsuit, James is seeking $250 million in allegedly ill-gotten funds and to permanently bar Trump and the children named in the lawsuit from serving as the director of a business registered in New York state. She is also seeking to cancel the Trump Organization’s corporate certificate, which, if granted by a judge, could effectively force the company to cease operations in New York state.
Trump previously called James a “renegade prosecutor” who he said is running a “vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition.” The Trump Organization called her previously allegations “baseless” and denied any wrongdoing.
Responding to Wednesday’s announcement, Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement to CNN: “Today’s filing is neither focused on the facts nor the law — rather, it is solely focused on advancing the Attorney General’s political agenda. It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s Office has exceeded its statutory authority by prying into transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place.”
Weisselberg’s attorney, Nicholas Gravante, declined to comment.
The civil lawsuit comes as Trump is under increasing legal pressure as prosecutors are taking investigative steps that move ever closer to his inner circle.
Trump is facing numerous criminal investigations from federal and state prosecutors involving the accuracy of his company’s financial statements, interference in the 2020 presidential election, and his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
AG alleges that Trump lied 200+ times about the value of his assets
James alleges that the former President and his company made “scores of fraudulent, false, and misleading representations” over a 10-year period, according to the lawsuit, which specifically highlighted what it called “200 false and misleading valuations” of Trump’s assets.
“The financial statements in question were issued annually; each contained a significant number of fraudulent, false, and misleading representations about a great many of the Trump Organization’s assets; and most played a role in particular transactions with financial institutions,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The number of grossly inflated asset values is staggering,” the suit adds.
According to James, Trump’s businesses prepared statements of financial condition every year to submit to banks and other financial institutions. The statements showed the financial position of the Trump businesses, James said, and were relied upon if the Trump Organization wanted to apply for loans.
Each statement was personally certified as accurate by Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., or Weisselberg, James told reporters on Wednesday.
Trump “made known” that “he wanted his net worth reflected on those statements to increase,” James said, “a desire Mr. Weisselberg and others carried out year after year in their fraudulent preparation of those statements.”
As an example of allegations Trump inflated valuations to increase his own profits. James highlighted what she says happened with 40 Wall Street, a property known as The Trump Building in New York City’s financial district, which is referenced dozens of times in the lawsuit.
Trump’s company obtained appraisals for the property in 2010 and 2012, which found that it was worth $200 million and $220 million respectively, according to the lawsuit. But Trump’s company repeatedly claimed that the property was worth a lot more in its official financial statements, according to the lawsuit.
In 2011, Trump’s company said the property was worth $524 million. He said it was worth $527 million in 2012, and $530 million in 2013, according to the lawsuit, which argued that there was not a valid basis for these inflated valuations, and that Trump falsely claimed these numbers came from “professionals.”
During Wednesday’s news conference James also said that Trump inflated the square footage of his Trump Tower triplex apartment in order to misrepresent the value at over $300 million.
“Mr. Trump represented that his apartments spanned more than 30,000 square feet, which was the basis for valuing the apartment. In reality, the apartment had an area of less than 11,000 square feet, something that Mr. Trump was well aware of,” James said.
She added: “Based on that inflated square footage, the value of the apartment in 2015, in 2016, was $327 million. To this date, no apartment in New York City has ever sold for close to that amount.”
Three-year investigation
The announcement is the latest development in what has been a three-year investigation led by James into the Trump Organization’s finances.
In January, James’ office said it found “significant” evidence indicating the Trump Organization used false or misleading asset valuations in its financial statements to obtain loans, insurance and tax benefits. The following month, Trump’s long-time accounting firm resigned.
James’ launched her investigation in 2019 after Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress alleging that Trump inflated the value of certain assets to obtain loans and insurance and undervalued others to gain tax benefits.
In addition to the new fraud lawsuit, the Trump Organization is going on trial next month on charges it was engaged in a 15-year tax fraud scheme and its long-time chief financial officer has agreed to testify against the company.
Weisselberg, who served as chief financial officer at the Trump Organization for decades, pleaded guilty in August to his role in a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme, and as part of the deal, he had agreed to testify against Trump’s real estate company at trial.
In recent weeks, the Trump Organization had offered to settle to ward off the lawsuit even as they denied any wrongdoing, but James’ office made it clear it wasn’t interested in a deal, people familiar with the matter said.
AG: Trump’s oldest children ‘knowingly participated’
Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. “knowingly participated” in the alleged fraudulent schemes, the lawsuit states.
The alleged scheme “required the participation of Mr. Trump and his children,” the lawsuit said, adding that the children were “aware of the true financial performance of the company.”
The lawsuit, for instance, alleges that Eric Trump was involved in an approach to appraising properties in Las Vegas in a way that lowered their value for tax purposes while inflating their value on Trump financial statements.
It also quotes testimony from Trump Jr. as it describes how the value of Trump Park Avenue was allegedly inflated on Trump financial statements. An appraisal of the property by an outside firm in 2010 for a loan took into account how some of the units were rent-stabilized, lowering their value, according to James’ complaint. Yet, Trump financial statements put a value on the units roughly six times higher than what the appraiser had concluded, the lawsuit said.
And the lawsuit pointed to Ivanka Trump’s involvement in securing a loan for purchasing the Doral golf course in Florida and Chicago properties in 2012 — loans that James claims were extended in part because of financial statements allegedly containing misrepresentations.
“On each of those transactions with Deutsche Bank, Ms. Trump was aware that the transactions included a personal guaranty from Mr. Trump that required him to provide annual Statements of Financial Condition and certifications,” the lawsuit says.
Family was deposed by AG’s office
In April, after a protracted legal fight to enforce subpoenas for Trump and his adult children’s depositions, lawyers with James’ office saying they were nearing the end of the investigation and needed the Trumps’ testimony before making a decision.
Last month, Trump did not answer questions and asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incr...
LIVE: Fed Chair Jerome Powell Holds News Conference Following The FOMC Meeting
LIVE: Fed Chair Jerome Powell Holds News Conference Following The FOMC Meeting https://digitalarkansasnews.com/live-fed-chair-jerome-powell-holds-news-conference-following-the-fomc-meeting/
LIVE: Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds news conference following the FOMC meeting Yahoo Finance
Interest Rates And Weaker Dollar Could Become A Tailwind Seeking Alpha
LIVE: Chairman Powell speaks after Fed hikes interest rates by 0.75% to fight inflation — 9/21/2022 CNBC Television
WATCH LIVE: Fed Chair Jerome Powell Holds Press Conference By Investing.com Investing.com
WATCH: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell delivers remarks on interest rates Washington Post
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Iran Death Toll Grows As Protests Intensify https://digitalarkansasnews.com/iran-death-toll-grows-as-protests-intensify/
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Member of security forces among those killed
Unrest has swept Iran since young woman died in custody
Social media video shows fresh protest at Tehran University
DUBAI, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Iranian authorities said three people including a member of the security forces had been killed on Tuesday during unrest sweeping the country, as anger at the death of a woman in the custody of the morality police fuelled protests for a fifth day.
Official sources now say a total of seven people have been killed since protests erupted on Saturday over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan who died last week after being arrested in Tehran for “unsuitable attire”.
Reports from Kurdish rights group Hengaw said seven protesters had been killed by security forces, three of them on Tuesday, in or near Kurdish areas in the northwest of the country where unrest has been particularly intense and deadly.
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Officials have denied that security forces have killed protesters.
Hengaw also said access to the internet had been cut in Kurdistan province – a move that would hinder videos being shared from a region where the authorities have previously suppressed unrest by the Kurdish minority. read more
The internet shutdown observatory NetBlocks and residents said Iran has restricted access to Instagram, the only major social media platform that Iran does not usually block. A senior official said recently it had about 48 million users in the country.
The minister of communications said he had been misquoted after news outlets cited him as saying the authorities might disrupt internet services for security reasons. read more
Amini’s death has unleashed anger over issues including freedoms in the Islamic Republic and an economy reeling from sanctions. Women have waved and burnt their veils during protests, with some cutting their hair in public.
After beginning on Saturday at Amini’s funeral in the Kurdish region, protests have engulfed much of the country, prompting confrontations as security forces have sought to suppress them.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not mention the protests – some of Iran’s worst unrest since street clashes last year over water shortages – during a speech on Wednesday commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. read more
A top Khamenei aide paid condolences to Amini’s family this week, promising to follow up on the case and saying the Supreme Leader was affected and pained by her death.
The official IRNA news agency said a “police assistant” died from injuries on Tuesday in the southern city of Shiraz.
“Some people clashed with police officers and as a result one of the police assistants was killed. In this incident, four other police officers were injured,” IRNA said. An official quoted by IRNA said 15 protesters were arrested in Shiraz.
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic’s “morality police”, in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
In Kermanshah, the city prosecutor said two people had been killed on Tuesday in riots. “We are certain this was done by anti-revolutionary elements because the victims were killed by weapons not used by the security apparatus,” the semi-official Fars news agency cited prosecutor Shahram Karami as saying.
The Kurdistan police chief, in comments to the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Wednesday, confirmed four deaths earlier this week in Kurdistan province. He said they were shot with a type of bullet not used by the security forces, saying “gangs” wanted to blame police and security officials.
Hengaw said a total of 450 people had been injured in addition to the seven Kurdish protesters it said had died as a result of “direct fire” from government forces in the last four days. Reuters could not independently confirm the casualty reports.
Amini fell into a coma and died while waiting with other women held by the morality police, who enforce strict rules in the Islamic Republic requiring women to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothes in public. read more
Her father said she had no health problems and that she suffered bruises to her legs in custody. He holds the police responsible for her death. The police have denied harming her.
The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an impartial investigation into her death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment. read more
‘DEATH TO THE DICTATOR’
Videos shared on social media have also shown demonstrators damaging symbols of the Islamic Republic and confronting security forces.
One showed a man scaling the facade of the town hall in the northern city of Sari and tearing down an image of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution.
The semi-official ISNA news agency said 12 ambulances had been attacked, and banks and public property had been damaged in several cities. Protesters have accused police of using ambulances to transport forces and detain demonstrators
People rallied again on Wednesday in Tehran, with hundreds shouting “death to the dictator” at Tehran University, a video shared by 1500tasvir showed.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the videos.
State media and officials have depicted the unrest as riots by “anti-revolutionary elements”.
Members of the Basij, a militia under the umbrella of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, held their own rallies in Tehran on Wednesday. “The morality police is just an excuse, what they target is the regime itself,” they chanted in a video posted on 1500tasvir.
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Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Writing by Tom Perry Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Obituaries In Fort Smith, AR | Times Record https://digitalarkansasnews.com/obituaries-in-fort-smith-ar-times-record-36/
James H. Walker
Min. James H. Walker, aka “Pooki”, 77, of Ft. Smith, AR passed on Fri., Sept. 16, 2022. He was the preceded in death by his children: James, Jr. and Jamie Walker; his parents: Dennis and Ozella (Thompson) Walker and a sister: Delores Richardson.
Celebration of life service will be held Sat., Sept. 24, 2022 at 11 a.m. at New Covenant International Christian Center 2037 North N Street Ft. Smith, AR 72904 with a burial on Mon., Sept. 26, 2022 at 10 a.m. at the Ft. Smith National Cemetery under the direction of Rowell-Parish Mortuary.
He will be forever cherished by his 2 daughters: Nishaee Love Norwood (Michael) and Malori Monique Walker (Mark Minton); 4 grandchildren: Malik Walker, Tre’ Norwood, India Norwood and upon arrival is Mason Minton; a great-grandchild: Malachi James Walker; 3 sisters: Denise Jones, Marion and Margret Walker and a host of nieces, nephews and many friends.
Visitation will be Fri., Sept. 23, 2022 from 11 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Rowell-Parish Mortuary 611 N 9th St. Ft. Smith, AR 72901.
Posted online on September 21, 2022
Published in Southwest Times Record
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Trump Accused Of Vast Fraud In Suit By NY Attorney General
Trump Accused Of Vast Fraud In Suit By NY Attorney General https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-accused-of-vast-fraud-in-suit-by-ny-attorney-general/
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company for fraud on Wednesday, alleging they padded his net worth by billions of dollars by lying about the value of prized assets including golf courses, hotels and his homes at Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago.
Attorney General Letitia James dubbed it: “The art of the steal.”
James’ lawsuit, filed in state court in New York, is the culmination of a three-year civil investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization. Trump’s three eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two longtime company executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.
The lawsuit strikes at the core of what made Trump famous, taking a blacklight to the image of wealth and opulence he’s embraced throughout his career — first as a real estate developer, then as a reality TV host on “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” and later as president.
James wants Trump and the other defendants to pay at least $250 million, which she said was the approximate worth of the benefits it got through fraudulent practices.
FILE – Donald Trump, right, sits with his children, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on July 23, 2014, in Washington. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Evan Vucci
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Brittainy Newman
New York Attorney General Letitia James pauses during a press conference, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Brittainy Newman
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Brittainy Newman
FILE – Donald Trump, left, his son Donald Trump Jr., center, and his daughter Ivanka Trump speak during the unveiling of the design for the Trump International Hotel in the The Old Post Office, in Washington, on Sept. 10, 2013. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Manuel Balce Ceneta
FILE – Seven Springs, a property owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump is shown covered in snow in Mount Kisco, N.Y., on Feb. 23, 2021. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/John Minchillo
FILE – Former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is seen in Palm Beach, Fla. on Dec. 24, 2017. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Carolyn Kaster
FILE – This aerial image taken with a drone, shows Trump National Golf Club, in Briarcliff Manor, NY., on Oct. 20, 2021. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Seth Wenig
FILE – Pedestrians cross Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower, center, on Feb. 17, 2021, in New York. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C.(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/John Minchillo
FILE – Visitors make their way through the front entrance, adorned with a Trump crest, to the Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles, on Aug. 4, 2004, in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/REED SAXON
FILE – Pedestrians and a food delivery man are seen outside the Trump building on Wall Street, in New York’s Financial District, on March 23, 2021. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File )
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Mary Altaffer
FILE – President-elect Donald Trump, left, his chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, center, and his son Donald Trump Jr., right, attend a news conference at Trump Tower in New York, on Jan. 11, 2017. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Evan Vucci
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James, a Democrat, announced details of the lawsuit at a news conference on Wednesday. She said her office filed the case — which is civil, not criminal in nature — after rejecting settlement offers made by lawyers for the defendants.
The alleged scheme was intended to burnish Trump’s billionaire image and the value of his properties when doing so gave him an advantage, such as in obtaining favorable loan terms, while playing down the value of assets at other times for tax purposes, James’ office said.
“This investigation revealed that Donald Trump engaged in years of illegal conduct to inflate his net worth, to deceive banks and the people of the great state of New York,” James said at the news conference. “Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. It’s the art of the steal.”
James said her investigation uncovered potential criminal violations, including falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud, conspiracy and bank fraud. She said her office is referring those findings to federal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service.
In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform, Trump called the lawsuit “Another Witch Hunt by a racist Attorney General” and called James, who is Black, “a fraud who campaigned on a ‘get Trump’ platform, despite the fact that the city is one of the crime and murder disasters of the world under her watch!”
Trump lawyer Alina Habba said the lawsuit “is neither focused on the facts nor the law — rather, it is solely focused on advancing the Attorney General’s political agenda,” accusing James of abusing her authority “by prying into transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place.”
Habba said the allegations in the lawsuit are “meritless.”
James is seeking to remove the Trumps from businesses engaged in the alleged fraud and wants an independent monitor appointed for no less than five years to oversee the Trump Organization’s compliance, financial reporting, valuations and disclosures to lenders, insurers and tax authorities.
She is seeking to replace the current trustees of Trump’s revocable trust, which controls his business interests, with independent trustees, to bar Trump and the Trump Organization from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions for five years, from obtaining loans from banks in New York for five years and permanently bar Trump and three of his adult children from serving as an officer or director in any New York corporation or similar business entity registered and/or licensed in New York State.
She also seeks to permanently bar Weisselberg and McConney from serving in the financial control function of any New York corporation or similar business entity registered and/or licensed in New York State.
James’ lawsuit comes amid a swirl of unprecedented legal challenges for a former president, including an FBI investigation into Trump’s handling of classified records and inquiries into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The Trump Organization is set to go on trial in October in a criminal case alleging that it schemed to give untaxed perks to senior executives, including its longtime finance chief Weisselberg,...
New York Attorney General Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former President Trump Family Members Businesses Space Coast Daily
New York Attorney General Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former President Trump, Family Members, Businesses – Space Coast Daily https://digitalarkansasnews.com/new-york-attorney-general-files-civil-lawsuit-against-former-president-trump-family-members-businesses-space-coast-daily/
Home » New York Attorney General Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former President Trump, Family Members, Businesses
By Fox News // September 21, 2022
(FOX NEWS) – The New York Attorney General’s office has filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, several of his family members, as well associates and businesses, alleging “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” regarding financial statements.
Attorney General Letitia James said at a news conference Wednesday morning after the complaint was filed in New York Supreme Court that Trump “inflated his net worth by billions of dollars,” and that his children Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric helped him.
“Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization repeatedly and persistently manipulated the value of assets to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company,” James said, “to pay lower taxes, to satisfy continuing loan agreements and to induce insurance companies to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums.”
James said that over the course of her office’s investigation, they interviewed 65 witnesses and reviewed millions of documents. She said the evidence showed that Trump submitted “more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations.”
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State House District 11 Rivals Cite Government Business Experience In Push For Northwest Arkansas Seat
State House District 11 Rivals Cite Government, Business Experience In Push For Northwest Arkansas Seat https://digitalarkansasnews.com/state-house-district-11-rivals-cite-government-business-experience-in-push-for-northwest-arkansas-seat/
Republican Rebecca Burkes (left) and Democrat Rey Hernandez are seeking to represent state House District 11.
Both candidates seeking to represent state House District 11 claim a wide range of relevant experience.
Republican Rebecca Burkes cites her experience as a businesswoman and as a conservative attorney who worked in state government as general counsel for the Arkansas Department of Heritage.
Democratic nominee Rey Hernandez cites his experience in business and as an adviser to other entrepreneurs.
District 11 takes in a portion of downtown Springdale, but most of the district lies north of the Washington County line in Benton County. It extends as far north as Stoney Point Road in Rogers and reaches the shores of Beaver Lake in the east. The district takes in Lowell and reaches Silent Grove Road in Springdale in the west.
State representatives serve two-year terms and receive a base salary of $44,357. There are 100 members of the state House. Early voting begins Oct. 24 for the Nov. 8 general election.
Burkes described herself as a private businesswoman from Northwest Arkansas who also worked for the state enough to know the ins and outs of state government.
“I believe in limited government and making government more efficient,” she said. “In business, especially small business, there’s pressure to innovate and create.”
Those incentives are missing in government, she said. Lawmakers who can insist on change and know what changes to make are needed, she said. The state also needs lawmakers who know how to prevent “mission creep,” where agencies expand their roles and use those assumed roles to increase their reach and staffing, Burkes said.
Her priorities if elected include reducing regulations and restrictions on business, especially on occupational licensing and continuing education requirements, Burkes said. Arkansas lacks reciprocity agreements with other states — agreements that allow someone licensed in a skilled trade in one state to be licensed in Arkansas after moving here, she said. Needed jobs are going unfilled because qualified people are still trying to get their licenses in Arkansas, she said.
Burkes supports more parent involvement in education and is strongly anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment on the right to bear arms, she said.
Hernandez described himself as a longtime resident of Northwest Arkansas who shares the life experiences of a wide variety of people here. He’s a rancher and a retired businessman.
“I can take to Little Rock the viewpoint of the people I represent,” he said. “These folks are basically me,” Hernandez said of district residents.
He watched the region grow, he said. “I lived here 15 years before they paved my road.”
“The myth I have to get past is that I’m only the Hispanic candidate,” Hernandez said. “I’m a veteran, a rancher and an educator who has also worked in health care.”
Hernandez is a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps. As for being a Democrat running in largely Republican Benton and Washington counties, he said that gives him more freedom from having to toe a stricter party line.
The district includes much of Rogers and downtown Springdale. It therefore includes a large Hispanic population that deserves representation along with the rest of the district, Hernandez said. He can represent all the district’s constituents, he said. In particular, he can continue to help aspiring Hispanic entrepreneurs navigate government rules and address the concerns of business in the Legislature, he said.
Rebecca Burkes
Rey Hernandez
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E. Jean Carroll Plans To Sue Trump Using New N.Y. Sexual Assault Law
E. Jean Carroll Plans To Sue Trump Using New N.Y. Sexual Assault Law https://digitalarkansasnews.com/e-jean-carroll-plans-to-sue-trump-using-new-n-y-sexual-assault-law/
Writer and columnist E. Jean Carroll, who has maintained that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her once during the 1990s, plans to sue the former president under a New York law that lets sexual assault victims file suit years later, she said in court records filed Tuesday.
In late May, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed into law the Adult Survivors Act, which will give adult sexual assault survivors up to one year to file a lawsuit regardless of when the alleged violation happened.
In the court documents filed Tuesday in her ongoing defamation case against Trump, Carroll’s attorney Roberta A. Kaplan told a New York federal judge that her client intends to file a lawsuit against Trump “as soon as that statute authorizes us to do so.” Carroll can sue under the Adult Survivors Act as of Nov. 24.
Carroll — who in 2019 recounted the alleged assault in an excerpt of her book — previously hadn’t been able to press charges because the statute of limitations passed. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Kaplan declined to comment when reached by The Washington Post on Wednesday. Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, did not immediately respond when reached by The Post seeking comment.
The Carroll announcement came a day before New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit accusing Trump, three of his grown children and executives at his company of flagrantly manipulating property valuations to deceive lenders, insurance brokers and tax authorities into giving them better rates on bank loans and insurance policies and to reduce their tax liability. James is seeking restitution and to ban Trump from buying commercial property in the state for five years.
Carroll, who Trump has called a liar, is in the middle of an ongoing defamation suit against the former president following the published excerpt of her book where she first recounted the alleged assault.
In the excerpt, as she has claimed in her defamation suit, Carroll said she ran into the real estate developer at upscale department store Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in late 1995 or early 1996. They chatted and shopped together before Trump attacked her in a dressing room, she said. Carroll said he knocked her head against a wall, pulled down her tights and briefly penetrated her before she swiftly pushed him off and ran out of the store.
Carroll is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Trump attempted to countersue, but a judge rejected the bid.
In the court documents filed Tuesday, Kaplan, Carroll’s lawyer, alleges Trump has yet to cooperate in the discovery process. He “remains unwilling to produce” any evidence mandated by the court, Kaplan wrote. Carroll, though, is ready to produce over 30,000 pages of evidence requested by Trump’s defense, she added.
“To date, discovery in the above-mentioned defamation case has been entirely one way,” Kaplan wrote in August.
Kaplan has sought to consolidate Carroll’s defamation suit with the new lawsuit she is expected to file under the Adult Survivors Act. Habba has asked the judge to deny this, saying it would be “extraordinarily prejudicial” to Trump.
Beth Reinhard and Shayna Jacobs contributed to this report.
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New York Attorney General Sues Trump Family Company For $250 Million Over Fraud Peoples Gazette
New York Attorney General Sues Trump, Family, Company For $250 Million Over Fraud – Peoples Gazette https://digitalarkansasnews.com/new-york-attorney-general-sues-trump-family-company-for-250-million-over-fraud-peoples-gazette/
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
New York Attorney General Letitia James has accused former President Donald Trump, his adult children and his family business, The Trump Organisation, of $250 million fraud.
On Wednesday, Ms James accused Mr Trump and the Trump Organisation of capitalising on the valuations of its properties to gain financial advantages.
“Today, we are filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump for violating the law as part of his efforts to generate profits for himself, his family and his company,” Ms James said in a press conference. “The number of grossly inflated asset values is staggering, affecting most if not all of the real estate holdings in any given year. All told, Mr Trump, the Trump Organization, and the other Defendants, as part of a repeated pattern and common scheme, derived more than 200 false and misleading valuations of assets included in the 11 Statements covering 2011 through 2021.”
The civil lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court seeks at least $250 million in damages and seeks to bar Mr Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump from acting as officers of the company in New York.
The lawsuit results from a three-year-long probe of Mr Trump’s business practices, during which Mr Trump was personally invited for a deposition. Mr Trump invoked the Fifth Amendment in August, a few days after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as part of an unrelated federal probe into whether he took classified records when he left the White House.
Ms James is also filing a criminal referral to federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York and a separate tax fraud referral to the Internal Revenue Service over the same allegations.
The Trump organisation is slated to go on criminal trial in late October over a separate set of accusations involving failure to pay taxes on benefits awarded to its employees.
Peoples Gazette reported that long-serving Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty to his role in orchestrating those payments in August and agreed to testify against the company.
The plea bargain will see Mr Weisselberg serve five months in prison and receive five years probation in exchange for testifying at the trial of his former co-defendant and longtime employer, the Trump Organisation.
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Tropical Wave That May Impact Florida Given High Chance Of Formation
Tropical Wave That May Impact Florida Given High Chance Of Formation https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tropical-wave-that-may-impact-florida-given-high-chance-of-formation/
ALSO NAMED AS DEFENDANT. ANOTHER BIG STORY WE ARE FOLLOWING IT IS VERY ACTIVE IN THE TROPICS. OUR FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM IS TRACKING FIVE DIFFERENT DISTURBANCES IN THE ATLANTIC. METEOROLOGIST CAM TRAN SHOWS US WHICH ONE WE NEED TO KEEP A PARTICULARLY CLOSE EYE ON. WE NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON INVEST 90 A.L.. IT HAS A HIGH CHANCE OF DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE TROPICAL STORM GASSED ON. IT WILL ONLY IMPACT THOSE ISLANDS. THE ARE KEEPING AN EYE ON THESE WAVES IN THE EASTERN ATLANTIC. THESE HAVE A WAY TO GO AND A LOW CHANCE OF DEVELOPING. WE HAVE TIME TO WATCH THOSE AND THE OTHER ONE I AM WATCHING IS HURRICANE THE OWNER. IT IS A POWERFUL STORM CATEGORY FOR SYSTEM. SUSTAINED WIND AT 130 MILES PER HOUR. IT IS SITTING OVER THE WATERS OF THE ATLANTIC AND THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THE WINDS COULD PICK UP TO 140 MILES PER HOUR THURSDAY. HEADING TOWARDS BERMUDA BY FRIDAY. THAT WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN ATLANTIC TOWARDS MARITIME CANADA. GAS DON WILL — JUST ON –GASTON — IMPACT. BUT THIS IS DISORGANIZED RIGHT NOW BUT A TROPICAL STORM DEPRESSION COULD DEVELOP. A 90% CHANCE OF THIS DEVELOPING. ANOTHER REASON WE ARE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON THIS IS THAT IT IS ACTED T
Tropical wave that may impact Florida given high chance of formation
WESH 2 meteorologists are keeping a close eye on a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean. Invest 98-L located several hundred miles east of the Windward Islands is one that may have an impact on Florida.”The system continues to show signs of organization and it will likely become a tropical depression within the next two or three days. The disturbance is forecast to move west-northwestward across the southern Windward Islands by late today and then move toward the central Caribbean Sea later this week,” the National HurricaneCenter said.The system is given a 70% chance of formation in 48 hours and a 90% chance of formation in five days.”This could become a tropical depression later this week as it drifts into the Caribbean,” WESH 2 Meteorologist Kellianne Klass said. “The GFS and Euro are both showing this storm strengthening as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico next week. Watching midweek through the end of the workweek as a rough timeline. What we need to watch is the exact path of this storm. The latest GFS run moves the storm closer to Central Florida, whereas the previous run has it farther away.” Meanwhile, Hurricane Fiona is drifting through the Atlantic as a major Category 3 storm.KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUEDStay tuned to WESH 2 News, WESH.COM, or NOAA Weather Radio for storm updates.Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind.Understand hurricane forecast models and cones.Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use precut plywood.Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first-aid supplies, drinking water, and medications.The WESH 2 First Warning Weather Team recommends you have these items ready before the storm strikes.Bottled water: One gallon of water per person per dayCanned food and soup, such as beans and chiliCan opener for the cans without the easy-open lidsAssemble a first-aid kitTwo weeks’ worth of prescription medicationsBaby/children’s needs, such as formula and diapersFlashlight and batteriesBattery-operated weather radioWHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING IS ISSUEDListen to the advice of local officials. If you are advised to evacuate, leave.Complete preparation activitiesIf you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows.Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows.HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN HELP DURING A HURRICANEA smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane — with the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath.Download the WESH 2 News app for iOS | AndroidEnable emergency alerts — if you have an iPhone, select settings, then go into notifications. From there, look for government alerts and enable emergency alerts.If you have an Android phone, from the home page of the app, scroll to the right along the bottom and click on “settings.” On the settings menu, click on “severe weather alerts.” From the menu, select from most severe, moderate-severe, or all alerts.PET AND ANIMAL SAFETYYour pet should be a part of your family plan. If you must evacuate, the most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to evacuate them too. Leaving pets behind, even if you try to create a safe space for them, could result in injury or death.Contact hotels and motels outside of your immediate area to see if they take pets.Ask friends, relatives and others outside of the affected area whether they could shelter your animal.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
WESH 2 meteorologists are keeping a close eye on a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean.
Invest 98-L located several hundred miles east of the Windward Islands is one that may have an impact on Florida.
“The system continues to show signs of organization and it will likely become a tropical depression within the next two or three days. The disturbance is forecast to move west-northwestward across the southern Windward Islands by late today and then move toward the central Caribbean Sea later this week,” the National HurricaneCenter said.
The system is given a 70% chance of formation in 48 hours and a 90% chance of formation in five days.
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
So many are asking me… where is this going?
The ‘ensembles’ are a great way to visualize that. These are the GFS model ensembles. This to me shows model confidence.
All show that the system works into the Caribbean, and eventually turn, but when? Timing is still not set; pic.twitter.com/FTOu6jWo9b
— Eric Burris (@EricBurrisWESH) September 21, 2022
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
With so much interest in the tropics, I wanted to post this;
Over the next few days we will be watching the tropics… Models show tropical trouble in the gulf next week… but it’s just too early to know…
When will we have a better idea on where it goes? This weekend. pic.twitter.com/ABW8OJMzar
— Eric Burris (@EricBurrisWESH) September 21, 2022
“This could become a tropical depression later this week as it drifts into the Caribbean,” WESH 2 Meteorologist Kellianne Klass said. “The GFS and Euro are both showing this storm strengthening as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico next week. Watching midweek through the end of the workweek as a rough timeline. What we need to watch is the exact path of this storm. The latest GFS run moves the storm closer to Central Florida, whereas the previous run has it farther away.”
Meanwhile, Hurricane Fiona is drifting through the Atlantic as a major Category 3 storm.
KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUED
Stay tuned to WESH 2 News, WESH.COM, or NOAA Weather Radio for storm updates.
Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind.
Understand hurricane forecast models and cones.
Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use precut plywood.
Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first-aid supplies, drinking water, and medications.
The WESH 2 First Warning Weather Team recommends you have these items ready before the storm strikes.
Bottled water: One gallon of water per person per day
Canned food and soup, such as beans and chili
Can opener for the cans without the easy-open lids
Assemble a first-aid kit
Two weeks’ worth of prescription medications
Baby/children’s needs, such as formula and diapers
Flashlight and batteries
Battery-operated weather radio
WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING IS ISSUED
Listen to the advice of local officials. If you are advised to evacuate, leave.
Complete preparation activities
If you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows.
Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows.
HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN HELP DURING A HURRICANE
A smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane — with the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath.
Download the WESH 2 News app for iOS | Android
Enable emergency alerts — if you have an iPhone, select settings, then go into notifications. From there, look for government alerts and enable emergency alerts.
If you have an Android phone, from the home page of the app, scroll to the right along the bottom and click on “settings.” On the settings menu, click on “severe weather alerts.” From the menu, select from most severe, moderate-severe, or all alerts.
PET AND ANIMAL SAFETY
Your pet ...
Russia Announces Immediate 'partial Mobilization' Of Citizens Escalating Its Invasion Of Ukraine
Russia Announces Immediate 'partial Mobilization' Of Citizens, Escalating Its Invasion Of Ukraine https://digitalarkansasnews.com/russia-announces-immediate-partial-mobilization-of-citizens-escalating-its-invasion-of-ukraine/
(CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens on Wednesday, a move that threatens to escalate his faltering invasion of Ukraine following a string of defeats that caused recriminations in Moscow.
Putin said in a speech that he would use “all the means at our disposal,” and even raised the specter of nuclear weapons, if he deemed the “territorial integrity” of Russia to be jeopardized.
The mobilization means citizens who are in the reserve could be called up, and those with military experience would be subject to conscription, Putin said, adding that the necessary decree had already been signed and took effect on Wednesday.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Russian television Wednesday morning that the country will call up 300,000 reservists. “These are not some people who have never heard of the army,” Shoigu said. “These are those who have served, have a military registration specialty, have had military experience.”
It comes after a sudden and successful Ukrainian offensive through most of occupied Kharkiv swung momentum in the conflict back towards Kyiv this month. The counter-attacks galvanized Ukraine’s Western backers and caused anger in Russia, which has time and again been stymied in its full-scale assault of its neighboring state that it launched seven months ago.
“Our country also has various means of destruction and in some components more modern than those of the NATO countries, and if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,” Putin said in his speech Wednesday indicating a possible new chapter in the months-long conflict.
Addressing the potential for escalation and use of nuclear weapons, Putin said: “Those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction.”
The announcement comes as Russia is believed to face shortages of manpower and follows amendments to Russia’s law on military service made Tuesday, which raise the penalties for resistance related to military service or coercion to violate an official military order during a period of mobilization or martial law.
Putin framed the ongoing fighting as part of a larger struggle for Russian survival against a West whose goal is it is to “weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country.” Several Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine announced that they will hold referendums on formally joining Russia this week, votes that have widely been dismissed as shams intended to boost Putin’s justifications for further attacks on Ukrainian territory.
“They are already saying directly that they were able to split the Soviet Union in 1991 and now the time has come for Russia to break up into a multitude of regions and areas which are fatally hostile to each other,” Putin said.
But NATO leaders dismissed the announcement as a sign of panic in the Kremlin, and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine’s military.
US President Joe Biden condemned the mobilization and the Kremlin’s planned votes, during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
“Just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats towards Europe … now Russia is calling up more soldiers to join the fight, and the Kremlin is organizing sham referenda to try to annex parts of Ukraine,” Biden said. “The world should see these outrageous acts for what they are.
“Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened, but no one threatened Russia — and no one other than Russia sought conflict,” Biden added.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meanwhile called the mobilization an “act of despair.”
“Russia cannot win this war. But this is a kind of panic reaction,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte added Wednesday.
Referendums announced
The referendums, which Putin backed during his speech Wednesday, could pave the way for Russian annexation of the areas, allowing Moscow to frame the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive there as an attack on Russia itself, thereby providing Moscow with a pretext to escalate its military response.
In what appeared to be a coordinated announcement, Russian-appointed leaders in the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic all said they planned to hold “votes” beginning on September 23.
Together the four regions that have announced their referendum plans make up around 18% of Ukraine’s territory. Russia does not control any of the four in their entirety.
The expected referendums, which run counter to international law upholding Ukraine’s sovereignty, have been announced as world leaders have descended on New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where the war and it impacts were already poised to loom large.
Ukraine has dismissed the announcement of referendums in the occupied regions as a “sham” stemming from the “fear of defeat,” while the the country’s Western supporters signaled they would not alter their support for Ukraine.
US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink wrote on Twitter Wednesday that “sham referenda and mobilization are signs of weakness, of Russian failure. The United States will never recognize Russia’s claim to purportedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Putin on Wednesday said Russia has been asked for support from the two “people’s republics” and the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia for the referendums and had pledged to do “everything to ensure the safe conditions for people to express their will.”
Potential for escalation
The announcements had already received swift support from Russian politicians. Former Russian President and vice-chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has publicly endorsed referendums in the self-declared Donbas republics, saying this would have “huge significance” for “systemic protection” of the residents.
“Encroachment on Russian territory is a crime which allows you to use all the forces of self-defense,” Medvedev said on his Telegram channel, in an apparent allusion to the potential for the military escalation.
But social media video geolocated by CNN showed protests in several Russian cities on Wednesday, each involving what appear to have been a few dozen people. The independent monitoring group OVD-Info said that more than 100 people had been detained at anti-mobilization demonstrations in total.
It’s unclear what form an escalation could take, but concerns have been raised throughout the conflict over whether Russia would resort to using its nuclear stockpile in the Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden addressed these concerns in a 60 Minutes interview earlier this week, when a reporter asked what he would say to the Russian leader regarding the use of chemical or tactical nuclear weapons.
“Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. You will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” Biden said, adding that the US response to such actions would be “consequential.”
Putin endorsed a new “deterrent” strategy in June 2020 that allowed for the use of nuclear weapons in response to a non-nuclear attack on Russia that threatened its existence.
On Tuesday, Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, amended the law on military service, toughening the punishment for violation of military service duties — such as desertion and evasion from service — according to state news agency TASS.
The bill sets a jail term of up to 15 years for resistance related to military service or coercion to violate an official military order, involving violence or the threat of its use, during the period of mobilization or martial law.
Josh Pennington, Uliana Pavlova and CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Anna Chernova and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
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Bush Releases New Single Encouraging Uninhibited Love Heavy Is The Ocean
Bush Releases New Single Encouraging Uninhibited Love, “Heavy Is The Ocean” https://digitalarkansasnews.com/bush-releases-new-single-encouraging-uninhibited-love-heavy-is-the-ocean/
Famed British-born rock group Bush has released a new single encouraging uninhibited love, “Heavy is the Ocean,” which also portends a new LP.
The band’s new album, The Art of Survival, is set to drop on October 7 and can be pre-ordered HERE. Bush is also currently on the road with Alice in Chains and fans can check out those remaining tour dates here below, as well.
“Heavy is the Ocean” is the second single from Bush’s upcoming ninth LP. “Oh Lord, this is going to open the record,” said lead singer and frontman for the band, Gavin Rossdale, of the track and its memorable guitar riff. “It really sets the tone and the gravitas of the album. I love the power of the ocean. It’s mesmerizing to me. It feeds your soul. The song uses the imagery I love. At this point, I’m chained at the zoo of rock! So, I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to turn that puppy up. This one definitely represents The Art of Survival.’”
Rossdale adds of the forthcoming LP, “Instead of being mournful or self-piteous, this is about the success stories of humanity’s survival against the odds. People just find a way to push through. We’ve all obviously suffered to varying degrees. I think the nature of life is the art of survival. Everyone is being tested all of the time, but we find a way. In recent memory, we’ve made major strides and shown great resilience in the face of war, endless instances of racism, gender politics, a pandemic, and a melting pot of what we’ve experienced. For me, The Art of Survival encompasses all of this.”
Check out the new LP’s tracklist here below along with their remaining tour dates.
THE ART OF SURVIVAL TRACKLISTING:
Heavy Is The Ocean
Slow Me
More Than Machines
May Your Love Be Pure
Shark Bite
Human Sand
Kiss Me I’m Dead
Identity
Creatures of the Fire
Judas Is A Riot
Gunfight
1000 Years
REMAINING TOUR DATES:
Fri Sep 16 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
Sat Sep 17 – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Tue Sep 20 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
Wed Sep 21 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO
Fri Sep 23 – Mount Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Casino
Tue Sep 27 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Wed Sep 28 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Fri Sep 30 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
Sat Oct 1 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Tue Oct 4 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Wed Oct 5 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Fri Oct 7 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Sat Oct 8 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
For ticket info click HERE
Photo by Thomas Rabsch / Shore Fire Media
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Trump Will Be Sued For Sexual Assault By Writer E. Jean Carroll Under N.Y. Adult Survivors Act
Trump Will Be Sued For Sexual Assault By Writer E. Jean Carroll Under N.Y. Adult Survivors Act https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-will-be-sued-for-sexual-assault-by-writer-e-jean-carroll-under-n-y-adult-survivors-act/
A writer who says former President Donald Trump raped her inside a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1994 plans to sue him under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.
E. Jean Carroll, who is already suing Trump for defamation, notified a judge overseeing the case of her intent to sue as soon as the statute allows on Nov. 24.
E. Jean Carroll (Seth Wenig/AP)
The newly-passed legislation allows victims of sexual assault to sue their alleged assailants for a one-year look-back period that suspends the statute of limitations.
“Although we recognize that it is unusual to preview a yet-to-be-filed lawsuit for an adversary or judge, we wanted Your Honor to be aware of (Carroll’s) anticipated filing,” wrote lawyer Roberta Kaplan.
Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan was notified by Carroll of her intent to sue Trump under the new law in August. The papers were made public on Tuesday night.
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Carrol, a former advice columnist has changed her mind about wanting to depose the former president, according to the latest court filings. In February, she said she only wanted a sample of Trump’s DNA to compare with semen recovered from the dress she wore during the alleged assault.
The new desire to depose Trump comes after he has “barely participated” in the lawsuit, Carroll’s lawyer. Roberta Kaplan claims.
Former President Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP)
“Although we met and conferred with (Trump’s) counsel on July 21 and 22 in order to better understand (Trump’s) position, his responses remained murky,” Kaplan wrote in legal documents.
“To be clear, the deposition of (Trump) need not take very long — what (Carroll) seeks to understand at this point is (Trump’s) theory of the case and the facts underlying it before the close of fact discovery.”
Carroll filed a libel suit against Trump in 2019 after he called her a liar at a White House press briefing when she first accused him of rape. The then-president said Carroll was “not my type” when asked about the alleged sexual assault.
Biden’s Justice Department has sought to defend Trump in the lawsuit because he made the comments in his capacity as president. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to decide whether the DOJ can stand in for Trump.
The DOJ’s legal position has been that it’s not defending what Carroll accused Trump of doing, but a president’s right to be shielded from lawsuits.
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New York Attorney General Sues Former President Trump And His Company
New York Attorney General Sues Former President Trump And His Company https://digitalarkansasnews.com/new-york-attorney-general-sues-former-president-trump-and-his-company/
11:51AM
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NY AG Letitia James Sues Former President Trump 3 Adult Children For Alleged Business Fraud
NY AG Letitia James Sues Former President Trump, 3 Adult Children For Alleged Business Fraud https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ny-ag-letitia-james-sues-former-president-trump-3-adult-children-for-alleged-business-fraud/
Sep 21, 2022, 3:50pmUpdated 9m ago
By: Associated Press
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
James’ lawsuit, filed in state court in New York, is the culmination of the Democrat’s three-year civil investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization. Trump’s three eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two longtime company executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.
The lawsuit seeks to strike at the core of what made Trump famous, taking a blacklight to the image of wealth and opulence he’s embraced throughout his career – first as a real estate developer, then as a reality TV host on “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” and later as president.
James, a Democrat, was to announce details of the lawsuit at a news conference on Wednesday. The case showed up on a court docket Wednesday morning.
James’ office has spent more than three years investigating fraudulent or misleading valuations for its properties on annual financial statements that were given to potential business partners, banks or tax officials.
The goal, the attorney general’s office has said, was to burnish Trump’s billionaire image and the value of his properties when doing so gave him an advantage, while playing down the value of assets at other times for tax purposes.
“Today’s filing is neither focused on the facts nor the law – rather, it is solely focused on advancing the Attorney General’s political agenda. It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s Office has exceeded its statutory authority by prying into transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place. We are confident that our judicial system will not stand for this unchecked abuse of authority, and we look forward to defending our client against each and every one of the Attorney General’s meritless claims,” said Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump.
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Hannah Bonnett & More To Lead LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL 2022-2023 National Tour
Hannah Bonnett & More To Lead LEGALLY BLONDE – THE MUSICAL 2022-2023 National Tour https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hannah-bonnett-more-to-lead-legally-blonde-the-musical-2022-2023-national-tour/
The cast has been announced for the 2022-2023 non-Equity national tour of Legally Blonde – The Musical. Kicking off on October 14 in Fayetteville, AR, Legally Blonde will bend-and-snap its way to more than 80 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Based on the iconic movie, Legally Blonde follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes, sexism, snobbery and scandal in pursuit of her dreams, and proves, contrary to dated bias, that you can be both legally blonde AND the smartest person in the room.
Hannah Bonnett will play America’s favorite blonde, Elle Woods. She’s joined by Aathaven Tharmarajah as Emmett, Ashley Morton as Paulette, Chris Carsten as Professor Callahan, James Oblak as Warner, and Lea Sevola as Vivienne. Jesse Lynn Harte plays Margot, with Taylor Lloyd as Serena, and Rory Furey-King as Pilar. Rounding out the cast are Kaelee Albritton, Harley Barton, Chanel Black, Carly Caviglia, Meg Frost, Jack Gimpel, Matthew Dean Hollis, John Katz, Tyller Kenke, Reagan Kennedy, Alexis Loiselle, Brandon Moreno, Bernard Richards, and Emma Wilcox.
The 2022-2023 national tour of Legally Blonde is produced by Daniel Sher of Big League Productions, Inc. The musical is directed by Jeffrey B. Moss, with choreography by Bob Richard. Set design is by Randel Wright, with lighting by Charlie Morrison, stunning new elaborate video design by Jonathan Infante, sound design by Simon Lambert, costume design coordination by John Beltre, and wig design by Karin Lopez. Skip Brevis is the musical supervisor, and casting is by Alison Franck.
For tour dates and ticket information, visit www.BlondeOnTour.com.
Led by President and Executive Producer Dan Sher, Big League is celebrating its 31st season of producing, general managing and booking Broadway musicals and special attractions for touring throughout North America and the world. For more information visit www.BigLeague.org.
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Naviter Wealth Launches Naviter Trust To Offer First-Class Corporate Trust And Custody Services
Naviter Wealth Launches Naviter Trust To Offer First-Class Corporate Trust And Custody Services https://digitalarkansasnews.com/naviter-wealth-launches-naviter-trust-to-offer-first-class-corporate-trust-and-custody-services/
Nationwide trust and custody services are available in all 50 states, including South Dakota
, /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Naviter Wealth, LLC today announced it has launched Naviter Trust. The firm now offers comprehensive corporate trust and custody services through its partnership with National Advisors Holdings, Inc. and its various subsidiaries. As a Trust Representative Office, it is authorized to do business in all 50 states, including South Dakota.
Naviter Trust provides leading technology and a team of seasoned trust professionals to deliver high-touch administrative support. Solutions often include the use of instruments such as charitable trusts, generation skipping trusts, dynasty trusts, and irrevocable life insurance trusts.
Through the use of the directed trust model, Naviter Trust is able to pair high-end administrative trust functions with its own investment platform. This flexibility allows those who have a need for a corporate trustee to also have access to a suite of investments curated for families who have accumulated significant wealth.
“We are committed to helping our clients protect and grow their family’s wealth for multiple generations,” said Bentley Blackmon, CEO at Naviter Wealth. “Trust services are essential, but historically have only been available through large institutions. Our firm now provides this much-needed service directly to our clients.”
Visit https://naviterwealth.com/complete-trust-services/ for more information and to contact the firm directly about these services.
About Naviter Wealth
Naviter Wealth, LLC (headquartered in Little Rock, AR and serving clients nationwide) is a private and independent wealth management firm with deep expertise assisting families that have experienced a notable liquidity event and executives of publicly traded companies. Our approach is firmly rooted in a strong value system. We strive to be accountable, reverent, prudent, and conscientious in everything we do. While many of our clients first come to us for traditional wealth management, they often find they need a range of integrated services. We can help coordinate true alternative investment strategies, offer guidance related to lending, insurance, and tax management, and provide estate planning support to help ensure their financial needs are met and risks fully mitigated. Our independence enables us to leverage best-in-class resources and innovative strategies to address each individual client’s unique situation. Our ultimate goal is to provide such thoughtful, proactive, and professional service that you’ll never consider working with anyone else. Partner with us at https://naviterwealth.com/.
About National Advisors Holdings, Inc
National Advisors is a family of companies, providing expert nationwide trust, custody and concierge services to trust advisors and the families they serve. The Company through its subsidiaries offers management of funds, trusts, custodial, concierge, marketing, and educational services. Their mission is simple and clear: To provide expert trust and custody solutions to trusted advisors and the families they serve.
Disclosure
Naviter Wealth, LLC, a Trust Representative Office of National Advisors Trust Company (NATC) and National Advisors Trust of South Dakota, Inc. (NATSD), doing business as Naviter Trust.
Media Contact
Lisa Graham, Graham Media Partners, 1 610-715-4824, lisa@grahammediapartners.com
SOURCE Naviter Wealth
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Ron DeSantis Sued For The Stunt That He Hopes Made Him Look Cool In Iowa
Ron DeSantis Sued For The Stunt That He Hopes Made Him Look Cool In Iowa https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ron-desantis-sued-for-the-stunt-that-he-hopes-made-him-look-cool-in-iowa/
SOPA Images//Getty Images
One of the reasons that Charlie Baker, the Republican governor of Massachusetts, arranged to move those hijacked immigrants from Martha’s Vineyard to Joint Base Cape Cod was that the facility there was a full-service emergency services shelter. One of the services included in that full service is legal representation. On Tuesday, that paid off. From the Boston Globe:
The class action lawsuit said the relocation was a “premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting” the vulnerability of immigrants who fled to the United States “in a desperate attempt to protect themselves and their families from gang, police, and state-sponsored violence.” The lawsuit was filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights in US District Court in Boston on behalf of the migrants and Alianza Americas, a network of immigrant-led support organizations across the country. It named as defendants DeSantis, seen as a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and other Florida officials, along with five “unidentified accomplices.”
As filed, the lawsuit is direct and specific.
In or around September 2022, Defendants and their unidentified accomplices designed and executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting this vulnerability for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial and political interests. This scheme involved the unidentified Doe Defendants, acting in concert with the named Defendants, identifying and targeting class members by trolling streets outside of a migrant shelter in Texas and other similar locales, pretending to be good Samaritans offering humanitarian assistance.
To gain the Plaintiffs’ trust, and to induce unwitting cooperation with Defendants’ scheme, the Doe Defendants provided items such as $10 McDonalds gift certificates to class members suffering from chronic food insecurity. After luring Plaintiffs by exploiting their most basic needs, the Doe Defendants then made false promises and false representations that if Plaintiffs and class members were willing to board airplanes to other states, they would receive employment, housing, educational opportunities, and other like assistance upon their arrival. Next, the Defendants put class members up for free in hotels, sequestered away from the migrant center, and from the possibility of actual good Samaritans finding out how the class members were being abused.
On information and belief, the Defendants procured and paid $615,000 for private chartered planes ($12,300 per passenger), transported class members to the aircrafts, and told them they were flying to Boston or Washington, D.C., which was completely false. Instead, the chartered airplanes dropped Plaintiffs off on Martha’s Vineyard in the evening, with no food, water or shelter.
That part about “personal, financial, and political interests” is the red-hot core of this scheme’s basic inhumanity. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to run for president, and he wants to run for president as Trump Without Tears. So for the benefit of terrified white people in Cedar Rapids, Ottumwa, Waterloo, and other locations in the state of Iowa, he (or one of his bright young advisors) dreamed up this cockamamie semi-kidnapping plot. This is all about snow-hung high school gymnasiums in Iowa and New Hampshire in the winter of 2023–24. Desperate people are dragooned into being ersatz field organizers for DeSantis ’24. The future is now.
I have no idea whether or not this lawsuit will succeed, but I do know that Charlie Baker, who is a lame-duck with nothing to lose, seems to be fed up to his molars with this kind of manipulative trickeration from his ambitious Southern colleagues. On Tuesday, Baker expressed support for Texas Sheriff Javier Salazar’s criminal probe into the scheme.
“It’s up to the authorities on the ground there to figure out what did and didn’t happen,” Baker said during an unrelated event, according to footage posted to WBZ-TV. “I am very glad that the sheriff chose to open an investigation. I think that’s the right thing to do.”
Also pushing back is Democratic state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, whose Cape Cod district includes Martha’s Vineyard.
Fernandes, a Falmouth Democrat who represents Martha’s Vineyard, said several migrants have told him they were promised three months’ worth of work and housing if they agreed to relocate to Massachusetts, as well as legal assistance to guide them through the immigration process. “They reiterated that they were lied to and got onto the plane under false pretenses,” Fernandes said. In an interview on GBH-TV, Fernandes said he has received death threats over his support for the migrants and has alerted State Police.
Given the prominence of performance actors like DeSantis in our politics, this was sadly predictable. As I’ve noted, I’m not blog-lawyer enough to know how the suit will work out. But if it inconveniences DeSantis and his henchpeople in Florida and Texas sufficiently, or if it manages to haul DeSantis’ ass into the Whitey Bulger Memorial Federal Courtroom in Boston, so much the better.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has his three children.
This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
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Trump SPAC Digital World Threatens To Sue SEC Over Merger Delay (NASDAQ:DWAC)
Trump SPAC Digital World Threatens To Sue SEC Over Merger Delay (NASDAQ:DWAC) https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-spac-digital-world-threatens-to-sue-sec-over-merger-delay-nasdaqdwac/
Scott Olson/Getty Images News
Trump SPAC Digital World Acquisition (NASDAQ:DWAC) threatened on Wednesday to sue the Securities and Exchange Commission over the delay for its deal to take Trump’s social media company public.
“The SEC has stalled its review of our planned merger with DWAC, having failed to act despite DWAC having filed its registration statement more than four months ago,” DWAC said in a filing on Wednesday. “This inexcusable obstruction, which directly contradicts the SEC’s stated mission, is damaging investors and many others who are simply following the rules and trying to expand a successful business. In light of the obvious conflicts of interest among SEC officials and clear indications of political bias, TMTG is now exploring legal action against the SEC. Despite the increasing weaponization and politicization of government agencies, Truth Social will continue its expansion plans, supported by the unprecedented levels of user engagement on the platform.”
Developing story …
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Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene Launches New Attack On Trans Kids Across The US
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene Launches New Attack On Trans Kids Across The US https://digitalarkansasnews.com/republican-marjorie-taylor-greene-launches-new-attack-on-trans-kids-across-the-us/
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene discusses her new bill that makes gender-affirming care a felony offence. (Getty/Drew Angerer)
Republican and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene has launched a bid to criminalise trans youth healthcare.
The Georgia representative stood outside the US Capitol building on Tuesday (20 September) to announce the Protect Children’s Innocence bill, that would make it a felony to administer gender-affirming healthcare for youth.
“How on earth can this be happening in America? It’s hard to even understand,” she said during her address, referencing her constant false claims that medical practitioners are performing gender-affirming surgery on minors.
Guidelines generally state that only over-18s can consent to such surgeries.
The bill’s 37 supporters include your typical list of far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans, including disgraced Florida representative Matt Gaetz, who was accused of violating federal sex-trafficking laws by allegedly paying a 17-year-old girl to have sex (he denies the allegations), and Arizona lawmaker Paul Gosar, who spread a completely false rumour that the Uvalde Texas school shooter was a “leftist illegal alien.”
If passed, the legislation would place “restrictions on the provision of gender-affirming care”, according to its introduction.
“Additionally, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for gender-affirming care or for health insurance that covers such care,” the bill continues. “Such care may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee.”
(L-R) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Ronny Jackson, Rep. Bob Good, and American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp attend a news conference on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“States like California, Washington, New York, and other Democrat-controlled states want to fast-track kids and tell parents they have no right to take away their children’s desire for gender-affirming care,” Greene falsely claimed. “There’s no such thing as gender-affirming care.”
Without a hint of irony, Virginia Republican and co-sponsor Bob Good seemed puzzled as to why there weren’t many Congress members at the press release to support the discriminatory legislation.
“Why wouldn’t every member of Congress be here?” he asked.
It’s unlikely the bill will attract the required votes to advance, even after the November midterm elections.
It comes after Joe Biden signed an executive order to safeguard LGBTQ+ healthcare from bills like this.
Greene clarified her views in an August broadcast of the Tucker Carlson Tonight Show where she likened gender-affirming care to “child abuse.”
More recently, she attacked the Department of Education during an Ohio Trump rally on Sunday (18 September) in a bizarre threat to “defund” those who “brainwash” American children.
During her segment, she said: “If the government wants to replace parents and brainwash children, you know what, we will just defund the Department of Education.”
She then called former president Donald Trump the “one true leader of the Republican party” while continually pushing the false claim that he won the 2020 election.
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House To Vote On Election Law Overhaul In Response To Jan. 6
House To Vote On Election Law Overhaul In Response To Jan. 6 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/house-to-vote-on-election-law-overhaul-in-response-to-jan-6-2/
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will vote on an overhaul of a centuries-old election law, an effort to prevent future presidential candidates from trying to subvert the popular will.
The legislation under consideration beginning Wednesday is a direct response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to find a way around the Electoral Count Act, an arcane 1800s-era law that governs, along with the U.S. Constitution, how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential election winners.
While that process has long been routine and ceremonial, Trump and a group of his aides and lawyers tried to exploit loopholes in the law in an attempt to overturn his defeat.
The bill, which the House will start debating on Wednesday, would set new parameters around the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that happens every four years after a presidential election. The day turned violent last year after hundreds of Trump’s supporters interrupted the proceedings, broke into the building and threatened the lives of then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress. The rioters echoed Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud and wanted Pence to block Democrat Joe Biden’s victory as he presided over the joint session.
The legislation intends to ensure that future Jan. 6 sessions are “as the constitution envisioned, a ministerial day,” said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican who co-sponsored the legislation with House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Both Cheney and Lofgren are also members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
“The American people are supposed to decide an election, not Congress,” Lofgren said.
The bill, which is similar to legislation moving through the Senate, would clarify in the law that the vice president’s role presiding over the count is only ceremonial and also sets out that each state can only send one certified set of electors. Trump’s allies had unsuccessfully tried to put together alternate slates of illegitimate pro-Trump electors in swing states where Biden won.
The legislation would increase the threshold for individual lawmakers’ objections to any state’s electoral votes, requiring a third of the House and a third of the Senate to object to trigger votes on the results in both chambers. Currently, only one lawmaker in the House and one lawmaker in the Senate has to object. The House bill would set out very narrow grounds for those objections, an attempt to thwart baseless or politically motivated challenges. The legislation also would require courts to get involved if state or local officials want to delay a presidential vote or refuse to certify the results.
The House vote comes as the Senate is moving on a similar track with enough Republican support to virtually ensure passage before the end of the year. After months of talks, House Democrats introduced the legislation on Monday and are holding a quick vote two days later in order to send the bill across the Capitol and start to resolve differences. A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation this summer and a Senate committee is expected to vote on it next week.
While the House bill is more expansive than the Senate version, the two bills cover similar ground and members in both chambers are optimistic that they can work out the differences. While few House Republicans are expected to vote for the legislation — most are still allied with Trump — supporters are encouraged by the bipartisan effort in the Senate.
“Both sides have an incentive to want a set of clear rules, and this is an antiquated law that no one understands,” said Benjamin Ginsburg, a longtime GOP lawyer who consulted with lawmakers as they wrote the bill. “All parties benefit from clarity.”
House GOP leaders disagree, and are encouraging their members to vote against the legislation. They say the involvement of courts could drag out elections and that the bill would take rights away from states.
Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, Lofgren’s GOP counterpart on the House Administration Committee, said Tuesday that the bill would trample on state sovereignty and is “opening the door to mass litigation.”
Democrats are “desperately trying to talk about their favorite topic, and that is former president Donald Trump,” Davis said.
Cheney, a frequent Trump critic who was defeated in Wyoming’s GOP primary last month, says she hopes it receives votes from some of her Republican colleagues.
The bill would “ensure that in the future our election process reflects the will of the people,” she said.
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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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US Dollar Hits New 20-Year High As Russia Calls Up Reservists
US Dollar Hits New 20-Year High As Russia Calls Up Reservists https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-dollar-hits-new-20-year-high-as-russia-calls-up-reservists/
London (CNN Business)The US dollar climbed to a new two-decade high on Wednesday after Russia said it was mobilizing 300,000 military reserves in an escalation of the war in Ukraine.
In a televised national address Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin announced an immediate partial mobilization of Russian citizens and threatened to use “all the means at our disposal” to defend Russia “and our people.” He also referenced the potential use of nuclear weapons.
The speech pushed the greenback up 0.4% against a basket of major currencies to its strongest level since 2002. Investors often seek safe haven in US dollar assets during times of geopolitical tension.
Oil prices also jumped. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, gained 2.5%, rising to just below $93 per barrel.
Russian stocks slid 3.5% Wednesday after the announcement, adding to heavy losses incurred Tuesday after Putin threatened to hold referendums to annex parts of Ukraine still occupied by Russian forces. The ruble also dropped nearly 3% against the US dollar.
Asian stocks pulled back. While indexes in Europe initially dropped, they were last flat or slightly higher in morning trade ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy announcement.
The euro initially slumped 0.7% to hit 98 cents ($0.97) against the US dollar, but has since ticked upwards. The currency, used by 19 European countries, sunk below the dollar in late August, shaken by soaring inflation and the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
The British pound dropped by 0.4% against the US dollar to just above $1.13, taking it to a fresh 37-year low, before recovering slightly.
The war has added to stress for investors, since it makes it harder to predict when inflation will ease and could push central banks to maintain an aggressive tack for longer.
— Tara Subramaniam and Andrew Raine contributed reporting.
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