White House weighs in on anticipated Trump trial verdict: ‘Important day’
A verdict in the NY v. Trump case will mark an “important day” for the nation, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “I have to be pretty honest with you. I have not talked to the president about that,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday during a gaggle on Air Force One. “This is going to be an important day. Obviously, the campaign is going to have more to share. The president and I said this yesterday, a couple of times when I was asked this question in various ways, that the president is focused on the American people delivering for the American people.” “You’ll hear him talk about … some of that today. Again, the campaign will speak to that since it’s a campaign event,” Jean-Pierre said. “That’s his focus.” The jury began deliberations ahead of noon on Wednesday after a lengthy day in court on Tuesday, when they heard closing arguments from both the defense team and a lengthy closing argument from the district attorney’s office. TRUMP VOWS TO ‘WIN ELECTION’ AS HE BATTLES CHARGES ‘MOTHER TERESA COULD NOT BEAT’ Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former pornographic star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump addressed the media Wednesday, vowing that he will win the 2024 race for the White House, while slamming the case as one “Mother Teresa could not beat.” ROBERT DE NIRO CLAIMS TRUMP ‘COULD DESTROY THE WORLD’ OUTSIDE MANHATTAN COURT “The judge, who, as you know, is very conflicted and corrupt. Because of the confliction, very, very corrupt. Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,” Trump said late Wednesday morning as jury deliberations kicked off. TRUMP PREVIEWS CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN ‘SHAM TRIAL’: ‘VERY DANGEROUS DAY FOR AMERICA’ “The whole country is a mess, between the borders and fake elections, and you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted, he can’t breathe. He’s got to do his job. … it’s a disgrace. And I mean that, Mother Teresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do.” On Tuesday, as the defense and prosecution teams delivered their respective closing arguments, the Biden-Harris campaign held a press conference outside the courtroom that was headlined by actor Robert De Niro. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not present during the event. De Niro claimed in his comments that Trump “could destroy the world” if he’s re-elected. “Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country. And eventually he could destroy the world,” De Niro said. “I owe this city a lot. And that’s why it’s so weird that Donald Trump is just across the street because he doesn’t belong in my city. I don’t know where he belongs, but he certainly doesn’t belong here. We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot,” De Niro added. The actor was shouted down during the event by protesters supporting Trump, including the actor getting into a heated back and forth with protesters as he left the press conference. Trump has meanwhile repeatedly slammed the trial as one promoted by the Biden administration in an effort to hurt their political opponent. “Let me just tell you that the White House … they’re the one trying this case. You heard who was doing all the talking: a representative from the White House, just recently. This is all about Biden, he can’t campaign. So, he’s trying to injure his opponent. They’re trying to hurt the opponent because they can’t win it fair and square. It’s lawfare,” Trump said last week.
Supreme Court Justice Alito addresses flag incidents, says he won’t recuse himself in Trump, Jan. 6 cases
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has written letters to lawmakers in the House and Senate responding to concerns about the flying of an upside-down American flag outside his home in Virginia, and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at a vacation home in New Jersey. In the letters, Alito said he won’t recuse himself from former President Trump’s immunity case or other cases relating to the 2020 presidential election or the Jan. 6 Capitol protests. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is among those who have called on Alito to recuse himself from such cases following a revelation that an upside-down flag was flown at his home in Virginia a week after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. “Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement — clearly creates the appearance of bias,” said Durbin in a statement. READ ALITO’S LETTER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: “Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection, including the question of the former President’s immunity in U.S. v. Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court is currently considering,” he added. But Alito, in a message to Durbin and the other lawmakers addressed Wednesday, wrote that the two incidents “do not meet the conditions for recusal.” He said in the Virginia incident, “I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. “I was not even aware of the upside-down flag until it was called to my attention,” Alito continued. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused.” Alito said “My wife and I own our Virginia home jointly” and she “therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly.” SCOTUS CHIEF ROBERTS PRESSURED TO FORCE ALITO RECUSAL AHEAD OF TRUMP IMMUNITY DECISION Alito wrote in his letter that his wife was “greatly distressed at the time due, in large part, to a very nasty neighborhood dispute in which I had no involvement.” He told the lawmakers that “I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal” and “I am therefore required to reject your request.” Alito also said he had “no involvement in the decision” to fly a flag “bearing the legend ‘An Appeal to Heaven’ that flew in the backyard of our vacation home in the summer of 2023.” “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. My wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the years,” said the Supreme Court justice. Alito said he was not familiar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when his wife flew it and that “she many have mentioned that it dates back to the American Revolution, and I assumed she was flying it to express a religious and patriotic message.” “She did not fly it to associate herself with that or any other group, and the use of an old historic flag by a new group does not necessarily drain that flag of all other meanings,” Alito concluded. Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Shannon Bream contributed to this report.
‘Could be due to…’: IMD examining data after Delhi records 52.3 degrees Celsius at Mungeshwar
Temperature of 52.3°C in Delhi is very unlikely and senior officials in IMD have been asked to verify the news report, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said.
Centre starts granting citizenship under CAA in these three states
The Union government has started granting citizenship with the first set of certificates issued by state committees.
BEFORE AND AFTER: Photos show destruction of Biden’s $320M Gaza pier
Fox News Digital has obtained satellite images showing the now-destroyed temporary pier the U.S. military installed on the coast of Gaza earlier this month. The $320 million structure lasted roughly a week before choppy weather battered it apart. President Biden’s administration says it is working to repair the pier, but they offered no timeline for completion. The pier had been used as a conduit for delivering aid to Gaza. The images show that less than a third of the pier remains intact, and there is no sign of the remnants of the deeper sections of the structure. The U.S. announced that it was forced to suspend deliveries of aid to the pier on Tuesday, though much of the damage occurred prior to then. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE ON RAFAH KILLS 2 TOP HAMAS COMMANDERS, DOZENS OF CIVILIANS Four vessels that had stabilized the pier broke off due to choppy waters earlier this week, leading to the deterioration. GROWING CONTROVERSY OVER BIDEN’S GAZA PIER FUELS CONCERNS OVER COST, SECURITY Of the four stabilizing vessels that detached earlier this week, two of the boats floated northward and landed on a beach in Ashdod, Israel, while the two others remain anchored at the beach near the pier. While the pier has been used to transfer roughly 569 metric tons of aid into Gaza, none of that aid had been delivered to Palestinians as of last week, the Pentagon confirmed. The pier’s failure comes as Israel conducted a sizable operation in Rafah, with tanks rolling into the heart of the city for the first time since the war began. Witnesses in Rafah told Reuters the Israeli military appeared to be using remote-operated armored vehicles, as there was no immediate sign of personnel in or around them. The Israeli Defense Forces did not comment on those reports.
Biden admin questioned over abortion pill push without proper environmental study
FIRST ON FOX: Bicameral lawmakers are highlighting the Biden administration’s failure to adequately study the environmental impact of the abortion pill, particularly amid the rise in at-home medication abortions. “The full impact of mifepristone has never been sufficiently studied,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., wrote in a letter to Michael Regan, President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator. The lawmakers stressed the importance of this development in light of the rising number of medication-induced abortions, for which mifepristone is commonly administered. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 63% of all U.S. abortions last year were conducted by medication. This marked a 10% rise in the method relative to the share of all abortions since 2020. BIDEN WHITE HOUSE REJECTS ICC SANCTIONS PROPOSED BY LAWMAKERS AFTER ISRAEL WARRANT REQUESTS Rubio and Brecheen alleged that the only survey of the effect mifepristone has on the environment was an assessment from 1996. They claimed the survey, which was relied on by the Food and Drug Administration when it approved the medication in 2000, “failed to consider that human fetal remains and the drug’s active metabolites would be making their way into wastewater systems across the U.S.” “The American people deserve to know the negative effects caused by chemical abortion drugs,” they wrote. ‘TOO LATE’: TRUMP BACKS CHALLENGER TO FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR DESPITE RECEIVING PRIOR ENDORSEMENT The Republicans described that “Because chemical abortions are primarily self-induced and performed at home, the blood and placental tissue containing mifepristone’s active metabolites are flushed into wastewater systems along with the fetal remains of the unborn child.” They further requested answers from Biden’s EPA, asking how the agency plans to “ensure the safety of our waterways and drinking water,” what the “negative health effects for humans associated with exposure to mifepristone and fetal remains in drinking water” are, and how aquatic animals might also be affected. IN NEW TV AD, MARYLAND’S LARRY HOGAN CHARTS POTENTIAL SENATE PATH FORWARD AS CENTRIST “Once received, EPA will review this letter and will respond appropriately,” the agency told Fox News Digital. Mifepristone has encountered significant controversy as Republicans scrutinize the medication and what they say are lax regulations for it, while Democrats hail the drug as safe, effective and even necessary health care, while abortion access continues to be limited across the country. BALANCE OF POWER: FILIBUSTER FATE COULD COME DOWN TO 2024 SENATE ELECTIONS Abortion rights groups have likened various concerns over the drug and its implementation to attempts to exercise control over women’s bodily autonomy. “Study after study has shown medication abortion and mifepristone to be safe and effective — with or without a health center visit. Those findings have only grown clearer in the more than two decades mifepristone has been on the U.S. market,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement earlier this year.
Trump vows to ‘win election’ as he battles charges ‘Mother Teresa could not beat’
Former President Trump vowed he would win the 2024 presidential election as the jury in the NY v. Trump case on Wednesday began deliberations regarding charges the 45th president says “Mother Teresa could not beat.” “The judge, who, as you know, is very conflicted and corrupt. Because of the confliction, very, very corrupt. Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,” Trump said late Wednesday morning as jury deliberations kicked off. “The whole country is a mess, between the borders and fake elections, and you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted, he can’t breathe. He’s got to do his job. … it’s a disgrace. And I mean that, Mother Teresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do.” The jury began deliberations ahead of noon on Wednesday after a lengthy day in court on Tuesday, when they heard closing arguments from both the defense team and a lengthy closing argument from the district attorney’s office. ROBERT DE NIRO CLAIMS TRUMP ‘COULD DESTROY THE WORLD’ OUTSIDE MANHATTAN COURT Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former pornographic star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump continued in his comments Wednesday that he will win the 2024 election despite the trial. “We’re going to win this election. November 5 is going to be the most important day in the history of our country. We’re going to take back our country from these fascists and these thugs that are destroying us with inflation and with everything they do. How stupid they are: allowing 15, 16, 17 million people into our country. Totally unvetted, totally unchecked. We’re going to bring back our nation November 5. Remember the most important day in the history of our country. In the meantime, this trial is rigged,” he said. TRUMP PREVIEWS CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN ‘SHAM TRIAL’: ‘VERY DANGEROUS DAY FOR AMERICA’ Defense attorneys for Trump told the jury Tuesday that he is innocent and did not commit any crimes, adding that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “did not meet the burden of proof. Period.” “President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes. The district attorney did not meet the burden of proof. Period,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass made a more than five-hour closing argument Tuesday that lasted until 8 p.m. Tuesday, telling the jury that his office had presented “powerful” evidence against Trump. “The name of the game was concealment and all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited the most: the defendant, former President Donald Trump,” Steinglass said. Amid the prosecution team’s lengthy closing arguments, Trump posted to Truth Social a one-word summation of the court proceedings: “BORING!” Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Jury instructions conclude in Trump’s NYC criminal trial, here’s what the jury was told
Jury instructions concluded on Wednesday in the New York City criminal trial against former President Trump after the jury was given several critical directions on how to determine the guilt or innocence of the former president including one controversial instruction that Fox News Contributor Jonathan Turley called the “coup de grace.” “Merchan just delivered the coup de grace instruction,” Turley explained. “He said that there is no need to agree on what occurred. They can disagree on what the crime was among the three choices. Thus, this means that they could split 4-4-4 and he will still treat them as unanimous.” Judge Juan Merchan also instructed jury on knowledge of a conspiracy, according to Fox News’ Lydia Hu who was inside the courtroom on Wednesday. “He said, mere knowledge of a conspiracy does not make [the] defendant a co-conspirator. Prosecutors must prove intent,” Hu reported. “Also, being present with others when they form a conspiracy does not mean that the defendant is a part of the conspiracy.” COULD VERDICT IN TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL UPEND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION? Hu reported that the instruction makes former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony related to his phone call to Trump advising of Stormy Daniels of NDA issues “very important” because if a juror believes that Cohen was advising Trump of the specific NDA and attempting to get a “sign off” to set up the bank account and LLC that a “juror could maybe find intent on behalf of Trump.” The jury was told that if they have a question on the law they should send in a note asking to revise and that the foreperson, the first juror selected, does not need to write the note or even agree. NY V TRUMP: FORMER PRESIDENT UNLEASHES SOCIAL MEDIA FIRESTORM AHEAD OF JURY DELIBERATION Judge Merchan told the jury that in order to find the defendant guilty, the prosecutors are required to prove that on or about Feb. 14, 2017, former president Donald Trump personally made or caused a false entry in business enterprise, specifically invoice from his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen. Second, jurors must conclude that Trump did so with intent to commit another crime or intent to conceal another crime. That leaves 33 remaining counts – each for falsifying business records. The only difference between the counts is a different business record or date. The jury can ask to repeat the law in its entirely as many times. “Merchan has instructed that the first count of falsifying business records in the first degree must show that Trump made or caused a false entry to be made,” Turley reported. “Intent means conscious or purpose to defraud. Intent does not require an intent to defraud any particular person or entry but a general intent to defraud.” Turley continued, “Merchan said that the crime being committed was the NY election law by ‘unlawful means.’ However, that ‘unlawful means’ is shown when there is a showing of intent to cause actions or the performance of conduct.” The jurors will not be allowed to leave the jury room during deliberations and will have to give their cell phones to a court officer. Jurors can only discuss the case amongst themselves and can only deliberate when they are all gathered in the jury room. Jurors were instructed to work until 4:30 p.m. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records linked to alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Fox News’ Maria Paronich, Lydia Hu, and Shannon Bream contributed to this report.
Vulnerable Dem senator hit with blistering ad as record on key issue faces scrutiny: ‘F- rating’
FIRST ON FOX: Businessman Bernie Moreno, running for Senate as a Republican against incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, released a blistering ad on Wednesday hammering the longtime Democrat on his ties to President Biden’s agenda and alleged weakness on immigration. “Biden’s politics now are not much different than mine,” a video of Brown from a 2021 interview, said in his own words at the start of the video, before claiming that “Sherrod Brown shares Biden’s open border agenda.” The ad goes on to say that Brown “refused to fund efforts to detain and deport criminal illegal immigrants convicted of a crime” citing a 2021 roll call vote on Senate Amendment 3742. “Sherrod Brown called the border wall ‘stupid’ and ‘wrong,’” the ad continues with a reference to a 2019 interview, when Brown dismissed the need for a border wall. VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR IGNORING QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S PUSH TO ‘BAN’ GAS-POWERED CARS “He made a campaign promise, but his campaign promise was that Mexico would pay, and he seems to have forgotten that,” Brown told the Tribune Chronicle during former President Trump’s presidency. “The wall is a bad idea and taking money away from our national defense is a really bad idea with what’s called the gate relocation at YARS. It’s a stupid idea; it’s wrong.” Brown also referred to the border wall as “ludicrous” in a 2017 interview which is also clipped in the ad. The ad goes on to mention that Brown received an “F-” rating on immigration and claimed that contributed to the current border situation where “drugs and crime pour through our broken border.” DEM SENATOR’S CAMPAIGN AD TOUTING BORDER SECURITY FEATURES SHERIFF REBUKED BY ICE FOR ‘SANCTUARY’ POLICIES “But Brown doesn’t think it’s a problem,” the ad says before playing a clip of Brown from a 2023 interview, when he said, “I don’t hear a lot about immigration from voters except people on the far-right that always want to gain political advantage by talking about it.” The ad closes with a video shot by Fox News interviewing an illegal immigrant at the border who says that the American people are “right” to be concerned about who is coming across the border. “Brown and Biden won’t keep your family safe,” the ad says. One Nation, a group tied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Republican leadership, ran an ad against Brown on immigration earlier this month outlining alleged inconsistencies in Brown’s record on the crisis at the border. Brown’s record of voting with Biden nearly 100% of the time and his positions on immigration are expected to be front and center on the campaign over the next few months, while the incumbent Democrat has hit Moreno on abortion and enlisted actor Martin Sheen for an ad last year touting his record on fighting for workers. A Democratic group with ties to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer cut an ad this month defending Brown’s immigration record and attempted to make the case that the Democratic senator shares some of the same policies as former President Trump. The Moreno campaign has previously hit Brown on his immigration voting record, calling out votes as a senator that included rejecting a proposal in 2013 that would have delayed permanent legal status for many illegal immigrants until a 700-mile double layered border fence was constructed. “Sherrod Brown and Joe Biden created the border invasion that is destroying our nation and harming communities across Ohio,” Moreno told Fox News Digital. “Throughout his decades in Washington, D.C., Brown has repeatedly voted against deporting illegals and funding the border wall and in favor of mass amnesty, sanctuary cities and taxpayer-funded health care for illegals. Brown has a long record of supporting open borders, which is exactly why Ohioans will retire him to the private sector in November.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Brown campaign but did not receive a response. Brown’s race against Moreno in November will be one of the most closely watched in the country. Many view it as one of the best opportunities Republicans have to take back control of the Senate, which Democrats currently hold by a 51-49 margin, in a state that Trump won by 8 points in 2020 and is expected to win again.
Bihar schools closed for 10 days due to severe heatwave conditions, to open after…
Bihar government has ordered the closure of all schools, coaching institutes, and anganwadi centres until June 8 due to extreme heatwave conditions, with temperatures exceeding 44 degrees Celsius.