Key Biden agency slapped with historic subpoenas over ‘improper’ swing state voter registration push
FIRST ON FOX: The House Committee on Small Business subpoenaed the Small Business Administration on Tuesday over what it says is a lack of transparency on alleged efforts by the Biden administration to funnel resources to a key swing state to register voters in a move they say could be unconstitutional. On Tuesday, the committee subpoenaed SBA Chief of Staff Arthur Plews and his special adviser Tyler Robinson after they are said to have been no shows at scheduled transcribed interviews with the committee and failed to turn over documents related to a program that is allegedly “diverting its resources away from assisting Main Street so it can register Democrat voters” in the key swing state of Michigan. The committee says this action represents the first time in history that it has subpoenaed the agency. In March of this year, Biden’s SBA announced a memorandum of understanding with the Michigan Department of State to “promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan” that it called the “first-of-its-kind collaboration” and which will run through Jan. 1, 2036. NEW ELECTION INTEGRITY GROUP WILL POUR MILLIONS INTO PAYING, PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS ON ‘FRONT LINES In a press release, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said the partnership “will help connect Michiganders to vital voter registration information from the State of Michigan so that more small business owners can exercise their right to vote.” The coordination between the SBA and Michigan was sparked by a 2021 executive order from Biden directing federal agencies to promote “access to voting” which raised concerns from some that the administration is using the government agency to register votes in a swing state that many believe will be one of the states the November election hinges upon. According to the committee, both Plews and Robinson have avoided addressing those concerns voluntarily, which led to Tuesday’s subpoenas. “The fact that we are having to issue subpoenas to speak with SBA officials is extremely disappointing,” House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Willams told Fox News Digital. “The committee has given these two individuals the opportunity to speak with us voluntarily without taking these actions, but this appears to be the only way to get them to comply with our oversight responsibilities. The American people deserve answers and transparency on the electioneering activities of the SBA and how they plan on inserting themselves in the upcoming federal elections,” Williams continued. “The SBA’s sole mission is to help Main Street thrive and grow, and they have repeatedly strayed from that mission to pursue outside political objectives. It’s unfortunate that we have arrived at this point, but this Committee is determined to get answers on behalf of the American people.” Williams’ committee is investigating the Small Business Administration’s collaboration with the Michigan Department of State on a program “to promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan,” according to a press release announcing the partnership. NEW TRUMP VOTER FRAUD SQUADS BEGIN GEARING UP FOR ‘ELECTION INTEGRITY’ FIGHT The press release said the Michigan Department of State would “create a unique URL for the SBA to use to drive online visitors to register to vote,” and that the SBA’s Michigan field office would allow state government officials to facilitate in-person voter registration at the federal agency’s business outreach events. It is part of an overall effort by the Biden administration to expand access to voter registration, launched by the 2021 executive order. “The SBA’s MOU with the Michigan Department of State is improper, inappropriate, and perhaps, unconstitutional,” Williams told Fox News Digital last month. The efforts by the Biden administration come as his re-election campaign eyes Michigan as a must-win state in the 2024 race. Biden beat former President Trump by less than 3% there in 2020. An investigation by the House Small Business Committee found that 22 out of 25 of such outreach events have taken place in counties with the highest population of Democratic National Committee (DNC) target demographics. Meanwhile, 11 of 15 Michigan counties that showed the largest voter registration increase over the last year have ranked highest in population of young voters and Black voters, according to the committee – two of the left’s most-sought voting blocs. “It is unconscionable that during such a precarious time for our nation’s small businesses, the sole federal agency created to serve as their advocate is instead utilizing their limited taxpayer resources and time to advance partisan political campaigns,” Congressman Dan Meuser, Chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access, told Fox News Digital. BIDEN ADMIN ACCUSED OF USING TAXPAYER FUNDS TO HELP HIS OWN CAMPAIGN WITH STUDENT VOTER REGISTRATION SCHEME “It shows a total disregard for our nation’s small businesses and gross administrative malpractice. The SBA’s MOU with the Michigan Department of State is a blatant attempt by the Biden Administration to illegally use the SBA as an extension of the President’s campaign. They are working to elect Democrats, which is abundantly clear considering registration efforts are targeted at cities like Detroit and other urban areas. And if this is being done in Michigan, we can make an educated assumption that it is also happening in other swing states.” Meuser continued, “The subpoenas issued today by the Small Business Committee will help expose where exactly this is happening, who authorized it, and what other federal agencies are engaged in similar illegal electioneering. We are demanding documents and testimony from the SBA, and we will get answers for the American people. This is a scandal and yet another illegal action from President Biden. Those involved in this illegal effort will be held accountable.” Jason Snead, Honest Elections Project executive director, also told Fox News Digital earlier this year that he applauds the committee’s efforts investigating this “unprecedented agreement” with Michigan and other states. “This is the latest example of the Biden Administration’s ongoing efforts to manipulate the levers of the federal government for political advantage,” Snead said. “With Executive Order 14019, President Biden has ordered every federal agency to collaborate with liberal
Meet Radhika Khera, who quit Congress alleging ‘harassment’ in party, now joined BJP
Radhika Khera expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda for welcoming her into the BJP.
Biden, at Holocaust remembrance ceremony, says hatred against Jews brought to life by Hamas attack
President Biden said Tuesday that the hatred of Jews “continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world” while delivering the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony. The president spoke in Washington, D.C. as anti-Israel protests have been disrupting college campuses around the country. “That hatred is brought to life on October 7th, in 2023, on a sacred Jewish holiday,” Biden said. “The terrorist group Hamas unleashed the deadliest day of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.” “Now, here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror. It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten, nor have you. And we will not forget,” Biden added. “And as Jews around the world still cope with the atrocities and trauma of that day and its aftermath. We’ve seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world. Vicious propaganda on social media.” LIVE UPDATES: ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON US COLLEGE CAMPUSES Biden said the violent attacks and property destruction that is happening on some American college campuses is “not peaceful protest. “It’s against the law. And we are not a lawless country. We’re a civil society. We uphold the rule of law. And no one should have to hide or be brave just to be themselves,” the president said. “To the Jewish community, I want you to know I see your fear, your hurt and your pain. Let me reassure you as your president, you’re not alone. You belong,” Biden continued. “You always have. And you always will. And my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad. Even when we disagree.” BIDEN WARNS NETANYAHU AGAINST RAFAH INVASION He concluded his speech by calling for Americans to “rise against hate.” Prior to Biden’s remarks, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said “Today we are witnessing American universities quickly becoming hostile places for Jewish students and faculty” and that they have “succumbed to an antisemitic virus. “Students who were known for producing academic papers are now known for stabbing their Jewish peers in the eyes with Palestinian flags. Faculty who once produced cutting edge research are now linking arms with pro-Hamas protesters and calling for a global intifada. Administrators who were once lauded by their peers for leadership are now barring Jewish faculty and choosing not to protect their Jewish students. And these Jewish students are physically threatened when they walk on campus as their peers hold posters repeating the Nazi propaganda in the program The Final Solution,” Johnson continued. “Now is a time for moral clarity, and we must put an end to this madness,” he added. “We understand that this rise in antisemitism comes just after the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7th.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Red state governor signs bill cracking down on squatters: ‘Best dwelling’ for them ‘is a jail cell’
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed into law on Monday a bill that strengthens the rights of homeowners against squatters who illegally occupy their property. The measure, House Bill 182, was sponsored by state Rep. Craig Lipscomb and creates harsher penalties for individuals who occupy property they do not own. Additionally, the measure enhances penalties for those who falsify real estate documents – such as a lease or deed – in an effort to show they have a right to occupy the property. The new law, which received bipartisan support in the state legislature and will become enforceable on June 1, also establishes a process administered by local law enforcement officials to rapidly remove individuals who are wrongfully occupying property they do not own. “It has been said that a person’s home is their castle, yet after a national rise in illegal occupations of homeowner’s private property, it is apparent that more must be done to halt criminals from commandeering people’s homes,” Ivey said in a statement Monday. TEXAS HOMEOWNERS WHO FINALLY EVICTED SQUATTER ‘TREATED LIKE CRIMINALS’ “In Alabama, private property rights are paramount. This new law puts would-be squatters on notice that any attempt to hijack and take over someone’s home will be met with swift action by law enforcement. The best dwelling for an illegal squatter is a jail cell, and we in state government should never rest easy until all Alabama homeowners’ rights are fully protected.” The new law will make it easier for homeowners and authorities to remove squatters from illegally occupied dwellings and adds a new definition to the state’s classification of third-degree burglary, a class C felony. The new definition states that individuals can be charged with burglary in the third degree if they enter or remain unlawfully in a dwelling and intentionally cause more than $1,000 in damage. Other bills to combat illegal squatting have been signed into law in several other GOP-led states recently, including Florida and Georgia. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law in March that outlines how squatters will face criminal charges for illegally moving into a home and allows property owners to file an affidavit showing they legally own a property. SQUATTERS RETURN TO GEORGIA HOUSE CANDIDATE’S HOME AFTER ARREST: ‘WORST CRIMINAL ACTIVITY I’VE EVER SEEN’ Under the new law in the Sunshine State, which will take effect July 1, property owners can now call on the sheriff’s office to immediately remove squatters from their homes if the suspects are unable to produce documents authorizing their residency by the property owner. The law “will give the homeowner the ability to quickly and legally remove a squatter from a property and which will increase criminal penalties for squatting. Now, we have not had the same type of issues here, as you’ve seen in California or New York. Nevertheless, our laws were really geared towards this not necessarily being a fad,” DeSantis said earlier this year. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a measure that would increase penalties for individuals occupying property that does not belong to them. Under the new law, offenders could face a $1,000 fine and possible jail time. If they forge a fake lease, they could be charged with a felony. “This is insanity, that people just think they can come in and take over somebody’s home. I mean it’s just outrageous,” Kemp said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” last month. “It really points to, as we’ve seen around the country, the lawlessness that’s gone on under the Biden administration.”
Ilhan Omar’s ‘pro-genocide’ Jews remark sparks House censure effort
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is being hit with a censure resolution on Tuesday after she referred to some Jewish students as “pro-genocide” during a recent visit to Columbia University. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is introducing the resolution against Omar on Tuesday, a source familiar with his plans told Fox News Digital. The New York City Ivy League school has been the flashpoint for nationwide demonstrations on college campuses, where students have set up tent encampments to protest their universities’ financial ties to pro-Israel companies. COLUMBIA FACULTY ATTEMPT TO BLOCK CERTAIN STUDENTS, PRESS FROM ENTERING ENCAMPMENT UNTIL POLICE CALLED Omar’s daughter was one of more than 100 Columbia students and young adults attending its sister school, Barnard College, who were arrested over their encampment last month. The progressive “Squad” Democrat visited the demonstration on April 26 in a show of solidarity for the anti-Israel protesters. “I actually met a lot of Jewish students who are in the encampment, and I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe,” Omar told Fox 5 New York while there. “We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.” Bacon’s resolution text said Omar’s “slanderous comments against Jewish students could inflame violence against the Jewish community.” COLUMBIA STUDENTS TRIED TO DELAY MOB TAKEOVER OF HAMILTON HALL, BUT SAY ‘POLICE NEVER CAME’ In addition to censuring her for those comments, Bacon’s resolution also accused her of having “a long and demonstrated history of hateful rhetoric that plays into the worst antisemitic tropes.” Omar has long been targeted by Republicans for her criticism of Israel. It even got her removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February, when the GOP won back the majority in the 2022 election. Bacon told reporters last week, “To generalize, to say that the Jewish students are responsible for this and treat them that way, that is antisemitism, right? It’s one thing to protest Israel, but to stretch it over and accost Jewish students is wrong.” “I’m working on a bill right now to call out Omar for what she said. She’s talking about pro-genocide or anti-genocide Jewish students…all this talk is all wrong because Jewish Americans are Americans. Quit treating them that way,” Bacon said. COLUMBIA STUDENTS WHO WITNESSED ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS’ BUILDING TAKEOVER SPEAKS OUT: ‘WE FEEL ALONE’ Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for comment. A spokesperson for Omar told Axios last week regarding Bacon’s comments on preparing a censure resolution that, “Attempts to misconstrue her words by drafting this baseless resolution are meant to distract from the ongoing violence and genocide occurring in Gaza and the large antiwar protests happening across our country and around the world.” Escalating tensions at the protests at Columbia and elsewhere have spurred bipartisan criticism amid multiple clashes between students and police, resulting in reports of people on both sides being injured. Jewish students at Columbia and other schools have also reported feeling unsafe on campus.
Trump reads back to media their own trial reporting: ‘No smoking gun’
Former President Trump greeted the media Tuesday morning holding a sheet of paper detailing news reports that there’s “no smoking gun” in the unprecedented Manhattan trial. “NBC ‘Today’ show: ‘The challenge is that there is no smoking gun, no email or tape to prove the president’s intent. They don’t have a way to prove that.’ That’s NBC ‘Today’ show,” Trump said Tuesday morning. Trump rattled off a series of media reports and expert commentary, including from “fake news CNN,” “Good Morning America” and Fox News, arguing the prosecution team is failing to prove Trump is guilty of falsifying business records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime. “On ‘Good Morning America,’ they said, ‘We heard that expense payments to lawyers are legal expenses.’ You pay a lawyer expenses payments. We didn’t put it down as construction costs, the purchase of sheet rock, the electrical cost. The legal expense that we paid was put down as legal expense. There’s nothing else you could say. You don’t have to put down anything, I guess. But we put down legal expense.” LIVE UPDATES: NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES WITH WITNESS TESTIMONY AFTER JUDGE MERCHAN THREATENS TRUMP WITH JAIL TIME The case focuses on Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paying former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels. Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony. TRUMP SAYS JAIL TIME TO DEFEND FREE SPEECH IS ‘SACRIFICE’ HE’S WILLING TO MAKE The court heard from its 10th witness Monday, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, who testified that Trump did not direct him to set up repayments to Cohen. “Michael Cohen was a lawyer?” defense attorney Emil Bove asked former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney on Monday at the start of the fourth week of the trial. “Sure, yes,” McConney responded. “And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?” asked Bove. “Yes,” said McConney. “President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described… correct?” Bove asked. “He did not,” McConney replied. NY V TRUMP: DA’S WITNESS TESTIFIES TRUMP DID NOT DIRECT HIM ON COHEN REPAYMENTS Trump said Tuesday that “with all this going on, they have no case.” NY V TRUMP TO RESUME MONDAY AFTER EVENTFUL 3RD WEEK OF TESTIMONY, THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF GAG ORDER FINES “Every single legal scholar that I see, I mean, maybe there’s somebody out there, some whack job. But for virtually… everyone that I’ve seen, has said there’s absolutely no case. It’s a case that shouldn’t have been brought. The previous D.A. wouldn’t bring it. Bragg didn’t want to bring it. And then he brought it because I’m running and in number one place,” Trump continued Tuesday. Amid the trial, Trump has been placed under a gag order that prevents him from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses and their potential participation or remarks about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff. Trump has railed against the order as “unconstitutional” and trampling on his free speech rights. On Monday, presiding Judge Juan Merchan said he would consider a jail sentence for Trump if he continues to violate the gag order. The DA’s office argued that Trump violated the order more than a dozen times, with the judge ruling last week that Trump violated the order nine times, resulting in a combined $9,000 fine. Merchan fined the former president another $1,000 for an additional violation on Monday, arguing that it’s “clear” the $1,000 fines for each violation are not effective. NY V TRUMP: WITNESS SAYS COHEN DREAMED OF WHITE HOUSE JOB DESPITE DENYING AMBITIONS IN HOUSE TESTIMONY “The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” Trump said Monday afternoon that potential time in jail to protect the Constitution is a “sacrifice” he’s willing to make. “I have to watch every word I tell you people. You ask me a question, a simple question I’d like to give it, but I can’t talk about it because this judge has given me a gag order and [says] you’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump said in remarks outside the Manhattan courtroom Monday afternoon. JUDGE DOUBLES DOWN ON NOT SHOWING TRUMP ‘ACCESS HOLLYWOOD’ TAPE TO JURORS “And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.” Trump continued in his comments Tuesday morning that the case is promoted by the Biden administration in the lead-up to the presidential election. “This all comes out of the White House and Crooked Joe Biden. This comes from the White House. And it’s all Biden because it’s an attack on his political opponent. That hasn’t happened in this country. It does happen in third world countries, but it hasn’t happened in this country. And it’s a shame. And the trial is a very unfair trial. It’s a very, very unfair trial. The good news is they have nothing,” he said.
Hawley presses Garland to probe dark money’s role in fueling anti-Israel agitators on campus
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is demanding answers from Attorney General Merrick Garland about which left-wing groups are funding anti-Israel demonstrations causing “chaos” across campuses nationwide. “Across the country, campuses are in chaos. It is time for you to open an investigation into the reason why, and who’s funding it,” Hawley wrote in a letter to Garland on Tuesday. “In university after university, antisemitic radicals have taken over entire buildings and large tracts of outdoor space. They are vandalizing property, blocking students from moving around their own campuses, and terrorizing Jewish students. All the while, many administrators have failed to take action to promote safety on campus,” he wrote. SOROS’ FOUNDATION FUNDS NONPROFIT THAT FINANCES PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTS: WATCHDOG GROUP Last month, Fox News Digital reported that progressive anti-Israel agitators across the country, including those who mobilized at New York City’s Columbia University, are associated with groups tied to far-left groups with radical associations backed by dark money and liberal mega-donor George Soros. National Students for Justice in Palestine, a national organization affiliated with more than 300 independent chapters advocating for “Palestinian liberation,” operates under the Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation, a fiscal sponsor, whom Fox News Digital previously reported received a six-figure donation from a nonprofit bankrolled by the George Soros network. The foundation, whose funding is largely unknown, has accused the Israeli government of “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “collective punishment” and “war crimes,” according to NGO Monitor. HAMAS KINGPIN HOLED UP DEEP BELOW GAZA, SURROUNDED BY HOSTAGES USED AS HUMAN SHIELDS, SAYS EXPERT “Crucially, this is not just spontaneous student unrest. It is coordinated and funded by a powerful network of anti-Israel advocates,” Hawley wrote. “This pattern is disturbing. It is also almost certainly illegal.” The Internal Revenue Service deems that any “organization formed to promote world peace that planned and sponsored protest demonstrations at which members were urged to commit acts of civil disobedience” does not qualify for tax-exemption status. As such, Hawley wrote, “by supporting illegal acts while enjoying tax-exempt status, dark-money groups and foundations are defrauding the American people and putting Jewish students and faculty at risk.” BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PUTS HOLD ON US AMMUNITION SHIPMENT TO ISRAEL: REPORT Another group active at Columbia, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), has brought in at least $650,000 from Soros-linked groups since 2016. JVP has also taken in hundreds of thousands from the billionaire-fueled Rockefeller Fund, which is boosted by millions of dollars from a dark money funding network. “The Open Society Foundations has a long history of fighting antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism and hate,” a spokesperson for George Soros’ Open Society Foundations previously told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital has reached out to Garland’s office for comment. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Stormy Daniels takes the stand in Trump criminal trial
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels took the stand to testify in the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump on Tuesday. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The charges are related to alleged payments made to silence Daniels about an alleged 2006 extramarital affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election. EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’ Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, a $130,000 hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to keep her silent on allegations of an affair with Trump in 2006. The payments to Daniels were first revealed in January 2018 in a Wall Street Journal report that said Cohen and Daniels’ lawyer negotiated a nondisclosure agreement to prevent her from publicly discussing the supposed sexual encounter with Trump. At the time, though, Cohen, Trump, and even Stormy Daniels denied the arrangement. In January 2018, Cohen said the alleged encounter between Daniels and Trump was a rumor that had circulated “since 2011.” And in a letter dated Jan. 10, 2018, obtained and reviewed by Fox News, Daniels also denied the allegations. “I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. I am stating with complete clarity that this is absolutely false,” Daniels wrote. “My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more.” Daniels wrote in the letter that when she met Trump, he was “gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my presence.” “Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the letter read. “If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true.” But in March 2018, Daniels changed her story. During an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Daniels claimed she had a one-time, unprotected sexual encounter with Trump. At the time, Trump said he was not aware of the payment made to Daniels. FLASHBACK: STORMY DANIELS AND TRUMP: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW When asked in April 2018 why Cohen made the payment, Trump responded: “You have to ask Michael Cohen — Michael’s my attorney.” Initially, there were questions about whether the non-disclosure agreement that was signed by Daniels — but not by Trump — was valid. Daniels began legal efforts to depose Trump and Cohen over the payment. She also filed a defamation suit against Cohen, following a cease-and-desist letter sent by Cohen’s attorney that directed her to refrain from any further “false and defamatory” statements about Cohen following her tell-all “60 Minutes” interview. Prosecutors, during the third week of the trial, called a number of witnesses to testify, including Keith Davidson, an attorney who once represented Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Davidson said Daniels’ denial of an affair with Trump was technically true. He also testified that the money ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid her was not a payoff, but a “consideration.” Trump’s defense attorneys, during cross-examination, played audio recordings of Davidson, in which he can be heard admitting Cohen did not need authority from Trump to make the payment to Stormy Daniels. Meanwhile, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, after pleading guilty to federal charges that included lying to Congress, campaign-finance violations and tax evasion. The charges against Cohen arose from two separate investigations – one by federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the other by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. FLASHBACK: MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY, GETS 3 YEARS IN PRISON FOR TAX FRAUD, CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATIONS, LYING Cohen pleaded guilty to misleading Congress about his work on a proposal to build a Trump skyscraper in Moscow, and hiding the fact that he continued to speak with Russians about the proposal well into the 2016 presidential campaign. In the New York case, prosecutors accused Cohen of a years-long “tax evasion scheme” to avoid paying federal income taxes on more than $4 million made through a number of ventures, including through his ownership of taxi medallions, his selling of real estate in Florida and his consulting work for other clients. Cohen pleaded guilty to arranging the $130,000 payment to Daniels and a payment of $150,000 to model Karen McDougal to prevent them from going public with alleged affairs with Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied those alleged encounters. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
DNA Exclusive: From roaming on cycle to Congress ‘secret weapon’ in Amethi, read inside story of KL Sharma
During its ground visit, DNA found out that for Amethi, Kishori Lal Sharma is not a new name
SC stays Calcutta HC order cancelling jobs of over 25000 teachers, others in West Bengal
The state government had challenged the Calcutta High Court order, saying it cancelled the appointments “arbitrarily”.