Trump hush money trial: Juror excused after saying she does not think she can be fair
One of the jurors selected and sworn in earlier this week to serve on the jury for former President Trump’s criminal trial was excused Thursday morning after she said she no longer believed she could be fair. Seven jurors were selected and sworn in on Tuesday during the second day of jury selection. The court does not meet on Wednesdays for the Trump trial, and reconvened for the third day of jury selection Thursday morning. Juror #2, a woman who lived on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and works as a nurse, returned to court Thursday morning and said that after further thought, she had concerns about being fair and balanced in the case. “I definitely have concerns,” she said, noting that her family and friends questioned if she was serving on the jury. “I don’t think I can be fair.” She also said she thought that “outside influence” would “interfere.” The woman also noted that she did not want aspects of her identity to be reported. Judge Juan Merchan excused her and warned the press about covering the trial. “You can write about anything on the record, but apply common sense when writing about jurors using physical descriptions and descriptors,” Merchan said. POTENTIAL TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL JURORS BEING ASKED 42 QUESTIONS Merchan directed the press to refrain from writing about anything that can be observed with eyes in order to “ensure jurors remain safe.” “We lost what would have been a good juror,” Merchan said, adding that she was “afraid of being intimidated.” After the departure of juror #2, six jurors have been sworn in. Twelve more jurors are needed before opening arguments can begin. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges are related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts. He has blasted the trial as pure politics, a “political persecution” and maintains his innocence. The former president is expected to testify during his trial. “I tell the truth,” Trump said last week, when asked about his possible testimony. Trump is the first president in United States history to stand criminal trial. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Maine lawmakers approve several gun safety bills after deadliest shooting in state’s history
The Maine Legislature approved sweeping gun safety legislation including background checks on private gun sales, waiting periods for gun purchases and criminalizing gun sales to prohibited people before adjourning Thursday morning, nearly six months after the deadliest shooting in state history. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and the Democratic-led Legislature pressed for a number of gun and mental health proposals after the shooting that claimed 18 lives and injured another 13 people, despite the state’s strong hunting tradition and support for gun owners. “Maine has taken significant steps forward in preventing gun violence and protecting Maine lives,” said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, who praised lawmakers for listening to their constituents. MAINE SHERIFF’S OFFICE TO DISCUSS CONTACT WITH GUNMAN PRIOR TO LEWISTON MASS SHOOTING The governor’s bill, approved early Thursday, would strengthen the state’s yellow flag law, boost background checks for private sales of guns and make it a crime to recklessly sell a gun to someone who is prohibited from having guns. The bill also funds violence prevention initiatives and opens a mental health crisis receiving center in Lewiston. The Maine Senate also narrowly gave final approval Wednesday to a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases and a ban on bump stocks that can transform a weapon into a machine gun. However, there was no action on a proposal to institute a “red flag” law. The bill sponsored by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross would have allowed family members to petition a judge to remove guns from someone who is in a psychiatric crisis. The state’s current “yellow flag” law differs by putting police in the lead of the process, which critics say is too complicated. Lawmakers pushed through the night and into the morning as they ran up against their adjournment date, which was Wednesday. But it didn’t come without some 11th-hour drama. Lawmakers had to approve a contentious supplemental budget before casting their final votes and didn’t wrap up the session until after daybreak. The Oct. 25 shooting by an Army reservist in Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city, served as tragic backdrop for the legislative session. Police were warned by family members that the shooter was becoming delusional and had access to weapons. He was hospitalized for two weeks while training with his unit last summer. And his best friend, a fellow reservist, warned that the man was going “to snap and do a mass shooting.” The shooter killed himself after the attack. Republicans accused Democrats of using the tragedy to play on people’s emotions to pass contentious bills. “My big concern here is that we’re moving forward with gun legislation that has always been on the agenda. Now we’re using the tragedy in Lewiston to force it through when there’s nothing new here,” said Republican Sen. Lisa Keim. “It’s the same old ideas that were rejected year after year. Using the tragedy to advance legislation is wrong.” But Democrats said constituents implored them to do something to prevent future attacks. They said it would’ve been an abdication of their responsibility to ignore their pleas. “For the sake of the communities, individuals and families now suffering immeasurable pain, for the sake of our state, doing nothing is not an option,” the governor said in late January when she outlined her proposals in her State of the State address. Those in attendance responded with a standing ovation.
Kerala woman, part of Indian crew on board ship seized by Iran, returns home
Ministry of External Affairs said the Indian mission in Tehran is in touch with the remaining 16 Indian crew members of the container vessel.
Trump lawyers tried to subpoena Stormy Daniels, but instead this happened
Former President Trump’s legal team says it tried to serve ex-pornographic actress Stormy Daniels with a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in a New York City bar last month, but she refused to accept it. A process server working for Trump’s lawyers said he approached Daniels with papers demanding information related to a documentary recently released about her life and involvement with Trump but was forced to “leave them at her feet,” according to a court filing made public Wednesday. Daniels is expected to be a key witness in Trump’s hush money case, where he is facing over 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The trial marks the first time a former president will stand trial over criminal charges. TRUMP CALLS HUSH MONEY TRIAL ‘ASSAULT ON AMERICA’ AS CASE OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF “I stated she was served as I identified her and explained to her what the documents were,” process server Dominic DellaPorte wrote. “She did not acknowledge me and kept walking inside the venue, and she had no expression on her face.” DellaPorte said he tried to serve Daniels prior to a screening of the documentary film “Stormy” at the 3 Dollar Bill nightclub in Brooklyn. Trump’s lawyers are asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to force Daniels to comply with the subpoena. In their filing, they included a photo they said DellaPorte took of Daniels as she strode away. THE TRUMP TRIALS: HERE’S WHERE EACH CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT STANDS Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster described the requests as an “unwarranted fishing expedition” with no relevance to Trump’s criminal trial. He claims they never received the paperwork “The process — instituted on the eve of trial — appears calculated to cause harassment and/or intimidation of a lay witness,” Brewster wrote in an April 9 letter to Merchan, according to The Associated Press. Brewster didn’t immediately reply to a message from the news organization seeking comment. The encounter came just weeks before the high-profile case kicked off in Manhattan. Seven jurors have been seated so far and jury selection is set to resume Thursday. The trial will focus on payments made by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election which Trump ended up winning. Daniels is expected to testify that the $130,000 payment was to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the 34 charges against him. Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which would be a felony. Fox News’ Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jill Biden praises agreement to make it easier for military spouse federal employees to work overseas
Jill Biden said Wednesday that allowing federal employees who are military spouses to work from overseas is a “national security imperative” that is long overdue. The first lady spoke at a White House ceremony she hosted with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, who signed a permanent memorandum of agreement between their departments to ease approvals of remote work under the Domestic Employees Teleworking Overseas program for these employees. The agreement was among steps to help military families that President Joe Biden outlined in an executive order he signed in June at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. It also is an outgrowth of the first lady’s work with Joining Forces, her White House initiative to support military and veteran families. FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN REPORTEDLY URGING THE PRESIDENT PRIVATELY TO END THE WAR IN GAZA: ‘STOP, STOP IT NOW’ Jill Biden said she shared stories the spouses told her with her husband and he took action. “A critical part of the executive order is allowing military spouses who work for the federal government to take jobs with them” when their spouse is deployed overseas, Jill Biden said. “With today’s agreement, we’re making that a reality. It’s common sense, it’s simple and it’s long overdue.” Hicks and Verma signed the agreement in front of an overwhelmingly female audience seated in the East Room. Hicks handed her pen to the first lady. Jill Biden said military spouses also serve the United States even though they don’t wear a uniform and that the government has a responsibility to serve them, too. “This isn’t just a moral obligation,” she said. “It’s a national security imperative.” The first lady said the principle of an all-volunteer military, which is the case in the U.S., is put “at risk when we force our service members to choose between their love of country and the families who serve alongside them. We must give them the support they need to choose both.” Military spouses face a 21% unemployment rate that has not significantly changed over the past decade, according to information from the White House. More than 16,000 military, veteran and surviving spouses work across federal departments and agencies. Jill Biden cracked a joke at the beginning of her formal remarks, saying she was really excited because “like so many of you, I am a working spouse of a government employee.” Biden teaches English and writing two days a week at Northern Virginia Community College.
Top New York City mayor Adams aide slapped with second sexual harassment lawsuit: report
A top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams was slapped with a second lawsuit alleging discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation on Wednesday, according to reports. Timothy Pearson, a former NYPD inspector who led the Mayor’s Office of Municipal Services Assessment, is being sued by retired NYPD sergeant Michael Ferrari in a lawsuit filed in the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan on Wednesday. It comes after retired NYPD Sgt. Roxanne Ludemann claimed harassment and retaliation against Pearson in a March lawsuit after allegedly rejecting his unwanted advances. Ferrari does not claim to be the subject of unwanted advances from Pearson but does say he witnessed or was told of Pearson sexually harassing female colleagues in the services assessment office, including Ludemann. The suit says Ferrari was assigned by a higher-up to monitor Pearson’s behavior around women in the office, Politico reported. “The hostile work environment surrounding the sexual harassment carried over to every member of the team regardless of gender,” the complaint says. NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS RESPONDS TO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: ‘THIS DID NOT HAPPEN’ After a confrontation about the sexual harassment allegations against Pearson with another leader, Ferrari said he was demoted back to patrol, costing him $2 million in lost salary and pension earnings and prompting him to retire from his 16-year career at the NYPD, the New York Daily News reported. Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on the lawsuit, but they did not immediately respond. The complaint also alleges Pearson made a comment to Ferrari and another officer, Lt. George Huang, complaining when a migrant shelter was scrapped in Orchard Beach in October 2022 due to heavy flooding after the contractors who handled the project were already paid by the city. “Do you know how these contracts work?” Pearson said, according to the complaint. “People are doing very well on these contracts. I have to get mine. Where are my crumbs?” NEW LAWSUIT ALLEGES NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS DEMANDED SEX ACTS FROM POLICE OFFICER IN EXCHANGE FOR CAREER HELP The lawsuit said Pearson from then on was called “Crumbs” behind his back around the office. According to the Daily News, Ferrari, Ludemann and Huang went with Deputy Chief Miltiadis Marmara to the mayor’s Municipal Services Assessment unit, which started in June 2022 to inspect city agencies. “I had no intention of retiring before 20 years, but after Chief Marmara was removed for standing up for my co-worker, I was not going to stay,” Ferrari, a Duke University graduate from Long Island, told the Daily News. “At the whim of Tim Pearson, all of our careers were turned upside down.” “The common thread in these lawsuits is Pearson is basically a free agent able to pull strings inside the NYPD without any oversight,” John Scola, the lawyer for both Ferrari and Ludemann, told the Daily News. An NYPD spokesperson said, “We will review the lawsuit if and when we are served.” “We hold all public servants to the highest standards,” a City Hall spokesperson told the Daily News. “We will review the lawsuit.”
Chinese Embassy defends TikTok against potential forced sale in meeting with congressional staffers: report
The Chinese Embassy has held meetings with Capitol Hill staffers to protect TikTok from a potential forced sale, according to a report. The meetings took place with Chinese diplomats after the House passed legislation with an overwhelming bipartisan vote last month that would force Chinese divestment from TikTok or see the app banned, Politico reported. Two congressional staffers, one from the House and the other from the Senate, told the outlet on condition of anonymity that the Chinese Embassy initiated contact and downplayed national security concerns over TikTok. In one meeting, the embassy said that banning the social media app would be harmful for U.S. investors who hold ownership of parent company ByteDance, according to Politico. MOST AMERICANS SUPPORT HOUSE PLAN TO BAN TIKTOK IF IT ISN’T SOLD, POLL FINDS In another meeting, Chinese diplomats argued that TikTok was being treated unfairly because it is a Chinese company and that other companies outside of China would not be treated the same way, the staffers told the outlet. TikTok told Politico in a statement that its report was “absurd” and that the company had no knowledge of any meetings between the Chinese Embassy and congressional staffers. The Chinese Embassy told Politico in a statement that it was lobbying for all Chinese companies to be treated fairly, not just TikTok. Fox News Digital reached out to the Chinese Embassy for comment but did not immediately hear back. FCC COMMISSIONER SAYS TIKTOK IS A ‘CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER’ TO US NATIONAL SECURITY The legislation, led by House China Select Committee Chair Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., would block TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance does not divest from it within 165 days of passage. It would also require it to be bought by a country that is not a U.S. adversary. TikTok’s critics have long called the social media app a national security threat. They have cited concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to leverage its power over ByteDance to access sensitive user data, even in the U.S., something the company has denied. Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Polish president meets with Trump in New York City amid criminal trial
Former President Donald Trump continues to meet with foreign leaders, even as his criminal trial is underway in New York. Trump met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday in New York City to discuss the Ukraine-Russia conflict and NATO defense spending. The pair were photographed entering Trump Tower, where Trump told reporters, “He’s done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.” TRUMP TRIAL: JURY SELECTION TO RESUME IN NEW YORK CITY FOR 3RD DAY IN FORMER PRESIDENT’S TRIAL “We had four great years together,” Trump said. “We’re behind Poland all the way.” Trump and Duda spoke for over two hours, which the Polish president called a “friendly meeting in very nice atmosphere.” It’s only the latest high profile meeting with foreign leaders for the former president, who has previously spoken with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbá in March and Argentinian President Javier Milei in February. TRUMP SAYS CRIMINAL TRIAL IS HAVING A ‘REVERSE EFFECT,’ AS HE CAMPAIGNS AT NEW YORK BODEGA, VOWS TO SAVE CITY Last week, Trump also hosted British Foreign Secretary David Cameron at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Jury selection in Trump’s historic and unprecedented criminal trial stemming from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is expected to resume Thursday morning. Bragg has charged Trump, the 2024 presumptive Republican presidential nominee, with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump is the first president in United States history to stand criminal trial. The charges are related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts. He has blasted the trial as pure politics, a “political persecution,” and maintains his innocence. The former president is expected to testify during his trial. By the end of jury selection on Tuesday, seven jurors had been selected and sworn in. The jury pool so far includes four men and three women, all living in New York City. Their professions include law, finance, nursing, technology and more. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Meet man, Maoists’ nemesis, who led Kanker encounter in Chhattisgarh
Kewat guided the team through a fierce firefight with the Naxalites.T he 17-year veteran of the Chhattisgarh police force has won six gallantry medals.
‘Eating mangoes, sweets in jail to make grounds for…’: ED opposes CM Arvind Kejriwal’s request
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has moved the court seeking permission to consult his regular doctor via video conference because of fluctuating sugar levels.