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Trump calls hush money trial ‘assault on America’ as case officially kicks off

Trump calls hush money trial ‘assault on America’ as case officially kicks off

Former President Donald Trump officially arrived to a Manhattan court Monday as the hush money case kicks off, where he will face trial over 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.  “Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Trump said at the courthouse Monday. “This is political persecution … it’s a case that should have never been brought.” “This is an assault on America and that’s why I’m very proud to be here,” he added.  TRUMP’S HUSH MONEY PAYMENT TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY AS JURY SELECTION BEGINS The 45th president left Trump Tower early Monday morning, where he was seen waving to supporters before heading to Manhattan Criminal Court.  NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TRUMP TRIAL, ANSWERED The trial marks the first time a former president will stand trial over criminal charges.  FIVE KEY QUESTIONS ON HOW START OF TRUMP’S FIRST CRIMINAL TRIAL WILL IMPACT PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN Dubbed the “hush money” case, the trial focuses on payments made by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. 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. THE TRUMP TRIALS: HERE’S WHERE EACH CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT STANDS 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.  “During the election, TRUMP and others employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged last year. “TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.” ‘I TELL THE TRUTH’: TRUMP SAYS HE’LL TESTIFY AT HUSH MONEY TRIAL AS JUDGE REJECTS LAST MINUTE PLEA Trump has repeatedly slammed the trial as a “witch hunt,” and kicked off Monday by calling the presiding Judge Juan Merchan “crooked” while demanding his “VOICE back” after Merchan placed a gag order on Trump making public statements about potential witnesses.  “I want my VOICE back. This Crooked Judge has GAGGED me. Unconstitutional! The other side can talk about me, but I am not allowed to talk about them! Rigged Trial!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.  Trump, when he arrived at the courthouse Monday, continued that the trial “is really an attack on a political opponent.“ The trial will begin with jury selection, where potential jurors will be presented with an overview of the case and asked whether they are able to serve in a fair and impartial manner.  Those who show they cannot be impartial will be dismissed, while those who remain will be asked a series of 42 questions, which Merchan released in a letter last week, including questions such as: “Do you have any political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs or opinions which might prevent you from following the court’s instructions on the law or which might slant your approach to this case?” The case is anticipated to last at least six weeks. 

Could you be a juror in Trump’s New York hush money trial? See the 42 questions prosecutors are asking

Could you be a juror in Trump’s New York hush money trial? See the 42 questions prosecutors are asking

The jury selection for former President Trump’s trial centered on hush money payments to Stormy Daniels officially got underway in New York City on Monday, with lawyers for Trump and the state meeting with prospective jurors to decide who will sit to hear the case. Judge Juan Merchan is overseeing the case in which Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The dozen ultimately selected will become the first Americans ever to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime. The jury selection procedure is simple. Each potential juror is seated in the jury box and will be asked to answer 42 questions from a questionnaire that reviews the individual’s work history, political affiliations and what media they choose to watch and listen to. The prospective jurors must be Manhattan residents. They are then asked each question, and are instructed to answer “one after the other, in a loud clear voice,” according to the court’s instructions. They may potentially be asked additional follow-up questions, as needed, depending on their answer. LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP’S HUSH MONEY PAYMENT GETS UNDERWAY AS JURY SELECTION BEGINS The 42 questions on the questionnaire include: 1. A. Without telling us your address, in what neighborhood do you live? For example, Upper East Side, Lower West Side, Inwood, etc. B. How long have you lived there? C. Are you a native New Yorker? If not, where did you live previously? 2. A. What do you do for a living? B. How long have you been doing that? C. If you are retired, please tell us what you did before you retired. 3. A. Who is your current employer? B. How large is your current employer? C. Are you self-employed or own your own business? D. Who was your prior employer? 4. What is your educational background? For example, high school diploma, college degree, graduate degree, etc. 5. A. Are you married? B. Have you ever been married? C. Do you have any children? 6. A. If you are married, or living with another adult, what does that person do for a living? B. If you have adult children, what do they do? THE TRUMP TRIALS: HERE’S WHERE EACH CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT STANDS 7. A. What do you like to do in your spare time? B. Do you have any interests or hobbies? 8. A. Do you participate in any organizations or advocacy groups? B. Which ones? 9. A. Have you ever served on a jury before? If you did, please tell us how long ago that was and whether that was in Criminal Court, Civil Court, or Grand Jury. B. Without telling us the verdict, please tell us whether the jury reached a verdict. 10. Which of the following print publications, cable and or network programs, or online media such as websites, blogs, or social media platforms do you visit, read, or watch?  The juror is then asked to check through various mainstream news platforms such as Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and others. They are also instructed to check through a list of social media platforms, including Facebook, X, TikTok and others. 11. Do you listen to or watch podcasts? If so, which ones? 12. Do you listen to talk radio? If so, which programs? 13. Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever been the victim of a crime? If so, please briefly tell us what happened? 14. Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever been employed by a law enforcement agency? For example, the police, FBI, District Attorney’s Office, Department of Correction, etc. 15. Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever been employed by a federal, state, or local government, including but not limited to the State of New York? NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TRUMP TRIAL, ANSWERED 16. Have you, a relative, or close friend ever been employed in the accounting or finance field? 17. Have you, a relative or close friend ever had any education, training, or work experience in the legal field, including but not limited to practicing criminal or civil law? 18. A. Have you, a relative, or close friend had any experience or interaction with the criminal justice system, including a police officer or other type of law enforcement agent, which caused you to form an opinion, whether positive or negative, about the police or our criminal justice system? B. If so, what was that experience? C. Would that experience prevent you from being a fair and impartial juror in this case? 19. Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever been accused or convicted of committing a crime? 20. Do you, a relative, or a close friend have a pending criminal case? 21. A. Do you have any political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs or opinions which might prevent you from following the Court’s instructions on the law or which might slant your approach to this case? B. Do you have any political, moral, intellectual or religious beliefs or opinions that would interfere with your ability to render a verdict in this criminal case? 22. Do you have a health condition that might interfere with your ability to be here on the appointed days and times or otherwise prevent you from serving as a juror? 23. Without telling us the name(s), do you take any medication that would prevent you from being able to concentrate or pay attention during the proceedings or during the deliberations? 24. Court proceedings normally end around 4:30 in the afternoon though on rare occasions, we might work beyond that. Would your schedule and responsibilities permit you to work later if it were absolutely necessary to complete that day’s work? 25. Do you practice a religion that would prevent you from sitting as a juror on any particular weekday or weeknight? COURT DENIES TRUMP BIDS TO DELAY START OF HUSH MONEY TRIAL 26. Can you give us

House Dems, Republicans team up to block CCP encroachment on US food supply

House Dems, Republicans team up to block CCP encroachment on US food supply

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group in the House of Representatives is pushing to keep China’s influence over the U.S. food supply at a minimum. New legislation being unveiled by Reps. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., would force the Department of Agriculture to hatch policy ideas to preemptively mitigate threats Beijing’s ruling Chinese Communist Party could pose to American agricultural supply chains, while at the same time rolling back legislative and regulatory barriers affecting domestic production. “China has captured significant market share for agricultural inputs that are vital to our domestic food supply, ceding our top adversary leverage and control,” Hinson explained to Fox News Digital. “Iowa farmers have told me firsthand that if China decides to shut off U.S. access to these inputs, food production could slow to a halt.” MOST AMERICANS SUPPORT HOUSE PLAN TO BAN TIKTOK IF IT ISN’T SOLD, POLL FINDS She argued the bill would “reshore this critical supply chain to ensure Communist China does not have the power to restrict American food production.” It would also mandate that the federal government stay on top of tracking the health of domestic agriculture supply chains and their vulnerability to China via annual assessments.  It comes as Congress also stares down China on the technology front, as the Senate considers a recently-passed House bill to force Beijing-backed company ByteDance to sever its ties with the popular social media app TikTok – or risk the platform being banned in U.S. app stores altogether. MASSIVE PRO-DEMOCRAT TIKTOK ACCOUNT THAT SUPPORTED BIDEN IN 2020 HAS ‘SOURED’ ON PRESIDENT Like the TikTok bill, Hinson’s legislation is also backed by the top two lawmakers on the House select committee on China, Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. However, China hawks on both sides of the aisle in Congress, particularly from more rural parts of the country, have sounded the alarm on Beijing’s dominance over the global agricultural market for years. Those concerns came to a head early last year when Chinese company Fufeng Group attempted to purchase land in North Dakota for a corn mill project – which spurred pushback both because of the implication of Chinese control of the food supply on U.S. soil and its proximity to a U.S. military base. TAYLOR SWIFT’S SONGS REAPPEAR ON TIKTOK AHEAD OF POP STAR’S NEW ALBUM RELEASE DESPITE DISPUTE Meanwhile, China has grown its dominance in other sectors critical to the U.S. food supply, such as production and trade of amino acids. Chinese manufacturers control up to 85% of the global market for essential amino acids used in livestock feed, according to the Social Science Research Network. “These trends have created the potential for Chinese manipulation of the markets for these key inputs, which could result in reduced choice for producers and food security issues for U.S. consumers,” the July 2021 study warned.