An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arizona">Arizona</a> woman who claimed former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer sexually assaulted her has been charged with extorting him.
Darcy Esemonu has been indicted by a grand jury for fraudulent schemes and theft by extortion, both felonies, ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39958530/trevor-bauer-accuser-indicted-fraud-arizona" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. She is scheduled for arraignment on April 26 in Maricopa County.
Esemonu “knowingly did obtain a benefit from &#8230; Trevor Anthony Bauer by means of fraudulent pretenses, representation, promises, or material omissions,&#8221; the indictment against her says. She also &#8220;knowingly did obtain or sought to obtain property or services &#8230; by means of a threat to in the future expose a secret or an asserted fact in a social media message or in any other manner&#8221; involving a second man, who is not associated with Bauer.
In 2022, Esemonu filed a lawsuit against Bauer, claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2020 and that she had become pregnant from the encounter. She later updated that lawsuit in 2023. Bauer countersued, saying his encounter with Esemonu “was consensual” and alleging that she tried to harass and extort money from him after he was accused of sexual assault by several other women.
Bauer’s attorneys told ESPN that Esemonu demanded $3.6 million from Bauer, claiming he “forced her to have an abortion.” When he refused to pay her the money, “she made up a bogus sexual assault claim and filed a civil suit against” Bauer.
Esemonu reported the alleged sexual assault to police a week after she filed her lawsuit. Police reports obtained by ESPN show that Esemonu &#8220;initially stated she had a miscarriage, but later referred to the miscarriage as an abortion” when talking to police. Later, she told police there was no abortion but that she miscarried just before heading to a clinic in a different state. A police detective noted in the reports that none of the medical records Esemonu provided indicated that she “was in fact pregnant.”
In January 2023, Bauer’s attorney, Anne Chapman, filed a criminal complaint with the Scottsdale Police Department – the same police department where Esemonu made her allegations – and said the woman “had demanded financial compensation from her client for a pregnancy and abortion that was alleged to be false.&#8221;
Bauer was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/next-victim-star-pitcher-for-the-dodgers-trevor-bauer-reveals-texts-from-his-accuser-following-settlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also accused</a> of sexual assault by Lindsey Hill, who also claimed the former star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers beat her.
He never faced charges relating to the allegations, and a restraining order filed by Hill was denied. Bauer always maintained that the rough sex between him and Hill was consensual.
Once the settlement was announced, Bauer released <a href="https://twitter.com/BauerOutage/status/1708904525724270659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1708904525724270659%7Ctwgr%5E87b30e1ab225617b6890c095bb4047a5c5643ad0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fnext-victim-star-pitcher-for-the-dodgers-trevor-bauer-reveals-texts-from-his-accuser-following-settlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a video</a> revealing some of the text messages Hill had sent to her friends prior to meeting Bauer and after their encounter, which suggests she had always been focused on getting money from him.
“’Next victim. Star pitcher for the Dodgers,&#8217;” Bauer begins in the video with a picture of Hill’s text. “A text Lindsey Hill sent to a friend before she ever even met me. ‘What should I steal?’ she asked another, in reference to visiting my house for the first time. The answer? ‘Take his money.’ So how might that work? ‘I’m going to his house Wednesday.’ she said, ‘I already have my hooks in. You know how I roll.’ Then, after the first time we met, “Net worth is 51 mil” she said. ‘b—h, you better secure the bag’, was the response.”
“But how was she going to do that?” Bauer continued. “‘Need daddy to choke me out,’ she said. ‘being an absolute whore to try to get in on his 51 million,’ read another text. Then, after the second time we met, former [San Diego] Padres pitcher Jacob Nix told her ‘you gotta get this bag.’ ‘I’ll give you 50,000’ Lindsey replied. Her AA sponsor asked her at one point, ‘do you feel a tiny bit guilty?’ ‘Not really,’ she replied.”
Bauer said these messages were “deliberately and unlawfully concealed from me and my legal team” until he filed his lawsuit against Hill and the case entered discovery.
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He also played a video taken just minutes before Hill left Bauer’s house in the morning after the alleged assault, showing her in bed next to him smirking at the camera with no evidence of injury or distress.
He said Hill’s legal team had approached him for money, but after this evidence was turned over, they approached with a settlement offer that included no money. He agreed to a settlement that allowed him to publicly discuss the case since he could not do so for legal reasons prior.
Bauer was suspended for 324 games because of the allegations, but an independent arbitrator reduced that ban to 194 games in December, Fox reported. No team picked him up, so he began playing in Japan for the Yokohama DeNa Baystars, where he was 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 19 games.

Trevor Bauer

Woman Who Accused Trevor Bauer Of Sexual Assault Now Charged With Extorting Him

Crime

Fraud

Los Angeles Dodgers

Sexual Assault

U.S.

The head of human resources for the District of Columbia&#8217;s library system, whose six-figure job entails ensuring that fellow government employees followed employment rules, was herself in massive violation of those rules — holding a second full-time job with a private company, which she did while supposedly working for taxpayers.
Lauren Graves lied to government investigators to cover up the fact that she had one full-time job and one part-time job, both of which she focused on while neglecting her government duties, according to the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA). She was forced to pay a fine of $17,500, a small fraction of the money she earned while neglecting her taxpayer-funded job, and has resigned from her government post, according to the Washington Post.
Graves has worked as the DCPL&#8217;s Human Resources Director since November 2021, being paid $148,000 a year. Apparently the fact that she continued to work full-time for Blackstone Consulting as Senior Human Resources Manager — where she was paid an additional $144,000 a year — went unnoticed. She also worked part-time delivering babies as a doula, with a website where people could make appointments with her during the workday.
&#8220;Witness testimony revealed that the Respondent frequently could not be reached throughout the workday regardless of whether she worked in the office or virtually,&#8221; a <a href="https://bega.dc.gov/sites/bega/files/publication/attachments/23-0100p%20L.%20Graves.NEGOTIATED%20DISPOSITION.executed%204.4.24_Redacted.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BEGA document</a> from this month stated. &#8220;Our investigation revealed that Respondent misused her District government email by communicating with her outside employers from her District government email address. Respondent also forwarded various internal District government documents to her outside job at Blackstone such as technology agreements.&#8221;
Graves told investigators she worked the other jobs outside of her work hours, but this was false, they said. Their evidence included emails, contracts, and presentation schedules.
&#8220;Respondent acknowledges that her conduct was an egregious violation of the Code of Conduct. Respondent agrees to pay a fine in the amount of $17,500.00 to resolve this violation&#8230; Respondent agrees to payments in the amount of $383 bi-weekly, via automatic deduction from Respondent&#8217;s paycheck,&#8221; said the agreement, signed by Graves and Director of Government Ethics Ashley D. Cooks.
It would not have been hard to find out about Graves&#8217; other work. The Blackstone job is on her LinkedIn, which says she stopped the job in February 2024. It says she still works as CEO of &#8220;Cass &amp; Tree, LLC,&#8221; an HR firm, and as a doula.
The $17,000 penalty may amount to only a fraction of the taxpayer money that she squandered. Two-and-a-half years of a $148,000 salary is $370,000.
Her LinkedIn says her speciality is &#8220;DIVERSITY, EQUITY &amp; INCLUSION &#8211; Training, facilitation, climate assessments, project and change management; employee engagement. Anti-racism, Anti-bullying, sexual harassment training compliance; Allyship. Gender pay equity. LGBTQ ally training facilitation. Workplace gossip and victim shaming, Retaliation, Labor Relations and Union mediation.&#8221;
The case raises questions about how many other government employees are simply AWOL while &#8220;working remotely,&#8221; and how any of them could reasonably face consequences given the fact that the HR director who was supposed to be enforcing such rules was doing the same thing.
At the federal level, federal agencies have dragged their feet at returning to the office, despite repeated admonishments from President Joe Biden and his chief of staff that they must do so. Last month, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wrote to the Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor to note that members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) had finally &#8220;<a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/telework_protest_letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed up</a> to the office&#8230; to protest for more telework.&#8221;

DC Public Library Director of Human Resources Lauren Graves / LinkedIn

High-Paid Government Official Had Second Job While ‘Remote Working’

Coronavirus

Washington D.C.

Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced by a federal judge on Monday to 40 years in prison for numerous financial crimes.
The 40-year sentence will be served at the same time as the 27 years South Carolina sentenced him to for similar crimes, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alex-murdaugh-face-harsh-sentence-feds-say-failed-polygraph-test-rcna145513" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Those sentences are in addition to the two consecutive life sentences Murdaugh received for killing his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.
Murdaugh was accused of stealing millions of dollars from his previous law firm and its clients and, in addition to prison time, was ordered to pay more than $8 million in restitution to his victims.
“Trust in our legal system begins with trust in its lawyers,” U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs said in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/alex-murdaugh-indicted-federal-conspiracy-wire-fraud-bank-fraud-and-money-laundering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a>. “South Carolinians turn to lawyers when they are at their most vulnerable, and in our state, those who abuse the public’s trust and enrich themselves by fraud, theft, and self-dealing will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.&#8221;
The sentencing hearing almost didn’t happen, as prosecutors last week filed a motion trying to back out of their plea agreement with Murdaugh, claiming he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaughs-attorneys-reveal-reason-they-believe-client-failed-polygraph-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed a polygraph test</a> and was, therefore, lying about where the money was spent.
The federal government based its attempt to revoke the plea agreement on the failed polygraph test but asked the courts not to release the results. Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a motion last week opposing the federal prosecutors’ request.
“To allow the Government to publicly accuse Murdaugh of breaching his plea agreement while also allowing the Government to hide all purported evidence supporting that accusation from the public would violate the public’s right to the truth,” Murdaugh’s attorneys, Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian, wrote in their motion, <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/28/us/alex-murdaugh-lie-detector-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to CNN</a>.
Polygraph tests are not permitted as evidence in court because they are notoriously unreliable.
The attorneys argued in court documents that the polygraph Murdaugh failed was not reliable because the administrator admitted to Murdaugh that he had just tested Joran van der Sloot, who admitted to killing Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005.
“There are legitimate questions as to whether the Government intentionally manipulated the results to void the plea agreement and achieve the prosecutors’ stated desire to ‘ensure that he’s never a free man again,’” the attorneys wrote, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-fbi-plea-deal-sentencing-6160a341f0adc6e3e17cf996bb1a8bce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Associated Press</a>.
Murdaugh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaugh-sentenced-to-27-years-for-financial-crimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> to stealing around $12 million from clients over the years after promising to help them with medical bills or pain and suffering. One victim, Jordan Jinks, had been a friend of Murdaugh’s since they were children. He asked Murdaugh to represent him after he incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills for a neck injury resulting from someone rear-ending his car.
Jinks paid the bills, assured that Murdaugh would obtain a settlement to refund him. When Murdaugh received that settlement, he kept the money for himself.
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“The money you stole from me, I would have gave it to you,” Jinks said during Murdaugh’s sentencing. “Why bro? Why?”
While taking responsibility for the financial crimes, Murdaugh adamantly denies killing his wife and son.
“I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. It’s my hope that by taking responsibility that the people I’ve hurt can begin to heal,” Murdaugh said when pleading guilty in September.
Harpootlian, his defense attorney, noted at the time: “There’s two things Alex will tell you. One, he stole the money. Two, he did not kill Maggie and Paul.”

Alex Murdaugh

Alex Murdaugh Sentenced To 40 More Years In Prison For Federal Financial Crimes

Murder

South Carolina

Attorneys for convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh say their client failed a polygraph test because he was asked strange questions and the test administrator mentioned another killer before the test was conducted.
The FBI is trying to back out of its plea agreement with Murdaugh, who pleaded guilty last year to federal financial crimes. The FBI says that Murdaugh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-claims-alex-murdaugh-lied-about-what-stolen-client-money-was-spent-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lied</a> about where more than $6 million of stolen client money went, and whether an unnamed attorney helped him steal it.
The federal government is basing its attempt to revoke the plea agreement on the failed polygraph test, but it has asked the courts not to release the results. Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a motion on Thursday opposing the federal prosecutors’ request.
“To allow the Government to publicly accuse Murdaugh of breaching his plea agreement while also allowing the Government to hide all purported evidence supporting that accusation from the public would violate the public’s right to the truth,” Murdaugh’s attorneys, Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian, wrote in their motion, <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/28/us/alex-murdaugh-lie-detector-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to CNN</a>.
Polygraph tests are not permitted as evidence in court because they are notoriously unreliable.
The attorneys argued in court documents that the polygraph Murdaugh failed was not reliable because the administrator admitted to Murdaugh that he had just tested Joran van der Sloot, who admitted to killing Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005.
“There are legitimate questions as to whether the Government intentionally manipulated the results to void the plea agreement and achieve the prosecutors’ stated desire to ‘ensure that he’s never a free man again,’” the attorneys wrote, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-fbi-plea-deal-sentencing-6160a341f0adc6e3e17cf996bb1a8bce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Associated Press</a>.
The attorneys also included court documents from Murdaugh’s state murder case, in which prosecutors fought to keep the defense’s polygraph results out of the trial. A friend of Murdaugh failed a polygraph when asked if he had been involved in the murder of Murdaugh’s wife and son.
Murdaugh was convicted of killing his family members and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He is appealing his conviction.
Murdaugh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaugh-sentenced-to-27-years-for-financial-crimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> to stealing around $12 million from clients over the years after promising to help them with medical bills or pain and suffering. One victim, Jordan Jinks, had been a friend of Murdaugh’s since they were children. He asked Murdaugh to represent him after he incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills for a neck injury resulting from someone rear-ending his car.
Jinks paid the bills, assured that Murdaugh would obtain a settlement to refund him. When Murdaugh received that settlement, he kept the money for himself.
“The money you stole from me, I would have gave it to you,” Jinks said during Murdaugh’s sentencing. “Why bro? Why?”
While taking responsibility for the financial crimes, Murdaugh adamantly denies killing his wife and son.
“I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. It’s my hope that by taking responsibility that the people I’ve hurt can begin to heal,” Murdaugh said when pleading guilty in September.
His defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, noted at the time: “There’s two things Alex will tell you. One, he stole the money. Two, he did not kill Maggie and Paul.”

Alex Murdaugh’s Attorneys Reveal Reason They Believe Client Failed Polygraph Test

Alex Murdaugh's Attorneys Reveal Reason They Believe Client Failed Polygraph Test

Jon Stewart, who once pronounced, “The thing about a moral compass is you take it out and check it from time to time. You don&#8217;t have to wait for history to show you you&#8217;re headed in the wrong direction,” and also mocked Donald Trump over accusations that he inflated the value of his real estate, has been blasted after news broke that he allegedly overvalued his own New York City penthouse by an enormous 829%.
Stewart, 61, said on “The Daily Show” on Monday night, “The attorney general of New York knew that Trump’s property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties. It was all part of a very specific real estate practice known as lying.”
But then it was reported that Stewart allegedly overvalued his New York City penthouse, which he sold in 2014 for <a href="https://nypost.com/2014/11/06/jon-stewart-sells-his-tribeca-duplex-for-17-5m/">$17.5 million</a>.
According to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/27/real-estate/jon-stewart-found-to-have-overvalued-his-nyc-home-by-829/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>, Stewart&#8217;s property had an estimated market value of only $1.8 million, and &#8220;the actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174,&#8221; according to the outlet.
The Post added, “Records also show that Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on that assessor valuation price — precisely what he called Trump out for doing in his<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDMinX6t1Zk"> Monday monologue.</a>”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Did <a href="https://twitter.com/jonstewart?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jonstewart</a> commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M?
NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k
Who did he He defraud??
I am SHOCKED
SHOCKED <a href="https://t.co/9okis96VQP">pic.twitter.com/9okis96VQP</a>
&mdash; Tim Pool (@Timcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1772673524714348703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Post also noted that the New York assessor valuation on Stewart’s penthouse was the same citation method and metric that was utilized by New York Attorney General Letitia James to assess Trump’s private and personal properties.
Stewart <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/stewart-trump-fraud-trial-victimless-b2518916.html">vented some more</a> on Monday night, saying:
<blockquote>
I don’t know if you know this, but most people just can’t commit fraud and expect to face no repercussions, even if everyone’s doing it. &#8230; Try getting a car loan by saying you have 10 times as much money as you really do. Or claim 20 dependents when you have no children. Or say you make slightly less money to qualify for food assistance. I will guarantee you, there are not just financial consequences for those lies, but criminal ones &#8230;
But don’t tell that to the investment community, because in their minds, in pursuit of profit, there is no rule that cannot be bent, there is no principle that cannot be undercut, as long as you and your f***ing friends make money.
</blockquote>

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart Mocks Trump Over Accusations He Inflated Property Value. Guess Who Allegedly Did The Same Thing By 829%?

Donald Trump

Property Rights

The FBI says convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh lied about where more than $6 million of stolen client money went, and about whether an unnamed attorney helped him steal it.
Murdaugh is already serving two consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, both of whom he denies killing. Murdaugh did, however, plead guilty to stealing money from his clients and law firm, which resulted in a 27-year prison sentence, meaning he will be incarcerated even if his murder conviction is overturned.
The federal government also sought to prosecute Murdaugh, who pleaded guilty last year in federal court to money laundering and various fraud charges, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-federal-crimes-guilty-plea-1d9d8793a58f3928fbaa7ed92f3b211c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time. Now the feds want to revoke their part of the plea agreement, claiming Murdaugh lied because he failed a polygraph test, the results of which have not been released, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-financial-crimes-failed-polygraph-f5c8f6587f6001887ac71793d58f4562" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the AP</a>.
Murdaugh failed the test in October, which was given because the FBI already suspected he had lied in his previous three interviews with the bureau. Federal prosecutors argued in court documents to keep the polygraph test and the summaries of its interviews with Murdaugh out of the public eye. Murdaugh’s defense attorneys reportedly oppose this, as prosecutors said in a footnote.
Polygraph tests are not permitted as evidence in court because they are notoriously unreliable.
Murdaugh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-murdaugh-sentenced-to-27-years-for-financial-crimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> to stealing around $12 million from clients over the years after promising to help them with medical bills or pain and suffering. One victim, Jordan Jinks, had been a friend of Murdaugh’s since they were children. He asked Murdaugh to represent him after he incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills for a neck injury resulting from someone rear-ending his car.
Jinks paid the bills, assured that Murdaugh would obtain a settlement to refund him. When Murdaugh received that settlement, he kept the money for himself.
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“The money you stole from me, I would have gave it to you,” Jinks said during Murdaugh’s sentencing. “Why bro? Why?”
While taking responsibility for the financial crimes, Murdaugh adamantly denies killing his wife and son.
“I want to take responsibility. I want my son to see me take responsibility. It’s my hope that by taking responsibility that the people I’ve hurt can begin to heal,” Murdaugh said when pleading guilty in September.
His defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, noted at the time: “There’s two things Alex will tell you. One, he stole the money. Two, he did not kill Maggie and Paul.”
This article has been updated to show that it was Murdaugh who failed the polygraph test, not the unnamed attorney.

FBI Claims Alex Murdaugh Lied About What Stolen Client Money Was Spent On

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he could be forced to sell his properties to secure bond for the $464 million civil business fraud judgment against him and his company.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump laid into New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, calling the $464 million judgment a &#8220;ridiculous decision&#8221; and &#8220;election interference.&#8221; Trump&#8217;s comments came a day after the former president&#8217;s team <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sues-george-stephanopoulos-abc-news-after-host-said-former-president-was-found-liable-for-rape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">submitted a filing</a> in the New York Appeals Court, saying that despite Trump’s efforts, suretors who put up the bail wouldn’t accept real estate as collateral, meaning the Trump Organization must come up with around $1 billion in cash to continue to operate.
&#8220;Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision. In other words, he is trying to take my Appellate Rights away from me when I have already won at the Appellate Division, but he refuses to accept their already made decision. Nobody has ever heard of anything like this before,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112122244109975568" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. &#8220;I would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices, and if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone. Does that make sense? WITCH HUNT. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!&#8221;
Engoron ruled in agreement with New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James last month, ordering Trump to pay $350 million, which increased to $454 million, including interest, and barring Trump and his sons from running their business in New York for two to three years. Trump’s co-defendants were also fined in the judgment, raising the combined amount that Trump and his fellow defendants owed to more than $464 million.
Trump has maintained throughout the trial that the charges against him are politically motivated and says that his assets were undervalued, while James charges that Trump inflated his net worth.
The leading presidential candidate in the 2024 race added in a later post, &#8220;The Corrupt Political Hacks in New York, Judge and AG, are asking me to put up massive amounts of money before I am allowed to appeal the ridiculous decision. Never done before. No jury, no victim, full disclaimer clause, happy banks. ELECTION INTERFERENCE! WITCH HUNT!&#8221;
&#8220;I shouldn’t have to put up any money, being forced by the Corrupt Judge and AG, until the end of the appeal,&#8221; he said in a third post. &#8220;That’s the way [the] system works!&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-appeals-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> Engoron&#8217;s decision last month, but for a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-bond-appeal-million-75ef3efb5b70d6ea43bea85b65ff7810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stay</a> to be issued while the appeal continues, the former president has been ordered to pay the full bond amount, which is 120% of the judgment, or around $557 million, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-bond-appeal-million-75ef3efb5b70d6ea43bea85b65ff7810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
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Trump&#8217;s lawyers argued in their filing that posting bond for the judgment’s full amount is “a practical impossibility.”
“Here, Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility,’” the lawyers <a href="https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/Trump-New-York-appeals-court.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.
“These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers … A bond requirement of this enormous magnitude — effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1 billion … is unprecedented for a private company,” the legal filing added.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-lawyers-say-securing-bond-for-massive-ny-civil-business-fraud-judgment-is-a-practical-impossibility">Trump&#8217;s Lawyers Say Securing Bond For Massive NY Civil Business Fraud Judgment Is &#8216;A Practical Impossibility&#8217;</a>

Trump Rages Against NY Civil Fraud Judgment: ‘I Would Be Forced To Mortgage Or Sell Great Assets’

Trump Rages Against NY Civil Fraud Judgment: 'I Would Be Forced To Mortgage Or Sell Great Assets'

Courts

Letitia James

New York

Politics

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty on Monday to perjury, admitting that he lied to investigators in former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud case in New York.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree perjury, both felonies, at the Manhattan Criminal Court, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/04/us-news/former-trump-cfo-allen-weisselberg-to-plead-guilty-to-perjury/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. He will serve a five-month prison sentence as part of his plea deal, and a sentencing hearing is set to take place on April 10.
During the Monday hearing, the 76-year-old former CFO admitted that he lied during deposition testimonies in July 2020 and May 2023 and while on the stand during the trial on October 10, 2023. Specifically, Weisselberg lied to investigators about when he knew the former president had inflated the size of his Midtown Trump Tower triplex.
According to the plea agreement, Weisselberg claimed a 2017 Forbes article had led to his discovery that Trump had said the 11,000-square-foot triplex was nearly three times larger, but Forbes had a tape of Weisselberg being told the actual size of the building before the article was published, the Post reported. Evidence also showed that Weisselberg was told about the inflated size of the triplex in a 2012 email.
In Weisselberg’s plea deal, he agreed to only plead guilty to charges related to his 2020 testimony, and prosecutors promised they would not charge him with other potential crimes related to his work with the Trump Organization, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-weisselberg-perjury-0101a9972cefd1e1fb4ba6d36e69fecb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Weisselberg spent 100 days behind bars last year after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, charged Trump and Weisselberg, among others, for scheming to deceive banks and insurers about the former president’s wealth. Judge Arthur Engoron sided with James and the prosecution last month, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-fined-350-million-in-civil-business-fraud-trial-banned-from-doing-business-in-ny-for-3-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordering</a> Trump to pay $350 million, which has increased to $454 million including interest, and barring Trump and his sons from running their business in New York for two to three years.
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Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-appeals-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> Engoron’s decision, suggesting that Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction. The case will go before a New York Appeals Court later this month. The former president has maintained throughout the case that he and his business did nothing wrong, arguing that his assets had even been undervalued.

Allen Weisselberg

Former Trump Org CFO Pleads Guilty To Perjury In Connection With NY Civil Business Fraud Case

Perjury

Trump Organization

President Donald Trump’s request to delay the payment of his $464 million civil business fraud fine was denied by a New York Appeals Court judge on Wednesday.
Trump was seeking to delay his obligation to pay the massive amount until his appeals of the civil fraud ruling were completed, but Associate Justice Anil Singh ruled that the Republican Party presidential frontrunner must post bond for the full $464 million by March 25, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/politics/donald-trump-appeals-court-new-york/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
The civil fraud trial started after New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, alleging that he inflated his net worth and misled lenders. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in agreement with James earlier this month, ordering Trump to dish up $350 million, which increased to $454 million including interest, and barring Trump and his sons from running their business in New York for two to three years.
Singh&#8217;s Wednesday ruling will, however, allow Trump and his sons, Don Jr. and Eric, to continue running their business as they appeal Engoron’s verdict, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-appeals-court-allows-trump-sons-continue-running-business-denies-request-delay-payment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Singh also lifted a ban on Trump obtaining loans from a New York bank, meaning he could gain access to equity in some of his assets.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-appeals-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> the massive civil business fraud judgment on Monday, suggesting that Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-new-york-civil-fraud-appeal-letitia-james-2f8cc521e00e4a34a1342b961c1416ce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press. The case will go before the Appeals Court next month with James’ brief due before the panel on March 11 and Trump’s replies due on March 18.
The former president has maintained throughout the case that he and his business did nothing wrong, arguing that his assets had even been undervalued. During the trial, Trump’s attorneys brought in former bank executives who vouched for Trump as a client and an expert accounting professor who said he reviewed Trump’s financial statements and found no evidence of fraud.
Following Engoron’s ruling, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-fires-back-after-judge-orders-him-to-pay-350-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blasted</a> the judge and Attorney General James.
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“This ‘decision’ is a Complete and Total SHAM,” he said. “There were No Victims, No Damages, No Complaints. Only satisfied Banks and Insurance Companies (which made a ton of money), GREAT Financial Statements, that didn’t even include the most valuable Asset – The TRUMP Brand, IRONCLAD Disclaimers (Buyer Beware, and Do your Own Due Diligence), and amazing Properties all over the World. All the other side had was a ridiculous $18 million valuation of magnificent Mar-a-Lago, an unConstitutional Gag Order, a Consumer Fraud Statute never before used for this purpose, No Jury allowed, and a refusal to send this disgusting charade to the Commercial Division, where it would have been put to a deserving end.”

Appeals Court Judge Denies Trump’s Request To Delay Payment On Massive New York Civil Business Fraud Fine

Appeals Court Judge Denies Trump's Request To Delay Payment On Massive New York Civil Business Fraud Fine

Court

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley weighed in on the recent fraud verdict against former President Donald Trump and made it clear that he was not impressed.
Turley shared his thoughts with Fox News anchor John Roberts, arguing that the $355 million fine imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron was excessive considering there was no measurable financial damage incurred by any of the “victims” — and those “victims,” instead of seeing themselves as such and seeking restitution, had instead sought to do more business with Trump.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jonathan Turley: “There’s not a single dollar lost by these ‘victims’. In fact, the people that James calls the victims actually wanted to do more business with Donald Trump. They said they made a lot of money and&#8230;viewed him as a whale client—they wanted more loans with him.” <a href="https://t.co/aC6KLPD1fY">pic.twitter.com/aC6KLPD1fY</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1759980738093707540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Turley noted — as a number of critics have — that the banks Trump was supposed to have defrauded by giving an inflated estimate of the value of certain properties and assets had not considered themselves to be the victims of fraud. Rather, since the loans taken out based on those valuations had long since been repaid and in full, they had viewed Trump and his company as a “whale” — a high-dollar client with whom they would like to continue to do business.
“Part of the disconnect here is that you have what will be over $455 million if you include interest and then, on the other side of the ledger, you have $0,” Turley explained.
”There’s not a single dollar lost by these victims,” he continued. “In fact, the people that [Attorney General Letitia] James calls the victims actually wanted to do more business with Donald Trump. They said they made a lot of money and they viewed him as a ‘whale’ client, they wanted more loans with him.”
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Despite the fact that the banks had never raised any concerns about fraud, Attorney General Letitia James (D-NY) — who ran on a platform of “getting Trump” — asserted victimhood status on their behalf and filed charges against the former president. She took to X to gloat the morning after the ruling, saying, “So, how’s everyone feeling today?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
So, how’s everyone feeling today?
&mdash; Tish James (@TishJames) <a href="https://twitter.com/TishJames/status/1758854539816353921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

House Judiciary Committee Holds First Impeachment Inquiry Hearing

‘Not A Single Dollar Lost By These Victims’: Jonathan Turley Blasts Trump Fraud Verdict

Business

Jonathan Turley

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence">AI-generated</a> videos of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taylor-swift">Taylor Swift&#8217;s</a> likeness promoting a fraudulent Le Creuset cookware giveaway have tricked several fans into purchasing it.
The deepfake videos feature what appears to be Swift doing a promotional pitch, per a CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/taylor-swift-le-creuset-ai-generated-ads/">report</a>. The videos have been circulating on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/facebook">Facebook</a>.
“Hey y&#8217;all, it&#8217;s Taylor Swift here,&#8221; the Swift replica can be heard saying in the video. &#8220;Due to a packaging error, we can&#8217;t sell 3,000 Le Creuset cookware sets. So I&#8217;m giving them away to my loyal fans for free.&#8221;
Viewers, whom the AI image addressed as “Swifties,” were then instructed by the faux Swift to click a button below the ad to complete a survey. The ad conveys a sense of urgency, saying that &#8220;supplies are running out.&#8221;
People who clicked on the ad were sent to websites that appeared to be legitimate, like The Food Network. They were next shown fake news coverage of the product and testimonials by fake customers, per <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/09/technology/taylor-swift-le-creuset-ai-deepfake.html">The New York Times</a>.
Scam victims were asked to pay a “small shipping fee of $9.96” for the cookware. They didn’t realize that paying that fee would lead to a hidden recurring charge and would not result in getting the pricey cookware at all.  
A Facebook account called &#8220;The most profitable shares&#8221; promoted the deepfake video, though CBS News noted that it’s unclear who is behind it.
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Fans were likely duped in part because Swift is known for her love of Le Creuset. In 2020, the brand shared an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lecreuset/photos/a.382013749062/10158625416799063/?type=3">image</a> on Facebook from the Grammy Award winner’s Netflix documentary &#8220;Miss Americana.” The post showed her in the kitchen using the brand&#8217;s round Dutch oven.
This is not the first deepfake ad scam featuring a celebrity to make the rounds on social media. In October, Tom Hanks warned fans that he was not promoting a dental plan and that any ads featuring his likeness were fake, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beware-tom-hanks-warns-fans-about-ai-image-of-him-promoting-dental-plan">reported</a>. 
“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” Hanks shared on Instagram at the time. 
CBS Mornings host Gayle King’s AI likeness was also associated with a scam. King denied any connection to the fake weight loss-related video from a company called Artipet.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Fans Duped By AI-Generated Ads Using Pop Star’s Likeness In Fake Cookware Giveaway

Taylor Swift Fans Duped By AI-Generated Ads Using Pop Star's Likeness In Fake Cookware Giveaway

Artificial Intelligence

Celebrities

Entertainment

Facebook

An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon</a> man may face up to 10 years for selling over $2.5 million in fake N95 masks to third-party companies that then sold them to health care providers during the pandemic.
Jiang Yu, 70, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/west-linn-man-pleads-guilty-federal-court-importing-and-selling-25-million-counterfeit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pled</a> guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, which <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-1999-title18-section2320&amp;num=0&amp;edition=1999" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carries</a> a maximum 10 year sentence, a $2 million fine, and three years of supervised release. The charge doesn’t carry a mandatory minimum sentence. The Oregon District Attorney’s Office charged Yu in October.
According to court filings, USA v. Yu, Yu imported and sold masks with counterfeit markings — such as “NIOSH” or “3M” — from May 2020 to about June 2021. Yu’s three co-conspirators were listed as “unknown.”
“Defendant and his co-conspirators sold at least $2,531,857.53 in counterfeit masks to various purchasers,” stated one court filing. “The majority of sales were to third-party companies, many of whom sold to healthcare providers.”
In order to conceal the counterfeiting, Yu and his unnamed co-conspirators reportedly created fake documents and certificates of authenticity. Yu’s plea agreement letter admitted to supplying the masks while his co-conspirators posted videos on social media advertising the masks for sale as authentic.
“[W]hen customers raised questions about the authenticity of the products, [Yu] worked with [the co-conspirators] to design and edit fake certificates of authenticity in an attempt to lull and trick purchasers about the nature of their counterfeit products,” stated the letter.
Yu is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, 2024, before Judge Michael Mosman in the Oregon District Court. As part of his plea agreement, Yu must forfeit over 380,000 counterfeit 3M N95 masks, over 164,000 EA counterfeit 3M masks, over 51,000 EA Makrite counterfeit masks, a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo, a 2012 Mercedes ML350, and over $25,900.
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Medical Pros, a medical supply company established in April 2020, claimed it purchased numerous counterfeit masks from Yu. They sued Yu’s company, Airfiltech, in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Per their lawsuit, the company claimed they suffered over $3.6 million in damages. Closure for their case awaits the outcome of the federal criminal case.
According to the Oregon secretary of state’s business registration database, Airfiltech was headquartered in Milwaukie, Oregon, and first registered back in 2013. Yu served as a manager for Airfiltech according to their annual reports.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations led on the case against Yu.
Yu’s counterfeit mask business was one of several lucrative operations that capitalized on the severe demand for personal protective equipment early on in the pandemic.
In the first year of the pandemic, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-hsi-marks-anniversary-operation-stolen-promise-48m-covid-19-fraud-proceeds-212m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> seizing over 21.2 million counterfeit masks as part of Operation Stolen Promise, launched in April 2020. In late 2020 and early 2021, HSI agents <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/dhs-prevents-millions-counterfeit-n95-masks-reaching-hospital-workers-first" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized</a> over 11 million counterfeit 3M masks routed for delivery to hospital workers and first responders.
Earlier this year, a Chandler, Arizona, man — Mark Forrest Cohn, 68 — was <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/phoenix-man-sentenced-importing-counterfeit-n95-masks-asia-following-hsi-phoenix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to one year of probation and thousands in restitution for importing and selling counterfeit 3M N95 masks from China in 2020. Some of Cohn’s counterfeit masks were shipped to a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 2021, HSI <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/millions-counterfeit-masks-seized-during-operation-maine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized</a> over two million counterfeit N95 masks purchased by the state of Maine from late 2020 to early 2021.

Oregon Man Charged For Selling Over $2.5 Million In Fake N95 Masks During Pandemic

COVID

Face Masks

Oregon

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