Boston University law professor Jed Handelsman Shugerman delivered a blistering New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/opinion/bragg-trump-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guest essay</a> trashing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg&#8217;s case against former President Donald Trump.
Shugerman titled the piece, &#8220;I thought the Bragg case against Trump was a legal embarrassment. Now I think it’s a historic mistake&#8221; — and then argued that in addition to the hush-money case against Trump being thin at best, the arguments being used to support it bordered on absurd.
The professor&#8217;s comments came on the heels of Monday&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-avenatti-claims-he-is-willing-to-testify-in-trump-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening statements</a> — which he cited as the reason he now believes prosecutors in the case have made a &#8220;historic mistake.&#8221;
&#8220;Their vague allegation about &#8216;a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election&#8217; has me more concerned than ever about their unprecedented use of state law and their persistent avoidance of specifying an election crime or a valid theory of fraud,&#8221; Shugerman wrote, noting that the prosecutors appeared to be attempting to use state laws to shoehorn in a case that belonged in federal jurisdiction.
He went on to explain that there was a way to do that — if prosecutors argued that Trump had been attempting to deceive state regulators. But they didn&#8217;t.
Instead, Bragg&#8217;s office argued that Trump had committed &#8220;election fraud&#8221; by attempting to &#8220;unlawfully influence&#8221; the 2016 presidential election.
The problems with that argument, Shugerman said, were simple: &#8220;It is legal for a candidate to pay for a nondisclosure agreement. Hush money is unseemly, but it is legal.&#8221;
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&#8220;None of the relevant state or federal statutes refer to filing violations as fraud. Calling it &#8216;election fraud&#8217; is a legal and strategic mistake, exaggerating the case and setting up the jury with high expectations that the prosecutors cannot meet,&#8221; Shugerman continued.
Shugerman concluded by saying that while he agreed both sides should get the chance to make their cases before the court, this particular case should be held up as an example of the system getting things wrong.
&#8220;Eight years after the alleged crime itself, it is reasonable to ask if this is more about Manhattan politics than New York law. This case should serve as a cautionary tale about broader prosecutorial abuses in America — and promote bipartisan reforms of our partisan prosecutorial system,&#8221; he wrote.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg

Law Professor Scorches Alvin Bragg In NYT Op-Ed, Calls Trial ‘Historic Mistake,’ ‘Legal Embarrassment’

Law Professor Scorches Alvin Bragg In NYT Op-Ed, Calls Trial 'Historic Mistake,' 'Legal Embarrassment'

Alvin Bragg

Courts

Donald Trump

Manhattan

U.S.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem defended former President Donald Trump over the weekend against the criminal trial that he is facing in New York City.
Noem made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Dana Bash on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; just ahead of this week&#8217;s opening statements in court for Trump’s trial where he is accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment.
&#8220;My hope is that all Americans can trust our judicial system, and that&#8217;s really what this case will prove out,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s a little ridiculous that they have waited years to bring these types of charges against Donald Trump. If they wanted to make these kinds of charges against him, they should have done it years ago, when this happened. To do it conveniently during a presidential election, when he&#8217;s campaigning to return to the White House, I think it proves that this is all politically motivated.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s the way that Democrats are fighting these days, it&#8217;s using the judicial system and activist judges to do so,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;My hope is that the people and the jury will do what is right and hear the evidence and see clearly that this is an unprecedented trial, but it&#8217;s unprecedented in how ridiculous it is.&#8221;
Noem also slammed the Manhattan District Attorney&#8217;s Office for using someone to testify against Trump who &#8220;has been proven to be a liar.&#8221;
&#8220;Michael Cohen has lied before Congress multiple times,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That&#8217;s their main witness. I would say that he certainly is not someone who can be trusted to do the right thing during this jury trial. They&#8217;re also using a woman&#8217;s testimony who signed a letter saying that this affair did not happen, that she has testified in the past that this never occurred.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Kristi Noem says she will support Trump even if he loses hush money trial" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZSSOmzXRzWI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Kristi Noem

Noem Blasts Trump Criminal Trial In NYC: ‘This Is All Politically Motivated’

The Left-wing conspiracy theorist who lit himself on fire outside a New York City courthouse on Friday where the criminal trial for former President Donald Trump was being held has died.
Max Azzarello, 37, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-who-set-himself-on-fire-outside-nyc-courthouse-was-conspiratorial-left-wing-activist">doused</a> himself with an accelerant around 1:35 p.m. EST right across the street from the courthouse in Collect Pond Park and reportedly “threw pamphlets into the air before” carrying out the act of self-immolation.
First responders quickly extinguished the flames and rushed him into an ambulance on a stretcher. Photos of Azzarello showed that he suffered extreme burns from head-to-toe. Hours after being transported to a hospital burn unit, he was pronounced dead.
Azzarello, who claimed he worked for Democrat politicians, was &#8220;curious&#8221; about social justice, a friend of his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/nyregion/max-azzarello-man-fire-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The New York Times. Another friend described him as a &#8220;good friend and person and cared about the world.&#8221;
His friends said that he changed after his mother died in April 2022 from pulmonary disease.
After he flagged one of his writings for a friend in March 2023, the friend reached out to him directly and &#8220;tried to intervene,&#8221; the report said.
While living in Florida, he had run ins with law enforcement that appear connected to his mental health challenges, including &#8220;standing outside [a] hotel in just his underwear, ranting and cursing into a bullhorn,&#8221; the report said.
In a nearly 3,000-word incoherent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-who-set-himself-on-fire-outside-nyc-courthouse-was-conspiratorial-left-wing-activist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manifesto</a>, Azzarello, who claimed that he was “an investigative researcher,” said that he carried out the act to “draw attention to an urgent and important discovery.”
“We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup,” he claimed. “These claims sound like fantastical conspiracy theory, but they are not. They are proof of conspiracy.”
He claimed that there was a vast “Ponzi scheme” underway involving cryptocurrency, billionaires, Stanford, Silicon Valley, Harvard, and Facebook. He claimed that bank failures “were all intentional” events “to move out stolen Ponzi money.”
He claimed that the “elites” funneled “trillions of dollars in stolen cash through the stock market[,] created the largest stock-market anomaly in history.” He claimed that the U.S. government unleashed the coronavirus pandemic to “explain the massive anomaly.”
He also claimed that the Ponzi schemes were “an economic doomsday device, intentionally made to shatter the world economy.”
He repeatedly listed examples in his manifesto, and some of his other deranged writings online, politicians from both political parties whom he believed were involved in the stories that he concocted in his mind.
He also believed that the television show “The Simpsons” “served the interests of organized crime” and were part of a conspiracy by the elites “to brainwash us.”
On his social media accounts, he also posted incoherent messages and sang songs about starting a revolution. In a photo, he was pictured wearing a Bernie Sanders t-shirt.
He also posted a <a href="https://twitter.com/StopAntisemites/status/1781409053370994748" target="_blank" rel="noopener">message</a> supporting Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, and repeated false  propaganda about Israel.

Jury Selection Continues In Former President Donald Trump’s New York Hush Money Trial

Man Who Torched Himself Outside Trump Trial Dies

New York

The 12-person jury has been selected for former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial over accusations that he falsified business records related to payments made before the 2016 election by one of his lawyers. 
Lawyers for Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are still working on selecting alternates in case any of the primary jurors has an emergency. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts brought by Bragg’s office and denied that he authorized Michael Cohen to make payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. 
The jurors on the case <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/18/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/what-we-know-about-the-jury-00153194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">include</a> an investment banker, a security engineer, a retired man from Lebanon, a speech therapist, a man who works at an eyewear company, a product developer, a physical therapist, a salesman, a corporate lawyer, an educator, a software engineer, and a civil litigator. There are seven men and five women on the jury.
One woman on the jury, whom Trump’s team was unable to remove, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-manhattan-stormy-daniels-michael-cohen-b514cb52bb31a82579cb827c40166173" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that she thought Trump was “very selfish and self-serving,” and that she didn’t “really appreciate that from any public servant.”
Five additional alternates need to be selected after one was selected on Thursday. The selection of the jurors has been difficult as many New Yorkers have strong opinions about the former president. On Thursday, one juror <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/juror-selected-for-trump-trial-dismissed-after-its-revealed-he-was-arrested-for-tearing-down-right-leaning-posters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was dismissed</a> after it was discovered that he had previously been arrested for tearing down Right-leaning political posters.
Another juror also left after saying that she did not think she would be able to be impartial. “I definitely have concerns. I don’t think I can be fair,” she said, adding that “outside influence” would “interfere” with her judgment.
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The trial is being overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, a donor to President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, whom Trump has repeatedly attempted to have removed from the case. 
Trump has said the case is election interference, saying on Thursday that he was supposed to be out campaigning instead of being stuck in court all day. “It really is a shame. This country is devolving into a third world country between having no borders, having no justice, we have no justice, and having a press that doesn’t want to cover the facts,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

Trump Manhattan criminal court

Full Jury Selected For Trump New York Criminal Trial As Opening Arguments Approach

Stormy Daniels

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested that former President Donald Trump should be thrown in jail for 30 days if he violates a gag order that was imposed by hush-money trial Judge Juan Merchan.
Bragg&#8217;s office filed a motion on Tuesday calling on the court to hold Trump accountable and suggesting that additional fines or even jail time would be reasonable responses if Trump spoke publicly about jurors, court staff, or witnesses in the trial.
WATCH:
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BREAKING.🚨
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg files motion to hold Trump in contempt for violating &#39;gag order&#39;<a href="https://t.co/pQngFOqaTY">pic.twitter.com/pQngFOqaTY</a>
&mdash; Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1780246985473134879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This Court should again admonish defendant to comply with his obligations under the order. And finally, this Court should warn defendant that future violations of the Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines, but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days,&#8221; Bragg&#8217;s filing read.
&#8220;It is absolutely critical that defendant immediately halt any conduct that would violate the April 1 order’s narrow restrictions to protect the integrity of the ongoing trial,&#8221; Bragg&#8217;s filing continued. &#8220;A finding of criminal contempt, imposition of sanctions, and stark warnings from this Court are the minimum remedies necessary to achieve this indispensable objective.&#8221;
The filing alleged that Trump had already violated the order on three separate occasions — each of which would carry a fine of $1000.
According to Bragg&#8217;s filing, Trump&#8217;s comments via social media on former porn star Stormy Daniels and his own former attorney Michael Cohen amount to attacks against &#8220;known witnesses&#8221; and &#8220;unquestionably violate the Court&#8217;s April 1 order.&#8221; Bragg further accused the former president of engaging in such attacks as &#8220;deliberate and intended to intimidate this Court and impede the orderly administration of this trial.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
News:
Prosecutors release their written arguments for finding Trump in contempt for posts that they say &quot;unquestionably&quot; violate the gag order.
Full filing in the thread. <a href="https://t.co/XdXfMYnZjB">pic.twitter.com/XdXfMYnZjB</a>
&mdash; Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) <a href="https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1780234338547712244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After the first day of the trial, some 50 potential jurors were dismissed and the former president complained to reporters about Judge Merchan — who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-may-be-forced-to-miss-his-own-scotus-hearing-sons-graduation-due-to-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refused to allow</a> him to miss court for a Supreme Court hearing on presidential immunity and suggested he could prevent Trump from attending his son Barron&#8217;s graduation in mid-May.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Manhattan DA Wants Trump Thrown In Jail For 30 Days If He Violates Gag Order

Former President Donald Trump lashed out on Monday after learning that Justice Juan Merchan <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/15/us-news/trump-fumes-that-judge-in-hush-money-trial-could-force-him-to-skip-son-barrons-graduation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected him to be in court</a> for every part of his Manhattan hush-money trial — even if that meant missing a Supreme Court hearing on the presidential immunity issue and his son Barron&#8217;s high school graduation.
&#8220;I was looking forward to that graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge does not allow me to escape this scam,&#8221; Trump told reporters at the New York Supreme Court following the trial&#8217;s first day.
The former president&#8217;s defense team had asked that the trial break for the day on May 17 so that Trump could attend Barron&#8217;s graduation ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida, with his family.
Merchan did not immediately deny the request, saying instead that it would depend on how the trial was progressing at the time. &#8220;It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial,&#8221; he said.
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Merchan made it clear that he expected Trump to be present throughout the trial — which may last as long as eight weeks and is scheduled every weekday except Wednesdays — even if that meant missing oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of presidential immunity.
&#8220;Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court … is also a big deal,&#8221; Merchan said to Trump attorney Todd Blanche. &#8220;I will see him here next week.&#8221;
Trump lashed out at Merchan again after that exchange, telling reporters, &#8220;He won’t allow me to leave here for a half-a-day to go to D.C. and go before the United States Supreme Court, because he thinks he’s superior, I guess, than the Supreme Court &#8230;&#8221;
Merchan has not ruled on Trump&#8217;s request to attend Barron&#8217;s graduation, but the former president took to Truth Social to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-falsely-tells-supporters-judge-133324416.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tell followers</a> that he would &#8220;likely&#8221; be barred from missing court to attend the ceremony.

Celebrity Sightings In New York City – August 10, 2022

Trump May Be Forced To Miss His Own SCOTUS Hearing, Son’s Graduation Due To Hush Money Trial

Trump May Be Forced To Miss His Own SCOTUS Hearing, Son's Graduation Due To Hush Money Trial

Politics

trial

Former Trump defense attorney Bill Brennan said on Monday that he is worried about politically motivated people getting on the jury in former President Donald Trump&#8217;s Manhattan criminal trial.
Brennan made the remarks while speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN about what Trump&#8217;s legal team needs to do to ensure that the former president receives a fair trial.
&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll tell ya Jake, when we were doing it, and Judge Merchan is a very serious man, he&#8217;s very smart,&#8221; Brennan said. &#8220;He&#8217;s extremely courteous. I mean, I&#8217;m not getting into people&#8217;s biases or prejudice, I&#8217;m not qualified to do that. I can tell you having spent several weeks with the man, he&#8217;s a gentleman and he gave us as much time as we needed.&#8221;
He then gave an example that highlighted the enormous difficulty that Trump&#8217;s team will have as they try to weed those with prejudices against Trump from becoming jurors.
Brennan said: &#8220;We had a lady come up as a prospective juror. I’ve been picking juries for about 35 years. She looked good to me, a lady in her mid-40s of Irish extraction. She spoke with a brogue, she worked in an Irish pub, and in our questionnaire, questions 29 and 30 said, &#8220;Do you have any former — do you have any strong feelings about the former president and if so, would they affect your ability to be fair?&#8221;
&#8220;And she checked them. So I said, &#8216;Well, ma’am, would they be positive or negative feelings?'&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And she says, &#8216;Oh, I despise that man.&#8217; And I said, I guess it was late in the day, and I said, &#8216;Oh, come on, don’t sugarcoat things for me. Speak your mind.&#8217; She says, &#8216;Oh, speak me mind? I hate him!'&#8221;
Brennan said that he was &#8220;floored&#8221; by her comments and that Merchan did not immediately dismiss her from the jury selection process.
&#8220;And I looked over at Judge Merchan, expecting him to meet my gaze and dismiss her, and he said, &#8216;Well, wait a minute,'&#8221; he continued. &#8220;He&#8217;s got his robe on and the pomp and circumstance of the courtroom. [He said] &#8216;if I instructed you in the law, could you put those feelings aside and be fair?&#8217; And she said like most people say when they see the judge in that robe, &#8216;Sure, judge.'&#8221;
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&#8220;She made it to the second round, I got her out a different way, but it was like rows of shark teeth, they just kept coming,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;She wasn&#8217;t a dangerous juror, she answered the questions. The dangerous jurors are the one who answers no questions, and you just have a gut feeling.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s the juror that I worry about, the juror who has some type of ulterior motive to get on that case to settle a score,&#8221; he concluded.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Former Trump criminal defense attorney Bill Brennan says he’s worried about people getting on the jury who have “ulterior motives” and are looking to “settle a score” against Trump. <a href="https://t.co/BFiDzJDUcm">pic.twitter.com/BFiDzJDUcm</a>
&mdash; Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1780106797690569197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Former President Donald Trump Speaks At The Black Conservative Federation’s Honor Gala In South Carolina

Ex-Trump Lawyer: Trump Should Be Worried About Juror With ‘Ulterior Motive’ Getting On Jury

Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree perjury related to his testimony in former President Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial. 
Weisselberg, 76, was hit with perjury charges by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after his testimony for the civil fraud case brought by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. James had charged Weisselberg, alongside Trump and others, with scheming to deceive banks and insurers about Trump&#8217;s wealth. In a March deal with Bragg&#8217;s office, Weisselberg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-trump-org-cfo-pleads-guilty-to-perjury-in-connection-with-ny-civil-business-fraud-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded guilty</a> to lying during deposition testimonies in July 2020 and May 2023 and while on the stand during the trial in October 2023. 
His sentencing on Wednesday took less than five minutes as his plea deal stipulated that he would spend five months behind bars for the charges. After Judge Laurie Peterson asked him if he would like to speak to the court, Weisselberg said, “No, your honor,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/weisselberg-trump-perjury-new-york-b76cde56c6cb983ab8789f95d5a0c6c0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press. He is expected to be held at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. 
In his plea deal, Weisselberg admitted lying to investigators about the size of the Midtown Trump Tower triplex in Manhattan. 
Trump&#8217;s lawyers have <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/ap-top-news/2024/03/20/judge-says-michael-cohen-may-have-committed-perjury-refuses-to-end-his-probation-early" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Bragg of a double standard by going after Weisselberg but not pursuing charges against former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, a key witness in Bragg&#8217;s case against Trump over alleged &#8220;hush money&#8221; payments to Stormy Daniels. They said that Bragg made a “conscious choice to ignore obvious and admitted criminal conduct by Cohen and to instead deploy unethical, strong-armed tactics against an innocent man in his late 70s underscores the irresponsibility of your conduct in office.&#8221;
In other legal filings, Trump&#8217;s lawyers suggested that Weisselberg may have taken a plea deal to avoid a harsher prison sentence. 
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“To be clear, counsel for Defendants have no ‘knowledge’ that Mr. Weisselberg made false statements during the trial; to the contrary, many believe that Mr. Weisselberg only made such admissions because he was being threatened with life in prison,” the lawyers <a href="https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=4Mw_PLUS_liQHtW0qI2VG_PLUS_8d07g==" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a filing to Judge Arthur Engoran, who oversaw James&#8217;s case against Trump. “Indeed, counsel for defendants have no more &#8216;knowledge&#8217; that Mr. Weisselberg made these purportedly false statements than the Court or any other person who read of his highly publicized guilty plea.” 
Weisselberg, whose legal bills have been paid for by the Trump Organization, previously spent time in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
In the civil fraud case, Engoron sided with James and the prosecution in February, <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. Bragg&#8217;s criminal court case is slated to start on April 15.

Former Trump Finance Chief Allen Weisselberg To Plead Guilty To Perjury

Former Trump Exec Sentenced To 5 Months In Prison Over Testimony In Civil Fraud Case

Perjury

Trump Organization

Dozens of questions were released this week that were contained on the questionnaire that is being to select the jurors in former President Donald Trump&#8217;s upcoming criminal trial in Manhattan.
The trial, which is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-lawyers-ask-new-york-appeals-court-delay-weeks-criminal-trial-rcna146867">slated</a> to begin next week, centers around alleged hush money payments that Trump is accused of making to an adult entertainer during the 2016 presidential election.
The former president was indicted a year ago by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 felony counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.
Jurors were asked questions about where they live, how long they&#8217;ve lived there, whether they were New York natives, what they do for work, who their employer is, their educational background, if they are married and have children, what they do for fun, and any hobbies they may have.
They were also asked what organizations or activist groups they are involved in, if they&#8217;ve ever served on a jury before, and if they know anyone who has been the victim of a crime.
Jurors were asked about what media organizations and websites they watch, read, and listen to, including search engines, social media platforms, digital publications, newspapers, podcasts, and radio shows.
They were asked if they or any family and friends have ever been employed by a law enforcement agency, have ever served in federal, state, or local government; or have any kind of legal background.
Jurors were asked if any experience or interaction has ever caused them to form any opinion about law enforcement if they or anyone they know have ever been accused or convicted of committing a crime.
Some of the other questions included:
<ul>
<li class="p1">Do you have any political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs or opinions which might prevent you from following the Court&#8217;s instructions on the law or which might slant your approach to this case?</li>
<li class="p1">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?</li>
<li>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?</li>
<li>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?</li>
<li>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&#8217;s work?</li>
<li>Do you practice a religion that would prevent you from sitting as a juror on any particular weekday or weeknight?</li>
<li>Can you give us an assurance that you will be fair and impartial and not base your decision in this case upon a bias or prejudice in favor of or against a person who may appear in this trial, on account of that person&#8217;s race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, sexual orientation or political views?</li>
<li>Can you promise to guard against allowing stereotypes or attitudes about individuals or about groups of people, referred to as an implicit bias, influence your decision?</li>
<li>Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked for any company or organization that is owned or run by Donald Trump or anyone in his family?</li>
<li>Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for a Trump presidential campaign, the Trump presidential administration, or any other political entity affiliated with Mr. Trump?</li>
<li>Have you ever attended a rally of campaign event for Donald Trump?</li>
<li>Are you signed up for or have you ever been signed up for, subscribed to, or followed any newsletter or email listserv run by or on behalf of Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization?</li>
<li>Do you currently follow Donald Trump on any social media site or have you done so in the past?</li>
<li>Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for any and-Trump group or organization?</li>
<li>Have you ever attended a rally or campaign event for any anti-Trump group or organization?</li>
<li>Do you have any feelings of opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?</li>
<li>Can you give us your assurance that you will decide this case solely on the evidence you see and hear in this courtroom and the law as the judge gives it?</li>
<li>Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump, or the fact that he is a current candidate for president that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?</li>
</ul>

2024 LIV Golf Championship in Florida

7-Page Juror Questionnaire For Trump’s Upcoming Manhattan Criminal Trial Is Released

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> judge has placed a gag order on former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> restricting his ability to speak out about witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors involved in the criminal case brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The case accuses the former president of falsifying business records related to payments made before the 2016 election by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels. Trump has pled not guilty to the 34 counts brought by Bragg’s office and denied claims that he ever had a relationship with Daniels.
Judge Juan Merchan, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-dismisses-trumps-attempt-to-delay-hush-money-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scheduled</a> the trial to begin on April 15, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-new-york-hush-money-case-places-limited/story?id=108510449" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday that Trump would be restricted from making statements on those testifying against him, like Cohen, who is testifying for Bragg. Trump is also restricted from speaking out about prosecutors and jurors, according to the gag order.
Merchan said that previous statements Trump made about individuals involved in the case &#8220;were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating,&#8221; and &#8220;a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.”
&#8220;The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof,&#8221; the judge said.
&#8220;Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impending the orderly administration of this Court,&#8221; Merchan added. &#8220;Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the immanency of the risk of harm is now paramount.&#8221;
Trump had previously tried to have the trial delayed, but Merchan, a donor to President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, rejected his arguments on Monday.
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Before the gag order was issued, Trump said in a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112162726199012291" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> that Bragg’s case against him was pushed by the Biden administration and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“D.A. Bragg fought everyone about trying this ‘no crime’ case, but Crooked Joe Biden’s ‘Thugs’ pushed him to go forward, and pushed him hard,” Trump said. “They wanted him to go after ME, Crooked’s Political Opponent. He just didn’t want to do it. They ended up sending Matthew Colangelo, Merrick Garland’s ‘right hand,’ after a stop at the Corrupt and Racist New York State A.G. Letecia ‘Peekaboo’ James’ Office, to directly oversee the D.A., perhaps to make sure that Bragg followed their illegal orders and commands. He eventually agreed to do the ‘case’ that he never wanted to do.”
Bragg’s case, which has been widely viewed as the weakest case against the former president, was the first in a slew of criminal charges against Trump and made Trump the first ex-president to be charged with a crime.

Former President Donald Trump Attends Pre-Trial Hearing In New York Hush Money Case

Judge Issues Gag Order On Trump Ahead Of New York Criminal Trial

Michael Cohen

Former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump’s</a> hush money trial in Manhattan was delayed by around three weeks on Friday by the judge overseeing the case.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan sent a letter to District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office pushing the scheduled March 25 start date back 30 days from the date of his Friday letter, meaning jury selection won’t start for Trump’s hush money trial until at least mid-April, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/15/trump-hush-money-trial-bragg-delay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Merchan delayed the trial after Trump’s lawyers asked for a 90-day delay, arguing that the prosecution wasn’t giving them enough time to review a new dump of 100,000 pages of material that could be used as evidence in the case. The former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 election is accused of trying to cover up alleged hush money payments he sent to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump has denied sending Daniels any hush money along with denying the alleged affair between them.
The hush money case, brought by leftist DA Alvin Bragg and widely viewed as the weakest case against the former president, was the first in a slew of criminal charges against Trump and made Trump the first ex-president to be charged with a crime. The former president pleaded not guilty last year to all 34 charges of falsifying business records leveled against him by Bragg.
With the delay in the hush money case against Trump, all four criminal trials indicting the Republican presidential nominee now face different types of delays as the 2024 election nears.
Federal Election Interference Case
In the 2020 election interference case against Trump being tried in Washington, D.C., the court is awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity. The high court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-takes-up-trump-immunity-claim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> late last month that it would take up the issue of whether former President Donald Trump can invoke presidential immunity to shield himself from federal prosecution.
The D.C. case, which was brought by special counsel Jack Smith, is unlikely to begin before the 2024 election, according to legal experts, as the Supreme Court will not begin oral arguments on the immunity claim until April 24.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the federal case in which he is accused of unlawfully plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. His lawyers filed to dismiss the case in October by arguing that Trump’s actions were “within the heartland” of his “official duties.”
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Classified Documents Case
In Florida, special counsel Jack Smith has also leveled criminal charges against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving office, but that case has also run into a roadblock as the judge is considering complex legal questions.
Earlier this week, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s motion to dismiss charges in the case based on unconstitutional vagueness, but she still has to rule on the former president’s argument to dismiss charges based on his presidential authority to declare documents his “personal” records, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-classified-documents-hearing-03-14-24/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Cannon <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/14/cannon-trial-date-trump-classified-document-case-00147056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has not hinted</a> at a potential start date for the trial.
Georgia Election Interference Case
The case against Trump in Georgia — alleging that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state — is in the midst of a months-long setback after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was accused of misusing taxpayer dollars and showing favoritism to special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Willis was accused by Trump’s co-defendant Mike Roman of being romantically involved with Wade at the time she hired him for the Trump case. A witness testified last month that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade began before the case started, while Willis maintains that the relationship didn’t take place until later.
Testimony from a former employee in the DA’s office, who said Willis and Wade began their relationship in 2019, contradicted claims by both Willis and Wade that their personal relationship did not begin until 2022.
On Friday, Judge Scott McAfee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-rules-that-fani-willis-or-nathan-wade-has-to-leave-the-georgia-trump-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that either Wade or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had to exit the 2020 Georgia election case against Trump for the prosecution to continue. Hours later, Wade <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nathan-wade-steps-down-as-special-prosecutor-in-trump-georgia-case-following-judges-ruling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent</a> his resignation letter to the district attorney’s office.
Willis is being investigated by the House Judiciary Committee, which subpoenaed the district attorney last month. The Georgia state Senate is also investigating Willis, allowing it to issue subpoenas and put witnesses under oath.
It remains to be seen if any of the criminal trials against Trump officially begin jury selection and get off the ground before election day, which is now less than eight months away. The delays are a welcome sign for the former president and his campaign as Trump leads President Joe Biden in the polls, including in vital swing states, according to the <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RealClearPolitics</a> average.

Judge Delays Trump’s Hush Money Case. Here’s Where The Former President’s 4 Criminal Trials Now Stand.

Judge Delays Trump's Hush Money Case. Here's Where The Former President's 4 Criminal Trials Now Stand.

2024 Election

Fani Willis

Jack Smith

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/broadway">Broadway</a> shows saw a 17% decrease in attendance for the 2022-23 season compared to 2018-19, the last full season before the COVID pandemic. A new survey found that a significant reason for this dip is “safety <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/crime">concerns</a>” from suburban residents who would otherwise travel to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city">Manhattan</a> for a show. 
Broadway League reported last month that 12.3 million tickets were sold last season, much fewer than the previous non-pandemic year. New Yorkers make up 35% of show attendees, with city residents accounting for 22%. Visitors from other areas of the country make up 47.5% of the audience, per the report.
The Broadway League declined to comment on the numbers, as The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/01/03/business/nyc-suburbanites-shun-broadway-over-safety-concerns-survey/">reported</a>. “We do not speculate generally about the numbers,” company spokesperson Scalla Jakso responded to the request.
The Situation Group conducted a survey of 1,700 Broadway ticket buyers nationwide, the outlet noted, and found that 50% of suburbanites haven’t returned to Broadway due to “concerns about safety.” Also, 41% of suburb dwellers said, “I travel to Manhattan for pleasure less often than I did in 2019.”
Half of the respondents noted that they weren’t attending because there were fewer Broadway shows they wanted to see.
Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris spoke with The Post about the trend, insisting that travelers shouldn’t worry about crime in the area.
“As witnessed by millions worldwide and the hundreds of thousands of revelers who enjoyed a safe and joyous New Year’s Eve this week, Times Square is one of the safest neighborhoods in all of NYC thanks to the hardworking men and women of the NYPD,” Harris told the outlet.
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Robberies, assaults, burglaries, and grand larceny are all up double-digit percentages from two years ago in New York City, although they are down from last year per NYPD data, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-nyc-bodega-workers-applying-for-gun-permits-amid-violent-thefts">reported</a>. Retail theft has increased dramatically, with shoplifting reports jumping 44% from 2021 to 2022.
The <a href="https://abc7ny.com/nypd-crime-shootings-murders/14259597/">latest report</a> from the NYPD found that murders and shootings were down by double-digit percentages in 2023 compared to the previous year. Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said the NYPD is working hard to change perceptions of Manhattan as a high crime area.

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