Trump can’t post $464M bond in New York civil case, lawyers say

politico.com – Donald Trump told an appellate court here Monday that he can’t obtain a bond for the full amount of the civil fraud judgment against him — more than $450 million, including interest — raising the possibility that the state attorney general’s office could begin to seize his assets unless the court agrees to halt the judgment while the former president appeals the verdict.

Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that “ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is a ‘practical impossibility,’” adding that those efforts “have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers.”

When a defendant appeals a civil judgment, the defendant can prevent collection efforts while the appeal proceeds by either posting the full amount into an escrow fund or securing a third-party bond to guarantee the full amount.

More… https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/18/trump-cant-post-bond-new-york-civil-case-00147563 

Supreme Court split over bump-stock ban

scotusblog.com – By Amy Howe – The Supreme Court on Wednesday was divided over the validity of a 2018 federal regulation banning the “bump stock” rifle attachment. The Trump administration regulation barred ownership of bump stocks, which transforms a semiautomatic rifle into a weapon that can discharge at a rate of hundreds of rounds per minute, under an existing general prohibition of machine guns. Although some of the court’s conservative justices expressed concern that the regulation could subject the owners of bump stocks to criminal liability even though the devices were legal when they purchased them, several justices also contended that the lethal capacity of semiautomatic rifles fitted with bump stocks was precisely the kind of weapon that Congress intended to target.

A firearm with a manual action requires the shooter to eject an empty cartridge after firing and load a new one before firing again. A semiautomatic firearm automatically loads a new cartridge after firing, but the shooter must pull the trigger each time he wants to fire a shot. A machine gun, by contrast, will automatically reload new ammunition and continue to fire as long as the shooter keeps his finger on the trigger.

More… https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/02/supreme-court-split-over-bump-stock-ban/ 

Trump says he’s long worked ‘hand in hand’ with Black people. Let’s review.

washingtonpost.com – by Glenn Kessler – “Unlike racist Joe Biden, I have spent my entire life working hand in hand with Black Americans to create jobs, build buildings, invest in our communities and expand opportunities and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color. I built a lot of buildings. I want to tell you, a Black worker is a great worker. You’ve done an incredible job.”

— Former president Donald Trump, remarks during a speech to Black Conservative Federation gala, Columbia, S.C., Feb. 23

During his presidency, Trump often claimed he had done more for Black Americans than any other president — or, he sometimes might concede, since Abraham Lincoln. Historians scorned his claim. Many cited Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was Johnson, the historians said, who after Lincoln was the president who made the most lasting impact on the lives of African Americans.

To make his case, Trump would cite achievements like a low Black unemployment rate, increased funding for historically Black colleges and universities (a congressional initiative, not an executive branch one) or passage of an opportunity zone program.

“Trump’s so-called accomplishments will not even be noticed by historians five years from now,” said H.W. Brands, historian at the University of Texas at Austin, in 2020.

Trump recited those claims yet again when he addressed a group of Black conservatives last week, even if the talking points have become woefully out of date.

More… https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-he-s-long-worked-hand-in-hand-with-black-people-let-s-review/ar-BB1iXgvR 

With ‘pig butchering’ scams on the rise, FBI moves to stop the bleeding

nbc.com – By Ken Dilanian i- She called herself Anna, and she reached out to Barry May over social media.

“It was on Facebook, was an Asian woman that supposedly lived in New York, on Fifth Avenue,” he said. “And so we just started chatting.”

Soon, he said, Anna was sending explicit photos. May, a divorced and retired insurance adjuster living in Mississippi, was smitten. She told him they could be together, but first she needed a favor.

Her aunt, she said, was holding $3 million of her money. She needed May to invest in cryptocurrency, so her aunt “would release that money to her and then she could come to me and we could get married.”

She promised huge returns. He sold property and liquidated his 401(k), sending the woman more than $500,000 — his life savings. An account on a website appeared to show his holdings.

He was about take out a loan to send more, until one day he got a call from an FBI agent. “They said this is a major fraud situation, and I’m not the only one.”

More… https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/pig-butchering-scams-rise-fbi-moves-stop-bleeding-rcna137009 

Jimmy Kimmel Is Laughing Off George Santos’ ‘Preposterous’ Lawsuit Against Him Over A Cameo Prank

uproxx.com – 2/21/24 – By Matt Prigge – Over the weekend George Santos added yet another ridiculous item to his CV. This time it was real: He filed a lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel, just as he’d promised to. The ousted Congressman was none-too-happy late last year when the late night show host pranked him by ordering one of his Cameos, only so he could drag it on his show. He vowed revenge, and on Saturday his vengeance began. But is Kimmel worried? Doesn’t seem like it.

Per HuffPost, the host kicked off Tuesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! by addressing the ridiculous elephant in the room. “I am currently embroiled in what may be the most preposterous lawsuit of all time,” he told the crowd. “George Santos, a man Republicans kicked out of Congress for being a fraud, is suing me for fraud.”

Kimmel said that Santos had “rudely” filed the lawsuit against him, his show, and the Walt Disney Company, even though, he said, they’d “done a nice thing: we supported him by ordering his Cameo videos.”

But Santos, in his filing, claims they deceived him by using a fake name to broadcast a private video over broadcast television. “If there’s one thing George Santos will not stand for it’s using a fake name under false pretenses,” he joked, alluding to such alter egos as Anthony Devolder.

More… https://uproxx.com/viral/jimmy-kimmel-calls-george-santos-lawsuit-prepousterous/ 

Cheney warns of Republican Party ‘Putin wing’ after Navalny death

cnn.com – By Jack Forrest – GOP former Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday warned of a Republican Party “Putin wing” after former President Donald Trump responded to the death of outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny without actually mentioning him or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have to take seriously the extent to which you’ve now got a Putin wing of the Republican Party. I believe the issue this election cycle is making sure that the Putin wing of the Republican Party does not take over the West Wing of the White House,” Cheney told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

President Joe Biden and Trump struck dramatically different tones in their respective responses to the death of the jailed Russian opposition figure.

Biden, in his comments at the White House following the announcement of Navalny’s death, forcefully pinned the blame on “Putin and his thugs.”

“Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Putin is responsible. What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. Nobody should be fooled,” Biden said.

Trump, meanwhile, said nothing directly about Navalny in a post that his campaign said was his official response to the opposition leader’s death – instead posting more than 20 times about a variety of topics including his criminal cases and his political opponents.

“When you think about Donald Trump, for example, pledging retribution, what Vladimir Putin did to Navalny is what retribution looks like in a country where a leader is not subject to the rule of law,” Cheney said Sunday.

The former president earlier this month also said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines and would not offer such a country US protection – a stance that NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said “undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”

More… https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/18/politics/liz-cheney-navalny-putin-gop-cnntv/index.html 

Judge orders Trump to pay more than $350 million in N.Y. civil fraud trial

washingtonpost.com – New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday ordered former president Donald Trump to pay more than $350 million in penalties, handing down a hefty penalty following a months-long civil trial in which Trump and others were accused of financial fraud by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Engoron also said Trump could not serve as an officer or a director for any New York company for three years. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and assailed the case.

More… https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/16/trump-ny-fraud-trial-decision/ 

What Navalny said about Russia, Putin and death

reuters – By Guy Faulconbridge –Moscow – Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, died on Friday after collapsing and losing consciousness at the penal colony north of the Arctic Circle where he was serving a long jail term, the Russian prison service said.

OPPOSITION LEADER

Navalny, 47, became the leading figure among Russia’s splintered opposition.

Supporters cast him as a Russian version of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela who would one day be freed from jail to lead the country.

He earned admiration from many in Russian opposition circles for voluntarily returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he underwent treatment for what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent in Siberia.

RISE TO PROMINENCE

A former lawyer, Navalny rose to prominence with blogs which exposed what he said was vast corruption across the Russian elite, describing Russia as ruled by “crooks and thieves”.

He participated in Russian nationalist marches in the 2000s. Calls for restrictions on immigration and criticism over what some viewed as his overly nationalist views prompted his expulsion from the liberal Yabloko opposition party in 2007.

He lampooned President Vladimir Putin’s elite and exposed some of the opulence of the lifestyles of senior officials, using the internet and even drones to illustrate what he described as their vast holdings and luxury property.

When demonstrations against Putin flared in December 2011, after an election tainted by fraud accusations, he was one of the first protest leaders arrested.

Navalny long forecast Russia could face seismic political turmoil, including revolution, because he said Putin had built a brittle system of personal rule reliant on sycophancy and corruption.

WHAT DOES THE KREMLIN SAY?

The Kremlin said Putin had been informed of his death.

The Kremlin dismissed Navalny’s allegations of vast corruption and Putin’s personal wealth. Navalny’s movement is outlawed and most of his senior allies have fled Russia and now live in Europe.

Russian officials cast Navalny as an extremist who was a puppet of the U.S. CIA intelligence agency which they say is intent on trying to sow the seeds of revolution to weaken Russia and make it a client state of the West.

More… https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/who-was-alexei-navalny-what-did-he-say-russia-putin-death-2024-02-16/ 

Former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ role in Ukraine business, undercutting GOP impeachment inquiry

cnn.com- By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez and Marshall Cohen – Special counsel David Weiss charged a former FBI informant with lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s involvement in business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, undercutting a major aspect of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into the president.

Alexander Smirnov, 43, is facing charges in connection with lying to the FBI and creating false records. He was arrested Thursday at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, after his arrival in the US from overseas, and will make his initial appearance in federal court Thursday afternoon.

CNN is working to determine whether Smirnov has an attorney.

More…https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/15/politics/former-fbi-informant-charged-biden-burisma/index.html

Uber, Lyft, DoorDash drivers to strike on Valentine’s Day for fair pay

reuters.com – By Akash Sriram – Thousands of drivers for ride-sharing platforms Uber (UBER.N)<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = “[default] http://www.w3.org/2000/svg” NS = “http://www.w3.org/2000/svg” />, opens new tab, Lyft (LYFT.O), opens new tab and food delivery app DoorDash (DASH.O)

, opens new tab are expected to go on strike across the United States on Valentine’s Day for fair pay, drivers’ groups said on Monday.

The demonstrations are set to take place about a week after Lyft said it would guarantee weekly earnings for drivers, a first in the U.S. ride-hailing industry as it looks to lure more drivers to its platform.

“We are constantly working to improve the driver experience,” Lyft, which is set to report quarterly results on Tuesday, told Reuters on Monday.

The drivers, considered independent contractors, have accused the platforms of taking disproportionately high amounts as commissions.

“This is the biggest strike I’ve ever seen, thousands and thousands of drivers … it’s going to be nationwide,” Jonathan Cruz, a driver in Miami and part of the Justice For App Workers coalition, which represents more than 100,000 drivers.

More… https://www.reuters.com/world/us/uber-lyft-doordash-drivers-us-strike-valentines-day-fair-pay-2024-02-12/