Mary Trump alleges "the lawyer she was represented by, and she identifies the particular lawyer, says he was working on behalf of the defendants and not her. That is a factual allegation," the judge said to attorneys for the Trumps.
During the hearing, the judge suggested there were several questions around the facts of the case alleged by Mary Trump, including whether her lawyer during the settlement process was biased toward her aunt and uncles, an indication the judge may let the lawsuit move forward to allow both sides to conduct discovery.
The development signals that the Manhattan district attorney’s office was moving toward seeking charges as a result of its two-year investigation, which included a lengthy legal battle to obtain Trump’s tax records.
The first current White House official to testify, Vindman, in his opening remarks, said he “did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen” and that he “was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine.”
New York prosecutors have convened a special grand jury to consider evidence in a criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s business dealings. The development signals that the Manhattan district attorney’s office was moving toward seeking charges as a result of its two-year investigation, which included a lengthy legal battle to obtain Trump’s tax ...
That’s at least how I read it,” Rebecca Roiphe, a former Manhattan prosecutor , told the Washington Post. Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said last week that she assigned two lawyers to work with Vance’s office after her civil investigation into Trump evolved into a criminal matter.
The new grand jury is the latest sign of increasing momentum in the criminal investigation into the Republican ex-president and his company, the Trump Organization. “The prosecutors are convinced they have a case. That’s at least how I read it,” Rebecca Roiphe, a former Manhattan prosecutor, told the Washington Post.
The Washington Post, which first reported the news, said that the grand jury will meet three days a week for six months. Vance’s office declined to comment. In a statement, Trump called the move “an affront to the almost 75 million voters who supported me in the Presidential Election”.
The documents are protected by grand jury secrecy rules and are not expected to be made public. Vance’s investigation has appeared to focus in recent weeks on Trump’s longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg. His former daughter-in-law, Jen Weisselberg, is cooperating with both inquiries.
She has given investigators reams of tax records and other documents as they look into whether some Trump employees were given off-the-books compensation, such as apartments or school tuition. Allen Weisselberg was subpoenaed in James’s civil investigation and testified twice last year.
Four women — Marie Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, Laura Cooper, and Pamela Karlan — have emerged as the standout witnesses of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. In their testimony, they offered startling revelations on Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine or provided valuable insights by tapping into their various areas of expertise.
In the midst of the contentious inquiry, four women have stood out as the most impactful and memorable witnesses: Marie Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, Laura Cooper, and Pamela Karlan. Through both closed-door ...
Trump referred to Yovanovitch as "bad news" in the July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to a whistleblower complaint from a US intelligence official. The US president added that Yovanovitch was "going to go through some things.".
Giuliani has been heavily implicated in the impeachment inquiry and characterized as the tip of the spear in a shadowy effort to leverage US foreign policy and pressure Ukraine into launching investigations that would help Trump.
Yovanovitch, who over her career has spent years on overseas assignments as a foreign service officer, was asked about Trump's tweet in real-time during the hearing, and she said it was "very intimidating.". House Democrats subsequently accused Trump of witness intimidation.
Yovanovitch , still a State Department employee, was the first sitting government official who appeared for a closed-door deposition in the impeachment inquiry. In doing so, she defied the Trump administration's orders for federal employees to not take part in the inquiry.
The White House released a summary or partial transcript of the July 25 call. Yovanovitch in her public testimony offered an impassioned account of what it felt like to read the summary and learn that Trump had smeared her in a conversation with a foreign leader.
Clifford – who received a payment of $130,000 in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair – alleges the contract is void because, among other things, it lacks a signature from Trump.
Former Playboy model Karen McDougal filed a lawsuit in California state court last month alleging that American Media, Inc. (the publisher of the National Enquirer) secretly coordinated with her then-attorney and Trump’s personal lawyer to purchase her story of an alleged affair between her and Trump with the intent of burying it in advance of the election, a practice known in the industry as “catch and kill.” McDougal is now seeking to break free from the agreement.
Tomorrow’s impeachment showdown. William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a senior State Department official are the first two witnesses set to testify. Patrick Semansky/AP.
Key players in the Trump impeachment probe and what they testified to Congress. Over a dozen officials have come forward so far. William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent , a senior State Department official are the first two witnesses set to testify.
Testified that Rudy Giuliani carried out a “campaign of lies” to smear Yovanovitch and that Giuliani pushed Ukraine on Trump’s behalf to investigate Biden based on an unfounded theory about the country’s interference in the 2016 election.
One of those messages, sent by Bill Taylor on Sept. 9, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, said, “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”. U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland replied, “Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions.
Timothy Morrison, special assistant to the president and senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council , arrives for a closed-door deposition as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump led by the House Intelligence, House Foreign Affairs and House Oversight and Reform Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 2019.
Fiona Hill, former senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council, departs after testifying in the U.S. House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into President Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 2019.
Described a July 10 White House meeting with Ukrainian officials in which Gordon Sondland, Trump’s pick for ambassador to the European Union, pressured Ukraine for a political investigation and insisted Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had agreed to the plan.