Trump jury: Testimony of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Donald Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen was due to be re-read to the jury in Trump’s Hush money trial today. Shortly after beginning deliberations yesterday, the jury sent notes to Judge Juan Merchan asking to review the testimony. After the jury received the case, Trump told reporters that he believes the jury is rigged against him and that not even Mother Teresa would be acquitted.
Justice Alito: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has told Congress in letters that he will not recuse himself from ruling on cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol even though flags supporting insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol have flown over his houses. In the letters, Alito blamed his wife for flying the flags and he said he did not know how long they flew nor what they meant. Alito said that he automatically rejects requests from members of Congress to recuse himself from cases.
Scottie Scheffler: Charges filed against golfer Scottie Scheffler in Jefferson County, Kentucky, have been dropped. Scheffler was arrested after he ignored police orders to stop his car while he was trying to drive to the golf course where he was competing in the PGA Tournament. The charges against Scheffler included felony second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
Fighting in Rafah: Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi says that the war in Gaza is likely to continue for another seven months until Israel achieves its goal of destroying Hamas. Israeli tanks entered the Gaza city of Rafah the other day, an indication that Israeli military ground operations are being stepped up. Israel had previously said that when its forces entered Rafah the final stages of the war would be beginning. Aljazeera reports that at least 37 Palestinian civilians were killed in Rafah by Israeli troops today.
Cyber arrest: A court-authorized international law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Department disrupted a network of computer criminals that had engaged in cyber attacks, large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations. As part of this operation, YunHe Wang, age 35, a Chinese national who frequented St. Kitts and Nevis was arrested. According to an indictment, from 2014 through July 2022, Wang and others are alleged to have created and disseminated malware to millions of Windows computers worldwide. Wang then generated millions of dollars by offering cybercriminals access to the infected computers for a fee.
Air bags: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that Nissan has issued a “Do Not Drive” warning for 83,920 model year 2002-2006 vehicles equipped with recalled, unrepaired Takata air bags. The warning covers certain model year 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles. To date, the agency has confirmed 27 people in the U. S. have been killed by a defective Takata air bag that exploded. In addition, at least 400 people in the U. S. reportedly have been injured by exploding Takata air bag inflators.
