Trump trial continues: Today marks the second day of what is expected to be several weeks of court sessions in the New York fraud trial of Donald Trump, Trump family members, The Trump Organization and Trump Organization executives. Yesterday, Donald Trump accused Judge Arthur Engoron of being a Trump hater and said he should be arrested. Among the evidence presented yesterday was a video clip of the deposition given by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen testified that Trump liked to exaggerate what he was worth and company Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg often was instructed to inflate numbers in financial documents.
Kelly tells about Trump: John Kelly, who was White House Chief of Staff during the Trump Administration, has confirmed to CNN that Trump tried to block wounded servicemen from participating in Memorial Day and other events. Kelly said Trump believed people who were wounded while fighting for their country made him, Trump, look bad. Trump dodged the draft by having a doctor claim that he had bone spurs. Kelly also confirmed that Trump refused to visit the graves of U.S. soldiers killed during World War II because Trump considered them to be losers. And, Kelly said that when Trump recently called for the execution of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley Trump’s intent was for one of his radicalized followers to actually kill Milley.
Gaetz files to oust McCarthy: Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida has followed through with his threat and filed a recall petition to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House. Gaetz acknowledged that he may not have enough votes to actually oust McCarthy and it appears as if some Democrats may come to McCarthy’s aid and vote to keep him as speaker. Gaetz and other extreme right-wing Republicans objected to McCarthy working with Democrats to craft funding legislation that avoided a government shutdown this past Sunday.
Plane crash: It’s been confirmed that former National Football League player Russ Francis and Richard McSpadden, who led the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute were the two people killed in a plane crash at Lake Placid on Sunday. Francis played for the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.
Cuellar carjacked: U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, was carjacked by three armed people about a mile from the Capitol last night. Cuellar was not hurt but his car was taken. Police reported this morning that the car was recovered.
Crypto trial: Jury selection is taking place today in the first of two federal criminal trials of Sam Bankman-Fried who is charged with financial fraud in the collapse of FTX, the crypto currency exchange. FTX was once worth $32 billion. He’s charged with diverting customer funds for his own personal use, which included buying more than $200 million worth of real estate in the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Cover photo by Cointelegraph / Wikimedia Commons
