Former U.S. President Donald Trump. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial to set aside his conviction and delay his sentencing, scheduled for next week.

The letter to Judge Juan M. Merchan cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling earlier on Monday on presidential immunity and asked the judge to delay Mr. Trump’s sentencing while he weighs the high court’s decision and how it could influence the New York case, according to the letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The lawyers argue that the Supreme Court’s decision confirmed a position the defence raised earlier in the case that prosecutors should have been precluded from introducing some evidence they said constituted official presidential acts, according to the letter.

In prior court filings, Mr. Trump contended he is immune from prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyers did not raise that as a defence in the hush money case, but they argued that some evidence — including Mr. Trump’s social media posts about former lawyer Michael Cohen — comes from his time as President and should have been excluded from the trial because of immunity protections.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on Monday night.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, extending the delay in the Washington criminal case against the Republican ex-president on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss.

President Joe Biden warned Monday that the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity sets a “dangerous precedent” that Donald Trump would exploit if elected in November.

“The American people must decide if they want to entrust… once again, the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,” Biden said.

Trump was convicted in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records, arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor just before the 2016 presidential election. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the hush money case on July 11.

Merchan instituted a policy in the run-up to the trial requiring both sides to send him a one-page letter summarizing their arguments before making longer court filings. He said he did that to better manage the docket, so he was not inundated with voluminous paperwork.

In denying Trump’s bid to move the trial from New York state court to federal court last year, a federal judge found that the allegations at the center of the case pertained to Trump’s personal life and do not “reflect in any way the color of the President’s official duties.”

“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein wrote in the ruling.

Washington:

Donald Trump says his historic criminal trial was “very hard” on his wife Melania, a notable absentee from the close family members who attended court in support of the former president.

“She’s fine, but I think it’s very hard for her,” Trump said in an interview aired on Fox and Friends Sunday. “She has to read all this crap.”

“I think it’s probably in many ways, it’s tougher on my family than it is on me,” he added.

A jury convicted Trump Thursday on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the final stages of the 2016 presidential campaign to cover up a sex scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels.

It was the first criminal conviction of a former president in US history and means Trump is now running in the November 5 presidential election as a felon.

While three of his adult children attended the closing days of the trial, Melania was absent throughout.

She has barely engaged with her husband’s White House campaign, failing to appear at a single Trump rally and rarely joins him in public.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former President Donald Trump walks to speaks to reporters with his attorney Todd Blanche, right, as jurors begin deliberations for his trial at Manhattan criminal court, on May 29, 2024, in New York.
| Photo Credit: AP

Jurors began deliberating on May 29 on whether to convict Donald Trump in the first criminal trial of a former US President — with their decision potentially upending November’s election, in which the Republican seeks to return to power.

After weeks of testimony from more than 20 witnesses, the piercing glare of the legal spotlight shifted to the 12-strong New York jury, kept anonymous for their own protection amid soaring political tensions.

After receiving final instructions from the judge, jurors left the courtroom to sit in a designated room where they alone will have the final say on 77-year-old Trump.

“You must set aside any personal opinions you have in favor or against the defendant,” said Judge Juan Merchan.

“As a juror, you are asked to make a very important decision about another member of the community.”

No time limit is placed on the deliberations, but an acquittal or conviction would require unanimity. If just one juror refuses to join the others, the judge would have to declare a mistrial.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse a $130,000 payment to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels, when her account of an alleged sexual encounter could have imperiled his 2016 presidential campaign. Prosecutors say the fraud was motivated by a plot to prevent voters from knowing about his behavior.

If Trump is found guilty, the political repercussions would far outweigh the seriousness of the charges as, barely five months before the November 5 presidential election, the candidate would also become a convicted criminal.

The judge instructed Trump that he will have to remain in the courthouse while awaiting the verdict. Trump responded by stepping outside the courtroom to launch an angry statement to journalists, calling it a “very disgraceful situation.”

“These charges are rigged,” Trump said, claiming that “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges.”

‘Hatred for Trump’

In closing arguments on Tuesday, Trump’s defense team insisted the evidence for a conviction simply did not exist, while the prosecution countered that it was voluminous and inescapable.

“The defendant’s intent to defraud could not be any clearer,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, urging the jurors to use their “common sense” and return a guilty verdict.

If convicted, Trump faces up to four years in prison on each of 34 counts, but legal experts say that as a first-time offender he is unlikely to get jail time.

A conviction would not bar him from the November ballot and he would almost certainly appeal. In the case of a mistrial, prosecutors could seek a new trial.

Trump has been required to attend every day of the trial.

However, he has used his trips to court and the huge media presence to spread his claim that the trial is a Democratic ploy to keep him off the campaign trail.

Polls show Trump neck and neck against President Joe Biden, and the verdict will inflame passions as the White House race intensifies.

In addition to the New York case, Trump has been indicted in Washington and Georgia on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

He also faces charges in Florida of hoarding huge quantities of classified documents after leaving the White House.

The New York case is the only one likely to come to trial by election day.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. president Donald Trump attends trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 20, 2024, in New York City, U.S.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A handful of courtroom hopefuls have braved all kinds of weather as they queue to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump’s seismic New York criminal trial, sometimes paying lavishly for “sitters” to hold their places in line.

Teacher Richard Partington, 43, described the trial as “one of the most fascinating and exciting experiences of my life,” arriving outside the imposing courthouse two days before proceedings to boost his chances of getting inside.

After running the gauntlet of strict security checkpoints, ancient elevators and a long fluorescent-lit corridor, Mr. Partington and six or seven others have each day been able to watch the first-ever criminal case play out against a former U.S. president.

Mr. Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide a reimbursement to his former lawyer Michael Cohen for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom it is claimed the property tycoon had a sexual encounter.

On hard wooden benches, the public spectators have joined around 50 journalists and Mr. Trump’s entourage of Republican grandees, supporters and family to see the twists and turns of the historic court case.

“I learned a lot from the news, but I think there’s some truth that you really pick up when you’re in the courtroom — you see Donald Trump walking by eight times a day, you see the judge (and) the jury,” said Mr. Partington.

“The result of this trial will likely sway this election in one way,” he added, affirming his fear of a second Trump presidency.

Along with some protesters — both anti- and pro-Trump — eager courtroom spectators have come from across the four corners of the United States.

Retired lawyer Peter Osetek travelled almost 3,000 miles from San Diego on the other side of the country to visit his son in New York and to see “history being made.”

‘Pay to play’

Trial followers often have more luck in an overflow room, where a live feed is streamed to around 30 members of the public and journalists unable to be in the main trial space.

Justin Ford, an IT worker from Connecticut, said he was drawn to line up for a chance to see “a former president of the United States (who) is on trial, and it’s not televised. I want to witness it with my own eyes.”

Mr. Ford, 42, missed the chance to get inside the trial — despite arriving in the middle of the night.

He has forensic knowledge of the trial’s ins and outs, avidly reading the verbatim transcripts that are posted on the court’s website daily.

The line to get in operates on a strictly “first come, first served” basis, fueling a booming market for line sitters.

For around $50 an hour, professional queue holders will stand in for court hopefuls, with the best spots in the line re-sold for as much as $2,000 when Mr. Trump’s arch-nemesis Mr. Cohen testified.

Mr. Ford called the “pay to play” phenomenon “pretty sad.”

Funke Sangodeyi, who described herself as a “total political junkie,” said she paid $700 for a spot in the overflow room.

“It was amazing to witness the American justice system holding a president accountable. It’s a historical moment,” said Ms. Sangodeyi, 48, a consultant from Brooklyn.

Like most of those who spoke to AFP, Ms. Sangodeyi sees the justice system as capable of preventing Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, saying she hopes a conviction will put off crucial swing voters.

More than anything, the trial highlights that “no one is above the law,” said pediatrician Cindy Mobley who traveled two and a half hours by train from Baltimore.

“It feels like it is the last frontier, the last thing that can hold us together,” said the 64-year-old, who spent part of the night in a sleeping bag at the foot of the courthouse.

New York law enforcement and fire department personnel inspect the scene where a man lit himself on fire in a park outside Manhattan criminal court, on April 19, 2024, in New York.
| Photo Credit: AP

A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.

The New York City Police Department said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital.

The man was in Collect Pond Park around 1:30 p.m. Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said.

A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed to the aid of the man, who was hospitalised in critical condition.

The man, who police said had travelled from Florida to New York in the last few days, hadn’t breached any security checkpoints to get into the park.

The park outside the courthouse has been a gathering spot for protesters, journalists and gawkers throughout Trump’s trial, which began with jury selection Monday.

Through Friday, the streets and sidewalks in the area around the courthouse were generally wide open and crowds have been small and largely orderly.

Authorities said they were also reviewing the security protocols, including whether to restrict access to the park. The side street where Trump enters and leaves the building is off limits.

“We may have to shut this area down,” New York City Police Department Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said at a news conference outside the courthouse, adding that officials would discuss the security plan soon.

A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former U.S. President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony.

The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, a security engineer, an English teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker and a retired wealth manager.

The first-ever trial of a former American president will unfold in the middle of this year’s race for the White House, ensuring that the legal troubles of the presumptive Republican nominee will be a dominant issue in the contest against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.

The trial will almost certainly feature unflattering testimony about the Trump’s personal life before he became president, with allegations that he falsifying business records to suppress stories in the final days of the 2016 election about his sexual relationships.

The jury selection process appeared wobbly earlier in the day when two jurors were dismissed, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair following disclosure of details about her identity and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.

But lawyers who began the day with only five jurors settled on the remaining seven for the panel in quick succession, along with one alternate. Judge Juan Merchan has said his goal is to have six alternates.

In other developments, prosecutors asked for Trump to be held in contempt over a series of social media posts this week, and the judge barred reporters from identifying jurors’ employers after expressing privacy concerns.

The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Cohen made shortly before the 2016 election to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the race’s final days.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.

The jury selection process picked up momentum Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors. But on Thursday, Merchan revealed in court that one of the seven, a cancer nurse, had “conveyed that after sleeping on it overnight she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this case.”

And though jurors’ names are being kept confidential, the woman told the judge and the lawyers that she had doubts after she said aspects of her identity had been made public.

“Yesterday alone I had friends, colleagues and family push things to my phone regarding questioning my identity as a juror,” she said. “I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision making in the courtroom.”

A second seated juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns that he may not have been honest in answering a jury selection question by saying that he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.

The IT professional was summoned to court to answer questions after prosecutors said they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political posters pertaining to the political right in suburban Westchester County.

A prosecutor also disclosed that a relative of the man may have been involved in a deferred prosecution agreement in the 1990s with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Trump’s case.

Because the juror was questioned Thursday at the judge’s bench, off-microphone and out of earshot of reporters, it was not known whether the man confirmed or denied either instance was connected to him.

The process of picking a jury is a critical phase of any criminal trial but especially so when the defendant is a former president and the presumptive Republican nominee. Prospective jurors have been grilled on their social media posts, personal lives and political views as the lawyers and judge search for biases that would prevent them from being impartial.

Inside the court, there’s broad acknowledgment of the futility in trying to find jurors without knowledge of Trump. A prosecutor this week said that lawyers were not looking for people who had been “living under a rock for the past eight years.”

After dismissing from the jury the nurse who had already been selected, Merchan ordered journalists in court not to report prospective jurors’ answers to questions about their current and former employers.

“We just lost, probably, what probably would have been a very good juror for this case, and the first thing that she said was she was afraid and intimidated by the press, all the press, and everything that had happened,” Merchan said after dismissing the juror.

Prosecutors had asked that the employer inquiries be axed from the jury questionnaire. Defense lawyer Todd Blanche responded that “depriving us of the information because of what the press is doing isn’t the answer.”

The district attorney’s office on Monday sought a $3,000 fine for Trump for three Truth Social posts they said violated the order. Since then, prosecutors said he made seven additional posts that they believe violate the order.

Several of the posts involved an article that referred to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a “serial perjurer,” and one from Wednesday repeated a claim by a Fox News host that liberal activists were lying to get on the jury, said prosecutor Christopher Conroy.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove said Cohen “has been attacking President Trump in public statements,” and Trump was just replying.

The judge had already scheduled a hearing for next week on the prosecution’s request for contempt sanctions over Trump’s posts.

New York:

New York Attorney General Letitia James hit back at Donald Trump on Wednesday over his virulent attacks on the $250 million civil fraud suit she brought against him, saying she will “not be bullied.”

“The Donald Trump show is over,” James told reporters after the 77-year-old former president left court at the midpoint of Wednesday’s proceedings.

Before leaving, Trump railed against James and complained that the “rigged” trial with a judge “run by the Democrats” was keeping him off the presidential campaign trail.

“I’d rather be in New Hampshire, South Carolina or Ohio or a lot of other places,” Trump said. “But I’m stuck here because I have a corrupt attorney general.”

Responding to Trump, James said “I will not be bullied” and denounced his decision to attend the opening days of the trial as “a political stunt, a fund-raising stunt.”

James, who is African American, said Trump’s personal attacks on her this week were “offensive, they were baseless, they were void of any facts or of any evidence.

“What they were, were comments that unfortunately fomented violence, comments that I would describe as race-baiting, comments unfortunately that appeal to the bottom of our humanity.

“This case was brought simply because it was a case where individuals have engaged in a pattern and practice of fraud,” James said. “I will not sit idly by and allow anyone to subvert the law.”

Trump also resumed his verbal volleys on Wednesday against Judge Arthur Engoron, a day after he was admonished from the bench.

“The judge already knows what he’s going to do,” Trump said. “He’s a Democrat.”

Engoron imposed a partial gag order on Trump on Tuesday after the former president insulted one of the judge’s law clerks in a social media post.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable,” Engoron said as Trump sat at the defense table flanked by his lawyers.

“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” Engoron said.

The post was later deleted.

Multiple legal battles

James has accused Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr and other executives of colossally inflating the value of their real estate assets in order to receive more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.

Trump does not risk going to jail in the civil trial, but James is seeking $250 million in penalties and the removal of the former president and his sons from the management of the family empire, the Trump Organization.

Trump has denounced the business fraud charges as a “sham” intended to torpedo his bid to recapture the White House next year.

Engoron ruled last week that Trump, his sons and other executives lied to tax collectors, lenders and insurers for years in a scheme that exaggerated the value of their properties by $812 million to $2.2 billion between 2014 and 2021.

As a result, the judge revoked the business licenses that allowed the Trump Organization to operate some of its New York properties and asked the parties to propose receivers to manage the dissolution of the companies in question.

Trump filed a formal appeal against the ruling on Wednesday but the trial will continue.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is facing legal battles on multiple fronts.

The twice-impeached former president faces federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and for alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House.

Trump has also been charged with racketeering in Georgia for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

An Indian Army jawan looking at the India-China border through his telescope in Arunachal Pradesh. File.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR

Assam Rifles files defamation suit against Manipur politician, seeks apology

Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in the country, has slapped a legal notice against a Manipur politician for causing “considerable harm to the reputation and standing of the organisation in the public eye.” It said the notice is being served for tarnishing the reputation and “discouraging and demoralising” the Central armed police force. Assam Rifles sought a “written” and “public” apology for the false allegation and defamation asking him to retract the statement he made at ‘Condolence of Meitei Martyrs’ in Delhi on June 30.

China releases new official map, showing territorial claims

China’s government released the “2023 edition of the standard map of China”, which continues to show the entire State of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders. The latest map follows Beijing in April announcing it would “standardise” the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including a town close to the Arunachal Pradesh capital of Itanagar. This was the third such list “renaming” places in Arunachal Pradesh, and was seen by observers as a response to India holding events in the lead-up to the G-20 summit in the State, which Beijing had opposed. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend the September 9-10 summit in New Delhi.

Only Centre can conduct census, Union tells SC in Bihar caste survey case

The Union government saidonly the Centre is entitled to conduct census, in its reply to the Supreme Court on the Bihar government’s caste-based survey. The Centre had filed an affidavit earlier on August 28 morning which said in its penultimate paragraph that “no other body is entitled to conduct the exercise of either census or any action akin to census”. Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the uploading of data collected in the recently concluded Bihar caste-based survey while debunking claims that the Nitish Kumar government had violated the fundamental right to privacy by compelling people to reveal their caste.

Rajnath Singh to visit Sri Lanka this weekend, say defence sources

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka over the coming weekend, defence sources confirmed. The visit comes at a time when the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry is considering a fresh request from China to allow the visit of a research ship. Last week, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry acknowledged receiving a request from the Chinese Embassy. The research vessel Shiyan-6 is expected to arrive in October. 

Article 35A took away fundamental rights while giving special rights to permanent residents of J&K, says CJI

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said Article 35A, which empowered the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature to define “permanent residents” of the State and provide them special privileges, denied fundamental rights to others. “Article 35A gave special rights and privileges to permanent residents and virtually took away the rights for non-residents. These rights included the right to equal opportunity of State employment, right to acquire property and the right to settle in Jammu and Kashmir,” Chief Justice Chandrachud, heading a Constitution Bench, observed on August 28.

India’s population growth alone is not enough to make its economy stronger, says Moody’s

India’s population growth would raise its labour force availability but that alone won’t be enough to make the economy stronger or improve fiscal outcomes, due to the quality of education in the country, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report on Monday. In a report on Sovereigns in South and South East Asia, titled ‘Population growth alone will not drive credit benefits for emerging economies’, the rating major said it expects continued population growth in the region to support economic expansion as working-age populations will remain large compared with younger and older citizens.

Warming Pacific points to rise in cyclones over India: Study

Tropical cyclones that originate near the Equator, while being devastating, have been unusually subdued in recent decades. The last major cyclone of this kind in the Indian neighbourhood was the 2017 Cyclone Okchi which devastated Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. However, a combination of global warming and a cyclical event called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) that repeats every 20-30 years, could make such cyclones more frequent in the coming years, a study published on Monday in the journal Nature Communications said.

Federal Judge sets March 4 date for historic Donald Trump trial

A federal judge has set a date of March 4, 2024, for Donald Trump’s election subversion conspiracy trial — placing one of the biggest criminal cases in American history at peak election season. Special counsel Jack Smith had asked for the trial of the 45th US president to begin on January 2, while Mr. Trump’s attorneys countered with a proposed date of April 2026 — 17 months after the election.

Fire in coach: Five from Uttar Pradesh arrested in Madurai by Tamil Nadu Railway Police

The Tamil Nadu Railway Police, have arrested five persons from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the fire that broke out in a coach and claimed nine lives near the Madurai railway junction on Saturday. The arrested persons have been accused of having carried inflammable articles on the train, in violation of Section 164 of the Railway Act.

U.S. raises concerns on India’s decision to curb tech imports

With the U.S. flagging concerns over India’s decision to impose import restrictions on certain electronic devices, both countries have agreed to find a solution to the issue that addresses the concerns of both nations, according to a statement of USTR. The issue was flagged during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai here on August 26.

Foxconn billionaire Terry Gou says he will seek Taiwan’s presidency as independent candidate

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of the electronics giant Foxconn, declared that he will run as an independent candidate for president in Taiwan’s 2024 election, ending months of speculation. Mr. Gou’s Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is a major supplier to Apple and has factories in China. He has long had presidential aspirations. He ran in the 2019 election but lost as Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party easily won re-election.

I have no personal desire to hold any post in INDIA, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday categorically said that he had no “personal desire” to hold any post in the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) ahead of the upcoming third meeting of the Opposition bloc in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1. The buzz in political circles was that Mr. Kumar might be appointed as INDIA convener at its Mumbai meeting. Earlier, Mr. Kumar had initiated the meeting of Opposition parties in Patna on June 23 in which altogether 16 parties, including Congress, participated. The second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 18.

WB fireworks blast: toll climbs to nine, one arrested

The death toll in an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory at Mochpol area under Duttapukur police station in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district rose to nine on Monday with one more person succumbing to injuries. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her disappointment at a meeting of the State Cabinet today. She wanted to know why steps were not taken after she had sought action following an explosion at Egra in Purba Medinipur district. An explosion at an illegal fireworks factory at Egra on May 16 claimed 12 lives.