Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid

spaminator

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Former State Department official convicted for attacking police during Capitol riot
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Kunzelman
Published Jul 20, 2023 • 4 minute read

WASHINGTON — A man who worked as a politically appointed State Department official in former President Donald Trump’s administration was convicted Thursday of charges that he attacked police officers during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.


U.S. District Judge Judge Trevor McFadden heard testimony without a jury before he convicted the former official, Federico Guillermo Klein, and a co-defendant, Steven Cappuccio, of assault charges and other felony offenses stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.


Klein and Cappuccio were among nine co-defendants charged with crimes related to one of the most violent and pivotal episodes of the Jan. 6 siege: brutal waves of hand-to-hand combat between rioters and police officers in a tunnel leading to a Capitol entrance on the Lower West Terrace.

Klein and Cappuccio converged on the tunnel as outnumbered police officers struggled for hours to hold back the mob of rioters, prosecutors said in a court filing.


McFadden convicted Klein of 12 counts, including six charging him with assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers. Klein is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 3.

The judge is scheduled to sentence Cappuccio on Oct. 19. McFadden convicted him of assault charges but acquitted him of two counts, including a felony charge that he obstructed the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. But, McFadden convicted Klein of the same obstruction charge.

The judge said the tunnel was the scene of “shocking violence and hostility” against police.

“No police officer should have had to endure those attacks without provocation,” McFadden said.

McFadden allowed Klein to remain free under house arrest until his sentencing but ordered Cappuccio to be jailed immediately after the verdict. Klein shook Cappuccio’s hand in the courtroom before a deputy marshal handcuffed him.


Klein, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, had a Top Secret security clearance and had been working since 2017 in the State Department’s office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs. He resigned from that position on Jan. 19, 2021, a day before President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Klein, wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, was in the first wave of rioters to enter the tunnel, according to prosecutors. They said Klein pushed hard against officers, telling them, “You can’t stop this!” and repeatedly drove his shoulder into an officer who tried to push him back with his baton.

Klein also wedged a stolen police riot shield between two doors, preventing officers from closing them, prosecutors said.


“With the shield as a wedge, Klein and other rioters pried the doors open again and continued their attacks on the police in the tunnel, which lasted for more than two more hours,” prosecutors wrote.

Video captured Klein exhorting other rioters to attack police, repeatedly yelling, “We need fresh people!”

Cappuccio yelled, “Storming the castle, boys!” and chanted, “Fight for Trump!” and “Our house!” as he reached the Lower West Terrace. In the tunnel, he joined other rioters in pushing against the police line, prosecutors said.

“All the while, Cappuccio continued to hold his phone in the air, recording the violence between the rioters and the police line,” they wrote.

When another rioter pinned Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges against a door, Cappuccio ripped a gas mask off the officer’s face and dislodged his helmet, prosecutors said.


“Cappuccio then took Officer Hodges’ riot baton out of his hands and used the baton to strike Officer Hodges in the face,” they wrote. “Throughout this vicious assault, Officer Hodges screamed and pleaded for help.”

Cappuccio, also a military veteran, drove from Texas to Washington, D.C. to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. He was arrested at his home in Universal City, Texas, in August 2021.

Klein, a native of Washington region who also worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign, was arrested in March 2021.

Klein’s lawyer had sought a separate trial for him, arguing that his co-defendants were accused of engaging in “far more threatening and intentional conduct” than Klein.

“Mr. Klein is not alleged to have injured anyone, and the government concedes his ‘assault’ of a law enforcement officer amounts to his having been in possession of a riot shield that also came into contact with a law enforcement officer,” defense attorney Stanley Woodward wrote in a March 2022 court filing.


Another co-defendant, Christopher Quaglin, was scheduled to be tried with Klein and Cappuccio. Earlier this month, however, McFadden convicted Quaglin, 37, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, of 14 riot-related crimes. Quaglin had a “stipulated bench trial,” which means the judge decided the case without a jury based on facts agreed upon by both sides. McFadden is scheduled to sentence Quaglin on Sept. 26.

More than 100 police officers were injured during the riot. More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. Approximately 100 of them have been convicted by juries or judges. Only two have been acquitted of all charges after trials. Over 600 others have pleaded guilty.
 

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Man who beat officer with flagpole during Capitol riot is sentenced to over 4 years in prison
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Kunzelman
Published Jul 24, 2023 • 3 minute read
FILE - Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday, July 24, 2023, to more than four years in prison. Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.
FILE - Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday, July 24, 2023, to more than four years in prison. Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison.


Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.


Stager also stood over and screamed profanities at another officer, who was seriously injured when several other rioters dragged him into the mob and beat him, according to federal prosecutors.

After the beatings, Stager was captured on video saying, “Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy. That is the only remedy they get.”

U.S. Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Stager to four years and four months in prison, according to a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office.


Stager, 44, of Conway, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months.

Stager assaulted the officer during one of the most violent episodes of Jan. 6 — a battle between rioters and police guarding an entrance to the Capitol building in a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace.

Stager’s actions at the Capitol “were the epitome of disrespect for the law,” prosecutors said in a court filing.

“Stager joined a prolonged, multi-assailant attack on police officers, which resulted in injuries to the officers,” they wrote. “Stager himself wielded a flagpole and used it to strike at a vulnerable officer, who, lying face down in a mob of rioters had no means of defending himself.”


Stager’s truck driving job took him to Washington, D.C., on the day before then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Stager stayed overnight to attend Trump’s rally after delivering a load of produce, a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life, his lawyers said in a court filing.

Stager’s attorneys say he tried to help others in the crowd who were injured after the riot erupted. Shocked by what he saw, Stager had “reached his breaking point” and was “seeing red” when he picked up a flag on the ground, they said.

“Once the adrenaline wore off, Mr. Stager immediately called his wife to tell her he was horrified by his actions and that he was going to turn himself in upon returning to Arkansas,” his lawyers wrote.


More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 620 of them have pleaded guilty. Approximately 100 others have been convicted by juries or judges after trials. Nearly 600 have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 18 years.

Stager was indicted with eight other defendants on charges related to the tunnel battle. Four of his co-defendants also have pleaded guilty to assault charges.

Florida resident Mason Courson was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison. Michigan resident Justin Jersey was sentenced in February to four years and three months in prison. Michigan construction worker Logan Barnhart was sentenced in April to three years in prison. Georgia business owner Jack Wade Whitton is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16.
 

spaminator

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Rudy Giuliani not disputing he made false statements about Georgia election workers
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Brumback
Published Jul 26, 2023 • 3 minute read

ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani is not disputing that he made public comments falsely claiming two Georgia election workers committed ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential race but he argues that his words are constitutionally protected statements, according to a court filing.


That assertion by Giuliani, who as part of Donald Trump’s legal team tried to overturn results in battleground states, came Tuesday in a lawsuit by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. The December 2021 lawsuit accused the former New York City mayor of defaming them by falsely stating that they had engaged in election fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.


The lawsuit says Giuliani repeatedly pushed debunked claims that Freeman and Moss — mother and daughter — pulled out suitcases of illegal ballots and committed other acts of fraud to try to alter the outcome of the race.

Though Giuliani is not disputing that the statements were false, he does not concede that they caused any damage to Freeman or Moss. That distinction is important because plaintiffs in a defamation case must prove not only that a statement made about them was false but that it also resulted in actual damage.


Giuliani’s statement was attached to a filing arguing that he did not fail to produce evidence in the case and should not be sanctioned as Freeman and Moss had requested.

“While Giuliani does not admit to Plaintiffs’ allegations, he _ for purposes of this litigation only — does not contest the factual allegations,” the filing said.

Giuliani political adviser Ted Goodman said in an email Wednesday that the filing was made “in order to move on to the portion of the case that will permit a motion to dismiss.”

Michael Gottlieb, a lawyer for Freeman and Moss, said in an emailed statement that Giuliani is conceding “what we have always known to be true — Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss honorably performed their civic duties in the 2020 presidential election in full compliance with the law; and the allegations of election fraud he and former-President Trump made against them have been false since day one.”


Certain issues, including damages, still have to be decided by the court. Gottlieb said Freeman and Moss are “pleased with this major milestone in their fight for justice, and look forward to presenting what remains of this case at trial.”

Freeman and Moss filed a motion this month alleging that Giuliani had “failed to take any steps to preserve relevant electronic evidence.” They know such evidence exists because other people provided it to them, their filing says. They asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to impose sanctions.

In the court filing, a lawyer for Giuliani argued that his client did not fail to preserve or destroy any electronic evidence “because all pertinent documents were seized by the government and were in their possession, custody, or control.”


The federal government had executed search warrants at Giuliani’s home and office in a separate case in New York and had seized his electronic devices.

The records that Moss and Freeman said were not produced “have not been in the possession of Giuliani since their seizure in April 2021,” according to the court filing, and therefore it is “physically impossible” for him to have destroyed the evidence.

Moss had worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012 and supervised the absentee ballot operation during the 2020 election. Freeman was a temporary election worker, verifying signatures on absentee ballots and preparing them to be counted and processed.

Giuliani and others alleged during a Georgia legislative subcommittee hearing in December 2020 that surveillance video from State Farm Arena showed the election workers committing election fraud. As those allegations circulated online, the two women said, they suffered intense harassment, both in person and online. Moss detailed her experiences in emotional testimony before the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The committee also played video testimony from Freeman during the hearing in June 2022.

In a court filing that month, Giuliani asked the judge to toss the lawsuit, arguing the claims against him were barred by First Amendment protections for free speech. Howell rejected that request, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

The defamation lawsuit originally named right-wing cable news channel One America News Network, its owners and its chief White House correspondent for also pushing the debunked claims. They were dismissed from the suit in May 2022 after reaching an undisclosed settlement with Moss and Freeman.
 

spaminator

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Rudy Giuliani not disputing he made false statements about Georgia election workers
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Brumback
Published Jul 26, 2023 • 3 minute read

ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani is not disputing that he made public comments falsely claiming two Georgia election workers committed ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential race but he argues that his words are constitutionally protected statements, according to a court filing.


That assertion by Giuliani, who as part of Donald Trump’s legal team tried to overturn results in battleground states, came Tuesday in a lawsuit by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. The December 2021 lawsuit accused the former New York City mayor of defaming them by falsely stating that they had engaged in election fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.


The lawsuit says Giuliani repeatedly pushed debunked claims that Freeman and Moss — mother and daughter — pulled out suitcases of illegal ballots and committed other acts of fraud to try to alter the outcome of the race.

Though Giuliani is not disputing that the statements were false, he does not concede that they caused any damage to Freeman or Moss. That distinction is important because plaintiffs in a defamation case must prove not only that a statement made about them was false but that it also resulted in actual damage.


Giuliani’s statement was attached to a filing arguing that he did not fail to produce evidence in the case and should not be sanctioned as Freeman and Moss had requested.

“While Giuliani does not admit to Plaintiffs’ allegations, he _ for purposes of this litigation only — does not contest the factual allegations,” the filing said.

Giuliani political adviser Ted Goodman said in an email Wednesday that the filing was made “in order to move on to the portion of the case that will permit a motion to dismiss.”

Michael Gottlieb, a lawyer for Freeman and Moss, said in an emailed statement that Giuliani is conceding “what we have always known to be true — Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss honorably performed their civic duties in the 2020 presidential election in full compliance with the law; and the allegations of election fraud he and former-President Trump made against them have been false since day one.”


Certain issues, including damages, still have to be decided by the court. Gottlieb said Freeman and Moss are “pleased with this major milestone in their fight for justice, and look forward to presenting what remains of this case at trial.”

Freeman and Moss filed a motion this month alleging that Giuliani had “failed to take any steps to preserve relevant electronic evidence.” They know such evidence exists because other people provided it to them, their filing says. They asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to impose sanctions.

In the court filing, a lawyer for Giuliani argued that his client did not fail to preserve or destroy any electronic evidence “because all pertinent documents were seized by the government and were in their possession, custody, or control.”


The federal government had executed search warrants at Giuliani’s home and office in a separate case in New York and had seized his electronic devices.

The records that Moss and Freeman said were not produced “have not been in the possession of Giuliani since their seizure in April 2021,” according to the court filing, and therefore it is “physically impossible” for him to have destroyed the evidence.

Moss had worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012 and supervised the absentee ballot operation during the 2020 election. Freeman was a temporary election worker, verifying signatures on absentee ballots and preparing them to be counted and processed.

Giuliani and others alleged during a Georgia legislative subcommittee hearing in December 2020 that surveillance video from State Farm Arena showed the election workers committing election fraud. As those allegations circulated online, the two women said, they suffered intense harassment, both in person and online. Moss detailed her experiences in emotional testimony before the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The committee also played video testimony from Freeman during the hearing in June 2022.

In a court filing that month, Giuliani asked the judge to toss the lawsuit, arguing the claims against him were barred by First Amendment protections for free speech. Howell rejected that request, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

The defamation lawsuit originally named right-wing cable news channel One America News Network, its owners and its chief White House correspondent for also pushing the debunked claims. They were dismissed from the suit in May 2022 after reaching an undisclosed settlement with Moss and Freeman.
at least he is being honest about making false statments. ;)
 

spaminator

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Student who sat in Pence’s chair during Capitol riot sentenced to year in prison
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Kunzelman And Lindsay Whitehurst
Published Jul 26, 2023 • 4 minute read

WASHINGTON — A high school student who stormed the U.S. Capitol, assaulted a police officer and sat in a Senate floor chair reserved for the vice president was sentenced on Wednesday to one year in prison.


Georgia resident Bruno Joseph Cua was 18 when he attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, making him one of the youngest people charged in the riot.


Before learning his sentence, Cua apologized for his actions and told U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss that he is ashamed of his role in a mob’s “attack on democracy.”

“Everything that day was just one terrible decision after another,” said Cua, now 21.

Moss sentenced Cua to a prison term of one year and one day followed by three years of supervised release. The judge convicted Cua of felony charges after a trial earlier this year.

Moss told Cua that he was prepared to give him a longer prison sentence before he heard his statement in court on Wednesday. The judge said he believes Cua is truly remorseful.


“It’s a tragic case for the country. It’s a tragic case for you and your family,” the judge told him. “There are no winners in any of this.”

More than 1,000 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related crimes. Cua is one of at least six Capitol riot defendants born in 2002, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.

Cua’s attorneys cited his youth as grounds for leniency. His actions on Jan. 6 “reflect his immaturity at the time and the effects that the crowd had on such a young person,” defense attorneys wrote in a court filing.

Around the time of the riot, Cua was finishing online coursework to graduate from high school. Prosecutors said Cua’s age is “only slightly” a mitigating factor in his favor.


“Americans who reach the age of 18 are entrusted with several important responsibilities and duties including voting, joining the military, signing a contract, and serving on a jury. In this way, the law recognizes that an 18-year-old is capable of making mature decisions,” they wrote in a court filing.

Justice Department prosecutor Kaitlin Klamann said at least five Capitol riot defendants were younger than Cua on Jan. 6. Two of the five have resolved their cases and avoided prison terms. Both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses and were sentenced to probation.

Cua planned his attack weeks in advance, brought weapons to the Capitol, tried to terrorize congressional staffers and was repeatedly aggressive toward police, prosecutors said.


They added, “Cua played a unique and prominent role on January 6, opening the Senate Chamber to the rioters, escalating confrontations, and leading other rioters into and through the Capitol.”

Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of four years and nine months for Cua. His lawyers asked the judge to sentence him to time served: the 40 days he spent in jail after his February 2021 arrest.

Cua said he was “scarred to my core” by his jail time. Another inmate assaulted Cua while he was jailed in Oklahoma, according to one of his lawyers.

“I did something stupid to land myself there, but it was traumatizing,” Cua said.

Other young rioters have received prison terms. In March, for example, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Aiden Bilyard to three years and four months of incarceration. Bilyard, of Cary, North Carolina, also was 18 when he stormed the Capitol, pepper sprayed a line of police officers and used a bat to break into a Capitol conference room.


Cua and his parents drove from their home in Milton, Georgia, to Washington D.C., arriving a day before then-President Donald Trump spoke at his “Stop the Steal” rally. The Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

Cua was armed with pepper spray and a metal baton — weapons given to him by his father — when rioters breached police lines on the west side of the Capitol, according to prosecutors. After climbing scaffolding, Cua entered the building through the Upper West Terrace doors and and walked down a hallway toward the Senate.

“As Cua walked down the hallway, he tried to open every single office door he passed by pulling on doorknobs, pounding on the doors with his fist, and kicking the doors,” prosecutors wrote.


They said Cua intended to intimidate staffers who were behind the doors as he yelled, “Hey! Where are the swamp rats hiding?”

Cua went to the third floor, where he shoved a Capitol police officer who was trying to lock doors to the Senate gallery. After the officer retreated, Cua entered the gallery, shouting “This is our house! This is our country!” Jumping onto the Senate floor, he sat in the chair for then-Vice President Mike Pence, leaned back and propped his feet up on a desk.

Then he opened a door, allowing dozens of other rioters onto the Senate floor. Before leaving, Cua rifled through desks belonging to Senators Charles Grassley, John Thune and Dianne Feinstein.

Moss decided the case against Cua without a jury in February, convicting him of obstructing the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding and assaulting a federal officer. The judge handed down the verdict after a “stipulated bench trial,” a proceeding in which Cua didn’t contest the facts supporting his convictions. He waived his right to a jury trial.

Prosecutors asked Moss to impose a $23,485 fine, which equals the amount of money raised by an online fundraising campaign called “Bruno Cua: An American’s Future at Stake.” The website said the funds will be used for Cua’s “many expenses in his pursuit of his freedom.”
 

spaminator

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Trump accused of asking staffer to delete camera footage in Florida classified documents case
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Eric Tucker
Published Jul 27, 2023 • 1 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is facing accusations that he and aides asked a staffer to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct the classified documents investigations.


The allegations were made Thursday in an updated grand jury indictment that adds new charges against Trump and adds another defendant to the case.


A Trump spokesperson dismissed the new charges as “nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt” by the Biden administration “to harass President Trump and those around him” and to influence the 2024 presidential race.

A third defendant has been charged alongside former President Donald Trump and his valet in the classified documents case in Florida, court records show.

The charges against the individual, identified on the court docket as Carlos De Oliveira, were not immediately revealed Thursday.

Trump and valet Walt Nauta were charged last month by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith in a 38-count indictment with conspiring to hide classified documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, from government investigators who were demanding them back.

The records were taken by Trump to the Palm Beach complex after he left the White House in January 2021.

Both men have pleaded not guilty.
 

Tecumsehsbones

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Oh, who fucking cares? Man's bent as a corkscrew. He just validates conservatives fantasies. You wanna vote for him, go for it. Rest of us got a future to get to.
 

pgs

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Oh, who fucking cares? Man's bent as a corkscrew. He just validates conservatives fantasies. You wanna vote for him, go for it. Rest of us got a future to get to.
Wah , getting nervous ? The geriatric in chief causing you worry . Are you a chief ?
 

spaminator

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Rioter who stole badge, radio from beaten officer on Jan. 6 gets more than 4 years
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Alanna Durkin Richer
Published Jul 28, 2023 • 2 minute read

A New York man who stole a badge and radio from a police officer brutally beaten by other rioters during the attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Friday to more than four years in prison.


Thomas Sibick, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty in March for his role in the attack on Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who has described fighting for his life to defend the Capitol as lawmakers inside fled from the angry mob on Jan. 6, 2021.


In a letter to the judge, Sibick, 37, called the trauma Fanone experienced “undeniably sickening” and said he takes full responsibility for his “uncivilized display of reckless behavior.”

“It was an attack on the institutions of our democracy and not as some would make you believe legitimate political discourse. The attack was far from peaceful, my actions played a role that will follow me for the rest of my life,” Sibick wrote.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced him to 50 months in prison during a hearing in Washington’s federal court.


Sibick’s attorney Stephen Brennwald did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Following his arrest, Sibick spent eight months behind bars but was released on home confinement in October 2021 after his lawyer pressed the judge to free him while his case played out.

Sibick’s attorney had asked for a sentence of home confinement, writing in court papers that a mental health misdiagnosis resulted in his client taking medication on Jan. 6 that “severely and negatively impacted him.” Sibick’s attorney said, unlike other rioters, his client did not physically assault Fanone, and their interaction was limited to Sibick grabbing Fanone’s radio and badge.

“Mr. Sibick has made a remarkable change in his life since he received his correct mental health diagnosis and has begun cognitive behavioral therapy,” Brennwald wrote. “Because he sees January 6 for what it was, he is not a threat to re-offend in the future.”


Rioters kicked, punched, grabbed and shocked Fanone with a stun gun after pulling him away from other officers who were guarding a tunnel entrance on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Another rioter threatened to take Fanone’s gun and kill him. Fanone said the attack gave him a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury and ultimately cost him his career.

Fanone’s body camera captured Sibick removing the officer’s badge and radio from his tactical vest, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea.

Others in the crowd escorted Fanone back to the police line. Before FBI agents showed Sibick the body camera video, he initially claimed that he tried in vain to pull the officer away from his attackers.

Sibick said he buried Fanone’s badge in his backyard after returning home to Buffalo. He returned the badge, but Fanone’s $5,500 radio hasn’t been recovered.

Other rioters have been charged with attacking Fanone, who lost consciousness and was taken to an emergency room.

Albuquerque Cosper Head, a Tennessee man who dragged Fanone into the crowd, was sentenced in October 2022 to seven years and six months in prison. Another man, Daniel Rodriguez of California, was sentenced last month to more than 12 years in prison for driving a stun gun into Fanone’s neck as the officer screamed out in pain.
 

spaminator

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Donald Trump appeals judge’s decision to keep hush-money case in New York state court
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Jul 28, 2023 • 3 minute read

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court Friday to reverse a federal judge’s decision to keep his hush-money criminal case in a New York state court that the former president claims is “very unfair” to him.


Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan after U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein last week rejected his bid to move the case to federal court, where his lawyers were primed to argue he was immune from prosecution.


U.S. law allows criminal prosecutions to be moved from state to federal court if they involve actions taken by federal government officials as part of their official duties, but Hellerstein ruled that the hush-money case involved a personal matter, not presidential duties.

Trump’s appeal notice came at the end of another busy week of legal action for the twice-indicted Republican as he seeks a return to the White House in next year’s election. On Thursday, he was indicted on new criminal charges in a separate case in federal court in Florida involving allegations that he illegally hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.


The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the hush-money case and fought to keep it in state court, declined to comment on Trump’s appeal.

Trump pleaded not guilty April 4 in state court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide reimbursements made to his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen for his role in paying $130,000 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Cohen also arranged for the National Enquirer to pay Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about an alleged affair, which the supermarket tabloid then squelched in a dubious journalism practice known as “catch-and-kill.”


Trump denied having sexual encounters with either woman. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and not part of any cover-up.

He is scheduled to stand trial in state court on March 25, 2024. In the meantime, his lawyers have asked the state court judge presiding over the case, Juan Manuel Merchan, to step aside, arguing that he’s biased in part because his daughter does political consulting work for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals. Trump has referred to Merchan as “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.” The judge has yet to rule on the request.
 

spaminator

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Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN over ’the Big Lie’ dismissed in Florida
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mike Schneider
Published Jul 30, 2023 • 1 minute read
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Trump filed against CNN in which the former U.S. president claimed that the network's referring to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as "the Big Lie" was tantamount to comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Trump had been seeking punitive damages of $475 million in the lawsuit filed last October.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Trump filed against CNN in which the former U.S. president claimed that the network's referring to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as "the Big Lie" was tantamount to comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Trump had been seeking punitive damages of $475 million in the lawsuit filed last October.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against CNN in which the former U.S. president claimed that the network’s referring to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as “the Big Lie” was tantamount to comparing him to Adolf Hitler.


Trump had been seeking punitive damages of $475 million in the federal lawsuit filed last October in South Florida, claiming the references hurt his reputation and political career. Trump is a candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination in what is his third run for the presidency.


U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who was appointed by Trump, said Friday in his ruling that the former president’s defamation claims failed because the references were opinions and not factual statements. Moreover, it was a stretch to believe that, in viewers’ minds, that phrase would connect Trump’s efforts challenging the 2020 election results to Nazi propaganda or Hitler’s genocidal and authoritarian regime, the judge said.

“CNN’s use of the phrase ‘the Big Lie’ in connection with Trump’s election challenges does not give rise to a plausible inference that Trump advocates the persecution and genocide of Jews or any other group of people,” the judge wrote in his decision.

Email messages seeking comment were sent to Trump’s attorneys in South Florida and Washington. Email messages seeking comment also were sent to CNN attorneys in Atlanta and South Florida.
 

Serryah

Hall of Fame Member
Dec 3, 2008
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New Brunswick

Starting to eat their own now.


Almost sad.

Almost.
 

spaminator

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Mar-a-Lago worker De Oliveira makes first court appearance in Trump’s classified documents case
He is accused of scheming with Trump to try to delete security footage sought by investigators

Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Adriana Gomez Licon And Alanna Durkin Richer
Published Jul 31, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

MIAMI — The property manager of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate made his first court appearance on Monday on charges in the classified documents case against the former president but did not enter a plea because he has not found a Florida-based attorney to represent him.


Carlos De Oliveira is accused of scheming with Trump to try to delete security footage sought by investigators probing the former president’s hoarding of classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida, club.


De Oliveira was added last week to the indictment with Trump and the ex-president’s valet, Walt Nauta, and faces charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to investigators.

A magistrate judge in Miami’s federal court read De Oliveira the charges against him and ordered him to turn over his passport and sign an agreement to pay $100,000 if he doesn’t appear in court. The judge scheduled his arraignment for Aug. 10 in Fort Pierce.

The developments in the classified documents case come as Trump braces for possible charges in another federal investigation into his efforts to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election. Trump, the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, has received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith indicating that he is a target of that investigation, and Trump’s lawyers met with Smith’s team last week.


Trump, who pleaded not guilty in June, Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He post on his Truth Social platform last week that the Mar-a-Lago security tapes were voluntarily handed over to investigators and that he was told the tapes were not “deleted in any way, shape or form.”

Prosecutors have not alleged that security footage was actually deleted or kept from investigators.

Nauta has also pleaded not guilty. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had previously scheduled the trial of Trump and Nauta to begin in May, and it’s unclear whether the addition of De Oliveira to the case may impact the case’s timeline.

The latest indictment, unsealed on Thursday, alleges that Trump tried to have security footage deleted after investigators visited in June 2022 to collect classified documents Trump took with him after he left the White House.


Trump was already facing dozens of felony counts — including willful retention of national defense information — stemming from allegations that he mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect. Experts have said the new allegations bolster the special counsel’s case and deepen the former president’s legal jeopardy.

Video from Mar-a-Lago would ultimately become vital to the government’s case because, prosecutors said, it shows Nauta moving boxes in and out of a storage room — an act alleged to have been done at Trump’s direction and in effort to hide records not only only from investigators but also from Trump’s own lawyers.

Days after the Justice Department sent a subpoena for video footage at Mar-a-Lago to the Trump Organization in June 2022, prosecutors say, De Oliveira asked an information technology staffer how long the server retained footage and told the employee “the boss” wanted it deleted. When the employee said he didn’t believe he was able to do that, De Oliveira insisted the “boss” wanted it done, asking, “What are we going to do?”


Shortly after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago and found classified records in the storage room and Trump’s office, prosecutors say, Nauta called a Trump employee and said words to the effect of “someone just wants to make sure Carlos is good.” The indictment says the employee responded that De Oliveira was loyal and wouldn’t do anything to affect his relationship with Trump. That day, the indictment alleges, Trump called De Oliveira directly to say that he would get De Oliveira an attorney.

Prosecutors allege that De Oliveira later lied in interviews with investigators, falsely claiming that he hadn’t even seen boxes moved into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House.