Month: April 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Tuesday, stemming from an investigation into an alleged hush money payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels while he was a presidential candidate in 2016. The indictment against the 76-year-old former president was unsealed and the charges against the former president were read to him in court before he himself made the plea to a judge. Trump, who is campaigning for another term in the White House, is the first sitting or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said that Trump would not be placed in handcuffs or have his mug shot taken when he surrendered to authorities, as that is only reserved for flight risks or threats to the district attorney or court personnel. He was fingerprinted upon arrival at the courthouse.

The investigation that led to unprecedented charges against the former president traces back to an alleged affair Trump had with Daniels, and the allegation that Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels a month before the 2016 election to ensure she’d keep quiet about the alleged affair they’d had years earlier.

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump last week after investigating the payment that prosecutors allege was falsely documented as “legal expenses” in the financial records of the Trump Organization. Trump and his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen initially denied the claims of an affair, however Cohen later admitted that there was a payment made to Daniels. Cohen told The New York Times that he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in 2016, calling it “a private transaction.”  He said Trump had not reimbursed him. Trump since admitted he authorized the $130,000 payment, but has continued to deny the underlying claims that the two had an affair or that the payment was in any way connected to his campaign.

Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com

Roy McGrath, the former chief of staff to ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, died after he was captured in Tennessee. McGrath was Hogan’s deputy chief of staff in 2015 before Hogan appointed him to lead the Maryland Environmental Service in December 2016. He briefly returned as Hogan’s chief of staff in 2020, before resigning amid backlash over a large severance payout from the service.

Lawyer Joseph Murtha said in an email that McGrath, 53, suffered a gunshot wound and succumbed to injuries. Murtha said it was unclear whether the injury was self-inflicted or whether it occurred in an exchange of gunfire with FBI agents. “The loss of Roy’s life is an absolute tragedy,” Murtha said. “I think it is important for me to say that Roy never wavered about his innocence.” FBI spokesman Shayne Buchwald said an “agent-involved shooting” is under review but declined to comment further on who fired the fatal shot, adding that McGrath suffered the injury during his arrest in Knoxville at 6:30 p.m.

The incident occurred nearly three weeks after he failed to appear for trial on federal wire fraud, theft and falsification charges on March 13. Two weeks later, the FBI offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, saying he was a fugitive and an international flight risk.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland had accused McGrath of using his position at the nonprofit public corporation to enrich himself by fraudulently claiming Hogan had approved the payout. Federal prosecutors in Maryland also accused McGrath of illegally recording private conversations with officials, falsifying time sheets and directing service funds to a museum where he was a member and to pay for tuition benefits.

Editorial credit: Dzelat / Shutterstock.com