Legal experts summoned by Democrats call Trump actions impeachable

President Donald Trump’s actions to prod Ukraine to pursue investigations that could benefit him politically represent impeachable offenses, constitutional law experts called by Democrats testified to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers laid the groundwork for formal charges against Trump.

At a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing featuring political theatrics, three law professors chosen by the Democrats made clear that they believed Trump’s actions constituted impeachable offenses including abuse of power, bribery, obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice.

Continue reading “Legal experts summoned by Democrats call Trump actions impeachable”

Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuses began by 1985, targeted 13-year-old, lawsuit claims

Financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls and young women began as early as 1985 and targeted victims as young as 13 years old, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by nine accusers against his estate.

The accusers, known as Jane Doe I through Jane Doe IX, are among more than 20 women so far to formally seek compensation from Epstein’s $577 million estate, after he killed himself on Aug. 10 in a Manhattan jail cell.

Epstein’s death at age 66 was ruled a suicide, and came five weeks after his arrest on federal charges he trafficked dozens of underage girls from at least 2002 to 2005. He had pleaded not guilty. Many accusers have said his abuses occurred last decade.

Continue reading “Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuses began by 1985, targeted 13-year-old, lawsuit claims”

Trump’s accounting firm must hand over 8 years of tax returns, court rules

President Donald Trump’s longtime accounting firm must hand over eight years of his tax returns to New York prosecutors, a U.S. appeals court ruled Monday, the latest setback for Trump in his tenacious efforts to keep his finances secret.

The ruling by a unanimous three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed the ability of prosecutors to enforce a subpoena for the returns against accounting firm Mazars LLP. Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, said the Republican president will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose 5-4 conservative majority includes two justices appointed by Trump.

Continue reading “Trump’s accounting firm must hand over 8 years of tax returns, court rules”

White House acknowledges strings attached in Trump withholding Ukraine aid

A senior White House official on Thursday acknowledged that President Donald Trump held up $391 million in military aid to Ukraine in part to pressure the Ukrainians to look into an allegation about the 2016 U.S presidential election that has been debunked as a conspiracy theory.

Trump and administration officials had denied for weeks that it had demanded a “quid pro quo” – a Latin phrase meaning a favor for a favor – for delivering the U.S. aid, a key part of a controversy that has triggered an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives against the Republican president.

Continue reading “White House acknowledges strings attached in Trump withholding Ukraine aid”