Category Archives: Headlines

Inspector general launches probe examining decision to relocate FBI headquarters to Maryland

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal watchdog will investigate how the Biden administration chose a site for a new FBI headquarters following a contentious competition marked by allegations of conflict of interest. The Inspector General for the General Services Administration is probing the decision to locate the facility in Greenbelt, Maryland, over a site in Virginia., according…Read more

14-year-old killed in Fairfax Co. crash, four teens remain hospitalized

Julia Eisen – WMAL News | November 28, 2023 One of the seven teenagers involved in the early morning SUV crash in Merrifield, Va. last week has died. The crash occurred when the teen driver lost control going up a hill. When the car crested the hill the driver struck a tree and five of…Read more

Missed a Show? Listen Here

O'Connor & Company - 5:00am - 9:00am ET
The Chris Plante Show - 9:00am - 12:00pm ET
The Dan Bongino Show - 12:00pm - 3:00pm ET
The Vince Coglianese Show - 3:00pm - 6:00pm ET
The Mark Levin Show - 6:00pm - 9:00pm ET
Advertise with Newstalk 105.9 WMAL

WMAL Daily Show Line Up

Category Archives: Headlines

Trump is expected to attend New York fraud trial again Thursday as testimony nears an end

Trump is expected to attend New York fraud trial again Thursday as testimony nears an end

NEW YORK (AP) — He’s been a frustrated observer, a confrontational witness and a heated commentator outside the courtroom door. Now former President Donald Trump is poised to return to his civil business fraud trial again, first to watch and then to serve as star witness for his own defense.

With testimony winding down after more than two months, court officials and Trump’s attorneys and aides have indicated that the Republican 2024 presidential front-runner is expected to show up voluntarily as a spectator Thursday, when his legal team is calling an accounting professor to testify about some financial topics important to the case.

Then Trump himself is scheduled to take the stand Monday, for a second time.

Even while campaigning to reclaim the presidency and fighting four criminal cases, Trump is devoting a lot of attention to the New York lawsuit. The case is putting his net worth on trial, scrutinizing the real estate empire that first built his reputation, and threatening to block him from doing business in his native state.

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s suit accuses Trump, his company and some executives of misleading banks and insurers by giving them financial statements full of inflated values for such signature assets as his Trump Tower penthouse and Mar-a-Lago, the Florida club where he now lives. The statements were provided to help secure deals — including loans at attractive interest rates available to hyperwealthy people — and some loans required updated statements each year.

Trump denies any wrongdoing, and he posits that the statements’ numbers actually fell short of his wealth. He has downplayed the documents’ importance in getting deals, saying it was clear that lenders and others should do their own analyses. And he claims the case is a partisan abuse of power by James and Judge Arthur Engoron, both Democrats.

The former president has regularly railed about the case on his Truth Social platform. “Happy Banks and Insurance Companies, NO VICTIMS, GREAT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, Perfect Disclaimer Clause – BUT A CORRUPT ATTORNEY GENERAL AND JUDGE!!!” read a typical comment this week.

Trump isn’t required to attend the trial when he’s not on the stand. But going to court affords him a microphone — in fact, many of them, on the news cameras positioned in the hallway. He often stops on his way into and out of the proceedings, which cameras can’t film, to expostulate and to cast various developments as victories.

His out-of-court remarks got him fined $10,000 Oct. 26, when Engoron decided Trump had violated a gag order that prohibits participants in the trial from commenting publicly on court staffers. Trump’s lawyers are appealing the gag order.

James hasn’t let Trump go unanswered, showing up to court herself on the days when he’s there and making her own comments on social media and the courthouse steps. (Lawyers in the case have been told not to make press statements in the hallway, but the former president has been allowed to do so.)

“Here’s a fact: Donald Trump has engaged in years of financial fraud. Here’s another fact: When you break the law, there are consequences,” her office wrote this week on X, formerly Twitter.

While the non-jury trial is airing claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records, Engoron ruled beforehand that Trump and other defendants engaged in fraud. He ordered that a receiver take control of some of Trump’s properties, but an appeals court has held off that order for now.

At trial, James is seeking more than $300 million in penalties and a prohibition on Trump and other defendants doing business in New York.

It’s not clear exactly when testimony will wrap up, but it’s expected before Christmas. Closing arguments are scheduled in January, and Engoron is aiming for a decision by the end of that month.


Tune in live for more on the stories that matter to you: WMAL.com | WMAL app | “Alexa, play W-M-A-L”

Copyright 2023 by WMAL.com. All rights reserved.

Follow WMAL on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Rumble, Gettr and Parler

Cause sought of explosion that leveled an Arlington, Virginia, home as police tried to serve warrant

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Hours before a massive explosion destroyed a duplex and shook a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., a suspect inside his home fired a flare gun 30 to 40 times into the neighborhood, drawing a large police response, officials said Tuesday. All officers escaped serious injury but it was unclear what happened to the…Continue Reading

The House expels Rep. George Santos. An ethics report had accused him of breaking federal law

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Friday to expel Republican Rep. George Santos of New York after a critical ethics report on his conduct that accused him of converting campaign donations for his own use. He was just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues. The vote to expel was 311-114. Expulsion requires…Continue Reading

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, has died at 93

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism and the first woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, has died. She was 93. The court says she died in Phoenix on Friday, of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness. In 2018, she announced…Continue Reading

Inspector general launches probe examining decision to relocate FBI headquarters to Maryland

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal watchdog will investigate how the Biden administration chose a site for a new FBI headquarters following a contentious competition marked by allegations of conflict of interest. The Inspector General for the General Services Administration is probing the decision to locate the facility in Greenbelt, Maryland, over a site in Virginia., according…Continue Reading

Experts explain what’s behind the recent rash of French bulldog thefts in the D.C. metro area

Heather Curtis – WMAL News | November 30, 2023 There’s been a rash of French bulldog thefts in the D.C. metro area over the last few years, with two stolen this week alone. Tuesday a Brookland resident got her Frenchie, Hendrix, back after he was stolen from her while she was walking him in NE…Continue Reading

Lawmakers can ‘vote their conscience’ on expelling Santos, House speaker says, but he has concerns

Speaker Mike Johnson expressed reservations Wednesday about expelling Rep. George Santos from the House this week, but said he and other GOP leaders will not push colleagues to oppose removing the New York Republican from office. “We’re going to allow people to vote their conscience,” Johnson said.Continue Reading

Newsletter

Local Weather

On-Air