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Trump says 'disgusting' New York AG committed 'FRAUD' by allegedly convincing judge to undervalue Mar-a-Lago

Former President Trump claimed Monday night that New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in fraud by allegedly convincing a judge to undervalue his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida amid his civil fraud case in the Empire State.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump called James a "failed and disgusting" attorney general who significantly undervalued his Florida property.

"The only FRAUD in the Peekaboo James case, our failed and disgusting New York State Attorney General, was her convincing 'Judge' Arthur Engoron to put a value on Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, of just $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount," Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, wrote on the platform.

"This was fraudulently and illegally done, working closely together in a corrupt Communist system, to set their NARRATIVE after learning that their Values and Facts were completely wrong," he continued. "Businesses will flee the State as Migrant Crime and Violence continues to flourish. I paid $300,000,000 in Taxes, and this is what I get. WITCH HUNT!!!"

LEGAL EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON TRUMP'S OPTIONS AFTER FAILURE TO SECURE $464M APPEAL BOND: 'UNCHARTERED TERRITORY'

This comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron handed down his decision last month after a months-long trial beginning in October in which the former president was accused of inflating his assets and committing fraud in financial documents.

Engoron ruled that Trump and other defendants were liable for "persistent and repeated fraud," "falsifying business records," "issuing false financial statements," "conspiracy to falsify false financial statements," "insurance fraud" and "conspiracy to commit insurance fraud."

Later in February, a New York Appeals Court judge denied Trump's request to delay payment of the $464 million owed as a result of the lawsuit brought by James, but said he would temporarily allow the former president and his sons to continue running their business during the appeals process.

A New York Appeals Court judge previously ruled that Trump must post a bond for the full amount of the judgment and that an independent director of compliance will be appointed.

On Monday, Trump's lawyers wrote in a court filing that obtaining the $464 million appeal was a "practical impossibility under the circumstances presented."

TRUMP TRIALS: HERE'S WHERE EACH CASE AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT AND PRESUMPTIVE GOP NOMINEE STANDS

Trump's attorney Alina Habba told the X22 report Monday she was "confident" her client's debt would be dismissed.

"Despite the fact that witnesses frankly had said that they were great clients, we all made money, they did nothing wrong, we got slammed with this egregious number, and I'm confident we'll overturn it," Habba said.

In a Truth Social post earlier on Monday, Trump said he "built a Magnificent Business, which helped rebuild New York City and State, with Amazing, Unparalleled, Historic Properties and tons of CASH, which Crooked Joe Biden and his Maniac Persecutors are trying to wrongfully and illegally take from me."

"A bond of the size set by the Democrat Club-controlled Judge, in Corrupt, Racist Letitia James' unlawful Witch Hunt, is unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine," Trump wrote. "The Bonding Companies have never heard of such a bond, of this size, before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond, even if they wanted to."

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

2024/03/19 04:56

Newsom’s office dismisses report saying California not on pace to meet 2030 emissions mandate

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office is dismissing a new report saying the Golden State will fail to meet its climate change mandates unless it nearly triples its rate of reduction of greenhouse gases through 2030.

The analysis by Beacon Economics, an L.A.-based economic research firm, found that California’s emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases rose by 3.4% in 2021, after they had dropped during the pandemic. The increase puts California further behind in reaching its required regulation under state law of 40% fewer emissions in 2030 than in 1990.

"The cost of getting the state back on pace would depend on what approach we take," lead researcher Stafford Nichols told Fox News Digital. "Some strategies are cheaper than others. We could make changes to the regulatory frameworks of California to encourage and enable the adoption of new technologies."

BIDEN ADMIN AIMS TO PUSH TOWNS, CITIES TO ADOPT GREEN ENERGY BUILDING CODES: 'VERY SUSPICIOUS'

"However, sometimes politics gets in the way of this decision-making framework, and politicians do not always choose the most efficient strategies," he added.

California's regulatory plan championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to ban new gas-powered vehicles more than a decade from now is aimed at protecting public health by reducing the amount of particulate matter — like dust, dirt and soot — that's in the air. 

But not all experts agree with the state's push for what's termed "clean energy," which is energy from renewable sources to generate solar, wind, water, geothermal and bioenergy.

Ronald Stein, energy consultant at the nonprofit Heartland Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview that California's movement for clean energy is "increasing emissions around the world."

17 RETIRED MILITARY OFFICIALS RAISE ALARM ON BIDEN'S ELECTRIC VEHICLE PUSH

"Because what we're doing is we're basically delegating it to other countries that are providing all the products back to California, and they have no environmental or labor controls," Stein said. "We keep shutting down our gas-powered plants, and now California imports more electricity than any other state."

He added, "We have a demand, our neighbors have a supply."

According to the economic firm's analysis, a significant amount of emissions, amounting to more than 100 million metric tons annually, would have to be eliminated for California to meet its own goal. The state would fail to slash 258 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions on its current trajectory, the analysis says.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS UPHOLD STATE'S EV MANDATE DESPITE GROWING OPPOSITION: 'DEFY COMMON SENSE'

Newsom's office told Fox News Digital that the analysis doesn't tell the full story about the state's climate initiatives.

"Nobody thought we would achieve our climate goals, like 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025 and cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 – we’re exceeding them years ahead of schedule. We’ll continue proving everybody wrong," a Newsom spokesperson said.

"I want to underscore the point that the study doesn’t take into account a lot of our current and future work to achieve targets," the spokesperson added.

Newsom's office also said the state is investing more than $48 billion in climate change initiatives alone, including $10 billion in zero-emission vehicles and chargers.

"That’s on top of the billions in federal spending that will accelerate the transition to clean energy," the spokesperson said.

People living in California have been paying 32 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to the national average of 18 cents, according to Energy Sage, which has monitored energy prices nationwide. It said California residents have been paying $273 per month on average for electricity, or $3,276 per year.

Meanwhile, industry sources told Fox News Digital the Environmental Protection Agency is slated to issue a final decision this week on regulations targeting gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions, which officials have boasted will incentivize greater adoption of electric vehicles nationwide but which opponents have criticized as a de facto mandate. The regulations, a key part of President Biden's climate agenda, would ultimately force automakers to more rapidly expand electric options in their fleets beginning in a matter of years.

Fox News' Eric Revell, Thomas Catenacci and William La Jeunesse contributed to this report.

2024/03/19 04:00

Trump trials: Here’s where each case against former president and presumptive GOP nominee stands

Former President Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee for president, will likely spend days in court defending himself against charges in multiple jurisdictions while also crisscrossing the country on the campaign trail until Election Day.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in all cases. Many trials have been delayed or put on pause.

Here is where each case stands:

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether Trump is immune from prosecution next month. 

Arguments on presidential immunity are scheduled to begin on April 25. A ruling from the high court is expected by late June. 

Trump and his legal team, in requesting the Supreme Court review the issue of presidential immunity, said that "if the prosecution of a president is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination."

"Criminal prosecution, with its greater stigma and more severe penalties, imposes a far greater ‘personal vulnerability’ on the President than any civil penalty," the request states. "The threat of future criminal prosecution by a politically opposed Administration will overshadow every future president’s official acts — especially the most politically controversial decisions." 

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ARGUMENTS IN TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY CASE ON APRIL 25

Special Counsel Jack Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. 

Those charges stem from Smith’s months-long investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The trial was set to begin March 4 but was put on hold pending a resolution on the matter.

The trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump’s alleged hush-money payments during the 2016 election was scheduled to begin on March 25.

Last week, though, a judge delayed the trial until mid-April to give Trump's lawyers additional time to go through 15,000 records of potential evidence the Justice Department shared from a previous federal investigation into the matter.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York said much of the newly produced material is unrelated to the state case against Trump. Federal prosecutors have already produced more than 100,000 pages of records for review. Fox News Digital has learned, though, that at least 74,000 pages of records initially were sent only to Bragg’s office and not to Trump’s legal team. 

JUDGE DELAYS TRUMP'S HUSH-MONEY TRIAL AMID LAST-MINUTE EVIDENCE DUMP BY FEDS

Trump’s lawyers were seeking a 90-day delay or a dismissal of charges against him, arguing there were violations in "the discovery process," whereby both sides exchange evidence. Defense lawyers said a 30-day delay was "insufficient."

Trump's lawyers have said the materials from the federal investigation are critical for his defense in the state case being brought by Bragg.

Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Bragg alleged that Trump "repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."

The charges are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s motion to dismiss charges of retaining classified documents on the grounds of "unconstitutional vagueness."

Cannon has not yet ruled on Trump’s other argument, which is a motion to dismiss based on the Presidential Records Act. 

TRUMP FLORIDA JUDGE CANNON DENIES TRUMP DISMISSAL ON 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL VAGUENESS'

Trump was charged out of Smith’s investigation into his retention of classified materials. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith’s probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements.

Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of the investigation — an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. 

Trump pleaded not guilty. 

A Fulton County judge recently quashed six counts in the Georgia election interference case against Trump and his 18 co-defendants. 

Judge Scott McAfee said in an order Wednesday that the state failed to allege sufficient detail for six counts of "solicitation of violation of oath by public officer." 

"The Court’s concern is less that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants – in fact it has alleged an abundance. However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned opinion, fatal," McAfee wrote.

FULTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE WITHDRAWS FROM TRUMP CASE, ALLOWING DA FANI WILLIS TO CONTINUE

"As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited," the judge continued. 

"They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways."  

Georgia state law prohibits any public officer from willfully and intentionally violating the terms of his or her oath as prescribed by law. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleged that Trump and six of his co-defendants illegally attempted to persuade numerous state officials to violate their oaths in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Willis charged Trump with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements.

JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Meanwhile, Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade has withdrawn from the prosecution after McAfee said either he must go or Willis would be disqualified from prosecuting Trump. Four co-defendants had accused Willis of having an "improper" affair with Wade, who she hired to help prosecute the case.

The defendants alleged that Willis benefited financially by hiring Wade in 2021 because they were in a preexisting romantic relationship and went on several trips together. Michael Roman, a Republican operative who worked on Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, alleged that Wade's law firm billed taxpayers $650,000 at a rate of $250 an hour since his hiring — and that he used that income to pay for vacations with Willis.

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Both Wade and Willis denied they were in a romantic relationship prior to his hiring. During a two-day evidentiary hearing in February, they each testified that they split the cost of their shared trips. Willis told the court she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

A trial date for Trump has not yet been set.

2024/03/19 04:00

Massive Chinese firm sues small Michigan town over opposition to controversial EV battery project

The subsidiary of a billion-dollar Chinese energy firm is suing a tiny Michigan town over local officials' opposition to the company's massive electric vehicle (EV) battery project.

Gotion Inc. – whose parent company, Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, and has documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party – filed a breach-of-contract complaint against Green Charter Township in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The lawsuit is the latest escalation in a months-long feud between Gotion and Green Charter officials who have pumped the brakes on the company's proposed project within the town's jurisdiction.

"We are saddened and disappointed by their decision to proceed in this direction," Green Charter Supervisor Jason Kruse told Fox News Digital in a written statement.

"As Township Supervisor, my number one concern is protecting the interests of the people of Green Charter Township, and we will vigorously defend our township’s position in this matter," Kruse added. "We might be a small community, but we refuse to be bullied."

BIDEN ADMIN GREEN-LIGHTS CHINESE EV BATTERY FACTORY IN MICHIGAN, DESPITE LOCAL OPPOSITION

According to the lawsuit, Kruse and other elected Green Charter leaders have pursued unlawful actions against the company and are "motivated by clear anti-Gotion animus." Gotion asked the court to reinstate permits canceled by the township, thereby allowing its battery project to move forward, and further filed a motion for preliminary injunction, requesting that the court intervene quickly.

"It’s unfortunate that Gotion has had to resort to litigation to get the township to comply with their obligations under the agreement," Chuck Thelen, Gotion’s vice president of North American operations, said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. "We’re unable to comment further since this is now an ongoing legal matter."

NRSC AD PUTS DEM REP ON BLAST FOR SIGNING HUSH AGREEMENT INVOLVING CCP-TIED COMPANY

The issue dates back to October 2022, when Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to construct two large production plants along with other supporting facilities spanning 260 acres in Green Charter, which is located in northwestern Michigan. Whitmer said the project would shore up Michigan's status as the "global hub of mobility and electrification."

Under the economic development package awarded to Gotion, the company is set to receive $175 million in taxpayer-funded incentives and more than $500 million in tax incentives.

However, the project has generated substantial local uproar, with residents repeatedly expressing concern about Gotion's ties to China and calling on the Whitmer administration to cancel the project. For example, the projects' opponents have noted Gotion High-Tech's corporate bylaws require the company to "carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China."

In addition, Gotion High-Tech hosted multiple company trips in 2021 to CCP revolutionary memorials in Anhui Province, China. During the trips, Gotion High-Tech workers wore Red Army outfits and pledged to "fight for communism to the end of my life."

ALABAMA REJECTED CCP-TIED EV COMPANY'S PROJECT THAT BLUE STATES EVENTUALLY GREEN-LIT

On Dec. 13, 2022, Green Charter Township approved a resolution in support of Gotion's project. Months later, in August 2023, the township authorized then-Supervisor James Chapman to privately negotiate the terms of a development agreement with Gotion, that is required to approve certain infrastructure at the site of the project.

That agreement was executed between Gotion and Green Charter on Oct. 10, 2023.

But, while the town pursued the agreement and negotiations with Gotion, local residents simultaneously organized a recall effort that proved successful in early November 2023. Every member of the town board, including Chapman, was ousted. After Kruse and the other new members of the board took office, they immediately rescinded the October development agreement.

"The Development Agreement was and remains a legally binding agreement between Gotion and the Township," Gotion's federal lawsuit states.

HOUSE CCP PANEL PROBES BIDEN ADMIN OVER CHINESE GREEN ENERGY PROJECT ON US SOIL

After the lawsuit was filed, meanwhile, Gotion was blasted by former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella, who have led opposition to the company's plans over national security concerns. Last year, the pair founded the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, a watchdog group devoted to reviewing Chinese economic investments across the country with a particular focus on Michigan.

"PRC-based and CCP-tied Gotion continues to carry on every bit the way a company based in authoritarian Communist China would – in secrecy, heavy handedness, above the law operations, and reckless disregard for the environment," they said in a joint statement Monday. "Gotion, a $40 billion company, does not like the fact five elected officials who rolled over for them were recalled, and now they are suing over alleged 'breach of contract' to get the results they want, contrary to the will of the people."

"These are every day citizens from both sides of the aisle in Green Township that are fighting this," they added. "They are simply seeking to de-risk from this type of subnational incursion from Gotion that our national security and intelligence operations have warned present a national security threat, and preserve their pristine natural surroundings, water, and habitats. This is precisely why every day hard working Americans distrust government and business elites."

Former CIA Directors Leon Panetta and Mike Pompeo have also raised the alarm on the project.

Gov. Whitmer's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

2024/03/19 04:00

Decoding Trump: How he engaged, deflected or ducked my questions at Mar-a-Lago

I came armed with a fistful of blue cards, and still didn’t get to half the questions, but Donald Trump made a whole lot of news in our Mar-a-Lago interview.

What’s revealing is how he chose to answer the most sensitive questions, or to deflect them, and how various media outlets chose to frame them.

Some, like the New York Times, ABC and the Hill, played it straight. Other operations, many of them left-leaning, cherry-picked quotes to make Trump look as awful as possible, while ignoring the reasonable-sounding things he said.

A classic example was when I asked the former president about the murder of Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison camp. I thought he might duck because of his friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin.

But I put it to him point-blank: Is the Russian dictator responsible for the death of the opposition leader?

TRUMP: IF YOU’RE GOING TO BAN TIKTOK, BAN FACEBOOK TOO

"Perhaps," Trump said. "I mean, possibly, I could say probably. I don't know. He's a young man, so statistically he'd be alive for a long time…Certainly that would look like something very bad happened."

Keep in mind that Trump has never even mentioned Putin in the same paragraph as Navalny, and now he’s saying "probably" responsible. Of course, Trump can’t prove it, and neither can I.

Here are some of the headlines:

"Trump Couldn’t Bring Himself to Condemn Putin for Alexei Navalny’s Death."

"Trump Delivers Head-Spinningly Awkward Answer to New Question About Putin." 

"Trump: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Putin Was Responsible for Navalny’s Death."

You get the idea.

Which brings us to Trump’s rhetoric. I asked why he uses words like "vermin" and "poisoning of the blood" to describe illegal migrants – especially since the press says such language was used by Hitler and Mussolini.

Trump says he didn’t know that and then repeated "our country is being poisoned" – prompting a wave of headlines that he had doubled down on such harmful language.

TRUMP: BIDEN IS ‘BAD FOR ISRAEL’

I guess you could say that – and I’m not letting him off the hook – but the more telling part of his answer came next.

I asked the 45th president whether he uses "over the top" and "inflammatory" language to drive the media debate, meaning a focus on his words gets news outlets spending days on his turf, on his preferred issue, in the arguments over whether he went too far. And Trump didn’t deny it, saying he wouldn’t limit himself to "politically correct" verbiage.

"It also gets people thinking about very important issues," he said. "That if you don't use certain rhetoric, if you don't use certain words that maybe are not very nice words, nothing will happen." My theory, based on decades of observing him, was correct.

Then he went off on migrants coming from insane asylums and how crime will double – neither of which has been shown to be true on a major scale. 

The same was true with NATO, when Trump caused a global uproar by saying he’d encourage the Russians to "do whatever the hell they want" to NATO countries that don’t pay their fair share of defense costs.

That sounds like someone taking a pro-Putin stance, I said.

"It sounds like somebody that wants to get people to pay money," Trump said. In other words, it was a negotiating tactic.

Half an hour before airtime, the media were awash in headlines about Trump saying there would be a "bloodbath" if he lost the election. So I watched that portion of his speech at an Ohio rally the night before.

There have been times when Trump used loaded words to signal the possibility of political violence. This wasn’t one of them.

TRUMP: I’LL DEBATE BIDEN ‘ANYTIME, ANYPLACE’

Trump was going on about Chinese cars and their impact on the American auto industry. Then he said if he wasn’t elected there would be a bloodbath – in terms of the impact on jobs. Then he went right back to talking about electric vehicles and industry competition.

Now some pundits said the mere use of the word bloodbath was like a bat signal, telling his supporters to get ready for violence. After all, he was so Machiavellian that he added, "That’s going to be the least of it." But as I said, too many outlets were so in love with the bloodbath story that they wrenched it out of context.

Trump also said at the rally that some migrants were "animals" and "not people." That’s unacceptable language, in my view, but remember what he said about inflammatory words driving the media debate. I wanted to decode his approach for viewers.   

Trump also made news on abortion. I asked him about a Times story that said he is discussing with advisers a national ban after 16 weeks of pregnancy – not knowing his campaign had dismissed it as fake news – and figured he’d dismiss the story.

Nope. He essentially confirmed the 16-week story – saying he’d make a decision "pretty soon," which would obviously be in that range – that had previously been attributed to unnamed sources. He said, despite my skepticism, that he wants to "make both sides happy."

When Republicans grapple with abortion in the post-Roe world, Trump said, "you have to go with your heart. But beyond that, you also have to get elected." He said that opposing the three exceptions – rape, incest, life of the mother – caused Pennsylvania Republican Doug Mastriano to lose the governor’s race in a landslide.

Then Trump went off on the Democrats and late-term abortions – which I said in one of several fact-checks are exceedingly rare.

He also made news on subjects ranging from Israel to TikTok.

The first time I met Donald Trump was in 1987, in New York, when he was promoting his first book "The Art of the Deal."

And this, unprompted, is what he said to me:

"When I go up to New Hampshire – I'm not running for president, by the way – I got the best crowd, the best of everything in terms of reception. The politicians go up and get a moderate audience. I go up and they're scalping tickets. You heard that? They're scalping tickets. Why? Because people don't want to be ripped off, and this country is being ripped off. I think if I ran, I'd win."

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I confess I did not then envision Trump, still a largely local real estate guy, in the White House, but now he’s going to head the Republican ticket for the third straight time.

2024/03/19 03:00

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