Bomb hoax throws Donald Trump’s $250M lawsuit hearing into chaos
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: A courthouse at 60 Centre Street was shut down on Tuesday, March 21, due to a bomb threat, as a hearing involving a $250 million lawsuit against Donald Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James was set to begin. The threat stemmed from a 911 call, following which the courthouse was temporarily closed and searched. After a while, Court spokesman Lucian Chalfen confirmed the bomb threat ended up being unfounded.
New York Police Department (NYPD), whose officers set up the barricades after Trump called his supporters to protest ahead of his expected indictment over the alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels made just before the 2016 election, also confirmed that “there are currently no credible threats," reports Bloomberg. Following a 20-minute delay, the hearing started in which Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron said, "As if this case isn’t exciting enough on its own, there was a disturbance this morning, but my best understanding is that everyone is here and ready to go," as per New York Post. Engoron, who denied the request for a six-month delay for Trump's fraud trial on October 2, added, “This case is complex, but it’s not complicated. It all boils down to whether the statements of financial condition are true, and the rest as Rabbi Hillel famously said, is all commentary,” states Law&Crime.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit
The attorney general accused Trump and his family of financial fraud and filed a civil lawsuit in September 2022. The attorney general alleged Trump and the Trump Organization from 2011 to 2021 created more than 200 "false and misleading valuations of assets on his annual Statements of Financial Condition to defraud financial institutions," as per Axios. In a released statement, that said, "This conduct was in violation of New York Executive Law 63(12), which gives the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) special and broad powers to go after persistent and repeated fraud and illegality, which in this case includes violating other state laws prohibiting the submission of false financial statements, the falsification of business records, and the commission of insurance fraud." The investigation by James also involved a $130K payment sent to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Will Trump be arrested?
A post by Trump on the Truth Social platform on March 18 claimed that he is set to be arrested on Tuesday, March 21. He wrote in all-caps, "NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"
He then posted about James and called her "corrupt" in a two-part message. The first one read, "Page 1: While Congress is at it, they should look at the Corrupt Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, who got elected solely on an “I WILL GET TRUMP” platform, without knowing anything about me. She then brought a completely bogus lawsuit, which is presided over by an A.G. picked, Trump hating Judge, a political hack whose Court this case should not be in - It shoud be in the Commercial Division, but he wouldn’t let go, is pushing it hard, and knows exactly what he wants to do," and added, "The Chief Judge of New York State should remove this ridiculous case to the Commercial Division, where it belongs. Legal professionals are asking why this hasn’t happened long ago? It is DISGRACEFUL!"
A law enforcement official told the indictment is not expected until Wednesday, March 22. "[NYPD] had their meeting and discussed a whole bunch of stuff about putting extra lighting out there, how they're going to put more barriers out there, and send their special response teams in. The NYPD is going to do what they do when the United Nations comes into town, with stepped-up security. But they don't even think it's going to happen this week. The indictment may happen, but they don't think Trump comes this week. I'm told there's an additional witness who is going to testify on Wednesday [March 22], so if there's an indictment, it's not going to happen until Wednesday or Thursday, so they think he probably comes next week," as per Daily Mail. As per the outlet, Washington Metro police are preparing for protests, however, the USE Capitol Police "is not currently tracking any direct or credible threats to the US Capitol."