Business
Trump Documents Trial May Put Resort Workers On Witness Stand, Sources Say
TRUMP TRIAL: According to multiple people familiar with the investigation, federal prosecutors may call Mar-a-Lago staffers and contract workers to testify against former President Donald Trump and his two co-defendants at their upcoming criminal trial in Florida.
CNN has compiled a detailed picture of how prosecutors are building their case against Trump for mishandling secret documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago.
While some witnesses who may be called to testify are from Trump’s inner circle, including his business career, political campaign, and time in the White House, other potential witnesses, according to the sources, are the types of workers whom Mar-a-Lago’s wealthy guests rarely notice.
According to the sources, other likely witnesses include:
- Trump Secret Service agents.
- Former intelligence officials.
- Others were in the room with Trump when he was heard on multiple audio recordings referring to a military document regarding potential preparations to destroy Iran.
However, if summoned to testify, the low-level personnel who were the eyes and ears of Mar-a-Lago might provide the public with new insights into the elite club and Trump’s approach to sensitive national security intelligence after leaving office. Some are still working at Mar-a-Lago.
Following the publication of this report, Trump commented on social media, confirming that several people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
“Of course they did!” says the author. They could be the boxes and other items openly and visibly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act.”
The Presidential Records Act states unequivocally that White House records about government activity are public property and must be handed to the National Archives when the president and vice president leave office.
Trump Documents Trial May Put Resort Workers On Witness Stand, Sources SayTrump Documents Trial May Put Resort Workers On Witness Stand, Sources Say
The trial is scheduled to begin in May in Florida, far before the 2024 presidential election. However, Aileen Cannon, the federal judge presiding over the case, is considering postponing the trial until after the election, thus hiding details about Trump’s behavior until voters go to the polls.
Overall, prosecutors might use these witnesses to demonstrate to a jury the free-wheeling environment that Trump presided over after leaving the White House. The possible witnesses have already provided detailed information to federal investigators regarding the level of security at the Mar-a-Lago resort, including how boxes of documents were stored and if they were visible or accessible to visitors.
The special counsel’s office declined to comment for this article. Trump’s spokespeople waited to react to CNN’s request for comment.
Some witnesses told investigators that what they observed at Mar-a-Lago piqued their interest and appeared strange, out of place, or potentially suspicious.
According to three sources who spoke with CNN about what he told investigators, a woodworker from South Florida put crown molding in Trump’s bedroom in February 2022 and saw documents. While the stack of papers he saw was classified, the craftsman wasn’t sure what he had seen strewn about the site.
Trump Documents Trial May Put Resort Workers On Witness Stand, Sources SayTrump Documents Trial May Put Resort Workers On Witness Stand, Sources Say
“He thinks he saw things, doesn’t know what they were – he eventually told investigators he thought what he saw may have been a movie prop,” a source involved with the investigation said.
According to the sources, prospective witnesses include:
- A maid who cleaned Trump’s suite.
- A plumber who has worked at the property several days a week for years.
- Numerous other maintenance workers.
According to sources acquainted with the inquiry, some workers may not be called as witnesses by prosecutors trying the case and may not have even spotted boxes or documents around the property.
Nonetheless, prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith stated in their June indictment of Trump that lax security once visitors entered the Mar-a-Lago compound is an issue they expect to bring up in front of a jury.
According to the indictment, “Mar-a-Lago was an active social club that hosted events for tens of thousands of members and guests between January 2021 and August 2022,” including movie premieres, weddings, and fundraisers.
According to one source, police questioned a driver about wealthy businesspeople, including foreigners, who had visited the club as VIP guests. The chauffeur, for example, detailed transporting Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, who could be summoned as a witness.
Pratt paid Trump a visit at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office, and the former president revealed secret information about US nuclear submarines with Pratt, according to two people. ABC News previously reported on this detail. This is not one of the incidents in which Trump has been charged with mishandling national security material.
CNN has contacted Pratt’s representative.
A bustling nightclub
Prosecutors claimed in their June indictment that Mar-a-Lago had 25 guest rooms, two ballrooms, a spa, a gift shop, offices, pool, and fitness facilities. More than 150 employees, ranging from temporary to full-time, milled about.
Witness evidence at the trial is sure to bring that scenario to life.
Prosecutors claim that after January 2021, the club was no longer a place where sensitive materials could be legitimately stored, owned, read, displayed, or discussed, making the presence of those without security clearances a risk to national security.
Trump is accused of mishandling 32 national security records, the majority of which are classified, that he maintained after leaving office, primarily in boxes at Mar-a-Lago. He is also accused of conspiring with his co-defendants – Walt Nauta, his bodyguard, and Carlos De Oliveira, the club’s valet turned property manager – to conceal part of the boxes from the federal government and destroy security footage of the boxes being transported.
Prosecutors have publicly mentioned a few potential witnesses in recent court sessions, including a receptionist at the club, the head of maintenance, and a personal aide to Trump.
The social network of Mar-a-Lago
Some of the persons named by CNN as possible witnesses are long-term Trump property employees who live in South Florida and learned about the Trump staff’ concentration on attempting to remove the security film through word-of-mouth.
Many past and present club employees are still in regular communication, and they relayed word about the FBI search of the resort in August 2022 to one another. Previously, federal agents had approached several of them for preliminary interviews. Some of them agreed to extra interviews with prosecutors and testified in front of a grand jury.
Jim Trusty, an attorney who stopped representing the former president in the documents case after Trump was indicted, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” Thursday that the Justice Department and the FBI “aggressively” intimidated a lot of “salt of the earth, good people, hard-working people down in the Mar-a-Lago scene.”
“It’s the kind of thing where, Kaitlan, you could drive by Mar-a-Lago, go to the beach and get a subpoena,” Trusty told me.
The federal investigation into the Mar-a-Lago payroll enraged the former president, who spends his winters in Florida and frequently poses for photos with club guests. When the maid who cleans Trump’s bedroom suite was requested to talk with investigators, for example, Trump’s answer was “ballistic,” according to a CNN source.
According to two people who talked to CNN, one important witness, Yuscil Taveras, only recently left his position as the club’s director of IT as the start of South Florida’s winter season approached. Taveras is designated in the indictment as “Trump Employee 4,” and it was publicly stated that prosecutors offered him a favorable deal in exchange for his cooperation.
However, Trump had no idea Taveras had remained to work at the club after his divorce from a Trump-provided lawyer this summer, and the former president was upset to learn of his ongoing employment, according to the sources.
Taveras’ attorney declined to comment.
SOURCE – (CNN)
Business
Canadian Port Workers Back Trudeau Government Into a Corner
Business groups are urging Justin Trudeau’s government to stop labor unrest at Canada’s main ports, as it did with railways in August, to avoid supply chain disruptions.
Hundreds of dock foremen in British Columbia ports have been on strike for a week. On Sunday, employers at Montreal’s port locked out 1,200 unionized workers after they rejected a contract offer that promised a 20% salary raise over six years.
Businesses report that the work disruptions are harming ports that handle approximately C$1.2 billion ($860 million) of products daily. They want Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon to refer the case to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which can send the parties to arbitration to settle the disagreement.
He used that technique over two months ago to halt labor stoppages at Canada’s two main railways. However, the government’s use has sparked resentment among some unions.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has filed a court challenge, claiming that the government’s actions in the railway conflict set a dangerous precedent by breaching workers’ constitutional rights.
Soon after, the pro-union New Democratic Party ripped up a legislative arrangement in which it committed to vote with Trudeau’s Liberals to advance critical legislation.
It’s unclear whether the government currently has enough support to enact a back-to-work law, which would be required to end the port issue.
According to Michel Murray, a Montreal Longshoremen’s Union representative, the port employers “act as bullies,” and refusing to talk indicates that “they clearly want the federal government to intervene.”
“Nearly C$6 billion worth of goods are expected to arrive at the port over the next two weeks,” Michel Leblanc, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, said in a statement. “The urgency is real.”
Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada, stated that the conflicts “continue to weaken Canada’s economy and tarnish its reputation as a reliable trading partner.”
“Canada’s ports will continue to lose market share if the country’s reputation for labor instability is not corrected soon,” Hyder wrote in a letter to MacKinnon and Transport Minister Anita Anand on November 9.
According to a group of port employers, the Montreal offer would have increased the average dockworker’s pay by more than C$200,000 annually.
Related News:
A Trump Presidency Spells Disaster for Trudeau
Business
Amazon Says a Hacker Breached MOVEIT, Stealing Employee Data. Employee data.
(VOR News) – Amazon has verified that employee data was stolen to the extent that it was compromised as a result of a “security event” that took place at a third-party vendor. The event brought about the compromise of data.
According to a statement that was provided to TechCrunch on Monday, the information that pertains to Amazon employees was revealed as a result of a data breach. This information related to Amazon employees was disclosed.
Amazon spokesman Adam Montgomery issued the statement.
When it comes to Amazon’s or Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems, there have been no security breaches that have taken place, and we have not encountered any security problems. An incident that occurred at one of our property management providers and included security was brought to our attention over the course of the investigation.
This problem had an effect on a number of the company’s customers, including Amazon, and we were informed about it. Other customers were also affected. Montgomery asserts that the only information that was disclosed was that of the work contact information of Amazon workers. As far as Montgomery is concerned, there was no further breach of security.
Among the things that were listed in this category were things like work email addresses, desk phone numbers, and the locations of buildings.
The number of employees who were affected by the security vulnerability has not been acknowledged by Amazon, nor has the total number of employees who were affected been released.
Additionally, it was stated that the third-party vendor, which was not named, does not have access to sensitive data such as Social Security numbers or financial information. This information was described as being kept confidential. The information in question was not made public. The vendor has reportedly fixed the security flaw that was responsible for the data breach that took place, according to reports that were received.
Hackers said they posted Amazon data on Breach Forums. It has been determined that the information in question is accurate as a consequence of this declaration. Additionally, the individual alleges that they have more than 2.8 million lines of data, which they allege was stolen during the mass-exploitation of MOVEit Transfer that took place the previous year.
Using the alias “Nam3L3ss,” the threat actor claims that they have disclosed information that was purportedly taken from twenty-five big corporations, as indicated in a study that was carried out by the cybersecurity company Hudson Rock. The analysis was done by Hudson Rock.
The assumption that the threat actor makes is that “the data that you have seen up to this point is less than .001% of the total data that I possess.”
This is the Amazon assertion that they make.
The public will have access to one thousand releases that have never been seen before in the history of record releases. The journal TechCrunch has attempted to get in touch with the other firms that were identified by the threat actor; however, the magazine has not yet received any additional responses to the inquiries that it has made.
It was the MOVEit breach, which took place in 2023, that was the most catastrophic breach that ever took place. The file-transfer software that was developed by Progress Software was vulnerable to a zero-day vulnerability, which allowed attackers to take advantage of the weakness and cause this breach.
More than one thousand businesses were impacted by these incursions, and it is believed that the notorious Clop ransomware and extortion ring was responsible for them. Through the utilization of ransomware, hacks were successfully carried out.
Not only did the data breach affect the Oregon Department of Transportation, which had 3.5 million pieces of information stolen, but it also affected the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which had four million pieces of information stolen, and Maximus, which is a giant in the United States government services contracting market, which had 11 million pieces of information stolen.
SOURCE: TC
SEE ALSO:
Bitcoin Goes Over $80,000 As Buyers Guess Whether Trump Will Run For President.
Subsidies for Electric Vehicles Cut as Consumer Interest Fades
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows 3rd-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
Business
Bitcoin Goes Over $80,000 As Buyers Guess Whether Trump Will Run For President.
(VOR News) – The following day, Bitcoin achieved a new record high as a consequence of traders’ wagers on the potential benefits of Donald Trump’s return to the White House for the cryptocurrency.
This was an additional factor contributing to Bitcoin’s recent record-breaking performance.
This resulted in Bitcoin’s first-ever record-breaking high.
The digital currency’s inaugural transaction, valued at eighty thousand dollars, was executed one hundred twenty minutes after twelve o’clock in the afternoon (1200 GMT). This occurred shortly after the timepiece reached twelve.
The conviction that President Trump may reduce laws on digital currencies has increased as a result of his victory in the presidential election that occurred in the United States on Tuesday. This conviction has been bolstered by his election victory. Since the election was won by the Republican nominee, Trump, this mentality has been gradually cultivated.
On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin achieved a new all-time high of $75,000, surpassing the previous all-time high of $73,797.98, which was achieved in March. This item has attained the highest price to date.
It was widely believed that Trump was the politician who embraced Bitcoin during his campaign against Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate. Harris was a candidate for the Democratic Party in the Senate campaign.
Donald Trump employed the term “hoax” to describe cryptocurrencies during his inaugural tenure as president of the United States. However, in the time that has passed since then, he has experienced a substantial change in his viewpoints, which has even resulted in the creation of his own committee platform.
In addition to his pledge to establish the United States of America as the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world,” he has also committed to appointing Elon Musk, a tech entrepreneur and right-wing conspiracy theorist, to the role of overseeing a comprehensive investigation into the government’s wasteful practices.
Both of these commitments are components of his strategy to enhance the prosperity of the United States of America. It is crucial to acknowledge that he has made a commitment to both of these.
The administration of President Trump was responsible for the reduction of corporation taxes, which resulted in an increase in market liquidity and facilitated the investment in high-growth assets, such as cryptocurrencies. Through the administration of President Trump’s predecessor, this was accomplished.
The previous administration benefited from a decrease in the tax rate for Bitcoin companies.
In September, President Trump announced that he, his sons, and other organizations would be creating a digital currency platform known as World Liberty Financial. The development of this platform would also incorporate the participation of other businesses. The network would facilitate the conversion of digital currency into corporeal currency.
Nevertheless, it experienced an unsuccessful sales launch earlier this month, with only a small percentage of the tokens that were placed on the market being purchased by consumers. This incident transpired earlier this month. From this, it is possible to infer that the launch was unsuccessful.
Cryptocurrencies have been the subject of numerous news articles since their inception. The FTX exchange platform is the most notable of the numerous industry stalwarts that have fallen, and these stories have covered a wide variety of subjects, including the immense volatility of their pricing. Numerous topics have been addressed in these narratives.
According to reports that circulated in the days preceding the election, he made history by becoming the first former president to utilize bitcoin to conduct a transaction. Donald Trump achieved historical significance by conducting a transaction using bitcoin. This could be considered a significant accomplishment.
He accomplished this by purchasing hamburgers from a restaurant in New York City, which characterized the transaction as “historic.” He succeeded in achieving these objectives. Because of this opportunity, he capitalized on it.
Bitcoin, a digital currency, is transacted on the market every day of the week, including Sundays.
SOURCE: TET
SEE ALSO:
Subsidies for Electric Vehicles Cut as Consumer Interest Fades
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows 3rd-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
Canada CBC News CEO Catherine Tait Recalled to Parliamentary Committee
-
Tech3 weeks ago
Apple Unveiled A Fresh Glimpse Of Their AI Featuring ChatGPT Integration.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Connection Problems With The App Store Are Stopping Customers From Downloading Apps.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
The Meta Foundation Launches a New Anti-Sextortion Campaign on Instagram.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Adobe Commences The Implementation Of AI Video Tools, Which Poses A Challenge To OpenAI And Meta.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case
-
Business4 weeks ago
Arthur Hayes Predicts Bitcoin Will “Rise Stupendously” When Middle East Conflict Escalates.