Articles

Prosecutors: Deeply-in-debt Michael Avenatti sought payday

Prosecutors say high-profile California attorney Michael Avenatti was over $15 million in debt when he tried to extort  up to $25 million from Nike, while Avenatti’s lawyers say the money he legally requested to conduct an internal probe of the sportswear giant was a bargain. Both sides made the assertions in court papers filed late Tuesday in advance of a Jan. 22 criminal trial in Manhattan.

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To overcome travel ban, some Americans taking cases to court

Mohammed Hafar paced around the airport terminal — first to the monitor to check flight arrivals, then to the gift shop and lastly to the doors where international passengers were exiting. At last, out came Jana Hafar, his tall, slender, dark-haired teen daughter who had been forced by President Donald Trump’s travel ban to stay behind in Syria for months while her father, his wife and 10-year-old son started rebuilding their lives in Bloomfield, New Jersey, with no clear idea of when the family would be together again.

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Roberts will tap his inner umpire in impeachment trial

America’s last prolonged look at Chief Justice John Roberts came 14 years ago, when he told senators during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing that judges should be like baseball umpires, impartially calling balls and strikes. His hair grayer, the 64-year-old Roberts will return to the public eye as he makes the short trip from the Supreme Court to the Senate to preside over President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

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McConnell not ruling out witnesses in impeachment trial

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that he was not ruling out calling witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — but indicated he was in no hurry to seek new testimony either — as lawmakers remain at an impasse over the form of the trial by the GOP-controlled Senate.

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Holcomb opts in to accepting refugees

Gov. Eric Holcomb is giving the green light for federal officials to continue placing refugees in Indiana, following in the footsteps of a growing group of both Democratic and Republican governors who are opting in to the federal program. The move comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in September that, for the first time, required states and local government to provide written consent to continue to receive even a handful of the 26 million refugees worldwide.

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