Donald Trump said he remains muzzled by a gag order after his conviction in his hush money criminal trial. His lawyer said he thinks the gag order was supposed to expire with the verdict and he may seek clarity from the court. “I’m under a gag order, nasty gag order,” the former president said Friday while speaking to reporters at Trump Tower. Referring to star prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump said: “I’m not allowed to use his name because of the gag order.” But, despite saying he believes he’s still subject to the order banning comments about witnesses and others connected to his case ..read more

Donald Trump‘s lawyer told The Associated Press he was surprised at Trump’s stoic demeanor as he listened to the verdict that made him the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime. Todd Blanche was sitting to Trump’s left in the Manhattan courtroom as the verdict was read — the jury foreman repeating the word “guilty” 34 times. “I was shocked at how he took the verdict,” Blanche said. “He just stood there and just kind of took it. And I think had a lot of appropriate solemnness for the moment that made me very proud to be sitting next to him when it, when it was happening,” said Blanch ..read more

The Biden administration is finalizing details of a new executive action that would let the president temporarily shut the southern border to migrants if necessary, and it is in talks with Mexican leaders to get their crucial buy-in before proceeding, according to multiple officials familiar with the negotiations. President Joe Biden directed top aides to develop plans to stem illegal migration months ago, and they are eyeing a presidential authority in the U.S. Code known as Section 212 (f), which would let the president unilaterally “suspend the entry” of specif ..read more

Donald Trump became the first U.S. president, current or former, to be convicted of a criminal offense when a 12-person jury in New York on May 30 found him guilty on 34 felony counts of business fraud as part of an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 election by making payments to suppress a sordid tale of sex with a porn star. The unprecedented conviction raises questions about what’s next for the 77-year-old man who is in line to become the Republican Party’s nominee for president in 2024. What are the next steps in the case? Sentencing and an appeal are up next in this case. Sen ..read more

The 34 felony guilty verdicts returned Thursday against former President Donald Trump spurred a wave of violent rhetoric aimed at the prosecutors who secured his conviction, the judge who oversaw the case and the ordinary jurors who unanimously agreed there was no reasonable doubt that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee falsified business records related to hush money payments to a porn star to benefit his 2016 campaign. Advance Democracy, a non-profit that conducts public interest research, said there has been a high volume of social media posts containing violent rheto ..read more

Mexico will choose its next president on Sunday and there is every indication the country will elect its first woman leader. More than 100 million Mexican voters will go to the polls in the largest elections in the country’s history. In the presidential race, they will have to choose between three candidates, but two women have taken the lead. “According to every poll, yes or yes, Mexico will have a female president,” said Francisco de la Torre Galindo, the Consul General of Mexico in Dallas. WHO ARE THE CANDIDATES IN MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION? Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum ..read more

Donald Trump discussed two witnesses in the criminal case against him Friday while complaining about his conviction, comments that could violate the judge’s gag order against him. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Trump’s commentary on the witnesses. Judge Juan Merchan’s April order barred Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.” Trump mentioned Robert Costello ..read more

One day after he was found guilty by a jury in his criminal hush money trial, former President Donald Trump took to the podium to blast the judge and star witness in the case, marking a return to the campaign trail as he aimed to transform his conviction into fuel in his bid to return to the White House. Trump addressed reporters at his namesake tower in Manhattan Friday after he was convicted of trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records to hide money paid to a porn actor who claimed they had sex. Shortly after his speech, his opponent and current ..read more

President Joe Biden said Friday that his predecessor, Donald Trump, was found guilty and “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible, for anyone to say this is rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.” His comments came the day after the conclusion of Trump’s criminal trial in New York, when the former president was convicted on all 34 felony charges in a hush money case stemming from the 2016 election. Biden for months had stridently avoided involvement in Trump’s legal dramas, looking to keep from feeding into his Republican rival’s claims that his criminal woes were the resul ..read more

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Friday he has registered as an independent, raising questions about his future political plans. Manchin has often been at odds with the Democratic Party and an obstacle to many of President Joe Biden’s legislative priorities. He had announced in November that he wouldn’t seek re-election to the Senate in the heavily GOP state, making Republicans heavy favorites to pick up a seat in their bid to retake the majority next year. Manchin has served in the Senate since 2010. He serves as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Commit ..read more