US House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans travelled to New York to express support for Donald Trump at his hush-money criminal trial on Tuesday, the second day of testimony by his former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Having Mr Johnson, second in line to the presidency and as a Constitutional officer, criticise the US justice system and courts as "a sham" and "corrupt" marked a major moment in American politics.
He repeated claims that the four criminal cases Mr Trump faces are aimed at undermining his bid to retake the White House.
“These are politically motivated trials and they are a disgrace. This is election interference,” Mr Johnson told reporters.
“It's impossible for anybody to deny, that looks at this objectively, that the judicial system in our country has been weaponised against president Trump.”
In the three other cases, Mr Trump is charged with trying to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat nationally and in the state of Georgia, and mishandling classified documents after leaving office.
He has pleaded not guilty in all four cases.
It is likely that the New York case will be the only one to go to trial before the US presidential election in November.
Mr Trump is the first president to ever face criminal charges in a courtroom.
Prosecutors charged him with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money scheme to pay off three people with scandalous stories that threatened his presidential run in 2016.
Mr Trump, who is running against President Joe Biden in November, told reporters outside the courtroom that the "trial is going very well".
His former fixer, Mr Cohen, had told the 12-member jury that the presidential candidate personally authorised him to make a hush-money payment to an adult film star weeks before the election.
He said he did so "to ensure that the story would not come out, would not affect Mr Trump's chances of becoming president of the United States".
He testified on Monday that Mr Trump ordered him to pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter she had with Mr Trump, which Mr Trump denies took place.
“Just do it,” Mr Cohen remembered Mr Trump saying.
His $130,000 payment to Daniels in October 2016 is at the centre of Mr Trump's trial, which began in a New York state criminal court in Manhattan a month ago.
Prosecutors say Mr Trump paid Mr Cohen back after the election and hid the reimbursements by creating false records indicating they were for legal fees.
Those reimbursements provide the basis for the 34 counts of falsifying business records that Mr Trump faces.
Mr Cohen recounted an Oval Office meeting at the White House with Mr Trump in February 2017 when the newly inaugurated president told him he would soon be receiving the first two instalments of a bonus package.
That package, Mr Cohen said, included reimbursements for the Daniels payment.
Mr Cohen, once so loyal to Mr Trump that he claimed he would take a bullet for his boss, was the prosecution's star witness after Daniels testified for two days earlier.
“I regret doing things for him that I should not have, lying" he said, according to AP.
“To keep the loyalty and to do the things that he had asked me to do, it violated my moral compass, and I suffered the penalty, as has my family.”
In 2018, he was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the illegal hush payments scheme.
Mr Trump's legal team confronted Mr Cohen about motivations, including money and revenge, given his testimony about blind loyalty before turning around to call Mr Trump a "dictator".
Yet, Mr Cohen said he would "like to see accountability" against his former boss.
"It’s not for me. It’s for the jury and this court," AP reported Mr Cohen as saying.
In a sign that the trial could be wrapping up, prosecutors said he was the last witness they would call.
Mr Cohen is expected to return for continued cross-examination on Thursday.
Also at the court to offer support were potential Republican vice presidential candidates, Representative Byron Donalds and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was also present.
They can also publicly criticise the court proceedings while Mr Trump is under a gag order.
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
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Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
Where to Find Me by Alba Arikha
Alma Books
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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