Lawyers for Charlie Javice on Friday moved for a mistrial in the fraud case against her after opening statements.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
Lawyers for Charlie Javice on Friday moved for a mistrial in her fraud case.
Defense argued her right to a fair trial was "compromised" after opening statements were shortened.
Prosecutors allege Javice defrauded JPMorgan Chase before it bought her student aid startup, Frank.
Lawyers for Charlie Javice on Friday moved for a mistrial in the fraud case against her, arguing her right to a fair trial had been "irreparably compromised."
Her lawyers argued that Javice's right to a fair trial was compromised when the judge unexpectedly ordered her defense counsel's opening statement to be shortened, which they called a violation of her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.
"Our motion for a mistrial was based on the fundamental principle that Ms. Javice has a constitutional right to a fair trial, which includes adequate time for her counsel to present a full and complete opening statement," a representative for Javice's legal team told Business Insider. "The abrupt and unexplained reduction in our time significantly hindered our ability to provide the jury with a clear and comprehensive presentation of the facts and legal arguments central to this case."
In addition to having the defense's opening statement cut short, Javice's lawyers argue that the court misstated jury instructions regarding the elements of wire fraud, which prejudiced them against the defendant.
The court told the jury that, in order to convict on the wire and bank fraud charges facing Javice, the government has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Javice made intentional false and misleading statements with the intention to deceive, her lawyers say.
However, her lawyers argued in their motion for a mistrial that the court did not adequately inform the jury panel about a key element of the law, which requires the government to prove any false statements amounted to material misrepresentations — a higher legal standard requiring the prosecutors to prove a reasonable person would have been convinced to act due to the false claims and that the false claims were relied on when deciding to enter the deal.
"To guarantee Ms. Javice's Fifth Amendment rights, a mistrial is the only appropriate remedy," the motion from Javice's attorneys says.
The mistrial motion stems from the trial's opening statements, which began Thursday in the fraud case against Javice and her Olivier Amar, who prosecutors say defrauded JPMorgan Chase before it bought the student aid startup.
Javice and Amar are charged with bank fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud after prosecutors say they exaggerated the customer base of their student loan-focused fintech startup in an effort to trick the bank into buying it.
JPMorgan Chase bought Frank in 2021 for $175 million after Javice and Amar said the company had more than 4 million users — a number that prosecutors now argue had been artificially inflated.
Representatives for the US Attorney's Office Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Her life behind bars includes clerking for 31 cents an hour and teaching French, according to the magazine.
Holmes was found guilty in 2022 of fraud in connection with her blood-testing startup.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has given her first interview from behind bars.
More than 20 months since reporting to prison, her days are far different than the Silicon Valley boardroom and investor meetings she once knew, a new interview with PEOPLE Magazine reveals.
Her new routine includes waking up a little after 5 a.m. and having fruit for breakfast before exercising for 40 minutes, according to the magazine.
"I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty," she told PEOPLE. "I refused to plead guilty to crimes I did not commit. Theranos failed. But failure is not fraud."
An inmate handbook for the federal minimum-security women's prison in Bryan, Texas, where she is incarcerated, says all medically cleared inmates are required to have a regular job for at least 90 days. Holmes has several jobs in the prison, including one as a reentry clerk, for which she makes 31 cents an hour helping prisoners expected to be released soon, PEOPLE reported. She's also a law clerk and teaches French classes, the magazine said.
Holmes was vegan for years before entering prison and says she mostly sticks to that today, although PEOPLE reports she started eating salmon and tuna after she became anemic her first year behind bars.
Holmes told the magazine she spends some time reading; she recently finished the "Harry Potter" series and Rick Rubin's "The Creative Act: A Way of Being," among other titles. She also tends to talk to her family twice a day by phone. Holmes shares a young son and daughter with her partner, Billy Evans.
In January 2022, Holmes was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit fraud on investors and three counts of committing fraud on individual investors in connection with her blood-testing startup, Theranos.
She was acquitted of all four fraud and conspiracy counts related to patients, and the jury couldn't reach a unanimous verdict on the three remaining counts of fraud on individual investors.
Holmes had said Theranos would revolutionize healthcare by testing for hundreds of diseases using only a few drops of blood.
At its peak, Theranos was valued at $9 billion and Holmes at one point became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, with a net worth of $4.5 billion. The company's public downfall began in 2015, when then-Wall Street Journal journalist John Carreyrou reported Theranos was using third-party blood-testing machines because its own couldn't provide accurate results.
Federal agencies began investigating Theranos, the SEC brought charges against Holmes and the company in 2018, and the company shut down that year.
In May 2023, Holmes reported to Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles from Houston, where she grew up, to begin serving her sentence.
Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison, though her sentence has since been shortened. Her expected release date is now April 3, 2032, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records.
Holmes has therapy for PTSD once a week and counsels other prisoners who are rape survivors, PEOPLE reported. She testified during her trial that she was raped while a college student at Stanford University and that Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, Theranos' former president and COO who once dated Holmes, emotionally and sexually abused her. Balwani has denied the allegations.
In his trial, separate from Holmes', Balwani was convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison and three years of probation.
One of the attorneys representing anonymous FBI agents suing the Department of Justice to block the public identification of agents who investigated Jan. 6 is a longtime anti-Trump lawyer who worked with House Democrats on President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.' ambassador to the Czech Republic and special counsel for ethics and government reform under the Obama administration, when he earned the nicknames "Dr. No" and "The Fun Sponge" for reportedly ensuring the administration abide by ethics rules.
Eisen appeared in court on Thursday for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb involving a pair of lawsuits filed by two groups of FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol Building as well as former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations and cases against Trump.
Eisen serves as executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the FBI agents who investigated Trump-related cases. State Democracy Defenders Fund is a nonprofit that bills itself as focused on defeating "election sabotage" and "autocracy in 2025 — and beyond."
"Credible reports indicate the FBI has been directed to systematically terminate all Bureau employees who had any involvement in investigations related to President Trump, and that Trump’s allies in the DOJ are planning to publicly disseminate the names of those employees they plan to terminate," State Democracy Defenders Fund wrote in its press release of the emergency order to block the public release of FBI personnel names involved in the Jan. 6 investigation.
Fox News Digital took a look back on Eisen's rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against Trump, notably serving as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment of Trump beginning in 2019.
House Democrats tapped Eisen — who early in his career specialized in financial fraud litigation and investigations — to help lead the first impeachment against the 45th president, which accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump, but the Senate ultimately voted to acquit him.
Eisen revealed following the impeachment effort that he initially drafted 10 articles of impeachment against Trump, not just two, which would have included issues such as "hush money" payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Although the payments were not included in the impeachment articles, they were a focal point of the Manhattan v. Trump trial that found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024.
"This was only the third impeachment trial of a president in American history, so it's remarkable that we even got those two," Eisen said in an NPR interview in 2020. "I will tell you that those two articles are a microcosm of all 10 of the impeachment articles that we drafted. They have features of all 10."
Eisen told Fox News Digital, when asked about his history of anti-Trump cases, that he was initially open to working with the first Trump administration, but that the president, "turned against the Constitution."
"I was initially open to Trump and even advised his first presidential transition," Eisen told Fox Digital in an emailed comment on Friday. "But he turned against the Constitution and laws."
"In his first administration and now, he was and is using the presidency to break the law and to help himself and his cronies like Elon Musk — not the American people," he continued. "To ensure the integrity of our democracy, I am pushing back through the bipartisan institutions I work with such as State Democracy Defenders Fund, which has strong conservative representation on our board."
Eisen is the co-founder of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which made waves in 2023 and 2024 when it helped to initiate a Colorado court case to remove Trump from the primary ballot in the state, The New York Times reported.
The lawsuit, which ultimately landed in the Supreme Court, argued that Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause and that his name should thus be barred from appearing on the 2024 ballot. The group said that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the Constitution from holding political office.
Other states made similar legal claims to remove Trump, but each of the nine Supreme Court justices ruled in Trump’s favor in a decision released last March, ending the Colorado case and all others that were similar.
The State Democracy Defenders Action, which Eisen co-founded, has also been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. The group helped file an amicus brief in February, advocating that presiding Judge Juan Merchan sentence Trump just days ahead of his inauguration. Trump was ultimately sentenced to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no fines or jail time.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star, Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Eisen also founded another group, the States United Democracy Center, which filed an amicus brief in 2024 in Fulton County, Georgia, court, advocating that District Attorney Fani Willis' racketeering case against Trump not be dismissed.
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December 2024 that Willis and her office are barred from prosecuting the case. The case worked to prove that Trump had led a "criminal racketeering enterprise" to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump has maintained his innocence in that case, as well as the other federal and state charges brought against him between the 2020 and 2024 election, slamming them as Democrat lawfare.
Eisen, in his capacity as executive chair and founder of State Democracy Defenders Fund, also sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Committee Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. on Monday to speak out against Kash Patel's nomination as director of the FBI under the second Trump administration. Eisen said he had ethics concerns surrounding Patel's previous work in Qatar.
The FBI lawsuits followed acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sending a memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll in late January, directing him to fire eight FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigation, as well as a terror case related to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. The memo also informed the acting director to identify all current and former FBI personnel who took part in the case.
The memo's directive to identify those involved in the case sparked the two FBI lawsuits filed Tuesday, which seek to stop the collection of names and their public release.
"The individuals being targeted have served in law enforcement for decades, often putting their lives on the line for the citizens of this country," Eisen said in a statement provided in State Democracy Defenders Fund's press release announcing it filed an emergency order on behalf of the FBI agents. "Their rights and privacy must be preserved."
The judge temporarily barred the Trump DOJ on Thursday from disclosing information on the agents until she hears arguments and determines whether to issue a temporary restraining order.
Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Field service engineers may not be the first group of customers that come to mind when you think about lucrative opportunities in B2B technology. But that same blind spot speaks of the opportunity in the space for those who are stepping up and targeting “the job site.” One of the players in that space, XOi […]
President Donald Trump's legal team filed a notice of appeal for his conviction in his Manhattan trial, Fox News Digital confirmed on Wednesday, which found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
"President Donald J. Trump’s appeal is important for the rule of law, New York’s reputation as a global business, financial and legal center, as well as for the presidency and all public officials," newly minted Trump attorney Robert J. Giuffra Jr. said in a statement provided by a Trump spokesperson to the Associated Press on Wednesday. "The misuse of the criminal law by the Manhattan DA to target President Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and we look forward to the case being dismissed on appeal."
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his efforts ahead of the November 2024 election.
"The appeal of Trump's criminal conviction has finally begun with the filing of the notice of appeal today," Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley posted on X Wednesday.
"While expectations are not particularly high for relief in the NY court system, this process moves the case closer to an appeal to the Supreme Court," he continued.
Presiding New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump on Jan. 10, just days before his inauguration as the 47th president, to unconditional discharge — meaning he faces no punishment such as fines or jail time. Legal experts railed against the sentencing earlier in January, with Fox News' Mark Levin remarking that it will be remembered as "one of the worst" legal cases in world history.
"I'll tell you how it strikes me, when you look at cases throughout history, not just in the United States, but really all over the world, this will be remembered as one of the worst. This will be remembered as an absolute injustice from the beginning," Levin said on Fox News after the sentencing.
Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Wednesday that Trump retained a new legal team after some of his top attorneys joined his administration. He is now represented by Sullivan & Cromwell, including co-chair and partner of the firm, Robert J. Giuffra Jr and Matthew Schwartz, a partner of the firm.
Giuffra previewed the importance of an appeal to the conviction in comment to Fox Digital earlier Wednesday.
"President Donald J. Trump's appeal is important for the rule of law, New York's reputation as a global business, financial and legal center, as well as for the presidency and all public officials," Giuffra told Fox News Digital. "The misuse of the criminal law by the Manhattan DA to target President Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and we look forward to the case being dismissed on appeal."
Trump had also previously said he will appeal the conviction, including earlier this month when he said on Truth Social that "JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL."
Drew Barrymore and Steven Spielberg in New York this month.
Mike Coppola / Getty Images for TCM
Steven Spielberg has said in multiple interviews that working with Drew Barrymore inspired him to be a father.
Barrymore responded on "The Late Show," saying she was "relieved" to be his "training wheels" for parenthood.
Spielberg later raised seven children, including two stepchildren.
Drew Barrymore called Steven Spielberg a "big father figure" in her life after he said in a recent interview that working with the actor on "E.T." inspired him to be a parent.
During a panel on Saturday at the TCM Classic Film Festival in New York City, Spielberg said directing Barrymore and the other child actors on the 1982 film "changed his life," People reported.
"I was obsessed with telling stories, but making 'E.T.' made me want to be a father for the first time. I never even thought about that until 'E.T,'" Spielberg said.
He made a similar comment on another panel at the same festival in 2022.
Reacting to the comments on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Barrymore said she was relieved she didn't put Spielberg off being a parent.
"He always called me his training wheels for parenthood," Barrymore said. "I spent so much time with him, and he really took me under his wing."
"E.T." was Spielberg's first encounter with Barrymore, who was six at the time of filming. It became her big break in Hollywood.
Barrymore recalled Spielberg persuading her not to get her ears pierced until she was 10 and spending time with him off set.
"He was someone who was there and who I believed in, and I could call, and I would spend weekends at his house, and he was always showing movies," Barrymore said. "He was such a good father figure. I knew he was going to be the best father."
Steven Spielberg and Drew Barrymore with an E.T. doll in 1982.
Photo by Mark Sennet/Getty Images
Spielberg now has seven children and six grandchildren.
Spielberg shares his first child, Max, born in 1985, with his ex-wife Amy Irving. After their divorce in 1989, he married Kate Capshaw in 1991, who already had two children, Theo, who was adopted, and Jessica, whom Capshaw shares with her ex-husband Robert Capshaw.
Capshaw and Spielberg had three more children together and adopted another child.
In 2023, Vulture reported that Barrymore once asked Spielberg to be her dad after bonding with him on the set of "E.T." Spielberg declined but accepted a role as her godfather.
Spielberg told the outlet he worried about Barrymore believing she was being "robbed of her childhood."
"Yet I felt very helpless because I wasn't her dad. I could only kind of be a consigliere to her," he said.
Barrymore, who now has two children of her own, has publicly spoken about her troubled childhood, saying that her father was abusive before abandoning the family and her mother took her to inappropriate parties while she was a child.
Barrymore emancipated herself from her parents at 14, after her mother forced her to go to a mental health institution for 18 months after the actor developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Barrymore said on SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show" in 2021 that cutting her mother out of her life was "the worst pain I've ever known," but they have since reconciled.
"I feel goodness toward my mom. I feel empathy and understanding," Barrymore said.
Former President Joe Biden doled out a flurry of pardons during his final days in office, but he did not issue a pardon for Jack Smith, or other figures connected to cases involving President Donald Trump, who has frequently castigated those he feels have unjustly targeted him.
In a post on Truth Social earlier this month, Trump asserted that "Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors" had targeted him "at levels of injustice never seen before."
Biden also did not pardon figures Trump has publicly assailed, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Judge Juan Merchan, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trump has often decried Jack Smith, the special counsel who sought to wage two federal cases against him, but who has now resigned.
Trump has repeatedly called the man "Deranged Jack Smith."
In a report issued earlier this month ahead of Trump's inauguration, Smith asserted, "with respect to both Mr. Trump's unprecedented efforts to unlawfully retain power after losing the 2020 election and his unlawful retention of classified documents after leaving office, the Principles [of Federal Proseuction] compelled prosecution."
"While we were not able to bring the cases we charged to trial, I believe the fact that our team stood up for the rule of law matters," he noted.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought a case that led to a jury finding Trump guilty of charges of falsifying business records.
Bragg has been one of the targets of Trump's ire.
On Truth Social, Trump has called him "Soft on Crime Alvin Bragg" and "Corrupt Soros Funded District Attorney, Alvin Bragg."
Trump has also excoriated Judge Juan Merchan, who was involved in Trump's New York criminal trial.
For example, Trump has called him "Corrupt, Deeply Conflicted, Democrat Appointed Acting Judge Juan Merchan," and claimed that the judge was aiming to "RIG the Manhattan Sham ‘Trial.’"
The Georgia Court of Appeals declared Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis disqualified from a Trump-related election interference case.
"There is no way such corrupt people can lead a case, and then it gets taken over by somebody else," Trump told Fox News Digital. "It was a corrupt case, so how could it be taken over by someone else?"
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report
A Georgia state senator has had his ban from entering the state House chamber revoked following an ugly incident on Thursday which saw him flung to the floor, arrested and subsequently hospitalized.
State Sen. Colton Moore, a hardline supporter of President-elect Trump who previously tried to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis impeached for indicting the former president, was involved in a heated exchange at the entrance to the House chamber where officials refused him entry to attend Gov. Brian Kemp's State of the State Address.
Moore, of Trenton in Dade County, ended up being pushed to the floor by Keith Williams, a lawyer for House Speaker Jon Burns' office, who was trying to enforce a ban placed on Moore by the speaker. Moore was banned from entering the chamber after he blasted the state Senate's decision last year to consider a resolution to name a building at the University of North Georgia after the now-deceased former house speaker David Ralston.
Moore on Thursday made several attempts to brush past House staffers but was pushed back on several occasions. Then, at one point, William sent Moore flying, with the senator falling awkwardly to the floor. After another attempt to enter, Moore was arrested by state troopers and led away.
Later in the evening, Moore posted a video of himself sitting on a hospital bed with a blood pressure monitor strapped to one of his arms. His other arm was elevated on the bed’s guard rail.
"I did take a bit of a beating; my hand, it’s a bit swollen and purple; we’re waiting to get some X-rays to check it out," Moore said.
"Today they took my freedom and liberty away as I was fighting for your freedom and liberty. But I tell you what, we still have a constitutional duty to do work, and I’ll still be in that legislature tomorrow morning. Thank you all for the support."
Burns initially said that the incident was "incredibly unfortunate and said that Moore had "created a dangerous situation when he chose to use force against our law enforcement officers, dedicated doorkeepers and House staff." Burns said that the integrity and decorum of this House was "non-negotiable—period."
On Friday, Burns, a Republican from Newington, lifted his ban after state Senate and Republican Party leaders lined up to support Moore.
He said that Moore’s desire to "cause a disturbance and gain notoriety in the press broke longstanding rules and precedents of decorum that each member of the General Assembly has a responsibility to uphold." But he said he’d admit Moore for joint sessions without an apology because Ralston wouldn’t have wanted the legislature’s work to be hindered.
"For this reason, the Ralston family has expressed to their family here in the House that they desire for our chamber to resume business as normal — with all members of the General Assembly present — for any future joint sessions with or without the apology they and the House deserve," Burns said.
Moore’s ban had stemmed from a speech he gave last year blasting former speaker Ralston, who was also a Republican.
Moore accused Ralston of using his office to delay court cases for criminal defendants he had represented as an attorney. Ralston claimed in 2019 that his actions were entirely legal.
"This body is about to memorialize, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders that we are ever going to see in my lifetime," Moore exclaimed at the time.
It’s not the first time Colton, a self-described "RINO wrangler," has clashed with his Republican colleagues.
In 2023, Georgia’s Republican Senate Caucus suspended Moore for attacking them for opposing his plan to impeach Willis for indicting Trump in an election interference case.
Moore was the most prominent backer of a special session to impeach and remove Willis or defund her office, winning Trump’s endorsement. Kemp denounced the call as "some grifter scam" to raise campaign contributions for Moore.
A Georgia state senator and hardline supporter of President-elect Trump appeared to be pushed to the floor before being arrested while trying to enter the state House chamber on Thursday.
State Sen. Colton Moore, who previously tried to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis impeached for indicting Trump, tried to enter the House floor to attend Gov. Brian Kemp's State of the State Address — but was ultimately led away in handcuffs.
Moore is currently banned from entering the chamber after he blasted the state Senate's decision last year to consider a resolution to name a building at the University of North Georgia after the now-deceased former speaker David Ralston.
Moore accused Ralston of using his office to delay court cases for criminal defendants he had represented as an attorney. Ralston claimed in 2019 that his actions were entirely legal.
"This body is about to memorialize, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders that we are ever going to see in my lifetime," Moore exclaimed at the time.
On Wednesday, Moore wrote to current House Speaker Jon Burns outlining why he thought the ban was unconstitutional and said he intended to be at today’s joint session.
"I will NEVER back down," Moore wrote on X, sharing the letter he penned to Burns. "I will ALWAYS speak the truth and represent the people of Northwest Georgia as their trusted America First Senator."
But when he tried to enter the chamber on Thursday, he was met by a wall of resistance and appeared to be pushed back by an attending doorman.
Moore told state troopers in attendance that he had a constitutional right to enter and that a doorman should be arrested for breaking the law.
"This is a joint session of the General Assembly. Your House rules do not apply," Moore told the men. "I'm going into the chamber."
Unable to get in, Moore asked a state trooper whether he was stopping him from entering. The trooper appeared to say that the doormen were responsible for who entered.
A scuffle ensued, with video showing Moore appearing to be pushed to the floor by one of the doormen. He was then surrounded by state troopers and subsequently arrested.
Burns said that the incident was "incredibly unfortunate."
"The senator refused to cooperate with doorkeepers and law enforcement and created a dangerous situation when he chose to use force against our law enforcement officers, dedicated doorkeepers and House staff," Burns said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "I want to thank every House staff member and our entire House family for holding the line to honor Speaker Ralston’s legacy of dedicated service to our state. As you saw today, the integrity and decorum of this House are non-negotiable—period."
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said that "there is real work to be done this session and the focus should be on delivering for the people of Georgia instead of personal grievances and egos."
Fox News Digital reached out to Georgia state police and Gov. Brian Kemp’s office about the scuffle but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Meanwhile, Moore said that the state was "ruled by authoritarians" on his way out and that the ban was censorship of his voice as an elected official.
Georgia Republican chairman Josh McKoon said that he was "deeply disappointed" that Moore had been denied admission to the chamber and "shocked" that he had been taken into custody.
"It was not only legally appropriate to admit him to today’s proceedings — it was simply the right thing to do," McKoon wrote in a statement to FOX 5 Atlanta. "Our focus should be on the excellent agenda being outlined by Governor Kemp today to continue to make Georgia the best place in the country to live, work, and raise a family — not internal conflicts."
In 2023, Georgia’s Republican Senate Caucus suspended Moore for attacking them for opposing his plan to impeach Willis for indicting Trump in an election interference case.
"The Georgia RINOs responded to my call to fight back against the Trump witch hunts by acting like children and throwing me out of the caucus," Moore wrote on X at the time. "But I’m not going anywhere."
Moore was the most prominent backer of a special session to impeach and remove Willis or defund her office, winning Trump’s endorsement. Kemp denounced the call as "some grifter scam" to raise campaign contributions for Moore.
The Justice Department made public Volume One of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his now-closed investigations into President-elect Donald Trump, days before he is set to be sworn into office.
Attorney General Merrick Garland released the first volume, which focuses on the election case against Trump, of Smith’s report on Tuesday at midnight after back-and-forth in the federal court system. The report was released at midnight because that was when the original hold on Volume One expired.
An opening letter from Smith, who resigned last week, to Garland said that it is "laughable" that Trump believes the Biden administration, or other political actors, influenced or directed his decisions as a prosecutor, stating that he was guided by the Principles of Federal Prosecution.
"Trump's cases represented ones ‘in which the offense [was] the most flagrant, the public harm the greatest, and the proof the most certain,’" Smith said, referencing the principles.
In the lengthy report, Smith said his office fully stands behind the decision to bring criminal charges against Trump because he "resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power" after he lost the 2020 election.
Smith said in his conclusion that the parties were determining whether any material in the "superseding indictment was subject to presidential immunity" when it became clear that Trump had won the 2024 election. The department then determined the case must be dismissed before he takes office because of how it interprets the Constitution.
"The Department's view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind," the report stated.
In an early Tuesday morning post on Truth Social, Trump called Smith "desperate" and "deranged" for releasing his "fake findings" in the middle of the night.
Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ's public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump's retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government's investigation into the matter.
Smith was also tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.
Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.
The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.
This month, though, Cannon temporarily blocked the release of Smith’s final report. A federal appeals court reversed her ruling, allowing the Justice Department to make Smith’s report public.
In the classified records probe, Smith charged Trump with 37 federal counts including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty.
Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of the investigation: an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.
In the 2020 election case, Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; violation of an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump pleaded not guilty.
The cases brought by Smith against Trump never made it to trial in either jurisdiction.
Despite efforts by Trump attorneys to prevent the report’s release, Attorney General Merrick Garland had maintained that he would make at least one volume of Smith’s report public.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Special counsel Jack Smith resigned from his position at the Department of Justice Friday, Fox News has learned.
The resignation, which had already been expected since President-elect Trump was elected in November, was quietly announced in the footnote of a court filing Saturday.
"The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10," the note said.
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate the 2020 election interference case against Trump related to Jan. 6 and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. In 2017, Smith served as acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee during the first Trump administration.
The news came as the country waits for Smith's report on the election interference case to be released. A recent court filing showed Garland plans to release the investigative report soon, possibly before Trump takes office Jan. 20.
On Friday, a judge from a federal appeals court ruled against blocking the release of Smith's report.
"As I have made clear regarding every Special Counsel who has served since I took office, I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel's report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy," Garland wrote in a recent letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
Once Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Smith filed motions to wind down his cases against the president-elect. At the end of November, Smith asked a judge to drop the charges against President-elect Trump in the D.C. case against him.
Before asking to drop the case, Smith filed a motion to vacate all deadlines in the 2020 election interference case against Trump in Washington, D.C., a decision that was widely expected after Trump's win. After the cases were dropped, Trump responded to the move by arguing the investigations "should never have been brought."
"These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought," Trump in a Truth Social post. "It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Democratic lawmakers were noticeably silent following the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump despite previously commenting on the cases against him, as Washington prepares for a Republican trifecta in Congress.
Trump was sentenced on Friday after being found guilty on 34 charges related to falsifying business records in May.
The incoming president was sentenced to unconditional discharge, which means that he will not receive any jail time, fine or probation time. The sentence also preserves Trump's ability to appeal the conviction.
After Trump was found guilty in criminal court in May, Democratic members of Congress put out a flurry of reactions on social media but appeared mum after the sentencing on Friday, which comes just days before he will be sworn into office on Jan. 20.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in May, wrote in a post on X, fomerly Twitter, that "the jury has spoken and carefully rendered a decision. Responsible leadership requires the verdict to be respected," while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said that "nobody is above the law."
However, Democrats appeared less reactive to Friday's sentencing, which left Trump free of any penalty.
One Democratic congresswoman put out a statement following the unconditional discharge sentence, claiming that "our system of justice is not just."
"There is a two-tiered system of justice in this country, and Donald Trump lives on the tier where he gets to walk into the White House without spending a single day in jail or being put on probation after being convicted of 34 felonies. On the other tier are the clients I represented as a public defender in Texas, like the seventeen-year-old boy who was held on felony probation for taking some candy from his school's concession stand," Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said in a post on X.
On the flip side, Republicans were very vocal following the sentencing.
"I have no respect for the process being used in New York. I find the judge and prosecutor’s motives to be dripping with politics," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement. "This is a sad day for America."
Trump, ahead of the sentencing, said that he would appeal the decision.
Trump filed an emergency petition to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in an effort to prevent his Jan. 10 sentencing, but the high court ultimately denied his emergency petition to block his sentencing.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Attorneys and legal experts railed against New York Judge Juan Merchan sentencing President-elect Donald Trump in the NY v. Trump case just days ahead of his inauguration as president, saying the case will be remembered as "one of the worst" cases in history.
"I'll tell you how it strikes me, when you look at cases throughout history, not just in the United States, but really all over the world, this will be remembered as one of the worst. This will be remembered as an absolute injustice from the beginning," Fox News host Mark Levin said on Fox News after the sentencing.
Merchan sentenced Trump on Friday morning to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no punishment such as fines or jail time.
"This is the end of the politicalization of the justice system," said Fox News contributor Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney whom Trump named this week as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice in his upcoming administration.
"Trump's victory in the election basically, in my opinion, neutered this case. And the attempt to stain President Trump, to tarnish him with the scarlet felon, is going to be reversed just a matter of time. And I'm telling you this with 35 years of experience, this case should have never had been tried. It was done for one reason, to stop President Trump from becoming the 47th president. I want to be very clear, it failed."
Terrell added in his comments to Fox Digital that he is "salivating to get to the Department of Justice," where he will be "very involved in pursuing justice" surrounding the NY case and others brought against Trump.
"I'm going to be involved in stopping anti-semitism and to stop going after Catholic families, parents who go to a school board meeting, and the misuse, the abuse of using the legal system for political gain. So, I'm going be involved in any investigation, and I hope I'm working there 24/7 to uncover all this nonsense," he said, noting that documents and correspondence surrounding the Trump cases will be "exposed."
Merchan highlighted Friday ahead of sentencing that the court system handled Trump's case as it handles every other criminal case.
"After careful analysis, this court determined the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge," Merchan said Friday. "At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts."
Merchan added, "Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office."
Fox News contributor and lawyer Trey Gowdy underscored on Friday that if Trump's case was handled the same as any other in New York, it shows "there are a lot of bad trials going on" in the state.
"Court time is precious. It is a precious resource. To waste this time on a case, where even the prosecution agrees you should not spend a minute. So if Juan Merchan says this case was not handled any differently, that just tells me there are lots of bad trials going on in New York," Gowdy said.
Legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley compared Merchan's remark that Trump's case was similar to any other in New York to Mary Shelley's "Dr. Frankenstein."
"Merchan appears to be making the case in his own defense and insisted that this case is no different from any other case in New York. It is a case being made long after the jury has left the courthouse. This is like Dr. Frankenstein telling his creature that he is just like any other man. Stitching together this case from a dead misdemeanor and declined federal charges is anything but ordinary," Turley said on X.
Trump addressed the court ahead of sentencing that the case was a "great embarrassment to the state of New York," while highlighting that voters "decisively" re-elected him to the White House in November.
Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn added on Friday that as she walked into the courtroom, she noticed widespread support for Trump on the streets.
"The only protesters, per se, who were here were Trump supporters. And even as I'm standing here right now, I'm looking into a square and I'm looking at people holding Trump flags, I'm looking at a person who has a sign that says, 'Enough is enough. We voted. We don't want this lawfare anymore.'"
During Trump's trial in the spring of last year, no cameras were permitted in the courtroom. For the sentencing, however, Merchan agreed to allow audio, which Urbahn found odd.
"It is noteworthy that during the trial, there was no audio. There were no cameras, but for this particular sentencing, Judge Merchan agreed to have audio. I can't help but think if it's because he wants the world to hear his voice sentence Donald Trump because we were not able to have that before," she said on Fox News.
Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for Jan. 10 earlier this month, and was swiftly met with repeated attempts to delay and block the sentencing. Merchan said ahead of the sentencing that he would likely not "impose any sentence of incarceration" on Trump, and instead hand down an "unconditional discharge."
Trump’s legal team filed an appeal to block sentencing from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. However, the court rejected his request. Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it "immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising questions of Presidential immunity, including in this Court if necessary."
"The Court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this stay application," Trump’s filing requested.
The Supreme Court denied the request. Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that they would have granted Trump’s petition to postpone sentencing, while the order suggested Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson to deny Trump’s request.
Trump has vowed to appeal the conviction, arguing that evidence in the case implicated his duties as president during his first term after the Supreme Court’s ruling in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts.
"I will be appealing this case, and am confident that JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL. The pathetic, dying remnants of the Witch Hunts against me will not distract us as we unite and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after the Supreme Court’s order on Thursday.
"Every Legal Scholar stated, unequivocally, that this is a case that should never have been brought. There was no case against me. In other words, I am innocent of all of the Judge’s made up, fake charges. This was nothing other than Weaponization of our Justice System against a Political Opponent. It’s called Lawfare, and nothing like this has ever happened in the United States of America, and it should never be allowed to happen again. To this day, this highly political and corrupt Judge has put a gag order on me, which takes away my First Amendment right to speak about very important aspects of the case," his post added.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.
Fox News's Brooke Singman and David Spunt contributed to this report.
President-elect Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge on Friday after being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s yearslong investigation.
The president-elect attended his sentencing virtually after fighting to block the process all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court this week. Trump sat beside his defense attorney Todd Blanche.
Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, and instead sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, meaning there is no punishment imposed: no jail time, fines or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump's ability to appeal the conviction.
"After careful analysis, this court determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge," Merchan said Friday. "At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts."
Merchan added, "Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office."
Before Judge Merchan announced the sentence, Trump called the case a "tremendous setback for the American court system."
"This is a great embarrassment to the state of New York," Trump said, adding that the people saw the trial firsthand, and voted "decisively" to elect him as president.
Trump said the Justice Department was "very involved" and stressed that a case like this against a former president, candidate and now president-elect has "never happened in our country before."
"And I would just like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly. And I thank you very much," Trump said Friday.
Merchan set Jan. 10 for the sentencing, just 10 days before Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
Merchan, upon scheduling the sentencing last week, said that he was not likely to "impose any sentence of incarceration," but rather a sentence of an "unconditional discharge."
During Friday's sentencing hearing, Merchan said he took the "unusual step" of informing Trump of his sentence prior to the proceeding.
"The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make," Merchan said, noting the court "must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances."
Merchan reflected on the case, saying that "never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances." The judge said it was an "extraordinary case" with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself "was not any more unique or extraordinary" than any other case.
Trump filed an appeal to block sentencing from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. That court rejected his request.
Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it "immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York."
The high court denied the request, saying "the application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is denied for, inter alia, the following reasons."
"First, the alleged evidentiary violations at President-Elect Trump’s state-court trial can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal," the Supreme Court's order, filed Thursday night, stated. "Second, the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of 'unconditional discharge' after a brief virtual hearing."
The order also noted that "Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, and Justice Kavanaugh would grant the application."
Trump needed five votes in order to have his request granted. The note on the order suggests Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson.
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of "lawfare" promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.
A federal appeals court rejected a bid to block the release of a portion of special counsel Jack Smith's final report detailing his investigation and prosecution of President-elect Trump's alleged 2020 election interference and alleged improper retention of classified records.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied the request from Walt Nauta, an aide to Trump, and Carlos de Oliveira, the former property manager at Mar-a-Lago, who were charged for their role in allegedly obstructing a separate federal investigation into Trump's handling of sensitive government records.
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals left a three-day hold on DOJ’s release of the report.
Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump's keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Nauta and de Oliveira also pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
The United States Supreme Court has denied President-elect Trump's petition to block his Friday sentencing in New York v. Trump.
Trump filed an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in an effort to prevent his Jan. 10 sentencing, scheduled by Judge Juan Merchan, from taking place.
The high court on Thursday night said "the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing."
Now, sentencing in New York v. Trump can move forward, with the president-elect expected to appear virtually for the proceeding, scheduled for 9:30 am Friday.
Merchan set Trump's sentencing in New York v. Trump for Jan. 10 after a jury found the now-president-elect guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree, stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and has appealed the ruling but was rejected last week by Merchan.
Trump's lawyers, in their petition to the high court, said it should "immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising questions of Presidential immunity, including in this Court if necessary."
"The Court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this stay application," the filing states.
Trump's attorneys also argued that New York prosecutors erroneously admitted extensive evidence relating to official presidential acts during trial, ignoring the high court's ruling on presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court, earlier this year, ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution related to official presidential acts.
Trump's legal team is arguing Merchan should not be permitted to move any further and said their appeal of the ruling "will ultimately result in the dismissal of the District Attorney’s politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the very beginning, centered around the wrongful actions and false claims of a disgraced, disbarred serial-liar former attorney, violated President Trump’s due process rights, and had no merit."
Merchan set the sentencing date last week but said he will not sentence the president-elect to prison.
Merchan wrote in his decision that he is not likely to "impose any sentence of incarceration," but rather a sentence of an "unconditional discharge," which means there would be no punishment imposed.
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of "lawfare" promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.
Attorney General Merrick Garland will release Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump if a federal court clears the way, according to a court filing.
The Department of Justice told the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday that should an injunction be lifted, Garland intends to release Volume One of Smith's final report to Congress and the public, which covers the allegations that Trump attempted to illegally undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.
However, Garland would not release Volume Two, which covers the classified documents case against Trump, as two defendants in that case still face criminal proceedings. Only the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will be permitted to view Volume Two, and they will be prohibited from discussing the report publicly.
"This limited disclosure will further the public interest in keeping congressional leadership apprised of a significant matter within the Department while safeguarding defendants' interests," Justice Department attorneys said in response to a motion to stop the report from being released.
It is customary for special counsels to release a final report, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached. In Smith's case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump's status as president-elect and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president.
Smith planned to release his final report sometime this month, as early as the end of this week. He will resign from his position before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
However, Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed an emergency motion to block the reported imminent release of Smith’s final report.
U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon on Tuesday ruled in favor of Nauta and De Oliveira to "prevent irreparable harm."
Cannon said Smith is "temporarily enjoined" from "releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice."
The order remains in effect until three days after a resolution is announced from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Nauta and De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump's keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Cannon, this summer, dismissed Smith's case against Trump relating to classified records, ruling that he was appointed unlawfully as special counsel.
And in November, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan dropped Smith's charges against Trump in the 2020 election interference case. Smith also dropped his appeal to Cannon's ruling in the classified records case.
Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure — publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, and the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden's handling of classified documents.
