Trump Organization used 'email migrations' as an excuse to delay testimony from an executive in charge of conflict-of-interest rules, NY AG says

Trump Organization used ’email migrations’ as an excuse to delay testimony from an executive in charge of conflict-of-interest rules, NY AG says

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The Trump Organization failed to produce email records from a top executive for more than a year, according to the New York AG’s office.

The delay meant that Chief Compliance Counsel Jill Martin had to be interviewed twice.

The company blamed it on “email migrations,” according to the AG’s office.

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The Trump Organization said that for more than a year, email snafus prevented it from handing documents over to New York Attorney General Tish James from its executive in charge of conflict-of-interest rules, according to court documents.

For years, James’s office has been conducting an investigation into whether the Trump Organization manipulated property values so that it paid little in taxes while receiving favorable loan and insurance rates.

The delay meant that Chief Compliance Counsel Jill Martin had to sit for a second interview with the AG’s office, according to a letter sent to the Trump Organization in April 2021 and made public in court filings Wednesday.

“We have reviewed the 18 documents you produced on Friday evening, and they do not come close to completing the Trump Organization’s production obligations with respect to Ms. Martin,” Assistant Attorney General Colleen Faherty wrote in the April 19, 2021 letter to a company attorney. “As we have expressed to you, we believe it is a waste of resources to proceed with her testimony at this time because the Trump Organization has failed to make a complete or even reasonable production of her documents.”

The Trump Organization had said that “email migrations” from 2019 prevented attachments from Martin’s emails related to the valuation of a golf club in Los Angeles from being located, according to a second letter filed to court.

The letters were included as exhibits in a set of court filings where James asked a judge to force Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump to sit for depositions and answer questions about the Trump Organization’s finances.

James’ office had already taken depositions of Eric Trump and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who both ran the company during Donald Trump’s presidency, when it issued subpoenas in December to the other Trump family members.

Earlier in January, the Trump family members asked a judge to quash the subpoenas, and Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt James’ investigation. Representatives for the Trump Organization have denied wrongdoing and said the investigation is politically motivated.

The new filings from James’ office argue that documents and testimony the office obtained show there is ample evidence the Trump Organization lied about its property values.

For example, James’ office said Trump’s personal triplex in Manhattan’s Trump Tower was valued at $127 million and $327 million in different financial filings that described the apartment as being 30,000 square feet. The apartment is actually 10,996 square feet in size, according to documents obtained by James’ office.

The exhibits detail how slow the Trump Organization was to respond to document requests over time. The company was first subpoenaed in December 2019; by the time Martin sat for her first interview with the attorney general’s office, on April 20, 2021, James’ office said the company still hadn’t done a thorough search of its own internal files.

Seven days after that interview, James’s office informed the Trump Organization that its investigation had become criminal in nature, though the move was not made public until nearly a month later. The investigation has been running in tandem with a similar probe from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which brought criminal charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg in July 2021.

In a follow-up letter, dated July 27, 2021, Faherty wrote that the company still hadn’t adequately explained why “migration issues” from nearly two years earlier were preventing it from producing “hundreds of relevant and responsive emails” from Martin.

It’s unclear if the Trump Organization handed over more of Martin’s emails in advance of a second interview. But in another follow-up letter, dated November 1, 2021, Faherty didn’t include Martin in a list of employees whose records the office still wanted.

Martin didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Lusia Harris, the only woman ever officially drafted by an NBA team, has died

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By Travis Caldwell, CNN

Lusia “Lucy” Harris, a star in women’s collegiate basketball during the 1970s and the first and only woman ever to be officially drafted by an NBA team, died Tuesday, according to a statement from her family as well as Delta State University. She was 66.

“We are deeply saddened to share the news that our angel, matriarch, sister, mother, grandmother, Olympic medalist, The Queen of Basketball, Lusia Harris has passed away unexpectedly today in Mississippi,” the statement said.

Harris led Delta State to three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national championships from 1975-1977.

While at Delta State, women’s basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 1976. Harris was selected to the team and had the distinction of being the first woman to score a basket in the competition’s first game. The US won the silver medal that year.

After her collegiate career, the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz, which began play in 1974 and would later move to Utah, selected her in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft.

Another woman, Denise Long, was selected in the 1969 draft by the San Francisco Warriors but the pick was vacated by the league, making Harris the only woman, to date, to be officially drafted.

Yet Harris turned down the offer from the Jazz, intent on starting a family.

“I just thought it was a publicity stunt and I felt like I didn’t think I was good enough,” she said in “The Queen of Basketball,” a short film about her life and career. “So I decided not to go. Yeah, I said no to the NBA.”

“The NBA, I don’t regret not going. Not even a little bit,” she said.

The native of Minter City, Mississippi, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and was part of the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Harris is still Delta State’s career record holder in points (2,891) and rebounds (1,662), the university said.

“The recent months brought Ms. Harris great joy, including the news of the upcoming wedding of her youngest son and the outpouring of recognition received by a recent documentary that brought worldwide attention to her story,” her family said in the statement.

“She will be remembered for her charity, for her achievements both on and off the court, and the light she brought to her community, the State of Mississippi, her country as the first woman ever to score a basket in the Olympics, and to women who play basketball around the world.”

The-CNN-Wire

CNN’s Jill Martin contributed to this report.

Jonathan Scott Gets Candid About His ‘Forever and Ever’ Home With Zooey Deschanel

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Jonathan Scott has found his “forever and ever” home with Zooey Deschanel. The Property Brothers star opens up about the ongoing renovations to his and his girlfriend’s historic Los Angeles home in an upcoming episode of Shop TODAY with Jill Martin airing Thursday, Jan. 20 at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on TODAY All Day.

In a preview of Thursday’s episode, Scott tells Martin, “We found our forever home,” explaining of all the renovations, “Our hope is that when it’s done, this will be a home that stays in the family forever and ever.” Just earlier this week, the HGTV star celebrated the 42nd birthday of the New Girl star, writing on Instagram, “Happy birthday to the one and only @zooeydeschanel. You make life so much better.”

Deschanel responded in the comments section, writing, “I’m the luckiest!” and adding a heart-eyes emoji. Scott also shared to his Instagram Story a video of the two holding hands on a swing set, captioning it, “Swinging into another year with this one. Happy birthday, @zooeydeschanel!” The couple first began dating in 2019 after meeting on the set of Carpool Karaoke, celebrating their two-year anniversary in August 2021.

Last month, the happy couple announced they had purchased a home together in Los Angeles, which they closed on in June 2020 and have since been renovating alongside the Elf star’s two kids – son Charlie, 4, and daughter Elsie, 6 – whom she shares with ex-husband Jacob Pechenik.

“What I found out very early on is that Zooey loves Los Angeles. Like, love-loves it. She’s a native Angeleno, her parents still live in her childhood home, the whole deal,” Scott explained in Drew + Jonathan Reveal at the time. “I recall thinking, Okay, okay…give me the sales pitch, skeptically, not thinking of myself as an ‘L.A. guy.’ But the more she showed me her Los Angeles – the parks she went to growing up, the neighborhoods where she made memories with her closest friends – the more I found myself in love with an Angeleno, and with L.A., too.”

Despite the pandemic causing delays in their renovations, Scott and Deschanel have been enjoying every moment of the journey to their forever home. “We have each other, and we have time – the rest of our lives together in this house,” Scott wrote. “Our house. Our dream home, where we’ll see the kids grow up laughing and adventuring in the yard, where we’ll play host to friends and family.”

Bidens Pack Carrots, Apples Into Boxes During Food Bank Stop

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden packed carrots and apples into food boxes for the hungry and chatted with volunteers Sunday at a food bank as part of a day of service for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The couple traveled about a half-hour from their Wilmington, Delaware, residence to Philabundance, a hunger relief organization in Philadelphia which serves about 140,000 people a week in the Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey region. Before heading to the warehouse floor where conveyor belts carried cardboard boxes full of donated food, Biden said the child tax credit needed to be renewed.

The traditional day of service is on the holiday, Monday, but there was a bad winter storm heading for the area and events were being rescheduled around the region.

The monthly credits were part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package — and the president had proposed extending them for another full year as part of a separate measure focused on economic and social programs. The added boost was used by families to buy food and other supplies.

But Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., objected to extending the credit out of concern that the money would discourage people from working and that any additional federal spending would fuel inflation that has already climbed to a nearly 40-year high.

“The child tax credit was really helpful. We’ve got to get it renewed,” Biden said.

They walked out to the warehouse floor as “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” by Angie Stone played softly, donned some gloves and got to work. Jill Biden wore a Philadelphia Eagles T-shirt under her blazer in a nod to the team’s playoff game Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Biden chatted with volunteers, including one man standing near a crate of macaroni and cheese who told the president his daughter was a teacher. Biden spoke of the first lady’s teaching career and then asked the man for his daughter’s number and said he’d give her a ring.

The food boxes contained spices, fruits, vegetables, noodles, tea and juice boxes plus peanut butter and chickpeas.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate will take up voting rights legislation on Tuesday, missing a deadline he initially set for action by Monday, which is MLK Day. Biden spoke forcefully of the need to pass the legislation, likening the modern concerns over election subversion and increasing voting restrictions in states to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Biden last week said he supported changing Senate rules to allow the slim Democratic majority to push the package through, though he later acknowledged uncertainty it can pass Congress this year following objections from Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.

‘This could have been avoided, by getting vaccinated:’ Tennis stars react to Novak Djokovic saga

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CNN

By Ben Church, CNN

With the year’s first tennis grand slam fast approaching, the saga surrounding Novak Djokovic‘s visa looks set to continue right up to the moment play is scheduled to start on Monday.

While players have been putting together their final preparations ahead of the Australian Open, all the questions have been about the 20-time grand slam champion.

“I think we all want to move on, whatever it is, move on and focus on the cool aspect of starting a slam,” two-time grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza said during a media day.

“I think all this could have been avoided, like we’ve all done, by getting vaccinated, doing all the things we had to do to come here in Australia.

“Everybody knew very clearly the rules. You just have to follow them and that’s it. I don’t think it’s that difficult.”

Muguruza, who reached the final of the Australian Open in 2020, is concerned the ongoing controversy will have a negative impact on the sport’s reputation.

Djokovic is currently being detained by Australian authorities ahead of a court hearing Sunday on his case to stay in the country.

Australia’s immigration minister Alex Hawke revoked the unvaccinated tennis champion’s visa for a second time on Friday, saying his presence in Australia could lead to an “increase in anti-vaccination sentiment” and even incite “civil unrest.”

“I don’t think that this would help the tennis world or the players because at the end it’s a little bit of conflict all the time,” Muguruza added.

“It’s already difficult enough to make the tournaments work and to make the WTA and ATP circuit happen going country by country to be creating all of this news, quite a lot.”

READ: Tennis legend Chris Evert has been diagnosed with cancer

‘An unfortunate situation’

If Djokovic does manage to compete at this year’s tournament, he will have the opportunity to win a record-breaking 21st men’s grand slam title.

He currently shares the record with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but the latter says the tournament will still be a success even if the Serb cannot play.

“I tell you one thing, it’s very clear that Novak Djokovic is one of the best players of the history, without a doubt,” Nadal told reporters. “But there is no one player in history that’s more important than an event, no?

“The Australian Open is much more important than any player. If he’s playing finally, OK. If he’s not playing, the Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him. That’s my point of view.”

Djokovic has thanked those who have continued to support him throughout the ordeal but there are some who question whether this situation will tarnish his legacy.

Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka says she has been left saddened by what she has seen. “I think it’s an unfortunate situation,” she told reporters.

“He’s such a great player and it’s kind of sad that some people might remember him in this way.

“But I also think it’s up to not tennis players, it’s up to the government how Australia is deciding to handle it.”

‘It’s their rules’

Daniil Medvedev, ranked 2nd in the world, spoiled Djokovic’s quest of achieving a calendar grand slam — winning all four majors in the same calendar year — in 2021 when the Russian won the US Open final against the Serb.

The pair could meet again in this year’s Australian Open final should both progress that far but Medvedev says the rules of the country must be obeyed.

“I want to say about Novak’s situation that we’re in Australia, it’s their rules,” he told reporters.

“But from what I know, again, if he has a valid exemption to be in this country and to do what he wants, then he should play.

“If the exemption is not valid or something else is not valid, well, any country can deny your entry.”

The Australian Open is set to begin on Monday but whether Djokovic is in the draw remains to be decided by a court.

The-CNN-Wire

CNN’s Jill Martin contributed reporting.