Michael R. Sisak
AOL.com
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Michael:
N.Y. probe found potential crimes. Why isn't Trump in cuffs?
New York’s attorney general says her three-year investigation of former President Donald Trump uncovered potential crimes in the way he ran his real estate empire, including allegations of bank and insurance fraud. Attorney General Letitia James didn’t seek to slap handcuffs on the Republican this week, as some of his critics hoped. Instead, she announced a civil lawsuit seeking $250 million and… → Read More
Steve Bannon surrenders in NY court in wall donor case
Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon surrendered Thursday to face fresh charges that he duped donors who gave money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon’s state-level charges in New York closely resemble an attempted federal prosecution that ended abruptly, before trial, when Trump pardoned Bannon on his last day in office. In Bannon’s case, any double jeopardy… → Read More
Trump Org. CFO to plead guilty, testify against company
Donald Trump’s chief financial officer is expected to plead guilty to tax violations Thursday in a deal that would require him to testify about illicit business practices at the former president's company, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Allen Weisselberg is charged with taking more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation from the Trump Organization over… → Read More
Maxwell’s new digs: Fla. prison known for yoga, music, abuse
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite turned convicted sex trafficker, is off to Florida to serve a 20-year federal prison sentence for helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls — returning to the same state, but a far cry from the posh lifestyle, where she committed some of her crimes. Maxwell, 60, was moved last week to FCI Tallahassee, a low-security federal… → Read More
Trump, fighting contempt fines, says he doesn't have records
Donald Trump's lawyers, seeking to reverse their client's $10,000-per-day contempt fine, provided a New York judge Friday with an affidavit in which the former president claims he didn't turn over subpoenaed documents to the state attorney general’s office because he doesn't have them. The judge, though, was unmoved and refused to lift sanctions he imposed on Trump on Monday. Judge Arthur… → Read More
Ex-prosecutor: Trump 'guilty of numerous felony violations'
A prosecutor who had been leading a criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last month said in his resignation letter that he believes the former president is “guilty of numerous felony violations” and he disagreed with the Manhattan district attorney’s decision not to seek an indictment. In the letter, published Wednesday by The New York Times, Mark Pomerantz told District… → Read More
Court fight looms as questions swirl over Trump's finances
The ex- president's testimony is being sought in a civil probe New York's AG says found evidence his company secured loans and tax benefits by using "fraudulent or misleading" valuations of assets. → Read More
Accounting firm: Trump financial statements aren't reliable
The accounting firm that prepared former President Donald Trump’s annual financial statements says the documents, used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trump's image as a wealthy businessman, “should no longer be relied upon” after New York's attorney general said they regularly misstated the value of assets. In a letter to the Trump Organization's lawyer Feb. 9, Mazars USA LLP advised the… → Read More
US federal prisons on lockdown after 2 Texas inmates killed
The federal prison system has been placed on a nationwide lockdown after two inmates were killed and two others injured during a gang altercation at a Texas penitentiary. → Read More
1 NYPD officer killed, 1 severely injured in Harlem shooting
A New York City police officer was killed and another critically wounded Friday night while answering a call about an argument between a woman and her adult son, officials said, making four officers shot in the city in as many days. Just three weeks into their jobs, Mayor Eric Adams — a former police captain himself — and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell stood before the media at a Harlem… → Read More
Fourth Calif. federal prison worker charged with sex abuse
A fourth worker at a federal women’s prison in California has been charged with sexually abusing an inmate. James Theodore Highhouse, a corrections worker and chaplain at FCI Dublin, was charged Tuesday with sexual abuse of a ward, abusive sexual contact and making false statements to investigators. Prosecutors allege Highhouse engaged in sexual acts with a female inmate on multiple occasions… → Read More
New York AG says Trump's company misled banks, tax officials
The New York attorney general’s office said it had uncovered evidence that the Trump Organization used "fraudulent or misleading" valuations to get loans and tax benefits. → Read More
Shkreli ordered to return $64M, is barred from drug industry
Martin Shkreli must return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped from jacking up the price and monopolizing the market for a lifesaving drug, a federal judge ruled Friday while also barring the provocative, imprisoned ex-CEO from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote's ruling came several weeks after a seven-day bench trial in… → Read More
Chris Cuomo's off-air role: Brother Andrew's strategist, spy
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo had a bigger role than previously known in advising his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the face of sexual harassment allegations that forced him from office, newly released transcripts and text messages show. The TV journalist offered to reach out to "sources," including other reporters, to find out whether more women were going to come forward and relayed… → Read More
Judge tosses convictions of 2 men in killing of Malcolm X
More than half a century after the assassination of Malcolm X, two of his convicted killers were exonerated Thursday after decades of doubt about who was responsible for the civil rights icon’s death. A Manhattan judge dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation found new evidence that the men were not… → Read More
Head of NYPD sergeant union out after FBI raids office, home
Federal agents raided the offices Tuesday of a New York City police union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Long Island home of its bombastic leader, who has clashed with city officials over his incendiary tweets and hard-line tactics. FBI spokesperson Martin Feely said agents were “carrying out a law enforcement action in connection with an ongoing investigation." Agents were seen… → Read More
Autopsy: Actor Michael K. Williams died of drug intoxication
Actor Michael K. Williams died of acute drug intoxication in what New York City's medical examiner said Friday was an accidental death. Williams, known for playing Omar Little on “The Wire” and an Emmy Award nominee this year, had fentanyl, parafluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine in his system when he died Sept. 6 in Brooklyn. Williams, 54, was found dead by family members in his penthouse… → Read More
Trump CFO's lawyer says he suspects more indictments on way
A lawyer for Donald Trump’s indicted corporate finance chief told a judge Monday he has “strong reason to believe” more indictments are coming in an ongoing New York investigation into the former president’s real estate empire. Lawyer Bryan Scarlatos made the remark during Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s first court appearance since his July 1 arraignment on tax fraud charges. In… → Read More
NYC's Rikers Island jail spirals into chaos amid pandemic
New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex, troubled by years of neglect, has spiraled into turmoil during the coronavirus pandemic. "In our office's 50 years of monitoring the city jails, this is one of the most dangerous times we’ve seen," said Mary Lynne Werlwas, a lawyer and the director of the Prisoners’ Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society. At one point during the summer, more… → Read More
US closing troubled NYC jail where Epstein killed himself
The U.S. government said Thursday it is shutting down a federal jail in New York City after a slew of problems that came to light following disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide there two years ago. The federal Bureau of Prisons said the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan will be closed at least temporarily to address issues that have long plagued the facility, including lax… → Read More