JUDGE TO RELEASE SOME INFO ON FBI RAID OF TRUMP LAWYER COHEN
» A judge confirmed in N E W YOR K a court filing Thursday that federal prosecutors in New York are still investigating campaign finance crimes committed when President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid two women to stay silent about alleged affairs with Trump.
U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III made the disclosure as he agreed to release in several weeks some court documents related to the search warrant that authorized last April’s FBI raids on Cohen’s home and office. Media organizations had requested access to the records.
Pauley said some documents should stay secret because making them public could jeopardize aspects of its investigation, “including those pertaining to or arising from Cohen’s campaign finance crimes.”
Still no verdict at U.S. drugtrafficking trial of El Chapo.
» Jurors at the U.S. trial N E W YOR K of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman ended their first week of deliberations on Thursday without reaching a verdict, making the day more noteworthy for Guzman’s buoyant demeanor and the antics of a courtroom spectator.
After the jurors in federal court in Brooklyn were sent home, an animated Guzman beamed as he hugged and shook hands with his lawyers, as if celebrating a moral victory that he will see another day in court Monday.
The anonymous jury had told the judge it wanted Friday off after deliberating over four days at a trial where there was some expectation of a swift verdict. But the fact that its work will extend into a second week isn’t necessarily unusual, given that trial testimony lasted nearly three months and that it’s expected to reach verdicts on 10 separate counts.
Whitaker confirmed to appear before panel as scheduled.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday as scheduled, the panel’s Democratic chairman said.
Whitaker’s appearance had been thrown into uncertainty after House Democrats threatened to subpoena his testimony about the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
Whitaker’s testimony has been highly anticipated by Democrats eager to press him on his interactions with President Donald Trump and his oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
“Family values” tattoo helps identify man accused of rape.
» Charging documents , say a swastika and “family values” tattoo helped police identify a Missouri man accused of choking, raping and stabbing a woman.
The Springfield News-Leader reported that 26-year-old James Simpson, of Springfield, is jailed on six felony charges, including first-degree rape. No attorney is listed for him in online court records. He’s being held on $250,000 bond.
Charging documents allege that Simpson attacked the woman last month after she invited him to her home. The documents say he choked her until she lost consciousness and stabbed her twice in the back, puncturing one of her lungs.
Spokeswoman: Cosby’s wife, children haven’t seen him in prison.
P HILADEL P
Bill Cosby has been moved to the general population but hasn’t had visits from his family four months after arriving at a Pennsylvania state prison.
Cosby, who is legally blind, has moved out of special housing where he spent time getting acclimated, a prison spokeswoman said. He still has inmates assigned to help him during the day, given his age and disability.
Cosby, 81, is serving a three- to 10-year term for drugging and molesting a woman in 2004. — Denver Post wire services