Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

The Diamondbacks rewarded a beekeeper who ended the delay of a game by letting him throw the first pitch in one of the most bizarre scenes at a baseball field.

MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — Donald Trump's judge launched into Friday's hearing by fact-checking the former president's claim that a gag order was stopping him from taking the stand in his own defense.

Trump had made the complaints in front of TV cameras as he left the courtroom after proceedings closed in his hush money trial Thursday.

"I'm not allowed to testify because of the unconstitutional gag order," he said. "We're appealing the gag order and let's see what happens."

Trump was fined $9,000 earlier this week for violating the order, which forbids him from talking about potential witnesses, jurors, court staff or their families in the case, which has hit him with 34 charges of falsifying business records involving payments to adult movie actress Stormy Daniels to cover up a sexual relationship she allegedly had with him before the 2106 election.

Judge Juan Merchan started Friday's hearing by talking directly to Trump — and putting him right.

"There may be a misunderstanding how it impacts Trump's right to testify," the judge said. "I want to say the Mr. Trump, you have an absolute right to testify. The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not restrict you from testifying in any way. As the name of the order indicates, it only applies to extrajudicial statements."

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Trump has said he intends to take the stand in his own defense in the trial, though several experts have suggested that may not be wise.

The former president began the day in court smiling as he whispered to his lawyers, but he turned on a scowl when the cameras showed up before proceedings started.

Donald Trump's legal team has been working overtime to force Special Counsel Jack Smith to make public his prosecution team's evidence against the former president in the criminal documents case, and they just had a victory... sort of.

Recently, Judge Aileen Cannon unsealed several documents in the Florida criminal case, resulting in a trove of new revelations. One of those newly disclosed details was that Walt Nauta, Trump's valet and co-defendant in the case, previously told a grand jury that his boss would throw papers "on the floor" when he "would leave for the evening."

But those filings also showed some information that "undercuts" Trump's claims in the case, according to a report from ABC.

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"A coat hanger or 'very tiny screwdriver' could be used to unlock the Mar-a-Lago storage room where former President Donald Trump stored highly classified documents for more than a year, according to a witness in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation," it states. "The account was relayed to FBI agents by an unidentified aide to Trump in January 2023, according to newly released exhibits, and further undercuts claims by Trump that the highly-classified materials he's accused of taking with him after leaving office were secured at all times."

The report further notes the origin of the crucial release.

"The transcript of the interview was released as part of an ongoing effort by Trump and his co-defendants to make additional evidence gathered by Special Counsel Smith public," it reads.

ABC notes that the reported detail "further bolsters concerns raised by Smith about the lack of security surrounding the documents while they were stored in Mar-a-Lago."

"In his indictment of Trump, he included photos showing boxes believed to have contained classified documents in a ballroom at the club as well as a bathroom," it reported.

Read the full article here.