Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
New York's attorney general wants to put a stop to former U.S. President Donald Trump's attempted end-run around a yearslong civil investigation into his business practices, asking a judge Wednesday to dismiss his lawsuit aimed at halting the probe.
Attorney General Letitia James argued in court papers that Trump's lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in upstate New York, is a sudden "collateral attack" on her investigation -- designed in part to shield him from a recent subpoena.
James, a Democrat, said there was no legal basis for Trump's lawsuit and no evidence to support the Republican's claim that the probe is purely political. She also said there's no role for a federal court to intervene in an investigation that's been overseen in part by a state court judge.
In a statement responding to Wednesday's court filing, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said, "Once again, Letitia James fails to address her egregious and unethical conduct in her weak response to our complaint."
Before the subpoena, Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, complied with the investigation and never challenged the underlying legal basis for the investigation or the attorney general's office's legal authority to conduct it, James said in the court papers.
James called claims in the lawsuit that her investigation wasn't lawful or justified a "complete about-face," after Trump previously agreed to turn over his 2014-2019 income tax returns to her office, while his company provided more than 900,000 documents and testimony from more than a dozen current and former employees.
Trump contends in the lawsuit that James' investigation into matters, including his company's valuation of assets, violated his constitutional rights in a "thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates."
The lawsuit describes James as having "personal disdain" for Trump, pointing to numerous statements she's made about him, including her boast that her office sued his administration 76 times and tweets during her 2018 campaign that she had her "eyes on Trump Tower" and that Trump was "running out of time."
In fighting subpoenas James issued to Trump and his two eldest children, Trump's lawyers have argued that any testimony they give in her civil investigation could be used against them in a parallel criminal investigation being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Trump is seeking a permanent injunction barring James from investigating him and preventing her from being involved in any "civil or criminal" investigations against him and his company. Although the civil investigation is separate, James' office has also been involved in the criminal probe.
Trump also wants a judge to declare that James violated his free speech and due process rights. A conference in the case is scheduled for March 21 in Albany before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel.
In a state court filing last week seeking to force Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to comply with subpoenas, James' office said it had uncovered evidence the Trump Organization used "fraudulent or misleading" valuations of its golf clubs, skyscrapers and other property to get loans and tax benefits.
James said her office hasn't decided whether to bring a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, but that investigators should be allowed to question Trump and his two eldest children under oath as part of the probe. A state court judge, Arthur Engoron, has scheduled arguments in the subpoena dispute for Feb. 17.
In Wednesday's court filing, James pushed back at Trump's contention that her investigation is political, saying her public statements also pertained to litigation her office brought on behalf of state residents, such as a lawsuit challenging his plans for the 2020 census and a lawsuit that led to the closure of Trump's charity over misspending concerns.
Allegations of political bias based on "snippets of press releases, tweets, and public appearances" are legally insufficient and "do not support a plausible inference that the investigation lacks any objective, reasonable basis," James' office said in its motion to dismiss.
James announced a run for New York governor in late October but suspended her campaign in December, citing ongoing investigations in her decision to instead seek reelection as state attorney general.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.