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Donald Trump described the hush money case against him as a “mess” after the jury who will decide his fate has been selected.

Leaving the court in New York after proceedings were adjourned for the day, Trump addressed reporters, saying he was supposed to be in states like Georgia, New Hampshire and North Carolina as part of his campaign for the 2024 presidential election.

“[But instead] I’ve been here all day,” he said, labelling the trial as “unfair”.

Trump trial as it happened: Former president looks ‘bored’ in court

Trump held up a stack of news stories and editorials that he said were critical of the case while he continued railing against the trial.

“The whole thing is a mess,” he said.

It comes as all 12 jurors have been seated in the first criminal case against a former US president.

Former President Donald Trump speaks alongside attorney Todd Blanche as they return from a lunch break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024.  (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
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Pic: AP

Members of the jury include a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers.

Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News reported there are seven men and five women on the jury.

It comes after lawyers grilled hundreds of potential jurors asking questions on everything from their hobbies and social media posts to their opinion of the former president.

More than half of a second group of prospective jurors were dismissed by Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday after most said they doubted their ability to be fair and impartial.

One juror was also dismissed after she said she “slept on it overnight” and woke up with concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in the case.

The challenge now is to select six alternate jury members before the trial can move to opening statements, with Mr Merchan hopeful this will be completed on Friday.

Read more:
Judge warns Donald Trump over ‘intimidating’ potential jurors
Trump calls hush money case an ‘assault on America’

Donald Trump orders ’30 milkshakes at chicken restaurant

Trump is accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 (£104,200) payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, during his 2016 election campaign.

Ms Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 (£120,000), both claim to have had affairs with Trump.

Stormy Daniels, seen here in January, received a $130,000 payment from Trump's lawyer Pic: AP/DeeCee Carter/MediaPunch /IPX
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Stormy Daniels. Pic: AP

His lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to help him win the election.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted.

The former president faces two other criminal trials accusing him of trying to subvert his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, and another that accuses him of mishandling classified information after he left the White House in 2021.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

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US Justice Department releases Ghislaine Maxwell interview transcript

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US Justice Department releases Ghislaine Maxwell interview transcript

The US Justice Department has released a transcript of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell – the jailed ex-girlfriend of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Maxwell said in the interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month that she never saw US President Donald Trump in an “inappropriate setting”.

According to the transcript, Maxwell said: “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody.”

Trump and Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News
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Trump and Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News

Maxwell also recalled knowing about Mr Trump and possibly meeting him for the first time in 1990, when her newspaper magnate father, Robert Maxwell, was the owner of the New York Daily News.

“I may have met Donald Trump at that time, because my father was friendly with him and liked him very much,” Maxwell said, according to the transcript.

Maxwell said her father was fond of Mr Trump’s then-wife, Ivana, “because she was also from Czechoslovakia, where my dad was from.”

She was sentenced in the US in June 2022 to 20 years in prison following her conviction on five counts of sex trafficking for luring young girls to massage rooms for Epstein to abuse. She has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.

Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP
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Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP

His case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories due to his and Maxwell’s links to famous people like royals, presidents and billionaires, including Mr Trump. No one other than Epstein and Maxwell has been charged with crimes.

Mr Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. During Maxwell’s trial in 2021, Epstein’s longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, said Mr Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane several times. Mr Trump has denied flying on the plane.

Maxwell said in her interview with the Justice Department that she never saw Mr Trump receive a massage.

She told Mr Blanche that Mr Trump “was always very cordial and very kind to me”, adding: “And I just want to say that I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now.”

The release of the transcript comes after Mr Trump has faced criticism from Republican supporters and Democrats over his Justice Department’s decision not to release further details relating to Epstein, after the now US president promised to do so during the election.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
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Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

The Justice Department previously said a review of the Epstein case had found “no incriminating ‘client list'” and “no credible evidence” the jailed financier had blackmailed famous men.

In the transcript of the department’s interview with Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend said that she is not aware of any Epstein ‘client list’.

After her interview in July, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) after she was held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, that housed men and women.

Read more from Sky News:
Tour bus crash kills and injures several people
Trump critic has home raided by the FBI

The Texas camp houses solely female prisoners, the majority of whom are serving time for nonviolent offences and white-collar crimes.

Neither Maxwell’s lawyer nor the BOP gave a reason for the move.

Maxwell’s legal team have maintained that she was wrongly prosecuted and denied a fair trial, and have floated the idea of a pardon from Mr Trump.

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
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Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice

The president said earlier this month that “nobody” had asked him about pardoning Maxwell, but insisted that he has “the right to do it”.

Mr Trump said: “I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it. I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it. I have the right to give pardons, I’ve given pardons to people before, but nobody’s even asked me to do it.”

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Multiple people killed after tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls crashes

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Multiple people killed after tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls crashes

A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls has crashed on a major road, killing and injuring multiple people.

The bus, with 52 passengers on board, crashed and rolled on Interstate 90 near Pembroke, about 30 miles (48km) east of Buffalo, in New York State at around 12.30pm (5.30pm UK time).

“At this time we have multiple fatalities, multiple entrapments and multiple injuries,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police. He added that authorities believe one child was among those killed.

Several people inside were thrown from the bus as the windows shattered, while some passengers became trapped in the wreckage.

Some passengers remain trapped in the wreckage of the bus. Pic: Buffalo News/AP
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Some passengers remain trapped in the wreckage of the bus. Pic: Buffalo News/AP

Erie County Medical Centre in Buffalo said it had received 24 patients.

At a news conference, Dr Jennifer Pugh, chief of emergency medicine, said two people had been taken to the operating theatre, one of whom had suffered internal injuries.

Dr Jeffrey Brewer, chief of surgery, said he expected that two patients who had suffered the most serious injuries would recover.

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He added that people had been admitted with blunt trauma, head injuries and extremity (arm and leg) fractures.

Mr O’Callahan said most people on the bus were Indian, Chinese, and Filipino, and translators were being brought to the scene. The driver survived and is cooperating with the police.

He added, “It’s a full-size tour bus. Heavy amount of damage. Most people, I’m assuming, on the bus did not have a seat belt on, that is the reason why we have so many ejected people on this bus.”

The Mercy Flight air medical transport service said its three helicopters were transporting people from the crash site to area hospitals.

“It’s a very active scene,” said Mercy Flight president Margaret Ferrentino. “At this time we’re praying for the victims.”

Mr O’Callaghan said the driver, who survived the accident, lost control while the bus was at full speed, causing it to flip when he tried to correct course.

The highway has been closed in both directions, causing massive traffic delays at the onset of one of the last weekends of the summer vacation season.

The falls, which are on the US-Canada border, are a major tourist attraction.

More than nine million visitors explore Niagara Falls State Park annually, according to the official website for the park.

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FBI raids home of Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton

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FBI raids home of Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton

The FBI has raided the home of John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump who has since become a staunch critic of the US president.

The search of Mr Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday was part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records”, reported NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, citing a source.

Mr Bolton has not been detained or apprehended. He served as President Trump’s top security adviser for 17 months during his first term in office, but was forced out of the role in 2019.

President Trump on Friday told reporters in Washington that he’d had no advance knowledge of the raid, adding: “I’m not a fan of John Bolton.”

The US Justice Department is yet to comment but FBI director Kash Patel posted on X on Friday morning, writing: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”

An FBI official said in a statement the agency was “conducting court authorized activity in the area”, indicating grounds had been approved for a search warrant.

Mr Trump’s former adviser is yet to respond to enquires for comment. He was not at his home during the early morning raid, CNN reported. He was seen in his Washington DC office on Friday in talks with FBI officials, according to the Associated Press.

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FBI members carry boxes outside the home of the former White House national security adviser John Bolton.
Pic: Reuters
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FBI members carry boxes outside the home of the former White House national security adviser John Bolton.
Pic: Reuters

US federal authorities are yet to release any detail as to why the search has been conducted and what allegations may be levelled against Mr Bolton.

Unnamed sources told the New York Times that an investigation has been launched into whether Mr Bolton illegally shared or possessed classified information. NBC reported a source saying the probe was looking into potential instances of the documents being leaked to journalists.

During his time as adviser, Mr Bolton had clashed regularly with the president on policy direction over Iran and North Korea. He was viewed as hawkish adviser, and President Trump has previously criticised him as “warmongering”, saying he pushed him to take military action on Iran.

John Bolton listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in April 2018. Pic: AP.
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John Bolton listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in April 2018. Pic: AP.

Since leaving the post, Mr Bolton has called the Republican president unfit to serve, and most recently criticised Trump’s actions in Ukraine and negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2020, Mr Bolton also published a memoir of his time in the White House, in which he described multiple instances of what he described as Mr Trump’s misconduct and incompetence in handling foreign policy.

He also alleged that the president often prioritised his own personal interests over national security. Prior to publication, Trump’s government had tried to block the release but failed in its legal bid.

Since his return to office, Trump has on multiple occasions sought to use his presidential powers against perceived political enemies. On his first day back in the White House, Trump revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen intelligence officials, including Mr Bolton.

He also cancelled security detail for Mr Bolton and two other former Trump officials earlier this year. The officials had been receiving the federal protection because of threats to their safety from Iran.

Prior to working in Trump’s first-term team, Bolton had previously served in George W. Bush’s administration as the US ambassador to the United Nations.

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