White powder sent to judge in Donald Trump's civil fraud case, adding to wave of security scares
New York (AP/PTI): White powder was found on Wednesday in an envelope addressed to the New York judge who ordered Donald Trump to pay a USD 454 million civil fraud judgment.
It's the latest security scare involving people in key roles in the former president's legal cases.
A court officer screening mail at Judge Arthur Engoron's Manhattan courthouse opened the envelope around 9:30 a.m. Some of the powder fell out of the envelope and landed on the officer's pants, police said.
Preliminary tests were negative for hazardous substances, court spokesperson Al Baker said.
The courthouse operations office where the mail was opened was briefly closed, but the courthouse remained open. The officer and other workers who may have been exposed to the powder were temporarily isolated, Baker said. No injuries were reported.
Engoron had no exposure to the letter or the powdery substance, Baker said.
Wednesday's scare came less than two weeks after Engoron issued his verdict penalising Trump, his company and executives, including his two sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., for scheming to dupe banks, insurers and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
Along with staggering financial penalties, the judge's ruling forced a shakeup at the top of Trump's company, putting the Trump Organisation under court supervision and imposing strict restrictions on how it does business.
In January, hours before closing arguments in the case, authorities had responded to a bomb threat at Engoron's Long Island home. Engoron's chambers have reported hundreds of harassing and threatening calls, emails, letters and packages.
Separately, on Christmas Day, Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith was the subject of a fake emergency call that reported a shooting at his home.
Smith, who is leading Trump's federal prosecutions in Washington, D.C., and Florida, has been the subject of numerous threats and intimidating messages since he was appointed and Trump began posting messages about him, prosecutors have said.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump's Washington D.C. case, was targeted with a similar fake emergency call a few days later. Trump is charged in Washington with scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss and in Florida with hoarding classified documents after he left the White House.
On Monday, police in hazmat suits responded to Donald Trump Jr.'s Florida home after the former president's eldest son opened a letter that contained an unidentified white powder and a death threat. White powder was also found in a letter to Trump Jr. in 2018 and in mail sent to Eric Trump and Trump Tower in 2016.
Hoax attacks using white powder play on fears that date to 2001, when letters containing deadly anthrax were mailed to news organisations and the offices of two US senators. Those letters killed five people.
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Congress leader Harish Rawat files FIR against BJP over 'misinformation' campaign against him
Dehradun (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday filed a police complaint here against the alleged misinformation campaign being carried out against him by BJP on social media.
Rawat, who reached the Nehru Colony police station with his supporters, handed over a written complaint along with a pen drive and other evidence to the police.
Based on this, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and relevant sections of law.
After filing the FIR, Rawat alleged that the police took four hours to register his complaint. He added that if it takes so long for a former CM to file an FIR, one can easily imagine the plight of a common man.
"Finally, after four hours, the police registered the FIR with trembling hands. Their hands were trembling because we have accused the BJP president and his associates, with factual evidence, of misusing AI to tarnish our and our party's image and trying to disrupt social harmony by targeting a particular community," Rawat said.
He expressed hope that after the registration of the FIR, the police would bring the culprits to justice.
Rawat also said, "Just imagine, if the police take so much time to register an FIR of a former CM, what will be the condition of a common man in this state?"
Later, he also handed over a copy of the FIR to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun and the SSP of the Special Task Force. Rawat also said that he would meet the District Magistrate of Dehradun and the State Election Officer with his complaint on Wednesday.
Recently, an AI-generated reel was uploaded on the official social media page of the BJP, which portrayed Rawat as a supporter of appeasement.
In the reel, a Congress leader is heard saying, "I take refuge in Muslims, I take refuge in dargahs (shrines), I take refuge in love jihad." The subsequent images show the construction of a dargah and some people smiling and talking about turning Devbhoomi (the land of gods) into a land of dargahs.
At the end of the reel, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is seen walking with police forces and bulldozers.
Rawat also claimed that another AI-generated video was uploaded from a 'fake' BJP platform, depicting him as a 'traitorous Pakistani agent' engaged in espionage. However, the BJP has denied any connection to this video.
