Trump NY defamation damages trial postponed over ‘COVID exposure’ ahead of his anticipated testimony

 The New York federal trial to decide how much Donald Trump could owe E. Jean Carroll for denying that he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room was postponed Monday because of a sick juror — and the ex-president’s lawyer being exposed to COVID.

Minutes after Trump arrived in the Lower Manhattan courthouse — where he’d been expected to testify later in the day — US District Judge Lewis Kaplan sent all parties in the case home.

The juror in “seat No. 3” reported on his way to court that he was feeling hot and nauseous, and was advised to stay away and test himself for COVID, the judge said.

Trump’s personal attorney, Alina Habba, also reported having a fever within the “past 48 hours” and having dinner with her parents — who recently tested positive for COVID — three days ago.

Habba said she tested negative for the coronavirus Monday morning. She was not wearing a mask as she stood in court next to Trump, 77, who wore a dark blue suit, light blue tie and white shirt during the brief proceeding.

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E. Jean Carroll is seeking more than $10 million in damagesGregory P. Mango

It was not immediately clear Monday when the defamation damages trial would resume.

Trump won’t be in court Tuesday because he needs to be in New Hampshire for the 2024 GOP presidential primary, Habba said.

She asked the judge to delay the case until Wednesday, in a request opposed by Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge), who said, “We would very much like to proceed.”

The judge said he would rule on the request later, since the COVID issue may result in further delays anyway.

“Circumstances may result in you getting what you asked for, and maybe not,” he told Habba.

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Trump has said he plans to testify in the case.AFP via Getty Images

Lawyers for the “Ask E. Jean” advice columnist are slated to wrap up their case soon after the trial continues.

The real estate tycoon could then testify as part of his defense case — though Judge Kaplan has ruled that he won’t be allowed to deny sexually assaulting Carroll in front of jurors.

The former president was already ordered at a previous trial to pay Carroll $5 million after a separate New York jury found him liable for sexually abusing her in the department store in 1996, and then defaming her by writing online in 2022 that her claims were a “complete con job.”

Kaplan, who presided over the first trial as well, has already ruled in the current case that Trump repeatedly defamed Carroll in 2019.

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The ex-president has already been ordered to pay Carroll $5 million after jurors found him liable for sex abuse and defamation.REUTERS
The nine-person jury is now just tasked with deciding how much he should pay her for it. Her camp is seeking more than $10 million in damages.

Monday marked the third day the former president has attended the case in Manhattan federal court.

He was absent on Thursday to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/22/news/trump-ny-defamation-damages-trial-postponed-over-sick-juror-covid-exposure-ahead-of-his-anticipated-testimony/

Supreme Court allows federal agents to cut razor wire Texas installed on US-Mexico border

 A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the US-Mexico border, while a lawsuit over the wire continues.

The justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which has been in an escalating standoff with Texas at the border and had objected to an appellate ruling in favor of the state.

Texas National Guard soldiers installing razor wire at the border near Eagle Pass on Jan. 10, 2024.Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

The concertina wire is part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s broader fight with the administration over immigration enforcement.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/22/news/supreme-court-allows-federal-agents-to-cut-razor-wire-texas-installed-on-us-mexico-border/

Harvard teaching hospital to retract papers by top researchers after data falsification probe

 A Harvard University-affiliated teaching hospital is seeking to retract or correct dozens of papers authored by four of its top researchers — including the hospital’s CEO — following a probe into allegations of data falsification.

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston has already initiated six retractions to papers and 31 others are in the process of being corrected, the hospital’s research integrity officer, Dr. Barrett Rollins, confirmed to the Harvard Crimson.

The corrections follow claims of data falsification leveled against the cancer institute’s CEO, Dr. Laurie Glimcher, chief operating officer Dr. William Hahn, director of the Clinical Investigator Research Program Dr. Irene Ghobrial and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center program director Dr. Kenneth Anderson.

The latest accusations come just weeks after Harvard University president Claudine Gay resigned from her top post after she was embroiled in her own plagiarism scandal.

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The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston is seeking to retract or correct dozens of papers authored by four of its top researchers — including the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Laurie Glimcher.Boston Globe via Getty Images

All four of the Dana-Farber researchers have faculty appointments with the Harvard Medical School.

News of the probe surfaced after a data sleuth, Sholto David, published a blog post earlier this month alleging irregularities in a total of 57 papers.

The exact nature of the retractions or corrections wasn’t immediately known, but the online sleuth had previously alleged elements of “data forgery” tied to discrepancies in images, including duplications of blots, bands and plots.

It also wasn’t clear if the institute had uncovered any evidence of misconduct during its probe.

The hospital’s research integrity officer said that although discrepancies were identified in some of the papers, it didn’t necessarily provide evidence of an author’s intent to deceive.

“That conclusion can only be drawn after a careful, fact-based examination which is an integral part of our response,” Rollins said.

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The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston has already initiated six retractions to papers and 31 others are in the process of being corrected, the hospital’s research integrity officer said.Boston Globe via Getty Images

“Our experience is that errors are often unintentional and do not rise to the level of misconduct.”

The institute and the researchers involved took “prompt and decisive action” on the first 37 papers, while the 38th manuscript is still under investigation, according to Rollins.

Of the 19 other papers flagged by David, Rollins said three required no further action and 16 remain under investigation because the data in question were collected in labs that don’t belong to the four researchers.

“Where possible, the heads of all of the other laboratories have been contacted and we will work with them to see that they correct the literature as warranted,” Rollins said.

“We are committed to a culture of accountability and integrity. Every inquiry about research integrity is examined fully.”

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Dr. Kenneth Anderson is program director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center.

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Dr. Irene Ghobrial heads the Clinical Investigator Research Program.Sam Ogden

Glimcher and the other three researchers didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The Post also reached out to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The fresh allegations are just the latest tranche of claims leveled against Harvard-affiliated researchers after the Ivy League school’s president stepped down from her prestigious post following weeks of controversy over her own academic record.

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Chief operating officer Dr. William Hahn is also implicated in the probe.Sam Ogden
Gay’s academic career came under intense scrutiny after she was hit with nearly 50 accusations of plagiarism or inadequate citation.

The Harvard Corporation, Harvard’s governing board, said a review had turned up a “few instances of inadequate citation” but no evidence of research misconduct.

The board added that Gay would update her dissertation and request corrections.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/22/news/harvard-teaching-hospital-to-retract-papers-by-top-researchers/

US Plans Open-Ended War Against Houthis, But Biden Officials Assure It Won't Take "Years"

 It's no secret that ongoing Houthi attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea is a massive headache for the Biden administration going into the November presidential election. If the US does nothing (or opts simply for occasional missile strikes on Yemen), then commercial transit will continue being choked off in the vital waterway which serves 12% of all global trade. But doing more to go on the offensive also risks the US being sucked into another regional quagmire which steadily escalates, but with no guarantee the Houthis will halt the attacks.

Over the weekend US officials told The Washington Post that the Biden administration is planning for a "sustained military campaign" against the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels, even after some seven rounds of major strikes have done nothing to deter or degrade their drone and missile attacks. Notably, US leaders have still refused at this point refused to use the word "war" in relation to the large-scale US coalition attacks on Houthis as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian.

Some US officials cited in the Post expressed concern that an "open-ended operation could derail the war-ravaged country’s fragile peace and pull Washington into another unpredictable Middle Eastern conflict." This in reference to the war which raged since 2015, and saw the Saudi-led coalition which also included the UAE and the US conduct hundreds of airstrikes, often killing civilians.

Amid the White House deliberations over what to do, there is an acknowledgement that it will be extremely difficult to completely halt all Houthi missile and drone attacks in the region, at least in the near-term. This comes in the following from the report:

Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, described their strategy in Yemen as an effort to erode the Houthis’ high-level military capability enough to curtail their ability to target shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or, at a minimum, to provide a sufficient deterrent so that risk-averse shipping companies will resume sending vessels through the region’s waterways.

“We are clear-eyed about who the Houthis are, and their worldview,” a senior U.S. official said of the group, which the Biden administration designated this week as a terrorist organization. “So we’re not sure that they’re going to stop immediately, but we are certainly trying to degrade and destroy their capabilities.”

Importantly, officials expressed optimism that the conflict in the Red Sea won't drag on for "years" akin to US operations in Afghanistan, Iran and Syria - the latter country which is still occupied by hundreds of US troops (in the northeast oil and gas rich areas primarily).

Officials acknowledged to WaPo that they are unable to identify an "end date or provide an estimate for when the Yemenis’ military capability will be adequately diminished."

Critics have said there's another option that Biden refuses to consider--a major peace deal or negotiated permanent ceasefire...

This kind of rhetoric in the early phase of a conflict is always alarming and eyebrow-raising considering the pattern of US intervention in the region over the past two decades. When there's a US "debate" over not putting an "end date" to a new offensive or area of operations, that's a sure sign things are headed toward escalation with no off-ramp.

In Gaza, Israel too has refused to put an end-date to its ground and aerial offensive. The Houthis have vowed to keep up the attacks on foreign vessels so long as Israel stays in Gaza. The conflict has steadily been spilling over into Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon too. As for the prospect of the US sinking into a bigger regional war, mainstream media has increasingly claimed there are 'no alternatives'. New analysis in Moon of Alabama exposes this tactic, which is typical whenever the American military machine prepares expanded action.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-plans-open-ended-war-against-houthis-biden-officials-assure-it-wont-take-years