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Added on the 27/03/2019 17:38:20 - Copyright : Wochit
Images of former US President Donald Trump's plane at West Palm Beach airport after a New York grand jury has voted to indict him over hush money payments made to a porn star, making him the first ever serving or former president to face criminal charges. IMAGES
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg leaves his office in New York after a grand jury voted to indict former US president Donald Trump over hush money payments made to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. IMAGES
Business Insider is reporting that President Donald Trump has pardoned his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Manafort was investigated by Robert Mueller during his probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 US election. Manafort was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud. Manafort also later pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and another count of obstruction. A federal judge voided the plea deal after finding that he lied to prosecutors after agreeing to cooperate. Manafort was sentenced last year to 7 1/2 years in prison for his crimes. The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that he represents a "grave counterintelligence threat" to the US.
Rather unsurprisingly, President Donald Trump announced Monday that Attorney General William Barr is to depart the Justice Department before Christmas. According to Business Insider, the AG fell out of Trump's good graces when he failed to produce quality opposition research to use before the election. Things got even worse when Barr publicly made comments flying in the face of Trump's conspiracy theory about the election having been 'stolen' from him. During his tenure, Barr was described by some legal scholars as acting more like the president's personal defense lawyer than the US's chief law enforcement officer. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen will become Acting Attorney General. Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General.
California biotech company Vaxart is under federal investigation and is being sued by a number of investors. According to CNN, Vaxart was served with a grand jury subpoena in July from the US District Court for the Northern District of California. It's under fire for exaggerating its involvement in the US government's Operation Warp Speed program for developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Vaxart issued a June press release saying 'Vaxart's Covid-19 Vaccine Selected for the US Government's Operation Warp Speed.' The news pumped Vaxart's stock price from $3 to $17. Hedge fund Armistice Capital, which partly controlled Vaxart, sold its shares, profiting more than $200m. A few weeks before it announced its supposed inclusion in the Operation Warp Speed program, Vaxart granted amendments to its warrants agreements. That allowed Armistice to sell almost all of their stock, which they did once the stock price skyrocketed. In July, the HHS said it had neither entered into a funding agreement nor negotiations with Vaxart.