Days after Trump-Putin meeting, Russia strikes US-owned electronics factory in Ukraine

Days after Trump-Putin meeting, Russia strikes US-owned electronics factory in Ukraine.

Appeals court says $500 million judgment against Trump Organization “excessive”, upholds fraud findings.

Early Thursday morning, Russian forces carried out one of the largest air attacks of the war, launching over 570 drones and 40 missiles deep into Ukrainian territory. In the far west of Ukraine, two cruise missiles destroyed about one-third of a factory owned by Flex, a US-owned consumer electronics company. The factory is located in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast, nearly 700 miles from the front.

Fortunately, the 300 or so workers on the floor when the factory was struck before dawn heeded air raid warnings and sought shelter. Injuries were reported, but no deaths. Missiles and drones struck several other areas in Western Ukraine, including the city of Lviv where one person was killed.

Flex is traded on NASDAQ, operates over 100 offices and factories all over the world and has headquarters in Austin, TX, and Singapore. The company has operated in Ukraine since 2012. According to Ukrainian officials, the Flex factory produces common home appliances, such as coffee makers, and has never produced any sort of military equipment. Russian officials have not explained why they targeted the factory.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky said the strike “on U.S. property here in Ukraine, on American investment,” shows that Moscow does not take President Trump’s peacemaking efforts seriously.

Following his meeting with Zelensky and other European leaders on Monday, President Trump told Fox News he thought Putin was “tired” of the war, but acknowledged “it’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal“.

Ukrainian man arrested for 2022 Nord Stream pipeline attack, long blamed on Russia.

Appeals court says $500 million judgment against Trump Organization “excessive”, but upholds fraud findings

A mid-level New York state appeals court has found that the $464 million fraud judgment against President Trump, two of his adult sons and the Trump Organization was “excessive“. The total penalty is now over $500 million with penalties and interest. Judge Arthur Engoron imposed the judgment last year in a sweeping fraud case brought by New York’s Attorney General Letitia James. The state alleged that Trump had for years massively overvalued his properties to obtain favorable loan terms while undervaluing them for tax purposes. In one notable example, Trump claimed that his Trump Tower penthouse was three times its actual size. James said that this fraud had netted Trump and his organization hundreds of millions in ill-gotten gains.

Today’s decision from the state Appellate Division’s First Department upheld the finding that Trump and his co-defendants committed fraud. However, this was a compromise decision by court’s five deeply divided judges. The court has been considering the case for over 11 months, which is an unusually long time. The five judges issued three separate opinions: two agreed that Trump and his co-defendants had committed fraud but thought the financial penalty was extreme; two favored a new trial; one said they would have dismissed the case. Ultimately, the two judges who favored a new trial sided with the two who agreed with the fraud findings. This was a compromise to end the deadlock and allow the case to proceed to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

AG James says she intends to appeal to the Court of Appeals. Trump’s Department of Justice recently launched an investigation into James to determine whether she had violated Trump’s civil rights in bringing the case.

Judge finds appointment of Alina Habba to top DOJ post in New Jersey unlawful. Habba is Trump’s former attorney who represented him in the NY fraud case.