Tag: All Content from Business Insider

• A Ukrainian tank crew was filmed lauding the Abrams tank as easy to drive and operate.
• One gunner said he learned to use the tank's weapons in a week, while another said the tank drove "like a scooter." 
• The report comes as Ukrainian state-backed outlet Army TV pushed back on an assessment that Kyiv withdrew its Abrams.

A Ukrainian tank gunner and driver were filmed heaping praise on US-supplied Abrams tanks in a state-backed media report, boasting that they've been easy to learn to operate.

"The first time I saw what was inside after the T-64, I thought it would take a month to get the hang of it," said the gunner, identified as Koka of Ukraine's 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, in a video uploaded on Tuesday by Army TV.

"But it's literally very fast. You can master it in a week," Koka said.

Inside the Abrams M1A1 used by his crew, Koka gave the cameras a tour of the internal systems. "There's nothing so complicated here," he told Army TV.

The military news outlet is run by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. The report comes after Pentagon officials told the Associated Press that Kyiv had withdrawn its Abrams tanks from the front lines over concerns they were vulnerable to drones.

Army TV pushed back on the assessment, writing in a caption that "despite rumors, no one took these vehicles away from the front line."

Unlike most of Army TV's YouTube videos, the report was notably titled and captioned in English, and not Ukrainian.

The video featured crew members from the 47th lauding the Abrams tank and alleging that the heavy-duty armor is still present on the front lines.

The Pentagon's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Tank driver Alexey said the Abrams' pedals and control apparatus made it "like a scooter."

"Is it easy to drive like a scooter?" Army TV's reporter Yevhen Nazarenko asked.

"Yes," said Alexey, smiling.

Clips showed the crew members driving Nazarenko around in the Abrams, but it's unclear when or where the video was shot.

Alexey and Koka's commander, Dmytro, told Army TV that the Abrams' armor was effective against Russian anti-tank missiles like the Kornet.

But they wished for dynamic plating to protect its flanks and turret, with Alexey saying the turret could be breached.

"It is said that it is the strongest," he said of the turret's armor. "That the 'Hand of Zeus' will not pierce it, but it is not so. Unfortunately, it is not so."

Ukraine was promised 31 Abrams tanks by the US in January 2023, with the first batch arriving in September after crews trained for months in Germany to operate them. US aid to Kyiv later stalled due to political resistance on Capitol Hill from Republican lawmakers, until a $61 billion aid package was voted through last month.

Weapons, ammunition, and military hardware from US stockpiles are expected to make up at least $25 billion of the funding.

The Abrams has defeated Soviet armor before, but several deployed in Ukraine have suffered setbacks. At least five of the tanks were lost in combat, and another three were damaged, The New York Times reported.

In late April, the Russian military displayed an abandoned Abrams M1A1 at an exhibition called the "Trophies of the Russian Army," which showcased NATO equipment seized during the war.

• New York City is now home to 349,500 millionaires. The city has the most in the world.
• Meanwhile, rising living costs are forcing lower-earning residents out of the city.
• Global wealth growth is driven by strong financial market performance, said Henley & Partners.

New York City is the metro with the highest number of millionaires, according to a ranking released Tuesday by immigration consultancy Henley & Partners.

Some wealthy residents moved out, but lots more moved in during the pandemic, bringing the Big Apple's millionaire count to 349,500 — more than any other city in the world,

With a population of 8.2 million, this means that one in 24 New York residents is a millionaire. The number is up 48% from a decade ago, per Henley's data.

With 60 billionaires, New York also boasts the title of the city with the second-highest number of ultra-wealthy residents, just behind the Bay Area's 68 billionaires.

The ranking may be further proof that New York is increasingly becoming a place for only the wealthy, as the cost of living in the city skyrockets.

Lower-earning residents are packing up. Nearly 200,000 New Yorkers making under $172,000 migrated out of the city between 2017 and 2022, according to a Fiscal Policy Institute report released in December.

For many, the exodus was a result of record-high cost of living. The average two-bedroom apartment in the city costs $4,950, up 26% from 2023, according to apartment finding site Zumper. Childcare has become impossibly unaffordable for many people, too — a family has to make about $300,000 a year to pay for childcare in the city. The median family income in the city is close to $75,000, which means 80% of the city cannot afford childcare.

Mark Radcliffe is one of many New Yorkers leaving the city to afford a better life.

Radcliffe spent over 12 years in New York City before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma in September 2020, he wrote last year for Business Insider.

"I was paying $4,000 a month for my one-bedroom in the West Village," Radcliffe said about his New York rent. In Tulsa, his monthly expenses dropped to $2,000 a month. He managed to save enough to buy a three-bedroom home.

On the other side of the country, the Bay Area, which includes San Francisco and nearby counties, has the second-highest number of millionaires, at 305,700, per Henley's data.

The company reported that Miami, which is seeing an influx of America's ultrawealthy due to better weather and lower taxes, saw the number of millionaires rise 78% in the last 10 years, to 35,300.

In Asia, Henley said Tokyo had the highest number of seven-figure net-worth individuals, at 298,300, a 5% decline from a decade ago.

Singapore has become a hotbed for migrating millionaires due to its political and economic stability, and the absence of a capital gains tax. The city-state is fourth on Henley's global list of millionaire hot spots, and saw a 64% rise in the number of millionaires from 10 years ago. Given its smaller population of 5.92 million residents, it shares NYC's statistic of having one millionaire for every 24 people.

• Boeing is lauding an employee who reported a lapse with the 787 Dreamliner's safety checks.
• A senior Boeing executive said the employee should be celebrated for doing the "right thing."
• Two whistleblowers who raised issues about Boeing's planes have passed away suddenly this year.

The Boeing employee who raised an issue with the 787 Dreamliner's quality checks to his superiors did the "right thing," a senior executive of the company said last week.

"I wanted to personally thank and commend that teammate for doing the right thing," Scott Stocker, who heads the 787 manufacturing program, said in an internal memo on April 29.

"It's critical that every one of us speak up when we see something that may not look right, or that needs attention," Stocker said in his memo, which was obtained by Business Insider.

On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating whether Boeing employees falsified plane safety records for the 787. Boeing, the FAA said in its statement, told the regulators about the lapse voluntarily.

A spokesperson for Boeing told BI's Matthew Loh on Tuesday that they did notify the FAA and that the lapse wouldn't pose "an immediate safety of flight issue for the in-service fleet."

"We will use this moment to celebrate him, and to remind us all about the kind of behavior we will and will not accept as a team," Stocker said of the employee who spotted the problem.

Stocker's commendation comes at a tense time for the Boeing. The company is now under intense scrutiny following repeated quality assurance lapses in recent years.

In January, a door plug from a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out mid-flight, prompting the FAA to order the grounding of over 170 such planes.

"Near term, yes, we are in a tough moment," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a letter to his employees last month. "But safety and quality must and will come above all else."

Two Boeing whistleblowers have also died suddenly in the past two months.

In March, former Boeing manager John Barnett died days after he started giving a formal deposition against the company.

The Charleston County coroner's office told BI in a statement that Barnett, 62, died from "what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound." No further details were provided.

And just last month, a former quality auditor for Boeing's supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, died after contracting a sudden illness.

The late Joshua Dean testified against Spirit in a shareholder lawsuit last year. Dean, 45, accused the company of poor quality control in the production of Boeing's 737 Max.

Representatives for Boeing didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

• A Ukrainian tank crew told state media they're still using the Abrams tank on the front lines.
• The report comes after the Pentagon said Ukraine had pulled back its Abrams tanks over concerns of drone attacks.
• A Ukrainian Abrams commander told Army TV that the tanks weren't withdrawn but are used situationally.

A Ukrainian tank crew says the US-supplied Abrams is still viable on the front lines, but the tank-on-tank battles where it excels have been few and far between.

Pentagon officials in late April told the Associated Press that Ukraine was pulling back its Abrams tanks from the heaviest areas of fighting because Russian drones were making them more difficult to defend.

But a Ukrainian state media report is now pushing back on the assessment, citing the crew's commander saying that Kyiv hadn't fully withdrawn the heavy-duty armor.

"It all depends on the situation. You see, we don't fight in a way that it's purely tank-on-tank," said the man, identified as Dmytro of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, told Ukrainian military news outlet Army TV. The outlet is run by Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

"If it was tank-on-tank, there would be no questions. The T-72 wouldn't even be standing next to it," Dmytro said.

Dmytro added battlefield circumstances have become "very difficult" due to Russia's advantage on the ground with personnel and equipment.

"So we have to adjust our actions. These tanks are designed primarily for direct contact. Go out and destroy the opponent's vehicles," Dmytro added.

Army TV on Tuesday uploaded a video of Dmytro and his crew. It was titled and captioned in English, standing out from the YouTube channel's usual coverage in Ukrainian.

"WHERE IS UKRAINIAN ABRAMS: how the legendary American tank fights at the front," its title reads. Clips in the video showed the tank crew operating an Abrams M1A1 at an undisclosed location.

Dmytro said his team had, in the last few days, deployed their Abrams to take out Russian infantry and equipment, including a T-62 tank that had been disabled by an exploding drone. It's not immediately clear when the video was filmed.

The Pentagon's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Army TV's video was lavish with praise for the American battle tank, a much-desired ground asset for Kyiv, with a gunman named Koka and a driver named Alexey complimenting its maneuverability and internal systems.

The Abrams is touted as an effective tool against Soviet armor, with a winning track record against Russian-made vehicles, but has also faced challenges in Ukraine.

In late April, one anonymous defense official told the AP that Ukraine was not deploying the Abrams in combined arms warfare, though its crews had been trained for such scenarios.

At least five Abrams tanks have been reported lost in combat, with another three damaged.

The US promised in January 2023 to deliver 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which received its first batch in September that year as part of the initial rounds of aid provided by the Biden administration.

A renewed tranche of supplies and weapons, which Ukraine says it desperately needed to defend its positions against Russia, was held back for months due to political infighting on Capitol Hill. Congress eventually voted through a $61 billion package to Ukraine.

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, has a "patriarchal" culture, according to an independent report.
• The bank regulator took no action on dozens of harassment complaints and moved wrongdoers around.
• Investigators raised doubts about the FDIC chairman's ability to lead a cultural transformation.

A key US bank regulator has a "patriarchal" and "insular" culture and is led by a chairman with a reputation for a strong temper, according to an independent report released on Tuesday.

The 234-page summary of the months-long investigation, led by the external law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, highlighted longstanding and recent issues at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. The report said the FDIC has dismissed myriad harassment complaints and that wrongdoers are moved around internally or promoted.

The law firm's report builds on a damning November story from The Wall Street Journal about the FDIC's toxic work culture and comes as the FDIC faces a probe from the House of Representatives.

Investigators said they set up a hotline in mid-January and received more than 500 complaints — largely from current employees — about sexual harassment, discrimination, and other issues. The FDIC has about 6,000 employees.

Tuesday's report characterized the FDIC's culture as "'misogynistic,' 'patriarchal,' 'insular,' and 'outdated'—a 'good ol' boys' club where favoritism is common, wagons are circled around managers, and senior executives with well-known reputations for pursuing romantic relations with subordinates enjoy long careers without any apparent consequence."

While the FDIC operates an anti-harassment program, the report said it is ineffective. Of the 92 complaints the FDIC received from 2015 through 2023, none resulted in more serious discipline than a suspension — and only two warranted suspensions, while 78 led to no discipline. Investigators said many employees did not report issues because they feared retaliation.

Investigators spoke with one employee who said she "feared deeply for her physical safety" after her colleague, who was stalking her, kept texting her sexually explicit messages, even after she made a complaint against him. Staff from underrepresented groups said they were told they were "token" employees meant to fill quotas.

Tuesday's investigation builds on a 2020 report from the FDIC's inspector general that found the regulator had not created an "adequate" sexual harassment reporting and prevention program. The earlier report also noted widespread fear of retaliation.

The independent investigators spent nine pages discussing FDIC chairman Martin Gruenberg's conduct. Investigators wrote that they heard "credible reports" of Gruenberg's temper, including in meetings as recently as May 2023.

"As the FDIC faces a crisis relating to its workplace culture, Chairman Gruenberg's reputation raises questions about the credibility of the leadership's response to the crisis and the 'moral authority' to lead a cultural transformation," the report said.

Gruenberg said in a statement on Tuesday to employees, released to the public, that he took responsibility for the agency, including its culture. The 71-year-old Democrat has spent nearly a decade in the role under multiple presidential administrations.

"I also want to apologize for any shortcomings on my part," he said.

After the report's publication, some lawmakers from both parties called for Gruenberg's exit. His departure would put vice chairman Travis Hill, a Republican, in the interim seat.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre didn't say whether the president still has confidence in Gruenberg.

She said Gruenberg "apologized and has committed to the recommendations" from the law firm.

The FDIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside standard hours. The agency has not issued a statement beyond Gruenberg's Tuesday message to employees.

• Tesla is planning to rollout its robotaxis in China, state-owned newspaper China Daily reported.
• Elon Musk suggested implementing Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology in China's taxi services.
• The EV giant said it would unveil its long-awaited robotaxis on August 8.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is looking to to deploy his company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology in China's taxi services, Chinese state-owned newspaper China Daily reported on Tuesday.

The Tesla chief made a surprise visit to China last month, where he met the country's second-highest-ranking politician, Premier Li Qiang.

Musk, whose company is grappling with sluggish sales, received a critical lifeline when Chinese officials gave their in-principle approval for Tesla to roll out its FSD technology in the country, per Bloomberg.

But, according to China Daily's report, that wasn't the only thing that was discussed.

The Chinese government also gave their partial support to Musk's proposal to implement Tesla's FSD technology in the country's taxi services, the outlet reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Representatives for Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

Musk's bet on fully autonomous vehicles isn't that surprising considering the recent changes he's introduced to reposition the automaker as a software company.

On April 5, Musk said in an X post that Tesla would be unveiling its long-awaited robotaxi on August 8. The date was apparently chosen because the number eight is seen as an auspicious digit in Chinese culture, Musk said in a subsequent X post on April 29.

The company also seems to be paring back on its infrastructure spending as well.

Last week, Musk said he was dissolving the team behind Tesla's Supercharger charging-station network, per The Information. Tesla, Musk said, would still be growing its charger network, albeit "at a slower pace."

"We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company," Musk said in an earnings call on April 23. "If you value Tesla as just like an auto company, fundamentally, it's just the wrong framework, and if you ask the wrong question, then the right answer is impossible"

• Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday delayed Donald Trump's classified documents case indefinitely.
• Legal experts and political strategists say it's the latest win the Trump-appointed judge has handed him.
• It's also the latest example of one of Trump's cases being delayed potentially in his favor.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon handed former President Donald Trump yet another legal win when she delayed his classified documents case indefinitely on Tuesday.

Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, had previously scheduled jury selection for the case to begin on May 20. However, in her Tuesday order, she scheduled more than a dozen additional hearings and deadlines for lawyers through July so that she could rule on "myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA issues," referencing the Classified Information Procedures Act, before the trial could begin.

Trump has been charged with 37 counts, including 31 alleged violations of the Espionage Act for "willful retention of national defense information," related to his handling of classified documents taken to his Mar-a-Lago club after leaving office.

Legal experts and political strategists who spoke with Business Insider said the move wasn't a surprise since she has repeatedly sided with Trump on issues that have come up during the case's proceedings, throwing a wrench in special counsel Jack Smith's case.

"With Judge Canon reversing her own decision today, there is a high likelihood the case will get pushed out past the election," litigation and appeals attorney Katie Charleston, whose background in jury trials includes extensive experience reviewing government contracts and procedures, told BI.

If that's the case, and Trump is elected President again in November's presidential election, it's possible he could get rid of each of the cases brought by the Justice Department — meaning he could dodge this trial entirely.

It's just the latest legal win for Trump in the classified documents case handed to him by Cannon. Previously, she ruled that a special master should review the classified documents seized by the FBI from Mar-A-Lago, though the decision was ultimately reversed in a blistering opinion by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Cannon has also previously denied the special counsel's request to hide the names of potential witnesses in the case, though legal experts earlier this year told BI that decision would also probably be overturned on appeal. Last month, Cannon agreed to the prosecutor's request to redact witness names, per the Associated Press, though she refused to prevent witness statements from being disclosed in pretrial motions.

CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid pointed out that Cannon's critics have questioned whether her favorable rulings to Trump are due to bias, inexperience, or "analysis paralysis."

"Judge Cannon has ruled in Trump's favor at almost every possible turn, so I'm not surprised that she delayed the trial indefinitely," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told BI following the latest trial delay. "She is inexperienced and seems in over her head. She's made a number of bizarre rulings that aren't supported by logic or the law, and she has already been overturned by the 11th Circuit multiple times."

Rahmani added that the delay is a significant benefit to the former president, "especially in the middle of another trial and the presidential campaign," making this ruling "yet another win for Trump in South Florida."

Ty Cobb, a former Trump White House attorney, told CNN on Tuesday that Cannon's latest decision was "a combination of bias and incompetence."

"I think it was always her objective, frankly, to prevent this from going to trial," he said.

On the political front, Cannon's decision galvanizes Trump's allies, according to Charlie Kolean, the chief strategist at RED PAC, which supports Republican candidates, including Trump. Kolean told BI that to his supporters, the decision "proves Trump's point" that the prosecution is "a political witch hunt," indicating that Trump's supporters generally see the ruling as evidence that the law is on Trump's side.

While many legal experts have suggested that Cannon has offered Trump favorable treatment throughout the proceedings, the confidential information at hand in the case does require careful consideration, which means such delays are to be expected, according to attorney and legal analyst Tre Lovell.

But regardless of her intention, it's still a win for Trump, whose legal strategy in his four criminal cases is "delay, delay, delay," according to Doron Kalir, a professor at Cleveland State University College of Law.

It's just the latest example of one of Trump's trials getting delayed. The January 6 trial is on hold while the Supreme Court decides on presidential immunity, and the Georgia case was delayed due to allegations of a romantic relationship between DA Fani Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.

In light of Cannon's latest delay, Kalir said it was not surprising given her prior actions on the case.

He also noted that Trump's lawyers have succeeded in delaying three of the four cases against him — the exception being the hush-money case which is currently at trial in New York — calling it "quite an impressive record!"

• The new iPad Pro can get pricey when it comes to upgrades.
• Buyers can expect to pay over $3,000 for the fanciest model with all of the new accessories.
• Its the first-ever iPad to come with an OLED display.

Apple's new lineup of iPads and accessories are available to order, and the upgrades came with a higher price tag.

In an announcement that Apple CEO Tim Cook described as the "biggest day for iPad since its introduction," the tech giant launched brand new iPad Air and iPad Pro models along with a new Pencil Pro stylus and a Magic Keyboard.

The revamped Pro is the first iPad to come with an "Ultra Retina XDR" OLED screen that should offer more contrast and richer colors than before. The 11-inch Pro starts at $1,000, while the 13-inch is about $1,300 for 256 gigabytes of storage.

But, if you're looking to splurge on the priciest iPad with all of the accessories and upgrades Apple offers, the two-terabyte Pro model starts at $2,300.

You can then opt for nano-texture glass and cellular capabilities for an extra $300 and tack on a Magic Keyboard for $349 and a Pencil Pro for $129 for a grand total of just under $3,100.

The whole setup is about $200 more expensive than the 2022 iPad Pro with cellular, a keyboard, and the second generation Pencil — it comes out to around $2,900 total.

But, the older generation won't have the M4 chip that Apple touted as four times as fast as its M2 predecessor and 10 times as fast as the original iPad Pro. At 5.1 millimeters, the 13-inch Pro is the thinnest iPad thus far — even thinner than an iPod Nano, according to Apple.

The new Pencil Pro accessory also has some cool new features like "Find My" capabilities and a new sensor that will allow users to squeeze and prompt a palette tool for help creating.

If the $3,000 range is too steep, Apple also dropped the price of its 10th-generation iPad to $350 on Tuesday. Though older, it's still compatible with previous generations of the Pencil and Magic Keyboard Folio.

• In a private sidebar conversation, Donald Trump's hush-money judge said he acted out while Stormy Daniels testified.
• Trump was "cursing audibly" and "uttered a vulgarity" while Daniels answered questions for jurors, the judge said.
• The judge threatened to hold the former president in contempt of court yet again.

In a private conversation with prosecutors and Donald Trump's lawyers Tuesday, the judge overseeing the former president's hush-money trial rebuked him for "cursing audibly" during Stormy Daniels's testimony.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said Trump's behavior might have the effect of intimidating Daniels — who was testifying as a key witness in the case — and threatened to hold him in contempt of court once again.

"I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually and that's contemptuous," Merchan told Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche.
"It has the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury can see that."

Daniels, at that point in her testimony, had begun telling the story of going to the bathroom while meeting with Trump in his suite in Tahoe — which she later testified was a prelude to Trump having sex with her.

The Manhattan district attorney's office alleges that Trump falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to keep her silent about the sex — something Trump vehemently denies.

In the private sidebar conversation, which was included in the trial transcript Business Insider obtained, Merchan also criticized Trump's reaction to an anecdote Daniels gave about smacking him on the behind with a magazine.

During the conversation that evening in Trump's hotel room, the real estate mogul had bragged about being on the cover of a recent financial magazine, Daniels testified.

"I said, 'Someone should spank you with that,'" Daniels testified. "'That's the only interest I have in that magazine.'"

"I don't think he thought I would do it. So, he rolled it up and gave me the look that he dared me to do it," Daniels continued. "So, now I kind of had to."

Upon further prodding from prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Daniels elaborated.

"I took it from him and said, turn around. And I swatted him," she said.

"Where do you swat him?" Hoffinger asked.

"Right on the butt," Daniels testified.

Merchan, in the sidebar conversation, said Trump reacted to that story inappropriately.

"One time I noticed when Ms. Daniels was testifying about rolling up the magazine, and presumably smacking your client, and after that point he shook his head and he looked down," Merchan said.

The judge also said Trump "uttered a vulgarity" when Daniels testified about "The Apprentice." Daniels had testified that Trump offered to have her on the NBC show, but that the promise never came to fruition.

"I think he was looking at you, Mr. Blanche, later when we were talking about 'The Apprentice,' at that point he again uttered a vulgarity and looked at you this time," Merchan said.

Merchan instructed Blanche to "talk to him" and said he wasn't speaking directly to Trump himself because he didn't want "to embarrass him."

"You need to speak to him," Merchan said. "I won't tolerate that."

After Trump and his lawyers returned from the break, Blanche assured the judge he had spoken to his client.

• Porn star Stormy Daniels said she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, which Trump has denied.
• She's at the center of Donald Trump's trial in New York related to a $130,000 hush-money payment.
• During her testimony Tuesday, Daniels said she was scared and ashamed after having sex with Trump.

Porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is at the heart of the years-long investigation into former President Donald Trump's finances — a probe that led to the unprecedented indictment of Trump earlier this year.

Porn star and director Stormy Daniels says she met President Donald Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July 2006, and the two allegedly began an affair. He was married to Melania Trump at the time, who had just given birth to their son Barron.

Just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 so Daniels would keep silent about the alleged affair, which Trump has denied.

In January 2018, news of the hush money broke, and Daniels was thrust into the national spotlight.

Nearly five years after the Manhattan district attorney's office was reported to be eyeing criminal charges related to the hush-money payment, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump last month at the conclusion of an investigation into the former president's finances.

The former president surrendered himself on Tuesday where he was booked and arraigned on 34 felony charges. 

Here's what you should know about Stormy Daniels:

Daniels was born and raised in Louisiana.

She started stripping as a teenager and soon entered the porn business.

In 2002, she became the lead actress in a film for Wicked Pictures, a porn movie studio based in California.

She has won numerous awards for her roles as both a performer and a director in adult scenes and films.

She has also had minor roles in more mainstream movies, including "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," and "Finding Bliss." She appeared in the Maroon 5 music video "Wake Up Call" in 2007.

Sources: The Daily Beast, YouTube

She's been married four times.

Her current husband is fellow adult film actor Barrett Blade.

Source: Daniels' Instagram

Before her marriage to Blade and ex-husband Brendan Miller, Daniels stirred a bit of controversy after it was revealed that she was having a baby girl with her former boyfriend.

Source: The Daily Beast

In a 2012 interview, she addressed those who thought she was not fit to be a mother: "It’s just all the negativity towards the adult industry in general, or people's fear," she said.

Source: The Daily Beast

In 2009, she considered entering politics and challenging Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who had been accused of engaging with a prostitute, for his seat. She told a reporter at the time that while she doesn't think she's the best person for the job, "I just think I'm a better choice than the senator they already have."

Source: New York Daily News

That same year, she was arrested for a domestic violence misdemeanor following a dispute with her then-husband.

Source: The Huffington Post

She ultimately decided to not run for the Senate.

But in January 2018, she reemerged on the political scene, although perhaps not the way she had planned. The Wall Street Journal reported that she was paid more than $100,000 in hush money over an alleged sexual encounter with President Donald Trump over a decade ago.

Source: WSJ

In an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after Trump's 2018 State of the Union speech, Daniels refused to answer questions about the payment. Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, initially denied the existence of any payment.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

In February 2018, Cohen admitted that he personally paid Daniels the money.

"Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly," Cohen said. "The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone."

In response, Daniels' manager said Cohen's admission invalidates a non-disclosure agreement her client signed that forbid her from speaking publicly about the money. The manager said things have changed. "Everything is off now, and Stormy is going to tell her story."

Source: Associated Press

Then on March 6, 2018, Daniels sued Trump, arguing that he never signed his portion of the agreement. The lawsuit also said "attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and 'shut her up' in order to 'protect Mr. Trump' continue unabated."

Source: Business Insider

Daniels began to tell her side of the story about her and Trump's alleged 2006 affair in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired on March 25, 2018.

Source: Business Insider

She told Anderson Cooper a man threatened to keep quiet about her relationship with Trump in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. Daniels also wouldn't rule out that there may be photos or videos proving she had an affair with Trump.

Source: Business Insider

In April, 2018, Trump publicly acknowledged the $130,000 payment to Daniels for the first time by denying he knew about the payment or where the money came from.

Source: Business Insider

The FBI seized records of the $130,000 payment to Daniels and recordings of phone calls between Cohen and Daniels' lawyer during a raid on Cohen's office and home in April 2018.

Source: Business Insider

Also in that month, Daniels released a sketch of the man she says threatened her in a Las Vegas parking lot to stay quiet about her affair with Trump in 2011.

Source: Business Insider

Outside of a Manhattan courthouse, Daniels said Cohen "acted like he is above the law" and "played by a different set of rules." "That ends now," Daniels said.

Source: Business Insider

In a stunning admission, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the president was aware of the $130,000 payment to Daniels at the time and reimbursed Cohen in installments over several months as part of Cohen's salary.

Source: Business Insider

Trump responded to Giuliani's comments by saying that the payment was legal and that his lawyer would "get his facts straight" on the Daniels case.

Source: Business Insider

In a highly criticized statement, Giuliani took aim at Daniels' credibility: "If you're a feminist and you support the porn industry, you should turn in your credentials. I respect women—beautiful women and women with value — but a woman who sells her body for sexual exploitation I don't respect."

Source: Business Insider

Avenatti responded by calling for Giuliani to be fired and dubbing Trump's lawyer a "misogynist" and "absolute pig."

Source: Business Insider

In July 2018, Daniels was arrested in Columbus, Ohio for allowing a customer to touch her while performing at a strip club.

Source: Business Insider

Avenatti described the arrest as a "setup" that he says was "politically motivated." The prosecutors later dropped all three misdemeanor charges against her.

Source: Business Insider

On July 23, 2018, Daniels' then-husband, Glendon Crain, AKA Brendon Miller, filed for divorce.

Source: Business Insider

On August 21, 2018, Cohen struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to eight federal crimes, including one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution.

Source: Business Insider

Cohen made the illegal campaign contribution on October 27, 2016 — the same day a $130,000 payment to Daniels was finalized.

Source: Business Insider

Cohen said in his guilty plea that Trump directed him to make the illegal campaign contribution to Daniels in order to influence the election. Trump has called Cohen a liar, and accused him of making up the story to get a plea deal.

Source: Business Insider

Daniels celebrated the news by tweeting: "How ya like me now?! #teamstormy."

Source: Business Insider

When Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt asked whether he knew about Cohen's payments to Daniels and the former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Trump said he knew "later on." "They didn't come out of the campaign — they came from me," Trump said.

Sources: Business Insider, Fox News

In a statement to NBC News, Daniels said: "Michael and I are vindicated and we look forward to the apologies from the people who claimed we were wrong."

Source: Business Insider

But in June 2022, Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison after a judge convicted the lawyer of embezzling nearly $300,000 from Daniels.

The sentence came in addition to 2 1/2 years Avenatti was already serving for fraud conviction after trying to extort $25 million from Nike.

Six months later, the disgraced attorney was sentenced to another 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of wire fraud.

Source: Business Insider

On March 15, 2023, Daniels made a surprise appearance at the Manhattan DA's office. The meeting came as prosecutors approached the final stages of a years-long investigation into the hush-money payment and Trump's alleged role in facilitating it.

Source: Business Insider

In late March 2023, Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury after a five-year investigation into his finances, with charges stemming from the $130,000 payment to Daniels.

Daniels called the unprecedented indictment "poetic" but "bittersweet," saying "Trump is no longer untouchable.

Source: The Times

The former president surrendered himself to the Manhattan district attorney's office on April 4, 2023, where he was booked and arraigned on the historic indictment, pleading not guilty to 34 felony charges.

The hush-money trial kicked off April 15, 2024, and Daniel took the stand on Tuesday.

Daniels' testimony included new details about when she says she met Trump at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006. She said she went to his hotel suite that night after accepting a dinner invitation.

Daniels testified that she and Trump had sex and that afterward, she felt scared and ashamed.

She said she and Trump kept in touch afterward and even met in person occasionally, though she said they did not have sex again.

In her cross-examination of Daniels, Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles, said, "Am I correct that you hate President Trump?"

"Correct," Daniels said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated.