Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro declares himself "innocent" and a "decent man" as he pleads not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges. Maduro told a judge in New York on Monday, "I'm innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country." Maduro was making his first appearance in an American courtroom on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and bringing him to New York. The courtroom appearance was Maduro's first since he and his wife were seized from their home in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation. It kicks off the U.S. government's most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state.

President Joe Biden says he will accept the outcome of his son's criminal case and "will continue to respect the judicial process." The president made the statement after jurors convicted Hunter Biden on all three felony charges in his federal gun case in Delaware. In a written statement following the verdict, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but grateful for the support of family and friends. His attorney said they will continue to pursue "all the legal challenges available." First lady Jill Biden, who sat through most of the trial, arrived at the courthouse minutes after the jury delivered its verdict and was not in the courtroom when it was read.

Jurors have begun deliberating to decide whether Hunter Biden is guilty of federal firearms charges over a gun the president's son bought when prosecutors say he was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction. President Joe Biden's son faces three felony charges stemming from the purchase of the revolver in 2018. Prosecutors say Hunter Biden lied on a gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. Defense lawyers argue prosecutors failed to prove Hunter Biden was using drugs in the 11 days he possessed the gun.

Donald Trump isn't known for letting slights pass. Yet for weeks, the famously combative presumptive Republican presidential nominee has sat silently in a sterile lower Manhattan courtroom amid a barrage of insults and accusations. Through it all, Trump has spent the majority of his time as a criminal defendant sitting nearly motionless, for hours, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed — so zen he often appeared to be asleep. Trump's demeanor inside the courtroom has, in many ways, been dramatic for its very lack of drama. And it is at least, in part, a strategy in response to warnings that behaving like he has in past trials could backfire.

NEW YORK (AP) — The scene is playing out in courtrooms from coast to coast — federal judges being asked to block a new Trump administration po…