Headlines for Friday, May 12, 2023
đ˝There is no greater power than a community discovering the truth and working together to make sure an injustice is not repeated
đ˝A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny. - Thomas Jefferson
đ˝There is no greater power than a community discovering the truth and working together to make sure an injustice is not repeated
NEWS HEADLINES FOR MAY 12, 2023
The New York Times: In Deposition, Former Prosecutor Rebuffs G.O.P. Questions About Trump Case: Mark F. Pomerantz, a former prosecutor who once helped lead an investigation of Donald J. Trump, appeared on Friday before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for a deposition but declined to answer many of its questions about the prosecution of the former president on charges of falsifying business records. Mr. Pomerantz cited the confidentiality of the pending case and invoked a range of privileges, including the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, to avoid answering the committeeâs questions, according to an opening statement obtained by The New York Times. He said he had agreed to appear because he respected the rule of law.
NBC News: Trump to get schooled on judge's rules barring him from using evidence to slam witnesses: Donald Trump was ordered Thursday to appear by video at a May 23 hearing in his Manhattan criminal case after a judge this week set rules barring him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan scheduled the hybrid hearing â the former president on a TV screen, his lawyers and prosecutors in court â to go over the restrictions with Trump and to make clear that he risks being held in contempt if he violates them.
The New York Times: E. Jean Carroll May Sue Trump a Third Time After âVileâ Comments on CNN: When former President Donald J. Trump was inveighing against E. Jean Carroll on CNN Wednesday night, at least one person was not watching: Ms. Carroll. She was asleep and did not learn of his comments calling her claim of a decades-old sexual assault âfakeâ and a âmade-up storyâ until Thursday morning, when her lawyer sent her a transcript, she said. âItâs just stupid, itâs just disgusting, vile, foul, it wounds people,â Ms. Carroll said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, adding that she had been âinsulted by better people.â
Axios: Trump appeals jury's verdict in E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit: Former President Trump on Thursday appealed a New York jury's decision this week to hold him liable for sexual abuse and defamation in writer E. Jean Carroll's civil suit against him. Why it matters: Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, had been expected to appeal after the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages, and he has publicly mocked her since the lawsuit loss.
The Hill: DOJ seeks to stop Trump deposition in Strzok, Page lawsuit: The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday it will ask a federal appeals court to block former President Trumpâs deposition in a lawsuit brought by two former FBI employees who claim they were unfairly targeted for their work investigating the former presidentâs ties to Russia. The government said it plans to seek a rare writ of mandamus from the appeals court, unless U.S. District Judge Amy Berman reconsiders its request that FBI Director Christopher Wray sit for his deposition first, according to a new court filing.
CNBC: As the Supreme Court weighs Bidenâs student loan forgiveness, education debt swells: Regardless of where the Supreme Court comes out on President Joe Bidenâs student loan forgiveness plan, education debt isnât going away. College is only getting more expensive. Tuition and fees plus room and board at four-year, in-state public colleges rose more than 2% to $23,250, on average, in the 2022-23 academic year; at four-year private colleges, it increased by more than 3% to $53,430, according to the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid.
NPR: Virginia becomes the latest GOP-governed state to quit a voter data partnership: Virginia on Thursday became the latest Republican-led state to withdraw from a multistate partnership that until early 2022 was considered a widely trusted, bipartisan effort to share voter information. The move makes Virginia the eighth state to leave the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, amid fringe conservative media reports and conspiracy theories attempting to connect the group to liberal donors and activists. Virginia's departure is notable because the state was a founding member of the compact in 2012, under former GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell.
19th News: Abortion bans are unpopular. Republicans are passing them anyway: With abortion bans becoming increasingly unpopular, Republican-led statehouses are walking a delicate line: Trying to advance bills that would restrict access to the procedure without drawing attention, circumventing normal processes to cram new policies through as legislative sessions come to a close. Last year, Republican lawmakers across the country pushed restriction after restriction in anticipation of the looming Dobbs v. Jackson Womenâs Health Organization decision, which in June of last year allowed states to begin banning abortion. But now that those laws can actually take effect, legislators are newly attuned to potential political consequences.
Rockford Star: Illinois âCrisis pregnancy centersâ could face legal action under new bill: Illinois would become one of the first states to make so-called crisis pregnancy centers subject to the same consumer fraud standards as car dealerships, retailers and service-based businesses under a bill that will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker. Upon the measure becoming law, crisis pregnancy centers could be sued under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if they engage in âunfair methods of competitionâ or âdeceptive acts or practices.â
NPR: As conservative states target trans rights, a Florida teen flees for a better life: Josie had put off packing long enough. It was time to make some tough decisions about what to bring and what to leave behind. The high school sophomore from St. Augustine, Fla. sat on her bed one recent morning while her mom Sarah pulled clothes from her closet. It held a trove of good memories â like the red dress Josie wore to the winter homecoming dance. And the pink cover-up she sported at a friend's pool party.
NBC News: Trump's comments on Mar-a-Lago documents 'like red meat to a prosecutor': Former President Donald Trumpâs comments Wednesday night about his handling of classified documents appeared to contradict statements by his lawyers, and provide potentially important evidence for federal prosecutors investigating whether to charge him with a crime, legal experts say. Trumpâs lawyers told Congress last month that the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago compound got there by accident. But when questioned about the issue at a CNN town hall, Trump said he had âevery rightâ to take them from the White House.
The New York Times: Trump Suggests He Knowingly Took Documents From White House: Former President Donald J. Trump admitted more directly than before on Wednesday that he knowingly removed government records from the White House and claimed that he was allowed to take anything he wanted with him as personal records, appearing to misstate the law and undercut some assertions by his own lawyers. The remarks by Mr. Trump at a televised CNN town hall event in New Hampshire were the most extensive he has made in recent weeks about his handling of classified material after he left office. Jack Smith, a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department, has for months been investigating whether Mr. Trump illegally kept national defense documents at his properties â including Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida â and whether he obstructed the governmentâs repeated efforts over more than 18 months to get the materials back.
ABC News: Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation: The former executive director of the Department of Homeland Security's short-lived disinformation board is suing Fox News for defamation, in the same court where the network just settled its suit with Dominion Voting Systems. Nina Jankowicz was tapped to lead the Disinformation Governance Board, which was created last spring by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to "protect Americans from disinformation that threatens the homeland" -- but the board immediately found detractors in the GOP and some leading civil liberties groups over concerns that Jankowicz and the board would be acting as "truth police."
MSNBC News: Nina Jankowiczâs defamation suit adds to Fox Newsâ legal problems: A new defamation lawsuit against Fox News could compound the networkâs legal troubles. Nina Jankowicz, the disinformation expert tapped by the Biden administration to run a since-scrapped agency within the Department of Homeland Security to combat disinformation, has filed a lawsuit against Fox over its coverage after she was announced as the pick to lead the agency. Media personalities on Fox and other conservative outlets, along with lawmakers and even some liberals, relentlessly attacked Jankowicz and the agency, conjuring a storm of negative press that helped lead to the Biden administration disbanding the board before it officially began its work.
Bloomberg: GOP-Backed Laws Could Oust Local Prosecutors: Sherry Boston ousted a Democratic incumbent in the 2016 primary to clinch her first election as district attorney for DeKalb County, Georgia, in the Atlanta metro area. Boston didnât run as a progressive â the label wasnât common for prosecutors then â but believed in changing the system. Even before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade last summer, she had pledged not to prosecute abortion law violations.
Wisconsin Law Journal: Speaker Vos: Act 10 was âAct of the People,â Supreme Court to âlose legitimacyâ if relitigated: Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos Friday said he hoped the Wisconsin Supreme Court would not relitigate conservative reforms like Act 10 and right to work, which stamped out collective bargaining rights for public employee unions in the state. Delafield-based Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) in April asked the Wisconsin Legislature to âenshrineâ the controversial laws into the Wisconsin Constitution in the form of a constitutional amendment. Vos was asked by a reporter if Act 10 and School Choice should be added as constitutional amendments in the event the Wisconsin Supreme Court were to overturn past decisions on those issues.
The Washington Post: Tracking Supreme Court decisions in major cases: The Supreme Court this spring is deciding major cases on affirmative action in college admissions, student loan debt forgiveness, whether social media companies can be held liable for content others post on their platforms, and much more. Decisions are likely to be announced each week until the court finishes its work in late June or early July. Here is background on some of the most important cases, which will be updated with each decision to show how the justices have ruled.
The Hill: Opinion: Are universities preparing to circumvent Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action?: The Supreme Court is weighing whether to prohibit the use of race as a criterion for admissions. If that occurs, many universities will likely seek ways to circumvent the decision to continue the racial quotas now in place. Although all universities deny having quotas, many have numerical âtargetsâ or âgoalsâ that in practice amount to quotas. These quotas are both floors and ceilings: They are floors for applicants of color and ceilings for Asian- Americans.
Roll Call: DOJ urges Supreme Court not to decide case on federal elections: The Justice Department and most of the parties in a dispute about North Carolina congressional maps urged the Supreme Court on Thursday not to decide the case, arguing that a ruling from the state's high court means there is no longer a reason for the justices to weigh in. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in December in the case, which could have far-reaching implications for state courtsâ ability to weigh in on federal election rules. But last month, the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed a related case. The Justice Department, in a brief filed Thursday, said that state court action means the U.S. Supreme Court should find the case âmoot,â or out of its jurisdiction.
The Hill: Majority of Americans not invested in feud between Disney, DeSantis: poll: A majority of Americans in a new poll say theyâre not invested in the feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and entertainment giant Disney in the state. DeSantis has been feuding with Disney after the company pushed back against the stateâs so-called âDonât Say Gayâ law, which bars classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Walt Disney World theme park near Orlando is one of Floridaâs largest private employers.
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