Judges say they’ll redraw Louisiana congressional map themselves if lawmakers can’t
Federal judges who recently threw out a congressional election map giving Louisiana a second mostly Black district said Tuesday the state Legislature must pass a new map by June 3 or face having the panel impose one on the state. The order from a panel of two federal district judges and an appellate judge noted that they would begin work on a remedial plan while giving lawmakers a chance to come up with a plan. State lawmakers are meeting in Baton Rouge in a regular session that will end by June 3. NEW MAJORITY-BLACK LOUISIANA HOUSE DISTRICT REJECTED, NOVEMBER ELECTION MAP STILL UNCERTAIN “To be clear, the fact that the Court is proceeding with the remedial phase of this case does not foreclose the Louisiana Legislature from exercising its ‘sovereign interest’ by drawing a legally compliant map,” the judges wrote. Whatever comes out of the court could impact the makeup of the next U.S. Congress. Given voting patterns, a new mostly Black district would give Democrats the chance to capture another House seat. The map that was recently tossed converted District 6, represented by Republican Rep. Garret Graves, into a mostly Black district. Democratic state Sen. Cleo Fields, a former congressman who is Black, had said he would run for the seat. U.S. District Judges David Joseph and Robert Summerhays, both of whom were nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump, said the newest map violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because “race was the predominate factor” driving its creation. Tuesday’s order is the latest development in a seesaw court battle that has taken place in two federal court districts and an appeals court. The state currently has five white Republican U.S. House members and one Black member who is a Democrat. All were elected most recently under a map the Legislature drew up in 2022. A federal judge in Baton Rouge blocked subsequent use of the 2022 map, saying it likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by dividing many of the state’s Black residents — about a third of the population — among five districts. A federal appeals court gave lawmakers a deadline earlier this year to act. The Legislature responded with a map creating a new district crossing the state diagonally and linking Black populations from Shreveport in the northwest, Alexandria in the center and Lafayette and Baton Rouge in the south. A group of self-identified non-African American voters filed suit against that map, saying it was unconstitutionally drawn up with race as the main factor. That suit was filed in western Louisiana. A three-judge panel heard arguments in that case and ruled 2-1 against the map. The same panel issued Tuesday’s ruling. The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office has said it needs a map in place by May 15 to prepare for the fall elections. The judges noted testimony, however, that the office could be prepared if maps were in place by the end of May. The candidate sign-up period is in mid-July.
Mike Braun wins GOP nomination in race for governor of Indiana
The GOP primary race to serve as Indiana’s next governor concluded Tuesday evening after it was announced Sen. Mike Braun received the most votes and will serve as the party’s nominee for the role in November. A total of six candidates ran in the GOP gubernatorial primary election to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has held the position since 2017. Each of the six candidates in the competitive, multi-million dollar primary race cast themselves as an outsider in an appeal to conservative voters ahead of the election, despite five holding statewide roles at some point. The six Republican candidates who competed for their party’s nomination on Tuesday included Sen. Mike Braun, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former state commerce secretary Brad Chambers, former state commerce secretary Eric Doden, former Indiana AG Curtis Hill, and Jamie Reitenour. 6 REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR OF INDIANA TO DEBATE AHEAD OF PRIMARY Braun boasted several advantages – such as name recognition, money and former President Donald Trump’s endorsement – ahead of Tuesday’s election. Braun, who flipped a Democrat-held Senate seat in 2018, announced his decision to enter the race in Nov. 2022. His campaign spent over $6 million in 2024, according to the latest summary report. Trump endorsed Braun last November, saying he “was proud to endorse Mike when he ran for the Senate in 2018, and I am proud to do so again.” “Mike Braun has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of the Great State of Indiana!” Trump said in a Truth Social post at the time. Crouch – another familiar name thanks to running twice with Holcomb – campaigned to slash the state’s income tax and promised to boost addiction and mental illness services prior to the election. Crouch ended the most recent fundraising period with $3 million – the most cash on hand of any Indiana gubernatorial candidate. However, she spent only $2.1 million in the first three months of the year. Chambers ‘ messaging leading up to the election was more moderate than the other candidates, with a large focus being placed on the economy. Chambers spent $6.7 million this year and reports revealed he contributed $8 million to his campaign. Doden’s priorities ahead of Tuesday’s election included a plan to invest in Indiana’s small towns. He spent $5.2 million in the first three months of this year and last reported having about $250,000 of cash on hand. Once a rising star in Indiana politics, Hill struggled to compete. He lost the Republican delegation nomination in 2020 following allegations that he groped four women in 2018. Reitenour, a mother with no political experience who received support in the race from the Hamilton County Moms For Liberty, also sought the GOP nomination. She previously said she would appoint its leader to head the state education department. Braun is most likely to win the Nov. 5 general election in a state that reliably elects Republicans. Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic candidate in the gubernatorial race, is running unopposed. Two other candidates, Donald Rainwater (Libertarian Party) and Christopher Stried (independent), are running to serve as the state’s next governor. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
White House says commitment to Israel ‘ironclad,’ despite report of slow-walking military aid
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday reiterated the U.S.’ “ironclad” support of Israel despite a recent report that the Biden administration had put an ammunition shipment to Israel on hold. The Sunday report from Axios cited two Israeli officials that said a U.S.-manufactured ammunition shipment to Israel was stopped last week, leaving officials within the Israeli government scrambling to understand why. Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich asked Jean-Pierre how the U.S. could have “ironclad commitment on one hand and, then on another hand, slow walk arms sales.” “The president said that the supplemental was imperative, and now this. How do you square that?” Heinrich asked. ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENTS SHARE COMMON TRAITS WITH MARXIST REVOLUTIONARIES, BLM AND THE KKK Jean-Pierre declined to talk about the specifics, reiterating that the U.S.’ commitment to Israel’s security “is indeed ironclad.” “And we proved that in getting that supplemental done,” the White House press secretary said, referring to a $95 billion aid package passed in the Senate that week that supplies aid to Ukraine and Israel. COLUMBIA STUDENT LAUNCHES PETITION TO HOLD COMMENCMENT ON CAMPUS: ‘WE ALL WORKED’ FOR THIS “That is going to be incredibly important to Ukraine, to Israel, to make sure humanitarian aid gets into Gaza, gets to Sudan, gets to Haiti, and other places across the globe that need humanitarian aid. All of those things are important,” Jean-Pierre said. On the question of arms sales to Israel, Jean-Pierre said: “Not going to speak to that.” Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and the Department of Defense for further comment. The latter repeated Jean-Pierre’s “ironclad” comments on U.S. support of Israel. The exchange came the same day that President Biden denounced antisemitism on college campuses and around the world since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, in which Hamas terrorist killed nearly 1,200 people and took hundreds more hostage. Israel’s retaliation in the Gaza Strip has led to the deaths of more than 34,700 Palestinians per estimates from the Hamas-run health ministry. The president used his Tuesday address to renew his declarations of unwavering support for Israel in its war against Hamas. This even as his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has grown increasingly strained over Israel’s push to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which would surely worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis for Palestinians. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Classified docs ‘credibly’ suggest COVID originated from Wuhan lab leak, covered up by CCP: House Rep
EXCLUSIVE: The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic reviewed classified State Department records that members say “credibly suggest” COVID-19 originated from a “lab-related accident in Wuhan, China” and that the Chinese Communist Party “attempted to cover up the lab leak.” Committee Chairman Brad Wenstrup sent a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tuesday, requesting he declassify the records to “share the truth” about COVID origins with the American people. FBI DIRECTOR SAYS COVID PANDEMIC ‘MOST LIKELY’ ORIGINATED FROM CHINESE LAB Wenstrup said the State Department recently produced classified documents to the select committee after the same documents had been previously released in an “unclassified and highly redacted” Freedom of Information Act production to a nonprofit group called U.S. Right to Know. US TAXPAYER FUNDS FLOWED TO CHINESE ENTITIES THAT CONDUCTED CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH BEFORE COVID PANDEMIC: GAO The classified materials sent to the committee contain “highly pertinent information that credibly suggests COVID-19 originated from a lab-related accident in Wuhan, China,” Wenstrup wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital. Wenstrup said the documents also suggest that the Chinese Communist Party “acted to prevent, and in fact obstructed, a fulsome investigation into these matters.” The documents also suggest a “seamless relationship” between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Chinese People’s Liberation Army, according to Wenstrup. “The American people deserve to see the information that is hidden under these redactions,” Wenstrup wrote. “We write to you today to request that you immediately take steps to declassify this information such that the American people have a more complete picture of the government’s evidence regarding the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.” DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE RELEASES DECLASSIFIED COVID ORIGINS REPORT Wenstrup also urged Blinken to give a staff level briefing on the records before May 14. The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. President Biden signed the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 last year, which required the government to declassify information on what may have led to the pandemic. US FUNDED RESEARCH TO CREATE ‘MUTANT VIRUSES’ AT WUHAN LAB AHEAD OF COVID-19, RECORDS SHOW The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report in June 2023 which said the intelligence community has not come to a conclusion on whether the pandemic was spurred by a lab leak or from “natural exposure” of an infected animal — like at one of the wet markets in China. “All agencies continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection,” the report said. FORMER INTELLIGENCE CHIEF SAYS A LAB LEAK IS THE ‘ONLY EXPLANATION’ FOR COVID The National Intelligence Council and four other intelligence community agencies have assessed that natural contact with a wild animal was the most likely cause. The U.S. Energy Department and the FBI have determined that COVID-19 likely emerged from a lab leak in China. The report said the CIA and another unnamed agency haven’t come to a conclusion, “as both hypotheses rely on significant assumptions or face challenges with conflicting reporting.” But “almost all” of the agencies have assessed it was not “genetically engineered” and the entire intelligence community agrees that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was “not developed as a biological weapon,” the report stated.
Trump demands government treat anti-Israel agitators the same as ‘J6 hostages’
Former President Trump railed against ongoing anti-Israel unrest plaguing college campuses and cities, saying the radicals should be treated by the government “the same way as they do the J6 hostages.” “It’s Biden’s backers that seem to be funding what’s going on with the Palestinians. Probably not Palestinians, they’re agitators — bad agitators, really bad. And I think our government ought to find out who they are, where they’re from, and treat them the same way as they do the J6 hostages,” Trump said outside the courtroom, referring to protesters who breached the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2021. “You got to treat them the same way. These are agitators. They’re really hurting our country. It’s happening all over the country and cities.” The NYPD arrested more than two dozen protesters outside the Met Gala Monday evening as a protest devolved into chaos. It included agitators burning an American flag and vandalizing a historic World War I memorial. The protest follows mass demonstrations on college campuses since last month, with students and outside agitators establishing anti-Israel encampments and demanding their schools divest from Israel amid a war that has raged in the Middle East since Oct. 7. ERIC TRUMP SLAMS STORMY’S TESTIMONY FROM FRONT ROW COURT SEAT: ‘GARBAGE’ “You saw what happened last night at the Metropolitan Museum. These are agitators. And in some of the colleges, I think it’s about 20% student and 80% others. So, this is a big problem. And they better nip it in the bud. And it’s a problem from the left, not from the right. This is a problem from the left.” The college protests are associated with groups tied to far-left organizations backed by dark money and liberal mega-donor George Soros, Fox News Digital previously reported. Namely, the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) has had a large presence amid the protests on Columbia University’s campus, as well as on the campuses of UCLA, Tufts and the University of Texas at Austin. Trump’s comments Tuesday afternoon come after former pornography actor Stormy Daniels took the stand and went into detail about meeting Trump in 2006 during a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. The testimony included Daniels detailing allegedly sleeping with real estate mogul. Trump has repeatedly denied any affair with Daniels. Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in the case, which revolves around Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paying Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter. Trump has pleaded not guilty. STORMY DANIELS TAKES THE STAND IN TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL Prosecutors allege the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime. Daniels’ testimony has been slammed by legal experts as unnecessary and “prejudicial” as her claims of an alleged affair with Trump have no bearing on the charges. TRUMP READS BACK TO MEDIA THEIR OWN TRIAL REPORTING: ‘NO SMOKING GUN’ “The problem with what the judge has done here, is that this is an entirely unnecessary witness,” Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley said Tuesday. “It is uncontested that there’s an NDA. … What happened in their relationship, if there was one, is immaterial to how those payments were denoted by the Trump campaign. So, the court had the opportunity repeatedly to say, ‘We’re not going to take this courtroom through details of this relationship.’ “Prosecutors wanted to get salacious details out, and this is a form of punishment. They’re trying to use a witness for punitive purposes, and, in my view, political purposes. And this is what happens. And it happened because the judge lost control of his courtroom.” NY V. TRUMP: JUDGE DENIES MOTION FOR MISTRIAL AMID STORMY DANIELS TESTIMONY Trump’s legal team moved for a mistrial over the testimony, and the motion was denied by presiding Judge Juan Merchan. Trump sounded off on Truth Social that the prosecution team had “gone too far.” EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’ “THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!” Trump posted Tuesday afternoon. “This Witch Hunt is FALSE ANCIENT HISTORY that was fully adjudicated by the Voters in the 2016 Presidential Election. It only has to do with Election Interference, and trying to help Crooked Joe Biden get elected because he can’t do it by himself. It is a vicious attack by the Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, in strict coordination with the D.O.J. and the White House, on Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. IT IS ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND STRICTLY THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!” Trump remarked after court wrapped that it was a “very big day, a very revealing day,” adding the case is “totally falling apart.” He did not specifically mention Daniels in the comments.
South Carolina lawmakers rekindle bill limiting how topics like race are taught
A small group of lawmakers in South Carolina rekindled debate Tuesday on a bill that would limit how topics like race can be taught in public school K-12 classrooms. Both the House and Senate passed bills on the topic in 2023. But the different versions sat dormant until a conference committee met to try to work out the differences. SOUTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS DEBATE ELECTING JUDGES; NO BIG CHANGES EXPECTED The three House members and three senators adjourned after an hour after making it just four pages into a 16-page handout on the differences between the proposals. There is a deadline. The regular session ends Thursday, although since a version of the bill passed both chambers it could survive into special sessions in June. The conference committee Tuesday didn’t even get to the biggest differences between the chambers. The Senate removed a provision requiring teachers to post any changes to their plans on what they will teach and classroom materials three days before the lessons and removed another provision allowing parents to sue any district in the state they think is teaching prohibited concepts even while they follow the school district’s appeal process. The bill mostly copies a section first put in the state budget three years ago that prohibits teaching that one race is superior to another or race determining someone’s moral character. The proposal does have an appeal process for material that parents find objectionable. But the Senate version limits the right to complaints to students, parents, employees or volunteers in the school district where the objectionable items are found. Missing from the bill is the explicit phrase ” critical race theory.” It instead prevents teaching that an individual “bears responsibility for actions committed in the past” by other members of their race, and that someone is inherently privileged or should receive “adverse or favorable treatment” because of their race. Supporters of the bill said nothing in it prevents teaching about any ethnic group’s history or the “fact-based discussion” of historical periods and current events. For example, teachers could include lessons about slavery and Jim Crow, but within the historical facts. Democratic Sen. Darrell Jackson questioned whose historical facts would be considered, especially for topics like what caused the Civil War and if disagreements could lead to numerous challenges. “Can you talk about how South Carolina was led by rich white slave owners who convinced uneducated white tenant farmers to join in the war?” Jackson said. “What caused the Civil War? Was it the Lost Cause? Was it states’ rights? Was it to defend slavery?” Supporters said the goal of the bill is to give teachers parameters and balance that against the rights of parents to know what is being taught. A sponsor of the bill, Republican Rep. Adam Morgan, didn’t give specific examples but he said he has heard about teachers who have taught one race is superior or should bear responsibility for what was done in the past. “If my kid is in that class, if your kid is in that class, if somebody else’s kid in is that class — suddenly it’s a big issue,” Morgan said. “It’s not happening everywhere, but it’s happening somewhere.”
Bragg prosecutor leading Stormy Daniels questioning in Trump trial donated to Joe Biden, Democrats
FIRST ON FOX: The prosecutor from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office leading questioning of adult film actress Stormy Daniels in former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial donated to President Biden’s campaign in 2020 and a number of other Democratic politicians and organizations over the years, Fox News Digital has learned. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger questioned Daniels Tuesday as she testified as part of former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial. Trump defense attorneys told Judge Juan Merchan Tuesday afternoon they would motion for a mistrial amid Daniels’ “prejudicial” testimony. Hoffinger said the claim was without basis, and Merchan ultimately denied the defense’s request. EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’ Hoffinger’s donations to Biden came during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Federal Election Commission records show. Hoffinger donated $500 to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020 — a donation of $250 in February 2020 and another donation of $250 in March 2020. Hoffinger also donated more than $900 to ActBlue during the 2020 cycle. ActBlue is an online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates, progressive organizations, and nonprofits. Hoffinger also donated to a number of other Democratic congressional campaigns in 2020 and 2018. Hoffinger was hired by Bragg’s office in 2022, after the political contributions were made. The revelations come as Republicans investigate alleged politicization of the case against Trump. “Joe Biden’s witch hunt against President Donald Trump happening in New York City is blatant election interference,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “The lead Democrat prosecutor is a donor to Joe Biden just like the judge.” BRAGG ‘ALLOWED POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS’ TO ‘INFECT’ PROSECUTION OF TRUMP, HOUSE JUDICIARY GOP SAYS Merchan donated $15 to Biden’s campaign in July 2020. Merchan also made small donations to other Democratic groups in 2020. Stefanik told Fox News Digital that “Democrats know they cannot defeat President Trump at the ballot box and have resorted to a desperate lawfare campaign in hopes of saving Joe Biden.” “The American people can see through this, and that is why President Trump will win come November,” Stefanik said. Fox News Digital first reported that another top prosecutor on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team was paid by the Democratic National Committee for his “political consulting” work. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo joined Bragg’s office after the resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne — prosecutors who were investigating Trump and resigned in protest of Bragg’s initial unwillingness to indict the former president. Colangelo left a senior role at the Biden Justice Department to join Bragg’s team. Bragg afterward brought charges against the former president in April 2023, raising questions among some in the GOP about alleged politicization of the case. House Republicans are investigating Colangelo and his past work as he prosecutes Trump. According to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Fox News Digital, DNC Services Corp/Democratic National Committee paid Colangelo twice on Jan. 31, 2018. Colangelo was given two payments of $6,000, for a total of $12,000. The “description” for the purpose of payment is labeled “Political Consulting.” Neither the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office nor the DNC responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about Colangelo’s work. At the time, Colangelo was serving in then-New York Attorney General Eric Scheiderman’s office as the deputy attorney general for social justice, assuming the role from Bragg. Bragg, at the time, was appointed as chief deputy attorney general. Schneiderman resigned in May 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault. Barbara Underwood replaced him as New York attorney general. Just months after Colangelo received the payments from the DNC, in June 2018, Underwood, with Colangelo as executive deputy attorney general, filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation. The lawsuit claimed that Trump used the foundation’s charitable assets to pay off his legal obligations. The Trump Foundation ultimately agreed to dissolve in December 2018. NY V. TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ Colangelo joined Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in December 2022. Prior to his work in New York and in the Biden Justice Department, Colangelo worked in the Obama administration, serving in a number of different roles. Colangelo worked in the DOJ’s civil rights division and served as the chief of staff to then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who later served as chair of the DNC in 2017. Perez was DNC chairman at the time Colangelo was paid for “political consulting.” TRUMP PROSECUTOR QUIT TOP DOJ POST FOR LOWLY NY JOB IN LIKELY BID TO ‘GET’ FORMER PRESIDENT, EXPERT SAYS Colangelo also worked as a deputy assistant to then-President Obama and as the deputy director of the White House Economic Council. Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. A charge of falsifying business records typically is a misdemeanor, but Bragg, Colangelo and New York prosecutors must convince the jury that Trump allegedly falsified those records in the furtherance of “another crime.” Prosecutors suggest that the other crime was in violation of a New York State law — conspiracy to prevent or promote election. On its face, as a stand-alone offense, that charge is also typically a misdemeanor. Coupling the alleged falsification of business records with alleged prevention or promotion of election becomes a felony crime, according to Bragg.
Trump trial judge compared to ‘corrupt dictatorships’ as Stormy Daniels unleashes salacious testimony
Legal experts railed against former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels’ salacious testimony as “prejudicial” Tuesday, as former President Trump’s legal team moved for a mistrial that ultimately failed in the action-packed court day. “I used to try cases for a living. I still have a pretty good sense of what evidence is relevant, what is prejudicial and what is completely over-the-top inadmissible. What the judge is letting in today in the Trump trial in NYC will be remembered as a dark stain on our judicial system, reminiscent of corrupt dictatorships. Shame on the prosecution for undermining our judicial system,” David Friedman, a lawyer and former U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration, posted on X. The comment came ahead of Trump’s legal team moving for a mistrial as Daniels went into detail regarding her alleged sexual encounter with the real estate mogul in 2006. “THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!” Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday. LIVE UPDATES: NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES WITH WITNESS TESTIMONY AFTER JUDGE MERCHAN THREATENS TRUMP WITH JAIL TIME “This Witch Hunt is FALSE ANCIENT HISTORY that was fully adjudicated by the Voters in the 2016 Presidential Election. It only has to do with Election Interference, and trying to help Crooked Joe Biden get elected because he can’t do it by himself. It is a vicious attack by the Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, in strict coordination with the D.O.J. and the White House, on Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. IT IS ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND STRICTLY THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!” The motion for a mistrial was ultimately denied by presiding Judge Juan Merchan. NY V. TRUMP: JUDGE DENIES MOTION FOR MISTRIAL AMID STORMY DANIELS TESTIMONY Daniels detailed to the court that she met Trump in 2006 at Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament. She alleged the pair had sex in Trump’s hotel room during the event, which Trump has repeatedly denied in public comments. Daniels’ testimony also included describing to the court how she got into the pornography business after working as an exotic dancer as a teenager. The case revolves around the alleged falsification of business records. Prosecutors allege Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter. Prosecutors allege the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which is a felony. STORMY DANIELS TAKES THE STAND IN TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL Legal experts sounded off on social media that Daniels’ testimony was irrelevant to the case and that it should not have been admitted into the record. “The salacious testimony of Stormy Daniels is not only prejudicial, but irrelevant, so by no rationale under the evidentiary rule should it have been admitted,” attorney David Limbaugh posted on X. “Stormy Daniels testified against Trump this morning, going into salacious detail about the alleged sexual encounter. This is irrelevant. It has no bearing on the issue in the trial, which is whether Trump hid the payment to her in order to influence the 2016 election,” an Indianapolis civil rights attorney wrote in a post. “In a fair trial the judge would exclude that line of questioning.” “In a flagrant violation of NY’s rules of evidence and judicial ethics guidelines, the judge is allowing Stormy Daniels to ‘run wild’ with her highly prejudicial testimony, running roughshod over the objections of Trump’s attorneys, and allowing Daniels to vividly discuss every last salacious detail about the alleged interaction she had with Trump,” Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer and communications direction for the National Constitutional Law Union, posted. EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’ “Prosecutors are asking how tall she is relative to Trump and whether there was a power dynamic between them. Now asking about their alleged sexual affair, the position they were in, whether they were intoxicated, ‘uncomfortable,’ and ‘how they closed it off,’” Ingrassia added, calling the questioning and testimony “totally out of line.” The former president’s son, Eric Trump, also weighed in on the testimony, calling it “garbage.” Eric Trump attended court again with the 45th president on Tuesday, where he viewed witness testimony. “Perspective: Sitting front row attempting to figure out how any of this garbage from 20 years ago relates to ‘legal’ bills submitted by a long time personal attorney being booked as a ‘legal’ expense — but I digress,” Eric Trump posted to his X account Tuesday. “To be clear, they don’t give a s— about the merits of this case — the 15 Manhattan prosecutors are sitting at their table and behind in the courthouse pews, giddy by this salacious show. This is the intent, not the merits, nor the fact that this entire case is a massive extortion play,” he continued. NY V. TRUMP: MAYOR ADAMS SAYS RIKERS ISLAND IS ‘PREPARED’ IF TRUMP IS SENTENCED TO JAIL Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley said Daniels is “an entirely unnecessary witness,” with her testimony serving as a “form of punishment” against Trump. “And the problem with what the judge has done here, is that this is an entirely unnecessary witness. It is uncontested that there’s an NDA. .. What happened in their relationship, if there was one, is immaterial to how those payments were denoted by the Trump campaign. So, the court had the opportunity repeatedly to say, ‘We’re not going to take this courtroom through details of this relationship,” Turley said on Fox News. “This is a form of punishment. They’re trying to use a witness for punitive purposes, and, in my view, political purposes, and this is what happens. And it happened because the judge lost control of his courtroom.” Following a break Tuesday morning, Judge Merchan said prosecutors were going into too much detail when questioning Daniels. “The degree of detail we’re going into is unnecessary,” the judge told Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, asking
GOP bill to keep Biden’s ‘hands off’ Americans’ home appliances passes House
The House passed a bill on Tuesday aimed at blocking the Biden administration from banning everyday home appliances that run on natural gas. The Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, which passed 212 to 195, is one facet of a sweeping bill targeting the Department of Energy (DOE) introduced by Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz. The bill would force the DOE to consider the cost-effectiveness of any new policy standards, including how any updates affecting home appliances would hit low-income families, and would mandate that the department factor in the full-life cycle costs of those appliances before issuing new guidance. DEMOCRAT IN ANOTHER BLUE CITY JOINS PUSH TO BAN GAS STOVES “I am saddened that we would need such a bill,” Lesko told Fox News Digital in a statement. “However, as we have experienced under this administration, the Department of Energy has unleashed an avalanche of new regulations for household products, including stoves, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, toilets, water heaters, air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces.” She added, “No government bureaucrat should ever scheme to take away Americans’ appliances in the name of a radical environmental agenda.” House Republicans have pinned high energy costs under President Biden as a likely weak spot for Democrats in the November general elections. CONSUMER GROUP EXPOSES COSTS OF BIDEN ADMIN’S WAR ON HOME APPLIANCES GOP lawmakers have blamed Biden’s climate agenda for those rising costs, teeing up a litany of bills aimed at stopping the DOE from pushing various restrictions that would affect products Americans rely on every day. Last year, they passed Lesko’s Save Our Gas Stoves Act, though it’s not likely to get a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate. She joined House GOP leaders at their weekly press conference on Tuesday morning, telling reporters, “My constituents in the north and northwest valley of Maricopa County, Arizona, do not want this government interference in their homes and lives. I know that millions of Americans around the country feel the same way.” BIDEN ADMIN UNVEILS STRING OF ECO REGULATIONS IN LATEST APPLIANCE CRACKDOWN TARGETING FRIDGES, FREEZERS A proposed overhaul of energy efficiency standards issued by the DOE in February of last year would have taken up to 50% of gas stoves off the market after it was set to take effect in 2027. The proposal earned widespread conservative backlash. It ultimately was not one of the finalized plans for updating energy efficiency standards announced by the Biden administration in January of this year.
Federal judge postpones Trump’s classified records trial indefinitely
Former President Trump’s classified records trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation has been postponed indefinitely, Fox News has learned. The trial was set to begin on May 20, but U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon postponed that date Tuesday. Trump was charged out of Smith’s investigation into his retention of classified materials. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of the investigation — an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.