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Trump request to delay NY hush money trial denied by appeals court judge

Trump request to delay NY hush money trial denied by appeals court judge

A New York appeals court judge rejected former President Trump’s attempt to delay the trial in the hush money payments case on Tuesday. Justice Cynthia Kern issued the ruling, rejecting claims from Trump’s legal team that the trial should be delayed until a full panel of judges could hear arguments relating to a gag order on the former president. “The First Amendment harms arising from this gag order right now are irreparable,” Trump lawyer Emil Bove argued at the hearing on Tuesday. Bove went on to argue that Trump should not face a gag order when two star witnesses for the prosecution–porn star Stormy Daniels and former lawyer Michael Cohen–routinely criticize him in public. Trump’s gag order, imposed by trial judge Juan Merchan, prevents him from speaking about jurors, witnesses and others in the trial.  Trump and his attorneys filed a motion requesting Merchan be recused from the trial altogether, due to his daughter’s Democrat-affiliated political work and his alleged “hostility” against the 2024 presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges are related to alleged hush-money payments he made to daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.  This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.

Maryland Dem says ‘forget the border,’ claims it’s a GOP ‘talking point’ amid call for more legal immigration

Maryland Dem says ‘forget the border,’ claims it’s a GOP ‘talking point’ amid call for more legal immigration

A Democrat in the race to represent Maryland in the Senate urged listeners at a recent candidate forum to “forget the border,” calling it a “Republican talking point and a distraction” as he pushed for an increase in the total number of migrants allowed to legally enter the U.S. each year.  The comments from Rep. David Trone, D-Md. – who is running against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks to become Maryland’s next U.S. senator – came as he discussed affordable housing during an April 2 forum in Towson, a Baltimore suburb. Asked about his plan to address the “lack of affordable housing,” Trone suggested that the prices of houses have reached new heights in recent years because there’s not enough supply to meet the demand. Trone said the U.S. is “650,000 workers short in the construction industry” and insisted that’s a result of America’s immigration policies. FOR MORE FOX NEWS COVERAGE ON IMMIGRATION, CLICK HERE “You know who builds all of our homes in the construction industry, virtually all? Latinos,” Trone said. “Our immigration policies just don’t make any sense. We need more lawful [immigration].” “Forget the border, that’s a Republican talking point and a distraction. Let’s talk about how do we drive our economy,” he said. “We drive our economy with folks that have ideas, that don’t look like me, that look different. The difference of all of us, our diversity, that’s what makes us such an unbelievable, incredible country — our diversity.” Trone argued that the cap on the number of legal immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. each year should be increased. “Right now, we have one million immigrants come in a year, legally, for the last 25 years. We’ve never changed it in the last 25 years. Why? Because Congress is waiting for comprehensive immigration reform.” Trone suggested that voters should call for one “small step” after the other until the number of migrants allowed to legally enter the country each year is increased. “That’s what we do in business. We do one small step at a time until we get the whole thing done,” he said. “We need to take that one million to five million,” he added. “Five million legal immigrants by in-country immigration. In-country immigration means you don’t come to El Paso and say, ‘I’m presenting myself,’ you’re in El Salvador, you’re in Haiti… and you go to the American embassy, you go to the American consulate.” Pointing to companies like Apple and eBay, Trone claimed that immigrants create “tens of millions of jobs.” TOP DEMOCRAT IN TIGHT SENATE RACE BACKS CITIZENSHIP, VOTING RIGHTS FOR MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Trone also noted the long wait times for those seeking to immigrate to America legally, saying 26% of those who have already been approved to come to the United States from seven different countries “will be dead when they get admitted.” “We’ve approved them, but they haven’t gotten to the front of the line yet. And [26%] won’t make it to the front,” he added. Trone’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about his remarks. Trone – a leading candidate in the crowded Democratic primary field of 10 candidates seeking to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. – has represented Maryland’s 6th Congressional District in the House since 2019. The comments from Trone came after he declared his support for granting citizenship and voting rights to the millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. during a separate candidate forum in March. “We need to welcome all 12 million folks here now that are DACA, TPS, and undocumented – make them citizens, and move forward. They have all the rights everybody here should have also,” Trone said at the time, referencing Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as “Dreamers,” who were brought to the U.S. as children by illegal immigrant parents, as well as migrants granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The winner of the Democratic Senate primary election will likely head to a general election matchup against former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who entered the race in February. Hogan, a popular critic of former President Trump, is the leading GOP candidate among his primary challengers.

Lone Star rep lures New York’s finest to ‘escape’ the Big Apple for the heart of Texas

Lone Star rep lures New York’s finest to ‘escape’ the Big Apple for the heart of Texas

A Republican Texas congresswoman is urging New York police officers to pack their bags and head to Texas, offering them a state free of “pro-criminal” politicians that backs the blue and can offer a better quality of life. Rep, Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, has put out an ad in the New York Post urging police officers in the Empire State to “escape New York and move to Texas!” In the ad, she cites the death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller — who was fatally shot during a traffic stop last month — and says that she was “disgusted as one pro-criminal politician after another attempted to force themselves into the solemn remembrance of Officer Diller’s heroic career.” DA SECURES INDICTMENT IN NYPD OFFICER JONATHAN DILLER’S MURDER: ‘SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ON THE STREET’  She claims that the state is “purposefully anti-law and order” and officers face budget cuts from “Defund the Police politicians” while fending off illegal immigrant gangs and violent career criminals. “It’s time for you to leave these loathsome and destructive folks behind. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK!” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Rep. Van Duyne said she was trying to convey how much “respect and heartbreak” there is across the country for what police officers are going through in New York. “It feels like they’ve been abused, undermined, sold out by the politicians, the representatives who take the side of the criminals over the police and, quite honestly, over the citizens,” she said. She contrasted that with reverence for law enforcement in the Republican state. “We respect, we appreciate, and also I think we revere our officers for what they do week in and week out. It’s just one more reason why the Lone Star State shines brighter than the rest — we have a value for their professionalism and their commitment,” she said. NYPD JONATHAN DILLER SHOOTING: SUSPECT GUY RIVERA CHARGED WITH MURDER, ATTEMPTED MURDER IN ATTACK ON OFFICERS She also said that their lives would be better in the southern state. “The quality of life is so much better in Texas, where we actually value individual freedoms, where we respect our officers, where we enforce our laws, recognizing that people want to live in safe communities,” she said. Van Duyne told Fox that the ad would be worth it if it could convince even one police officer to move to Texas. “I think if that officer just saves one life, takes one career criminal off the street, they can make that kind of an impact in North Texas that benefits everyone who lives there. And I think that’s an immeasurable improvement,” she said. The campaign is similar to a move by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who launched billboards in other states to bring in law enforcement officers as part of a broader recruitment drive. His office said that the move brought in hundreds of recruits from all over the country.

House to clear major roadblock on data privacy amid showdown over federal surveillance powers

House to clear major roadblock on data privacy amid showdown over federal surveillance powers

A sticking point in Congress’ fight over renewing a controversial surveillance tool appears to have been resolved days before the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the issue, but not everyone is happy with the decision.  “Freedom surrendered is rarely reclaimed. It looks like the plan has shifted to further infringe the right to privacy – under the guise of [FISA] reform. Shameful,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, wrote on X. Discussions over renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on April 19, abruptly blew up in February when Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee walked away from a compromise bill they spent months putting together with the House Judiciary Committee. Multiple sources close to the Intelligence panel told Fox News Digital at the time that the legislative text had been changed to potentially allow for the inclusion of an amendment led by Davidson that would have required the federal government to obtain a warrant before purchasing U.S. citizens’ data from big tech firms. Those sources argued that it was unrelated to Section 702’s intelligence gathering practices and could have sunk the bill. VEHICLE RAMS INTO GATE AT FBI OFFICE IN ATLANTA, DRIVER ARRESTED House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Davidson’s measure, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, would instead be getting a separate vote on the House floor. “This time it’s going to be its own bill, separately to FISA,” Scalise said. “So that one’s gonna go separately.” “We wanted to get this before the membership, before the expiration of FISA and get it over to the Senate,” he added. It is not immediately clear when that measure would get a vote, but its decoupling from the FISA renewal bill is likely to boost the latter legislation’s odds of passing in the Senate. At the same time, it is a blow to privacy hawks who were hoping to use the renewal process to put more distance between the federal government and Americans’ data. In his X post Monday, Davidson suggested House GOP leadership was infringing on Americans’ civil liberties with the move. Fox News Digital reached out to his office for further comment. James Czerniawski, a tech policy expert for the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, argued of the decision, “Taking the databroker loophole and separating it from the FISA all but ensures it dies in the Senate.” FBI DIRECTOR SAYS CHINESE HACKERS ARE ‘POISED TO ATTACK’ AS INFILTRATIONS REACH ‘FEVER PITCH’ The bill to renew FISA Section 702 is expected to get a vote on Thursday, according to an early schedule viewed by Fox News Digital. FISA Section 702 allows the federal government to surveil foreign nationals overseas who are suspected of terrorism ties without a warrant, even if the person on the other end is an American.  Multiple audits and prior reports have shown that the FBI has misused Section 702 in the past to search for data on Americans involved in Black Lives Matter protests and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, among other incidents. PUBLIC TRUST IN FBI HAS REACHED ‘THE RED ZONE,’ US INCHING CLOSER TO ‘MAYHEM, CHAOS, ANARCHY:’ WSJ COLUMNIST However, defenders of the surveillance tool, including the intelligence community and its allies, said it is critical to prevent another 9/11-style terror attack. Disagreements over warrant requirements have continued to drive a wedge between national security hawks and an unusual coalition of hardliners on the left and right who argue the federal government has abused its access to private citizens’ data. Davidson’s bill is also backed by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, as well as House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

African American groups call for ditching ‘racist’ Francis Scott Key, naming new bridge after late congressman

African American groups call for ditching ‘racist’ Francis Scott Key, naming new bridge after late congressman

A coalition of African American groups in Maryland is pushing for Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to be renamed once reconstructed over what they say is racism connected to Key’s legacy.  The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County recently voted unanimously to call for changing the names of two bridges in Maryland, including the Key Bridge, and will lobby Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the state’s Democrat-controlled General Assembly on the proposal, the Baltimore Banner first reported Tuesday. The bridge collapsed in late March when a cargo ship struck a support beam.  The coalition includes groups such as an NAACP chapter and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, which wants the replacement bridge to be renamed in honor of the late Rep. Parren Mitchell, the first African American elected to the U.S. House from the state of Maryland. Mitchell was also a civil rights pioneer as the first Black graduate student admitted to the University of Maryland. MARYLAND GOVERNOR TO DISCUSS REBUILDING COLLAPSED BALTIMORE BRIDGE WITH CONGRESS When asked about the proposal, Moore told Fox News Digital that he remains “laser-focused on providing closure to these families, clearing the channel, and rebuilding the bridge.” However, the Baltimore Banner said that Moore told reporters on Monday that he thinks there will “be a time for that” conservation later. A spokesperson for the Caucus of African American Leaders told Fox News Digital they believe “public structures and buildings that taxpayers pay for shouldn’t be named in honor of people who owned slaves.” Their issue with the bridge keeping its name after Key, the author of the national anthem, stems from his “legacy” being clouded with “accusations of racism,” the Baltimore Banner wrote. The Banner noted that Key, an attorney by profession, purchased enslaved people but also represented some Black Marylanders in court who sued for their freedom. MARYLAND’S RISING STAR DEM GOVERNOR FACES FIRST NATIONAL TEST AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE They also quote Key as having said Black Americans are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community,” which has received pushback as an “erroneous” quote from the Star Spangled Banner Foundation.  “A racist quote attributed to Francis Scott Key, the author of the lyrics to ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ has been circulating in news articles and blog posts,” the foundation wrote in 2020. “Incorrectly credited to Key as a first-person expression of his attitudes about race in the United States, the quote asserts that free Blacks are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.” “The quote is taken from page 40 of Jefferson Morley’s generally insightful 2012 book Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835),” the foundation continued. “Morley, in turn, cites as his sole source a quote in the 1937 biography Francis Scott Key: Life and Times by Edward S. Delaplaine. This biography is the source of confusion as to the quote’s speaker.” Conservatives on social media previously speculated about a possible push to rename the Key Bridge once it is eventually rebuilt, due to past efforts to “cancel” the famed attorney and poet and a news article hinting at his “controversial” past. “Baltimore obviously won’t rename the new bridge after Francis Scott Key again,” GOP Rep. Mike Collins posted on X responding to the bridge collapsing. “So, any guesses on the new bridge name?” WASHINGTON POST HITS ‘CONTROVERSIAL POET’ FRANCIS SCOTT KEY AFTER NAMESAKE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSES “What do you bet, that when the Francis Scott Key Bridge is rebuilt, there will be a major push to rename the bridge?” Texas Public Policy Foundation Chief National Initiatives Officer Chuck DeVore posted on X. Others on social media also previously pointed to an article from The Associated Press suggesting that it was the beginning of an attempt to frame the conversation around Key’s past. The campaigns of Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Democrats seeking the party nomination for U.S. Senate, did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal by the time of publication.  Republican Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan’s campaign likewise did not provide a comment on the proposal.  Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a former NAACP president whose U.S. House district includes the Key Bridge, also did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication. 

Maryland governor to discuss rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge with Congress

Maryland governor to discuss rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge with Congress

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday he plans to meet with members of Congress to discuss support for rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has blocked the main shipping channel at Baltimore’s port for nearly two weeks. “I’m going to be spending part of this week with our delegation going down and meeting with leaders and ranking members in the Congress and letting them know that this issue is not partisan. This is a patriotic responsibility to be able to support one of this country’s great economic engines,” Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an opportunity to support a port that is directly responsible for the hiring of tens of thousands of people.” As Maryland lawmakers reached the end of their legislative session Monday, a measure authorizing use of the state’s rainy day fund to help port employees was approved and sent to Moore’s desk. The governor planned to sign the emergency legislation Tuesday, putting it into effect right away. MARYLAND’S RISING STAR DEM GOVERNOR FACES FIRST NATIONAL TEST AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE The bridge collapsed March 26 after being struck by the cargo ship Dali, which lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert with just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge. Authorities believe six workers — immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — plunged to their deaths in the Patapsco River. Two others survived. The bodies of three workers have been recovered, but the search for the other victims continues. Moore said the state remains focused on supporting the families of the six workers and bringing them closure. “We are still very much focused on bringing closure and comfort to these families, and the operations to be able to bring that closure to these families,” Moore said. “It has not stopped. It continues to be a 24/7 operation.” Temporary, alternate channels have been cleared, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said last week that it expects to open a limited-access channel for barge container ships and some vessels moving cars and farm equipment by the end of April. Officials are aiming to restore normal capacity to Baltimore’s port by the end of May. Moore was upbeat about progress in reopening channels. He said that if he had been told the morning of the collapse that there would be two channels open in two weeks, “I would have said that sounds really ambitious, considering what we saw, but that’s where we are.” The governor also spoke of progress in removing debris, saying that crews were able to pull 350 tons of steel from the Patapsco River on Sunday. More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut out sections of the bridge and remove them from the key waterway. Crews began removing containers from the deck over the weekend, and they’re making progress toward removing sections of the bridge that lie across the ship’s bow so it can eventually move, according to the Key Bridge Response Unified Command.