Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger (D.) may have shot herself in the foot: Her comment that the state's new "assault weapons" ban affects "frequently used" firearms could undercut the state's defense in lawsuits challenging the prohibition, according to legal experts. The post Spanberger's Statement on New Virginia Assault Weapons Ban Could Fuel Lawsuits Challenging Its Legality, Experts Say appeared first on .
The Department of Justice has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll, the former New York magazine writer who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault.
Texas Senate Democratic candidate James Talarico announced Thursday that his campaign brought in over $3 million after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) won the GOP runoff against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) Tuesday. “In just 24 hours, working people from every corner of Texas have come together to shatter grassroots fundraising records and send a…
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's son has been secretly working as a political appointee attorney at the U.S. Treasury Department, raising serious conflict of interest questions as high-stakes cases involving the agency have made their way to the nation's highest court, according to a report.Philip Alito was hired to Treasury's office of the general counsel in the early months of the second Trump administration, according to four former government officials, yet his presence there has been treated as something close to a state secret, reported NOTUS."If people were introducing themselves by first and last name, he'd just say 'Phil,' not Phil Alito," said one former official. "He's a pretty soft-spoken guy."The younger Alito maintains no public resume, has no LinkedIn profile and his name appears nowhere on the Treasury Department's website. Colleagues recall that he went out of his way to avoid drawing attention to his famous surname.But the low profile belies the significance of his role. As an attorney-adviser in the general counsel's front office, Philip Alito was briefed on important Treasury matters across the board and offered legal feedback at the highest levels."There's no doubt he got that position because of who he is," a second source said.The Treasury Department's general counsel office handles legal matters related to taxation, economic policy and law enforcement. It could be involved in multiple federal lawsuits challenging Trump's controversial anti-weaponization fund — which allocates public money to individuals claiming unfair targeting by the Justice Department — that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.While Philip Alito was working at the Treasury, a lawsuit challenging Trump's use of emergency powers to issue tariffs was argued before the justices in November — with the Treasury Department named as a defendant, but the department never disclosed Philip Alito's employment in court documents.His father did not recuse himself from the case, ultimately joining a dissent when the majority ruled against the administration in February.Justice Alito's office did not responded to requests for comment from NOTUS.
President Donald Trump is taking a second crack at suing the Wall Street Journal over bombshell claims regarding Jeffrey Epstein.Trump refiled a defamation suit against the newspaper Wednesday over its report about a crude birthday card it claimed Trump sent Epstein — a card Trump claimed didn't exist despite it later being released as part of the Epstein investigation.An earlier case was tossed for not meeting standards required for defamation cases.The card featured a salacious message wishing the billionaire child trafficker that every day be a "wonderful secret" and outlined by a crude doodle of an undressed woman.Trump's first lawsuit against the Journal was rejected by Miami-based U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles, an appointee of former President Barack Obama. Gayles found that the lawsuit failed to allege the Journal acted with actual malice, which is required in defamation suits brought by public figures under the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan case.The updated suit was rewritten to address this, with Trump's lawyers alleging the paper “recklessly disregarded whether the Defamatory Statements were true.”Trump has a long history of threatened and actual legal action against newspapers that publish damaging information on him, and sometimes threatens specific journalists like longtime New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
As strikes strain the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, at home, President Donald Trump held a cabinet meeting where he defended the war and insisted he’s not concerned with the war’s political consequences heading into the critical midterm elections. It comes as the president is threatening to "blow up" ally Oman in response to a deal in which Iran and Oman would share control of the Strait of Hormuz. NBC’s Garrett Haake reports for TODAY.
Iran fired a missile at an American airbase in Kuwait Thursday just hours after the U.S. attacked the Islamic Republic, with both sides accusing the other of violating their shaky ceasefire and further imperiling diplomatic efforts to end the war
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that governments might be inclined to tighten their grip on monetary authorities and stressed that upholding central-bank independence is even more important in an increasingly challenging global order.