TV News LIES

A federal judge this week determined that a Texas state law that seeks to prevent state funds from being invested with financial firms that boycott fossil fuel companies is unconstitutional.

Texas federal Judge Alan Albright, an appointee of President Trump, found that state law S.B. 13 was a violation of the First and 14th amendments.

“SB 13’s application to protected speech is ‘substantial,’” he wrote in a decision published Wednesday, adding that this makes it “unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

He found the law to be too broad, saying it “permits the State to penalize companies for all manner of protected expression concerning fossil fuels.”

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for California to use its new congressional map that adds up to five Democratic-leaning seats for the midterms, rejecting Republicans’ emergency bid to block it. 

Supported by the Trump administration, the California GOP has challenged the map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. They point to the mapmaker’s comments boasting about strengthened Latino voting power under the new design.

In a one-sentence order without any noted dissents, the Supreme Court declined the emergency application to halt the design for the midterms. It is not a final ruling, and the case could return to the justices and impact future election cycles.

The decision was not entirely surprising, given the court signaled in a separate ruling related to the use of Texas’s new GOP-favored House map ahead of 2026 that both Texas and California had drawn their new set of congressional lines for partisan gainCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called for the map after Texas Republicans began a mid-decade redistricting war by passing a new map that nets up to five GOP-leaning seats.

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Immediately after a US border patrol agent shot two people in Oregon last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the targets were “vicious” gang members connected to a prior shooting and alleged they had “attempted to run over” officers with their vehicle.

In the weeks since, key parts of the federal government’s narrative have fallen apart.

The events took place on the afternoon of 8 January, one day after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

According to a DHS press release and social media posts issued the following day, border patrol agents were conducting a “targeted” stop of a vehicle in Portland occupied by two members of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang. Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras, a woman in the passenger seat, had been “involved” in a Portland shooting last year, the agency wrote.

During the border patrol stop, the driver, Luis Niño-Moncada, “weaponized their vehicle against” officers, DHS said, prompting an agent “to defend himself and others” by shooting the occupants. Zambrano-Contreras was hit in the chest, Niño-Moncada was hit in the arm and both were hospitalized, then taken into federal custody, DHS noted. The agents were uninjured.

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A federal judge declined to compel federal officials to preserve all evidence in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, voicing confidence Monday that court intervention isn’t needed.

“Plaintiffs identify reasonable concerns regarding Defendants’ ability and willingness to preserve and maintain the integrity of the evidence in their possession related to Mr. Pretti’s shooting,” wrote U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud, “but in my judgment, the record as it stands today largely addresses these concerns and does not justify a continuing preservation order.”

Minnesota and Hennepin County went to court after federal officials turned local and state personnel away and refused to share evidence in the Pretti investigation.

Tostrud has yet to decide whether the evidence must ultimately be turned over, but his new ruling means he won’t immediately intervene as the lawsuit moves forward. Tostrud is an appointee of President Trump.

A Customs and Border Protection agent shot and killed Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, in Minneapolis last month. He became the second U.S. citizen to die at the hands of federal agents during Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, fueling outrage and demands from Democrats to change immigration enforcement.

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The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office was reportedly removed from his post after questioning the Trump administration’s renewed interest in investigating the role of Fulton county, Georgia, in the 2020 election.

The agent, Paul W Brown, had expressed concerns around the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton county, which have been perpetuated by Donald Trump since he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to an MS NOW report on Friday. Citing sources, MS NOW also reported that Brown refused to carry out searches and seizures of records connected to the election that Trump lost four years before winning a second presidency in 2024.

News of Brown’s ouster came after the justice department on Thursday executed a search warrant and seized records from the Fulton county elections office in the Atlanta area. Authorities seized 700 boxes related to 2020 election results in the county, which Biden won.

Trump’s national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, was also seen at the county’s election office that day, drawing concern from Democratic lawmakers about partisan overreach.

Brown was replaced the week before the service of the search warrant at the elections office, as first reported by the Associated Press. The personnel decision was not publicized by the FBI, and the AP said the reason for Brown’s removal was not immediately clear.

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Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) urged President Trump’s MAGA base to “take off their political blinders” as she expressed skepticism about the use of force deployed during the latest shooting in Minnesota involving a federal immigration agent.

In a post on the social platform X, Greene touted her support for law enforcement and immigration enforcement, but she also defended the right to legally carry firearms, indirectly pushing back on claims that 37-year-old Alex Pretti posed a threat to federal officers because he was armed.

In a post on the social platform X, Greene touted her support for law enforcement and immigration enforcement, but she also defended the right to legally carry firearms, indirectly pushing back on claims that 37-year-old Alex Pretti posed a threat to federal officers because he was armed. 

“I unapologetically believe in border security and deporting criminal illegal aliens and I support law enforcement. However, I also unapologetically support the 2nd amendment,” Greene wrote. “Legally carrying a firearm is not the same as brandishing a firearm.”

“I support American’s 1st and 4th amendment rights,” she continued. “There is nothing wrong with legally peacefully protesting and videoing.”

The Trump administration has defended the shooting, saying the agent fired “defensive shots” at Pretti, who had a gun that was recovered by federal authorities. Others have accused the agent of acting with excessive force, pointing to video footage showing Pretti recording Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with his phone before the incident escalated.

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