TV News LIES

A federal judge delivered a serious setback to President Donald Trump Tuesday in long-running civil lawsuits seeking to hold him liable for the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that evidence produced so far in the litigation brought by police officers and Democratic lawmakers indicated that Trump’s speech at the Ellipse that day was political in nature and not subject to the immunity the Supreme Court has found for a president’s official acts.

“President Trump has not shown that the Speech reasonably can be understood as falling within the outer perimeter of his Presidential duties,” Mehta wrote. “The content of the Ellipse Speech confirms that it is not covered by official-acts immunity.”

The 79-page ruling, years in the making, follows numerous efforts by Trump to scuttle the lawsuit by claiming he is protected by presidential immunity from liability for his actions on the day of the Capitol Riot and in the weeks leading up to that event.

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Lawyers for the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk have asked to delay a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review an enormous amount of material and a bullet analysis that could contribute to his defense.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team said in recent court filings that an analysis from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a federal law enforcement agency, could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during an autopsy to the rifle found near the scene. The FBI is running additional tests, according to court documents.

The agency’s report has been kept private, but attorneys have cited snippets in other public filings that say the results were inconclusive.

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A federal judge on Tuesday halted construction on President Trump’s White House ballroom project.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said that no statute “comes close” to granting Trump the authority he claims he has to execute the $400 million project, barring construction from continuing until Congress authorizes its completion.

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families,” Leon wrote. “He is not, however, the owner!”

The Trump administration has appealed the decision.

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President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticizes, even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year.

The move escalates the president's bid to place new restrictions on voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. The action was swiftly condemned by Democrats and voting rights groups, who said it interferes with state election administration and makes it harder for people to vote.

Trump's order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to create lists of voting-age U.S. citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election.

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Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff, has halted a contentious investigation into a alleged voter fraud that has drawn opposition from the state’s attorney general.

The move marks a major reversal for Bianco, a prominent Donald Trump supporter who is one of the top two Republican candidates running for the governorship of California.

“We are on hold because of the politically motivated lawsuits and court filings,” Bianco said in a statement, according to ABC 10 News.

Bianco has spearheaded a lone wolf investigation for months into allegations that votes were unlawfully cast in last year’s election that resulted in the passage of Proposition 50.

The proposition, championed by Gavin Newsom, the governor, allowed the state to gerrymander congressional districts in favor of Democrats, in response to similar changes in Republican-dominated states such as Texas.

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The conviction in Texas of nine activists on terrorism and other charges earlier this month sets an alarming precedent: the Trump administration can crack down on leftwing groups and label them “domestic terrorists”.

The case was widely seen as a major test of the Trump administration’s efforts to punish protesters and leftwing views. The charges came after a protest outside of an ICE facility outside of Fort Worth last year. Activists planned to set off fireworks outside of the facility in solidarity with those detained inside, traveling with a cache of automatic weapons and body armor they said was for self-defense against counter-protesters.

Once they got there, a small group broke away and began vandalizing cars in the parking lot, spray painting graffiti, slashing tires on a government van, and breaking a security camera. A police officer arrived on the scene and drew his weapon at those in the parking lot, one of the activists opened fire with an AR-15 and hit the police officer in the shoulder. He ultimately survived.

Eight of the protesters were convicted of riot, explosive charges, and providing material support to terrorists. The shooter, Benjamin Song, was convicted of attempted murder and additional firearms charges. A ninth person who was not at the protest was convicted on charges related to moving a box of zines in the days after the protest.

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