California's Newsom Sues Fox for $787 Million in Libel Suit Over Trump Call
California Governor Gavin Newsom sued Fox News for defamation over the network's coverage of a conversation he had with President Donald Trump about the use of National Guard troops to respond to protests in Los Angeles.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in Delaware, Newsom accused the network of deliberately misrepresenting comments made by himself and Trump to claim that Newsom had lied about a phone conversation between the two leaders.
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The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
New Hampshire lawmakers give final approval to gender-affirming care ban
New Hampshire lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to bills that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors in the state, sending the measures to Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has not yet said whether she will sign them. State lawmakers voted to pass House Bill 377, which would prohibit doctors from administering puberty blockers and hormones to transgender youth beginning next year. The measure includes a 'grandfather clause' that would allow minors already receiving care to continue doing so even after the law takes effect. The state House voted 202-161 in favor of the bill, with two Democrats, state Reps. Dale Girard and Jonah Wheeler, siding with Republicans. New Hampshire senators approved the bill Thursday in a 16-8 party-line vote. Lawmakers also voted to send House Bill 712 to Ayotte's desk. That measure, which builds on an existing law banning gender-affirming genital surgeries for minors, would bar children and teens under 18 from accessing additional surgical procedures when they are used to treat gender dysphoria, including facial feminization or masculinization surgery and what the bill calls 'transgender chest surgery.' It passed the House Thursday in a vote 191-163, with Wheeler again siding with Republicans to advance the measure. The state Senate passed the bill in another party-line vote. Passage of the bills, which, if signed, would make New Hampshire the first northeastern state to ban transition-related care for minors, comes roughly a week after the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law similarly preventing trans youth from being prescribed puberty blockers and hormones. Surgery for minors was not at issue before the court. New Hampshire state Rep. Lisa Mazur, a Republican and the prime sponsor of both bills, referenced the court's decision Thursday in her defense of the measures. 'It is now legal and constitutional for states to regulate and or ban the use of these harmful drugs in minors,' she said, the Boston Globe reported. Ayotte, a former U.S. senator who won New Hampshire's gubernatorial election in November, has not publicly said whether she plans to sign either bill, both of which were priorities for the state's Republican-led Legislature this session. Also headed to Ayotte's desk is House Bill 148, which would roll back some anti-discrimination protections for transgender people that the Legislature adopted in 2018. Her predecessor, Republican former Gov. Chris Sununu, vetoed a similar bill last year.
Politico
26 minutes ago
- Politico
‘Obliteration' or not, House Republicans argue Iran strikes were a diplomatic win
House Republicans have a new message about U.S. airstrikes on Iran: It matters less about how much damage was done, and more that it succeeded in bringing a badly weakened Tehran back to the negotiating table. Several GOP lawmakers hammered that message Friday morning as they left a classified briefing by some of President Donald Trump's top military and intelligence officials on last weekend's surprise U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. It marked a small but notable pivot for supporters of Trump's policy agenda who have struggled in recent days to back up his repeated claims that Iran's nuclear program has been 'obliterated.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in the briefing that the objective of the strikes was to bring Iran to the negotiating table, according to two attendees. Iran and Israel reached a ceasefire Monday and Trump said Wednesday that new talks with Iran are planned for next week. While many GOP senators who received a similar briefing Thursday were left dancing around Trump's maximalist portrayal of the strikes' long-term impact, House leadership on Friday made a concerted effort to frame the success of the mission as hinging on more than just damage assessments. 'I think the greatest evidence that we have of the effectiveness of this mission was that Iran came immediately and was willing to engage in a ceasefire agreement that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks back,' Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the briefing. Johnson, like other Republicans, also insisted the strike resulted in a 'substantial setback' for Iran's nuclear program. The readout for lawmakers came days after the leak of a preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency assessment suggesting U.S. airstrikes only set back Iran's nuclear program by a few months. That set off a scramble by Trump, Rubio, Defense Secretary Hegseth and other senior Cabinet officials to push out new intelligence combating the DIA report, which the Pentagon intelligence agency said was a preliminary and low-confidence assessment. Hegseth has said the FBI and Pentagon are probing the leak. Several Republicans exiting the briefing — and at least one of the briefers inside the closed-door meeting — suggested that the exact description of the damage was immaterial. Iran had received a harsh message that any attempt to build a nuclear weapon would be met with force.'Regardless of whether you believe the leaked assessment — which was a 'low-confidence' assessment — the U.S. was able to go in there without any resistance and strike whatever it wanted to,' said House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) 'So even if you believe that worst case scenario and we need to go back in there, we can.' Rep. Darell Issa (R-Calif.), a House Foreign Affairs Committee member, added that the strikes instilled in Iran that there was a 'price to pay for continuing to enrich [uranium] beyond the 60 percent threshold.' But some Democrats emerged from the briefing with lingering questions about how effective the attack was at halting Iran's nuclear ambitions — and preventing a future conflict from reigniting. 'I'm walking out of this thinking we still don't know,' said Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. 'The contradictions within the intelligence have still not been resolved.' 'We've got a cornucopia of adjectives ranging from 'obliterated' to 'destroyed' to 'set back',' said top Intelligence Committee Democrat Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). 'The question is, did we significantly set back that program? And we still don't have a good answer to that question.' Himes also cast doubt on the idea that the strikes had paved the way for a diplomatic breakthrough acceptable to Israel, given that they had been 'browbeaten' by the U.S. into the ceasefire. 'If you're the Israelis and you suspect that we didn't get it all, or that there's not going to be a negotiation, you've got a tough conversation with the president of the United States,' Himes said. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) suggested that Trump's declaration of the strikes' success early on may have been bravado — because Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine said at a news briefing just after the strikes that the full damage assessment would take time. 'You don't have to read classified material to know he overstated,' Quigley said. 'It's dangerous to overstate, because you need to know what the risks are, because you've got to face the risk — the risk that exists, not what you want the risk to be.' The two classified sessions featured the same cadre of briefers: Hegseth, Rubio, Caine and CIA director John Ratcliffe. For the second time in two days, that meant Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was noticeably missing from the conversation. Gabbard has been sidelined amid Israel's conflict with Iran and has reportedly clashed with Trump. Asked about the absence of the notional top spy in the U.S. intelligence community, Himes described it as 'very peculiar.' Still, some Republicans downplayed the significance. 'I'm not sure that's really meaningful. I think we got the information that we needed to get from the people most directly involved,' said Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), an Intelligence Committee member. Both Thursday and Friday's sessions also came after days of complaints from lawmakers that they weren't kept in the loop about the weekend's surprise attack on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz. The mission involved seven B-2 stealth aircraft and a guided missile submarine, and marked the first combat use ever of the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker busting bomb, with 14 dropped on the Fordo facility and other sites. But many Democrats argue the strikes, which Congress didn't vote to authorize, amounted to an unconstitutional overreach by Trump. House and Senate Democrats are now pushing war powers legislation that would prohibit Trump from taking further military action against Iran without congressional approval. The Senate plans to vote Friday evening on Sen. Tim Kaine's (D-Va.) resolution to rein in Trump's war powers on Iran, but that measure is almost certain to fail unless Republicans break ranks with the administration. Libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) filed his own war powers resolution and criticized Trump's decision to strike Iran as unconstitutional — which made him a target for Trump — but stood down from forcing a vote after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. Progressives and top national security Democrats, though, are still pushing for a vote in the coming weeks.
Los Angeles Times
27 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman lies in state as shooting suspect appears in court
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman laid in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda on Friday while the man charged with killing her and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, made a brief court appearance in a suicide prevention suit. Hortman, a Democrat, is the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans accorded the honor. She laid in state with her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert. Her husband was also killed in the June 14 attack, and Gilbert was seriously wounded and had to be euthanized. It was the first time a couple has laid in state at the Capitol, and the first time for a dog. The Hortmans' caskets and the dog's urn were arranged in the center of the rotunda, under the Capitol dome, with law enforcement officers keeping watch on either side. The Capitol was open for the public to pay their respects from noon to 5 p.m. Friday. House TV was livestreaming the viewing. A private funeral is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The service will be livestreamed on the Department of Public Safety's YouTube channel. Former Vice President Kamala Harris will fly to Minnesota for the funeral but won't have a speaking role, according to her personal office. Harris expressed her condolences this past week to Hortman's adult children, and spoke with Gov. Tim Walz, her 2024 running mate, who extended an invitation on behalf of the Hortman family, her office said. The man accused of killing the Hortmans and wounding another Democratic lawmaker and his wife made a short court appearance Friday to face charges for what the chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called 'a political assassination.' Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history. An unshaven Boelter was brought in wearing just a green padded suicide prevention suit and orange slippers. Federal defender Manny Atwal asked Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko to continue the hearing until next Thursday. She said Boelter has been sleep deprived while on suicide watch in the Sherburne County Jail, and that it has been difficult to communicate with him as a result. 'Your honor, I haven't really slept in about 12 to 14 days,' Boelter told the judge. And he denied being suicidal. 'I've never been suicidal and I am not suicidal now.' Atwal told the court that Boelter had been in what's known as a 'Gumby suit,' without undergarments, ever since his transfer to the jail after his first court appearance on June 16. She said the lights are on in his area 24 hours a day, doors slam frequently, the inmate in the next cell spreads feces on the walls, and the smell drifts to Boelter's cell. The attorney said transferring him to segregation instead, and giving him a normal jail uniform, would let him get some sleep, restore some dignity, and let him communicate better. The judge agreed. Prosecutors did not object to the delay and said they also had concerns about the jail conditions. The acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, told reporters afterward that he did not think Boelter had attempted to kill himself. Boelter did not enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first, before his arraignment, which is when a plea is normally entered. According to the federal complaint, police video shows Boelter outside the Hortmans' home and captures the sound of gunfire. And it says security video shows Boelter approaching the front doors of two other lawmakers' homes dressed as a police officer. His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty. Thompson said last week that no decision has been made. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. The Death Penalty Information Center says a federal death penalty case hasn't been prosecuted in Minnesota in the modern era, as best as it can tell. Boelter also faces separate murder and attempted murder charges in state court that could carry life without parole, assuming that county prosecutors get their own indictment for first-degree murder. But federal authorities intend to use their power to try Boelter first. Authorities say Boelter shot and wounded Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin before shooting and killing the Hortmans in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, a few miles away. Federal prosecutors allege Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers. Prosecutors also say he listed dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive. Boelter's wife, Jenny, issued a statement through her own lawyers Thursday saying she and her children are 'absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided,' and expressing sympathy for the Hortman and Hoffman families. She is not in custody and has not been charged. 'This violence does not align at all with our beliefs as a family,' her statement said. 'It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith. We are appalled and horrified by what occurred and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of this unfathomable tragedy.' An FBI agent's affidavit described the Boelters as 'preppers,' people who prepare for major or catastrophic incidents. Investigators seized 48 guns from his home, according to search warrant documents. While the FBI agent's affidavit said law enforcement stopped Boelter's wife as she traveled with her four children north of the Twin Cities in Onamia on the day of the shootings, she said in her statement that she was not pulled over. She said that after she got a call from authorities, she immediately drove to meet them at a nearby gas station and has fully cooperated with investigators. 'We thank law enforcement for apprehending Vance and protecting others from further harm,' she said. Karnowski writes for the Associated Press.
