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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered the Justice Department to provide former President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon access to certain sensitive internal legal opinions or other related records that could potentially help bolster his defense against criminal contempt of Congress charges. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols told prosecutors they must produce "statements or writings reflecting official DOJ policy," including nonpublic opinions, that relate to "the department's policy on prosecuting or not prosecuting government or former government officials raising executive privilege claims or defenses of immunity."..... As part of his reasoning, Costello cited a number of prior...

A federal judge has thrown out an obstruction charge against a defendant charged with breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a ruling that could reverberate across hundreds of cases stemming from the attack on Congress. In a 29-page opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols ruled that ambiguities in the federal obstruction law required him to narrow the case against defendant Garret Miller, who is facing multiple felony charges connected to the attack. Under that narrow interpretation, Nichols ruled, defendants can be charged with obstruction only if they directly attempt to affect “a document, record, or other...

Prosecutors are asking a judge to bar a Capitol rioter from arguing that former President Donald Trump authorized him to attack the Capitol on January 6. Aaron Mostofsky, the son of a New York City judge, was photographed inside the Capitol wearing fur pelts, what appeared to be a police officer's bullet-proof vest and carrying a police officers' riot shield. Mostofsky's trial is set to begin in January and prosecutors are hoping to block him from using the "blame Trump" defense ... ..."The defendant will be unable to identify any remarks made by former President Trump that authorized that illegal...

U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols has issued a protective order in Steve Bannon's criminal contempt of Congress case, effectively barring him or his lawyers from releasing to the public case material given to them by prosecutors. However, any evidence related to the case that is already in the public sphere or obtained by Bannon outside of the evidentiary discovery process is not subject the judge's ruling. ... ...Bannon and his team had asked the judge not to issue the order, citing what they argue is the public's need to understand the case. But prosecutors told the judge they feared...

The social media posts started in May: photos and videos of smiling people, mostly women, drinking Mason jars of black liquid, slathering black paste on their faces and feet, or dipping babies and dogs in tubs of the black water. They tagged the posts #BOO and linked to a website that sold a product called Black Oxygen Organics. Black Oxygen Organics, or “BOO” for short, is difficult to classify. It was marketed as fulvic acid, a compound derived from decayed plants, that was dug up from an Ontario peat bog. The website of the Canadian company that sold it billed...

A federal judge ruled against Michigan's request to remand its lawsuit against the Line 5 pipeline back to a state court, delivering a win for Canadian operator Enbridge Energy. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff on Tuesday ruled the case was properly within federal court jurisdiction, rejecting Michigan's arguments that because its suit was brought on the basis of state laws that it belongs in state court...

DENVER — A North Dakota-based organization representing Native Americans sued Colorado this week for a measure banning American Indian school mascots which was passed last year amid a nationwide push for racial justice following George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. The lawsuit by the nonprofit Native American Guardian’s Association was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court... ...The suit argues that the complete erasure of Native American imagery is not beneficial and that the use of positive and respectful Native American symbols and mascots in schools honors the group, helps neutralize offensive stereotypes and teaches the public about Native American history. ...

Federal prosecutors brought forth the first case against a bank whose employees allegedly exploited the multi-billion-dollar benefit programs aimed to support small businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was brought against the former branch manager of Popular Bank in New York. The manager allegedly conspired with other employees of the bank to fraudulently apply for more than $3 million in small business relief loans, according to Reuters. Over 500 individuals have seen charges pertaining to pandemic-relief falsehoods, sparking "unprecedented levels of fraud," said the U.S. Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. While cases of fraud by individuals have surged...

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis and three Florida sheriffs from enforcing a key portion of the state’s so-called anti-riot law, in part, because it “encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.” The definition of what constitutes a riot under a new state law pushed by the governor is too vague “to the point of unconstitutionality,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee wrote in his preliminary injunction order....

A second federal judge in Washington questioned whether the lead felony charge leveled by the government against Capitol riot defendants is unconstitutionally vague, as 18 Oath Keepers accused in a conspiracy case urged the court on Wednesday to toss out a count carrying one of the heaviest penalties against them. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta asked how federal prosecutors distinguish felony conduct qualifying as “obstructing an official proceeding” of Congress — punishable by up to 20 years in prison — from misdemeanor offenses the government has charged others with, such as shouting to interrupt a congressional hearing. “Essentially, what...

In the summer of 2020, the increasingly partisan and left-wing corporate media refused to acknowledge the nation was being consumed by violent riots. Because there were thousands of protests, many of them lawful and small, the media chose to call them “mostly peaceful” — even though several hundred large protests were documented as violent riots.... ...In many cities, mayors and police chiefs deliberately had their police patrols stand back and let the damage happen. They wanted to give the rioters, including the violent fascists ironically known as antifa , room to wreak havoc, set buildings on fire, and beat up...

A judge on Tuesday ruled that former Trump White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman is not allowed to depose former President Trump or former Trump chief of staff John Kelly in a lawsuit relating to her White House departure in 2018.... ...The lawsuit stems from Manigault Newman's failure to file to financial disclosure form upon being let go from her position as director of communications in the Office of Public Liaison. According to Leon's opinion, former government employees have to file their report within 30 days of departing, which Manigault Newman "knowingly and willingly" failed to do.

A federal court in California on Thursday ruled against President Trump's order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count for apportioning congressional seats, dealing the administration its second court loss over the July executive memorandum. A panel of three judges for the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California ruled that the memo was unconstitutional and violated laws governing the census. "The policy which the Presidential Memorandum attempts to enact has already been rejected by the Constitution, the applicable statutes, and 230 years of history," the panel wrote in a 90-page decision. The order forbids the Commerce...

A Massachusetts judge is one step closer to facing a federal trial on charges that she assisted an illegal immigrant in avoiding federal apprehension. A federal judge last week declined to dismiss charges against Massachusetts District Court Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and now-retired Massachusetts trial court officer Wesley MacGregor. Joseph, MacGregor, and a defense attorney are accused of helping a Dominican man evade being taken into custody at the Newton District Court by ICE agents after a 2018 hearing on criminal charges including drug possession. Prosecutors say the man had previously been removed from the U.S. twice and was...

After making a brief comeback on school lunch menus, white bread and other refined grains may be vanishing again when schools reopen after a federal court threw out the Trump administration’s rollback of school nutrition standards. The U.S. district court in Maryland this week said the administration did not give adequate public notice of the change, which had gone into effect for this past school year. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit brought by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Healthy School Food Maryland. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it does not comment on...

A federal court in Tallahassee struck down a Florida law that listed the governor’s party first on all ballots, which Democrats argued gave Republicans a significant advantage in a state where the two biggest races in 2018 were both within 0.4 percentage points. In his ruling, District Court Judge Mark Walker issued a permanent injunction against the law, stating it violates both the First and 14th amendments of the Constitution. “Florida’s ballot order statute is not neutral; instead, it affects Plaintiffs’ rights in a politically discriminatory way,” Walker wrote. “… It is difficult to imagine what other purpose it could...

WASHINGTON—Judicial Watch made public on Oct. 21 a 2012 email chain showing multiple senior U.S. State Department executives used then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unsecured private email to discuss the most sensitive details of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, died in the assault, which within hours was attributed by the Obama White House to an internet video that critically portrayed Islam and its founder, Mohammed. While Judicial Watch first sought the emails released on Oct. 21 in a 2014 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, they...

Rep. Chris Collins' lawyers appear to be honing a new argument to press against the federal prosecutors in New York who charged the Republican lawmaker from Clarence with insider trading: It's none of your business. That's the key new message underlying a host of legal documents the Collins defense team filed in federal court in Manhattan earlier this month. Why, the Collins defense team appears to be asking, is Collins being prosecuted in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York for an alleged violation – launching a series of insider stock trades – that supposedly started with...

Minnesota jurist Wilhelmina Marie Wright's written accusation that President Reagan tolerated racism did not hinder her ascent to the federal bench. The Senate voted 58-36 on Tuesday evening to confirm President Barack Obama's nominee to U.S. District Court in Minnesota. While a student at Harvard Law School in 1989, Wright wrote an article published in the prestigious UCLA Law Review that accused Reagan and his administration of "bigotry" and implied that property rights undergird American racism.Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July, Wright, an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court, renounced the style but not the substance of...

The Second Amendment case of the Radich family in the Northern Mariana Islands suffered an unexpected setback earlier this month.  A judge in the U.S. District Court dismissed the case.  From stripes.com: Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the case because the Department of Public Safety commissioner does not have jurisdiction over importation of handguns into the Northern Marianas. The judge gave the Radiches the option to continue their suit by filing an amended complaint that includes the import ban and names the Customs Service as a defendant. The amended complaint is expected to be filed...