A judge on Tuesday ordered Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) to turn over close to 1,700 records from his personal cell phone to special counsel Jack Smith as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In a 12-page ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said only 396 of 2,055 records in question from Perry’s phone were privileged under the Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution, requiring Perry to hand in the rest.

In a 12-page ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said only 396 of 2,055 records in question from Perry’s phone were privileged under the Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution, requiring Perry to hand in the rest.

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Donald Trump can't point to his time in the White House in an effort to duck a civil defamation lawsuit tied to sexual assault allegations because he waited too long to claim presidential immunity, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The case concerns Trump's denial in 2019, while he was president, of having sexually assaulted journalist and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s. In June of that year, Trump described Carroll as “a woman who has also accused other men of things," and called her account "a totally false accusation."

In a separate civil case, Trump was ordered in May to pay Carroll $5 million after a jury found both that he sexually abused her, and had defamed her through a 2022 statement denying the assault. Trump has appealed that verdict.

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The U.S. Supreme Court refused Thursday to reinstate a Florida law that punishes businesses for allowing children into drag shows.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the "Protection of Children Act" in May to ban "children" from any "adult live performances" that feature sexual or lewd conduct. The penalty for restaurants or other venues that violate the statute is potential license revocation or even criminal charges. While the law does not explicitly refer to drag shows, it is widely seen as aimed at them.

Hamburger Mary's Restaurant and Bar in Orlando, Fla., challenged the law in court, contending that it violates the First Amendment right of free speech. The restaurant frequently hosts drag show performances, comedy sketches, and dancing. In July a federal judge in Florida temporarily blocked the law from going into effect, and the state of Florida asked the Supreme Court to reinstate it while appeals are carried out in the lower courts.

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The highly anticipated testimony of former President Trump in his New York civil fraud trial Monday heaved chaotically between defending his business practices and decrying those involved in the case as politically motivated “Trump haters.”

Months of bubbling tensions between Trump and New York Judge Arthur Engoron reached a boiling point in the courtroom almost as soon as the real estate mogul took the witness stand, with the judge at one point asking Trump’s lawyer to control his client.