TV News LIES

A federal judge has awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages in a defamation lawsuit against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, ruling that Byrne made false claims about Biden’s alleged involvement in a bribery scheme with Iran, according to reporting from The Guardian and The Hill.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California issued the judgment Friday after finding that Byrne acted with “intentional misrepresentation” and “conscious disregard” for Biden’s rights. The judge also awarded Biden $1 in nominal damages and ordered Byrne to pay nearly $35,000 in court sanctions.

The lawsuit, filed by Biden in 2023, centered on claims Byrne made in interviews and online that Biden had sought an $800 million bribe from Iran while his father, former President Joe Biden, was in office. Byrne alleged that Hunter Biden offered to help persuade his father to unfreeze billions of dollars in Iranian assets and take a softer approach during nuclear negotiations.

Biden denied the allegations, accusing Byrne of knowingly spreading false information designed to damage his reputation. The case had been scheduled for a jury trial, but Wilson entered a default judgment after Byrne failed to appear and the judge said he repeatedly disobeyed court orders and delayed proceedings.

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Lawyers for the suspect accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk are expected to keep questioning the reliability of DNA testing that prosecutors said links the defendant to the suspected murder weapon when a weeklong hearing continues Wednesday.

A member of Tyler Robinson's defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI on Tuesday about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to a rifle found wrapped inside a towel at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was shot in September while speaking to a crowd.

Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst's conclusions — a theme that's likely to come up again during the five-day preliminary hearing.

"She can't match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples," Burt concluded.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride countered that the reliability of the DNA testing could be examined if the case goes to trial. He suggested the preliminary hearing was not the time to take up the matter.

"The point is there are explanations that are susceptible to different interpretations and arguments," McBride said. "The court is going to determine if it meets the threshold of reliability at trial."

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Tensions between the Trump administration and the Smithsonian Institution have escalated after a White House report accused the National Museum of American History of promoting a "radical, activist ideology."

In the days after the report was released, historians rallied around the museum, Smithsonian leadership criticized the report, and visitors – including some supporters of President Donald Trump – told USA TODAY they saw little evidence of a https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/10/trump-smithsonian-national-museum-american-history/90860071007/radical agenda at the museum.

The 162-page report, released July 4 by the White House Domestic Policy Council, is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing review of the Smithsonian, which includes 21 museums and the National Zoo.

The report accuses the museum of overemphasizing themes like racism and inequality and says its leaders steered from historical scholarship toward social justice advocacy. It also argues that the museum's exhibits fail to sufficiently highlight American achievements and instead "teach disdain and inspire disgust of our great country."

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President Donald Trump has terminated two of the federal Election Assistance Commission's three members, eliminating the panel's ability to help local election officials prepare for the 2026 midterms.

The two commissioners selected by congressional Democrats, Chairman Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, each received an email dismissing them on July 9. USA TODAY has reviewed a copy of that email.

Christy McCormick, the commission's vice chair who was selected by congressional Republicans, resigned June 9.

“These removals leave the agency without leadership and unable to carry out its major responsibilities,” Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said in a statement.

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Federal agents killed a man at a Memphis motel on Wednesday morning in a Drug Enforcement Administration operation with the Memphis Safe Task Force, the fourth officer-involved death since the anticrime initiative began in September.

Donald Trump established the federal taskforce by executive order last year, amid a surge of troops and federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-run cities that he claimed were overrun with crime. All four of the deaths have occurred in the last two months.

Authorities said agents from the taskforce surrounded an extended-stay motel on Poplar Avenue, about 11 miles (18km) east of downtown Memphis, in support of a DEA operation.

“Federal and local law enforcement officers were attempting to serve a warrant on a wanted fugitive facing felony drug charges out of Shelby county,” said a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service, which is the lead agency for the taskforce. “After issuing numerous verbal commands for the individual to surrender, officers made a forced entry into the building.

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A Manhattan federal court judge on Wednesday ordered the release of the more than $5m Donald Trump owes E Jean Carroll following her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him. Less than an hour after the judge issued his order, Trump filed paperwork indicating he was appealing the decision.

Trump had deposited this $5m jury award, as well as 11% interest, into a court-held account some six weeks after Carroll’s courtroom victory. Judge Lewis Kaplan’s order directs the disbursement of these court controlled funds, which now total some $5.8m due to interest accrual.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/08/trump-e-jean-carroll-settlement

“The Clerk is respectfully directed to disburse … the value of the principle Judgment, which amounts to $5,000,000.00,” Kaplan’s order stated. “The Clerk is further respectfully directed to disburse … the value of the post-judgment interest.”

Kaplan’s decision comes more than three years after Carroll bested Trump in her bombshell civil case; jurors determined that he sexually abused the former Elle writer and unlawfully impugned her reputation with false, vitriolic denials. Trump denied all wrongdoing.

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