TV News LIES

The state of Minnesota is suing the Trump administration for access to investigative materials related to the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, the two Minneapolis residents fatally shot earlier this year by federal agents during the administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in the state.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues that state officials were shut out of efforts to gather evidence in the shootings by high-level Trump administration officials. It also claims officials halted any federal investigation into Good’s killing.

Beyond Good and Pretti, the suit also cites the nonfatal shooting of a third Minnesota resident, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, by federal agents.

“These shootings are just three examples of the violent actions committed by federal agents in Minnesota during the Surge,” reads the lawsuit. “Federal agents also carried out illegal stops, sweeps, arrests, and dangerous raids in sensitive public spaces. The Surge created widespread fear among Minnesota residents, both citizens and noncitizens.”

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A federal judge on Monday determined a lawsuit against Elon Musk for his former advisory role in the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can move forward.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a memo Monday tossing out a dismissal request from the federal government, stating the claims that Musk and other DOGE leaders unlawfully assumed an expansive role in the federal government can play out in court.

The plaintiffs, a group of nonprofit organizations, “amply allege that the head of DOGE himself makes decisions and issues directives on matters as weighty as the termination of federal grants, contracts and workers,” Chutkan wrote.

The nonprofit organizations first filed the suit last March as the Tesla CEO, then serving as a special government employee from the Trump administration, led a team in initiating mass firings and contract and grant terminations across the federal government.

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In the latest battle over the future of Voice of America, a fresh group of veteran Voice of America journalists are suing Trump administration official Kari Lake, alleging that she is promoting pro-Trump propaganda on air. They also contend she has trampled the network's editorial independence in violation of federal law and First Amendment principles.

"The Voice of America has been breaching the Constitutional and statutory rules that require that outlet not to push propaganda or censorship," one of the lead attorneys on the lawsuit, Norm Eisen, tells NPR. "In a time of crisis and conflict, like what we have right now in Iran, people count on the U.S. government broadcasts, and in particular, the Voice of America, to tell the truth."

Lake did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the network, put out an unsigned statement that it said came from "an agency official."

"American taxpayers fund USAGM and Voice of America, and those funds by law must support broadcasting that reflects U.S. policy and the interests of the American people," the statement read. "USAGM is responsible for oversight of its networks, including Voice of America, and for ensuring compliance with the VOA Charter, which requires authoritative, accurate journalism that is reflective of and clearly presents U.S. policies."

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The US supreme court appeared poised on Monday to curtail how mail-in ballots can be counted if they arrive after election day, which would affect laws in more than a dozen states during a midterm election year.

The justices are considering Watson v Republican National Committee, a challenge over a Mississippi state law that was brought in 2024 by the Republican party. Mississippi allows mailed ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of election day, so long as they were postmarked by election day. Mississippi changed its laws in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fourteen states, Washington DC and three US territories have similar laws that allow for late-arriving ballots to be counted. Based on the justices’ questions, it is clear the case is not focused narrowly on Mississippi’s grace period, but on other states’ rules, which in some cases allow for a longer grace period and don’t require postmarks.

Mississippi, a red state, is defending its ability to set its own procedures for elections against the challenge from the Republican party, which argues that the grace period violates federal laws that set election day for the first Tuesday of November.

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With the help of two Democrats, the Senate on March 23 confirmed Markwayne Mullin to replace Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security.

The pugilistic Oklahoma Republican senator now is tasked with leading not only a critical federal agency in mounting crisis, but also the immigration agenda of a White House that has increasingly found its hardline enforcement policies to be a political liability – in a midterm year that could cost the president's party control of Congress.

The largely partisan vote, 54-45, was a break from precedent, as senators of both parties have in the past shown at least some deference to their colleagues in the legislative chamber to support them for Cabinet positions. It was a stark reminder of a staunchly polarized Congress, especially when it comes to issues related to immigration.

All GOP senators except for one, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted to confirm Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter who ran a multimillion-dollar plumbing business before he was first elected to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives over a decade ago.

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which serves as the exclusive union for TSA officers, slammed Trump's plan to deploy ICE agents to perform security at airports while officers continue showing up to work without a paycheck.

"ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security," AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement, stressing that TSA officers go through extensive and specialized training that requires ongoing recertification.

"You cannot improvise that," he said. "Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap. It creates one."

Tens of thousands of TSA employees have been working without pay since the partial government shutdown went into effect earlier this year. While the shutdown leaves Homeland Security – which includes TSA – without funding, ICE officers' paychecks were already secured by previous funding.

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