Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Monday, March 18, 2024

Donald Trump on Monday lost a bid to block testimony from Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels at his upcoming trial on charges stemming from hush money that Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, paid Daniels, a porn star, before the 2016 election. Trump last month asked Justice Juan Merchan to block their testimony, arguing Cohen had a history of lying and would likely lie again, and that Daniels - whose real name is Stephanie Clifford - would seek to use the trial to monetize her story.


The defendant, an Oakland man, defeated a restraint device keeping him in a courtroom chair, then used his own lawyer's pen to stab the defense attorney on his face and head. He then charged the prosecutor before a courtroom deputy tackled and arrested him. The entire Monday morning frenzy was witnessed by a jury that will soon be tasked with determining his guilt or innocence on charges that he murdered his ex-girlfriend in 2020 and attempted to murder a man amid a tense child custody dispute. Jurors will hear closing arguments this week.


President Joe Biden just got another win in his monthslong standoff with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. On Monday, the nation's highest court ruled that the implementation of Texas Senate Bill 4 would be further delayed until the legal challenges against it are settled. Read more


The Supreme Court's center right appears increasingly frustrated with the judiciary's far right. By Ian Millhiser Mar 18, 202

4 On Monday, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in one of these Fifth Circuit cases, known as Murthy v. Missouri, where the lower court handed down a sweeping injunction forbidding much of the federal government from having any communications at all with social media companies. Read more


Former Rep. Charlie Dent highlighted the absurdity of former President Trump's comments about imposing a 100% tariff on cars manufactured in Mexico by China if he's re-elected, during a speech in Dayton, Ohio. Trump's statement, which Dent described as "ridiculous" and "inflationary," was part of a broader narrative threatening a "bloodbath" for the auto industry and the country if he doesn't win the election. Dent criticized the focus on Trump's behavior over the practical implications of his policy proposals, emphasizing the potential harm to American consumers. Read more


Paul Manafort, former President Trump's 2016 campaign chairman who was jailed on fraud charges, is in talks to potentially return to Trump's 2024 campaign ahead of the Republican National Convention in July, according to reports. The Washington Post first reported that Trump is expected to enlist Manafort as a campaign adviser this year, citing four people familiar with the matter. Trump pardoned his former campaign manager in 2020 after he was convicted in 2018 on bank fraud and tax charges. Manafort served as Trump's campaign chair from March to August 2016. He was convicted on bank fraud and tax charges stemming from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.


Federal charges were unsealed Monday against a conservative influencer and former congressional intern accused of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Isabella Maria DeLuca, of D.C., faces the four standard misdemeanor counts used in more than 1,000 Jan. 6 cases as well as a fifth misdemeanor count of theft of government property. According to charging documents, DeLuca can be seen climbing through a broken window into an unoccupied congressional office. Once inside, investigators say DeLuca assisted other rioters in passing a table out of the window. Investigators said the table was later used as a weapon against police " including one of the legs, which may have been used by another riot defendant, Timothy Desjardins, who faces felony charges of assault and civil disorder in connection with Jan. 6. Desjardins was sentenced last year to 18 years in prison on unrelated assault and firearms charges connected to a shooting at a Walgreens in Rhode Island.


On Monday during a Criminal Justice Committee meeting it was announced that rats infesting the New Orleans Police Department headquarters are getting high off of marijuana from the evidence room. The New Orleans Police Department headquarters also has a mold and cockroach problem.


Niger's decision to end its counterterrorism alliance with Washington came after senior U.S. officials accused the country's ruling junta of secretly exploring a deal to allow Iran access to its uranium reserves, Nigerien and U.S. officials say. The decision to end military cooperation with the U.S. was announced Saturday night by a spokesman for the Nigerien junta. It deals a serious blow to the Biden administration's efforts to contain a sprawling Islamist insurgency in the Sahel, the semiarid region south of the Sahara. Read more


Romania has now begun construction of what will eventually be the NATO alliance's largest European military base, as the transatlantic bloc seeks to bolster its capabilities in the Black Sea region with an eye on Russian activity there. The $2.7 billion project will expand the Romanian Air Force 57th Air Base Mihail Koglniceanu, which is located close to the Black Sea port city of Constana. The new facility will have a perimeter of almost 20 miles, cover around 11 square miles, and will be home to some 10,000 NATO personnel and their families. Read more


A Lebanese migrant who was caught sneaking over the border admitted he's a member of Hezbollah, he hoped to make a bomb, and his destination was New York. Ebbadi said he had trained with Hezbollah for seven years and served as an active member guarding weapons locations for another four years, according to internal ICE documents. Ebbadi's training focused on "jihad" and killing people "that was not Muslim," he said. Border agents continue to see a surge in migrants whose names appear on the terror watchlist entering the US illegally as crossings continue at record levels. Read more


Neil Young says he is returning to Spotify after removing his music from the streaming platform to boycott podcaster Joe Rogan. Young voluntarily removed his music from Spotify in 2022 after Rogan, whose podcast was exclusively on Spotify, had a controversial infectious disease expert on as a guest during the COVID-19 pandemic. But last month, Rogan signed a new deal with Spotify, which allows his podcast to be streamed on other platforms like YouTube and Apple, according to Associated Press. Read more


Four years after COVID-19 emerged, the U.S. in many ways is far less ready for the next major viral threat, despite the pandemic era's significant scientific advances.


A government investigation into a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane's door-plug blowout has been hampered by a lack of repair records and security camera footage, the National Transportation Safety Board's chair told US senators. Boeing was "unable to find the records" and told the NTSB that the security camera footage was overwritten.


If you look at the prices that are top of mind for regular folks, inflation turns out to have been astonishingly high in mid-2022 -- far higher than the headline Consumer Price Index. Now, however, it's at a very benign 2%.


Then private equity took over.


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