PBS sues Trump administration over defunding
In the claim, PBS relies on similar arguments, saying Mr Trump was overstepping his authority and engaging in 'viewpoint discrimination' because of his claim that PBS' news coverage is biased against conservatives.
'PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms,' lawyer Z W Julius Chen wrote in the case, filed in a US court in Washington.
'But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our constitution and laws forbid the president from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS's programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.'
It was the latest of many legal actions taken against the administration for its moves, including several by media organisations impacted by Mr Trump's orders.
A PBS spokesman said that 'after careful deliberation, PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal action to safeguard public television's editorial independence, and to protect the autonomy of PBS member stations'.
Mr Trump's order 'would have profound impacts on the ability of PBS and PBS member stations to provide a rich tapestry of programming to all Americans,' Mr Chen wrote.
PBS said the US Department of Education has cancelled a 78 million dollar grant to the system for educational programming, used to make children's shows like Sesame Street, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Reading Rainbow.
Besides Mr Trump, the claim names other administration officials as defendants, including US education secretary Linda McMahon, treasury secretary Scott Bessent and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem.
PBS says its technology is used as a backup for the nationwide wireless emergency alert system.
The administration has fought with several media organisations. Government-run news services like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are also struggling, The Associated Press has battled with the White House over press access and the Federal Communications Commission is investigating television news divisions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Russia and Ukraine to talk about peace but are still far apart
ISTANBUL, June 2 (Reuters) - Russian and Ukrainian officials are due to sit down on Monday in the Turkish city of Istanbul for their second round of direct peace talks since 2022, but the two sides are still far apart on how to end the war and the fighting is stepping up. U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine make peace, but so far they have not and the White House has repeatedly warned the United States will "walk away" from the war if the two sides are too stubborn to reach a peace deal. The first round of talks on May 16 yielded the biggest prisoner swap of the war but no sign of peace - or even a ceasefire as both sides merely set out their own opening negotiating positions. After keeping the world guessing on whether Ukraine would even turn up for the second round, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would meet with Russian officials in Istanbul. The Russian delegation will be headed by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who after the first round invoked French general and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte to assert that war and negotiations should always be conducted at the same time. On Sunday, Ukraine launched one of its most ambitious attacks of the war, targeting Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers in Siberia and other military bases, while the Kremlin launched 472 drones at Ukraine, Ukraine's air force said, the highest nightly total of the war. The idea of direct talks was first proposed by President Vladimir Putin after Ukraine and European powers demanded that he agree to a ceasefire which the Kremlin dismissed. Putin said Russia would draft a memorandum setting out the broad contours of a possible peace accord and only then discuss a ceasefire. Kyiv said over the weekend it was still waiting for draft memorandum from the Russian side. Medinsky, the lead Kremlin negotiator, said on Sunday that Moscow had received a Ukraine's draft memorandum and told Russia's RIA news agency the Kremlin would react to it on Monday. According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the two sides will in Turkey present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, though it is clear that after three years of war Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart. Kellogg has indicated that the U.S. will be involved in the talks and that even representatives from Britain, France and Germany will be too, though it was not clear at what level the United States would be represented. Ukraine's delegation will also include its deputy foreign minister, as well as several military and intelligence officials, according to an executive order by Zelenskiy on Sunday. In June last year, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia. Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present to the Russian side a proposed roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters. According to the document, there will be no restrictions on Ukraine's military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces, and reparations for Ukraine. The document also stated that the current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory. Russia currently controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine, or about 113,100 square km, about the same size as the U.S. state of Ohio. Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The United States says over 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022. Trump has called Putin "crazy" and berated Zelenskiy in public in the Oval Office, but the U.S. president has also said that he thinks peace is achievable and that if Putin delays then he could impose tough sanctions on Russia.
NBC News
6 hours ago
- NBC News
Trump shares unfounded conspiracy theory claiming Biden was 'executed' in 2020
President Donald Trump on Saturday night reposted a baseless claim on Truth Social that former President Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with clones or robots. The original post, made by an anonymous Truth Social user that often spreads outlandish claims, suggested that Biden was replaced with 'clones, doubles' and 'robotic engineered soulless mindless entities.' Trump published a link to that post to his nearly 10 million followers, without adding any additional context or explanation. The original poster's account has a little more than 5,000 followers. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday explaining why Trump shared the post and whether Trump believes Biden was executed in 2020. Trump has frequently taken to sharing misinformation and unproven conspiracy theories over the years. The president repeats false claims that he won the 2020 presidential election, which led some of his supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn Biden's victory. He also claimed — before backtracking — thatformer President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. and, during the 2024 campaign,allegedthat Haitian immigrants were 'eating the pets.' All of those claims were debunked or otherwise proven false. Trump's circle, too, has spread conspiracy theories, with some of the top brass in the administration having spread misinformation about vaccines or the so-called 'deep state.' Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously repeated a debunked claim that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism, and the FBI's director and deputy director have spread claims that the Biden administration and the 'deep state' weaponized the FBI against Trump. Biden revealed last month that he had been diagnosed with a metastatic form of an aggressive type of prostate cancer, as the former president and his top aides were already facing mounting scrutiny about his mental acuity and physical capabilities while in office and how forthcoming they had been with the country. The revelation of his cancer diagnosis initially prompted an outpouring of well-wishes fromDemocrats and Republicans, but it quickly shifted as Trump allies claimed Biden had hidden his cancer diagnosis. A spokesperson for Biden said at the time that the former president had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer before last month. Biden, since his diagnosis was made public , said on Friday he felt good and joked with reporters about the allegations of his supposed mental decline while in office. The repost Saturday joins a host of heightened attacks the president has brandished against Biden in recent weeks. Trump and House Republicans have scrutinized Biden's use of an autopen to sign some pieces of legislation and executive orders, using it to call into question Biden's mental state. Trump has gone as far as to claim that some pardons that Biden signed were not valid because they had not been signed with a real pen. NBC News has previously reported that the White House has used autopens to create signatures for decades.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
50 Cent shares how he would advise Donald Trump on whether or not to pardon Diddy
50 Cent said that he will remind President Donald Trump of the past disrespect Sean ' Diddy ' Combs has displayed toward him, should the embattled music mogul's name come across Trump's desk in the Oval Office for a potential pardon. The Grammy-winning rap artist, 49, said Friday on Instagram, 'Donald doesn't take well to disrespect, and doesn't forget who chooses to go against him. while working tirelessly to make America great again there is no room for distraction. 'He would consider pardoning anyone who was being mistreated not Puffy Daddy. Comments from 50 Cent came two days after Trump issued a series of pardons, awarding them to a number of high-profile names including rapper NBA YoungBoy Trump's actions mixed his willingness to pardon prominent Republicans and other supporters, donors and friends with the influence of Alice Marie Johnson, whom Trump recently named his pardon czar after he offered her a pardon in 2020. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. He commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, a former Chicago gang leader serving a life sentence at a supermax prison in Colorado. Hoover was first imprisoned in connection with a murder in 1973, and was convicted of running a criminal enterprise in 1998, but later renounced his criminal past and petitioned for a reduced sentence. He remains incarcerated on state charges. In 2024, he was sentenced to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges after he acknowledged having possessed weapons despite being a convicted felon. Gaulden also pleaded guilty to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring in Utah. Gaulden's and the other pardons were confirmed Wednesday evening by two White House officials who spoke only on condition of anonymity to detail actions that had not yet been made public. In a statement posted online, Gaulden said, 'I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist.' He said this 'opens the door to a future I've worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this,' and thanked Johnson. Trump has spent the week issuing high-profile pardons. Video released by a White House aide showed Johnson in the Oval Office on Tuesday, as Trump called the daughter of Todd and Julie Chrisley of the reality show ' Chrisley Knows Best ' to say he was pardoning them. Their show spotlighted the family's extravagant lifestyle, but the couple was convicted of conspiring to defraud banks in the Atlanta area out of more than $30 million in loans by submitting false documents Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, addressed the Republican convention last summer and had long said her parents were treated unfairly. Also Wednesday, Trump pardoned James Callahan, a New York union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report $315,000 in gifts from an advertising firm and was about to be sentenced. And the president pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004 and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns. He also pardoned Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud. Grimm won reelection in 2014 despite being under indictment for underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant that he ran.
