John Oliver Takes Jab At Mel Gibson Following Justice Dept. Attorney Firing: 'Best Known For His Work In Screaming'
The host kicked off Last Week Tonight by saying Gibson, 'best known for his work in screaming,' had a damning Wikipedia section filled with details on his various controversies, but that the real gem was his father's entry.
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'I recommend you check out his Wikipedia page, and while you're there, check out his dad's,' he quipped. 'Because the opening paragraph alone is spectacular. 'Hutton Peter Gibson was an American conspiracy theorist, holocaust denier, writer on sedevacantism' — which is a belief that there hasn't been a valid pope since 1958 — 'a World War II veteran, the Jeopardy! grand champion for 1968 and the father of 11 children, one of whom is the actor and director Mel Gibson.' That is a fascinating man! Imagine having so many terrible views that producing Mel Gibson is not the worst thing about you.'
Tying in that news with Mahmoud Khalil's detention, which the ACLU has condemned as 'unlawful,' Oliver said president Donald Trump's claim that the arrest was to crack down on antisemitism is 'pretty rich, given the top DOD press secretary was recently found to have a history of racist and antisemitic tweets; Musk and JD Vance both recently supported Germany's AFD, a party with ties to neo-Nazis; and of course, there was this sh– [flashing on screen an image of Musk's Nazi-like salute] and that was all before you get to the efforts this week to make sure that this f—ing guy [Gibson] — whose views on the Jews are let's say a matter of public record — got his guns back.'
Adding of Khalil, a Columbia student who has said antisemitism has no place in his activism and has been supported by Jewish classmates on campus, Oliver said, 'Maybe you feel differently about the Israel-Palestine conflict than Khalil, maybe you don't agree with things that I've said about it, but if someone can be deported as a green card holder for speech in support of Palestine or anything else this administration objects to, that should chill you to the bone. And I'll be honest, anyone who's been through the U.S. immigration process has probably had a lot of anxious feelings stirred up this week. I came here to start working at The Daily Show on a visa; when we started this show, I had a green card and five years ago, I became a citizen. I know what it's like to live in constant fear of being kicked out of somewhere you see as your home.'
Oliver concluded his opening segment by calling the arrest a 'f—ing disgrace' and stating that the public response toward it should be 'unequivocal.'
'Rights, like freedom of speech, are a fundamental part of living in this country,' he said, 'and if we do not protect them, then unfortunately like the Teslas inexplicably for sale on the White House lawn this week, they could be going, going, gone.'
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Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Strong First-Day Attendance at LAUSD Schools Despite Immigration Fears
This article was originally published in EdSource. Four days after a 15-year-old with a disability was mistakenly detained and handcuffed by immigration agents outside of Arleta High School, the first day of the new school year in the Los Angeles Unified School District seemed normal. Students at Arleta High walked through the school's annual red carpet on Thursday as music played and cheerleaders performed. Teachers, like Nicole Patin, greeted them while passing out flyers in English and Spanish to parents and red cards detailing what to do if stopped or detained by an ICE agent. Close friends and former colleagues joined in to welcome the students, including some of Patin's former students. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter 'It was actually even emotional, because they just decided to show up,' said Patin, who also serves as chair of the school's United Teachers Los Angeles chapter. 'People that, at one point, were dear friends that had worked, people that were retired, they all came out to help us kick the year off in the right way.' Similar sentiments reigned across Los Angeles Unified as students returned to school, district officials said during a press conference at Gardena High School. And amid heightened immigration fears, district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho touted a 92% attendance rate districtwide — two percentage points higher than last year, a direct result of outreach that included more than 11,000 phone calls and 1,000 home visits. 'We're very proud of you, and I just want to echo our happiness and congratulations on all the things that you've done today, and we know that you're not going to stop, that this will be a continuation,' State Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond said at the press conference. 'The state of California and our office will continue to support you in your work.' The district's Region South had the lowest rate of attendance, which Carvalho suspected was due to the area being home to more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and parents' fears. He did not disclose the number. Related In response to current immigration activity, he said the district would ramp up its iAttend program — where school and district staff knock on the doors of families and encourage students to return to the classroom — from a quarterly to a monthly activity. He also said that following a 300-student increase, or 7% uptick, in virtual academy enrollment last week, about 200 families changed their minds and reenrolled their children in one of LAUSD's regular, in-person campuses 'as a result of increased trust and confidence specific to the protection protocols.' '[Today] was a great day of joy, of happiness, of community that was celebrated by students, parents and staff alike,' Carvalho said. 'The fear is real, that the anxiety is undeniable, that the concern in the minds and hearts of parents is strong. But many parents told us that the steps we took [involving several tiers of protection and safety zones surrounding schools] … created an environment where parents believed that the best place for their children would be the schoolhouse.' ICE activity took place on Tuesday, near several schools, but no closer than two blocks away. The schools were: Danny J. Bakewell Sr., Primary Center and Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School in Region South Mendez High School, Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Castelar Elementary School in Region East Victory Boulevard Elementary and STEAM Magnet in Region North Everyone involved was quick to communicate and respond, and 'no impact was seen or felt by these schools as a result of these federal actions in the neighborhood,' Carvalho said. The superintendent also said the district is working actively with two impacted families. One is the family of an 18-year-old Reseda High School student who was detained while walking his dog and is currently in a detention center in Los Angeles. Carvalho said the boy's mother told him, 'My son is in a small space with 40 men, most of them, if not all of them, much older than he is. He is 18 years old, but he's a kid. He has not been exposed to anything in his life. He drinks water once a day. The food is insufficient.' The second involved a student who was taken to a detention center in Texas but has since been released. 'Armed men in hoods with masks jumping out of vehicles with militarized vests with long guns in hand. … It's shocking for most adults,' Carvalho said. 'Think for a second about the impact that this has on impressionable young children. … I'm a father. I would not want my child to witness that.' He and school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin urged families to contact their school's principal if they need help with transportation. Carvalho said they have so far met the needs of more than 300 families who have requested special accommodation, including modifications of bus routes and potential door-to-door services. 'In some ZIP codes in our country, the children will never witness [detentions]. Never,' Carvalho said. 'And then there are kids in [other regions who] walk to school. Blocks. … Can we spare, beyond politics, policy and legalities, can we spare our children from that trauma?' Patin, the Arleta High School teacher, said attendance remained strong on her campus and in her classrooms. 'Our campus is very secure. Our office is locked. … There's no strangers or people just dropping in or having access to our campus,' she said. 'That's really never been that way. But we're especially vigilant now.' And while the overall energy was positive, she said the immigration raids have impacted students. Many, she said, had watched violent interactions on social media and feared for themselves or family members. 'When class started, they wanted to talk about all of the people that were out in front of school and the reporters. They had questions,' she said. 'They also wanted to share their own perspective on the experience and what they were feeling. So, we all allowed for that.' More LAUSD students stayed home this summer than usual, Patin said. And many were happy to meet up with their peers after months of being apart. Twelfth grader Andry Estrada was among them, happy to leave home at 6:30 a.m. and greet his classmates as a member of the marching band and as the secretary of the school's Associated Student Body. He said he was excited to be reunited with his classmates, some of whom had stayed home toward the end of the 2024-25 academic year for fear of immigration enforcement. 'I was definitely excited to see my teachers again and build new relationships and friendships that I haven't been able to reach in the summertime,' Estrada said. 'It's overall been a great day.' This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.' Solve the daily Crossword
Associated Press
10 minutes ago
- Associated Press
An Italian funeral for a Palestinian woman evacuated from Gaza becomes a call to 'make noise'
PONTASSERCHIO, Italy (AP) — Funeral services were held Wednesday for a young Palestinian woman who died in Italy shortly after being evacuated from Gaza last week, exposing Italians to the desperate plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory. The funeral of Marah Abu Zuhri, attended by several hundred people, was interrupted repeatedly by chants of 'Free Palestine' and featured speeches by local authorities denouncing Israel's policy in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. As Palestinian flags fluttered, mourners stood in prayer before Zuhri's coffin, which was was draped in a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh scarf in the town of Pontasserchio, near Pisa. Zuhri, 19, had been evacuated to Italy with what Israel had called leukemia, but Italian doctors said they found no initial evidence of that and instead found 'profound wasting' and an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed condition. The United Nations and partners have said 22 months of war have devastated Gaza's health system, and food security experts have said the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out.' Israel is moving ahead with a new military offensive on some of the territory's most populated areas, Mayor Matteo Cecchelli said he wanted to honor Zuhri's life with a public service in the town's Park of Peace, to 'make noise' about what he called a political and humanitarian 'catastrophe' in Gaza. 'The reality is that every day in the Gaza Strip, people are dying in the deafening silence of world governments,' he said to applause. 'We cannot remain silent today in this field of peace. There are those who have decided to make noise and have decided to be here to express their dissent towards this genocide.' Israel asserts that it abides by international law and is fighting an existential war in Gaza after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Israel has rejected genocide allegations related to its war in Gaza and called them antisemitic. Zuhri arrived in Italy overnight on Aug. 13-14 as one of 31 sick or injured Palestinians evacuated on an Italian humanitarian airlift that has brought nearly 1,000 ill Palestinians and their families to the country since the war began. Israel said she had leukemia and had been offered an evacuation earlier but claimed that Hamas had exploited her case, without offering evidence. The U.N. World Health Organization, which coordinates patients' evacuations, didn't respond to a request for comment. Gaza's Health Ministry has asserted that evacuations are often delayed or canceled by Israeli authorities. It says over 18,000 patients and wounded require treatment outside Gaza. Zuhri was admitted to the hematology ward of Pisa University's Santa Chiara Hospital, a known oncological hospital in Tuscany, but died there on Aug. 15. The hospital said she arrived with a 'very complex/compromised clinical picture and in a state of profound wasting.' She suffered a sudden respiratory crisis and subsequent cardiac arrest, which killed her, it said. The head of the hematology department at the Pisa hospital, Dr. Sara Galimberti, said Zuhri arrived with a diagnosis of suspected acute leukemia, but tests the hospital conducted came back negative, with no signs of the 'bad cells' that would indicate leukemia. Galimberti told reporters that Zuhri likely had been misdiagnosed, and that her condition was nevertheless seriously compromised and had been for a while. 'The patient was in a complete condition of wasting, and completely bedridden despite being 19 years old,' she said. The hospital conducted a nutritional consultation and began a hypercaloric therapy and transfusional support, but Zuhri died before a full diagnosis was possible, Galimberti said. The doctor said the woman's mother, Nabeela Abu Zuhri, declined an autopsy on religious and personal grounds. The mother, who accompanied her daughter on the flight, spoke briefly at the funeral, thanking Italy for trying to save her daughter and asking for prayers for Palestinians. She said she was 'leaving a part of my heart, a part of me, with you' before returning to Gaza. The imam of Pisa, Mohammad Khalil, who translated for her, tried to calm the crowd and focus on Zuhri, but he also spoke of food shortages and hunger in Gaza. The United Nations has said starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest levels since the war began. The U.N. says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found with acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that no one in Gaza is starving, with 'no policy of starvation in Gaza.' AP reporting has found that malnourished children were arriving daily at a Gaza hospital, with some dying from hunger, including ones with no preexisting conditions. ___ Winfield reported from Rome.
The Hill
39 minutes ago
- The Hill
Bailey, Bongino tag team FBI leadership role
President Trump is bringing in backup at the FBI, installing a staunch legal ally in a newly created leadership post. Andrew Bailey, Missouri's attorney general, is joining the Justice Department as co-deputy director of the FBI — a position he'll hold alongside Dan Bongino, a longtime backer of the president whose role in the administration has become more tenuous as it grapples with Jeffrey Epstein fallout. As Missouri's top prosecutor, Bailey positioned himself as a warrior for conservative causes, mounting challenges to abortion rights, Big Tech, student loan forgiveness and more. Last year, he took the Biden administration to the Supreme Court over its 'vast censorship enterprise,' asserting that federal officials violated the First Amendment by urging platforms to remove posts they deemed false or misleading. The justices denied the challenge brought by Bailey by finding he did not have legal standing, leaving the First Amendment issues untouched. Bailey also came to Trump's defense as the president faced criminal prosecution. Following Trump's conviction last year on 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, the Missouri attorney general sued New York, saying the prosecution stepped on the rights of his state's voters. He asked the Supreme Court — which has exclusive jurisdiction over legal disputes between two or more states — to block Trump's sentencing and a gag order until after the 2024 election. The justices rejected the plea. 'As Missouri's Attorney General, he took on the swamp, fought weaponized government, and defended the Constitution,' Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was Trump's attorney in the hush money case, said Monday of Bailey. 'Now he is bringing that fight to DOJ.' It's not the first time Trump has made Bailey couple up. Trump last year endorsed both Bailey and his primary opponent, Will Scharf, as they competed to become Missouri attorney general. Scharf was one of Trump's personal attorneys, and after losing to Bailey, he joined Trump's White House as staff secretary. You may recognize Scharf as the person who now hands Trump executive orders to sign in the Oval Office. It's not apparent how Bailey's responsibilities at the FBI will be newly split with Bongino, but the appointment of a co-deputy director seems to minimize Bongino's role. It comes amid reported tensions surrounding Bongino over the administration's handling of the Epstein files. Bongino, like dozens of right-wing internet figures, was on the front lines of conspiracy theories about Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. After the Justice Department last month issued a joint memo stating Epstein did not have a client list and confirming he died by suicide, Bongino erupted. Several news outlets reported he weighed resigning over the handling of the matter and raged at agency leaders, including Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump told reporters last month that he still has confidence in him. Bongino's path to the FBI looked very different than Bailey's. A right-wing podcaster, Bongino was tapped as the sole deputy FBI director in February after spending years as one of the bureau's loudest critics. His career began in 1995 with the New York Police Department, and years later, he joined the U.S. Secret Service, where he eventually was placed on presidential protective duty for former Presidents George W. Bush and Obama. After leaving the Secret Service in 2011, he launched several failed political campaigns before his career as an internet provocateur took off. Despite their different paths, both Bongino and Bailey have something in common. Neither has previously worked for the FBI, breaking the tradition of selecting someone who has risen through the agency's ranks. Welcome to The Gavel, The Hill's weekly courts newsletter from Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld. Click above to email us tips, or reach out to us on X (@ByEllaLee, @ZachASchonfeld) or Signal (elee.03, zachschonfeld.48). IN FOCUS Could TikTok kill Trump's national security legal defense? Two former Supreme Court advocates for the government warned Monday that the Trump administration's efforts to defend itself in court by pointing to national security could face an unexpected hindrance: TikTok. The Gavel joined judges and lawyers in Chicago on Monday at the annual conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Though Justice Amy Coney Barrett was pegged as a headliner, she spoke for less than three minutes that evening, opting to shy away from politics. The afternoon conversation between former Solicitors General Elizabeth Prelogar and Paul Clement proved more interesting. Prelogar and Clement pointed to the China-owned social media behemoth as reason Trump's legal defense might falter. In January, the Supreme Court upheld a law requiring TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app or face a ban from U.S. app stores. The law was passed amid concerns the Chinese government could access Americans' data or manipulate the short-form video app's content algorithm to execute a covert influence operation. Clement, solicitor general during the younger Bush's second term, noted that Congress addressed the high-profile issue by pointing to the 'national security imperative to do something.' The statute was defended in part on that basis. 'But then the national security imperative, I guess, wasn't quite as imperative,' Clement said. Despite the high court's decision to let the law go into effect, the Biden administration said it would not enforce it ahead of Trump's inauguration. Trump has since kept enforcement on hold. 'I do think that that could have some long-term consequences when the administration, in subsequent cases, comes up to the Supreme Court and says, 'We really need to do something extraordinary for national security,'' Clement said. Prelogar, who was former President Biden 's solicitor general and argued the case for his administration, agreed. She called it a 'rare event' to litigate a 'seminal' Supreme Court decision to victory and see no 'real application' immediately. The president's decision to let TikTok remain operative, despite the national security risks expressed by the previous administration and Congress, could have consequences. 'Not only did the government make those arguments, but the court arguably relied on them, which could come back to haunt the government as it seeks to get the court's deference on national security issues going forward,' she said. The Trump administration has repeatedly pointed to national security as the president's sweeping agenda has faced legal challenges, namely in four Big Law firms' bids to deem illegal Trump's executive orders targeting them. Clement represents the law firm WilmerHale in its lawsuit. The conversation came amid the pair's review of the Supreme Court's major decisions this term — some argued by Prelogar herself. They spoke to a jam-packed ballroom in a hotel near Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Of the TikTok case, Prelogar said it was one of few her two sons watched closely. But when her 14-year-old son's friends asked 'which side' she would argue, he 'froze,' she joked, not willing to expose his mother's role in restricting the platform. 'There wasn't a ban,' she jokingly insisted. The Supreme Court advocates also commented on the justices' increasingly bloated emergency docket, especially now as challenges to Trump's sweeping agenda reach the high court in troves. They noted that the influx of emergency applications has not only changed the 'rhythm' of the court — but also the office of the solicitor general. 'There's a night and day difference in how the office functions,' Prelogar said. Clement suggested that his office filed only a 'couple' emergency applications during the younger Bush's presidency. Prelogar said she thinks the Trump administration has already filed as many emergency applications as she did in her four years in the office. 'And I felt like I was doing a lot,' she said. Trump pursues voting machine war as Newsmax settles Trump is returning to his war on mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of next year's midterms, signaling plans to sign a new executive order that would ban them. 'Remember, the States are merely an 'agent' for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes,' Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. 'They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.' Meeting with Ukraine's president in the Oval Office hours later, Trump doubled down on his push. The order's text remains to be seen, but if it's anything like what Trump has described, expect Democrats to challenge it. 'The President almost certainly has no authority to dictate how states conduct their elections, and his proposals run counter to the Constitution's Elections Clause,' New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) said in a statement. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) responded similarly when we asked him for comment, noting that mail ballots are the top choice for voters in the key swing state. 'Nevada runs safe, secure elections and we will stand up against any attempts to silence the voices of our citizens,' Aguilar said in a statement. Trump's announcement came the same day that Newsmax announced it will pay voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems $67 million to settle its lawsuit over the conservative channel's 2020 election coverage. It's the latest sum for Dominion, which two years ago secured an eye-popping $787-million settlement from Fox News over its coverage. The president has long declared war on mail ballots and voting machines, asserting unfounded accusations that they sparked widespread voter fraud in his 2020 loss. More than four years later, Trump has continued to press the issue in his second term, supported by allies like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. In an interview with The Gavel last month, Lindell was bullish about getting rid of voting machines. 'Mike wants to melt down the electronic voting machines and turn them into prison bars. That's what Mike wants, and that's what Mike's going to end up getting, is these machines will be gone,' Lindell told us. He was spotted at the White House the next day. Trump's forthcoming order appears to be the president's latest front on voting ahead of next year's midterms, when Republicans hope to maintain their control of both chambers of Congress. The president signed an executive order in March that asserts greater presidential control over elections and seeks to institute strengthened proof-of-citizenship requirements. That order has come under five lawsuits, and judges have halted portions of Trump's directive as the litigation proceeds. And in recent weeks, Trump has pushed Texas Republicans to commence a redistricting effort that would add several Republican-leaning seats. NFL will inch coach lawsuits closer to SCOTUS The NFL is inching two major lawsuits brought by coaches closer to the Supreme Court. Both involve whether the league can force the disputes into arbitration, which would keep the coaches' legal claims away from a jury and public view. Last week, the NFL's efforts fell flat in two separate courts, which ruled the coaches are entitled to pursue their claims before a jury. But the league isn't giving up. It plans to ask both courts to rehear the appeals, The Gavel has learned. And if that fails? The next step would be the Supreme Court. The NFL's first loss came when the Nevada Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that the league's arbitration clause doesn't apply to former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden 's lawsuit. It reverses a panel decision that sided with the NFL. Gruden resigned in 2021 after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal uncovered emails he wrote while working for ESPN that used racist, misogynistic and homophobic language. The NFL had found the emails during a sexual harassment investigation into the Washington Football Team (now the Commanders). Gruden's lawsuit claims the NFL engaged in a 'malicious and orchestrated campaign' to force his resignation, and he seeks the remainder of his 10-year, $100 million coaching contract. Nevada's high court ruled that Gruden is not bound by the NFL's forced arbitration provision since he is no longer an employee. Chief NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told The Gavel, 'We will be appealing the decision.' The NFL was handed another loss Thursday, when a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Brian Flores and other Black coaches' discrimination claims against the NFL and three teams — the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Giants — can proceed before a jury. Th 2nd Circuit took issue with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell 's power under the league's rules to serve as arbitrator. The panel found the Federal Arbitration Act, a century-old law that enables parties to enforce arbitration agreements, doesn't apply because Goodell's role makes it 'arbitration in name only.' 'Accordingly, the agreement betrays the norm of bilateral dispute resolution,' the panel ruled. Though the disputes aren't heading to the Supreme Court quite yet, the NFL is already involved in one case pending before the justices. The NFL filed a friend-of-the-court brief backing the NBA in its bid to end a lawsuit filed by one of its online newsletter subscribers who claims the NBA violated federal law by disclosing his data. The justices will consider taking up the case at their first closed-door conference of the upcoming term, court records show. SIDEBAR 5 top docket updates Bondi walks back MPD memo: Bondi on Friday walked back her push to install an administration official as the emergency commissioner of the District of Columbia's police department under pressure from a federal judge. CFPB dismantling can resume: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday lifted an injunction that had long blocked the administration's efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The new ruling is on hold for one week. O'Rourke fundraising block expanded: A Texas state judge on Friday expanded his order limiting former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) and his political group from funding state Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a redistricting push. Alligator Alcatraz suit narrowed: A federal judge Monday partially dismissed Alligator Alcatraz detainees' lawsuit that raises concerns about attorney access. Some of the migrants' constitutional claims are proceeding, but the judge said they must be transferred to a different judicial district. Dem states sue over crime victim funds: Democratic attorneys general from D.C. and 20 states sued Monday over the administration's bid to condition federal funding for crime victims on cooperation with immigration enforcement. In other news Oops: A Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court judge accidentally relayed a 'not guilty' verdict as 'guilty.' He apologized for the 'mispronunciation.' Watch it here. Bye bye, Big Apple: Ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani 's penthouse in the Upper East Side has sold for $4.95 million, a significantly discounted price. The property was nearly seized by two ex-Georgia election workers who won a $146 million defamation judgment against him, but he was allowed to keep it as part of a settlement reached earlier this year. ON THE DOCKET Don't be surprised if additional hearings are scheduled throughout the week. But here's what we're watching for now: Today: A federal judge in South Carolina is set to hold a motions hearing in a man's defamation lawsuit against Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) over a House floor speech in which she accused him of being a predator. The judge will hear arguments over whether to dismiss the case, allow discovery and other matters. A federal judge in Rhode Island is set to hold a preliminary injunction hearing in a lawsuit brought by Democratic states over the Trump administration's extension of a law's requirements for states to verify a person's legal status before allowing them to access certain federal programs, including Medicaid. Thursday: A federal judge in Georgia is set to hold a preliminary injunction hearing in a campaign finance case involving gubernatorial candidates Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Chris Carr, the state's attorney general. A federal appeals court panel in San Francisco will hear arguments on the Trump administration's bid to overturn a judge's order requiring various agencies to turn over documents they used to plan mass layoffs. Friday: No notable hearings scheduled. Monday: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., will hold a hearing to assess the Trump administration's efforts to comply with his order to restore Voice of America 's operations. Tuesday: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is set to hold a hearing on new developments in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Government Efficiency's cost-cutting efforts at the Department of the Interior and environmental agencies. WHAT WE'RE READING Abigail Adcox, Amanda O'Brien and Christine Simmons: In Trump's Battle With Big Law, Has Leverage Shifted?
