The ruling came less than 24 hours after another appeals court judge denied Trump's attempt to halt the trial while he seeks a change of venue.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/appeals-court-judge-rejects-trumps-effort-delay-hush-money-trial-appea-rcna147026

A New York appeals court judge Tuesday denied Donald Trump's bid to halt his hush money trial while he appeals a gag order, a ruling that came less than 24 hours after another judge rejected the former president's request to delay his impending criminal trial on other grounds.

Tuesday's ruling came roughly one hour after Trump attorney Emil Bove argued that his client is entitled to a stay of the proceedings while he challenges the "unconstitutional" partial gag order Judge Juan Merchan handed down against Trump last month and expanded days later.

Bove contended the gag order — which prohibits Trump from bashing witnesses, individual prosecutors, court staff and their relatives, the judge's relatives, and jurors and potential jurors — means his client can't comment on publicly filed motions and that it violates the former president's Sixth and First Amendment rights.

His court filing contended the order is causing "ongoing, irreparable harm to Petitioner and the voting public."

"He is the leading candidate in a presidential election and this record does not support the gag order," Bove told Justice Cynthia Kern.

Steven Wu of the Manhattan district attorney's office, which brought the case against Trump, told the judge that there's no basis for a stay and that Bove was misrepresenting the gag order.

The “Hitler Pig” sobriquet is used frequently to describe Trump and generally by younger, tech-savvy, aides to President Biden, according to Politico.

White House staffers and campaign aides first started using the term after Trump dined with rapper Kanye West and notorious Holocaust skeptic and white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Some on social media mocked the nickname.

“White House nickname for Trump is ‘Hitler Pig.’ How humorless and pathetic is that?” Marc Thiessen, former President George W. Bush’s speechwriter, wrote on X.

“‘Pig Hitler’ is funnier though,” another user chimed in.

“[Politico] thinks this is funny it’s actually more a representation of what a rag they’ve become and the level of shit that works in the White House ‘Hitler Pig,’” he wrote on X.

As West Wing Playbook reported earlier this year, President JOE BIDEN is often far saltier about Trump behind closed doors than he is in public, even as his willingness to publicly attack his predecessor and likely 2024 challenger in speeches and offhand comments has grown.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2024/04/17/hitler-pig-00152899

https://nypost.com/2024/04/18/us-news/biden-staffers-refer-to-trump-as-hitler-pig/

A mother who was among six victims killed in the knife attack at a Sydney shopping centre has been named.

Ash Good died in hospital from her injuries following the Saturday morning attack in the Australian city. Four other women and one man were also killed while another eight people remain in hospital including the 38 year-old Ms Good’s baby daughter.

The attacker, believed to be a 40-year-old male known to authorities, was shot dead by a police inspector.
A shocking video has shown the suspect armed with a large knife, while shoppers take cover in shops as one brave individual attempts to ward him off on an escalator.

One eyewitness reported seeing Ms Good’s baby with stab wounds, with the “terrified” mother attempting to console her child as they were taken to an ambulance.

Other witnesses reported hearing gunshots as they hid inside stores, with one saying of the attacker: “He had a nice big blade on him. He looked like he was on a killing spree.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/sydney-westfield-bondi-junction-suspect-update-b2528212.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbVN2HalbCE

https://holrmagazine.com/who-is-benjamin-cohen-sydney/

Democrats dismiss charges against themselves
Ignoring 200 years of precedent they table an impeachment motion against mayorkas instead of allowing a trial, effectively meaning the Senate can ignore the House when they impeach someone, something that's never been done before
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/live-blog/senators-begin-dhs-secretary-mayorkas-impeachment-trial-live-updates-rcna147038
The House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February and, on Tuesday, formally referred the issue to the Senate for a trial.
Democrats voted to rule both impeachment articles unconstitutional because they did not rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors." They then adjourned the trial.
The first impeachment article had accused Mayorkas of “willfully and systemically” refusing to comply with federal immigration laws. The second charged him with making false statements to Congress.

In the end, Sen. Eric Schmitt’s, R-Mo., objection to allowing for debate and procedural votes ahead of the Democrats’ motions to dispense with the two articles of impeachment precluded Republicans from putting Democrats in a tough spot with substantive votes.

Republicans had planned to force Democrats to take tough votes, like on the constitutionality of not holding a trial. But because Schmitt objected to a debate agreement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, immediately moved to question the constitutionality of the articles of impeachment. And that meant Republican senators could only force votes on procedural questions like adjourning or going into closed session.

Schmitt was pressed on his decision by reporters and responded by saying, “Impeachments aren’t debatable. So if you have an impeachment trial, we don’t debate that we listen, we hear evidence. All we were asking for is something that has happened every single time articles of impeachment have ever come over the United States Senate.”

https://abc7.com/usc-bans-pro-palestinian-valedictorian-from-speaking-at-may-commencement-citing-safety-concerns/14672515/

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/17/smartmatic-one-america-news-network-oann-lawsuit-settlement

Smartmatic reached a settlement with One America News Network Tuesday in its lawsuit that accused the conservative broadcaster of peddling disinformation about the voting machine company's technology in regards to the 2020 presidential election.

The big picture: The lawsuit was one of several Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems filed against conservative-leaning networks and pro-Trump figures, accusing them of broadcasting baseless conspiracy theories about their voting equipment and software.

The suit accused OANN of "falsely" stating that Smartmatic "rigged" the 2020 presidential election for President Biden in key swing states, despite Los Angeles County being the only place in the U.S. where the company provided services that year.

Details: A federal court filing in D.C. shows the claims were dismissed without prejudice on Tuesday, with each party bearing its own attorneys' fees, costs and expenses.

Erik Connolly, Smartmatic's lead attorney, said in a statement to media that the company had "resolved its litigation against OANN through a confidential settlement."
OANN attorney Chip Babcock told CNN the case "has been resolved pursuant to a confidential agreement."

Flashback: The settlement comes one year after Fox News settled a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for over $787 million.

What we're watching: Smartmatic has lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax pending before the courts over reporting on its machines.

Fox has filed a countersuit against the firm and the network citing First Amendment protections and public interest in the election claims by former President Trump and his allies following his 2020 election loss.

While the rest of the world can’t peel their eyes away as Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial gets under way in New York, the former president himself appears to be far less enthralled by the proceedings.

Jury selection got under way on Monday in the first-ever criminal trial of a sitting or former president, as he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a bid to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

But, according to some courtroom reporters, Mr Trump appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open – and at one point may have even fallen asleep.

“Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported.

The observation quickly inspired a new nickname for the 77-year-old former president: “Sleepy Don.”

Soon, the moniker spread like wildfire on social media.

“My theory: Trump’s legal team sedated him,” Mother Jones DC bureau chief David Corn wrote.

“Looks, he’s old. The judge is keeping Sleepy Don from his nap time,” Meidas Touch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski posted.

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Super PAC, wrote that Mr Trump had worn himself out with his post-trial Truth Social rants.

“#SleepyDon was up late rage-posting on Truth Social,” the account posted.

The former president’s apparent courtroom nap eventually began trending, with users flocking to the hashtag #DonSnorleone, a reference to the mafia kingpin Don Corleone from the Godfather series. Others chose another pun for Mr Trump: The Nodfather.

Several other social media users joined in the joke.

“I prefer Presidents who don’t fall asleep before the lunch break in their hush money paid to a porn star election interference trial,” one user mocked.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-hush-money-sleepy-don-b2529108.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4596862-massie-backs-greene-effort-to-oust-speaker-johnson/

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday he will co-sponsor a resolution to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from the House’s top job.

Massie told his colleagues during a closed-door conference meeting that he will co-sponsor the motion to vacate resolution filed late last month by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), according to three GOP lawmakers in the room, becoming the first lawmaker to publicly join Greene’s effort.

Massie’s announcement came less than 24 hours after Johnson unveiled the outline of a plan to move foreign aid through the House, which includes voting on three separate bills to send assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and a fourth measure that pertains to other national security priorities.

But in a departure from his previous positions, Johnson did not include border security provisions in the plan after months of Republicans — including the Speaker — demanding that any aid for Ukraine be paired with legislation to address the situation at the southern border, sparking intense opposition among conservatives.