WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

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1/ Trump will likely be found in contempt of court for violating his gag order in the election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors argued that Trump violated the limited gag order at least 10 times, and asked Judge Juan Merchan to hold Trump in contempt of court, fine Trump $10,000, and force Trump to delete his social media posts. “His disobedience of the order is willful, it’s intentional,” prosecutors said. “He knows what he’s not allowed to do and he does it anyway.” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, meanwhile, claimed that Trump was just defending himself online when he posted about witnesses in the case, including Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels. Merchan, however, characterized the position as “silly” and warned Blanche that he was “losing all credibility with the court” with his argument that Trump was being “careful” about the gag order. While Merchan did not immediately rule on whether Trump had violated the order, minutes after the hearing Trump posted on his personal social media platform that Merchan “should recuse himself” because he’s taking away his “right to free speech” and claiming that he was “not allowed to defend myself.” (Bloomberg / Axiosy / NBC News / ABC News)

2/ Testimony resumed in Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records trial, with tabloid publisher David Pecker taking the stand for a second day to detail the “catch-and-kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump during the 2016 election. Pecker said he acted as the campaign’s “eyes and ears,” notifying Michael Cohen about possible scandals, including “about women selling stories,” and agreeing to “run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents.” Pecker also testified that alerting Trump about damaging information had a mutual benefit for the Enquirer and the campaign. (CNN / Bloomberg / NPR / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / ABC News)

3/ The FTC banned employers from using noncompete contracts that prevent workers from switching jobs within their industry. It’s the first time in more than 50 years that the FTC has issued an economy-wide regulation to how companies compete. “Robbing people of their economic liberty also robs them of all sorts of other freedoms,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said. The FTC estimates that banning noncompetes could create jobs for 30 million Americans and raise wages by at least $400 bill...

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