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David Pecker's bombshell testimony at hush money trial detailed media manipulation that helped Trump win

Politics / Political News /

NEW YORK — Publishing honcho David Pecker’s testimony this week at Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial opened a rare window on an unholy alliance that helped propel Trump into the Oval Office and spawned a vortex of unflattering stories smearing his political opponents and manipulating news cycles to divert the attention of the American ...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

The law is 'clear,' Idaho AG Labrador says. Supreme Court hears case on abortion ban

Politics / Political News /

WASHINGTON — Outside the front steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, anti-abortion groups and abortion rights advocates battled to make their stances known, each wielding signs, stickers and blaring PA systems.

Inside the court’s cool marble walls, the tension over abortion access — specifically whether Idaho can enforce ...Read more

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Bill would allow Arizona abortion providers to practice in California ahead of possible surge in patients

Politics / Political News /

SACRAMENTO — Arizona abortion providers could practice in California under a new law designed to provide care to women who cross the state line as they face newly restrictive prohibitions at home.

The bill introduced on Wednesday aims to expedite temporary authorization for those Arizona doctors to practice in both states and is the latest ...Read more

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States move to label deepfake political ads

Politics / Political News /

WASHINGTON — After 20,000 or more New Hampshire voters received a call with the artificial-intelligence-doctored voice of President Joe Biden asking them to skip the state’s primary in January, state officials were in a quandary.

Attorney General John M. Formella launched an investigation alongside others into the robocall that urged ...Read more

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Supreme Court sounds wary of Idaho's ban on emergency abortions for women whose health is in danger

Politics / Political News /

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices voiced doubt Wednesday about a strict Idaho law that would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion even for a woman who arrives at a hospital suffering from a serious, but not life-threatening, medical emergency.

Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth B. Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, ...Read more

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Case highlights debate over 'life of the mother' exception

Politics / Political News /

WASHINGTON — Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion — the subject of a case pending before the Supreme Court — has become part of a complicated debate on what constitutes a medical emergency urgent enough to necessitate an abortion in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

In arguments before the high court Wednesday, the federal ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Trump blamed Biden for undocumented criminal Danilo Cavalcante. But he entered the US on Trump's watch

Politics / Political News /

PHILADELPHIA — At a Schnecksville, Pa., rally earlier this month, former President Donald Trump denounced the Biden administration for allowing a violent, undocumented immigrant into the United States who would go on to kill a Schuylkill Township woman.

But that man — Danilo Cavalcante, the convicted murderer who escaped a Chester County ...Read more

When the Supreme Court said it’s important to move quickly in key presidential cases like Trump’s immunity claim

Politics / Political News /

When former President Donald Trump’s attorneys argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 25, 2024, they will claim he is immune from criminal prosecution for official actions taken during his time in the Oval Office. The claim arises from his federal charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, but also may ...Read more

Senate approves nearly $61B of Ukraine foreign aid − here’s why it helps the US to keep funding Ukraine

Politics / Political News /

The Senate overwhelmingly approved a US$95.3 billion foreign aid funding package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on April 23, 2024, following months of political infighting that stalled the bill in the House of Representatives. About $61 billion of this aid package will be spent on Ukraine, while $26 billion will go to Israel. Another $8 ...Read more

US Supreme Court hears arguments on Idaho abortion law this week. How did we get here?

Politics / Political News /

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments from the state and the U.S. Department of Justice that will determine their decision on the fate of emergency abortion access in Idaho.

Since Idaho’s strict abortion laws went into effect following the court’s repeal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, they have faced numerous legal ...Read more

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Editorial: SCOTUS smacks down California in property rights case

Politics / Political News /

Property rights are an inalienable right and a fundamental part of this nation’s political tradition. Yet they face ongoing attacks from government busybodies.

This month, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that legislative governments can’t impose excessive fees on property owners looking to build on their own land. The ruling in Sheetz v. ...Read more

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Editorial: The Supreme Court cannot allow homelessness to be a crime

Politics / Political News /

If you are homeless and have nowhere to go — neither a temporary shelter bed nor a permanent home — can you be fined or, worse, jailed for sleeping on a sidewalk? Or is that cruel and unusual punishment?

That’s the question that the Supreme Court wrestled with Monday when it heard oral arguments in the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson ...Read more

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Commentary: Our campaigns need poetry, figuratively and literally

Politics / Political News /

April is a good month to be thinking about poetry because it is National Poetry Month in the United States.

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo famously said, "You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose." This brilliant formulation may be how things should be. It may be how things used to be.

Today, campaigns are soaked in lies and negativity. ...Read more

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US Rep. Scott Perry will face TV anchor Janelle Stelson in November after Democratic primary win in 10th District of Pennsylvania

Politics / Political News /

PHILADELPHIA — Janelle Stelson, a former WGAL television news anchor, won the Democratic primary to face U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the fall in a central Pennsylvania congressional race that’ll be closely watched.

Stelson, 63, previously asked Perry, a six-term Republican incumbent, questions as a nonpartisan journalist. Now, she’ll answer ...Read more

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Incumbent US Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick defeats Mark Houck in GOP primary for Pennsylvania's 1st District

Politics / Political News /

PHILADELPHIA — Incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican, staved off a challenge from the right to win his party’s nomination to retain his suburban district.

Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who has represented Bucks County in the U.S. House since 2017, beat anti-abortion activist Mark Houck on Tuesday in the GOP primary ...Read more

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US Rep. Dwight Evans is cruising to a fifth term after defeating Tracey Gordon in Pa.'s 3rd District

Politics / Political News /

PHILADELPHIA — Democratic U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans has likely secured a fifth term in Congress, fending off a Democratic challenger Tuesday.

Evans overwhelmingly defeated former Philadelphia Register of Wills Tracey Gordon Tuesday in the 3rd Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race for Evans at 8:14 p.m. Eastern time. No ...Read more

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Trump faces potential punishment for violating gag order in hush money trial

Politics / Political News /

NEW YORK — During a devastating day for Donald Trump at his Manhattan hush money trial, a jury heard damning testimony from his decades-long ally David Pecker about a wide-ranging plan to hoist him out of obscurity and into the White House — and the presiding judge said his lead lawyer was “losing all credibility with the court.”

Before...Read more

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US Rep. Summer Lee wins Democratic primary against challenger Bhavini Patel

Politics / Political News /

PITTSBURGH — U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a progressive Democrat, staved off a moderate challenger to retain her Pittsburgh-area seat Tuesday.

Lee defeated Bhavini Patel, overcoming criticism that she was too far to the left for the 12th District and too critical of President Joe Biden. The Associated Press called the race for Lee at 9:21 p.m. ...Read more

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

16 ballots being challenged in California's San Mateo County -- some of which went uncounted due to a 'simple oversight'

Politics / Political News /

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In another twist that could shake up the results of the recount in California's Congressional District 16 race even more, 16 ballots are being challenged in San Mateo County that were excluded from the original tally due to what has been described as a “simple oversight.”

The recount of the 182,135 votes cast in the ...Read more

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Flag fracas: Republicans 'infuriated' by show of support for Ukraine

Politics / Political News /

WASHINGTON — Republicans were split roughly down the middle on Saturday’s vote to provide Ukraine with $60.8 billion in aid, but in the aftermath, Speaker Mike Johnson tried to project unity on at least one aspect of the ordeal.

“I just want to say simply what I think most people around the country understand and agree,” Johnson said ...Read more