“Trump Did This”. Has there ever been a clearer political message to sell to voters?:
Trump Tests Gag Order. ‘Dog Bites Man’:
In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, Trump called his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and the adult film actor Stormy Daniels “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!”
In an order first made in March, and then revised on April 1, Judge Juan Merchan barred Trump from making public statements about probable trial witnesses “concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.”
Gregory Germain, a professor at Syracuse University College of Law, described the latest post as a “close call” unlikely to result in Trump being held in contempt.
“I suspect he’d argue that he criticized their general character, and was not commenting on their ‘potential participation’ in the investigation or proceeding,” Germain said.
But Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University Law School, said Trump’s comment “brands the two witnesses as liars, which goes to the heart of what the order forbids.”
“That’s exactly what a gag order doesn’t want you to do before trial when a potential jury could be influenced,” he said.
Famine is likely already underway in parts of Gaza, Samantha Power, the top US humanitarian official, said publicly for the first time on Wednesday.
While testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Power, administrator of USAID and former US Ambassador to the UN, said that officials have “credible” information that famine is occurring in northern Gaza. Up until now, the UN has said famine in Gaza is “imminent.” (USAID did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Power’s comments.)
One in three kids in northern Gaza are malnourished, Power said at yesterday’s hearing, adding that officials expect rates of “severe, acute malnutrition” for kids under five to continue rising. The World Health Organization said last month that 27 children in Gaza had reportedly died of malnutrition since the start of the war last October. Experts say that those who survive could be left with life-long health complications, including stunted development.
“Food must flow, and food has not flowed in sufficient quantities to avoid this imminent famine in the south and these conditions that are giving rise already to child deaths in the north,” Power said.
I know, I know. Pretty parsimonious today. It’ll be better tomorrow. Why? ‘Cause Al’s gonna write it.
What do you want to talk about?