Articles Posted in Politics

On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, the Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, Member of the United States House of Representatives, filed a lawsuit, in his personal capacity, against Donald J. Trump and Rudy Giuliani, in their personal capacities, alleging a violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(1). The lawsuit stems from Trump and Giuliani's roles in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The complaint also names as defendants Proud Boys International, L.L.C. and Oath Keepers, two right-wing extremist groups associated with the riot.

A federal judge found that the social network had not provided adequate evidence to support its complaint of antitrust and other business violations by hosting provider Amazon Web Services.

In a second defamation suit, Dominion Voting Systems filed a complaint against lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Monday for his statements concerning Dominion’s voting machines during the 2020 election.

On Monday, January 18, 2021, Paul MacNeal Davis, a participant in the January 6th U.S. Capitol riot, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, alleging that the 117th United States Congress is illegitimate due to voting changes made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Latinos for Trump, Blacks for Trump, and five individuals. Davis was fired from his in-house counsel position after posting a video of his participation in the U.S. Capitol riot.

Followers of institutional accounts will receive a notice asking them whether they want to continue following these accounts, which will technically start at zero followers.

The website recently announced updates to its policies on deceptive videos and other content designed to meddle with the voting process.

On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered rehearing en banc in District of Columbia v. Donald J. Trump. The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, alleges violations by President Donald J. Trump of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

On Friday, August 16, 2019, Judge Brian C. Wimes of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled that Mike Campbell was deprived of his constitutional right to free speech when Missouri Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch blocked Campbell from her Twitter page after Campbell retweeted a comment criticizing Reisch's political views. Judge Wimes granted Campbell's request for declaratory and injunctive relief against Reisch under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 

In a new rule that is planned to be effective Tuesday, the Trump administration is seeking to reverse decades of asylum policy by effectively denying protections to most migrants seeking asylum at the southern border of the US. The new policy, which the American Civil Liberties Union plans to promptly challenge in court, would require asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border to prove that they have sought and been denied asylum in a so-called "safe third country" before they can apply for protection in the US. 

According to news reports, since May the federal government has filed four condemnation lawsuits against local residents in the Brownsville, Texas area for the purpose of constructing a border wall along the southern border of the US. Some residents, who have been informed that the government wants access to their property for purposes of surveying land that would be involved in border wall construction, are contesting the government's terms for use of their land.