Welcome to today’s episode. We’ve got a series of impactful stories to cover, from legal battles to public health concerns. Let’s dive right in.
‘Hush Money’ Trial Judge Warns Trump He Will Lose Jury Access
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan issued an order on April 1 to former President Donald Trump, expanding an existing gag order.He warned that President Trump risks losing access to the names of jurors in his forthcoming trial if President Trump continues speaking about the case in a way that the judge considers a “risk.”
The judge previously granted a gag order on March 26, as requested by prosecutors, which excluded the district attorney and judge.
Federal courts have found it unconstitutional to prohibit defendants from speaking about the court or the presiding judge.
The Manhattan District Attorney is prosecuting President Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records, alleging a scheme to influence the 2016 elections with payments made to kill unfavorable news stories. Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, claimed that he made payments to bury allegations of an affair brought forth by an adult performer, leading to an investigation.
After President Trump criticized the judge and his daughter on social media last week, the judge expanded the gag order to now include family members of the judge and the district attorney.
Prosecutors had previously requested to shield the names of jurors specifically from President Trump, which the judge held off ruling in his previous order. The judge wrote in his latest order that President Trump’s speech puts trial participants, including jurors, at risk. He said that this “will undoubtedly interfere” with trial proceedings.
The defense argued that President Trump’s political speech was necessary in this political environment, and have made several attempts to have the judge recuse himself from the case. But Justice Merchan has already declined to step down once before.
The trial is set to begin on April 15. President Trump has already attended civil trials against him in New York, drawing large crowds of spectators and press. Defense attorneys have made multiple attempts to delay the trial, including a push to have the judge recuse himself, which was denied.
Judge Dismisses DeSantis From Lawsuit Over Illegal Immigrant Flights to Martha’s Vineyard
U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs has ruled to exclude Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from a lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants who were transported to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on chartered flights in 2022.In her ruling, Judge Burroughs explained that the lawsuit failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish jurisdiction over Mr. DeSantis and other staff members.
Nevertheless, the judge decided to let the lawsuit proceed against Vertol, the Florida-based company that was paid $1.5 million to fly the illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
The court discovered that Vertol, along with other defendants, deliberately targeted these illegal immigrants “because they were Latinx immigrants.” Judge Burroughs said that Vertol and the other defendants “were not legitimately enforcing any immigration laws” but rather a tactic to exploit these “vulnerable individuals” for political purposes.
She said in a 77-page ruling: “the Court sees no legitimate purpose for rounding up highly vulnerable individuals on false pretenses and publicly injecting them into a divisive national debate.”
Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston filed a federal civil rights class action lawsuit against Mr. DeSantis, Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, and the State of Florida. They represented a group of affected illegal immigrants, including those in Martha’s Vineyard.
Lawyers for Civil Rights has hailed the ruling as “a major victory,” and said that they would continue pursuing their claims in federal court against all defendants involved in this case.
ICE to Deport Illegal Immigrants Involved in Border Wall Riot
Customs officials are working to deport 215 illegal immigrants charged with various offenses, including breaking through a razor wire barrier in El Paso County and stampeding through a group of outnumbered Texas National Guard troops in the process.Dramatic video shared widely on social media showed that on March 21 hundreds of illegal immigrants tore down the razor wire and rushed troops posted at a nearby border fence, pushing past the outnumbered uniformed personnel.
The illegal immigrants were later arrested by the Texas Department of Public Security and processed at the El Paso County court. Dozens of Venezuelan nationals were later charged with riot participation following the incident.
To date, ICE has taken 64 of these individuals into custody and they are being processed for deportation. Notably, four of those involved in the stampede were apprehended after initially being released on their own recognizance.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the ICE removal operations.
“Send them back,” he said in a post on X.
Following the March 21 border riot, an increased security presence was deployed to El Paso, including the Texas National Guard and local law enforcement, to fortify border security measures. Over 700 additional soldiers, including 200 Soldiers of the Texas Tactical Border Force, have have deployed to El Paso. These reinforcements are tasked with installing new wire fencing and other barriers to prevent future illegal crossings.
Mr. Abbott, who has voiced strong criticism of the Biden administration’s border policies, blasted the “disastrous impact President Joe Biden’s border crisis has had on the state of Texas and Congress’ lack of action to pass crucial border security legislation.”
It is estimated that around 10 million have illegally entered the United States during President Biden’s tenure, underscoring the complexity and scale of the issue.
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) visited Texas to meet with Mr. Abbott and the pair discussed issues related to border security.
Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Targeting Vaccines in Food
The Tennessee Legislature has approved a bill, HB 1894, mandating that foods infused containing vaccines or vaccine materials must be marked as pharmaceutical drugs. This bill has cleared both the Senate and House and now awaits the governor’s signature. It seeks to alleviate concerns over the potential use of vaccines in store-sold produce.According to this legislation, such food items will be considered drugs under Tennessee law and will require appropriate medical labels. Although not banned, these foods will have to display labels similar to those on vaccines and drugs.
This legislative move was sparked by research from the University of California–Riverside. The project explored the possibility of embedding vaccines into edible plants, such as spinach and lettuce, using mRNA technology funded by the National Science Foundation.
The necessity of this bill was debated in the state Senate, with some lawmakers skeptical about the introduction of vaccines into food retail. Nonetheless, the bill’s advocate highlighted experiments by a Kentucky firm on tobacco plants with a genetically modified virus.
Concerns over federally funded projects to create edible vaccines were voiced last year by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). He pointed out instances of such vaccines contaminating food crops, underlining the risks of altering food products this way.
With a majority of Tennessee Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposing, the bill’s passage sets Tennessee on the path to becoming the first state to categorize vaccine-containing foods as pharmaceuticals.
Wrapping up with Tennessee’s legislation on vaccine-labeled foods, we’re curious about your thoughts. Would you be open to trying these foods? Please share your comments with us.
Major Egg Producer Bound to Kill Nearly 2 Million Chickens
Cal-Maine Foods, a large egg producer in the south, says it has detected bird flu in its birds and plans to cull nearly 2 million hens and pullets.The company said on April 2 that it would remove 1.6 million laying hens and 33,700 pullets—about 3.6 percent of their flocks. Their decision came after some of the birds at a facility in Parmer County, Texas, tested positive for H1N5, a strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Under federal rules aimed at stemming the spread of disease, infected flocks must be killed.
This is the biggest bird culling since December 2023, when an Ohio farm had to kill 2.6 million birds. Cal-Maine Foods has halted production at the Texas farm. The company said it’s working to get eggs and meat from other places to keep supplying their customers.
Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has been spreading in wildfowl and other birds in recent years. U.S. chicken farms have killed millions of chickens because of bird flu.
The bird flu was recently detected for the first time in cattle, and two people tested positive to the virus. One of them was reported in 2022 and recovered, while the other was reported recently and is recovering.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the strain in the cattle came from wild birds and originated in China. The agency said that the current risk to the public remains low, because the initial testing hasn’t found any changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans. The agency also said that milk is still safe to drink, as infected cows’ milk is thrown away and all milk is pasteurized before sale.
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Finally, some big money lottery news. The Powerball jackpot has soared to over $1 billion dollars, and that’s due to no winners in the last draw, extending a winless streak to three months. Given the daunting odds of about 1 in 292 million, the jackpot’s growth isn’t shocking. For those eyeing the prize, the cash option for tonight’s drawing is estimated at $527.3 million dollars. Powerball is available in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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That’s our final story for the Wednesday edition of News Brief, but before we sign off, we always take a moment to celebrate folks who are one year older, and if you’re one of those folks today, you’ll be doing the cake and ice cream thing with these notable celebrities:
Actor Marsha Mason is 82 (Starred in 1977’s Goodbye Girl with Richard Dreyfus).
Singer Wayne Newton, Mr. Las Vegas, is 82.
He’s a comedian and actor from Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy is 63.
Singer Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) is 56 (not related to Johann Sebastian Bach, but he is a better singer).
Finally this morning, if you enjoy The Epoch Times’ “News Brief,” please let us know by sending over an email. We’re at [email protected], that’s [email protected]. We always welcome your thoughts and comments.
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Thanks again for tuning in and for all of us here at the Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas. Have a spectacular day.
