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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-n.Y.) is reintroducing her bill to provide civil recourse for survivors of nonconsensual sexually-explicit deepfakes.

Ocasio-Cortez is co-leading the bicameral bill with Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-s.C.). The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (Defiance) Act was originally introduced last year and unanimously passed the Senate but did not make it to a vote at the House of Representatives. The bipartisan legislation currently has nine co-sponsors and will be reintroduced today in both the Senate and House.

Opposition to CBS News parent Paramount potentially opting to settle a $20 billion lawsuit from President Donald Trump is growing, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) warning the network that doing so will embolden the government to continue targeting the press.

In the letter sent to controlling shareholder Shari Redstone on Tuesday, Sanders nods to chatter that Paramount may reach a deal to resolve the case for up to $75 million.

“Rewarding Trump with tens of millions of dollars for filing this bogus lawsuit will not cause him to back down on his war against the media and a free press,” the senator writes. “It will only embolden him to shakedown, extort and silence CBS and other media outlets that have the courage to report about issues that Trump may not like.”

Last week, lawyers for both sides sat down to discuss a possible settlement. For Paramount, incentives to dispose of the case are high.

Nine Democratic senators sent an open letter to Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, urging her company to not settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump — which seeks $20 billion in damages — over what he claims was a deceptively edited interview aired by CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

“This lawsuit is an attack on the United States Constitution and the First Amendment. It has absolutely no merit and it cannot stand,” the senators wrote in the letter, dated May 7. “In the United States of America, presidents do not get to punish or censor the media for criticizing them. Freedom of the press is what sets us apart from tin-pot dictatorships and authoritarian regimes.”

The letter, addressed to Redstone and posted publicly, was signed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-r.I.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois announced on Wednesday he will not be seeking reelection next year. Durbin, who is 80, has spent more than half of his life serving first in the House and then the Senate, where he was elevated to Democratic Whip, party leadership’s second-highest role. “I truly love the job of being a United States senator, but in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch,” Durbin said in a video message.

Meredith Shiner, a communications professional, was in a Zoom training for...

An adviser to interim U.S. Attorney in Washington Ed Martin had a message for a Democratic strategist over a recent MSNBC appearance: “Careful son. Choose your words wisely.”

The message on X from Michael R. Caputo was to Andrew Bates, the former Biden White House deputy press secretary who now has his own political strategy firm.

During the MSNBC segment, Bates criticized Martin for firing FBI agents and prosecutors “because they investigated January 6th criminals.” He also attacked Martin as someone “who presented an award to a neo-Nazi who stormed the Capitol, and said he was an extraordinary leader.”

Careful, son. Choose your words wisely.

— Michael R. Caputo (@MichaelRCaputo) April 16, 2025

In an email response to Deadline about what he meant by his warning to Bates, Caputo sent a Webster’s Dictionary link to the word “defamation.” Caputo later repeated his warning to a post from another Democratic strategist, Chris D.

Lithuanian President President Gitanas Nausėda, government dignitaries, religious leaders, military personnel, and thousands of spectators gathered on Thursday to send the remains of four American soldiers killed during a training exercise back to the U.S. for burial. They are arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Friday, and while their bodies will be received by several senators and members of the military, the commander in chief couldn’t be bothered to make the trip. He had a gold tournament to attend.

Instead of receiving the remains of the soldiers under his command,...

Senate Republicans have confirmed Kash Patel — a Maga conspiracy theorist sympathetic to QAnon who has signaled a thirst for retribution against Donald Trump’s political enemies — as the new FBI Director.

Patel was confirmed in a 51-49 vote Thursday afternoon, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joining every Senate Democrat in voting against his confirmation. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — who was the only Republican senator to vote against Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy and who joined Collins and Murkowski in voting against Pete Hegseth — voted to confirm Patel.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, sat down before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to field questions from senators who may be skeptical that the far-right firebrand is qualified to lead the law enforcement agency he has frequently maligned.

Among the pool of die-hard Maga loyalists from which Trump is forming his Cabinet, Patel is a standout sycophant. The president has been attempting to elevate Patel into a high-level government position since his first administration — even over the objections of career Republican officials who warned...

Donald Trump has repeatedly bashed Bill Barr since the former attorney general refused to buy into the lie that the 2020 election was rigged. He won’t have that problem with Pam Bondi, should the Senate confirm her as the new leader of the Justice Department.

In the aftermath of Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020, Bondi tried to advance the former president’s baseless claims of election fraud, and falsely claimed that Trump “won Pennsylvania.”

When asked during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday whether she was prepared to say Trump lost the 2020 election,...

During Donald Trump’s first term as president, the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., was a symbol of how his family actively cashed in on power and influence — before they unloaded leasing rights on the hotel for $375 million in 2022.

The president-elect’s family weren’t the only people in his orbit who profited from the hotel deal. It turns out Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, consulted for the firm that bought the leasing rights.

The firm, CGI Merchant Group, ended up defaulting on its $285 million...

Congress is once again locked in a battle to prevent the government from entering a partial shutdown over a lack of funding — and some lawmakers are trying to sneak in a last minute Christmas bonus.

For more than a decade, funding bills passed by Congress have included language preventing members of Congress, whose current annual base salary is $174,000, from receiving yearly cost of living adjustment (Cola) wage increases. That language has been conspicuously stricken from the proposed continuing resolution (Cr) currently before Congress.

The last minute omission has become a...

A lawyer representing a woman accusing former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) of having sex with her when she was a minor is pressing the House Ethics Committee to release a report on their investigation into the allegations despite Gaetz’s resignation from Congress.

On Wednesday, Gaetz tendered his resignation after President-elect Donald Trump tapped the Florida congressman to serve as his attorney general. The resignation came days before the Ethics Committee was scheduled to vote on the release of an investigative report into allegations that he had engaged in sexual misconduct,...

For months now, Leonard Leo — a conservative legal activist with a billion-dollar slush fund and an influential hand in the workings of the Supreme Court — has been refusing to comply with a Senate subpoena regarding his financial relationship with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Senate Democrats sent the subpoena six months ago, but they haven’t moved to enforce it. Doing so would require 60 votes under the Senate’s filibuster rules, and Republicans have no intent of helping Democrats scrutinize the activities of one of their most important allies.

After a summer of scrutiny of the ethical practices of Supreme Court justices and their spouses, Ginni Thomas is once again proving the need for reform within the court.

Thomas — the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas — has lavished praise on a legal group opposing the Biden administration’s efforts to introduce a binding code of ethics to the Supreme Court.

ProPublica reported on Wednesday that Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, read an email from Thomas during a July 31 phone call with major donors to the conservative political group.

The 2024 Democratic National Convention kicks off Monday, with President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set to deliver speeches in primetime.

“Our convention is an opportunity to bring the story of our party to the American people — not just the story of what we’ve achieved under the Biden-Harris administration, but how the Harris-Walz ticket is planning to build on that historic record for a new way forward into the future,” Convention Chair Minyon Moore said in a statement. “The story here is simple and it’s one that will resonate with...

The 2024 Democratic National Convention starts tonight (August 19) live from Chicago, Ill.

There are several confirmed speakers set to take the stage this evening. During the event, leading Democratic minds will be rallying for Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz‘s 2024 Presidential campaign.

Keep reading to find out more…

We’ve compiled a list of every speaker for Monday evening’s event, which will take place starting at 8pm Et. The convention will be broadcast on a number of networks, so you’ll be able to tune in live on TV. Live streams will also be available.

August 19 Democratic National Convention Speakers:

President Joe Biden

First Lady Jill Biden

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-ny)

Sen. Chris Coons (D-de), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-il)

Uaw President Shawn Fain

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-tx)

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-md)

Rep. Grace Meng (D-ny)

Sen.

The highlight of tonight’s Democratic National Convention will be a speech by President Joe Biden in what is expected to be an emotional moment following his decision to step aside.

First Lady Jill Biden also is expected to make remarks, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also is in the lineup.

Others who will speak include Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-ny), Sen. Chris Coons (D-de), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-il), Uaw President Shawn Fain, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-tx), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-md), Rep. Grace Meng (D-ny), Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-ga) and Gov. Andy Beshear (D-ky). There also will be a focus on those who have been impacted by the state abortion bans.

Related: Democratic National Convention To Again Feature Celebrity Hosts

The theme of the night is “For the People.”

Biden’s speech is not a farewell, but will, like his campaign, highlight his accomplishments.

In his first major policy announcement since dropping out of the 2024 race, President Joe Biden has endorsed sweeping reforms to the Supreme Court.

On Monday, the White House issued a fact sheet noting that “recent ethics scandals involving some justices have caused the public to question the fairness and independence that are essential for the Court to faithfully carry out its mission to deliver justice for all Americans.”

Biden further endorsed the implementation of term limits for Supreme Court justices, as well as the creation of a binding code of...

Billionaire Elon Musk shared a deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris manipulated to make it sound like she spoke about President Joe Biden’s “senility” and that she does not “know the first thing about running the country.”

“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility,” the altered audio says in the video Musk posted to his account on X, formerly Twitter. The audio, which sounds like Harris but is digitally manipulated, goes on to say Harris was chosen “because I...

The Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to provide recourse to victims of porn deepfakes — or sexually-explicit, non-consensual images created with artificial intelligence.

The legislation, called the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (Defiance) Act — passed in Congress’ upper chamber on Tuesday. The legislation has been led by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-s.C.), as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-n.Y.) in the House.

The legislation would amend the Violence Against Women Act (Vawa) to allow people to sue those who produce, distribute, or receive the deepfake pornography,...

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who was found hiding over $100,000 in gold bars during a federal raid at his home, has told his pals he will resign from his seat after being convicted of bribery earlier this week, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Menendez, who is the first sitting member of Congress convicted of acting as a foreign agent, faces 36 years behind bars.

Facing calls to resign for the better part of a year, Menendez finally relinquished on Wednesday, a day after he was found guilty on federal corruption charges. New Jersey Gov.

The Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose three more private jet trips gifted to him by billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow. This discovery adds to the growing scrutiny that surrounds the personal and financial ties of the nation’s top judicial figures.

According to the committee’s document, Thomas neglected to report a gifted flight to Kalispell, Montana, in 2017, another to Savannah, Georgia, his hometown, in 2019, and one to San Jose, California, in 2021. The purposes of these extremely brief trips, which sometimes lasted no longer than a day, remain unclear.

The code of ethics for Supreme Court justices encourages them to disclose free transportation, lodging, meals and other gifts on their annual financial disclosure forms. However, this code is non-binding and lacks an enforceable mechanism to ensure compliance.

This development arrives amid a turbulent year for the Supreme Court, as the justices face heightened...

Add three more private jet rides to the tally of gifts Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted from right-wing billionaires. A Senate investigation into Thomas’ relationship with conservative megadonor Harlan Crow revealed three additional, unreported trips by the justice on Crow’s personal jet.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee obtained information on the flights through a written response from Thomas’ attorney, who disclosed that the justice had taken flights on Crow’s plane to Glacier National Park in Montana, Washington D.C., and Georgia.

Thomas’ relationship with Crow,...

The Supreme Court is, person for person, the most powerful ruling body in the United States. Nine jurists, appointed for life, get to determine the everyday rights of Americans. These jurists can be conservative or liberal, but they’re supposed to rule according to the Constitution, not their political beliefs.

Whether this is what’s happening has come into question, most recently through reporting about Justice Samuel Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann, who were revealed to have flown two flags associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement outside their residences.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has refused to meet with lawmakers regarding their concerns over Justice Samuel Alito’s ability to impartially judge Jan. 6 cases.

In a short letter responding to Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), majority whip and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-r.I.), chair of the Judiciary subcommittee on federal courts, Roberts wrote that he would “respectfully decline your request for a meeting.”

“As noted in my letter to Chairman Durbin last April, apart from ceremonial events, only on rare occasions in our...

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has finally responded to concerns about his ability to remain impartial in cases related to efforts to subvert the 2020 election. His answer is a firm refusal to recuse himself.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Alito has flown at least two flags associated with the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement, which falsely holds that widespread election fraud had robbed former President Donald Trump of a second term.

“As I have stated publicly, I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag,...

After reports that an upside-down American flag had flown outside the Virginia residence of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito during the period surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, the conservative justice blamed the flag’s placement on his wife, Martha-Ann — claiming her actions were a result of a clash over a neighbor’s anti-Trump yard sign and a verbal insult.

Now, the Alitos’ neighbors — Emily Baden and her then-boyfriend, now husband — are disputing the Alitos’ version of events, according to the The New York Times, which reviewed text messages and a police call to corroborate the claims.

Two top Democratic senators have sent a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts requesting to meet with him “as soon as possible” and urging him to “immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that Justice Alito will recuse himself in any cases related to the 2020 presidential election and January 6th attack on the Capitol.”

The letter — sent by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), majority whip and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-r.I.), chair of the Judiciary subcommittee on federal courts — was prompted by recent reports...

Multiple Senators have joined the chorus of Democrats in Congress calling on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from cases relating to the 2020 election and Jan. 6 after a second flag associated with the insurrection was reported at his New Jersey residence.

Most prominently, Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) called for Alito’s recusal and the adoption of a code of ethics for justices amid the fallout from the Supreme Court’s ongoing controversies.

“This incident is yet another example of apparent ethical misconduct by a sitting justice,...

After The New York Times reported that the American flag outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home was flown upside down in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham criticized the conservative judge for failing to “think it through.”

“Emotions are apparently high in that neighborhood but no, it’s not good judgment to do that,” Graham told HuffPost on Monday. “I don’t know what role ― he said his wife was insulted and got mad ― I assume that be true, but he’s still a Supreme Court justice.

The crisis of confidence and partisan influence over the Supreme Court isn’t going away any time soon.

According to a Thursday report from The New York Times, in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, neighbors of the Supreme Court judge noticed that the American flag outside of his home was being flown upside down — at the time a popular symbol of solidarity among supporters of former President Donald Trump who believed the 2020 election had been stolen.

One photo obtained by the Times showed that the upside down flag...

Conservative activist Leonard Leo was hit with a subpoena from Senate Democrats on Thursday as part of a probe into Supreme Court ethics and whether individuals or groups used luxury gifts to access justices.

The subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee arrives months after it was authorized, CNN reported. “Mr. Leo has played a central role in the ethics crisis plaguing the Supreme Court and, unlike the other recipients of information requests in this matter, he has done nothing but stonewall the committee,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee’s chairman,...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-n.Y.) has been the subject of AI deepfake imagery for years, and she’s ready to fight against non-consensual, sexually-explicit, AI-generated imagery.

Ocasio-Cortez reveals to Rolling Stone that she will be leading the House companion of the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (Defiance) Act of 2024 with a bipartisan group of representatives. The bill is her first move since being named to the House of Representatives’ bipartisan task force on AI, which was announced last month.

The legislation amends the Violence Against Women Act (Vawa...

Four survivor-led advocacy organizations — including those founded by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson and California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife and filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom — published a letter and report on Wednesday calling for the music business to take further action regarding sexual misconduct across the industry.

The report, titled “Sound Off: The Make Music Safe Report” compiled decades of previously disclosed allegations against over two dozen prominent artists and industry executives such as Sean “Diddy” Combs, Axl Rose, Anti-Flag’s Justin Geever, composer Danny Elfman, former Def Jam head Russell Simmons,...

A Congressional hearing featuring five notable tech CEOs proved to be as combative as advertised. Meta‘s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok‘s Shou Zi Chew, X‘s Linda Yaccarino, Snapchat‘s Evan Spiegel, and Discord‘s Jason Citron defended their companies’ safeguards for underage users during a four-hour Capitol Hill gathering on January 31.

The Senate Judiciary Committee summoned the five CEOs to speak about child safety on social media. That subject is one of the pillars of the Biden Administration’s tech policy platform; the U.S. President stressed the need to protect minors online during his first State of the Union address.

When the latest Big Tech hearing was first announced, Judiciary Committee leaders Dick Durbin (D-il) and Lindsay Graham (R-sc) cited security and safety lapses that have affected minors online. Those topics came up again at the hearing, which was attended by parents whose children have been negatively affected by social media.

Parents of deceased and exploited children heckled Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday during a Senate hearing on the role tech companies play in online child sexual exploitation.

Parents holding photos of their deceased children, many of whom died by suicide, audibly hissed at Zuckerberg as he entered the chamber. According to NBC News, some of the family members who attended the hearing hold Meta’s subsidiary, Instagram, responsible for facilitating the abuse and suicide of their children.

As the CEO gave his opening statement to lawmakers, he acknowledged the families’ presence in the room.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, X CEO Linda Yaccarino and other tech industry leaders faced a grilling from lawmakers today as they appeared for a landmark Senate hearing on the online exploitation of children.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-il) blamed the tech platforms at the outset for allowing the exploitation to proliferate, while dismissing the latest efforts the companies have taken to boost safety.

“They are responsible for many of the dangers our children face online,” Durbin said, calling it a “crisis in America.”

“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product that is killing people,” said the top Republican on the committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Sc), told Zuckerberg, as he sat at the witness table.

He called for the repeal of Section 230, the provision of a...

When notorious pedophile and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein died in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors, he left conspiracy theorists with a tangled web of lurid mysteries that would keep them busy for years to come. Suspicions that Epstein hadn’t really hanged himself soon gave way to claims of a vast coverup — the man supposedly murdered to prevent him from revealing the worst secrets of the global elite.

Now, four years later, far-right politicians and commentators are again fixated on Epstein’s personal connections,...

Political junkies and online video observers should circle January 31, 2024 on their calendars. That’s when the CEOs of five major tech companies — Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord — will visit the U.S. Capitol to answer questions related to child safety on social media.

The hearing will be hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will grill the assembled execs about their “failure to protect children online.” That’s how Judiciary Committee leaders Dick Durbin (D-il) and Lindsay Graham (R-Sc) described Big Tech’s security and safety lapses in a press release announcing the hearing.

This will not be the first time that tech execs have faced off against a hostile Congressional committee. Representatives from YouTube and TikTok address concerns about data privacy during a contentious 2022 hearing. A few months later, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew took his turn in the Senatorial spotlight as he looked to fend off...

On Dec. 6, CEOs from some of the biggest social media platforms will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where they are set to face tough questions about what their platforms are doing to keep children safe from sexual exploitation and abuse.

Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham on Monday announced the bipartisan subpoenas of three executives who have reportedly been less than communicative with Congress about the issue of child sexual exploitation on their apps: Linda Yaccarino, head of X (formerly Twitter), Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, and Discord‘s Jason Citron.

The Supreme Court has adopted its first-ever code of ethics, the justices announced Monday. The move comes in the wake of increased scrutiny into Justice Clarence Thomas’ close relationship with Nazi-obsessed billionaire and GOP donor Harlan Crow, including gifts and trips funded by Crow that Thomas failed to disclose.

The court has faced public pressure to implement a code of ethics after news about Thomas’ ethically dubious relationship broke, followed by reports of other justices failing to disclose certain benefits.

In a 14-page document, the court outlined the code, which...

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is facing a rapidly growing number of calls from his Democratic colleagues to resign from office following a damning indictment on charges of corruption and bribery.

On Wednesday, Menendez pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment in Manhattan court.

The indictment, which was made public on Friday, was initially met with widespread silence from Senate Democrats, save for Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, who on Saturday called for Menendez’s resignation. “Senator Menendez should resign,” he wrote. “He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence,...

Megyn Kelly interviewed former President Donald Trump on her SiriusXM show on Thursday, a sitdown in in which she challenged him a bit on one of his criminal cases and some other issues. But as would be expected, she largely kept the 60 or so minutes as friendly territory for the former Celebrity Apprentice host.

At one point, the topic turned to Kelly’s question in the first Republican presidential debate in 2015, in which Kelly, then co-moderating for Fox News, asked him, “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”

“Only Rosie O’Donnell,” Trump answered.

“For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell,” Kelly said, adding, “Does that sound like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?”

In Kelly’s SiriusXM interview, Trump said, “Frankly, if I didn’t come up with the answer only Rosie O’Donnell, I...

Add Samuel Alito to the list of conservative Supreme Court justices with questionable (at best) ethics, according to a new report from ProPublica.

In 2008, two years after he joined the nation’s highest court, Alito went on a pricey Alaskan fishing trip with a Republican billionaire named Paul Singer. Singer even flew Alito out on his private jet. Alito didn’t report the trip, nor did he recuse himself when Singer’s hedge fund had a case come before the court.

ProPublica sent Alito a series of questions about the trip.

Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni raised Thomas’ grandnephew, Mark Martin, “as a son,” as the Supreme Court justice once put it. They sent him to a private boarding school in 2008 and, wouldn’t you know it, conservative billionaire Harlan Crow footed the bill, ProPublica reported on Thursday.

“Harlan picked up the tab,” Christopher Grimwood, a former administrator at Hidden Lake Academy, told the outlet, noting that the GOP megadonor and Nazi aficionado paid the $6,000-per-month tuition for Martin’s entire stay at the school. Grimwood also said that Crow...

Clarence Thomas is not alone. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has also benefitted financially from parties with an interest in the high court’s business while neglecting to disclose the relationship, growing concerns over corruption within the institution.

Politico reported on Tuesday that Gorsuch had been trying to sell a piece of land in Colorado for nearly two years before Brian Duffy — the CEO of Greenberg Traurig, a law firm whose cases often find their way before the Supreme Court — bought it on April 16, 2017.

The exact date is significant. It...

Clarence Thomas doesn’t seem to realize why a Supreme Court justice regularly accepting lavish gifts from a GOP megadonor, and then failing to report those gifts, is such a big deal.

“Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them,” the conservative justice said in a statement responding to a damning ProPublica report detailing how billionaire Harlan...

A long-in-the-works bill to allow news publishers and broadcast stations to jointly negotiate with tech giants for their content was left out of a massive defense spending bill, diminishing its prospects for passage by the end of this Congress.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would create a “safe harbor” from antitrust laws for a period of eight years for newspapers, broadcast stations and digital journalism outlets. The legislation has been proposed multiple times in recent years, but so far has failed to move forward. It is intended to boost local news outlets, which have withered in the face of online competition.

But the tech industry has amped up its opposition against the legislation. As efforts were underway to include the bill in a massive defense spending bill this week, Facebook on Monday released a statement in which it said that it would be “forced to consider removing news from...

Update: The Senate passed a bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage rights at the federal level, drawing bipartisan support for legislation likely to clear Congress and be signed by President Joe Biden.

The Supreme Court advanced marriage equality in several landmark decisions over the past 55 years, but the court’s decision in June to reverse Roe vs. Wade has raised fears that other precedents may also be in jeopardy.

“The first people I will call when this bill passes is my daughter and her wife,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor of the Senate before the final vote. After members clapped when the final roll call was announced, Schumer said, “What a great day.”

The bill, the Respect for Marriage Act, cleared the Senate 61-36, with Democrats joined by 12 Republicans in support. The GOP members included Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia,...

Democrat officials are urging YouTube to scrub incel content from its platform.

Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with nine other Democrat co-signers, sent an open letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai Oct. 25 calling YouTube an “easily-accessible [pathway] into the larger ‘incelosphere.'”

The letter cited a recent report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (Ccdh), which examined 1,183,812 posts made by users on “the world’s leading public incel websites and pages, as well as content on YouTube.” The YouTube content had collectively amassed more than 24 million views, per the report.

For those unfamiliar, incels—aka “involuntary celibates”–are men who believe women are sex dispensers, and that being denied sex is the source of all their problems.

As the letter states, incel ideology has been linked to the maiming or murder of over 100 people, mostly women, over the last decade.