JMG reader Tom points out that North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s team has wasted no time in pumping out a money beg for a “strategic defense fund.”  The above tweet links to McCrory’s reelection donation page, which now bears this message: “Fight back against the federal government’s overreach and bullying tactics.” We’re guessing that by “strategic defense fund” McCrory actually …

The Human Rights Campaign recaps what just happened: Today, HRC and Equality NC responded to an announcement by Attorney General Loretta Lynch that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, the state’s Department of Public Safety, and the University of North Carolina and Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina. …

Posted this afternoon to the YouTube channel of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper: Since Governor McCrory signed House Bill 2 into law just weeks ago, there has been a real and devastating impact on North Carolina’s economy and reputation. Already we have lost thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in economic activity. And now the governor …

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch is due to announce “law enforcement action” against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law at 3:30PM. Embedded below is the Department Of Justice’s live stream. Grab your popcorn and watch with us. UPDATE: WOW, what a great speech. I’ve posted her remarks below.

Arkansas Online reports: A Mineral Springs man accused of mailing threatening letters in January 2015 to seven Arkansas mayors is going back to jail on a federal judge’s order. Maverick Dean Bryan, 55, was released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven after a detention hearing March 28 in Texarkana’s downtown federal building. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Harris was so opposed …

Right Wing Watch has the quote: “The fact is we know sexual assaults occur,” he said, “they are going to occur with or without these laws, there’s no question about that. People commit sexual assaults, they commit them in buildings, they commit them in restrooms; but what you have now done, knowing that sexual assaults occur, knowing that they occur …

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is speaking to the press about the anti-trans lawsuit he filed this morning against the federal government. UPDATE: The live stream has concluded. Below is a recording of the press conference.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday that if Donald Trump wants him to step down as a co-chairman of the GOP convention, he will respect his wishes. “He’s the nominee. I’ll do whatever he wants with respect to the convention,” Ryan said when asked about that scenario in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. …

Quick reaction from the feds! Via Talking Points Memo: U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is slated to announce law enforcement action related to North Carolina Monday at 3:30 p.m. E.T., according to a Justice Department statement. The press conference comes after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory announced a lawsuit against the federal government in response to a Justice Department letter …

CNN reports: North Carolina’s lawsuit, filed by McCrory and state Department of Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry, calls the Justice Department’s position a “radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.” Title VII, among other things, outlaws discrimination in federally assisted programs and authorizes Lynch to file lawsuits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities. North Carolina attacks …

Earlier today I reported that Bernie Sanders canceled his meeting with HIV/AIDS activists, despite his denouncement of Hillary Clinton’s ahistorical recounting of Nancy Reagan’s role in the early years of the pandemic. Clinton will meet with activists later this week. Yesterday activist Michael Rajner appeared on MSNBC to explain what they are hoping to hear from both candidates. Watch this.

Via press release from the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit to challenge an anti-LGBT law passed this spring that allows public officials and businesses to refuse to serve gay and transgender individuals. The lawsuit, which targets the registrar of vital records, was filed on behalf of ACLU of Mississippi members …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is going to court in a fight for a state law that limits protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. McCrory is leading a lawsuit filed Monday seeking to keep in place the law the U.S. Justice Department said last week violated the civil rights of transgender people. The Justice …

Via Mashable: The storm that tore through Wray, Colorado on Saturday left at least five people injured and left several buildings and homes damaged or destroyed. But it also provided this jaw-dropping video of an encounter with the tornado, filmed by well-known storm chaser Reed Timmer. The five minute video begins with a small funnel cloud stretching out to make …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Bernie Sanders has cancelled a meeting with HIV advocates his campaign affirmed days before the crucial New York Democratic primary he would attend, according to the activists who sought to arrange the meeting. The 30-minute meeting between Sanders and HIV advocates was set for May 13 in Indianapolis. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also …

Donald Trump called into CNN’s New Day this morning, where he immediately dodged a question about his attacks on Hillary Clinton by whining that host Chris Cuomo didn’t begin the interview by congratulating him on being the presumptive GOP nominee. From Mediaite: Cuomo started off by asking Trump about a line of rhetoric that has emerged from the campaign trail …

The Irish Times reports: Christian bakers found guilty of discrimination for refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan could not commit a sin by going against their deeply held consciences, their lawyer has told an appeal hearing. The McArthur family, who run Ashers Baking Company in Belfast, are seeking to overturn a judgment which found they acted …

Today is the federal deadline for North Carolina to repeal or rescind the anti-trans portion of its anti-LGBT hate law. This morning state Rep. Don Bishop, one of the law’s co-sponsors, appeared on CNN where he told host Chris Cuomo that HB2 is a “very common sense and reasonable law.” Bishop did allow for the possibility of “tweaking” the law, …

Yesterday Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore appeared on Face The Nation, where he denounced the Trump campaign as part of the “reality television moral sewage” seeping into American culture. That quote must have given Donald Trump a sleepless night, hence the 3AM response seen above. And yet Trump continues to claim that evangelicals love him.

Let’s see Tony Perkins spin THIS: Americans broadly oppose laws that would require transgender people to use facilities that correspond with their gender at birth rather than their gender identity, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, and three-quarters favor laws guaranteeing equal protection for transgender individuals. Overall, 57% say they oppose laws requiring transgender individuals to use facilities that do …