Reuters reports: SpaceX is building launch facilities, office buildings and even a shopping center in rural Texas, as billionaire Elon Musk’s space venture rapidly expands its rocket and satellite business across the Lone Star state. But a Reuters review of Texas property records shows that SpaceX and its contractors can be far slower to pay builders and suppliers than they …

The New York Times reports: At the end of a tense court day in his criminal trial in Manhattan, former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday sent an email to his followers with a dramatic subject line: “I stormed out of court!” The reality was far more muted. When the day ended, Mr. Trump calmly left the courtroom, as is …

Back in February, I reported that Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano had penned a coming book. From the Penguin Random House press release: Carl Siciliano met Ali Forney—a Black nonbinary teenager overflowing with life—in 1994 while working at a daytime center for homeless youth in New York City. Nineteen years old and driven from home, Forney was the heart …

The Hill reports: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Texas, fulfilling one of his campaign’s main targets ahead of November. Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, turned in 245,572 signatures to the Texas Secretary of State’s office on Monday, more than double the number required …

“Debbie Birx ought to be on trial to be hung by her bedazzled scarf. Charlatan, fraud, liar, quack, evildoer, but I repeat myself — who, of course, made sure to have Thanksgiving with her family during lockdowns while you couldn’t have it with yours. “You were 1,067 percent higher likely to die from the jab than — or suffer a …

ABC News reports: Donald Trump Jr. visited Peter Navarro in a Miami federal prison. Navarro, the former Trump White House adviser, was convicted in September of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide testimony and documents to the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump Jr. confirmed the visit to …

The Washington Post reports: Louisiana could become the first state in the country to categorize mifepristone and misoprostol — the drugs used to induce an abortion — as controlled dangerous substances, threatening incarceration and fines if an individual possesses the pills without a valid prescription or outside of professional practice. Legislators in Baton Rouge added the provision as a last-minute …

From the New York Times‘ live-blog: Jonathan Swan May 13, 2024, 12:48 p.m. ET Michael Cohen says that Trump explicitly told him they needed to do whatever they could to suppress Stormy Daniels’s story until at least after the election, because it wouldn’t matter at that point. Maggie Haberman May 13, 2024, 12:50 p.m. ET Cohen also recalls asking Trump …

The New York Times reports: Representative Ruben Gallego, running unopposed in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Arizona, placed a reservation on Monday for $19 million in television advertisements for the general election this fall, according to his campaign — the largest any Senate candidate in the country has made so far. Come fall, Mr. Gallego is likely to …

From the New Hampshire Justice Department: Attorney General John M. Formella announces that the United States District Court in Arizona has denied Avid Telecom’s multiple attempts to dismiss and delay a bipartisan, 49-state lawsuit against the company Michael D. Lansky, L.L.C., dba Avid Telecom, as well as its owner Michael D. Lansky and its vice president Stacey S. Reeves. Forty-nine …

“First of all, I’m disappointed in the courtroom. I’m hearing, ‘Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump.’ He is former President Trump. Give him some respect. I mean, that’s what that place is in there. It’s no respect. Here is what I’m seeing, too. It is depressing. That courtroom is depressing. This is New York City. The icon of our country, and we …

Axios reports: Arizona Republican Kari Lake is making her first major advertising move in her 2024 Senate campaign, Axios has learned. Lake’s campaign plans to reserve $10 million in ads for the fall, a source familiar with the plans told Axios. That spending will start with a statewide $675,000 ad buy for May, which will focus on immigration and the …

Reuters reports: Major U.S. airlines are suing the U.S. Transportation Department over a new rule requiring upfront disclosure of airline fees, the latest clash between air carriers and the Biden administration. Airlines for America, along with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Hawaiian Airlines. and Alaska Airlines filed suit against the department (USDOT) in the U.S. Fifth …

The Hill reports: Some Republican lawmakers think Trump needs to step up his appeals to disaffected GOP voters, especially women, after Nikki Haley won 128,000 votes in solidly Republican Indiana despite ending her presidential campaign in early March. “It says a lot about the need for an engagement strategy,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said of Haley winning 21 percent of …

Politico reports: Michael Cohen testified today that he enjoyed working for Donald Trump. He also testified that he sometimes lied and bullied in order to achieve what Trump wanted. Asked if he sometimes lied for Trump, Cohen said, “I did. It was what was needed to accomplish the task.” “Did you bully people?” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked. “Yes, ma’am,” Cohen …

“What this judge is getting away with is disgraceful, including the fact that we have thousands of people and 100,000 people in New Jersey. They would like to show their support. It’s like an armed camp outside. You can’t get one person within three blocks of this courthouse.” – Trump, with senators J.D. Vance and Tommy Tuberville hovering behind him …

“For over a decade, Rick Scott has made it clear that there is no plan too extreme for him to support, or favor for the wealthy corporate elite too shameful for him to do, at the expense of Florida’s working families and seniors. Whether it is ending Social Security and Medicare as we know it, slashing funding for public education, …

The Washington Post reports: Nebraska holds its primary election tomorrow. While all five Republicans in the state’s delegation — two senators and three House members – are on the ballot, the state party is endorsing none of them. It’s the latest state Republican party in which far-right activists are taking control and attempting to root out traditional or centrist Republicans …

Law & Crime reports: Rudy Giuliani, while ranting over the weekend that his WABC radio show was canceled for using the platform to repeat 2020 election conspiracy theories despite warnings from higher-ups, noticeably encouraged Dr. Maria Ryan, his ousted “Uncovering the Truth” co-host and girlfriend, to sue the station over a “hostile work environment” for women. But there’s just one …

Baltimore’s NBC affiliate reports: The most dramatic step yet to free the Dali cargo ship from under the remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to take place today. Unified Command plans to use explosives to remove the steel beams off the ship, and that the crew members will remain on board during the detonation. Demolition crews …