TV News LIES

A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's rule that makes it easier for employers to deny contraceptive coverage on moral or religious grounds — a requirement under Obamacare.

Judge Haywood Gilliam, Jr., of the the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, issued the ruling today. It's the second time in a week that a federal judge has blocked the Trump rule. A federal court judge in Pennsylvania granted a preliminary injunction on the same issue last Friday, determining the directive would cause "serious and irreparable harm."

Two former Fox News employees have joined a defamation lawsuit against the network and ex-star host Bill O’Reilly.

Andrea Mackris and Rebecca Gomez Diamond, who both reached settlements with O’Reilly and Fox after accusing the host of sexual harassment, joined the lawsuit filed by former Fox producer and fellow O’Reilly accuser Rachel Wittlieb Bernstein.

“These women were specifically identified in the NY Times article, to which O’Reilly and Fox responded with false and defamatory statements,” the trio’s lawyer said in a statement.

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House Democrats have tapped New York Rep. Jerry Nadler as their next leader on the Judiciary Committee, the panel that would potentially initiate impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump if Democrats win back the House.

Nadler won a decisive victory over Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) in a caucus-wide election Wednesday morning. Lofgren, a former immigration lawyer, is the second-most senior member on the panel behind Nadler.

At least 12 people died and several more were injured after a bus carrying cruise ship passengers flipped over on a highway in eastern Mexico early Tuesday, officials said.

Seven Americans and two Swedish citizens are among the nearly two dozen injured, according to Vincente Martin, the civil defense spokesman for Quintana Roo state. Authorities have not yet been able to ascertain the nationalities of the dead, Martin added.

Donald Trump's national security adviser has accused Russia of "a sophisticated campaign of subversion" to undermine free and open societies.

Gen HR McMaster told the BBC that Moscow used propaganda and disinformation against democracies.

He said Russia's alleged meddling in US elections was "certainly" a national security threat.  He was speaking after President Trump's new national security policy labelled Russia and China "rival powers".

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The Senate Banking Committee rejected former Rep. Scott Garrett's nomination to chair the U.S. Export-Import Bank by a 10-13 vote Tuesday morning after two Republicans voted against him, dooming his nomination.

In a blow to President Trump, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., both voted against Garrett, a former congressman from New Jersey who has a history of opposing the government-backed bank, which provides financing to foreign entities so they can buy U.S. goods and services. They joined the committee's 11 Democrats in opposing the nomination.

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The Federal Cartel Office said its investigation of Facebook reached the preliminary conclusion that the company has a dominant position in the market for social networking sites in Germany.

Further, it said that Facebook is "acting abusively" by only allowing people to use its social network if they consent to the collection of all types of user data from third party sites and subsidiaries such as WhatsApp or Instagram.

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He was stumped by "in limine" — and now he's e-liminated himself.

Matthew Petersen, the Trump judicial nominee who couldn't answer basic legal questions at his Senate confirmation hearing last week, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

In a letter to Trump revealed Monday, Petersen defended his professional record but conceded his utterly painful performance at his televised grilling — and the rampant ridicule that followed — had become a problem.

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