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Feb 14 (Reuters) - Law firm Covington & Burling fired back at a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, arguing the agency overstepped by asking it to identify clients affected by a 2020 cyberattack on the firm. Covington said an SEC subpoena for the names of nearly 300 publicly traded companies whose information was accessed or stolen during the hack threatened to expose confidential client information that the firm is required to protect. The SEC sued Covington last month to force the powerful D.C.-based firm to identify the clients as part of an investigation into potential securities law violations associated with the hack. The firm pointed to legal ethics rules that require law firms to keep the confidences of their clients and protect potentially embarrassing information. Covington said it worked with the FBI to investigate the cyberattack and notified all clients whose information was potentially compromised.

It would be the third defamation trial against Jones and his company Free Speech Systems, after two previous ones found Jones and FSS liable for a combined $1.5 billion in damages. A Texas court previously found them liable and the proposed trial would determine how much Jones owes the parents. He estimated a two-week trial would cost $600,000, reducing the amount of money available to pay Pozner, De La Rosa and other Sandy Hook parents with legal claims against him. Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in December after those two trials concluded, saying he could afford to pay less than 1% of the Sandy Hook defamation judgments. Sandy Hook parents raised concerns at Tuesday's hearing about Jones's recent recording of a podcast similar to his Alex Jones Show in a new studio space and under a brand not affiliated with FSS.

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A New York state appeals court on Tuesday upheld an order finding Donald Trump in civil contempt for having failed to comply with a subpoena from New York Attorney General Letitia James in her probe of his business practices. It also said Justice Arthur Engoron, who oversees the case in a state court in Manhattan, had discretion to impose a $10,000 daily fine until Trump complied with the subpoena. Trump has called James' probe a politically motivated witch hunt. Those sanctions are on hold until Trump posts a $1.03 million bond for a possible appeal. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan imposed the VPN ban through Thursday, when he will hold a hearing to consider additional restrictions to Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package. The judge on Tuesday extended that ban by three days, to Feb. 24. Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried cheated customers and improperly diverted assets, causing billions of dollars in losses. In a Monday night filing, prosecutors said Bankman-Fried used a VPN to access the internet on Jan. 29 and Feb. 12. Defense lawyers responded that Bankman-Fried used a VPN to watch National Football League playoff games on Jan. 29 and the Super Bowl on Feb. 12.

J&J maintains its talc products are safe. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan was set to preside over the hearing for the subsidiary, called LTL Management, in Trenton, New Jersey. In October 2021, J&J offloaded the tidal wave of talc lawsuits it faced onto one of its newly created units, LTL, which then declared bankruptcy. Reuters last year detailed the secret planning of Texas two-steps by Johnson & Johnson and other major firms in a series of reports exploring corporate attempts to evade lawsuits through bankruptcies. LTL declared bankruptcy while J&J avoided seeking Chapter 11 protection, with all its inherent financial and reputational wreckage.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan granted a Justice Department motion to stay the lawsuits filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Prosecutors said it made sense to delay those lawsuits because the cases substantially overlapped, and the outcome of the criminal case would likely affect what issues remained in the civil cases. They also cited the risk that Bankman-Fried could gather evidence in the civil cases to improperly impeach government witnesses, circumvent discovery rules in criminal cases, and tailor his criminal defense. Bankman-Fried consented to putting the civil cases on hold. Stays of SEC and CFTC lawsuits are common when the Justice Department files parallel criminal cases.

Feb 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge in Texas late on Thursday denied a legal bid by families of the victims of two Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX crashes to reopen or reject a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. Boeing won immunity from criminal prosecution as part its $2.5 billion Justice Department deferred prosecution agreement over a 737 MAX fraud conspiracy charge related to the plane's flawed design. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled he did not have legal authority to grant the relatives' request, saying he had "immense sympathy for the victims and loved ones of those who died in the tragic plane crashes resulting from Boeing’s criminal conspiracy." Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Medication abortion has drawn increasing attention since the U.S. Supreme Court last year reversed its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, directed federal agencies to expand access to medication abortion in response to the decision. Mifepristone is used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, for medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions. They said ending access to the drug would force patients to have unnecessary surgical abortions or prevent them from accessing abortion altogether. The Texas lawsuit could move quickly, as the plaintiffs in a filing on Friday asked Kacsmaryk to skip a hearing on a preliminary order and instead go straight to trial.

"It's judge shopping on steroids," said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, executive director of the progressive legal advocacy group Take Back the Court. The Biden administration has called the lawsuit "unprecedented" and urged Kacsmaryk to not deprive women of a long-approved safe and effective drug. At least eight have led to rulings blocking Biden policies, with several more pending. The chief judges of Texas federal courts have the authority to reallocate cases to other judges, but have largely not done so, he said. Absent a change, litigants have every right to take advantage of that structure to seek a favorable judge, he said.

Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday sanctioned Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) and its law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher for “delay, misdirection and frivolous arguments” in a data privacy lawsuit over the company’s sharing of user information with third-parties. Representatives for Gibson Dunn and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Los Angeles-founded Gibson Dunn has represented the company in numerous matters. The court had ordered Facebook to turn over data it had collected on the plaintiffs in the case, regardless of whether it had been shared. The case is IN RE: Facebook, INC. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

[1/2] Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2022. Pence was issued a subpoena by special counsel Jack Smith, though the nature of the request was not immediately known, ABC News reported, citing sources. The first probe involves Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Last month, Garland named a separate special counsel, Robert Hur, to probe the improper storage of classified documents at President Biden's home and former office. In late January, Pence said he was not aware though he takes "full responsibility" after classified documents were found at his Indiana home.

The states said in their lawsuit, however, that the rule in practice could affect anyone who uses a brace. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a similar, separate lawsuit in federal court in Texas on Thursday. A group of veterans also filed a lawsuit challenging the rule in federal court in Texas earlier this month. Democratic President Joe Biden has championed tougher gun control measures, and last year signed a national gun safety law. Since then, several state gun control measures have been struck down by courts.

☆ U.S. judge extends FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's bail restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonCompanies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday extended a ban on FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried's ability to contact employees of companies he once controlled and use encrypted messaging technology while out on bail awaiting trial on fraud charges. As a condition of his release on $250 million bond, the judge also prevented Bankman-Fried from using messaging apps such as Signal that let users auto-delete messages. A prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, told the judge that the people were connected with FTX but not central to the government case and not expected to testify. Bankman-Fried had also agreed to withdraw his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where he had lived and where the exchange was based, to face the criminal charges.

[1/5] Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, arrives for his court hearing at a federal court in New York City, U.S., February 9, 2023. Kaplan rejected that proposed agreement on Tuesday and proceeded with the hearing on Bankman-Fried's bail conditions on Thursday, without explaining why he denied the deal. As part of the agreement with prosecutors, Bankman-Fried would have also withdrawn his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. FTX collapsed in November after a wave of withdrawals and declared bankruptcy, wiping out Bankman-Fried's fortune. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Egypt's Sisi seeks to tamp down media clash with Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Hatem Maher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Saudi Arabia along with other energy-rich Gulf states has long provided crucial funding to Egypt, upping support after Sisi took power nearly a decade ago, and as an acute financial crisis took hold last year. "The mean, the scoundrels and the nouveau-riche have no right to insult their masters," he wrote, drawing on derogatory stereotypes and claims of historical superiority. Another well-known Saudi commentator, Ali Shihabi, later tweeted: "Egypt is a black hole that will never close unless the govt is able to make material structural reforms." Tawfik's article has been removed from Al Gomhuria's website and replaced by an editorial lauding Egyptian-Saudi relations as "historic and eternal". Additional reporting by Nadine Awadalla and Aziz El Yaakoubi, Writing by Aidan LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where data for up to 87 million users was accessed. Investors claimed that Facebook, as the company was known, misled them in 2016 by describing data breaches as a mere "risk," when it knew that Cambridge had accessed user data. "It's not plausible that the company was trying to mislead the public about something the public already knew," he said. Facebook paid more than $5 billion in penalties to U.S. authorities over Cambridge Analytica. It agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit by Facebook users in December.

Companies Alphabet Inc FollowFeb 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Football League (NFL) must face a $6 billion class action alleging it unlawfully limited televised games and drove up the cost of its "Sunday Ticket" package, a U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the NFL on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Google-owned YouTube (GOOGL.O) in December signed a multi-year deal for exclusive streaming of Sunday Ticket package games. Google did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

[1/4] Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, departs from his court hearing at a federal court in New York City's Manhattan, U.S. January 3, 2023. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado/Feb 8 (Reuters) - Failed crypto firm FTX received court approval on Wednesday to issue subpoenas to its founder Sam Bankman-Fried and members of his family as part of the company's investigation into "misappropriated and stolen" funds. FTX said in court papers filed Wednesday that most of the subpoena targets had begun cooperating with its investigation. FTX said that it is still in discussions with Ellison and that Sam Bankman-Fried "remains non-responsive." Mind the Gap has previously said that Sam Bankman-Fried did not make any direct contributions to the organization but did donate to some of its recommended programs.

[1/2] A family shops at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas, June 4, 2015. REUTERS/Rick WilkingCompanies Walmart Inc FollowFeb 8 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Walmart Inc (WMT.N) of deceiving shoppers by selling Fudge Mint cookies that lacked fudge and mint. Eugene DeMaso, of La Salle, Illinois, said packaging for the cookies sold under Walmart's Great Value label misled reasonable consumers because the cookies' "fudge" contained no milkfat and its "mint" contained no mint ingredients. Rowland also agreed with Walmart that "mint" promised a flavor, not actual mint. The lawsuit said Walmart's cookies sold for at least $1.89 for 10 ounces, and would have sold for less absent the alleged misleading representations.

The banks said there were no allegations they knew about or actively did anything to further Epstein's sex trafficking, and had no legal duty to protect the women from his abuses. The plaintiffs have said numerous cash payments from the banks were used to pay Epstein's victims. Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The cases are Jane Doe 1 v Deutsche Bank AG et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10018, and Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co in the same court, No.

Feb 8 (Reuters) - A Texas man accused of targeting Latinos during a 2019 massacre that left 23 people dead at an El Paso Walmart store is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to federal hate crimes. Lawyers for alleged shooter Patrick Crusius said in a court filing last month that Crusius would change his plea to guilty. That decision came just days after federal prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against him. He faces the death penalty on state charges. The Texas court issued a gag order that prevents prosecutors, defense lawyers, victims and family members from discussing the case.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Texas sued the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday to prevent it from asking pharmacies to fill reproductive health prescriptions. The Biden administration said in July 2022 that refusing to fill prescriptions for drugs that could be used to terminate a pregnancy could violate federal law, regardless of various state bans on the procedure. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The Food and Drug Administration said January that abortion pills would become more widely available at pharmacies and through the mail. A legal battle is under way at a federal court in Texas, where abortion opponents have sued to undo the approval of the drugs.

"While we disagree with the allegations in this case, we are pleased to have resolved this legacy issue," a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in a statement. Wells Fargo disclosed in July 2017 that hundreds of thousands of customers had been unnecessarily charged for "collateral protection insurance," which covers auto lenders when borrowers are uninsured. The bank also concealed auto insurance issues from the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in November 2016, the investors alleged. Wells Fargo settled an auto borrower class action in 2019 for $386 million without admitting wrongdoing. In 2018, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $1 billion to U.S. regulators to settle probes of its auto insurance and mortgage practices.

Ishan Wahi, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, after initially pleading not guilty last year. "I knew that Sameer Ramani and Nikhil Wahi would use that information to make trading decisions," Ishan Wahi said during Tuesday's hearing in federal court in Manhattan. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors stipulated that sentencing guidelines called for Ishan Wahi to be imprisoned for between 36 and 47 months. In pleading guilty to the criminal charges on Tuesday, Ishan Wahi said he did not believe any of the relevant tokens were securities. Noah Solowiejczyk, a prosecutor, said the question of whether or not the tokens are securities was not an element of prosecutors' case.

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Seven more Memphis police officers are expected to face formal disciplinary charges this week in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, the city attorney said on Tuesday. A city spokesperson confirmed that officer is among the seven who could soon face charges. City Attorney Jennifer Sink told the city council on Tuesday that she expected administrative charges to be issued against the additional officers sometime this week. Officers charged with departmental violations would face administrative hearings, which Sink said could take place by the end of next week. The specialized street unit that included the five officers charged with Nichols' murder has been disbanded.

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