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☆ Trump lawyers argue that calling rape accuser E. Jean Carroll a liar doesn't defame her as a journalist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Michelle Mark | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Former President Donald Trump has filed a motion to dismiss a second lawsuit from E. Jean Carroll. Trump's attorney argued he never defamed Carroll because he didn't disparage her professionally. Carroll previously sued Trump in 2019, alleging that the then-president defamed her by claiming she invented the rape allegations. Trump's court filing on Wednesday argued that Trump's October 12 statement didn't qualify as defamation because it doesn't disparage Carroll's "trade, business or profession." In response to Insider's request for comment, Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said Carroll's team looks forward to going to trial in April 2023.

☆ Mother takes Pornhub parent company to court over 'traumatizing' rape videos of her teenage son uploaded to the site
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A mother is taking MindGeek, who owns Pornhub, to court after a man was convicted of raping her son, filming the content, and uploading it to the site. Her lawyer told Insider that the videos uploaded to the site were "clearly" of a minor. In a statement to Insider, MindGeek said, "MindGeek is aware that a lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Alabama. As well as owning Pornhub, MindGeek owns a number of other adult entertainment sites, including xHamster, RedTube, and YouPorn. In December 2020, an allegation that Pornhub hosts videos depicting child pornography sparked both Visa and Mastercard to launch investigations into the site and drop ties with the company.

☆ Trump ally Devin Nunes can sue NBCUniversal for defamation - judge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday said Devin Nunes, the former California congressman and an ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, can sue NBCUniversal for defamation over a comment by Rachel Maddow concerning his relationship with a suspected Russian agent. Without ruling on the merits, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan said Nunes "plausibly allege[d] actual malice" with respect to a statement from a March 2021 broadcast of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show." NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O), and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nunes left Congress last December to become chief executive of the social media venture Trump Media & Technology Group. The case is Nunes v NBCUniversal Media Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Trump faced a jury pool 'notorious' for huge damages before settling a lawsuit brought by protesters, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Donald Trump's lawyers settled a lawsuit brought by protesters at the 11th hour. He faced a likely hostile jury pool notorious for awarding high damages compared to juries in Manhattan or Long Island. Other still images appear to show a protester grabbing a security team member, suggesting Trump's lawyers may have argued he was acting in self-defense. Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport on October 08, 2022 in Minden, Nevada. Cohen also said Trump's lawyers failed to disclose he had knowledge of the day's events, even though they were supposed to.

☆ Elon Musk says his vacations are like 'email with a view'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has described his vacations as "email with a view." Musk is known for his hardcore work ethic and often sleeps where he works. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyTesla CEO Elon Musk, famed for his hardcore work ethic, has described his vacations as "email with a view." According to Bloomberg, Musk was questioned by the plaintiff's lawyer about vacations he and James Murdoch, a Tesla director, had reportedly taken together. Earlier this week, Musk told Twitter workers in a late-night email that they had to commit to his "extremely hardcore" vision for the social-media company or be laid off.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - James Murdoch, a Tesla director, said on Wednesday CEO Elon Musk has in the last few months identified someone as a potential successor to head the electric carmaker. Murdoch, who did not name the potential successor, was testifying in a trial over Musk's 2018 Tesla pay package. When a plaintiff's lawyer asked him to confirm that Musk has never identified someone as a potential successor CEO, Murdoch said, "He actually has," adding that happened in the "last few months." MONITORING TESLA SITUATIONMurdoch also said Tesla's audit committee is monitoring the Twitter situation, saying that the committee had discussions about having some Tesla engineers do work at Twitter. He also said Musk asked a few team heads to see if they were people interested in helping Twitter.

☆ Student debt forgiveness is on hold for now—here's why it's blocked and what could happen next
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

After appearing to clear a number of other legal hurdles, President Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness plan has been blocked. If the president's appeal in Texas is successful, it's likely the plaintiffs will escalate the case to the Supreme Court or vice versa. Still, federal judges are appointed by elected officials, and it so happens the judges striking down Biden's debt forgiveness were nominated by Republican presidents. Aside from appealing in Texas, the president has not yet announced next steps for the debt forgiveness plan or other relief for borrowers. The 8th Circuit Court's decision to keep the block on debt forgiveness for now adds to the likelihood of a Supreme Court case, she says.

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Donald Trump defeated his niece Mary Trump in a lawsuit where she accused the former U.S. president and two of his siblings of defrauding her out of a multimillion-dollar inheritance. Mary Trump's case had its roots in the 1981 death of her father Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump's older brother, who left Mary, then 16, a profitable real estate portfolio. Now a 57-year-old psychologist, Mary Trump claimed that her uncles Donald and Robert Trump and aunt Maryanne Trump Barry were supposed to protect her interests but instead "squeezed" her out of tens of millions of dollars. The cases are Mary L. Trump v Donald J. Trump et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 654698/2020, and Donald J. Trump v Mary L. Trump et al in the same court, No.

☆ Donald Trump and his siblings can't be sued by niece Mary Trump over inheritance money, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A judge tossed Mary Trump's lawsuit against her uncle Donald Trump and two of his siblings. Roberta Kaplan, an attorney representing Mary Trump, said she would appeal the case. President Donald J. Trump will continue to fight for the truth and against innumerable falsehoods being perpetrated by his enemies." Donald Trump has separately filed a lawsuit against Mary Trump and the New York Times, over the publication of his tax returns obtained through his niece, which remains pending. A representative for the former president didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the litigation relating to Mary Trump.

☆ Judge fined a group of Trump lawyers $50k each for filing meritless and mistake-strewn lawsuit against Hillary Clinton
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A group of Trump lawyers was fined over a failed case alleging a vast pro-Clinton conspiracy. The judge called it a "deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda." On Friday, Judge Donald Middlebrooks slammed the failed case, describing it as "a deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda." In particular, Trump's lawyers accused Dolan of being the source of the dossier's infamous claims of an encounter between Trump and prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. But the case failed to establish this, and made several basic errors in the process, Middlebrook said.

☆ A federal judge just struck down Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan — the most serious legal setback for the debt relief so far
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A federal judge in Texas struck down Biden's student-loan forgiveness on Thursday. It's in response to a lawsuit filed by two student-loan borrowers who didn't qualify for the relief. This is the most serious legal setback to Biden's debt relief so far. This was in response to a lawsuit filed by two student-loan borrowers, Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor, represented by conservative group the Job Creators Network, who sued because they were left out of debt relief. "Today, a federal judge conspired with right-wing politicians and corrupt corporations to block life-changing student debt relief for tens of millions of families," executive director of advocacy group Student Borrower Protection Center Mike Pierce said in a statement.

☆ Judge sanctions Trump lawyers over 'frivolous' collusion lawsuit against Clinton, DNC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A federal judge sanctioned attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Thursday as penalty for advancing a "frivolous" lawsuit against a raft of Trump's political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. "Additional sanctions may be appropriate," the judge noted, after suggesting the lawyers' behavior may require the "attention of the Bar and disciplinary authorities." The sanctions — which require Trump's lawyers to pay $50,000 and compensate a defense attorney's legal fees — came two months after Middlebrooks had tossed out the suit, describing it as a "two-hundred-page political manifesto." "Thirty-one individuals and organizations were summoned to court, forced to hire lawyers to defend against frivolous claims. The judge included an excerpt of Habba's from that Sept. 10 interview, when she slammed Middlebrooks as a "Clinton judge" who "basically ignored every factual basis" for the lawsuit.

☆ Trump insisted on having a special master in the Mar-a-Lago case, but that call is increasingly backfiring
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Judge Raymond Dearie accused Trump's lawyers of making contradictory claims. Trump pushed for Dearie to be appointed, but it's a decision that visibly backfired. In earlier hearings, Dearie has pushed Trump's lawyers to provide evidence to back the claims Trump's made in public. In reply Trump's legal team shied away from answering, saying that presenting the evidence could imperil his defense in a potential trial. Aileen Cannon, the main judge in the Mar-a-Lago case overruled Dearie when he pushed Trump's lawyers to provide the evidence by a specific deadline, shielding them from a further pitfall.

Oct 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear McKinsey & Co's bid to escape a lawsuit by retired turnaround specialist Jay Alix accusing the management consulting firm of concealing potential conflicts when seeking permission from bankruptcy courts to perform lucrative work on corporate restructurings. Circuit Court of Appeals in January revived the case, saying Furman gave "insufficient consideration" to whether McKinsey undermined the integrity of federal judicial proceedings. McKinsey in its petition to the Supreme Court argued that the 2nd Circuit's decision ran contrary to past rulings by the high court holding that RICO lawsuits may be brought only by plaintiffs injured "directly" by wrongdoing. The firm urged the Supreme Court to consider whether lower courts must follow that standard "even if, in the court's judgment, the plaintiff's allegations implicate the court's 'supervisory responsibilities'" over judicial proceedings. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump's legal team says that vendors don't want to work with them for special-master review because 'seasoned IT professionals' can't handle the government's 11,000 files and strict deadlines
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Following the Mar-a-Lago raid, Trump asked for (and was granted) a special master to review government docs. The filing was in response to the government's filing on Tuesday, where the Department of Justice said that the vendors simply refused to be engaged by Trump's team. Following the raid, Trump's team sued the DOJ asking for a third party, or special master, to review the documents. On Tuesday, the DOJ asked special master Raymond Dearie for an additional day to turn over nonclassified documents in the investigation. Dearie, so far, has pushed back on several of Trump's legal team's claims in the case.

☆ A conservative group is suing to block Biden's student debt forgiveness, but it faces legal hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Pacific Legal Foundation announced Tuesday it was filing suit against student loan relief. "Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt," Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a press release. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, according to projections spanning the next 30 years, student loan relief will cost $400 billion. "The claim is baseless for a simple reason: No one will be forced to get debt relief. Because opponents of the debt relief plan are trying anything they can to stop this program that will provide needed relief to working families."

☆ Judge rules that Texas AG who ran away from being served a subpoena won't have to testify in abortion lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Texas AG Ken Paxton ran away from being served a subpoena for an abortion access lawsuit. On Tuesday, a judge ruled that Paxton did not have to show up for a hearing on that lawsuit, CNN reported. In a motion, the judge said Paxton feared for his safety since the process server was "unidentifiable." "Top executive officials should not be called to testify absent extraordinary circumstances," the motion from Judge Robert Pitman said, CNN reported. The subpoenas required Paxton to testify at a hearing on Tuesday on a lawsuit filed by abortion rights groups.

Dearie asked Trump's lawyers to submit by Sept. 30 a list of specific items in that inventory "that plaintiff asserts were not seized from the premises." He also has claimed, without providing evidence, both that he had declassified any documents found at Mar-a-Lago and that the FBI planted documents. On Trump's request, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Dearie to vet the materials. The Justice Department has said more than 11,000 documents were seized, including about 100 documents marked as classified. A federal appeals court ruled on wednesday that the Justice Department can resume reviewing those classified records in its criminal investigation.

☆ Twitter hunts for documents showing possible connection between Elon Musk and former executive turned whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Zatko accused Twitter of lax security and other missteps during his time as a top executive. He also sided with Elon Musk in claiming "bots" are improperly quantified on the platform. Twitter now wants to know if Zatko has had prior dealings with Musk or those on his side of the deal. He also openly sided with Musk and his claims that Twitter hosts more "bots" or fake accounts that it publicly discloses. A section of Zatko's disclosure is titled "Lying about Bots to Elon Musk" and accuses Twitter of misrepresenting how it counts and combats spam accounts, saying "Elon Musk is correct."

☆ Trump has failed to show he declassified docs seized from Mar-a-Lago, DOJ tells appeals court
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The DOJ lawyers added that Trump "is now resisting" a request by a court-appointed special master for him to provide evidence that he declassified records that were seized. But in Tuesday's court conference, Dearie expressed skepticism toward Trump's lawyers about which, if any, of the seized Mar-a-Lago records had been declassified, NBC News reported. Unless Trump's lawyers could provide evidence to dispute that stance, "As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it," Dearie said. Court documents also revealed that the FBI found four dozen empty folders marked "CLASSIFIED" during the raid. "Those notes could certainly contain privileged information," Trump's lawyers wrote.

William Barr said in his confirmation hearings to become Trump's attorney general, that he might recuse himself on overseeing matters related to Epstein. A photo from 2000 shows Trump, Melania Trump (then Melania Knauss), Epstein, and Maxwell at the resort together. The photo at the top of the page is of the two together in Palm Beach in 1997. The entry for Donald Trump as it appears in Jeffrey Epstein's "black book" that was published by Gawker in 2015. The complaint, brought against Trump and Epstein, alleged that the victim attended multiple parties at Epstein's residence in the summer of 1994, that Trump also attended.

☆ The young lawyer who became the 'Don Quixote' of canceling student debt
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-29 | by ( Cezary Podkul | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

The victory marked the starting point for what's become Smith's raison d'être to help as many student loan borrowers as possible. But of those who did, around 60% managed to get a discharge of some portion of their student debt, Iuliano found. And thanks to a widely-held belief that student debt is categorically exempt from discharge, few are willing to take that chance. "I have $50k student debt, no degree, was a victim of attempted murder, out of work, and homeless," reads another. Austin SmithEventually, he says, he vowed to make it his life's cause to help the student loan borrowers.

☆ Tesla aims to revitalize its solar energy and storage business this year after 2019 slump
▼ + stars: | 2020-02-14 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk reveals prototypes of the Tesla Solar Roof on October 28, 2016 TeslaEven with a record fourth quarter for its solar energy and storage systems business, Tesla's energy revenue declined by over $24 million in 2019, after several rounds of layoffs that started the prior year. Tesla said, in its annual financial report on Thursday, that it's ramping up solar photovoltaic production at its plant in Buffalo, New York. "We have recently started manufacturing solar panels at this facility in collaboration with Panasonic," the filing states. Since the acquisition, solar energy has been a relatively small and dwindling business for Tesla, in part because of delays in manufacturing and a longer development cycle than expected. Musk said last March that 2019 would be the "year of the solar roof."

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