The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Abortion Pill Case Likely Headed to SCOTUS, Air Guardsman Arrested, Trump in Court AGAIN | April 13

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Virginia Allen. I'm Samantha Sherris. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, April 13th. Here are today's headlines. We begin the show today with the latest news on the legal battle over the abortion pill in America. Late Wednesday night, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that women can still access the abortion pill, at least for now. Remember that a judge in Texas ruled last week that the Food and Drug Administration was wrong to approve the abortion pill. Miffa Pristone. The court gave the Biden administration a week before the pill was set to be pulled from the drug market. But now the Fifth Circuit Court's ruling means that the drug can still be given to women while the case continues to move through the courts. I spoke with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey about the Fifth Circuit Court ruling, and this is what he had to say.

Starting point is 00:01:05 So there's still a lot to celebrate here. Number one, they're not going to be shipping this abortion pill through the mail. Number two, they still acknowledge the fact that there are serious health concerns to women and children from this dangerous drug, and there's still a lot of litigation to go. I mean, the litigants still have the ability to appeal the three judge ruling en banc, meeting the entire Fifth Circuit will hear it. And eventually this may end up at the United States Supreme Court, but we're going to keep fighting because we're always going to stand up and fight

Starting point is 00:01:30 for children and women's health and for the unborn. The Fifth Circuit Court ruling does restrict the distribution of the pill through mail. The court has limited the approval of the pill to distribution by a medical professional in person. The drug has also been limited to use only during the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Now, the Justice Department plans to ask the Supreme Court to block these new limitations on the abortion pill. Stay tuned. An arrest has been made of a suspect in the classified documents leak.

Starting point is 00:02:02 This afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the arrest of the man who may be responsible for leaking over 50 highly classified documents involving the Ukraine war and U.S. surveillance of both adversaries and allies per town hall. Jack Douglas DeShera in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information. Tashira is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard. FBI agents took Tashira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident. He will have an initial appearance at the U.S. District Court for the District of M. Massachusetts. Toshara, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, was the leader of the

Starting point is 00:02:48 private online group of 20 or 30 people where the documents were first leaked. The Washington Post reports that Tuchera served as a technology support staffer on a base on Cape Cod and was able to gain access to the documents that way. The FBI searched the home of Tushara's mother earlier this afternoon and then made the arrest around 3 p.m. Garland said, says the investigation is ongoing and more information will be shared at the appropriate time. Former President Donald Trump was in court today, but not for the case that we have been hearing about in the news recently. This is a different case brought against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Here with us to explain why James filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump is Heritage Foundation Legal Fellow and former prosecutor Zach Smith.

Starting point is 00:03:39 Zach, thanks for being here. Of course. Thanks for having me on, Virginia. So can you just explain why the New York Attorney General filed this lawsuit against Trump? Well, in New York, the Attorney General doesn't have – doesn't really have prosecutorial authority. That's something the local elected district attorneys like Alvin Bragg have. She does, however, have the ability to file civil lawsuits, particularly civil enforcement lawsuits, where she can allege fraud or certain other inappropriate activity on the part of individuals or companies. And so that's exactly what she's done here.

Starting point is 00:04:15 She's filed a very extensive lawsuit against Donald Trump, three of his adult children, as well as the Trump organization, alleging many, many allegations of fraud. And essentially, those allegations boil down to Latisha James is accusing these individuals and entities of essentially misrepresenting. the values of certain assets and properties to lenders, insurers, tax authorities in order to get advantageous deals in those areas. So then as Trump sat in court today, what kind of questions was he asked? Well, that wasn't really a court appearance per se, Virginia. It was a deposition. This is something that takes place in civil cases where essentially it's an ability for lawyers to question a witness under oath. And typically, it can be different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but typically this is not what we would think of as a typical court proceeding. You know, there's usually not a judge

Starting point is 00:05:17 there. There's certainly not a jury there. It's just an opportunity for lawyers to question a witness under oath. Got it. So then what happens next? Well, I suspect we'll continue to see depositions, discovery taking place. You know, one interesting. wrinkle in this case, Virginia, is whether or not Donald Trump will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during the civil case, during these depositions. He's already set for one civil deposition related to these allegations. He did invoke his Fifth Amendment rights there, which, as you know, protect an individual from being required to give incriminating testimony against him or herself. Now, that applies in the criminal context, but someone can invoke their Fifth

Starting point is 00:06:01 Amendment rights in a civil context as well. if the information would potentially expose them to criminal jeopardy. But here's where things get interesting, and Trump and his lawyers will have to engage in a little bit of strategy. While someone invoking their Fifth Amendment rights cannot be used against them in criminal proceedings, in civil proceedings, if someone invokes their Fifth Amendment rights, a judge could instruct a jury to potentially draw an adverse inference from that assertion of the Fifth Amendment. And so if Donald Trump does continue to assert his Fifth Amendment rights in dissimilar proceedings, a judge very well could instruct the jury to draw an adverse inference from that invocation.

Starting point is 00:06:43 We're certainly going to be watching this as it unfolds. Zach Smith of the Heritage Foundation. If you want to hear more from Zach, you can check out his podcast, SCOTUS 101. Also, you can pre-order his forthcoming book, Rogue Prosecutors, How Radical Soros Lawyers, are destroying America's communities. The book is out June 27th, but is available on Amazon for pre-order now. Zach, thanks so much for being with us today. Of course. Thank you for having me on. California Democrat Senator Diane Feinstein is being removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee, at least temporarily. Feinstein is being replaced on the committee for now due to health issues.

Starting point is 00:07:22 The senator is 89 and has been struggling to recover from shingles. She has not cast a vote since mid-February, meaning she has missed about 60 of the Senate's 82 votes this session. Feinstein has acknowledged that her absence might slow down the work of the Judiciary Committee, and so she said she has asked Leader Schumer to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve until I'm able to resume my committee work. But some politicians are calling for Feinstein to resign from the Senate completely, given her health. California Representative Roquana tweeted Wednesday,

Starting point is 00:08:00 it's time for Senator Feinstein to resign. We need to put the country ahead of personal loyalty. While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Feinstein has not indicated that she has any plans to resign from the Senate at this time. President Joe Biden is in Ireland and made a bit of a gaffe while speaking at an Irish pub today. The president was talking about his cousin, Rob Kearney, who was an Irish rugby player whose team defeated the New Zealand all blacks in 2016.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Except Biden misspoke, and instead of saying the all blacks, he called the team the Black and Tans. It was a hell of a rugby player, and they beat the hell of the Black and Tans. I got it. The Black and Tans are not a rugby team, but a British military group known for carrying out brutalities against the Irish. in the early 1920s. And with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for joining us here on the Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning. I'm going to be sitting down with Missouri Attorney General

Starting point is 00:09:14 Andrew Bailey to discuss some of the ways that he's holding the Biden administration and the far left accountable. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcasts and help us reach even more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks again for joining us today. We hope that you all have a great night and we'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheris. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop.

Starting point is 00:09:57 To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Abortion Pill Case Likely Headed to SCOTUS, Air Guardsman Arrested, Trump in Court AGAIN | April 13

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