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Prosecutors have proposed January 2 for the start of Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results.

A federal judge tossed out Donald Trump’s counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll, the writer who won a $5 million jury verdict earlier this year after it found the former president liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

The Justice Department cited one of Donald Trump’s social media posts in arguing that a protective order should be issued in the former president’s January6th case, in which he has been charged with conspiracy in an effort to remain in power after the 2020 election.

Amidst the circus and chaos that has become his brand, Donald Trump has arrived in court today in Washington D.C. to face criminal charges over attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The 45th President of the United States is now in custody to be arraigned.

A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump’s $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN, litigation centered on references made by on-air figures to “the Big Lie,” or the former president’s unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Hunter Biden is pleading not guilty.

A plea agreement between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden fell apart on Wednesday after the federal judge overseeing the case raised concerns over the terms, the AP and other news outlets reported on Wednesday.

A 71-year-old man linked to a crew of drug dealers blamed in the fentanyl-laced heroin death of “The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams was sentenced Tuesday to more than two years in prison at a proceeding in which the actor’s nephew recommended compassion for the defendant.

Stage actor James Beeks has been acquitted of all charges stemming from his participation in the Jan. 6th Capitol riots, with U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta concluding today at a Washington, D.C. courthouse that there was no evidence suggesting Beeks knew of plans to obstruct Congress.

A federal judge has rejected the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, ruling that the government had not shown that the transaction would substantially lessen competition.

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys want to delay the start of a federal criminal trial until after the 2024 election and are asking a judge to postpone setting any date for the start of the proceedings.

Allison Mack, the former actress and convicted sex cult member, has been released from prison, ET has learned. According to online records maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the 40-year-old was released from FCI Dublin, a low-security federal prison in the East Bay area outside San Francisco, on Monday, July 3, after serving nearly two of her three-year sentence for charges related to her involvement in NXIVM. Mack first entered prison in September 2021, and served out her jail time at the same facility where both Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were sent in 2019 and 2020, respectively, following convictions their for participation in the college admission bribery scandal.

Jordan Moreau Allison Mack, a former actor on “Smallville” who was a key member in leader Keith Raniere’s NXIVM cult, was released from prison on Monday after serving two years of her three-year sentence. She pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges in 2021. Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison in October 2020 on charges of sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy and racketeering. Mack recruited and groomed women to the NXIVM cult, and Raniere took them as sexual partners. Some of the women were branded with Raniere’s initials and were sexually abused by him while they were members of the group. In Mack’s sentencing in June 2021, a federal judge called her an “essential accomplice” to Raniere.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor A federal judge in Florida has granted a preliminary injunction that bars the state from implementing a new law that seeks to severely restrict drag performances, a move that has alarmed the entertainment industry. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Presnell issued the order on Friday that bars state officials from implementing the law passed last month that restricts the ability of businesses to offer drag performances if the venues are open to minors. The case was brought by the Orlando, Fla. outpost of the restaurant chain Hamburger Mary’s, which launched in San Francisco in 1972. “This statute is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers,” Presnell wrote in his 24-page order. Given that factor, the legislation is “not sufficiently narrowly tailored to survive strict scrutiny.” Presnell notes in his opinion that Florida already has laws on the books that help restrict children from being exposed to lewd or obscene material, even with parental consent.

Donald Trump’s trial on federal charges of withholding classified documents is scheduled to start on August 14, a date that is likely to change.

The battle between A&E and rival network Reelz and production company Big Fish Entertainment over On Patrol: Live looks to be heading towards court after a judge dismissed the latter’s previous motion.

An employer that allowed rap music with sexually explicit and violent lyrics to be played loudly on its premises will face a sex discrimination suit brought by eight ex-employees, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday 3-0 in its decision overturning a motion to dismiss by Chief U.S.

April 1, 2022, hearing, Walker had asked, “is there anything in the record that says we are now going to take away Disney’s special status because they’re woke?” In a separate case in June, Walker wrote that state’s battle over the company’s tax status was due to Disney “[running] afoul of state policy of the controlling party.”U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, an appointee of former president Donald Trump, will take over the case.

2ND UPDATE, 5:20 PM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today won a victory in his legal skirmishes with the Walt Disney Company — but not for the reasons he wanted to.

Elizabeth Holmes began her 11-year prison sentence on Tuesday. The 39-year-old who was convicted of defrauding investors turned herself into an all-female federal prison facility in Bryan, Texas. According to the Associated Press, Holmes was taken into «custody at a Texas prison» around 12:30 p.m.

As friends and family looked on, rapper Fetty Wap on Wednesday apologized for his actions and said he was “exactly where I’m supposed to be,” before a judge sentenced him to six years in federal prison for his role in a New York-based drug-trafficking scheme.

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran on Tuesday defeated a second copyright lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan over similarities between his hit “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic What might have felt like double jeopardy has turned into a double win for Ed Sheeran, as the pop superstar prevailed in yet a second copyright infringement lawsuit filed over the song “Thinking Out Loud,.” The same judge who oversaw the previous case dismissed this additional suit on Tuesday before it ever got to trial. This like-minded lawsuit had been filed by Structured Asset Sales LLC, another party with an interest in the 1973 Marvin Gaye hit “Let’s Get It On,” similarly contending that Sheeran’s 2014 smash infringed on the previous song’s copyright. The company owns part of songwriter Ed Townsend’s share of the Gaye tune; it was heirs of Townsend who filed the previous unsuccessful lawsuit. The result was much the same, with or without a trial, with the elements shared by the two tunes being judged “common.”

A federal jury in Manhattan has sided with Ed Sheeran in the plagiarism trial that saw the pop songwriter accused of stealing elements of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in the writing of Sheeran’s 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud.” The suit was brought by heirs of the estate of Ed Townsend, a writer of “Let’s Get It On.” They contended that “Thinking Out Loud” used specific musical elements such as harmony and melody of “Let’s Get It On.” A video of Ed Sheeran performing a mash-up of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” was used as evidence, though the singer testified that he and the song’s co-writer Amy Wadge were in fact inspired by Van Morrison’s music. Read Next: Ed Sheeran says he’ll retire from music if he loses Marvin Gaye plagiarism lawsuit Deliberations began on Wednesday (May 4) after the conclusion of the testimony.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Ed Sheeran was found not liable Thursday in Manhattan federal court on a copyright claim alleging that he lifted key elements from the Marvin Gaye ’70s hit “Let’s Get It On” for his own “Thinking Out Loud.” The verdict that found him not liable for copyright infringement came after just a few hours of deliberation Thursday. Standing outside the courtroom, Sheeran read a statement for reporters that made it clear how frustrated he felt at being accused of plagiarism and having the case reach trial. “It looks like I’m not going to have to give up my day job after all,” Sheeran said, alluding to a statement he’d made on the stand earlier this week suggesting that he would feel compelled to quit music if the verdict went against him.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Testimony wrapped up in the Ed Sheeran copyright infringement trial at the end of the court day Wednesday, as the judge sent the Manhattan jury into deliberations with a pointed admonition: “Independent creation is a complete defense, no matter how similar that song is.” U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton’s instructions may have left a high bar in the jury’s minds for just how much evidence the plaintiffs’ attorneys needed to have established to prove that Sheeran and his co-writer actually copied Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” when they wrote the pop hit “Thinking Out Loud.” According to Insider, Stanton told jurors that the lawyers for the heirs of Gaye’s co-writer, Ed Townsend, needed to “prove by a preponderance of the evidence… that Sheeran actually copied and wrongfully copied ‘Let’s Get It On'” — as opposed to the coincidental, negligible similarities argued by Sheeran’s attorneys.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A copyright trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom pitting Ed Sheeran against the heirs of a co-writer of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” saw the pop star taking the stand Tuesday, offering strong retorts to attorneys’ arguments that he had stolen elements of the 1970s hit for his own “Thinking Out Loud.” One piece of evidence that the judge had left in limbo in pre-trial hearings was a fan-shot video of Sheeran mashing up the two songs in concert in 2014. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, who had previously left the matter of whether to allow the medley unresolved, ultimately ruled Tuesday that a 30-second clip be played, despite Sheeran’s attorneys’ argument that it was “irrelevant and prejudicial.”

Fox News has reached a settlement with Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who filed a defamation lawsuit over a Lou Dobbs tweet and broadcast linking him to rigging the 2020 presidential election.

signed into law in 2021.However, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, saying they would have granted Morrisey’s request.A federal judge previously blocked the law from taking effect while a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ban proceeds.The plaintiff in the case, 12-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, is a transgender girl who tried to join her middle school girls’ cross-country team, but was informed that she would be barred from the team due to the law prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in female-designated sports.Pepper-Jackson sued state officials, her local school board, the West Virginia Board of Education, and the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and discriminatory.In July 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin, of the Southern District of West Virginia, issued an injunction blocking the law from taking effect on the grounds that Pepper-Jackson was likely to prevail in her claim that the law is discriminatory.Six months later, Goodwin rejected Pepper-Jackson’s claim that the law violates Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination, finding the ban constitutional and asserting that the state had a legitimate interest in ensuring cisgender female athletes are not disadvantaged by having to compete against athletes assigned male at birth.

A Brooklyn drug dealer pleaded guilty Wednesday to providing “The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams with fentanyl-laced heroin, causing his death.

 star Michael K. Williams pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple drug charges, the Justice Department announced. Irvin Cartagena, 39, who also goes by the name «Green Eyes,» pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl analogue, according to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

A year and a half after Michael K. Williams’ death, the man who sold The Wire star the drugs that killed him has plead guilty.

A federal judge in Tennessee has blocked the state’s anti-drag law from going into effect for 14 days. Photo: United States District Court, Western District of Tennessee.

A royal victory. Meghan Markle has won the defamation lawsuit filed against her by half-sister Samantha Markle.

It’s another legal win for Meghan Markle.

Suspended Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted today of federal bribery and conspiracy charges, along with mail and wire fraud, stemming from his time serving on the county Board of Supervisors and accommodations provided to his son by a then-USC dean.