Watchdog group sues Biden admin for docs related to menthol cigarette crackdown

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watchdog-group-sues-biden-admin-for-docs-related-to-menthol-cigarette-crackdown

FIRST ON FOX: A government watchdog group is suing the Biden administration over documents it has sought via information request related to proposed regulations targeting menthol cigarettes.

Protect the Public's Trust (PPT) filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alleging that the agency has violated its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Protect the Public's Trust submitted four FOIA requests for documents pertaining to the proposed federal menthol cigarette ban with HHS and subagency the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late last year, all of which have gone unfulfilled.

PPT describes itself as nonpartisan, a "project dedicated to ensuring there is only one standard – one set of rules that our leaders must live by no matter what party affiliation or ideological bent," according to its website. It's headed by Michael Chamberlain, a former communications official at the Department of Education in the Trump administration.

tyb >>20737014

Trump's stunning secret weapons! Meet the glamourous group of women throwing their support (and social media accounts!) behind his next bid for President led by Melania lookalike Margo Martin

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13315233/donald-trump-women-margo-martin-natalie-harp-assistant.html

Donald Trump may not have been joined by his wife longtime Melania Trump when he headed to his criminal trial in Manhattan this week, but he had no shortage of glamorous women by his side.

The former President, 77, was joined at the courtroom by his stunning assistant Natalie Harp and his deputy communications chief Margo Martin, who shares a striking resemblance to his wife Melania, 53.

Trump has slowly built up a team of extremely loyal and very alluring young women - including Natalie, 32, and Margo, 28 - who are often spotted cheering him on at events or hanging out at his Mar-a-Lago golf club. Most of the women seem to have joined Trump's entourage through Margo, who previously served as his press assistant during his time in office.

EXCLUSIVE: USDA and China CCP lab are creating deadly BIRD FLU viruses as part of $1m collaboration and YOU are paying for it

• A letter states the research could threaten national security and public health

• It involves infecting ducks with different viruses to make them more infectious

• DailyMail.com asked experts if H5N1 case in Texas raises risk of future pandemic

Lawmakers are demanding answers after it was revealed the US is sending taxpayer dollars to a Chinese army lab to make bird flu viruses more dangerous to people.

Eighteen members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) about the project, which was first revealed by DailyMail.com.

It is part of a $1million collaboration between the USDA and the CCP-run Chinese Academy of Sciences - the institution that oversees the Wuhan lab at the center of the Covid lab-leak theory.

>The White Coat Waste Project obtained the above photo and claims it shows animal experimenters inside the USDA lab that is working with Chinese scientists on bird flu research

>>20737404

Republicans on Tuesday expressed anger about a 16-year-old high school student suspended for using the term "illegal alien."

According to the Carolina Journal, Christian McGhee was suspended from Central Davidson High School in Lexington, North Carolina, for three days last week after he allegedly said the term during an English class assignment.

The newspaper reported that the boy's mother, Leah McGhee, said a teacher had given an assignment that used the word "alien," and Christian responded by asking if the teacher meant "like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?"

The conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted on Tuesday about the teen's suspension, saying his academic record could be "damaged." The post had garnered 1 million views as of 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.

https://www.newsweek.com/teen-suspended-saying-illegal-alien-sparks-republican-outrage-1891021

>Central Davidson High School

>Lexington, North Carolina

>Phone: (336) 357-2920

>>20737487

notable quake and shake

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/04/16/clarence-thomas-supreme-court-unexplained-absence-back/73340329007/?tbref=hp

Clarence Thomas returns after unexplained absence as Supreme Court hears Jan. 6 case

WASHINGTON − Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was back on the bench Tuesday, a day after he missed oral arguments without explanation.

Thomas asked the first question in Tuesday's oral arguments into whether prosecutors can charge hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants with obstruction for interrupting Congress as it certified President Joe Biden’s victory.

The justices were asked to interpret an obstruction law Congress approved after the Enron scandal in 2002. One of the defendants contends that law aimed to punish the destruction of documents. But prosecutors called it a catchall that covers the obstruction of official meetings.

The disputed language prohibits anyone from “corruptly” destroying or concealing a government record, or who “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

"How do we determine what these two provisions have in common?" Thomas asked. "Do we look after the `otherwise' or before and why?"

>pool's open

Exclusive: Mayorkas' newest weapon against the explosion of online child sex exploitation

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/04/17/alejandro-mayorkas-dhs-target-online-child-sex-exploitation/73289126007

WASHINGTON – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says his office is ramping up efforts to fight the explosive increase in online sexual exploitation of children.

Highlighting the severity of the issue, Mayorkas noted that last year alone, there were over 36 million reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation and abuse − up from 32 million in 2022.

By comparison, there were one million such reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2014, long before nearly 95% of teenagers between 13 and 17 reported using social media.

In exclusive interviews, Mayorkas − and multiple DHS officials, from a front-line agent in Tennessee to a top transnational organized crime-fighting supervisor − provided USA TODAY with shocking details of crimes currently being committed against kids: Livestreamed sexual assaults and even rapes of toddlers. Predators grooming unsuspecting children on popular online gaming sites. Would-be molesters targeting their underage prey on social media and using geolocation apps to show up in person at their schools to meet them.

Some of the crimes are so violent and so troubling, Mayorkas said, that, “I don't think I should get into the specifics. Let me just say that it is beyond most people's imagination.”

Called Know2Protect, partners federal investigators with nonprofit organizations, private sector companies and state and local law enforcement agencies. NCMEC and its CyberTip Report hotline − 1-800-843-5678 − are also involved. Other founding partners include online gaming companies like Roblox and social media giants like Snapchat.

>too little too late

>impeach