Author: Darnell Thompkins

President Trump’s legal team wired $5,625,005.48 to E. Jean Carroll after a judge ordered payment, a move that resolves one court order while a much larger appeal and lingering questions about fairness and process remain. The wire of $5,625,005.48 covered the original $5 million jury award from 2023 plus accrued interest, and the money landed in Carroll’s account last Thursday, with the court record appearing publicly on Tuesday. That transfer closes a discrete financial step but doesn’t end the broader legal fight playing out across multiple courts. Trump is still appealing a separate $83.3 million verdict, so this payout feels…

Senate consideration of Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton has turned political after he declined to state during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that Joseph R. Biden won the 2020 election, leaving his path to confirmation likely split along party lines. The exchange at the hearing sharpened partisan lines and made clear that this nomination will be tested in a politically charged atmosphere rather than on routine qualifications. Republicans argue the focus shifted away from national security credentials and toward political litmus tests, while Democrats portrayed the refusal as troubling. That dynamic now appears likely to force a party-line…

Catholic Nuns Battle in Court to Serve the Poor and Keep the Faith — a legal fight over conscience, care, and who gets to set the rules for religious charities. The story of Catholic Nuns Battle in Court to Serve the Poor and Keep the Faith is about more than one order of sisters; it’s a test of whether faith-based charities can operate by their beliefs while delivering real help to vulnerable people. Courts and state officials are pushing rules that force religious ministries to choose between violating conscience or closing programs that serve the needy. The dispute raises big…

This piece argues that models billed as “economic democracy” clash with core capitalist principles, and it walks through why that matters for incentives, growth, and liberty. Start with a simple point: capitalism rests on private property, risk, and clear price signals that reward innovation and efficiency. When you tinker with those mechanisms by insisting on collective control or mandated worker ownership, you change the incentives that drive investment and productivity. That collision between theory and practice explains why many proposals for economic democracy stumble when faced with real markets. A common claim in academic circles is blunt and worth quoting…

The 2nd Circuit reversed a pretrial dismissal and ordered that parents suing over prenatal Tylenol exposure get to present expert witnesses to juries, finding a district judge improperly excluded testimony by weighing scientific disputes rather than policing methodology. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has undone a lower court’s dismissal of hundreds of lawsuits brought by parents who say their children developed autism or ADHD after prenatal exposure to acetaminophen. The panel concluded that U.S. District Judge Denise Cote went beyond the judge’s gatekeeping role by effectively judging the science instead of assessing whether…

Three weeks before he is scheduled to be sworn into office, Colombia’s Vice President-elect Jose Manuel Restrepo said Tuesday that his nation hopes to turn around its fortunes by freeing up its economy. Jose Manuel Restrepo arrives in office with a clear message: loosen the chokehold of excessive regulation and let markets breathe. He told reporters this shift is meant to jump-start growth, attract investment, and create jobs for ordinary Colombians. The timing is tight, with little margin for political hesitancy as the administration prepares to take power. The plan Restrepo sketches is familiar to conservatives who trust private enterprise…

President Trump announced a change in plans, saying he would not move forward with a proposed 20% toll on foreign vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and the shift touches on strategy, economics, and international messaging. President Trump said Tuesday he is backing off his plan to charge a 20% toll on foreign ships using the Strait of Hormuz. The declaration surprised some allies and critics, and it immediately triggered questions about what this pause means for America’s posture in the region. From a Republican perspective, the move feels like a pause to reassess tactics rather than a retreat from…

A federal appeals panel has blocked the higher education piece of Florida’s Stop WOKE Act in a 2-1 decision, finding the statute runs into First Amendment problems while Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back publicly. The ruling, written by Judge Britt Grant of the Eleventh Circuit, came in lawsuits brought by professors, students, and a student group and landed on one of Florida’s most visible culture-war efforts. The court’s opinion targeted the law’s restrictions on classroom speech and found them unconstitutional. That opinion came from a judge appointed by President Trump and cut directly into the governor’s signature education policy. Professor…

Senators from both parties are pushing to revive a long-stalled Russia sanctions bill first championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, aiming to tighten pressure on Moscow and hold key actors accountable. Republican and Democratic senators are quietly lining up to move a sanctions package that had been stalled for months, carrying forward the work Lindsey Graham began before his death. The effort reflects frustration with the slow pace of economic measures and a desire to deliver clear consequences for continued aggression. Supporters say the bill is a pragmatic step to increase leverage without widening military commitments. From a Republican…

FBI Director Kash Patel publicly denied a media report that he abruptly canceled a trip to Chicago after being called to the White House, and the FBI and White House pushed back with strong denials and on-the-record statements. The disagreement hinges on why Patel was in Washington and why the Chicago travel plans ended, with anonymous reporting on one side and named denials on the other. Kash Patel took to social media to call an MSNBC story false and to promise more information soon, and the FBI’s rapid-response account amplified that denial sharply. The network reported unnamed sources saying Patel…