Fox in the Courthouse: The Delaware judge sitting on the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News yesterday blasted Fox lawyers, saying he would sanction the company and launch an investigation into their failures to tell the truth, particularly about the role of Fox founder Rupert Murdoch.

  “I need people to tell me the truth,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis warned Fox lawyers. “And, by the way, omission is a lie.” 

  He said Fox is guilty of “discovery misconduct.” In civil trials, unlike criminal, everyone must reveal the facts, what’s known as “discovery,” before right and wrong is determined.

  The lawyers failed to admit that Murdoch is a chairman of Fox News, as well as of the larger corporation, which would have resulted in Dominion gaining access to more of Murdoch’s internal communications. Davis said Fox lawyers told him several times that Murdoch was not an executive of the news network, even though he has been listed as such in SEC filings since 2019.

  It looks bad for Fox, but they’re still going to trial next Monday in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit that claims Fox knowingly and repeatedly aired false claims that Dominion was part of a scheme to steer 2020 votes away from Donald Trump. Judge Davis has ruled that when jury selection gets under way today, Dominion’s lawyers will be allowed to ask prospective panelists whether they are fans of such Trumpworld characters as MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, and lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani.

The Pill: A federal appeals court yesterday temporarilyblockedthe decision by a judge in Texas to suspend FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone.  The decision maintains mifepristone’s availability for now, but the appeals judges let stand a portion of the Texas ruling that said the Food and Drug Administration wrongly expanded access to the drug.

  The court said too much time has passed to allow a challenge to the initial approval of mifepristone 23 years ago, but left in place parts of the ruling that targeted the loosening of restrictions by the FDA in recent years. The FDA in 2016 allowed the drug to be used through 10 weeks of pregnancy rather than the initial seven. They also decided to allow mifepristone to be sold by retail pharmacies.

Revolving Door: The second of two Black Democrats expelled from the Tennessee legislature last week was voted a temporary appointment  back to his seat in the House. Officials on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners said they had received thousands of emails and calls pleading with them to appoint Justin Pearson, and they did.

  Pearson and Justin Jones were expelled for demonstrating in favor of gun control on the house floor after the Covenant school shooting. Pearson said after yesterday’s vote, “You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel justice.”

  Pearson and Jones must now run in special elections and win to serve out their original terms. 

Econ 101: Inflation moderated significantly in March with lower gas prices helping to produce the slowest monthly rate of inflation in nearly two years.

  Inflation was 5 percent last month, 5.6 percent in February, possibly proving that Federal Reserve’s interest rates hikes are cooling the economy. The Fed has been raising interest rates for a year, but inflation is still a problem.

Trumpty Dumpty: Donald Trump has sued his former lawyer Michael Cohen for half a billion dollars, claiming breach of contract and making false statements. Cohen admitted breaking the law on Trump’s behalf and did jail time for it.

  The lawsuit, filed in a Florida federal court, accuses Cohen of making “improper, self-serving, and malicious statements about his former client, his family members, and his business”.

  Cohen is a key witness in the criminal case against Trump in Manhattan.

It’s Political: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the most prominent Black leader in the Republican Party, announced he has established an exploratory committee for a 2024 presidential run. He said on Fox News, “I have found that people are starving for hope. They’re starving for an optimistic, positive message that is anchored in conservative values.” 

The War Room: Two gruesome videos have emerged on pro-Russian social media that appear to show Russian soldiers beheading Ukrainian soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed those involved would be held accountable. 

The Spin Rack: The mountains of California got so much snow this winter that flood danger will linger for the remainder of the year as it melts, forecasters say. On the other hand, they’ll be skiing at Mammoth in July. — National Public Radio removed itself from Twitter after Elon Musk’s social media platform labelled NPR on its page as “government funded.” An NPR statement said, “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence.” — Disneyland’s popular Splash Mountain log flume ride based on what is now recognized as the  dated and racist 1946 movie “Song of the South,” will offer its last plunge through the briar patch on May 30^th. The ride will re-open next year as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, based on the animation “The Princess and the Frog” with Disney’s  first Black princess.

Below the Fold: Donald Trump told Fox News host Tucker Carlson about his indictment. “When I went to the courthouse, which is also a prison in a sense, they signed me in, and I’ll tell you, people were crying,” Trump told Carlson. “People that work there, professionally work there, that have no problems putting in murderers, and they see everybody. It’s a tough, tough place, and they were crying. They were actually crying. They said, ‘I’m sorry.’ They said, ‘2024, sir. 2024.’ And tears were pouring down their eyes.”

  Now, were they crying because he was indicted, or because he’s running?

  Or — could it be — no — could it be that he made that up?