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Federal grand jury subpoenas firm that merged with Trump social network

The firm that merged with former President Trump’s social media company received federal grand jury subpoenas last week, the company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing Monday.

A grand jury in the Southern District of New York issued subpoenas to each member of the board of directors of the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that merged with the Trump Media and Technology Group. 

The latest subpoenas add to growing scrutiny of the deal. Federal regulators launched investigations into the merger between Trump’s company and Digital World Acquisition Corp, the SPAC, in December, just weeks after the merger was announced.

The new subpoenas seek some of the same documents as federal regulators, as well as requests for communications with or about “multiple individuals,” and information about Rocket One Capital, a Miami-based venture capital firm, according to Monday’s filing. 

Trump Media and Technology Group said in a statement it will cooperate with the investigation. 

“TMTG is focused on reclaiming the American people’s right to free expression,” it said. “Every day, our team works tirelessly to sustain Truth Social’s rapid growth, onboard new users, and add new features. We encourage-and will cooperate with-oversight that supports the SEC’s important mission of protecting retail investors.”

The development risks further delaying the merger’s completion. 

The investigation from the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is seeking information about events that took place before the public announcement.

SPACs, also known as blank check companies, are formed to raise capital through an initial public offering for the purpose of acquiring or merging with a company. But they are not supposed to have an acquisition target in mind as they raise money from investors. 

Trump launched his tech company, and its associated social media app Truth Social, after leaving office. The launch also followed his suspensions from Twitter and Facebook after the companies found he violated their policies over his tweets about the riot at the Capital on Jan. 6, 2021. 

The platform seeks to attract right-wing users and brands itself as a pro-free speech space with limited content moderation, but it has failed to gain significant momentum and traction since launching.

Source: TEST FEED1

Supreme Court sides with doctors convicted of over-prescribing pain medications

The Supreme Court on Monday sided with two doctors challenging their convictions on drug distribution charges for over-prescribing opioid medications in a decision that could make it harder for federal prosecutors to prove such cases against licensed physicians.

The court was unanimous in ruling for the two doctors but split 6-3 on narrower legal issues in the decision. The justices stopped short of overturning the convictions, instead sending them back to the lower courts to reexamine the legal challenge in light of Monday’s decision.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the decision for the majority, ruling that in cases where someone who is authorized to prescribe medication is being prosecuted under the Controlled Substances Act, prosecutors must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally acted in an unauthorized manner.”

“We normally would not view such dispensations as inherently illegitimate; we expect, and indeed usually want, doctors to prescribe the medications that their patients need,” Breyer wrote. “In §841 prosecutions, then, it is the fact that the doctor issued an unauthorized prescription that renders his or her conduct wrongful, not the fact of the dispensation itself. In other words, authorization plays a ‘crucial’ role in separating innocent conduct—and, in the case of doctors, socially beneficial conduct—from wrongful conduct.”

Breyer was joined in the opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts as well as Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Prosecutors alleged that the two doctors — Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn, who were tried separately — ran lucrative “pill mills,” flooding their patients with prescriptions for fentanyl and other serious pain management medications.

Ruan and Khan were convicted by juries and each received sentences of more than 20 years in prison. They challenged their convictions, arguing that the instructions the juries received risked criminalizing standard medical and prescription practices.

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On the lawn: Biden turns focus to international relations

President Biden is focusing on international relations this week, following a busy weekend in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the president signing into law the most far-reaching legislation on gun safety in nearly 30 years.

The president is in Germany for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit and on Tuesday he will head to Spain for the NATO summit, where leaders are expected to focus on the security alliance projecting its unity and coordination amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Meetings will also include discussions over Finland and Sweden’s membership bids to join NATO and the opposition from Turkey, along with endorsing a new strategic concept to explicitly address challenges posed by China.

Biden will return on Thursday to Washington after finishing up his visit in Europe, which will also include meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe.

Watch the video above for more.

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Mayra Flores says Pelosi 'pushed' daughter during photo op

Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), who recently flipped Texas’s 34th Congressional District red, says that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pushed her daughter during the new congresswoman’s swearing-in ceremony last week.

“I am so proud of my strong, beautiful daughter for not allowing this to faze her,” Flores tweeted, sharing a video of the moment.

“She continued to smile and pose for the picture like a queen,” Flores wrote. “No child should be pushed to the side for a photo op. PERIOD!!”

Flores was elected to the seat in a special election earlier this month after Rep. Filemon Vela (D) resigned from Congress in March, eroding Democrats’ already razor-thin majority. Flores is the country’s first Mexican-born woman to be sworn in to Congress.

“It’s sad to see ‘news outlets’ that know better misrepresent the Speaker’s effort to ensure Rep. Flores’ daughters wouldn’t be hidden behind her in all of the photos of such an important moment for their family,” Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, tweeted on Monday.

The 34th District had traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, but Flores flipped the seat after garnering 51 percent of the vote compared to her Democratic opponent’s 43.3 percent, according to The New York Times.

She will attempt to retain the seat in the November midterm elections against Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D).

Gonzales, who currently represents the state’s 15th Congressional District, said after redistricting that he would run in the 34th District.

This story was updated at 11:08 a.m.

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Daughter of 'Jane Roe' says mother would be 'devastated' by Roe decision

The eldest daughter of the woman known under the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” who brought Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court in 1973, said that her mother would be “devastated” by Friday’s Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark decision.

Melissa Mills, the daughter of Norma McCorvey, also known as “Jane Roe,” said she was in “disbelief” when news broke of the Courts’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion and handed states authority to drastically limit or ban the procedure.

“I was in disbelief. I was devastated,” Mills said during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day.” “I knew it was coming, but it was just too real that it really happened.”

She added that her mother, who passed away of heart failure at 69 in 2017, would be “devastated” to see that her grandchildren would not have the same rights that she fought for just under 50 years ago.

“My mother would just be devastated, just hard to believe now her grandkids are going to have the same rights as as we’ve had for 50 years,” Mills said.

When asked by host Brianna Keilar what her concerns were as a mother, Mills replied that it was the same concerns her mother worried about.

“Someone telling you what to do with your reproductive rights and someone having their hand on you, telling you when and where and how you need to live your life,” she said.

“As a woman, we have to take care of ourselves and sometimes we have to take care of ourselves in that way, and that should be our decision, nobody else’s. Nobody, especially not a man,” she added.

McCorvey, a working-class mother of two, became pregnant with a third child in Texas and wanted to terminate her pregnancy. However, she could not legally do so under the state’s abortion ban.

Through her legal representation, she was able to take her case to the Supreme Court as an anonymous plaintiff under the alias “Jane Roe.” She gave birth to Mill’s younger sister, Shelley Lynn Thornton, before the final ruling.

Mills said she was proud of her mother for her work, saying she was proud of her for “going through and helping everyone.”

“It wasn’t just herself, she helped all women,” Mills said.

Following the decision, McCorvey became an anti-abortion evangelical Christian and later a Roman Catholic, declaring herself pro-life in the 1990s, according to the Washington Post. 

In the documentary “AKA Jane Roe”, released on FX in 2020, she revealed on her deathbed that she had never fully supported the anti-abortion movement, saying that she “took their money and they put me out in front of the camera and told me what to say.”

Updated: 10:54 a.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Can the US handle the unintended consequences of banning abortion?

We are beginning to recover from the shock of the Supreme Court’s decision last week to eradicate all federal constitutional protections for abortion rights. After all, the plan to overturn Roe v. Wade was long discussed as the major motivation for conservatives to wrest control of the court from Democrats and moderate Republicans.  

Now we need to be prepared for what’s to result as unintended consequences of criminalizing abortion.

The direct harms that result when abortion is banned are well known. Countries worldwide that have banned abortion have seen significant harm to women’s health, including death. Women have abortions later in pregnancy, self-manage abortion in secret, or are forced to carry a pregnancy to term. The negative impacts fall disproportionately on women of color who face structural barriers to health care and a greater risk of being prosecuted and incarcerated. Freestanding clinics are shunned or shuttered, dramatically reducing access to reproductive health care, including contraceptives, tools for prevention of sexually transmitted infections and more.

Furthermore, banning abortion carries with it a host of unintended risks and consequences for anyone who becomes pregnant, whether they seek an abortion or not. Activists in countries where abortion is banned are painfully aware of this reality. The unnecessary death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland in 2012 is one heartbreaking example.

Halappanavar had been 17 weeks into a wanted pregnancy when complications made it clear she would miscarry. Because Irish law banned abortion, while her doctors detected a fetal heartbeat, they delayed proper treatment. Halappanavar’s family’s pleas for a termination were ignored as she deteriorated and ultimately died of sepsis. Public shock at her death was instrumental in removing the abortion ban from Ireland’s constitution in 2018. And yet, sadly, this same situation has been repeated with reports of two pregnant women, Agnieszka T and Izabela, dying from failure to treat miscarriages in Poland this past year.

The laws on abortion in Ireland and Poland each contained a “life-saving” exception, as will many abortion bans in the U.S.  Still these laws fail to protect women’s lives when most needed. Medical professionals know that there is never a clear line to distinguish when treatment is necessary to save someone’s life versus “merely” to preserve their health. And when the threat of criminal prosecution hangs over a physician’s medical judgment, the results can be deadly for women. 

With maternal mortality rates in the U.S. already high, and horrifyingly so for Black women, such tragic deaths are already happening in the nation. More are likely to follow now. Several states with some of the highest maternal mortality rates — Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri and Arkansas — are also those that will ban abortion, throwing fuel on the fire.

Decades ago, I represented a woman with a life-threatening heart condition after her doctors at the Louisiana State University Medical Center had refused to provide her with a life-saving abortion, thankfully the National Abortion Federation raised funds for a private ambulance to transport her to a neighboring state. An LSUMC committee had determined that the patient did not have a greater than 50 percent chance of dying, therefore providing an abortion would violate the state’s ban on public facilities providing abortions. These laws are on a collision course with medical ethics.

Abortion bans cast a shadow over a range of other maternal health care as well. During Ireland’s dark decades of outlawing abortion, prenatal diagnostic testing was “patchy” and generally seen as a waste of resources because the option to terminate was not available. Stories of women with fetal anomalies traveling to England for abortions and having to clandestinely transport fetal remains back to Ireland for burial or genetic testing were not uncommon. How abortion bans governed in vitro fertilization, including the disposal of unused embryos, was not formally addressed and ultimately ended up in the High Court as part of a divorce case nearly two decades later. The fact that few physicians were trained to do surgical removal of tissue from the uterus meant that miscarriage management generally just involved “letting nature take its course.”

There is no reason to believe that women in the U.S. will be spared this litany of horrors. Moreover, our racist criminal justice system will exacerbate the harm to pregnant women of color who come under the spotlight for miscarrying or seeking abortion services.

Dobbs is an alarm bell and a call to action. While we have (for now) lost the federal right to abortion, there is much that can be done. Public support for abortion is high — over 60 percent of Americans believe in the Roe framework, although unfortunately only three of them sit on the Supreme Court. Let’s look to electoral solutions first. Voting season is in high gear now. NARAL Pro-Choice America provides a handy list of candidates for federal and state offices nationwide who are protecting our rights. Click, pick and support these upstanders with your time and dollars. As you do so, however, note that all the recommended candidates are Democrats. Abortion has become a partisan sport and we need to change this.

We do not need to turn every red state to blue, or even codify Roe v. Wade into state law. But we must stop giving Republicans hall passes on abortion and now demand that they join us to protect women and pregnant people from the deadly consequences, whether intended or not, of banning abortion. In some states, it will be a win if we can get bipartisan support for early abortion or exceptions in cases of rape or child sexual abuse, fetal anomaly or to preserve a person’s health and well-being. Ask every candidate whether they can agree at a minimum that nobody should spend a night in jail for trying to self-induce an abortion — #NotOneNight.    

The American Medical Association called the Dobbs decision an attack on best medical practices and acknowledges it as a violation of human rights when the government impedes access to abortion. They have committed to actively protecting physicians and opposing laws that criminalize abortion. It is a step in the right direction and a welcome show of leadership.

We need business, religious and other leaders and elected officials to now join us in calling for protecting the rights and well-being of anyone who is or ever could be pregnant. There’s a lot at stake. 

Julie F. Kay is a human rights lawyer who successfully argued against Ireland’s ban on abortion before the European Court of Human Rights and the co-author of “Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom.”

Editor’s note: This piece was updated on June 27 at 10:36 a.m. to note fundraising by the National Abortion Federation and a High Court case on in-vitro fertilization. 

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More than a third of Americans can work from home full time

Most Americans enjoy some flexibility in their work schedules while more than a third can work entirely from home after the pandemic disrupted traditional workforce practices, according to a survey published on Monday.  

McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey found 58 percent of the workforce has some degree of choice in where they perform their jobs. Thirty-five percent of respondents with remote options said they are allowed to work off-site full time and another 23 percent can work anywhere part time.  

But 13 percent of workers surveyed said they choose to work in the office despite being offered hybrid models.  

The survey also shows most workers with remote options take advantage of the flexibility. Around 87 percent of workers given the option to work from home do so at least three days per week. Some respondents said they work from home five days a week even if their employer offers a slightly modified schedule.  

The online poll, which measured the responses of more than 25,000 U.S. adults, was conducted by Ipsos from March 15 to April 18. 

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. 

Americans desire to work from home is also a theme among recent graduates, as a separate survey shows most are looking for a better work-life balance through hybrid work options from potential employers.  

Graduates participating in a recent survey from BestColleges emphasized that employers set an example for their employees, saying there should be a variety of hybrid and remote working options. 

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How will the Roe v Wade overturn impact Americans' mental health?

In response to the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v Wade, this past weekend the country saw outpourings of condemnation and relief from individuals across the political spectrum. 

The decision, which removed federal protection for the right to an abortion, has sparked a series of warnings from medical and economic experts alike, forecasting the severe mental health toll this reversal might take.

“This ruling ignores not only precedent but science, and will exacerbate the mental health crisis America is already experiencing,” said American Psychological Association (APA) president Frank C. Worrell in a statement.

Americans’ mental health, already in a state of decline prior to COVID-19, took a turn for the worse during the global pandemic. Compounding these trends are a shortage of mental health care providers and the economic barriers some might face when seeking treatment.

In their statement, the APA expressed “deep concern and profound disappointment” about the Supreme Court’s decision, citing decades of research that shows denial of abortion is linked with increased risks of high anxiety levels, low life satisfaction, and decreased self-esteem compared with those who are able to access the service. 

The decision will also have greater impacts on individuals already living in poverty, people of color, those in medically underserved areas, and other marginalized groups experiencing greater socioeconomic disparities.

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Further studies have also shown more barriers to abortion access can lead to increased rates of stress, anxiety and depression for those who aren’t currently pregnant, as they worry about future hurdles they might have to overcome. 

Should an individual chose to seek an abortion down the line, they may face increased societal ridicule or judgement, not to mention distress that may come from seeking a procedure that is criminalized.

“We are setting up a situation where we are deliberately pushing people into a psychological crisis,” Worrell said in an additional statement.

The psychological trauma associated with domestic abuse, rape or incest, can also become magnified if the resulting pregnancy cannot legally be terminated and women are forced to carry their child to term.

Postpartum depression currently affects around one in seven women, and severely impacts a woman’s ability to return to normal function following childbirth. Due to stigma and privacy concerns, nearly half of new mothers may not even report their post-partum depression. As more women must give birth in states where abortion access is limited, it follows that rates of post-partum depression will increase among new mothers. 

Stripping individuals of their rights that were once codified into federal law also fosters feelings of dehumanization while the potential of further rights being put into jeopardy can also heighten the mental health crisis. 

“The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers pledge to work with Congress and state policymakers in an effort to protect access and availability of abortion services,” the three organizations said in a joint statement. 

“We also pledge work to ensure that mental health and medical professionals are not criminalized for doing their jobs in supporting pregnant people in making difficult decisions regarding reproductive health care needs.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Taraji P. Henson at BET Awards says guns 'have more rights' than women

Taraji P. Henson says amid the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, firearms in the United States “have more rights” than women.

“It’s about damn time we talk about the fact that guns have more rights than a woman,” the “Empire” star said as she delivered a monologue Sunday as host of the BET Awards in Los Angeles.

“It’s a sad day in America,” Henson, 51, said.

“A weapon that can take lives has more power than a woman who can give life, if she chooses to,” the “Hidden Figures” actor told the audience.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down a New York state law that made it difficult to obtain a permit to carry a handgun outside the home, marking a major expansion of gun rights.

The following day, the Supreme Court reversed the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which granted a constitutional right to an abortion.

Henson wasn’t the only performer who spoke out against the Roe v. Wade decision at BET’s annual awards ceremony.

Janelle Monáe, one of the night’s presenters, took to the stage to denounce the ruling.

The “Make me Feel” singer praised artists “making art on our own terms, owning our truth and expressing ourselves freely and unapologetically in a world that tries to control and police our bodies, my body, and our decision, my decisions.”

“F–k you, Supreme Court,” Monáe said to cheers, as she raised her middle finger.

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