Trump lashes out against New York judge who will hear his criminal case  —  New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan also presided over prosecutions of the Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg  —  Former president Donald Trump is quite familiar with New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan …

Fox News Suffers Major Setback in Its Defamation Case  —  The judge said the case would still need to proceed to trial, for a jury to weigh whether Fox News spread false claims about Dominion Voting Systems, and to determine any damages.  —  Fox News suffered a significant setback on Friday …

Scoop: White House won't pay for Twitter verification  —  The White House will not pay to have its staff's official Twitter profiles continue to be verified, according to guidance issued to staffers via an email obtained by Axios. … Verification, combined with the designated Twitter profiles …

The Unimaginable Horror of a Friend's Arrest in Moscow  —  It's painful and surreal to write these words: Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, is being held by Russian authorities on espionage charges.  —  On Wednesday, the Russian state security service, the F.S.B., arrested my friend Evan.

Social Media Influencer Douglass Mackey Convicted of Election Interference in 2016 Presidential Race  —  For Immediate Release  —  U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York  —  Defendant Attempted to Suppress Vote Through Social Media Disinformation Campaign

More Twitter chaos on the way  —  Blue checks that we've come to associate with authenticity, trustworthiness and prominence on Twitter are set to disappear tomorrow from accounts that won't pay for the badges. … - For the past 14 of Twitter's 17 years of existence, the badge has served as a sieve …

Fetterman Checks Out of Hospital After Treatment for Depression  —  In a statement, he announced his departure from Walter Reed Military Medical Center and urged those suffering from mental health challenges to seek help as he did.  —  WASHINGTON — Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania …

Tensions Flare Inside NPR After Staff Layoffs and Town Halls  —  Welcome back to Thursday and to Soundbite.  This week we're looking at the scene inside NPR since the organization's layoffs last week.  As always, if you have something to share, reach me through email, and if you haven't yet subscribed …

Manhattan DA unleashes on Jim Jordan with stern warning: You may not ‘interfere’ with Trump prosecution  —  After a Manhattan grand jury indicted Donald Trump late Thursday afternoon on reportedly 34 felony charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took one more step to preserve the rule of law …

Why are Americans dying so young?  —  US life expectancy is in freefall as the young and the poor bear the brunt of struggles for shared prosperity  —  I'm not sure people on my side of the Atlantic fully appreciate quite how much better off the average American is than the average European.

GOP Strategist and Epstein Fanboy Convicted of Teen Sex Trafficking  —  Anton Lazzaro, a Ferrari-driving operative who boasted of his connections to Trump, sexually abused high school girls who he plied with alcohol, prosecutors said.  —  Anton Lazzaro, a wannabe playboy on Instagram who used …

Google Co-Founder, Other Billionaires Are Issued Subpoenas in Lawsuit Over JPMorgan's Ties to Jeffrey Epstein  —  Sergey Brin, Thomas Pritzker, Mortimer Zuckerman and Michael Ovitz are asked for information in U.S. Virgin Islands' civil suit against bank  —  The U.S. Virgin Islands issued subpoenas …

'Thousands of Dollars for Something I Didn't Do'  —  Because of a bad facial recognition match and other hidden technology, Randal Reid spent nearly a week in jail, falsely accused of stealing purses in a state he said he had never even visited.  —  On the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving …