Charli XCX crashes a college campus in the official trailer for Overcompensating.
Prime Video released the trailer for the upcoming series produced by A24 and Amazon MGM Studios on Tuesday.
Set to Charli XCX's hit song "I Love It," the trailer shows off the college-set ensemble comedy created, written and executive produced by Benito Skinner.
Skinner stars as Benny, a closeted former high school football player and homecoming king who is on a mission to fit in at college at all costs.
"Deeply funny and personal, the show explores the lengths to which we all overcompensate while on the path to finding out who we really are," according to its official synopsis.
Wally Baram, Mary Beth Barone, Adam DiMarco and Rish Shah co-star in the new series, while Connie Britton, KyleMacLachlan, Kaia Gerber and Charli XCX guest star.
Prime Video also announced a new list of additional guest stars for the season, including Lukas Gage, Megan Fox, Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers and James Van Der Beek.
"I'm starting to think I'm better at being in the closet," Benny says in the trailer. Van Der Beek's character then says: "Just remember no matter how much we try to be something that we are not, does not mean that we are that thing."
In addition to guest starring, Charli XCX also serves as the executive music producer on the series. She is featured at the end of the trailer, where she yells at a student: "What the f*** am I f****** doing here?"
The eight-episode first season of Overcompensating premieres on May 15.
AUSTIN – The Austin American-Statesman reports a group of insurgent Texas House Republicans has declared open war on GOP leadership and the lower chamberâs regular order of business, vowing to kill every local and consent calendar for the rest of the legislative session. The extraordinary move will slow down the passage of legislation about a month before the regular session’s end and has some lawmakers fearing a repeat of the 2017 âMotherâs Day Massacre,â when the hardline Freedom Caucus killed more than 100 local and consent bills ahead of a deadline. âYou wonât see another (L&C calendar) for the rest of this Session and weâre not even close to being finished,â state Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, said in a social media post Saturday morning. âBurrowsâ Leadership team has left us no other options than to burn it all down.â
If the local and uncontroversial bills are to survive, they will have to come up one at a time and be discussed on the House floor. And because there are scores of such bills waiting in the queue, such debates could threaten the future of those bills and other far-reaching measures in the five weeks remaining before the 2025 regular session ends June 2. Long-simmering tensions between the conservative bloc of lawmakers and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, exploded Friday when Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park led a maneuver to pop every Democrat-led proposal from the L&C calendar, which is generally reserved for uncontroversial measures, including the naming of roads, that are voted unanimously out of committee. The first to fall was a bipartisan bill targeting white-tailed deer overpopulation. The second, a proposal to let a Native American tribe commission peace officers in Texas. The third would help the state go after motor fuel theft.
LUFKIN â Texas farmers and ranchers may get a new lifeline from state lawmakers.
The Texas House has approved a bill that expands one of the stateâs most successful loan programs for the agriculture industry. That legislation, House Bill 43, is now up for debate in the Senate.
The relief canât come quickly enough, said state Rep. Stan Kitzman, a Pattison Republican and the billâs author.
âWhat House Bill 43 does is it makes funds available to help these producers hang on,â Kitzman said. âIt’s not subsidies like the federal program. It takes an existing program that’s already at the Texas Department of Agriculture â the Young Farmer program â and expands that.â
If approved, the legislation expands options available through the Young Farmer Grant Program and Young Farmer Interest Rate Reduction Program. These programs were created to provide grants or low-interest loans to new farmers between the ages of 18 and 46.
Changes to the interest rate reduction program would be to permit anyone in agriculture, of any age, to apply for loans up to $1 million at an interest rate of 2%. Currently, 18 to 46 year olds can only apply for $500,000 loans at a 5% interest rate.
The age restrictions are also eliminated from the grant program. Under the bill, grantees could receive up to $500,000 while paying a 10% match. Currently, grantees can only receive $20,000 and have to match it 100%. Businesses essential to agriculture, like a cotton gin, would also now be eligible to apply.
The stateâs agricultural industry has faced numerous hardships in recent years, and more uncertainty is on the horizon.
Farmers and ranchers, among the largest economic drivers of the state, lost more than $14 billion to extreme weather events alone during the last three years, according to the Texas Farm Bureau.
The federal government also has not upheld its end as far as support for agriculture as farmers have come to expect, Kitzman said. For instance, Congress has failed to update the nationâs farming laws, which were set to expire last year. Only in a last-minute deal did they extend the status quo. Now there is worry about the lasting impact of President Donald Trumpâs trade war.
In a state that took the reins on border security and water, Kitzman doesnât see why Texas canât do the same for farmers.
âIf the feds can’t take care of their business then maybe the state is going to have to show a little more initiative,â he said.
While the bill expands the program to service more than just younger farmers, Kitzman doesnât want it to completely hedge them out, he said. An entire generation of farmers is preparing to retire without anyone to take their place and the Young Farmers program was originally designed to address that.
But the problem is much larger than just succession planning. Between 2017 and 2022, nearly every state in the union lost farms, but Texas led the way with nearly 18,000 farm operations going under, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Dozens of East Texas counties, for example, watched as thousands of farms disappeared.
Kitzman is worried about what will happen to the country if the U.S. has to import more of its food from other countries.
âFood security is national security. These people are protecting America by growing our food,â he said. âWhen other people control your food supply, you’re in a perilous place. History just shows that, over and over and over.â
Rodney Schronk is a fifth-generation farmer whose son is getting ready to step up to the plate after graduating from Texas A&M University. Their family has grown cotton, corn, wheat, grain, sorghum and even the occasional sunflower on their land. But this has grown more and more difficult as time has passed and the agricultural environment changes.
âAgriculture in Texas is under direct attack,â Schronk said. âSolar farms, commercial development and housing projects are destroying agriculture in Texas in a very large way.â
Rather than helpful, he sees most moves by the Texas government as harmful to agriculture and worries about how that will impact his son as he prepares to take the helm. But HB 43 was refreshing to see, he said.
The Young Farmers program was good to begin with, but Schronk sees nothing but good to come from expanding eligibility to include their partners in business.
âWe need cotton gins,â Schronk said. âWe need warehouses to store our cotton. We need exporters that will ship our cotton and get it overseas to the markets. If we don’t keep those in business, I can’t grow cotton.â
Several agriculture-based organizations and lobbyists have signaled support for the legislation. The Texas Farm Bureau, for example, considers HB 43 as a way to significantly improve the Young Farmer programs, according to spokesperson Gary Joiner.
However, a House Research Organization bill analysis listed some concerns with the bill. It said unnamed critics believe the bill could:
* Compromise business competition in the state
* Require the state to provide significant funds to farmers who havenât adjusted their business models
* Potentially harm the young farmers the program was originally designed to help
HB 43 passed the House 132-16 on April 23. It was sent to the Senate where it was referred to the Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs committee, chaired by Sen. Charles Perry, on April 24. The committee met on Monday, but did not discuss it.
Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.
TEXAS – Bloomberg is reporting that a widely followed measure of Texas manufacturing activity weakened significantly as executives used words like âchaosâ and âinsanityâ to describe the turmoil spurred by President Donald Trumpâs tariffs, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. A general gauge of business activity plunged to its worst reading since May 2020 based on recent survey responses from 87 Texas manufacturers, the Dallas Fed said Monday. While responses indicated modest current growth in production, company outlooks fell to a post-pandemic low as respondents pointed to frazzled supply lines and difficulty in forecasting. Survey indexes tracking the prices of raw materials and finished goods came in well above average, and almost 60% of respondents said higher tariffs would negatively impact their business this year.
Even as a majority of companies said they would pass higher costs onto customers, some 38% said itâs becoming harder or much harder to do so. US prices have increased more than 20% in the past four years, increasing concern that consumers may be fatigued, or have less spending power, to tolerate another ramp up in inflation. âThe tariff issue is a mess, and we are now starting to see vendors passing along increases, which we will have to in turn pass along to our customers,â a respondent in the printing industry told the Dallas Fed. Another in food manufacturing said âtariffs and tariff uncertainty are wreaking havoc on our supply lines and capital spending plans.â An executive in electronics manufacturing said, âWe have already had to turn around and refuse shipments because customers cannot afford the tariffs, delaying our ability to build, which will eventually lead to job losses.â Even companies with domestic inputs felt pressure because of a reduction in demand, one survey respondent said. Texas accounts for about 10% of total US manufacturing. One executive in the solidly Republican state told the Dallas Fed that âwe believe the direction the current administration is leading our country is on target, but the pain to get there may be longer and more intense than originally anticipated.â
(WASHINGTON) -- On the campaign trail, and in the weeks leading up to his return to the White House, President Donald Trump vowed to hit the ground running -- what experts describe as a "flood the zone" strategy to push forward on his conservative and controversial policies.
The pace has meant an often unprecedented first 100 days in office: "Trump speed," the White House calls it.
Earlier this month, he told Republican lawmakers at a party dinner: "We're setting records right now. We're getting more things approved than any president has ever done in the first 100 days. It's not even close. I had somebody say the most successful month -- first month in the history. Now they said the most successful 100 days in the history of our country."
How he's done so, legal experts told ABC News, will have a long-lasting impact on the presidency and the federal government.
His main strategy has been to sign executive orders almost daily, including ones that challenge Congress' power to fund and oversee federal agencies and programs, while others relentlessly test the limits of immigration enforcement.
Other presidents on both sides of the aisle have tried to flex their executive muscle, such as President Joe Biden's EO to require 50% of cars and light trucks sold to be zero-emission electric vehicles by 2030, according to Tabitha Bonilla, research assistant professor at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.
"Every president over the last few decades have been trying to add more power to the executive branch and forward their agenda," Bonilla told ABC News. "Trump is taking that to the extreme."
As an example, experts cited Trump using legal and financial threats to punish universities and law firms for alleged political opposition and failure to "align" with his agenda, as well as his wholesale firings of top career officials, replacing them with loyalists.
James Sample, a constitutional law expert at Hofstra University, said that Trump's playbook appears to be straight out of Project 2025, a blueprint for "taking the reins of the federal government" prepared for years by Trump's most conservative allies in anticipation of his comeback -- although Trump claimed to never have read it.
Trump and his supporters said his actions are justified because unelected bureaucrats and judges, they claim, had seized control from presidents -- the one person elected nationwide, they argue, and granted total executive power by the Constitution.
Regardless, Sample said, the tactic should raise a red flag.
"The purpose of a blitzkrieg is to overwhelm the opposition," he said.
While Trump's tactics have been met with little to no protest from the Republican lawmakers who control the House and Senate, the judicial branch has often been ready to stem the flood through rulings and injunctions in dozens of court cases.
Still, experts told ABC News, that even if all of Trump's moves are blocked or even reversed, they have done both serious short-term and long-term damage.
"It's all about implanting the narrative," Bonilla said. "Trump's policies and rhetoric have pushed everything to the right and hurt our strength on the global scale."
Floodgates opened
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20, he has issued more than 140 executive orders on various policies as of Monday, shattering records and upending widely held interpretations of federal law and the Constitution.
President Joe Biden, by comparison, issued 162 EOs in his entire term, and Trump issued more than 30 executive orders during the first 100 days of his first term, according to historical records.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Fox News in March that in this second term, the Trump team knew it needed to act fast, citing the midterm elections in November 2026 that could change the congressional map.
"This 18 months is our time frame. One hundred days, certainly six months into the year, and 18 months, are sort of our benchmarks," she said.
The "flood the zone" goal has been long-touted by Trump's allies.
His former White House political adviser Steve Bannon appeared to coin the idea during Trump's first term. After Trump left office, conservative activists and Trump loyalists crafted a proposed battle plan for a second term.
In a 2023 speech, Russell Vought, a chief architect of Project 2025 and now Trump's current director of the Office of Management and Budget, laid out one strategy at his Center for Renewing America, a pro-Trump Washington think tank.
"I want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected because they are increasingly viewed as villains. We want to put them in trauma," he said in a speech reported by ProPublica.
Video of his making that speech was brought up during Vought's confirmation hearings earlier this year but he repeatedly avoiding answering questions about his provocative rhetoric and plans.
Many of Trump's EOs have dealt with Elon Musk's brainchild -- the Department of Government Efficiency, which has slashed agency budgets and tens of thousands of federal employees throughout the country, while others have pushed forward the president's crackdown on immigration, such as the end to birthright citizenship and deporting migrants as alleged foreign invaders under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Bernadette Meyler, the Carl and Sheila Spaeth professor of law at Stanford Law School, told ABC News that executive orders have always been a tool presidents have used to set their agenda, even if just symbolically.
"It is an effective tactic. It's difficult even for courts to react rapidly," Meyler said.
Conservative groups have long advocated for a federal government shakeup and agued that the president needed more power to make the country more efficient.
"What he's doing is kickstarting what will ultimately be our legislative agenda," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in January after Trump's first round of executive orders.
The Heritage Foundation, the far right think tank that helped to produce Project 2025, has contended that Trump's efforts are essential and fast action can make the government more efficient.
Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, and Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow at the think tank, referenced this idea in a statement last month after Trump issued an executive order for a drastic reduction in force for the Department of Education.
"Reducing the bloated bureaucracy will give state and local education officials more decision-making authority," they said.
War of words, resistance to courts
Legal experts said another effective aspect of the "flood the zone" tactic was Trump's multiple media appearances and photo ops, where he continues to make controversial and provocative claims.
Meyler contends Trump's war of words is part of a deeper tactic to undermine the public's trust in the federal government.
She noted even with courts issuing injunctions, Trump's statements and resistance to judge's orders with aggressive appeals has still moved the needle more toward the right.
"It can seem he is doing a lot even without of lot of judicial action," Meyler said.
How much steam is left?
Trump and his allies have been adamant that they will stick to their plans to reassert the powers of the executive branch long after the first 100 days are up and are vowing to take all of their cases up to the Supreme Court if necessary.
As of Sunday, there have been 217 court cases against the second Trump administration, according to an ABC News accounting, and a large majority of those have led to temporary restraining orders, reversals and, in some cases, full-on blocks of Trump's agenda.
"In the first Trump administration, we saw a lot of executive actions in the beginning and then saw it slow down," Bonilla said. "We will be living in the space of a lot happening all at once for a while, but at some point, there is going to be a moment where there is so much that [the executive branch] can't keep up."
Meyler agreed but added that Trump, the Project 2025 architects and their allies have stated that they are willing to work with Congress to get their agenda passed through legislative channels.
"That might secure his policies, and slow things down, and avoid the courts," she said.
That pivot will meet more resistance, especially as we approach the midterms, according to Meyler.
"It's easier for some than others because of various practical matters, but there is a tipping point," she said. "People are already protesting and Trump's public ratings are dipping."
Still, future presidents will likely emulate the "flood the zone" tactic in their first weeks, according to Meyler.
"Over the long course of presidential history, there is rarely a retraction of presidential power," she said.
(LONDON) -- A professional hockey player who was arrested in connection with the 2023 on-ice death of former NHL player Adam Johnson will not face charges, British prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Johnson, 29, was killed during an October 2023 game between two British professional teams, the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers. Johnson, who was playing for the Panthers, suffered a fatal neck injury when he was slashed by a skate during the game.
A Steelers player was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter a month later in the incident. Following a "thorough" police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday it has decided not to bring criminal charges against the player.
âThis was a shocking and deeply upsetting incident," Michael Quinn, deputy chief crown prosecutor, said in a statement.
âFollowing a thorough police investigation and a comprehensive review of all the evidence by the CPS, we have concluded that there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence and so there will not be a prosecution," the statement continued. "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Adam Johnson.â
Prosecutors did not identify the hockey player who was arrested in the case.
The individual has been released from police bail following the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to bring charges, the South Yorkshire Police said Tuesday.
South Yorkshire Police Detective Chief Inspector Benjamin Wood said authorities "have worked tirelessly to fully investigate the unprecedented circumstances that took place," calling the investigation a "complex," "extensive" inquiry that involved reviewing footage, interviewing witnesses and consulting with experts from North America.
âWhile our investigation has now concluded, our thoughts remain wholeheartedly with Adam's family, and everyone who has been affected by this devastating tragedy," Wood said in a statement.
The Panthers, who play in England's Elite Ice Hockey League, called Johnson's death a "freak accident" at the time.
In response to his death, the English Ice Hockey Association, which governs the league, required that all players wear neck guards while on the ice.
Johnson, a native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, who played for the University of Minnesota, was in his first season with the Panthers.
The center previously played 13 games in 2019 and 2020 for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins -- mostly spending time with the team's minor league affiliate -- and also spent time in the Swedish and German hockey leagues before signing with the Panthers prior to the 2023 season.
ABC News' Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) -- Four individuals are at large after posing as police officers and robbing a deli in New York City, officials said.
On Sunday at approximately 8:14 a.m., police responded to a 911 call of a commercial burglary at a deli in Brooklyn, the NYPD said in a statement provided to ABC News.
When officers arrived on the scene, they were informed "four unidentified individuals had entered a commercial establishment, displayed a firearm and forced a 48-year-old male, a 68-year-old male and a 40-year-old male to the ground," police said.
The robbery, which was captured on surveillance footage, shows the suspects wearing NYPD jackets and zip-tying the victims.
The individuals fled the scene with a bag of "unknown property" in a dark-colored van in an unknown direction, police said.
Police said there have been no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing. The individuals were described as males with dark complexions, last seen wearing dark-colored clothing, officials said.
Kaz Daughtry, the deputy mayor of New York City Public Safety, told New York ABC station WABC he briefed Mayor Eric Adams on the status of the investigation Tuesday morning.
"This is extremely concerning," Daughtry said. "We are happy that we are in a good place and bringing these individuals to justice very soon."
There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident, police said.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the United Bodegas of America urged New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to provide $5 million to increase security efforts at bodegas and place a panic button at each establishment.
"If we had what we had been looking for and asking for the last two or three years, we could have prevented this and we could have had these guys arrested. Enough is enough," Mateo said on Tuesday.
Mateo said bodega owners "cannot and will not" allow for these incidents to continue.
"This week we have had numerous incidents, but this one put the frosting on the cake," Mateo said.
The organization has previously urged the NYPD and local officials for this increased security. Earlier this month, Mateo said the panic buttons would "give the bodega owner a sense of security."
"These bodegas are community centers. They are places where people come not only to buy food, they come to socialize, to talk. We need the panic button to become law," Mateo said on April 18.
The United Bodegas of America is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the robbery.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson steps back into the ring in the official trailer for The Smashing Machine.
A24 released the trailer for Benny Safdie's upcoming biopic on Tuesday. Johnson stars as two-time UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr in the sports biopic that tells the story of the legendary mixed martial artist and fighter. The trailer shows off how the former-wrestler-turned-actor wears a wig and prosthetic makeup in the film to fully transform into Kerr.
This movie marks Safdie's solo directorial feature debut from a script he wrote. He previously co-directed and wrote the films Uncut Gems and Good Time.
"Winning is the best feeling there is. It's 40,000 people in there cheering you on," Johnson's Mark says in the trailer. "There's no other high like it in the world."
Emily Blunt costars as Kerr's wife, Dawn Staples. This film marks the duo's second collaboration after the 2021 film JungleCruise. Johnson and Blunt are also set to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in an upcoming Hawaiian crime thriller to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Kerr fought from the years 1997 to 2009. He won four ADCC World Championships over the course of his career. His life was the subject of a 2002 HBO documentary, which was also titled The Smashing Machine, in reference to Kerr's nickname.
Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten and Oleksandr Usyk also star in the upcoming film.
The Smashing Machine smashes into theaters on Oct. 3.
TITUS COUNTY – Our news partner, KETK, reports that a Titus County man was arrested for child grooming on Thursday after admitting to sexually touching a minor.
According to an arrest affidavit from Titus County, Juan Pablo Malpica Hernandez was arrested for child grooming. On April 23, an officer talked to the minorâs mother, who claimed that Hernandez touched her daughterâs private parts. The minor told her mother that Hernandez made inappropriate comments towards her, showed her naked pictures of himself, and touched her at a church in March.
During an interview with officials, Hernandez allegedly said the minor touched him with her feet and hands under a table two separate times. Hernandez also said the minor made an unknown comment towards him, which made him feel the need to show the minor a picture of himself, officials said.
Hernandez is currently in custody and placed on a $500,000 bond, according to jail records.
Do you feel you need something extra for your online shopping kit? Go get David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called Whatnot. You can download Whatnot in the Apple Store and Google Play below.
TYLER – According to our news partner, KETK, a UT Tyler School of Nursing professor and a Tyler fitness center have collaborated for more than five years to host weekly rock-steady boxing classes to improve the physical and mental health of people with Parkinsonâs.
In honor of April being Parkinsonâs Awareness Month, KETK News visited with UT Tyler Nursing School Professor, Dr. Melinda Hermanns and Owner of Tyler Kung Fu & Fitness, Brandon Jones, who created a rock-steady boxing class for people with Parkinsonâs to help them find a community and improve their quality of life.
The rock-steady boxing class is offered multiple times of week for people to connect with others with Parkinsonâs or similar diseases, and complete a wide range of interactive workouts with Coach Jones. Two different levels of classes are offered, and each meets with people where theyâre at, regardless of their mental and physical abilities. Continue reading A workout program to help East Texans with Parkinsonâs disease
(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump, upon his return to the White House, appears to have quickly turned one of his more ominous campaign promises into reality.
Among his first acts after being sworn in inside the Capitol Rotunda was to strip the security clearances from 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter during the 2024 campaign describing a news story abut the public release of emails from Hunter Biden's laptop as potentially part of a Russian disinformation operation.
In the days that followed, he removed protective details for former officials who received threats over their work, including retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others. Trump's reasoning at the time was, "You can't have a security detail for the rest of your life."
Trump told supporters at his first 2024 rally, back in March 2023: "I am your retribution."
Now, 100 days into his second term, his list of targets appears to be growing. And much of the action is aligned with his own political interests.
"He's really taking it to the next level," said Nick Akerman, a former federal prosecutor who helped investigate President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
Some predictable Trump targets have included former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose access to classified information he revoked. (While it is the norm for former presidents to receive briefings, the move against Biden came after Biden stripped Trump of having access to them in 2021, citing his "erratic behavior.")
Trump's list of his critics who he said should no longer have access to classified material also included Hillary Clinton, his 2016 opponent; former Republican Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who investigated his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack; New York Attorney General Letitia James, who prosecuted his company for fraud; and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who led the hush money case against Trump that resulted in the first-ever criminal conviction of a former president.
Trump also signed executive orders against some of the nation's top law firms.
Perkins Coie, which represented Clinton's 2016 campaign, was the subject of an order mandating its lawyers have their security clearances stripped. The executive action also sought to terminate any government contracts that might exist with the firm or other entities that it represents, bar agencies from hiring employees of Perkins Coie and prohibit the firm's staff from accessing government buildings.
Trump also took aim at WilmerHale, which has ties to former special counsel Robert Mueller, with an order alleging it engages in "conduct detrimental to critical American interests" in its pro-bono work. Trump ordered his administration to suspend the security clearances of WilmerHale employees and also requires government contractors to disclose any business they do with the law firm.
Richard Painter, who served as a White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, criticized Trump's attacks on law firms as an affront to the rule of law.
"The executive orders against law firms are a fundamental infringement on the right to counsel and the right of lawyers to represent clients of their choice without retribution by the government," Painter said.
"The First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances includes the right to legal representation in court for anybody, even Democrats," Painter added.
Several universities have found themselves in Trump's crosshairs as his administration made demands regarding campus policies and governance. Harvard University, after refusing, had $2.2 billion in federal grants frozen.
News media, too, hasn't been spared.
The Associated Press was barred from White House events because the outlet wouldn't refer to the Gulf of Mexico only as the "Gulf of America," after Trump's order renaming the body of water, though the outlet appeared to gain back some access as the White House instituted a new policy lumping wire service reporters into a broader collective of print outlets. The White House has also suggested funding for NPR and PBS, which Trump accused of being left-leaning, is a waste of taxpayer money.
Trump signed orders directing the Department of Justice to investigate two individuals who worked in his first administration who became outspoken critics of his leadership.
Chris Krebs, resigned from his job at a private cybersecurity firm after Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review Krebs' actions while leading the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) -- a job Trump appointed him to in 2017. Krebs has long assured the 2020 election was secure, criticizing Trump for spreading debunked claims of election fraud.
"For those who know me, you know I don't shy away from tough fights. But I also know this is one I need to take on fully -- outside of SentinelOne," Krebs said in a social media post announcing his resignation. "This will require my complete focus and energy. It's a fight for democracy, for freedom of speech, and for the rule of law. I'm prepared to give it everything I've got."
Miles Taylor, the deputy chief of staff to former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, was also the target of an order from Trump directing the Justice Department to launch an investigation as Trump alleged he may have committed "treason."
Taylor penned a 2018 New York Times op-ed describing Trump as "detrimental to the health of our republic" and a 2019 book about the first administration under the pseudonym "Anonymous" before going public in 2020.
Trump's targeting of various individuals and institutions come after he, for years, accused President Joe Biden of weaponizing law enforcement.
"Those days are over and they are never going to come back. They're never coming back. Now, as the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred," Trump said as he spoke at the Justice Department in March.
Republicans have praised some of Trump's moves, namely against universities and some news outlets.
"The vast majority of the American people do not want to prop up these institutions," Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said when the Trump administration made demands of Harvard and other schools. Stefanik added, "Higher education has fundamentally lost its way, and it's increasingly out of touch, and the tuition rates go higher and higher. So we need to defund across the board, and President Trump is rightly holding these schools accountable.â
House Speaker Mike Johnson, while criticizing NPR and PBS, said, "The American people support the free press, but will not be forced to fund a biased political outlet with taxpayer funds."
But critics said it's Trump who is wielding the powers of the presidency to go after political opponents in sweeping fashion.
"All of these things are much more blatant and much more out in the open," Akerman said, attributing Trump's boldness, in part, to the Supreme Court's blockbuster ruling last year granting presidents some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.
Painter's message for Trump, as a former White House ethics chief: âHe's got to focus on carrying out his agenda as president, not just going after his personal enemies and political enemies."
"Using the presidency to go after political enemies is a very dangerous thing, very dangerous for democracy, and he shouldn't be doing that," Painter said.
NACOGDOCHES – Our news partner, KETK, reports that the Nacogdoches Police Department is investigating a murder that occurred on Monday afternoon.
According to police, at around 4 p.m., officials received 911 calls of gunshots in the Eastwood Terrace off Woden Road. Once officers arrived, they were directed by residents to where they believed gunshots had been heard. In a wooded area, officials located a body later identified as Jermiah Jarmma Warren, 19 of Nacogdoches.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 936-560-4636 (INFO) or the NPD Investigations Division at 936-559-2624.
(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump is set to provide tariff relief for carmakers on Tuesday, just weeks after the onset of auto levies triggered warnings of price increases.
An administration official confirmed that the 25% tariff on finished foreign-made cars and parts will remain -- but today's announcement will prevent tariffs from stacking on top of other tariffs he's imposed, such as duties on steel and aluminum.
Trump's 25% tariff on foreign auto parts goes into effect on Saturday and automakers will also be reimbursed for those tariffs up to an amount equal to 3.75% of the value of a U.S.-made car for one year. Reimbursement would fall to 2.5% of the car's value in a second year, and then completely phased out altogether.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent touted the tariff adjustment as a means of ensuring carmakers bring manufacturing to the U.S.
"President Trump has had meetings with both domestic and foreign auto producers, and he's committed to bring back auto production to the US. We want to give the automakers a path to do that quickly, efficiently and create as many jobs as possible," Bessent said.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks about the policy change in Michigan on Tuesday. Details of the plan were first reported in the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. automakers on Tuesday applauded the easing of tariffs.
"Ford welcomes and appreciates these decisions by President Trump, which will help mitigate the impact of tariffs on automakers, suppliers and consumers," Ford told ABC News in a statement.
GM also voiced praise for the move. "We're grateful to President Trump for his support of the U.S. automotive industry and the millions of Americans who depend on us. We believe the President's leadership is helping level the playing field for companies like GM and allowing us to invest even more in the U.S. economy," the company told ABC News in a statement.
The 25% tariff on imported cars took effect on April 3. It applies to an array of passenger vehicles, including cars, SUVs, minivans, cargo vans and light trucks.
The tariffs will almost certainly raise foreign-made car prices, experts previously told ABC News, since importers typically pass along a share of the tax burden to consumers in the form of extra costs.
The policy change offers automakers a chance to relocate their manufacturing, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told ABC News in a statement.
"This deal is a major victory for the President's trade policy by rewarding companies who manufacture domestically, while providing runway to manufacturers who have expressed their commitment to invest in America and expand their domestic manufacturing," Lutnick said.
The move aims to give automakers an opportunity to move their supply chains for parts back to the U.S.
"President Trump is building an important partnership with both the domestic automakers and our great American workers," Lutnick also said in the statement.
(CHATHAM, Ill.) -- An Illinois community is reeling after an SUV drove into an after-school camp, killing four girls, but police said the crash does not appear to be targeted.
The driver struck the YNOT After School Camp building in Chatham, just outside of Springfield, on Monday afternoon, killing 7-year-old Alma Buhnerkempe, 7-year-old Kathryn Corley, 8-year-old Ainsley Johnson and 18-year-old Rylee Britton, according to the Sangamon County Coroner's Office.
Billie Buhnerkempe, the mom of 7-year-old Alma, said in a statement that her daughter "was a ray of sunshine."
"She was sweet, outgoing, silly, and funny. She loved her friends and family fiercely. She loved playing soccer, basketball, and doing gymnastics. She loved to travel, and went to 17 states in her short life," Buhnerkempe said. "Her brother Will has autism, and she loved and supported him the only way a big sister could."
All four victims died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the coroner.
Six children were injured and taken to hospitals, including one who remains in critical condition, the Illinois State Police said Tuesday.
According to camp founder Jamie Loftus, the SUV drove through a farm field before hitting the east wall of the camp building. The SUV then exited the building on the west side, went across a gravel road and became lodged against a power pole and baseball field fence, Loftus said.
The driver, 44-year-old Marianne Akers of Chatham, is not in custody, police said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but police said it didn't appear to be targeted.
Akers -- who was the only person in the vehicle -- wasn't hurt, police said.
"I cannot gather the words to express much of anything that will make sense in print," Loftus said in a statement. "However, I do know that our families who suffered loss and injury today, are hurting very, very badly. They are friends and their kids are like our kids. The Village of Chatham and Ball Chatham Schools are going to need their populations and that of the outside world to love them, pray for them, think of them."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, "Our community lost a group of bright and innocent young people with their whole lives ahead of them."
"Parents said goodbye to their kids this morning not knowing it would be the last time," he said in a statement. "My heart is heavy for these families and the unimaginable grief they're experiencing -- something that no parent should ever have to endure."
