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A communications director working for the North Carolina Republican Party threatened a reporter, according to a new ProPublica report.

In a report about a North Carolina Supreme Court judge using "his perch" as "an instrument of political power," it was revealed that political leaders were eager to defend him.

Judge Paul Newby, who won his 2020 race, "supported changes to judicial oversight, watering it down and bringing it under his court’s control, making himself and his fellow justices less publicly accountable," the report said.

However, ProPublica's report recounted efforts by its reporters to secure details not only from the judge but also from his allies. At one point, the site requested an in-person interview while at an event. The reporter was "escorted out of a judicial conference to avoid questions."

The court's communications and media team also refused to respond. Still, the site "interviewed over 70 people who know him professionally or personally, including former North Carolina justices and judges, lawmakers, longtime friends and family members."

When the site reached out to Newby's daughter, the Republican Party stepped in personally.

"The North Carolina Republican Party’s communications director, Matt Mercer, responded," the report continued. Newby's daughter is the state party's finance director.

ProPublica was accused of waging a “jihad” against the “NC Republicans.” He refused to dignify questions with "any comments whatsoever.”

It then took a darker turn.

“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter. I would strongly suggest dropping this story," Mercer threatened in an email to ProPublica with emphasis on the word "strongly."

The reporters didn't drop the story, and it appeared on the site on Thursday.

Newby isn't up for reelection until 2028.

Progressive Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh spoke out against President Donald Trump's administration for prosecuting her after she participated in a protest against an immigration raid in her home state of Illinois.

The indictment, which was filed on Oct. 23, accuses Abughazaleh of one count of conspiracy and one count of forcibly impeding an officer. Abughazaleh told NBC News that she plans to self-surrender to authorities next Wednesday and described the incident as "political prosecution."

Abughazaleh joined Jon Lovett, a former Obama administration staffer, on a new episode of the "Pod Save America" podcast on Thursday, and further discussed the prosecution.

"It's scary. It's surreal, and it's also totally expected," she said. "This is what this administration does. They go after people who disagree with them, and this case is an attempt to criminalize protest, to criminalize freedom of speech, and to criminalize freedom of association."

"This is what authoritarians do," she added. "They try to find any excuse to punish their political enemies, to punish populations they deem as enemies. We've seen that a lot in how ICE is functioning."

Abughazaleh noted that the Trump administration has admitted to catching very few criminals during its immigration raids. She suggested that reveals something more sinister about the raids.

"That is one of the best examples to show that this has never been about crime," she said. "This has never even been about immigration. This is about securing and cementing power for the Trump administration."

Pro-MAGA host Gina Loudon feared Republicans would lose in the midterms after Democrats dominated election night on Tuesday.

Loudon spoke on Real America's Voice about the election results following President Donald Trump's address to Republican senators on Wednesday.

"Yeah, first of all, I think it was nice to see a president that was so presidential, as he stayed very calm, he didn't really respond to any of the silliness of Mamdani, all the rest of it," she explained. "So that was nice to see."

"I think that the consensus is, I'm looking through our chat," Loudon continued. "And I think that, to put it very succinctly, President Trump, being president, is a huge job. That's obviously an understatement. He has spent a lot of time looking out at the world and trying to fix things. I think it is time to come home and to focus on our, especially our economy."

According to the host, "People are feeling completely disabled economically."

"And if we don't come home and focus on our domestic issues, I'm afraid our midterms will look like this," she added.

Correspondent David Zere agreed.

"And the foreign policy is critical," he said. "But people can't survive. "Lettuce is still $3 a head in the supermarket."

"And Trump's economic agenda has not kicked in yet," Zere insisted. "But people can't wait, and that's exactly what Mamdani took advantage on yesterday in New York City."

Loudon argued that Republicans were losing elections because they were "letting [Democrats] label us as these, you know, awful, selfish capitalists."

"And the difference between a tyrant and Donald Trump is, yes, Donald Trump is wealthy, but he wants every American to be wealthy. He said it many times. He's working for it every single day. And I think it's going to take more than nine months to get it done," she remarked.

A pair of extreme new Trump administration rules aimed at functionally banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth could force even more hospitals to close down.

NPR reported Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) drafted a proposed rule that would prohibit federal Medicaid reimbursement for medical care provided to transgender patients younger than 18 and prohibit the same from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for patients under 19.

Another proposed rule goes even further, blocking all Medicaid and Medicare funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth.

As Erin Reed, an independent journalist who reports on LGBTQ+ rights, explained, this “would effectively eliminate access to such care nationwide, except at the few private clinics able to forgo Medicaid entirely, a rarity in transgender youth medicine.”

The policies are of a piece with the Trump administration and the broader Republican Party’s efforts to eliminate transgender healthcare for youth across the country.

Bans on gender-affirming care for those under 18 have already been passed in 27 states, despite evidence that early access to treatments like puberty blockers and hormones can save lives.

As Reed pointed out, a Cornell University review of more than 51 studies shows that access to such care dramatically reduces the risk of suicide and the rates of anxiety and depression among transgender adolescents.

The new HHS rules are being prepared for public release in November and would not be finalized for several more months.

But if passed, the ramifications could extend far beyond transgender people, impacting the entire healthcare system, for which federal funding from Medicare and Medicaid is a load-bearing piece. According to a report last year from the American Hospital Association, 96% of hospitals in the US have more than half their inpatient days paid for by Medicare and Medicaid.

It is already becoming apparent what happens when even some of that funding is taken away. As a result of the massive GOP budget law passed in July, an estimated $1 trillion is expected to be cut from Medicaid over the next decade. According to an analysis released Thursday by Protect Our Care, which maintains a Hospital Crisis Watch database, more than 500 healthcare providers across the country are already at risk of shutting down due to the budget cuts.

Tyler Hack, the executive director of the Christopher Street Project, a transgender rights organization, said that the newly proposed HHS rule would be “forcing hospitals to choose between providing lifesaving care for trans people or maintaining the ability to serve patients through Medicare and Medicaid.”

“Today’s news marks a dangerous overreach by the executive branch, pitting trans people, low-income families, disabled people, and seniors against each other and making hospitals choose which vulnerable populations to serve,” Hack said. “If these rules become law, it will kill people.”