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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has fallen silent on abortion as he faces a challenge from Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in 2024, and as his state has come under fire for one of the nation's most extreme abortion bans and women have been forced to flee to other states for care. But back in his first term in office, he was much more outspoken in favor of laws like this.

And furthermore, he had ties to a known extremist figure who called for the killing of "abortionists," according to Mother Jones.

“I am grateful to receive the endorsement of Troy Newman,” Cruz said while running for president in 2015 at the Iowa Republican caucuses. “He has served as a voice for the unborn for over 25 years, and works tirelessly every day for the pro-life cause. We need leaders like Troy Newman in this country who will stand up for those who do not have a voice.”

Newman, reported Abby Vesoulis, is best known as the leader of the extreme anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, "a group that in 1991 held weeks-long protests at the abortion clinic of George Tiller, who was later assassinated by an anti-abortion extremist. Moreover, Newman has claimed that extreme weather was God’s punishment for America’s tolerance for abortion and gay rights; he also co-wrote a book that endorsed the execution of abortion providers." The book stated, "The United States government has abrogated its responsibility to properly deal with the blood-guilty. This responsibility rightly involves executing convicted murderers, including abortionists.”

ALSO READ: Scientific American magazine backs Harris with second endorsement in 179-year history

His co-author, Cheryl Sullenger, was actually sentenced to prison over a plot to bomb a California abortion clinic in 1987.

Following the Supreme Court's elimination of Roe v. Wade protections and a sustained backlash to GOP abortion bans that has seen voters defeat anti-abortion proposals and laws at the ballot box in states like Kansas and Ohio, Cruz has become considerably more muted on the topic. He has also introduced legislation to protect access to in vitro fertilization, as anti-abortion judges and activists try to attack that procedure as well.

Progressive legal expert Elie Mystal, in his blistering condemnation of the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial 6-3 immunity ruling in Trump v. the United States, has made a major distinction between "qualified immunity" and "absolute immunity."

The High Court's decision, Mystal has argued, is dangerous to the rule of law in the U.S. because it grants Trump and future presidents "absolutely immunity" — not merely "qualified immunity" — from criminal prosecution for "official" acts committed as part of their "core" duties.

Even some frequent critics of the Roberts Court were shocked by how far the six GOP-appointed justices went in that ruling. But a memo leaked to the New York Times shows that Chief Justice John Roberts encouraged this outcome.

Salon's Nicholas Liu explains, "John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, on February 22, issued a memo to his colleagues urging them not only to take up an appeal from former President Donald Trump over his immunity claim, but also, to rule in favor of granting him that immunity…. The document, along with other justices' memos, accounts of the proceedings and testimony from sources the Times interviewed, offers a window into Roberts' high level of involvement in several cases that benefited Trump and ultimately helped him climb out of a mire of legal troubles that threatened to upend his 2024 presidential campaign."

ALSO READ: Behind the legal tactics Trump is using to dodge justice for January 6

According to Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak, the February 22 memo that Roberts sent to the eight other justices "radiated frustration and certainty."

Liu notes that the memo is relevant not only to Trump v. the United States, but also, to the High Court's 14th Amendment-related case decision involving the former president.

"Roberts exerted his influence in March this year, when he persuaded the other judges to rule that states could not unilaterally kick federal candidates from a ballot," Liu observes. "While the judges agreed unanimously on the matter, the Court's liberals dissented to an additional proposition that anyone seeking to enforce the Constitution's 14th Amendment against insurrectionist candidates running for office would need to first obtain congressional approval."

Roberts' memo, according to Kantor and Liptak, vehemently disagreed with a lower federal court ruling that tore apart Trump's presidential immunity claims.

The Times journalists report, "The chief justice’s February 22 memo, jump-starting the justices’ formal discussion on whether to hear the case, offered a scathing critique of a lower-court decision and a startling preview of how the high court would later rule, according to several people from the court who saw the document. The chief justice tore into the appellate court opinion greenlighting Mr. Trump’s trial, calling it inadequate and poorly reasoned."

Read the New York Times' full report at this link (subscription required) and Salon's analysis here.

For the last week, former President Donald Trump has been leveling false attacks against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio --and now, it appears a western Pennsylvania town could face the same crisis.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday that the small town of Charleroi, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh, has been facing the same types of xenophobic allegations, said city manager Joe Manning.

In Charleroi, there are “people on Facebook saying that there’s a government-funded tent city in the Rite Aid parking lot, that there’s people walking down the street carrying live chickens," Manning told the Inquirer.

Read Also: 'I want Vance to apologize': We went to Springfield and found community hurt — and divided

Trump put a spotlight on Washington County, Pennsylvania during a recent rally when he falsely claimed that immigrants in the borough were bankrupting residents by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Manning said he received a call from a woman in a neighboring city on Friday. The woman claimed she brought her daughter to the Catholic church for religious classes. After hearing the news, the woman was worried about her daughter's safety.

"Disparaging statements about Haitian immigrants have been circulated online by conservative media outlets, the Washington County Republican Party, and conservative politicians, including Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Charleroi Council member Larry Celaschi," the report said.

The Washington County Republican Party posted about Haitian immigrants on Facebook and was inundated with fearful messages from supporters.

One woman claimed that she got a flat tire driving through Charleroi and her car was "surrounded" by about "15 Haitians." She said she was "scared."

" I was trying to be brave because I didn’t want to act weak honestly I’m not sure what their intentions were," she wrote.

The group got her car unstuck and changed her tire.

Others flooded comments with allegations like “Import the 3rd World become the 3rd World," or accusations that electing Democrats would lead to more "3rd World cities."

Read the full report here.

Shares in former President Donald Trump's Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of his Truth Social network, took a nosedive in early trading on Wednesday, plunging by more than 15 percent shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street.

The dive in Truth Social shares came after Trump delivered a widely criticized debate performance against Vice President Kamala Harris in which he ranted about hoax stories about Haitian immigrants eating Ohio residents' pets.

The drop in share price on Wednesday morning is just the latest in a series of downward slides the company has experienced since the value of its shares peaked in March this year at more than $66 each.

Now, however, shares of the company are trading in the $15 range with seemingly little hope of recovery in the near term, analysts say.

ALSO READ: Trump insults Fox News hosts live on air after they criticized his debate performance

At issue is the fact that earnings reports show that the Trump Media is not only massively unprofitable but is also generating remarkably little in terms of overall revenue.

In the last fiscal quarter, for instance, Trump Media generated just $836,900 in revenue, a 30 percent drop from the revenue it generated in the same quarter one year earlier.

Former President Donald Trump may have inadvertently confessed to a federal crime during his "trainwreck" debate against Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday night, according to legal experts.

Trump's comment that he would put an end to the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars "even before becoming president" shocked former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance, she admitted on X.

"Saying 'if I'm president elect I'll get it done (peace in Israel) before I'm even inaugurated' is a confession to a federal crime under the Logan Act," Vance wrote.

Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University, where the former president's son matriculated this fall, agreed.

"Trump just promised to violate the Logan Act, on national television," he wrote Tuesday night.

ALSO READ: Buckle up: Win or lose, Trump promises potential scenarios of violence

The Logan Act is a centuries-old law that bans U.S. citizens from engaging in unauthorized diplomacy to “influence the measures or conduct” of a foreign government.

The act bears the name of Republican politician George Logan, who met with French ministers in France during former President John Adams' administration and spurred a Federalist-dominated Congress to criminalize any such future trips, according to a 2018 Congressional Research Service report.

There have been only two Logan Act indictments since its enactment in the late 18th century and neither led to a conviction.

This is not the first time a Trump controversy has raised Logan Act concerns.

In 2018, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's resigned over reports that he discussed Russia sanctions with a Russian official before Trump took office.

The act appeared in the news again this August amid reports Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to accept a ceasefire because it could give a boost to Harris' campaign.

That same month, CNN reported that more than 40,000 Palestinians had been killed and nearly 100,000 wounded in the conflict.

Donald Trump threatened ABC News' broadcast license after his widely criticized performance in Tuesday's debate against Kamala Harris.

The former president went on "Fox & Friends" the following morning to clean up after the vice president called out his false claims on abortion, immigration and other topics during their debate and he struggled to land any attacks, and Trump complained the moderators were biased against him for fact-checking a pair of obvious lies.

"ABC took a big hit last night," Trump told Fox News. "I mean, to be honest, they are a news organization, they have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that."

ALSO READ: How the press corps is Trump’s assisted living program

The Republican nominee's comments alarmed many social users, who also noted that the threats showed Trump believed he had not performed well.

"Totally normal response to losing a debate," said journalist Mehdi Hasan. "Not authoritarian or dictatorial at all. Btw, this is the free speech champion that [Elon] Musk keeps hailing."

"'I was great! I won! It was amazing! What a triumph for me!'" tweeted journalist Michael Musto, channeling Trump. "He obviously then caught wind of the feedback. It was an unmitigated disaster for him. 'ABC News should lose their license!'"

"He was fact checked on immigrants eating dogs, and after birth abortions – both are hideous and complete lies," said architect Leonard Riccardi.

"Trump essentially just threatened to revoke ABC's broadcast license should he be re-elected," said cybersecurity expert Jackie Singh. "Believe him when he 'jokes' about becoming a 'dictator on day one.' Dictators don't believe in freedom of the press; they target journalists to limit their inconvenient speech."

"Last Night I told you all, you will know that Trump got destroyed in the Presidential debate if they start blaming the moderators and ABC News," said social media pundit Brian Krasserstein. "Well, here you have it."

"Unhappy with how the debate went, Trump threatens to take away ABC’s broadcast license," tweeted online activist The Tennessee Holler on Wednesday.

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