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Texas AG Ken Paxton Finally Agrees to Meet One of His Young Transgender Victims

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‘It’s Never Too Late,’ Says Amber Briggle, Who Invited Anti-LGBT Official to Dinner With Her 8-Year-Old Son

Three months after filing a lawsuit that effectively seeks to legalize discrimination against transgender schoolchildren, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to meet with one of the affected families. 

On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor granted Paxton’s request for a nationwide injunction barring the Obama administration from acting on its position — which happens to be based on decades of case law — that trans students are protected under Title IX, a 1972 federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education. 

At a press conference announcing the lawsuit in May, Paxton refused to say whether he believes trans students even exist, as documented by Odessa American reporter Nathaniel Miller: 

Later that day, Amber Briggle invited both Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — who’s also said he doesn’t know any trans people — to meet with her family, including her 8-year-old trans son, MG.  

“Come have dinner with us,” Briggle said at an Equality Texas press conference responding to the lawsuit. “Come to church with us. Come to my son’s basketball games and watch how he interacts with his friends and his little sister. I think you’ll both find there are a lot of similarities to when you were 8-year-old boys.”

During an interview about the judge’s injunction Monday, NBCDFW.com reporter Julie Fine asked Paxton if he’d accept Briggle’s longstanding invitation. 

“I’m happy to do that,” Paxton responded.  

Briggle later told The New Civil Rights Movement she planned to follow up with Paxton’s office Tuesday morning. 

“It’s never too late, though I wish he would have taken me up on my offer last spring when I originally invited him,” Briggle said. “The Texas Legislature is in session soon. This could make a small (but hopefully significant) difference.”  

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As Inflation Rises and Polls Drop White House Claims ‘Data’ Shows Economy ‘Back on Track’

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The White House on Monday asserted that new “data” proves the U.S. economy is “back on track,” but inflation—a leading concern for consumers—has surged to its highest level in months. Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of inflation, according to a recent poll.

“Even the media admits the U.S. economy is ‘regaining its swagger’ under President Donald J. Trump — and you need not look further than the banner economic news from the past week for proof,” the White House posted on its website in a selective assortment of data points, some of which don’t present a complete picture.

The administration’s post links to a Wall Street Journal article that offers a bit of a different take from the White House’s version: the economy’s “swagger” had actually dropped under President Trump.

“When President Trump slapped tariffs on nations across the globe this spring, many economists feared higher prices and spending cuts would flatten the economy,” the Journal reported. “Consumer sentiment collapsed. The S&P 500 stock index fell by 19% between February and April. The world held its breath and waited for the bottom to drop out.”

READ MORE: Experts Sound Alarm as Trump Officials Accused of Defying Court Orders: Report

The article goes on to say, “that didn’t happen,” and “businesses and consumers are regaining their swagger.”

Not all is perfect, however, the Journal makes clear.

“There are still signs of turbulence in the U.S. economy. Growth has been subdued. Inflation, while down from pandemic peaks, is still higher than the Federal Reserve would like. Manufacturing activity shrank for the fourth straight month in June, and immigration raids are damping spending among Hispanic consumers,” the paper noted. “Trump has repeatedly delayed the higher tariffs for imports from many countries he threatened in April, and the risk of fallout from steeper levies still looms.”

While inflation may be “down from pandemic peaks,” it has risen in each of the past three months: from 2.3% (April) to 2.4% (May) to 2.7% (June). And the Journal warns, the “effect of tariffs could still be on the way.”

And according to the White House, “inflation is falling as domestic production surges.”

The White House, however, chose to discuss “core inflation,” which does not include critical items like food and energy. Prices on items like beef have just hit record highs, with CNN reporting, “Beef prices are the new egg prices. They’re soaring.”

READ MORE: ‘He’s So Frustrated’: Johnson Defends Trump Over Explosive Epstein Birthday Letter

“Wholesale prices,” the White House boasted, “came in completely flat, below market expectations,” but, as MarketWatch reported, the “wholesale report doesn’t capture the cost of imports as well as the consumer-price index, which showed a sharper increase.”

The White House also pointed to “strong wage gains,” but according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, wage growth since February has been flat at 4.3%, until June, when it dropped to 4.2%.

Meanwhile, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll published Sunday, nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) disapprove of President Trump’s handling of inflation—a key factor in his winning the November election. Just 36% approve.

The vast majority of those who approve are Republicans: 76%. Just 5% of Democrats agreed.

The Hill on Monday reported that the CBS News/YouGov poll “also found that half of U.S. adults think the Trump administration’s policies have made them ‘financially worse off,’ and 62 percent think the White House’s policies have driven food and grocery costs up.”

READ MORE: ‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

 

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Experts Sound Alarm as Trump Officials Accused of Defying Court Orders: Report

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In a deep-dive exposé, The Washington Post reports that Trump officials are accused of having defied one in three judges who have ruled against the administration, leading one legal expert to suggest America may be just “steps” away from a Constitutional crisis.

“A comprehensive analysis of hundreds of lawsuits against Trump policies shows dozens of examples of defiance, delay and dishonesty, which experts say pose an unprecedented threat to the U.S. legal system,” the Post reported.

The Trump administration has been “accused of defying court orders in roughly one-third of the more than 160 lawsuits filed against the administration that resulted in substantive judicial rulings,” according to the Post’s analysis by its Supreme Court reporter Justin Jouvenal, “raising concerns about widespread noncompliance with the American legal system.”

Jouvenal says he “read all 337 lawsuits against the Trump administration.” Detailing his report on social media, he wrote: “How are Trump officials allegedly defying judges? The review found a long list of accusations: Snubbing orders, [withholding] evidence, creating pretexts to carry out actions that have been blocked, offering false and misleading information in court and more.”

READ MORE: ‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

Of the 337 lawsuits against the Trump administration reviewed by the Post, “courts had ruled against the administration in 165 of the lawsuits.”

Some of the cases the Post examined are well known to many Americans.

One example is the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was sent to the country’s notorious maximum-security prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), despite a binding court order prohibiting his removal.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return to the United States.

“Abrego remained there for almost two months, with the administration saying there was little it could do because he was under control of a foreign power,” the Post reported, adding that “recent filings in the case reveal that El Salvador told the United Nations that the U.S. retained control over prisoners sent there.”

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis wrote the Trump administration had “failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance,” according to the Post.

READ MORE: ‘Total Nonsense’: Stephen Miller Blasted Over ‘Wonders’ of Life ‘When Illegals Are Gone’

In April, Politico reported that “Xinis also accused the administration of mischaracterizing the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier … requiring the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from El Salvador’s custody.”

In response to the Post’s report, noted Professor of Politics Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, called it a “[shocking] pattern of defiance of the judiciary by Trump Administration.”

Prominent attorney Mark Zaid—an expert in national security law, constitutional free speech, whistleblower protections, and government accountability—issued a stark warning:

“Steps closer to true constitutional crisis. I, for one, think it is just a matter of when, rather than if, Trump Administration will disobey [a] Supreme Court order.”

READ MORE: ‘Trust in Trump’: White House Touts ‘Incredible’ Economy as Inflation Jumps

 

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Dems Launch Aggressive House Map Blitz as Red States Plan Blue Seat Redraw

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House Democrats are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s directive to eliminate Democratic seats in Texas by launching an aggressive redistricting strategy of their own—hiring top attorneys to help cut down the number of GOP-held seats in five key states, in the battle to retake control of the House from Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republicans.

Calling it “an extraordinary push,” CNN reported that House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wants to reorganize the congressional maps in California, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington state, to help Democrats pick up as many seats as possible—if the courts allow it.

Currently, California has nine House Republicans. New York has seven. Minnesota has four, New Jersey has three, and Washington has two.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s plan reportedly could wipe out up to five of the 13 Democratic-held House seats in the Lone Star State. Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine is also planning on redrawing districts in his state to try to eliminate some of the five Democratic-held seats in his state.

The Cincinnati Enquirer last week noted that “Republicans control every aspect of the redistricting process in Ohio,” including at the state Supreme Court.

READ MORE: ‘War Is Peace’: White House’s Navarro Mocked Over Claim Tariffs Are ‘Tax Cuts’

Leader Jeffries is calling the GOP redistricting plan “part of a scheme to rig the midterm elections,” but he’s willing to do battle on this front.

“We have a responsibility of making sure that we look at every single state of the union and do what we can to ensure that we maximize fairness in those jurisdictions,” Jeffries told CNN. “Some of the best and brightest lawyers in the country are looking at every single aspect of what’s possible in these states.”

Unlike in red states, blue states have independent commissions to determine districts. This could present a legal hurdle to Jeffries’ plan, but some Democrats are determined to move forward.

“If Republicans want to play by these rules, then I think that we shouldn’t have one set of rules for one and the other set of rules for another. I think we need to even the playing board,” U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told CNN.

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) told CNN, “I think the biggest thing that keeps Trump up at night is losing the majority in the US House of Representatives and having to answer to Democrats and be held accountable.”

Chances are strong that if Democrats retake the House in next year’s election, President Trump could once again face impeachment.

Texas’s special session, which starts Monday, is expected to complete the plan to redraw the state’s congressional maps. But The Washington Post reported that “Texas’s Republican members of Congress expressed little enthusiasm for the plan, which could make safe seats more competitive.”

And U.S. Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) warned that if Democrats don’t act,  “It’s gonna be a knockout midterm election like you haven’t seen in a long time.”

READ MORE: ‘Total Nonsense’: Stephen Miller Blasted Over ‘Wonders’ of Life ‘When Illegals Are Gone’

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this month denounced Texas Governor Abbott’s plan, and vowed to respond.

“Texas is using a special session about emergency disaster aid to redistrict their state and cheat their way into more Congressional seats. These guys have no shame,” Newsom wrote, adding that his state “is watching — and you can bet we won’t stand idly by.”

Last week, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) denounced what she called her state’s efforts to “dilute the voices of people of color” by redistricting away blue seats.

Watch the vote below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Trust in Trump’: White House Touts ‘Incredible’ Economy as Inflation Jumps

 

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