Judge hits Trump's personal lawyers with threat as they blow off deadline in $10B lawsuit

A federal judge on Monday threatened to sanction President Donald Trump's personal attorneys after they missed a court deadline in his sprawling $10 billion libel lawsuit against the BBC — and tried to cover their tracks with a pair of last-minute procedural filings.

U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, a Trump appointee, ordered the president's legal team to explain by June 10 why he shouldn't penalize them for what he called their "apparent disregard of court deadlines." Trump's lawyers had been due to respond to the BBC's motion to dismiss the case by June 5. Instead of filing that response, they submitted two eleventh-hour motions — one seeking leave to file excess pages, another seeking to file under seal — neither of which asked the court to extend the deadline.

Altman also asked whether the BBC's motion to dismiss should be considered unopposed.

The lawsuit, filed in December in the Southern District of Florida, accuses the BBC of defaming Trump by splicing together two portions of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech — made nearly 55 minutes apart — to make it appear he had urged supporters to march on the Capitol and "fight like hell." The BBC has apologized for the edit but is fighting the suit, arguing the Florida court lacks jurisdiction over a documentary that never aired in the United States.

Legal experts have been skeptical of the case from the start. Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told CNN the suit "does not have any legal basis, either on defamation or jurisdictional grounds," calling it "the president's latest effort to intimidate media companies." University of Utah law professor RonNell Andersen Jones told CNN the $10 billion demand is "a ridiculously hard number to sustain without a strong showing that there was an actual viewing audience."

The BBC's motion to dismiss has been pending since March.

Walter Masterson, a comedian known for his satirical takes on politics, tricked multiple MAGA followers in Florida to illustrate hypocrisy over how Trump loyalists dress and represent themselves compared to people celebrating Pride Month.

In a video, the undercover Masterson, wearing an "ultra MAGA" shirt, interviews a couple standing at a MAGA rally, decked out in right-wing gear as Masterson points out the links between their clothing and the Pride fashions that have them outraged.

The two apparently don't realize he was teasing them. He captioned the video #pridemonth.

"I'm happy right now because I haven't seen nearly as many rainbow flags and rubbish as we've seen last year," a woman wearing a red MAGA hat and holding a flag, told the comedian.

Masterson responded to her comment.

"They're making the kids wear these flags and these hats," he said, as the camera pans left to show a child standing next to the couple holding two Israeli flags.

"Absolutely," the woman responded, straight-faced.

"You should have seen how it looked, me just trying to get on a flight to get down here with a MAGA hat on," a man said, wearing the red hat. "They treated me like I was Osama bin Laden."

Masterson offered a quick response.

"It's become harder to be open about your identity nowadays, right?" Masterson asked.

"Yeah, people just need to speak up. They need to say what they believe. I'm a straight male and I'm proud of that," the man added.

In another interview, Masterson pretended to complain about how people receive his MAGA look in a dig at the followers' lack of self-awareness.

"I can't wear a MAGA hat in some places because, you know, some people don't like that identity," Masterson said. "Can you imagine going someplace and being attacked just for your identity?"

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) openly defied President Donald Trump Sunday night in calling for Israel to launch strikes toward Iran, a remark that flew in the face of the president’s foreign policy agenda — and, according to a GOP congressional candidate, may have violated federal law.

Iran launched strikes against Israel Sunday in response to that nation's bombing of Lebanon’s largest city, strikes that Trump urged Israeli leadership not to respond to. Despite Trump’s plea, Israel's missiles flew later that night, the news of which excited Fine, who proceeded to encourage Israel to continue.

“Israel has every right to respond to rockets being fired at its civilians exactly as we would,” Fine wrote Sunday night in a social media post on X. “Bombs away.”

Fine’s comments, however, at least according to Aaron Baker, who’s running to represent Florida’s 6th Congressional District as a Republican, may have violated the Logan Act, which prohibits Americans from holding unauthorized communications with foreign governments in some instances, particularly with intent to “influence measures or conduct of any foreign government.”

“Now you are telling [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu ‘bombs away?’ President Trump told Bibi NO,” Baker wrote in a social media post on X. “Now you have violated The Logan Act, Rep. Fine, and shall be fined or imprisoned under 18 USC 953. So much for trying to pretend you’re loyal to the United States.”

Fine has long been a fierce defender and supporter of Israel, though he has frequently drawn scrutiny for his controversial remarks, which critics, even some prominent conservatives, have described as “unspeakably racist” or “genocidal."

Examples include Fine telling Gazans to ‘starve away’ last year. In 2021 when, in response to a social media user who shared a photo of what appears to be a Gazan infant buried in rubble with the question “how do you sleep at night,” Fine responded “quite well, actually,” and “thanks for the pic!”

The New York Knicks return to Madison Square Garden Monday night, riding a historic 13-game playoff win streak with two wins from the NBA championship, but amid the excitement, President Donald Trump's attendance at Game 3 forced the cancellation of watch parties across New York City.

MS NOW's "Morning Joe" panelists questioned whether Trump's attendance at the Knicks' first championship home game would disrupt the team's good fortunes. While co-host Mika Brzezinski noted the loss of organic fan gatherings and street celebrations that characterized the postseason.

"I mean, people were going to party and then they were going to party outside Madison Square Garden. There were going to be post parties and pre-parties, and the streets were going to be filled with joy, and how is that still happening?"

Journalist Pablo Torre, a longtime Knicks fan, worries Trump's attendance sours the game's mood. Hinting it could impact the Knicks' chances of winning their first championship since 1973.

Torre criticized the exclusivity of Trump's VIP entrance through private tunnels, which is unavailable to regular fans; this, he argues, exemplifies broader affordability crises affecting sports and America.

"I thought the Knicks were ours as a city, turns out none of it is ours," Torre said.

"You can't even be outside. You can't even be outside, let alone inside, and so who's this for? What's it about?"

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