Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech February 10, 2025 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. In the News VOZ: Democratic chairwoman of Federal Election Commission challenges Trump's ‘effective immediately’ firing of her By Santiago Ospital ....."Commissioner Weintraub’s term expired April 30, 2007: the year Madeleine McCann disappeared, Bob Barker hosted his final episode of The Price is Right, and Facebook and Twitter (now X) went global," noted the Institute for Free Speech. David Keating, president of the think tank, wrote "for context," that Weintraub "currently illegally serving as chair of the FEC. … She should not have sought the office." FEC CNN (Video): Trump says he’s firing FEC Chair. She tells CNN she’s not leaving. .....CNN's Erica Hill talks with Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat who has been serving on the Federal Election Commission since 2002, about...President Trump’s decision to fire her. Ed. note: The White House commented to CNN, “Our message to Ellen Weintraub is simple. You don't have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” The Hill: FEC commissioner ‘considering all of my options’ after ouster by Trump By Filip Timotija .....The former Federal Election Commission (FEC) chair Ellen Weintraub said during an interview that she is weighing her choices after her ouster from the post by President Trump earlier this week. “Well, I’m still considering all of my options at the moment, but I will tell you that my email has been turned off. My computers have been taken. My pass, I believe, no longer gets me into the building,” Weintraub said during her Friday night appearance on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.” ... “If you look at the Federal Election Campaign Act, there is nothing in there about removing FEC commissioners other than in the normal course, which is you can replace them when their terms have expired by appointing a new commissioner who gets confirmed by the Senate,” Weintraub said on Friday. “That’s the way you replace FEC commissioners.” “There’s nothing in there that says or if the President doesn’t like that particular person, they can just be fired,” she continued... As of Saturday, Weintraub is no longer listed as the current commissioner on the FEC website. Supreme Court Nevada Independent: Attorneys for Steve Wynn ask Supreme Court to overturn landmark libel rule By Howard Stutz .....Attorneys for disgraced casino mogul Steve Wynn, whose 2018 defamation case against The Associated Press (AP) was rejected last year by the Nevada Supreme Court, have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a 60-year-old landmark case that established the actual malice rule in libel law. A UNLV law professor, who reviewed the filing Friday, said the justices could weaken protections surrounding freedom of the press, which were strengthened by New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan, a 1964 ruling that limited the ability of public officials to sue for defamation, and confirmed the freedom of the press under the First Amendment. Under the existing standard for proving libel against a public figure, someone must establish that a person made a statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth… In a filing with the nation’s highest court, attorneys for Wynn wrote that many states, including Nevada, have incorporated the actual malice standard into anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) statutes. Those states require public figure plaintiffs to prove the merits of their case — including actual malice — before any pretrial discovery can take place. The Courts Star Tribune: Judge blocks Minnesota campaign law to limit donations from corporations with foreign ownership By Briana Bierschbach .....A federal judge has permanently blocked the implementation of a Minnesota campaign finance law that aimed to dramatically limit political contributions from corporations with foreign ownership. U.S. District Court Judge Eric Tostrud issued the order Friday afternoon after granting a preliminary injunction late last year before the law’s Jan. 1 effective date. In his ruling, Tostrud said Minnesota’s law was too broad. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United that the First Amendment gives corporations free speech rights. The decision opened the door to a flood of corporate political donations in state and federal politics. “Citizens United cautions that the loss of corporations’ political speech, and consequently their First Amendment rights, must not to be taken lightly,” Tostrud wrote in his order. “Because Defendants have not identified evidence that minority foreign shareholders exercise influence or control over corporations’ political expenditures, the challenged provisions ... sweep too broadly as a matter of law.” Houston Chronicle: AG Ken Paxton appeals federal judge's decision that parts of SCOPE Act are likely unconstitutional By Caroline Wilburn .....An Austin-based federal judge ruled Friday that some aspects of a Texas law limiting minors' access to digital platforms likely violate the First Amendment, a decision Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately appealed. Northern District of Texas Judge Robert Pitman in part granted a preliminary injunction against aspects of House Bill 18, or the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE Act), that would have unconstitutionally restricted protected speech. The law requires social media platforms and other websites to protect minors from "physical, emotional, and developmental harm," but Pitman ruled the law is not specific enough about what could be considered harmful. "The final issue for HB 18 is that the law fails to define key categories of prohibited topics, including 'grooming,' 'harassment,' and 'substance abuse,'" Pitman wrote in his ruling. "At what point, for example, does alcohol use become 'substance abuse?' When does an extreme diet cross the line into an 'eating disorder?' What defines 'grooming' and 'harassment?' Under these indefinite meanings, it is easy to see how an attorney general could arbitrarily discriminate in his enforcement of the law." Original Jurisdiction: A Major Law Firm’s ChatGPT Fail By David Lat .....We’re all familiar with the infamous tale of the lawyers who filed a brief full of nonexistent cases—courtesy of ChatGPT, the AI tool that made up aka “hallucinated” the fake citations. In the end, Judge Kevin Castel (S.D.N.Y.) sanctioned the attorneys, to the tune of $5,000—but the national notoriety was surely far worse… But what about lawyers who work for one of the nation’s largest law firms? They shouldn’t have any excuse, right? Whether they have an excuse or not, it appears that they too can make the same mistake. Yesterday, Judge Kelly Rankin of the District of Wyoming issued an order to show cause in Wadsworth v. Walmart Inc. (emphasis in the original): Trump Administration Washington Post: Trump administration cuts teams that fight foreign election interference By Colby Itkowitz, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Sarah Ellison and Patrick Marley .....The Trump administration this week eliminated much of the federal government’s front line of defense against foreign interference in U.S. elections. The move, which follows years of President Donald Trump and his allies disputing the role that Russian influence campaigns played in his first successful bid for president, alarmed state election officials and election security experts, who warned that safeguarding Americans from foreign disinformation campaigns will be difficult if no one at the federal level is doing that work. On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi dissolved an FBI task force formed in response to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections that worked to uncover covert efforts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign adversaries to manipulate U.S. voters. Separately, the Department of Homeland Security sent a letter Wednesday placing at least seven federal employees who work on teams combating foreign disinformation within the election security arm of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, on administrative leave, according to a recipient who shared a copy of the letter with The Washington Post. Reuters: ABA opposes any DEI probes into bar associations By Karen Sloan .....The American Bar Association urged the Trump administration to roll back its executive order calling for federal investigations into diversity and inclusion efforts by bar associations, citing the groups' 1st Amendment rights. The resolution adopted by the group on Monday marks its first public stance against the Jan. 21 executive order that cited bar associations along with medical associations, publicly traded companies and other private-sector entities as potential targets for federal civil investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion programs that may “constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.” Congress Daily Signal: Senators Introduce Bill to Protect Supreme Court Justices By Jacob Adams .....After an escalation in political violence over the past several years, including protesters at the homes of Supreme Court justices, several United States senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to increase the penalties for those that threaten federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.; and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., would increase the maximum penalty for violating 18 U.S.C. § 1507 from one year to five years. One can be prosecuted under Section 1507 if he or she “with the intent of influencing any judge … in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades … in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge.” Violators of the statute also risk facing criminal monetary penalties. FCC KQED: FCC Investigates SF Radio Station for ICE Reporting, Sparking Press Freedom Fears By Juan Carlos Lara .....The Federal Communications Commission is investigating San Francisco-based KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions in San José last month, sparking concerns from press freedom advocates and drawing right-wing backlash to the radio station. In an interview on Fox News, Trump-appointed commission chair Brendan Carr said he opened the investigation after KCBS shared the live locations and vehicle descriptions of immigration officials on Jan. 26. “We have sent a letter of inquiry, a formal investigation into that matter, and they have just a matter of days left to respond to that inquiry and explain how this could possibly be consistent with their public interest obligations,” Carr said. First Amendment advocates worry the FCC investigation will have a chilling effect on news organizations reporting on the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. “Law enforcement operations, immigration or otherwise, are matters of public interest,” said David Loy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition. “People generally have the right to report this on social media and in print and so on. So it’s very troubling because it’s possible the FCC is potentially being weaponized to crack down on reporting that the administration simply just doesn’t like.” Donor Privacy Philanthropy Roundatable: Standing Up for the First Amendment: The Roundtable Submits Comment Letter Opposing Amicus Brief Disclosure Requirements By Jack Salmon .....At Philanthropy Roundtable, we believe a thriving civil society depends on preserving the freedoms that empower Americans to give, associate and advocate privately. That’s why we recently submitted a comment letter to the Judicial Conference of the United States expressing our serious concerns about proposed changes to Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would significantly expand disclosure requirements for organizations filing amicus briefs. These amendments pose a serious threat to donor privacy and the constitutional freedoms that safeguard civil society. Candidates and Campaigns Silver Bulletin: Democrats need a billionaire strategy By Nate Silver .....Martin won the chair election partly because the second-place candidate, Ben Winkler — his Midwestern rival who heads the Wisconsin Democratic Party — was seen as too cozy with billionaires, receiving contributions from George Soros and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. But Martin also said this: “There are a lot of good billionaires out there that have been with Democrats, who share our values, and we will take their money. But we’re not taking money from those bad billionaires.” Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update." 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