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Advance US News Diary

April 17-23: Dominion v Fox trial begins, Jim Jordan takes beef with Bragg to NYC, and WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich appeals detention

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by
Jasper Wenban-Smith
  • Slice 1

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.

Leading the Week

The trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox finally gets underway on Monday (April 17) in Delaware following months of revelations from pre-trial proceedings in the blockbuster case. Dominion filed the case in March 2021 in the wake of the presidential election that saw Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump, arguing Fox knowingly endorsed, repeated and broadcast verifiably false claims about the voting machine company, accusing it of rigging the election result in favor of Biden. Since then, a series of extraordinary depositions and filings have emerged as the case has headed toward this week’s trial, including host Tucker Carlson describing Trump as a ‘demonic force’ and someone he hated ‘passionately’. 

Carlson is likely to testify during the trial, alongside other Fox hosts including Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, and Laura Ingraham, while Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son and CEO Lachlan Murdoch are also expected to take the stand. Fox’s legal team have argued ahead of the trial that they are protected from such a lawsuit under the First Amendment, though these arguments have so far failed to impress the judge overseeing the case. Indeed, there appears to be growing consensus that the trial will be an uphill battle for Fox, with many agreeing with Dominion, which has argued that ‘if this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.’ 

Jim Jordan

In New York City, meanwhile, the repercussions of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to pursue charges against Donald Trump will continue to be felt on Monday (April 17) when the House Judiciary Committee, led by combative Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, holds a field hearing to discuss Bragg’s alleged ‘pro-crime, anti-victims’ policies. Monday’s hearing comes amid a rapidly escalating battle between Jordan and Bragg. Jordan wrote to Bragg before the indictment was even unveiled to ask him to testify before Congress regarding what he called an ‘unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority’, and he has since subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in Bragg’s office said to have quit his job in a dispute over the case against Trump, to provide a deposition before his committee on Thursday (April 20). Bragg, in turn, has sued Jordan, accusing him of leading a ‘free-ranging campaign of harassment’ and ‘constitutionally destructive fishing expedition’. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Wednesday (April 19), teeing up yet more drama in a feud that is unlikely to end any time soon.


Looking Abroad 

In Japan, G7 foreign ministers continue their three-day meeting on Monday and Tuesday (April 17-18) ahead of the leaders’ summit in Hiroshima next month. Responding to Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine will once again likely be the focus of much of their discussions, though North Korea’s recent missile test, tensions over Taiwan and the furore over Emmanuel Macron’s comments on the matter, and the increasingly brutal actions of the military junta in Myanmar are all also expected to be addressed given the location of the meeting.  

With Russia facing fresh condemnation over a video appearing to show a Russian soldier beheading a Ukrainian captive, there is likely to be yet more outrage when a court in Moscow rules on Monday in the high-profile case of journalist and Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is charged with treason after criticizing Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year sentence against Kara-Murza, who delivered a blistering statement at his last hearing, published in The Washington Post, refusing to ask for an acquittal.  

Credit: Wall Street Journal

The same court will then hear on Tuesday an appeal from Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich against his pre-trial detention until at least the end of May on espionage charges that few if any believe have any merit. Tuesday’s hearing, which follows a declaration earlier this week from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Gershkovich has formally been designated as ‘wrongfully detained’, may be the first public appearance from Gershkovich since he was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on March 29. 


 

Also look out for...

April 17

Kevin McCarthy delivers speech on the economy at NYSE

Mitch McConnell returns to Senate after recovering from fall

LA Mayor Karen Bass delivers inaugural State of the City

Retrial begins in case of Danny Masterson charged with rape

Brazilian foreign minister hosts talks with Sergey Lavrov

SpaceX Starship orbital test flight launch possible

Boston marathon ten years on from bombing

April 18

Alejandro Mayorkas at Senate hearing

Top commanders at House hearing on Indo-Pacific

House hearing on Covid origins and China intelligence

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez speaks in New Hampshire

First trials open over Brazil’s Jan. 8 riots by Bolsonaro supporters

European Parliament debate on EU-China relations

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

April 19

Jack Teixeira due in court again over Pentagon leaks

Hearing on withdrawal from Afghanistan with Inspectors General

Alejandro Mayorkas at House committee hearing

New IRS Commissioner at Senate hearing

Supreme Court hears case on defining ‘true threat’ on social media

Ron DeSantis visits South Carolina

Chris Christie visits Indiana

Minnesota Governor delivers State of the State address

Lloyd Austin holds press conference during Sweden visit

April 20

Joe Biden hosts virtual Major Economies Forum meeting

Tim Scott among speakers at Heritage Foundation gala and summit

Glenn Youngkin speaks at Bush Presidential Center

RNC’s Ronna McDaniel speaks at the Reagan Institute

Jens Stoltenberg hosts new Czech president for talks

Further hearing Rahul Gandhi’s appeal over defamation conviction

Eid-al-Fitr

April 21

Lloyd Austin chairs Ukraine Contact Group meeting in Germany

Ron DeSantis and Tucker Carlson among speakers at Heritage Foundation gala and summit

Kevin Spacey due in Uk court charged with sex offences

WMO releases State of Global Climate report

Coachella (weekend two)

April 22

Donald Trump and Mike Pence among speakers at Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event

Ron DeSantis speaks at events in Utah and Texas

Angola Prison Rodeo

Naki Sumo (Japanese baby crying festival)

Statistics, Reports and Results

April 17

NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index 

April 18

China GDP

Indonesia interest rate decision

Results from: Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson, Netflix, United Airlines

April 19

Beige Book

UK consumer inflation figures

Results from: Tesla, IBM, US Bancorp, Morgan Stanley, L’Oreal

April 20

Existing-Home Sales

Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey

Results from: AT&T, Union Pacific, American Express, Renault Group

April 21

Results from: Schlumberger, Freeport McMoRan

Anniversaries and Awareness Days

April 17

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah)

April 18

Tax Day

Zimbabwe marks National Day

Iran marks National Army Day

International Day for Monuments and Sites

April 19

30 years ago: Waco standoff ended

April 20

420

April 22

Earth Day

International Record Store Day

April 23

World Book and Copyright Day


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