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Alina Habba Gets a Taste of Her Own Medicine Over Arrested Dem Mayor

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is standing up to Alina Habba.

Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka speaks to reporters and supporters outside a courthouse
Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is suing New Jersey’s acting Attorney General Alina Habba and a Department of Homeland Security special agent on allegations of false arrest and malicious prosecution, following the dismissal of trespassing charges Habba had levied against him.
In the 17-page filing Tuesday, Baraka’s lawyers claimed that the Democratic mayor had been invited past the gates at Delaney Hall by an agent from Geo Group, a private prison company that manages the newly reopened ICE facility. Still, 20 DHS agents descended on the mayor after he exited the property, and detained him for more than five hours.
During the chaotic arrest, DHS Special Agent Ricky Patel, who was listed as the other defendant, allegedly “egged on” other agents to “take him down” according to the filing. The lawsuit also alleged that Patel had delayed the submission of a charging document, unnecessarily extending Baraka’s detainment.
“Today I filed a federal lawsuit against Alina Habba and DHS Agent Ricky Patel for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation,” Baraka wrote on X. “They abused their power to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall despite being invited inside.”
“No one is above the law,” he added, a direct reference to Habba’s own post about Baraka’s arrest.
Within an hour of Baraka’s arrest, and before filing any formal charges against him, Habba posted on X from her private social media account, claiming that the mayor had “committed trespass” and “willingly chosen to disregard the law.”
“NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW,” she wrote.
Baraka’s lawyers alleged that Habba had committed defamation, claiming that Trump’s former lawyer had made “false and defamatory statements” in a personal capacity, “despite Habba’s actual knowledge and reckless disregard of facts demonstrating his innocence.”
Later, in a Fox News interview on May 9, Habba claimed that Baraka had “refused to leave” Delaney Hall, and that he “chose not to remove himself.”
Last month, U.S. Judge Andre Espionosa agreed to dismiss the trespassing charges Habba had filed against Baraka. The lawsuit included a fuller transcript of Espoinosa’s 10-minute admonition of Habba “worrisome misstep” in Baraka’s “hasty arrest.”
“Your role is not to secure convictions at all cost, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,” Espionosa said. “Your allegiance is to the impartial application of the law, to the pursuit of truth, and to upholding of due process for all.”
Habba also dropped a misdemeanor charge against the mayor, but quickly followed up by charging New Jersey Representative LaMonica McIver, who was also present the day Baraka was arrested, with “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.”
McIver slammed the charges as “purely political.”
“They mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she said in a statement.
This story has been updated.

Trump Loses It at Rand Paul as GOP Budget Bill Seems Doomed in Senate

Trump went on angry rant blasting the Republican senator who seems unwilling to back down.

Senator Rand Paul walks through the Capitol.
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Donald Trump decided to start his Tuesday morning by attacking Republican Senator Rand Paul.

“Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming,” Trump angrily posted on Truth Social, referring to the budget bill. “He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!”

“Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas,” he posted again five minutes later. “His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!”

The attack comes as Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which is predicted to make 13.7 million Americans lose health care over the next decade, faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Paul has said he’ll support the bill only if it removes language raising the debt ceiling. The House version of the bill would raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, while the Senate version would raise it by $5 trillion—which the Kentucky senator finds outrageous.

“If they were to separate out and take the debt ceiling off that, I very much could consider the rest of the bill,” Paul told reporters on Monday.

Paul also said he “had a lengthy discussion” with Trump this week in which he expressed his thoughts on the bill. But if Trump’s Truth Social rants Tuesday morning are any indication, that call didn’t go exactly as the president planned.

Meteorologist Warns Trump Cuts Will Have Dire Consequences on Live TV

John Morales, who has been a meteorologist for 40 years, warned that weather forecasts are about to get bad this hurricane season.

John Morales speaks about federal government cuts on NBC 6.
Screenshot/NBC 6/John Morales on Bluesky

A meteorologist at NBC6 in Miami took time from his weather report to call out the “gutting” federal cuts that have left the National Weather Service understaffed, underinformed, and with a quality of forecast that is considerably lower than it’s been in recent years, making it harder to accurately track hurricanes this upcoming season.  

Veteran meteorologist John Morales opened his segment with a six-year old clip of him accurately reporting on the path of Hurricane Dorian. 

“Confidently, I went on TV and I told you, ‘It’s going to turn. You don’t need to worry. It is going to turn,’” he said, referring to the NWS’s hurricane prediction ability. “And I am here to tell you that I am not sure I can do that this year, because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general.… This is a multigenerational impact on science in this country.”

Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺

[image or embed]

— John Morales (@johnmoralestv.bsky.social) June 2, 2025 at 8:45 PM

Morales first noted that all central and south Florida NWS sites are around 20 to 40 percent understaffed right now. There has been “nearly 20 percent reduction in weather balloon releases, launches, that carry those radio signs. And what we’re starting to see is that the quality of the forecast is becoming degraded because of some of these cuts,” he added. 

“There is also a chance that … NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft will not be able to fly this year. And with less reconnaissance missions, we may be flying blind. And we may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline.” 

DOGE made massive cuts to NWS that caused the agency to lose 600 employees, due to layoffs or early retirement. Multiple local field offices had a vacancy rate of over 20 percent as of March, causing anxiety to rise as we enter hurricane season. 

The NWS’s mission is “protection of life and property.” The DOGE cuts are stopping them from doing that. More people will be in harm’s way with less information because of decisions made by Elon Musk and Donald Trump. This, not efficiency, is the real material impact of DOGE. 

“I was asked to talk about this today, I’m glad I was,” Morales concluded, “I just want you to know that what you need to do is call your representatives, and make sure that these cuts are stopped.” 

Trump Makes Unhinged Tariff Claim as Experts Warn Economy Is Crumbling

An international economic organization has slashed its forecast for U.S. economic growth.

Donald Trump gestures while speaking at a podium in the Oval Office
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The U.S. economy is falling apart in front of our very eyes—but you wouldn’t know that to hear Donald Trump tell it.

The U.S. president took to social media in the wee hours of Tuesday morning to claim that his tariffs are the best thing ever.

“Because of Tariffs, our Economy is BOOMING!” he wrote.

Just a few hours earlier, he claimed that if “other Countries are allowed to use Tariffs against us, and we’re not allowed to counter them, quickly and nimbly, with Tariffs against them, our Country doesn’t have, even a small chance, of Economic survival.”

But Trump’s celebratory comments stood in stark contrast to a report released Tuesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The intergovernmental group slashed its forecast for U.S. economic growth through 2026. America’s growth outlook was revised down to 1.6 percent this year—compared to a March forecast of 2.2 percent—and 1.5 percent in 2026.

The report specifically cited Trump’s tariff policy, which has created economic uncertainty, and his efforts to cut immigration and the federal workforce as reasons for downgrading U.S. economic growth predictions.

In fact, not only is Trump’s tariff policy wrecking the U.S. economy, it’s also dragging down other economies. The OECD predicted that global growth will slow to 2.9 percent in 2025, compared to 3.3 percent the previous year “on the technical assumption that tariff rates as of mid-May are sustained despite ongoing legal challenges.”

“The slowdown is concentrated in the United States, Canada and Mexico,” the report noted.

The future of Trump’s pet tariff policy remains unclear. Since Trump imposed sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every other country in April, two separate courts have deemed his plan illegal. The administration plans to appeal at least one of those rulings.

People Are Being “Mean” About FEMA Chief’s Hurricane Comment, DHS Says

Trump’s acting FEMA head made an outrageous comment about hurricane season. Now the administration is trying to defend him.

Acting FEMA head David Richardson's official portrait
The Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security says people are being a little too mean after acting FEMA head David Richardson said he didn’t know the United States had a hurricane season.

Richardson, who has led the emergency aid agency since last month, made the comment at a briefing on Monday that was first reported by Reuters.

The U.S. hurricane season began Sunday and will end in late November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts “above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year,” with as many as 10 hurricanes on the forecast.

The national reaction to Richardson’s comment has been one of shock, disbelief, and outrage, with many Democratic lawmakers swiftly calling for his removal. But DHS, which oversees FEMA, says people are being a bit too mean.

“Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to media outlets. “FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people.”

Richardson initially joined the Trump administration in January as assistant secretary for DHS’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, after previously serving in the United States Marine Corps as a ground combat officer. His qualifications to lead FEMA are unclear.