Front Page Podcast: Senate puts Flock in the spotlight

A federal judge has temporarily reinstated three media outlets that President Trump had banned from the White House.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has issued a 14-day temporary restraining order against the president’s ban of CNN, MS Now and Politico, pending additional court arguments in the case.

He ordered the Trump administration to “immediately return, reinstate and restore” the press credentials the White House revoked last Friday.

Trump’s battle with the press has left the White House without official coverage from the television and photo pools designated to record and distribute footage and images to networks and affiliates. 

Justice Department senior counsel Michael Velchik argued that the press has no constitutional right to access the nonpublic areas of the White House and that its access can be restricted, even for viewpoint-discrimination reasons.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington is shining a light on the harsh realities of life under communist rule.

Congressional lawmakers, advocates and families have pushed President Trump to raise those concerns when he welcomes Xi for a state visit to bolster the U.S.-China relationship and discuss issues such as trade and artificial intelligence.

Trump has praised Xi as a “tremendous leader of a very powerful country,” though he says the U.S. deals with China from a position of strength. Xi’s visit will include military fanfare at the White House, a state dinner and a visit to the National Archives before his departure Friday.

The CEO of Flock was a no-show at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing, where a Florida woman described being sent to jail after police after using Flock cameras mistook her as the suspect in a fatal car crash.

Lindsey Isaacs of Palm Coast, Florida, spent 13 days in jail after her black Dodge Durango was captured by a Flock camera several miles from the crash site on Interstate 4. 

Authorities focused on her as the suspect even though her vehicle lacked any collision damage and 911 callers had reported a maroon vehicle with a different license plate. Sen. Josh Hawley, the Missouri Republican who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing, said he invited leaders from Flock, Axon, Motorola and Verkada to appear, but they declined.

The Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile defense shield will need more than money and time to work. It is going to need power — and lots of it.

Across Washington, the debate has largely focused on the system’s cost and how quickly it can become operational.

Still, the shield will require massive amounts of electricity to operate. The system is expected to include directed-energy weapons and an AI-powered command-and-control system. Officials said reliable power must be in place.

No comprehensive estimate exists for the power required to operate the entire system.

And finally… A congressional report says Arlington County, Virginia, prosecutors have given breaks to illegal immigrants who face drunken driving charges, hoping lower charges will help them avoid deportation.

The House Judiciary Committee’s report said those breaks included domestic violence cases. The committee says Arlington has also refused nearly every request to turn over illegal immigrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, a Democrat whose jurisdiction includes Arlington, said her office takes potential immigration consequences into account when handling criminal cases.

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