— Former president Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the New York attorney general — which claimed that her long-term civil investigation into his business practices was an abuse of authority that needed to be stopped — has been dismissed by a federal judge in Syracuse, N.Y.

The former president’s attempt to halt Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) probe into the Trump Organization and its dealings with lenders and tax authorities was rejected in a 43-page decision made public Friday by U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes.

In a statement, James said her office would “continue this investigation undeterred,” suggesting that Trump has made efforts to “choose how the law” applies to him.

“Time and time again, the courts have made clear that Donald J. Trump’s baseless legal challenges cannot stop our lawful investigation into his and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings,” James said in a statement.

In the wake of two massacres that have killed 31 people in less than two weeks, the chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation into gun manufacturers.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) contacted five gunmakers on Thursday, requesting information regarding the manufacturing, sale, and marketing of deadly weapons used in mass shootings. Both gunmen responsible for the carnage in Buffalo and Uvalde, Tex., used AR-15-style rifles, purchased legally at the age of 18.

The companies being investigated, according to letters provided to The Washington Post, include Daniel Defense, the maker of the DDM4 rifle the gunman used to kill 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, and Bushmaster, the maker of the Bushmaster XM-15 semiautomatic rifle that the suspected Buffalo shooter said he illegally modified and then used to kill 10 people at a Tops Friendly Markets store.

In a letter to Marty Daniel, the CEO of Daniel Defense, Maloney cites online advertising posted by the company on May 16 of a toddler holding an AR-15-style rifle. The picture featured “a caption quoting a biblical proverb to 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it,’ ” Maloney writes. Daniel Defense protected its tweets from public view shortly after the shooting.

“Your company’s own weapons of war have been repeatedly used to carry out horrific and deadly attacks,” Maloney says in the letter. “In addition to this week’s horrific shooting in Texas, four Daniel Defense AR-15-style rifles were found in the hotel room of the 2017 Las Vegas shooter. This shooter used more than a dozen assault weapons to massacre 60 people and wound more than 400 others. One of these Daniel Defense weapons was found with a bump stock and a 100-round magazine.”

During an interview with British Sky News reporter Mark Stone, Cruz, who was seen hugging and meeting with those at the vigil, was asked whether this was the moment to reform gun laws. Cruz responded by saying, “You know, it’s easy to go to politics.”

“But it’s important, it’s at the heart of the issue,” Stone replied, according to a video of the interview viewed more than 1 million times as of Thursday morning.

Then Stone asked, “Why does this only happen in your country? .... Why only in America? Why is this American exceptionalism so awful?”

That’s when Cruz fired back: “You know, I’m sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful. You’ve got your political agenda. God love you.”

As he attempted to walk away, Stone said he just wanted “to understand why you do not think that guns are the problem.”

“It is just an American problem,” the journalist said to Cruz.

At the end of the exchange, Cruz again ignored the journalist’s question and accused Stone of pushing propaganda before walking away.

“Why is it that people come from all over the world to America? Because it’s the freest, most prosperous, safest country on Earth,” the senator said. “Stop being a propagandist.”

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1529729614309900290

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is backing out of a scheduled in-person appearance at the National Rifle Association’s convention in Houston on Friday and will travel to Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers days earlier in the state’s worst school shooting in history. He will instead give prerecorded remarks to be played at the convention.

Abbott’s decision, provided by a spokesperson for his office, comes after the massacre reignited a national debate about firearm access — and renewed criticism of Republican officials who have long resisted and blocked attempts to strengthen gun control laws in a country where mass shootings have become frequent.

On Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced he would also be pulling out of the conference.....

Cruz, though, stood firm in his commitment to attend.

“I’m going to be there because what Democrats and the press try to do in the wake of every mass shooting is they try to demonize law-abiding gun owners, try to demonize the NRA,” Cruz told a CBS reporter.