Fivethirtyeight: The State Of The States

Witness testimony will continue Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money criminal trial. Follow here for the latest live news updates from court, analysis and more.

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Campus organizers at three universities filed legal complaints on Monday arguing that their schools’ investments in planet-heating fossil fuels are illegal, the Guardian has learned. The students from Columbia University, Tulane University, and the University of Virginia each wrote to the attorneys general of their respective states calling on them to scrutinize their universities’ investments.

This story was produced by Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. In 2018, the Akron, Ohio-based utility FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a Republican Governors Association-affiliated dark money group backing GOP nominee Mike DeWine in a competitive race for Ohio governor, according to newly released records. The records show FirstEnergy’s extensive behind-the-scenes work to get DeWine elected.

Things get weird in the Mexican election.

“A Secret Service agent tasked with protecting Vice President Kamala Harris brawled with several other agents on Monday morning,” the New York Post reports. “The agent in question, whose identity has not been revealed, was immediately ‘removed from their assignment,’”

Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist Jim Hoft posted a message to his readers saying they are filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection claiming it is as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks against our media outlet. Hoft didn't say exactly who, what, or why this is happening now, but Will Sommer from the Washington Post has some information. While he didn’t name which lawsuits he was referencing, the site is being sued for claims of defamation and infliction of emotional distress by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, two Georgia election workers who say they faced threats after the site leveled baseless accusations of ballot fraud against them. That sounds about right.