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Why this matters:

• The judge stopped short of explicitly voiding the deal shielding Trump from tax scrutiny but said the government cannot claim in official proceedings that the agreement was the result of a legitimate legal process.
  
  

• Though the practical impacts of the ruling may be limited since the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed months ago and the administration has already abandoned the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that came out of it, the order nonetheless amounts to a scathing rebuke and tees up a politically uncomfortable line of questioning for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he faces the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• FACT FOCUS: Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death spurs false claims
  
  
• Sister Darline Graham Nordone will serve remainder of his term
  
  
• Questions linger about aging politicians and health transparency
  
  
• Aortic tear blamed in Graham’s sudden death is a fast-killing emergency
  
  
• What to know about Trump’s order shrinking the size of 2 national monuments in Utah
  
  
• Abortion rights are on the ballot in 4 states. Here’s what to know
  
  
• Supreme Court justices to testify before Congress on increasing security funding in rare appearance

US NEWS

Maine killing is at least the ninth death in US immigration sweeps

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a Maine motorist on Monday, marking at least the ninth death since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportations campaign. Read more.

What to know:

• Immigrant rights groups identified the man who was killed in Biddeford as a 26-year-old native of Colombia. The shooting drew immediate criticism from immigrant rights groups and some Democrats, who called for an independent investigation. The shooting came less than a week after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a Houston man after an altercation with agents while he was driving to work.
  
  

• The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said in a post on X about the Maine shooting that agents were surveilling an address for a person with a final order of removal from the country. When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone coming from that address, the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department said.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• ICE officer who fatally shot driver in Maine was ‘fearing for public safety,’ agency says
  
  
• WATCH: Protesters hold walking vigil
  
  
• Feds turn over evidence in Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings to Minnesota after months of delay

US NEWS

12 states challenge Paramount’s takeover of Warner, say merger would ‘extinguish competition’

The states sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, arguing that the $81 billion merger would lead to fewer choices for consumers across the U.S. Read more.

Why this matters:

• A Paramount-Warner combo would bring together two of Hollywood’s last five legacy studios. In Monday’s complaint, the states said such a tie-up would “inflict substantial harm” on movie theatres and basic cable distributors.
  
  

• Paramount said Monday’s lawsuit “distorts settled antitrust law” and maintained that its merger would instead create a “stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”
  
  

• Questions of political influence have piled up — with criticism falling largely along party lines in Washington. No Republicans signed on to the states’ case on Monday. Several attorneys general joining Monday’s lawsuit took aim at the Justice Department’s decision to not challenge the deal — pointing in particular to President Donald Trump’s close relationship with the billionaire family of Paramount CEO David Ellison.