All posts tagged: payouts

First Amendment lawsuits from Charlie Kirk posts get payouts : NPR

First Amendment lawsuits from Charlie Kirk posts get payouts : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Maria Ruhtenberg, an attorney with the Iowa Office of the State Public Defender, has settled with the state after she was fired and later reinstated following online comments she made about the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kathryn Gamble for NPR hide caption toggle caption Kathryn Gamble for NPR By the time Maria Ruhtenberg was fired from her job last September for posting about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, few people even knew what she had written. The posts and comments she had made on Facebook were only visible to her friends. Just one person, a Facebook friend she barely knew, complained to her employer. “I don’t even know how we became Facebook friends, honestly,” said Ruhtenberg. After the conservative activist was shot, Ruhtenberg wrote things like “live by the sword, die by the sword” and “you reap what you sow” and that she disagreed with Kirk’s views about the Second Amendment. Ruhtenberg also said that “whoever shot [Kirk] should go to prison.” Two days after that complaint, a right-wing outlet in Iowa emailed Ruhtenberg’s …

Judge Temporarily Blocks Payouts From Trump’s .776 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Settlement Fund

Judge Temporarily Blocks Payouts From Trump’s $1.776 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Settlement Fund

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for the Republican president’s allies who believe they were victims of a weaponized government, halting its formation or any potential payouts for at least the next two weeks. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order barring the government from moving forward with its “Anti-Weaponization Fund” while pending litigation challenges it. The administration created the fund to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. A Justice Department spokesperson said it’s “extremely confident” that the fund is legally supported “by ample precedent,” including from settlements during the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat. “We will not allow the policy preferences of judges to interfere with our efforts to provide restitution to victims of lawfare,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The White House declined to comment on the judge’s ruling, …

DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants

DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants

Published by Sam Flores

Ed Martin has been one of the biggest supporters of Jan. 6 defendants in the Trump administration. The conservative activist called for “die-hard true Americans” to work until their “last breath” to “stop the steal” of the 2020 presidential election in a speech at the Capitol on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021. Martin got to know Trump when he hosted fundraisers for Capitol siege defendants on Trump properties. Martin was then named interim top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, where he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Jan. 6 cases and the firing or demotions of dozens of prosecutors who worked on the case. It was his support for the “J6ers” that cost him the backing of Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who blocked Martin’s confirmation to hold the post permanently. He told a conservative podcaster that Tillis asked him if he favored “reparations” for Jan. 6 rioters. “We should do it, we shouldn’t be afraid,” Martin said in the May 2025 interview. “You’re damn right I want to pay J6ers. If you …

Lawsuits accuse State Farm of secretly working to cut insurance payouts for hail damage : NPR

Lawsuits accuse State Farm of secretly working to cut insurance payouts for hail damage : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A support scientist looks at radar on his phone while tracking a supercell thunderstorm in Oklahoma. Hail damage contributed to $51 billion in insured losses last year from severe storms, according to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry-backed think tank. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Drew Angerer/Getty Images The storm swept into Tulsa County, Okla., around dinnertime on May 21, 2024, hammering people’s houses with hail the size of golf balls. It was so loud that when a neighbor called Tim Willard, he couldn’t make out what they were saying on the phone. Afterward, Willard walked outside his home to see shingles ripped from the roof and a lawn covered by an inch of ice. “These were jagged hailstones,” Willard says. “They were coming just straight down and just peppered everything.” Weeks later, Willard claims that an adjuster for State Farm, his home insurer, said his roof should be replaced. But that same day, State Farm reversed itself and denied Willard’s insurance claim. Soon after, State Farm canceled Willard’s coverage, leaving him with …

L.A. County seeks to change law behind billions in sex abuse payouts

L.A. County seeks to change law behind billions in sex abuse payouts

Published by Sam Flores

At a luncheon this week for L.A. County politicos, Supervisor Kathryn Barger pitched what she framed as a common-sense reform. Legislators in Sacramento, she argued, need to change a 2019 law that extended the statute of limitations for sex abuse lawsuits, opening the floodgates for decades-old claims that have cost the county nearly $5 billion and counting in payouts. “I want them in Sacramento to fix it,” she said. “I have to believe that we are the tip of the iceberg.” The controversial law, Assembly Bill 218, has led to thousands of claims over abuse that took place in schools, juvenile halls and foster homes. Supporters say it continues to give survivors a chance at justice, while Barger and other officials warn the cost of the litigation is driving local governments to the brink of bankruptcy. Rolling back AB 218, critics argue, is the single most obvious thing state lawmakers can do this legislative session. The push has gained momentum amid concerns of fraud in the first of two payouts approved last year by L.A. …

California fire victims say slow insurance payouts have hampered their recovery : NPR

California fire victims say slow insurance payouts have hampered their recovery : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

An aerial view shows empty lots and new homes under construction in Altadena, California on January 5, 2026. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images Nine months had passed since a wildfire destroyed Mark Johnson’s southern California home, and he was still waiting for State Farm to pay his claim. Desperate for a resolution, Johnson asked the insurer in October to negotiate a settlement so his family could rebuild. “I was on the verge of leaving money on the table,” Johnson recalls, “just to get some kind of assurance of what we could move forward with.” Then, just before Thanksgiving, a State Farm representative told him the money was on its way. “Needless to say, it was a huge relief,” Johnson says, fighting back tears. Johnson isn’t alone. State Farm is California’s top home insurer, and many customers around Los Angeles started to get checks in November after LA County announced it was investigating complaints about how the company had handled claims from last January’s wildfires, says Joy …

Polymarket withholds payouts as debate erupts over definition of Venezuela ‘invasion’

Polymarket withholds payouts as debate erupts over definition of Venezuela ‘invasion’

Published by skeptic

Polymarket is reportedly refusing to pay out on bets related to whether the U.S. military will invade Venezuela, citing discrepancies in terminology. The operator is currently disputing the mission to capture the former president, Nicolas Maduro, who represented an invasion of Venezuela, and the company will only settle a contract if the military actually takes control of the country. One successful trader won $400,000 following Maduro’s capture after betting more than $32,000 that the former president would be removed from power by the end of January. This was trading at an average of 7 cents before the market eventually paid out at 100 cents when he was flown out of the country. As such, the mystery trader won $400,000, but there is controversy surrounding the bet regarding the definition of “invade.” Polymarket states that it will resolve the “Will the US invade Venezuela by . . .?” prediction contract if the country “commences a military offensive intended to establish control over any portion of Venezuela” by one of three dates. Because it didn't happen. There is no scam …