Gender-Affirming Care

A federal appeals court says President Donald Trump’s goal of ending gender-affirming care is not improper and cannot be the basis for quashing a subpoena. The 2-1 decision Friday by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived the Justice Department's subpoena against QueerDoc. The telemedicine company provides medical treatment for transgender youth. The Justice Department announced last year that it had issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics that provide gender-affirming care as part of an effort to investigate healthcare fraud. Federal judges have quashed many of the subpoenas as illegitimate efforts to intimidate providers into ending treatment.

The Justice Department is defending its prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey and says there's "no serious dispute” that a social media post of seashells he made could be understood as a threat against President Donald Trump. Prosecutors late Tuesday also called into question Comey’s account that he found the seashells in the numerical arrangement “86 47” while walking on a North Carolina beach. Trump is the 47th president. Prosecutors say Comey intended a physical threat or knew that the number 86 could suggest violence. Comey's legal team calls it a vindictive prosecution and says Comey’s post didn't amount to a true threat.