A defiant Elon Musk on Wednesday took the stand in a jury trial to defend himself against accusations that he engaged in a pattern of deceptive behavior that misled investors as he attempted to back out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter before he finally completed the takeover. The civil trial in San Francisco centers on a class-action lawsuit filed just before Musk took control of Twitter in October 2022, six months after agreeing to buy the embattled company for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share. The case revolves around allegations that Musk violated federal securities laws that unfairly harmed Twitter shareholders between May 13 and Oct. 4, 2022.

The House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Five Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday support the subpoena proposed by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina in a sign of continued frustration with the department’s review and release of a tranche of documents regarding the wealthy financier. The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the subpoena.

Minnesota is suing President Donald Trump’s administration in an attempt to stop it from withholding $243 million in Medicaid spending. The lawsuit filed Monday asks a U.S. court in Minneapolis to issue a temporary restraining order to block the withholding for Medicaid, which is the health care safety net for low-income Americans. The move came after Vice President JD Vance said last week the administration would “temporarily halt” some Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Minnesota's attorney general says his office has a strong track record of fighting Medicaid fraud. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn't immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment late Monday.

At least two retail customers have filed proposed class-action lawsuits against companies that have sued in trade court to ensure they receive refunds from tariffs now-deemed illegal. Miami-based Matthew Reiser filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against FedEx and New York-based Nathan Ward made a similar claim against sunglasses maker EssilorLuxottica. The suits seek to ensure that should tariffs be refunded to the companies, they get returned to the customers. The moves follow a rush of more than 1,000 companies that have filed suit in the U.S. Court of International trade over tariff refunds. On Feb. 20, The Supreme Court invalidated tariffs implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, worth an estimated $130 billion to $175 billion.

A judge has decided to keep prosecutors on the case of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's killing in Utah. Kirk was shot onstage while speaking outdoors at a college in Orem in September. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, who is charged with aggravated murder. Robinson has not yet entered a plea and a trial date is not set. Defense attorneys had asked the judge to remove a deputy prosecutor from the case because his adult daughter was in the audience when Kirk was shot. The judge declined the request Tuesday.

Prosecutors portrayed  a Utah mother and children’s book author as a money-hungry killer Monday on the first day of a murder trial in her husband’s death. Her defense team urged jurors not to make judgments before hearing her side of the story. Kouri Richins faces a slew of felony charges for allegedly killing her husband with fentanyl in March 2022 at their home just outside the ski town of Park City. Prosecutors say she slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that he drank. Richins denies the allegations.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change. The conservative-majority court took up the case Monday. The companies went to the Supreme Court after Colorado’s highest court allowed a lawsuit from Boulder to proceed. The companies say the lawsuits present a serious threat to the industry. President Donald Trump's Republican administration also urged the high court to block the case. The industry is facing dozens of lawsuits from state and local governments that argue the companies deceived the public about fossil fuels' contribution to climate change.

A federal judge has permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep under wraps the report detailing Smith’s findings that resulted in criminal charges in 2023. Cannon dismissed the case in 2024 after concluding that Smith was unlawfully appointed. American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog that has been pushing for the report's release, says it “will continue using every tool available to force this information into the open." Trump attorney Kendra Wharton praised Cannon’s ruling and said Smith's report “should never see the light of day.”