The International Cat Federation says it has banned Russian cats from its international competitions in the latest rebuke to Russia since it invaded Ukraine last week.

The federation, which considers itself “the United Nations of Cat Federations,” said in a statement that it was “shocked and horrified” that Russian forces had invaded Ukraine and “started a war.” Known as FIFe (for its French name, Fédération Internationale Féline), it said that the measures were decided Tuesday and that officials could not “witness these atrocities and do nothing.”

It said the rule would remain in place until the end of May and would then be reviewed.

“No cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia, regardless of which organization these exhibitors hold their membership in,” said the organization, which spans almost 40 countries.

Washington—Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) today issued the following statement regarding the Select Committee’s brief filed this evening in John Eastman’s lawsuit:

“The Select Committee’s brief refutes on numerous grounds the privilege claims Dr. Eastman has made to try to keep hidden records critical to our investigation. The Select Committee is not conducting a criminal investigation. But, as the judge noted at a previous hearing, Dr. Eastman’s privilege claims raise the question whether the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies in this situation. We believe evidence in our possession justifies review of these documents under this exception in camera. The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power.

“We look forward to the Court’s review of our filing as the Select Committee’s investigation moves forward.”

Background on the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege:

Communications in which a “client consults an attorney for advice that will serve him in the commission of a fraud or crime” are not privileged from disclosure. In re Grand Jury Investigation, 810 F.3d 1110, 1113 (9th Cir. 2016) (internal quotations omitted). This exception to the attorney-client privilege applies where (1) “the client was engaged in or planning a criminal or fraudulent scheme when it sought the advice of counsel to further the scheme,” and (2) the attorney-client communications for which production is sought are “sufficiently related to” and were made “in furtherance of [the] intended, or present, continuing illegality.” Id. at 381-83 (internal quotation marks omitted). This exception to the privilege applies even when the crime or fraud is ultimately unsuccessful. In re Grand Jury Proceedings (Corporation), 87 F.3d 377, 382 (9th Cir. 1996).

An in camera review of the documents is warranted when the party seeking production has provided “a factual basis adequate to support a good faith belief by a reasonable person that in camera review of the materials may reveal evidence to establish the claim that the crime-fraud exception applies.” United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554, 572 (1989) (citation omitted).

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A Memphis judge has ordered a new trial for Pamela Moses, a woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote.

The case attracted national attention following a Guardian report, because of the severity of the sentence. Moses said she had no idea she was ineligible.

Moses has been in prison since December, when her bond was revoked. On Thursday, the Guardian revealed new evidence in the case that was not produced at trial. Moses was released from custody on Friday, according to Claiborne Ferguson, her attorney.

“We are so excited that the motion for new trial was granted for Pamela Moses today and that she is able to return home to her family while she awaits trial. We hope that she receives justice and is found not guilty for the admitted mistakes of the state of Tennessee,” said Dawn Harrington, the executive director of Free Hearts, a criminal justice organization in Tennessee that supported Moses.

The inventory is expected to provide more information on the volume and scope of classified documents, including details on the level of classification, according to the two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. There are records at the very highest levels of classification, including some that can be viewed by only a small number of government officials, the two people said.

“There are records that only a very few have clearances” to review, one of the people told The Post. The documents are so sensitive that they may not be able to describe them in an unclassified way, and, therefore, such documents might be described broadly in a classified addendum to the inventory, according to the two people.

Maloney is requesting the additional information as a part of the congressional investigation into Trump’s handling of White House records.

In a letter to sent Thursday evening to Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero, Maloney asked for a “detailed description of the contents of the boxes recovered from Mar-a-Lago … and identification of any items that are classified and the level of classification” by March 10.

Austin ISD's superintendent said this week that trans kids in the district should continue to feel safe at school, after Texas' attorney general issued an opinion saying some medical care they seek should be considered child abuse.

“We protect all our kids at Austin ISD," Stephanie Elizalde wrote on Twitter, "no matter what, and that goes for our trans kids, too.”

Texas doctors belonging to the Committee to Protect Health Care and National Nurses United, an organization of registered nurses, both condemned the move to "criminalize" health care for trans youth. The American Medical Association has said interfering in gender-affirming care for nonbinary and trans youth can be detrimental to physical and mental health.

Ken Paxton's opinion is nonbinding, so schools are not required to turn in families who seek out hormone therapy or any sort of gender-assignment surgery or procedure. These types of opinions are meant to guide prosecutors in how to interpret the law.

Austin ISD's superintendent said this week that trans kids in the district should continue to feel safe at school, after Texas' attorney general issued an opinion saying some medical care they seek should be considered child abuse.

“We protect all our kids at Austin ISD," Stephanie Elizalde wrote on Twitter, "no matter what, and that goes for our trans kids, too.”

Texas doctors belonging to the Committee to Protect Health Care and National Nurses United, an organization of registered nurses, both condemned the move to "criminalize" health care for trans youth. The American Medical Association has said interfering in gender-affirming care for nonbinary and trans youth can be detrimental to physical and mental health.

Ken Paxton's opinion is nonbinding, so schools are not required to turn in families who seek out hormone therapy or any sort of gender-assignment surgery or procedure. These types of opinions are meant to guide prosecutors in how to interpret the law.

The federal prosecutor whose office is investigating participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol says there is no end in sight to perhaps the most sprawling criminal probe in Justice Department history and that "it’s really hard to predict” how many people ultimately will be charged with taking part in the rioting.

“We’re certainly not at the end in terms of charges,” Matthew M. Graves, who was sworn in Nov. 5 as U.S. attorney for the District, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “The million-dollar question is: How close are we to the end?”

With about 750 people already arrested, he said, “it’s really hard to predict what the final number will be, given that we’re still somewhere in the middle — using that term very broadly — of the investigation phase.”....

Congress could reach an omnibus spending deal soon that would allow the U.S. attorney’s office to hire more people “who would work exclusively” on Jan. 6 cases in a reorganized, stand-alone “Capitol siege section,” Graves said. Senate and House appropriators have voted to fund much of a Biden-requested budget increase for the Justice Department that would to add up to 100 positions and 60 prosecutors to work on countering domestic terrorism. The department said that would include the surge in cases from the Capitol attack.