By Mark Sherman
The Supreme Court said Monday it will hold arguments by teleconference in May in key cases, including President Donald Trump's bid to shield his tax and other financial records.
The court will make live audio of the arguments available for the first time. It had previously postponed courtroom arguments for March and April because of the coronavirus.
The court will hear 10 cases in all between May 4 and May 13. In addition to fights over subpoenas for Trump's financial records, they include two cases about whether presidential electors are required to cast their Electoral College ballots for the candidate who won their state.
The justices and the lawyers arguing the cases all will participate remotely. The court said a live audio feed will be provided to news organizations.
The court has never live-streamed courtroom arguments and only rarely has it made the audio available on the same day.
Six of the nine justices are 65 and older, at higher risk of getting very sick from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, and Stephen Breyer, 81, are the oldest members of the court.
The only other time Supreme Court arguments have been held outside the 85-year-old court building was in October 2001, when anthrax was detected in the court mailroom. That led the justices to hold arguments in the federal courthouse about a half mile from the Supreme Court, but only for one week.
In 1918, when the court still met inside the Capitol, arguments were postponed for a month because of the flu pandemic. Smallpox outbreaks in the late 1700s also caused postponement of court business.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will have “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an indefinite period after its war with Hamas.
The Israeli army severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory and pounded it with airstrikes Monday, preparing for expected ground battles with Hamas militants in Gaza's largest city and an even bloodier phase of the month-old war.
Four men were charged Monday over the theft of an 18-carat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace, the sprawling English country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born.
Donald Trump began testifying Monday morning in his civil fraud trial, producing the spectacle of a former president and the leading Republican presidential candidate defending himself against allegations that he dramatically inflated his net worth.
The most-watched races in Tuesday’s off-year general election have all been dominated by the ongoing debate over abortion rights.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is reportedly planning to endorse Florida Gov. Ron Desantis in the Republican primary.
The endorsement could give DeSantis' campaign a boost as he struggles to show progress against Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
With Donald Trump due on the witness stand next week, testimony from his adult sons in his civil business fraud trial wrapped up Friday with Eric Trump saying he relied completely on accountants and lawyers to assure the accuracy of financial documents key to the case.
The watchdog office overseeing the National Science Foundation is sending investigators to Antarctica's McMurdo Station after hearing concerns about the prevalence of sexual violence at the U.S. research base.
Frederico Klein, a former State Department official, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison after being found guilty on several counts including assault of multiple police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
