By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday struck down another of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms.

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U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ruled that the order against the firm of Susman Godfrey was unconstitutional and must be permanently blocked.

The order was the latest ruling to reject Trump’s efforts to punish law firms for legal work he does not like and for employing attorneys he perceives as his adversaries.

The Susman Godfrey firm suggested that it had drawn Trump’s ire at least in part because it represented Dominion Voting Systems in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News over false claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election. The suit ended in a massive settlement.

Other judges in recent weeks have blocked similar orders against the firms of Jenner Block, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale. The orders have sought to impose similar sanctions, including the suspension of security clearances of attorneys and the restriction of access to federal buildings.

“The order was one in a series attacking firms that had taken positions with which President Trump disagreed. In the ensuing months, every court to have considered a challenge to one of these orders has found grave constitutional violations and permanently enjoined enforcement of the order in full,” AliKhan wrote. “Today, this court follows suit, concluding that the order targeting Susman violates the U.S. Constitution and must be permanently enjoined.”

Other major firms have sought to avert orders by preemptively reaching settlements that require them, among other things, to collectively dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services in support of causes the Trump administration says it supports.

By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican efforts to loosen regulations on gun silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns have been dealt a big setback with the Senate parliamentarian advising that the proposal would need to clear a 60-vote threshold if included in their big tax and immigration bill.

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Gun rights groups had been lobbying aggressively for the measure, which would essentially treat silencers and the short-barreled firearms like long guns. Gun-control groups celebrated the parliamentarian’s ruling, saying the items have been regulated for nearly 100 years for good reason — they are a threat to first responders and communities.

The House version of the GOP’s bill removed silencers — called “suppressors” by the gun industry — from a 1930s law that regulates firearms considered the most dangerous, and in the process, would have eliminated a $200 tax. The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled, or sawed-off, rifles and shotguns.

Under the National Firearms Act, potential buyers of the regulated weapons must also undergo a finger-print based background check. There is no deadline for such checks. The process is arguably more thorough than the name-based background check completed for other firearms purchases.

Lawmakers said the silencers provision was deemed by the Senate parliamentarian to be in violation of the “Byrd Rule,” which stipulates that the budget changes sought in the legislation cannot be “merely incidental” to the policy changes. The special rules are designed to deter provisions unrelated to spending or taxes from being included in the bill.

“It’s no surprise that Republicans will jump at any opportunity to please the gun lobby by rolling back gun safety measures, but that kind of policy does not belong in a reconciliation bill,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Gun rights groups complained about the $200 tax and how the background check process often takes weeks and even months for silencers and short-barreled weapons.

Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, said before the ruling that the proposed changes were aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argued that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. “All it’s ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the firearm to hearing safe levels,” Keane said.

John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, disagreed with the parliamentarian’s ruling, noting that she was originally appointed by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

“Nevertheless, we remain committed to working with our allies on Capitol Hill to end the unjust tax burden on these constitutionally-protected arms,” Commerford said.

Groups opposed to the measure included Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization co-founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords who was grievously wounded in a 2011 mass shooting in her district.

Emma Brown, the group’s executive director said “removing safeguards on gun silencers would have made it easier for violent criminals to escape, putting both law enforcement and civilians at greater risk.”

“What’s more, removing safeguards on short barreled firearms would have only enabled more criminals to access these easily concealable weapons, which can be easily brought into large crowds,” Brown said.

The gun language had broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues.

It is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items that were included to entice members to vote for the legislation and will have broad implications in the years to come.

By JACK BROOK

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana authorities captured on Friday one of the 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail six weeks ago and who police say released videos on social media while still on the run.

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Antoine Massey, 33, was taken into custody at a residence in New Orleans about 2 miles from the jail, said New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick.

“He actually walked out of a home peacefully,” Kirkpatrick said. “He peacefully gave up to law enforcement who had surrounded the house.”

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said she had received a tip Friday morning and immediately notified other law enforcement authorities, who arrested Massey by midafternoon.

Louisiana State Police Superintendent Robert Hodges said authorities were still investigating how Massey was able to stay at the residence where he was recaptured.

“It’s pretty obvious over the last six weeks to remain a fugitive that long, he had assistance, he had help,” Hodges said.

Authorities had recently investigated social media posts by a man who identified himself as Massey and earlier this month raided a New Orleans home where they believed the videos were produced but did not find him.

FILE – This image provided by Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, shows inmate Antoine Massey. (Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)

“Great work by all our law enforcement partners who have been working so hard for this outcome,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said after Massey’s capture Friday. “One more to go!”

Authorities are still searching for convicted murderer Derrick Groves. Police previously captured the other eight escapees following the May 16 jailbreak, one of the largest in recent U.S. history. Authorities said the men yanked open a faulty cell door inside the New Orleans jail, squeezed through a hole behind a toilet, scaled a barbed-wire fence and fled into the dark.

The men’s absence wasn’t discovered until a morning headcount, hours after they bolted for freedom. Authorities found a message drawn around the hole the men used to escape: an arrow pointing at the gap and the words “To Easy LoL.”

Officials have pointed to multiple security lapses in the jail, but authorities remain adamant that the men also had likely had help. A maintenance worker at the jail was arrested for allegedly helping the men escape by turning off the water to the toilet where the hole was cut behind. His lawyer says he has denied knowingly aiding them.

Massey faced charges of rape, kidnapping, domestic violence involving strangulation and violation of a protective order, authorities in nearby St. Tammany Parish said. In Orleans Parish, he faced charges of motor vehicle theft and domestic battery.

Murrill said Massey will face additional charges for his role in the escape.

A woman police identified as being in an on-again, off-again relationship with Massey was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and as a principal to aggravated escape, court records show. Authorities said the woman knew of Massey’s escape plans beforehand, communicated with him afterward and misled authorities.

A $50,000 reward remains for tips leading to Groves’ recapture, authorities said.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK (AP) — Europeans still aren’t buying Teslas with figures out Wednesday showing sales plunged for a fifth month in a row in May, a blow to investors who had hoped anger toward Elon Musk would have faded by now.

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Tesla sales fell 28% last month in 30 European countries even as the overall market for electric vehicles expanded sharply, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. The poor showing comes after Tesla’s billionaire CEO had promised a “major rebound” was coming last month, adding to a recent buying frenzy among investors.

They were selling on Wednesday, pushing the prices down more than 4% in early afternoon trading.

Musk had said Tesla was sure to get a boost once the company was done retooling its factories to produce a new version of its biggest seller, the Model Y. But that was finished months ago, and the new models are widely available. Investors are now hoping that a cheaper Tesla expected to be out later year will help reverse the sales decline.

Overall, battery electric vehicle sales rose 25% in Europe compared to a year earlier. The market for EVs was particularly strong in Germany, where Musk has angered potential buyers by publicly supporting the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party in elections. Overall EV sales there leapt 45%.

China’s SAIC Motor was the big winner for the month with its European sales of EVs and other kinds of cars jumping 38%. That has allowed the company to leapfrog Tesla, which a year ago was selling more cars in the region.

SAIC sold 18,716 vehicles last month versus Tesla’s 8,729.

The sales drop for Tesla comes at a crucial time for the company as it launches a test run of its driverless ‘robotaxis’ service in Austin, Texas. Musk says that if goes well, he expects to introduce the service in several other cities in quick succession and have as many as a million of the automated cabs on roads by the end of the year.

Reviews so far have been mostly good, but the service is limited to a dozen or so cars and some passengers have circulated videos of problems during their rides, including one showing a robotaxi heading down a lane for opposing traffic.

Federal traffic safety regulators said Tuesday they were looking into the videos.