A US judge pleaded not guilty on Thursday to helping a man evade immigration agents, court documents showed, as she argues that federal officials have no power to prosecute her.Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges of obstructing an official proceeding and concealing a person from arrest. Her attorney issued a statement saying that Dugan “asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court,” according to the New York Times.President Donald Trump has conducted a crackdown on undocumented migrants since coming to power in January, and has clashed with several courts which have argued he has not followed due process. Dugan’s arrest set off a torrent of criticism by Democrats and applause by some Republicans, while more than 150 former state and federal judges signed a letter to the Justice Department calling the arrest an attempt to intimidate the judiciary.Dugan is seeking to dismiss the case, arguing that she cannot be prosecuted over actions she took as a judge in and around her courtroom, according to local media. Her lawyers have pointed to a Supreme Court decision last year that found that Trump was immune from prosecution for official acts.The charges stem from a standoff with federal agents outside Dugan’s courtroom in downtown Milwaukee in April. They had come to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican defendant appearing on misdemeanor battery charges whom immigration officials say was deported in 2013.Prosecutors say Dugan sent the agents down the hall to see the chief judge and, while they were away, postponed Flores-Ruiz’s hearing and escorted him through a jury exit to a private part of the courthouse.The area leads to the public hallway where immigration agents were waiting. But Flores-Ruiz was allowed to leave the building before being arrested outside.Dugan was arrested a week later in a sting publicized by FBI Director Kash Patel, who posted a photo on social media of her being led away in handcuffs. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Dugan of “protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.”Protesters gathered outside the court in Milwaukee in support of Dugan, waving signs reading “Stop Trump’s war on democracy,” “Intimidation is a tool of fascism” and “No justice, no peace.”A trial has been scheduled for July.

Walmart on Thursday reported another solid quarter but warned of price increases due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China and other major trading partners.”We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a conference call with analysts.Executives with the big box store chain welcomed the de-escalation of the US-China trade war announced this week, but said the levies on China remained too high. The tariffs have a particularly strong impact on items such as electronics and toys.Consumers will begin to see more price increases in the latter part of May, with a more noticeable impact in June, said Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey.”If you’ve got a 30 percent tariff on certain items, you’ll likely see a double digit” price increase, Rainey said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.Walmart officials said the extent to which tariffs are passed on to consumers will depend on the individual item.Rainey said Walmart saw an opportunity to play “offense” with some products, meaning the retail giant could absorb more of the tariff to keep prices lower and boost its market share.”We could see higher prices on some non-tariffed items and stable or even lower prices on some tariffed products,” said CFRA Research senior equity analyst Arun Sundaram.- Uncertain profit hit -The comments came as Walmart reported profits of $4.5 billion, down 12.1 percent from the year-ago level, but topping analyst expectations. Revenues rose 2.5 percent to $165.6 billion.The retail giant posted a 4.5 percent rise in first-quarter comparable sales in Walmart’s US stores behind another robust performance in groceries. McMillon said Walmart’s scale enables it to absorb tariffs on some items without passing them on to consumers. In some cases, suppliers have shifted to materials without tariffs such as fiberglass instead of aluminum, which has a tariff.McMillon flagged tariffs on countries like Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia on items such as bananas, avocados, coffee and roses.”We’ll do our best to control what we can control in order to keep food prices as low as possible,” McMillon said.Besides China, Walmart imports heavily into the United States from Mexico, Vietnam, India and Canada. The Trump administration is at various stages of negotiation following the president’s sweeping April 2 announcement that affected all US trading partners.While maintaining its full-year projections, the company did not offer a range on its second-quarter profit outlook, citing uncertainty around US trade policy.Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said Walmart was better positioned than other retailers amid the tariffs because of the importance of grocery, a category where “consumers will continue to prioritize spending out of necessity,” he said in a note.”Although the waves caused by tariffs now seem to be calmer, it would be incorrect to assume that the waters are completely safe. There will be a lot of further disruption ahead,” Saunders said, adding that Walmart is “one of the sturdiest ships” in retail.Shares initially rallied on the earnings, but fell after Walmart’s comments on pricing increases.CFRA analyst Sundaram said the fall in shares reflected investor disappointment that Walmart didn’t raise its full-year outlook after recent positive developments on the tariff front.”Uncertainty grew when Walmart chose not to provide second-quarter profit guidance,” Sundaram said. “While we still believe the company can exceed its full-year operating profit and (earnings) forecasts, we now expect more earnings volatility over the next few quarters compared to our initial projections.”

Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Thursday tried to chip away at the credibility of Casandra Ventura, the music mogul’s former girlfriend, after two days of her grueling testimony in his trial on sex trafficking charges.Ventura, the singer widely known as Cassie, told jurors that Combs raped, beat and forced her into drug-fueled sex parties during their more than 10 years together — excruciating accounts that now open her up to a grilling from defense lawyers.Combs’s attorney Anna Estevao focused on aspects of their relationship that were tender, admitting into evidence numerous emails and text exchanges that include Combs and Ventura expressing love for each other. Other messages were sexually explicit.When asked why she would look forward to seeing Combs after he had traveled, the 38-year-old Ventura replied: “Because I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much.”One of the messages from Ventura to Combs, dated 2009, read: “I’m always ready to freak off lolol.”That refers to the so-called “freak-offs” with Combs, Ventura and male escorts — sex performances directed by the music mogul that sometimes lasted for days, according to Ventura.In her third day on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court, Ventura — who is heavily pregnant with her third child — was soft-spoken and matter-of-fact, answering many defense questions with a simple “yes.”Combs, 55, was once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, but is now incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking and leading an illegal sex ring that enforced its power with crimes including arson, kidnapping and bribery.Combs — known during his career as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy — has rejected all charges against him and pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.Ventura is the prosecution’s star witness: On Tuesday and Wednesday, she described Combs as controlling and willing to wield his wealth and influence to fulfill his desires.She gave vivid accounts of coercive sex parties — she participated in hundreds, she testified — and brutal beatings.That testimony will underpin much of the prosecution’s case against Combs, who is alleged to have used violence and blackmail to manipulate women over many years.However, the defense contends that while Ventura’s relationship with Combs was complicated and included domestic abuse, it did not amount to sex trafficking, and that she behaved erratically and even violently herself.”Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” said defense lawyer Teny Geragos earlier this week.The defense implied Thursday that Ventura was taking an active role in planning the sexual encounters, though the singer reiterated that it was with Combs that she wanted to be intimate, not random escorts.- ‘Humiliating’ -On Wednesday, Ventura alleged that in 2018, as she and Combs were breaking up, he raped her in her living room.And she testified that her time with the artist — often credited with helping to usher hip-hop into the mainstream — left her with post-traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction and suicidal thoughts.The drugs were a “buffer” to withstand the “humiliating” and often filmed sexual encounters, she said.In a graphic hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Tuesday and again Wednesday, Combs is seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura down a hallway.The prosecution played portions of the footage while Ventura was on the stand.When asked why she did not fight back or get up, Ventura answered simply that curled up on the ground “felt like the safest place to be.”Following the hotel assault, Ventura was forced to attend the premiere of her movie “The Perfect Match” days later while covered in bruises, the jury heard. She said she wore sunglasses to conceal a black eye.Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday urged the defense to move more quickly in cross-examining Ventura given her late-stage pregnancy, and attorneys said they would attempt to wrap up by Friday.Trial proceedings are anticipated to continue well into the summer.