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Tribune News Service on Mar 14, 2025

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Man who says Rep. Nancy Mace lied about his sex crime involvement sues her for libel

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man who contends Rep. Nancy Mace lied about him when she accused him of sex crimes filed a libel and defamation lawsuit against Mace in federal court Friday morning.

The 37-page lawsuit, filed by Brian Musgrave, of Fort Mill, contends that Mace falsely accused him being a rapist, sex trafficker and predator when she made a speech about Musgrave and three other men on the floor of the U.S. House on Feb. 10.

The lawsuit was filed Friday morning in the Charleston division of federal court in South Carolina, said Musgrave attorney Eric Bland of Lexington.

Bland also emailed copies of the legal action with accompanying exhibits to dozens of local, state and national reporters. By 2 p.m., the lawsuit appeared on the federal court records database under the title of Musgrave v. Mace, et al. It has been initially assigned to U.S. Judge Richard Gergel.

—The State (Columbia, S.C.)

The Trump administration is investigating more than 50 colleges for alleged racial discrimination

U.S. Department of Education officials said Friday that they had opened investigations into more than 50 universities for alleged racial discrimination.

Most of the investigations initiated by the Office for Civil Rights relate to the universities’ partnership with a program for doctoral students that limits eligibility based on race, according to the education department.

The education department, which said it was investigating 45 universities in connection with that program, also said it was investigating six universities for allegedly awarding race-based scholarships, and another university for “allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.”

“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,” U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “We will not yield on this commitment.”

—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Scientists study fish behavior during dyeing of the Chicago River for St. Patrick’s Day

Every year as part of the city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, thousands of onlookers clad in green cheer on a boat crew sprinkling orange powder into the Chicago River to turn it a festive shade.

But with the federal government considering sweeping rollbacks to environmental protections, this Saturday many may wonder: How will the bright green water affect the underwater denizens?

Last year, an extensive scientific study of fish behavior in the Chicago River system led by researchers from the Shedd Aquarium, Purdue University and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant offered a clue. In mid-March, as researchers studied aquatic activity they found a handful of the over 80 fish they were tracking were in the main branch downtown. On the day of the 2024 St. Patrick’s parade, none of the tagged fish rushed to find shelter from their suddenly green surroundings.

“(It) was the first time that we could actually track how individuals behave when the river is dyed green,” said Austin Happel, a research biologist at the Shedd. “We didn’t see changes in what they were doing that day, or even the next couple of days afterward, so it doesn’t seem to be causing them to be agitated.”

—Chicago Tribune

Duterte’s swift descent from ‘punisher’ president to ICC inmate

As former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte rallied supporters in Hong Kong on Sunday, his team seemed unconcerned about rumors that the International Criminal Court might soon issue an arrest warrant against him.

Despite a bitter political feud with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Duterte’s team believed any legal action would first take place in the Philippines, said Harry Roque, Duterte’s former spokesman, in a phone interview from The Hague.

It was a fatal mistake. In a span of two days, Duterte went from that Hong Kong rally to sitting glumly on a private jet delivering him to prosecutors at The Hague, where he faces accusations of being responsible for the extra-judicial killing of thousands of people from 2011-2019.

“He didn’t expect the government to humiliate him,” said lawyer Raul Lambino, a member of Duterte’s political party and legal team. “He’s always maintained that if he’ll be imprisoned or killed, that it’ll happen in his country.”

—Bloomberg News