Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including federal prosecutors confirming for the first time that President Donald Trump’s private counsel, Michael Cohen, is the subject of a months-long criminal investigation; meanwhile, Cohen is said to be planning to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the Stormy Daniels case; the Rio Grande and parts of the mighty Mississippi made an environmental organization’s list of the nation’s most endangered rivers; Massachusetts' highest court rules ExxonMobil must comply with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s investigation into whether it suppressed climate change research; the California Coastal Commission fines a Northern California apartment owner $1.45 million Thursday for blocking beach access; attorneys for the federal government urged a Ninth Circuit panel to uphold a federal judge’s finding that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is immune from prosecution for commanding a 2010 raid on a humanitarian flotilla, and more.

Your Friday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including federal prosecutors confirming for the first time that President Donald Trump’s private counsel, Michael Cohen, is the subject of a months-long criminal investigation; meanwhile, Cohen is said to be planning to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the Stormy Daniels case; the Rio Grande and parts of the mighty Mississippi made an environmental organization’s list of the nation’s most endangered rivers; Massachusetts’ highest court rules ExxonMobil must comply with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s investigation into whether it suppressed climate change research; the California Coastal Commission fines a Northern California apartment owner $1.45 million Thursday for blocking beach access; attorneys for the federal government urged a Ninth Circuit panel to uphold a federal judge’s finding that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is immune from prosecution for commanding a 2010 raid on a humanitarian flotilla, and more.

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**National **

Michael Cohen's attorneys Todd Harrison, right, and Joseph Evans arrive at Federal court, Friday, April 13, 2018, in New York. A hearing has been scheduled before U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood to address Cohen's request for a temporary restraining order related to the judicial warrant that authorized a search of his Manhattan office, apartment and hotel room this week. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

1.) Confirming for the first time that President Donald Trump’s private counsel is the subject of a months-long criminal investigation, federal prosecutors asked a judge Friday to deny Michael Cohen’s unprecedented request to get first crack at evidence seized from his home and office.

This image released by CBS News shows Stormy Daniels, left, during an interview with Anderson Cooper which aired on Sunday, March 25, 2018, on "60 Minutes." (CBS News/60 Minutes via AP)

2.) President Donald Trump’s longtime attorney Michael Cohen plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the Stormy Daniels case, according to the adult film star’s attorney.

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2005 file photo, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, walks to the U.S. District Court in Washington. President Donald Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a person familiar with the president's decision. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

3.) President Donald Trump pardoned Scooter J. Libby, the former chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of perjury in 2007 stemming from the leak of a CIA operative’s identity, on Friday.

4.) The Rio Grande and parts of the mighty Mississippi made an environmental organization’s list of the nation’s most endangered rivers due to mining, flood control projects, dams and plans for a border wall.

**Regional **

Outside the Exxon Mobil shareholders meeting in Dallas on May 31, 2006, a slow-melting ice sculpture fashioned by protesters demonstrates their view of how ExxonMobil's policies are affecting the environment. (LM Otero/AP)

6.) ExxonMobil must comply with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s investigation into whether it suppressed climate change research, the state’s highest court ruled Friday.

Bins of signs are seen in a storage are at the Bexar County Election offices, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in San Antonio. The first primaries of the 2018 elections are less than a month away, but efforts to safeguard the vote against expected Russian interference are lagging. Texas will hold the first primary of 2018 on March 6. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

7.) Four U.S. citizens claim a nonprofit led by a member of President Donald Trump’s disbanded Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity defamed and intimidated them by falsely labeling them as felons and publishing their private information in a series of controversial reports online.

8.) The California Coastal Commission fined a Northern California apartment owner $1.45 million Thursday for blocking beach access and allowing unpermitted construction on a Pacifica beach.

Demonstrators walk along NE 36th St. in the final leg of a 110 miles trip from Tulsa to the state Capitol as protests continue over school funding, in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

A marijuana bud sits on the counter of Ganja Gourmet, in Denver, one of hundreds of dispensaries offering products for recreational and medical use.

Missoula, Montana county courthouse. (Photo via Wikipedia)

11.) The city of Missoula sued the Montana attorney general this week, challenging his opinion that its ordinance requiring background checks on people who buy guns is unconstitutional.

**International **

The MV Mavi Marmara, part of the humanitarian flotilla sent to Gaza and intercepted by Israeli forces. (Adambro/Flickr via Wikipedia)

12.) Attorneys for the federal government urged a Ninth Circuit panel Thursday to uphold a federal judge’s finding that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is immune from prosecution for commanding a 2010 raid on a humanitarian flotilla that left 10 people dead in the Mediterranean Sea.

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