Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
Georgia prosecutor seeks FBI protections after Trump remarks
A Georgia prosecutor who is conducting a criminal investigation of Donald Trump has asked the FBI for a risk assessment and security protections, citing the former president’s “alarming” rhetoric about prosecutors and the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating whether Trump tried to influence the state’s handling of the 2020 election, told the FBI’s Atlanta field office that her concerns were driven by Trump’s comments in Texas on Saturday, when he attacked “radical, vicious racist prosecutors” and encouraged protests in Washington, New York and Atlanta.
Trump fundraising slows but still yields over $100 million in cash
Donald Trump’s fundraising slowed in late 2021 but the former leader still amassed more than $100 million in cash that could help Republicans in their bid to win congressional majorities later this year, disclosures released on Monday showed. Trump’s main fundraising committee, known as Save America, took in about $23 million between July and December of last year, down from $62 million in the first half of 2021, according to reports to the Federal Election Commission.
Fifth New York prosecutor declines sex harassment charges against ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will not face criminal charges related to sexual harassment claims that led to his resignation last year after the last county prosecutor investigating allegations from one of several women said he had no legal basis to pursue a case. “To be clear, this decision is based solely upon an assessment of the law and whether the People can establish a legally sufficient case under controlling precedent,” Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes said in a statement on Monday about accusations by Virginia Limmiatis
In rare move, U.S. judge rejects plea agreement by Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers
A U.S. judge in Georgia rejected plea agreements reached between federal prosecutors and two of the three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, saying she was not willing to be bound to the 30-year federal prison sentence set in the agreement. The unusual decision by U.S. District Judge Lisa Wood came after Travis McMichael, one of the three attackers due to face trial next week on federal hate-crime charges, admitted for the first time he had pursued the 25-year-old Black man because of his race.
U.S. lightning bolt leaps into record books at 768 km long
A single lightning bolt that leapt across three U.S. states has been identified as the longest ever, the U.N. weather agency said on Tuesday. Dubbed a megaflash, the rare low-rate horizontal discharge covered 768 kilometres (477 miles) between clouds in Texas and Mississippi in April 2020. It was detected by scientists using satellite technology and its distance – beating the previous record by 60km – confirmed by a World Meteorological Organization committee.
Fire at fertilizer plant in N.Carolina may cause explosion, area evacuated
About 6,500 people have been told to evacuate their homes in Winston-Salem, North Carolina due to a fire at a fertilizer plant storing over 300 tons of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate, city officials said on Tuesday. The blaze at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant on North Cherry Street started Monday evening. Residents within one mile of the plant were urged to evacuate and stay away from their homes for up to 48 hours.
Sacklers near deal to increase opioid settlement in Purdue bankruptcy
Members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma LP are nearing an agreement to boost their more than $4 billion offer to resolve sprawling opioid litigation after negotiating with states that had objected to terms of the OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy reorganization, according to a court filing. Sackler family members and states objecting to terms of Purdue’s bankruptcy reorganization are “close to an agreement in principle” to contribute additional cash beyond the $4.325 billion they had pledged to settle opioid litigation, according to a mediator’s interim report filed on Monday.
Avenatti does not plan to testify in his defense in Stormy Daniels U.S. fraud case
U.S. lawyer Michael Avenatti said on Monday he does not intend to take the stand to defend himself at trial on charges he defrauded his former client, the adult film actress Stormy Daniels. “At this time I’m not intending on testifying,” Avenatti told U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman on Monday outside the jury’s presence.
Analysis-White House retools strategy toward Senator Manchin, with Biden agenda on the line
White House officials are planning a more subtle approach to try to win pivotal U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s support for a key part of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, hoping that keeping matters private and avoiding public spats can help salvage the ambitious Build Back Better climate and social spending bill. Biden last year won congressional passage of COVID-19 relief legislation and a sweeping infrastructure improvement bill with fellow Democrat Manchin’s backing. But the West Virginia senator remains a significant roadblock toward getting some version of Biden’s $1.7 trillion Build Back Better bill – passed by the House of Representatives in November – through the Senate.
U.S. federal prisons locked down after deadly gang fight
All federal prisons in the United States were locked down on Tuesday after a deadly gang brawl involving several inmates at a penitentiary in Texas. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) wrote in an emailed statement that two prisoners died in hospital near the prison in Beaumont, Texas, where the violence erupted. Two other prisoners were taken to hospital but no details on their condition were released.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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