Nexa News

Biden Administration Announces $137M Deal To Boost Production Of Key Covid Test Component The Defense Department Has Announced A $137 Million Contract To Make More Of A Key Component Of Rapid Covid Tests To Boost Their Production. The Company, Millipore Sigma, Plans To Build A New Facility Over A Three-Year-Period To Produce Nitrocellulose Membranes, The Paper That Shows The Results In Rapid Tests, In Sheboygan, Wisconsin. That Will Support The Production Of More Than 83 Million Tests A Month, The Pentagon Said In A Statement Wednesday. The Contract Is Part Of The Administration's Effort To Ramp Up Production Of Rapid Covid Tests As The U.S. Grapples With The Highly Infectious Omicron Variant. Antigen Tests, Which Produce Results In Minutes, Can Be Done At Home, While PCR Tests Are Processed In Labs And Have Longer Turnaround Times. US And Other Countries Shatter Records In Omicron Surge Reuters Was First To Report The Contract. The U.S. Hit A Seven-Day Average Of 262,034 Cases On Tuesday, Eclipsing The Record Of 252,776, Which Was Set Jan. 11, According To An NBC News Data Analysis. (The Data Can Be Skewed By Days With Anomalous Data Entries, Which Are Common Around The Holiday Period.) In All, 1.8 Million Cases Were Reported In The U.S. Last Week, A 69.3 Percent Increase From The Week Before. Earlier This Month, President Joe Biden Announced A Plan To Distribute 500 Million At-Home Coronavirus Test Kits To Help Address The Crisis. Testing Remains One Of The Biggest Challenges For The Administration, With Long Lines Forming At Testing Centers In Recent Days And At-Home Rapid Tests Selling Out Quickly, Public Health Officials Have Said. The U.S. Also Lags Behind Other Countries In Making Tests Affordable. In Some Countries, Rapid Tests Sell For As Little At $1, Whereas A Pack Of Two Tests Can Cost U.S. Consumers More Than $20. Biden Previously Directed Insurance Companies To Cover The Cost Of At-Home Tests For Policyholders, But That Still Requires Upfront Costs For Consumers, Who Must File Claims And Wait To Be Reimbursed.

Biden Tells Putin U.S. And Allies Will 'Respond Decisively' If Russia Moves On Ukraine President Joe Biden On Thursday Urged President Vladimir Putin To "De-Escalate Tensions With Ukraine," While Warning That The U.S. And Its Allies Would "Respond Decisively" If Russia Takes Military Action, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Said After A Call Between The Two Leaders. Biden's Remarks Were Similar To Those In A Virtual Call With Putin Earlier This Month, In Which Biden Said Moscow Would Face "Severe Consequences" If It Attacked Ukraine. Thursday's Call, Which Lasted About 50 Minutes, Comes As Biden Administration Officials Grow Increasingly Concerned That Russia Might Invade Ukraine Like It Did In 2014. "President Biden Urged Russia To De-Escalate Tensions With Ukraine. He Made Clear That The United States And Its Allies And Partners Will Respond Decisively If Russia Further Invades Ukraine," Psaki Said In A Statement Thursday. "President Biden Also Expressed Support For Diplomacy, Starting Early Next Year With The Bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue, At NATO Through The NATO-Russia Council, And At The Organization For Security And Cooperation In Europe. President Biden Reiterated That Substantive Progress In These Dialogues Can Occur Only In An Environment Of De-Escalation Rather Than Escalation," She Added. The United States And Russia Are Scheduled To Hold Security Talks On Jan. 10. Biden And Putin Are Not Expected To Participate. A Senior Administration Official Told Reporters On Thursday That Biden Laid Out Two Paths For Putin — Diplomacy Leading Toward De-Escalation Or Punitive Measures Like Economic Sanctions And Beefed Up Military Assistance To U.S. Allies In The Region. "The Tone Of The Conversation Between The Two Presidents Was Serious And Substantive," The Official Said. "They Each Frame Their Positions As They've Done In Previous Calls And Also As They've Done Publicly." The Call Was Held "At The Request Of The Russian Side," A Separate Senior Administration Official Said Wednesday, Adding, "I Cannot Speak To Why The Russian Side Has Requested This Call.” Administration Officials Have Said That In Order For There To Be Progress On Areas Where Russia Would Like To See Action, There Needed To Be De-Escalation With Ukraine. Russia Has Massed 100,000 Troops Along The Ukrainian Border, Prompting Fears Of An Invasion As Early As Next Month. While Russia Has Denied That It Has Any Plans To Attack Its Neighbor, Biden Administration Officials Say They Are Preparing For Such A Possibility. Yury Ushakov, An Aide To Putin, Told Reporters After Thursday's Call That The Two Leaders Discussed Coming To An Agreement Without Escalating Tensions. “Biden Stressed That In The Event Of An Escalation On The Ukrainian Border, The West Will Take Large-Scale, Unprecedented Sanctions In The Economic, Financial And Military Spheres," Ushakov Said. "Putin Replied That This Could Lead To A Complete Rupture Of Relations Between Our Countries. Putin Mentioned That New Sanctions Would Be A Mistake.” Ushakov Added That The Main Goal For Moscow Was To Ensure Security Guarantees And To Find Common Ground, Particularly At The Start Of U.S.-Russia Negotiations In Geneva Early Next Month. In The Virtual Call With Putin Earlier This Month, Biden Said The U.S. Would Pursue "Strong Economic Measures" And Increase Military Aid To The Region Should Russia Invade Ukraine. The President Also Warned That In Addition To Sanctions, The U.S. Would Provide Further Defense Materials To Ukraine And Build Up Military Capabilities In Nearby Countries That Also Border Russia. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Spoke Wednesday With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price Said In A Statement Wednesday. Blinken "Reiterated The United States' Unwavering Support For Ukraine's Independence, Sovereignty, And Territorial Integrity In The Face Of Russia's Military Buildup On Ukraine's Borders,” Price Said. As Vice President, Biden Was Heavily Involved In U.S. Relations With Ukraine. At The Time, Russia Had Invaded And Annexed The Crimean Peninsula From Ukraine. This Time, The White House Has Said It Will Go Further In Countering Russian Military Aggression Than It Did In 2014. Biden Has Come Under Criticism For Having Suspended Sanctions This Year On Russia's Nord Stream 2 Natural Gas Pipeline Under The Baltic Sea, A Project Strongly Opposed By Ukraine And Other Eastern European Countries. But U.S. Officials Say The Administration Will Not Hesitate To Impose Sanctions And Prevent The Completion Of The Pipeline If Necessary.

Tom Cruise Lauds Ohio State Marching Band's Top Gun Tribute Actor Tom Cruise Smiles During Game 2 Of A Baseball National League Division Series Between The San Francisco Giants And The Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, In San Francisco. The Ohio State University Marching Band Paid A Tribute To The Movie “Top Gun" During The Nov. 13, 2021, NCAA College Football Game Against Purdue. On Tuesday, Dec. 28, The Marching Band Tweeted That Cruise, The Movie’s Star, Saw The Halftime Performance And Offered A Personal Message Thanking Them, Saying The “Tribute Was Fantastic.” The Ohio State University Marching Band’s Tribute To The Movie “Top Gun” Has Earned The Attention And Gratitude Of The Film’s Star, Tom Cruise. For The Nov. 13 Halftime Show During Ohio State’s 59-31 Victory Over Purdue, The Marching Band Transformed Into Formations Reminiscent Of The 1986 Film, Such As A Fighter Jet Complete With Smoke Machines And The Iconic Volleyball Scene. On Tuesday, The Marching Band Tweeted That Cruise Saw The Performance And Offered A Personal Message Thanking Them. Cruise Said The “Tribute Was Fantastic,” And Invited The Band To See A Screening In Columbus Of The Sequel “Top Gun: Maverick.” The Actor Also Wished The OSU Football Team Good Luck In The Rose Bowl On Jan. 1, Where The Band Will Be Performing During The Parade And The Halftime Show.

Schwarzenegger And Shriver Divorce Final After 10 Years Arnold Schwarzenegger Smile Together, At The Governor's Inaugural Ball At The Sacramento Convention Center, Friday, Jan. 5, 2007, In Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger And Shriver’s Marriage Is Officially Over More Than 10 Years After The Award-Winning Journalist Petitioned To End Her Then-25-Year Marriage To The Action Star And Former California Governor. A Los Angeles Judge Finalized The Divorce On Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, Court Records Show. FILE - California First Lady Maria Shriver And California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Smile Together, At The Governor's Inaugural Ball At The Sacramento Convention Center, Friday, Jan. 5, 2007, In Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger And Shriver’s Marriage Is Officially Over More Than 10 Years After The Award-Winning Journalist Petitioned To End Her Then-25-Year Marriage To The Action Star And Former California Governor. A Los Angeles Judge Finalized The Divorce On Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, Court Records Show. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger And Maria Shriver’s Marriage Is Officially Over More Than 10 Years After The Award-Winning Journalist Petitioned To End Her Then-25-Year Marriage To The Action Star And Former California Governor. A Los Angeles Judge Finalized The Divorce On Tuesday, Court Records Show. The Pair Had Been Married Since 1986 When Shriver Filed For Divorce In 2011 After Schwarzenegger Disclosed He Had Fathered A Child With A Member Of Their Household Staff Years Earlier. The Revelation Set Off A Tabloid Frenzy, But Schwarzenegger And Shriver Handled Their Divorce Quietly And Without Lobbing Accusations In Court Or In Public. It’s Not Clear Why The Process Took So Long. There Were Virtually No Public Actions Taken In The Case Between The Initial Flurry Of Filings In 2011 And A Resumption Of Court Moves In June. Financial Details Of The Settlement Were Kept Confidential. Because The Couple’s Four Children Together Are Now All Adults, There Is No Child Support Or Custody Arrangement. Settlement Papers Say That Neither Owes The Other Any Spousal Support, But Both Reserve The Right To Seek It Through The Court In The Future. Messages Left With The Former Couple’s Lawyers Seeking Comment Were Not Immediately Returned. Schwarzenegger Amassed A Fortune Playing Action Roles In The “Terminator” And “Conan” Film Franchises After A Successful Career As A Bodybuilder. After California Suffered Economic Problems And Widespread Power Outages Under The Administration Of Then-Governor Gray Davis, Voters Recalled The Democratic Incumbent And Elected Schwarzenegger, A Republican, To The Governorship In A Free-For-All Election In 2003. Schwarzenegger Put His Film Career Aside And Served Two Terms As Governor. Within A Year Of Leaving Office, He Admitted Fathering A Child, Joseph Baena, Who Is Now 24, With A Member Of His Household Staff In The Late 1990s. Shriver Filed For Divorce In July 2011. He Has Returned To Acting Sporadically Since, With Roles In “Terminator” And “Expendables” Films. Shriver Was Forced To Resign From Her Position As A Correspondent On The NBC Show “Dateline” When Her Husband Announced He Was Running For Governor. She Resumed Her Work As A Television Journalist After Her Husband Left Office, Producing Stories For NBC While Remaining Active Promoting Women’s Rights Issues And Reporting On And Advocating For People With Alzheimer’s Disease. In 2018 She Authored The Bestseller, “I’ve Been Thinking...: Reflections Prayers And Meditations For A Meaningful Life.” Shriver Is The Daughter Of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Who Was The Sister Of President John F. Kennedy, And Of Sargent Shriver, The First Head Of The Peace Corps And A Vice Presidential Candidate In 1972. Shriver And Schwarzenegger’s Children Range In Age From 24 To 32. The Eldest, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Is An Author Who Is Married To Actor Chris Pratt.

White House, Jan. 6 Committee Agree To Shield Some Documents The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Insurrection At The Capitol Has Agreed To Defer Its Request For Hundreds Of Pages Of Records From The Trump Administration, Bending To The Wishes Of The Biden White House. FILE - Violent Insurrectionists Loyal To Then President Donald Trump Climb The West Wall Of The The U.S. Capitol In Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Insurrection At The Capitol Has Agreed To Defer Its Request For Hundreds Of Pages Of Records From The Trump Administration, Bending To The Wishes Of The Biden White House. The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Insurrection At The Capitol Has Agreed To Defer Its Attempt To Get Hundreds Of Pages Of Records From The Trump Administration, Holding Off At The Request Of The Biden White House. The Deferral Is In Response To Concerns By The Biden White House That Releasing All The Trump Administration Documents Sought By The Committee Could Compromise National Security And Executive Privilege. President Joe Biden Has Repeatedly Rejected Former President Donald Trump’s Blanket Efforts To Cite Executive Privilege To Block The Release Of Documents Surrounding That Day. But Biden’s White House Is Still Working With The Committee To Shield Some Documents From Being Turned Over. Trump Is Appealing To The Supreme Court To Try To Block The National Archives And Records Administration, Which Maintains Custody Of The Documents From His Time In Office, From Giving Them To The Committee. The Agreement To Keep Some Trump-Era Records Away From The Committee Is Memorialized In A Dec. 16 Letter From The White House Counsel’s Office. It Mostly Shields Records That Do Not Involve The Events Of Jan. 6 But Were Covered By The Committee’s Sweeping Request For Documents From The Trump White House About The Events Of That Day. Dozen Of Pages Created Jan. 6 Don’t Pertain To The Assault On The Capitol. Other Documents Involve Sensitive Preparations And Deliberations By The National Security Council. Biden’s Officials Were Worried That If Those Pages Were Turned Over To Congress, That Would Set A Troublesome Precedent For The Executive Branch, No Matter Who Is President. Still Other Documents Are Highly Classified And The White House Asked Congress To Work With The Federal Agencies That Created Them To Discuss Their Release. “The Documents For Which The Select Committee Has Agreed To Withdraw Or Defer Its Request Do Not Appear To Bear On The White House’s Preparations For Or Response To The Events Of January 6, Or On Efforts To Overturn The Election Or Otherwise Obstruct The Peaceful Transfer Of Power,” White House Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su Wrote In One Of Two Letters To The Committee Obtained Tuesday By The Associated Press. Su Wrote That For The Committee, Withholding The Documents “Should Not Compromise Its Ability To Complete Its Critical Investigation Expeditiously.” Committee Spokesman Tim Mulvey Said: “The Committee Has Agreed To Defer Action On Certain Records As Part Of The Accommodations Process, As Was The Case With An Earlier Tranche Of Records. The Select Committee Has Not Withdrawn Its Request For These Records And Will Continue To Engage With The Executive Branch To Ensure The Committee Gets Access To All The Information Relevant To Our Probe.” For The Last Several Months The National Archives Has Been Transmitting Tranches Of Documents To The White House And To Lawyers For Trump To Determine Whether They Contain Any Privileged Information. Trump Has Raised Both Broad Objections To The Release Of The Documents As Well As Specific Concerns About Particular Documents. The National Archives Has Said That The Records Trump Wants To Block Include Presidential Diaries, Visitor Logs, Speech Drafts, Handwritten Notes “Concerning The Events Of January 6” From The Files Of Former Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows, And “A Draft Executive Order On The Topic Of Election Integrity.” Biden Has Repeatedly Rejected Trump’s Claims Of Executive Privilege Over Those Documents, Including In A Letter Sent Dec. 23 Regarding About 20 Pages Of Documents. “The President Has Determined That An Assertion Of Executive Privilege Is Not In The Best Interests Of The United States, And Therefore Is Not Justified,” White House Counsel Dana Remus Reiterated In The Latest Letter. Trump Has Taken To The Courts To Block The Document Releases. A Federal Appeals Court Ruled This Month Against Trump, And He Has Filed An Appeal To The Supreme Court, Though The High Court Has Yet To Decide Whether To Take Up The Case. Judge Patricia Millett, Writing For The Court In The Dec. 9 Opinion, Said Congress Had A “Uniquely Vital Interest” In Studying The Events Of Jan. 6 And Biden Had Made A “Carefully Reasoned” Determination That The Documents Were In The Public Interest And That Executive Privilege Should Therefore Not Be Invoked. Trump Also Failed To Show Any Harm That Would Occur From The Release Of The Sought-After Records, Millett Wrote. “On The Record Before Us, Former President Trump Has Provided No Basis For This Court To Override President Biden’s Judgment And The Agreement And Accommodations Worked Out Between The Political Branches Over These Documents,” The Opinion Stated.

US Navy Seizes $4 Million Worth Of Heroin In Arabian Sea In This Photo Released By The U.S. Navy, U.S. Service Members From Coastal Patrol Ship USS Tempest (PC 2) And USS Typhoon (PC 5) Approach A Stateless Dhow Vessel Carrying Illicit Drugs While Transiting International Waters In The Arabian Sea, United States Navy Vessels Seized 385 Kilograms (849 Pounds) Of Heroin In The Arabian Sea Worth Some $4 Million In A Major Bust By The International Maritime Operation In The Region, Officials Said Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. In This Photo Released By The U.S. Navy, U.S. Service Members From Coastal Patrol Ship USS Tempest (PC 2) And USS Typhoon (PC 5) Approach A Stateless Dhow Vessel Carrying Illicit Drugs While Transiting International Waters In The Arabian Sea, Dec. 27, 2021. United States Navy Vessels Seized 385 Kilograms (849 Pounds) Of Heroin In The Arabian Sea Worth Some $4 Million In A Major Bust By The International Maritime Operation In The Region, Officials Said Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — United States Navy Vessels Seized 385 Kilograms (849 Pounds) Of Heroin In The Arabian Sea Worth Some $4 Million, In A Major Bust By The International Maritime Operation In The Region, Officials Said Thursday. The USS Tempest And USS Typhoon Seized The Drugs Hidden Aboard A Stateless Fishing Vessel Plying Mideast Waters, The International Task Force Said In A Statement. The Seizure Took Place On Monday. The Navy Said The Fishing Vessel Likely Came From Iran. All Nine Crew Members Identified Themselves As Iranian Nationals, According To Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, A Spokesperson For The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-Based 5th Fleet. He Did Not Elaborate On Who Manufactured The Drugs Or Their Ultimate Destination. As The Task Force Ramps Up Regional Patrols, It Has Confiscated Illegal Drugs Worth Over $193 Million During Operations At Sea This Year — More Than The Amount Of Drugs Seized In The Last Four Years Combined, Its Statement Said. Heroin Is Trafficked To The Middle East And Even Europe By Land From Iran And Afghanistan Through Well-Worn Land Routes In The Balkans, Southern Caucasus Mountains Or Saudi Arabia, According To Last Year’s U.N. Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment. Smugglers From Iran Have Increasingly Taken To Sea To Bring Heroin Into South Asia, The Report Added, With Iranian And Pakistani Sailors Often Arrested Near Sri Lanka. Iran’s Porous 1,923 Kilometer-Long (1195 Mile-Long) Eastern Border With Afghanistan, The World’s Largest Producer Of Opium, Has Turned It Into A Key Transit Country For The Illicit Drug Trade.

New COVID-19 Cases In US Soar To Highest Levels On Record More Than A Year After The Vaccine Was Rolled Out, New Cases Of COVID-19 In The U.S. Have Soared To Their Highest Level On Record At Over 265,000 Per Day On Average, A Surge Driven Largely By The Highly Contagious Omicron Variant. More Than A Year After The Vaccine Was Rolled Out, New Cases Of COVID-19 In The U.S. Have Soared To Their Highest Level On Record At Over 265,000 Per Day On Average, A Surge Driven Largely By The Highly Contagious Omicron Variant. CHICAGO More Than A Year After The Vaccine Was Rolled Out, New Cases Of COVID-19 In The U.S. Have Soared To Their Highest Level On Record At Over 265,000 Per Day On Average, A Surge Driven Largely By The Highly Contagious Omicron Variant. New Cases Per Day Have More Than Doubled Over The Past Two Weeks, Eclipsing The Old Mark Of 250,000, Set In Mid-January, According To Data Kept By Johns Hopkins University. The Fast-Spreading Mutant Version Of The Virus Has Cast A Pall Over Christmas And New Year’s, Forcing Communities To Scale Back Or Call Off Their Festivities Just Weeks After It Seemed As If Americans Were About To Enjoy An Almost Normal Holiday Season. Thousands Of Flights Have Been Canceled Amid Staffing Shortages Blamed On The Virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, The Top U.S. Infectious-Disease Expert, Said Wednesday That There Is No Need To Cancel Small Home Gatherings Among Vaccinated And Boosted Family And Friends. But “If Your Plans Are To Go To A 40- To 50-Person New Year’s Eve Party With All The Bells And Whistles And Everybody Hugging And Kissing And Wishing Each Other A Happy New Year, I Would Strongly Recommend That This Year We Not Do That,” He Said. The Threat Of Omicron And The Desire To Spend The Holidays With Friends And Loved Ones Have Spurred Many Americans To Get Tested For COVID-19. Aravindh Shankar, 24, Flew To San Jose, California, On Christmas From West Lafayette, Indiana, To Be With Family. Though He Felt Fine, He Decided To Get Tested Wednesday Just To Play It Safe, Since He Had Been On An Airplane. He And His Family Spent Almost An Entire Day Searching For A Testing Appointment For Him Before He Went To A Site In A Parking Lot Next To The San Jose Airport. “It Was Actually Surprisingly Hard,” Shankar Said About Trying To Find A Test. “Some People Have It Harder For Sure.” The Picture Is Grim Elsewhere Around The World, Especially In Europe, With World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Saying He Is Worried About Omicron Combining With The Delta Variant To Produce A “Tsunami” Of Cases. That, He Said, Will Put “Immense Pressure On Exhausted Health Workers And Health Systems On The Brink Of Collapse.” The Number Of Americans Now In The Hospital With COVID-19 Is Running At Around 60,000, Or About Half The Figure Seen In January, The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Reported. While Hospitalizations Sometimes Lag Behind Cases, The Hospital Figures May Reflect Both The Protection Conferred By The Vaccine And The Possibility That Omicron Is Not Making People As Sick As Previous Versions. COVID-19 Deaths In The U.S. Have Climbed Over The Past Two Weeks From An Average Of 1,200 Per Day To Around 1,500. Public Health Experts Will Be Closely Watching The Numbers In The Coming Week For Indications Of The Vaccines’ Effectiveness In Preventing Serious Illness, Keeping People Out Of The Hospital And Relieving Strain On Exhausted Health Care Workers, Said Bob Bednarczyk, A Professor Of Global Health And Epidemiology At Emory University. CDC Data Already Suggests That The Unvaccinated Are Hospitalized At Much Higher Rates Than Those Who Have Gotten Inoculated, Even If The Effectiveness Of The Shots Decreases Over Time, He Said. “If We’re Able To Weather This Surge With Hopefully Minimal Disruptions To The Overall Health Care System, That Is A Place Where Vaccines Are Really Showing Their Worth,” Bednarczyk Said. It’s Highly Unlikely That Hospitalization Numbers Will Ever Rise To Their Previous Peak, Said Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar At The Johns Hopkins Center For Health Security At The Bloomberg School Public Health. Vaccines And Treatments Developed Since Last Year Have Made It Easier To Curb The Spread Of The Virus And Minimize Serious Effects Among People With Breakthrough Infections. “Its Going To Take Some Time For People To Get Attuned To The Fact That Cases Don’t Matter The Same Way They Did In The Past,” Adalja Said. “We Have A Lot Of Defense Against It.” But Even With Fewer People Hospitalized Compared With Past Surges, The Virus Can Wreak Havoc On Hospitals And Health Care Workers, He Added. “In A Way, Those Hospitalizations Are Worse Because They’re All Preventable,” He Said. Several European Countries, Including France, Greece, Britain And Spain, Also Reported Record Case Counts This Week, Prompting A Ban On Music At New Year’s Celebrations In Greece And A Renewed Push To Encourage Vaccination By French Authorities. WHO Reported That New COVID-19 Cases Worldwide Increased 11% Last Week From The Week Before, With Nearly 4.99 Million Recorded Dec. 20-26. But The U.N. Health Agency Also Noted A Decline In Cases In South Africa, Where Omicron Was First Detected Just Over A Month Ago.

Judge Denies Oklahoma GOP Governor's Request To Block Military Vaccine Mandate A Federal Judge Ruled That Oklahoma National Guard Members Must Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19, Denying An Attempt By The State's Republican Governor To Halt The Defense Department’s Vaccination Mandate. In His Ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot Rejected Gov. Kevin Stitt's Argument That The Pentagon Overstepped Its Authority When Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Issued A Military-Wide Vaccination Mandate To Fight The Coronavirus. “First, Adding A Tenth FDA-Approved Vaccine To The List Of Nine That All Service Members Are Already Required To Take Would Hardly Amount To ‘An Enormous And Transformative Expansion [Of The] Regulatory Authority’ The Secretary Of Defense Already Possesses,” Friot Wrote In His 29-Page Ruling. “And, To Say No More On This Point, There Is Nothing ‘Transformative’ About A Force Protection Measure First Conceived And Enforced By General George Washington When He Required Members Of The Continental Army To Be Inoculated Against Smallpox,” He Said. Friot Noted That The National Guard, Which Is Generally Overseen By Governors, Has Historically Been Included In Military-Wide Vaccination Mandates. Stitt's Office Did Not Immediately Respond To A Request For Comment. The Ruling Deals A Blow To Efforts By GOP Officials Who Have Pushed Back Against The Biden Administration's Vaccination Requirements. President Joe Biden's Mandates For Both The Private And The Public Sectors Have Faced Numerous Legal Challenges; The Supreme Court Said Last Week That It Would Take Up Two Of Those Cases. Austin, Who Issued His Vaccination Order For All Service Members On Aug. 24, Directed The Secretaries Of The Military Services To Set Their Own Implementation Guidance And Timelines. The Mandate Extended To All Service Members On Active Duty Or In The Ready Reserve, Including The National Guard, Which Has More Than 400,000 Members. Stitt Called On Austin Last Month To Rescind The Mandate For Members Of The Oklahoma National Guard. He Then Appointed A New Adjutant General Of The Oklahoma National Guard, Who Said He Would Not Enforce The Mandate. The Republican Governors Of Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Texas And Wyoming Also Objected To The Mandate This Month. Friot Urged The Pentagon To Give Members Of The Oklahoma National Guard A "Grace Period" Regarding The Mandate. “The Court Strongly Urges The Defendants To Give Every Consideration To Providing A Brief Grace Period — To Facilitate Prompt Compliance With The Vaccination Mandate — Before Directly Or Indirectly Taking Action Which Would End The Military Careers Of Any Oklahoma Guard Members,” He Said. The Oklahoma National Guard Has About 8,000 Members, Who Face A June Deadline To Comply With The Mandate.

Jan. 6 Panel Reaches Deal With White House To Defer Some Document Requests The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Has Reached An Agreement With The White House To Defer Its Request For Hundreds Of Records From The Trump Administration. President Joe Biden Had Opted Not To Invoke Executive Privilege On Behalf Of Former President Donald Trump For Many Documents The Committee Sought, But The Latest Agreement Shows There Were Some That He Was Not Willing To Turn Over. The Agreements "Reflect The Ongoing Effort By The Executive And Legislative Branches To Ensure That The Select Committee's Legitimate Needs Are Accommodated While Preserving Important Executive Branch Prerogatives, Such As The Need For Confidentiality In Presidential Decision-Making," White House Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su Wrote In A Letter To The Committee Dated Dec. 16. The Agreement Mostly Shields Records That Do Not Involve The Events Of Jan. 6 But Were Covered By The Committee’s Request For Documents From The Trump White House About The Events Of That Day. “The Documents For Which The Select Committee Has Agreed To Withdraw Or Defer Its Request Do Not Appear To Bear On The White House’s Preparations For Or Response To The Events Of January 6, Or On Efforts To Overturn The Election Or Otherwise Obstruct The Peaceful Transfer Of Power,” Su Said. Su Wrote That For The Committee, Withholding The Documents “Should Not Compromise Its Ability To Complete Its Critical Investigation Expeditiously.” Appeals Court To Hear Arguments Over Release Of Trump Jan. 6 Records In A Statement, A Spokesperson For The House Committee Said It "Welcomes President Biden’s Decision To Clear The Way For The Production Of Another Set Of Records" And "Has Agreed To Defer Action On Certain Records As Part Of The Accommodations Process." "The Select Committee Has Not Withdrawn Its Request For These Records And Will Continue To Engage With The Executive Branch To Ensure The Committee Gets Access To All The Information Relevant To Our Probe,” The Statement Said. Trump Responded On Wednesday By Characterizing The Deferral As A Win For Him, While Reiterating His Criticism Of The House Panel And The Focus Of Its Probe. The Committee Requested Documents In March And August From The National Archives That It Said Were Related To The Trump Administration's Actions Before, During And After The Jan. 6 Riot At The U.S. Capitol, When A Group Of Trump's Supporters Attacked The Building, Trying To Block His Electoral Defeat. Trump Notified The National Archives That He Asserted Executive Privilege. Biden, However, Concluded That The Privilege Should Not Apply. He Moved Forward With Authorizing The National Archives To Turn Over An Initial Batch Of Documents That Fell Under A Broad Category Requested By The Committee, Covering Trump’s Actions And Communications On Jan. 6, Including His Rally At The Ellipse On White House Grounds And Subsequent Meetings And Communications Throughout The Day. Last Week, Trump Asked The Supreme Court To Block The National Archives From Turning Over Records From His Time In The White House To The Committee. The Lower Courts Moved Quickly Earlier This Month To Hear Trump's Lawsuit, But His Lawyers Told The Supreme Court There's No Rush Given That The Next Congressional Meeting To Count Electoral Votes Is More Than Three Years Away.

Harry Reid, Longtime Senate Democratic Leader, Dies At 82 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., In A Statement Called His Predecessor "One Of The Most Amazing Individuals I've Ever Met." "He Never Forgot Where He Came From And Used Those Boxing Instincts To Fearlessly Fight Those Who Were Hurting The Poor And The Middle Class. ... He’s Gone But Will Walk By The Sides Of Many Of Us In The Senate Every Day," Schumer Said. Former President Barack Obama On Tuesday Shared A Letter He Sent To Reid When The Former Senator Was Battling Cancer. "You Were A Great Leader In The Senate, And Early On You Were More Generous To Me Than I Had Any Right To Expect," Obama Wrote In The Letter. "I Wouldn't Have Been President Had It Not Been For Your Encouragement And Support, And I Wouldn't Have Got Most Of What I Got Done Without Your Skill And Determination. Most Of All, You've Been A Good Friend." On The Other Side Of The Aisle, Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-Ky., Called Reid A "One-Of-A-Kind" Lawmaker. “The Nature Of Harry’s And My Jobs Brought Us Into Frequent And Sometimes Intense Conflict Over Politics And Policy," Mcconnell Said. "But I Never Doubted That Harry Was Always Doing What He Earnestly, Deeply Felt Was Right For Nevada And Our Country. He Will Rightly Go Down In History As A Crucial, Pivotal Figure In The Development And History Of His Beloved Home State." Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, One-Of-A-Kind Political Titan, Dies At 82 Reid, An Amateur Boxer Before He Turned To A Career In Politics, Was Born In Rural Nevada In 1939. He Told The University Of Nevada In An Interview In 2019 That His Childhood Home, Where He Grew Up With His Parents And Three Brothers, Had No Indoor Toilet, Hot Water Or Telephone. After He Graduated From High School And Attended College In Utah, Reid Received His Law Degree From George Washington University In 1964. He Then Became Active In Nevada Politics. He Was Elected To The State Assembly Before He Become Lieutenant Governor From 1971 To 1974. Reid's First Senate Campaign Was Unsuccessful, As Was His Bid For Mayor Of Las Vegas In 1975. He Later Served Two Terms In The House Before He Won The Senate Seat That He Held For Three Decades, A Period When He Was Instrumental In The Passage Of Legislation Overhauling Health Care And The Banking System. During Those 30 Years, He Became The Longest-Serving Senator From Nevada. In His Battles With Senate Republicans, Reid Famously Invoked The So-Called Nuclear Option In 2013 To Eliminate The 60-Vote Requirement For Executive Nominations, Except For Supreme Court Nominees. Reid Said The Country “Has Wasted An Unprecedented Amount Of Time On Procedural Hurdles And Partisan Obstruction," Before Senate Democrats Approved The Rule Change. Senate Republicans Later Changed The Rule Further By Lowering The Vote Threshold To A Simple Majority For Supreme Court Nominees. After Reid Left Congress In 2017, He Remained Active In Democratic Politics By Counseling Lawmakers And Weighing In On Elections And Policy. Landra Reid Said Tuesday That Funeral Arrangements Would Be Announced In The Coming Days. “Harry Was A Devout Family Man And Deeply Loyal Friend," She Said. “We Greatly Appreciate The Outpouring Of Support From So Many Over These Past Few Years. We Are Especially Grateful For The Doctors And Nurses That Cared For Him. Please Know That Meant The World To Him.” Schumer Said Flags Would Be Lowered To Half-Staff At The U.S. Capitol.

Cdc Defends Covid Isolation Guidelines Amid Omicron Surge Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director Of The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, On Wednesday Defended The Agency's New Isolation Guidance For People Who Test Positive For Covid-19. Her Remarks, Made In A Series Of Interviews With Television Networks And At A White House Covid-19 Response Team Briefing, Comes As The Biden Administration Grows Concerned That A Surge In Cases, Fueled By The Fast-Moving Omicron Variant, Could Lead To Masses Of Americans Being Out Sick, Disrupting Society. Full Coverage Of The Covid-19 Pandemic But The New Cdc Guidance, Which Shortens The Recommended Isolation Time From 10 Days To Five Days For People Without Symptoms, Has Come Under Harsh Criticism From Some Health Experts Who Say It Was Not Based On "Science" And Could Cause Still Infectious Asymptomatic People To Transmit The Virus To Others. "I Don't Think There's Any Big Change In Science That Justifies A Change In Guidance," Said Lawrence Gostin, Director Of The World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center On National And Global Health Law. The Guidance "Has Much More To Do With Societal Function Than To Do With Science." He And Other Health Experts Have Argued That People Without Symptoms Should Also Be Required To Get A Confirmed Negative Test To Leave Isolation. The Current Guidance Only Asks Asymptomatic People To Wear A Mask For An Additional Five Days After Isolation, Leaving It Up To The Public To Assess Their Own Covid Risk. Still, Gostin Acknowledged That "The Sad Reality Is That We're Two Years Into The Pandemic And We Still Have A Scarcity Of Tests In The U.S." On Wednesday, Walensky Pushed Back On The Criticism, Saying The New Guidelines Don’t Require Testing At The End Of Isolation Because Pcr Tests For Covid Can Be Positive For Up To 12 Weeks, Long After A Person Is No Longer Infectious. "We Also Don’t Know That Antigen Testing Is A Good Indication Of Transmissibility At This Stage Of Infection," She Said At The White House Briefing. "On The Other Hand, We Know That After Five Days, People Are Much Less Likely To Transmit The Virus And That Masking Further Reduces The Risk." We Have Seen Relatively Low Rates Of Isolation For All Of This Pandemic. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Cdc Director She Said "We Must Adapt" As The Virus Has Also "Proven Its Ability To Adapt Quickly." In One Interview With Cnn’s “New Day,” Walensky Said The New Guidelines “Really Had A Lot To Do With What We Thought People Would Be Able To Tolerate.” “We Have Seen Relatively Low Rates Of Isolation For All Of This Pandemic," She Said. "Some Science Has Demonstrated Less Than A Third Of People Are Isolating When They Need To." Walensky Also Called The Previous Guidance “Conservative,” Saying The Vast Majority Of Viral Transmission Happens In The First Five Days Of Infection. “This Was Really A Way To Tell People: Make Sure You Isolate In Those First Five Days, When You’re Maximally Infected,” She Told Nbc On Wednesday. "My Job Right Now Is To Take All The Science And The Information That We Have And To Deliver Guidance And Recommendations To The American People That Is Adapted To The Science At Hand,” She Said. “This Pandemic Has Given Us A Lot Of New And Updated Science Over The Last Two Years, And It Is My Job To Convey That Science Through Those.

Biden, Putin To Speak Thursday Amid Growing Tensions Over Ukraine President Joe Biden Will Hold A Phone Call With Russian President Vladimir Putin On Thursday, A National Security Council Spokesperson Said. Russia Has Massed 100,000 Troops Along The Ukrainian Border, Prompting Fears Of An Invasion As Early As Next Month. It Has Repeatedly Denied That It Has Any Plans To Attack Its Neighbor. "The Biden Administration Continues To Engage In Extensive Diplomacy With Our European Allies And Partners, Consulting And Coordinating On A Common Approach In Response To Russia's Military Build-Up On The Border With Ukraine," The Spokesperson, Emily Horne, Said In A Statement. Biden Is Speaking With Putin "At The Request Of The Russian Side," A Senior Administration Official Said In A Background Call With Reporters Wednesday, Adding, "I Cannot Speak To Why The Russian Side Has Requested This Call." Putin And Biden Will Discuss Diplomacy And De-Escalation At The Border And Lay The Groundwork For Security Talks Between The U.S. And Russia On Jan. 10, Which Biden And Putin Are Not Expected To Participate In, The Official Said. The U.S. Delegation Will Be Led By The State Department. The Official Said The U.S. Has Made It Clear To The Russian Side That "For There To Be Real Progress In These Talks, For Us To Get To A Place Where We Have Security And Stability In Europe, A Context Of De-Escalation, Rather Than Escalation, Will Be Required." Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Spoke Wednesday With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Blinken "Reiterated The United States' Unwavering Support For Ukraine's Independence, Sovereignty, And Territorial Integrity In The Face Of Russia's Military Buildup On Ukraine's Borders," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price Said In A Statement. Blinken And Zelenskyy Discussed Efforts To Peacefully Resolve The Conflict In Eastern Ukraine And Coming Diplomatic Engagements With Russia, Price Said. Biden Warned Putin In A Virtual Call This Month That Russia Would Face "Severe Consequences" If It Attacked Ukraine. Russia Annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula In 2014, Drawing Condemnation And Sanctions From The West. Shortly Afterward, Moscow Backed A Separatist Rebellion In The East Of The Country, Where Fighting Has Killed Over 14,000 People And Devastated Ukraine's Industrial Heartland. Biden Has Come Under Criticism For Having Suspended Sanctions This Year On Russia's Nord Stream 2 Natural Gas Pipeline Under The Baltic Sea, A Project Strongly Opposed By Ukraine And Other Eastern European Countries. But U.S. Officials Say The Administration Will Not Hesitate To Impose Sanctions And Prevent The Completion Of The Pipeline If Necessary.

Biden Signs $770 Billion Defense Bill But Criticizes Guantanamo Bay Restrictions President Joe Biden On Monday Signed Into Law A $770 Billion Defense Bill He Criticized For Including Provisions That Effectively Make It Impossible For Him To Shut Down The U.S. Detention Facility At Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In A Statement, Biden Said That While He Approved Of The Measure Overall, He Was Unhappy With A Number Of Legislative Restrictions, Including One Aimed At Thwarting Efforts To Close The Facility, Which Former President Barack Obama Had Vowed To Do. "Unfortunately ... The Act Continues To Bar The Use Of Funds To Transfer Guantánamo Bay Detainees To The Custody Or Effective Control Of Certain Foreign Countries," Biden Said, Adding That Another Component "Bars The Use Of Funds To Transfer Guantánamo Bay Detainees Into The United States Unless Certain Conditions Are Met." "It Is The Longstanding Position Of The Executive Branch That These Provisions Unduly Impair The Ability Of The Executive Branch To Determine When And Where To Prosecute Guantánamo Bay Detainees And Where To Send Them Upon Release," He Said. "I Urge The Congress To Eliminate These Restrictions As Soon As Possible." Former President George W. Bush Opened The Detention Facility In 2002 After The Terrorist Attacks Of Sept. 11. At Its Peak, Guantánamo Bay Held Nearly 800 Detainees. The Facility Now Has About 40. How Guantanamo Bay Prison Has Changed Since 9/11 Biden On Monday Was Generally Supportive Of The Annual Military Policy Bill, Known As The National Defense Authorization Act, Saying It "Provides Vital Benefits And Enhances Access To Justice For Military Personnel And Their Families, And Includes Critical Authorities To Support Our Country's National Defense." The Legislation Authorizes A 2.7 Percent Pay Raise For Service Members And The Civilian Defense Department Workforce, $27 Billion For New Navy Warships And $75.3 Million To Operate The Armed Forces Retirement Home. Biden Raised Concerns About Other Provisions In His Statement, Including Language That Requires Executive Departments And Agencies To Submit Reports To Congressional Committees "That Will, In The Ordinary Course, Include Highly Sensitive Classified Information, Including Information That Could Reveal Critical Intelligence Sources Or Military Operational Plans." Biden Also Criticized A Part Of The Bill That Requires The President To Seek Congressional Approval For Members Of A Defense Department Working Group, Arguing That It Is Unconstitutional And That It Would Be "Empowering Part Of The Congress To Directly Interfere With The Executive Branch's Selection Of Employees."

Federal Appeals Court To Hear Texas Abortion Case On Jan. 7 A Federal Appeals Court Said Monday It Will Hear Oral Arguments Jan. 7 In A High-Profile Case Centered On The Country's Most Restrictive Abortion Law. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals, Based In Louisiana, Scheduled The Hearing After The Supreme Court This Month Declined To Block Enforcement Of The Texas Law Known As S.B. 8 While Allowing Abortion Providers In The State To Proceed With Their Legal Challenge. "The Court Has Decided That Oral Argument Is Appropriate Before Ruling On The State’s Motion To Certify Or Alternate Motion To Set A Briefing Schedule, And The Response Thereto. Consequently, The Argument Will Be Held At 9 Am In New Orleans On Friday, January 7, 2022,” The Appeals Court Said Monday In A Filing. The Supreme Court This Month Remanded The Case To The 5th Circuit, Where Texas Officials, Led By State Attorney General Ken Paxton, Plan To Ask The Appeals Court To Direct The Texas Supreme Court To Rule On Whether State Licensing Officials Can Enforce The Ban Before The Case Is Sent Back To Federal District Court. Circuit Judge Stephen Higginson Dissented Monday, Arguing That The Case Should Instead Be Remanded To The District Court. “I Respectfully Disagree With The Majority’s Decision To Hear Oral Argument On This Remand From The United States Supreme Court. I Do Not Read The Supreme Court’s Judgment, Especially In A Case Of This Magnitude And Acceleration, To Countenance Such Delay,” Said Higginson, Who Was Appointed By Former President Barack Obama. “I Would Immediately Remand The Case To The District Court.” The Texas Law Bans Abortion At Around Six Weeks Of Pregnancy — Before Many Women Know They Are Pregnant. It Has No Exceptions For Rape Or Incest. The Statute Also Delegates Enforcement To Any Person, Anywhere, Who Can Sue Any Doctor For Performing An Abortion Or Anyone Who Aids In The Procedure. Those Suing Can Collect At Least $10,000 If Their Lawsuits Succeed.

Trump’s 2020 Fixation Is Putting Him At Odds With Some Of His Biggest Fans Former President Donald Trump’s False Claims Of A Stolen Election Fueled Anger Among Republicans Who Flocked To Local-Level GOP Chapters In Hope Of Playing A Greater Role In Future Elections. Now, Some Leaders Of Those Grassroots Outfits Say They And Their Members Have Turned The Page — Even As Trump Himself Has Made It Clear That He Wants The Issue Front And Center In Coming Contests. “People Here Have Turned To The Future,” Hai Cao, A Member Of The Gwinnett County GOP In Georgia, Said In An Interview. Fellow Members Of The Local Republican Party “Don’t Dwell And Talk About” 2020, He Added, Because “We’ll Just Lose Opportunity For Future Advancement — Wins.” Cao Isn’t Alone In His Thinking. In Interviews With More Than A Dozen Local GOP Officials In Four Key Presidential Battlegrounds, Most Indicated That They Had Moved On From The Arguments About 2020, A Notable Shift From Some Of The Most Forceful Trump Defenders During His Second Impeachment And Through His First Year Out Of Office. The Desire To Put Last Year’s Election On The Back Burner Indicates That Among At Least Some Republicans, New Issues Have Begun To Take Precedence. Republicans Have Ramped Up Attacks On President Joe Biden And Other Democrats Ahead Of The 2022 Midterms, Particularly Around Rising Prices, The Chaotic U.S. Withdrawal Of Troops From Afghanistan, Vaccination Mandates And Education. And While Trump Remains Popular, The New GOP Figures Fighting Those Battles Are Drawing Increased Interest And Attention. Michele Woodhouse, The Republican Party Chair In North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, Which Includes 17 Counties In The Western Part Of The State, Said She Started Noticing A Change In What Was Driving Enthusiasm In Late August, When Biden Began The Withdrawal From Afghanistan. Woodhouse Said That Earlier This Year, Anger Over Trump’s Loss Was Driving New Participation At The Local GOP Level. Not So Much Anymore. “There's Been This Uprising To Say Biden's Policies Are Failing Us So Miserably,” Said Woodhouse, Who Is Running For A U.S. House Seat In North Carolina’s Newly Drawn 14th Congressional District. “And It's Been A Very Issue-Driven Enthusiasm. I Really Think The Issues Are Driving It.” The Political Calculation For Leaders Like Woodhouse Is Straightforward, Because They Want To Harness The Energy Around Issues Like Inflation And Pandemic Policy To Help Turn Out Voters In The Midterms, An Election Without Trump On The Ballot. It’s Not Dissimilar To Sentiments Expressed By National Party Leaders, Who Have Said They Would Prefer To Focus Their Attention On Biden, His Administration And The Democratic-Controlled Congress As They Work To Regain Power In Washington. The Calculus Was Bolstered By Gov.-Elect Glenn Youngkin's Blueprint For Success In Blue Virginia And Republicans’ Much Closer-Than-Expected Loss In The New Jersey Governor’s Race. Youngkin, While Neither Embracing Nor Repudiating Trump, Zeroed In On Education And Parental Involvement In Schools, Which Appeared To Resonate With GOP Voters, Along With Concerns About The Economy. Is The Economy Getting Better Or Worse? Earlier This Year, Anger Over The Election Animated Local GOP Chapters In Tangible Ways. Branches Across The Country Passed Censure Resolutions Aimed At Just About Any Republican Who Crossed Trump, Particularly Those Members Of Congress Who Voted To Impeach Or Convict Him For His Role In The Deadly Jan. 6 Riot At The U.S. Capitol, When A Mob Of Pro-Trump Supporters Tried To Disrupt The Electoral Vote Count Formalizing Biden's Election Win. Local-Level GOP Groups Saw Significant Rises In Membership From People Who Wanted To Become Precinct Officials — Filling Low-Level Positions That Carry Out Key Election-Related Functions — Following Former Trump Official Steve Bannon’s Call To Action, According To A Propublica Report Published In September. At The Time, Lou Capozzi, Who Chairs The GOP Chapter In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Which Had Significant Growth In The Number Of People Volunteering For Party-Affiliated Election Positions, Told Propublica: “Who Knows What Happened On Election Day For Real.” In A More Recent Interview With NBC News, Capozzi Said: “I Think A Lot Of People Have Moved On From Last Year.” “We Still Have The Best System In The World,” He Said Of The U.S. Electoral Process. “And I Think, As Far As Republicans Go, I Think They're Just Kind Of Redoubling Their Efforts To Try To Make A Difference And To Try To Get Republicans Elected. From My Perspective, I Think Most People Have Turned The Page.” In Gwinnett County, Local GOP Chair Sammy Baker Sounded A Similar Tune. “So We Still Have A Few That Are Still Upset” Over The 2020 Vote, Said Baker, Whose County Party Rejected Censure Measures Aimed At Republican Gov. Brian Kemp And Secretary Of State Brad Raffensperger Earlier This Year. “But For The Most Part, We’re Turning The Corner.” A Significant Segment Of The Right Is Intent On Continuing To Litigate 2020. In Wisconsin And Pennsylvania, Republicans Are Fighting In Court To Advance Election Investigations More Than A Year After The Vote. Nineteen States Enacted Election Laws This Year That Democrats And Voting Rights Experts Say Make Voting More Difficult And In Some Cases Make It Easier To Subvert An Election. Polling Has Also Found That About Two-Thirds Of Republicans Believe The Election Was Rigged, Although No Evidence Has Been Produced To Validate The Claims. But There Are Also Clear Limits. Some Republicans In Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin And Georgia — Swing States Won By Biden That Trump Has Focused On — Have Forcefully Pushed Back Against The Largely Unorthodox Efforts To Re-Examine The 2020 Vote, Which Have Fallen Flat Or Failed To Launch In Multiple Jurisdictions. Earlier This Month, Wisconsin State Sen. Kathy Bernier, A Republican Who Chairs The Senate Elections Committee, Blasted The Partisan Investigation In Her State As A “Charade.” Arizona State Sen. Wendy Rogers, A Republican Who Is One Of The Leading Election Deniers On The Far Right, Has Circulated A Letter Calling For A 50-State Audit And The Decertification Of Votes. It Has Been Signed By Fewer Than 5 Percent Of All Republican State Lawmakers. Stuart Ulsh, A Fulton County, Pennsylvania, Official Who Was The Republicans’ Star Witness In The State Senate’s Election Probe, Said At A Hearing In September That Continuing To Investigate The Presidential Election Results — Which Have Been Certified And Affirmed Multiple Times Already — Was “Probably In The Middle — I Would Put It At [Number] Five” In Terms Of What His Constituents Cared About. And At A Meeting Of Shareholders Last Month, Rupert Murdoch, The Executive Chairman Of News Corp., The Parent Company Of Fox News, Called On Trump To Stop Focusing On The Past. Jeff Piccola, The Chair Of The York County Republican Chapter In Pennsylvania, Said: “It’s Almost Impossible To Resurrect At This Point Whether The Election Was Materially Affected By Fraud. I Don’t Think You Can. I Don’t Even Know What An Audit Is. To Me, It’s A Recount.” Piccola’s Chapter Censured Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., After He Voted To Convict Trump For Incitement Of Insurrection. But “From My Perspective, As Chairman Of The Party, I Don't Want To Go Back And Resurrect That,” He Added. “I Want To Move Forward [And] Get People Actively Involved.” Ian Bassin, A Co-Founder And The Executive Director Of Protect Democracy, A Nonprofit Voting Rights And Democracy Advocacy Group, Said A Genuine Shift Among The Local GOP Chapters Would Be “A Really Important Development” In Efforts To Halt And Reverse What He Called “A Democratic Death Spiral.” “There Has Been A Vicious Cycle Created On The American Right, Where The Grassroots Are Being Led To Believe A Lie And Are Demanding Anti-Democratic Action In Response,” Said Bassin, Who Worked In The Obama Administration. He Added That Any Such Shift At The Grassroots Might Give Leaders “A Little Bit More Space To Do The Same.” What That Means For Trump Remains Unclear. While Some Republicans Are Ready To Move On From 2020, It Doesn’t Necessarily Mean They’re Distancing Themselves From Trump Himself — Although His Diminished Presence On The National Stage Has Them Open To Other Potential Standard-Bearers, Such As Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, Who Has Expanded His Profile By Fighting The Biden Administration Over The Pandemic And Education. Should Trump Announce A Presidential Bid, He Would Most Likely Force The Debate To The Forefront Of GOP Discussion. But His Insistence On Looking Back Has Others Filling The Void On Forward-Looking Issues. As It Stands, Polling Shows Trump With A Commanding Lead In A 2024 Primary, With About Half Of GOP Voters Saying They Would Definitely Vote For Him. Without Trump On The Ballot, Desantis And Former Vice President Mike Pence Are Among Those With The Greatest Backing. The Local Republican Officials Who Were Interviewed Were Split Between Those Who Think Trump Is Best Positioned To Advance The Party And Those Who Were More Drawn To Desantis, Pence And Others, Like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott And South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. “There Are Competent People, But Until Trump Steps Away, Those Competent People Are Going To Stand Off To The Side,” Said Charles Yost, A Member Of The York County GOP, Adding That He Would Like To See Pence Run. Asked Who Is Best Positioned To Lead The Republican Party Into The Future, Tom Powers, The GOP Chair In Broward County, Florida, Said: “That’s The Easiest Question In The World. “We’ve Got A Governor Who Is A Rock Star. He Has An Economy In The State That Everybody Is Envious Of. He’s Standing Up For The Voter,” He Said Of Desantis. “He’s Obviously The Biggest One.” In North Carolina, Woodhouse Said: “Obviously, Everyone's Kind Of Waiting To See Is President Trump Going To Run Again." “You Know, Of Course, Florida's Very Close To Us,” She Said. “I Think A Lot Of People Here Are Very Strong, As I Am, [On] Ron Desantis. What He's Doing In Florida Is A Great Model.”

CDC Shortens Covid Isolation Period To 5 Days For People Without Symptoms The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Said Monday That People Who Test Positive For Covid-19 But Have No Symptoms Should Isolate For Five Days, Down From The Previous Recommendation Of 10 Days. The Agency Attributed The Change To Growing Evidence That The Virus Is Most Infectious In The Two Or Three Days After Symptoms Arise. In Addition To Cutting The Time In Half For Isolation, The CDC Said That For People Who Are Asymptomatic, An Additional Five Days Of Wearing A Mask When Around Others Is Recommended. "Therefore, People Who Test Positive Should Isolate For Five Days And, If Asymptomatic At That Time, They May Leave Isolation If They Can Continue To Mask For Five Days To Minimize The Risk Of Infecting Others," The CDC Said In A Statement. The Agency Also Recommended That Unvaccinated People Or Those Who Are More Than Six Months Out From Their Second Mrna Dose And Not Yet Boosted Should Quarantine For Five Days After Exposure To The Virus Followed By "Strict Mask Use For An Additional 5 Days." “The Omicron Variant Is Spreading Quickly And Has The Potential To Impact All Facets Of Our Society. CDC’s Updated Recommendations For Isolation And Quarantine Balance What We Know About The Spread Of The Virus And The Protection Provided By Vaccination And Booster Doses," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Said In A Statement. "These Updates Ensure People Can Safely Continue Their Daily Lives. Prevention Is Our Best Option: Get Vaccinated, Get Boosted, Wear A Mask In Public Indoor Settings In Areas Of Substantial And High Community Transmission, And Take A Test Before You Gather,” She Added. The Revised Guidance Comes As The U.S. Sees A Surge In Covid Cases Due In Large Part To The Highly Contagious Omicron Variant. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's Chief Medical Adviser, Told NBC Nightly News That The New Guidance Takes Into Account Both Public Health Data And Worker Shortages. Dr. Anthony Fauci Speaks On CDC’s New Quarantine Guidelines "You Have So Many People Simultaneously Testing Positive You Want To Make Sure That, Particularly Among Essential Workers, That You Get People Out There Much Sooner," He Said. "So You Can Keep People Safe From Getting Infected From You, If You Still Are Infected, But At The Same Time Getting You Back To What Might Be An Essential Function In Society." Fauci Added, "On Balance, If You Look At The Safety Of The Public, And The Need To Have Society Not Disrupted, This Was A Good Choice." Last Week, The CDC Recommended A Shortened Isolation Times For Health Care Workers Who Test Positive But Are Asymptomatic. The Agency Said Health Care Workers Can Return To Work After Seven Days And A Negative Test, Adding That “Isolation Time Can Be Cut Further If There Are Staffing Shortages." Health Care Workers Who Have Received Both Vaccine Doses, Including A Booster, Do Not Need To Quarantine Following A High-Risk Exposure, The CDC Said. Some States Have Also Eased Their Isolation Requirements For Essential Workers. Kathy Hochul Announced Last Week That New York, Which Has Seen A Record-Breaking Surge Of Cases, Is Shortening The Isolation Window To Five Days For Frontline Workers To Address Staffing Concerns At Businesses.

Four Dead, Three Injured In Denver-Area 'Killing Spree' Four People Were Killed And Three Were Injured, Including A Police Officer, In What Authorities Described Monday As A "Killing Spree" In The Denver Metro Area. The Suspect, Who Has Not Been Identified, Was Killed By Officers In The Denver Suburb Of Lakewood, A Spokesman With The Local Police Department Told Reporters. Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen Said During A News Conference That The Shootings Began Around 5 P.M. In Denver. Four People Were Shot At Two Locations, Three Fatally, Before Gunfire Erupted Between The Suspect And Denver Police. No Denver Officers Were Injured, But The Suspect Disabled Their Vehicle Before Fleeing To Lakewood, Pazen Said. There, Police Responded To Reports Of An Active Shooter Just Before 6 P.M., Lakewood Police Spokesman John Romero Said. One Person Was Pronounced Dead At The Scene, He Said. The Suspect Then Opened Fire At A Hyatt Hotel, Shooting A Clerk Who Was Later Taken To A Local Hospital, Romero Said. The Person's Condition Wasn't Immediately Known, Romero Said. After Wounding A Lakewood Police Officer, The Suspect Was Fatally Shot By Other Officers In The Department. The Injured Officer Was Undergoing Surgery, Romero Said. It Wasn't Clear What Prompted The Shootings Or How They Were Linked. But Pazen Said His Officers Had Tried To "Stop This Suspect From This Killing Spree."

Robed In Secrecy: How Judges Accused Of Misconduct Can Dodge Public Scrutiny When Litigants Anger Michael F. Mcguire, The County Judge In New York State’s Catskills Region, He Might Hit Them With “Judicial Contempt” And Order Them Handcuffed Or, In Extreme Cases, Jailed For 30 Days. Mcguire, Who Was Elected In Sullivan County In 2011, Did It Several Times Over The Years Without Warning: To A Man Who Asked Him To Recuse Himself Because, He Said, Mcguire Knew His Son, To A Mother Who Had An Outburst When She Felt Ridiculed By Mcguire And To A Grandmother Who Contested Turning Over Her Grandson To His Allegedly Abusive Father. That Wasn’t His Only Concerning Behavior, According To An Ethics Complaint Filed In 2018 By A State Watchdog Agency, Which Accused Mcguire Of Berating Court Staff Members; Making “Undignified” Comments, Such As Suggesting That People In His Court Would Date A “Drug Dealer” Or A “Slut”; Presiding Over Cases In Which His Impartiality Could Be Called Into Question; And Representing Family Members And Friends In Personal Cases. The Watchdog Agency, The New York State Commission On Judicial Conduct, Said He “Lacked Candor” During Its Investigation. For His Pattern Of “Serious” Judicial Lapses, A State Appeals Court Agreed Last Year That Mcguire — Who Earned A Salary Of $210,161 A Year — Be Removed From The Bench, The Harshest Sanction A Judge Can Face. The Public, However, Had Learned About The Ethics Charges Only Months Before, In March 2020, More Than A Year And A Half After Mcguire Was First Served With The Ethics Complaint And When The Appeals Court Said He Had Been Notified Of The Commission’s Unanimous Recommendation To Punish Him. Mcguire Ended Up Resigning In May 2020, But With Another Job Already Lined Up — As Sullivan County’s Head Attorney, A Position He Still Holds. Mcguire Did Not Respond To Requests For Comment. In His Resignation Letter Last Year, He Wrote That “I Am Quite Proud Of Our Achievements” On The Bench And “Deeply Regret The Issues That Brought Me Before This Court.” Joseph Lapiana, Who Went Before Mcguire In A Family Court Case Last Year And Is Unable To See His 1-Year-Old Daughter As A Result, Said, “Judges Work For The Public — We Should Know If They Are Being Investigated For Any Misconduct.” If Mcguire’s Misconduct Violations Had Happened In A Neighboring State, Like New Jersey, Pennsylvania Or Vermont, The Public Would Have Been Alerted Earlier — At The Outset Of The Filing Of Ethics Charges. WATCH: Judge Yells At Prosecutor Over Kyle Rittenhouse Cross-Examination The Timing In When The Public Is Allowed To Know About Allegations Against Judges Can Differ Broadly Among States. Some Allow Judges To Go Months Or Years Before Even Credible Complaints Are In The Open. As More Than 100 Million Cases Are Filed In Local And State Courts Every Year And As Judges Exert Near-Absolute Power In Deciding Who Wins Custody Of Children To Who Can Get Married To Whether People Go To Jail, The Public’s Ability To Scrutinize Judicial Conduct Is Crucial For Transparency’s Sake, And It Deserves As Much Attention As Recent Calls For Policing And Prosecutorial Overhauls, Judicial Ethics Experts Argue. Judicial Misconduct “Undermines Confidence In Our Justice System,” Said Susan Saab Fortney, The Director Of The Program For The Advancement Of Legal Ethics At Texas A&M University School Of Law. Secretive States Misconduct Findings Are Rare In The Judicial Complaint Process. Legal Ethics Experts Say The Minuscule Share Of Judges Punished Every Year Isn’t Necessarily Indicative That All Is Well In The Judiciary — It Suggests A Lack Of Accountability. Each State Has A Form Of A Judicial Conduct Commission To Which The Public Can File Misconduct Allegations Against Judges. Generally, It’s Up To That Body, Which Can Be Made Up Of Fellow Judges, Lawyers And Laypeople, To Determine Whether Complaints Violate A State’s Code Of Judicial Conduct — Guidelines For Judges To Act With Independence, Integrity And Impartiality. A Judge’s Conduct Inside A Courtroom As Well As Outside, Including On Social Media, Can Be Subject To Discipline. Judges Misusing Social Media Spark Calls For Reform NBC News’ Review Of Various States’ Judicial Conduct Commission Data From 2016 To 2020 Indicates That Thousands Of Complaints Are Filed Across The Country Every Year But That About 1 Percent Of Them Result In Judges’ Being Publicly Disciplined Or Stepping Down After Investigations Are Opened. While The Commissions Maintain That Most Complaints Are Frivolous — For Instance, A Litigant Is Merely Disgruntled Over How A Judge Ruled — For A State To Typically Record Zero Public Sanctions Against Judges Sounds Incredible, Said Robert Tembeckjian, The Administrator And Counsel Of The New York State Commission On Judicial Conduct. “It’s Highly Unlikely That Any State Would Have A Judiciary That Is So Above Reproach That Year After Year No One Gets Disciplined,” Tembeckjian Said. “Even In Places Like New York, Where We Have Very Sophisticated Judicial Education Programs, There Are Numerous Cases Every Year.” New York’s Commission, Which Oversees About 3,500 State And Local Judges, Has Received Upward Of 2,000 Complaints Annually In The Past Five Years, And Each Year, The State Has Sanctioned A Judge Or One Has Resigned For Misconduct In One To Two Dozen Cases. Other Large States, Such As California And Texas, Sanction Multiple Judges Every Year. The Level Of Transparency Around Misconduct Cases Varies By State. Some That Have Reported That No Or Few Judges Were Publicly Sanctioned In Recent Years, Such As Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota And Wyoming, Don’t Make Cases Public Until The Court Or Panel That Decides Discipline Gets Involved. And In Three States — Delaware, Hawaii And North Carolina — Misconduct Cases Are Made Public Only In The Final Stages Of Investigations When Judges Are To Be Punished. In About Two-Thirds Of States, However, The Public Can Learn Much Sooner, Such As When Judicial Conduct Commissions First Charge Judges With Misconduct Or When The Judges Respond To The Allegations. States Where Information Is Kept Under Wraps Argue That Confidentiality Is Necessary For As Long As Possible To Protect Judges Should They Ultimately Be Cleared. But It Turns Out That In Some Cases, Depending On The Type Of Transgression, Judges Can Be Privately Admonished By Other Judges Or Sent Warning Letters, Meant To Jolt Them Into Correcting Their Behavior. NBC News Found That Many States Opt To Reprimand Judges Privately More Often Than Publicly. For Instance, Pennsylvania Filed Formal Charges Against Judges 17 Times But Issued Private Letters Of Warning Or Reprimand 172 Times From 2016 To 2020. A Sweeping Reuters Analysis Last Year Of Judicial Misconduct, Which Examined Thousands Of Discipline Cases Over A Dozen Years, Determined That 9 Out Of 10 Sanctioned Judges Were Allowed To Return To The Bench. “We Have To Recognize That Oftentimes We Have Judges Judging Judges, And They’re Ultimately In Control And Judging Their Own,” Said Charles Gardner Geyh, An Indiana University Law Professor Who Studies Judicial Conduct. Related: ‘One Disaster After Another’: How A Family Court Judge Failed Families Tembeckjian Believes That States, Including New York, Should Be As Transparent As Possible Once There’s Sufficient Evidence To Back Up Allegations Against Judges, Similar To How Grand Jury Investigations Are Made Public When Indictments Are Unsealed. Tembeckjian Said He’d Like His Judicial Conduct Commission To Have The Authority To Suspend Judges During Investigations, As Other States’ Commissions Can Do, And To Continue Investigating Cases Even After Judges Resign. Such Changes, However, Would Require The Approval Of The New York Legislature. Ultimately, Ensuring That Judges Are Being Rightfully Held Accountable Is Essential, Because Guidance From The U.S. Supreme Court Allows Them To Be Largely Immune From Lawsuits For Acts Done In Their Official Capacity, Tembeckjian Said. “If There’s No Sense That You Can Get A Fair Shake By Going Into A Court Of Law And Have Confidence That The Judge Is Going To Be Neutral And Fair And Apply The Law Honestly And Responsibly, It’s Ultimately Going To Lead To Anarchy,” He Said. “Then Why Not Just Settle Our Disputes In The Streets Rather Than A Court Of Law?” Making Them Pay Efforts Are Underway To Enact Meaningful Judicial Reforms At Various Levels. On Dec. 1, The U.S. House Overwhelmingly Passed Bipartisan Legislation To Require Federal Judges To Report Their Financial Holdings In Response To A Wall Street Journal Investigation. The Journal Found That 131 Federal Judges Had Broken The Law And Violated Judicial Ethics By Hearing Cases In Which They Had Financial Interests. A Similar Bipartisan Bill Is Pending In The Senate. On The State Side, The Louisiana Supreme Court Last Month Expanded Its Rules About Errant Judges When It Tacked Financial Burdens Onto The Disciplinary Process. Not Only Can Judges Be Made To Pay For The Costs Of Investigations If Discipline Is Recommended, But They Can Also Be Ordered To Repay The Costs Of Installing Replacement Judges. And If Judges Decide To Retire Or Resign Before Formal Disciplinary Processes Conclude, They Can Still Be Required To Pay Investigative Costs. Related: What’s A Judge’s Moral Standard? Allegations Of Racism, Sexism Spotlight Judicial Misconduct The State’s Chief Justice, John Weimer, Said In A Statement That The Updated Rules Ensure That Even Retiring Judges Are “Held Accountable” And That Louisiana Taxpayers Aren’t On The Hook For Costs, Which In Recent Investigations Have Been About $2,000 To $3,000. About A Dozen Other States, Including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire And South Dakota, Fine Judges Or Have Similar Cost Recovery Rules, According To The Center For Judicial Ethics At The National Center For State Courts, A Nonprofit Organization That Seeks To Improve The Judiciary. Marni Bryson, A Judge In Palm Beach County, Florida, Faces A Public Reprimand, An Unpaid Suspension For 10 Days And A Fine Of $37,500 After The State Judicial Conduct Commission Said She Was Excessively Absent From Her Duties Over A Four-Year Period, Records Show. “I Knew What I Did Was Wrong. I Have A Whole Year To Reflect And Contemplate My Actions.” A Suspended Ohio Judge In New Hampshire, Former Circuit Judge Julie Introcaso Was Ordered To Pay Her Investigation’s Costs, Almost $75,000. Introcaso Pleaded Guilty Last Month To Two Counts Of Tampering With Public Records And Submitting False Statements In Connection With A Child Custody Case In Which She Was Friends With A Lawyer. Janine Geske, A Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice In The 1990s, Said She’d Like The State To Implement Similar Penalties, Which Might “Encourage Judges To Take Responsibility Early On” If Their Violations Are Tethered To Their Finances. Another Option, Geyh Said, Is To Make The Payout Of Judges’ Pensions Contractually Contingent On Good Behavior. Ethics Experts Say That Citizen Judicial Watchdog Programs Known As Court Watchers Could Be Effective But That It’s Also Incumbent Upon Other Courtroom Staff Members And Officials Who Witness Judges’ Poor Conduct, Particularly Lawyers, To Speak Up. They May Be Reluctant To File Complaints, However, Because They’re Afraid Of Retaliation If Judges Learn They Were Behind The Allegations, Said Fortney, The Legal Ethics Expert At Texas A&M. “A Large Percentage Of States Require That The Complaining Party Be Identified,” She Said. “This Clearly Chills Reporting.” ‘I Don’t Trust Any Judge’ But There Have Been Cases In Which Lawyers And Court Staff Members Haven’t Been Afraid To Stand Up To Jurists. Ohio’s Highest Court Last Month Suspended A 19-Year Municipal Court Judge, Mark Repp, For One Year Without Pay After Prosecutors In Seneca County Relayed How He Had Ordered A 20-Year-Old Woman Who Was Sitting Quietly In The Back Of His Courtroom To Watch Her Boyfriend’s Hearing To Get Tested For Drugs. When She Refused, He Sentenced Her To 10 Days In Jail. An Investigation Found That The Woman Was Forced To Take Pregnancy Tests And Undergo Full-Body Scans For Contraband; None Was Detected. And While Repp Assumed The Woman Was Under The Influence Of Narcotics, There Was No Evidence Indicating That She Was, And She Had Never Been Charged With Drug-Related Offenses. In A Recent Interview, Repp Said That He Has Been Concerned By The Growing Rate Of Overdose Deaths In His Community And That, In Dealing With Thousands Of Cases Every Year, He Must “Come Up With Some Kind Of Decision That Follows The Law And Also Is Appropriate Under The Circumstances.” “I Knew What I Did Was Wrong,” Repp Said. “I’ll Try To Make Amends On That, And I Have A Whole Year To Reflect And Contemplate My Actions.” California Judge Criticized For Overturning Ban On Assault Weapons But It Wasn’t The Only Time Repp, Who Is Up For Re-Election In 2025, Has Faced Criticism. “Imagine Someone Sitting In Court For The First Time, And Now They Think It’s What The Judicial System Is Like,” Said John Kahler II, A Lawyer Who Once Accused Repp Of Being Biased Against A Client And Unsuccessfully Tried To Get Him Disqualified From The Case. A Woman Who Appeared Before Repp In August Did File A Complaint To Say He Had Labeled Her A “Known Meth User” In Open Court. She Wrote That She Was Made To Feel “Very Embarrassed By Repp’s Conduct And False Accusations.” Repp Said The Complaint Process In Ohio Is A “Good One” Because The Public Does Learn About Judges Accused Of Misconduct Early On. But The Woman, Ana Petro, Who Was In Repp’s Court For A Traffic Violation This Year, Doesn’t Believe His Suspension Can Remedy How He Made Her And Others Feel: Worthless. A Reckoning Throughout The Judiciary Is Needed, She Said. “I Understand It’s Not A Judge’s Job To Be Nice, But When He’s Abusing His Power To Be A Judge, That’s When I Have A Problem,” Petro Said. “And I Don’t Trust Any Judge At All Because Of Him.”

Defense In Michigan Governor Kidnap Plot Seeks To Dismiss Indictment GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Defense Attorneys Want To Dismiss The Indictment Against Five Men Accused Of Plotting To Kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Because Of What They Described As “Egregious Overreaching” By Federal Agents And Informants, According To A Court Filing. In The 20-Page Motion, Which Was Filed Saturday Night, Defense Attorneys Allege FBI Agents And Federal Prosecutors Invented A Conspiracy And Entrapped People Who Could Face Up To Life In Prison. They're Asking U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker To Dismiss The Conspiracy Charge, Which Would Effectively Knock Down The Federal Government's Case And Other Connected Charges, According To The Detroit News. Man Sentenced To 6 Years In First Sentence Of Kidnapping Plot Of Michigan Gov. Whitmer The Request Comes After Developments And Claims About The Government’s Team, Including The Conviction Of Richard Trask, An FBI Special Agent Who Was Arrested On A Domestic Violence Charge And Later Fired And Convicted Of A Misdemeanor. “Essentially, The Evidence Here Demonstrates Egregious Overreaching By The Government’s Agents, And By The Informants Those Agents Handled,” Defense Attorneys Wrote. "When The Government Was Faced With Evidence Showing That The Defendants Had No Interest In A Kidnapping Plot, It Refused To Accept Failure And Continued To Push Its Plan.” Five People Are Charged With Kidnapping Conspiracy And Face A Trial March 8 In Grand Rapids. They Have Pleaded Not Guilty And Claim To Be Victims Of Entrapment. Federal Prosecutors Have Argued The Men Were Not Entrapped. The Government Alleged The Men Were Upset Over Covid-19 Restrictions When They Conspired To Kidnap Whitmer, A Democrat, Even Scouting Her Second Home In Northern Michigan. Messages Left Sunday With The U.S. Attorney For The Western District Of Michigan And The U.S. Department Of Justice Weren’t Immediately Returned. In January, A Sixth Man, 26-Year-Old Ty Garbin, Pleaded Guilty And Is Serving A Six-Year Federal Prison Sentence.

Sarah Weddington, Lawyer Who Argued Roe V. Wade, Dies At 76 DALLAS — Sarah Weddington, A Texas Lawyer Who As A 26-Year-Old Successfully Argued The Landmark Abortion Rights Case Roe V. Wade Before The U.S. Supreme Court, Died Sunday. She Was 76. Susan Hays, Weddington’s Former Student And Colleague, Said She Died In Her Sleep Early Sunday Morning At Her Austin Home. Weddington Had Been In Poor Health For Some Time And It Was Not Immediately Clear What Caused Her Death, Hays Told The Associated Press. Raised As A Minister’s Daughter In The West Texas City Of Abilene, Weddington Attended Law School At The University Of Texas. A Couple Years After Graduating, She And A Former Classmate, Linda Coffee, Brought A Class-Action Lawsuit On Behalf Of A Pregnant Woman Challenging A State Law That Largely Banned Abortions. The Case Of “Jane Roe,” Whose Real Name Was Norma Mccorvey, Was Brought Against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade And Eventually Advanced To The Supreme Court. Weddington Argued The Case Before The High Court Twice, In December 1971 And Again In October 1972, Resulting The Next Year In The 7-2 Ruling That Legalized Abortion Nationwide. Weddington’s Death Comes As The Supreme Court Is Considering A Case Over Mississippi’s Ban On Abortions After 15 Weeks Of Pregnancy That’s Widely Considered To Be Most Serious Challenge In Years To The Roe Decision. While That Case Was Before The Court, Weddington Also Ran To Represent Austin In The Texas House Of Representatives. She Was Elected In 1972 And Served Three Terms As A State Lawmaker, Before Becoming General Counsel Of The U.S. Department Of Agriculture And Later Working As Advisor On Women’s Issues To President Jimmy Carter. Weddington Later Wrote A Book On Roe V. Wade, Gave Lectures And Taught Courses At The University Of Texas At Austin And Texas Woman’s University On Leadership, Law And Gender Discrimination. She Remained Active In The Political And Legal Worlds Well Into Her Later Years, Attending The 2019 Signing Ceremony For A New York State Law Meant To Safeguard Abortion Rights Should Roe V. Wade Be Overturned.

Trump Spokesman Sues Jan. 6 Panel Over Access To Financial Records Washington — Former President Donald Trump's Current Spokesman, Taylor Budowich, Has Sued The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Riot At The U.S. Capitol Over Access To His Financial Records. Budowich Said He Complied With The Committee, "Including Sitting For A Four-Hour Deposition On December 22nd," And Then Returned Home The Next Day To A Notice From His Bank, Jpmorgan Chase, Saying It Would Be Handing His Records To The Committee Unless He Was Able To Legally Block The Subpoena By 5 P.M. On Dec. 24. "Budowich Complied With The Subpoena, Producing More Than 1,700 Pages Of Documents And Providing Roughly Four Hours Of Sworn Testimony," Says The Lawsuit, Which Was Filed Friday. It Is Unclear Whether The Bank Has Already Turned Over The Records, As The Lawsuit Came The Same Day As Jpmorgan Chase's Deadline. In Addition To The Panel, Budowich Sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., And Jpmorgan Chase, According To The Lawsuit, Which Was Obtained By Nbc News. The News Was First Reported By Politico. "Democracy Is Under Attack. However, Not By The People Who Illegally Entered The Capitol On January 6th, 2021, But Instead By A Committee Whose Members Walk Freely In Its Halls Every Day," Budowich Said In A Statement Friday On Twitter. In November, The Committee Issued Subpoenas To High-Profile Allies Of Trump, Including Roger Stone And Alex Jones. The Committee Included Budowich, Whom It Cited As Having Organized An Advertising Campaign To Encourage Attendance At The Jan. 6 Rally. Former President Trump Asks Supreme Court To Block Release Of Jan. 6 Documents In Its Subpoena Letter, The Committee Said Budowich "Reportedly Solicited A 501c(4) Organization To Conduct A Social Media And Radio Advertising Campaign Encouraging Attendance At The January 6th Ellipse Rally And Advancing Unsupported Claims About The Result Of The Election." Budowich Said: "I, However, Am Not, And I Will Not Allow Some Politicians To Intimidate Me For My Support Of President Donald J. Trump. Government Should Not Be A Weapon That's Freely Used Against Political Opponents And Private Citizens — But It Seems Like This Democrat-Led Congress Is Intent On Codifying That Precedent."

Covid, Immigration And Voting Rights: Checking In On Biden's Year-One Promises WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden While Running For President Made A Long List Of Promises For His First Year In Office, Many Of Them Tied To Reversing The Policies Of His Predecessor And Getting Control Of The Coronavirus Pandemic. Nearly A Year Into His Presidency, Biden Has Followed Through On A Number Of His Campaign-Era Pledges — Such As Recommitting The U.S. To The Paris Climate Pact — But Has Faced Many Setbacks When It Comes To Issues Like Covid-19 And Voting Rights. Here Is A Look At Some Of The Promises Biden Made And His Progress Toward Keeping Them. Covid-19 Relief And Vaccinations Biden Achieved His Goal Of Administering 100 Million Covid Shots Within His First 100 Days In Office, But His Vaccination Efforts Have Since Hit A Wall. Roughly 28 Percent Of American Adults Are Still Not Fully Vaccinated Against Covid, And The Biden Administration, Combating A Wave Of Misinformation, Has Struggled To Convince The Remaining Holdouts To Get A Shot. The Lagging Vaccination Rate Has Created Pockets Of Opportunity For The Coronavirus To Continue To Spread, Complicating The President’s Covid Response. After Shying Away From Mandating Vaccines, Biden Changed Course In September, Issuing Two Executive Orders Requiring Federal Employees And Contractors To Be Vaccinated And Requiring Private Companies With Over 100 Employees To Either Mandate Vaccinations Or Implement Regular Testing. Both Of Those Rules Have Faced Pushback From Republicans And Democrats And Are Being Held Up In Federal Court. Despite The Difficulty The President Has Encountered In Vaccinating The American Public, He Has Been Able To Keep Most K-8 Public Schools Open, And He Followed Through On His Campaign Promise To Provide Covid Economic Relief. In Early March, Biden Signed Into Law The $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan, Delivering Stimulus Checks, Enhanced Unemployment Benefits And Funding To Increase Vaccine Distribution. The Covid Pandemic Largely Defined The President’s First Year In Office And Will Likely Be A Major Feature Of His Second Year, As The Omicron Variant Spreads Rapidly Around The Country. Rollback Of Trump-Era Policies Biden Promised To Dismantle President Donald Trump's Legacy And Roll Back Policies Starting On His First Day In Office. Just Hours After He Was Inaugurated, Biden Signed Executive Orders Halting Funding For The Construction Of Trump's Southern Border Wall, Reversed The Ban On U.S. Entry From Largely Majority-Muslim Countries And Reversed Environmental Deregulation, Including Revoking The Permit For The Keystone XL Pipeline. While Biden Largely Kept His Promise To Quickly Undo Some Of His Predecessor's Actions, He Has Been Criticized For Allowing Some Trump-Era Policies To Continue, Especially When It Comes To Immigration. Biden Was Heavily Criticized Earlier This Year After Announcing He Would Preserve A Trump-Era Limit On The Number Of Refugees Admitted To The United States, Ultimately Reversing Course To Raise The Cap To 125,000, As He Had Promised During His Campaign. Many Democrats And Immigration Advocates Have Also Taken Issue With The President's Decision To Keep In Place Trump's Title 42 Policy, A Public Health Order That Allows The U.S. To Expel Migrants Seeking Asylum, As Well As The Trump-Era "Remain In Mexico" Policy, Which Requires Migrants Seeking Asylum To Wait Outside The U.S. For Their Immigration Court Hearings. Biden Has Given Little Indication That He Plans To Revoke Title 42 Anytime Soon, But Administration Officials Have Said They Intend To Eventually End The "Remain In Mexico" Program. The Administration Ended The Program Earlier This Year, But A Federal Judge Ordered It To Be Reinstated After Texas And Missouri Sued Over The Rescission. Voting Rights, Police Reform Biden Promised During His Campaign To Protect Voting Rights And Said That As President He Would Pass Legislation To Strengthen The Voting Rights Act. But At Least 19 States Have Passed Restrictive Voting Laws This Year, And Legislation To Reverse Those Changes Has Stalled In Congress. Voting Rights Advocates Have Criticized The President For Not Making Access To The Ballot A Higher Priority, Especially Ahead Of A Midterm Elections Year. While Biden Has Argued That Republican-Led Efforts Will Make Voting More Difficult For Black And Latino Communities — Calling The New Laws "The Most Significant Test Of Our Democracy Since The Civil War" — His Actions, Advocates Say, Have Not Matched His Rhetoric. The President Has Faced Similar Criticism When It Comes To The Promises He Made To Tackle Police Reform In The Wake Of George Floyd's Murder. Biden Abandoned His Plans Earlier This Year To Establish A Commission To Address Policing Practices, And Instead He Urged Congress To Pass Legislation That Would Improve Such Practices. The House Passed The George Floyd Justice In Policing Act In March, But The Bill Lacked Enough Republican Support To Clear The Senate. Months Of Bipartisan Discussions Eventually Collapsed In September. Voting Access And Police Reform Are Top Legislative Priorities For Democrats, And The Inability To Get Either Measure Across The Finish Line Has Exasperated Many, Especially Black Voters Who Played An Important Role In Helping Biden Win The White House. Re-Establish The U.S. As A Global Leader A Major Focus Of Biden's Campaign Was Improving The United States' Standing On The World Stage After Trump's Isolationist Approach To Foreign Policy. Biden Rejoined The Paris Agreement On Climate Change And The World Health Organization, Restoring Ties That Had Been Cut By Trump. He Also Followed Through On His Commitment To Bring Together World Leaders For A Virtual Conference On Climate Change, And He Hosted More Than 100 Countries For A Virtual Summit On Democracy. By September, The President — Who Promised During His Campaign To End "The Forever Wars" — Had Pulled U.S. Troops Out Of Afghanistan, Effectively Ending America's Longest War. The Withdrawal, However, Was Marked By Chaos In The Final Days, Which Made Biden The Subject Of Bipartisan Criticism. Although Biden Has Struck A Different Tone Compared To His Predecessor, Foreign Policy Analysts Have Said Biden's Approach To Some Foreign Policy Issues Carries Echoes Of Trump’s "America First" Mantra. Close European Allies, For Example, Grew Frustrated With Biden Earlier This Year Over His Decision To Keep In Place Trump-Era Covid Travel Restrictions. Those Relationships Were Further Strained Following The Chaotic Withdrawal From Afghanistan, With Some Allies Saying They Should Have Been More Closely Consulted On The Drawdown. France Also Accused Biden Of Acting Like Trump After Paris Was Pushed Out Of A Lucrative, Strategically Important Submarine Deal With Australia.

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Block Release Of Jan. 6 Records FILE - President Donald Trump Speaks During A Rally Protesting The Electoral College Certification Of Joe Biden As President In Washington On Jan. 6, 2021. Former President Donald Trump Turned To The Supreme Court Thursday, Dec. 23, In A Last-Ditch Effort To Keep Documents Away From The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Insurrection At The Capitol. FILE - President Donald Trump Speaks During A Rally Protesting The Electoral College Certification Of Joe Biden As President In Washington On Jan. 6, 2021. Former President Donald Trump Turned To The Supreme Court Thursday, Dec. 23, In A Last-Ditch Effort To Keep Documents Away From The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Insurrection At The Capitol. Former President Donald Trump Turned To The Supreme Court On Thursday In A Last-Ditch Effort To Keep Documents Away From The House Committee Investigating The Jan. 6 Insurrection At The Capitol Led By His Supporters. Trump’s Attorneys Asked The Supreme Court To Reverse Lower Court Rulings Against The Former President, Who Has Fought To Block The Records Even After President Joe Biden Waived Executive Privilege Over Them. The Federal Appeals Court In Washington Previously Ruled The Committee Had A “Uniquely Vital Interest” In The Documents And Trump Had “Provided No Basis” For It To Override Biden And Congress. The Records Include Presidential Diaries, Visitor Logs, Speech Drafts, Handwritten Notes “Concerning The Events Of January 6” From The Files Of Former Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows, And “A Draft Executive Order On The Topic Of Election Integrity,” According To A Previous Court Filing From The National Archives. Trump’s Filing Came On The Day That An Administrative Injunction Issued By The Appeals Court Was Set To Otherwise Expire. That Injunction, Preventing The Release Of Records, Will Remain In Place For Now. Lawyers For The House Committee Asked The Supreme Court Later Thursday To Expedite Its Processes And Consider The Case As Soon As Mid-January. “The Select Committee Needs The Requested Documents Now To Help Shape The Direction Of The Investigation And Allow The Select Committee To Timely Recommend Remedial Legislation,” Lawyers For The Committee Wrote. Repeating Arguments They Made Before Lower Courts, Trump’s Attorneys Wrote Thursday That The Case Concerned All Future Occupants Of The White House. Former Presidents Had “A Clear Right To Protect Their Confidential Records From Premature Dissemination,” Trump’s Lawyers Said. “Congress Cannot Engage In Meandering Fishing Expeditions In The Hopes Of Embarrassing President Trump Or Exposing The President’s And His Staff’s Sensitive And Privileged Communications ‘For The Sake Of Exposure,’” They Added. The House Committee Has Said The Records Are Vital To Its Investigation Into The Run-Up To The Deadly Insurrection Aimed At Overturning The Results Of The 2020 Presidential Election. Before And After The Riot, Trump Promoted False Theories About Election Fraud And Suggested That The “Real Insurrection” Was On Election Day, When He Lost To Biden In An Election Certified By Officials From Both Parties As Fair. The Case Was Widely Expected To Reach The Supreme Court, Which Has Decided Several Previous Fights Over Trump’s Records. Trump Appointed Three Of The Court’s Nine Justices. The Court Earlier This Year Refused To Stop His Tax Records From Going To A New York Prosecutor’s Office As Part Of An Investigation. It Did Prevent Congress Last Year, While Trump Was In Office, From Obtaining Banking And Financial Records For Him And Members Of His Family.

Biden: 'Let's Go Brandon': Caller Taunts Biden During White House Christmas Event The Incident, Which Quickly Went Viral Online, Took Place After Biden And First Lady After Being Assured Of St Nick's Progress, The President Fielded Calls From Several American Families. One Man Identified Himself As "Jared," A Father Of Four. Biden Spoke Briefly With The Caller's Children, Asking What Presents They Wanted For Christmas And Telling Them They Needed To Be In Bed Before Midnight. He Also Remarked On How He And Jared Both Had Sons Named Hunter. Wrapping Up The Call, Biden Wished Jared A "Wonderful Christmas." "I Hope You Guys Have A Wonderful Christmas As Well, Merry Christmas, And Let's Go Brandon!" Jared Replied. "Let's Go Brandon, I Agree," Returned Biden, Without Reacting To The Dig. It Was Not Immediately Clear If The President Had Understood The Reference, Though Jill Biden Chuckled Uncomfortably And Rolled Her Eyes. Biden Asked Jared Where He Was Calling From, But By Then The Call Had Been Disconnected. A Clip Of The Moment Spread Widely On Social Media, With Some Praising The President For His Calm Response. "Let's Go Brandon" Is A Euphemism For A Vulgar Insult That Originated When A Reporter At A NASCAR Event Misheard A Chant Of "F- Joe Biden" While Interviewing Driver Brandon Brown In September. Since Then It Has Been Taken Up As A Political Slogan By Supporters Of Trump, Biden's Predecessor. Trump Had His Own Headline-Grabbing Christmas Eve Moment When, In 2018, He Raised Doubts About Santa's Existence In A Call With A Seven-Year-Old Boy. "Are You Still A Believer In Santa Claus? 'Cuz At Seven It's Marginal, Right?" He Said. The Santa Tracker Presented By NORAD Dates To 1955, When A Colorado Newspaper Advertisement Misprinted A Phone Number To Connect Children With Santa And Mistakenly Directed Them To The Military Nerve Center Hotline. WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden Was Trolled By A Caller Friday Who Said "Let's Go Brandon " -- A Coded Insult That Has Become A Rallying Cry For Supporters Of Donald Trump -- During A White House Christmas Eve Event.The Incident, Which Quickly Went Viral Online, Took Place After Biden And First Lady Jill Biden Spoke By Video Conference With North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Officials, Who Track Santa 'S Travel Across The Globe.After Being Assured Of St Nick's Progress, The President Fielded Calls From Several American Families.One Man Identified Himself As "Jared," A Father Of Four. Biden Spoke Briefly With The Caller's Children, Asking What Presents They Wanted For Christmas And Telling Them They Needed To Be In Bed Before Midnight. He Also Remarked On How He And Jared Both Had Sons Named Hunter.Wrapping Up The Call, Biden Wished Jared A "Wonderful Christmas. ""I Hope You Guys Have A Wonderful Christmas As Well, Merry Christmas, And Let's Go Brandon!" Jared Replied. "Let's Go Brandon, I Agree," Returned Biden, Without Reacting To The Dig. It Was Not Immediately Clear If The President Had Understood The Reference, Though Jill Biden Chuckled Uncomfortably And Rolled Her Eyes.Biden Asked Jared Where He Was Calling From, But By Then The Call Had Been Disconnected. A Clip Of The Moment Spread Widely On Social Media, With Some Praising The President For His Calm Response. "Let's Go Brandon" Is A Euphemism For A Vulgar Insult That Originated When A Reporter At A NASCAR Event Misheard A Chant Of "F- Joe Biden" While Interviewing Driver Brandon Brown In September.Since Then It Has Been Taken Up As A Political Slogan By Supporters Of Trump, Biden's Predecessor.Trump Had His Own Headline-Grabbing Christmas Eve Moment When, In 2018, He Raised Doubts About Santa's Existence In A Call With A Seven-Year-Old Boy. "Are You Still A Believer In Santa Claus? 'Cuz At Seven It's Marginal, Right?" He Said.The Santa Tracker Presented By NORAD Dates To 1955, When A Colorado Newspaper Advertisement Misprinted A Phone Number To Connect Children With Santa And Mistakenly Directed Them To The Military Nerve Center Hotline.

Parent Uses Right-Wing Slur During Biden Call With NORAD Santa Tracker President Joe Biden Was Subjected To A Right-Wing Anti-Biden Slur During A Christmas Eve Call With NORAD's Santa Tracker. Biden And The First Lady Were Speaking With Families Around The Country Who Had Called Into The North American Aerospace Defense Command To Receive An Update On Santa's Location When One Parent Ended The Conversation By Saying: "Let’s Go Brandon." The President Did Not Appear To Recognize That The Phrase Is Used By The Right Wing As A Euphemism For "F--- Joe Biden," And Responded: "Let’s Go Brandon, I Agree." The Slogan Took Off In Conservative Circles After NASCAR Driver Brandon Brown Was Interviewed By NBC Sports Reporter Kelli Stavast About His Victory At The Talladega Superspeedway In Alabama On Oct. 2. The Crowd Behind The Interview Began To Chant The Expletive Directed At Biden, But Stavast Responded: "You Can Hear The Chants From The Crowd, 'Let's Go Brandon!'" Since Then, The Euphemism "Let’s Go Brandon" Has Been Repeated By A Number Of Prominent Figures On The Right And Republican Members Of Congress Have Even Shouted It From The House Floor. When The President Travels, He Is Often Met By Protesters Holding "Let's Go Brandon" Signs. During A Campaign Event For Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Terry Mcauliffe Earlier This Fall, Protesters Interrupted The President's Speech With "Let's Go Brandon" Chants. When Asked In Early November What Biden Made Of The Popularity Of The Phrase, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Said: "I Don’t Think He Spends Much Time Focused On It Or Thinking About It." NORAD Has Told Children It Is Tracking Santa For Over 60 Years, Providing Families With A Website To Follow Santa As He Travels And Delivers Gifts Across The World And Opening A Call Center On Christmas Eve For Families To Inquire About Santa's Location. Presidents And First Ladies Often Participate In The NORAD Santa Tracker Calls. NORAD Said That It Did Not Pre-Select Callers Ahead Of Time, But That It Chose From Children Who Had Called Into The NORAD Tracks Santa Hotline.