Why US Courts Are Allowing Voters in 4 States to Use Rejected Congressional Maps

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When midterm elections get under way next month, voters in several Republican-controlled states will be casting their ballots in congressional districts with borders that courts have rejected. In Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Ohio, the congressional maps were drawn by Republican legislators in the aftermath of the 2020 census. Judges later ruled that the maps were illegally drawn or likely to be proven illegal at trial. But the U.S. Supreme Court, and other federal courts following its precedent, have allowed the rejected maps to be used for this election, rejecting proposals to make them fairer. Their rationale? A little-known legal conceptmore

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Biden Vows Abortion Legislation as Top Priority Next Year

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President Joe Biden promised Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that writes abortion protections into law — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress to pass it — as he sought to energize his party’s voters three weeks ahead of the November midterms.  Twice over, Biden urged people to remember how they felt in late June when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, fresh evidence of White House efforts to ensure the issue stays front of mind for Democratic voters this year.  “Imore

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Analyst Acquitted at Trial Over Discredited Trump Dossier

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A jury on Tuesday acquitted on all counts a think-tank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about former President Donald Trump.  The case against Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by Special Counsel John Durham as part of his probe into how the FBI conducted its own investigation into allegations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin.  The first two cases ended in an acquittal and a guilty plea with a sentence of probation.  Danchenko betrayed no emotion as the verdict wasmore

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US Urges 6-Month Sentence for Ex-Trump Adviser Bannon Over Contempt Conviction

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The U.S. Justice Department on Monday asked a federal judge to sentence former President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon to six months behind bars, saying he pursued a “bad faith strategy defiance and contempt” against the congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.  Bannon, an influential far-right political figure, was convicted in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena.  Each count is punishable by between 30 days to one year in prison and a fine ranging between $100 to $100,000.  He is due to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Carlmore

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AP-NORC Poll: Most Say Voting Vital Despite Dour US Outlook

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From his home in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Graeme Dean says there’s plenty that’s disheartening about the state of the country and politics these days. At the center of one of this year’s most competitive U.S. Senate races, he’s on the receiving end of a constant barrage of vitriolic advertising that makes it easy to focus on what’s going wrong.  But the 40-year-old English teacher has no intention of disengaging from the democratic process. In fact, he believes that the first national election since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is “more significant” than in years past.  “This couldmore

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US Justice Department Seeks End of Review of Documents Seized From Trump Home 

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The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal appeals court Friday to end a special third-party review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida, arguing that a district court should not have appointed a “special master” in the case.  In a petition to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Justice Department prosecutors argued that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon exceeded her authority when she paused a criminal investigation to allow the special master to review more than 11,000 seized records.  “It follows that the district court erred in requiring the government to submit anymore

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Congressional January 6 Panel Wrapping Up Case Against Trump

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The congressional panel investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of last year is wrapping up its public hearings Thursday, pledging to present new evidence to show the scope of former president Donald Trump’s connection to the violence that day as he tried to upend his 2020 election defeat and stay in power for another four years. The House of Representatives Select Committee’s hearing is expected to be its first without live testimony from new witnesses. But the panel’s chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said the nine-member committee plans to reveal “significant information that we’ve notmore

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Pressure Grows for Congressional Action on US-Saudi Relationship  

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The Biden administration and U.S. lawmakers are pushing this week for longtime ally Saudi Arabia to face consequences for agreeing to reduce oil production. OPEC+, which includes Saudi Arabia, the 12 other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 10 other oil-exporting nations, announced last week that it would cut its oil production target by 2 million barrels a day, despite U.S. objections. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the decision was unanimous and based on economic considerations. Some members of Congress are calling for an end to arms sales to Saudi Arabia. U.S. President Joemore

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Here’s What to Expect From Final January 6 Panel Hearing

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The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is set to hold what will likely be its final public hearing on Thursday, with members pledging new revelations about former President Donald Trump’s role in the events that led up to the attack. The televised hearing, House of Representatives committee members say, will be sweeping and thematic, offering a broad overview of the panel’s findings to date while airing recently unearthed evidence tying Trump and his associates to the far-right groups that plotted the riot. “We’re going to be going through really some of what we’vemore

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US Justice Department to Monitor Midterms, Avoid Appearance of Partisanship

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Carrying on a long-established tradition, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) plans to deploy teams of federal observers around the country on Election Day next month while requiring the FBI to receive high-level approval for politically sensitive investigations that might call into question the integrity of the election. At stake in the Nov. 8 congressional races is not only control of Congress but also the legitimacy of U.S. elections — fallout from former President Donald Trump’s attempt to undo the outcome of the 2020 presidential vote. Many Americans are questioning the credibility of elections. At the same time, new laws passedmore

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Bullet-Proof Glass, Guards: US Election Offices Tighten Security for Nov. 8 Midterms

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When voters in Jefferson County, Colorado, cast their ballots in the Nov. 8 midterm election, they will see security guards stationed outside the busiest polling centers. At an election office in Flagstaff, Arizona, voters will encounter bulletproof glass and need to press a buzzer to enter. In Tallahassee, Florida, election workers will count ballots in a building that has been newly toughened with walls made of the super-strong fiber Kevlar. Spurred by a deluge of threats and intimidating behavior by conspiracy theorists and others upset over former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat, some election officials across the United Statesmore

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Proud Boys Member Pleads Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy in Capitol Riot 

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A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday of plotting with other members of the far-right Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge.  Jeremy Joseph Bertino, 43, has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation of the role that Proud Boys leaders played in the mob’s attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, a federal prosecutor said.  Bertino’s cooperation could increase the pressure on other Proud Boys charged in the siege, including former national chairmanmore

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Supreme Court Takes Up Key Voting Rights Case From Alabama

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The Supreme Court is taking up an Alabama redistricting case that could have far-reaching effects on minority voting power across the United States.  The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in the latest high-court showdown over the federal Voting Rights Act, lawsuits seeking to force Alabama to create a second Black majority congressional district. About 27% of Alabamians are Black, but they form a majority in just one of the state’s seven congressional districts.  The court’s conservatives, in a 5-4 vote in February, blocked a lower court ruling that would have required a second Black majority district in time for themore

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Democrats Unveil Spending Bill to Fund Government, Aid Ukraine

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Democratic lawmakers have unveiled a stopgap spending measure to finance the federal government through December 16, provide additional support to Ukraine and help communities respond to recent natural disasters.  Both chambers of Congress must approve legislation by Friday, which is the end of the fiscal year, to prevent a partial government shutdown. It represents the last bit of unfinished business for lawmakers before the midterm elections in November. Both sides are eager to wrap up and spend time on the campaign trail, lowering the risk of a federal stoppage.  The first test vote of the measure’s popularity will take placemore

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Senators Urge Biden to Increase Pressure on North Korea

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Two Republican senators have expressed concern to the Biden administration at the growing cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang over Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We are troubled by news reports that Russia and North Korea are strengthening their relationship, which will aid [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s unjust and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Hagerty said in their letter dated Thursday.  “North Korea and Russia have recently agreed to dispatch North Korean laborers to areas in Ukraine seized by Russia,” their letter continued. “We also learned that Russia is attempting to purchase millions of artillery shells and rockets from Northmore

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Republicans Quiet as Arizona Democrats Condemn Abortion Ruling

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Arizona Democrats vowed Saturday to fight for women’s rights after a court reinstated a law first enacted during the Civil War that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances, looking to capitalize on an issue they hope will have a major impact on the midterm elections. Republican candidates were silent a day after the ruling, which said the state can prosecute doctors and others who assist with an abortion unless it’s necessary to save the mother’s life. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, and Blake Masters, the Senate candidate, did not comment. Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes, the Democratic nomineesmore

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US Lawmakers Assail Iran on Death of Woman in Morality Police Custody 

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Key U.S. lawmakers are rebuking Iran for its human rights record in the aftermath of the death of a young woman while held in captivity by the country’s morality police for failing to properly cover her hair with a hijab. The lawmakers rebuffed claims by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in his speech Wednesday at the U.N. General Assembly that Tehran supports human rights. Raisi did not mention the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, and the protests that have erupted over her death, but rather assailed what he characterized as oppression, injustice and human rights violations in Western countries, including themore

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Judge Unseals Parts of Affidavit for Trump’s Florida Home Search Warrant

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A U.S. federal judge has unsealed further portions of the legal document the FBI submitted justifying its reasons to secure a search warrant of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as part of its investigation of his handling of classified documents after he left the White House in January 2021. The portions of the affidavit that were unsealed Tuesday shows investigators served a subpoena on the Trump Organization, the ex-president’s company, on June 24 demanding any video footage and photographs from the surveillance cameras located near a storage room in the resort where dozens of boxes filled withmore

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Panel: National Archives Still Not Certain It Has All Trump Records

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The National Archives is still not certain that it has custody of all former President Donald Trump’s presidential records even after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago club, a congressional committee said in a letter Tuesday.  The House Committee on Oversight and Reform revealed that staff at the National Archives on an August 24 call could not provide assurances that they have all of Trump’s presidential records. The committee’s letter asked the agency to conduct an assessment of whether any Trump records remain unaccounted for and potentially in his possession.  “In light of revelations that Mr. Trump’s representatives misled investigatorsmore

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‘A Seat at the Table’: Alaska Native to Be Sworn In to Congress

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On the eve of her first day in Congress, Mary Peltola stood outside what was once the office of the late Alaska Representative Don Young, swarmed by the local and national press, and marveled at the moment.  “I really hope that Don is getting a kick out of this,” Peltola told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. “I can’t help but think that some things broke my way on account of his great sense of humor.”  The kicker is that 50 years ago, right before Peltola was born, her parents worked on Young’s first campaign for the only congressionalmore

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Native American News Roundup: Sept. 4–10, 2022

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Here is a look at Native American-related news around the U.S. this week: Homeland Security Department Establishes Tribal Advisory Council The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is creating an advisory council to collaborate on homeland security matters relating to tribal nations and Indigenous communities including emergency management, law enforcement, cybersecurity, domestic terrorism, targeted violence, and border security. “The inaugural Tribal Homeland Security Advisory Council is a result of sustained engagement to improve nation-to-nation relationships and comes at a time of critical importance,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “I look forward to building a new council that willmore

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Biden, Democrats Pin Hopes on Midterm Election Strategy

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Two months before midterm elections, U.S. President Joe Biden and other Democrats are coalescing on a strategy they hope will help them maintain their slim majority in Congress: spotlighting legislative accomplishments while politically singling out loyalists of former President Donald Trump. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. …

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US Lawmakers Set to Tackle Tough Funding Questions Ahead of Midterms

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U.S. lawmakers are getting back to work after a monthlong summer recess as the Senate returns this week and the House of Representatives comes back into session next week. With narrow control of both chambers and some significant items already checked off President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, Democrats are aiming to pass several key new pieces of legislation. But they have only a handful of weeks before Congress recesses again so that members can campaign ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.      Government funding     In what has now become almost a yearly routine, U.S. lawmakers willmore

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