US Domestic News Roundup: Trump, Carroll to wrap up defamation trial; National Security Agency buys web browsing data without warrant, letter shows and more

Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was executed on Thursday with nitrogen gas, the first use of a new method of capital punishment since lethal injections began in the U.S. four decades ago. Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, wealthy donors have thrown tens of millions of dollars at Republican U.S. presidential candidate Nikki Haley in an effort to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump, Carroll to wrap up defamation trial

The writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit against Donald Trump is likely headed for a jury on Friday, after lawyers for both sides offer final arguments on how much Trump damaged Carroll's reputation by denying he raped her. Carroll, 80, is seeking at least $10 million over Trump's June 2019 denials, when he was president, that he had raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.

Former Trump adviser Navarro gets four months for contempt of Congress

Former President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro was sentenced on Thursday to four months in prison for contempt of Congress, with a judge scolding him for defying a subpoena in an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack and telling him, "You are not a victim." U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told Navarro, 74, during the sentencing hearing in Washington federal court that his refusal to provide documents and testimony had hindered the work of the Democratic-led House of Representatives committee.

Biden pauses approval of new LNG export projects in win for climate activists

President Joe Biden paused pending approvals of exports from new liquefied natural gas projects on Friday, a move cheered by climate activists that could delay decisions on new plants until after the Nov. 5 election. The Department of Energy (DOE) will conduct a review during the pause that will look at the economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG to Europe and Asia where the fuel is in hot demand.

National Security Agency buys web browsing data without warrant, letter shows

The U.S. National Security Agency buys Americans' internet browsing information from commercial brokers without a warrant, the agency's director told Democratic Senator Ron Wyden in a letter made public on Thursday. Wyden, who released the Dec. 11 letter, called upon U.S. intelligence officials to stop using Americans' personal data without their express knowledge and consent, saying it was unlawful.

Trump ally drops plan to declare him presumptive presidential nominee

A resolution presented to the Republican National Committee on Thursday to declare Donald Trump the party's presumptive presidential nominee was abruptly withdrawn hours later after objections from Trump. The RNC, which oversees Republican elections, had been set to consider the proposal next week to declare former President Trump the party's presumptive White House nominee as pressure mounts on his last remaining rival, Nikki Haley, to drop out.

Trump opens up lead over Biden in rematch many Americans don't want

Donald Trump leads Democratic President Joe Biden by six percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed Americans are unhappy about an election rematch that came into sharper focus this week. The nationwide poll of 1,250 U.S. adults showed Trump leading Biden 40% to 34% with the rest unsure or planning to vote for someone else or no one. The poll had a margin of error of three percentage points.

California river cleanup discovers homeless living in caves

A California river cleanup turned up an unexpected discovery: homeless people living in caves dug into the riverbank. Police in Modesto, California, reported on Tuesday that they were collaborating with the volunteer group Operation 9-2-99 in removing trash from the Tuolumne River over the weekend when they discovered the cave dwellings.

UN rights chief deplores US nitrogen gas execution

The United Nations human rights chief on Friday condemned the execution of a prisoner in the U.S. state of Alabama by nitrogen gas, saying the method could amount to torture. Kenneth Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was executed on Thursday with nitrogen gas, the first use of a new method of capital punishment since lethal injections began in the U.S. four decades ago.

Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning

From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, wealthy donors have thrown tens of millions of dollars at Republican U.S. presidential candidate Nikki Haley in an effort to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House. They have learned a hard lesson: Big money can't win the Republican presidential nomination -- at least not against Trump, who holds the support of a wide majority of the party's voters.

Alabama gasses prisoner with nitrogen in first new execution method in decades

Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who held his breath in vain as officials asphyxiated him with nitrogen gas, the first use of a new method of capital punishment since lethal injections began in the U.S. four decades ago. Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was a rare prisoner who had already survived one execution attempt. In November 2022, Alabama officials aborted his execution by lethal injection after struggling for hours to insert an intravenous line's needle in his body.