Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. prosecutor who has investigated Trump lawyer refuses to resign A top U.S. federal prosecutor whose office has been investigating President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, refused to step down after the administration abruptly said late on Friday it was replacing him.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Woman sought for torching Atlanta Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was killed

A 29-year-old woman has been identified as a suspect in setting fire to the Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta where police shot and killed Rayshard Brooks a week ago, the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said on Saturday. Investigators have issued an arrest warrant for Natalie White on suspicion of arson in the first degree, the fire department said in a statement. Biden aide begins forming U.S. presidential transition team

A close adviser to former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has begun forming a team to oversee the transition if the Democratic presidential candidate wins November's election and unseats President Donald Trump, according to a statement on Saturday. Longtime Biden aide Ted Kaufman has recruited six people, including several former Obama administration officials, to an initial team that will later be expanded, a person familiar with the transition team said. Pompeo accuses U.N. body of hypocrisy after condemnation of U.S. police brutality

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the United Nations Human Rights Council of hypocrisy on Saturday after the organization condemned racism and police brutality in the United States following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month. Pompeo said the 47-member-state forum's unanimous resolution on Friday on policing and race was a new low for the Council and reaffirmed the United States' decision to withdraw from the organization in 2018. Trump presses ahead with Tulsa rally, alarming health officials

Amid a still-strong pandemic and after weeks of protests about racial inequality, President Donald Trump prepared to hold a rally with thousands of supporters in Oklahoma on Saturday in an effort to reinvigorate his re-election campaign. Trump has come under fire for his responses to the coronavirus and to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police. North Carolina governor orders Confederate statues moved after several toppled

North Carolina's governor called for the removal of Confederate monuments from State Capitol grounds on Saturday, citing public safety after anti-racism protesters in Raleigh pulled two statues down with ropes Friday night. Crowds in Washington D.C. also toppled a statue of a Confederate general late on Friday, capping a day when thousands of people marched through U.S. cities in Juneteenth observances commemorating the abolition of slavery. U.S. judge denies Trump administration request to block Bolton's book

A U.S. judge on Saturday denied a request by the Trump administration for an injunction to block the publication of a book by former White House advisor John Bolton. "While Bolton's unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns, the government has not established that an injunction is an appropriate remedy," the judge ruled. Manhattan prosecutor steps down, ending stand-off with Attorney General Barr

A stand-off between U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Manhattan's top federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman ended on Saturday, after Berman agreed to step down from his post as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York following news that President Donald Trump had fired him. Berman's departure comes amid an investigation by his office into Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani. It came after Barr said Berman's hand-picked No. 2, Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, would become Acting U.S. Attorney until a permanent replacement is installed. U.S. prosecutor who has investigated Trump lawyer refuses to resign

A top U.S. federal prosecutor whose office has been investigating President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, refused to step down after the administration abruptly said late on Friday it was replacing him. The standoff marks the latest in a series of unusual actions by Attorney General William Barr that critics say are meant to benefit Trump politically and undermine the independence of the Justice Department. Ousting of U.S. prosecutor thrusts low-profile markets regulator into unwelcome spotlight

Friday's surprise bid by the U.S. Department of Justice to replace a top federal prosecutor has thrust one of the Trump administration's more low-profile officials into a partisan storm which he is likely to try to quickly exit, said those who know him. Over the past 12 hours, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton has come under enormous pressure to withdraw his nomination to replace U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Geoffrey Berman after he made it clear he was being ousted. Teenager killed in Seattle protest zone shooting, one wounded

Seattle police on Saturday said they were investigating the fatal shooting of one person and wounding of another in a part of the city occupied by activists protesting against police brutality and racial inequality across America. The Seattle Police Department said it was investigating a shooting at 10th Avenue and East Pine inside the Capital Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) area, which has been occupied by activists without any known police presence since June 8, when Seattle police abandoned the East Precinct located there.