Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Georgia election officials slap down Trump tweet about voting machines Georgia officials overseeing the state's Senate runoffs on Tuesday hit back at a tweet from President Donald Trump stoking fears about voting machines, saying that despite an early problem in one county, the elections were running smoothly.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Trump says he will speak at Wednesday rally outside the White House

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak at a rally outside the White House on Wednesday protesting against congressional certification of his election defeat. "I will be speaking at the SAVE AMERICA RALLY tomorrow on the Ellipse at 11AM Eastern. Arrive early — doors open at 7AM Eastern. BIG CROWDS!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia likely behind hacking of government agencies

The office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday said Russia was "likely" behind a string of hacks identified last month that gained access to several federal agencies. The office, along with the FBI, the National Security Agency, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency inside the Department of Homeland Security, in a joint statement, said the hackers' goal appeared to be collecting intelligence, rather than any destructive acts. They said they had so far identified "fewer than 10" agencies that were hacked. New top federal prosecutor tapped in Atlanta to replace Trump appointee who abruptly resigned

The Justice Department on Tuesday tapped a new top federal prosecutor to preside over the Atlanta office, a day after the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney there abruptly resigned. Bobby Christine, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, who was also appointed by President Donald Trump, will temporarily replace his counterpart in the state's Northern District, Byung J. “BJay” Pak, after Pak resigned on Monday. U.S. judge weighs delaying executions of two inmates with COVID-19

A U.S. judge was weighing whether to delay the executions of two convicted murderers who contracted COVID-19 after their lawyers argued on Tuesday that their virus-damaged lungs would result in inordinate suffering if they were to receive lethal injections. The U.S. Department of Justice announced last month that Corey Johnson, 52, and Dustin Higgs, 48, had been diagnosed with COVID-19 but that it would proceed with their executions set for Jan. 14 and 15. Both men are being held on death row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Georgia election officials slap down Trump tweet about voting machines

Georgia officials overseeing the state's Senate runoffs on Tuesday hit back at a tweet from President Donald Trump stoking fears about voting machines, saying that despite an early problem in one county, the elections were running smoothly. On Tuesday afternoon Trump tweeted that "reports are coming out of the 12th Congressional District of Georgia that Dominion Machines are not working in certain Republican Strongholds for over an hour. Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them." The tweet was retweeted more than 45,000 times. U.S. agency to award $3.7 billion to rebuild Puerto Rico's water installations: White House

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Administration will award $3.7 billion to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s water and wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations, dams and reservoirs, the White House said on Tuesday. The bankrupt U.S. territory, a Caribbean island of 3.2 million people, was hit by severe earthquakes a year ago while struggling to recover from devastating 2017 hurricanes. Ambulances put on alert as Los Angeles hospitals swamped by COVID-19 patients

Los Angeles health officials have told first responders to stop bringing adult patients who cannot be resuscitated to hospitals for treatment, citing a shortage of beds and medical staff, as the latest COVID-19 surge threatened to overwhelm the city's healthcare systems. The orders, issued late on Monday and effective immediately, marked a further escalation of measures being taken nationwide by state and local officials due to alarming increases in COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Trump blasts niece's 'conspiracy theories' as he seeks fraud lawsuit's dismissal

U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming he defrauded his niece out of an inheritance worth tens of millions of dollars, accusing her of embracing "conspiracy theories" in her quest to consume him with lawsuits after he leaves the White House. The president's lawyers said Mary Trump gave up her claims in a 2001 settlement with family members over the estate of his father Fred Trump Sr, who died in 1999. White police officer cleared of charges in Wisconsin shooting of Jacob Blake

Prosecutors on Tuesday cleared a white police officer in the Aug. 23 shooting of Black man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, an incident that touched off deadly street protests and inflamed racial tensions in the United States. Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley found police officer Rusten Sheskey acted in self-defense while shooting Blake seven times at close range, saying Blake was armed with a knife and had resisted arrest, withstanding multiple Taser shots. With Biden's agenda at stake, Georgia voters cast ballots in Senate runoff elections

Voters in Georgia cast ballots on Tuesday in a pair of runoff elections that will determine both control of the U.S. Senate and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's ability to push through an ambitious legislative agenda. Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler faced Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker, and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a pastor at a historic Black church in Atlanta.