Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Manhattan federal prosecutor to stay in office at present The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss, will remain in her job for the present, federal officials said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Poll finds 47% of Americans favor Trump conviction in impeachment trial

Just under half of Americans think former U.S. President Donald Trump should be convicted in his Senate impeachment trial after the first day of the historic proceedings, according to an Ipsos poll conducted for Reuters released on Wednesday, with opinions split along party lines. Most respondents in the national online poll - 79% - said they had already made up their minds about conviction before this week, with the rest doing so this week. Georgia prosecutors launch criminal probe into Trump efforts to influence election

Prosecutors in Georgia’s biggest county have opened a criminal investigation into former U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to influence the state’s 2020 election results, ordering government officials to preserve documents in the second known criminal probe facing Trump. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent letters to state officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Governor Brian Kemp, both Republicans, notifying them of the investigation and seeking to preserve “all records potentially related to the administration” of the state’s Nov. 3 election. Five storms in 10 days loom amid bitter cold in north United States

Icy blasts pummeled parts of the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday, the first of five storms threatening a blitz of snow and sleet from Washington state to Washington, D.C., and as far south as Louisiana and Mississippi. Frigid temperatures as low as minus 36 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 38 degrees Celsius) in Cut Bank, Montana, on Wednesday were blamed on a polar vortex threatening to move south as it hovers at the Canadian border, said meteorologist Dan Petersen at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. After emotional start, Democrats to outline case at Trump's impeachment trial

Democrats begin formally making their case on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should be convicted for inciting the U.S. Capitol siege, a day after a divided Senate concluded his impeachment trial could proceed even though Trump has already left office. The House of Representatives has charged Trump with inciting an insurrection after he delivered a fiery speech on Jan. 6 exhorting thousands of supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol, where members of Congress were gathered to certify President Joe Biden's electoral victory. Manhattan federal prosecutor to stay in office at present

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss, will remain in her job for the present, federal officials said on Wednesday. Strauss, based in Manhattan, occupies one of the nation's most prominent federal prosecutor's posts. White House says 'vast majority' of migrants at U.S.-Mexico border will be turned away

The United States will turn away most migrants caught at its border with Mexico under a Trump-era policy aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus and to give the Biden administration time to implement "humane" asylum processing systems, a White House official said on Wednesday. The White House comments follow reports of the release of some migrant families into the United States and increasing pressure on President Joe Biden to reverse the restrictive policies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Ghislaine Maxwell cannot compel Epstein accuser to divulge settlement payment: U.S. judge

A woman who claims she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and is expected to testify against Ghislaine Maxwell at her criminal trial need not disclose how much she is being compensated to resolve claims against Epstein's estate, a U.S. judge ruled on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan ruled in favor of Annie Farmer, who like many Epstein accusers sought to dismiss her lawsuit against the late financier's estate in order to obtain a confidential settlement from a victims' compensation program. U.S. government partnering with Texas to build three mass vaccination sites

The federal government is partnering with the state of Texas to build three mass vaccination sites, following last week’s announcement that it would build such sites in California, federal health officials said during a Wednesday media briefing. Each site will be able to administer 10,000 shots per day, according to Jeffrey Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, and should begin giving the shots by Feb. 22. New York will reopen stadiums with limited capacity

New York state will allow large stadiums and arenas, such as Citi Field and Madison Square Garden, to reopen for sports and concerts later this month, with sharply limited capacity and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Any stadium that can fit more than 10,000 people can stage events beginning on Feb. 23 at 10% capacity so long as the state's Department of Health signs off on its safety plans, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. Larry Flynt, porn publisher and free speech activist, dead at 78: Washington Post

Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt Jr., the self-described "smut peddler who cares," who used his pornography empire and flair for the outrageous to push the limits of free speech, has died at the age of 78, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. The newspaper said Flynt's brother Jimmy Flynt confirmed his death but did not cite a specific cause. Flynt suffered from a variety of health problems since a 1978 assassination attempt that left him a paraplegic.