Reuters US Domestic News Summary

In a filing in Milwaukee federal court on Wednesday, Evers' lawyers said there was "no doubt that Trump and his attorneys brought and litigated this lawsuit in bad faith." Massachusetts man pleads guilty to stealing Warhol paintings, selling fakes A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges that he stole Andy Warhol paintings from a former college classmate living in South Korea and used them to produce forgeries that he sold.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Elections officials fear Georgia law could politicize voting operations

Election officials in conservative and liberal parts of Georgia say a new law allowing a Republican-controlled state agency to take over local voting operations could make the process too partisan. Voting rights advocates have also warned that the provision, part of sweeping voting restrictions signed into law last week by Governor Brian Kemp, targets Democratic bastions such as Atlanta's Fulton County that helped deliver the party control of the White House and Congress in recent elections. Exclusive: Fauci says U.S. may not need AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

The United States may not need AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, even if it wins U.S. regulatory approval, Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday. The vaccine, once hailed as another milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, has been dogged by questions since late last year, even as it has been authorized for use by dozens of countries, not including United States. Apple's Tim Cook joins chorus of critics against Georgia's voting restrictions

Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Thursday was the latest corporate leader to speak out against the state of Georgia's new voting restrictions, which many critics say targets Blacks and other racial minorities. "American history is the story of expanding the right to vote to all citizens, and Black people, in particular, have had to march, struggle and even give their lives for more than a century to defend that right," Cook said in a statement. Wisconsin seeks $145,000 in fees for Trump's 'bad faith' election lawsuit

Wisconsin's Democratic Governor Tony Evers has asked a federal judge to order Donald Trump to cover $145,000 in legal fees the state spent to defend against the former Republican president's unsuccessful effort to overturn its 2020 election results. In a filing in Milwaukee federal court on Wednesday, Evers' lawyers said there was "no doubt that Trump and his attorneys brought and litigated this lawsuit in bad faith." Massachusetts man pleads guilty to stealing Warhol paintings, selling fakes

A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges that he stole Andy Warhol paintings from a former college classmate living in South Korea and used them to produce forgeries that he sold. Brian Walshe, 46, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to three counts, including a wire fraud charge, related to Warhol forgeries he sold to a Los Angeles gallery's owner in 2016. In Virginia governor’s race, Trump’s false stolen-election claim looms large

Virginia will elect a new governor this November, one of the first state-wide races in the post-Trump era. Judging from the crowded field of seven Republican hopefuls vying for that seat, former President Donald Trump still looms large and could well determine the outcome. A first kiss, a battle with addiction: Floyd's girlfriend testifies at Chauvin murder trial

George Floyd's girlfriend took the witness stand on Thursday and described their relationship, from a first kiss to date nights at restaurants, but also spoke about how an addiction to painkillers took hold of their life together. Courteney Ross, 45, was the first witness who personally knew Floyd to testify at the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis policeman charged with murdering the man she loved by kneeling on his neck during an arrest last May. Mother tried to save 9-year-old boy in California shooting that killed 4 - officials

One of the four fatal victims in a shooting rampage in suburban Los Angeles on Wednesday was a 9-year-old boy who may have died in his wounded mother's arms as she tried in vain to save him, officials said on Thursday. "It appears that a little boy died in his mother's arms as she was trying to save him during this horrific massacre," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told a news conference. Biden allows Trump ban on temporary foreign workers to expire

President Joe Biden allowed a proclamation from his Republican predecessor that had blocked many temporary foreign workers from coming into the United States to expire on Wednesday, according to a related court filing on Thursday. The Democratic president has rolled back some of former President Donald Trump's immigration policies since taking office on Jan. 20 including last month revoking a proclamation that had blocked many immigrant visa applicants from entering the United States. 'Every step of the way': McConnell pledges battle over Biden infrastructure plan

President Joe Biden on Thursday faced the prospect of all-out political war with Republicans over his $2 trillion blueprint to revitalize America's infrastructure, with a top Democrat also offering only partial support over how to pay for the package. A day after the Democratic president unveiled his "American Jobs Plan" in Pittsburgh, the Senate's top Republican said Biden has no public mandate for the proposal and predicted that Republicans would not support it. Biden's plan combines spending on roads and bridges with climate change initiatives and human services like elder care.