US Domestic News Roundup: Supreme Court Justice Thomas's wife urged Trump White House to overturn 2020 election -report; U.S. Congressman Fortenberry found guilty of lying to FBI about funds and more

The messages, sent in the weeks following the Nov. 3 presidential election, show that Thomas advised Meadows to "make a plan" and "release the Kraken" in a bid to preserve Donald Trump's presidency, the Post and CBS News reported. U.S. Congressman Fortenberry found guilty of lying to FBI about funds A U.S. jury on Thursday convicted U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska, of lying to FBI investigators about illegal contributions to his 2016 re-election campaign.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Supreme Court Justice Thomas's wife urged Trump White House to overturn 2020 election -report

Virginia Thomas, the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urged former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to work to overturn the results of the 2020 election in a series of text messages, the Washington Post and CBS News reported on Thursday. The messages, sent in the weeks following the Nov. 3 presidential election, show that Thomas advised Meadows to "make a plan" and "release the Kraken" in a bid to preserve Donald Trump's presidency, the Post and CBS News reported.

U.S. Congressman Fortenberry found guilty of lying to FBI about funds

A U.S. jury on Thursday convicted U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska, of lying to FBI investigators about illegal contributions to his 2016 re-election campaign. Following a trial in Los Angeles federal court, the jury found Fortenberry guilty of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts, along with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.

Biden says he would be lucky if Trump ran again

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he would be lucky if his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, made another bid for the White House in the 2024 presidential election. A news conference after meetings with NATO leaders veered into U.S. politics when Biden was asked about European concerns that "a figure like your predecessor, maybe even your predecessor himself" could take office and undo U.S. and NATO efforts to address Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Donald Trump sues Hillary Clinton over 2016 Russian collusion allegations

Donald Trump on Thursday sued his rival in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Hillary Clinton, and several other Democrats, alleging that they tried to rig that election by tying his campaign to Russia. The lawsuit covers a long list of grievances the Republican former president repeatedly aired during his four years in the White House after beating Clinton, and comes as he continues to falsely claim that his 2020 election defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.

Lawsuit seeks to block 'insurrectionist' Marjorie Taylor Greene from a reelection bid

A group of Georgia voters on Thursday asked state officials to block Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for reelection, alleging she is unfit for office because of her support of rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol. In a legal challenge filed with the Georgia Secretary of State, the voters claim Greene has violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution known as the "Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause."

Russian agents charged with targeting U.S. nuclear plant, Saudi oil refinery

U.S. and British officials on Thursday accused the Russian government of running a years-long campaign to hack into critical infrastructure, including an American nuclear plant and a Saudi oil refinery. The announcement was paired with the unsealing of criminal charges against four Russian government officials, whom the U.S. Department of Justice accused of carrying out two major hacking operations aimed at the global energy sector. Thousands of computers in 135 countries were affected between 2012 and 2018, U.S. prosecutors said.

U.S. sues Texas county, calls voting map discriminatory

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing a Texas county of adopting an electoral map that discriminates against Black and Hispanic voters. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, seeks to block the implementation of Galveston County's 2021 redistricting plan for its governing body, the Commissioners Court.

Republican vetoes of transgender sports bans mark a rare split in culture wars

Republican governors in Utah and Indiana this week rejected legislation banning transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports, pushing back against a rising tide of similar Republican-sponsored legislation nationwide. But the vetoes of those governors appear to be among the solitary voices in a party that has become increasingly fixated on polarizing cultural issues involving race, sex, and gender as a cudgel to win over suburban and rural voters and regain power in November’s congressional elections.

Costs of going unvaccinated in America are mounting for workers and companies

Nearly a year after COVID vaccines became freely available in the U.S., one-fourth of American adults remain unvaccinated, and a picture of the economic cost of vaccine hesitancy is emerging. It points to financial risk for individuals, companies, and publicly funded programs. Vaccine hesitancy likely already accounts for tens of billions of dollars in preventable U.S. hospitalization costs and up to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths, say public health experts.

For a California cafe, a new lease is hope after two bad years

Last month, not quite two years after the COVID-19 pandemic sent the U.S. and world economies into their steepest downturn in decades, Chris and Amy Hillyard renewed the lease on their downtown Oakland coffee spot, Farley's East. The location had notched record sales in February 2020 and then, like all other "non-essential" local businesses, had to shut the following month as authorities moved to curb the spread of the new and deadly infection.

(With inputs from agencies.)