US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. Secret Service deleted texts sought in Jan. 6 probe, watchdog says; Griner's lawyers tell the Russian court she was prescribed medical cannabis and more

The White House said Biden would hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the royal palace in Jeddah and then the president and his team would have a working session with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS, and Saudi ministers at the palace. U.S. Senator Manchin opposes tax and climate proposal, Washington Post reports Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday he won't support a Democratic proposal for new climate change spending and higher taxes for corporations and wealthier Americans, the Washington Post reported.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Secret Service deleted texts sought in Jan. 6 probe, watchdog says

The U.S. Secret Service deleted text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, after they were requested by oversight officials investigating the agency's response to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the agency watchdog has claimed. The Secret Service disputed that accusation on Thursday, saying some phone data was lost during a routine device migration, but that all of the requested texts had been saved.

Griner's lawyers tell the Russian court she was prescribed medical cannabis

Lawyers defending U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner told a Russian court on Friday she was prescribed medical cannabis in the United States for a chronic injury, a Reuters journalist at the courtroom reported. Griner pled guilty to drug charges which carry a prison sentence of up to ten years after she was detained at a Moscow airport in February carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil.

U.S. retail sales beat expectations in June

U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in June as consumers bought motor vehicles and a range of other goods even as they paid more for gasoline. Retail sales rose 1.0% last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday. Data for May was revised up to show sales falling 0.1% instead of 0.3% as previously reported.

American tourists splurge in Paris boutiques as euro slides

American tourist Shawna Wilson says she has splashed out on four dresses at the high-end LVMH-owned department store La Samaritaine in Paris, tempted by the prices as the euro reached parity with the U.S. dollar. The euro tumbled below $1 on Wednesday for the first time in two decades on fears that rising energy prices triggered by the Ukraine conflict could tip the European Union into a prolonged economic crisis.

U.S. House passes bill boosting Biden's record defense budget

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday paving the way for the defense budget to exceed $800 billion next year, authorizing $37 billion in spending on top of the record $773 billion proposed by President Joe Biden. The House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which sets policy for the Pentagon, by a vote of 329-101. The Senate has yet to pass its version, but the Senate Armed Services Committee has already backed an even larger increase, $45 billion, over Biden's proposal.

U.S. House panel to consider assault weapons ban next week

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee will take up proposed legislation next week that would ban certain assault weapons, the panel said on Friday, citing a string of recent mass shootings across the United States. The committee will meet on Wednesday to mark up the bill, which "would ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain semi-automatic weapons," it said in a statement.

For some U.S. Democrats, abortion isn't a top campaign topic

President Joe Biden and other top Democrats are pushing to make abortion a central issue as they try to retain control of the U.S. Congress in November elections. But on the ground, some of the party's most vulnerable incumbents are downplaying the issue. From Maine to Arizona, several Democratic incumbents instead are emphasizing bread-and-butter issues like national security and job creation as they battle to retain their seats in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

Biden heads to Saudi Arabia amid tension on oil, Khashoggi killing

President Joe Biden will discuss energy supply, human rights, and security cooperation in Saudi Arabia on Friday on a trip designed to reset the U.S. relationship with a country he once pledged to make a "pariah" on the world stage. The White House said Biden would hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the royal palace in Jeddah and then the president and his team would have a working session with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS, and Saudi ministers at the palace.

U.S. Senator Manchin opposes tax and climate proposal, Washington Post reports

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday he won't support a Democratic proposal for new climate change spending and higher taxes for corporations and wealthier Americans, the Washington Post reported. Manchin, a key Democratic swing vote in the Senate, stymied earlier attempts to pass President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" legislation over concerns about the deficit and inflation.

Judge in Twitter v. Musk made rare ruling: ordering a deal to close

The judge overseeing Twitter Inc's $44 billion lawsuit against Elon Musk has a no-nonsense reputation as well as the distinction of being one of the few jurists who has ever ordered a reluctant buyer to close a U.S. corporate merger. Kathaleen McCormick took over the role of chancellor or chief judge of the Court of Chancery last year, the first woman in that role. On Wednesday, she was assigned the Twitter lawsuit which seeks to force Musk to complete his deal for the social media platform, which promises to be one of the biggest legal showdowns in years.