US Domestic News Roundup: Georgia prosecutor seeks testimony from police chaplain in election probe; U.S. banks cut donations to federal candidates, up Democrats' share ahead of mid-terms and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Georgia prosecutor seeks testimony from police chaplain in election probe

A Georgia prosecutor investigating former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election is seeking testimony from a police chaplain featured in a Reuters investigation into efforts to pressure an election worker to falsely admit to voter fraud, court filings show. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked a judge on Friday to order Stephen Lee to appear before a special grand jury next month to answer questions about Trump's attempts to reverse his loss in Georgia, a battleground state that helped propel Democrat Joe Biden to the presidency.

U.S. banks cut donations to federal candidates, up Democrats' share ahead of mid-terms

U.S. banks are giving far less to federal candidates this election cycle and increasing the proportion they are handing to Democrats as they rethink their political giving, according to a Reuters analysis of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and more than half a dozen industry officials and lobbyists. With less than a month to go until the mid-term elections which will determine control of Congress, commercial banks' political action committees (PACs) have given roughly $7.4 million to federal candidates, 43% down on the 2020 election cycle and 39% down on the average election spend in the previous decade, according to the Reuters analysis.

Los Angeles council president steps down after audio leak of racist comments

A Los Angeles city councilwoman resigned as president of the council on Monday after the release of an audio recording in which she makes racist and other disparaging comments, including remarks about the Black son of a colleague. Nury Martinez, a Democrat, apologized to fellow Democratic Councilman Mike Bonin and his family in a statement announcing that her resignation would be effective immediately. She continues to represent Los Angeles' sixth district.

Exclusive-U.S. finds new quality problems at Lilly drug factory

U.S. drug inspectors recently recorded several new quality- control problems at an Eli Lilly and Co plant that is already the subject of a federal investigation over manufacturing lapses, according to a government report reviewed by Reuters. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration findings come nearly three years after the agency's inspectors began documenting quality-control issues at the same Lilly plant in Branchburg, New Jersey. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation following a Reuters story that detailed allegations of poor manufacturing practices and data falsification at the facility.

Film on murdered teen 'Till' focuses on mother-son love

Emmett Till’s murder and the acquittal of his killers became a landmark case in the American civil rights movement due to the brutality of his death and injustice that followed, but “Till” director Chinonye Chukwu takes a somewhat different angle. Based on true events, the film focuses on a 14-year-old Black American boy named Emmett Till who was abducted, tortured and lynched after allegedly flirting with a white woman at the grocery store while visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955.

Labor Dept rule on independent contractors likely to land as early as Tuesday - sources

A proposed Department of Labor rule defining whether workers for rideshare, retail and delivery companies are misidentified as independent contractors is expected to be released as early as Tuesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Details of the new rule have not been made public. But the department is expected to model it on legal guidance that says people economically dependent on a company are employees, or go further to expand the pool of workers who should receive benefits, legal experts have said.

New Biden labor rule would make contractors into employees

The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule on Tuesday that would make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors, a change that is expected to shake up the business models of the ridesharing, delivery and other industries that rely on gig workers.

U.S. Supreme Court mulls line between art and theft in Warhol case

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to ponder in a case centering on paintings by the late artist Andy Warhol a question as philosophical as it is legal: what is the line between art and copyright theft when artwork is inspired by other material? The justices on Wednesday will hear arguments in a copyright dispute between Warhol's estate and celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith over his paintings based on a 1981 photograph she took of rock star Prince.

Appeals court temporarily blocks Arizona's abortion ban

An appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked Arizona from enforcing a 1901 ban on nearly all abortions in the state, overruling a trial court's decision last month to let the ban proceed. The Arizona Court of Appeals granted Planned Parenthood's request for an emergency stay of Pima County Superior Court's ruling on Sept. 23 that lifted an injunction on the ban. The appeals court said the abortion-rights advocacy group "demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success" in its challenge of that decision.

FBI agent who probed Oath Keepers' role in Jan. 6 Capitol riot to testify in trial

An FBI agent will testify on Tuesday in the trial of the founder of the anti-government Oath Keepers group and four others accused of plotting to use force on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory.

FBI Special Agent Byron Cody will resume testifying about evidence the government gathered for the case, including a series of inflammatory texts, speeches and online posts by Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

(With inputs from agencies.)