Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following a meeting at the White House with Democratic President Joe Biden, Zelenskiy's speech will need to resonate with a bipartisan audience of senators and House Republicans, who have voiced increasing skepticism of continuing to spend tens of billions of dollars on Ukraine. Trump paid no income tax in 2020, reported losses in office, records show Donald Trump paid no income tax during the final full year of his presidency as he reported a loss from his sprawling business interests, according to tax figures released by a congressional panel.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

NY City subway shooting suspect to plead guilty to terrorism charges

Frank James, the man accused of a shooting attack on the New York City subway in April 2022, told a court through his public defenders on Wednesday that he intended to plead guilty to federal terrorism charges. James has been charged in an attack on April 12 that injured 23 riders on a Manhattan-bound N-train as it passed through Brooklyn during the morning rush-hour. All the victims survived the highly unusual attack on the largest transit system in the United States.

Pomp and persuasion as Ukraine's Zelenskiy addresses U.S. Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be greeted with pomp and applause when he enters the U.S. Capitol to address a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, but it will be up to him to persuade lawmakers to keep funding his country's defense against Russia. Following a meeting at the White House with Democratic President Joe Biden, Zelenskiy's speech will need to resonate with a bipartisan audience of senators and House Republicans, who have voiced increasing skepticism of continuing to spend tens of billions of dollars on Ukraine.

Trump paid no income tax in 2020, reported losses in office, records show

Donald Trump paid no income tax during the final full year of his presidency as he reported a loss from his sprawling business interests, according to tax figures released by a congressional panel. The records, released late on Tuesday by the Democratic-led House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee after a years-long fight, show that Trump's income, and his tax liability, fluctuated dramatically during his four years in the White House.

Zelenskiy faces hard sell to win over U.S. House Republicans

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will face a critical audience when he addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday: House Republicans who could hold up billions of dollars in war aid starting next month. President Joe Biden's administration has sent almost $50 billion in foreign assistance to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of its neighbor in February, including humanitarian, financial and military support. Congress, currently controlled by Biden's Democrats, is expected to approve $44.9 billion more this week in a bill funding the federal government.

Arizona Republican Lake presses stolen election claims in court

Lawyers for Republican Kari Lake, who lost her bid last month to become Arizona’s governor, were in court Wednesday arguing that the election was invalid and should be overturned.

Lake lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by about 17,000 votes in the Nov. 8 election. A central tenet of her gubernatorial campaign was endorsing former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Griner urges supporters to contact Whelan, help Americans detained abroad

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner called on her supporters to write letters to Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine held in Russia, days after she was released from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner swap. The two-time Olympic gold medallist and eight-time Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star was arrested in February at an airport outside Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

Trump will challenge NY sex abuse law in writer's defamation lawsuit

Donald Trump plans to argue that a New York law allowing a writer to sue the former U.S. president over claims that he raped her decades ago is unconstitutional, according to a court filing. Lawyers for Trump said in a filing made on Monday in Manhattan federal court that they would move to dismiss the lawsuit filed last month by E. Jean Carroll in part on grounds that the law spurred by the #MeToo movement is invalid.

U.S. Capitol riot committee delays releasing final report on assault by Trump backers

The congressional panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol said on Wednesday it would delay by at least one day the release of its final report outlining the case that former President Donald Trump should face criminal charges of inciting the deadly riot. The House of Representatives Select Committee said it expected to release its report on Thursday.

For Biden and Zelenskiy, U.S. visit highlights trust after friction

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday marks a high point in ties between Ukraine and its most important ally, putting the spotlight on a relationship strengthened by Russia's invasion, but not without some friction along the way. The visit, which is Zelenskiy's first trip outside of Ukraine since the war started, will also underscore the trust between the two countries with a White House meeting, a visit to Congress and a focus on more weapons for Kyiv.

U.S. couple detained in Uganda gets fresh charge that carries death penalty

A U.S. couple detained in Uganda on charges of aggravated torture of a 10-year-old boy face an additional charge of aggravated child trafficking which carries the death penalty if they are convicted, the state prosecutor said on Wednesday. Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, have been in custody in Uganda since Dec. 9 after they were charged with aggravated torture of the child who was living in their home under foster care in the capital Kampala. They have pleaded not guilty to that charge.