Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The district attorney, Democrat Alvin Bragg, had earlier this week appealed a lower court's ruling that the Republican-led House of Representatives committee may depose Mark Pomerantz, who led the Trump probe before resigning in February 2022. Republican hopefuls to court evangelical vote in Iowa Republican presidential hopefuls will make their pitch to evangelical voters in Iowa on Saturday, the first major event for candidates to court the key conservative voting bloc in a state set to hold the party's first nominating contest in early 2024.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump ally Jordan urges court to allow deposition of ex-prosecutor

U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, one of Donald Trump's staunchest allies in Congress, on Friday urged an appeals court to let his House Judiciary Committee depose a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's criminal probe of the former U.S. president. The district attorney, Democrat Alvin Bragg, had earlier this week appealed a lower court's ruling that the Republican-led House of Representatives committee may depose Mark Pomerantz, who led the Trump probe before resigning in February 2022.

Republican hopefuls to court evangelical vote in Iowa

Republican presidential hopefuls will make their pitch to evangelical voters in Iowa on Saturday, the first major event for candidates to court the key conservative voting bloc in a state set to hold the party's first nominating contest in early 2024. The annual presidential forum, hosted by the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition conservative nonprofit is a chance for evangelical leaders and voters to see where the candidates stand on issues ranging from abortion to school choice.

Factbox-Industry targets of U.S. Republicans' anti-ESG efforts

Republican federal and state lawmakers, governors, and attorneys general are pushing back on growing efforts by investors and executives to include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their business decision making. In all 39 bills targeting aspects of ESG were filed as of the end of 2022, of which 9 had been passed, 14 were proposed, and 16 were dead, according to law firm Morgan Lewis.

'Rust' charges against Alec Baldwin formally dismissed

New Mexico special prosecutors on Friday dropped charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the 2021 shooting death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, marking what many legal analysts said was a logical conclusion to a flawed prosecution.

The move followed new evidence about the gun Baldwin was holding when it fired the bullet that killed Hutchins during the movie's filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a person close to state prosecutors said.

U.S. abortion providers relieved but wary as Supreme Court preserves pill access

Abortion rights supporters expressed relief on Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court preserved access to a widely used abortion pill but warned of a long fight ahead as a legal challenge to the medication continues. The move by the court to halt new restrictions on the drug set by lower courts was welcome news less than a year after its conservative majority upended U.S. abortion access by overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide.

Ex-prosecutor in New York Trump probe to testify in May after appeal dropped

A former prosecutor who led the Manhattan district attorney's criminal probe into former U.S. President Donald Trump will go ahead with testimony in May before a congressional committee after an effort to block his appearance was dropped, the panel said on Friday. Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz will testify May 12, a spokesperson for the chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said.

Daughter of U.S. citizen jailed by Iran says she has lost confidence in US efforts

The daughter of an environmentalist imprisoned by Iran said on Saturday she had lost confidence in U.S. President Joe Biden's efforts to free her father. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American who also holds British citizenship, has served five years of a 10-year sentence after being convicted of spying.

Supreme Court preserves broad access to abortion pill

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked new restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill, a decision welcomed by President Joe Biden as his administration defends broad access to the drug in the latest fierce legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States. The justices, in a brief order, granted emergency requests by the Justice Department and the pill's manufacturer Danco Laboratories to put on hold an April 7 preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas. The judge's order would have greatly limited the availability of mifepristone while litigation proceeds in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the pill's federal regulatory approval.

As DeSantis stumbles, anti-Trump Republicans fear a rerun in 2024 campaign

Current and former Republican Party operatives who have spent years trying to banish Donald Trump from American political life say the former president's 2024 campaign has begun to gain so much steam that they fear he is by far the favorite to become the party's presidential nominee again. While the party's nomination race is still in its early days, the angst among "Never Trumpers" -- a small group of Republicans who have opposed Trump since he was first elected in 2016 -- is a sign the former president could be gaining momentum over his top potential rival Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

Guantanamo inmates showing signs of 'accelerated ageing' - ICRC

Inmates who have been held for years in the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention facility in Cuba are showing signs of "accelerated ageing", a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday. "We're calling on the U.S. administration and Congress to work together to find adequate and sustainable solutions to address these issues," said Patrick Hamilton, the ICRC's head of delegation for the United States and Canada.

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