US Domestic News Roundup: Devdiscourse News Desk; Donald Trump heads to trial, again, against E. Jean Carroll and more

Trump took over half the votes, propelling him towards what looks set to be a close and deeply acrimonious election campaign against Biden, a Democrat, in November. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released from hospital U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital on Monday, two weeks after being hospitalized due to complications from prostate cancer treatment, the Pentagon said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

'We will fight,' Harris says in MLK Day speech, warning of threats to US freedom

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris warned Americans that their freedom is under threat as she commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day in early-voting South Carolina on Monday, wielding the civil-rights icon's legacy to urge Black voters to join Democrats to win the 2024 election. Harris headlined an annual event by the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights group, which included a prayer service and a march to the South Carolina House of Representatives in Columbia. She pressed one of Democrats' central election messages - President Joe Biden and his Democrats need voters' help to protect Americans' rights from Republicans.

Senator Menendez's wife asks for separate trial from husband - filing

The wife of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez on Monday sought to sever the government's corruption case against her from her husband, according to a court document. In the document, Nadine Menendez's lawyers said a joint trial will prejudice her right to defend herself at a fair trial. They added that a joint trial would force the married defendants to make a Hobson's choice "as exercising their right to testify in their own defense may necessitate waiving their privilege against providing testimony adverse to their spouse."

Trump lawyer Tacopina withdraws from Manhattan legal team

Joseph Tacopina, an attorney on former U.S. President Donald Trump's legal team, on Monday said he will no longer represent him in a criminal case in Manhattan related to alleged hush money payments or a separate appeal of a civil case. Tacopina withdrew from representing Trump in two of the former president's ongoing legal battles, including a state criminal case in which Trump was charged with falsifying business records over a hush money payment to a porn star before his victory in the 2016 presidential election, the lawyer confirmed in an email to Reuters.

Donald Trump heads to trial, again, against E. Jean Carroll

Donald Trump could be ordered to pay millions of dollars more to E. Jean Carroll at a second civil trial after the writer accused the former U.S. president of raping her decades ago. Jury selection for the second trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. Trump has said he wants to attend and testify at the trial, unlike at Carroll's first trial.

Republicans shift to New Hampshire after Trump's record Iowa win

Republican candidates trying to stop Donald Trump from being the party's White House nominee shift to New Hampshire on Tuesday, a week ahead of its nominating contest, after the ex-president scored a record win in Iowa. Trump took over half the votes in the Iowa contest on Monday, propelling him toward what looks set to be a close and acrimonious election campaign against Biden, a Democrat.

First U.S. nitrogen-gas execution may constitute torture - UN rights office

The U.N. human rights office on Tuesday called on the U.S. state of Alabama to halt its first planned execution of a prisoner by nitrogen gas asphyxiation this month, saying it could amount to torture and violate U.S. commitments under international law. Kenneth Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, is scheduled to be executed in Alabama on Jan. 25 using the method, in which execution officials will bind a mask to his face connected to a cylinder of nitrogen intended to deprive him of oxygen.

Most Iowa Republican caucus-goers say Trump fit to be president if convicted

Most Republicans at Iowa's caucus said they felt Donald Trump would be fit for the White House even if he were convicted of a crime, an entrance poll showed on Monday, underscoring the strong hold the former president has on the Republican Party. About two-thirds of caucus-goers also said they did not believe Democratic President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, according to the poll.

Takeaways from the Republican caucus in Iowa

Former President Donald Trump trounced his Republican rivals on Monday in the first nominating contest of the 2024 election, leaving his top rivals with more questions than answers about the path forward for their candidacies. Here are takeaways from the Iowa caucus:

Trump cements frontrunner status to face Biden with record Iowa win

Donald Trump secured a resounding win in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Monday, asserting his command over the party despite facing scores of criminal charges as he seeks an election rematch with President Joe Biden. Trump took over half the votes, propelling him towards what looks set to be a close and deeply acrimonious election campaign against Biden, a Democrat, in November.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released from hospital

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital on Monday, two weeks after being hospitalized due to complications from prostate cancer treatment, the Pentagon said. Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on Dec. 22 to treat prostate cancer. He returned to the hospital on Jan. 1 due to complications including a urinary tract infection. His hospitalization was not revealed until four days later and the Pentagon did not specify why he was being treated until Jan. 9.