US Domestic News Insights: From Senatorial Swaps to Criminal Trials

This summary covers key updates in US domestic news: New Jersey Democrats nominating Andy Kim, Fauci addressing COVID-19 origin allegations, Mike Lynch's fraud trial, Merrick Garland facing House Republicans, a lawsuit involving Jeffrey Epstein, an FDA panel's review of MDMA, Biden's border measures, Hunter Biden's trial, a rare T-Rex fossil discovery, and Trump's conviction.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New Jersey Democrats to pick replacement for embattled US Senator Menendez

New Jersey Democrats on Tuesday were expected to nominate U.S. Representative Andy Kim to run for the Senate seat currently held by Bob Menendez, who is on trial on corruption charges, setting up a Nov. 5 election that Republicans will be hard-pressed to win. If he wins the primary in the Democrat-heavy Northeastern state, Kim, a former U.S. State Department foreign affairs officer, would be making his first bid for statewide office in New Jersey, which solidly backed Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020.

Fauci denies suppressing COVID lab leak theory before US House panel

Former top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci strongly denied suppressing the theory that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak in China, telling lawmakers he never influenced research on the origins of the virus. In his first time addressing the allegations publicly since a 14-hour hearing held behind closed doors in January, Fauci also reiterated that he believes the most likely origin of the pandemic was animal-to-human transmission.

UK tech founder Mike Lynch's lawyers seek acquittal at US fraud trial

Mike Lynch's lawyers on Monday portrayed the British tech pioneer as a savvy entrepreneur while prosecutors in a San Francisco court labeled him a greedy fraudster, and jurors will soon weigh allegations that Lynch defrauded Hewlett-Packard in its $11 billion acquisition of his software company. The 2011 deal was one of the biggest British tech deals at the time, but quickly went sour. HP wrote down Autonomy's value by $8.8 billion within a year of the acquisition.

US Attorney General to House Republicans: 'I will not be intimidated'

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland will take aim on Tuesday at Donald Trump's Republican allies in the House of Representatives, where he will accuse them of peddling false narratives that endanger law enforcement and undermine the Justice Department's integrity. "I will not be intimidated," Garland plans to tell lawmakers before the House Judiciary Committee, according to excerpts of his prepared testimony. "And the Justice Department will not be intimidated. We will continue to do our jobs free from political influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy."

Jeffrey Epstein accuser sues prominent psychiatrist for making her 'sex slave'

A prominent 91-year-old psychiatrist who was once close friends with Jeffrey Epstein was sued on Monday by a onetime model who said he enabled the late financier's sex trafficking, and turned her into his "modern-day sex slave." In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the plaintiff, using a pseudonym Jane Doe 11, said Henry Jarecki raped her repeatedly starting in 2011, after Epstein referred her for mental health treatment following his own sexual abuses.

FDA panel to review psychedelic drug MDMA for first time

A panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet on Tuesday to discuss a therapy based on the psychedelic drug MDMA for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The meeting by the agency's independent experts is the farthest that a drug based on MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy or molly, has ever reached in the FDA regulatory process for approval.

Biden expected to block migrants from asylum at US-Mexico border, sources say

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign a sweeping new border measure on Tuesday that would allow authorities to quickly deport or send back to Mexico migrants caught crossing the southwest border if illegal entries surpass a certain level, according to two sources with knowledge of the move. The measure, which would restrict access to asylum, would take effect when U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions surpass 2,500 per day, the two sources said. The illegal crossings would have to dip below 1,500 per day for the asylum restrictions to be lifted, one of the sources said.

Hunter Biden's criminal trial to kick off with focus on phone messages

Hunter Biden arrived for his criminal trial on gun charges will begin on Tuesday, ahead of opening statements and potentially lurid testimony about drug use from his autobiography and phone messages that prosecutors say incriminates the president's son. Hunter Biden, 54, is accused of failing to disclose his use of illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver and of illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018.

Rare fossil of adolescent Tyrannosaurus - 'Teen Rex'- found by US kids

A rare fossil of an adolescent Tyrannosaurus rex has been excavated in North Dakota's badlands - a find noteworthy for the scientific insight it may offer into the life history of this famous dinosaur and for the tale of the kids who found it. The discovery of the fossil, nicknamed "Teen Rex," was announced on Tuesday by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where it will be studied and displayed.

Trump conviction vindicates prosecutor Alvin Bragg's bet

Just over a year after taking office as Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg took a career-defining gamble: charging a former U.S. president with crimes using an untested legal theory. The roll of the dice paid off on Thursday, when a jury found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts he faced of falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels - a monumental verdict that could upend the presidential election, in which Trump is the Republican candidate.