Politics

The Times Of Israel reports: Prosecutors are reportedly fuming over reports that former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding secret talks with the attorney general over a plea deal in his corruption trial, which is now said to be just awaiting Netanyahu’s final approval. Meanwhile, political forces believe a plea deal that removes Netanyahu from the political sphere could …

NPR reports: Guns and other weapons would be banned from election-related locations and at school board meetings in Washington under a pair of proposals that received a public hearing in the Democratically-controlled state Legislature on Wednesday. In addition, people would be prohibited from openly carrying firearms at local government meetings — such as meetings of city councils. Violations would be …

The Columbus Dispatch reports: The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional district map Friday, saying Republicans violated the Ohio Constitution by drawing districts that favored GOP candidates. Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was, once again, a key vote in the 4-3 decision to reject the map, which could have given Republicans as much as a 12-3 …

The Washington Post reports: Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) said Friday he will not seek another term in Congress, becoming the third of the 10 Republicans who voted last year to impeach former president Donald Trump to announce their retirement. In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Katko, 59, said that he made the decision “so that I can enjoy …

Reuters reports: Ukraine was hit by a massive cyberattack warning its citizens to “be afraid and expect the worst”, and Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops on its neighbour’s frontier, released TV pictures on Friday of more forces deploying in a drill. The developments unfolded hours after talks wrapped up with no breakthrough between Russia and Western states, …

CBS News reports: Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who became known for his representation of adult film actress Stormy Daniels and battle with former President Donald Trump, alleges in a new filing with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that he was mistreated while in federal custody in retaliation for his criticisms of Trump and former Attorney General William Barr. Avenatti …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday refused to parole the man convicted of gunning down Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles, a brazen assassination of a presidential candidate that scarred the nation and altered the course of American politics during the turbulent 1960s. A two-person state parole panel recommended in August that Sirhan Sirhan be paroled, …

CNBC reports: The House select committee investigating the deadly Capitol riot has subpoenaed social media giants Twitter, Reddit and the parent companies of Facebook and Google, the panel’s chairman said Thursday. The bipartisan committee had asked for a trove of records last summer from those and other social companies, but said it received “inadequate responses” from some of the largest …

The Hill reports: Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump last year, announced on Wednesday that he would be running in California’s newly drawn 22nd congressional district. “I’ll continue to be an independent member of Congress who will stand up to the divisive partisanship in Washington D.C., get things done …

The Independent reports: Sen Kyrsten Sinema ripped apart Democratic voters’ hopes of seeing changes to the filibuster that would allow voting rights legislation to pass in a speech on Thursday that reiterated her support for both the legislation itself and the 60-vote threshold that is keeping its passage an impossibility. In a floor speech, the Arizona Democrat portrayed the Senate’s …

The Associated Press reports: Acting as part of a Democratic plan to expedite consideration of the bills in the Senate, the House approved the new measure on a party-line vote of 220 to 203 after a heated partisan debate in which lawmakers clashed over the state of election laws across the country. The new legislation combined two separate bills already …

Axios reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) plans to introduce his own bill to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks, while Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) teams up with fellow Democrat Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Axios has learned. Why it matters: This means there will be now be two similar bills to ban stock trades individually championed by two vastly different lawmakers—further …

The Columbus Dispatch reports: The Ohio Supreme Court struck down GOP-drawn state House and Senate district maps as unconstitutional gerrymandering in a 4-3 decision Wednesday, sending the maps back to the drawing board. Advocates of redistricting reform hailed the decision as a resounding victory for Ohio voters who overwhelmingly approved changes to the state constitution to limit partisan line-drawing in …

Yahoo News reports: Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick won Tuesday’s special election in Florida’s safely Democratic 20th Congressional District, defeating Republican nominee Jason Mariner 79 percent to 20 percent. Cherfilus-McCormick will be sworn in as soon as Florida’s secretary of state certifies the results, giving Democrats a 222-212 advantage in the House, effectively meaning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can pass legislation …

The New York Times reports: When Mayor Eric Adams named a Virginia parking administrator and retired police sergeant to a top position in the New York Police Department, he said the man had one qualification that no one else there possessed: He was the mayor’s brother. Bernard Adams, 56, a former police sergeant who retired from the force in 2006 …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: North Carolina’s new political districts do not violate the state constitution, a panel of three judges ruled unanimously Tuesday. The GOP-drawn maps would give Republicans a built-in advantage in future elections — but none of the reasons why challengers said the maps are unconstitutional stand up to legal scrutiny, the judges ruled. In other …

CBS News reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he will run for another term as the chamber’s top GOP leader at the end of the year, shutting down the possibility of a shake-up in the Republican chain of command. “I’m going to be running again for leader later this year,” he told reporters Tuesday when asked …

The Associated Press reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans are stepping up a personal campaign to persuade Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for the Senate and help the party’s chances of regaining control of the chamber. The recruitment effort has included McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who held Cabinet positions in the Trump and George W. …

The Washington Post reports: Former “American Idol” star Clay Aiken announced Monday that he is making a second bid for a congressional seat from North Carolina, this time seeking the Democratic nod in a more liberal district than eight years ago. “As a loud and proud Democrat, I intend to use my voice to deliver real results for North Carolina …

The Insider reports: Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is set to introduce legislation that would bar members of Congress from holding or trading individual stocks while they’re in elective office. In addition, the legislation would likely mandate that lawmakers place their financial assets in blind trusts — an action that Ossoff took himself after being elected to the Senate in …