Trump lawyer tells judge a Georgia trial would be ‘election interference’

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump argued in an Atlanta courtroom Friday that putting his client on trial in the final stages of the 2024 presidential contest would be “the most effective election interference in the history of the United States.” Steven Sadow also asserted that if his client were to win the election, Georgia could not try him in the case until after he left the White House again. He cited the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which makes federal law “supreme” over contrary state laws. Whether a president would be shielded from prosecution while in office is not a settled legal matter.

DeSantis super PAC suffers another big loss, This time its chair

The main super political action committee supporting Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has been rocked by another significant departure, as Adam Laxalt, a friend and former roommate of the Florida governor, has stepped down as group chair. Laxalt, who unsuccessfully ran to become a Republican senator in Nevada in 2022, lived with DeSantis when he was training as a naval officer. He joined Never Back Down in April, after his own campaign ended and before DeSantis joined the presidential race, in a move seen as DeSantis and his wife seeking to have someone they trusted monitoring the group’s activities.

Los Angeles officials search for killer said to be ‘preying on the unhoused’

Los Angeles police are searching for a man they believe shot three homeless people dead this week, and officials Friday urged anyone sleeping on the streets of Southern California to seek shelter or safe communities until the killer is found. The three victims — all men who were in alleys or open areas by themselves — were shot and killed in the early morning hours, said Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department. The killings took place in different locations Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. “This is a killer who is preying on the unhoused,” Mayor Karen Bass said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

Inmate stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times, U.S. says

An inmate stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times last week at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona said Friday in announcing attempted murder charges. The inmate, John Turscak, 52, who is accused of stabbing Chauvin with an improvised knife on Nov. 24, told investigators that he had been thinking about assaulting Chauvin for about a month because Chauvin, who is serving more than 20 years in prison for murdering George Floyd, is a high-profile inmate, according to charging documents. Chauvin survived the attack. According to a criminal complaint, Turscak attacked Chauvin inside the law library at the Federal Correction Institution.

TikTok CEO works to address concerns about antisemitism

Shou Chew, TikTok’s CEO, has been getting personally involved in efforts to address concerns that the app has fueled anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, in a sign of how seriously the company is taking the criticism. In recent weeks, Chew, who lives in Singapore, has met in New York and on video calls with numerous prominent Jewish groups and leaders. The meetings, arranged by TikTok, have been with organizations including the American Jewish Committee, UJA-Federation of New York and the Anti-Defamation League, the groups told The New York Times. He also joined a call with dozens of Jewish tech and business leaders.

Russian court extends detention of U.S. journalist

A Russian court on Friday extended the detention of an editor working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a broadcaster funded by the U.S. government, who was arrested in October on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent. A district court ordered the editor, Alsu Kurmasheva, who holds both Russian and United States citizenship, to remain in custody until Feb. 5 as she awaits trial, Russian news agencies reported. Kurmasheva’s lawyer said he would appeal the ruling, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Kurmasheva is the second journalist holding U.S. citizenship to be detained by Russia this year.

U.S. health officials push back on idea of new virus in China

A small group of Republican senators on Friday called on President Joe Biden to ban travel from China to protect against an outbreak of respiratory illnesses in children there, even as scientists and global and U.S. health officials said there were no signs of a threatening new pathogen. Instead, those experts said, the evidence so far pointed to a surge of age-old infectious agents such as influenza, driven by the colder weather and China’s emergence from stringent COVID lockdowns. The World Health Organization said last week that China had shared data about its outbreak that did not show any unusual pathogens.

By wire sources