Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Tennessee court weighs blocking abortion ban during pregnancy complications

A Tennessee state court on Thursday weighed a bid by a group of doctors and women to block officials from enforcing the state's near-total ban on abortion in instances when dangerous pregnancy complications arise. Lawyers for seven women who were denied abortions following pregnancy complications and two doctors told the three-judge panel in Tennessee's Twelfth Judicial District Court in Nashville that a medical exception in the state's abortion ban was so vague that physicians were turning away patients seeking emergency care.

Trump ally Clark broke ethics rule in election subversion attempts, panel rules

Attorney Jeffrey Clark, who held a senior role in the U.S. Justice Department during Donald Trump's presidency, should face professional discipline over his effort to enlist the agency in the former president's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, a Washington legal panel concluded on Thursday.

The finding, which is preliminary, followed several days of testimony on Clark's attempt to take charge of the Justice Department in the final days of Trump's term as he sought to block certification of his defeat to Democratic President Joe Biden using false claims of rampant voter fraud.

Judge rejects Trump free speech challenge to Georgia 2020 election case

A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state's 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former U.S. president argued violate his free speech rights. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made "in furtherance of criminal activity" and are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Trump suffers twin setbacks as judges reject calls to dismiss charges

Donald Trump suffered a pair of legal setbacks on Thursday as judges spurned his calls to dismiss criminal charges over the former U.S. president's efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia and his keeping classified records after leaving office. Separately, one of the Republican presidential candidate's allies, former Justice Department official attorney Jeffrey Clark, faced the risk of disbarment after a Washington panel found he violated some attorney ethics rules in his attempts to enlist the agency to help overturn Trump's loss.

Judge warns Giuliani about 'pyrrhic' victory in Florida condo dispute

A U.S. bankruptcy judge said Thursday that Rudy Giuliani could be headed for a "pyrrhic victory" in a dispute over whether he should sell his $3.5 million Florida condo. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane said at a court hearing in White Plains, New York, that he would not immediately rule on creditors' attempt to force Giuliani, who is Republican former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer, to list the property for sale, and he encouraged Giuliani and the creditors to work out a compromise.

US FDA issues warning letters to retailers against underage sale of ZYN nicotine pouches

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it had issued warning letters and filed civil money penalty complaints against retailers engaged in underage sale of various flavors of ZYN nicotine pouches. The FDA said it had issued 119 warning letters to brick-and-mortar retailers and had filed 41 civil money penalty complaints seeking more than $55,000 in total for underage sales of flavored ZYN nicotine pouches, including espressino, black cherry, lemon spritz, and cucumber lime.

New York City defends AI chatbot that advised entrepreneurs to break laws

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is defending the city's new artificial intelligence chatbot that has been caught in recent days giving business owners wrong answers or advice that, if followed, would entail breaking the law. When launched as a pilot in October, the MyCity chatbot was touted as the first city-wide use of such AI technology, something that would give business owners "actionable and trusted information" in response to queries typed into an online portal.

Biden moves to protect civil service as Trump plans to install loyalists

The Biden administration on Thursday issued final rules meant to protect the jobs of the government's 2.2 million civil servants, as Republican challenger Donald Trump plans to replace thousands with hardline loyalists if he returns to the White House. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said the rule is meant to clarify longstanding protections for career civil service employees, after former President Trump in his final months in office sought to impose rule changes that would have made it easier for him to fire them.

Exclusive-U.S. Justice Department to meet Boeing fatal crash victims' lawyers

The U.S. Justice Department next week will meet with lawyers for families of victims of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, as the government decides whether to move ahead with a criminal case, according to correspondence Reuters reviewed. The meeting, set for Tuesday afternoon, comes ahead of an April 24 gathering scheduled for the victims' families themselves to confer with Justice Department officials.

Trump to be deposed in dispute with media company co-founders

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to be deposed later this month by lawyers for co-founders of his social media company as part of a dispute over ownership in Trump Media & Technology Group, which went public last week. A notice filed with Delaware's Court of Chancery, where the co-founders sued Trump Media, said the deposition is scheduled for April 15 at 10 am ET (1400 GMT) in New York, which is also the scheduled start of Trump's first criminal trial.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)