Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The committee of the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility will recommend a specific penalty later for Giuliani, who faces accusations that he breached ethics rules against bringing frivolous lawsuits and harming the administration of justice. Pelosi undecided if U.S. House will take up TikTok government device ban Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she had yet to decide whether the U.S. House of Representatives will join the Senate in backing legislation to bar federal government employees from using Chinese-owned TikTok on government-owned devices.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Shooting at Pennsylvania medical clinic leaves two wounded, suspect dead

A gunman on Thursday wounded two people, including his former girlfriend, in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania medical clinic before killing himself, local police said. The suspect was identified as Xavier Starks and victims as Stacie Vereen and Travis Ritter, who were colleagues at the clinic, according to a release from the Wyomissing Police Department. It did not provide their ages or occupations.

Giuliani should be disciplined over 2020 election case, ethics panel says

Rudy Giuliani violated at least one attorney ethics rule in his work on a failed lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results on behalf of then-U.S. President Donald Trump and should be disciplined, a District of Columbia attorney ethics committee said Thursday. The committee of the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility will recommend a specific penalty later for Giuliani, who faces accusations that he breached ethics rules against bringing frivolous lawsuits and harming the administration of justice.

Pelosi undecided if U.S. House will take up TikTok government device ban

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she had yet to decide whether the U.S. House of Representatives will join the Senate in backing legislation to bar federal government employees from using Chinese-owned TikTok on government-owned devices. "We're checking with the administration - just in terms of language - not in terms of being opposed to the idea," Pelosi told reporters. "I don't know that that will be on the agenda next week, but it's very, very important."

Former Texas officer found guilty in 2019 death of Black woman

A former Texas police officer was found guilty by a jury of manslaughter in the death of a Black woman who was killed when he shot her through a window of her home in October 2019, prosecutors said. Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was shot dead by Aaron Dean, a white Fort Worth officer, while standing in her home with a handgun after hearing noises outside. Afterwards, Dean resigned from the force and police later charged him with murder.

Three men sentenced to prison for aiding plot to kidnap Michigan governor

Three men convicted of playing supporting roles in a foiled plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan in 2020 were sentenced to multiple years in prison on Thursday, as two of the conspiracy's ringleaders await sentencing before the end of the month. The three were convicted by a jury in October on charges of gang membership, firearm violations and providing material support for terrorism.

National Archives releases documents related to JFK assassination

The U.S. National Archives on Thursday released thousands of documents related to the 1963 assassination of then-President John F. Kennedy, acting shortly after President Joe Biden issued an executive order authorizing the release that also kept hundreds of other sensitive records secret for up to another year. The release of 13,173 documents was not expected to include any new bombshells or change the conclusion reached by the commission led by Chief Justice Earl Warren that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine and communist activist who had lived in the Soviet Union, acted alone. However, the latest cache will be useful for historians focusing on the events around the assassination.

U.S. Senate set to address cocaine sentencing disparity in funding bill

Negotiators in the U.S. Senate have reached a tentative deal to narrow sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine and plan to tuck the measure into a bill funding the government, according to four people briefed on the matter. Mandatory minimum sentences for crack-related offenses are currently 18 times lengthier than those for powder cocaine, which has led to the disproportionate incarceration of Black Americans since the policy was adopted almost four decades ago.

Puerto Rico independence vote bill passes U.S. House

Puerto Rico's movement for greater self-government got a boost on Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed a bill for a referendum on three potential futures although the measure had little chance of being taken up by the Senate. The Puerto Rico Status Act outlines terms for a binding referendum on the three options: full independence, U.S. statehood or sovereignty with formal U.S. association, similar to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

Harvard names new president, first Black woman to hold top job

Harvard University on Thursday named Claudine Gay, the school's dean of Faculty Arts and Sciences, as its 30th president, the first Black person and only the second woman to hold the job. Gay, the daughter of Haitian immigrants who joined Harvard as a professor in 2006, succeeds Lawrence Bacow as president of the prestigious, nearly 400-year-old Ivy League university. She will take over in July 2023.

Philadelphia schools will require masks as U.S. COVID cases spike

Children in Philadelphia will have to wear face coverings at school for 10 days after their winter break, school officials said, as communities around the country contend with another surge of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. The temporary mandate, which will run from Jan. 3-13, is aimed at reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses after a holiday season likely filled with more social gatherings and increased exposure, the district said in a statement on Thursday.

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