Axios

A judge ruled Tuesday that Dominion Voting Systems can move ahead with a lawsuit against Fox News' parent company over its broadcasts of conspiracy theories alleging the 2020 election was rigged, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: Fox Corp. had asked the judge to dismiss the suit, but Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Dominion's allegations "support a reasonable inference that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch either knew Dominion had not manipulated the election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion."

Members of the House Jan. 6 select committee are discussing whether to upend their hearing schedule amid a deluge of new information.

Why it matters: The hearings have managed to capture public attention with new revelations about former President Trump and his allies' roles in the Capitol riot and the events leading up to it.

The National Rifle Association said Tuesday it opposes the new bipartisan Senate legislative text, saying it "falls short at every level."

Driving the news: "This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians," the NRA said in a statement.

A California civil trial jury on Tuesday determined that Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975.

Driving the news: Cosby was accused by plaintiff Judy Huth of sexually assaulting her when she was 16 at the Playboy Mansion. Huth was awarded $500,000 by the jury Tuesday, per the Associated Press.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) defeated attorney Jessica Cisneros in a nationally watched race that pitted one of the House's most centrist Democrats against a Squad-aligned progressive, according to AP.

Why it matters: Cuellar's win is a blow to progressives, who saw the South Texas district and its embattled congressman as a prime opportunity to elevate one of their own at the expense of a moderate.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill that will prohibit pregnant people from getting abortion pills via mail.

Driving the news: The bill makes "delivering, dispensing, distributing, or providing" an "abortion-inducing drug" to a pregnant person a crime, and requires patients to take the medication in person, despite federal guidance that says that it is safe to access the pills via telemedicine.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed a bill into law Tuesday that would ban nearly all abortions in the state and criminalize providers if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

The big picture: Louisiana is one of the 13 states with "trigger" laws, which are near-total abortion bans that would take effect shortly after a Roe overturn. The bill that was just enacted makes the state's post-Roe ban much more severe.

Georgia election worker Wandrea’ ArShaye "Shaye" Moss testified Tuesday that the threats of violence she faced in the aftermath of the 2020 election "turned my life upside down" as she and her mother Ruby Freeman struggled to escape unwanted visibility spurred on by attacks from former President Trump and his allies.

Why it matters: At the Jan. 6 select committee's fourth hearing, multiple election officials spoke about the intense harassment and protests targeting them in the aftermath of the election.

Former President Trump in a statement Tuesday accused Arizona House Speaker Russell "Rusty" Bowers (R) of being a "RINO" — "Republican In Name Only" — and said that Bowers had once told him that "the election was rigged."

Why it matters: Trump's statement came just before the fourth Jan. 6 hearing, when Bowers testified that the former president and his allies asked him to investigate allegations of election fraud despite "never" providing evidence.

The Jan. 6 committee made the case during its fourth hearing on Tuesday that former President Trump and his key allies failed to find proof of fraud in the 2020 election, but tried to pressure GOP election officials to push that false narrative anyway.

Why it matters: The pressure campaign resulted in violent threats to election officials and went so far as to attempt to hand physical copies of false elector votes to Vice President Mike Pence.

Mark Meadows, chief of staff to then-President Donald Trump, discussed sending Georgia election investigators "a sh**load of POTUS stuff," like coins and autographed MAGA hats, as they investigated claims of voter fraud, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, said during Tuesday's hearing.

Driving the news: Meadows called and texted Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office 18 times to set up the now-infamous Jan. 2 call among Raffensperger, Trump and their staffs in which the then-president urged Raffensperger to "find" the votes needed to reverse the results.

The Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday displayed texts showing a Republican senator's aide seeking to hand-deliver fake election certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6.

Why it matters: The text messages underscore the extent to which Republican lawmakers tried to assist former President Trump's efforts to infiltrate the counting of electoral votes.

President Biden intends to nominate Arati Prabhakar as director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), making her the first woman, immigrant or person of color nominated to hold the position.

Driving the news: Prabhakar's nomination comes after White House science adviser Eric Lander resigned from the post in February after violating the Biden administration's workplace policy.

Rusty Bowers, the Republican speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, on Tuesday testified to the Jan. 6 select committee that Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) urged him to support decertifying the state's electors.

Why it matters: The testimony is the latest in a series of revelations in recent months about the level of involvement by House Republicans — and Biggs in particular — in former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 on Tuesday unveiled closed-door testimony and documents that shed new light on former President Trump's campaign to pressure state officials to help overturn the election.

Driving the news: The Trump campaign had a call script for appeals to legislators that urged them to support appointing fraudulent pro-Trump electors in states where Biden won.

Arizona House Speaker Russell "Rusty" Bowers (R) testified Tuesday that former President Trump and his allies attempted to convince him that the election was rigged despite "never" providing evidence.

Why it matters: Trump singled out Bowers in a statement prior to the Jan. 6 select committee's fourth hearing on Tuesday, calling him a RINO — "Republican In Name Only" — and claiming that Bowers had once told him that "the election was rigged."

Local and state law enforcement officials in Texas have faced ferocious criticism for why it took so long for officers to confront and stop the Uvalde shooter inside a fourth grade classroom.

The big picture: The shooter was inside the school for around 80 minutes before law enforcement stopped his attack, which killed 19 kids and two teachers. Police and authorities have offered conflicting and changing information on the response.

Here is the latest timeline, provided by Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, on June 21.

A coalition of families of Americans held abroad pushed for a meeting with President Biden and urged him to do anything necessary to secure the release of their family members.

Why it matters: The Bring Our Families Home Campaign said in the letter that over 59 people are being unjustly held by foreign governments because they are American.

Law enforcement's response to the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting was "an abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre," Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a state Senate hearing Tuesday.

Driving the news: Nineteen officers were stationed in the hallway outside when the first 911 call was made from inside one of the classrooms about 12:03pm that day, but law enforcement did not breach the classrooms until 12:51pm.

Sunday's election of leftist Gustavo Petro as Colombia's next president could change the course of the country's relationship with the United States.

Why it matters: Colombia has long been one of Washington's closest allies in Latin America.

The Biden administration announced a new temporary pay raise for federal wildland firefighters Tuesday, significantly bumping their wages over the next two fiscal years.

Why it matters: The wage increase comes as the Forest Service is struggling to hire firefighters in parts of the country, especially Western states, amid an already abnormally active fire season.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Maine cannot exclude religious schools from a state tuition aid program, saying that doing so violates the First Amendment.

The big picture: In a 6-3 opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Maine's program "operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise."

The Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed Alex Holder, a documentary filmmaker who shot interviews with former President Trump, to seek previously unseen videos featuring Trump, his family and administration officials, Politico reports.

Why it matters: With its subpoena of Holder, the committee seeks to gain insight into what the then-president and his inner circle were doing before and after the Capitol riot.

A law banning the importation of products made in China's Xinjiang region goes into effect today. Complying with it will be a monumental challenge for many U.S. companies.

Why it matters: The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, if strictly implemented, could reroute certain global supply chains away from China.

The Biden administration announced Tuesday it reversed a rule implemented by the Trump administration that allowed the United States to use anti-personnel landmines (APL) around the world.

Why it matters: The change, which came after an extended internal review of the 2020 policy, prevents the U.S. military from using such weapons everywhere except along South-North Korea border, where the U.S. has asserted for decades that their use is necessary for the defense of South Korea.

President Biden announced on Tuesday that he intends to appoint Marilynn Malerba as U.S. treasurer, making her the first Native American to hold the position, per a White House press release.

Why it matters: As treasurer, Malerba will oversee the U.S. Mint, liaise with the Federal Reserve and advise Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in areas of community development and public engagement, among other responsibilities.

The Jan. 6 committee's fourth public hearing will convene at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday for another day of testimony from key witnesses as the panel builds lays out their case for former President Trump's culpability in the attack on the Capitol.

Why it matters: Tuesday's hearing is expected to focus on Trump's attempts to pressure local elections officials in Georgia and other states into rejecting 2020 election results.

At a state convention in Houston, nearly 5,000 Texas GOP delegates on Saturday "overwhelmingly passed a resolution questioning the 2020 election," the party announced.

What they're saying: "We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected," the resolution says.

John Wood — a former federal prosecutor in Missouri and now senior investigative counsel for the House's Jan. 6 committee — is being urged by top Republicans to run for the U.S. Senate in Missouri as an independent.

Driving the news: Backers include former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth (R-Mo.), who wants to "provide Missouri voters a principled, traditional conservative choice," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Elon Musk declined on Tuesday to say whether he'd back former President Trump in 2024.

What he's saying: "I think I'm undecided at this point about that election," Musk said during a remote interview with Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

Henry Kissinger, who turned 99 last month, taps his lifetime of personal experiences to write his 19th book — this one on the qualities and strategies of leadership, out July 5.

Why it matters: Global leaders confront unprecedented crises — amid growing pessimism about the leaders' ability to manage these disruptions, the publisher notes.

A record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for all levels of office this year, motivated in part by red states passing scores of laws targeting LGBTQ people.

Why it matters: LGBTQ voters are among the fastest-growing parts of the electorate, and also have higher turnout than other voters. Yet there are only 11 out LGBTQ lawmakers serving in Congress.

Stephen Colbert addressed on the CBS "Late Show" Monday night the detention of program staff members in a Capitol Hill office building last week.

Driving the news: "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" host said it's "shameful and grotesque" that some likened the arrests by Capitol Police of the production team that included Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a puppet voiced by Robert Smigel, to the deadly Capitol insurrection.

Former Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News on Monday he won't "allow" Democrats to use the Capitol riot to "distract attention from their failed agenda" and insisted he parted "amicably" with former President Trump in 2021.

Why it matters: Members of the bipartisan Jan. 6 select committee investigating the insurrection indicated on Sunday they may subpoena Pence. He's become a key focus of their probe into allegations that Trump and his allies pressed Pence to reject electors in order to overturn the 2020 election.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told NBC News on Monday international rules of war wouldn't apply to two Americans that Russian forces captured in Ukraine and he wouldn't rule out death sentences for the vets.

The big picture: The U.S. State Department issued a statement to Axios and other outlets calling on the Kremlin and its proxies to "live up to their international obligations in their treatment of any individual, including those captured fighting in Ukraine."