David Whelan, brother of detained American Paul Whelan, said in an MSNBC interview Saturday that President Biden "made the right choice" in choosing to bring WNBA star Brittney Griner home from Russia.
The big picture: Earlier this week, the United States exchanged infamous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner, determining it was the only deal on the table, Axios' Dave Lawler writes.
Controversial Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de León tried to return to work Friday, prompting several of his fellow members to walk out of an ongoing meeting.
Why it matters: This was de León's first appearance at a City Council meeting since a leaked racist audiotape sent him into political exile.
Why it matters: The emergency declaration has served as the basis for the administration's student loan forgiveness plan and also allows for increased flexibilities for health insurance and Medicaid.
Axios Local's first annual Power Players list contains 200 individuals and organizations in 24 Axios Local cities spanning from Miami to Seattle, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, who've made a difference in their community in 2022.
They made headlines, advanced major projects, or worked behind the scenes to shape their city.
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County officials on Friday challenging certification of Democrat Katie Hobbs' win.
Driving the news: The Donald Trump-backed candidate has refused to concede, claiming problems with printers and tabulation machines despite failing to provide evidence. Her lawsuit seeks a court order "declaring that Kari Lake is the winner of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election," the New York Times reports.
Two men, including the leader of Hawaii's Proud Boys chapter, were each sentenced to fours years in prison on Friday for their involvement in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
Driving the news: Nicholas Ochs, 36, and Nicholas DeCarlo, 32, threw smoke bombs at the police line on Jan. 6 before breaching the Capitol. DeCarlo defaced the Memorial Door with the words, "Murder the Media," the name of their social media channel, as Ochs recorded the action, according to the Department of Justice.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's decision to leave the Democratic Party was long in the making, but she waited until after the midterms to avoid interfering in ongoing races, sources familiar with her move tell Axios.
Why it matters: Sinema has long been seen as a renegade in her party — and a major headache for Democratic leadership.
A Colorado judge on Thursday unsealed documents involving dismissed charges against the suspected Club Q mass shooter stemming from a June 2021 bomb threat incident during which the suspect vowed to become "the next mass killer."
Why it matters: In the aftermath of the Nov. 19 shooting at Club Q that left five people dead and more than a dozen others injured, previous charges against the suspect raised questions as to whether authorities could have seized the suspect's weapons and ammo under Colorado’s “red flag” law.
Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced Friday to 3.5 years in prison over state charges for his involvement in George Floyd's death.
Driving the news: Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in October.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said in remarks published at 6 am ET Friday that she's leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent.
Why it matters: It's a political earthquake that will shake up the Senate — and a gut punch for Democrats just three days after they secured a 51-49 majority.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is “thinking of running” for U.S. Senate, according to a fundraising text his campaign sent out on Friday.
Why it matters: The text comes just hours after Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she is leaving the Democratic Party to sit as an independent, which roiled Arizona Democrats already infuriated with the centrist senator.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is hoping that the recent wave of tech layoffs could help it fill around 1,000 open positions in areas ranging from cybersecurity to software development.
Why it matters: The VA serves over 9 million veterans in more than 2,000 locations, but its digital transformation efforts have been hampered by tech talent shortages.
Mexico's government is in talks with Peru's former President Pedro Castillo to grant asylum to the impeached leader who now faces criminal charges, Mexican officials confirmed.
The big picture: Castillo met with Mexico's ambassador to Peru while in detention in Lima Thursday, per tweets from Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who shared a copy of Castillo's legal request for asylum in the country that stated he was "at grave risk" in the Peruvian capital.
Google must delete search results about people in Europe if they can prove that the information is clearly incorrect, the EU's highest court said on Thursday.
Driving the news: The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that search engines must "dereference information found in the referenced content where the person requesting dereferencing proves that such information is manifestly inaccurate."
Nearly two years into his presidency, President Biden and a 50-50 Senate have left many top positions unfilled, with dozens of embassies missing an ambassador and key agencies lacking a Senate-confirmed leader.
Driving the news: The Democrat's new 51-seat Senate majority should help Biden remedy the situation. It will also give him wiggle room to potentially rejigger his Cabinet.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is making a new play for influence, becoming a surprising yet crucial defender of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Why it matters: Greene has a playbook to follow from another bombastic outsider who climbed the ranks within the House GOP, moving from a fringe conservative to a key party player who now serves in leadership — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Back in August during the heat of one of the most important Senate races in the country, Herschel Walker's campaign staffers were preoccupied with a dog.
Why it matters: Walker's scandal-plagued Georgia Senate campaign was as chaotic and troubled behind the scenes as it seemed from the outside, according to conversations with nearly a dozen campaign officials.
A three-way race is brewing for the top Democratic spot on the House Oversight Committee, which will play a crucial role in fending off investigations when the GOP takes the majority next month.
Why it matters: "Failing to meet this moment with the right personnel in leadership roles would be an enormous act of political malpractice," said Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist and former GOP Oversight spokesperson.
A group of seven current and incoming right-wing House Republicans who have not yet taken public positions on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) bid for speaker on Thursday released a list of demands for GOP leadership.
Why it matters: The list includes at least one item that's likely to be a red line for the Republican leader, which could throw his already murky path to the speaker’s gavel into even greater doubt with less than a month to go until the election.
Sam Bankman-Fried missed a Thursday evening deadline for responding to a Senate Banking Committee request that he testify at an upcoming hearing, setting up the possibility of a subpoena.
Why it matters: Bankman-Fried has given a slew of media interviews since FTX collapsed, but hasn't yet spoken under penalty of perjury.
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