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Trump has said he would stay in the race if he is indicted. Trump, meanwhile, is making a forward-looking pitch to voters, NBC News’ Allan Smith and Jonathan Allen report. And the Washington Post reports Friday that prosecutors investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot have obtained a report commissioned by Trump’s campaign that undercut his falsehoods about the election. Santos mulls re-election: New York GOP Rep. George Santos told the Associated Press he is a “maybe” on running for re-election. Sparks fly in the Windy city: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., endorsed Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson in Chicago’s mayoral race on Thursday.

☆ A biotech company that once claimed to have a 'cure' for COVID-19 just filed for bankruptcy, sending shares plunging 61%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sorrento Therapeutics plunged as much as 61% on Monday after the biotech company filed for bankruptcy. The company made headlines in 2020 after its founder claimed Sorrento discovered a COVID-19 "cure." Sorrento surged 243% in a day after the exec's comments, and later landed in the crosshairs of shortseller Hindenburg. Hindenburg released a scathing report on the biotech firm following Ji's comments, which caused Sorrento's stock to drastically decline in value. Over two years later the company has landed in bankruptcy court amid mounting debt and ongoing lawsuits, causing investors to offload shares and cut the company's stock value by more than half.

☆ Russian state energy giant Gazprom is starting its own private security force, a move Ukraine fears will lead to a new Wagner-like mercenary army
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's government is allowing energy giant Gazprom to start a private security outfit. Ukraine's Ministry of Defence drew comparisons with the notorious private army the Wagner Group. Experts said it's plausible that another Russian mercenary army is in the works. Russia's government gave its go-ahead for the energy giant to create a private security organization on February 4, under the pretext of securing the country's energy sector. "Ukrainians are handling Wagner, they are handling the Russian army."

“We spoke with a clear voice in November,” Whitmer said in her annual State of the State speech, which she delivered in person for the first time since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Whitmer, who was on President Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president, is seen as a rising national star. “I know we might have different perspectives here, but I sure hope we can all get around supporting 4-year-olds across Michigan,” she said. “But the truth is that she set a record during her first term for vetoing bills, many which Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass.”In several policy areas, Whitmer spoke more defiantly or struck more partisan tones. I’m looking at you, Ohio and Indiana.”Those remarks drew a rebuke on social media from the Michigan Republican Party, which during the speech tweeted: “No.

CLEVELAND — Matt Dolan, who lost a raucous Republican Senate primary in Ohio last year, will run again in 2024, this time seeking to unseat longtime Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown. Dolan will announce his candidacy this week, he told an Ohio GOP official in a voicemail Sunday that the official shared with NBC News on the condition of anonymity. Dolan, a state senator whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, would likely be the first candidate on the GOP side to officially declare. Other Republicans closely looking at the race include Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Bernie Moreno, a businessman who briefly was a Senate candidate in 2022. Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, speaks in Cleveland, on April 28, 2022.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., announced Thursday that she won't seek re-election in 2024, setting the stage for a competitive Senate race in a key battleground state during a presidential election year. Garlin Gilchrist, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who gained a national following last year after going viral with her pushback against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Stabenow has served in the Senate since 2001 and previously served in the House from 1997 until her career began in the upper chamber. She holds several Democratic leadership roles including Senate Democratic Policy Committee chair and chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She has served alongside Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., since he came to Congress in 2015.

On Tuesday, for example, Fox News host Sean Hannity said Republicans “have been unwilling for whatever reason” to vote early and by mail. Ahead of the general election, registered Democrats held an 8-point edge over registered Republicans in Georgia in early voting. Now about to enter his seventh term, Schweikert said that Republicans in his state used to enjoy a robust early voting edge. Kirk, who had raised concerns about mail-in voting, changed his tune after the November midterms, tweeting that Republicans must recognize the “power of early voting.” But Johnson has called for a ban on mail-in voting. At the forefront of GOP concerns over early voting is Pennsylvania, where Democrats enjoyed an edge so substantial that Republicans did not come close to overcoming it.

☆ Ronna McDaniel locked down votes for RNC chair despite the midterm debacle. Here's how she did it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

An ally, Richard Porter, an RNC member from Illinois, met with her in Washington to make sure she wanted to run for another two-year term. And the most ardent Trump critics among RNC members say McDaniel, Trump's pick for the post six years ago, is too close to him. Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from New Jersey, said he opposes McDaniel's re-election for that reason. For McDaniel to lose, an opponent would have to win the remaining undecided RNC members and swipe nearly two dozen avowed McDaniel backers. Lori Klein Corbin, an RNC member from Arizona who hasn’t committed to any candidate, said McDaniel hasn’t asked for her vote yet.

☆ Long Covid is distorting the labor market — and that's bad for the U.S. economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

She eventually learned that the balance issues and ear pain resulted from a damaged vestibular nerve, a known effect of long Covid. She found that 2 million to 4 million full-time workers are out of the labor force due to long Covid. For one, many of the hundreds of potential long Covid symptoms are invisible to others, even if disabling for the afflicted. Why the long Covid labor gap mattersJerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, mentioned Sheiner and Salwati's long Covid research in a recent speech about inflation and the labor market. That burden will continue to rise if long Covid patients don't start recovering at greater rates, she said.

During his short campaign, Trump has dominated headlines by dining with the rapper Ye, who has gone on antisemitic tirades in recent weeks, and the white nationalist Nick Fuentes. And on Tuesday night, Herschel Walker’s loss in a Georgia Senate runoff added an exclamation point to the argument that Trump hurt the GOP by picking a bad crop of candidates in swing states. They just think he’s the future, but Trump is the present.”Still, Trump hasn’t offered much in the way of a new vision for the country. Then in early 2023, I expect the Trump campaign to start rolling out an effort to lock down the early primary states,” the adviser said. “If Trump can put together early primary support, if he can raise a bunch of money, he’ll be hard to beat.

“What we do need is our voters need to vote early,” McDaniel, a longtime Trump ally, said during a televised interview on Fox News. McDaniel said the RNC has "perfected" the practice in states where it's legal before making her broader point about taking advantage of early and mail-in voting. He continues to raise false and unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part through vote-by-mail programs in battleground states. Early voting there has shattered records, suggesting an edge for Warnock. Trump, who handpicked McDaniel as RNC chair after the 2016 election, has not weighed in on the upcoming race.

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local officials in key presidential swing states for any and all communications involving former President Donald Trump, his campaign and a series of aides and allies who assisted in his effort to overturn the 2020 election. A spokesperson for Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson confirmed that Smith’s office had sent a subpoena. Scott McDonnell, the Dane County clerk, confirmed to NBC News that his county had received a virtually identical subpoena as Milwaukee. An Arizona elections official confirmed that Maricopa County had received such a subpoena this month with similar demands for those communications. "Maricopa County has received a subpoena and will comply," Fields Moseley, a county spokesperson, said.

Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, has formed a campaign to run for governor in 2024, according to paperwork filed Tuesday. The development, first reported by Politico, had been expected for months, with Braun hinting hard that he was interested in the race. The state's other GOP senator, Todd Young, was re-elected by a convincing margin this month. In a statement Wednesday morning, Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl greeted Braun's candidacy with derision. "As a so-called businessman, Mike Braun has done very little to improve Indiana as a U.S. senator and he surely won’t do it as governor," Schmuhl said.

☆ Long Covid may be 'the next public health disaster' — with a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Norpel is one of millions of Americans with long Covid, also known as long-haul Covid, post-Covid or post-acute Covid syndrome. Key symptoms: Long Covid has been linked to more than 200 symptoms, according to The Rockefeller Foundation. Duration: There's no consistent definition of how long symptoms must persist for someone to be considered a long Covid patient. What experts do know is that for some, long Covid symptoms can last months or even years. "I don't know if it's for the rest of my life or not," Hurst said of feeling long Covid symptoms.

☆ Tom Stoppard Fears the Virus of Antisemitism Has Been Reactivated
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

I don’t think that it’s an equal participant in some kind of debate. I don’t think so. If you’re sitting there enjoying the structure, then I don’t think that’s entirely good news for the writer. I don’t know that I would actually pursue the subject as a playwright. You know, I’m told there is such a thing as the long view.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won re-election in Alaska, NBC News projected Wednesday, dealing former President Donald Trump another loss in what has largely been a miserable midterm cycle for his hand-picked candidates in competitive Senate races. Murkowski, one of only seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial, survived a challenge from Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a former Alaska Department of Administration commissioner. Murkowski, Tshibaka, Democrat Patricia Chesbro and Republican Buzz Kelley all advanced from a nonpartisan August primary. The Alaska Republican Party censured her and Trump began calling her the “disaster from Alaska,” ultimately backing Tshibaka to challenge her. Murkowski also is known for her moderate profile in the Senate and for her willingness to work with Democrats.

Speaking to reporters this week, Brown reaffirmed that he intends to seek a fourth term. Jai Chabria, Vance’s chief campaign strategist, said he expects the “floodgates to open” with candidates eager to take on Brown. Dolan’s pitch to county chairs this week leaned into frustrations that Republicans have vented toward Trump after disappointing midterm results. For Brown, this year’s midterm elections in Ohio have yielded a more unpleasant set of questions than the last. “He is a different beast than Tim Ryan, because Tim Ryan was a Xerox of a Xerox of Sherrod Brown,” Chabria said.

“Personalities come and go,” said Dave Ball, the GOP chair in Pennsylvania’s Washington County, who has supported and defended Trump. Trump is preparing to do just that, with a Tuesday announcement expected at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. In Illinois, Republicans had threatened to take two state Supreme Court seats and flip state Senate and House seats. In Pennsylvania, GOP leaders had hoped to at least hold on to the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey. Trump lost the state by narrow margins in 2016 and 2020.

PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are at the moment their parties’ leading candidates for 2024. But more competitive midterm contests appear poised to inject a host of new prospects into the 2024 conversation for both parties. That governors would already find themselves in the 2024 spotlight comes as little surprise to political observers. “Governors get s--- done, right?” Shapiro said in a recent interview after batting away questions about his own future ambitions. Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist who formerly worked at the Democratic Governors Association, said Biden is and will remain Democrats’ top choice in 2024.

Gretchen Whitmer defeated Republican challenger Tudor Dixon on Tuesday, securing her bid for re-election and keeping a Democrat atop the critical swing state, NBC News projects. But Whitmer held on, boosted by tens of millions of dollars in ad spending that Dixon, a former right-wing commentator endorsed by former President Donald Trump, never matched. Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Whitmer, who made the shortlist as Joe Biden searched for a running mate in 2020, has been the subject of future White House speculation. Despite Michigan's swing-state status, Republicans were slow to invest there and never caught up with the other side's spending.

The barrage helped Oz climb back into a race that Fetterman had led all summer — by double digits, according to at least two polls. Fetterman, whose speech and auditory processing were affected by his stroke, agreed to only one debate, on Oct. 25. His struggles were apparent, stoking alarm the next day among Democrats who worried the performance would scare away voters. Mehmet Oz takes part in a forum for Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidates in Camp Hill, Pa. on Apr. “My wife wants some vegetables for crudité,” Oz said, picking out broccoli, asparagus, carrots, guacamole and salsa for the platter of raw vegetables and dips.

Vance, the “Hillbilly Elegy” author who was a searing Donald Trump critic before converting into one of his most loyal allies, has defeated Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in Ohio’s Senate race, NBC News projects. Portman’s prior success and Trump’s two comfortable Ohio victories made Ryan, 49, a heavy underdog. Polls from the summer and into early fall showed Ryan tied with Vance, though surveys in the closing weeks suggested Vance was pulling ahead. Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan speaks in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. Vance, by contrast, had little money to counter Ryan’s ads and drew complaints from Ohio GOP leaders that he was coasting toward the general election.

Nov 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court on Tuesday denied requests to temporarily block Albertsons Companies Inc's (ACI.N) $4 billion dividend payment to shareholders before closing of the proposed merger with Kroger Co , but the payout remained blocked due to another court order. The federal court in Washington D.C. denied issuing a restraining order in the case, which was filed by the attorneys general of California, Illinois and Washington D.C and sought to block the payout until antitrust reviews of the proposed merger were completed. The lawsuit filed by attorneys general of Washington D.C., California and Illinois argued the same. Kroger snapped up Albertsons in a $25 billion deal in last month's mega merger between the No. "People living in poverty will suffer most of all—not only because of skyrocketing prices as competition vanishes, but through probable store closures," the groups said, adding the "unusual" $4 billion dividend to shareholders should be investigated.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has secured a second term, NBC News projects, defeating Democratic challenger Nan Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton. The crowd that had begun gathering here at a Columbus hotel for an Ohio GOP watch party including DeWine and Senate candidate J.D. "We all know what happened here in Ohio," Bob Paduchik, the Ohio GOP chair, told the audience after DeWine's win was called. Trump, at an election eve rally Monday for Vance and other Ohio Republicans, called DeWine to the stage.

Efforts to investigate the 2020 election and institute changes to the state’s election procedures — the promises that helped propel DePerno onto the political map and won him former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. In Arizona, GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake has repeatedly called the 2020 election “rigged” and “stolen” during the primary only to spend most of the general election talking about immigration, education, the economy and crime. After trailing in earlier polling, both Lake and Masters appeared neck-and-neck with their opponents in the campaign’s final days. Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and whose campaign paid to bus people to the pro-Trump protest that proceeded the riot, has kept the 2020 election near the forefront of his campaign. “It’s people like her,” Whitmer said of Dixon, who has baselessly raised doubts about the 2020 election results, “who are the greatest threat to our democracy right now.”Dixon has defended her use of such rhetoric.

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