Azi Paybarah

Apr 14, 2024 | sfgate.com | Azi Paybarah |Michael Cadenhead

When Donald Trump walks into a Manhattan courtroom on Monday, it will kick off a process unprecedented in American history: jury selection for a former president’s criminal trial. Trump is facing 34 felony charges for allegedly falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, to keep her from accusing Trump of a long-ago affair.

Mar 5, 2024 | sfgate.com | Azi Paybarah

When voters in California head to the polls on Tuesday they will find two U.S. Senate races on their primary ballots. The races are for the same Senate seat held for three decades by Dianne Feinstein (D), who died in September. After her death, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Laphonza Butler to fill the seat until a special election could be held. A few days after Butler was appointed to the seat, she announced she would not run for a full Senate term.

Jan 16, 2024 | sfgate.com | Azi Paybarah

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was hospitalized in Washington to receive treatment for an infection, his office announced Tuesday night in a brief statement. The eight-term senator, who is receiving antibiotic infusions, "is in good spirits and will return to work as soon as possible following doctors' orders," the statement said. Clare Slattery, Grassley's press secretary, said in an email Tuesday evening that he was expected to make a full recovery.

Jan 9, 2024 | sfgate.com | Azi Paybarah

The National Park Service announced on Monday it will not remove a statue of William Penn from the park in Philadelphia where his home once stood.

Dec 28, 2023 | sfgate.com | Azi Paybarah

A federal judge in Georgia signed off Thursday on congressional districts redrawn this month by the state's Republican-led legislature, ruling that the new map did not continue to illegally dilute the power of Black voters as Democrats and civil rights groups have argued. "The Court finds that the General Assembly fully complied with this Court's order requiring the creation of Black-majority districts in the regions of the State where vote dilution was found," wrote U.S. District Judge Steve C.