Evening Report — Fifth group of hostages released

by Amee LaTour - 11/28/23 5:32 PM ET

Evening Report

Hostages released on first additional day of truce

Hamas released 12 more hostages and Israel freed 30 Palestinians from prison in the fifth round of exchanges since Friday.

Hamas and Israel agreed to extend their four-day truce an additional two days to allow for more detainee exchanges. The pause in fighting is now set to end Thursday.

“But the U.S. said it is working to extend the cease-fire once again to bring more hostages home,” The Hill’s Brad Dress reported.

The pause has also allowed for the additional flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said Tuesday it’s delivered more than 500,000 pounds of food assistance to the area in the past week.

Aid groups say more than 1 million Palestinians have been displaced amid the fighting in Hamas-run Gaza. Israel began military operations in Gaza following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

CATCH UP QUICK

Former President Trump‘s lawyers requested evidence about “foreign influence efforts targeting the 2020 election” as part of the federal case into Trump’s efforts to block the transfer of power after the last election.
Rupert Murdoch is being deposed in voting systems company Smartmatic‘s defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which earlier this year settled a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) moved to force action on an expulsion resolution against Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) within two days. Meanwhile, see the 15-foot balloon of Santos in front of the Capitol.
Pope Francis canceled a trip to the United Nations climate conference in Dubai on doctors’ orders. He is recovering from the flu and lung inflammation, according to the Vatican.

NEW THIS AFTERNOON

Carter grandson remembers grandmother at service

Jason Carter, grandson of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, remembered her mental health advocacy at a memorial service in Atlanta on Tuesday.

“If you imagine just how far our society has come in the last five years on issues of mental health, and you think that she decided in 1970 to tackle the ancient stigma associated with mental illness, it is remarkable how far she could see and how far she was willing to walk,” Carter said.

On a more personal note, Carter remarked the former first lady could often be “like everyone else’s grandmother in a lot of ways. Almost all of her recipes call for mayonnaise, for example.”

HEATING UP

Chairman rejects Hunter Biden request for public hearing

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) rejected Hunter Biden‘s request for a public hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden, with Comer accusing the younger Biden of “trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Tuesday in response to the panel’s subpoena, “We have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public.” Ranking committee Democrat Jamie Raskin (Md.) panned Comer’s rejection.

Read more about the deposition here.

Koch-backed group goes all in on Haley

Americans for Prosperity Action, part of the conservative network led by Charles Koch, gave its first-ever GOP presidential primary endorsement to former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, crystallizing its effort to move the party past former President Trump and opening its vast resources for Haley.

Campaigns for Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bashed the move.

Between the lines: Trump maintains a massive lead in primary polls. Haley has been closing the gap with DeSantis for distant second nationally and in Iowa, the first state to vote next year. In early states New Hampshire and South Carolina, Haley has surpassed DeSantis.

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5 redistricting cases ahead of the 2024 elections

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