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Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace’s former chief of staff has launched a primary challenge against the lawmaker following his departure from her office last month. In a bid to replace Mace as the representative for the Palmetto State's First Congressional District, Dan Hanlon filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Friday. Hanlon joined Mace’s office in 2021 after serving in the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget. He departed last month under reportedly contentious circumstances. The address used in the FEC filing by Hanlon, who has faced criticism from Mace and her campaign for allegedly living outside the district, appears to belong to a Mellow Mushroom located in Hilton Head, South Carolina . FORMER NANCY MACE STAFFERS WORKING WITH EX-CHIEF OF STAFF TO UNSEAT HER, SOURCES SAY Mace and Hanlon reportedly had a falling-out last fall when she voted with seven Republicans and all Democrats to oust then-House Speaker...

The South Carolina home of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was "swatted" last month after someone filed a false police report, Reuters reported. Authorities responded after a man claimed to have shot a woman and threatened to harm himself at Haley's home in Kiawah Island on Dec. 30, according to town records obtained by the news agency.  Haley's campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The previously unreported "swatting" incident came to light after Reuters issued a records request for threats against Haley's home.  Craig Harris, Kiawah Island director of public safety, reportedly told town officials in an email that an unknown person called 911 and "claimed to have shot his girlfriend and threatened to harm himself while at the residence of Nikki Haley."  "It was determined to be a hoax ... Nikki Haley is not on the island and her son is with her," the email read, per Reuters.  Swa...

Jonathan Randles / Bloomberg : FTX is unloading cryptoassets as bankruptcy advisers look to repay customers; filings: its affiliates' cash pile grew from $2.3B in October to $4.4B at 2023 end   —  - Cash of key affiliates rose to about $4.4 billion at end-2023  — Increased cash coincided with rising value of customer claims

Another Democratic member of the House has announced plans to retire from office at the end of the year. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) released a statement Friday saying he will leave office at the end of 2024. Ruppersberger said that "now more than ever, Congress needs thoughtful, end-game representatives like me – members who care more about constituents and our country and less about cable news hits." He joins nearly two dozen other Democrats who have decided not to seek reelection, along with 18 Republicans. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica : A look at Midnight Blizzard, also known as Cozy Bear, a Russia-linked hacking group that has allegedly recently hacked the email systems of Microsoft and HPE   —  Hacks by Kremlin-backed group continue to hit hard.  —  Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) said Wednesday that Kremlin-backed actors hacked …

Andrew Webster / The Verge : Apple begins allowing game streaming apps and services globally, meaning Xbox Cloud Streaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and others will be able to offer full apps   —  Starting today Apple is opening up its App Store to allow game streaming apps and services.  This means that services …

Tom Warren / The Verge : Nvidia's RTX GPUs can now upgrade SDR video to HDR using AI, supported in both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome on Windows PCs with HDR enabled   —  Nvidia is launching a new feature for all RTX GPU owners today: RTX Video HDR. … You just need an HDR10-compatible monitor with HDR enabled in Windows.

A Texas mother who went to court to obtain an illegal abortion will attend the State of the Union address in March as a guest of first lady Jill Biden. President Biden and the first lady spoke to Kate Cox on the phone Sunday as Biden seeks to make abortion rights a signature issue of his re-election effort. Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, made national headlines after she asked the Texas Supreme Court for permission to obtain an abortion when her unborn child was diagnosed with a fatal condition. She was denied and later left the state to abort her baby elsewhere.  The Bidens "thanked [Cox] for her courage in sharing her story and speaking out about the impact of the extreme abortion ban in Texas," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday. "The first lady invited Kate to join her as a guest at the State of the Union and Kate accepted," she said. TEXAS SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST PREGNANT WOMAN HOURS AFTER SHE LEAVES STATE TO...

Ash Parrish / The Verge : Twitch changes the Prime Gaming subscription payout model to a fixed rate, expands the Partner Plus Program, and removes the $100K cap for 70/30 revenue share   —  Twitch is making big monetization changes again in an attempt to make a more sustainable system, lowering earnings in some places and raising them in others.

Candidates vying to be the next United States senator from California were divided over support for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war during a debate Monday. Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter staked positions to the left of Rep. Adam Schiff , D-Calif., and Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball player and political newcomer, with Schiff and Garvey refusing to call for a cease-fire during the FOX 11 debate. Lee said the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which has claimed thousands of lives, is "counterproductive to Israel's security."  "The only way Israel is going to be secure is through a permanent cease-fire. The only way that is going to happen is with a political and diplomatic solution," Lee said.  CALIFORNIA SENATE CANDIDATES GANG UP ON LONE REPUBLICAN ON STAGE DURING DEBATE: ‘ALWAYS A DODGER’ Israel went to war against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 terror attack orchestrated by the Palestinian terrorist group, in which 1,20...

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg : Sources: Apple pivots to a less ambitious design for its upcoming EV, from Level 4 autonomy to Level 2+, and expects a 2028 launch or later, instead of 2026   —  - After board meetings, car downgraded to Level 2+ autonomy  — Company pushes back launch from 2026 to 2028 at the earliest

A judge on Monday ordered court records of the divorce proceedings of a special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, who is handling the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, be made public and delayed the decision on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will be deposed.  Cobb County, Georgia Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson ruled that he was vacating a previous order that kept records of the divorce proceedings sealed. That is what attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents former Trump campaign staffer and onetime White House aide Michael Roman, had asked the court to do.  "I find that the prior order, although it was by consent parties, was not properly entered because uniform's superior court rules require a hearing to be had. We can find no evidence that any such hearing was ever had so I'm going to grant the motion, vacating the consent order sealing the record. And I'll do that today. I have your written order," ...

Ariel Zilber / New York Post : Some current and former Google employees publicly blast the company, criticizing its lack of “visionary” leaders, cold approach to delivering layoff news, more   —  Angry Googlers are finished being nice.  —  Current and former employees of the tech behemoth took to LinkedIn …

A New Hampshire man received probation after admitting to threatening to kill Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., whom he accused in a voicemail of "coming for the gays."  Allan Poller, 24, had already pleaded guilty in October to transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another.  He was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine in federal court on Thursday, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. Poller, a Keene State College student at the time, called the Washington, D.C., office of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives on March 29, 2023, and left a voicemail message stating in part, "I just want to let you know, Representative [Name], if you keep on coming for the gays, we’re gonna strike back and I guarantee you, you do not want to f--- with us." TRUMP MAINTAINS BIG LEAD IN POLLS, NEW ENGLAND NEWSPAPERS ENDORSE HALEY The FBI affidavit redacted the name of the member of Congress, but Gaetz previousl...

Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance argued 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley would likely be unable to survive Democratic attacks if elected the party's nominee, saying she's "the candidate that Democrats haven't teed off on." "Nikki does have baggage. She just hasn't faced the onslaught of years of media attacks, of super PAC attacks that Donald Trump has faced. And frankly, the fact that Trump is still standing and still leading in the polls against Joe Biden suggests he has real political resilience," Vance told Fox News' Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday." Bream aired a clip of her asking New Hampshire voters who they supported ahead of the Granite State's primary on Tuesday, with one woman explaining she's voting for Haley because she has "no baggage." Vance, who is serving as a surrogate for the Trump campaign, pushed back that Haley does have "baggage," but Democrats have not attacked her, as they h...