Politics

DANA POINT, Calif. (AP) — Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel won her bid Friday to lead the GOP for two more years, prevailing in an election that highlighted fierce internal divisions that threaten to plague the party into the next presidential season.

McDaniel, whom Donald Trump tapped as RNC chair in 2016, won on the the secret ballot, 111 to 51, over Harmeet Dhillon, a California lawyer. The high-profile election played out inside a resort on the Southern California coast as the RNC’s 168 voting members – activists and elected officials from all 50 states – gathered for their annual winter meeting.

A relieved McDaniel invited her rivals to the stage immediately after the outcome was announced.

“With us united, and all of us working together, the Democrats are going to hear us in 2024,” she declared.

With the victory, McDaniel becomes the longest-serving RNC chair since the Civil War. While the vote itself wasn’t as close as some had expected, friends and foes alike agree that she will not be leading the RNC from a position of strength.

“The party is not united,” McDaniel’s chief rival, Trump attorney Dhillon, told reporters in the hallway soon after standing alongside McDaniel on stage. “Nobody’s going to unite around the party the way it is, which is seemingly ignoring the grassroots.”

Indeed, while Trump privately backed McDaniel, powerful forces within his “Make America Great Again” movement lined up behind Dhillon.

Backed by MAGA leaders in conservative media, Dhillon waged an aggressive challenge against McDaniel that featured allegations of chronic misspending, mismanagement and even religious bigotry against Dhillon’s Sikh faith — all claims that McDaniel denied. Above all, the case against McDaniel centered on deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the party after continuous election losses since Trump chose her to lead the committee following his upset 2016 victory.

The former president ignored the feud as he congratulated McDaniel on her “big WIN” on his social media network.

“Now we have to STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM CHEATING IN ELECTIONS!” Trump wrote in capital letters, repeating baseless allegations of election fraud that have filled his political messaging for the past two years.

But some of Trump’s acolytes were not so willing to move on.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk cited the Republican base’s overwhelming desire for change and said those members who voted for McDaniel would be held “accountable.”

“The RNC has contempt for their voters,” said Kirk, who sat among several Dhillon allies in the back of the hotel ballroom where the vote was held. “They basically just gave them a middle finger.”

While McDaniel prevailed, some of her supporters privately conceded they were open to a change in the committee’s leadership after three successive disappointing elections. But there were specific concerns about Dhillon – and the people around her.

The California Republican closely aligned herself with Caroline Wren, a former Trump fundraiser who was involved with raising money for the Washington rally on Jan. 6, 2021,that preceded the violent attack on the Capitol.

Dhillon’s chief surrogate at the RNC meeting this week was Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate who has spread debunked claims of voter fraud. Lake courted RNC members on Dhillon’s behalf inside the conference hotel.

From afar, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential contender, spoke out against McDaniel on the eve of the vote as well.

“I think we need a change. I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis said in an interview with Florida’s Voice, citing three “substandard election cycles in a row” under McDaniel’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Trump had quietly supported McDaniel, a niece of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, and dispatched a handful of his lieutenants to Southern California to advocate on her behalf.

The former president avoided making a public endorsement at McDaniel’s request, according to those with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. McDaniel’s team was confident she would win without his public backing, allowing her to maintain a sense of neutrality heading into the 2024 presidential primary season.

According to its rules, the RNC must remain neutral in the presidential primary. Trump is the only announced GOP candidate so far, but other high-profile contenders are expected in the coming months.

McDaniel is now set to lead the RNC through the 2024 election. Under her leadership, the committee will control much of the presidential nominating process – including the debates and voting calendar — while directing the sprawling nationwide infrastructure designed to elect a Republican president.

Also in the race on Friday was MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who won four votes.

Lindell has already endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign and said he would not change his mind if his longshot bid was successful Friday.

“I’ve never not endorsed Donald Trump,” Lindell said. “I’m never moving off that space.”

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Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel won her bid Friday to lead the GOP for two more years, prevailing in an election that highlighted fierce internal divisions that threaten to plague the party into the next presidential season.

McDaniel, whom Donald Trump tapped as RNC chair in 2016, won the the secret ballot vote 111 to 51. The high-profile election played out inside a luxury resort on the Southern California coast as the RNC’s 168 voting members – activists and elected officials from all 50 states – gathered for the committee’s annual winter meeting.

With the victory, McDaniel becomes the longest-serving RNC chair since the Civil War. Yet friends and foes alike agree that she will not be leading the RNC from a position of strength.

While Trump privately backed McDaniel, powerful forces from within his “Make America Great Again” movement lined up behind McDaniel’s chief rival, Trump attorney Harmeet Dhillon.

Dhillon waged an aggressive challenge against McDaniel that featured allegations of chronic misspending, mismanagement and even religious bigotry against Dhillon’s Sikh faith — all claims that McDaniel denied. Above all, the case against McDaniel centered on deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the party after continuous election losses since Trump tapped her to lead the committee following his upset 2016 victory.

Ahead of the vote, Dhillon cited the Republican base’s overwhelming desire for change and threatened political retribution for RNC members who dared support McDaniel’s reelection.

“Ignoring the will of the voters in your state is a good way not to get elected again,” Dhillon told The Associated Press.

Before the vote, McDaniel pleaded with RNC members to put their differences aside after it was over.

“Coming together is the beginning. Staying together is progress. But working together is success,” she said. “We have to come together after this meeting and focus on what we have ahead of us.”

Several high-profile Trump allies publicly called for McDaniel’s ouster. Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate who has spread debunked claims of voter fraud, courted RNC members on Dhillon’s behalf this week inside the conference hotel. And from afar, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential contender, spoke out against McDaniel on the eve of the vote.

“I think we need a change. I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis said in an interview with Florida’s Voice, citing three “substandard election cycles in a row” under McDaniel’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Trump quietly supported McDaniel, a niece of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, and dispatched a handful of his lieutenants to Southern California this week to advocate on her behalf.

The former president avoided making a public endorsement at McDaniel’s request, according to those with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. McDaniel’s team is confident she will win without his public backing, allowing her to maintain a sense of neutrality heading into the 2024 presidential primary season.

According to its rules, the RNC must remain neutral in the presidential primary. Trump is the only announced GOP candidate so far, but other high-profile contenders are expected in the coming months.

McDaniel is now set to lead the RNC through the 2024 election. Under her leadership, the committee will control much of the 2024 presidential nominating process – including the debates and voting calendar — while directing the sprawling nationwide infrastructure designed to elect the next Republican president.

Dhillon, whose law firm earned more than $400,000 representing Trump and his political organizations in the 2022 midterms, had promised to leave her law practice if elected. The California attorney also vowed to remain independent in the 2024 Republican primary should she win.

Also in the race was MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who secured enough support to qualify for the ballot.

Lindell has already endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign and said he would not change his mind if his longshot bid is successful Friday.

“I’ve never not endorsed Donald Trump,” Lindell said. “I’m never moving off that space.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Jeff Zients as his next White House chief of staff on Friday, tapping an experienced technocrat who headed his administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as Biden prepares for a reelection bid while facing an onslaught of investigations from a newly empowered House Republican majority.

Zients succeeds Ron Klain, a longtime fixture in Biden’s political orbit who led the White House through its highs — passage of consequential legislation like the massive infrastructure bill and the Democrats’ climate, health care and tax law, as well as dozens of judges confirmed in the first two years — as well as its lows, such as the rocky withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The transition is the first major personnel change for an administration that has had minimal turnover at its highest ranks and throughout the Cabinet.

“I’m confident that Jeff will continue Ron’s example of smart, steady leadership, as we continue to work hard every day for the people we were sent here to serve,” Biden said in a statement, adding that Zients, like Klain, “understands what it means to lead a team” and “is as focused on getting things done.”

Zients, 56, will be tasked with shepherding White House operations at Biden’s pivotal two-year mark, when the Democratic administration shifts from ambitious legislating to implementing those policies and fending off Republican efforts to defang the achievements. Zients (pronounced ZY’-ents) is also charged with steering the White House at a time when it is struggling to contain the fallout from discoveries of classified documents at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at his former institute in Washington, which has triggered a special counsel investigation.

Klain, in his resignation letter to Biden, said it was the “right time” for a transition after the president’s “indisputably historic” first two years in office.

“The halfway point of your first term – with two successful years behind us, and key decisions on the next two years ahead — is the right time for this team to have fresh leadership,” he wrote. “I have served longer than eight of the last nine Chiefs of Staff, and have given this job my all; now it is time for someone else to take it on.”

Klain pledged to do whatever he could to help Biden seek reelection should he “choose to run” in 2024. Biden has said that he “intends” to campaign for another term, and his staff has begun preparations ahead of an expected formal announcement in the spring but has said that the president has not made a formal decision.

Biden said that he would host an event at the White House next week to thank Klain for his service and to welcome Zients to the role.

Zients, not known to be a political operative, is expected to focus on the task of governing as a separate circle of advisers take the lead on politics, such as senior adviser Anita Dunn and Jen O’Malley Dillon, a deputy chief of staff who managed Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. Presidential counselor Steve Ricchetti, senior adviser Mike Donilon and deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed will continue in Biden’s inner circle, while Klain, a longtime Democratic operative, will continue to advise and be involved from the outside.

Through both the Obama and Biden administrations, Zients has been the go-to person for significant operational challenges — such as a nationwide coronavirus vaccination campaign — or to repair bureaucratic messes such as the glitches and crashes that marked the launch of HealthCare.gov in fall 2013.

Then-President Barack Obama also tapped Zients in 2009 to eliminate the backlog in applicants for the Cash for Clunkers program, which offered rebates to drivers who swapped old cars for fuel-efficient vehicles. Zients later took on a similar challenge to smooth sign-ups for an updated version of the GI Bill.

Zients was vice chairman of Biden’s transition after he won in November 2020 and served as director of the National Economic Council during the Obama administration and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“I asked Jeff Zients to handle some of our toughest challenges and, without fail, his leadership proved invaluable,” Obama tweeted on Friday. “He led my economic team as we pushed our most progressive economic policies, and I know he’ll serve @POTUS and the American people well in this new role.”

As COVID-19 coordinator, Zients led the effort that administered more than 220 million vaccinations in Biden’s first 100 days, while shoring up the nation’s supply of therapeutics and tests and distributing them. Zients gradually shifted the administration from a so-called “wartime” effort that grappled with COVID-19 at its most severe levels, to a strategy that would allow people to resume some normalcy with a virus that is likely to be endemic.

Although Zients left the administration in April 2022, he quietly returned in recent months to ensure the remaining two years of Biden’s term would be adequately staffed, a prelude to his taking on the much broader managerial role.

Zients’ appointment continues the White House chief of staff job as among the most influential positions in the U.S. government only to have ever been filled by white men.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Biden’s first two years “would not have been nearly as successful without Ron Klain by the President’s side” and noted that he spoke with the outgoing chief of staff multiple times every day, knowing that his counsel and questions would be directly communicated to Biden.

“I’ve known Jeff for many years and cannot think of a better person to help smoothly implement the transformational legislation Congress passed,” Schumer said. “Jeff is the epitome of what an outstanding chief of staff should be. He’s organized, focused and deliberate, exactly the right person to lead the Biden administration and ensure the American people see and feel the benefits of these new laws.”

In the private sector, Zients served as top executive at the Advisory Board Co., a Washington consulting firm, and he maintains close relations with the business community. He’s worth between about $90 million and $400 million, according to the financial disclosure he filed when he entered the White House in 2021.

“I respect him enormously,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who spoke regularly with Zients during his stint as COVID-19 response coordinator, said this week. “He’s a very bright guy. I expect to be able to communicate with him.”

Yet those business ties have already spurred criticism of the Zients selection from some on the left, who have blasted the incoming chief of staff for his private-sector background. Progressives are anticipating a shift from Klain, who regularly tended to that ideological wing of the party and retained close ties with liberal lawmakers.

Zients was also an initial investor in Call Your Mother, a local bagel shop, although he divested his shares before joining the administration in 2021. He has also served as chairman of the Children’s National Hospital in Washington.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A liberal judge running in a pivotal race to determine majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court touts her support for abortion rights in the first two television ads of the closely watched race launched Thursday.

The winner of the April 4 election will determine whether the court remains under control of conservative justices or flips to a liberal majority. Everything from redistricting to abortion rights to election laws heading into the 2024 presidential election and after in the swing state could be determined by the court.

The court has the final word on hotly contested issues in the state because of conflicts between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature. The court has overwhelmingly sided with Republicans on major policy issues over the past decade-plus.

The race has become increasingly partisan, with both sides promising to spend millions on the contest in the battleground state. The candidates, particularly Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz, have also been more outspoken than usual for a judicial race in stating their positions on issues that could come before the court.

Protasiewicz launched the promotional spots that are running statewide as part of a $700,000 ad buy leading up to the Feb. 21 primary election. She is the first of four candidates to run ads in the race.

Protasiewicz faces another liberal, Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell, and two conservative candidates: former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly and Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow.

In one Protasiewicz ad, she looks directly at the camera and says, “I believe in a woman’s freedom to make her own decision on abortion.” In another, a woman says she is voting for Protasiewicz because she “believes in our freedom to make our own decisions when it comes to abortion.”

Protasiewicz also has been outspoken on redistricting, another issue almost certain to come before the court. She has called Republican-drawn maps approved by the state Supreme Court “rigged.”

Mitchell, the other liberal candidate, has also been outspoken in supporting abortion rights, while calling the state’s gerrymandered legislative maps “extreme” and “partisan.”

Mitchell spokesperson Sean Elliott said in a statement reacting to the Protasiewicz ads that Mitchell can’t comment on cases that may come before the court, but “he knows that reproductive decisions are best made between patients and their doctors. Not patients and politicians or courts.”

Kelly spokesperson Jim Dick accused Protasiewicz of disregarding the law when it conflicts with her personal values.

“Her promise to put her thumb on the scale of justice to achieve her preferred outcomes is offensive to the very idea of a written constitution, and it breaks faith with the people of Wisconsin who insist that their justices apply the law, not their personal preferences,” Dick said in a statement.

Dorow did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Wisconsin’s 1849 law banning nearly all abortions went into effect last year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion. Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general and governor are suing to overturn the state law, a case that could make its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court after the new justice is sworn in in August.

Former justice Kelly is endorsed by the state’s three largest anti-abortion groups, a fact he touted on Wednesday. Those groups are Wisconsin Family Action, Pro-Life Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Right to Life. Dorow, who became known for presiding over the nationally televised trial of a man who drove his SUV through a Christmas parade, killing six and injuring dozens, is endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life.

Pro-Life Wisconsin, which endorsed Kelly but not Dorow, says on its website that it only gets behind candidates “who demonstrate a commitment to protect preborn children — in all circumstances and at all stages of development — as full persons under the law.”

Kelly, who served on the Supreme Court between 2016 and 2020, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in his losing run for a full term three years ago. Dorow’s husband, Brian Dorow, worked in the Trump administration as a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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MIAMI (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he takes “full responsibility” after classified documents were found at his Indiana home.

“Let me be clear about something: Those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence,” Pence said at an appearance at Florida International University in his first public comments since the discovery. “Mistakes were made.”

The discovery made public by Pence’s team earlier this week marked the latest in a string of recoveries of sensitive papers from the homes of current and former top U.S. officials. The Department of Justice was already investigating the discovery of classified documents in former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and at President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware and his former Washington office.

Pence said “I take full responsibility” for the documents being in his possession. He said he had directed his counsel to work with the National Archives, Department of Justice and Congress and fully cooperate in any investigation.

The former vice president said national security depends on the proper handling of classified documents, but he hopes that people realize that he acted swiftly to correct the error.

“We acted above politics and put national interests first,” he said.

Pence was at the university to talk about economic freedom and to sign copies of his new book, “So Help Me God.”

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LANSING, Mich.. (AP) — Just three months ago, Rep. Elissa Slotkin was one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Washington, fighting an expensive campaign for reelection in a Michigan district that Republicans were sure they could retake.

That was all a distant memory recently as Slotkin sat beaming next to Sen. Debbie Stabenow at a Lansing luncheon commemorating Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Fresh off a surprisingly comfortable 5 percentage-point victory, Slotkin was eager to praise Stabenow, the dean of Michigan Democrats, whose Senate seat is suddenly open after the four-term senator announced her plans to retire.

“She knows what it takes to win and she is not going to let her seat flip when she leaves,” Slotkin said of Stabenow in an interview. “She feels, I think, very connected to making sure her legacy is upheld by passing the torch to someone who can win it.”

In what is quickly emerging as one of the most closely watched Senate races of the 2024 campaign, Slotkin is aggressively acting on Stabenow’s call for “the next generation of leadership.” The 46-year-old former CIA intelligence officer is taking steps to prepare for a Senate run, including forming a national campaign team, according to an aide close to the congresswoman who requested anonymity to discuss planning.

In the interview, Slotkin nodded to the plans, saying she was putting her “ducks in a row” before an announcement.

Slotkin would almost certainly face competition from fellow Democrats in one of the most politically competitive states in the U.S. The ultimate winner of next year’s primary will be crucial in the party’s effort to maintain the Senate, where Democrats hold a one-seat majority and are facing tough headwinds as they defend seats in Republican-leaning states from West Virginia to Montana and Ohio.

But Slotkin is gaining notice as someone who can help bring generational change to a party whose ranks on Capitol Hill are dominated by people several decades her senior. And the margin of her victory last year could offer reassurance that she’s prepared for another tough campaign.

“Extremely hard-working. Great fundraiser. Has run in tough elections. I think she would be at the very top,” Michigan Democratic strategist Amy Chapman, who was Barack Obama’s state director in 2008, said in assessing Slotkin’s primary prospects. Chapman is neutral in the Senate primary.

Slotkin’s potential Democratic rivals include Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Reps. Debbie Dingell and Haley Stevens, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. Only one Michigan Republican has held a seat in the Senate in the past 40 years, Spencer Abraham, from 1995 to 2001. He was defeated for reelection by Stabenow.

Many of the possible contenders have their own unique background that could distinguish them in a primary.

Gilchrist is the only Black party prospect in a state where the Detroit area accounts for half of the statewide vote. Benson won reelection by a wider margin in November than Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who sailed to a second term. McMorrow made a national name for herself last year with an impassioned floor speech about her opposition to restrictions on race- and gender-related topics in schools. Dingell, whose late husband, John, was the longest-serving House member ever, represents suburban Detroit.

But for now, Slotkin appears to be the most aggressive in acting in light of Stabenow’s Jan. 5 retirement announcement, which surprised much of the Michigan Democratic establishment.

Slotkin used her regular internal political meeting that day to begin discussing steps she would need to take to explore a bid, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity to discuss private planning. Since then, she has talked to state and local Michigan Democratic elected officials and has been in touch with donors inside and outside Michigan who have helped establish her as one of the U.S. House’s top campaign fundraisers.

Slotkin raised $10 million for her 2022 campaign, second among targeted Democrats only to Rep. Katie Porter of California.

Slotkin was elected in 2018 by narrowly beating two-term incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Bishop in a longtime Republican-leaning district. She also became Stabenow’s congresswoman, representing the senator’s home in Lansing.

The 72-year-old Stabenow, who represented the Lansing area in the House for four years before running for the Senate, took the junior Democrat under her wing on the campaign trail, guiding her to influential activists and groups, Slotkin said. Their relationship has stayed strong since, according to Slotkin.

“Sometimes she lets me borrow her little hideaway office near the House floor if I have votes until two in the morning,” Slotkin added.

Stabenow has given no sign she plans to support any of the several prospects seeking to succeed her, except to nod to the list’s several relative newcomers. “I’m really enthused about the the opportunity for the next generation of leadership,” she said in an interview.

After Slotkin narrowly won reelection in 2020, new congressional maps divided her home in Holly just northeast of Lansing from the state Capitol, her district’s population center and its Democratic voting base. In moving to Lansing to run in Michigan’s new 7th District, Slotkin was viewed by Republicans as vulnerable because she would be new to about a third of the district’s voters, many in rural GOP-leaning counties north of Lansing.

Democrat Joe Biden also had barely won in the new configuration, giving hope to Republican House strategists who wagered Biden’s low job approval last year would help sink vulnerable House Democrats.

Instead, Slotkin beat Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett in a race in which the two parties combined to spend more than $40 million, making it the third-most expensive House race in 2022.

“She’s had millions and millions of dollars spent raising her positive name ID throughout the current iteration of her congressional district and the prior iteration,” said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic political strategist who is neutral in the primary. “That’s why you’ve got to call Slotkin the favorite.”

Slotkin, however, is little known among Michigan’s Black voters, a liability considering nearly 78 percent of Detroit’s population is Black, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

Though she has advertised on Detroit television during her campaigns, she has never represented Detroit nor its exurbs with large Black populations such as Flint.

“I do believe she has her work cut out for her in the Black community in Detroit,” said Alexis Wiley, the former chief of staff to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “I don’t think you can overstate the uphill battle there.”

Slotkin entered Congress with nationally recognized freshmen such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who openly clashed with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She carved out a reputation in the House as quietly persevering, though vocal when necessary, said former Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa, who entered Congress with Slotkin and calls her a friend.

“There’s nobody better at strategy that I’m aware of than Elissa Slotkin,” Axne said.

Last week, Slotkin traveled to Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan’s two largest cities and both outside her district, to attend events commemorating King’s birthday with Black leaders.

It was what she called part of an effort to “talk to opinion leaders” and “see what they think,” though she stopped short of suggesting a deadline for an announcement.

Ever the strategist, she noted “first movers are important in politics,” but that it’s also a “countervailing wind against preparation and methodical planning.”

“I could make an announcement, but then I don’t have the team in place,” she said. “So, I want to do it right.”

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Video released Friday shows the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggling with his assailant for control of a hammer moments before he was struck in the head during a brutal attack in the couple’s San Francisco home last year.

Police body-camera footage shows David DePape wrest the tool from Paul Pelosi, 82, and lunge toward him with the weapon over his head. The blow to Pelosi occurs out of the camera’s view and the officers — one of them cursing — rush into the house and one tackles DePape.

Pelosi, apparently unconscious, can be seen lying face down on the floor in his pajama top and underwear. Officials later said he woke up in a pool of his own blood.

The video release comes after a coalition of news agencies, including The Associated Press, sought access to the evidence that prosecutors played in court last month. The San Francisco district attorney had refused to make the exhibits available to journalists and defense lawyers fought their release.

A state court judge Wednesday ruled there was no reason to keep the video secret.

The evidence included portions of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call on Oct. 28, as well as video from a Capitol police surveillance camera, a camera worn by one of the two police officers who arrived first at the house and nearly 18-minutes of audio from DePape’s interview with police.

The Capitol Police video shows DePape approach a glass-panel door shortly after 2 a.m., leave and then return wearing a large backpack and carrying two other bags. He set the items down and pulled out a hammer, pausing to put on gloves, and used it to smash the door enough to force his way through an opening.

DePape, 43, has pleaded not guilty in state and federal cases and is jailed without bail. He faces charges including attempted murder, elder abuse, and assaulting an immediate family member of a federal official.

San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Adam Lipson, who represents DePape, called the video’s release a “terrible mistake.”

“The footage is inflammatory and could feed unfounded theories about this case, and we are extremely concerned about Mr. DePape’s ability to get a fair trial,” Lipson said in a statement.

Members of Congress have faced a sharp rise in threats in the two years since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

During the Jan. 6 attack, rioters chanted menacingly for the speaker as they rampaged through the halls trying to halt certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election. One man was convicted this week of eight criminal counts after he put his feet on a desk in Pelosi’s office and left a note to her punctuated with a sexist expletive.

Paul Pelosi was asleep at the couple’s home when DePape broke in. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington at the time and protected by a security detail that does not extend to family members.

After DePape confronted Paul Pelosi in his bedroom, Pelosi tried to make it to an elevator in the home to reach a phone, but DePape blocked his way, authorities previously said. Pelosi then told DePape he had to use the restroom, where his cellphone was charging, allowing him to call 911.

Police praised a dispatcher, who could hear DePape in the background, for recognizing the threat despite Pelosi’s calm voice and coding the call as a priority, resulting in a faster police response.

San Francisco Officer Kolby Wilmes’ body-camera video begins with officers approaching the home and rapping on the door. In the 20 seconds it takes for the door to open, the officers discuss whether they have the right house.

After the door swings open, Paul Pelosi says, “Hi, guys, how are you?”

Both men are facing the officers at the door. Initially, the hammer is in the shadows and it takes about five seconds before a flashlight shows DePape holding the handle of a hammer with his right hand and clutching Pelosi’s right hand, which is gripping the hammer head, with his left hand. The struggle is not apparent in the first few seconds.

“What’s going on, man?” the officer asks.

“Everything’s good,” DePape replies.

“Drop the hammer,” the officer says.

DePape says “Umm, nope.”

“Hey,” Pelosi says, wincing as DePape twists his wrist to wrest the hammer free. “Hey, hey, hey.”

DePape pulls the weapon loose and in a swift motion winds up with his right hand and delivers a vicious overhead blow as Pelosi disappears from view. An officer calls for backup as they struggle with DePape while Pelosi lies on the floor.

In an interview with San Francisco Police Lt. Carla Hurley after he was taken into custody, DePape said he didn’t regret the attack even though it was not on Nancy Pelosi, his intended target.

Surprised to find Paul Pelosi in the home, DePape described most of their encounter as “pretty amicable,” but said he attacked him because he was on a mission.

DePape said the attack happened very quickly and he recalled how it took the officers by surprise.

“I yank the hammer away from him, I jump into action,” he said with excitement in his voice. “They jump into action. They’re like on top of me instantly.”

DePape said he didn’t remember how many times he struck Pelosi, but said it was with “full force.”

Paul Pelosi later underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. He has since appeared in public wearing a hat and a glove to cover his wounds.

Speaking at the U.S. Capitol after the video’s release, Nancy Pelosi said her husband “is making progress but it will take more time.”

DePape told Hurley he was going after Nancy Pelosi for lying to the American public and that he planned to hold her hostage for her crimes. He believed the discredited conspiracy that Democrats stole the 2020 election from Trump.

He said he planned to have a discussion with his hostage and would “break her kneecaps” if she lied.

When Hurley asked why DePape did not leave when he realized Nancy Pelosi wasn’t home and the police were on the way, he compared himself to the Founding Fathers, explaining that he refused to surrender.

Nancy Pelosi said she had not seen the videos or heard the police interview.

“I have absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband,” she said.

The U.S. Capitol Police investigated nearly 10,000 threats to members last year, more than twice the number from four years earlier. The department faced heavy criticism in the aftermath of the attack on Paul Pelosi. The agency has access to about 1,800 cameras, including one on the couple’s house that was not being monitored during the attack because the speaker was not there.

Public officials across the U.S., from local school board members to election workers, have also endured harassment and intimidation.

This month, a former Republican candidate for a state House seat in New Mexico was arrested in a series of shootings targeting the homes or offices of elected Democratic officials and a Kansas man was convicted of threatening a GOP congressman.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden continues to condemn political violence.

“I think you don’t even need a video to know how horrific and unconscionable the attack on Paul Pelosi was, and to be very honest it’s a miracle that Paul was not more seriously injured and we are grateful that he is on his way and continues to recover,” she said Friday.

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Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst, Lisa Mascaro and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, said Thursday he is running for the Senate seat held by long-serving Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

The 2024 race is quickly emerging as a marquee Senate contest, even though the 89-year-old Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has yet to announce if she will seek another term, though her retirement is widely expected. Schiff is jumping in two weeks after Rep. Katie Porter became the first candidate to declare her campaign for the safe Democratic seat.

Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, made clear he intends to anchor his candidacy to his role as Trump’s chief antagonist in Congress. In his campaign kickoff video, he said the “biggest job of his life” was serving as impeachment manager, and he promised to continue to be a “fighter” for democracy.

“If our democracy isn’t delivering for Americans, they’ll look for alternatives, like a dangerous demagogue who promises that he alone can fix it,” Schiff said of Trump, who has announced his 2024 campaign for the presidency.

Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor who joined the Senate in 1992, told reporters in Washington this week that she will make a decision about 2024 in the “next couple of months.”

The jockeying for the seat has created a politically awkward dynamic for Feinstein, who has broken gender barriers throughout her decadeslong career in local and national politics. In recent years, questions have arisen about her cognitive health and memory, though she has defended her effectiveness in representing a state that is home to nearly 40 million people.

Schiff, 62, said in an interview Thursday that he had spoken to Feinstein a day earlier to inform her about his plans.

“I want to make sure that everything I did was respectful of her and that I did so with her knowledge and her blessing,” Schiff told The Associated Press.

Asked if he was aware of the senator’s plans, Schiff said, “I don’t want to presume to speak for Sen. Feinstein, and I think she’s earned the right to announce her decision when she’s ready to make that announcement.”

Schiff was first elected to Congress in 2000 and represents parts of Hollywood. He has been a frequent target of conservatives — Trump in particular — since the then-GOP-led House Intelligence Committee he served on started investigating Trump’s ties to Russia in the 2016 election. Schiff appeared frequently on television to question Trump’s actions.

That criticism intensified when Democrats took the House majority in early 2019 and he became the committee chair, and it reached a full-on roar with his role in the impeachment investigation of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Trump was impeached in December 2019 on charges he abused the power of the presidency to investigate rival Joe Biden and obstructed Congress’ investigation.

In an impassioned plea to the Senate in early 2020, Schiff urged Trump’s removal from office and framed the choice in moral terms. “If right doesn’t matter, we’re lost,” he said at the time.

“You know you can’t trust this president do what’s right for this country,” Schiff said. “You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump. He’ll do it now. He’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months, he’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to. This is why if you find him guilty you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters.”

The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump of both charges. In 2021, he became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, this time for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol after he lost the 2020 election. He was again acquitted by the Senate.

Republicans are still angry about Schiff’s starring role at the impeachment trial, with new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accusing him of using his leadership position to “lie to the American public again and again.” McCarthy, R-Calif., said this week that he intended to block Schiff from continuing his service on the House Intelligence Committee.

With the centrist Feinstein in the twilight of her career, the race in the heavily Democratic state already is shaping up as a showcase for an ambitious, younger generation on the party’s left wing.

Both Schiff and Porter are nationally recognized — Schiff through his leading impeachment role and Porter, a favorite of the party’s progressive wing, through her tough questioning of CEOs and other witnesses at congressional hearings. Each is also a formidable small-dollar fundraiser.

Neither has run statewide before, and each would face the challenge of becoming better known beyond their Southern California districts. Democrats are expected to dominate the contest — a Republican hasn’t won a statewide race in California since 2006, and the past two Senate elections had only Democrats on the November ballot.

The field is expected to grow, with other possible contenders including Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Asked how he would stand out in what is expected to be a crowded field, Schiff said he would emphasize his central role of national struggles over democracy and the economy.

“I think that record of leadership, that record of staunch defense of our democracy, and the way that I’ve championed an economy that works for everyone, I think are a powerful record to run on,” he said.

In his announcement video, Schiff mixed shots of his family and highlights from his courtroom work with video from the impeachment proceedings and clips of Trump and other Republicans.

He warns that the threat of extremism is not over.

“Today’s Republican Party is gutting the middle class, threatening our democracy” Schiff says. “They aren’t going to stop. We have to stop them.”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Conservative attorney John Eastman, a lead architect of some of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election, was slapped Thursday with a series of disciplinary charges in California that could lead to his disbarment.

The State Bar of California’s chief trial counsel, George Cardona, said in a statement that the 11 charges stem from allegations that Eastman assisted Trump with a strategy — not supported by facts — to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election by obstructing the count of electoral votes of certain states.

The office intends to seek Eastman’s disbarment.

Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University law school in Southern California, was one of Trump’s lawyers during the election. He wrote a memo that argued former Vice President Mike Pence could keep Trump in power by overturning the results of the election during a joint session of Congress convened to count electoral votes. Critics have likened that to instructions for staging a coup.

The State Bar said Eastman faces charges that he violated the business and professions code by making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of “moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption.”

Eastman disputes “every aspect” of the charges filed by the State Bar, which are based on his role as counsel to the former president after the election, his attorney, Randall A. Miller, said in a statement.

The State Bar’s action “is part of a nationwide effort to use the bar discipline process to penalize attorneys who opposed the current administration in the last presidential election. Americans of both political parties should be troubled by this politicization of our nation’s state bars,” Miller’s statement said.

In advising Trump, “Eastman’s assessments were the product of comprehensive research of the law and historical records — including the 12th Amendment and Electoral Count Act — supported by reasonable interpretation of legal and historical precedent, scholarly analysis, and legislative history,” Miller added.

“He was a lawyer, not Rasputin,” Miller said.

The bar disclosed in March that it was investigating Eastman for possible ethics violations.

As the State Bar’s chief trial counsel, Cardona investigates and prosecutes attorney disciplinary matters before the State Bar Court, which can recommend attorneys be either suspended or, in some cases, lose their licenses to practice law. The California Supreme Court ultimately decides what to do.

Eastman has been a member of the California Bar since 1997, according to its website. He was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. He ran for California attorney general in 2010, finishing second in the Republican primary.

Eastman retired as dean of the Chapman University law school last year after more than 160 faculty members signed a letter calling for the university to take action against him.

In his statement, Cardona said the charges allege that Eastman “violated this duty in furtherance of an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land — an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy.”

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The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press. The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the Archives at the end of an administration.

The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.

Responsibility to comply with the Presidential Records Act “does not diminish after the end of an administration,” the Archives wrote in the letter. “Therefore, we request that you conduct an assessment of any materials held outside of (the Archives) that relate to the administration for which you serve as a designated representative under the PRA, to determine whether bodies of materials previously assumed to be personal in nature might inadvertently contain Presidential or Vice Presidential records subject to the PRA, whether classified or unclassified.”

Spokespeople for former Presidents Trump, Obama, Clinton and former Vice Presidents Pence, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Freddy Ford, chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, suggested in his response to the Archives that Bush’s office did not believe a search was necessary, saying, “Thank you for your note. We understand its purpose and remain confident that no such materials are in our possession.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment but the searches by Biden’s attorneys and the FBI appear to fulfill the Archives’ request.

The Archives had no comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of the documents, and also Biden’s.

It turns out that officials from all levels of government discover they are in possession of classified material and turn it over to authorities at least several times a year, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of classified documents.

Current and former officials involved in the handling of classified information say that while there are clear policies for how such information should be reviewed and stored, those policies are sometimes pushed aside at the highest levels. Teams of national security officials, secretaries and military aides who share responsibility for keeping top-level executives informed — and the executives themselves — may bend the rules for convenience, expediency or sometimes simple carelessness.

While much of the attention has been on classified information, the Presidential Records Act actually requires that, from the Reagan administration onward, all records must be transferred to the Archives regardless of classification.

Speaking Thursday at an unrelated news conference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that though he could not discuss any specific ongoing investigation, “We have had for quite a number of years any number of mishandling investigations. That is unfortunately a regular part of our counterintelligence division’s and counterintelligence program’s work.”

He said there was a need for people to be conscious of laws and rules governing the handling of classified information. “Those rules,” he said, “are there for a reason.”

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