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Evening Report

Thursday, December 28

Haley draws backlash with Civil War remarks

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is facing criticism from competitors, strategists and more after failing to mention slavery as a cause of the Civil War during a New Hampshire town hall Wednesday, and for her effort to attribute the question to a "Democrat plant."

When a voter at the event asked Haley about the cause of the Civil War, Haley said, in part, "I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do."

Some responses:

MAGA PAC, which supports former President Trump, said, "The issue is her response, not the question. Haley is clearly not ready for primetime."
Primary competitor and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who faced recent scrutiny for supporting education guidelines that said slaves partially benefited from their enslavement, also said Haley's not "ready for primetime" and that it's "not that difficult to identify and acknowledge the role slavery played in the Civil War."
Dan McLaughlin, senior writer for National Review, said the voter may have been a plant, "But it was still an easy question & she just ran the red lights like she was on autopilot."

Haley said in a radio interview after, "Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That's the easy part of it. What I was saying was what does it mean to us today? What it means to us today is about freedom."

Decision Desk HQ/The Hill's polling index shows Trump with a polling average of 43.7 percent in New Hampshire and Haley second with 26.7 percent. While still 17 points behind, the gap between Trump and Haley has narrowed significantly in recent weeks.

Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

CATCH UP QUICK

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing "minimal" symptoms, amid a national uptick in cases.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said his home was "swatted," or the target of false emergency calls to law enforcement, while he and his wife were at dinner Wednesday. A few other public officials' homes have reportedly been the target of swatting incidents this week.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) will seek election in Colorado's 4th District instead of the 3rd District she currently represents. She'll avoid a rematch against Democrat Adam Frisch, who lost in 2022 by 546 votes.

NEW THIS AFTERNOON

U.S. imposes sanctions on alleged Houthi funding network

The Treasury Department placed sanctions on the head of the Currency Exchanges Association in Yemen and three exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey, alleging they helped send Iranian funds to Houthi rebels.

Houthi rebels have been attacking shipping vessels in the Red Sea, aiming to curb Israel's airstrikes and ground attacks in Gaza.

DEFENSE

Major U.S. military crimes now prosecuted by independent lawyers

Thursday marks the official rollout of a new Defense Department policy putting specialized and independent military lawyers in charge of prosecuting major crimes, which Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called "the most important reform to our military justice system since the creation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1950."

The policy moves 13 crimes from under the purview of military commanders to new special trial counsel offices that have opened in four branches of the armed services. The crimes include murder, domestic violence, and some cases of sexual assault and misconduct.

"This reform aims to help strengthen accountability and increase all of our service members' trust in the fairness and integrity of the military justice system," Lloyd said.

IN OTHER NEWS

Trump said director begged him to appear in 'Home Alone 2'

Former President Trump denied "Home Alone 2" director Chris Columbus's previous comment that Trump bullied his way into the movie, part of which was filmed in his Plaza Hotel. Trump said Columbus and others "were begging me to make a cameo appearance."