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Trump documents, Biden news conference, 5G networks launch: 5 things to know Wednesday

Donald Trump's lawyers are fighting the release of documents related to the riot Jan. 6 at the Capitol.

Trump documents set for release in Washington, evidence found in New York

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack could get access to a small portion of former President Donald Trump's White House documents as soon as Wednesday, according to a court filing late Tuesday. The National Archives was scheduled to release about a half-dozen pages of records that had not been blocked from release as Trump pursues a Supreme Court challenge to the House committee's demand for a swath of his White House records, officials said. Trump's attorneys had "not raised any arguments about those six pages in this appeal." Also late Tuesday, the New York attorney general's office told a court its investigators uncovered evidence Trump's company used "fraudulent or misleading" asset valuations to get loans and tax benefits. Letitia James' office said state authorities haven't yet decided whether to bring a civil lawsuit in connection with the allegations, but Trump and his two eldest children - Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump - need to be questioned. Trump and his lawyers say the probe is politically motivated.

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Biden to hold first formal news conference of 2022

President Joe Biden will hold his first formal news conference of 2022 on Wednesday, after facing months of criticism about lack of media access. It will be Biden's first solo press conference at the White House since March 2021 and his first since November, when he traveled to Glasgow for the United Nations climate summit. The president will also face reporters a day before he's due to mark his first year in office and after a bruising week in which his political standing took a hit amid record inflation, failed efforts to push through voting rights legislation and a Supreme Court ruling against a key component of his vaccine campaign. Biden will field questions from reporters on Wednesday at 4 p.m. E.T.

Blinken to visit Ukraine amid Russian invasion threat

With a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine looming, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Ukrainian leaders Wednesday as the Biden administration ramps up its diplomatic efforts. Blinken is scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba "to reinforce the United States' commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to a senior State Department official. Blinken’s trip comes after lower-level talks with Russian and European officials last week failed to produce a breakthrough. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine and threatened to escalate conflict with its neighbor unless the U.S. and its European allies make a series of security guarantees to Moscow.

Supreme Court to hear Cruz challenge to campaign finance law

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that has bitterly divided Republicans and Democrats over how candidates fund their campaigns. The case, brought by Texas Republican Ted Cruz, centers on the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which set new limits on political donations, tried to quash "soft money" that skirted those limits and required federal candidates to include the "I approve this message" tag line on TV ads. On the surface, Cruz wants the court to strike down part of the law that restricts a campaign's ability to raise money after an election to repay a candidate's personal loan. The Biden administration says the provision helps prevent corruption, but critics say it's a perk that benefits incumbents.

AT&T and Verizon to launch 5G service nationwide — with one exception

Wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon will launch 5G networks nationwide, except in areas within two miles of airports. Both companies decided to voluntarily limit their launches after industry group Airlines for America warned the frequency could interfere with devices that measure airplane altitude and impact safety. At issue is 5G's C-Band, which wireless carriers invested billions on last year. "Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded," Airlines for America wrote Monday in a letter signed by the CEOs of Delta, American, United, Southwest, FedEx, UPS and more. The FAA is studying the potential impacts of 5G on flights and has preemptively ordered some Boeing 787 operators to take extra precautions when landing.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump documents, Biden news conference: 5 things to know Wednesday