QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s not guilty, your honor.” Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who, along with his wife, pleaded innocent to federal charges that they traded their influence for gifts and loans Article, this page

Republicans consolidate ’16 primaries

WASHINGTON - The Republican National Committee moved Friday to consolidate its presidential nominating process in 2016, a pre-emptive effort to avoid a drawn-out campaign that many in the party say could imperil their effort to reclaim the White House.

“We have been saying for months that we were no longer going to sit around and allow ourselves to slice and dice for six months,” Reince Priebus, the party chairman, said in remarks hailing the vote on the rule changes. The package, which cleared the 168-member committee with just nine dissenting votes, left Iowa and New Hampshire in the traditional roles of first caucus and first primary, followed by South Carolina and Nevada nominating contests, all in February. Other states are allowed to hold their primaries and caucuses March 1.

After the first two weeks in March, states can hold winner-take-all elections, which will deliver large troves of delegates and are intended to yield a prospective nominee early in the process.

Ex-senator aide, porn suspect, a suicide

A former aide to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander hanged himself in his parents’ basement in Maryland as he awaited trial on child-pornography charges, officials said Friday.

Ryan Loskarn, 35, was pronounced dead in Sykesville, Md., just after noon Thursday, said Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. He said the death was ruled a suicide.

Family members called police after finding Loskarn unresponsive in the basement, where he had been living, the Carroll County sheriff’s office said in a statement posted on its website.

A federal judge had allowed Loskarn to live with his parents while awaiting trial on charges of possession and attempted distribution of child pornography. He was required to be electronically monitored.

Loskarn had been chief of staff for Alexander, R-Tenn., for two years before his arrest. Loskarn was fired immediately after his arrest.

Federal court system hit by cyberattack

WASHINGTON - Unknown cyberattackers hit the federal court system Friday afternoon, making it difficult for the public to access cases and making it impossible in some instances for lawyers to file documents.

Karen Redmond, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said the denial-of-service attack affected an unknown number of courts across the country.

The courts posted an online advisory saying the system was experiencing network-connectivity problems and adding that users may have trouble connecting to various court sites.

The advisory said engineers were investigating the problem and working to restore full functionality as soon as possible. It apologized for any inconvenience.

A notice about the attack was sent to the federal court in Little Rock, but it not immediately clear whether the court was affected.

Redmond said U.S. federal court employees noticed the problem late Friday afternoon.

GOP’s Priebus tells official to step down

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Republican National Committee has called for the resignation of a Michigan GOP official who made contentious remarks about gays and Muslims.

Chairman Reince Priebus and Michigan Party Chairman Bobby Schostak on Friday called for Dave Agema to step down as one of Michigan’s representatives to the Republican National Committee.

Last March, Agema posted an article on Facebook with an unsubstantiated claim that gays account for half the murders in large cities. In December, he told Berrien County Republicans that his experience as an American Airlines pilot made him familiar with efforts by gays to get health-insurance coverage because of the ravages of AIDS.

He also came under fire from the Council on American-Islamic Relations for a Facebook posting this month questioning Muslims’ commitment to charity.

Agema did not attend the committee’s Washington meeting and was not immediately available for comment. In a recent statement, he said his “liberal critics” would use his attendance as an excuse “for a drawn-out fight between liberals and conservatives within the party.”

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/25/2014