National Politics

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — For years, President Donald Trump has sought to downplay his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who for years moved in the same social circles as Trump in Palm Beach and Manhattan. Trump has alternately called Epstein a “terrific guy” — in 2002 — and

By MJ Lee, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Employees of a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where convicted child-sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is serving time have been terminated, one of Maxwell’s lawyers said Friday, after a whistleblower this week released to Rep. Jamie Raskin alleged correspondence between Maxwell and her lawyer. Leah Saffian, a

By Ella Nilsen, René Marsh, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — Top energy and nuclear officials in the Trump administration are planning to meet with the White House and National Security Council in the coming days to dissuade President Donald Trump from resuming testing of the nation’s nuclear weapons, sources told CNN. Energy Secretary Chris Wright,

By Kristen Holmes, Adam Cancryn, Donald Judd, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Friday he will ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to many other high-profile figures, in an extraordinary step that comes just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein that mention

By Jason Morris, CNN (CNN) — The sprawling racketeering indictment case against President Donald Trump and several allies for their efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat in Georgia will continue at least for now in the hands of a new prosecutor. Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia, a bipartisan collaboration of

By Sarah Ferris, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — Republicans in Washington successfully defused the 43-day government shutdown without surrendering to Democrats’ demands to spend billions more to offset spiking health insurance costs. Now, the GOP is under mounting pressure to figure out its own plan. Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire in

By Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, Priscilla Alvarez, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — Deep below the US Capitol, in a secure room meant to protect discussions of American secrets, a wave of sarcastic laughter spread among lawmakers and staff members who were assembled to receive a briefing in late October from senior Pentagon officials. The Navy

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — As the Supreme Court heard arguments in a racially charged Louisiana voting rights case last month, down on its ground floor a special exhibit was running a continual loop of commentary from Chief Justice John Roberts and others extolling the desegregation ruling of Brown v. Board

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Nevada Supreme Court handed a victory Thursday to Democratic state prosecutors who charged the state’s pro-Trump “fake electors” from 2020. The court ruled that the case should proceed in Clark County, home to Las Vegas and the bulk of the state’s Democratic electorate. A lower court previously dismissed

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Paul Ingrassia, who withdrew his controversial nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel last month, is now serving as deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration, according to a White House official. Ingrassia’s chances of getting through the Senate confirmation process imploded after Politico published a slew

By Kevin Liptak, Zachary Cohen, Jim Sciutto, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump was briefed this week on options for military operations inside Venezuela as he continues to mull a path forward in the country, four sources told CNN. Trump has yet to decide on how to proceed, and he continues to weigh the risks

By Samantha Delouya, Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — A Trump administration official referred California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to the Justice Department over mortgage fraud allegations, a source familiar told CNN. The accusation was made by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who has made similar allegations against high-ranking democratic

By Annie Grayer, Manu Raju, Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to quickly schedule a House vote on an effort to force the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein case files once the calculation was made that it couldn’t be stopped. The decision marked a shift in strategy for Johnson

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — A person ransacked the New Jersey federal prosecutor’s office building on Wednesday after they were denied a meeting with US Attorney Alina Habba, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The person was sitting in a waiting room outside Habba’s office when they were turned away,

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has designated four European Antifa groups as terrorists. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday he was classifying four groups in Germany, Italy, and Greece as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and intends to designate them as foreign terrorist organizations effective next week. The designations put

By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Katelyn Polantz, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James battled the Justice Department in court Thursday over whether President Donald Trump lawfully appointed a prosecutor to go after his political enemies. The two cases suffer from “a fundamental

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon conducted its 20th strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat earlier this week, a Defense Department official said Thursday. “The strike occurred in the Caribbean and four narco-terrorists were killed, no survivors,” the official confirmed in a statement to CNN. Trump administration officials have acknowledged they do

By Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — As the House convened Wednesday to hold a critical vote to end the government shutdown, an outspoken centrist Democrat took aim at a member of her own party, a surprise move that shocked Democrats. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington took to the floor to launch the process of