By Natasha Bertrand and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN Russian government officials requested that a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy agency who was convicted of murder in Germany last year be included in the US’ proposed swap of a notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the
Continue Reading By Kaitlan Collins, CNN Jared Kushner details his clashes with Steve Bannon in his new book, describing a “toxic” West Wing presence who accused him of “undermining the President’s agenda” and threatened to break him “in half” if Kushner turned on him. The detailed account in the memoir — set to be published next month
Continue Reading By Whitney Wild, Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN The embattled inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security first learned of missing Secret Service text messages in May 2021 — months earlier than previously known and more than a year before he alerted the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, that
Continue Reading By Jeremy Diamond, CNN Recounting his yearlong effort to pass the First Step Act, Jared Kushner in his forthcoming memoir describes the numerous and ultimately unsuccessful efforts by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to thwart the landmark criminal justice reform legislation. In his upcoming book, “Breaking History: A White House Memoir,” Kushner details several efforts by
Continue Reading By MJ Lee, Arlette Saenz, Maegan Vazquez and Kevin Liptak, CNN White House communications director Kate Bedingfield is staying on in her role, a surprise decision coming after the White House announced she would be leaving, multiple sources told CNN. Bedingfield shared her decision in an email sent to her colleagues Friday afternoon. Bedingfield wrote
Continue Reading By Clare Foran and Ted Barrett, CNN The Senate voted Wednesday to pass a long-awaited bill aimed at boosting US semiconductor production in a bid to increase American competitiveness. It passed with broad bipartisan support, 64 to 33. The measure now goes to the House for approval before it can be sent to President Joe
Continue Reading By Jennifer Hansler, CNN The Biden administration announced sanctions targeting Russia over its global “malign influence” and election interference operations on Friday. In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new tranche of sanctions “is separate and distinct from the broad range of measures the United States and its allies and partners continue
Continue Reading By Natasha Bertrand and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN Russian government officials requested that a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy agency who was convicted of murder in Germany last year be included in the US’ proposed swap of a notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the
Continue Reading By Tierney Sneed and Holmes Lybrand, CNN The Justice Department unveiled on Friday a conspiracy charge against a Russian national accused of working with FSB agents and using unnamed political groups in the US as foreign agents of Russia. Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov allegedly orchestrated “a years-long foreign malign influence campaign that used various U.S. political
Continue Reading By Jennifer Hansler, CNN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday for the first time since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine in late February. In what the top US diplomat described as “a frank and direct conversation,” Blinken said he “pressed the Kremlin to accept the
Continue Reading By Eva McKend and Michael Warren, CNN Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is turning up the heat on Herschel Walker, calling out his Republican opponent for so far refusing to agree to public debates before this fall’s election. Warnock released a new television ad this week criticizing Walker for “dodging” three debate invitations the
Continue Reading By Ariane de Vogue and Betsy Klein, CNN President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Julie Rikelman, who argued the case for the Mississippi clinic before the Supreme Court in the case that led to the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, for a post on an US appeals court. Rikelman’s nomination comes a
Continue Reading By Ryan Nobles, CNN Chad Wolf, an acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security during the Trump administration, has been interviewed by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, a source familiar with his deposition tells CNN. Wolf’s interview took place several months ago — before new revelations related to the
Continue Reading By Kevin Liptak and Alex Rogers, CNN House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to depart Friday for a tour of Asia, though whether she stops in Taiwan remains uncertain, a person familiar with the plans said. Pelosi’s trip includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore — all US allies in the region. But a
Continue Reading By Priscilla Alvarez and Kate Sullivan, CNN The Biden administration said Thursday it had authorized US Customs and Border Protection to close gaps in a border wall in Arizona near the Morelos Dam in order to protect migrants from drowning and sustaining injuries while trying to cross the Colorado River into the United States. The Yuma Morelos
Continue Reading By Daniella Diaz, Annie Grayer and Eva McKend, CNN The House of Representatives voted Friday evening to ban assault-style weapons, sending the bill to the Senate where it’s not expected to advance. The final vote was 217-213. Democrats Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and
Continue Reading By Dan Merica and Eva McKend, CNN Wisconsin state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski ended her US Senate campaign on Friday as the field in the Democratic primary consolidates around Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Godlewski, who is endorsing Barnes in the contest to take on GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, is the third Democrat to drop out of
Continue Reading By Daniella Diaz, CNN Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota said in a radio interview Thursday he doesn’t want President Joe Biden to run for president in 2024, the strongest public comments yet from a lawmaker within his own party to oppose Biden running for a second term. “I have respect for Joe Biden. I
Continue Reading By Melanie Zanona, CNN Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to Donald Trump, had a breakfast meeting Friday morning with a group of House Republicans in House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office, multiple GOP sources told CNN. The topic of discussion: the policy task forces that McCarthy created last summer to start sketching out a legislative
Continue Reading By Kaitlan Collins, CNN Jared Kushner details his clashes with Steve Bannon in his new book, describing a “toxic” West Wing presence who accused him of “undermining the President’s agenda” and threatened to break him “in half” if Kushner turned on him. The detailed account in the memoir — set to be published next month
Continue Reading