National Politics

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN A federal judge took aim at former President Donald Trump on Monday for lying about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, saying that former Vice President Al Gore had a better standing to challenge the 2000 election results but that he was “a man” and walked away.

By Betsy Klein, CNN It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the nation’s capital. First lady Jill Biden kicked off the evergreen annual process of decking the White House halls on Monday afternoon when she received the official 2021 White House Christmas tree. The 18-and-a-half-foot Fraser fir hails from Peak Farms of Jefferson,

By Tierney Sneed, CNN The Senate Judiciary Committee is keeping the pressure on the FBI and the Justice Department Inspector General to take additional actions to address the mishandling of the FBI’s probe of Larry Nassar. On Monday, the committee made public a letter a bipartisan group of senators sent to FBI Director Chris Wray,

By Sara Murray and Michael Warren, CNN Laurie Snell — the estranged wife of Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell — was awarded primary physical custody and sole legal custody of the couple’s three children, according to a judge’s order that was made public Monday. The decision comes amid a contentious divorce and custody proceedings

By Paul LeBlanc, CNN Cases are going up. Hospitalizations are too. Depending on where you live, mask mandates are either being dropped or enacted. Vaccines are more available than ever, but hesitancy remains a real problem. Experimental drugs are showing promise as well, yet regulatory approval takes time. It’s a confusing time in the coronavirus

By Gregory Krieg and Lauren del Valle, CNN Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least a dozen women, “was not fully transparent” about the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of Covid-19 and, in new independent findings, used taxpayer resources to help write and promote his 2020 book

By Arlette Saenz and Kate Sullivan, CNN The White House on Monday announced that 95% of the federal workforce is in compliance with the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate. “Ahead of tonight’s deadline, the federal government has achieved 95% compliance, and 90% of the 3.5 million federal workers are already vaccinated,” White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator

By Kate Sullivan, CNN The White House will keep its mask mandate in place on its grounds even as Washington, DC, lifts its indoor mask requirement starting Monday, a contrast that highlights the uneven messaging many Americans are receiving on Covid-19. The nation’s capital remains an area with “substantial” community transmission, according to the US

By Chandelis Duster, CNN Vermont Rep. Peter Welch announced Monday he would run for the US Senate seat held by fellow Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, who announced last week he would not seek reelection in 2022. “We are at a pivotal moment,” Welch said in a statement. “Vermont families are struggling through multiple crises: a

By Kara Scannell, CNN Michael Cohen is a free man. On Monday morning Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and self-described fixer was officially released from his three-year prison sentence — the past year-plus of it served from his posh Park Avenue apartment. Speaking outside of the federal courthouse in New York, Cohen said he received

By Paul LeBlanc, CNN President Joe Biden on Monday mourned the lives lost in a deadly incident at a Wisconsin holiday parade, calling the violence a tragedy that has left a community struggling to understand what has happened. At least five are dead and 40 others injured after a man drove his vehicle through the

By Liam Reilly and Devan Cole, CNN Senate Democrats will try to negotiate with moderate Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to address their disagreements on the size and scope of President Joe Biden’s economic package as it heads to the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday. “The House did a very strong

By Aaron Pellish Republican Virginia Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears on Sunday refused to say whether she’d received the Covid-19 vaccine while repeating a series of falsehoods and misconceptions about the vaccines and infections. Sears, who did not reveal her vaccination status during her successful campaign for the second-highest seat in Virginia, told CNN’s Dana Bash

By Donald Judd, CNN Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday tried to tamp down the idea that he and Vice President Kamala Harris are starting to quietly compete to be the future standard-bearer of the Democratic Party, saying their focuses are on their roles in the nearly year-old Biden administration. The comments from Buttigieg, who