National Politics

By Gabby Orr Former President Donald Trump praised the “courage and strength” of Ginni Thomas at a rally Saturday, days after the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas met with congressional investigators about her efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a four-and-a-half hour meeting with investigators on Thursday, Thomas discussed

By Pamela Kirkland and Eva McKend, CNN A federal judge ruled against a voting rights group founded by Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams Friday in a challenge to the state’s voting laws. US District Judge Steve Jones ruled against “Fair Fight Action” on claims over Georgia’s “exact match” voter registration policy, absentee ballot cancellation

By Whitney Wild and Katelyn Polantz, CNN The National Archives has told the House Oversight Committee that certain presidential records from the Trump administration remain outstanding, citing information that some White House staff used non-official electronic systems to conduct official business. In a Friday letter to the panel’s chairwoman, New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney, the

By Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN An elderly American wrongfully held in Iran for more than six years has been permitted to leave the country “to seek medical treatment abroad,” according to a statement from UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. Baquer Namazi, 85, was released from detention, along with his son Siamak Namazi, Dujarric said. The

By Betsy Klein, Arlette Saenz and Jennifer Hansler, CNN President Joe Biden on Saturday announced the return of seven Americans he said were wrongfully detained in Venezuela for “years.” “Today, after years of being wrongfully detained in Venezuela, we are bringing home Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath,

By Steve Contorno, CNN Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had just delivered sobering details of Hurricane Ian‘s destruction Friday evening at his third news conference of the day, this time in flood-ravaged St. Augustine. As he walked away from a stand of microphones, an onlooker shouted, “2028! 2028, Ron!” “2024!” another supporter called out to DeSantis,

By Eric Bradner and Donald Judd, CNN Tudor Dixon, the Republican taking on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November’s midterm election, is turning to tactics that have worked for other Republican winners in competitive governor’s races as she seeks to turn the race into a cultural battle over education, transgender athletes and more. But her

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN Jimmy Carter, the oldest living former US president, turns 98 on Saturday. Carter will celebrate quietly at home with his family, according to a spokesperson from The Carter Center. The Carter Center will host a series of virtual events to celebrate the former president’s birthday and legacy, and the public is

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that limits the use of rap lyrics in criminal court cases in the state. The law requires “a court, in a criminal proceeding where a party seeks to admit as evidence a form of creative expression, to consider specified factors

By Eric Bradner, CNN Former President Donald Trump on Friday night directly ridiculed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying on his social media platform that the Kentucky Republican had a “death wish” for supporting “Democrat sponsored bills.” Trump, in his Truth Social post, also mocked McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao — who was born in Taiwan

By Eric Bradner, CNN Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke clashed over gun restrictions in a debate Friday night, with O’Rourke claiming that Abbott blames “everybody else” for mass shootings while “misleading this state.” “It’s been 18 weeks since their kids have been killed, and not a thing has changed in

By Ellie Kaufman, CNN Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a new interview condemned “nuclear saber-rattling,” and said while he hasn’t seen anything to suggest Vladimir Putin has decided to use nuclear weapons in the ongoing war on Ukraine, the choice is up to the Russian President. “To be clear, the guy who makes that

By Tierney Sneed, CNN The Justice Department has asked a federal appellate court to speed up its schedule for weighing the department’s appeal of a judge’s order requiring a special master to review classified documents from Mar-a-Lago. In the expedition request filed to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, the DOJ proposed

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN Elections officials in portions of Florida hard hit by Hurricane Ian are scrambling to meet a fast-approaching deadline to begin sending out absentee ballots and are working to develop contingency plans for November’s general election. In Lee County, Florida — home to Fort Myers, which saw homes and businesses torn apart

By Tami Luhby, CNN Come October, it will be a little easier for food stamp recipients to afford groceries. Their monthly benefits are going up 12.5%, or $104 for a family of four, thanks to soaring inflation, according to the US Department of Agriculture. That brings the maximum benefit for this size household to $939

By Oren Liebermann, CNN A sailor charged in connection with starting a fire that destroyed a Navy warship while it was docked in San Diego has been found not guilty. Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays was acquitted on charges of willful hazarding of a vessel and aggravated arson, the Navy said in a statement, following a

By Devan Cole and Connie Chen, CNN Tradition is a long-held value at the US Supreme Court, where the nine justices’ adherence to a myriad of historic rules makes the inner workings of America’s highest court reliably consistent even as its decisions sometimes send shock waves through the country. Some of those treasured rules will