Politics

By Lauren Fox, CNN In the spring of 2019, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota was busy putting the finishing touches on a bill that sought to expand mental health care access for kids in schools. But she couldn’t shake the feeling she was being less than honest about just how personal the issue of

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst When the Supreme Court reversed federal abortion rights last June, Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion stressed that “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” Justice Brett Kavanaugh went further, separately emphasizing that the controversy would now

By Lauren del Valle, CNN A Michigan man who allegedly threatened on social media to kill state Attorney General Dana Nessel and other Jewish members of Michigan’s government pleaded not guilty to making threatening interstate communications during his arraignment Wednesday. Jack Eugene Carpenter III was indicted last week by a federal grand jury, which also

By Kristen Holmes and Jason Morris, CNN Fulton County investigators have an audio recording of a phone call that former President Donald Trump made to the Georgia House speaker to push for a special session to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Fulton County special grand

By Tierney Sneed Over the course of about four hours of arguments, a federal judge in Texas asked questions that suggested he is seriously considering undoing the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a medication abortion drug and the agency’s moves to relax the rules around its use. But the judge, US District Judge

By Steve Contorno and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN In the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s demise, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed fingers at several culprits, including the company’s diversity initiatives and federal regulators who he said “always seem to whiff” at preventing a financial crisis. But left out of DeSantis’ comments was his own record on

By Kyung Lah and Jack Hannah, CNN Matt McCaw cringes if you say the word “secessionist” around him. A native of eastern Oregon, McCaw is a mild-mannered, former high school math teacher who fosters children to help his community. “We don’t think of ourselves as a secessionist movement. We see ourselves as a self-determination movement,”

By Steve Contorno, CNN A super PAC closely aligned with former President Donald Trump is demanding Florida ethics investigators probe whether Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ recent political activity is violating state law. In a 15-page letter to the Florida Commission on Ethics, Make America Great Again Inc. accuses DeSantis of operating a “shadow presidential campaign” and

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN An Ohio man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday for pretending to be a Ghanaian prince and swindling more than a dozen victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Daryl Robert Harrison, who went by Prince Daryl R. Attipoe and Prophet Daryl R. Attipoe, conned at least 14

By Fredreka Schouten and Mark Morales, CNN Federal and state investigators are probing Republican Rep. George Santos‘ role in the sale of a $19 million yacht involving two of his wealthy donors, according to a law enforcement official. The law enforcement interest in the sale, first reported by The New York Times, underscores the far

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on Wednesday said the US does not have “operational control” of the southern border, contradicting a stance previously taken by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Mayorkas has previously maintained in testimony before lawmakers that the department has operational control of the border, though

By Nicki Brown, CNN Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to ex-President Donald Trump, testified Wednesday afternoon in front of a New York grand jury as part of an investigation into hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. “This isn’t a question of vindication. It’s not a question, as I stated before,

By Clare Foran, Lauren Fox, Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett, CNN The Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Eric Garcetti to be ambassador to India after he had faced pushback from some Democrats. The final vote was 52 to 42. Seven Republicans voted in favor of the nomination: Lindsey Graham of South

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday pressed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on accountability for atrocities committed by all parties throughout the yearslong conflict in northern Ethiopia. The secretary of state and the prime minister met for roughly two and a half hours in the Ethiopian capital of Addis

By Kara Scannell, CNN Chinese billionaire and proclaimed dissident Guo Wengui was arrested Wednesday and charged with defrauding thousands of followers out of more than $1 billion through complex investment schemes, US prosecutors announced Wednesday. Guo, a staunch critic of the Chinese government who is exiled in Manhattan and close to former Donald Trump adviser