Politics

By Evan Perez, Katelyn Polantz and Jeremy Herb, CNN As Donald Trump inches closer to launching another presidential run after the midterm election, Justice Department officials have discussed whether a Trump candidacy would create the need for a special counsel to oversee two sprawling federal investigations related to the former president, sources familiar with the

By Manu Raju, CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent As he has campaigned for a promotion to the Senate, Ted Budd has been frequently absent from his day job: A member of the US House. The North Carolina Republican missed more votes than all but three House members since January 2021 — and more than any lawmaker

By Bob Ortega, Isabelle Chapman and Curt Devine, CNN Early voters dropping off ballots in Berks County, Pennsylvania, are confronted by a sight surprising for elections in the United States:  A pair of uniformed sheriff’s deputies armed with guns and tasers guarding the ballot box. Directed by local election officials to question voters before letting

By Jamie Gangel and Augie Martin, CNN Paul Pelosi has been released from a San Francisco hospital after recovering from surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his hand and arm, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday. “Paul is grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff, and the

By Omar Jimenez and Zachary Cohen, CNN A top elections official in Milwaukee has been fired after allegedly obtaining military absentee ballots for fake voters through a state-run website and sending them to a Republican state lawmaker, Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced Thursday. Kimberly Zapata, deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, allegedly requested the military

By Kate Bennett, CNN First daughter Ashley Biden has been a regular presence in President Joe Biden’s White House — she quit her job before the 2020 campaign partly to be near the man she calls her “best friend” — but until this fall, she stayed carefully behind the scenes. Now the normally private social

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN Suspected Russian operatives have used far-right media platforms to denigrate Democratic candidates in Georgia, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania in a renewed effort to influence voters in next week’s midterm elections, private researchers said Thursday. The alleged Russian influence operation included six political cartoons spread in the last week on a

By Kara Scannell and Lauren del Valle, CNN A New York state judge on Thursday imposed a monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s financial statements after the New York attorney general’s office asked for added oversight to stop what they allege is a decade-long fraud conducted by former President Donald Trump and three of his

By Jessica Schneider, CNN Just days before the midterm election, the Michigan Supreme Court is allowing a new set of restrictions to be imposed on partisan election challengers at polling places across the state. The list of rules was issued by Democratic officials in the state earlier this year, and has been challenged by Republicans

By Jennifer Hansler and Sam Fossum, CNN Officials from the US Embassy in Moscow met with detained American Brittney Griner on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “We are told she’s doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One. State Department spokesperson Ned Price

By Geneva Sands, CNN A controversial Virginia education tip line set up earlier this year to gather information on so-called “divisive concepts” taught in the classroom, generated a hodgepodge of comments amounting to a generic hotline for the state school system, according to a sample of emails reviewed by CNN. Announced earlier this year by

By Katie Lobosco, CNN President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program remains on hold while a federal appeals court considers a legal challenge brought by six GOP-led states. The Biden administration continues to accept applications for student loan forgiveness, which is worth up to $20,000 per borrower, but it is not currently allowed to cancel

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN Federal prosecutors rested their case on Thursday against five alleged leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, ending the initial phase of the first seditious conspiracy trial in over a decade. Over four weeks, government witnesses — including several FBI agents, US Capitol Police officers, current and