Politics

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The disgraced former FBI informant who falsely accused President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden of taking a $10 million bribe from Ukraine was sentenced Wednesday to six years in federal prison, according to court records. The ex-informant, Alexander Smirnov, who is a dual US-Israeli citizen, has been

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump by phone this week in support of a former law clerk who is seeking a job in the incoming administration – but the justice said he did not discuss Trump’s pending effort to delay his sentencing. “William

By Marshall Cohen and Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden recently made several false and inaccurate claims to defend his controversial decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden. In a wide-ranging interview with USA Today, the president also made a false claim about inflation. A full transcript of the interview was released Wednesday.

By Natasha Bertrand and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — When President-elect Donald Trump mused about buying Greenland from Denmark during his first administration, the Danish prime minister called the idea “absurd” and rebuffed him outright. Now, Danish officials are being warned by Trump allies and advisers that he is serious, multiple Danish officials told

By Sarah Ferris, Eric Bradner and Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump stressed in a meeting with the Senate GOP on Wednesday that he wants to pass his agenda as urgently as possible, while downplaying divisions over specific strategy among Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. Inside the room, Trump delivered wide-ranging remarks

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Multiple senior officials in the Justice Department under the first Trump administration improperly leaked non-public details of inquiries into Covid-19 deaths at nursing homes in Democratic-led states, according to a newly-released inspector general report released following a CNN Freedom of Information Act request. The report expressed suspicions that the

By Fredreka Schouten and Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — In the two months since the election, President-elect Donald Trump has urged his nearly 8.5 million followers on Truth Social to buy limited edition guitars that bear his signature and Trump-themed fragrances that “represent winning.” A $899 gold-plated inauguration edition was recently added to the line

By Betsy Klein and Donald Judd, CNN (CNN) — Wildfires in California have broken out and escalated significantly since President Joe Biden touched down in Los Angeles on Monday, where he had initially been set to travel to the Coachella Valley and designate a new national monument. The trip also appears to have had a

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday urged the US Supreme Court to pause his sentencing in the hush money case, a highly unusual request that relies in part on the court’s decision last year to grant him broad immunity from criminal prosecution. Trump’s emergency appeal arrived a day after a

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden said he had not made a decision about issuing preemptive pardons before leaving office, leaving the door open to an unprecedented move to protect some of his allies as he warned President-elect Donald Trump against trying to “settle scores.” CNN has previously reported senior Biden White

By Priscilla Alvarez and Evan Perez, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s team is discussing plans to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, according to three sources familiar with the discussions, bringing back an idea that failed to come to fruition during his first term in office. In late 2019, Trump appeared close to

By Betsy Klein and Jeff Zeleny, CNN Washington (CNN) — It’s the world’s most exclusive fraternity and, on Thursday, all five members of the so-called presidents club will gather to honor one of their own. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden are expected to attend the state funeral

By Arit John, CNN (CNN) — Virginia Democrats will hold on to their narrow majorities in the state Legislature after winning special elections Tuesday in two seats in a county that shifted toward President-elect Donald Trump last year, the Associated Press projects. Democratic state Rep. Kannan Srinivasan defeated Republican Tumay Harding to win an open

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The US offered to trade a Guantanamo Bay prisoner in exchange for the release of three Americans held in Afghanistan, a source familiar told CNN. The US has been in discussions with the Taliban for months about a deal to free Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi, all

By Zachary Cohen, Katie Bo Lillis, Clare Foran and Ted Barrett, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senate Republicans are pushing to hold a confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but Democrats are resisting setting a date for next week as the Intelligence Committee has not yet received key paperwork on the nomination,

By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia posed with House Speaker Mike Johnson for a photograph to mark the start of the next Congress and left with a guarantee that his investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol will be formalized as a new committee.

By Matt Stiles, CNN (CNN) — The House on Tuesday approved a GOP-led bill to require detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes. The bill, known as the “Laken Riley Act,” would require the detention of undocumented migrants charged with theft or burglary. The legislation is named after a Georgia student who was killed