Politics

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

By Ella Nilsen, CNN The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday it had finalized its so-called good-neighbor rule, which aims to cut down on harmful smog and nitrogen oxide pollution from coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities. The agency will require 23 states that are currently not meeting the requirements to adhere to the rule, which

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN An interstate investigation is underway for a one-time chief of staff to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan after he failed to appear in court on Monday, the US Marshals Service said. Roy C. McGrath, 53, who served as the top aide to Hogan, a Republican, for a few months during the

By Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Kylie Atwood, CNN Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed on Wednesday that US aircraft will continue to “fly and to operate wherever international law allows,” one day after Russian aircraft hit a US drone over the Black Sea, forcing it to be brought down in international waters. “This

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN Russian military-linked hackers targeted — and in some cases successfully infiltrated — the networks of European military, energy and transportation organizations in an apparent spying campaign that went undetected for months as the war in Ukraine raged, Microsoft told its customers in a report obtained by CNN. The report demonstrates how,

By Ella Nilsen, CNN Environmental and indigenous groups have filed two separate lawsuits challenging the Willow Project on Alaska’s North Slope after the Biden administration approved the oil drilling venture on Monday. ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project is slated to drill oil in the National Petroleum Reserve, which is owned by the federal government. The area where