Politics

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge denied Donald Trump’s motions for a mistrial in the defamation case brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll saying the former president’s arguments had no “merit” and are “entirely pointless.” Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Trump’s motions from the bench during the civil trial and said a written

By Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Haley Britzky, CNN Washington (CNN) — A US military strike on Wednesday in Baghdad killed a Kataib Hezbollah commander who was responsible for attacks on American forces in the region, according to US Central Command. The attack, on Wednesday evening local time, was carried out by a

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — The federal budget deficit will balloon from $1.6 trillion this fiscal year to $2.6 trillion in fiscal year 2034, according to the latest Congressional Budget Office outlook released Wednesday. A major reason for the widening gap between revenue and spending: a spike in net interest payments on the federal

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN Washington (CNN) — Cybercriminals extorted a record $1.1 billion in ransom payments from victim organizations around the world last year despite US government efforts to cut off their money flows, crypto-tracking firm Chainalysis said in a report released Wednesday. The surge in ransom payments, which nearly doubled the $567 million by

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Thursday in the historic efforts to disqualify former President Donald Trump from office because of his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The case revolves around the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” a relic of the Civil War that hasn’t been

By Holmes Lybrand and Katelyn Polantz, CNN Washington (CNN) — Donald Trump’s legal team is outlining how he intends to fight the classified documents case against him in Florida, including by claiming presidential immunity, despite a significant defeat on that issue in the election subversion case in Washington, DC. In a filing Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys

By Arlette Saenz, Betsy Klein, Dianne Gallagher and Khalil Abdallah, CNN Washington (CNN) — Senior Biden administration officials are expected to meet with members of the Arab American and Muslim community in Michigan on Thursday, four sources familiar with planning told CNN. The senior officials represent some of Biden’s most trusted advisers and policymakers. A

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The Chinese hackers behind a campaign to infiltrate transportation hubs and other critical American infrastructure have had access to some of their targets’ computer networks for “at least five years,” according to a new report by US and allied security agencies obtained by CNN. The campaign is part of a

Analysis by Harry Enten, CNN (CNN) — The political eyes of the world are on Nevada this week for the state’s Democratic and Republican nominating contests. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suffered an embarrassing defeat in the state’s nonbinding GOP primary Tuesday. But in the contests that award delegates, President Joe Biden easily won the

By Clare Foran, Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer and Manu Raju, CNN Senate Republicans blocked a major bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package with assistance for Ukraine and Israel in a key vote on Wednesday amid a torrent of attacks on the bill by former President Donald Trump and top House Republicans. The failed procedural

By Devan Cole and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands out among her eight Supreme Court colleagues for one key reason: She’s had to weigh in on more legal questions related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol than the other jurists on the bench. Jackson, while serving

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — For Donald Trump, the fate of a presidential campaign will hang in the balance when the Supreme Court meets Thursday to hear a politically fraught challenge to his eligibility to appear on Colorado’s ballot. For Chief Justice John Roberts, it is at least in part a legacy that will be on

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the response from Hamas on a deal to free the remaining hostages and reach a sustained pause in fighting in Gaza “creates space for agreement to be reached,” despite containing what he called “some clear nonstarters.” “We will work at that relentlessly

CNN By Jeff Zeleny, Kaitlan Collins and Daniel Strauss, CNN (CNN) — Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has offered to leave her position following the South Carolina primary later this month to allow former President Donald Trump to install his own party chair, two party advisers told CNN. She has also discussed those plans with Trump, according

By Jeff Zeleny, Kaitlan Collins and Daniel Strauss, CNN (CNN) — Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has offered to leave her position following the South Carolina primary later this month to allow former President Donald Trump to install his own party chair, two party advisers told CNN. She has also discussed those plans with Trump, according to

By Matt Stiles, CNN (CNN) — The US House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The defeat is a setback for Republican leadership, which alleged that the agency leader committed “high crimes and misdemeanors,” including “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and allegedly making

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — Once Mike Johnson’s speakership was merely implausible. Now it looks incompetent. The rookie Republican leader – already struggling to wield a tiny, extreme and malfunctioning majority – suffered a spectacular embarrassment on Tuesday night in a failed vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The drama

By Paula Reid, Kristen Holmes and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — After turning several recent trials and court hearings into campaign stops, Donald Trump is not expected to be in the room when the highest court in the land takes up the question of his ballot eligibility, sources familiar with the planning tell CNN. On