Politics

By Daniel Dale, CNN In former President Donald Trump’s first extended response to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Friday announcement that he had appointed a special counsel to oversee the criminal investigation into Trump’s retention of government documents after he left office, Trump defended himself with dishonesty — repeating his false and thoroughly debunked claims about

By Tierney Sneed The legal jeopardy former President Donald Trump faces in two federal criminal investigations took on a new tenor Friday with the appointment of a special counsel at the Justice Department. Jack Smith, a DOJ alum known for his work in international war crimes prosecutions, will take over the investigation into sensitive government

By Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell, CNN Former CFO Allen Weisselberg appeared visibly pulled in his Friday testimony between allegiance to his employer and needing to cooperate with prosecutors to satisfy his plea agreement in the criminal trial of the Trump Organization. The defense attorneys challenged him to that effect several times Friday morning,

By Zachary Cohen, Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb, Katelyn Polantz and Chandelis Duster, CNN Jack Smith, the special counsel announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to oversee the criminal investigations into the retention of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection, is a long-time

By Tierney Sneed, Jessica Schneider, Devon M. Sayers and Nick Valencia, CNN A judge in Georgia on Friday ruled to allow early voting on November 26 in the state’s US Senate runoff election. In a written ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox said that after he “considered the moving papers, arguments of counsel,

By Ariane de Vogue and Katie Lobosco, CNN The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to allow its controversial student loan debt relief program to go into effect while legal challenges play out across the country. The program promises to deliver up to $20,000 of debt relief for millions of borrowers, but has

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN US and Irish Embassy officials were able to visit with Paul Whelan at his remote penal colony in Russia on Wednesday, his brother said in an email. His last in-person visit was in June. A State Department official confirmed the visit. Whelan has US, Canadian, British, and Irish citizenships. Discussions between

By Annie Grayer, CNN Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal announced in a new letter to her colleagues Friday that she will not enter the House Democratic leadership race and instead will run for reelection for her spot leading progressives in the chamber. Jayapal’s decision demonstrates that a path is clearing for the lawmakers seeking

By Maeve Reston, CNN Democratic Rep. Katie Porter will win reelection in California’s 47th Congressional District, CNN projects, after facing a tougher-than-expected race against Republican Scott Baugh. Porter’s victory in the coastal Orange County district gives Democrats another House seat the next session — as of Friday morning, they had won 212 seats. But that

By Ethan Cohen, Jeremy Harlan and Paul LeBlanc, CNN Democrat Adam Frisch announced Friday that he had called GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert and conceded the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Although there will be an automatic recount done by the Colorado secretary of state’s office, Frisch said in a live Facebook speech that he