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By Sylvie Kirsch, Julia Benbrook, Nick Leimbach, CNN (CNN) — Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are welcoming members of the public back after weeks of closures because of the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which receives federal funding and comprises the largest museum complex in the world, closed as the shutdown entered its third

By Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak, Haley Britzky, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump suggested he has made up his mind on a course of action in Venezuela following multiple high-level briefings this week and a mounting US show of force in the region. Officials briefed Trump this week on options for military operations

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has issued a new pardon to a militia member involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, covering separate Kentucky firearms offenses that were not included in his initial Inauguration Day pardon. In April, the appeals court for the District of Columbia rejected Dan Wilson’s attempt

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Friday he is officially rescinding his endorsement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and attacked her in personal terms, while the congresswoman countered that Trump was trying to make an example of her to prevent the release of files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The

By Annie Grayer, Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the US Virgin Islands in Congress as a non-voting delegate, exchanged texts with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing, the delegate’s office confirmed to CNN. “During the hearing, Congresswoman Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents and the

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — A day after a federal judge said that portions of a transcript she reviewed from the grand jury proceedings in James Comey’s criminal case were “missing,” the prosecutor who filed the charges against the former FBI director told the court that there are no such gaps in the record.

CNN By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — For years, President Donald Trump has sought to downplay his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who for years moved in the same social circles as Trump in Palm Beach and Manhattan. Trump has alternately called Epstein a “terrific guy” — in 2002 —

CNN By MJ Lee, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Employees of a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where convicted child-sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is serving time have been terminated, one of Maxwell’s lawyers said Friday, after a whistleblower this week released to Rep. Jamie Raskin alleged correspondence between Maxwell and her lawyer. Leah Saffian,

By MJ Lee, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Employees of a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where convicted child-sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is serving time have been terminated, one of Maxwell’s lawyers said Friday, after a whistleblower this week released to Rep. Jamie Raskin alleged correspondence between Maxwell and her lawyer. Leah Saffian, a

By Adam Cancryn, Donald Judd, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Friday he will ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to many other high-profile figures, in an extraordinary step that comes just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein that mention him. Trump announced the directive in a

By Ella Nilsen, René Marsh, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — Top energy and nuclear officials in the Trump administration are planning to meet with the White House and National Security Council in the coming days to dissuade President Donald Trump from resuming testing of the nation’s nuclear weapons, sources told CNN. Energy Secretary Chris Wright,

By Jason Morris, CNN (CNN) — The sprawling 2023 racketeering indictment case against President Donald Trump and several allies for their efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat in Georgia will continue and is now in the hands of a new prosecutor. The case was assigned in September to Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s

By Sarah Ferris, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — Republicans in Washington successfully defused the 43-day government shutdown without surrendering to Democrats’ demands to spend billions more to offset spiking health insurance costs. Now, the GOP is under mounting pressure to figure out its own plan. Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire in

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Paul Ingrassia, who withdrew his controversial nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel last month, is now serving as deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration, according to a White House official. Ingrassia’s chances of getting through the Senate confirmation process imploded after Politico published a slew

By Kevin Liptak, Zachary Cohen, Jim Sciutto, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump was briefed this week on options for military operations inside Venezuela as he continues to mull a path forward in the country, four sources told CNN. Trump has yet to decide on how to proceed, and he continues to weigh the risks

By Samantha Delouya, Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — A Trump administration official referred California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to the Justice Department over mortgage fraud allegations, a source familiar told CNN. The accusation was made by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who has made similar allegations against high-ranking democratic officials including

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is receiving care at a Pittsburgh hospital after suffering a fall near his home, according to his office. “Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon conducted its 20th strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat earlier this week, a Defense Department official said Thursday. “The strike occurred in the Caribbean and four narco-terrorists were killed, no survivors,” the official confirmed in a statement to CNN. Trump administration officials have acknowledged they do

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration moved Thursday to challenge California’s effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, throwing the full weight of the Justice Department in the high-stakes battle over control the House of Representatives next year. After voters in the Golden State approved a ballot

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — A person ransacked the New Jersey federal prosecutor’s office building on Wednesday after they were denied a meeting with US Attorney Alina Habba, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The person was sitting in a waiting room outside Habba’s office when they were turned away,

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has designated four European Antifa groups as terrorists. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday he was classifying four groups in Germany, Italy, and Greece as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and intends to designate them as foreign terrorist organizations effective next week. The designations put

By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Katelyn Polantz, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James battled the Justice Department in court Thursday over whether President Donald Trump lawfully appointed a prosecutor to go after his political enemies. The two cases suffer from “a fundamental

By Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — As the House convened Wednesday to hold a critical vote to end the government shutdown, an outspoken centrist Democrat took aim at a member of her own party, a surprise move that shocked Democrats. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington took to the floor to launch the process of

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Justice Neil Gorsuch said Thursday he will co-author a children’s book next year focused on the Declaration of Independence, a departure from the headier book the conservative jurist authored last year that targeted burdensome government regulations. The book will be titled “Heroes of 1776: The Story of The Declaration

CNN By Abby Phillip, Laura Sharman, CNN (CNN) — Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has been hospitalized, according to a statement obtained by CNN. Jackson, 84, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), the Rainbow PUSH Coalition said Wednesday evening. “He has been managing

By Gianluca Mezzofiore, Simone McCarthy, CNN (CNN) — US lawmakers have called for the Trump administration to respond to reporting that Chinese firms are helping Iran rebuild its ballistic missile program in defiance of United Nations sanctions. The call, from Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi and Joe Courtney, follows CNN reporting last month detailing what Western intelligence

CNN, SENATE TV, POOL By Jeremy Herb, Tami Luhby, Sunlen Serfaty, René Marsh, Alexandra Skores, Ella Nilsen, Marshall Cohen, Bryan Mena, CNN (CNN) — The government shutdown is over. But hundreds of thousands of federal workers are coming back after 43 days to anything but normalcy, employees from across the country told CNN. Flight delays

CNN By CNN Staff (CNN) — The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released an additional 20,000 pages of documents the GOP-led panel received from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose death by suicide spawned intense scrutiny of the high-profile people he knew. The emails include a message in which Epstein asserts

CNN By CNN Staff (CNN) — The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released an additional 20,000 pages of documents the GOP-led panel received from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose death by suicide spawned intense scrutiny of the high-profile people he knew. The emails include a message in which Epstein asserts

By Matt Stiles, CNN (CNN) — The House on Wednesday approved a Senate-backed funding bill that would reopen the federal government, paving the way for an end to the record-setting shutdown. Almost all the House Republicans, who control the chamber with a razor-thin majority, voted together to pass the funding package, with the Democrats largely