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Smithsonian hands over documents as its leader tries to balance ‘principle and pragmatism’ in facing White House demands

By René Marsh, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — As the Smithsonian faced a deadline to comply with the White House’s request for extensive documents about its museum exhibitions, Lonnie Bunch III, the historian who leads the institution, has been treading a careful line between maintaining independence and complying with the Trump administration’s demands. On

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DOJ wants interviews with Democrats as part of investigation into lawmakers’ ‘illegal orders’ video

By Camila DeChalus, CNN (CNN) — At least four Democratic lawmakers have been contacted by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office for interviews following their involvement in a controversial video urging service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders. The contact signals Justice Department has not let up on its investigation into the “illegal orders”

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Trump says ‘anything less’ than US control of Greenland is ‘unacceptable’

By Kit Maher, Ivana Kottasová, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “anything less” than US control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” arguing the United States needs the territory for national security purposes, which could in turn strengthen NATO. “NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of

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As election denier Tina Peters tries to overturn her conviction, Colorado’s Democratic governor signals openness to clemency

By Marshall Cohen, Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — Former election clerk Tina Peters’ prison sentence has long been a rallying cry for President Donald Trump and other 2020 election deniers. Her lawyers returned to court Wednesday to appeal her conviction as Colorado’s Democratic governor has signaled a new openness to letting her out of prison

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Judge deals blow to the Trump Justice Department’s use of the Civil Rights Act to ‘clean’ voter rolls

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration’s sweeping legal effort to obtain Americans’ sensitive data from states’ voter rolls is now almost entirely reliant upon the Civil Rights Act – a Jim Crow-era law passed to protect Black voters from disenfranchisement – a notable shift in how the administration is pressing its demands.

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Kavanaugh and Roberts are already looking ahead to the next major transgender controversy

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — During a marathon Supreme Court session Tuesday over whether states may ban transgender women from participating in women and girls’ sports, some justices were already focused on what may lie around the corner in the controversial area of trans rights. The majority appeared poised to uphold

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Pentagon to dispatch dozens of military lawyers to Minneapolis amid immigration crackdown

By Natasha Bertrand, Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon is working to surge dozens of military lawyers to Minneapolis to assist in federal prosecutions amid an immigration enforcement crackdown there, according to two officials familiar with the matter and a written request that has circulated inside the Defense Department. The emailed request, reviewed by

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Trump administration efforts to shift blame for ICE shooting wreak havoc on Minnesota US attorney’s office

By Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration’s efforts to investigate Renee Good and others around her, and not the ICE officer who shot her in Minneapolis, is wreaking havoc on the US attorney’s office in Minnesota, which is leading the probe. At least half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned

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Trump flipped off an autoworker at a Ford plant. The White House says it’s ‘appropriate’

By Samantha Waldenberg, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump flipped off an autoworker as he toured a Michigan Ford plant in an incident caught on video Tuesday, and the White House defended the action as an “appropriate” response to someone screaming at the commander-in-chief. “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of

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Fact check: Trump litters Detroit economic speech with numerous false claims about economy

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — Inflation hasn’t “stopped.” Consumer prices are up during this presidential term, not “down.” Grocery prices are rising, not starting to fall “rapidly.” US businesses and consumers, not China, pay US tariffs on Chinese imports. It’s impossible to reduce prescription drug prices by “thousands” of percentage points, since this would

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DOJ pleads with lawyers to get through ‘grind’ of Epstein files as criticism of redactions continues

The Justice Department is still struggling to process the massive trove of Epstein files and is prodding hundreds of lawyers reviewing pages to work faster, according to a recent email from DOJ leadership and court filings over the past few days.

“It is a grind,” the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division Tysen Duva wrote on Friday to the document review team who reports to him. “While we certainly encourage aggressive overachievers, we need reviewers to hit the 1,000-page mark each day.”

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Access to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service is now free in Iran as regime continues brutal crackdown on protests

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk’s SpaceX is now providing free internet access via its Starlink satellite service to users in Iran as the country’s regime continues its bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, according to a tech expert in touch with Iranian Starlink users. Starlink accounts in Iran that were previously inactive now

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Classified legal memo argues Trump wasn’t constrained by US or international law for Maduro capture operation

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — A new classified legal opinion produced by the Justice Department argues that President Donald Trump was not limited by domestic law when approving the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro because of his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief and that he is not constrained by international

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Justice Department slams Trump-appointed judge for questioning Lindsey Halligan’s authority

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department is escalating its standoff with judges in the Eastern District of Virginia with a new filing defending Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the prosecutors’ office whose work in the cases against James Comey and Letitia James has been nullified. The filing accuses federal

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Pentagon bought device through undercover operation some investigators suspect is linked to Havana Syndrome

By Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Priscilla Alvarez, Jim Sciutto, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Defense Department has spent more than a year testing a device purchased in an undercover operation that some investigators think could be the cause of a series of mysterious ailments impacting US spies, diplomats and troops that are colloquially

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Trump administration under pressure to restore funding to groups supporting internet freedom in Iran

By Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is under pressure to step up its efforts to support internet freedom in Iran after it cut funding backing that work last year, as widespread technology blackouts have hampered the efforts of anti-government protesters facing violent crackdowns through Iran. Experts say the days-long digital

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Sen. Mark Kelly files lawsuit alleging Hegseth violated his rights with push for punishment over illegal orders video

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — Lawyers for Sen. Mark Kelly filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s move to cut Kelly’s retirement pay and reduce his rank in response to Kelly’s urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders. The lawsuit argues punishing Kelly violates the First Amendment

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Since the Supreme Court protected transgender people from discrimination, ‘The backlash has been brutal’

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — When the Supreme Court, led by Justice Neil Gorsuch, ruled in 2020 that federal law protected transgender workers from discrimination, the justices appeared to launch a new era of rights for a historically shunned group. LGBTQ advocates believed the core principle of Bostock v. Clayton County

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Smithsonian takes down details about Trump’s impeachments from presidential portrait exhibition

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — The Smithsonian has taken down details about President Donald Trump’s impeachments from an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. The removal occurred last week when the museum installed a black-and-white portrait of Trump in the “America’s Presidents” exhibition with a short label that notes his birth

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‘It could have killed me’: Minnesota shooting solidifies the anxieties of people who track ICE

By Eric Bradner, Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — In every city where President Donald Trump’s immigration agents have arrived in force, they’ve been trailed by people who seek to monitor or protest their activities, often in close quarters. At times, those two groups have collided with tragic results — including an Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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US carries out strikes in Syria as part of ongoing retaliation against ISIS

By Aleena Fayaz, Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The US carried out large-scale strikes against ISIS targets in Syria on Saturday tied to an ongoing retaliatory campaign dubbed “Operation Hawkeye Strike.” “Today, at approximately 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, alongside partner forces, conducted large-scale strikes against multiple ISIS targets across Syria,”

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Trump says he has canceled a ‘second wave’ of attacks on Venezuela due to country’s cooperation with US

By Jack Guy, Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump said early Friday that he had cancelled a “previously expected” second wave of attacks on Venezuela due to the country’s cooperation with the United States. It comes nearly a week after he ordered a military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is

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What’s behind the highly unusual move to block Minnesota officials from investigating ICE shooting

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — Mutual distrust between federal and state authorities derailed plans for a joint FBI and state criminal investigation into Wednesday’s shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer, leading to the highly unusual move by the Justice Department to block state investigators from participating in

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Judge halts Trump freeze of social assistance and child care funds in five Democrat-led states, for now

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily paused the Trump administration’s freeze of $10 billion in social assistance and child care funding in five Democrat-led states in the wake of a widespread probe into alleged federal funding fraud in Minnesota. Judge Arun Subramanian of New York’s Southern District granted the

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The Greenlandic flag flies on the roof of Tivoli Castle in Copenhagen

Top diplomats from Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials as Trump pushes for ownership

CNN By Kylie Atwood, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials at the National Security Council on Thursday as Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale. Denmark’s Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland’s head of representation to the US

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Top diplomats from Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials as Trump pushes for ownership

By Kylie Atwood, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials at the National Security Council on Thursday as Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale. Denmark’s Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland’s head of representation to the US Jacob

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US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington

Do ICE agents have absolute immunity? No, experts say, but it’s not easy for a state to prosecute

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance’s claim Thursday that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is “protected by absolute immunity” drew immediate pushback from experts who said the legal landscape around a potential prosecution is far more complicated. Speaking at the White House,

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Hill liberals push for shutdown clash over ICE funding but face resistance in Democratic ranks

By Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Congress’ most liberal Democrats are pushing for an all-out fight to rein in President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policy after this week’s deadly shooting by an ICE officer in Minnesota — even if it means risking another government shutdown. But those progressives are running into resistance from

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Newsom contrasts California ‘blueprint’ with Trump’s ‘carnival of chaos’ in final state of state address

By Arit John, CNN (CNN) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom used his final State of the State address Thursday to frame his state as a “beacon” of democracy and innovation, seeking to draw a sharp contrast with what he called the “carnival of chaos” in Washington under President Donald Trump. “In California, we’re not silent.

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Handful of Republicans join Democrats to force Senate check on Trump’s war powers in Venezuela

By Morgan Rimmer, Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett, CNN (CNN) — A small bloc of Senate Republicans has delivered a notable rebuke of President Donald Trump just days after his operation ousting Venezuela’s leader, voting to advance a resolution that would limit future US military force in the nation without Congress’ approval. Five Republicans on Thursday

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DHS officials privately express shock at department’s immediate response to Minneapolis shooting

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (CNN) — Multiple Department of Homeland Security officials privately expressed shock Wednesday over the department’s immediate response to the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, seeing it as a break from precedent that generally points to an investigation before reaching a firm conclusion. Multiple current and

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Trump’s controversial ballroom could solve a decades-long problem — and is taking the first formal steps for construction

By Betsy Klein, Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s sprawling new East Wing ballroom project has attracted widespread controversy — but promises to solve a problem identified by first families and their social secretaries on both sides of the aisle for decades. On Thursday, construction of the planned 90,000-square-foot space will take a

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Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer announces he will retire after four decades in Congress

By Mary Kay Mallonee, Camila DeChalus, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer, one of Congress’ longest serving Democrats who spent nearly two decades in his party’s leadership, will not seek reelection this November. The Maryland congressman became visibly emotional at times Thursady as he formally announced his decision during a speech from

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Trump threatens defense contractors with restrictions while promising sharp increase in spending

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump issued a stark threat to defense contracting companies Wednesday, saying he would seek to limit stock buybacks and executive salaries unless they improve their delivery of weapons systems to the US military, hours before saying he’s decided to substantially increase the defense budget. The pair of

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Gov. Ron DeSantis calls for special session in April to redraw Florida’s congressional districts

Associated Press Orlando (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday called a special session in April for the Republican-dominated legislature to draw new congressional districts, joining the redistricting arms race. Even though Florida’s 2026 legislative session starts next week, DeSantis said he wanted to wait for a possible ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court

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Trump administration demands Venezuela cut ties with US adversaries to resume oil production

By Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has outlined a number of demands that Venezuela must agree to in order to resume oil production, two senior White House officials told CNN. During conversations led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration told Venezuela’s interim president Delcy

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Trump officials told lawmakers that Maduro and his wife hit their heads as they attempted to flee US forces

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — Trump administration officials told lawmakers on Monday that then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were injured after hitting their heads as they were fleeing US forces trying to arrest them, sources familiar with the briefing told CNN. Maduro and Flores ran

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