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Barring a last-minute judicial reprieve or an act of God, Donald Trump will become the first former or sitting U.S. president to stand trial on criminal charges when jury selection begins Monday in his “hush-money” case in New York City. Not even Richard Nixon, who was saved from an indictment for his role in the Watergate scandal by a presidential pardon, achieved such ignominy. Whatever its outcome, the trial will make history. This arti

Donald Trump is used to getting away with rule violations, even in a court setting, but those days are over, according to a former prosecutor. Trump spent Thursday in court for jury selection in the former president's upcoming trial for allegations that he broke the law when he purportedly made hush money payments to hide an affair with an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election, and then covered it up by disguising the payment in his financial records. At the end of the day in court, there was a situation in which the judge sided with prosecutors on an issue involving divulging the information of upcoming witnesses. ALSO READ:

Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not. Senators voted 67-32 in favor of a cloture motion to begin voting on RISAA, a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on Friday. FISA—a highly controversial law that has been abused h

Jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn, who was “instrumental” in helping acquitted Trayvon Martin killer George Zimmerman pick his jury, praised the selection in former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” case, telling CNN’s Erin Burnett “you couldn’t ask for a better jury out of New York.” Twelve jurors and one alternate were seated on Thursday at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse to hear District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against the former president. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts relating to “falsifying business records for his alleged role in a hush money scheme before the 2016 election,” CN

Some House Democrats and House Republicans are coming together toward a common opponent: far-right “pro-Putin” hardliners in the House Republican conference, who appear to be led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).Congresswoman Greene has been threatening to oust the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Last month she filed a “motion to vacate the chair.” If she chooses to call it up she could force a vote on the House floor to try to remove Speaker Johnson. House Democrats say they are willing to vote against ousting Johnson, as long as the Speaker puts on the floor desperately needed and long-awaited legislation to fund aid to Ukraine and Israel. Johnson has refused to put the Ukraine aid bill on the floor for months, but after Iran attacked Israel Johnson switched gears. Almost all Democrats a

The 12-member jury in former President Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial has been empaneled along with one alternate juror, with the remaining five alternates to be selected on Friday. Following jury selection, Trump attempted once again to frame the trial as a politically motivated "witch hunt" in remarks made outside of the courtroom. CNN fact checker Daniel Dale methodically debunked those claims one by one. While speaking to CNN host Jake Tapper, Dale went through each one of Trump's claims and explained how they each failed to pass muster. He began by addressing the former president's claim that President Joe Biden was secretly orchestrating t

A longtime former Republican member of the House of Representatives is predicting that his party will suffer significant losses in the November election due to its ongoing inability to govern.In a Thursday interview with MSNBC host Chris Jansing, former Ohio Governor John Kasich — who served in the House for 18 years between 1983 and 2001 and once chaired the House Budget Committee — was bearish on the GOP's chances of maintaining control of the lower chamber of Congress. Kasich attributed his prediction that his party would lose the majority to the far-right faction threatening to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) over a proposed vote to send more munitions to Ukraine."If it keeps going this way, Democrats are going to win the Ho

So far, the "motion to vacate" that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has entered against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has not come up for a full House vote. But if it does, Johnson could suffer the same fate as former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) — who, in 2023, was ousted as speaker after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) triggered a "motion to vacate" against him. The fact that Johnson could be ousted only six months after McCarthy is a major source of frustration to Rep. Thomas Molinaro (R-New York), who, during an April 17 appearance on CNN, angrily declared that Greene's "constant effort to hold the Congress hostage has to come to an end." But Rep. Thomas

A sitting Republican Congressman is harshly criticizing far-right House Republicans over their apparent support of Russia.“I guess their reasoning is they want Russia to win so badly that they want to oust the Speaker over it. I mean that’s a strange position to take,” U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a three-term Texas Republican rated a hard-core conservative told CNN’s Manu Raju, in video posted Thursday. “I think they want to be in the minority too. I think that’s an obvious reality.” Congressman Crenshaw was referring to the movement led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), now joined by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), over the Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s decision to finally put legi

House Republicans will now have one more vacant seat to fill this November after yet another member of the majority announced his retirement on Thursday.Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kansas), who was first elected in 2020, stated he would not be seeking a third term in the House of Representatives this fall. In a statement posted online, LaTurner alluded to the stress of the job itself as well as the current wave of "dysfunction" plaguing the lower chamber of Congress."[T]he busy schedule of serving in and running for Congress has taken a toll," LaTurner said. "The unrepeatable season of life we are in, where our kids are still young and at home, is something I want to be more present for."READ MORE: