Politics

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan survived the nasty primary runoff for his seat while fellow conservative state Rep. Justin Holland lost his suburban Dallas seat to Trump 2016 spokeswoman Katrina Pierson in two of the highest-profile races in the increasingly bloody internal war among Texas Republicans. Despite the Republicans’ 84-66 majority in the state House of Representatives and successful conservative …

RFK Jr.’s campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that accuses CNN, President Biden, former President Donald Trump and their campaigns of violating federal election law. The Kennedy campaign claims CNN is approaching the debate criteria differently for Kennedy, an independent candidate, than for Trump and Mr. Biden, the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. CNN is …

Washington — The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday it will conduct its own investigation into Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas following his recent indictment on federal bribery charges. The committee said it unanimously voted to establish a subcommittee to investigate whether Cuellar “solicited or accepted bribes, gratuities, or improper gifts; acted as a foreign agent; violated federal money laundering …

London — With six months to go until the presidential election, America’s NATO allies are planning to boost their defense spending ahead of the potential disruption of a second Donald Trump presidency. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is preparing a funding plan to try to insulate the 75-year-old military partnership from any changing political realities that might affect the alliance, …

Washington — The federal judge overseeing special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump denied prosecutors’ request that the court impose a gag order on certain public statements that they argued posed a danger to law enforcement. In an order issued Tuesday, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Smith’s motion that she alter Trump’s conditions of pretrial …

The Democratic Party plans to nominate President Biden and Vice President Harris virtually before its scheduled convention in late August to meet an Aug. 7 ballot certification deadline in Ohio, CBS News has learned. The move means the most dramatic and obvious reason for Democrats to hold their quadrennial meetings will once again be held over Zoom instead of in …

Washington — Prosecutors trying to prove that New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez wielded his political influence in exchange for bribes cannot show jurors evidence that they argue is “critical” to their case, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein said prosecutors could not use text messages from 2019 that allegedly show Menendez, who was the top …

The man convicted in the 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi apologized and was again sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday, as the sentencing hearing in his case was reopened due to a court error. David DePape received the sentence, identical to the one he received earlier this month, after being found guilty of assaulting the husband of former …

Veteran officers who defended the Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, will campaign for President Biden in key battleground states, the campaign announced on Tuesday. The officers will be warning voters what could happen if Donald Trump is elected again, the Biden campaign said. Former Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, and D.C. police …

The Libertarian Party on Sunday chose party activist Chase Oliver as its presidential nominee, rejecting both former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after each spoke at the party’s convention over the weekend. Third parties have rarely been competitive in U.S. presidential elections and the Libertarian candidate four years ago won 1% of the vote. But the party’s …