President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address to the nation and Maine’s Democratic candidates for Senate will square off in a debate tonight.
The New York Times filed a motion yesterday to quash subpoenas that the Justice Department served on journalists who reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, teeing up a significant court fight pitting press freedom against the government’s ability to force reporters to identify sources.
“As we set out in our motion, these subpoenas are brought in bad faith to punish The Times for its coverage. They violate the constitutional rights of The Times and its journalists. We are going to court to defend our journalists’ rights to report freely on the administration and to provide the public with stories that matter,” David McCraw, the newspaper’s senior vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a statement.
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A federal judge awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million yesterday in his defamation lawsuit against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne over comments Byrne made in 2023.
Hunter Biden sued Byrne, a staunch Trump ally who has repeatedly promoted Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, over his claims that the younger Biden reached out to the Iranian government in 2021 offering to have his father “unfreeze” $8 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for a bribe.
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A U.S. citizen who has been held in Iran since 2024 has been released, Trump and her lawyer separately announced last night.
“Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the ‘presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country. She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition. The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without naming the person.
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Former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler denied seeing any criminal conduct by Jeffrey Epstein during a closed-door interview before the House Oversight Committee yesterday but was met with skepticism by some on the panel.
Ruemmler denied knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of women and girls and called him a “masterful liar” in her opening remarks to the committee, according to a copy of her statement seen by NBC News. She has not been accused of wrongdoing tied to Epstein.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is convening representatives from at least 65 countries today in an effort to focus the international community on the threat of far-left political terrorism, which the Trump administration argues is being overlooked.
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Senate Democrats are demanding answers from the IRS as they look to confirm whether or not it plans to shield Trump, his family and his businesses from tax audits.
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Trump is expected to use a speech tonight to renew his focus on election integrity and highlight findings that his administration says show foreign interference in the 2020 election, according to a person familiar with the planning.
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The candidates for the Democratic Senate nomination in Maine following Graham Platner‘s withdrawal from the race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins will face off in a debate tonight at 7 p.m.
The candidates will include Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Maryland environmental official David Costello, former Maine state Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, businessman Dan Kleban, social worker Paige Loud, former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah, transgender activist Ashley Webb and former congressional aide Jordan Wood, according to NBC affiliate News Center Maine, which is hosting the debate.
The debate comes ahead of the state Democratic Party’s meetings this weekend to select delegates to the nominating convention later this month.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear a second day of testimony on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to officially become the head of the Justice Department.
Witnesses will include former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Epstein survivor Dani Bensky, Jon Adler, the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Foundation, and others.
Blanche, who testified before the committee for several hours yesterday, is not scheduled to attend.
The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran today, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait before dawn and warned its attacks may escalate.
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NBC News