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Today's Political News Compilation - Wednesday, March 26, 2025
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Trump says Signal chat isn’t ‘really an FBI thing.’ The FBI has a long history of such inquiries
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel was not part of a Signal chat in which other Trump administration national security officials discussed detailed attack plans, but that didn’t spare him from being questioned by lawmakers this week about whether the nation’s premier law enforcement agency would investigate.Patel made no such commitments during the course of two days of Senate and House hearings. Instead, he testified that he had not personally reviewed the text messages that were inadvertently shared with the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic who was mistakenly included on an unclassified Signal chat.
That Patel would be grilled on what the FBI might do was hardly surprising.
Even as President Donald Trump insisted “it’s not really an FBI thing,” the reality is that the FBI and Justice Department for decades have been responsible for enforcing Espionage Act statutes governing the mishandling — whether intentional or negligent — of national defense information like the kind shared on Signal, a publicly available app that provides encrypted communications but is not approved for classified information.
The Justice Department has broad discretion to open an investigation, though it remains unclear whether Attorney General Pam Bondi, who introduced Trump at a Justice Department event this month, would authorize such an inquiry. Trump administration officials insist that the details shared were not classified, though the Espionage Act technically criminalizes the mishandling of any information deemed to be closely held national defense information even if not classified.
READ THE FULL STORY - AP
Trump prepares his biggest bet on tariffs amid voter skepticism
The president endured a sweeping change in public opinion on immigration since his first term. Now he confronts negative opinions of his second-term tariffs.
www.nbcnews.comA 'coalition of the willing' mulls more aid for Ukraine and a possible armed force
Ukraine’s allies from across Europe have gathered for talks in Paris about how to strengthen Kyiv’s hand and its military as it pushes for a ceasefire with Russia.
apnews.com
Trump issues record 100th executive order within first 100 days of term. Here's a breakdown.
Trump has signed more executive orders at this point in a term than any other modern president, focusing mostly on cuts to the federal government and trade.
www.cbsnews.comThe White House says nothing classified was shared on Signal. Democrats say that strains credulity
Trump administration officials are struggling to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain.
apnews.com
DOGE removes details on canceled USAID contracts from its online "wall of receipts"
Due to "ongoing litigation," the Department of Government Efficiency removed details from its website on the more than 3,000 USAID contracts it claims to have canceled.
www.cbsnews.com
Former intel officials: Signal chat did put troops at risk
The chat "failed soldiers, diplomats and intelligence officers," an expert said.
Analysis: The White House says the Yemen security breach is a hoax. Here’s why it’s not | CNN Politics
In Donald Trump’s White House, it matters less what you screw up than how hard you fight back.
www.cnn.com
The Atlantic publishes full Signal chat messages showing military plans about U.S. strikes in Yemen
Trump administration officials said no classified information was shared in a group chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic's top editor.
www.nbcnews.com
Inside Mike Johnson's meeting with judiciary hawks over Trump court standoff
House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee privately met with Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday.
Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues
Foreign leaders were quick to criticize the tariffs, a sign that Trump could be intensifying a broader trade war that could damage growth worldwide.
apnews.com
GOP Sen. Roger Wicker wants expedited watchdog investigation into Signal chat leak
Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the panel is seeking an expedited inspector general report on the Signal chat leak.
www.cbsnews.comStock market today: Wall Street slips following Trump's latest tariffs, despite solid economic data
Wall Street is getting pulled in different directions as President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation creates winners and losers among auto stocks.
apnews.com
Pete Hegseth says Signal chat had no ‘war plans’. He’s wrong, say experts
Signal app messages revealed Yemen bombing timelines, prompting debate about their classification and implications.
Europe's response to the Signal chat controversy reflects a major shift in transatlantic ties
In a session of British Parliament Wednesday, the controversy over the leaked Signal group chat involving high-ranking members of the Trump administration was debated.
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New York proposal would ban police from making traffic stops for minor violations to pursue 'racial equity'
A bill making its way through the New York state legislature would prohibit police from conducting traffic stops for minor violations in an effort to limit unnecessary stops and further "racial equity and public safety."
The proposal would bar officers from pulling people over or searching them for various traffic violations, including having a taillight out, expired vehicle registration tags, too much window tint or if the smell of marijuana is detected.
In certain cases, evidence collected in violation of the bill may be excluded in court.
The...
Continue reading...The proposal would bar officers from pulling people over or searching them for various traffic violations, including having a taillight out, expired vehicle registration tags, too much window tint or if the smell of marijuana is detected.
In certain cases, evidence collected in violation of the bill may be excluded in court.
The...
Tariffs: Why was there a 'bloodbath' on Asian markets?
Major stock indexes from Shanghai to Tokyo and Sydney to Hong Kong plunged when they opened on Monday.
Continue reading...Australia PM candidate ditches plan to end work from home
Peter Dutton's Liberal-National coalition had said the move would improve efficiency in the public sector.
Continue reading...Zimbabwe to scrap tariffs on US goods as it faces 18% Trump levy
President Mnangawa says he wants improved relations, days after Donald Trump said the US would impose an 18% tariff on Zimbabwe.
Continue reading...N Korea holds first international marathon in six years
The race in Pyongyang to mark the birthday of Kim Il Sung was held every year until the pandemic hit.
Continue reading...Australia PM candidate ditches plan to end work from home
Peter Dutton's Liberal-National coalition had said the move would improve efficiency in the public sector.
Continue reading...What to know as deadline looms for Trump administration to return man mistakenly deported to El Salvador
A federal judge insisted Sunday that the Trump administration bring back a Maryland man who was accidentally deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador, rejecting efforts to delay a deadline of Monday for his return to the United States, NBC News reported.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a green card holder who is originally from El Salvador and has lived in the United States since 2011, was mistakenly deported to the notorious jail on March 15, along with Venezuelan men whom Trump administration officials claimed were gang members.
Authorities...
Continue reading...Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a green card holder who is originally from El Salvador and has lived in the United States since 2011, was mistakenly deported to the notorious jail on March 15, along with Venezuelan men whom Trump administration officials claimed were gang members.
Authorities...
Judge says deportation of Maryland man was "wholly lawless"
The U.S. government's decision to arrest a Maryland man and send him to a notorious prison in El Salvador appears to be "wholly lawless," a federal judge wrote Sunday in a legal opinion explaining why she had ordered the Trump administration to bring him back to the United States.
There is little to no evidence to support a "vague, uncorroborated" allegation that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was once in the MS-13 street gang, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis wrote. And in any case, she said, an immigration judge had expressly barred the U.S. in 2019 from...
Continue reading...There is little to no evidence to support a "vague, uncorroborated" allegation that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was once in the MS-13 street gang, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis wrote. And in any case, she said, an immigration judge had expressly barred the U.S. in 2019 from...
Civil rights-era government agency to be purged
A landmark Justice Department office created in the 1960's during the civil rights movement is marked for closure by the Trump administration, raising fears of a loss of generations of work tamping down and working to prevent unrest in the nation's major cities.
An internal Justice Department memo reviewed by CBS News said Trump appointees are considering closing the Community Relations Service, which was created as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The mission of the office is to be "America's peacemaker," tasked with "preventing and...
Continue reading...An internal Justice Department memo reviewed by CBS News said Trump appointees are considering closing the Community Relations Service, which was created as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The mission of the office is to be "America's peacemaker," tasked with "preventing and...
Trump says US not willing to make deal with China unless trade deficit is solved
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is not willing to make a deal with China unless the trade deficit of over $1 trillion is resolved first.
While speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said with some countries there is a trade deficit of over a billion dollars, but with China, it is over $1 trillion.
"We have a $1 trillion trade deficit with China. Hundreds of billions of dollars a year we lose to China, and unless we solve that problem, I’m not going to make a deal," he said. "I’m willing to make a deal with China, but they have to...
Continue reading...While speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said with some countries there is a trade deficit of over a billion dollars, but with China, it is over $1 trillion.
"We have a $1 trillion trade deficit with China. Hundreds of billions of dollars a year we lose to China, and unless we solve that problem, I’m not going to make a deal," he said. "I’m willing to make a deal with China, but they have to...
RFK Jr makes Texas stop to visit family of 6-year-old measles victim, push MMR vaccine
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a stop in Texas on Sunday and visited the family of a 6-year-old girl who died of the measles virus in February.
Kennedy confirmed the visit to Texas in a post on X in which he encouraged people to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine amid rising measles cases.
"I came to Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy," Kennedy wrote in the post. "I got to know the family of 6-year-old Kayley Fehr after...
Continue reading...Kennedy confirmed the visit to Texas in a post on X in which he encouraged people to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine amid rising measles cases.
"I came to Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy," Kennedy wrote in the post. "I got to know the family of 6-year-old Kayley Fehr after...
Republican senator floats using violence against journalists who report ‘fake news'
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., suggested on X this weekend that journalists would write "less false stories" if violence were still used to handle disputes, NBC News reported.
In the video, posted early Saturday, Mullin is in the Capitol and recounts how a reporter shot and killed Rep. William Taulbee there in 1890 a year after the Taulbee left office.
"There's a lot we can say about reporters of the stories they write, but I bet they would write a lot less false stories — as President Trump says, 'fake news' — if we could still handle our...
Continue reading...In the video, posted early Saturday, Mullin is in the Capitol and recounts how a reporter shot and killed Rep. William Taulbee there in 1890 a year after the Taulbee left office.
"There's a lot we can say about reporters of the stories they write, but I bet they would write a lot less false stories — as President Trump says, 'fake news' — if we could still handle our...
RFK Jr. visits epicenter of Texas measles outbreak after death of second child
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the epicenter of Texas' still-growing measles outbreak on Sunday, the same day a funeral was held for a second young child who was not vaccinated and died from a measles-related illness.
Kennedy said in a social media post that he was working to “control the outbreak" and went to Gaines County to comfort the families who have buried two young children. He was seen late Sunday afternoon outside of a Mennonite church where the funeral services were held, but he did not attend a...
Continue reading...Kennedy said in a social media post that he was working to “control the outbreak" and went to Gaines County to comfort the families who have buried two young children. He was seen late Sunday afternoon outside of a Mennonite church where the funeral services were held, but he did not attend a...
U.S. stock futures plunge ahead of Monday open as Trump tariffs shock continues
U.S. stock futures plunged Sunday evening, an indication that the market turmoil that began last week will continue when trading opens Monday, NBC News reported.
Looming over the markets: The retaliatory actions that other countries are expected to enact as the American tariffs announced last week take effect.
As of early Sunday evening, S&P 500 futures had fallen 4.5%. Futures in the tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell 4.5% , while ones for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1,600 points in volatile trading. (Futures markets are a way for traders...
Continue reading...Looming over the markets: The retaliatory actions that other countries are expected to enact as the American tariffs announced last week take effect.
As of early Sunday evening, S&P 500 futures had fallen 4.5%. Futures in the tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell 4.5% , while ones for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1,600 points in volatile trading. (Futures markets are a way for traders...