
Trump says he’s spoken with Putin as Russia’s war in Ukraine approaches third anniversary
CNN
President Donald Trump announced in an interview published Saturday that he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Donald Trump announced in an interview published Saturday that he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He wants to see people stop dying,” Trump told the New York Post. It was not immediately clear when the leaders spoke or if they had spoken since Trump took office in January, and how many times. CNN has reached out to the National Security Council for clarification. Trump said in the interview he “better not say” how many times he had spoken with Putin but touted a “good relationship” with his Russian counterpart. The US president expressed hope that Putin’s war in Ukraine, which is approaching its third anniversary, ends “fast.” He had previously vowed to end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office. “I hope it’s fast. Every day people are dying. This war is so bad in Ukraine. I want to end this damn thing,” he told the New York Post.

White House officials are heaping blame on DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro over her office’s criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, faulting her for blindsiding them with an inquiry that has forced the administration into a dayslong damage control campaign, four people familiar with the matter told CNN.

The aircraft used in the US military’s first strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a strike which has drawn intense scrutiny and resulted in numerous Congressional briefings, was painted as a civilian aircraft and was part of a closely guarded classified program, sources familiar with the program told CNN. Its use “immediately drew scrutiny and real concerns” from lawmakers, one of the sources familiar said, and legislators began asking questions about the aircraft during briefings in September.

DOJ pleads with lawyers to get through ‘grind’ of Epstein files as criticism of redactions continues
“It is a grind,” the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division said in an email. “While we certainly encourage aggressive overachievers, we need reviewers to hit the 1,000-page mark each day.”

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 law when it comes to carrying out law enforcement operations overseas, according to sources who have read the memo.









