What to know about Ed Martin, the right-wing activist Trump tapped to be DC’s top prosecutor
CNN
While Trump administration officials were preparing to install a seasoned conservative lawyer as the top prosecutor in Washington, DC, the firebrand right-wing activist in the job on a temporary basis was waging a public campaign to keep the job permanently.
While Trump administration officials were preparing to install a seasoned conservative lawyer as the top prosecutor in Washington, DC, the firebrand right-wing activist in the job on a temporary basis was waging a public campaign to keep the job permanently. Within hours of becoming interim US attorney for DC on President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, Ed Martin swiftly used his powers to dismiss pending January 6-related cases. He then fired prosecutors who were involved, and launched an internal review to hunt for possible misconduct. He also publicly allied with Elon Musk and offered to file charges against anyone who threatens members of his team in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. People familiar with the matter said Martin’s stock rose in Trump’s orbit as he used his temporary powers to aggressively push a retribution agenda and chronicled his moves in social media postings, often bashing Democratic critics and praising Trump. On Monday, Trump announced Martin, a fellow election denier in 2020 and defense lawyer for US Capitol rioters, would be getting the nod. That left the man originally envisioned for the role, former Bush-era Pentagon official Cully Stimson, falling by the wayside, despite a recent meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi at Mar-a-Lago to discuss priorities for the US attorney’s office. Trump had even told allies that his pick for the position was Stimson.
Following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro during a US military operation in Venezuela, the command of the South American country has fallen into the hands of a woman: Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
The detailed timeline and the revelation that a CIA team has been operating inside Venezuela for so long sheds new light on the administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro for the past several months.
Embattled Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of obstruction last month for helping an immigrant evade federal officers, has sent her resignation letter to the governor.
More than two decades ago, on January 24, 2004, I landed in Baghdad as a legal adviser, assigned an office in what was then known as the Green Zone. It was raining and cold, and my duffle bag was thrown into a puddle off the C-130 aircraft that had just done a corkscrew dive to reach the runway without risk of ground fire. Young American soldiers greeted me as we piled into a vehicle, sped out of the airport complex and then along a road called the “Highway of Death” due to car bombs and snipers.
CNN’s David Culver sees massive crowds building up in Doral, Florida, outside of Miami, a place where there are a lot of Venezuelans celebrating President Nicolas Maduro’s capture Saturday.
On November 2, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that land strikes in Venezuela would require the approval of Congress. She said that if Trump “were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then (we’d need) Congress.”
A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed Louisville’s proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over police reforms after the department withdrew its support of the plan earlier this year.
In the days since the Trump administration announced it would freeze federal child care payments to Minnesota amid an alleged fraud investigation, fear and confusion have spread almost as fast as the viral video that launched the scandal.
President Donald Trump wants to tamp down on public debates about his health.
A US appeals court ruled on Friday that California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in most parts of the state was unconstitutional.
A CNN team witnessed several explosions on Saturday night in Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity. Follow for live updates.
Thousands of people gathered for a New Year’s Eve celebration in Seattle this week, anticipating the annual fireworks show at one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, when a man stopped on a lawn and opened his coat to reveal a loaded shotgun, police said, alarming witnesses and an officer nearby.
The US Coast Guard announced Friday night it has suspended its search for people in the water after US strikes on alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean earlier this week.