Contributing Writers

A Texas Democratic congressional candidate’s campaign reported more than $4,300 in spending on cookies, Mexican restaurant purchases and beer and wine earlier this year, according to federal election records, drawing renewed attention after a heated debate in which she apologized for a remark about her Republican opponent “making fun of Nazis.”Katy Padilla Stout, the Democrat nominee for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, reported expenditures totaling $4,338.

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday vowed to conduct a “fair” investigation into the seven defendants accused of sexually assaulting an unnamed woman at a fraternity party at Cornell University.

Democrats renewed calls for tougher gun laws after three children and a teacher were killed in an Oregon school shooting, but gun-rights advocates say the circumstances of the attack bolster their case against new restrictions.The teenage shooter reportedly opened fire with a shotgun purchased by his mother before an armed father-of-two-students, Kaylub Giamanco, pursued him into Silver Rail Elementary School and fatally shot him.

DETROIT — Former President Barack Obama’s endorsement of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is getting a mixed reception among Black voters in Detroit, with some undecided voters saying the former president’s backing isn’t enough to win them over.

A Biden-appointed judge dismissed former CIA Director John Brennan’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump and senior administration officials, ruling that his concerns about the potential destruction of evidence needed for a future criminal defense were too “speculative.

The Trump administration is being sued over its efforts to collect and analyze sensitive voter data from across the country.The complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, alleges the Department of Homeland Security has obtained voter files from at least 47 states and handled the data in a way that violates federal law.

Alaska Democratic Senate hopeful Mary Peltola faced ridicule Thursday night after her use of notecards during a debate with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan drew mocking responses from GOP critics — including a pointed jab from her incumbent opponent.Sullivan is in an unusually close race with Peltola, a former congresswoman, that is further complicated by another candidate with his same name but a different middle initial, as Republicans fight to hold their narrow Senate majority.

A protester interrupted the final debate between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson in Maine, triggering a heated exchange after Collins suggested the demonstrator was a Jackson supporter.The interruption came amid a debate that saw the candidates trade fire over numerous issues.

A Nigerian man forced to cook thousands of meals for the Unknown Gunmen, a militant group linked to political violence in Nigeria, is at the center of a Supreme Court showdown that could determine how broadly immigration authorities can apply a terrorism-related bar to asylum and how far the Trump administration can go in deporting immigrants accused of supporting terrorism.

While Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has not been seen publicly since federal agents raided her Washington, D.C., residence on Monday, her political consultant husband was once again spotted emerging from their shared rental home this week.Tim Mynett was seen Wednesday stepping out in the neighborhood to walk their Golden Labrador Retriever dog Teddy, a second time later that same day to take out the trash and a third time to walk out his wife’s staffer.

The U.S. military is deploying several hundred Army soldiers to Latin America for training and joint exercises with regional forces as the Trump administration expands its campaign against drug-trafficking networks, Fox News confirmed.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., faced off against Democrat opponent Cait Conley Wednesday night in a one-hour debate filled with interruptions and fiery accusations less than three weeks before Election Day.Lawler is vying for a third term representing New York’s 17th Congressional District, a politically moderate area in the New York City suburbs that could decide the fate of who controls the House of Representatives for the final years of President Donald Trump’s term.

President Donald Trump brought a blunt warning to Arizona voters Wednesday, declaring Democrats would “destroy our country” as he blasted their State of the Union conduct and urged supporters to turn the state red from top to bottom.With Election Day less than three weeks away, Trump rallied behind Rep. Andy Biggs, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, and a slate of GOP candidates during a campaign stop in Bullhead City, taking aim at Democrat Gov.

Federal authorities seized a cellphone belonging to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a Monday raid on her Washington, D.C., home as part of a criminal fraud investigation into her immigration paperwork.Omar’s immigration history is facing renewed scrutiny, with investigators issuing more than a dozen subpoenas to her family members following the raid on her residence.

The Justice Department is threatening emergency legal action against California election officials unless they take steps to prevent suspected noncitizens from voting in November’s midterm elections, setting a Thursday deadline as state officials push back.In letters sent Tuesday, Acting Deputy Attorney General R.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that “massive” oil, gas and mineral exploration was expected to begin in Greenland.”Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin in our new and beautiful Greenland!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The Trump administration is adopting a new rule that would shorten the time refugees have to challenge the termination of their legal status, marking another restriction on legal immigration pathways as the White House continues its immigration enforcement crackdown.The new policy, which takes effect Wednesday without undergoing the usual advance public notice-and-comment process, reduces the time refugees have to respond to a notice of intent to terminate their status from 30 days to 10.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday he has “no plans” to fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, pushing back against calls from his democratic socialist allies to remove the city’s top cop following protests over an ICE-involved shooting in the Bronx.Ahead of a ceremony Tuesday honoring fallen NYPD officers, Mamdani was asked about Tisch’s future as head of the department.”Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner.

President Donald Trump announced pardons for two Alaska diesel mechanics during a midterm rally Tuesday night in Wasilla, bringing the men onstage to sign clemency documents as he highlighted major energy investments and infrastructure projects in the Last Frontier.Trump identified Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, two co-owners of an Anchorage diesel repair shop who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act in 2022.

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s, D-Minn., immigration history is facing fresh scrutiny after federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home, with new reports detailing subpoenas to relatives and a request from her congressional staff to change the birth year listed in public biographies.

A heckler wearing a “Release the Epstein Files” shirt was punched in the face by an apparent supporter of President Donald Trump during a rally Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, before the president mocked the protester’s weight.Trump was criticizing Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted after losing his Senate seat in 2024, when rally attendees shifted their attention toward a confrontation in the crowd.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin defended his party’s big-tent approach Monday, arguing Democrats must continue expanding their coalition even as Republicans target the party over its ties to democratic socialists.Martin was pressed during an interview on MSNOW about whether the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a liability for the party ahead of the midterm elections.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the launch of an internal review of the New York Police Department’s use of force on Monday, but the initiative falls short of fulfilling several of his campaign promises, including pledges to disband a controversial police unit and eliminate a database of suspected gang members.”When the government uses force against a New Yorker, the standard for accountability must be at its highest,” Mamdani said in a press release.

Gun owners will no longer be required to federally register or seek advance approval to manufacture or transfer silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and “Any Other Weapons” (AOWs), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced Friday.The policy directive halts National Firearms Act (NFA) enforcement for items subject to zero-dollar tax rates under the updated guidelines.

A survivor of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre says she wishes the mass shooter could be killed one time for every life he took that day – but even she is questioning the military’s decision to livestream his death.Nidal Hasan, 56, is scheduled to face execution by firing squad on Dec. 3, 2026, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced earlier this month that it will be made available to stream to the public.

U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle may soon be fired amid reports she sought a six-figure credit card bailout from a Trump donor while offering access to administration officials, adding to mounting allegations over her conduct in Athens.President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and are weighing her removal, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing a senior U.S. official.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This weekend, millions of anti-Israel activists marched through the streets of cities in coordinated actions from America’s capital to London, Paris, Madrid and Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, chanting the familiar refrains of “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Communities are beginning to assess the damage left behind by a powerful hurricane that tore through the region, leaving homes damaged, roads flooded and neighborhoods littered with debris.Photos from some of the hardest-hit areas show the scale of the destruction as residents and emergency crews begin the long process of cleaning up and rebuilding.HOW THE VIOLENT CATEGORY 2 STORM UNFOLDED ACROSS FLORIDA AND GULF COASTIsaias slammed into the Florida Panhandle near Destin on Friday, Oct.