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The defense team for former President Trump is challenging the jury selection in his criminal hush money trial, saying there are concerning issues that need to be addressed. Trump’s defense submitted a pre-trial letter to the court on Friday laying out two concerns relating to jury selection. The letter came the same day that Judge Juan Merchan dismissed a last-ditch effort by the Trump team to delay the trial, which begins Monday.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released its monthly update touting that the number of migrant encounters had decreased since last month. In March, the Border Patrol recorded 137,480 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border. The encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border were 45% lower than in December 2023, and 16% lower than in March 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. nuclear-powered submarines are the crown jewel of American military might and key to deterring adversaries like China. The Biden administration signed a historic three-way partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom, known as AUKUS in 2021. The agreement promotes deeper information and technology sharing between the three countries and the U.S. agreed to share nuclear submarine technology with Australia for the first time ever. Also a first; the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump will make history as the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges when his hush money case opens Monday with jury selection.The case will force the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to juggle campaigning with sitting in a Manhattan courtroom for weeks to defend himself against charges involving a scheme to bury allegations of marital infidelity that arose during his first White House campaign in 2016.

A federal judge on Friday denied Hunter Biden’s request to dismiss a gun case against him that his lawyers argue is politically motivated. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected all of Biden motions, which cited vindictive and selective prosecution, thereby moving the case forward to trial.

House Republican lawmakers left a closed-door meeting late on Wednesday afternoon furious at their 19 GOP colleagues who blocked the chamber from advancing a bill to renew a key surveillance tool of the federal government.”When you have a majority, where members in the majority will not support the rules and the procedures set forth by the majority, you effectively are turning control over to the minority party. And that’s what these members are doing,” Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee on Wednesday advanced legislation making it illegal for adults to help minors get an abortion without parental consent, sparking objections from Democrats who counter that doing so could result in young victims needing approval from their parents who may have raped them in order to terminate the pregnancies.The GOP-controlled Senate signed off on the proposal 26-3. The bill is still advancing toward the floor in the House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nominee who could become the first Muslim American to serve as a federal appellate court judge is fighting back against characterizations of his work by law enforcement groups that are jeopardizing his nomination. The White House and Senate are doubling down on their efforts to win over lawmakers on the fence, but it may be too late.Adeel Mangi received law degrees from Oxford and Harvard.

Former President Donald Trump, while out on the campaign trail, stopped by an Atlanta Chick-fil-A restaurant on Wednesday, where he chatted with staff and treated customers inside the store to chicken and milkshakes.In one video, Trump is seen surrounded by a group of suit-wearing individuals.The former president flattered crew members and customers while having his picture taken with them and asking if everyone was having a good time.

Long-shot presidential candidate Cornel West tapped Melina Abdullah, a professor and one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter, as his running mate for his independent presidential bid.West announced his pick on Wednesday’s episode of “The Tavis Smiley Radio Show” on KBLA radio.”I wanted somebody whose heart, mind, and soul is committed to the empowerment of poor and working peoples of all colors,” West said.

Congress is now one step closer to extending the life of a key federal government surveillance tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).A bill to reauthorize FISA’s Section 702 passed through the House Rules Committee on Tuesday night, the final hurdle for a piece of legislation before it’s considered House-wide. It passed in a 9 to 2 vote.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer remained silent after protesters in Dearborn, Michigan, who shouted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” during an International Al-Quds Day rally were condemned by the White House and local leaders.The hour-long rally was held in front of the Henry Ford Centennial Library on Friday and was led by local activist Takek Bazzi.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California can continue to set its own nation-leading vehicle emissions standards, a federal court ruled Tuesday — two years after the Biden administration restored the state’s authority to do so as part of its efforts to reverse Trump-era environmental rollbacks.The U.S.

President Biden harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the way he is prosecuting the war between Israel and Hamas during an interview with Spanish language broadcaster Univision. “I think what he’s doing is a mistake,” Biden said in an hour-long interview set to air Tuesday night about whether the Israeli leader cares more about his political survival than the national interest of his people. “I don’t agree with his approach.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, misinformed a group of high school students in Houston that the moon is a “planet” that is “made up mostly of gases.”Jackson Lee, who once led the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee, made several false statements that stunned a crowd of teenagers at Booker T. Washington High School during Monday’s solar eclipse.

ATLANTA (AP) — The former chief financial officer for Atlanta pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing money from the city for personal travel and guns and trying to cheat the federal government on his income taxes.Jim Beard, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of federal program theft and one count of tax obstruction in federal court in Atlanta.GEORGIA POLICE IDENTIFY FBI ATLANTA GATE CRASH SUSPECT AS ERVIN BOLLINGU.S. District Judge Steve Jones is scheduled to sentence Beard on July 12.

Several Senate Republicans took to the chamber floor on Monday night to call for an immediate and open trial into the impeachment articles passed against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “Make no mistake about it: a vote to block the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas is a vote to keep our borders open,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said in floor remarks. Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., John Kennedy, R-La.

We’ve seen impeachment trials a lot on Capitol Hill in recent years. The Senate conducted two impeachment trials of former President Trump in early 2020 and early 2021.But no living American has ever witnessed the impeachment trial which is about to begin in the United States Senate.Blink and you might miss it.The House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February.

The Democratic National Committee is accusing RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign of acknowledging its role as a “spoiler” in November after a woman associated with the campaign was captured on video discussing campaign strategy.”The only way that Trump can even, remote possibility of taking New York is if Bobby is on the ballot,” a self identified Kennedy campaign staffer, told a room of Republicans in New York in a video reviewed by Fox News Digital.