A special prosecutor has ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The report Monday from special counsel John Durham offers withering criticism of the bureau but a meager court record that fell far short of the former president’s prediction he would uncover the “crime of the century.” It represents the long-awaited culmination of an investigation that Trump and allies had claimed would expose massive wrongdoing by law enforcement and intelligence officials. Instead, Durham’s investigation delivered underwhelming results, with prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial.
Donald Trump’s primetime return to CNN Wednesday for the first time since 2016 felt like a throwback: Trump gave long, twisting answers. The interviewer at times struggled to fact-check him or return his focus to the question at hand. Eventually, it ended with them both talking over each other and Trump flinging a few insults. Wednesday’s town hall in New Hampshire was the first time in years that Trump faced prolonged questioning from an outlet outside the friendly confines of conservative media.
A 13-count federal indictment unsealed in New York accuses U.S. Rep. George Santos of embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds and lying to Congress about his finances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a news release Wednesday that the charges against the New York Republican include three counts of “money laundering,” though the indictment doesn’t use that specific phrasing. Each of the seven wire fraud charges he faces carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Santos pleaded not guilty during a brief hearing Wednesday.
The shooter who killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall was wearing a patch that read “RWDS," short for “Right Wing Death Squad.” It's a phrase that has been embraced in recent years by far-right extremists who glorify violence against their political enemies. An official with the Anti-Defamation League notes the term originally emerged in the 1970s and ’80s to describe Central and South American paramilitary groups created to support right-wing governments and dictatorships. Authorities have not said what they believe might have motivated 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, who was killed by a police officer who happened to be near the mall Saturday when Garcia opened fire.
King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday at Westminster Abbey in London. Follow the latest live updates of this historic royal ceremony on APNews.com.