Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa has died, GOP leaders say

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance announced Tuesday that the couple is expecting their fourth child.

“We’re very happy to share some exciting news. Our family is growing!” Usha Vance wrote in the post on social media.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — A top federal judge in Washington on Friday blocked Justice Department subpoenas to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after determining the government “produced essentially zero evidence” to support a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, according to an unsealed court opinion. 

“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in his opinion.

“A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning. On the other side of the scale, the Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” the judge added.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro blasted Boasberg as an activist judge and has pledged to appeal the ruling.

The Justice Department’s probe centered on Powell’s testimony to Congress last year about cost overruns in a multi-billion-dollar office renovation project.

Powell rebuked the investigation in a video message in January as a politically motivated effort to influence the Fed’s interest rate policy.

The Justice Department’s move was met with heavy criticism from the Hill especially from key Republicans who stressed the importance of the Fed’s independence.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, warned Pirro’s office against attempting to appeal Boasberg’s ruling.

“This ruling confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence.  We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” Tillis said in an X post Friday.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said that the United States “knocked out” a “big facility” in Venezuela last week, in what appears to be a reference to a strike on a drug trafficking site in the country.

Trump, in a radio interview with on WABC’s “Cats and Cosby” on Friday, was discussing his administration’s effort to stop drug trafficking from the region, including strikes against alleged drug boats, when he made the comment.

“And we just knocked out, I don’t know if you read or you saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from. Two nights ago we knocked that out, so we hit them very hard,” Trump said in the interview.

The New York Times reported that American officials said that Trump was referring to a drug facility in Venezuela and that it was eliminated, but gave no further details.

If Trump’s comments are accurate, then it would mark the first known attack on land in Venezuela since the Trump administration began its campaign against the country.

ABC News has reached out to the Pentagon and the White House for comment; the Pentagon referred ABC News to the White House for comment. The CIA declined to comment on the matter.

Trump has teased land action in Venezuela for weeks, confirming in October that he authorized the CIA to operate inside the South American nation.

The U.S. has also built up its military presence in the region, with 15,000 U.S. troops and several warships standing ready in the Caribbean. Earlier this month, Trump ordered what he called a “complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela, targeting the government’s main source of revenue.

Further ratcheting up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, Trump said last week it would be “smart” for Maduro to step down.

“He can do whatever he wants, it’s alright, whatever he wants to do. If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” Trump said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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