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Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, May 16, 2024. (Steven Hirsch/Pool Photo via AP, File)

What we’ve learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up

Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days. The New York jury in the landmark case will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American president.

Graduating students arrive at the Morehouse College commencement before President Joe Biden speaks, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden will deliver Morehouse commencement address during a time of tumult on US college campuses

FILE - Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., speaks before President Joe Biden, Jan. 25, 2024, in Superior, Wis. Several Democrats running for the Senate this year say they support overriding the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation, to protect reproductive rights if their party retains control of the chamber. Baldwin has made protecting reproductive rights a cornerstone of her campaign — and she's willing to back that up by pledging to change the Senate filibuster rules if Democrats retain control of the chamber. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The Senate filibuster is a hurdle to any national abortion bill. Democrats are campaigning on it

FILE - Issue 1 supporters cheer as they watch election results come in, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Columbus Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, file)

Ohio voters approved reproductive rights. Will the state’s near-ban on abortion stand?

Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the Committee on House Administration, displays a large photo of an unlocked election ballot drop box in Washington, during a hearing about noncitizen voting in U.S. elections. on Capitol Hill, Thursday, May 16, 2024 in Washington. In recent months, the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S. has erupted into a leading rallying cry for Republicans. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

Noncitizen voting, already illegal in federal elections, becomes a centerpiece of 2024 GOP messaging

Trump backers say he shares their Christian faith and values

Donald Trump’s support from white evangelicals and other conservative Christians is as strong as ever. And he’s increasingly infusing his campaign events with Christian rhetoric and imagery. (AP Video/ Jessie Wardarski)

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WATCH: Moment Marjorie Taylor Greene, AOC, Jasmine Crockett clash at House committee hearing

Man convicted of attacking ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years

FILE - A voter drops off a vote-by-mail ballot on March 12, 2024, during the presidential primary election in Vancouver, Wash. At rallies and in social media posts, former President Donald Trump has been trying to assure Republican voters that casting ballots by mail and other forms of early voting are “all good options.” (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

FILE - A voter drops off a vote-by-mail ballot on March 12, 2024, during the presidential primary election in Vancouver, Wash. At rallies and in social media posts, former President Donald Trump has been trying to assure Republican voters that casting ballots by mail and other forms of early voting are “all good options.” (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

After blaming his 2020 loss on mail balloting, Trump tries to make GOP voters believe it’s OK now

At rallies and in social media posts, former President Donald Trump has been trying to assure Republican voters that casting ballots by mail and other forms of early voting are “all good options.”

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Taking presidential debates out of commission’s hands virtually guarantees fewer viewers

House Republicans ditch their day jobs to stand with Trump, while legislating languishes

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the Indian American Impact Project's Annual Summit, May 15, 2024, in Washington. The Biden campaign says Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CBS News to debate former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick this summer. Trump is expected to pick a running mate shortly before the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee on July 15. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Harris accepts debate invite to face off with Trump’s VP pick, which may come at convention

White House

Former President Donald Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association Convention, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Trump receives NRA endorsement as he vows to protect gun rights

Congress

FILE - A sign for Bakersfield, Calif., is displayed over Sillect Avenue at Buck Owens Boulevard on April 20, 2022. Voters in California's 20th Congressional District can be forgiven if they open their ballots for Tuesday's election with a sense of déjà vu. Since former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced in December he would step down from his Central Valley seat, voters have already had two opportunities to vote for candidates to complete McCarthy's term and serve the next full one. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the California 20th District special election

Supreme Court

FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, April 25, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Supreme Court sides with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spurning a conservative attack

More politics news

People hold Palestinian flags while attending a pro-Palestinian rally, Saturday, May 18, 2024, on the National Mall near the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters rally in the rain in DC to mark a painful present and past

Hundreds of protesters rallied within sight of the U.S. Capitol, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans and voicing criticism of the Israeli and American governments.

FILE - Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes says Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state’s fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Rudy Giuliani was served Arizona indictment papers while leaving 80th birthday party, adviser says

Arizona’s attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state’s fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

FILE - Signage hangs at CNN center, April 21, 2022, in Atlanta. Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser who worked on a number of GOP presidential campaigns, has died at age 58, the news network reported Saturday, May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser, dies at 58

Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser who worked on a number of GOP presidential campaigns, has died at age 58.

A sign is displayed at the Clackamas County Democratic party building, which is in Oregon's 5th Congressional District, on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Oregon City, Ore. Two Democratic primaries for U.S. House seats in Oregon could help reveal whether the party's voters are leaning more toward progressive or establishment factions. Candidates running in the state's 3rd and 5th Congressional Districts largely share similar policy platforms. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

In Oregon’s Democratic primaries, progressive and establishment wings battle for US House seats

Two Democratic primaries for U.S. House seats in Oregon could help reveal whether the party’s voters are leaning more toward progressive or establishment factions.

Bright yellow blooms carpet the ground, a sharp contrast to the imposing steel bollards of the border wall topped with rolls of razor wire as members of the California's Baja Rare conservation project lead a botanical expedition with botanists and citizen scientists to document native plants along the U.S.- Mexico border on Friday, April 19, 2024, in the Ejido Jacume in the Tecate Municipality of Baja Calif., Mexico. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Botanists are scouring the US-Mexico border to document a forgotten ecosystem split by a giant wall

Botanists and citizen scientists armed with the iNaturalist app on their smartphones are recording the biodiversity along the U.S.-Mexico border.

An attendee watches as Amy Kremer asks delegates to elect her to the Republican National Committee, Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Georgia Republican Party State Convention in Columbus, Ga. Delegates voted for Kremer, who helped organize the pro-Donald Trump rally, Jan. 6, 2021, that led to a mob storming the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Georgia Republicans choose Amy Kremer, organizer of pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally, for seat on the RNC

Georgia Republicans have elected to the Republican National Committee a conservative activist who helped organize the pro-Donald Trump rally on Jan. 6, 2021.

Thomas Isbell sells Donald Trump merchandise at a campaign rally for the former president, in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Jesus is their savior, Trump is their candidate. Ex-president’s backers say he shares faith, values

Donald Trump’s support from white evangelicals and other conservative Christians is as strong as ever.

Republican candidate Dave Williams speaks during a debate at Centennial Hall in Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, May 16, 2024. The candidates are running for the U.S. House 5th Congressional District seat that is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP)

Colorado GOP chair’s embrace of Trump tactics splits party as he tries to boost his own campaign

Dave Williams has deployed former President Donald Trump’s belligerent politics to vault himself from a former state representative to chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

FILE - Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers his State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly, Jan. 10, 2024, at the state Capitol in Richmond, Va. Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has taken final action on a last batch of bills from the year’s regular legislative session. In a statement late Friday, May 17, 2024, Youngkin said he was signing seven measures but vetoing 48. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Youngkin vetoes bills on skill games, contraception and Confederate heritage tax breaks

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has taken final action on a last batch of bills from the year’s regular legislative session.

Missouri candidate with ties to the KKK can stay on the Republican ballot, judge rules

A Missouri judge has ruled that a longshot gubernatorial candidate with ties to the Ku Klux Klan can stay on the Republican ticket.

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom answers a reporters question about his revised 2024-25 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, May 10, 2024. The California Teachers Association has criticized Newsom's budget proposal, saying it would wreak havoc on school funding. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

Teachers criticize Newsom’s budget proposal, say it would ‘wreak havoc on funding for our schools’

California’s largest teachers union is turning up the pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom. The California Teachers Association on Friday said it will work to block one of Newsom’s proposals for balancing the budget.

US security alert warns Americans overseas of potential attacks on LGBTQ events

The State Department has renewed a global security warning for Americans overseas and added to it that LGBTQ people and events in particular face an “increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence.”

FILE - Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr., left, and his wife Martha-Ann Alito, pay their respects at the casket of Reverend Billy Graham at the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Feb. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Upside-down flag at Justice Alito’s home another blow for Supreme Court under fire

When an upside-down U.S. flag flew over the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, it was largely seen in connection with the false claim by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters that the 2020 election had been marred by fraud.

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

FILE - Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, center, is sworn into office, Jan. 4, 2021, inside the state Capitol in Helena, Mont. Knudsen faces a campaign finance investigation after he told supporters he skirted the state’s “ridiculous” campaign finance laws by inviting another Republican to run against him as a token candidate in next month’s primary so he could raise more money for the general election, according to a recording of a May 11 fundraiser. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

Montana’s attorney general said he recruited token primary opponent to increase campaign fundraising

Montana’s attorney general told supporters he skirted the state’s campaign finance laws by inviting another Republican to run against him as a token candidate in next month’s primary so he could raise more money for the general election.

FILE - Daniel Perry enters the courtroom at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, May 10, 2023, in Austin, Texas. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Thursday, May 16, 2024, recommended a full pardon for Perry, a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool, File)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave few pardons before rushing to clear Army officer who killed a protester

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s pardon of a former Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting death of a Black Lives Matter protestor was a case of the Republican pushing a limited executive power to its absolute limit to get a desired outcome in a politically charged case.

FILE - The Indiana Statehouse appears on May 5, 2017, in Indianapolis. Mothers of two children with disabilities are suing an Indiana agency in federal court over changes to Medicaid attendant care services they say violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Parents of disabled children sue Indiana over Medicaid changes addressing $1 billion shortfall

Mothers of two children with disabilities are suing an Indiana agency in federal court over changes to Medicaid attendant care services they say violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

FILE - The Michigan Capitol is seen, May 24, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. Michigan officials are projecting that the state's tax revenue will see a slight decrease from the previous year but then rebound in the next two years. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Michigan lawmakers get final revenue estimates as they push to finalize the state budget

State economists in Michigan provided their final fiscal forecast of the year as lawmakers work to finalize a budget ahead of a self-imposed July 1 deadline.

FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice speaks at an election night watch party at the governor's mansion in Charleston, W.Va., Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Justice is calling state lawmakers back to the Capitol to consider an $80 million allocation to the state's colleges and universities to help students pay for school, among other proposals. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

West Virginia governor calls special session for school funding amid FAFSA issues, other proposals

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is calling state lawmakers back to the Capitol to consider an $80 million allocation to the state’s colleges, among other proposals.

Georgia's Republican Party chairman Joshua McKoon speaks at the Georgia GOP Convention at the Columbus Convention & Trade Center in Columbus, Ga., on Friday, May 17, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Conservative media personality appointed to seat on Georgia State Election Board

A media personality who co-founded a conservative political action committee has been appointed to a seat on the Georgia State Election Board.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., leaves federal court Thursday, May 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Witness at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial says meat-export monopoly made costs soar

A witness at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial says the cost of certifying that meat sent to Egypt follows Islamic dietary requirements skyrocketed after a single U.S. company was given a monopoly in a cozy deal prosecutors say Menendez arranged.

FILE - Violent insurrectionists loyal to then-President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Conservative activist’s son sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for ‘relentless’ attack on Capitol

A Pennsylvania man whose father is a prominent conservative activist has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol.

FILE - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, speaks from the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, April 11, 2022. Since its creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has faced lawsuits, political and legal challenges to the idea of whether the Federal Government’s aggressive consumer financial watchdog agency should be allowed exist at all. Now cleared of any legal ambiguity, Chopra told reporters Friday, May 17, 2024, that the bureau plans to increase the size of its enforcement bureau, hiring additional investigators, and has already filed legal motions on roughly a dozen cases pending against companies accused of wrongdoing that have been held up due to the pending Supreme Court case. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Vindicated by Supreme Court, CFPB director says bureau will add staff, consider new rules on banks

Since its creation roughly 14 years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has faced lawsuits, political and legal challenges to the idea of whether the Federal Government’s aggressive consumer financial watchdog agency should be allowed exist at all.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher holds a press conference encouraging the Senate to take action on a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it harder for voters to approve future amendments, Friday, May 17, 2024, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. The Senate, shortly afterward, adjourned without voting on the measure. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

GOP fighting, 50-hour Democratic filibuster kill push to make amending Missouri Constitution harder

Missouri Republican lawmakers have failed to pass a proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution.

FILE- Michigan State Sen. Adam Hollier, D-Detroit, sits at his desk as the Michigan Senate considers bills in Lansing, Mich, Dec. 12, 2018. Fraudulent signatures could upend Michigan's Congressional races this year as all the declared GOP candidates for U.S. Senate face new calls to investigate their attempts to get on the August primary ballot and a Democratic U.S. House candidate appears likely to fall short. (Dale G.Young/Detroit News via AP, File)

Potential signature fraud in Michigan threatens to disrupt congressional races

Democratic groups are asking Michigan officials to investigate the nominating petitions of the GOP candidates in the U.S. Senate race.

FILE - Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell ends his news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Powell has tested positive for Covid-19 late Thursday, May 16, 2024, and is experiencing symptoms, according to a statement from a Fed spokesperson. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell working from home after testing positive for COVID-19

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing symptoms. Powell tested positive late Thursday.

FILE - Then-Maryland State Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby speaks during a news conference on Oct. 11, 2022, in Baltimore. Mosby has applied for a presidential pardon ahead of sentencing on her recent perjury and mortgage fraud convictions, according to The Baltimore Sun. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Former top Baltimore prosecutor applies for presidential pardon

Baltimore’s former top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby has applied for a presidential pardon ahead of sentencing on her recent perjury and mortgage fraud convictions.

New Hampshire Senate tables bill inspired by state hospital shooting

A bipartisan bill drafted in the response to the fatal shooting of a New Hampshire Hospital security guard has hit a roadblock in the state Senate.

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 17, 2010 photo, Ralph Frasier speaks about being one of the first black undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the 1950's, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Frasier, the final surviving member of a trio of African American youths who were the first to desegregate the undergraduate student body at North Carolina's flagship public university in the 1950s, died May 8, 2024, at age 85 at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., according to son Ralph Frasier Jr. (AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds, File)

Last student who helped integrate the University of North Carolina’s undergraduate body has died

The final surviving member of a trio of African American youths who were the first to desegregate the undergraduate student body at North Carolina’s flagship public university has died.

Attorney John Eastman appears during his arraignment in Maricopa County Superior, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. Eastman pleaded not guilty on Friday to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges for his role in the effort to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)

Attorney John Eastman pleads not guilty to felony charges in Arizona’s fake elector case

Attorney John Eastman has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges for his role in the effort to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

South Carolina Circuit Judge Daniel Coble listens to arguments on how do define "heartbeat" under the state's 2023 abortion law on Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Judge says South Carolina can enforce 6-week abortion ban amid dispute over when a heartbeat begins

A state judge has ruled that South Carolina can continue to enforce a ban on nearly all abortions around six weeks after conception as an appeal continues on what exactly defines a heartbeat under the law.

FILE - Claire Woodall executive director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, teaches a class to poll workers Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Milwaukee. On Friday, May 17, 2024 The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming the Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director was fired in recent days for her role in rigging the 2020 presidential election.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: Milwaukee’s director of elections was not removed from her position for vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election.

FILE - Oregon Representatives are sworn-in in Salem, Ore., on Jan. 12, 2015. Idaho voters are heading to the polls to decide primaries for the U.S. House and state legislature. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, file)

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Oregon’s primaries

Oregon has multiple hotly contested primaries upcoming, as well as some that will set the stage for high-profile races in November.