Two former lawyers and an aide who worked on President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign were scheduled to appear in Wisconsin on Monday for a preliminary hearing on fraud charges related to a fraudulent voter scheme.
The Wisconsin case is moving forward, while others have weakened in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia. Last year, a special prosecutor dismissed a federal case accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Another case is still alive in Nevada.
The hearing comes a week after Trump’s lawyer, Jim Trupis, one of the three indicted, tried unsuccessfully to get the judge to recuse himself from the case and be transferred to another county. Trupis, who served as a judge in the county where he was indicted for a year, also alleged that all Dane County judges were biased against him and that he would not receive a fair trial.
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The latest round of talks between Ukraine and the US has been completed
The latest round of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US ambassadors ended on Monday as they and European allies sought to end the nearly four-year war with Russia.
Special envoy Steve Wittkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is serving as an outside adviser, were in the German capital for peace talks.
The US and Ukrainian delegations and European officials had a meeting of about 90 minutes on Monday. That Sunday followed a five-hour session.
The U.S. government said in a social media post on Witkoff’s account after Sunday’s meeting that “a lot of progress has been made.”
▶ Read more about negotiations with Ukraine
A court battle has begun over California’s new congressional map drawn in favor of Democrats
A battle designed to help Democrats flip congressional House seats on California’s new congressional map will go to court Monday as a panel of federal judges considers whether district boundaries approved by voters last month can be used in elections.
The hearing in Los Angeles sets the stage for a high-stakes legal and political battle between the Trump administration and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run. The suit asks the three-judge panel to order a temporary restraining order by Dec. 19 — the date when candidates can take their first official steps to run in the 2026 election.
Voters approved California’s new U.S. House map through Proposition 50 in November. It is designed to help Democrats flip at least five congressional House seats in next year’s midterm elections. It was Newsom’s response to Republican leadership efforts in Texas to support President Donald Trump.
▶ Read more about California’s redistricting efforts
Another blue wave? Meet the Democrats trying to make it happen and the Republicans trying to stop it
Although Republican Brian Jack is only a first-term congressman, he’s now a regular in the Oval Office. As a top recruiter for his party’s House campaign team, the Georgia native often surveys and reviews biographies of potential candidates with Trump.
Lauren Underwood, an Illinois congresswoman who does similar work for Democrats, has no such invitation to the West Wing. She’s on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue, working the phones to identify and advise candidates hoping to wipe out Republicans’ slim House majority in November’s midterm elections.
Although they have little in common, both lawmakers were forged by the lessons of 2018, when Democrats flipped dozens of Republican-held seats to turn the remainder of Trump’s first term into a political crucible. Underwood won her race that year, and Jack was responsible for dealing with the fallout when he became White House political director a few months later.
Underwood wants to repeat in 2026, and Jack is trying to stand in his way.
▶ Read more about Underwood and Jack
Ruben Gallego emerges as a key Democratic figure in Latino voter outreach
The Arizona Democrat is emerging as an important surrogate for a party desperately trying to regain Latino support that slipped in 2024 with the election of President Trump. His fall trip included trips to New Jersey, Virginia and Florida, where he campaigned for Democrats who went on to win their elections. California Governor Gavin Newsom or US Rep. While not a household name like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gallego says she is flexing her muscles as a rising star for the party, laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential run.
It’s a role Gallego is expected to continue next year, when Democrats hope to break the Republican hold on Congress and counter Trump’s agenda.
“Ruben Gallego is going to be our secret, secret weapon,” said Maria Cardona, a longtime Democratic operative and member of the Democratic National Committee.
Gallego is one of the Democrats with the busiest travel calendar in 2025 among the potential 2028 contenders. She stumped for Democratic female candidates in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and the mayoral race in Miami.
▶ Read more about Gallego
Trump vows revenge after 3 Americans killed in Syria attack, US blames ISIS
Trump said on Saturday that there would be “very serious retaliation” after an attack in Syria that the US blamed on the Islamic State group killed two US soldiers and an American citizen.
“This was an ISIS attack against the US and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, which is not under their full control,” he said in a social media post.
The US president told reporters at the White House that Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara was “devastated by what happened” and stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US forces. Trump said in his post that Al-Shara was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”
The US Central Command said that three soldiers were also injured in an attack carried out by a member of ISIS in central Syria on Saturday. Trump said the three “seem to be doing a good job.” The US military said the gunman was killed in the attack. Syrian officials said members of Syria’s security forces were also wounded in the attack.
▶ Read more about the attack
Former Trump aides to appear in Wisconsin on 2020 election fraud charges
Two former lawyers and an aide who worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign were scheduled to appear in Wisconsin on Monday for a preliminary hearing on fraud charges related to a fraudulent voter scheme.
Monday’s hearing came a week after Trump’s lawyer, Jim Trupis, one of the three charged, unsuccessfully tried to get the judge to resign from the case and move it to another county. Trupis, who was joined by two other defendants in his motion, alleged that the judge did not write a previous order issued in August refusing to dismiss the case. Instead, he alleged that the judge’s law clerk’s father, a retired judge, actually wrote the opinion.
Trupis, who served as a judge in the county where he was indicted for a year, also alleged that all Dane County judges were biased against him and that he would not receive a fair trial.
▶ Read more about the hearing
