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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Trump's Iran military decision during a Tuesday briefing after CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes questioned the rationale. Cordes noted that Trump initially claimed Iran would strike U.S. targets within seven days, later reducing that estimate to three days. She asked where Trump was obtaining this information. Leavitt insisted Trump was "not making anything up" and stated his decision was based on intelligence and negotiations with Iran over the past year. She emphasized that Trump would not allow the Iranian regime to threaten or attack the United States. When Cordes asked if Trump was fabricating justifications for war, Leavitt pushed back firmly, insisting the president acted on facts and intelligence. She concluded by stating Iran "chose this path to death and destruction."

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New ethics charges filed against President Donald Trump's "attack dog" could expose another one of Trump's allies, according to one expert.

On Tuesday, the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel formally accused Ed Martin, Trump's pardon attorney at the Department of Justice, of ethical violations over threatening letters he sent to Georgetown University's law school regarding its diversity policies. What Martin is being accused of in the letter could also apply to another one of Trump's favorite prosecutors, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro in Washington, D.C., former federal prosecutor Harry Litman suggested during a new podcast interview.

A deleted tweet from one of President Donald Trump's Cabinet members just cost traders $84 million in minutes, according to a new report.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright's accidental post about Navy tanker escorts sent oil markets into a frenzy Tuesday before disappearing into the digital void, leaving Wall Street reeling from what one expert called "an unforgivable error," the Wall Street Journal reported.

A basic legal error could tank the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to force Washington State to hand over its confidential voter registration data.

In a court order flagged by the liberal outlet Democracy Docket, U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kate Vaughan alerted the Justice Department that they never provided any proof that the state of Washington was properly served with their lawsuit — an oversight that would be grounds for throwing the whole case out.

Federal judges remain enraged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership are habitually blowing off court orders, Politico reported — and it's a huge focal point of the strain building between the federal bench and the Trump administration.

This follows months of reports that federal judges are losing decades of institutional trust that DOJ lawyers take for granted when arguing cases. According to this report, however, many judges still trust line prosecutors at DOJ — it's DOJ leadership that have no credibility with them.

The District of Columbia Bar filed ethics charges against DOJ pardon attorney Ed Martin for sending a threatening letter to Georgetown University Law Center while serving as interim U.S. attorney. Martin questioned the school's diversity and inclusion policies, and the court filing alleges he used coercion to punish disfavored viewpoints and suppress DEI teaching. Before Georgetown could respond to his inquiries, Martin notified the school that his office would no longer employ its students as fellows, interns, or employees. D.C. Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton Fox argues these actions violated the First and Fifth Amendments by restricting the law school's free speech and religious rights. The DOJ responded by accusing the bar of partisanship. Martin, who represented January 6 rioters, previously headed the DOJ's weaponization working group before losing that position.

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Matt Gaetz, a former MAGA lawmaker and ally of President Donald Trump, was stunned on Tuesday after learning who had been selected as the new Supreme Leader in Iran.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was selected by Iran's Assembly of Experts as the country's next leader. Khamenei has been described by experts as "his father on steroids," and the New York Times described the new Khamenei's reign as a "show of open defiance to Iran’s attackers."

A legal expert appeared astonished on Tuesday by a new report that President Donald Trump's hand-picked prosecutor in Miami is struggling to indict one of the president's political foes.

CNN reported on Tuesday that U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones in the Southern District of Florida and officials in Trump's Department of Justice have been pushing to indict former CIA Director John Brennan over his involvement in the 2016 investigation into Russia's interference in the general election. However, that push has been thwarted by weak evidence against Brennan, CNN reported.

Republicans think they've cracked the code on who controls the Senate's top Republican, which they believe explains why President Donald Trump's legislative effort has failed thus far to combat baseless claims of rampant voter fraud.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act is a voter eligibility bill that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, to register to vote. Critics have said the requirement would suppress voter turnout by disenfranchising millions of eligible Americans who lack ready access to such documents.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) found himself plunged into controversy on Tuesday with a speech in which he suggested low-income people don't understand "navigating the real world" because they're accustomed to the government giving them handouts.

"People living in poverty are just not very experienced at navigating the real world, right?" he said. "I remember talking to one young lady who said, 'Well, I don't really know how money works at a grocery store,' because she grew up and has lived all of her adult life using SNAP cards to buy groceries. You literally have to teach people how to budget ... the buzzword today, let's face it, is 'affordability.'"

The Trump administration subpoenaed records from Maricopa County, Arizona, continuing efforts to revisit the 2020 election despite no evidence of fraud. The move follows a January raid on Fulton County, Georgia election offices where 2020 ballots were seized. Trump has long maintained the conspiracy theory that the election was "rigged" against him. Arizona Senate President Warren Peterson stated he complied with the federal grand jury subpoena for records related to the 2020 audit. Legal experts and commentators responded with alarm on social media. Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman criticized Peterson for handing over records. A GOP-led 2021 audit by Cyber Ninjas actually found Biden won Maricopa County by 360 more votes than originally believed. Critics argue Trump's continued election litigation represents an abuse of federal power to undermine democratic processes.

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President Donald Trump was brutally mocked by political analysts and observers on Tuesday after he announced a new oil refinery would open in Brownsville, Texas.

Earlier in the day, Trump claimed that his administration had attracted a new $300 billion investment from an Indian oil company, Reliance, to build a new refinery. However, some analysts and observers noted that Trump appeared to take credit for an investment announced under the previous Biden administration.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) claimed in an interview released on Tuesday that low-income people don't know how to "navigate the real world" because they're too dependent on the government just handing them money.

"People living in poverty are just not very experienced at navigating the real world, right?" said Husted, who was appointed to the Senate seat held by now-Vice President JD Vance. "I remember talking to one young lady who said, 'Well, I don't really know how money works at a grocery store,' because she grew up and has lived all of her adult life using SNAP cards to buy groceries. You literally have to teach people how to budget."