First Run News

Oh, how the mighty have not fallen. Sheldon Silver, the powerful former speaker of the New York State Assembly, survived his corruption prosecution in July. That’s when an appeals court overturned his bribery conviction. The next to slip away was William J. Jefferson, a onetime Democratic congressman from Louisiana. The bulk of his conviction — which occurred after he was caught with $90,000 in his freezer — was tossed out in October.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — With the furor over sexual misconduct allegations against Roy S. Moore only growing, it was his wife, Kayla Moore, who was at center stage on the Alabama Capitol steps on Friday, her gold cross earrings glinting in the sun as she defiantly defended her husband. “Let me set the record straight,” Ms. Moore said. “He will not step down.” As Mr.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday reversed the government’s decision to start allowing hunters to import trophies of elephants that were killed in two African countries, pending a further review. His evening Twitter message reversed a decision by his own administration over Zimbabwe that was announced this week and promoted as recently as Friday afternoon by the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts,” Mr.

WASHINGTON — A senior Russian official who claimed to be acting at the behest of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tried in May 2016 to arrange a meeting between Mr. Putin and Donald J. Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter. The news of this reached the Trump campaign in a very circuitous way. An advocate for Christian causes emailed campaign aides saying that Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of the Russian central bank who has been linked both to Russia’s security services and organized crime, had proposed a meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump.

As the $1.5 trillion tax cut sailed through the House on Thursday along party lines, the Senate Finance Committee was beset by sharp exchanges between Republicans and Democrats, who spent an arduous day trying — and failing — to change a bill they said would favor corporations and the rich over everyone else. As midnight approached, Republicans on the usually collegial committee united to push an amended version of their tax overhaul toward the Senate floor, prompting an angry exchange between Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat, and Orrin Hatch, the committee chairman and Utah Republican, over w

WASHINGTON — As Republicans march forward with their $1.5 trillion tax bill, budget experts are warning about what they say are an alarming array of accounting gimmicks intended to mask the true cost of the tax cuts. The maneuvers come in many forms, like phasing in certain cuts over a period of years and making some cuts “temporary” with the full expectation that they will never actually be allowed to expire. “In some ways, this whole bill is a gimmick,” Stan Collender, a former staff member for Democrats on the House and Senate Budget Committees, said of the Senate tax bill.

WASHINGTON — The White House asked Congress on Friday for $44 billion in additional relief in response to this year’s devastating hurricanes, but facing rising budget deficits and pushing a tax cut that could cost $1.5 trillion, the administration also suggested that lawmakers make spending cuts to offset disaster costs. Republicans have been conspicuously quiet about the ballooning national debt as they press to enact deep tax cuts before the end of the year.

WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill has long been an insular boys’ club known for tales of unwanted sexual approaches, wandering hands at crowded receptions and young women cornered in elevators.

ST. PAUL — Vile behavior, said one liberal activist. Absolutely wrong, said a lawyer who votes Democratic. More proof that he does not live up to Minnesota values, said a Republican woman who voted against him. As Minnesotans absorbed the news that their own Senator Al Franken, a Democrat, had become the latest public official to be accused of mistreating women, there was widespread condemnation of his behavior in his home state. On Thursday, Mr.

WASHINGTON — A day after the latest in a dizzying series of sexual assault revelations enveloped Senator Al Franken and rattled the Capitol, politicians and comedians were left trying to assess the line between predatory behavior and an inexcusable mistake, as calls mounted for him to resign. Mr.