First Run News

President Donald Trump’s personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, whose office sits in front of the Oval Office and who has served as the president’s gatekeeper since Day 1 of his administration, resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with her exit said. Westerhout’s abrupt and unexpected departure came after Trump learned on Thursday that she had indiscreetly shared details about his family and the Oval Office operations she was part of during a recent off-the-record dinner with reporters staying at hotels near Bedminster, New Jersey, during the president’s working vaca

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are making swings through New Hampshire this weekend — less than a week before nearly all of the party’s contenders are expected to flock to Manchester for the state Democratic Party’s annual convention. Warren is set to attend a house party Monday in Hampton Falls, which is on the coast of the first-in-the-nation primary state.

WASHINGTON — If a White House official wanted to talk to President Trump, it helped to have a good relationship with Madeleine Westerhout, his 28-year-old assistant. She was known for brusquely deflecting officials senior to her both in title and age who wanted a few minutes of face time with the president with one withering question: “Why are you here?” But it was not what some administration officials saw as Westerhout’s overprotectiveness of the president that led to her abrupt and unceremonious departure from the White House on Thursday.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Thursday rejected House Democrats' effort to speed up their lawsuit over their request for MORE's federal tax returns. "It may be appropriate to expedite this matter at some point, but not now," Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, said in a seven-page memorandum.  The House Ways and Means Committee last month filed a lawsuit to get a court to order the Treasury Department and IRS to comply with its requests and subpoenas for six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns. Earlier this month, the committee filed a m

In the past 10 days, three Democratic candidates — Washington Gov. MORE (N.Y.) — have suspended their campaigns. But others are soldiering on in hopes of qualifying for future debates, and of winning converts among voters in Iowa and New Hampshire who will be the first to allocate delegates. “I think that the debate is missing something without me in it. But you know, we still know that we’re five and a half months from the Iowa caucuses, which is the first time that actual voters get to express a preference,” Montana Gov.

A scathing report released Thursday by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General found former FBI Director MORE violated bureau policies and his employment agreement with his handling of official memos. The investigation concerned memos detailing Comey’s interactions and conversations with MORE.  “We conclude that Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement,” the report states.

MORE on Thursday canceled his trip to Poland that was scheduled for this weekend due to a hurricane that is expected to hit Florida in the coming days. Vice President Pence will travel to Poland in Trump's place, the president told reporters during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden. Hurricane Dorian is expected to gain strength in the coming days, and could hit the Florida coast as soon as Saturday as a Category 4 storm. “It’s something very important for me to be here,” Trump said.

The Justice Department watchdog unveiled a report Thursday rebuking former FBI director MORE, saying he violated FBI policies. The report from DOJ Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz rebutted Comey’s claims that the memos were merely personal recollections, not official FBI records, and sharply criticized the former FBI chief for mishandling sensitive information. While highly critical of Comey’s actions, the inspector general did not make recommendations on whether the former top government official should face any charges, and Attorney General

“It looks like it could be a very very big one indeed,” Trump said. The president was scheduled to attend ceremonies in Poland Sunday marking the 80th Anniversary of the start of World War II.

Senator Sanders’ criminal justice reform plan is intended to place the socialist presidential candidate at the progressive vanguard of transforming the criminal justice system in America.  New polls show Sanders now in a statistical dead heat in the Democrat primaries, drawing even with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden.