Politics

In a damning depiction of Donald Trump, the president's former lawyer on Wednesday cast him as a racist and a con man who used his inner circle to cover up politically damaging allegations about sex, and lied throughout the 2016 election campaign about his business interests in Russia.

Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, testified to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. He called Trump a "racist," a "con man" and a "cheat" — and endured sharp criticism from House Republicans.

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TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL D. COHEN COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Chairman Cummings, Ranking Member Jordan, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today.

Opposition has intensified against Texas' new election chief as a key lawmaker said he won't back Gov. Greg Abbott's nominee, who called into question the U.S. citizenship of 95,000 voters using faulty data.

For his 2020 campaign for president, Julián Castro selected his twin brother, a Democratic representative from San Antonio, as his campaign chairman. Are there rules around Joaquin Castro promoting his brother's run?

The lineup is now final: Nine people will compete to become the next mayor of Dallas. So just who are they? Find out here.

In what state Sen. Angela Paxton describes as an effort to safely expand Texas’ burgeoning financial tech industry, the freshman Republican from McKinney has filed a bill that would empower the office of her husband, Attorney General Ken Paxton, to exempt entrepreneurs from certain state regulations so they can market “innovative financial products or services.”

Once again, the Rio Grande Valley is seeing the signs that more border fencing is coming: construction equipment gathering near the Rio Grande, brush being cleared, residents receiving letters from the government asking to survey their property and possibly claim some of it through eminent domain. 

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said Thursday that he's added language to a compromise bill aimed at avoiding another government shutdown that would prohibit border fencing at five major landmarks in the Rio Grande Valley.

Facing an uncertain path to confirmation after ordering a deeply flawed voter citizenship review that seemingly focused on naturalized citizens, Texas Secretary of State David Whitley is now apologizing to state lawmakers for the way his office rolled out the review — but he is still holding firm behind the overall effort.

President Trump is expected to to speak at the White House Rose Garden beginning at 9 a.m. Central Friday to declare a national emergency in order to help finance a long-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. It's a highly unusual move from an unconventional president.

The nonprofit National Butterfly Center has asked a federal judge to stop border wall activity on its property as the Trump administration gears up to build new barriers in South Texas and may soon win funding for more.

President Donald Trump on Monday presented the border wall as a work in progress, hailing the start of a "big, big portion" with much more coming soon. That's a hefty exaggeration from a president who has yet to see an extra mile of barrier completed since he took office.

President Donal Trump's signature pledge to American voters — a border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border — is threatening to become a model of unfulfilled promises.

He will try to turn the debate back to his political advantage with a rally at 8 p.m. Central Monday in El Paso. We will livestream PBS NewsHour's coverage and commentary here.