Axios

Former President Trump released a dramatic campaign video on Friday, featuring footage of his widely watched arrest this week over hush money payments and again cast himself as a victim of investigators.

Driving the news: In the 56-second ad, posted to Donald Trump Jr.'s Twitter page and emailed to supporters by the campaign, sleek footage of the former president traveling to court is played over cinematic music and Trump's voiceover.

A trio of Tennessee Democrats who were subject to expulsion votes over a gun reform protest has captured national attention as observers grapple with the potential impact amid roiling debates over the gun issue.

Driving the news: A Republican-led effort to expel the state lawmakers — dubbed the "Tennessee three" — succeeded in ousting two members of the group, Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday acknowledged allegations that he had failed to properly disclose luxury trips he had received from an influential GOP donor, saying in a statement that he has "always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines."

Driving the news: An explosive ProPublica investigation alleged that over the span over more than two decades, Thomas accepted lavish vacations paid for by a major Republican donor virtually every year.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a rare bipartisan statement Friday condemning the Russian government's "wrongful detention" of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

The big picture: His arrest last week marked the first time Russia has detained an American journalist on spying charges since the Cold War.

If Republicans step back and look beyond the legal and social-media spectacle of Donald J. Trump, they'll see screaming political sirens everywhere they gaze.

Why it matters: The GOP's political trouble has been unfolding slowly but unmistakably, starting even before Trump's loss to Joe Biden in 2020.

The Tennessee GOP-led state House's expulsion of two Democrats could have a rippling impact in state legislatures across the country, where political parties are entrenched on issues like gun control and abortion.

Why it matters: Experts warn that majority party lawmakers punishing minority party members with divergent political positions are becoming increasingly common, especially if those members buck up against legislative rules.

The U.S. State Department says it's "monitoring closely" a Chinese maritime operation in the Taiwan Strait this week that includes boarding and inspecting ships.

Why it matters: Officials in Taipei believe the unprecedented action in the Taiwan Strait is in reprisal for their president's D.C. meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday unveiled a proposal to change Title IX rules guiding the rights of transgender athletes on school sports teams.

Driving the news: The rule would bar public schools and colleges that receive federal funding from outright banning transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, while allowing some exclusions in specific high school and college sports.

An explosive ProPublica investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' ties to a billionaire GOP donor has triggered a furious response from Democrats, sparking calls for resignation, impeachment and sweeping reforms to the nation's highest court.

Driving the news: For over two decades, the conservative justice has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from Dallas real estate magnate Harlan Crow without disclosing them, according to flight records, internal documents and interviews with staff.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is accusing Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) of misrepresenting his investigation into the Biden family and refusing to share information — including a copy of the Hunter Biden laptop hard drive.

Why it matters: Comer has made allegations of influence peddling by the Biden family a focus of the committee and has publicly touted hearing from four critical witnesses. Top Democrats are now questioning his claims.

Families of gun violence victims can't get the gun control they've been fighting for. But they are winning in court.

Driving the news: Victims of the 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas shooting settled with the Department of Justice for $144.5 million on Wednesday. That's the latest multimillion-dollar settlement awarded to families as mass shootings are an increasingly prevalent part of life in the U.S.

The Supreme Court has rejected West Virginia's bid to enforce a transgender athlete ban against a 12-year-old girl.

Driving the news: The court issued the rejection on Thursday in an unsigned order that did not provide details behind the decision.

• Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Clarence Thomas, dissented from the rest, saying they would have granted West Virginia's petition to enforce the law against the transgender athlete.

The U.S. acknowledged its evacuations from Afghanistan in 2021 should have begun sooner — but largely blamed the Trump administration, according to a newly released National Security Council document outlining key moments.

Why it matters: The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in summer 2021 — a pain point in Biden's presidency that's drawn bipartisan criticism — has also become a growing target of GOP-led congressional investigations.

Seeking asylum in the United States is a codified right — but immigrant advocates say it's been severely restricted.

The big picture: A string of policies aimed at reducing irregular migration, both by President Trump and now President Biden, have made it much harder for people fleeing persecution to seek safety in the U.S. if they come through the southern border.

The effects of climate change, violence, political instability and economic strife across Latin America and the Caribbean are forcing millions of people to migrate.

The big picture: Not only are more people coming to the U.S., they're also migrating more within Latin America and beyond the cities that have long drawn migrants.

Migrants are increasingly making treacherous journeys from faraway nations to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, including from China, India and Russia.

Why it matters: This has complicated an already chaotic situation at the border, with authorities now contending with new language barriers and countries that do not cooperate with U.S. deportation efforts.

Migration through the Americas has radically changed over the past decade, yet U.S. immigration laws remain stuck in the last century, with a patchwork of policies to address a growing humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

Driving the news: On May 11, the Biden administration is expected to end the Title 42 pandemic policy, which has allowed immigration authorities to rapidly turn back hundreds of thousands of people without giving them a chance for asylum.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz, a former New York prosecutor who resigned in protest of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s initial unwillingness to pursue charges against former President Trump.

Why it matters: The subpoena represents a major escalation in the House GOP’s investigation into Bragg’s prosecution of Trump over an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Permanently moving to the U.S. was once as easy as getting on a ship or strolling across a border.

Today, most lawful means of entering the country take years because of overwhelmed immigration agencies, rising levels of global migration and a limit on the number of certain visas, all of which have culminated in a massive backlog of people trying to get to the U.S.

Nearly three decades old, HIPAA appears obsolete and riddled with new technology-induced gaps.

Why it matters: With regulators unable and politicians unwilling to address the shortcomings of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, private companies are offering a fix.

A ProPublica investigation alleging Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips from an influential Republican megadonor is fueling calls for strict ethics guidelines on the Supreme Court.

Why it matters: Recent controversies involving big donors and chummy D.C. friendships have put a harsh spotlight on the high court as public trust in the institution falls to historic lows.

Several anti-transgender rights measures are rapidly moving through the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature, advancing on party-line votes.

State of play: The Senate has approved at least three of those bills — restricting transgender athletes from sports, banning access to gender affirming care for kids and blocking transgender and nonbinary youth from updating their birth certificate with their gender identity.

Big progressive wins in Wisconsin and Chicago elections this week show the staying power of left-wing positions on abortion and crime as issues heading into 2024.

Why it matters: After Democrats became the surprise winners of the 2022 midterms, the twin Midwest results Tuesday in widely watched mayoral and state Supreme Court races showed how the party could energize its base.

House Democrats who attended a GOP-led meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen believe it bodes well for the possibility of bipartisan work in the coming months.

Why it matters: It's a rare moment of cross-party praise for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as he prepares for efforts to fund the government, avert default on U.S. debt and potentially provide more aid to Ukraine.

Six hours after a New York judge warned former President Trump he could be penalized for any remarks that endangered others, Trump stepped to a microphone in Florida — and practically dared the judge to do just that.

• "I have a Trump-hating judge," Trump said in a barrage of insults aimed at Judge Juan Merchan, the judge's family, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and more.

Street homelessness in the U.S. has increased by 25% since 2017, and most major metros don't have enough or the right kind of shelter to accommodate people living outside.

State of play: Only 181,786 emergency shelter beds were available for an estimated 421,392 individuals experiencing homelessness nationwide as of January 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Idaho could be at the center of a free speech battle over abortion care.

Driving the news: The American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday that it's suing the Idaho Attorney General for "threatening health care providers who exercise their First Amendment right to give patients information about out-of-state abortion care."

China's embassy in Washington, D.C., warned members of Congress in an email to not meet with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday, calling the prospect "a blatant provocation."

Driving the news: The four-page email, sent Tuesday from Li Xiang, the embassy's liaison to Congress, warned of consequences if the meetings between lawmakers and Tsai took place.