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By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — Every Justice Department or FBI employee who worked on the criminal investigations into President Donald Trump has been fired, resigned, or took early retirement, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday.

“There is not a single man or woman at the Department of Justice who had anything to do with those prosecutions,” Blanche said during a fireside chat at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC.

At the Justice Department, Blanche said, that number amounts to “over 200” people. CNN has not independently verified that number.

Since the second Trump administration began, the Justice Department and FBI have gutted several offices whose work touched on high-profile cases, included the two prosecutions of Trump led by former special counsel Jack Smith. Both cases that Smith brought against Trump — one for retention of classified records and a second for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election — were dropped before Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Their ousting fulfilled a Trump campaign promise: to rid the department of what he claimed was “weaponization” of justice against him and his supporters.

The firings have affected dozens of lawyers, FBI agents, and various members of support staff, CNN has reported.

In some cases, the employees received termination letters that said they couldn’t be “trusted” to “faithfully” implement Trump’s agenda because of their involvement in his prosecutions.

“You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The proper functioning of government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates,” then-acting Attorney General James McHenry wrote in one such letter in early 2025. “Given your significant role in prosecuting the President, I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

Most recently, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen employees involved in the classified documents investigation.

The move was part of a wider internal investigation into actions taken in Smith’s investigation, which he launched after discovering records that showed the FBI used subpoenas to obtain his communication records and the communications of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

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By Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — A gang of top senators from both parties are engaged in a furious push to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, with GOP leaders describing the current round of talks as their “last and final offer” for Democrats to take the deal.

At least some Democrats are feeling positive about the latest GOP counteroffer – which would fund the vast majority of DHS but exclude new money for ICE enforcement and removal operations – but are still seeking clarification on language, including how to ensure money for Customs and Border Protection and other parts of DHS can’t be used for such operations, according to multiple people familiar with the talks. Another source said the offer included at least some provisions to rein in ICE, such as body-worn cameras.

Publicly, however, Republicans and Democrats are refusing to say what details are being discussed — a potential sign of progress after nearly six weeks of stalled talks, in which Democrats have swiftly rejected every other GOP proposal. But multiple sources involved in the talks also acknowledged that things could go south quickly, especially if President Donald Trump were to weigh in at the last minute.

At stake is a 41-day standoff over funding for DHS that has withheld pay for thousands of TSA agents and other DHS workers, causing major travel delays and scores of missed flights nationwide. Frustration on Capitol Hill has hit new levels this week and GOP leaders are pushing hard to end the impasse by Thursday night, given that senators have an upcoming two-week Easter and Passover recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, however, said the Senate would “probably” cancel the start of its recess and remain in Washington, even through the weekend, if no deal is reached.

A group of key Democrats, including Sens. Patty Murray, Brian Schatz, Chris Coons and Dick Durbin, were seen huddled on the floor Thursday with the Republican negotiator on the issue, Sen. Katie Britt. And while some Democrats made clear that the GOP’s latest offer wasn’t enough for them, multiple others told CNN they are still going through it.

“The Dems have the text in front of them. But it’s important that we try and close this down and get it done today,” Thune told reporters.

Republicans, Thune said, had made what he called their “last and final” offer to Democrats.

“The Dems are now in possession of what I think is our last and final. So let’s hope this gets it done,” he said.

Even if the Senate comes to an agreement, the House would still need to pass any deal that emerges from the Senate, which could result in its own headache for Trump and GOP leaders.

At the start of the week, Senate Republicans projected confidence that they had a new plan that would end the stalemate. They proposed funding DHS except for a small portion of the immigration enforcement budget, in a concession to Democrats. And they planned to try to pass a party-line bill to fund the rest of ICE later. But the plan ran into resistance from Senate Democrats, who continued to demand more changes to ICE tactics and practices.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters said Thursday he’s been involved in “productive” funding talks, even as he stopped short of saying there had been movement in the negotiations.

Asked if the GOP offer this morning was helpful, he said, “There’s been lots of stuff going back and forth. So, I’m not gonna talk about any one offer versus another.”

He didn’t have a timeframe for a deal but said he doesn’t expect people to leave without one.

The goal of the talks, Peters said, would

By Pau Mosquera, CNN

(CNN) — Noelia Castillo’s story was defined by pain – both physical and emotional. This overwhelming pain led the young Spaniard to request euthanasia in 2024. On Thursday, at 25 years old, that request was fulfilled and her difficult life came to an end.

“I want to leave in peace already and stop suffering, period,” Castillo said days before her death, in an interview on the Spanish news channel Antena 3.

Her case sparked intense debate in Spain, especially after the interview aired – both among those who supported her decision and among those who messaged her on social media urging her not to choose euthanasia.

A life of suffering

In the interview, Castillo explained that her decision was rooted in a turbulent home life following her parents’ separation when she was 13. Castillo spent time in a supervised care center and was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder.

She also recounted to her interviewer three episodes of sexual abuse: one allegedly perpetrated by an ex-partner, another in a nightclub where she said two men raped her, and a third in a bar involving three young men. She said she never reported any of them. Days after the second episode, in October 2022, she attempted suicide. She survived the attempt, but was left paraplegic and wheelchair-bound.

This became the turning point that led her to consider euthanasia.

“Sleeping is very difficult for me, and besides that, I have back and leg pain,” Castillo said. But she also emphasized that the suffering was not only physical. Before requesting euthanasia, “My world was very dark … I had no goals, no objectives, nothing,” she said.

Her euthanasia was carried out in the Sant Pere de Ribes hospital where she had been living.

A winding legal journey

Assisted suicide has been legal in Spain since June 2021. For Castillo, applying for it was only the beginning of a complex journey – mainly because her family opposed it.

Her request had been approved on July 18, 2024, by the Catalonia Guarantee and Evaluation Commission. The commission found that she met all legal requirements, as she had a “nonrecoverable clinical situation,” causing “severe dependence, pain, and chronic, disabling suffering.” All of this prevented her from living autonomously and negatively affected her daily life.

But in August of that same year, her father – advised by the ultraconservative religious group Christian Lawyers – began a legal fight to stop the process, arguing that she was incapable of making such a decision.

“He has not respected my decision and he never will,” Castillo said about her father.

From then on, her father initiated a long legal process that delayed Noelia’s euthanasia for 20 months, going through five judicial levels: a Barcelona court, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights.

None of these bodies opposed the young woman’s decision. All found that she met the requirements and was capable of deciding to die.

“I understand he’s a father, that he doesn’t want to lose a daughter,” Castillo reflected in her interview. She added that she felt confused because she did not have a close relationship with him.

“He ignores me. So why does he want me alive? To keep me in a hospital?” she said.

The battle Castillo fought ultimately enabled her to carry out her decision.

“I finally did it, and now maybe I can finally rest,” she told the Antena 3 journalist. “I can’t take this family anymore, I can’t take the pain anymore, I can’t take everything that torments me in my head.”

Castillo said goodbye to her entire family and asked that in her final moments, she be left alone.

“I don’t want anyone inside” her room, she s