By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Paula Reid, CNN

(CNN) — A Justice Department review found that Ed Martin improperly handled grand jury materials that were part of an investigation targeting Donald Trump’s political enemies, at least two sources familiar with the review told CNN. It was at least part of the reason Martin was pushed out of DOJ headquarters early this year.

The review, which was overseen by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, focused on whether grand jury material gathered in the department’s mortgage fraud inquiries into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James had been illegally shared with people not authorized to possess that information, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.

The department found that Martin had shared the secret grand jury material in the Schiff case, one of the sources said. The person said Martin initially denied sharing the material with unauthorized people when asked by department leaders, but emails soon surfaced showing that Martin had in fact shared the grand jury material.

A second person told CNN a finding of misconduct gave the deputy attorney general a reason to further ostracize Martin. Martin was removed as the head of the so-called Weaponization Working Group on the first day of 2026 and he was relocated out of department headquarters to a building across town that houses the pardon attorney — Martin’s one remaining role.

“President Trump ordered Ed Martin to fight weaponization wherever it’s found,” a person close to Martin said. “As a member of the Deputy Attorney General’s staff, Ed handled hundreds of cases and matters directed by the DAG. Ed, his co-chair Colin McDonald, and the members of the Weaponization Working Group followed DOJ standards and procedures at all times.”

Martin is expected to leave the department in coming weeks.

He has not been charged with a crime, and the Justice Department hasn’t determined whether any law was broken.

In a statement to CNN, Blanche said, “there are no misconduct investigations into Ed Martin. Ed is doing a great job as Pardon Attorney.”

The statement did not address whether there was ever a review of Martin’s handling of grand jury material.

Martin has been a main figurehead in the president’s campaign to investigate or prosecute his political foes, including the investigation into Schiff and the prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and James. A judge dismissed the Comey and James prosecutions in November, finding that the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.

In January 2025, Trump appointed Martin as the interim US attorney for Washington, DC. He immediately started working on Trump’s agenda, including demoting and pushing out senior prosecutors who worked on cases related to January 6 and vowing to protect employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He ultimately failed to receive enough support from the Senate, and Trump pulled his nomination for the position in May 2025.

The review of Martin’s handling of materials burst into public view in December after a witness who received a subpoena showed up at the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, seeking to testify.

The witness, a Republican woman from California named Christine Bish, told CNN that investigators asked her about two people who claimed to be working on fraud cases alongside Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Dire

By Marshall Cohen, Michael Williams, CNN

Washington, DC (CNN) — A wide array of election experts say President Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to “nationalize the voting” is an alarming and potentially dangerous escalation of his continued efforts to transform how US elections are administered.

Trump’s remarks were notable both for their ambiguity and for what they could mean if interpreted literally – especially coming from a president who already tried to overturn one election and is now trying to exert powers that are unprecedented in American history, nearly a dozen election officials, lawyers and nonpartisan experts told CNN.

The executive branch has some powers with elections, like sending Justice Department voting-rights monitors to polling places, which it did last year in California and New Jersey. But Trump’s comments Monday that Republicans “should take over the voting” and “nationalize the voting” would bring the federal government’s role to a level never seen before in this country, which experts said usurps powers the Constitution grants to the states.

“There is one small problem – the Constitution prevents federalizing elections,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, told CNN. “It’s very alarming that Trump continues to use his platform to undermine American elections. These attacks are largely failing, but we need to take these comments seriously.”

The White House has since sought to downplay Trump’s remarks by claiming Tuesday that he was merely expressing support for the SAVE Act, pending legislation that would require people to prove their citizenship before registering to vote. (The bill is meant to combat illegal voting by undocumented immigrants, which studies have found occurs on a microscopic level.)

The timing of Trump’s comments was also jarring to election professionals. They came two days after Democrats flipped a ruby-red Texas state Senate seat; five days after the FBI used a search warrant to seize 2020 election records in Fulton County, Georgia; and amid multiple Justice Department lawsuits seeking to obtain voter rolls from Democratic states.

“We all need to be very, very sober about this,” said Lori Ringhand, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law who teaches constitutional and election law. “There are few things we do as a country as important as peacefully transferring power through the electoral process, and nobody should be kneecapping that lightly.”

What did Trump say?

The president started off on a familiar tangent in an interview that aired Monday with right-wing podcaster Dan Bongino, who until recently was serving as Trump’s FBI deputy director.

Trump said he inherited a porous border from former President Joe Biden, who allowed “millions” of undocumented immigrants into the country, including many murderers, drug addicts and people from mental institutions. (Aspects of these claims are disputed.)

“If we don’t get them out, Republicans wil

By Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — For a fleeting moment in Washington, top Democrats believed last week they could reach a deal with the GOP to set new limits on President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration enforcement after federal agents killed two US citizens in Minnesota.

That hope is mostly gone inside the US Capitol.

Congress’ push for a bipartisan deal to scale back federal immigration officers’ powers is now in doubt, with Speaker Mike Johnson ruling out two of Democrats’ biggest demands after the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Johnson is among many Republicans who are refusing Democrats’ demands to stop searches without a judicial warrant and unmask ICE officers in public. Instead, many GOP lawmakers are issuing their own must-haves, like language to end so-called sanctuary cities – a nonstarter for Democrats.

Johnson said Tuesday that Republicans are “never” going to agree to requiring that ICE agents obtain warrants from a judge, rather than simply getting the greenlight from a Trump administration official.

“It is unimplementable. It cannot be done, and it should not be done. It’s not necessary,” he said.

Democrats, meanwhile, are insisting they cannot accept anything but dramatic reforms to the Department of Homeland Security that can satisfy the national uproar from their base.

Now, both parties are anticipating a nasty standoff over the DHS budget when its current funding runs out in just two weeks. Tensions are quickly rising on Capitol Hill as the two sides harden their positions, with growing odds of a DHS shutdown that could snarl airport traffic and leave the Coast Guard and Secret Service without pay.

The biggest question now is whether the two sides can come up with a funding bill that any Democrats can support — or whether the department is headed for its third shutdown in less than a year.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday afternoon that it will be very difficult to get a deal over ICE by the deadline and it might take a miracle.

“There’s always miracles, right? Maybe things will come together and we’ll be able to vote on something at the end of the two weeks,” Thune told reporters. “I think that would be overly optimistic, based on my experience.”

Asked about whether Republicans can reach a deal by mid-February, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise seemed even more downbeat.

“Democrats have been the party of defunding the police for a long time. They’ve been clear for years that they don’t want to fund law enforcement of any kind,” Scalise told CNN.

It’s not even clear how the negotiations will proceed: Thune has said it is up to House and Senate Democrats to work with the White House, while one top Democrat involved in DHS funding – Sen. Chris Murphy – has said the onus is on GOP leaders in Congress to come to his party.

“That’s up to them. They’re in charge. They need to convene some serious negotiations,” Murphy said of Thune and Johnson. But the Connecticut Democrat made clear he isn’t giving up on the talks: “Let’s sit down, let’s sit at the table.”

Another Democrat, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, voiced exasperation at what he described at the GOP’s shifting tune on the talks. Asked Tuesday about Johnson throwing cold water on some of Democrats’ demands, Crow said, “They continue to not operate in good faith, right?”

“Over and over and over again,” he said, “you feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, right? And they’re moving it all the time.”

So far the only bipartisan agreement appears to be over ICE officers wearing body cameras – something that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Read more

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By Kevin Dotson, CNN

(CNN) — Penny the Doberman Pinscher was named Best in Show at the 2026 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday.

The competition as stiff, and as the seven finalists took one last lap around the arena, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

The New York crowd seemed to reserve their loudest cheers for the four-year-old Doberman Pinscher, and in the end, she prevailed and became the 42nd female to win the prestigious Best in Show award. It marked the fifth time a Doberman has taken the top prize at Westminster.

Emerging from the Working group, Penny beat out 2,499 other canines spread across seven different groups containing 204 total breeds to win the coveted prize.

“She is as great a Doberman as I’ve ever seen,” said Penny’s handler Andy Linton, who was also the handler of the last Doberman Pinscher to win Best in Show at Westminster 37 years ago in 1989.

The 150th edition of the America’s oldest continuously-held dog show (and second-oldest sporting event in the country behind the Kentucky Derby) was once again staged in New York City at famed Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.

The Best in Show winner is chosen by a single judge. This year’s judge, David Fitzpatrick, had to decide between the winners of the respective seven varying groups – Herding, Hound, Non-Sporting, Sporting, Terrier, Toy and Working.

Fitzpatrick awarded Reserve Best in Show to Cota the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, winner of the Sporting group.

“You know they often say ‘what a great lineup,’” Fitzpatrick said of the finalists. “But this is one that will go down in history.”

The remaining group winners were:

Herding group: Graham the Old English Sheepdog

Hound group: Zaida the Afghan Hound

Non-sporting group: JJ (short for Jingle Juice) the Lhasa Apso

Terrier group: Wager the Smooth Fox Terrier

Toy group: Cookie the Maltese

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