The Latest: Jack Smith is set to testify at a public hearing about his Trump investigations

Republican lawmakers are poised to grill former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith at an open hearing, focusing fresh attention on two criminal investigations that shadowed Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign.

Smith testified behind closed doors last month. Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing is likely to feature starkly partisan questioning, as Republicans try to undermine the former Justice Department official and Democrats seek to elicit new and damaging testimony about Trump's conduct.

Smith is standing by his decision as special counsel to bring charges accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

In Switzerland, Trump inaugurated his '' Board of Peace '' to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, insisting that ''everyone wants to be a part'' of the body that could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate. Follow live updates from Davos.

The House Oversight Committee meanwhile advanced resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, opening the prospect of the House using one of its most powerful punishments against a former president for the first time.

And Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people's homes without a judge's warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.

The Latest:

Smith forcefully defended his work as special counsel and said he stands by his decision to bring criminal charges against Trump as he opened his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. He said he's ''not a politician and has no partisan loyalties,'' and would have brought charges no matter the president's politics.

''No one, no one should be above the law in this country,'' Smith said.

Smith decried what he described as ''false and misleading'' narratives about the cases, which were abandoned after Trump won the election.

And he criticized the firing of members of the team that investigated the president, saying he is ''saddened and angered'' that Trump has ''sought revenge against them.''

Officers who responded on Jan. 6 sit behind Jack Smith at hearing

Smith has said evidence placed Trump's actions squarely at the heart of a criminal conspiracy to undo the election he lost to Biden as well as the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

The officers — Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell and Daniel Hodges — were acknowledged at the start of the hearing by Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The officers, who worked at the time for the Capitol Police and D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, testified together at a hearing in 2021 about their experiences fighting Trump's supporters in the violent riot.

Republicans open hearing with former special counsel Smith

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said the criminal investigations into Trump were ''always about politics'' as he opened the hearing.

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the panel, said in his opening remarks that the GOP is trying to distract from Trump's efforts to overturn his loss in that election and the attack on the Capitol by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Raskin said Republicans may say Smith's probes were about politics, but ''for us it's all about the rule of law.''

Vance urges patience on the economy during Toledo stop

''You don't turn the Titanic around overnight,'' he told a crowd of workers largely clad in reflective neon vests. ''It takes time to fix what is broken.''

Vance was using the visit to emphasize the Trump administration's efforts in Washington to lower prices, boost paychecks and create more good-paying jobs.

Workers brandished signs saying ''Lower Prices'' and ''Bigger Paychecks'' to emphasize the point.

Vance says administration will come down hard on church protesters

Vance said the administration will act aggressively to prosecute anti-immigration enforcement protesters who disrupted a church service in Minnesota.

''They're scaring little kids who are there to worship God on a Sunday morning,'' he told a crowd of workers in Toledo on Thursday. ''Those people are going to be sent to prison so long as we have the power to do so. We're going to do everything we can to enforce the law.''

Vance said he expects ''we're going to see more prosecutions there.''

Leader of disruptive protest inside Minnesota church is arrested

Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X. Protesters on Sunday entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor, chanting ''ICE out'' and ''Justice for Renee Good,'' referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist, had called for the pastor's resignation, saying his dual role poses a ''fundamental moral conflict.''

The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation. ''Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,'' Bondi wrote.

Public comments mostly criticize White House ballroom, director tells commissioners

Many public comments to the Fine Arts Commission criticized the White House ballroom concept as too large to maintain the traditional appearance of the president's residence.

Thomas Luebke, the commission's executive director, summarized the comments and told commissioners ''almost all of them were in some way critical.''

The one he read and described as ''more positive'' complimented the proposal's design and style but said ''the scale appears oversized, making the main structure dominated.''

Luebke said other commenters criticized Trump's process, which historic preservationists are challenging in court, accusing Trump of bypassing federal rules for construction on historic buildings in Washington.

White House ballroom project being presented to Trump's Fine Arts commissioners

Five newly seated Trump appointees to the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts are hearing details of the president's White House ballroom and new East Wing.

Architect Shalom Baranes is presenting renderings of the project, confirming many elements: an overall addition of almost 90,000 square feet, with 22,000 of that the ballroom itself. He emphasized that current plans call for the addition's north boundary to be set back from the existing North Portico and for the top of the new structure to be even with the primary facade of the White House and its residence.

Baranes said this is to ensure the view of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue would not change fundamentally.

JD Vance previews Minneapolis visit

The vice president told a crowd of industrial transportation workers in Toledo, Ohio, that Democrats in Minnesota — where he heads later Thursday — do not want a safe American border.

''If you want to turn down the chaos in Minneapolis, stop fighting immigration enforcement and accept that we have to have a border in this country,'' he said at Midwest Terminals. ''It's not that hard.''

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi dismissed Vance's comments as ''just another desperate attempt to lie to Ohioans about Washington Republicans' cost-raising, economy-tanking agenda of giving tax breaks to billionaires and backing price hiking, reckless tariffs.''

An uncertain standing for the US in the world

Trump has cast aside alliances forged over seven decades that helped reunify Germany and sped the collapse of the Soviet Union. In Switzerland, he hectored leaders, making demands and leveling accusations more commonly associated with enemies.

The most stark example is Trump's threat to take over Greenland. He shared images of him planting the U.S. flag in the self-governing Danish territory, and in his extraordinary speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said that ''sometimes you need a dictator.''

The episode has left America's standing in the world uncertain. ''Any country that is behaving rationally in terms of its relationship with the United States will realize that we can only be counted on in four year increments, if at all,'' said Jon Finer, Biden's deputy national security adviser and now a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Trump's Board of Peace poses latest US challenge to the UN

Trump's ambition for his ''Board of Peace'' to play a role in global conflicts beyond Gaza appears to be the latest U.S. attempt to sidestep the U.N. Security Council, raising new questions about the relevance of the 80-year-old world body and uncertainty about its future as a primary force in brokering peace worldwide.

Trump is establishing the board, to be composed largely of invited heads of state, as the U.N. has embarked on major reforms to make it a more viable global player in the 21st century. The decades-long effort gained new impetus as the U.N. courts continued support from its largest donor. Trump has eliminated billions in funding to international organizations and humanitarian aid.

''The U.N. just hasn't been very helpful,'' Trump told reporters during a White House press briefing this week.

▶ Read more about what Trump's latest moves mean for the United Nations

The former Justice Department special counsel will tell lawmakers Thursday that he stands behind his decision to bring charges against Trump.

''Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,'' Smith will say, according to a copy of his opening statement obtained by The Associated Press. ''If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.''

''No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,'' Smith will say.

▶ Read more about Smith's public hearing testimony

Immigration officials allowed suspect in $100 million jewelry heist to self deport, avoiding trial

Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores was one of seven people charged last year with stealing the jewels from a Brink's truck at a rest stop north of Los Angeles in 2022. He faced up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted in what's believed to be the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.

Instead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him to Ecuador after he requested voluntary departure.

Flores lawyer wants the case dismissed. Prosecutors asked a judge to keep the charges pending. The jewelers who lost millions of dollars worth of diamonds, emeralds, gold, rubies and designer watches want answers. ICE didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Steep declines in homicide rates found around US, report shows

A report issued Thursday by the Council on Criminal Justice is showing a 21% decrease in the homicide rate from 2024 to 2025, based on data collected from 35 American cities. That's about 922 fewer homicides last year amid decreases in 31 of the cities studied.

The council's CEO and president, Adam Gelb, says ''it's a dramatic drop to an absolutely astonishing level,'' but ''there's never one reason crime goes up or down.''

▶ Read more about drops in crime across the United States

Judge tosses lines of NYC's only Republican House seat, as state enters redistricting wars

A judge on Wednesday threw out the boundaries of the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ordering the state to redraw its borders because its current composition unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.

Justice Jeffrey Pearlman said Republican U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis' district, which includes all of the borough of Staten Island and a small piece of Brooklyn, should be reconfigured before this year's midterm elections. Republicans are expected to appeal as this new front opens in national gerrymandering that has both political parties fighting to control the U.S. House.

▶ Read more about the ruling

Republicans and some Democrats back contempt for Clintons in House Epstein probe

A House committee advanced resolutions Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, opening the prospect of the House using one of its most powerful punishments against a former president for the first time.

In bipartisan votes, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee approved the contempt of Congress charges, setting up potential votes in the House early next month. In a rare departure from party lines, some Democrats supported the contempt measures against the Clintons, with several progressive lawmakers emphasizing the need for full transparency in the Epstein investigation.

The repercussions of contempt charges loomed large, given the possibility of a substantial fine and even incarceration. Still, there were signs of a potential thaw as the Clintons appeared to be searching for an off-ramp to testify. In addition, passage of contempt charges through the full House was far from guaranteed, requiring a majority vote — something Republicans increasingly struggle to achieve.

Denmark says its sovereignty is not negotiable after Trump's Greenland about-turn

Denmark's prime minister insisted that her country can't negotiate on its sovereignty on Thursday after Trump said he agreed on a ''framework of a future deal'' on Arctic security with the head of NATO. And NATO said its secretary general, Mark Rutte, hadn't proposed any compromise to Danish sovereignty.

Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal hours after he insisted he wanted to get the island ''including right, title and ownership'' — though he also said he would not use force.

He said ''additional discussions'' on Greenland were being held concerning the Golden Dome, a multilayered, $175 billion missile system that for the first time will put U.S. weapons in space. Trump offered few details, saying they were still being worked out.

▶ Read more about Denmark's reaction

Trump on Thursday inaugurated his '' Board of Peace '' to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, insisting that ''everyone wants to be a part'' of the body that could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.

In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed by his threats to seize Greenland, and then by his dramatic retreat from that push.

''This isn't the United States, this is for the world,'' he said, adding, ''I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.''

The new peace board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire, but has morphed into something far more ambitious — and skepticism about its membership and mandate has led some countries usually closest to Washington take a pass.