Since stepping into the role of White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt has revealed herself to be shameless enough to earn the moniker of “propaganda princess.” No matter the Trump administration’s erratic, absurd, and authoritarian moves, Leavitt is there, ready to lie and yell at reporters for daring to seek the truth.
In August, always ready to get rude, Leavitt couldn’t handle a straightforward question about President Donald Trump’s talk with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
In February, Leavitt tried to reassure Fox News’ elderly viewers that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency havoc would not harm their Social Security benefits. She failed.
In October, Leavitt dismissed concerns about the working-class appeal of Democrat Zohran Mamdani, who is now the mayor-elect of New York City. How’d she do that? By characterizing Democratic voters as terrorists, of course.
In an October appearance on Fox News, Leavitt used some mob-style extortion tactics as the Trump administration sought to secure Democratic votes to fund the government.
In March, the Trump administration faced its first major scandal when some of its top officials accidentally leaked war plans to a journalist. But rather than admit those officials made a mistake, Leavitt honed in on the real person at fault: the reporter to whom the officials leaked those war plans.
In September, Leavitt tied herself up into knots as she tried to spin another weekend that Trump spent pushing the nation further into authoritarianism.
Washington controversies including President Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" statement and President Bill Clinton's impeachment inquiry heated up during Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving typically slows the news as Americans gather with family and friends. But the holiday also has a habit of amplifying Washington, D.C.'s political drama and surprises.
Americans are no strangers to controversy and scandals, including a handful that have played out across the decades as citizens gathered around the dinner table for Thanksgiving or headed out for Black Friday shopping.
Fox News Digital took a look back at the biggest scandals and political events that rocked Washington, D.C., around the fall holiday.
The Saturday before Thanksgiving in 1973, President Richard Nixon held a press conference in Orlando, Florida, where he famously said he was not a "crook" as the Watergate break-in and subsequent scandal came to light.
At the heart of the scandal were Nixon’s efforts to obstruct justice by directing a cover-up of the Watergate office complex break-in, including suppressing the FBI’s investigation, paying hush money and misusing federal agencies to shield his administration from scrutiny.
As the scandal surrounding the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters heated up, Nixon defended himself in a televised Q&A with newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World for a convention.
"Let me just say this, and I want to say this to the television audience: I made my mistakes, but in all of my years of public life, I have never profited, never profited from public service. I have earned every cent," Nixon said, initially answering questions about his personal finances. "And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice.
"And I think, too, that I could say that in my years of public life, that I welcome this kind of examination, because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook. I have earned everything I have got."
Nixon resigned in August 1974 with an impeachment process underway and a grand jury prepared to indict him on charges of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and obstruction of a criminal investigation related to the Watergate cover-up.
Nixon was later pardoned and did not face any federal prosecution in the matter.
Details unraveled about the Iran–Contra affair in the early days of November 1986 before crescendoing the week of Thanksgiving, including then-President Ronald Reagan dismissing Lt. Col. Oliver North and announcing the resignation of National Security Advisor John Poindexter two days before the holiday.
News began to percolate overseas in early November 1986 that the U.S. made a secret arms sale to Iran to secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. U.S. officials later divulged the funds from the deal were used to fund an anti-communist rebel group in Nicaragua called the Contras.
Two days before Thanksgiving, Reagan announced he had dismissed North from the National Security Council, with Poindexter resigning that same day. On Thanksgiving eve, Reagan announced the creation of a Special Review Board to review the National Security Council’s role in the deal, later known as the Tower Commission.
The fallout from the report continued over the holiday and even into the George H.W. Bush administration, when the president granted pardons to a handful of individuals involved on Christmas Eve 1992.
While many Americans were out shopping on Black Friday in 1998, the Clinton White House delivered President Bill Clinton's written responses to 81 questions from House Judiciary related to his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky as part of an impeachment inquiry.
Clinton already had declared to the nation that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" in January 1998, and the House authorized an impeachment inquiry in October that intensified around the Thanksgiving holiday. The Judiciary had sent Clinton 81 questions that focused on his relationship with Lewinsky based on independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report that included evidence related to the affair allegations.
Clinton returned the 81 questions on Black Friday, which included questions about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and his conduct in the Paula Jones case, which accused him of sexual harassment in 1994. Judiciary Republicans accused Clinton of playing "word games" in his responses, which included Clinton denying he committed perjury or obstructing justice, and the impeachment inquiry continued.
The House ultimately impeached Clinton on charges of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice related to his efforts to conceal the affair with an intern, while the Senate voted to acquit Clinton on both articles of impeachment.
In a more light-hearted Thanksgiving political event, President George W. Bush quietly traveled to Iraq in 2003 to meet with the troops stationed in Baghdad. The visit, cloaked in secrecy until he was there, marked the first time a sitting president visited Iraq.
"Our planners worked to answer every question," Bush said at the time about the intense planning for the trip. "I had a lot of questions."
Bush was on the ground for over two hours before he made the trip back to the U.S. The trip set off some claims that the president was working for a political gain ahead of the 2004 election, while the administration brushed off such claims while stressing the commander in chief's visit was focused on supporting the troops amid a war.
Just after 4 p.m. on the eve of Thanksgiving in 2020, Trump announced he delivered a full pardon to his former national security advisor, retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn.
The White House later in the day released a statement saying Flynn "should never have been prosecuted" and that the pardon ends "the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man."
"While today’s action sets right an injustice against an innocent man and an American hero, it should also serve as a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant over those in whom we place our trust and confidence," the statement continued.
The pardon ended a yearslong legal battle stemming from then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn’s pardon was preceded by his 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia. He also had admitted to filing paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. His sentencing, however, was stalled due to his cooperation with authorities.
In 2019, Flynn claimed he was innocent in the case and sought to withdraw his guilty plea, citing alleged government misconduct.
The Department of Justice was in the midst of moving to dismiss the case when Trump pardoned Flynn.
Terri McCullough, the first woman to serve in a formal role as chief of staff to a House speaker, worked alongside Pelosi on big policy wins and broke a marble ceiling of her own.
When Terri McCullough was a young college graduate in Northern California in the early 1990s, she knew she wanted to do good in the world somehow — and that she wanted to work for a woman. In 1991, she did just that when she landed an internship in the district office for a relatively new congresswoman representing San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi.
It would mark the start of a decades-long partnership, during which she and Pelosi, now House speaker emerita, would shape public policy around women and LGBTQ+ people. They also made history, expanding the limits of what was possible for women in an arena long dominated by White men.
Pelosi rose through the ranks of the House before shattering the “marble ceiling” and becoming the first and still only woman elected as House speaker. The second time Pelosi took the speaker’s gavel, in 2019, McCullough, too, made history as the first woman to serve as chief of staff to a House speaker in an official, paid capacity.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi stands with members of her staff on the House floor as she announces her decision to step back from Democratic leadership in December 2022, a moment that marked the end of her historic two-decade tenure at the helm of the caucus.
(Courtesy of Speaker Emerita Pelosi's office)
“I would work for Nancy Pelosi for the rest of my days if I could,” McCullough told The 19th in an interview. “It’s time to make a change, reluctantly, because I love this work and I love this job so much.”
In an interview with The 19th in her office at the U.S. Capitol, Pelosi brimmed with praise for McCullough. Her legacy on the Hill, Pelosi said, is “one of effectiveness, getting the job done and doing it in a way that advances the cause of policy that's good for women.”
“People really like her, and they know the confidence I have in her and anyone who she worked for would have in her, because we know of her talent, her integrity, her judgment, her confidence she has,” Pelosi said.
Early in her career, McCullough said, she worked on expanding legal services for survivors of domestic violence and promoting global reproductive rights. During Pelosi's first stint as House speaker from 2007 to 2011, McCullough led her personal office and worked on historic and complex legislation like the fight to pass the Affordable Care Act.
She said she learned many lessons from Pelosi — a vaunted legislative and political strategist known for keeping Democrats united during tough fights — on listening and fostering relationships.
“She has a standard of excellence which she demands of herself, so we all demand that of ourselves, too,” McCullough said. “So certainly I thought about that in terms of excelling and doing well in my work. But I definitely thought about excelling and doing well as a woman in my work, because there's still not enough of us in these leadership roles.”
“I certainly came into this job as the speaker's chief of staff never anticipating I would need to be a health expert during COVID, I would need to be a security expert after January 6,” McCullough said. “These things, often you don't anticipate, but you meet the need, and you answer the call. And I feel very proud of so much of the work that we have done. And even in the most difficult times, it has been the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Terri McCullough (left) and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (right).
(Courtesy of Speaker Emerita Pelosi's office)
Democratic lawmakers and aides gave McCullough hugs and well-wishes at a send-off Thursday as they filed into the House chamber. An emotional Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top House Democratic appropriator and an early mentor to McCullough, was seen dabbing at her eyes. Rep. Dan Goldman of New York beamed as he snapped a selfie. McCullough crossed the aisle — literally — to shake hands and exchange pleasantries with House Speaker Mike Johnson.
When Pelosi took the floor to speak and honor McCullough, whom she called “a visionary, steadfast and deeply respected leader,” the Democratic side of the aisle erupted in a standing ovation.
“She epitomizes, as much as any member of the House, someone who always understood how extraordinary this institution is and how it can transform people's lives,” DeLauro told The 19th. “I worked with her in the last days when the Affordable Care Act was under fire, and it was touch-and-go. And sitting with her, working up our strategy, and working with the speaker — she is equally responsible for helping to get that bill passed.”
Chiefs of staff manage both a lawmaker’s office and their relationships with other members, staff and outside groups. McCullough said the job looks different every day — both “keeping the trains running” and setting an agenda.
“It's really being a translator, being a motivator, being a leader, but to me, the most gratifying thing is being the support that people need to do their job excellently,” McCullough said.
McCullough “had advancement of women prioritized,” in every policy she touched, Pelosi said.
“When you do a job like this, your priorities move the day,” Pelosi said. “And her priorities were: ‘How do we do this bill or this commission or this committee that we're forming … thinking about the women? It's not always the case around here.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi pays tribute to her departing chief of staff, Terri McCullough, on the House floor on November 20, 2025.
(Courtesy of Speaker Emerita Pelosi's office)
McCullough’s instincts and relationships were critical to the passage of many of the big bills passed when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress in the first two years of President Joe Biden’s term.
“People told her things because they knew she wouldn't betray a confidence, and they also knew she would make good use of what it was,” Pelosi said. “‘What does Terri think?’ was a very important not only question, but a challenge.”
As lawmakers put together the American Rescue Plan in early 2021 to provide relief to Americans during the pandemic, McCullough worked to direct funds to the state and local level, where many community leaders on the front lines of the crisis were women. In legislation boosting infrastructure and domestic manufacturing, she worked to ensure women would be represented in the jobs created in trades and technical industries where they’ve historically been underrepresented.
“I am still, frankly, in awe every day that I have had the opportunity to see and be part of things I could never even have dreamed of, both the glorious and the horrific,” McCullough said. “It’s hard to explain how meaningful it can be to do this work, especially in the dark times.”
One such dark time was when a violent mob of Trump’s supporters ransacked the Capitol on January 6 to thwart Congress’ counting of the electoral votes for Biden’s election victory.
“One of the proudest moments of my life,” McCullough recalled, was when the National Guard secured the Capitol and lawmakers returned to the Capitol to finish the job of affirming the election results. After Congress completed the count around 4 a.m., she walked back to her apartment to get a couple of hours of sleep before returning to work the next day.
“All of my colleagues and peers came back the next day and kept coming back, because this place mattered so much to them,” she said.
In the aftermath, Pelosi said, she didn’t want to direct the House’s response from the top down. McCullough worked with Jamie Fleet, staff director for the Democrats on the House Administration Committee, on forming the Select Committee on January 6. McCullough reached across the aisle to then-Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who were among the few Republicans to speak out against Trump’s attempt to subvert the election.
Cheney, in her 2023 book “Oath and Honor,” credited McCullough and Fleet as “indispensable” to the committee coming together and carrying out its work. Cheney recalled how, on a night when she and a few staffers were working late to finalize the committee’s public report, McCullough came into her Capitol basement hideaway office with midnight snacks.
Terri McCullough (front row, third from left) gathers with members of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s staff in 2021.
(Courtesy of Speaker Emerita Pelosi's office)
“She knew we’d be there down around the clock, working to meet our deadline,” Cheney wrote. “I looked up from the pages of the report to see that Terri was sporting a ‘Team Cheney’ hoodie. It made me smile. It was a touching symbol of the unprecedented alliance we had formed, beyond partisan politics, to do what had to be done for our country.”
Pelosi spent her career recruiting more women to run for Congress and elevating women to leadership roles on committees. McCullough, too, was a mentor on the staff side.
“She not only is responsible in her job, but she takes responsibility for the opportunity here to make sure that she's not just the first woman … that there will be many others,” Pelosi said.
McCullough said she did feel the pressure and weight of being a first. “But it was a good pressure, and I hope that allows other women to take roles like this and not feel the pressure,” she said.
And women continue to achieve “firsts”: Tasia Jackson, chief of staff to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, became the first Black woman to serve in that role to a member of House leadership in 2023.
“I have been so proud to have been able to contribute in Speaker Pelosi’s office for the years that I have, and it is my greatest hope that other women feel as passionately as I do about this work, work as hard as I hope that I did and are able to achieve great heights in the House as a result,” McCullough said. “And I hope that they feel that they will love it as much as I have loved my experience here.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell, who is running for governor of California, served as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s 2021 impeachment trial. His lawsuit claims Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte has played “an integral role in supporting President Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political foes.”
The Pentagon announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona after he and several other Democratic lawmakers said that military troops should not obey “illegal orders.”
In a statement on X, the so-called Departmentof War said that Kelly may be recalled “to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures” for his comments.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is being investigated by the Pentagon for telling military members that they don’t have to obey illegal orders.
“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly wrote in response to the threat. “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”
Kelly served as a captain in the Navy and flew 39 combat missions in the first Iraq War. He then went on to a distinguished career as a NASA astronaut and was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame before successfully running for Senate.
Kelly was part of a group of six Democratic lawmakers, including veterans of the military and national security agencies, who created the video that sparked retribution from the Trump administration.
“You can refuse illegal orders,” they said in the video—a bedrock concept in American law.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The Pentagon’s threat echoes President DonaldTrump’s call for the execution of the lawmakers in the video.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Trump falsely claimed in a Truth Social post.
In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, Kelly responded to Trump’s threat.
“He declared that loyalty to the Constitution is now punishable by death. Those are serious words coming from the president of the United States,” Kelly said. “He’s trying to intimidate us. But … I’m not going to be intimidated.”
Military members take the oath of enlistment, in which they vow to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and to obey orders “according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
Democrats are raising this issue because the Trump administration has committed a series of military strikes in South America, which lawyers have said are legally questionable, if not outright illegal. The administration is also reportedly pushing to expand military combat in the region, possibly leading to war.
Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman of Virginia is another military veteran being targeted by the Trump administration.
Kelly not only gives factually correct advice in the video, but he is also protected from frivolous prosecution as a senator.
In addition to the action against Kelly, the Pentagon has reportedly been pressuring the House to launch an inquiry into Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman of Virginia, a retired Army officer.During Trump’s first impeachment trial, Vindman testified against the president’s attempts to pressure the Ukrainian government.
Both of these actions show that the administration is attempting to use the power of the government against military veterans who dare to speak out against Trump’s abuses.
Trump, who infamously called military veterans “suckers” and “losers,” continues to add to his roster of attacks and slights against those who dedicate their lives to serving the country.
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett has given herself a deadline: By Thanksgiving, she’ll decide whether to seek another term representing Dallas in the 30th Congressional District—or jump into the U.S. Senate race.
Over the weekend, she made the stakes plain. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Crockett said her internal polling suggests she’d be a real threat to either of the likely Republican nominees, Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“I am still thinking about running. We did get our polling back, so we are moving on to the next phase to determine whether or not this would make sense in the moment,” Crockett said, adding that Republicans are mired in a “civil war” over who should carry their banner next year.
She reiterated that point to CBS News Texas, insisting no decision has been made—yet promising clarity before Thursday.
“Everyone thinks that I’m just holding a secret in, but our poll is in the field right now,” she said. “We are supposed to get that polling back by the end of the week or early next week. I said I would decide by Thanksgiving.”
Pressed by Tapper to reveal what the numbers look like, Crockett leaned in.
“Head-to-head, we are doing really well against Paxton,” she said. “I will also tell you we’re within the margin of error as it relates to John Cornyn. The only reason I’m continuing to consider whether or not I do this is because my polling says I can win.”
Former Rep. Collin Allred
She also plans to share that polling with her other potential Democratic rivals, State Rep. James Talarico and former Rep. Colin Allred.
“This isn’t about me,” she told CBS. “If the numbers are strong, that I am our best shot, then it’s bigger than my district. It’s bigger than the state of Texas. This is about the country because we know if we can change the Senate map in this country, then that’s where we start to get wins.”
If she enters the race, she’d instantly reorder the Democratic primary. Allred—who entered the bid in July—and Talarico—who joined in September—are already jockeying for the nomination, but neither matches Crockett’s profile or national following.
Recent polling underscores that. A University of Houston-Texas Southern University survey put her atop the Democratic field at 31%. Talarico and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke followed at 25%, with Allred at 13%. And in a matchup limited to announced candidates, Allred led Talarico 46%–42%.
O’Rourke has indicated he’s unlikely to run again, though he gave Crockett a nod at the November Texas Tribune Festival. “You know you’re doing the right thing when Donald Trump is shit talking you on a daily basis, right?” he said.
Crockett’s national prominence has translated into sizable fundraising—she’s sitting on more than $4.6 million, according to The Dallas Morning News. A Senate bid, however, would open her deep-blue Dallas House seat and spark a fierce local race.
Redistricting looms over all of it. Texas Republicans pushed a mid-decade congressional map designed to net them up to five new seats. A federal panel blocked it as a racial gerrymander, but the U.S. Supreme Court put that ruling on hold Friday, allowing the map to remain—for now.
Critics on the left argue that Crockett could squander a safe seat for a statewide campaign they see as unwinnable, especially in a state with so many independents and Republicans. Crockett, however, says she’s testing whether she can broaden the electorate.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
“I believe that I can, but if I can’t, I can tell you for sure, 100% that I will not run,” she told CNN.
Democrats, including Crockett, are banking on Paxton emerging from the GOP primary. Beloved by conservative activists and buoyed by his 2023 impeachment acquittal, he’s still viewed by some Republicans as a risky general-election nominee.
The Republican race has its own turbulence. GOP leaders in Washington have been urging Rep. Wesley Hunt to step aside, warning his bid could drain resources and force a costly runoff. Hunt isn’t budging.
“If Senate leadership does not like me being in this race, you know what I say? Good,” he told CNN. “Senate leadership does not pick the leadership in Texas.”
The contest has only grown more hostile, with Hunt and Cornyn trading shots while Paxton mostly watches. Paxton has spent just $1 million through Sept. 30—well behind Cornyn’s $3.5 million and Hunt’s $2.3 million.
President Donald Trump hasn’t endorsed anyone. Hunt says even if Trump backs someone else, he’s staying put.
“Trump’s endorsement is absolutely incredible in any Republican primary in this great nation, but I’m sorry you cannot revive that dead campaign,” Hunt said of Cornyn.
For Democrats to retake the Senate, they must defend every seat they hold and flip four—including at least two in red states. Texas is their longest shot and their biggest swing.
And Crockett, for now, is the person who could blow the race wide open. The question is whether she jumps. All eyes are on Thursday.
Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., is demanding that President Donald Trump release a 2019 call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying the American people "deserve to know what was said" in the aftermath of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
Vindman, a retired Army colonel who once served on Trump’s National Security Council, said the call was one of two that deeply concerned him — the other being the 2019 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that triggered Trump’s first impeachment.
Standing beside Hanan Alter Khashoggi, the slain journalist’s widow, Vindman said Trump "sidelined his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader" and that transparency is owed to both the Khashoggi family and the country.
"The Khashoggi family and the American people deserve to know what was said on that call," Vindman said Friday. "Our intelligence agencies concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Mr. Khashoggi’s husband. When the president sidelined his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader, America’s credibility was at stake."
Vindman’s name is already polarizing in Trump-era politics.
He and his twin brother, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, became central figures in the first impeachment, when their internal reporting of Trump’s Ukraine call led to accusations from conservatives that they had undermined an elected president. To Trump’s allies, Eugene Vindman’s demand to release the 2019 Saudi call feels like a replay of that fight — another attempt by a former National Security Council insider to damage the president under the banner of transparency.
Still, his comments land at a revealing moment. Washington’s embrace of Mohammed bin Salman underscores a familiar trade-off in U.S. foreign policy: strategic security and economic interests over accountability and human rights.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "The U.S.-Saudi friendship is now a partnership for the future. President Trump's historic agreements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from defense to investment, will create quality jobs for Americans and will grow our economy. No virtue-signaling. No lecturing. Only results for the American people."
Trump’s latest visit with bin Salman brought sweeping defense and investment deals, even as questions over 9/11 and Khashoggi’s murder continue to test that balance. The United States granted Saudi Arabia major non-NATO ally status, formally elevating the kingdom’s defense and intelligence partnership with Washington and clearing the way for expedited arms sales and joint military programs.
Bin Salman also pledged nearly $1 trillion in new Saudi investments across U.S. industries, including infrastructure, artificial intelligence and clean energy. The commitments were announced alongside a Strategic Defense Agreement that includes purchases of F-35 fighter jets, roughly 300 Abrams tanks and new missile defense systems, as well as joint ventures to expand manufacturing inside Saudi Arabia.
Administration officials said the initiatives would create tens of thousands of American jobs and strengthen the U.S. industrial base.
During his appearance with Trump at the White House, reporters shouted questions about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2018 killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul — marking a rare moment of public pressure on the crown prince, who typically avoids unscripted exchanges with the press.
Trump accused the press of trying to "embarrass" his guest, but the crown prince offered what sounded like regret for the killing of Khashoggi, even as he denied involvement.
"A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about," Trump said. "Whether you like him or don’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it … We can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that."
ABC reporter Mary Bruce had told bin Salman that U.S. intelligence determined he’d signed off on the killing and that 9/11 families were "furious" about his presence in the White House. "Why should Americans trust you?"
"It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia," bin Salman said of the killing, calling it "a huge mistake." "We’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that again," he added.
A 2021 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated: "We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi." Bin Salman has repeatedly denied approving the killing, though he said in 2019, "It happened under my watch, I take full responsibility as a leader."
The question of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks remains one of the most sensitive and unresolved issues in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. While 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, the U.S. government has never concluded that the Saudi state or senior Saudi officials had prior knowledge of or directed the attacks.
Families of 9/11 victims condemned bin Salman after he invoked Osama bin Laden during his White House remarks, saying the al-Qaeda leader used Saudi nationals to drive a wedge between Washington and Riyadh.
"We have to focus on reality," the crown prince said. "Reality is that Osama bin Laden used Saudi people in that event for one main purpose: to destroy the American–Saudi relationship. That’s the purpose of 9/11."
"The Saudi crown prince invoking Osama bin Laden this afternoon in the White House does not change the fact that a federal judge in New York ruled a few short months ago that Saudi Arabia must stand trial for its role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks that murdered 3,000 of our loved ones," said Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, a group representing victims’ families.
In August 2025, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels issued a landmark ruling bringing Saudi Arabia under U.S. federal jurisdiction for a 9/11 trial. The court found evidence of a network of Saudi officials inside the U.S. who allegedly provided logistical support to the hijackers, citing "prior planning" and "constant coordination." Among the materials described in the ruling was a drawing seized from a Saudi government operative showing an airplane with flight-path equations — evidence prosecutors said suggested advance knowledge of the attacks.
Saudi Arabia has denied any role, calling the allegations "categorically false."
But for bin Salman, who came to Washington seeking to highlight new security and economic ties, the families’ sharp rebuke was a reminder that the 9/11 case still looms large in the public eye, even as the Trump administration deepens its partnership with Riyadh.
As he launches a bid to become the next governor of California, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has embraced his most recent conflict with the Trump administration, touting himself as the president's "most vocal critic."
Throughout his congressional career, highly visible clashes with President Donald Trump have given Swalwell a national profile. He looks poised to continue that streak, repeatedly highlighting his tensions with the president as the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new investigation against him this month.
"Nancy Pelosi selected me to lead the impeachment of a corrupt president. Californians will never bow the knee," Swalwell said in a video posted on his website.
California's current governor, Gavin Newsom, is term-limited in 2026.
The DOJ opened a probe into Swalwell over alleged mortgage fraud and, according to reporting by NBC, may also be under investigation for tax fraud and insurance fraud. Swalwell denies any wrongdoing.
"The only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me," Swalwell said in a statement following the news of the investigation.
Swalwell first came to Congress in 2013 after serving as a county deputy district attorney in California from 2006 to 2012. He briefly ran for president in 2020 but dropped out just three months after launching his bid.
In media interviews since the DOJ announced its probe, Swalwell has embraced his role as a target of the administration.
"This is really about Donald Trump going after his political enemies. No one has been a more vocal critic than me. I have one of the only remaining lawsuits against Donald Trump for his role in Jan. 6," Swalwell said in an interview with MSNBC, referring to pending litigation over whether Trump encouraged protesters to storm the U.S. Capitol building in 2021.
"I’m not going to change a single thing about what I do to stand up against Donald Trump when he gets in the way of me fighting for Californians," Swalwell said. "I am not going to shrink one bit because of Donald Trump trying to intimidate me, and it’s not working with the other colleagues he’s gone after."
In a post to X, Swalwell listed himself alongside other Democrats facing similar charges from the DOJ.
"Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come — I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world," Swalwell said.
His opposition to Trump stands out even as his record in the 119th Congress doesn’t jump off the page.
Notably, Swalwell has missed 16% of his votes since the beginning of the year, making him the 10th-most-absent member of the House of Representatives. He rarely breaks with the party, having voted against a majority of Democrats on just eight occasions since the outset of the session. He also hasn’t made much noise in fundraising this year, reporting a respectable yet unexceptional $1.4 million in the first three quarters of 2025.
But Swalwell’s yearslong record against Trump stands out.
As referenced in his video, Swalwell was a House impeachment manager against Trump in 2021 and, in addition to his lawsuit, has used his position on the House Oversight Committee to criticize the president’s policies and behavior.
"Next week, when we hear about someone else who is an opponent of Donald Trump being investigated, it will also be nonsense," Swalwell said in an interview with CNN. "Of course, I am one of the most vocal critics against Donald Trump. I have the only lawsuit that survived him becoming president — me and the other Jan. 6 officers."
The investigation into Swalwell is in its early stages. The DOJ has not announced if or when it would pursue a grand jury trial. Swalwell's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat who served as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s 2021 impeachment trial, has launched his bid for California governor.
