*By Carlo Versano*
President Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort is, as of Friday, the latest of the president's ex-associates to plead guilty to felony charges.
Manafort was convicted in federal court in August of eight financial fraud charges, though "this is the first time time Paul Manafort has ever admitted to committing a crime," Ben Dreyfuss, editorial director of Mother Jones, said.
Friday's plea deal was related to a separate set of charges for which the former political consultant was awaiting trial.
As part of the plea, Manafort will cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
That is "massive news," Dreyfuss said.
Trump praised Manafort as a "brave man" when he was found guilty of bank and tax fraud last month ー roughly the same hour when Trump's former consigliere Michael Cohen was offering to cooperate, much to the chagrin of the president.
Manafort's lawyer said Friday his client had offered "full cooperation," though as Dreyfuss noted, no details have been made public yetー and what specifically Manafort could offer prosecutors remains unknown.
"No one knows what he could say except for Trump himself," Dreyfuss said.
A controversial crypto provision, which would impose tax-reporting requirements on a broad cross-section of digital asset holders, slipped into the Senate infrastructure bill despite pushback from the industry's nascent lobbying arm.
Prices for U.S. consumers rose last month but at the slowest pace since February, a sign that Americans could gain some relief after four months of sharp increases that elevated inflation to its fastest pace in more than a decade.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is conceding that Democrats face a tough pathway to delivering a $3.5 trillion package for family, health and environment programs to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Kathy Hochul will become the state’s first female governor once Cuomo's resignation is effective in two weeks.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will resign over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during the darkest days of COVID-19.
With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate has approved the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan.
Members of the U.S. military would be required to have the COVID-19 vaccine beginning Sept. 15, under a plan announced by the Pentagon on Monday and endorsed by President Joe Biden.
Canada is lifting its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the United States is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians.
Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent.
The Biden administration has announced that federal student loan payments will remain suspended through January 2022, extending a pause that was scheduled to expire next month.
