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Justice Department rejects House GOP bid to obtain audio of Biden interview with special counsel
CBSN
Washington — The Justice Department rejected a request from two Republican-led House committees that it turn over an audio recording of former special counsel Robert Hur's interview with President Joe Biden.
The department said the committees had not identified an "investigative purpose" for their request of the audio and accused them of "escalation" and of seeking conflict "for conflict's sake," according to a letter sent to Chairs Jim Jordan and James Comer on Monday and obtained by CBS News.
The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees issued subpoenas for the audio recording and other materials from the investigation — including transcripts of specific interviews — after Hur issued his report in February on Mr. Biden's handling of classified records from his time as vice president.
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President Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
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It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is suiting up for his annual voyage from the North Pole to households around the world. In keeping with decades of tradition, the North American Aerospace Command, or NORAD, will once again track Santa's journey to deliver gifts to children before Christmas 2024, using an official map that's updated consistently to show where he is right now.
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An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, appears to have been given new life after an appeals court on Monday determined its rules can be enforced as the case proceeds. The law requires small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by Jan. 1, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.