Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his decision to bring charges twice against President Donald Trump -- telling lawmakers in a closed-door deposition earlier this month that his team "had proof beyond reasonable doubt in both cases" that Trump was guilty of the charges in the 2020 election interference and classified documents cases.

WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel who brought two now-dropped criminal cases against U.S. President Donald Trump, said that the Republican had acknowledged to others that he lost the 2020 election against former President Joe Biden, according to a transcript of a testimony by Smith.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro faces narcotics charges after U.S. military operation, while Sen. Chuck Schumer and Democrats criticize Trump administration for not notifying Congress.

President Trump, who returned to the White House to serve a second nonconsecutive term by winning the 2024 election, again claimed election "rigged."

During his first term, he publicly suggested delaying the 2020 election, despite lacking the authority to do so. More recently, in a meeting in August with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump appeared to voice approval of Ukraine’s ban on elections under martial law, prompting laughter in the room but alarm among his critics.

Chuck Schumer blasted Trump's "lawlessness" in arresting Nicolás Maduro on Sunday — but he ripped the president in 2020 for not bringing democracy to Venezuela

The votes were the first attempted veto overrides of the Republican-controlled House, following Trump’s first vetoes of his second term in office. While Trump acknowledged that his vetoes were for political reasons, most of the House GOP declined to override him.

Thursday's vote to override the veto of the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act failed. WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday rejected an effort to override President Donald Trump's veto of funding for a long-planned water pipeline in southeastern Colorado.