AARON KESSLER

An American Airlines plane passes in the foreground as a member of a dive team and a Coast Guard vessel with a crane work near the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Pilots have reported repeated close calls similar to fatal collision near DC airport
Airline pilots flying into Washington, D.C., have reported nearly a dozen near misses over the years that were scarily similar to this week’s midair collision that killed 67 people.
 
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick to be the director of the FBI, arrives to speak at an Inauguration parade in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Kash Patel’s podcast persona: Staunch Trump defender and fierce critic of the FBI he could soon lead
Kash Patel positioned himself as a steadfast Donald Trump loyalist well before the president picked him to run the FBI.
 
Police officers stand near the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon streets, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
New Orleans attack and Vegas explosion highlight extremist violence by active military and veterans
The military ties of the man who carried out an attack in New Orleans on New Year’s and another who died in an explosion in Las Vegas highlight the increased role of people with military experience in ideologically driven attacks, especially those that seek mass casualties.
 
FILE - A V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft taxi's during a mission in western Iraqi desert, Oct. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File)
Takeaways from the AP’s investigation into Osprey safety issues
The Osprey is back in the air after being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service members in Japan. But there are still questions as to whether it should be.
 
Two Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22B Ospreys fly low and fast in formation on a training range named the Hornet at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Tara Copp)
The Osprey’s safety issues spiked over five years and caused deaths. Pilots still want to fly it
The Osprey is back in the air after being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service members in Japan. But there are still questions as to whether it should be.
 
This image used as evidence by federal prosecutors shows a weapon confiscated from the home of Chris Arthur in Mount Olive, N.C. (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina via AP)
Takeaways from The Associated Press’ reporting on extremism in the military
The number of U.S. service members and veterans who radicalize make up a tiny fraction of a percentage point of the millions and millions who have honorably served their country.
 
This image from a YouTube video posted by Chris Arthur on March 20, 2018, shows him with a handgun during a training video. Arthur was a member of the North Carolina National Guard at the time he posted the video. (AP Photo)
His country trained him to fight. Then he turned against it. More like him are doing the same
The number of U.S. service members and veterans who radicalize make up a tiny fraction of a percentage point of the millions and millions who have honorably served their country.
 
CORRECTS SPELLING OF DEEKEN - Doug Deeken, the chair of the Wayne County Republican Party in Ohio poses at the Wayne County Republican Party headquarters in Wooster, Ohio, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)
Trump’s small-dollar donor fundraising is beset by confusion and fatigue
Donald Trump’s contributions from small-dollar donors have plummeted since his last White House campaign, presenting the former president with a financial challenge as he tries to keep pace with the Democrats’ fundraising machine.
 
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives with his wife Usha Vance, before speaking at a campaign event, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Eau Claire, Wis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
JD Vance once said conspiracy theories were idiotic. As Trump’s VP pick he is embracing them
JD Vance once dismissed conspiracy theories as the product of “fringe lunatics” but he’s come to embrace them as his star rises in Republican politics.
 
FILE - Royal Australian Navy sailor Leading Seaman Keely Hagedoorn guides a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey during take-off and landing practice on the flight deck of HMAS Adelaide in the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Australia during Exercise Sea Raider, Aug. 7, 2023. (Sgt. Andrew Sleeman/Royal Australian Navy via AP)
Weak spots in metal may have led to fatal Osprey crash off Japan, documents obtained by AP reveal
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that a gear crack that led to a fatal crash of a V-22 Osprey last year may have been started by weak spots in a metal used to manufacture that part.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga. An attorney for Donald Trump says he’s optimistic an appellate review will lead to the Georgia 2020 election interference case against him being dismissed and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis being disqualified. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
Trump’s latest 2024 campaign fundraising report shows him lagging behind Biden in cash
Former President Donald Trump’s fundraising picked up last month but his political operation is still struggling to catch up to President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
 
FILE - Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno speaks during a forum, Feb. 19, 2024, in the TLB Auditorium at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. (Jeremy Wadsworth/The Blade via AP, File)
How the AP reported that someone with access to Bernie Moreno’s email created adult website profile
The Associated Press reported Thursday that someone with access to a work email account for Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno created a profile in late 2008 on an adult website, seeking casual sexual encounters with men.
 
FILE - Bernie Moreno is acknowledged at a rally with former President Donald Trump at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, on April 23, 2022, in Delaware, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joe Maiorana, File)
Trump-backed Senate candidate faces GOP worries that he could be linked to adult website profile
For Republicans eager to regain the Senate majority this year, Ohio offers a prime opportunity to pick up a critical seat.
 
FILE - Donald Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, speaks to the media outside the New York City courthouse where the former president was testifying on Nov. 6, 2023. A jury is trying to determine if the $83 million defamation judgement will be enough to deter Trump from continuing his attacks on E. Jean Carroll. A jury hit Trump with an $83 million defamation award Friday, Jan. 26, finding the former president maliciously damaged Carroll's reputation after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in the Manhattan department store. "It will not deter us. We will keep fighting. And I assure you, we didn't win today, but we will win," Habba said. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Trump spent $76 million over last two years on attorneys as legal troubles mount ahead of election
An Associated Press analysis of new Federal Election Commission filings shows Trump’s political fundraising machine spent more than $76 million on legal fees over the last two years as he faces multiple lawsuits and federal and state criminal charges.
 
Former President Donald Trump reacts after a commit to caucus rally, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Adel, Iowa. Donald Trump’s political fundraising machine is raking in donations at a prodigious pace, but he’s spending tens of millions of dollars he’s bringing in to pay attorneys to deal with the escalating costs of the various criminal cases he is contending with.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Lawyers, Trump and money: Ex-president spends millions in donor cash on attorneys as legal woes grow
Donald Trump’s political fundraising machine is raking in donations at a prodigious pace, but he’s spending tens of millions of dollars he’s bringing in to pay attorneys to deal with the escalating costs of the various criminal cases he is contending with as he moves further into the 2024 presidenti