This week, the twice-impeached, four-times indicted Republican frontrunner Donald Trump scored a resounding and decisive win at the Iowa caucuses, with Ron DeSantis narrowly beating out Nikki Haley for second place. With just three GOP candidates remaining, the race now heads to New Hampshire, where the latest polling shows Trump leading Haley by a slim margin. Despite increasingly controversial rhetoric over the past few days, Trump's ironclad grip on the GOP was reinforced by a new surge in congressional endorsements, including Sen. Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and former GOP running mate Tim Scott, all of whom have spoken out against him in the not-so-distant past.
Following his Iowa win, Trump spent Tuesday in a New York courtroom for the new civil damages lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump's disruptive belligerence led to tense exchanges between Judge Lewis Kaplan and Trump's attorney, with Kaplan threatening to throw him out of the courtroom for repeatedly interrupting the proceedings. (Trump then accused the judge of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome.")
With their backs up against the government shutdown wall yet again, the House and Senate voted Thursday to extend Congress' self-imposed deadline and keep the federal government open and funded. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice released a scathing report detailing the "series of major failures" in police and law enforcement's response to the May 2021 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, prompting experts, advocates and Uvalde families to call for accountability — and potential criminal charges.
Missed something? Don't worry. Here are our select columns and videos from the week. And don't forget to check out MSNBC.com for more.
