NPR News: 03-31-2025 6PM EDT

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. The White House says it's closed its investigation into how a journalist was invited into a group chat of high-ranking officials discussing strike plans.
NPR's Franco Ordonez reports the White House didn't offer any details of what it found. Speaking outside the White House, Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said that President Trump continues to have confidence in the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Waltz took responsibility for adding the Atlantic editors-in-chief to the group chat of top officials discussing plans to launch strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen. Last week, the White House said it was reviewing how the journalist was added.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill also called for an investigation. But Levitt said today they have completed their review.
This case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned. There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again.
Levitt did not offer any details, though, on what steps were taken. Franco, Ordonez, NPR News, the White House.
More than 1,300 veterans of the Justice Department are condemning President Trump's attacks on lawyers and law firms. And here's Kerry Johnson reports, the group includes people who worked for both Republican and Democratic presidents.
Lawyers who served in the Justice Department under Presidents Ford, Reagan, and George W. Bush all signed on to the new letter.
They say the White House campaign to retaliate against attorneys and big law firms that challenge the Trump administration undermines the rule of law. The job of lawyers who represent the United States is not to win cases, but to see that justice is done, their letter says.
And the adversarial system ensures courts hear all sides of an argument. President Trump has blasted lawyers and firms for investigating him and doing pro bono work for immigrants.
So far, judges have blocked his efforts to punish law firms already, though. Some big firms have cut deals with the administration to head off the threat.
Kerry Johnson, NPR News, Washington. A judge in Paris is barring far-right French leader Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years.
As MPR's Rebecca Rossman reports, Le Pen was convicted of embezzling funds from the European Union. Le Pen has long been a dominant figure in French politics as longtime leader of the nationalist anti-immigration National Rally Party.
But this conviction stems from accusations that she misused millions of dollars

in EU funds to pay party staff while serving as a member of the European Parliament. She denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal, but the ruling remains in effect, likely barring her from the 2027 presidential race.
Rebecca Rossman, NPR News, Paris. Wall Street ended the day in mixed territory.
The Dow up 417 points, that's up 1%. The Nasdaq down 23 points, the S&P 500 up 30.
This is NPR News. In California, a wildfire in the east-central part of the state has prompted evacuations.
State fire officials say the Silver Fire has spread to more than 1,200 acres after strong winds overnight fueled the blaze. The National Weather Service says a high wind warning for the area remains in effect.
Cal Fire says it started yesterday afternoon north of Bishop and is threatening structures and critical infrastructure. The fire is zero percent contained and the cause is under investigation.
Today marks 30 years since the death of music superstar Selena. The Queen of Tejano music died at the peak of her popularity after she was shot in Texas by the president of her fan club.
Texas Public Radio's Marianne Navarro has more. From her bright red lipstick to her struggles to speak Spanish, a new generation of Latinas point to Selena as a symbol of empowerment, who unflinchingly embraced her culture and identity.
Sonia Aleman, who teaches a Selena-centered course at the University of Texas at San Antonio, says the singer's bicultural and bilingual identity resonates with her students. When you play her, when you know her, when you sing to her, when you dance to her, it's an affirmation of their Mexican-American or Tijano identity.
Aleman also says Selena has helped the younger generation of non-Spanish speakers to embrace that aspect of themselves. I'm Marianne Navarro in San Antonio.
And I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Bombas.
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