National News at a Glance

Ryan Dismisses Trump’s Charges of a Spy in His Campaign

House Speaker Paul Ryan contradicted President Donald Trump’s assertions of a broad conspiracy by federal law enforcement Wednesday, joining other lawmakers in saying that the FBI did nothing wrong by using a confidential informant to contact members of the Trump campaign. And he said that Trump should not try to pardon himself, despite the president’s assertion that he has the power to take such a step. Ryan’s warning was the latest indication that the president is beginning to face trouble on Capitol Hill, where members of his own party are showing small signs of resistance.

Southwest Border Arrests Rise for Third Month in a Row

Federal agents arrested nearly 52,000 people at the Southwest border in May, according to data released Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security, as the number of migrants trying to enter the United States continued to rise. The arrests in May — the third month in a row of increases — follow the Trump administration’s tough stance against illegal immigration, including sending thousands of National Guard troops to the border and a “zero tolerance” policy that seeks to prosecute people who illegally enter the country. The new arrest data suggests such measures have not deterred migrants.

Trump Offers Clemency to Imprisoned Woman After Push by Kim Kardashian West

President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of a 63-year-old woman serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction after her case was brought to his attention by reality television star Kim Kardashian West. Although short of a full pardon, the decision will free Alice Marie Johnson, who has been locked up in a federal prison in Alabama since 1996 on charges related to cocaine distribution and money laundering. Kardashian West, who learned of the case through a video that went viral on social media, visited Trump at the White House last week to lobby on Johnson’s behalf.

Two Pruitt Aides Resign as EPA Ethics Questions Continue

Two top aides resigned Wednesday from the Environmental Protection Agency as its administrator, Scott Pruitt, faced mounting allegations of misusing his authority. Millan Hupp, Pruitt’s scheduler, and Sarah Greenwalt, a senior counsel to the administrator, have come under scrutiny in recent weeks in connection with Pruitt’s spending and ethics concerns. Before joining the agency, both Hupp and Greenwalt worked for Pruitt in Oklahoma. Both aides later received substantial raises at the EPA. Pruitt told Congress he neither knew about nor approved of the raises, and he told lawmakers he reversed the raises when he learned about them.

Arizona Police Officers Are Put on Leave After Beating Unarmed Man on Video

Four police officers in Mesa, Arizona, have been placed on administrative leave after a surveillance video showed some of them repeatedly punching an unarmed black man and pushing him to the ground during an arrest. The Mesa police chief, Ramon Batista, released the video to local media Tuesday after a civilian alerted him to the footage. It shows a man, Robert Johnson, 35, speaking on a cellphone on what looks like a balcony of an apartment building before officers emerged from an elevator shortly before midnight May 23. They were apparently responding to a domestic disturbance call.

He Delivered Pizza to an Army Base in Brooklyn. Now He Faces Deportation.

The apprehension of a pizza delivery man in New York has provoked new tension in the city’s battle with federal immigration authorities. Pablo Calderon, 35, an unauthorized immigrant, was making a delivery to the army base next to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Friday before lunchtime. He presented a New York City identification card, as he had done in the past. But it was not enough for the military police officer on duty, and a background check revealed an open order of deportation from 2010. Military personnel detained him and called Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, an immigration agency official said.

Melania Trump Appears in Public After ‘a Little Rough Patch’

After spending nearly a month out of the public eye, Melania Trump emerged from the White House on Wednesday, putting an end to at least a few of the theories that blossomed like swampland ragweed during her time in seclusion. Dressed in a trench coat and heels, the first lady accompanied President Donald Trump to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to attend a briefing on the coming hurricane season. Melania Trump spent five days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in May to treat what her aides called a benign kidney condition.