Trump has pardoned 10 men; who are they?
By Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times
May 23, 2019
The ability to grant pardons is among a president’s most unchecked powers. Pardons have corrected injustices, and they’ve caused outrage. But historians consider some of President Donald Trump’s pardons among the most controversial ever granted. Experts say many of his pardons follow a pattern...
This Memorial Day, veterans take on another threat: rising cancer deaths in the ranks
By Tara Copp, McClatchy Washington Bureau
May 23, 2019
WASHINGTON — On Memorial Day 2013, Coleen Bowman was a new widow. Her husband had died four months earlier and she wanted support to face that first military holiday of remembrance. So she registered for TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and spent the weekend with hundreds of other ...
Bernhardt’s schedules show undisclosed contacts with industry
By Jacob Holzman, CQ-Roll Call
April 8, 2019
Recently posted versions of acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s daily schedules contain at least 260 differences from his original schedules, with the newest records showing meetings previously described as “external” or “internal” were actually with representatives of fossil fuel, ti...
Week ahead: Barr testifying on DOJ budget, likely to get grilled about Mueller report
By Lindsey McPherson, CQ-Roll Call
April 8, 2019
All eyes will be on the House and Senate Appropriations committees this week, but not necessarily because of President Donald Trump's fiscal 2020 budget blueprint. Attorney General William P. Barr is scheduled to testify Tuesday in the House and Wednesday in the Senate about the Justice Department's...
US labels Iran’s Guard Corps as terrorists, boosting pressure
By Nick Wadhams and Margaret Talev, Bloomberg News
April 8, 2019
The Trump administration designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a "foreign terrorist organization" on Monday, a move aimed at further isolating Tehran that could end up complicating U.S. alliances with Iraq and Lebanon. "We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the...
Trump’s lawyers ask US appeals court to end emoluments lawsuit
By Andrew Harris, Bloomberg News
March 19, 2019
Donald Trump, as president and a private citizen, asked a federal appeals court to put an end to lawsuits challenging his ability to make money from his Washington hotel even if some of the revenue comes from other governments. Democratic attorneys general from the District of Columbia and Maryland say...
Supreme Court upholds government’s authority to detain and deport immigrants for past crimes
By David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times
March 19, 2019
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Trump administration’s power to arrest and hold legal immigrants indefinitely if they had past crimes on their records that could trigger deportation, even if they served their time years ago or were convicted of minor drug offenses. The justices, by a 5-4 vo...
Michael Cohen files suit against Trump Organization over legal fees
By Larry McShane, New York Daily News
March 7, 2019
Longtime Trump fixer Michael Cohen is ready to bite the hand that wouldn't cover his legal costs. Cohen, in a Manhattan Supreme Court filing, charged Thursday that the Trump Organization reneged on a July 2017 agreement to cover his attorneys' fees and costs in connection with the lawyer's legal representation...
White House prepares for Robert Mueller’s report — whatever it says
By Noah Bierman and Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
March 7, 2019
The White House made a quiet but notable personnel change a few weeks ago, moving a veteran staff attorney to a press office that is preparing a response to the much-anticipated final report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, whatever it says, whenever it comes. The transfer of Steven Groves...
Midwestern populist Sen. Sherrod Brown decides against running for president
By Janet Hook and Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times
March 7, 2019
Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio progressive who offered Democrats high hopes of recapturing voters in the Midwest, announced Thursday he would not be running for president. "I will keep calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism," Brown said in a statement. "I will keep fighting for all workers...