Today: October 07, 2024
Today: October 07, 2024

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

Political

Should Trump go to jail? The 2024 election could become a referendum on that question

The 2024 election will determine whether Donald Trump returns to the White House. It could also decide if he’ll face time behind bars. Now slapped with his third criminal indictment — this time for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and block the transfer of presidential power — for Trump, winning is about more than ego, redemption, score-settling or the future of the country. “This election may very well be about Donald Trump’s personal freedom,” said Ari Fleischer, a longtime Republican strategist. “It’s not an exaggeration to say, if convicted, he could be sentenced to

Should Trump go to jail? The 2024 election could become a referendum on that question
Political

Hunter Biden's plea agreement renegotiation is rare – a law professor explains what usually happens

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, to review a plea deal on misdemeanor tax charges. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images News via Getty Images The highly anticipated July 26, 2023, federal court appearance in Delaware by President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, ended in a completely unanticipated way. Hunter Biden was there to get the court to sign off on a plea deal he and his lawyers had negotiated with the Department of Justice related to charges he had paid his taxes late and had illegally owned a gun. What was known of the agreement before the court date was

Hunter Biden's plea agreement renegotiation is rare – a law professor explains what usually happens
Political

Alabama is not the first state to defy a Supreme Court ruling: 3 essential reads on why that matters

Police officers patrolling the front of the Supreme Court building. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images In its 5-4 Allen v. Milligan decision on June 8, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state of Alabama to redraw its congressional voting districts and consider race as it made up the new districts. The court had found that the state’s political districts diluted the strength of Black voters by denying them the possibility of electing a second Black member to the state’s congressional delegation. While the court did not specifically order the state to create a second majority-Black congressional district, Chief Justice John Roberts

Alabama is not the first state to defy a Supreme Court ruling: 3 essential reads on why that matters
Political

Federal government is challenging Texas's buoys in the Rio Grande – here’s why these kinds of border blockades wind up complicating immigration enforcement

Buoy barriers are shown in the middle of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 18, 2023. Brandon Bell/Getty Images The Rio Grande is only about 328 feet, or about 99 meters, wide. But the waterway dividing Texas from northern Mexico is deceptively dangerous and routinely claims the lives of migrants who try to cross it, but get caught in undetected rip currents or otherwise drown. Now, it’s the site of a legal battle between the U.S. federal government and the state of Texas regarding the right to enact blockades in the river. The U.S. Justice Department announced

Federal government is challenging Texas's buoys in the Rio Grande – here’s why these kinds of border blockades wind up complicating immigration enforcement
Political

Giuliani claims the First Amendment lets him lie – 3 essential reads

Rudy Giuliani admits to lying but says the Constitution protects him. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky In his response to a lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers who said Rudy Giuliani harmed them by falsely alleging they mishandled ballots in the 2020 presidential election, Giuliani has admitted lying. But he says the women suffered no harm – and claims that his lies are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Conversation U.S. has published several articles by scholars explaining what the First Amendment – which, broadly speaking, protects freedom of speech and the press – does and doesn’t

Giuliani claims the First Amendment lets him lie – 3 essential reads
Political

Immunity for witnesses is a key tool of prosecutors, whether they're charging Trump or other alleged criminals – here's how it works and what the limits are

A protester walks past the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Court House in Washington, on August 1, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images At the heart of the alleged scheme for which Donald Trump was indicted on Aug. 1, 2023, was a fake electors plot designed to help him hold onto power after losing the 2020 presidential election. In the U.S., people known as electors from each state and Washington, D.C., elect the president based on the popular vote. According to the four-count indictment, Trump and two of six unnamed co-conspirators pulled together fraudulent slates of electors in seven key states in

Immunity for witnesses is a key tool of prosecutors, whether they're charging Trump or other alleged criminals – here's how it works and what the limits are
Political

Trump indicted for efforts to overturn 2020 election and block transfer of power

Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges Tuesday for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol, with the Justice Department acting to hold him accountable for an unprecedented effort to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power and threaten American democracy. The four-count indictment, the third criminal case against Trump, provided deeper insight into a dark moment that has already been the subject of exhaustive federal investigations and captivating public hearings. It chronicles a months-long campaign of lies about the election

Trump indicted for efforts to overturn 2020 election and block transfer of power
Political

The judge assigned to Trump's Jan. 6 case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters

The federal judge assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attack fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election. She has also ruled against him before. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, will oversee the case accusing Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the two months leading up to the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol

The judge assigned to Trump's Jan. 6 case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters
Political

Takeaways from the Trump indictment that alleges a campaign of 'fraud and deceit'

The federal indictment of Donald Trump on Tuesday marks the first time that the former president has been formally held accountable for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. And it adds new details to what was already known about his actions, and those of his key allies, in the weeks leading up to the violent Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. The newest charges — Trump’s third criminal indictment this year — include conspiracy to defraud the United States government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. It describes

Takeaways from the Trump indictment that alleges a campaign of 'fraud and deceit'
Political

How the Trump fake electors scheme became a 'corrupt plan,' according to the indictment

The role that fake slates of electors played in Donald Trump’s desperate effort to cling to power after his defeat in the 2020 election is at the center of a four-count indictment released against the former president Tuesday. The third criminal case into Trump details, among other charges, what prosecutors say was a massive and monthslong effort to “impair, obstruct, and defeat” the federal process for certifying the results of a presidential election, culminating in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The 45-page indictment states that when Trump could not persuade state officials to

How the Trump fake electors scheme became a 'corrupt plan,' according to the indictment
Political

Wasted welfare money sparks candidates' feud in election for Mississippi governor

The Democrat trying to unseat Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is pushing hard to tie the Republican incumbent to a welfare misspending scandal that developed while Reeves was lieutenant governor, but the Reeves campaign says challenger Brandon Presley is engaging in false and “nonsensical” attacks. Both candidates are looking past next Tuesday’s party primaries, in which Presley is unopposed and Reeves faces two nominal challengers, to frame the general election contest. Republicans have long dominated the state, but Presley, a cousin of legendary rocker Elvis Presley, hopes to pull off a surprise. Former Mississippi Department of Human

Wasted welfare money sparks candidates' feud in election for Mississippi governor
Political

Pence fought an order to testify but now is a central figure in his former boss's indictment

Mike Pence fought the Department of Justice in court to try to avoid testifying against his former boss. But the former vice president plays a central role in a new federal indictment unsealed Tuesday that outlines the first criminal charges against Donald Trump connected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The 45-page indictment is informed, in part, by contemporaneous notes that Pence kept of their conversations in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as Trump tried to pressure Pence to go along with his desperate — and

Pence fought an order to testify but now is a central figure in his former boss's indictment
Political

Republican National Committee boosts polling and fundraising thresholds to qualify for 2nd debate

Some Republican presidential candidates haven’t yet met polling and fundraising thresholds for the first debate of the 2024 cycle, and now the qualifications for making it to the second one will be even higher. To get to the second debate, scheduled for Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, candidates will need at least 3% in two national polls or will need 3% in one national poll as well as two polls from four of the early-voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — a person familiar with

Republican National Committee boosts polling and fundraising thresholds to qualify for 2nd debate
Political

IRS aims to go paperless by 2025 as part of its campaign to conquer mountains of paperwork

Most taxpayers will be able to digitally submit a slew of tax documents and other communications to the IRS next filing season as the agency aims to go completely paperless by 2025. The effort to reduce the exorbitant load of paperwork that has plagued the agency — dubbed the “paperless processing initiative” — was announced Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel. The effort is being financed through an $80 billion infusion of cash for the IRS over 10 years under the Inflation Reduction Act passed into law last August, although some of that money already

IRS aims to go paperless by 2025 as part of its campaign to conquer mountains of paperwork
Political

Amateur baseball mascot charged with joining Capitol riot in red face paint and Trump hat

A St. Louis Cardinals mega-fan known as “Rally Runner” was arrested Wednesday on charges that he joined a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and used a stolen shield to help other rioters attack police officers, court records show. Daniel Donnelly Jr. was wearing red paint on his face and a red “Keep America Great” hat when he stormed the Capitol, the FBI said in a court filing. Donnelly is known in St. Louis for running around the Cardinals’ stadium during baseball games while wearing red clothes and red face paint. Donnelly apparently changed his legal

Amateur baseball mascot charged with joining Capitol riot in red face paint and Trump hat
Political

Senate office buildings locked down over reports of shooter

Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order and searched Senate office buildings near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon amid reports of an active shooter. The U.S. Capitol Police announced on the X social media platform that the security response was prompted by a “concerning 911 call” regarding a “possible active shooter.” At 3:30 p.m., a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police department said authorities had not immediately located any victims or other evidence of a shooting, but were still working to fully clear the area. Inside the Russell Senate Office Building, officers evacuated the hallways and shouted at people to

Senate office buildings locked down over reports of shooter
Political

Niger coup: Military takeover is a setback for democracy and US interests in West Africa

General Abdourahmane Tchiani, Niger’s new leader. ORTN – Télé Sahel/AFP via Getty Images The West African nation Niger is under military rule following a coup in which President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown and held captive by members of his own guard. On July 28, 2023, coup leaders named General Abdourahmane Tchiani as the new head of state, while international observers called for democratic norms to be reinstalled. Where the coup leaves the country and what happens next is unclear. The Conversation turned to Leonardo A. Villalón, political scientist and West African expert at the University of Florida, for some answers.

Niger coup: Military takeover is a setback for democracy and US interests in West Africa
Political

Hiroshima attack marks its 78th anniversary – its lessons of unnecessary mass destruction could help guide future nuclear arms talks

Visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima view a large-scale panoramic photograph of the destruction following the 1945 bombing. Carl Court/Getty Images It was 8:15 on a Monday morning, Aug. 6, 1945. World War II was raging in Japan. An American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan – an important military center with a civilian population close to 300,000 people. The U.S. wanted to end the war, and Japan was unwilling to surrender unconditionally. The bomber plane was called the Enola Gay, named for Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot. Its

Hiroshima attack marks its 78th anniversary – its lessons of unnecessary mass destruction could help guide future nuclear arms talks
Political

Justice Department launches civil rights investigation of Memphis police – 4 essential reads about holding police accountable

Signs calling for all officers and emergency personnel involved in Tyre Nichols’ death to be named and charged rest on public steps on Feb. 1, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Lucy Garrett/Getty Images Seven months after the horrific beating death by police of Memphis, Tennessee, motorist Tyre Nichols, the Justice Department, on July 27, 2023, launched a civil rights investigation into allegations the Memphis Police Department routinely used excessive force and, on a systemic basis, discriminated against Black residents. Although Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said during a press conference that the investigation of the department and city of Memphis is

Justice Department launches civil rights investigation of Memphis police – 4 essential reads about holding police accountable
Political

Is Congress on a witch hunt? 5 ways to judge whether oversight hearings are legitimate or politicized

Congressional staffers stand beneath a monitor showing House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., in a hearing, July 19, 2023. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Since Republicans regained the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections, they have initiated a flurry of investigations. Among their targets: the origin of the COVID-19 virus, the FBI’s law enforcement and surveillance activities and Hunter Biden’s business relationships. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California even spoke recently of a possible presidential impeachment inquiry. Everyone loves congressional oversight – at least in theory. Both Democrats and Republicans have consistently maintained

Is Congress on a witch hunt? 5 ways to judge whether oversight hearings are legitimate or politicized
Political

Sexual violence is a pervasive threat for female farm workers – here's how the US could reduce their risk

Mexican migrant workers harvest parsley on a farm in Wellington, Colo. John Moore/Getty Images Television crime shows often are set in cities, but in its third season, ABC’s “American Crime” took a different tack. It opened on a tomato farm in North Carolina, where it showed a young woman being brutally raped in a field by her supervisor. “People die all the time on that farm. Nobody cares. Women get raped, regular,” another character tells a police interrogator. The show’s writers did their research. Studies show that 80% of Mexican and Mexican American women farmworkers in the U.S. have experienced

Sexual violence is a pervasive threat for female farm workers – here's how the US could reduce their risk
Political

Trump indicted in Jan. 6 case – but his 3 upcoming trials may not keep him off the campaign trail

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on June 13, 2023, after being arraigned in Miami. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images Most commentators who have discussed Donald Trump’s pending criminal trials in New York, Florida and – with the late-day revelation on Aug. 1, 2023, that he has been indicted by a Washington, D.C., grand jury – in the nation’s capital, have concluded that those trials would require his presence. And that would compromise his ability to campaign vigorously for the Republican nomination and the presidency. The U.S. Constitution protects defendants’ rights to be present at their criminal trials, prohibiting the government from holding

Trump indicted in Jan. 6 case – but his 3 upcoming trials may not keep him off the campaign trail
Political

The most serious Trump indictment yet – a criminal law scholar explains the charges of using ‘dishonesty, fraud and deceit’ to cling to power

Special Counsel Jack Smith announces the second federal indictment of Donald Trump on Aug. 1, 2023. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin The Justice Department announced its second federal indictment of former president Donald J. Trump on Aug. 1, 2023. The charges are groundbreaking and not just because a former president is facing multiple criminal charges. It’s because these are the first federal charges alleging a former president effectively attempted a particular kind of coup, called an auto-coup, in which he attempted to keep himself in power by illegal means. The indictment lists four felony charges. All of them rely on the same

The most serious Trump indictment yet – a criminal law scholar explains the charges of using ‘dishonesty, fraud and deceit’ to cling to power
Political

George Washington knew when it was time to go, unlike Trump, because the founders worried about the judgment of history

George Washington, hand on the Bible, at his inauguration in 1789 as the first president of the U.S. MPI / Stringer/Archive photos, Getty Images Donald Trump’s new indictment by a grand jury in Washington, D.C., for crimes related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, counts as another blow to his reputation. He might be convicted. But even if he’s not, a set of deeper issues has clearly emerged already: Many leaders and politicians today just cling to power. Heedless of the common good, they seem to forget that the judgment of posterity will come, inescapably. One

George Washington knew when it was time to go, unlike Trump, because the founders worried about the judgment of history
Political

Could Trump turn his politics of grievance into a get-out-of-jail card? Neither prosecution nor even jail time have prevented former leaders in Israel, Brazil and Kenya from mounting comebacks

Donald Trump enters a political rally while campaigning for the GOP 2024 nomination on July 29, 2023, in Erie, Pa. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Donald Trump has declared, “I am your retribution,” and it appears to be a guiding theme of his 2024 campaign. He now faces a total of three indictments, following Special Counsel Jack Smith’s announcement on Aug. 1, 2023 that Trump had been charged with four counts in his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election – the most serious charges so far. There’s likely to be an additional indictment from Fulton County, Georgia, prosecutor Fani Willis. If

Could Trump turn his politics of grievance into a get-out-of-jail card? Neither prosecution nor even jail time have prevented former leaders in Israel, Brazil and Kenya from mounting comebacks

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