Now that the impeachment is over, the question is: what next? Some will say we should move on. But we cannot move on without a reckoning. This reckoning must determine the failures that led to the Capitol riot, prevent future crises and facilitate national reconciliation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy Pelosi Senators given no timeline on removal of National Guard, Capitol fence Democratic fury with GOP explodes in House House Republican attempts to appeal fine for bypassing metal detector outside chamber MORE has championed a " 9/11-type commission " to investigate the Capitol riot. Her recommendation is correct, but her reasons are not. Pelosi told members of Congress that the issue is “about you.” She told them it is necessary to address “your safety as you serve in Congress, your safety in your district and your safety when traveling to and from Washington.” ADVERTISEMENT Pelosi is wrong, because the issue is not just about Congress. It is about all Americans. The problem at hand is not only what Pelosi called “serious and ongoing security threats facing members" of Congress. The Capitol riot was also a law enforcement breakdown , an act of domestic terrorism according to President Biden Joe Biden Klain on Manchin's objection to Neera Tanden: He 'doesn't answer to us at the White House' Senators given no timeline on removal of National Guard, Capitol fence Overnight Defense: New Senate Armed Services chairman talks Pentagon policy nominee, Afghanistan, more | Biden reads report on Khashoggi killing | Austin stresses vaccine safety in new video MORE and a wakeup call about anti-Semitic and racist hate groups. Some will argue that the next step should be the courts. But I believe courts are not built for this. A Biden Justice Department investigation would smell of political bias. Trump’s legal challenges in different states, already underway , will not address the ...
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Report: Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago Ranked Most Corrupt City in America
A report by the University of Illinois claims Chicago is the most corrupt city in America, according to a WGN 9 article published Thursday. “The report is based on data from the justice department, which looked at public corruption convictions between 1976 and 2019,” the outlet said . In that time period, the city had almost 1800 convictions, more than Los Angeles which had the second highest. New York came in third. The university’s annual report, co-authored by professor Dick Simpson, also said Illinois is the third-most corrupt state, according to WTTW. The outlet continued: In 2019, there were 26 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois, which includes all of Chicago and the northern third of Illinois — double the number recorded in 2018, according to the report. The rest of the state had six additional public corruption convictions in 2019 for a state total of 32, according to Simpson’s findings based on the most recent DOJ data available. […] In May 2019, Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) was indicted on 14 counts of racketeering, bribery and extortion based on evidence that he repeatedly — and brazenly — used his powerful position at City Hall to force those doing business with the city to hire his private law firm. Burke has pleaded not guilty. Due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the voluminous amount of evidence regarding the case, Burke has not yet stood trial. “Former Ald. Willie Cochran (20th Ward) pleaded guilty in June 2019 to wire fraud in connection with allegations he used a charitable fund for personal expenses. Cochran was sentenced to a year and a day in prison,” the WTTW report added. Democrat-controlled Chicago has just concluded one of the most violent years in its history, with a massive increase in shootings and homicides. https://t.co/sbPMfFGJgN — Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 2, 2021 Meanwhile, at least 18 individuals were shot , two fatally, last ...
$2.3 Billion Awarded to USS Pueblo Crew, But How to Collect From North Korea?
More than 50 years ago, North Korea captured the USS Pueblo and subjected the spy ship’s crew to “barbarity” for almost a year, treatment that “required medical and/or psychiatric intervention” for the men upon their release in December 1968. Today, crew members and their families face the challenge of finding North Korea’s assets so they can realize their shares of $2.3 billion judgment against Pyongyang handed down by a U.S. district court. In a memorandum opinion issued Feb. 16 but filed and made public Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stated that “North Korea was liable” for “its incorporated theories of assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, solatium, and wrongful death.” Memorandum opinion on USS Pueblo: The court awarded compensatory and punitive damages to 171 plaintiffs, including living crew members, the estates of deceased crew members, and living family members and the estates of deceased family members. The court granted a baseline award of $3.35 million for each crew member, which would amount to $10,000 for each of the 335 days that the crew members were held in captivity by the North Koreans. Further awards are based on calculations that allow for variations within the groups. But the decision included the finding that, “As a result of the barbarity inflicted by the North Koreans, almost all [crew members] required medical and/or psychiatric intervention. The majority have suffered, and continue to suffer, from post-traumatic stress disorder, impaired memory, intrusive flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, anxiety, anger, depression, guilt, and withdrawal from others. Many have undergone invasive surgical procedures to ameliorate the physical damage resulting from the relentless torture they underwent as prisoners. Several have attempted to numb their pain through alcohol and drugs, and most have seen their domestic and/or professional lives ...
Six ways to visualize a divided America
It’s not your imagination and it’s not hyperbole: The nation is as politically divided today as at any point in the last century. President Biden Joe Biden Klain on Manchin's objection to Neera Tanden: He 'doesn't answer to us at the White House' Senators given no timeline on removal of National Guard, Capitol fence Overnight Defense: New Senate Armed Services chairman talks Pentagon policy nominee, Afghanistan, more | Biden reads report on Khashoggi killing | Austin stresses vaccine safety in new video MORE captured 224 congressional districts in the 2020 elections, compared to 211 won by former President Trump Donald Trump Senators given no timeline on removal of National Guard, Capitol fence Democratic fury with GOP explodes in House Georgia secretary of state withholds support for 'reactionary' GOP voting bills MORE . Only 16 districts — nine held by Republicans, seven by Democrats — split their vote between the presidential contest and congressional races. That’s a little under 4 percent of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. To put that in historical context, as recently as 1988, a third of congressional districts split their vote between presidential and House elections. The percentage of split-ticket districts hasn’t been this low since 1920, according to research from Brookings . ADVERTISEMENT The lines along which the United States is divided are shifting, and the two party coalitions are evolving to define the future of politics for the next decade or more. If the last decade was replete with reminders that demographics were destiny, the coming years will show that density is determinative. Here are six charts that illustrate where we are, and where we’re headed — and a note of thanks to the team at Daily Kos Elections , who crunched the numbers to show presidential election results by congressional district for each of the last three national elections: Democrats dominate ...
The three biggest decisions facing Merrick Garland
Elie Honig is a CNN legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN. Watch Honig answer readers' questions on "CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera" on weekends. (CNN) This week, Judge Merrick Garland will finally get a confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, more than four years after his nomination to the US Supreme Court was torpedoed by Sen. Mitch McConnell's obstructionism. Of course, this time Garland has been nominated as President Joe Biden's attorney general, and, with Senate Democrats in the majority, his swift confirmation is all but assured. Elie Honig If all goes as planned and Garland takes the reins at the Justice Department, he will face a daunting thicket of quandaries that present thorny issues of law, accountability and politics. Garland will bring impressive credentials to the attorney general position. Unlike the former Attorney General William Barr, Garland earned his stripes as a trial prosecutor for the Justice Department. Among many other cases, Garland supervised the investigation of the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, which killed more than 160 people, and the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. In 1997, he became a federal appellate judge for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, widely regarded as the second most important court in the country, behind only the Supreme Court. Garland became chief judge of the circuit in 2013. It will take all of Garland's legal experience and political acumen to negotiate the complex decisions an attorney general will face. Here are the most important decisions that Garland will likely make at the Justice Department headquarters. Former President Donald Trump investigations Read More Trump was acquitted in both impeachment trials, first on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress ...
