New York Gov. Cuomo grants 35,000 paroled felons right to vote; GOP sees 'power grab'

Jan. 17, 2017: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo releases his proposed state budget during a news conference at the Executive Mansion in Albany, N.Y.  (AP)

In an executive order signed Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted some 35,000 paroled felons the right to vote.
The move by the second-term Democrat came after state Republicans blocked a bill in the state Senate.
“I’m unwilling to take no for an answer,” Cuomo said at the annual convention of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in New York City. “I’m going to make it law by executive order.”
The new directive includes New York in a list of 14 states and the District of Columbia that allow felons to vote in elections after serving their sentence.
“It is unconscionable to deny voting rights to New Yorkers who have paid their debt and have re-entered society,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“This reform will reduce disenfranchisement and will help restore justice and fairness to our democratic process. Withholding or delaying voting rights diminishes our democracy.”
Cuomo said that nearly three-fourths of parolees in New York are black or Latino, and allowing parolees to vote will help them to reconnect with the community.
But Republicans disagree and already started pouncing on Cuomo over the new measure. Republican Senate Leader John Flanagan said Wednesday that the order was bad public policy and could potentially be illegal because the governor ignored the Legislature.
Ed Cox, chairman of the state Republican Party, in a statement, called the directive an “outrageous power grab” in a bid to appeal to “radical primary voters,” according to the New York Times.
Cuomo is facing an energized Democratic primary challenge from "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon, who has repeatedly attacked the governor from the left and for failing to support minorities in the state.

Most Californians back more deportations; nearly half support travel ban, survey finds

An overwhelming majority of Californians want to deport more illegal immigrants, and nearly half support President Donald Trump's travel ban aimed at reducing terrorism, according to a new survey from the University of California at Berkeley's Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.
But in reporting the findings of the statewide December 2017 survey, the Haas Institute on Wednesday appeared to put a liberal spin on some of the results.
For example, the headline of its news release reads, "Majority of Californians oppose border wall, support racial inclusion."
But the actual data say that in California, "66% reject the idea that the U.S.-Mexico border wall is an important immigration policy priority" -- not that they oppose the wall entirely.
And results also demonstrate that only 54 percent -- or slightly more than half -- of Californians "have positive views of Muslims," and only 51 percent "oppose banning people from majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States."
Meanwhile, "59% find it important to increase deportations of those here without documentation." Nearly 80 percent, however, support a pathway to citizenship for so-called DREAMers, and "67% think undocumented immigrants should be able to purchase health insurance on the California state exchange."
The Haas Institute concedes in its news release that "Californians hold some contradictory and troubling views."
Its suggested fix: "[O]utreach and information campaigns anchored in narratives that point Californians towards their shared progressive values and identity."
CALIF. PROFESSOR CALLS BARBARA BUSH 'AMAZING RACIST,' SAYS SHE'S HAPPY 'WITCH IS DEAD'
But the results show that many Californians already have a sense of identity and values, outreach campaign or not. For example, 45 pecent of Californians said that being Christian is an "important part of being American," and nearly 40 percent don't want to limit law enforcement cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to the survey.
The survey comes as several California cities and counties back the Trump administration's lawsuit against the state's pro-illegal immigration sanctuary policies.

"Californians hold some contradictory and troubling views."

On Wednesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced plans to deploy “up to 400” members of the state's National Guard troops “to combat” criminal activity along the U.S.-Mexico border — after President Donald Trump slammed the Democratic leader a day earlier for “trying to back out” of an earlier pledge to do so.
CALIFORNIA HAS WORST QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE US, REPORT FINDS
Brown issued an order that the National Guard be sent to help “combat criminal gangs, human traffickers and illegal firearm and drug smugglers — within the state, along the coast and at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
But the governor sent military personnel on the condition that “the California National Guard will not enforce immigration laws or participate in the construction of any new border barrier.”
Brown's office also said the Trump administration would pick up the tab for the California deployment, the Los Angeles Times reported.
For his part, Trump tweeted Wednesday that Californians are tiring of their government.
"There is a Revolution going on in California," he wrote. "Soooo many Sanctuary areas want OUT of this ridiculous, crime infested & breeding concept. Jerry Brown is trying to back out of the National Guard at the Border, but the people of the State are not happy. Want Security & Safety NOW!"
The complete Haas Institute survey is available by clicking here.

Criminal Illegal Immigrants Cartoons

San Diego votes to join Trump administration's lawsuit against California's sanctuary city law

San Diego County voted Tuesday to become the latest in a string of local governments throughout California backing the Trump administration lawsuit against the state over its sanctuary city laws.
After hearing from residents, the all-Republican San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to support a lawsuit by the federal government over laws it says limit police cooperation with federal immigration agents. One member was absent during Tuesday’s vote.
As the second largest county in California, San Diego — a region of 3 million residents that borders Mexico — is the largest county to back the lawsuit. 
Supervisor Greg Cox, who cast the only dissenting vote, said in a statement afterward that “the board’s vote is a largely symbolic move that will create fear and divisiveness in our region, waste taxpayer funds and create distrust of law enforcement and local government within many communities.”
The vote followed a similar one Monday when the city of Los Alamitos voted 4-1 to approve an ordinance seeking to exempt the city from the so-called sanctuary law on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LAWSUIT AGAINST CALIFORNIA SANCTUARY LAWS BACKED BY THESE CITIES, COUNTIES
A string of local governments throughout the state of California has backed the Trump administration’s decision to sue last month, arguing that the federal government, not the state, has authority over immigration policy.
San Diego now joins Orange County, the state’s third-most-populous county, in rejecting a state law that shields criminal illegal immigrants from deportation.
The San Diego vote brings to 10 the number of governmental entities that voted against the state law that declared California, and by statute — all law enforcement in it — would not communicate with federal agents when it came to all but the most violent or repeat, convicted criminal illegal immigrants.
California Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that Washington’s tough stance against immigrants in the country illegally is “just an inflammatory football that very low-life politicians like to exploit.”
If President Donald Trump “wants to round them up like some totalitarian government and ship them out, say that,” Brown said. “But he doesn’t say that because the American people would repudiate him and his party.”

Trump rebukes Turkey for espionage trial of pastor Andrew Brunson, tweets 'I am more a Spy than he is'

President Trump sharply rebuked Turkey for the ongoing trial of detained American pastor Andrew Brunson late Thursday, tweeting that he is "being persecuted in Turkey for no reason."
Brunson, who is accused of espionage and aiding terror groups, should be "allowed to come home to his beautiful family where he belongs," Trump said.
The tweet was not the first time Trump has voiced support for the imprisoned pastor. Last May, in a face-to-face meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington, Trump called for Brunson's release, the White House said at the time.
But Trump's pointed condemnation Thursday highlighted the increased stakes now that formal proceedings against Brunson have begun. The pastor faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of the espionage-related crimes.
And the dustup comes amid tensions between the U.S. and Turkey over the conflict in Syria, where Turkish officials have claimed the U.S. is intentionally stalling the fight against Islamic State militants.
Turkey says Brunson, 50, conspired with exiled Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania resident who Erdogan says orchestrated the July 2016 coup attempt against his government.
US PASTOR DENIES ALLEGATIONS, SAYS 'I LOVE TURKEY'
That failed coup led to a sweeping government crackdown against suspected dissidents, and Brunson was initially held in October 2016 on immigration-related offenses.
Turkey also claims Brunson passed along state secrets and intelligence that might be useful in the event of a war, such as the location of railway stations.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which is helping to represent Brunson, said he was held for nearly a year and a half without being formally charged.
"They call him a Spy, but I am more a Spy than he is," Trump wrote, after calling Brunson a "fine gentleman and Christian leader in the United States."
TURKEY SEEKS TO EXTEND STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER 2016 COUP -- FOR THE 7TH TIME
In a hearing Monday, Brunson, appearing gaunt, categorically denied the allegations against him.
"I am a Christian pastor,” Brunson said during the hearing. “I did not join an Islamic movement. Their aims and mine are different."
The U.S. has a team in Turkey observing the trial, including former Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom.
The ACLJ has called the prosecution outrageous.
“He has done nothing," the ACLJ senior counsel CeCei Heil said. "He is an innocent pastor who has simply lived out his faith in Turkey."

Former ace Navy pilot ID’d as hero who landed damaged Southwest flight: report

Southwest pilot Tammie Jo Shults, left, pictured at her alma mater MidAmerica Nazarene where she graduated in 1983. Shults was praised for landing the Dallas-bound Flight 1380 Tuesday after one of its engines blew mid-air at 32,000 feet.  (MidAmerica Nazarene)

The Southwest Airlines pilot who made an emergency landing Tuesday after the jet blew an engine and lost a window at 32,000 feet was one of the first female pilots to fly with the U.S. Navy, The New York Post reported.

Tammie Jo Shults, 56, was calm as she navigated the damaged Dallas-bound jet, Flight 1380, to an emergency landing in Philadelphia, the report said.

The twin-engine Boeing 737 that left New York’s LaGuardia Airport had 143 customers and five crew on board. One passenger died after she was reportedly hit with shrapnel from the explosion.

U.S. NTSB investigators examine the damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane. Pilot Tammie Jo Schults was forced to conduct an emergency landing in Philadelphia after one of the plane's engines blew mid-air Tuesday.  (REUTERS)

Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was identified as the woman who died. Riordan was the mother of two and a Wells Fargo bank executive.
Witnesses told WCAU that a woman was "partially sucked out" of an airplane window and shrapnel from the exploded engine smashed it, but it remains unclear whether Riordan was that passenger.
Seven others were injured.
“We have a part of the aircraft missing, so we’re going to need to slow down a bit,” Shults told air traffic controllers from the cockpit, Reuters reported.
Shults took the plane into a rapid descent as passengers employed oxygen masks and braced for impact. The veteran pilot managed to safely land the plane at Philadelphia International at 11:30 a.m.
One passenger cited by The Kansas City Star, lauded Shults’ “nerves of steel.”

Shults, a Christian, once said in an interview that sitting in the captain's chair gave her "the opportunity to witness for Christ on almost every flight."

“Tammie Jo Schults, the pilot came back to speak to each of us personally,” wrote another passenger, cited by the paper. “This is a true American Hero. A huge thank you for her knowledge, guidance and bravery in a traumatic situation. God bless her and all the crew.”
Shults was one of the first female fighter pilots in U.S. military history, according to friends from her alma mater, MidAmerican Nazarene. She was a pilot and instructor with the Navy before joining Southwest Airlines in 1993, KUSI reported.
In a written statement, Southwest Airlines said it was ‘devastated’ over Tuesday’s event. The company did not explicitly mention Shults.  

CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend

The Washington Post reports the CIA director met with the North Korean leader over Easter Weekend; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports from West Palm Beach, Florida.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend in an effort to lay the groundwork for a summit between Kim and President Trump, Fox News has confirmed.
Pompeo's trip, which was first reported by The Washington Post, came to light hours after Trump told reporters that the U.S. and North Korea are holding direct talks at "extremely high levels" in preparation for what would be an extraordinary meeting following months of heated rhetoric over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
The White House and the CIA declined to comment to Fox News about Pompeo's visit.
"The administration does not comment on the CIA Director’s travel," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
Trump, who welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his Florida resort Tuesday, said five locations for the potential summit are under consideration. The president would not disclose the sites but said the U.S. was not among them.
"We'll either have a very good meeting or we won't have a good meeting," Trump told reporters. "And maybe we won't even have a meeting at all, depending on what's going in. But I think that there's a great chance to solve a world problem."
The president did not answer shouted questions about whether he has spoken with Kim.
Kim's offer for a summit was initially conveyed to Trump by South Korea last month, and the president shocked many when it was announced that he had accepted. U.S. officials have indicated over the past two weeks that North Korea's government has communicated directly with Washington that it is ready to discuss its nuclear weapons program.
Abe, who has voiced fears that short- and medium-range missiles that pose a threat to Japan might not be part of the U.S. negotiations, praised Trump on Tuesday for his bravery in agreeing to meet with the North Korean dictator.
"I'd like to commend Donald's courage in his decision to have the upcoming summit meeting with the North Korean leader," Abe said.
Trump also confirmed that North and South Korea are working to negotiate an end to hostilities before next week's meeting between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae In. The meeting will be the third inter-Korean summit since the Koreas' 1945 division.
North Korea has long sought a peace treaty with the U.S. to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. But it is unusual for the North to seek to broach the issue directly with South Korea rather than with Washington. The armistice that ended the fighting was signed by the United Nations Command — the U.S.-led forces in the conflict — North Korea and China. South Korea was a member of the U.N. Command but was not a direct signatory.
Trump said Tuesday that the two Koreas "have my blessing to discuss the end of the war."

Stormy Daniels Cartoons

Judge won't let Trump attorney Cohen review seized files before the feds, as Stormy Daniels speaks out

A federal judge on Monday denied a request from President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen to review the documents seized from the lawyer's home and office last week before prosecutors see them, dealing a setback to Trump's legal team.
U.S. District Judge Kimbra Wood said that she had faith in the Justice Department's so-called "taint team" to isolate materials protected by attorney-client privilege, but added that she would consider allowing a neutral third party requested by Cohen to weigh in.
Also Monday, attorneys confirmed that Fox News host Sean Hannity was the third individual who received Cohen's legal help.
Cohen, who formerly worked at the Trump Organization, is under criminal investigation as part of a grand jury probe into his personal conduct and business dealings, including a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter with the married Trump in 2006.
Wood told prosecutors to put all the seized documents into a searchable database to determine which should come under review. Prosecutors said they expected to let Wood know on Wednesday how long it will take them to share the materials with Cohen's legal team. Cohen's lawyers say they will then go through the materials and share relevant information with President Trump's legal team.
Lawyers for Cohen and Trump had sought to be allowed to decide which items seized are protected by attorney-client privilege before prosecutors see them.

Stormy Daniels and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan Monday.  (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Daniels attended the hearing and addressed reporters after it was over.
"For years, Mr. Cohen has acted like he is above the law," Daniels said. "He has considered himself – and openly referred to himself – as Mr. Trump’s fixer. He has played by a different set of rules, or, should we say, no rules at all.
"He has never thought that the little man, or especially women – even more, women like me – mattered. That ends now," she added. "My attorney and I are committed to making sure that everyone finds out the truth and the facts of what happened and I give my word that we will not rest until that happens."
Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, said Judge Wood's decision would ensure that "no documents are spoliated, destroyed or otherwise tampered with, which is our chief concern in connection with this process."
The hearing took a surprise turn when Judge Wood instructed Cohen's attorneys to disclose the name of a third Cohen client, apart from Trump and top GOP fundraiser Elliot Broidy.
"We have been friends a long time. I have sought legal advice from Michael,” Hannity said on his radio show in response.
But he also said that Cohen did not formally represent him.
"Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees," Hannity said in a statement issued after his radio show. "I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective. I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third party."

Special Counsel Robert Mueller referred an investigation of Michael Cohen to the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of New York.  (AP)

On his Fox News show Monday, Hannity told viewers his conversations with Cohen "almost exclusively focused on real estate."
"I've said many times on my radio show: I hate the stock market, I prefer real estate," Hannity said. "Michael knows real estate ... I have no personal interest in this legal matter. That's all there is. Nothing more."
Lawyers for Cohen filed papers Monday saying investigators "took everything" during the raids, including more than a dozen electronic devices. They said that prosecutors had already intercepted emails from Cohen and executed the search warrants only after discovering that there were no emails between Trump and Cohen.
One of Trump's lawyers, Joanna Hendon, asked the judge to block prosecutors from studying material seized in the raid until Cohen and the president have both had a chance to review those materials and argue which are subject to the "sacred" attorney-client privilege.
"The seized materials relating to the president must be reviewed by the only person who is truly motivated to ensure that the privilege is properly invoked and applied: the privilege-holder himself, the President," Hendon wrote in court papers filed Sunday.
On Monday, Wood rejected Hendon's request for a temporary restraining order on the grounds that it was too early for such an objection.
At issue is the topic of attorney-client privilege, which the president has claimed in recent days is “dead.”
Trump, who was in Florida on Monday, said all lawyers are now "deflated and concerned" by the FBI raid on Cohen.
"Attorney Client privilege is now a thing of the past," he tweeted Sunday. "I have many (too many!) lawyers and they are probably wondering when their offices, and even homes, are going to be raided with everything, including their phones and computers, taken. All lawyers are deflated and concerned!"

Orange County city votes again to opt out of California's sanctuary state law

April 16, 2018: Los Alamitos council members decided to approve an ordinance opting out of California's sanctuary state law that limits cooperation between police and federal immigration authorities.  (Facebook)

A Southern California city council voted Monday for the second time to cement its opposition to the state’s sanctuary law following a tense 5-hour debate and clashes between anti-sanctuary measure supporters and protesters.
Los Alamitos Council members voted 4-1 to opt out of a state law that prohibited state and local police agencies from informing federal authorities in cases when illegal immigrants facing deportation are released from detention.
It is the second time the council voted in favor of the ordinance as the city’s laws required the council to have a second reading of the measure before officially approving it.
Councilman Mark Chirco was the only dissenting voice on the council. He said the council has no legal authority to approve the ordinance and criticized the council members for what he called being irresponsible, stating that the measure will open the city to lawsuits.
Shortly after the vote, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) tweeted that the ordinance is “a blatant violation of the city's obligation to follow a state law that puts our local resources to use for the safety of our communities rather than toward federal immigration agencies.”
The civil rights group previously threatened the city with a lawsuit if it passes the ordinance.
The special council meeting on Monday in Los Alamitos attracted droves of supporters and protesters of the measure, prompting minor clashes outside the City Hall, The Orange County Register reported.
But most proceedings remained peaceful, only accompanied with loud jeers and applauses.
“Nobody is above the law. We have elected officials in Sacramento who think they can do whatever they want to do,” Raul Rodriguez, from Apple Valley, spoke in support of the ordinance, according to the Register.
Omar Siddiqui, a U.S. Congressional candidate in California running to unseat Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, also spoke at the meeting, urging the council to oppose the motion as “our communities are safer when we work with each other and trust each other, not when we operate under a police state.”
The Orange County city claims the state law is legally problematic because it may be “in direct conflict with federal laws and the Constitution.” The adopted ordinance says the council “finds that it is impossible to honor our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” if they do not opt out of it.
The council now joins a dozen other cities that voiced an opposition to California’s sanctuary law.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will decide Tuesday whether to join the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the state’s sanctuary laws.