Obama should pardon Hillary Clinton, former assistant US attorney says

A New York lawyer appealed to President Obama Wednesday in an opinion piece to pardon former-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and others who may be “potential targets” of an investigation into the use of the private email server.
Robert Begleiter, a partner at Constantine Cannon LLP and former assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, wrote in The Daily News that the Constitution permits a president to pardon someone who has not been charged with a crime.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he has no intention of investigating Clinton, despite the familiar chant by supporters at his primary rallies, “Lock her up.” He even refered to her as “Crooked Hillary.”
“I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t,” Trump told editors at The New York Times shortly after the election. “She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I’m not looking to hurt them at all. The campaign was vicious.”
Begleiter wrote that he wishes Trump well as president, but said it would be a gamble in the event Clinton ever criticized Trump during his presidency. He called it “sideways” to believe that a person who accepted a pardon is admitting guilt.
He wrote that a pardon for Clinton could, in the words of Alexander Hamilton, “restore tranquility to the commonwealth”
John Crudele, a financial columnist with The New York Post, wrote that Obama is the most forgiving president in U.S. history, and commuted the sentences of 1,000. He theorized that Obama likely does not personally like Clinton very much and the email scandal put him in an “embarrassing” situation.
“But the best reason for not giving a pardon is simple: Obama doesn’t really know what kind of trouble Hillary might be in. And she would have to admit to things she might not be ready to reveal to get completely out of trouble,” he wrote.

'Hamilton's' Lin-Manuel Miranda 'sobbing' over Obama's decision to commute Oscar Lopez Rivera's sentence

"Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was brought to tears by President Obama's decision to commute the sentence of Oscar Lopez Rivera.
"Sobbing with gratitude here in London," Miranda wrote on Twitter. He was so moved he agreed to play Alexander Hamilton at a Chicago performance of "Hamilton" in honor of Obama's decision.
Lopez Rivera, who grew up in Chicago, was convicted of seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in 1981 while leading the Puerto Rican independence group FALN. The group bombed buildings in the 1970s. With Obama's action Tuesday, he is slated to be released May 17.
Miranda, who is of Puerto Rican descent, tweeted he "wished he was with every Puerto Rican in Chicago right now."
Miranda last played the title role in New York In July 2016. "Hamilton" opened in October in Chicago, led by Miguel Cervantes.

Obama decision to free FALN terror group leader sparks outrage

He was convicted of trying to overthrow the government, and named a leader of a terrorist group that bombed public buildings and killed people.
Now, President Obama's decision to commute the sentence of FALN member Oscar Lopez Rivera has sparked outrage from terror victims.
"I'm disgusted by what the president did. It's a travesty," said Joe Connor, whose father was killed in an infamous FALN terrorist bombing in Manhattan.
"The enemies of our country are being rewarded, and being treated as if they are heroes. What we hear is that Oscar Lopez Rivera did not get to know his family. Well, neither did my father. The victims and the Americans get pushed aside."
Rivera has been serving a 55-year federal prison sentence for being a leader of the Puerto Rican terrorist group, which sought independence for the U.S. island territory. The FALN claimed responsibility for over 70 bombings in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago from 1974 to 1983. The attacks killed five people and wounded dozens more, including police officers.
In 1981, Lopez Rivera was convicted of seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government and arms trafficking. He was later sentenced to serve 15 more years behind bars for trying to escape twice, and he never renounced his radical cause.
In 1999, on the eve of Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate run in New York, her husband, President Clinton, commuted the sentences of 16 imprisoned FALN members. But Lopez Rivera reportedly turned the offer down, refusing to be released unless all of his comrades were released from prison.
Now, 18 years later, he will be walking out of the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., a free man, his sentence cut short by 34 years.
"I went to his parole hearing in 2011," said Connor. "We were looking for some sort of reconciliation, some sort of admission, some sort of atonement. We didn't get any of that. He is a sworn terrorist, and for the president to release a sworn terrorist for political reasons, or whatever reason, is a disgrace."
Joe was only 9 years old when his father Frank went to have lunch at the historic Fraunces Tavern, near Wall Street, on Jan. 24, 1975. The colonial landmark is where President George Washington bid farewell to his troops on Dec. 4, 1783. That is why the symbol of the nation was targeted.
As Frank had lunch, a bomb suddenly exploded, killing him and three others. More than 60 people were injured. Frank Connor was 33 years old, and since then his son has taken up the crusade to speak out against terrorism and freedom for the killers. He says Lopez Rivera never admitted or accepted responsibility for his acts, never expressed any remorse, and that the president's decision sends a horrible message.
"It does nothing but encourage terrorism, it makes you think that at some point, terrorism will be forgiven," he said.
Lopez Rivera has become a cause célèbre among some Latino officials and celebrities, who have claimed he is a freedom fighter unfairly imprisoned for his political beliefs. His supporters range from Broadway's "Hamilton" creator Lin Manuel Miranda to several members of Congress, the mayor of San Juan, the speaker of the New York City Council, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. More than 100,000 people signed a petition urging Obama to grant the clemency.
“I think it is an historic moment for the Puerto Rican people," said Lopez Rivera's brother, Jose, who lives in Chicago.
"It's a moment where we can say the president of the United States, this President Obama, has really shown that we have to reach a level of reconciliation. My brother went to prison and charged with seditious conspiracy for exposing the fact that the U.S. is a colonial power in Puerto Rico," he said.
Connor countered, "There are no political prisoners, the United States does not hold political prisoners, these were terrorists."
Connor is also calling for the extradition of American fugitives from Cuba, including convicted cop killer and Black Liberation Army member Joanne Chesimard and FALN chief bomb maker Willie Morales. Morales has been called the suspected mastermind of the Fraunces Tavern bombing that killed Joe's father and he remains protected by the Castro regime even as he is on the FBI's Most Wanted List with a $100,000 reward offered for his capture.
"We have 70 or 80 fugitives in Cuba, and we have to now look to the Trump administration and say, hey we have to bring back Willie Morales," Connor said.
"We need justice, and my father deserved that justice. He was a good man, and the rest of the people who were murdered by the FALN deserve justice."
Lopez Rivera will walk out of prison a free man on May 17, and President Trump, by U.S. law, will not be able to reverse the decision.

Democrats Demonstrating Cartoons

Trump shrugs off Dems' inauguration boycott: 'I hope they give me their tickets'

Ainsley Earhardt previews her exclusive interview with Trump

EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump has told 'Fox & Friends' co-host Ainsley Earhardt that he doesn't mind Democratic members of Congress boycotting his inauguration, saying "I hope they give me their tickets."
At least 60 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have opted to miss Friday's ceremonies, most notably Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who said last week that he did not consider Trump a "legitimate" president.
WATCH AINSLEY EARHARDT'S INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP ON 'FOX & FRIENDS' BEGINNING AT 6 A.M. ET WEDNESDAY
"I think he just grandstanded, John Lewis, and then he got caught in a very bad lie, so let’s see what happens," said Trump, referencing Lewis' previous boycott of George W. Bush's 2001 inauguration. "As far as other people not going, that’s OK, because we need seats so badly, I hope they give me their tickets."
Trump spoke exclusively to Earhardt in an interview that will air Wednesday morning on "Fox & Friends." Earhardt joined "Hannity" Tuesday night to preview the sit-down.
"Immediately when I sat down, I said ‘How are you doing?’ because we’d been with him on the campaign trail for basically two years," Earhardt told Sean Hannity, "and he said, ‘It’s been exhausting, it’s been hard because I’ve had to hire a lot of people.’"
Earhardt said she and Trump ran through the president-elect's plans to tackle a variety of issues, including ObamaCare.
"He said repeal and replace will happen at the same time, and that he doesn’t want anyone to be sick. He wants to provide insurance to everyone," Earhardt said. "I said ‘You have a lot of critics that are wondering how you’re going to pay for this.’ He said insurance companies, the big insurance companies, will help him pay for this."
The president-elect also addressed his use of social media, which he says he will continue after he is sworn in as the 45th president.
"Look, I don’t like tweeting. I have other things I could be doing," Trump told Earhardt. "But I get very dishonest media, very dishonest press, and it’s my only way that I can get out and correct.
"Now, I’m going to be close to 50 million people – including Facebook and Instagram and things, I’m going to be close to 50 million people," Trump added. "So when people misrepresent me ... I have at least a way of saying it’s a false statement. Now, if the press were honest, which it’s not, I would absolutely not use Twitter. I wouldn’t have to."

San Francisco sued by car-theft victim for allegedly violating its sanctuary city ordinance

Paul Ryan condemns sanctuary cities

A 32-year-old is suing San Francisco, alleging that the city violated its sanctuary city ordinance by reporting him to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after reporting his car stolen in 2015.
Pedro Figueroa Zarceno, who is from El Salvador and lives in the Mission District, was in federal immigration custody for two months. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that it is prohibited in the city to use local resources to help federal law enforcement.
“With an incoming federal administration threatening mass deportations and targeting sanctuary cities, we must hold SFPD and the Sheriff’s Department accountable and ensure that every single officer is following the city’s due process protections,” Saira Hussain, an attorney representing Figueroa, told the paper.
The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, seeks an unspecified amount and calls on police to admit that he was a “victim of false imprisonment.”
A spokesman from the city reportedly said that San Francisco has “strong policies in place to encourage victims and witnesses to report crimes without fear of being deported.” The report pointed out that in February, then-Police Chief Greg Suhr acknowledged that the man should not have ended up in custody.
The report said that Figueroa reported the car stolen in November 2015.
Authorities eventually found the car, and when he filled out the paper work to pick up the car, he was arrested.
Homeland Security told the paper that police ran the background check and learned that he had a 10-year-old, outstanding warrant for deportation after failing to appear at an immigration hearing in Texas in 2005, and a 2012 conviction for drunken driving, authorities told the paper.
His attorneys told the paper that he planned to file for asylum and intended to go through the hearing process. He reportedly did not hear from authorities about the matter again. And his attorneys told the paper he had no idea there was an outstanding warrant.

Interior nominee Zinke disputes Trump on climate change

Donald Trump's choice to head the Interior Department on Tuesday rejected the president-elect's claim that climate change is a hoax, saying it is indisputable that environmental changes are affecting the world's temperature and human activity is a major reason.
"I don't believe it's a hoax," Rep. Ryan Zinke told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at his confirmation hearing.
"The climate is changing. The debate is what is that influence and what can we do," said the Montana Republican.
Trump has suggested in recent weeks he's keeping an open mind on the issue and may reconsider a campaign pledge to back away from a 2015 Paris agreement that calls for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
In contradicting Trump, Zinke cited Glacier National Park in his home state as a prime example of the effects of climate change, noting that glaciers there have receded in his lifetime and even from one visit to the next.
Still, he told Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that there is debate about how much humans have influenced the climate.
Likely to win Senate confirmation, Zinke sketched out a variety of purposes for the nation's vast federal lands, from hiking, hunting, fishing and camping to harvesting timber and mining for coal and other energy sources.
An admirer of President Theodore Roosevelt, Zinke said management of federal lands should be done under a "multiple-use" model set forth by Gifford Pinchot, a longtime Roosevelt associate and the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service.
Zinke also pledged to tackle an estimated $12 billion backlog in maintenance and repair at national parks, saying parks and other public lands should be a key part of Trump's infrastructure improvement plan.
Zinke has said he would never sell, give away or transfer public lands -- a crucial stance in his home state of Montana and the rest of the West where access to hunting and fishing is considered sacrosanct.
Zinke feels so strongly that he resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention last summer because of the GOP's position in favor of land transfers to state or private groups. But Zinke's commitment to public lands has come into question in recent weeks.
The Interior Department and other U.S. agencies control almost a third of land in the West and even more of the underground "mineral estate" that holds vast amounts of coal, oil and natural gas.
Zinke's position on public lands came under fire after he voted in favor of a measure from House Republicans that would allow federal land transfers to be considered cost-free and budget-neutral, making it easier for drilling and development.
Zinke "says he's against transfer of federal lands, but there's a big gap between what he says and what he does in that regard," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation's oldest and largest environmental group.
Zinke told senators Tuesday that he flatly opposes all sales or transfer of federal lands.
Indeed, his support for public lands was a crucial reason why Zinke was chosen by Trump. The president-elect and son Donald Trump Jr. both oppose sale of federal lands. The younger Trump, an avid hunter, has taken a keen interest in Interior Department issues and played a key role in Zinke's selection.
Zinke also reiterated his support for coal production on federal lands as part of an all-of-the above energy strategy
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the energy panel, asked Zinke about modernizing the federal coal program, saying it was important "to make sure American taxpayers aren't short-changed for the benefit of corporate interests
Zinke promised to review the coal program and said he thinks taxpayers "should always get fair value," whether it's coal, wind power or other energy sources.

Trump education pick DeVos promotes school choice at confirmation hearing

Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos voiced strong support for public school alternatives at her confirmation hearing Tuesday, telling senators that "parents no longer believe that a one-size-fits-all model of learning fits the needs of every child."
DeVos told the Senate Health, Education and Pensions Committe that she would be "a strong advocate for great public schools" if confirmed, but added that "if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child ... we should support a parent's right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative."

DeVos, 59, also said she will seek to address rising higher education costs and massive student debt, but also advance trade and vocational schools as well as community colleges because "craftsmanship is not a fallback — but a noble pursuit."
President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of DeVos to lead the Department of Education was harshly criticized by teacher's unions, who have claimed that DeVos wants to undermine the public education system, which provides instruction to more than 90 percent of the country's students.
In his opening statement, committee chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., himself a former secretary of education, said DeVos is "on our children's side."
"I believe she is in the mainstream of public opinion, and her critics are not," said Alexander. That praise was echoed by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who introduced DeVos to the committee by calling her "a champion of education, and specifically a champion of education for poor kids."
Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman also appeared before his onetime colleagues to introduce DeVos.
"We just can't accept the status quo in education anymore," Lieberman said. "We need a change agent and an education reformer to be education secretary ... and that is exactly the kind of education secretary I believe Betsy DeVos can and will be."
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the committee's ranking member, expressed concern that lawmakers had not received an ethics review for the nominee.
"I am extremely disappointed that we are moving forward with this hearing without receiving the proper paperwork from the Office of Goverment Ethics," Murray said.
Murray also told DeVos that federal policy should be focused on strengthening public schools, "and certainly not toward diverting taxpayer dollars to fund vouchers that don't work for unaccountable private schools." She asked DeVos point-blank to pledge that she would not seek to privatize public schools or take money away from them.
DeVos, whose husband is the heir to the Amway marketing fortune, has for decades used the family’s influence and wealth in her home state of Michigan to advocate for charter schools and promote conservative religious values. Critics of DeVos have expressed concerns about her financial contributions and possible conflicts of interest.
The nominee attempted to assuage those concerns during the question-and answer period, pledging that she "will not be conflicted. Period." DeVos also said that she will take a government salary of $1 if confirmed.
Asked outright by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., if she got the job because of her family's political contributions, DeVos said: "As a matter of fact I do think that there would be that possibility. I have worked very hard on behalf of parents and children for the last almost 30 years."
On tuition-free public colleges and universities, DeVos said: "I think we also have to consider the fact that there is nothing in life that is truly free. Somebody is going to pay for it."

She skirted Sanders' question on whether she would support making child care free or much more affordable for low-income families as is the case in many countries around the world, saying only that she feels strongly about "parents having an opportunities for child care for their children."

"But it's not a question of opportunity," Sanders fired back, raising his voice. "It's a question of being able to afford it!"

As the hearing dragged on into its fourth hour, Democratic senators made repeated requests with Chairman Alexander to allow them to pose another round of questions to DeVos, but he refused, citing procedures at previous hearings.
DeVos is expected to get enough votes in the committee and before the full Senate to be confirmed, considering she needs only a simple majority, with Republicans having 52 senators and Democrats having 48.
In a letter addressed to the committee, 38 prominent education groups and teachers' organizations expressed concern that DeVos' track record bodes ill for public education.

"Over the course of her career as a major campaign contributor, soft-money donor and lobbyist, DeVos has used her considerable wealth to influence legislation and the outcomes of elections to advance policies that have undermined public education and proved harmful to many of our most vulnerable students," the letter said.

LGBT groups also have protested Trump's choice of DeVos, saying she has funded conservative religious groups that promote what they consider to be traditional family values, including one organization that supports conversion therapy -- counseling of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people with the aim of changing their sexual orientation.

DeVos repeatedly disavowed any support for conversion therapy Tuesday, saying in her opening statement that "every child in America deserves to be in a safe environment that is free from discrimination."
Under questioning from Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., DeVos said that "I have never believed in" conversion therapy and "I believe in the innate value of every single human being."  Alexander later read into the record a letter of support from the Log Cabin Republicans, a Republican organization pushing for LGBT rights.

DeVos supporters, meanwhile, applauded her nomination. Eva Moskowitz, CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, said that American public education "is in deep crisis," with 35 countries outranking American schools in math and 20 in reading.

"I believe Betsy DeVos has the talent, commitment and leadership capacity to revitalize our public schools and deliver the promise of opportunity that excellent education provides, and I support her nomination as U.S. secretary of education," Moskowitz said in a statement.
DeVos has also garnered strong backing from two dozen state governors, as well as another former education secretary, William Bennett.
It’s time we take a major turn in American education,” Bennett told Fox News Channel’s “Happening Now” on Tuesday. “Betsy DeVos represents a change. She is experienced in the field with children from all over the country. … She understands what the problems with education are.”