Obama Pardon Cartoons

After hinting support, McCain says he's undecided on Trump's pick for Secretary of State

Sen.  John McCain said in an interview Wednesday that he is undecided about supporting President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.
“I am very concerned about someone who took a friendship award from Vladimir Putin, who’s a butcher,” McCain told CBS. McCain called Putin a KGB agent and said “I’ve had concerns and I’ve had several conversations with him.”
Earlier this week, McCain told Fox News that he was leaning toward supporting the former ExxonMobil CEO. When pressed about his support, McCain said, “Barely, yes. I think [Tillerson] is a good man; I think he is aware of Vladimir Putin.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that three Republican senators have expressed concern over Tillerson. Sen. Marco Rubio is reportedly undecided on his vote and said he will not discuss the matter until he comes to a decision.
During the tense back-and-forths at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing last week, Rubio, R-Fla., cross-examined Tillerson on policy regarding Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. At the end of Rubio's second questioning period, Tillerson sought to allay any concerns the aggressive Rubio may have had.
"There seems to be some misunderstanding that I see the world through a different lens, and I do not," Tillerson said. "...But I'm also clear-eyed and realistic about dealing with cultures."
Tillerson's statement followed a heated initial session during which the ExxonMobil CEO refused to specifically call Putin a "war criminal."
"I find it discouraging your ability to cite that, which I think is globally accepted," Rubio said.

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.