Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

The moves followed “years” of public input and proposals to protect the areas, said the White House. It will bring more to Utah's economy, and “ensure [the state's]...vast and beautiful landscape for many years," said Utah Democratic Party Chair Peter Corroon. "Where our Republican leaders have failed, Utah Democrats are committed to fighting for our public lands.” Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Lee said he will “work tirelessly” with Congress and Donald Trump’s administration to “undo” Obama's actions.   read more

A "staggering" number of town residents have been arrested based on a “hunch” or “feeling” that they were involved in criminal activity. Police strip-searched individuals suspected of committing crimes, placed them in cells without beds, toilets, or showers, and denied them communication with loved ones for days at a time. Citizens were “commonly detained for 72 hours or more without being provided an opportunity to contest their arrest and detention,” said the Justice Department report.   read more

Thousands of court records and internal agency documents showed that over the last 10 years almost 200 employees and contract workers of Homeland Security have taken nearly $15 million in bribes. These employees have looked the other way as tons of drugs and thousands of unauthorized immigrants were smuggled into the U.S. They have illegally sold green cards, given sensitive information to drug cartels, and even arranged the attempted murder of an informant.   read more

When Trump takes office, Republican attorneys general will go from challenging Obama's most contentious policies in court to providing legal backup for Trump's agenda. And Democratic-run states are set to take the offensive, challenging Trump's efforts. Already, California Gov. Brown has warned he'll fight Trump if he tries to ditch Obama's global warming initiatives. "If Trump turns off the satellites," Brown said of climate monitoring, "California will launch its own damn satellite."   read more

In 2009, Pareja received a very consequential assignment—he was made ambassador to neighboring Chile. He hadn’t been there long when he was recalled because a member of Peru’s armed forces was accused of spying for Chile. Pareja wasn’t gone long; he returned to Santiago after about a month. Much of Pareja’s energies were spent in negotiations with Chile over a disputed maritime boundary. He worked on it throughout his tenure.   read more

Critics say some panel members have financial ties to biotech businesses that could color the panel’s report, potentially giving short shrift to health and environmental worries. “Several members of this committee stand to benefit directly or indirectly from the rules and regulations their recommendations will help shape,” said FWW's Tim Schwab. “Nor does the committee include anyone who might advocate a more judicious approach to regulating the industry.”   read more

Trump has packed his Cabinet with nominees who dispute climate change. He said he'll withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and belittled global warming. But California — a state that has for 50 years been a leader in environmental advocacy — is about to step into the breach. In a show of defiance, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders said they'll work directly with other nations and states to defend and strengthen the most aggressive policies to fight climate change in the nation.   read more

In recent years, OneWest has foreclosed on at least 50,000 people, often in circumstances that consumer advocates say run counter to federal rules. Trump’s nomination of Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary has prompted new scrutiny of OneWest’s foreclosure practices. Mnuchin was the lead investor and chairman of the company during the years it ramped up its foreclosure efforts. In 2015, CIT bought OneWest for $3.4 billion, of which Mnuchin personally made about $380 million on the sale.   read more

Just under 400,000 American retirees are now living abroad, according to the Social Security Administration. The countries they have chosen most often: Canada, Japan, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom. Retirees most often cite the cost of living as the reason for moving elsewhere, said PSC's Mitchell. "I think that many people retire when they are in good health and they are interested in stretching their dollars and seeing the world," Mitchell said.   read more

The court revived efforts by conservative groups to force intervention by the U.S. attorney general in the effort to recover emails sent by Hillary Clinton on personal accounts while serving as secretary of state. When a judge dismissed the lawsuits as moot, the court noted that Attorney General Lynch’s help was unnecessary since Clinton had voluntarily turned over 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department. A three-judge panel reversed Tuesday.   read more

The U.S. again ranked first in global weapons sales last year, signing deals for about $40 billion, or half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar and far ahead of France, the No. 2 weapons dealer with $15 billion in sales. Developing nations continued to be the largest buyers of arms, with Qatar signing deals for more than $17 billion in weapons last year, followed by Egypt, which agreed to buy almost $12 billion in arms, and Saudi Arabia, with over $8 billion in weapons purchases.   read more

The paperless digital voting machines, used by 1 in 5 U.S. voters last month, present one of the most glaring dangers to the security of the rickety, underfunded U.S. election system. Most machines are near the end of their lifespans and run on vintage operating systems. Old, stockpiled machines get cannibalized; when they can't supply parts, officials scrounge on eBay. But while many experts agree the U.S. voting system needs an upgrade, no one wants to pay to fix it.   read more

Most of his career has been spent advocating for Brazilian business. While stationed in Washington in 1984, Amaral was questioned by the Associated Press about Amazon deforestation. “Damage to the environment? This is something that can’t be taken too seriously,” he said, claiming that Brazil's forests are so vast that a small amount of damage would have little long-term effect. He later fought U.S. steel tariffs and promoted alcohol-fueled cars, ethanol being a huge industry in Brazil.   read more

From flag-burning to libel, from conflicts of interest to torture, Donald Trump has made comments that have suggested he was either unaware of the applicable laws or didn't care about them. "Nearly every president has probably done something that a court has later held unconstitutional or contrary to law,'' said prof. Karlan. ``But I can't think of one who had such an across-the-board combination of ignorance, indifference and defiance.'' Added prof. Rakove: “He's consistently uninformed."   read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Justice Dept in 2015 after it refused to release files on the Hemisphere Project. The secret program involved placing AT&T employees in police agencies to track records on trillions of phone calls. “It’s very clear AT&T is not only a willing participant but at the center of this mass surveillance program,” Mackey said. “We think it’s necessary not only the public knows but customers of these companies know...”   read more

In the mid-1990s, while working on his master’s in public policy at the National University of Singapore, Aung Lynn led the ministry’s Dept of Political Affairs. From 2004 to 2007, he was a minister/counselor in Burma’s permanent mission to the U.N.. By 2011, he was Director General for Association of the Southeast Asian Nations affairs department. In the months before he was given the Washington assignment, Aung Lynn was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.   read more