News Round-Up: August 8, 2019

Some guy...

Some news items you might have missed:

• #TBT: The above photo was from one of my last headshot sessions while I was still an actor. I hated having to take headshots. I remember early on in New York City, I was sitting for one photographer. He told me, "Turn away, then look at me and think 'SEXY.' I turned away and then shifted back to the camera...but there was no click as the photographer said, "Umm, no..." And there you have it LOL.

• Splinter: Friends say the Dayton shooter's slain sibling was transgender.

• The Hill: House Republicans in the Illinois delegation are calling for President Trump to not commute the prison sentence of former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving 14 years on federal corruption charges.

• Advocate: Donald Trump attacked another gay journalist. This time out Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, one of the few Fox personalities willing to criticize him, as worse than “Fake News CNN.” Trump has previously denounced CNN's Don Lemon calling him "dumb."

• Axios: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to President Trump on Thursday asking him to use his Article II powers to call the Senate back into session in order to consider gun control legislation passed in the House.

• Web Series: Funnymen Matthew Wilkas & Dan Gordh are back with Season two of their absurdist sketch series, Matt & Dan. The comedy duo promises more guest stars, bigger wigs, and more twisted, uncomfortable situations.

Premiering August 15, the eight episodes in Season 2 will include a zombie apocalypse, surviving a plane crash in the Himalayas, and stripping at a bachelorette party.

Donald Trump Declares He Has "Absolute Right" To Pardon Himself

Donald Trump

Earlier today, Donald Trump declared via Twitter that he has "the absolute right to PARDON" himself.

The Trumpster goes on to wonder, "But why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?"

It's hard to get beyond the idea that Trump is evening TALKING about his ability to pardon himself...

If you're innocent, why would you even bring up pardoning yourself???

Just, odd.

As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018

Under this thinking, why didn't Bill Clinton "absolutely pardon" himself?

Or, why didn't Richard Nixon just pardon himself and remain president?

Thankfully, I'm not the only one who thinks this was weird:

The Supreme Court has interpreted the acceptance of a pardon as an admission of guilt.

So Trump's pardon of Trump would be Trump's confession. https://t.co/ZQ9IRNSCGX

— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) June 4, 2018

The real end game begins: Trump asserts the "absolute" right to pardon himself only because he knows what he did, and he knows he's going to be indicted for it. New strategy is: "Ok, yea I did it, but you can't get me because I'm president." The ultimate test of the rule of law.

— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) June 4, 2018

WHY DOES trump KEEP SAYING “ I HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT 2 PARDON MYSELF”,UNLESS
HE KNOWS HES GUILTY‼️
WHY WOULD AN INNOCENT MAN KEEP SAYING WHAT HE HAS”THE POWER 2 DO”, UNLESS HE ANTICIPATES WHAT HE’LL B FORCED 2 DO⁉️psWHAT ABOUT”IM LOOKING 4WARD 2 TESTIFY B4 MUELLER”⁉️

— Cher (@cher) June 4, 2018

Asked why Trump thinks he has an absolute right to pardon himself, Sarah Sanders says, "Thankfully the president hasn't done anything wrong and wouldn't have any need for a pardon." Pressed, she repeats that line nearly word for word.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 4, 2018

Sarah Sanders on Trump's claim that he has an absolute right to pardon himself:

"Thankfully, the president hasn't done anything wrong and wouldn't have any need for a pardon." pic.twitter.com/GO9kRjkJ4m

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) June 4, 2018

Trump Pardons Conservative Filmmaker, Ponders Possible Pardon For Martha Stewart

Donald Trump announced today he has pardoned a conservative pundit (and ally) and is now considering a pardon for lifestyle expert Martha Stewart.

Additionally, Trump is reported to be looking at commuting a former Illinois governor’s prison sentence.

Via Reuters:

Trump announced his decision to pardon pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to U.S. campaign finance law violations and was an outspoken critic of Democratic former President Barack Obama, on Twitter, saying he had been “treated very unfairly by our government!”

The Republican president then told reporters on a flight to Houston he was also considering a pardon for Stewart, who was convicted in 2004 on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements in an insider-trading probe.

James Comey, who Trump fired as FBI director last year and has repeatedly attacked, was the lead federal prosecutor in Stewart’s case and played a role in the prosecution of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney. Trump pardoned Libby in April.

Trump also said he might commute the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat convicted of corruption charges, and was considering pardoning a woman convicted of a drug-related charge after reality TV star Kim Kardashian discussed the case with him on Wednesday.

D’Souza was found guilty of breaking campaign finance laws in 2012 by using straw donors to raise $20,000 — far more than the legal limit — for his friend Wendy Long, who was running for U.S. senator.

He paid a $30,000 fine, spent eight months partially confined and served nearly five years probation before Trump announced the pardon via tweet.

D'Souza says he was targeted by the FBI for prosecution because of his documentary, 2016: Obama’s America, which took a negative view of President Barack Obama.

He was not "treated very unfairly" in that he actually broke the law he plead guilty to. Trump likes D'Souza because he criticized Obama.

D'Souza took to Twitter to mock former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara ("He got fired & I got pardoned") whose office prosecuted D'Souza's case and was fired by President Trump last year.

The President has the right to pardon but the facts are these: D'Souza intentionally broke the law, voluntarily pled guilty, apologized for his conduct & the judge found no unfairness. The career prosecutors and agents did their job. Period. https://t.co/bA3I8vs4QQ via @politico

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) May 31, 2018

KARMA IS A BITCH DEPT: @PreetBharara wanted to destroy a fellow Indian American to advance his career. Then he got fired & I got pardoned

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) May 31, 2018

New York Attorney General Looks To Bypass Presidential Pardons

NY Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman (speaking)
Photo: MTA / Patrick Cashin (Flickr)

With talk of Donald Trump possibly considering granting pardons to former associates currently under Special Counsel Robert Mueller's microscope, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is asking his state's governor and legislature to allow criminal charges against those who have received a presidential pardon.

From The New York Times:

Under the plan, Mr. Schneiderman, a Democrat, seeks to exempt New York’s double jeopardy law from cases involving presidential pardons, according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. The current law and the concept of double jeopardy in general mean that a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice.

Right now, New York state law prevents people from being prosecuted more than once for crimes related to the same act, even if the original prosecution was in federal court. There are already a number of exceptions to the law, and the letter says that Mr. Schneiderman is proposing to add a new one that could be used if federal pardons are issued.

While Mr. Schneiderman’s jurisdiction does not encompass many of the areas being investigated by Mr. Mueller, a president has no authority to commute sentences or pardon offenses at the state level. That leaves convictions obtained by the state attorney general’s office or any other local prosecutor outside the president’s ability to intervene. The proposal would be structured so that it would not affect people who sought clemency after long jail sentences, an aide to Mr. Schneiderman said.

News Round-Up: March 29, 2018

Me with Arminae Austen and Matt Zarley in Fort Worth, Texas 1999

Some news items you might have missed:

• Since it's Thursday, how about a little #Throwback action? The pic above was from a production of A Chorus Line I directed back in 1999 at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth, Texas. I wasn't originally going to be in the show but the producers eventually asked if I would also play the role of "Bobby" since I had many times before. Pictured with my besties from the Broadway production of ACL who came down to kill it, and kill it they did, Matt Zarley and Arminae Austen.

• There will be a sixth and final installment of social media phenom Sharknado this year on SyFy Network. #YAY! #DumbButFun

• The Ecuadorian embassy has placed jammers in its own building to block WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from access to the internet, social media or even phone calls. Assange has been living in the embassy since 2012 believing he'll be picked up and extradited to the United States for questioning over activities by WikiLeaks.

•  A high-level Trump campaign official had repeated communications in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign with a business associate tied to Russian intelligence, according to a document released on Tuesday by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the election. Remember when the story was "There was NO communication by anyone on the Trump campaign with Russians?"

• Did you hear the one about Donald Trump's lawyer dangling pardons to former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and former campaign chair Paul Manafort? #ObstructionOfJustice?

• Always keeping in mind that nature is beautiful but can be just as dangerous, check out this incredible video of a cheetah on the hunt who jumped into a jeep to check things out. Gorgeous, exciting but scary as hell. The passenger didn't make eye contact so he wouldn't seem a threat. #WOW

Incredible video shows a cheetah on a hunt jumping into a jeep to find a better scouting spot. The passenger stayed quiet and didn’t make eye contact so the cheetah didn’t see him as a threat. https://t.co/vQm1lmCLtv pic.twitter.com/mnKugvik4v

— ABC News (@ABC) March 29, 2018

Trump's Pardon Of Sheriff Joe Arpaio Was Planned For Months

The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump's pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, convicted of illegally profiling if he suspected them to be undocumented immigrants, was apparently in the works for several months.

In fact, much like his now infamous request to former FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation against former National Security Director Mike Flynn, Trump apparently asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions if there was a way to simply drop the case against Arpaio.

The president asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions whether it would be possible for the government to drop the criminal case against Arpaio, but was advised that would be inappropriate, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation.

After talking with Sessions, Trump decided to let the case go to trial, and if Arpaio was convicted, he could grant clemency.

So the president waited, all the while planning to issue a pardon if Arpaio was found in contempt of court for defying a federal judge’s order to stop detaining people merely because he suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. Trump was, in the words of one associate, “gung-ho about it.”

“We knew the president wanted to do this for some time now and had worked to prepare for whenever the moment may come,” said one White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the action.

Many pundits feel the pardon was also a warning from Trump to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's current investigation into last year's election. Several in the political world say it is Trump's hint that he will pardon anyone (Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn) who might be caught up in the investigation. That message could embolden those folks to just refuse to cooperate with Mueller since Trump could come to their rescue.

Trump supporter @donsurber sees Arpaio pardon as clear signal POTUS will pardon folks found guilty in Mueller probe https://t.co/PkYguf8Z3f

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 26, 2017

#ArpaioPardon served several purposes for Trump. Among them, it sent a message to Flynn & Manafort. Great piece. ⬇️https://t.co/M7X5ScVLpt pic.twitter.com/i2fGK726Bv

— Matt Scharfstein🇺🇸 (@MattAsherS) August 26, 2017

Trump Pardons Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Convicted Of Contempt Of Court

As the world is focused on Hurricane Harvey bearing down on the Texas coast, Donald Trump pardoned former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for continuing his harsh treatment of suspected illegal immigrants.

From the New York Times:

In a two-paragraph statement, the White House said that Mr. Arpaio gave “years of admirable service to our nation” and called him a “worthy candidate for a presidential pardon.”

Mr. Trump, who made cracking down on illegal immigration a signature campaign issue and had pressed for local officials to do more to assist federal authorities in rounding up undocumented people, had been openly flirting with the idea of pardoning Mr. Arpaio.

“I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy,” the president said Tuesday night at a campaign-style rally in Phoenix, after asking, “Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?”

Mr. Arpaio, 85, served for 24 years as sheriff of Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, building a national reputation for harsh conditions in his county jail, and for his campaign against undocumented immigrants.

The criminal conviction grew out of a lawsuit filed a decade ago charging that the sheriff’s office regularly violated the rights of Latinos, stopping people based on racial profiling, detaining them based solely on the suspicion that they were in the country illegally, and turning them over to the immigration authorities.

A federal district judge hearing the case ordered Mr. Arpaio in 2011 to stop detaining people based solely on suspicion of their immigration status, when there was no evidence that a state law had been broken. But the sheriff insisted that his tactics were legal and that he would continue employing them.

He was convicted last month of criminal contempt of court for defying the order, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

UPDATE - Arizona Sen. John McCain responded this evening with this statement:

“No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

The other Arizona Senator, Jeff Flake, dispatched this lame missive via Twitter:

Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) August 26, 2017