The power of presidents and governors to overrule judges and juries by pardoning convicted felons or commuting their sentences is a vestige of ancient monarchial authority. As one history of the pardon power puts it: “The prerogative of mercy made its debut on the statutory rolls of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs during the...
Democrats Top Republicans in Orange County Voter Rolls
SANTA ANA — There are now more registered Democrats than Republicans in the longtime conservative GOP stronghold of Orange County. Orange County's Registrar of Voters reported Wednesday there are 89 more Democrats than Republicans in the California county of 1.6 million registered voters. The parties each have about 547,000 registered...
Should Deputies Provide Security for Men-Only Bohemian Club?
SAN FRANCISCO — An annual retreat in California put on by an elite club whose ranks included former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and powerful business leaders is facing scrutiny for excluding women after female county supervisors questioned whether they should continue allowing sheriff's deputies to provide security for...
Self-Impeach? Talk Shifts Toward Trump’s Defiance of Congress
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has introduced a new concept into the debate over President Donald Trump’s actions: “self-impeaching." As Trump all but goads Democrats into impeachment proceedings , viewing the showdown as potentially valuable for his 2020 re-election campaign, Democrats are trying to show restraint. Their investigations are...
Trump Using Tax Day Trip to Tout 2017 Tax Cuts
ST. PAUL, Minn. — President Donald Trump will use Tax Day on Monday to visit Minnesota, an erstwhile Democratic stronghold he hopes to flip in 2020 after nearly winning it in 2016. Questions remain, however, about just how much he's politically benefiting from his signature legislative accomplishment. Minnesota, which gave...
Think You Know the US Presidents? Try This Quiz.
Presidents Day, which became an official holiday in 1971 after an executive order by then-President Richard Nixon, is Monday. The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of the American presidency and its place in the constitutional...
Trump & Nunes Torch Tradition of Trust Between Congress & FBI
President Donald Trump’s attacks on the FBI may have reached a climax. In an apparent attempt to discredit Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, staff of the House Intelligence Committee on behalf of its chair Republican Devin Nunes of California, wrote and on Feb. 2 released a four-page memo based on confidential...
Trump & Nunes Torch Tradition of Trust Between Congress & FBI
President Donald Trump’s attacks on the FBI may have reached a climax. In an apparent attempt to discredit Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, staff of the House Intelligence Committee on behalf of its chair Republican Devin Nunes of California, wrote and on Feb. 2 released a four-page memo based on confidential...