Tag: Time

Democrats appeared to have avoided a nightmare scenario of getting shut out of several winnable congressional elections in California Tuesday night, but the party’s problems are far from over. In the days leading up to the primary, Democratic strategists had worried that the state’s “top two” primary system — in which the top candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation — could end up hurting them this far in several races that could potentially be key in recapturing the House. The fear was especially acute in three districts the party has targeted to flip in November: the state’s 39th and 49th districts, where Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa are retiring, respectively and the 48th district, where Rep. Dana Rohrbacher is running for a 16 term but is plagued by controversial ties to Russia. Much to the party’s relief, this probably didn’t happen. Due largely to the fact that so many California residents use mail-in ballots, the Associated Press had only made complete projections for the 39th district as of Wednesday afternoon eastern time; Republican Young Kim will face off against Democrat Gil Cisneros. While the prospects of the Democrats in the other two districts are still too close to officially call, one Democratic strategist, speaking anonymously because no races had been called, expressed confidence shut-outs had been avoided in all three races. “The signs are clearly good,” said the strategist. In the 48th district, with all precincts reporting, the Associated Press projected that Rohrbacher would advance to the general election in November. But two Democratic candidates, Harley Rouda, who had the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Hans Keirstead, followed in second and third place, respectively, nearly splitting their share of the votes, according to unofficial data from the country. Rouda had declared victory, but Keirstead has not yet conceded. In the 39th district, where Royce is retiring and six Democrats were on the ballot, Kim, the leading Republican candidate, was decisively in first place, garnering 25 percent of the vote, and was followed by Gil Cisneros, who had the backing of the DCCC, and had amassed 18 percent of the vote. In the 49th district, the Democrats’ entry into the general election also appeared inevitable. Although Republican Diane Harkey led the pack with 32 percent of the vote, she was followed by three Democrats: Mike Levin, Sara Jacobs, and Doug Applegate. No matter what happens with the mail-in and absentee ballots, it appears doubtful that Republican Brian Maryott, will be able to surpass all three of these candidates. “Nothing is for certain but if I had to guess, I had to say the speculation about Democratic self-immolation was slightly overhyped,” said Brian Brokaw, a Democratic strategist in California. “There would have to be some pretty drastic anomalies [in the ballots yet to be counted] to sway the tally of the vote.” The DCCC was careful not to declare victory, but expressed cautious optimism, arguing that Republicans had blown an opportunity. “As we await final results in multiple districts, is clear that Democrats are in a stronger position than ever to take back the House, and winning districts in California will be central to that path,” DCCC spokesman Tyler Law said in a statement. “The DCCC’s data driven investments to California will continue to pay dividends in November and beyond, and Republicans once again mismanaged their investments and missed the opportunity to have a real impact.” The probability that Democrats will advance to the general election in these three districts is undoubtedly good for the party’s prospects of taking back the House of Representatives in November. The Democrats need 23 seats to fulfill this objective. The DCCC has targeted 10 it wants to pick up in California alone, based largely on the fact that half of the 14 districts currently controlled by Republican Congressman voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. But the DCCC’s optimism ignores the underlying currents of discontent running through the party. The road to these California results was anything but smooth. The DCC found itself forcing candidates out of races in order to avoid a shut-out scenario in which two Republicans faced off in November, and split with the California Democratic Party over the 48th district, backing Rouda even though the state Democratic Party endorsed Keirstead. And in the 39th district, CDP chairman Eric Bauman had to broker a truce last month between two candidates, Gil Cisneros and Andy Thorburn, to stop them from campaigning against each other after the attacks became increasingly negative. But strategists were quick to downplay these intra-party fights as indications of broader problems for the Democrats in the upcoming midterm and presidential elections, arguing that ultimately, the party would unify under the umbrella of opposition to President Donald Trump. “Most of the time those struggles are overinterpreted,” said Jesse Ferguson, who ran the DCCC’s independent expenditures in 2014. “If you judge the democratic party based on the back and forth on Twitter you might think it’s a house divided. If you look at the results from the primary you will see a unified party ready to stand up to Trump.”

Democrats appeared to have avoided a nightmare scenario of getting shut out of several winnable congressional elections in California Tuesday … More

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump commuted the sentence Wednesday of a woman serving a life sentence for drug offenses whose cause was championed by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West in a recent visit to the White House. Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, two White House officials said. The 63-year old more than two decades behind bars and is not eligible for parole. The move comes amid a recent flurry of pardons issued by Trump, who has seemed drawn to causes advocated by conservatives, celebrities or those who once appeared on his former reality show, “The Apprentice.” The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the commutation before it was announced. The commutation puts a renewed focus on the Trump administration’s push for prison and sentencing reform, but which has sometimes clashed with the president’s law-and-order approach, especially at the Justice Department. Indeed, Trump has called for getting tougher on drug dealers, including suggesting some should receive the death penalty. Johnson was convicted in 1996 on eight criminal counts related to a Memphis-based cocaine trafficking operation involving more than a dozen people. The 1994 indictment describes dozens of deliveries and drug transactions, many involving Johnson. She was sentenced to life in prison in 1997, and appellate judges and the U.S. Supreme Court have rejected her appeals. Court records show she has a motion pending for a reduction in her sentence, but federal prosecutors are opposed, saying in a court filing that the sentence is in accord with federal guidelines, based on the large quantity of drugs involved. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. A criminal justice advocacy site, CAN-DO, and one of Johnson’s attorneys say a request for clemency was rejected by former President Barack Obama. The reasons are unclear. A 1997 Associated Press story on Johnson’s sentencing said she headed up a multimillion-dollar drug ring. But Memphis attorney Michael Scholl, who filed the latest court documents in her request for a sentence reduction, said she was not a leader in the cocaine operation. “What is the purpose of putting a lady with no prior criminal record, on a nonviolent drug offense, in jail for her entire life?” he said in a telephone interview. “She’s a model inmate.” Scholl added that Johnson has admitted her wrongdoing, which is borne out in letters she has written to U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, who now oversees her case. “Judge Mays I’m writing to you to express my deep remorse for the crime that I committed over 20 years ago. I made some bad choices which have not only affected my life, but have impacted my entire family,” she said in a February 2017 letter in the court record. In a hand-scrawled letter last June she wrote: “I’m a broken woman. More time in prison cannot accomplish more justice.” Kardashian West visited the White House in May to meet with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, who is overseeing the administration’s push to overhaul the nation’s prison system. She also met with Trump in the Oval Office, a photograph of which the president released on Twitter. In an interview with Mic released earlier this year, Kardashian West said she’d been moved by Johnson’s story after seeing a video by the news outlet on Twitter. “I think that she really deserves a second chance at life,” Kardashian told Mic. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get her out.” The commutation comes days after Trump pardoned conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who was convicted of a campaign finance violation, and granted a posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many saw as a racially charged conviction. The boxer’s pardon had been championed by actor Sylvester Stallone, who Trump said had brought the story to his attention in a phone call. Trump has also pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a staunch campaign supporter; Scooter Libby, who served as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney; and a U.S. Navy sailor convicted of taking photos of classified portions of a sub. In May, he also suggested he was considering acting to commute the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving 14 years in prison for corruption, and celebrity homemaker Martha Stewart, convicted of insider trading.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump commuted the sentence Wednesday of a woman serving a life sentence for drug offenses whose … More