Donald Trump

Newsworthy News -     Former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore will not face prison time after President Donald Trump granted her a full pardon for federal wire fraud charges. Fiore was convicted of misappropriating funds that were raised to create a memorial statue honoring a deceased police officer. Federal prosecutors had proven she diverted over $70,000 of these funds to cover personal expenses, including plastic surgery procedures and her daughter’s wedding expenses.

Brennan Center for Justice  - President Donald Trump declared a national emergency last week to address what he described as harmful foreign trade and economic practices. Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, he announced new, sweeping tariffs — taxes that are paid by U.S. importers and then typically passed on to customers. A baseline 10 percent tariff on goods from almost every country worldwide took effect on Saturday, and higher rates for goods from dozens of countries started on Wednesday.

Leaving aside the economic policy concerns, using an emergency declaration to impose tariffs is a clear abuse of presidential emergency powers. It’s the latest in a long list of overreach and lawlessness by the current administration.

Is this an appropriate use of emergency powers?

No. Emergency powers are designed to let a president respond swiftly to sudden, unforeseen crises that Congress cannot act quickly or flexibly enough to address. Presidents can rely on these powers to create temporary fixes until the crisis passes or Congress has time to act. Emergency powers are not meant to solve long-standing problems, no matter how serious those problems may be. Nor are they intended to give a president the ability to bypass Congress and act as an all-powerful policymaker.

NPR - Trump has moved aggressively to fulfill his promise of “retribution” in the first 100 days of his second term by taking action against over 100 people and institutions, according to an NPR review. He has used the government to target political opponents, news organizations, law firms, universities and more. Some of the harshest actions he has taken against people he has targeted include ordering multiple Justice Department investigations. 

Trump is also effectively telling investigators what he believes the outcomes of the investigations should be, NPR’s Tom Dreisbach says. The Trump administration uses over 10 agencies in various ways to get payback. Secret Service protection has been pulled for President Biden’s children, media companies that Trump dislikes, including NPR, face FCC investigations, and universities face investigation from the Department of Education unless they agree to sweeping government demands.