Ex-Arizona Rep. Renzi set for release from prison Saturday

Former Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi is scheduled to be released from federal prison Saturday after serving a three-year sentence for corruption, money laundering and other convictions. Renzi was convicted in 2013 of conspiring to use his congressional post to make companies buy his ex-business associate's land so the associate could repay a debt to Renzi.

Sessions’ record a source of different depictions of senator

Senators at next week's confirmation hearing will confront competing versions of Jeff Sessions, the Alabama senator who is President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. His supporters will frame the 70-year-old Republican, who grew up in the segregated South before a career as a local GOP leader, prosecutor and elected official, as an unyielding but fair-minded conservative.

President Obama Sits Down Exclusively With NBC News’s Lester Holt

January 8, 2017 - President Barack Obama will sit down with "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt for an in-depth and intimate interview in Chicago this Tuesday, ahead of the president's farewell address to the nation. Holt will have rare access, traveling on Air Force One with President Obama on his final trip to Chicago -- the birthplace of his campaign -- as Commander in Chief.

Police: Charges coming in Chicago beating aired on Facebook

The Latest on accusations that Russia meddled in America's presidential election to help Donald Trump win : The Latest on accusations that Russia meddled in America's presidential election to help Donald Trump win : Chicago police say charges are expected against four people who police say beat a man in an assault that was broadcast live on Facebook.

Obama pens Harvard Law Review opus on criminal justice reform

Looking back at his administration's accomplishments, while laying out a road map for future reforms, the president leaves office with an emphasis on reforming the American justice system. U.S. President Barack Obama attends a military full honor review farewell ceremony given in his honor, accompanied by Defense Secretary Ash Carter at Joint Base Myer-Henderson in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 2017.

Trump reportedly plans to revamp top intelligencies agencies

President-elect intends to restructure CIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, amid more social media attacks on intel community over Russia hacking assessments President-elect Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Wednesday, December 28, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. President-elect Donald Trump, a fierce critic of the US intelligence community in recent weeks, is planning to restructure two top spy agencies once he takes office later this month, people familiar with the planning told US media on Wednesday.

Student: Girl slammed to ground was trying to break up fight

The Latest on the federal sentencing of Dylann Roof in the deaths of nine people at a South Carolina church : The Latest on the federal sentencing of Dylann Roof in the deaths of nine people at a South Carolina church : A school resource officer in North Carolina has been placed on leave after a brief video posted online shows him picking up and slamming a female high school student to the ground. A student who was slammed to the ground by a police officer at a North Carolina high school was trying to break up a fight involving her sister, said the 15-year-old who posted video of the incident.

Official: Charles Manson alive amid report he’s hospitalized

By The Associated Press Mariah Carey says she was "mortified" in "real time" during her disastrous live performance just before the ball dropped on ABC's "Dick Clark's Rockin' New... By The Associated Press Mariah Carey says she was "mortified" in "real time" during her disastrous live performance just before the ball dropped on ABC's "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's... Amid reports that Charles Manson has been taken from his California prison cell to a hospital, a state corrections official would confirm only that the 82-year-old killer and cult leader was still alive.

Police end NAACP sit-in against attorney general nominee

The national president of the NAACP and five others were arrested after staging a sit-in Tuesday at the Alabama office of Sen. Jeff Sessions, the nominee for U.S. attorney general, the civil rights group said. The organization held the demonstration to protest Sessions' nomination by President-elect Donald Trump, criticizing Sessions' record and views on civil rights, immigration, criminal justice reform, and voting rights enforcement.

Despite Trump tweet, anti-violence options for feds limited

President-elect Donald Trump says Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel should ask for federal help if he isn't able to bring down a homicide count that soared last year to 762 - the most killings in nearly two decades and more than New York and Los Angeles combined. Trump pointed to the spike in shooting deaths earlier this week in a posting on Twitter, writing: "If Mayor can't do it he must ask for federal help!" Despite Trump's tweet, the federal government has already been involved, albeit with mixed results, via the U.S. attorney's office, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies.

House Republicans move to slash powers of ethics watchdog

House Republicans move to slash powers of ethics watchdog Democrats, watchdogs criticize Monday night move as a 'sneak attack' on independent agency. Check out this story on scsun-news.com: http://usat.ly/2iYDGoh WASHINGTON - One day before the new Congress convenes, House Republicans voted Monday night to rein in an independent ethics office that investigates potential wrongdoing by lawmakers.

The Top Eight Mideast Stories of 2016 That Shaped Our World

In 2016, the Middle East continued to be a major focus of the US public, and it often came up in the primary and presidential debates. Alas, the Middle East referenced by US politicians and many pundits does not actually exist, and the American fixation on this region has a creepy stalker-like quality to it.