Attacking Syria: Thumbing Noses at Constitution and Law

President Donald Trump with Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford. The U.S. Constitution and international law suffered a stinging blow Friday night at the hands of an odd coalition that might be called Goldilocks and two moral dwarfs posing as Marine generals, together with a "Right Dishonorable" harridan and a young French poodle.

Political Horizons: The inescapable political element of criminal justice reform

Almost at the very beginning of a recent speech, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards reminded his Southern University audience that they were used as a backdrop "to scare people" in an ad attacking him during the 2015 gubernatorial campaign. Against the faces at the historically black university, Republican David Vitter's commercial - the first one out of the gate during the runoff - charged that the election of Edwards would lead directly to the release of "fifty-five hundred dangerous thugs, drug dealers, back into our neighborhoods."

In Peru, Pence updates allies on US-led airstrikes in Syria

Vice President Mike Pence told allies at an international summit in Latin America on Saturday that the U.S.-led airstrikes on Syria "degraded and crippled" the country's chemical weapons capability. Pence, meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of a summit in Peru, said President Donald Trump had "made it clear to the world" that the United States "will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against men, women and children."

Federal agents raided Michael Cohen’s Manhattan office on Monday.

Federal prosecutors revealed on Friday that their probe of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, involved suspected fraud and the attorney's personal business dealings and was going on long enough that investigators had already covertly obtained his emails. The details in court papers came as lawyers for Cohen and Trump sought to block the Department of Justice from examining records and electronic devices, including two cellphones, seized by the FBI on Monday from Cohen's residences, office and safety deposit box.

Red Lake man sentenced to 82 months for violent assault

United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker Tuesday announced the sentencing of Richard J. Smith, 27, to 82 months in prison for a violent assault of a man on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Smith, who pleaded guilty to one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, was sentenced earlier that day by Chief Judge John R. Tunheim in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis In reaching the final sentence of 82 months, Tunheim levied an upward departure from the federal sentencing guidelines to address the extreme physical and psychological injury Smith inflicted on the victim.

US launches missile strikes on Syria

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the US, France and Britain together launched military strikes in Syria to punish President Bashar Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians and to deter him from doing it again. In an announcement from the White House, Trump said the US is prepared to "sustain" pressure on Assad until he ends what the president called a criminal pattern of killing his own people with international banned chemical weapons.

Backpage.com CEO pleads guilty, will testify against others

In this Jan. 10, 2017 file photo Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent subcommittee on Investigations looking into Backpage.com. Ferrer will serve no more than five years in state prison under a plea agreement announced Thursday, April 12, 2018.

Trump: Syria attack ‘very soon or not so soon at all!’

President Donald Trump said Thursday that an attack on Syria could take place "very soon or not so soon at all," arguing he had never signaled the timing of retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack that he had suggested was imminent a day earlier. The president made his latest statement in a tweet Thursday morning.

At stake in Syria is a potential military clash between the U.S. and Russia.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that an attack on Syria could take place "very soon or not so soon at all!" The president made the statement in a tweet Thursday morning. Trump on Wednesday had warned Russia to "get ready" for a missile attack on its ally Syria, suggesting imminent retaliation for last weekend's suspected chemical weapons attack.

California to join Guard border mission, but with conditions

California Gov. Jerry Brown accepted President Donald Trump's call to send the National Guard to the Mexican border, but rejected the White House's portrait of a burgeoning border crisis and insisted that his troops will have nothing to do with immigration enforcement. The Democratic governor broke a week of silence Wednesday by agreeing to contribute 400 troops, though not all will be on the border.

Teens help rescue six people from capsized boat off the Florida Keys

Two teenagers with a natural affinity for the sea assisted in rescuing two families - including a 4-year-old boy and 3-month-old baby - after the boat they were in capsized near the Florida Keys over the weekend. Mason Baker, 17, Will Coffin, 18, and Will's uncle, Dave Tolhurst, 54, were fishing for Yellowtail just north of the Conch Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area in the upper Keys on Saturday when Tolhurst noticed the 23-foot boat overturned about 500 yards away, Baker told ABC News.

California joins Guard border mission, shuns Trump’s message

California Gov. Jerry Brown accepted President Donald Trump's call to send the National Guard to the Mexican border, but rejected the White House's portrait of a burgeoning border crisis and insisted that his troops will have nothing to do with immigration enforcement. The Democratic governor broke a week of silence Wednesday by agreeing to contribute 400 troops, though not all will be on the border.

Venezuela rockers push anti-Maduro anthems as Americas Summit soundtrack

CARACAS: A group of Venezuelan rock bands hope to popularize songs against President Nicolas Maduro by handing out a CD called "Rock Against Dictatorship" during a summit of Latin American and North American countries in Lima this week. The 16-track disc ranges from catchy pop tunes to angry punk anthems that denounce corruption, hunger and human rights abuses at the hands of the ruling Socialist Party, which has overseen a devastating collapse of the once-prosperous nation.

Trump’s options in Syria include airstrikes, partnerships, experts say

Trump meets with military leaders, says decision on U.S. retaliation against suspected chemical attack in Syria will be coming tonight or shortly thereafter. After another suspected chemical attack in Syria, President Trump promised the U.S. would respond "forcefully" but so far has not given specifics.

Trump says ‘missiles coming’ against Syria, ‘new and smart’

Defying Russian warnings against U.S. military strikes in Syria, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that missiles "will be coming" in response to Syria's suspected chemical attack that killed at least 40 people. "Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria," Trump tweeted.

Two Associates of La Cosa Nostra Sentenced to Prison For Extortion-Related Charges

Two associates of the Genovese La Cosa Nostra crime family were sentenced today in federal court in Worcester, Massachusetts on extortion-related charges. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling for the District of Massachusetts, Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI Boston Field Division, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni and Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement.