Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By Willie Brown
June 10, 2017
It was great entertainment, but for all the hype, the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings that featured former FBI Director James Comey failed to deliver a knockout punch.
By Tony Saavedra | tsaavedra@scng.com | Orange County Register
Published: May 22, 2017 at 5:06 pm
Updated: May 23, 2017 at 7:30 am
The day after the news show “60 Minutes” turned a national spotlight on local prosecutors’ misuse of jailhouse informants, an Orange County supervisor formally asked U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take over the district attorney’s office.
Monday, May 8, 2017 – 09:00 a.m.
President Donald Trump sent out a congratulatory tweet to Golfer John Daly early Monday morning.
By Erica Werner and Alan Fram
May 4, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — Delivering at last, triumphant House Republicans voted Thursday to repeal and replace the “Obamacare” health plan they have reviled for so long, overcoming united Democratic opposition and their own deep divisions to hand a major win to President Donald Trump.
By Brooke Edwards Staggs | Orange County Register
and Lisa Krieger, The Mercury News
Published: May 1, 2017 at 10:14 pm | Updated: May 3, 2017 at 1:17 pm
Medical marijuana advocates are relieved that a bipartisan spending deal to fund the government through September also extended an amendment that protects them from federal prosecution.
Joseph Tanfani
April 21, 2017, 8:33 a.m.
Reporting from Washington—
The Justice Department on Friday fired an opening shot in the Trump administration’s crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, sending letters to nine jurisdictions asking for proof that they are cooperating with immigration enforcement, and indicating they are at risk of losing federal grants.
Ruben Vives and Cindy Carcamo
March 27, 2017
Leaders from so-called sanctuary cities across Southern California struck a defiant tone Monday, stating that they would continue to protect people who are in the country illegally despite threats by U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to cut off and even claw back grant funding from the Justice Department.
By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 03/01/17 – 5:56 PM PST |
CLAREMONT >> President Donald Trump’s tough talk on potential tariffs — which has some fearing a trade war — also concerns a leading regional business and economy expert.
By Edward-Isaac Dovere
03/01/17 – 05:04 AM EST
President Donald Trump cleared a low bar: He read proficiently off a teleprompter, he looked human as he spurred long applause for the widow of the Navy SEAL killed in the raid he ordered, he didn’t get into a shouting match with any Democrats or slip off into a rant about reporters as the enemy of the people.
Sun Feb 26, 2017 | 10:11 pm EST
The White House will send federal departments a budget proposal on Monday containing the defense spending increase President Donald Trump promised, financed partly by cuts to the U.S. State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and other non-defense programs, two officials familiar with the proposal said.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 02/24/17 – 5:26 PM PST |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A letter signed by all of the city’s policy makers asks President Donald Trump for help fighting crime and the use of drugs in the city, including marijuana, which majorities in the state and city voted to allow.
By Anita Kumar and Rob Hotakainen
McClatchy Washington Bureau
February 23, 2017 – 3:24 PM
WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump’s administration said on Thursday for the first time that it will crack down on marijuana sales in states that have approved recreational pot use.
Paige St. John
Feb. 14, 2017 – 4:59 p.m.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved Gov. Jerry Brown’s request for assistance in dealing both with the Oroville Dam crisis and damage from record storms that hit the state in January.
Don Lee
February 14, 2017
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen on Tuesday painted a largely upbeat picture of the economy, telling lawmakers that somewhat faster wage growth is in store for workers, even as she signaled that the central bank would consider raising interest rates as early as next month.
By Ryan Sabalow
rsabalow@sacbee.com
February 13, 2017 – 6:56 PM
The federal agency that issued the license for the troubled Oroville Dam on Monday ordered state officials to convene an independent panel of five experts to assess the damaged dam and issue recommendations.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 02/10/17 – 8:26 PM PST |
The day after reports of immigration sweeps spread through six Southern California counties, federal authorities acknowledged Friday that there was a “surge” in the number of people detained, but almost all were convicted felons or those with multiple misdemeanors living in the country illegally, they said.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 9, 2017 – 2:51 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown devoted most of last month’s State of the State address to excoriating Donald Trump, who had been president for just four days.
Politics & Government
By Sean Cockerham
scockerham@mcclatchydc.com
February 5, 2017 – 5:17 PM
Washington —
President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold federal funds from “out of control” California if the state declares itself a sanctuary state.
John Myers
February 5, 2017
During the depths of California’s budget crisis, talk in Sacramento about how many tax dollars were sent to Washington, compared with what the state received in services, generally sparked anger. But these days, it’s triggered fear.
Rick Anderson and Jaweed Kaleem
Feb. 3, 2017, 4:35 p.m.
A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked President Trump’s order to halt immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago and Alexei Koseff
ccadelago@sacbee.com
January 24, 2017 – 10:44 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown, plunging into position as a Democratic bulwark against Donald Trump’s presidency, warned Tuesday of looming battles with Republican-controlled Washington, using his State of the State address to assuage fears that California would turn its back on progressive policies.
Friday, January 20, 2017 – Noon
With full fanfare, Republican Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States at precisely Noon on Friday.
Trump replaces Barack H. Obama, who served from 2009 to 2017.
By Callum Borchers
January 19, 2017
Don’t mess with CNN.
That’s the unvarnished version of a message that the network’s president, Jeff Zucker, delivered to President-elect Donald Trump in an interview published on Thursday by New York magazine.
Tony Saavedra / Staff Writer
Jan. 6, 2017 – Updated 9:18 p.m.
Community forums. Face-to-face meetings with leaders of the local deputies union and with local defense attorneys. Twitter.
Is this any way to conduct a civil-rights investigation?
By Aaron Claverie, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 12/28/16 – 11:10 PM PST |
What can Southern California’s casinos expect from a Trump presidency?
Joel Rubin and Victoria Kim
December 24, 2016
The team of federal prosecutors was on a roll.
For nearly five years, the Public Corruption and Civil Rights section of the U.S. attorney’s office had been building and winning cases against a group from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department accused of carrying out a plan to obstruct a federal investigation into allegations of inmate abuse at the county jails.
By Annie Karni
12/23/16 – 05:58 AM EST
President-elect Donald Trump has said he might do away with regular press briefings and daily intelligence reports. He wants to retain private security while receiving secret service protection, even after the inauguration. He is encouraging members of his family to take on formal roles in his administration, testing the limits of anti-nepotism statutes. And he is pushing the limits of ethics laws in trying to keep a stake in his business.
By Martin Wisckol, The Orange County Register
Posted: 12/21/16, 9:43 PM PST |
They are billionaires and generals.
Seven of the 23 named so far have no government experience. At least six oppose key policies of the agencies they’ve been nominated to run.
By Philip Bump
December 20, 2016 at 12:11 PM
On Monday, Faith Spotted Eagle became one of 117 people in U.S. history to receive a vote for president in the electoral college.
By Kelly Puente / Staff Writer
Published: Dec. 15, 2016
Updated: Dec. 16, 2016 – 7:12 a.m.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday over allegations that prosecutors and deputies withhold evidence and use jailhouse informants to illegally obtain confessions.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
December 12, 2016 – 4:30 PM
Well, we saw the first major impact last week, without Trump even lifting a finger.
Chuck McFadden
December 12, 2016
Any hope that California would soon settle into some sort of accommodation with a Trump Administration is fading rapidly.
By Gabriel Debenedetti
12/12/16 – 05:06 AM EST
As Donald Trump’s inauguration draws near, Democrats fear they remain woefully unprepared to fight the new president’s agenda.
By Rebecca Kheel
12/10/16 – 05:05 PM EST
Democrats are growing uneasy with the number of generals President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for his administration, citing concerns about the amount of sway the military will have in the government.
By Bob Egelko
Published: November 26, 2016
Updated: November 26, 2016 – 6:00am
With his first Supreme Court appointment, President-elect Donald Trump will be in a position to deal a severe blow to unions representing government workers, the stronghold of organized labor in the United States.
By Niall Stanage
11/23/16 – 06:02 PM EST
Donald Trump won the presidency with an unpredictable approach, and he is sticking with it as he prepares to move into the White House.
Don Lee
November 17, 2016
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen gave a relatively upbeat assessment of the economy Thursday, further signaling a likely interest rate hike next month.
Makeda Easter and Dakota Smith
November 11, 2016 – 07:00 p.m.
California is quickly becoming a battleground for immigration policy as a cross-section of leaders across the state vowed to fight any plans by President-elect Donald Trump to deport thousands of people in the U.S. illegally.
Monday, October 31, 2016 – 08:15 a.m.
The political world is reeling over Friday’s announcement that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had reopened its investigation into Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified secrets.
Associated Press
October 24, 2016
Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Obama’s healthcare law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That will stoke another Obamacare controversy days before a presidential election.
David S. Cloud and Sarah D. Wire
October 24, 2016
The California National Guard told the state’s members of Congress two years ago that the Pentagon was trying to claw back reenlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers, and even offered a proposal to mitigate the problem, but Congress took no action, according to a senior National Guard official.
Dan Weikel
September 2, 2016
As soon as November, Southern Californians may see jets and planes coming and going in parts of the sky where aircraft seldom flew, after the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement Friday that it is ready to replace its aging air traffic control system in the region with new satellite-based procedures.
By Carolyn Y. Johnson
August 27, 2016 at 8:10 PM
Enrollment in the insurance exchanges for President Obama’s signature health-care law is at less than half the initial forecast, pushing several major insurance companies to stop offering health plans in certain markets because of significant financial losses.
By David Danelski / Staff Reporter
Published: Aug. 23, 2016
Updated: Aug. 24, 2016 – 6:17 a.m.
As the state criminal case against seven former Beaumont officials moves through Riverside County Superior Court, a more secretive federal probe of the city’s troubled finances also is advancing.
By Louis Nelson
Published: 08/18/16 – 05:24 PM EDT
Updated: 08/18/16 – 08:04 PM EDT
Republicans are claiming vindication after the State Department confirmed on Thursday that the United States conditioned the release of a $400 million cash payment to Iran on the departure of American prisoners from Tehran.
Jim Puzzanghera
August 17, 2016
Some Federal Reserve policymakers said at their most recent meeting that the economy appeared ready for another small increase in a key interest rate, according to an account released Wednesday.
By Rachael Bade and Josh Gerstein
Published: 08/16/16 – 02:59 PM EDT
Updated: 08/16/16 – 08:10 PM EDT
The FBI on Tuesday handed over to Congress classified records from its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, the latest development in the scandal that the Democratic nominee just can’t shake.
Maura Dolan
August 17, 2016
A U.S. appeals court decided unanimously Tuesday that the federal government may not prosecute people who grow and distribute medical marijuana if they are complying with state laws.
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By Josh Gerstein
08/13/16 – 07:46 AM EDT
The Obama administration is urgently debating how to respond to congressional demands for the official report on Hillary Clinton’s three-and-a-half-hour interview at FBI headquarters, as some inside and outside government raise concerns about giving lawmakers access to politically sensitive records of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email system.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
August 11, 2016 – 10:42 AM
The Obama administration’s decision Thursday to keep marijuana classified among the nation’s most dangerous drugs divided campaign operatives in California’s cannabis legalization debate.
By Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee
Updated: Aug. 3, 2016 – 12:01 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward.
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By Eric Morath
Jul 29, 2016 – 10:39 am ET
Even seven years after the recession ended, the current stretch of economic gains has yielded less growth than much shorter business cycles.
By Seung Min Kim
Published: 07/07/16 – 10:49 AM EDT
Updated: 07/07/16 – 05:56 PM EDT
Frustrated by FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend criminal charges for Hillary Clinton, House Republicans used his Thursday testimony to hammer Clinton’s past defenses of her private email server — their latest bid to undermine the Democratic frontrunner’s trustworthiness.
By Tim Johnson and Marisa Taylor
July 6, 2016 – 5:52 PM
WASHINGTON —
The FBI recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton and her staff on charges of mishandling classified information will give those accused of flouting national security rules a new line of defense even as it highlights a dual standard in how senior government officials are treated, several experts said Wednesday.
By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 07/06/16 – 10:51 PM PDT |
ONTARIO >> Ontario-based Prime Healthcare medical group responded Wednesday to news the federal government is joining a Medicare fraud lawsuit against the company, denying charges it admitted patients needlessly.
By Stephen Braun and Jack Gillum
July 5, 2016 – 4:46 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key assertions by Hillary Clinton in defense of her email practices have collapsed under FBI scrutiny.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 – 01:30 a.m.
The FBI will recommend that no criminal charges be levied against Former Secretary of State Hilly Clinton over her use of a home-brew email server for official government business.
Washington, D.C. July 05, 2016 FBI National Press Office (202) 324-3691
.
Remarks prepared for delivery at press briefing.
Good morning. I’m here to give you an update on the FBI’s investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail system during her time as Secretary of State.
By Harper Neidig – 07/02/16 12:26 PM EDT
Hillary Clinton was interviewed by authorities Saturday about the ongoing investigation into her email server, her campaign said.
By Willie Brown
Published: July 1, 2016
Updated: July 2, 2016 – 8:15pm
What in the world was Bill Clinton thinking when he dropped by to “just say hello” to Attorney General Loretta Lynch when they both had their personal planes parked at the Phoenix airport the other day?
Melody Petersen
June 29, 2016
The U.S. Department of Education has agreed to forgive $171 million of debt owed by former students of the bankrupt for-profit school Corinthian Colleges Inc., most of them in California.
Thursday, June 23, 2016 – 11:30 p.m.
Great Britain citizens have voted to leave the European Union.
By Mark Sherman
Associated Press
Jun 23, 2016 – 10:50 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A tie vote by the Supreme Court is blocking President Barack Obama’s immigration plan that sought to shield millions living in the U.S. illegally from deportation.
Joel Rubin
June 20, 2016
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, but he nonetheless should serve time in prison for lying to federal investigators during a probe into jail abuses by sheriff’s deputies, the U.S. attorney’s office has concluded.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 – 10:45 p.m.
InlandPolitics.com has confirmed the existence of an active investigation, being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), into multiple San Bernardino County governmental agencies.
Paul Sisson
May 26, 2016
The U.S. Justice Department has joined a whistle-blower case against Prime Healthcare Services, adding significant weight to allegations of widespread Medicare overbilling at 14 of the company’s hospitals in California.
Billy House
@HouseInSession
LauraLitvan
@LauraLitvan
Ben Brody
@BenBrodyDC
Published: May 25, 2016 — 7:51 AM PDT
Updated: May 25, 2016 — 9:39 AM PDT
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail system while she was secretary of state violated State Department rules, the agency’s inspector general concluded in a report that will hand Republicans an additional line of attack as the general election campaign gets under way.
By Joel Gehrke (@Joelmentum)
Washington Examiner
05/19/16 – 5:22 PM
A federal judge has ordered annual ethics classes for Justice Department attorneys as a punishment for being “intentionally deceptive” during litigation over President Obama’s executive immigration orders.
By Morgan Cook |
April 28, 2016 – 7 a.m.
An ethics advocacy group has filed complaints with two federal oversight agencies, asking officials to investigate what the group describes as a pattern of questionable campaign spending by Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Alpine.
By Ben White and Nolan D. McCaskill
Published: 04/20/16 – 11:56 AM EDT
Updated: 04/20/16 – 08:05 PM EDT
Harriet Tubman will bump Andrew Jackson from the front of the $20 bill while Alexander Hamilton will stay put on the $10 — a historic move that gives a woman prime placement on U.S. currency and quells a controversy kicked up by Hamilton super-fans.
Noam N. Levey
April 19, 2016
UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, announced Tuesday that it would stop selling health plans through the Affordable Care Act next year in most of the 34 of states where it operates.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 04/17/16 – 11:16 PM PDT |
Federal prosecutors and FBI agents investigating allegations of inmate abuse at a San Bernardino County jail have conducted follow-up interviews with about a half-dozen current and former prisoners in the last month, their attorneys said.
By Ellen Nakashima
April 12, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Follow @nakashimae
The FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist’s phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw, according to people familiar with the matter.
By Beau Yarbrough, The Sun
Posted: 04/09/16 – 6:52 PM PDT |
David Bowdich, the FBI’s highest-ranking agent in Los Angeles and a key figure in the San Bernardino mass shooting investigation, is leaving California to become the third-highest ranking officer in the bureau.
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By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 04/07/16 – 1:34 PM PDT |
PASADENA >> A defense attorney in San Bernardino County’s Colonies corruption case and an assistant U.S. attorney battled it out in federal court Thursday over whether the government should destroy documents seized during a search of defendant Jeff Burum’s home and office in 2011.
Joel Rubin
April 6, 2016
A federal jury on Wednesday convicted former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka of deliberately impeding an FBI investigation, capping a jail abuse and obstruction scandal that reached to the top echelons of the Sheriff’s Department.
Joel Rubin , James Queally and Paresh Dave
March 28, 2016
Federal officials on Monday dropped their legal fight against Apple after unlocking the iPhone used by an assailant in last year’s San Bernardino terror attack, leaving unsettled a vexing debate over privacy and security amid rapid advances in technology.
Technology | Wed Mar 23, 2016 – 6:53am EDT
By Tova Cohen
Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
Israel’s Cellebrite, a provider of mobile forensic software, is helping the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s attempt to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shooters, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Sarah D. Wire
March 11, 2016
A recent study shows nearly half of California workers don’t have a retirement savings plan available at work, and the U.S. Treasury Department is hoping a new no fee, no minimum deposit retirement saving program will fill the gap.
Joel Rubin
February 29, 2016
Apple won the latest round in its battle with the U.S. government over accessing iPhones in criminal investigations on Monday when a federal judge said he would not force the technology company to assist in a drug probe.
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By Tami Abdollah and Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press
Posted: 02/23/16 – 10:34 AM PST |
WASHINGTON — Some family members of victims and survivors of the San Bernardino terror attack will file court papers in support of a judge’s order that Apple Inc. help the FBI hack into a locked iPhone as part of the terrorism investigation, a lawyer and others said Monday.
By Dan Levine
Technology | Mon Feb 22, 2016 – 11:24am EST
Some victims of the San Bernardino attack will file a legal brief in support of the U.S. government’s attempt to force Apple Inc to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the shooters, a lawyer representing the victims said on Sunday.
Tami Abdollah and Bree Fowler | AP
February 21, 2016 – 03:17 PM
The county government that owned the iPhone in a high-profile legal battle between Apple Inc. and the Justice Department paid for but never installed a feature that would have allowed the FBI to easily and immediately unlock the phone as part of the terrorism investigation into the shootings that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
Paresh Dave
February 19, 2016
Senior Apple executives underscored Friday that they have no intention of backing down in a high-stakes fight with the FBI over an iPhone used by one of the shooters in December’s San Bernardino terror attack.
Taylor GoldensteinT
February 18, 2016
Legal titan Ted Olson has signed on to help Apple Inc. fight a court order requiring the tech giant to assist the FBI in unlocking a phone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists, court records show.