Free Republic

A federal judge on Wednesday upheld President Donald Trump’s pardon earlier this year of 85-year-old former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, rejecting legal challenges by outside groups. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton said that she had considered the petitions filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and other organizations, including one staffed by lawyers who worked for former Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration, but found no legal grounds to overturn the pardon. Bolton did not rule on a request by Arpaio’s attorneys to take the further step of vacating his conviction. Trump, a Republican who has promised to build...

... Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, ranking member on the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, said Rangel was given an opportunity to settle charges during the investigative process, and that time has passed. "Let me be clear that Mr. Rangel under these rules was given opportunities to negotiate a settlement during the investigation. Let me be clear that I did not participate in any attempts to cut a back room deal behind closed doors," McCaul said at the start of a hearing on possible corruption charges. McCaul said it's not lost on any member of the panel that the...