AG backs Trump on ex-officials' pardons
WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump's right to pardon former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Bush administration official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Both of those pardons were issued by Trump and bypassed the involvement of the Justice Department and its pardon attorney, who historically reviews petitions for clemency.
Sessions made the comments at a Senate subcommittee hearing where U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, reminded him that as a Republican senator from Alabama, Sessions had once defended the role played by the Justice Department's pardon attorney.
Sessions said he stood by that assessment but added that there was no question that the president had the constitutional authority to issue pardons without the Justice Department's involvement.
He defended Arpaio as a legitimate pardon candidate because of the former Arizona sheriff's advanced age of 85 and misdemeanor contempt-of-court conviction. He also said Libby, convicted in 2007 of lying to investigators after the 2003 leak of the covert identity of a CIA officer, had "contributed greatly to America."
Military's sex-assault reports rise 10%
WASHINGTON -- Reports of sexual assaults across the U.S. military jumped by nearly 10 percent in 2017, a year that saw an online nude-photo sharing scandal rock the services, triggering greater awareness of sexual harassment and other similar complaints.
The overall increase was fueled by a nearly 15 percent surge in sexual-assault reports in the Marine Corps, according to officials familiar with the data. The Marines, at the center of last year's online investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, began a campaign to raise awareness of inappropriate behavior and beef up enforcement of social media rules and conduct.
The Navy and the Air Force saw increases of more than 9 percent in reported sexual assaults, while the Army went up 8 percent. Several U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details ahead of the release of the Pentagon's report.
Overall, there were 6,769 reports of sexual assaults in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, compared with 6,172 in 2016. The roughly 10 percent increase is the largest the Pentagon has seen since 2015.
Officer shot at Dallas Home Depot dies
DALLAS -- A police officer who was shot when a suspected shoplifter opened fire at a Home Depot in north Dallas died Wednesday, but another officer and a store employee who were also hit appear to be on the mend, city officials said.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings announced the death of Rogelio Santander, a three-year veteran of the Police Department, at a City Council meeting Wednesday morning.
The suspected gunman, 29-year-old Armando Luis Juarez, was arrested late Tuesday on charges of aggravated assault on a public servant and felony theft. He was subsequently charged with capital murder.
Santander, officer Crystal Almeida and Home Depot loss-prevention officer Scott Painter all underwent surgery, and the two surviving victims are described as in critical condition, Police Chief U. Renee Hall said.
Police were called to the Home Depot in Lake Highlands around 4 p.m. Tuesday to remove Juarez from the store, authorities said. Juarez opened fire as he was being detained and made his escape, police said.
Authorities said a high-speed pursuit led to his eventual arrest.
S.C. corrections workers plead innocent
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- More than a dozen South Carolina corrections employees pleaded innocent Wednesday to federal charges related to bribery and taking contraband that included drugs and cellphones into the state's institutions, a case that was announced a week after a deadly prison riot.
The indictments against 14 Department of Corrections employees, including 11 officers, include charges of racketeering, bribery and wire fraud, and in some cases are connected to actions that reportedly took place as long as three years ago.
The indictments were unsealed a little more than a week after a deadly riot at Lee Correctional Institution left seven inmates dead.
A Section on 04/26/2018