By Miriam Raftery

December 12, 2018 (Washington D.C) – President Donald Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, was sentenced today to three years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes and admitting to prosecutors that Trump ordered him to commit felony crimes regarding payoffs to hide affairs. Cohen further provided evidence that the President was actively negotiating with Russia on business dealings during the campaign, contrary to what the president told voters at the time, the New York Times reports.

Cohen pled guilty to crimes filed under two separate cases, one filed by U.S. Justice Department prosecutors in New York and the other by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

While Mueller recommended leniency for Cohen due to his cooperation with the probe into illegal election interference,  federal prosecutors in New York indicated Cohen was uncooperative in their investigations. Investigators also seized computer and other records of Cohen.

In court, Cohen said of Trump, “I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.” He apologized to the American people and said his loyalty to Trump “led me to choose a path of darkness over light.”

Judge William H. Pauley III stated that Cohen’s crimes were serious and implicated “insiduous harm to our democratic institutions.”

By Julie Cart, CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

November 11, 2018 (San Diego) - With a quarter-million Californians evacuated from their homes and wildfires so far claiming nine lives, President Donal Trump today took to Twitter and inflamed tensions—blaming California for causing the fires by mismanaging its forests and threatening to cut off federal funds.

By Tom H. Hastings

October 29, 2018 (San Diego) - We are now moving past “mere” voter suppression and voter intimidation. We have arrived at voter assassination. 

By Miriam Raftery

August 29, 2018 (San Diego) - President Donald Trump is claiming that Google has rigged search results and is “suppressing voices of conservatives,” a claim Google says is false.

The President bashed Google on Twitter, posting, "Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out," he claimed, without substantiation.

By Miriam Raftery

June 21, 2018 (San Diego) – President Donald Trump has nominated Robert “Bob” Brewer to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California.  Brewer is a former assistant U.S. attorney and deputy district attorney who once ran for San Diego district attorney, but was defeated by incumbent Bonnie Dumanis. 

Brewer has prosecuted cases including espionage, bank robberies, smuggling, narcotics, murder for hire and civil rights violations.

He has spent most of his career, however, as a defense attorney representing clients such as Sempra Energy at a time when Sempra was facing bribery allegations in Mexico. In 2011, he was named San Diego’s criminal defense white collar lawyer of the year by Best Lawyers. He’s also been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America.

Does photo released by Germany’s Chancellor show a bold president standing up for U.S. interests, or a petulant outsider betraying America’s strongest allies and being scolded by a powerful woman leader?  It all depends on your perspective.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Jesco Denzel, posted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel via Instagram

June 12, 2018 (Berlin) – Hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at a news conference that leaders of all seven nations at the G-7 summit signed a communique agreeing on a broad range of economic and foreign policy goals, a statement affirmed other allied leaders, President Donald Trump sent tweets aboard Air Force One blasting apart the reputed deal. Trump accused Trudeau of “false statements” and said he has instructed Congress “not to endorse the Communique.”

Further frustrating allies, Trump also called for Russia to be readmitted to the G-7. Russia was kicked out for its backing of the Crimean invasion, a violating of international law, the New York Times reports.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via Twitter

June 4, 2018 (San Diego) – Outrage is growing over revelations that the Trump administration has dramatically expanded the number of children being forcibly separated from their parents at the international border. On Friday, dozens o f protests were held in cities across the nation, NPR reports. The hashtag #familiesbelongtogether is trending on Twitter, showing thousands gathered at protests from Trump Towers to the nation’s capital.

By Miriam Raftery

May 2, 2018 (Sacramento) – California announced Tuesday that it will join 16 other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Secretary Scott Pruitt from reversing fuel efficiency standards to protect clean air and reduce greenhouse gasses fueling climate change. 

By Miriam Raftery

April 25, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – A federal judge in Washington D.C. has ruled that the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or DACA, is “unlawful.”

U.S. District Judge John Bates ordered the administration to begin renewing work permits for DACA recipients, but he also stayed his ruling for 90 days to allow the Department of Homeland Security to provide justification for ending the program, which protects law-abiding young immigrants from being deported.

By Miriam Raftery

April 11, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – Prominent Republicans are speaking out to debunk claims made by President Donald Trump after the FBI raided the office and home of Trump’s long-time attorney Donald Cohen this week under orders of the U.S. Attorney’s office.

By Miriam Raftery

March 28, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – The attorneys generals of Maryland and Washington D.C. have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, alleging that he is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution.  The emoluments clause prohibits federal official from becoming personally enriched by accepting gifts, titles or emoluments from any “King, Prince or foreign state.

By Miriam Raftery

March 20, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – In direct conflict to warnings from top U.S. intelligence agency representatives, The House Intelligence Committee’s Republican majority shut down its investigation and  issued an overview of its report which concluded that Russia’s election hacking and social media attacks were merely intended to cause discord, not help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.  The GOP report also concluded that that it found no “evidence of coordination, collusion or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russians. “

Suzanne Potter, California News Service

March 14, 2018 (San Diego) -- Even as President Donald Trump wraps up his first visit to the Golden State since the election, immigrant-rights groups are embracing California's new nickname as the "State of Resistance."

By Jonathan Goetz

    March 12, 2018 (San Diego) -- President Donald Trump is coming to San Diego this Tuesday to view eight border wall prototypes. Multiple groups are planning protests over the President’’s hard-line stance on immigration, the border wall, and other issues.

By Miriam Raftery

February 16, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – It’s official:  Russia actively worked to sabotage American democracy and put Donald Trump in the White House.

Today, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller released copies of indictments filed against 13 Russians and three Russian entities on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and other charges ranging from bank fraud to identity theft in their quest to violate laws that prohibit foreigners from spending money to influence U.S. elections.  Read the full indictment here.

The indictment language is damning, documenting how the Russian organization Internet Research Agency plotted “information warfare against the U.S.” paid for in Russian rubles at a budget of $1.25 million a month. 

Russians posing as Americans used social media to post positive information on Trump and negative information,  much of it false, disparaging other candidates opposing Trump including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton.  They also organized pro-Trump and anti-Clinton marches and rallies in the U.S.

They were aided by at least 100 U.S. citizens and and communicated with members of the Trump campaign, the indictment makes clear, and funneled illegal contributions into electing Trump.  At least some of those contacts were "unwitting."