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Former Congressman Chris Collins Sentenced to Prison

[caption id="attachment_324928" align="aligncenter" width="800"] US Government Photo [Public Domain][/caption]

Former Representative Chris Collins was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for charges related to insider trading and lying to cover it up.

The judge seemed troubled by the Collins legal team's argument that the crime was an isolated act – just a stupid, panicked phone call made by an emotionally distraught father.
To the contrary, Broderick noted that after that phone call from the White House lawn, Collins spoke with his son several times over the next few days as Cameron Collins dumped his Innate shares.
Collins and his son could have stopped the illegal scheme at any time, the judge noted.
"There was time for folks to think about this and say: 'What are we doing?' " he said.
The inside stock tip that prompted those illegal trades resulted in one of the two charges to which Collins pleaded guilty: conspiracy to commit securities fraud. But then Collins committed another crime: lying to the FBI about Cameron's stock sales.
What's more, Broderick indicated that he agreed with prosecutors that Collins, his son and Lauren Zarsky together concocted a cover story that all three shared with the FBI.
Adding it all up, the judge said: "I don't view this as just a spur-of-the-moment loss of judgment."
Instead, Broderick characterized the illegal stock trades and the effort to cover them up as an inexplicable attempt to save money by a wealthy businessman-turned-politician who had no reason to break the law.
"Some might say it was a venal choice," the judge said.
And it was a choice with consequences far beyond Collins and his family. Collins' resignation left New York's 27th Congressional District without representation for months, the judge noted.
That seemed to be the only political observation the judge was willing to make. He said he read the dozens of letters he got from Collins' supporters and critics – but stripped out the emotions and politics, instead relying only on the facts as he crafted Collins' sentence.
And when one of Collins' lawyers spoke of living in partisan times, the judge said: "Not here."
After Broderick issued his sentence, Collins' lawyers said he would like to serve it at the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Fla., which is the nearest such facility to Collins' home in Marco Island, Fla. Broderick said he would recommend that Collins be sent to Pensacola, but the final decision will be up to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Despite his tears moments earlier, Collins appeared expressionless upon hearing the sentence, which drew raves from the prosecutors.
"Lawmakers bear the profound privilege and responsibility of writing and passing laws, but equally as important, the absolute obligation of following them," said Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York – and a Donald Trump appointee. "Collins’ hubris is a stark reminder that the people of New York can and should demand more from their elected officials, and that no matter how powerful, no lawmaker is above the law.”

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President Trump’s Impeachment Legal Team Taking Shape

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President Trump’s Impeachment Legal Team Taking Shape

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President Trump's legal team for the impeachment trial has some very familiar names on it, including one of the biggest from the last time we as a country did this.

WH counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump attorney Jay Sekulow will lead Trump's Senate trial legal team, @HallieJackson has learned. Robert Ray, Ken Starr, and Alan Dershowitz are expected to join. Reps. Ratcliffe and Jordan are not *currently on the team, but it's said to be fluid.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) January 17, 2020

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Speaker Pelosi Names Impeachment Managers, Will Hand Articles Over to Senate

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Speaker Pelosi Names Impeachment Managers, Will Hand Articles Over to Senate

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[caption id="attachment_323658" align="aligncenter" width="750"] United States House of Representatives [Public domain][/caption]Naming managers and transmitting articles, after a few weeks wait the Senate will finally get on with the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump

Today, I have the privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of the President. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/Y2613Ni3pC
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020

The full House will pass the transmittal resolution this afternoon. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated the impeachment proceedings will begin on Tuesday of next week.

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Oscar Nominations Announced

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Oscar Nominations Announced

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The 2020 Oscar Nominations list has been released.

Here are the nominees for Best motion picture of the year:

FORD V FERRARI
Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold, Producers
THE IRISHMAN
Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
JOJO RABBIT
Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi, Producers
JOKER
Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
LITTLE WOMEN
Amy Pascal, Producer
MARRIAGE STORY
Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers
1917
Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall, Producers
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD
David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers
PARASITE
Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers

The rest of the categories and nominees are listed on the official site (linked above).

(Featured image is "Blue Carpet Treatment" by SetoTheTech. Used under creative commons license.)

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Houston Astros, We Have a Problem…

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Houston Astros, We Have a Problem…

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Breaking...

BREAKING: Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch have been suspended for one year after an MLB investigation found the team used technology to cheat during its World Series-winning 2017 season, sources familiar with the punishment tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2020

And now this...

Bombshell from Astros owner Jim Crane: He is going above and beyond MLB’s penalties and is firing both GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) January 13, 2020

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