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Former NYPD Commissioner ‘Emotional and Stunned’ After Trump Pardoning

‘Unhealthy Partisanship’: Move Afoot to Improve the Workings of Parliament

Canada’s Parliament is increasingly moving away from forming decisions based on debates, with decisions instead largely dictated by parties or party leaders, says a veteran MP. A recent report backs up this view, showing the majority of MPs believe that “unhealthy partisanship” has become more prevalent in Parliament, with democratic practices declining, particularly in the areas of MP independence and debates. In the current minority Parliament, some MPs are working toward modernizing the House in order to increase efficiency and eliminate parliamentary dysfunction, among other issues that have long plagued the legislative body. Engaged in the discussions is Conservative MP Michael Chong, who has been committed to democratic reform ever since he was elected in 2004. In his view, Parliament has increasingly gravitated toward conformity to the point that new…

Former NYPD Commissioner ‘Emotional and Stunned’ After Trump Pardoning

Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik revealed on Feb. 18 how he first learned President Trump was issuing him with a pardon for felony convictions that put him behind bars for three years.

Kerik, who served as the NYPD’s top cop under Mayor Rudy Giuliani during his tenure from 2000 to 2001, told ABC News that聽he was in Florida on Tuesday when he received an unexpected call around 12 p.m., telling him to “standby for the president.”

“He got on the phone and [said], ‘As I’m talking to you I’m signing a full presidential pardon on your behalf,’” Kerik said President Trump聽told him, adding, “‘This will expunge your record.’”

The former NYPD commissioner said he had heard rumors that Trump might pardon him but that he had always “blown them off.”

“He thanked me for my service, told me to move on with my life,” Kerik told the outlet, adding that the whole event had left him “pretty emotional, kind of stunned.”

The former police officer said he felt “great” about the pardon and that “a lot聽of people don鈥檛 realize that with a federal conviction, you lose a lot of civil and constitutional rights. This president understands that,” he added.

Kerik, who was police commissioner during the Sept. 11 attacks, said he had “always had enormous respect for Donald Trump,” particularly following the devastating events of聽 9/11.

“He came down several times to the area and helped motivate the men and women who were working there.聽He sent people down there to help and donate.”

Army veteran Kerik pleaded guilty in 2009 to eight felonies, including tax fraud and lying to the White House while being vetted for the role of Homeland Security chief in 2004 under聽President George W. Bush’s administration.

Prosecutors said that between 1999 and 2000, when Kerik was commissioner of the Corrections Department, he accepted more than $255,000 in renovations to his Bronx apartment from city contractors, in exchange for speaking to city officials on their behalf.

He was also charged for providing “false and misleading answers” related to this when questioned by White House officials after President George W. Bush nominated him for the Homeland Security job.

The former police officer said he had previously applied for a pardon with the Obama administration but never heard back. He was released from federal prison in 2013聽on good behavior聽after serving three years.

The White House announced on Feb. 18 that Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency granting a full pardon to Kerik, who it said “courageously led the New York Police Department鈥檚 heroic response to the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,” and who “embodied the strength, courage, compassion, and spirit of the people of New York and this great nation.”

According to the statement,聽Kerik has focused on improving the lives of others, including as a passionate advocate for criminal justice and prisoner reentry reform, since his conviction.

“His 30 years of law enforcement service and tenure as commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction have given him a unique understanding and perspective on criminal justice and prisoner reentry reform, and he remains an invaluable contributor to these endeavors.”

Trump also signed聽Executive Grants of Clemency granting full pardons to the following individuals on Tuesday: Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Michael Milken, Ariel Friedler, Paul Pogue, David Safavian, and Angela Stanton.

In addition, the president signed Executive Grants of Clemency granting commutations to Rod Blagojevich, Tynice Nichole Hall, Crystal Munoz, and Judith Negron.

This article is from the Internet:Former NYPD Commissioner ‘Emotional and Stunned’ After Trump Pardoning

Shaking Hands With Bad State Actors Not Smart ‘Chess’

News Analysis Diplomatic relations is a chess game, one that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t play very well when he had a friendly handshake with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, says former cabinet minister and longtime MP David Kilgour. “You need to know how to move your pieces in a way that you’re going to serve your country and its interests, and not serve the interests of the other country, which is trying to hurt you in every way it can,” Kilgour says. Images of Trudeau greeting Zarif with a friendly handshake and bowing his head on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14 was shared widely by Iranian state media, with critics raising concerns that the prime minister is being used as a propaganda prop by…