Republicans who had been poised to force a vote on changing House rules to allow new parents to vote remotely pulled back after the speaker offered a watered-down solution for a narrow set of new mothers.
Veteran Chicago lawyer and former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros was sworn in Monday as the 42nd U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall administered the oath of office for Boutros in a customary private ceremony a little over a week after Boutros’ selection was announced.
“I am humbled and honored to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago,” Boutros said in a statement Monday, also thanking President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, and others involved in his selection “for their trust and confidence in me.”
“As U.S. attorney, I am committed to working alongside old and new colleagues to tackle the important problems that face our district,” Boutros said.
Boutros named veteran prosecutor Morris Pasqual, who has served as acting U.S. attorney since John Lausch’s departure in March 2023, to be his first assistant.
Boutros, 47, is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from Egypt. He attended Virginia Tech University and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2001.
Boutros spent eight years as a federal prosecutor under then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, bringing a number of high-profile and complex prosecutions involving everything from international trade to dark web narcotics conspiracy.
He’d most recently served as co-chair of the government investigations and white-collar group at Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP in Chicago.
Boutros was selected by the Trump administration after a search process run by Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, of Peoria. Boutros was appointed as an interim U.S. attorney, which means he was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate. His term runs for 120 days or until a permanent replacement is nominated and confirmed.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Top Democrats on the House and Senate judiciary committees sent letters to two law firms that struck deals with President Donald Trump to avoid being punished for hiring or representing people who Trump considers enemies.
According to the Washington Post, Democrats Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent letters to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, both of which agreed to spend tens of millions of dollars on pro-bono legal work for Trump’s pet causes to get back in his good graces.
Wilkie Farr, which hadn’t even gotten hit with a retaliatory executive order yet, cut a preemptive deal with Trump out of fear that he would punish the firm for hiring Doug Emhoff, husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris.
As Daily Kos legal expert Lisa Needham wrote last month: “What these firms have in common is the extreme crime of having represented Democrats.”
In the letters, Raskin and Blumenthal said that Trump’s use of executive orders to extract concessions from law firms amounts to “an illegal shakedown of the legal profession.” They also demanded that the firms hand over communications discussing the deals they cut.
They also asked for information on how these law firms were selected for punishment, a list of other firms facing possible sanctions, and whether the White House counsel’s office or the Department of Justice weighed in on the legality of the recent agreements.
“These orders do more than just take revenge against particular lawyers who have crossed Donald Trump. They are meant to send the message that it is dangerous to oppose him in court, that you are apt to suffer not just yourself, but also law firms that you’re associated with will suffer sweeping penalties that can threaten their very ability to go on existing,” Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, told CBS News.
Similarly, professors David Cole from Georgetown Law and Amrit Singh from Stanford Law School echoed these sentiments in an op-ed for The Guardian.
“Donald Trump, who has launched his second term with a blizzard of blatantly illegal actions, many of which have been suspended by the courts, has decided to address the problem at its root. He’s targeting lawyers, punishing them for doing nothing more than filing lawsuits he opposes, or hiring lawyers he does not like. He has issued unprecedented executive orders penalizing five of the nation’s major law firms, and more are likely to come,” they wrote.
The two professors continued to call out Trump’s actions as an attack on “the rule of law.”
“These tactics, blatantly illegal, are designed with one goal in mind: to chill lawyers’ willingness to challenge his illegal actions. They are a fundamental attack on the foundation of the rule of law. And they are achieving their purpose, not because they are legal–they obviously are not–but because too many law firms are surrendering to Trump’s illegal demands,” they wrote.
And his efforts are having Trump’s desired effect.
According to the Washington Post, Biden-era officials said they’re having trouble finding lawyers who are willing to defend them, as the well-resourced law firms that once would have backed them are now steering clear.
And Trump has been bragging about how his efforts are working.
“They’re all bending and saying, ‘Sir, thank you very much.’ Law firms are just saying, ‘Where do I sign? Where do I sign?’” he said.
Trump promised to be a dictator on Day 1, and he’s succeeding.
The decision to reinstate Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris sets up a potential Supreme Court battle over a decades-old legal limit to presidential power.
Associated Press
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (AP) — Nueve personas fueron asesinadas a tiros y otras cinco resultaron heridas en un ataque el lunes por hombres armados en un centro de rehabilitación del estado de Sinaloa, en el noroeste de México, un territorio que enfrenta desde hace siete meses una ola de violencia por una pugna entre dos bandos del Cártel de Sinaloa.
El ataque ocurrió en un centro de rehabilitación de la colonia Colinas de San Miguel de Culiacán, capital de Sinaloa, donde dispararon contra los que se encontraban en el lugar, luego de preguntar “sin eran de algún grupo”, dijo el lunes a la prensa el gobernador de Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, sin ofrecer más detalles.
Rocha Moya indicó que murieron ocho personas en el lugar del ataque y otra más en un hospital.
Las fiscalías estatal y federal investigarán los hechos, informó el gobernador.
Desde septiembre pasado, se desató en Sinaloa una ola de violencia por la lucha intestina que mantienen el bando de “Los Chapitos” —que integran los hijos del exlíder detenido y condenado de la organización Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán— con los seguidores del histórico capo Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, también detenido.
Los enfrentamientos, que han dejado centenares de muertos y desaparecidos, se iniciaron semanas después de que Zambada y Joaquín Guzmán López, uno de los hijos de “El Chapo”, fueran apresados el 25 de julio pasado en Texas, en una operación que dejó muchos interrogantes.
Según denunció Zambada, su arresto se dio luego de que Guzmán López le tendiera una trampa. Ambos capos fueron llevados en un vuelo desde Sinaloa hasta Texas.
El caso generó fricciones entre Washington y México, que desde hace meses ha exigido explicaciones a las autoridades estadounidenses sobre la operación de detención de los dos miembros del cártel de Sinaloa, pero hasta el momento no ha tenido respuesta.
Dozens of foreign governments were trying to appeal to the president to have steep tariffs rolled back, but the president and his advisers have indicated negotiations could be difficult.
Well, at least we know what happens to Alexandra and Spencer Dutton.
AUGUSTA, Georgia, EE.UU. (AP) — La práctica en el Masters fue suspendida a última hora de la mañana del lunes y los espectadores fueron retirados del campo de golf debido al empeoramiento de la lluvia y la amenaza de tormentas eléctricas.
En la mañana, Augusta National tenía planeado cerrar el campo a los aficionados, pero debido a que inicialmente sólo cayó una lluvia ligera, permitieron el ingreso de espectadores por casi tres horas y media.
Los pronósticos son de tormentas durante toda la tarde, con el potencial de clima severo y de fuerte lluvia. Sin embargo, el pronóstico para el resto de la semana parecía prometedor, con mayormente sol y temperaturas altas de alrededor de 20 grados Celsius.
Pocos jugadores se aventuraron a salir para las rondas de práctica matutinas, y aquellos que lo hicieron —Keegan Bradley, Matthieu Pavon y Thomas Detry, entre ellos— jugaron solos.
Poco antes de las tres de la tarde, Augusta National anunció que el campo no volvería a abrir a los espectadores hasta el martes por consideraciones de seguridad, y que los poseedores de boletos para la sesión de práctica del lunes recibirían reembolsos.
___ Golf de AP: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
CNBC on Monday acknowledged that it aired a banner containing unconfirmed information about President Trump’s economic plans amid widespread market uncertainty stemming from the tariffs he announced last week.
“As we were chasing the news of the market moves in real-time, we aired unconfirmed information in a banner,” a spokesperson for the network told The Hill on Monday afternoon. “Our reporters quickly made a correction on air.”
As markets opened on Monday, a major sell-off ensued on Wall Street amid intensifying concerns about the negative impact Trump’s tariffs could have on consumer goods and the broader American economy.
Amid the market upheaval, a high-profile user on the social platform X named “Walter Bloomberg,” published a message saying “TRUMP IS CONSIDERING A 90-DAY PAUSE IN TARIFFS FOR ALL COUNTRIES EXCEPT CHINA.”
That post was apparently based off an interview given by White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett to Fox News.
CNBC mentioned the report during its 9 a.m. and attributed the possibility of a 90-day pause to Hassett.
The network’s airing of the unverified information was first highlighted by Mediate.
The White House quickly disputed the online fervor, calling it “fake news,” after a number of mainstream outlets including Reuters and CNBC made reference to the report.
Reuters, which had based its reporting off of CNBC’s banner, issued a statement saying it was retracting a story on Hassett’s comments.
Trump has urged Americans and investors to be patient with his economic agenda and promised the tariffs will help his administration invest in U.S. workers and companies.
I ventured out to the Wrigley Field bleachers Sunday to check out the new Chicago Cubs mascot, a goose that apparently decided to nest in a planter box in center field near the old scoreboard.
The Cubs have been in dire need of a rally animal since the Billy Goat curse ended with the 2016 championship, and since the goose opted to make its home there, it was an obvious choice.
The large bleacher steps leading up to the scoreboard originally were home to Chinese elm trees when Bill Veeck oversaw the bleacher construction in 1937, but they were later removed because they couldn’t handle the harsh winds. Now the steps have planters with juniper bushes on top for the aesthetics — and to keep fans from lounging there.
On Saturday, Cubs fan @BleacherJeff first reported the goose’s existence on social media, which briefly became a phenomenon for a city previously enthralled with the Rat Hole, a section of sidewalk in Roscoe Village that featured an imprint of a flattened rat and drew hundreds of onlookers.
Cubs Senior Director of Communications Jen Martinez told the Associated Press Sunday that the nesting goose and its friends were most welcome at the “Friendly Confines.”
“We truly mean it when we say everyone is welcome, including the goose and her nest who took up residence in the bleachers,” Martinez said in a statement.
Martinez added the Cubs were “giving her space” and working with a wildlife organization to provide a safe habitat. “In the meantime, we have blocked off the area to fans, and our featured guest is our top priority,” she said.
But on Monday morning, Martinez told the Tribune that the goose had flown the coop.
It was no longer seen in the bleachers, meaning fans going to Monday night’s game against the Texas Rangers could sit in the seats that had been blocked off the previous two days.
It’s not known what caused the goose to leave Wrigley. It might have been the bleacher paparazzi that insisted on taking photos, or the bullpen implosion and fielding mistakes that led to Sunday’s loss against the San Diego Padres.
The goose, who was nicknamed PGA — “Pete Goose-Armstrong” — by one bleacherite, was unavailable for comment.
And now, the search for a new rally animal to pick up the slack begins.
Animals and sports have gone hand in hand, or paw in hand, for many years.
The 2002 Anaheim Angels ignited the trend with the Rally Monkey, a video board creation that began in 2000 and took off during the team’s first championship season in its 42-year history in 2002. The St. Louis Cardinals followed up with a rally squirrel in 2011 after a gray squirrel ran onto the field at Busch Stadium during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series, and the squirrel got more credit than manager Tony La Russa.
The LSU baseball team had a rally possum to credit in 2016 after one of the critters delayed a game at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., preceding a big comeback win over Arkansas.
The Cubs famously were connected with a goat after Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy “Goat” Sianis and his pet were barred from entering Wrigley Field during the 1945 World Series, leading to the famous curse. The hex finally ended in 2016 when the Cubs beat Cleveland in a seven-game series to end a 108-year championship drought.
The Cubs even etched a goat’s head on the inner band of their World Series rings in a nod to “a supposed franchise curse,” according to a press release Chairman Tom Ricketts repeatedly told media “there is no curse,” but former president Theo Epstein, who also helped end Boston’s “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004, insisted on the goat’s inclusion on the ring.
The Cubs currently have Goose Island Beer as one of their official sponsors, so having a goose as the team’s spiritual rally animal seemed like a match made in marketing heaven.
But if PGA is gone for good, the search goes on.
What could replace the allegedly golden goose?
The rats that Ozzie Guillén made famous when he was White Sox manager never really caught on. Guillén claimed that the rats under the right-field bleachers were so big they were lifting weights, though Cubs Business Operations President Crane Kenney quipped to the Sox manager they were “part of the ambience.”
Seagulls, known to be frequent fliers at Wrigley — especially at the end of afternoon games, would seem to fit the bill. They like to feast on leftover nachos and hot dog buns discarded by bleacher fans, but they’re typically dine-and-dash types, so there’s never been one seagull who has made the ballpark home.
The Cubs still have their official mascot, Clark the Cub, but he’s never been as beloved as the Rat Hole rat, much less Chance the Snapper, the alligator from the Humboldt Park Lagoon, or Monty and Rose, the piping plovers from Montrose Beach.
Epstein once threw a fastball at the mascot during a ceremonial first pitch at the Cubs’ minor-league park in South Bend, Ind., saying they had a “love-hate relationship.” Clark also does not wear pants.
Perhaps the Cubs will find another goose to replace PGA in the bleachers and give fans a reason to believe this is their year.
If not, they’re on their own.