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Jeffries calls on Biden to pardon more Americans

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2 years ago

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on President Joe Biden to pardon more people convicted of nonviolent offenses amid controversy over the president’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden.

“During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses,” Jeffries said in a statement.

Jeffries’ comments echo the calls from some other Democrats who in recent days have asked Biden to use his clemency powers for more Americans in federal custody besides Hunter and to address sentencing disparities. But it did not pass judgment on the pardon of Hunter Biden itself. Some in the caucus have openly criticized the president since the pardon was issued and said it could tarnish his legacy and open a lane for Donald Trump to issue similar sweeping pardons.

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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is officially running for Senate

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3 hours ago

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July 9, 2026

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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows officially launched her Senate bid to replace Graham Platner on Thursday afternoon.

“After serious consideration, I am announcing my campaign for United States Senate, because I believe that together we can unify Democrats in Maine at this difficult time, and forge ahead with a campaign that fights for working people, stands up to a broken system that’s working against us, and defeats Susan Collins,” Bellows wrote in a post on X.

Bellows, who recently lost in the Democratic primary for governor, had been widely expected to enter the race after Platner suspended his campaign. She was fielding calls about a possible bid in the days after POLITICO reported an allegation of sexual assault against him, according to one person familiar with her campaign, granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Platner denied the allegation.

A progressive Democrat, Bellows has built a national profile as Maine’s secretary of state, often clashing with President Donald Trump over election administration. She joins several other former gubernatorial hopefuls, including former public health official Nirav Shah and former Platner ally Troy Jackson, as official contenders for the Democratic nomination.

But the race marks Bellows’ second bid for the Senate. She challenged Collins, the Republican incumbent, in 2014 and lost — a defeat that is likely to draw fresh scrutiny as she makes her case to Maine voters this time around.

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Chuck Grassley pushed for more transparency into Kash Patel’s FBI spending in May, Democrats reveal

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6 hours ago

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July 9, 2026

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Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked FBI Director Kash Patel to provide more details on his use of taxpayer resources in May, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Mid.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) revealed in a letter this week, as questions continue to swirl over Patel’s financial stewardship of the agency.

The embattled FBI director has long faced allegations that he is using the perks of his office for personal gain, after news outlets reported last year he used government jets for personal travel and surrounded his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, with SWAT team protection at public events.

Patel’s trip via agency jet to the Winter Olympics in Milan this February, in which he partied with the American men’s ice hockey team after they won gold, led to yet more questions.

Patel has repeatedly publicly denied that his use of government resources is inappropriate.

“This abuse obviously comes at the expense of the American taxpayer and ongoing Bureau operations as it ties up Bureau aircraft, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, and agents in ways so outrageous that even congressional Republicans can no longer ignore them,” Durbin and Raskin wrote in their letter.

In a letter from Grassley sent in May, which was viewed by Blue Light News, he asked Patel to “provide a list of each flight you took on an FBI aircraft, including the departure and destination,” as well as the cost of each. He also asked Patel to explain why the bureau purchased BMWs rather than Chevy Suburbans for personal transport — and to provide a full cost breakdown of the financial impacts of the maneuver.

Raskin and Durbin — the ranking members on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees — are seeking answers to many of the same questions highlighted by Grassley, they wrote in their letter.

The eight-term Iowa senator, who turns 93 in September, emphasized he’d previously held FBI directors under Democratic administrations to similar scrutiny.

“For decades, regardless of which political party is in the White House, I have worked to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse,” Grassley wrote.

Grassley’s office and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The American people deserve an FBI Director focused on keeping us all safe rather than jet-setting to check off personal bucket list items,” Durbin and Raskin wrote. “Congress requires a transparent accounting of how you are using Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”

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Jordan Wood joins crowded Maine Senate race

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8 hours ago

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July 9, 2026

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HARPSWELL, Maine — Jordan Wood, a former Capitol Hill staffer, is the latest candidate to announce a run for the Democratic nomination in Maine’s Senate race after Graham Platner dropped out Wednesday evening.

Wood signaled his interest in running for the seat earlier this week as Democrats across the state scrambled to float their own names to replace Platner on the ballot. Now, he’s making it official.

“This has been a tough week for all of us in Maine who have demanded real change in Washington and in our lives,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “Our campaign will continue to build on the powerful populist movement Graham started, and I welcome every Mainer who believed in his vision to continue to build that better world.”

This is Wood’s second go at a Senate bid this cycle. Late last year, he ended his nascent Senate bid to run in the Democratic primary for the battleground House seat being vacated by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine). He finished a close third in that contest.

Several of the announced candidates, including former public health official Nirav Shah and former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, are maneuvering to cement themselves as the standard-bearer of Platner’s progressive outsider mantle. That may prove a harder task for Wood, who faces an uphill battle to reintroduce himself to voters and distance himself from his time working in Washington.

He’s already trying to shed that D.C. connection: “I’ve got a message for Chuck Schumer and the DSCC: Maine doesn’t need Washington insiders picking our senator. That’s a decision for the people of Maine,” he said.

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