Members of the legal marijuana industry, who for months have been nervously anticipating a federal crackdown led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, can breathe a sigh of relief. According to data from the Justice Department, the number of federal drug-crime prosecutions has fallen to its lowest level in 25 years, and the decline has continued to accelerate since President Donald Trump took office.
Now that former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli has decided not to testify in his own defense, the jury could reach a verdict as soon as Friday afternoon.
Greek authorities have arrested a 38-year-old Russian man wanted in the United States on suspicion of masterminding a money laundering operation involving at least $4 billion through transactions in bitcoins. Reuters reports, a US jury indicted the man on Wednesday over the scheme which involved crimes ranging from computer hacking to drug trafficking.
Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, who is on trial for eight counts of securities and wire fraud, just did something unprecedented: He listened to the advice of his attorney. Shkreli told Judge Kiyo Matsumoto that he won’t be testifying in his own defense after the prosecution finishes making its case later this week. Shkreli’s decision to abstain from testifying means that questions about his public persona will be largely excluded from the trial, according to the New York Times and Bloomberg.
Having tried and failed to introduce his "impeach Trump" bill, Rep. Al Green won't give up that easy as The Hill reports he plans to introduce a bill that would prevent presidents from being able to pardon themselves.
Green's bill follows increasing reports from the 'fake news media' that Trump is considering using his power to pardon on himself or other members of his administration for any offenses related to the Russia probe, though Trump attorney Jay Sekulow has insisted that officials are not even discussing Trump’s ability to issue pardons.