Outside the Beltway

Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos received a very generous sentence in return for his guilty plea.

A top Vatican official is alleging that Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI were both aware of previously unknown allegations of sexual abuse and chose to allow them to be covered up rather than bringing them to light.

Recently indicted Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr. is blaming his apparently estranged wife and the so-called “Deep State” for the fact that he’s charged with embezzling a quarter million dollars from his campaign.

California Republican Duncan Hunter Jr, who was an early backer of President Trump’s campaign, has been indicted on charges he used massive amounts of campaign funds to pay for personal expenses.

It’s not obvious that two more felons in the Trump inner circle will have any immediate impact.

Robert Mueller and his legal team get their first victories in court.

The latest reports about the circumstances surrounding the payoff to Stormy Daniels could pose big problems for Michael Cohen and his client.

A Pennsylvania Grand Jury report reveals decades of abuse by some 300 Catholic Priests impacting more than 1,000 children and 26 of the state’s Roman Catholic Diocese.

A Florida man who shot and killed an African-American male amid a parking lot confrontation will face manslaughter charges after all.

Just days after being indicted on insider trading charges, New York Congressman Chris Collins is suspending his campaign for re-election.

In what amounts to a significant, albeit not surprising, change in Catholic doctrine, Pope Francis has declared that the death penalty is unacceptable in all circumstances.

One of the most prominent members of the American Catholic hierarchy has been removed from office in the face of mounting allegations of sexual abuse that stretch back decades.

Mariia Butina, a Russian “gun rights activist, is accused of being an unregistered agent of the Russian government and attempting to influence Republican Party policies regarding Russia in an operation that pre-dates the Trump Presidential campaign.

The Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued indictments against twelve Russian intelligence officials for election-related hacking, and in the process has shown most of the arguments made by the President and his surrogates regarding the Russia investigation are nonsense.

An idiot climbed the monument, wasting police resources and ruining the day for hundreds of visitors.

One of the biggest pre-trial issues in the criminal case against Harvey Weinstein will be the issue of how many women other than his accuser will be able to testify against him.

A Pittsburgh area police officer has been indicted on homicide charges after a video emerged that appears to show him shooting a fleeing suspect in the back

Donald Trump’s former Campaign Manager was sent to jail, a move that likely increases the pressure on him to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The Attorney General of New York has filed a Complaint against President Trump and several members of his family alleging widespread fraud in the operation of Trump’s charitable Foundation.

President Trump has issued another controversial pardon.

We have a generation of schoolkids who aren’t even surprised when there’s a shooting at their school. That’s a problem.

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been charged with rape and sexual assault in a New York Court.

Another school shooting, this time in Texas.

The prosecutor who came to national prominence jumping on the #MeToo bandwagon has now been run over by it.

They hired Israeli Private Investigators to dig up dirt on former Obama officials, including Ben Rhodes and Colin Kahl.

The tragedy of Bill Cosby lies not in the downfall of a man once known as “America’s Dad,” but in the fact that a man who was, in fact, a sexual predator was allowed to evade justice for far too long.

Marking the end of a long fall from grace, the man once known as “America’s Dad” has been found guilty on three counts of sexual assault.

Travis Reinking shot four people dead in Nashville over the weekend with a gun that he wasn’t supposed to have access to. Thanks to what seem to be loopholes in existing gun laws, he had one anyway.

Unable to get his way with the legislature, New York’s governor is taking a provocative step.

Donald Trump could have more to worry about regarding the investigation of Michael Cohen than he does regarding the Mueller investigation.

Bill Cosby heads back to court for a retrial on the sexual assault allegations against him but it’s not going to be the same as the first.

He cooperated with the FBI. He was arrested by ICE.

Stephon Clark died after being shot eight times in the back and side by police in Sacramento. So far, the authorities haven’t acted.

A man suspected in a bombing spree killed himself with explosives as authorities were closing in.

A package exploded in San Antonio overnight. It was believed bound for Austin. It would be the fifth in a spree of bombings in the city this month.

Local and federal authorities are investigating a spree of explosions terrorizing Austin, Texas.

The family real estate business made tens of millions through shady dealings.

The President would like to copy Singapore’s zero-tolerance policy. The US Constitution stands in his way.

The Mueller investigation moves forward.

Mueller tightens the screws even further.

From the F.B.I. on down, there were multiple warnings that could have prevented Wednesday’s tragedy in Parkland, Florida.

A significant and important development in the Russia investigation that shows that President Trump’s claim that the stories of Russian interference in the 2016 election were “Fake News” is completely untrue.

What seems like a nothingburger story from CNN.

The lead story on Yahoo News at the moment, courtesy People magazine (“Robert Wagner Now Considered a ‘Person of Interest’ in Wife Natalie Wood’s Mysterious Death”):

Norway is poised to make some big changes to its drug laws.

Three U.S. cities are suing the Federal Government over the failure to properly report military convictions to the national gun background check database.

Ominous news for the Trump Administration today out of Federal Court in Washington, D.C.

Big problems for the Air Force.

Charles Manson, who led a cult-like “family” to a series of murders in 1969 and subsequently spent more than 40 years in prison, has died at the age of 83.

New Jersey Senate Bob Menendez has temporarily dodged a bullet, but his ultimate fate is far from clear.