US Attorney's Office
US Attorney for the Eastern District of California
PROFILE
Benjamin Wagner
Guest
FROM Benjamin Wagner
Which Way, L.A.?
Has President Obama Declared War on Medical Marijuana? Federal law bans all marijuana but, in 16 states and Washington, DC , it's legal as medicine. As a candidate, Barack Obama said he would not "circumvent state law," and his administration discontinued the high-profile raids of the Bush years. But now those raids have resumed, and local officials implementing state laws are being threatened with federal prosecution. The crackdown has growers, distributors and patients accusing President Obama of breaking a campaign promise. But some law enforcement officers and two Governors think it’s time to change the drug’s federal classification.
To the Point
The President and Medical Marijuana Federal law bans all marijuana but, in 16 states and Washington, DC, it's legal as medicine . As a candidate, Barack Obama said he would not "circumvent state law," and his administration discontinued the high-profile raids of the Bush years. But now those raids have resumed, and local officials implementing state laws are being threatened with federal prosecution. Has the President broken a campaign promise? Is medical marijuana a front for organized crime? Is it so widely used that the federal ban should go the way of alcohol prohibition?
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To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.