Trump v. Mazars LLP: Can US House committee subpoena financial records of Trump and his businesses? 7-2 (same 7-2 as below). Yes if for a proper legislative purpose. Court below must decide if there is a proper legislative purpose, taking into account separation of powers issues. Basically a punt. Win for libs because Trump has no absolute immunity, but good … Read More
Supreme Court Issues Landmark Ruling On LGBTQ Discrimination
The opinion: 6-3, with Roberts and Gorsuch joining the lefties. Gorsuch wrote the opinion. Justice Gorsuch says, essentially, that when Congress outlawed discrimination “because of” sex in Title VII, Congress must have meant to include gays and transgenders “because it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.” Gorsuch is … Read More
Trump Seeks Iconic Moment, Gets It
Yesterday continued in the same pattern as the prior weekend. Massive peaceful protests by day, with some looting and violence as it got dark. All over the country. But the story of the day — perhaps even the year — happened in the late afternoon in D.C. In the span of 20 minutes, President Donald Trump manufactured a moment meant … Read More
Society Coming Apart At The Seems
The brutal manslaughter of George Floyd by Minneapolis policemen has become a touchstone for so many societal hot spots. The most notable, of course, is the continued racial injustice by police in communities throughout the country. This is not new of course. We have seen it repeatedly over the years. I’m not sure anything I can say will add to … Read More
Senate Gets Briefed By White House On Rationale For Soleimani Attack
Well, the Democratic response is predictable…. Sen. Murphy: "I was deeply surprised at the lack of information presented by the administration regarding a specific imminent threat … I was, I think, both surprised and saddened to not have that information before us. I think it is likely because it doesn't exist." Via ABC pic.twitter.com/rnoEG1ZYc5 — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 8, … Read More
Trump Formalizes Obstruction In Letter To Congress
He won’t cooperate, period. And now we are officially in a constitutional crisis. The missive sprawls over eight pages, but its message can be boiled down to just five words: You’re damn right we’re obstructing. I need to discuss the legal issues here — there are very few in this letter. They are tucked away in footnotes. And they are terrible. … Read More
Huge Win: NC Court Strikes Down GOP-Gerrymandered Districts; Orders New Map
In a 357-page decision, a unanimous three-judge panel on Tuesday ordered drawing of new legislative maps in North Carolina, ruling in Common Cause v. Lewis that the current maps constitute “extreme partisan gerrymandering” and violate three separate provisions of the state constitution. “The 2017 Enacted Maps, as drawn, do not permit voters to freely choose their representative, but rather representatives are … Read More
Emoluments Case Dismissed
The Fourth Circuit just sided with President Trump, dismissing a lawsuit claiming the president is illegally profiting from foreign and state government visitors at his luxury hotel in downtown Washington. The unanimous ruling is a victory for the president in a novel case brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia involving anti-corruption provisions in the … Read More
Breaking: Second Circuit Rules That Trump Cannot Block People On Twitter
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a New York judge’s ruling and found that Trump “engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by utilizing Twitter’s ‘blocking’ function to limit certain users’ access to his social media account, which is otherwise open to the public at large, because he disagrees with their speech.” “We hold that he engaged in such discrimination,” the ruling … Read More
Is It Constitutional Showdown Time?
Will we finally get the Constitutional showdown we’ve been waiting for? It’s obvious that Trump believes neither he not any of his underlings should deign to appear before another branch of the US government. Constitutional Republic? Pshaw. It’s Unitary Executive Time, Baby! The President gets to decide all by his-damned-self what counts as a “legitimate” investigation and what is a … Read More
Trump Meddled Again With DOJ Investigation
Just out from the NY Times: As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New … Read More
McCabe Told Gang of Eight About Counterintelligence Investigation Into Trump
I haven’t written much, if anything about former FBI director Andrew McCabe’s series interviews promoting his upcoming new book, but the big reveal from it all is that McCabe ordered a counterintelligence investigation into Trump early in the presidency. Not surprising in one sense, given Trump’s firing of James Comey, etc. But there was an interesting wrinkle to the story. … Read More
Document Dump: California v Trump Complaint
Filed yesterday in US District Court in San Francisco, seventeen states joined to bar Trump for using an emergency declaration to prevent Trump from diverting military funds to build his border wall. Paragraph 160 is where Trump’s own words are used against him.
The Latest Court Attack On Obamacare Could Backfire
The latest conservative challenge to the Affordable Care Act, in which the Trump administration has taken the position that the health care law’s protections for preexisting conditions are unconstitutional, is heading to the courtroom. Federal judge Reed O’Connor, who has ruled against Obamacare before, is set to hear oral arguments on Wednesday, September 5. Trump lawyers are arguing that Obamacare’s most popular provisions … Read More
CNN Sues Trump For Barring Jim Acosta
This is a fight that Trump probably wants, since the “Fake News” — in particular, CNN — is a punching bag he likes to use. CNN has filed a lawsuit against President Trump and several of his aides, seeking the immediate restoration of chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s access to the White House. The lawsuit is a response to … Read More