Three constitutional scholars invited by Democrats to testify at today’s impeachment hearings will say that President Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine for political gain clearly meet the historical definition of impeachable offenses, according to copies of their opening statements. The three law professors are appearing in the first impeachment hearing before the House Judiciary Committee as it kicks off a … Read More
SCOTUS Will Not Take Up Case Against Gun Manufacturer
In March, the Connecticut Supreme Court put the gun industry on notice: If you advertise your weapons as alluring tools for mass slaughter, you will face consequences—at least in this state. By a 4–3 vote, the court revived a lawsuit by the families of Sandy Hook victims alleging that Remington recklessly marketed its Bushmaster AR-15–style weapon for “illegal, offensive purposes,” contributing to … Read More
Barr Opens Criminal Investigation Into His Own DOJ’S Russia Investigation
Attorney General William Barr made it clear again on Thursday evening that he is the most dangerous man in America. The Department of Justice has reportedly moved beyond conducting an internal review of the origins of the Russia investigation and instead moved into a criminal investigation. A person familiar with the matter said the time span covered by the inquiry … Read More
Trump Lost Five Court Cases Yesterday
Here’s a brief breakdown of the five rulings — and one dissent: Tax returns — DC Circuit Court of Appeals In a 2-1 ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Trump’s attempt to stop his accounting firm, Mazars USA, from turning over eight years of financial records to House Democrats. It’s a major loss in … Read More
Trump Lawyers: The Unanimous Supreme Court During Watergate Was Wrong
Yes, L’Affaire Russe is still a thing. In fact, today the lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee were in court, trying to get the documents that Mueller submitted to the grand jury and which underlie the Mueller Report. The DOJ was, of course, trying to stop that from happening, even though this is precisely what happened under Nixon when Judge … Read More
Breaking: Manhattan Federal Judge Throws Out Trump Lawsuit Trying To Quash Subpoena For His Tax Returns
A federal judge just dismissed President Trump’s lawsuit seeking to block the Manhattan District Attorney from obtaining the president’s tax returns as part of an investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rejected Trump’s argument that the presidency makes him immune to any investigation by any prosecutor. In his 75-page ruling, Marrero called such a … Read More
Chaotic Lewandowsky Hearing Ends With Artful Cross-Examination
Jennifer Rubin explains Corey Lewandowski sneered and dodged and raised phony privileges when questioned by members of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. He did, however, make a fatal error (fatal to President Trump, that is) when he repeatedly said the White House had instructed him not to answer questions. After the hearing, Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) told CNN: “Article 3 of Nixon’s … Read More
Breaking: Emoluments Lawsuit Is Back, Baby
This emoluments-clause lawsuit against Trump — claiming he violates the Constitution by doing business with foreign governments — was dead. Now, it’s alive again, thanks to the Second Circuit. UPDATE: Hey, a bonus! Seth Rich lawsuit against Fox News also revived on appeal!
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
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
DOJ Swaps Out Lawyers In The Citizenship/Census Case
The Department of Justice switched up the team of lawyers representing the Trump administration in its push to get a citizenship question on the 2020 census, according to the Washington Post. The DOJ announced the decision in a statement after the Post asked the department about the move. A person familiar with the matter told the Post that some career lawyers … Read More
Trump Administration Flips Again On Citizenship Question As Lawyers Scramble For A Justification
The news Tuesday that the Trump Administration was giving up on adding a citizenship question to the census came as a surprise, it seems, to Trump, who tweeted a denial: And Trump’s assertion that the news was “fake” cam as a surprise to the judge overseeing the case, who was told differently. Justice Department lawyers told United States District Judge … Read More
Actually, It Seems The President IS Above The Law
It is worth noting that, while Attorney General Barr has apparently negotiated an agreement to provide the House Judiciary Committee with access to Robert Mueller’s “most important files” related to the obstruction inquiry, Trump’s lawyers continue to fight in court against the release of the president’s financial records. It is very likely that the latter poses the bigger threat to Trump, who has already … Read More
Can A Sitting President Be Indicted?
If there is one thing that Mueller highlighted in today’s press conference, it is that he would have indicted the president BUT FOR the DOJ policy of not indicting a sitting president. Those were not his exact words, but that was the import. But is that a correct interpretation of the policy? Well, here is the full text: But on … Read More
Breaking: Trump Now 0-2 In Getting Judges To Bock Subpoenas
Courthouse News: MANHATTAN (CN) – A federal judge refused President Donald Trump an injunction Wednesday in the subpoena fight over his personal and business bank records at Deutsche Bank and Capital One. A German lender in the swirl of a money laundering scandal, Deutsche has been identified as one of the few financial institutions willing to do business with Trump … Read More