A federal judge is once again standing in the way of Donald Trump’s illegal orders—this time his proclamation blocking people who cross the southern border between ports of entry from applying for asylum: “Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Tigar wrote in his opinion. … Read More
Are We Overly-Concerned About Whitaker?
Whitaker as Trump’s new Attorney General. Yes, there is cause for concern since he is a Trump loyalist, but I may be in the minority here in thinking that it is not the “red alert” that others make it to be. Here’s why: (1) Opining on TV and print about how the Mueller investigation could or should be curtailed is … Read More
Breaking: Attorney General Sessions Resigns (at President Trump’s Request)
Interesting. It’s not dated. ….We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018 Matthew Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will be the Acting Attorney General of the United States. … Read More
The Watergate Road Map
The Jaworski “Road Map,” the last great still-secret Watergate document, became public Wednesday when the National Archives released it under Judge Howell’s ruling from earlier this month. It sees the light of day for the first time in four and a half decades at a remarkable moment, one in which a different special prosecutor is considering the conduct of a different president and … Read More
The Kavanaugh Hearings Are A Foregone Conclusion
This is Day 3 of the Senate Judiciary Hearings on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. And I am despondent and depressed about it. Why? Because it seems to me a done deal. And a rigged one, almost as bad as the Merrick Garland debacle. The Republicans are withholding thousands of documents and emails from the … Read More
Breaking: Senate Confirms Benczkowski to Justice Department And He Could Decide Fate Of Russia Investigation
On purely partisan lines (Manchin broke Dem ranks; McCain unable to vote), the Senate has just confirmed a top Justice Department official who could help oversee the Trump-Russia investigation, despite his own troubling connections to Russia and his close ties to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Brian Benczkowski, a former Senate aide to Sessions, will now lead the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, a job … Read More
Trump Administration Can’t Reunify Families It Broke Apart
NBC: The Justice Department asked a federal judge this afternoon to extend the court mandated deadlines for reuniting nearly 3,000 migrant children who were separated from their parents while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Attorneys for the U.S. government claimed the court mandate for returning all children under age 5 to their parents by July 10 and all other children by July 26 does not … Read More
We Are Fucked: Kennedy Is Retiring
NBC: Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced Wednesday that he will retire when his successor is confirmed, preparing the way for the most significant change in the court’s makeup in half a century. The vacancy will allow President Donald Trump to make the U.S. Supreme court a solidly conservative body for years, if not generations, to come — a … Read More
Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration To Reunite Famiiles
Last night, a federal judge in San Diego granted a preliminary injunction requested by the American Civil Liberties Union. Judge Dana M. Sabraw ordered that all families separated at the border by the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy be reunited within 30 days, 14 days for children under 5. Parents must be allowed to speak to their children by phone within 10 … Read More
What’s The Strategy Relating To A Possible Mueller Subpoena? [UPDATE: Ty Cobb Out As Trump Lawyer]
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has threatened to subpoena the president’s testimony in the Russia probe: In a tense meeting in early March with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, President Trump’s lawyers insisted he had no obligation to talk with federal investigators probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. But Mueller responded that he … Read More
Now You’re Talking My Language
Trump takes a foray into legal argument: “The questions are an intrusion into the President’s Article 2 powers under the Constitution to fire any Executive Branch Employee…what the President was thinking is an outrageous…..as to the President’s unfettered power to fire anyone…” Joe Digenova, former US Attorney — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2018 Yeah, he’s actually quoting his … Read More
Breaking: Bill Cosby Guilty
BREAKING: Bill Cosby found guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault of Andrea Constand pic.twitter.com/exJ0dSwil9 — MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 26, 2018 BREAKING: Bill Cosby lashes out at prosecutor in expletive-laden tirade in courtroom after conviction in sexual assault retrial. — The Associated Press (@AP) April 26, 2018 During court discussion on whether Bill Cosby is flight risk, prosecutor … Read More
That Was Quick
Government lawyers are using Trump’s self-damaging rant on Fox & Friends this morning to argue that very few documents seized from Cohen will have little attorney-client privilege because — according to Trump — Cohen does “a tiny tiny little fraction” of legal work for him. (See page 4, footnote 3)
Kimba Wood SDNY Court: Live Tweets Revealing Sean Hannity
McKay noted that Cohen refused to disclose the third client’s name under seal. “If he can’t disclose the client name, even to the court under seal…” McKay asks how the government can contest an overbroad claim of privilege. — Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 16, 2018 Cohen’s other attorney Steve Ryan says the third client is a “publicly prominent individual,” and … Read More
Breaking: FBI Raids Trump Lawyer’s Office
New York Times: The F.B.I. on Monday raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, seizing records related to several topics including payments to a pornographic-film actress. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrant after receiving a referral from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, according to Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, who called the search … Read More