Jacqueline Sahlberg  //  8/16/18  //  Daily Update

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services allegedly coordinated with ICE to alert the agency when certain immigrants eligible for deportation showed up for visa interviews. President Trump stripped Ex-C.I.A. Director John Brennan’s Security Clearance. The Trump Administration has sought to “censor, misrepresent, and otherwise stifle science” over 150 times, with over three-quarters of the attacks aimed at climate science. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly investigated cyberattacks on a Democratic candidate seeking to challenge an incumbent Republican Representative. President Trump has reversed an Obama-era memorandum that governed U.S. cyberattacks and is seeking to relax the rules. A Hatch Act violation may have occurred when the Treasury Department retweeted President Trump’s celebration of the election “Red Wave.”

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

President Trump’s lawyers are preparing to oppose a potential subpoena from Mueller and have said they are prepared to fight a subpoena in the courts (WashPo).

Paul Manafort’s trial is now in the jury’s hands (NYTimes, WashPo, Hill, WSJ).

IMMIGRATION 

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services allegedly coordinated with ICE to alert the agency when certain immigrants eligible for deportation showed up for visa interviews (WashPo).

A Senate investigation concluded that the Department of Health and Human Services failed to adequately keep an eye on unaccompanied migrant children’s well-being once they leave government custody (WashPo).

Facing uncertainty, a study shows that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals has been good for recipients, the U.S. Economy, and society, writes Tom Wong for the Center for American Progress.

• The study also showed that majority of DACA recipients worry daily about deportation (NBC).

Between October and December of 2017, the Office of Refugee Resettlement removed its staff directory from its website, notes Aaron Lemelin at the Sunlight Foundation.

DEMOCRACY 

President Trump stripped Ex-C.I.A. Director John Brennan’s Security Clearance (NYTimes, WashPo, WSJ).

• President Trump’s statement is available here.
• The Trump administration listed nine additional critics of the government who may lose their security clearances (WashPo).
• In a tweet, Brennan called the action “part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics.”

The Trump Administration has sought to “censor, misrepresent, and otherwise stifle science” over 150 times, with over three-quarters of the attacks aimed at climate science, write Romany Webb and Lauren Kurtz at Climate Law Blog.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly investigated cyberattacks on a Democratic candidate seeking to challenge an incumbent Republican Representative (Hill, Rolling Stone). 

President Trump and Senator McConnell are reshaping the federal judiciary, with 24 appellate judges already sworn in to office (WashPo).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

President Trump has reversed an Obama-era memorandum that governed U.S. cyberattacks and is seeking to relax the rules (WSJ).

The analytical moves needed for an originalist to justify the constitutionality of Space Force render originalism indistinguishable from living Constitutionalism, argues Michael Dorf at Dorf on Law. 

The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson is under investigation for allegedly mistreating employees (WashPo). 

After an airstrike in Yemen killed dozens of children, the Trump administration is facing pressure to explain and possibly alter its support for nations waging war there (WashPo).

RULE OF LAW           

President Trump’s use of executive power to sabotage Obamacare is illegal, write Nicholas Bagley and Abbe Gluck for the NYTimes.

Findings suggest that special interest groups, foreign governments, and foreign-government tied groups have patronized Trump properties and sought White House influence, write Sam Desai and Ally Johnson at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

A Hatch Act violation may have occurred when the Treasury Department retweeted President Trump’s celebration of the election “Red Wave” (CNBC, Hill).

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