Zak Lutz  //  8/29/18  //  Daily Update

Paul Manafort’s defense team was unable to reach a deal with prosecutors regarding his upcoming trial. President Trump hosted a dinner with evangelical leaders and touted his efforts to limit both funding for abortion providers and LGBT+ rights. House Democrats pushed Betsy DeVos to clarify that federal school funding cannot go towards purchasing firearms. Instagram today announced a new policy for combating fake news, and at Facebook, more than 100 employees accused the company of an intolerant liberal culture. A new provision in the National Defense Authorization Act may improve how the government deals with civilian casualties in a handful of ways. The State Department decided not to roll back foreign aid funds, as it had previously considered, after bipartisan resistance.

TRUMP: LITIGATION AND INVESTIGATIONS

Paul Manafort’s defense team was unable to reach a deal with prosecutors regarding his upcoming trial (WSJ).

• The discussed deals may not have involved cooperating with Robert Mueller (Politico).
• Mueller’s team expects a short trial (Politico).

The judge delayed opening statements in the second Manafort trial by one week (The Hill, Politico, WaPo).

• Manafort did not attend preliminary hearings (Politico).

President Trump may have to release his tax returns to disprove a set of crimes, making the formerly political issue into a legal one, argues Neil H. Buchanan at Dorf on Law.  

Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis claimed he was the source for the CNN story saying that President Trump knew about the scandalous Trump Tower meeting; Davis later recanted his story (Buzzfeed). 

• The various Cohen claims have questionable validity, argues the WSJ Editorial Board.
• House Democrats have requested a Justice Department briefing regarding Cohen (Politico).

The Rudy Giuliani defense strategy is arguably brilliant or “untethered,” reports the NYT.

CIVIL RIGHTS 

President Trump hosted a dinner with evangelical leaders and touted his efforts to limit both funding for abortion providers and LGBT+ rights (WaPo, Religion Clause). 

In light of President Trump’s recent nominees, the PCLOB should consider reforming its agenda and redefining its mission, argues Jake Laperruque at Lawfare.

House Democrats pushed Betsy DeVos to clarify that federal school funding cannot go towards purchasing firearms (WaPo).

DEMOCRACY

President Trump said he will deal with Google’s “suppressing” of conservative news, claiming the practice was illegal (Ars Technica, Reason, WaPo, WSJ).

• Presidential Advisor Larry Kudlow confirmed that the administration is looking at possible policy changes (WaPo, LAT).
• Analysis for how the Trump Administration could regulate Google is available here (Politico).
• Senator Wyden argued that internet companies should self-regulate against “indecent” ideas, such as genocide (Reason).

Instagram today announced a new policy for combating fake news (The Hill), and at Facebook, more than 100 employees accused the company of an intolerant liberal culture (NYT).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

A new provision in the National Defense Authorization Act may improve how the government deals with civilian casualties in a handful of ways, argues Joanna Naples-Mitchell in Just Security.

The Trump Administration has failed to deal with the Myanmar human crisis--refugees currently have more difficulty coming to America than military abusers, argues Benjamin Haas in Just Security.

• The Trump Administration is breaking international law in relation to Myanmar, argues the New York Times Editorial Board.

It’s unclear if President Trump has actually revoked John Brennan’s security clearance (Politico).

• The White House later responded saying the paperwork has simply been delayed (WaPo).

More prosecutions are needed to fight the opioid crisis, argues Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the New York Times.

• Those exact policies that haven’t been working, responded Sentencing Law and Policy.

The State Department decided not to roll back foreign aid funds, as it had previously considered, after bipartisan resistance (WaPo).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

President Trump privately revived the idea of firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month (WaPo).

While the FCC watchdog cleared Ajit Pai of any favoritism yesterday, Jared Kushner called Pai about a still-undisclosed subject (Politico).

REGULATION

The Trump Administration’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule should be judged by understanding that the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan is not in effect, argues Richard J. Pierce, Jr. at The Regulatory Review.

The proposed EPA regulations cross the “regulatory divide” and allow for cost-benefit analyses that everyone can support, argues Paul R. Noe at The Regulatory Review.

RULE OF LAW

Democratic control of the House is necessary to perform investigations to return to the rule of law, argues Michelle Goldberg in the New York Times.

The Trump Administration’s rhetoric about immigration has fueled the response to Mollie Tibbetts’ death and undermined the rule of law, argues David Leonhardt in the New York Times.

President Trump has undermined constitutional law by declaring things he disagrees with are uniformly “illegal,” argues Dana Milbank in the Washington Post.

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