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Karen Kadish  //  8/3/18  //  Daily Update

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The ACLU and two other organizations have filed a lawsuit alleging that immigrants in detention centers are being denied basic food, health care, and religious freedom, in violation of their constitutional rights. A major Trump donor agreed to pay Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, ten million dollars if he secured funding for the donor’s nuclear-power project. White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, refused to disavow President Trump’s statements claiming that journalists are “the enemy of the people.” The EPA is proposing a new regulation that would freeze current emissions requirements until 2025. National security officials are taking the Russian threat to U.S. elections seriously and vow to protect the 2018 elections in language that contrasts to the President's less decisive words on the subject.

 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

Lawfare gives a new analysis of the Russia investigation.

A campaign lawyer should have advised the Trump campaign not to meet with a Russian government delegation, and could have helped avoid allegations of collusion, writes Bob Bauer at Lawfare.

Paul Manafort’s trial continues this week.

• Prosecutors are planning to call Rick Gates, a former business partner of Manafort, to testify against Manafort. (Reuters)
• Prosecutors will also call Manafort’s long-time bookkeeper. (WaPo)

A D.C. district judge rejected the challenge to Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel, writes Steven Schwinn at Constitutional Law Prof Blog.

 

IMMIGRATION

The ACLU and two other organizations have filed a lawsuit alleging that immigrants in detention centers are being denied basic food, health care, and religious freedom, in violation of their constitutional rights (The Hill).

Ivanka Trump declared that she is “vehemently against family separation” (NYT).

An immigration lawyer describes the process of reunifying detained families and the uncertain prospects that immigrant families are facing, reports Ashley Fetters in an interview with attorney Morgan Weibel at The Atlantic.

 

CIVIL RIGHTS

President Trump told a group of inner-city pastors that the Trump administration is working to get the First Step Act, an act focused on helping former inmates reintegrate into their communities after being released from prison, through congress (Sentencing Law and Policy).

 

DEMOCRACY 

The proposal to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census could lead to less representation for populous states and big cities where there are higher numbers of immigrants without status, writes Emily Badger at The New York Times.

 

JUSTICE AND SAFETY

The Treasury Department announced that it is putting sanctions on two Turkish officials responsible for the detention of an American pastor (Religious Clause).

 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

A major Trump donor agreed to pay Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, ten million dollars if he secured funding for the donor’s nuclear-power project, report Michael Rothfeld, Rabecca Ballhous, and Joe Palazzolo at The Wall Street Journal.

 

REGULATION 

The Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coates, gave written testimony to Congress saying that climate change poses a risk to national security (Legal Planet).

The EPA is proposing a new regulation that would freeze current emissions requirements until 2025 (NYT; Legal Planet).

• The agency’s reasoning is that higher costs force people to keep older cars for longer, leading to increased safety risks for drivers. (ArsTechnica)
• Experts are skeptical of the EPA’s reasoning. (NYT)

OMB has proposed a Government Effectiveness Advanced Research (GEAR) center aimed at improving the administration of the federal government, writes Emily Bremmer at Notice and Comment.

The Trump administration has said that it will move forward with tariffs against Canadian newsprint, reports Catie Edmonson at New York Times.

 

RULE OF LAW

White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, refused to disavow President Trump’s statements claiming that journalists are “the enemy of the people” (NYT).

• Ivanka Trump, however, did publicly disagree with President Trump on this point (NYT).

 

CHECKS AND BALANCES

Versus Trump discusses an executive order that changes the rules for hiring administrative law judges in order to give the President more control over ALJs.

• The executive order, issued on July 10, 2018, is available here.

 

FEDERALISM

The Trump administration is proposing to revoke California’s waiver to set fuel economy and emissions standards that are more stringent than the federal standards (Legal Planet).

 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Hackers influence American politics by creating fake users who coordinate with real activists to create events or make other moves that sow discord in American political movements, explain Kate Conger and Charlie Savage at The New York Times. 

National security officials are taking the Russian threat to U.S. elections seriously and vow to protect the 2018 elections in language that contrasts to the President's less decisive words on the subject, writes Michael D. Shear at The New York Times.

 

Tags:

Immigration Rule of Law Conflicts Checks & Balances Federalism Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety Russian Interference

 

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