Ari Hoffman, Raquel Dominguez  //  8/4/17  //  Daily Update

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury in Washington D.C. in relation to the Russia probe. Two bipartisan pairs of Senators have proposed legislation to limit President Trump’s ability to fire Robert Mueller. In a phone call in January with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, President Trump asked the Mexican President to stop refuting claims that Mexico would pay for the wall. Supporters and critics of President Trump continue to react to Attorney General Jeff Session’s new focus on affirmative action. Democrats and Republicans at finding common ground despite ideological differences on a number of issues.

PODCAST

The latest episode of Versus Trump features an interview with Toby Merrill, the director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard Law School, about several lawsuits she's involved with against newly-confirmed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury in Washington D.C. in relation to the Russia probe (WSJ).

Two bipartisan pairs of Senators have proposed legislation to limit President Trump’s ability to fire Robert Mueller (WaPo).

• There may be a glitch in one of the bills, argues Charlie Gerstein at Take Care.
• Congress could codify existing special counsel regulations, argues Rick Pildes at Lawfare.
• The two bills can be found here.

Several legal issues are invoked by the recent sanctions legislation reluctantly signed by President Trump as well as his attached signing statement, argues Richard Epstein at Just Security.

• The signing statement is available here.

IMMIGRATION

In a phone call in January with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, President Trump asked the Mexican President to stop refuting claims that Mexico would pay for the wall, explaining that while the wall was not an important economic issue it did matter “psychologically” (WaPo, NYT, LA Times, CNN).

• The full transcript of the call (and another call with the Prime Minister of Australia) can be found here.
• Violating norms of confidentiality could have lasting repercussions on American democracy, warns David Frum at The Atlantic.
• Paul Rosenzweig also condemns the leaks at LawFare.
• President Trump also pressued Prime Minister Turnbull about refugees Australia turned away (NYT).

Stephen Miller, a political advisor to President Trump, struggled with reporters during a press briefing on the RAISE Act (NYT, Politico Magazine).

• Alex Nowrasteh asserts that Stephen Miller relies on faulty economic research in defense of President Trump’s immigration plan at the Cato Institute.
• The RAISE Act has incongruous details, illustrates David Bier at the Cato Institute.

The Department of Justice has sent letters to four cities, saying that they will be ineligible for federal funding unless they give federal officials access to detention facilities (Hill).

Immigration detention, as shown by visitation patterns, may perpetuate inequality in immigrant communities, shows a new study by Caitlin Patler and Nicholas Branic published in the Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Supporters and critics of President Trump continue to react to Attorney General Jeff Session’s new focus on affirmative action (WaPo).

• Sherrilyn A. Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,  writes that affirmative action is necessary for racial justice at the New York Times.
• Deborah N. Archer explains why admissions processes should consider race.

A review of executive branch actions since the inauguration show a pernicious anti-LGBTQ campaign on behalf of the Trump Administration, argues Marci A. Hamilton at Verdict.

SAFETY AND JUSTICE

The State Department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs has declared that the executive branch has broad powers under AUMF in a letter to Senator Bob Corker, explains Rita Siemion at Just Security.

• As noted yesterday, the letter can be found here. 

National security advisor General H.R. McMaster’s ousting of Ezra Cohen-Watnick, an aide on the National Security Council, raises questions about tension between McMaster and Bannon (WaPo, Fox).

McMaster also dismissed reports of wrongdoing by Susan Rice, his predecessor in the Obama administration (Hill).

Vice President Mike Pence rejected the possibility of the United States holding direct talks with North Korea (WSJ).

• The State Department has banned travel to North Korea on a United States passport starting September 1.

President Trump may have ruffled feathers in a meeting with Generals, during which he declared that the United States is losing the war in Afghanistan (NBC).

• Sune Engel Rasmussen argues that the United States cannot win in Afghanistan at The Guardian

Pulling transgender military service members out of duty would disrupt military readiness, contends Brenda Fulton at Just Security.

A new Lawfare poll shows surprisingly little American confidence in the federal government’s ability to protect national security.

It is chilling that police officers laughed and applauded at President Trump’s police-roughing-up-suspects joke, argues Christopher Wright Durocher at the ACS Blog.

REGULATION

The D.C. Circuit made it harder for Trump to stop cost-sharing payments by allowing states to intervene in House v. Price, argues Nick Bagley at Take Care.

RULE OF LAW

Democrats and Republicans have begun working together on health care (NYT).

• Democrats and Republicans at finding common ground despite ideological differences on a number of issues, argues Linda Greenhouse at the New York Times.

Criminal-justice reform will proceed despite opposition from the White House and the Department of Justice, argues Ed Kilgore at New York Magazine.

President Trump’s trans ban is bad for military readiness, argues Brenda S. “Sue” Fulton at Just Security.

CHECKS & BALANCES

There are a number of legal issues surrounding the shut down of the “covert” program to arm Syrian rebels, argues Marty Lederman at Just Security.