Abigail DeHart, Ian Eppler  //  8/8/18  //  Daily Update

Asylum seekers filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others for recent policy changes that restrict asylum claims based on domestic or gang violence. Kris Kobach used flawed research to defend President Trump's voter fraud panel. Two former Trump campaign aides have set up a new foreign lobbying firm, and their first client is a Russian-backed Serbian nationalist political party. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai acknowledged that he had falsely claimed that a cyberattack targeted the agency’s public comment system during the net neutrality repeal debate, but blamed the falsehood on the Obama administration. A draft Inspector General report states that the administrator of the General Service Administration misled Congress about the White House’s involvement in a decision to cancel the construction of a new headquarters for the FBI.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

The trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort continued with further testimony from his deputy, Rick Gates.

• Gates testified that he and Manafort used shell companies and fake invoices in order to launder money and avoid taxes (NYTimes, The Hill, WSJ).
• On cross-examination, Gates admitted that he embezzled money from Manafort to fund a transatlantic affair (Politico, WaPo).

The federal investigation into former Trump attorney Michael Cohen includes an investigation into potential tax fraud by Cohen, report Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Nicole Hong in the Wall Street Journal.

IMMIGRATION

A new Government Accountability Office report finds that President Trump’s border wall could cost more and take a longer than expected (WaPo).

• The report can be found here.

Asylum seekers filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others for recent policy changes that restrict asylum claims based on domestic or gang violence (ACLU; NYTimes; WaPo).

• The complaint can be accessed here. 

In a hearing about California’s border wall challenge, a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit questioned whether DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has the broad authority to waive all laws to expedite constructing sections of border wall (AP News).

Challenges for and against DACA are ongoing and the program still hangs in the balance, writes David Hausman on the ACLU Blog.

The Trump administration's push to prioritize prosecuting illegal border crossers has reduced prosecutions for other crimes (ImmigrationProf Blog).

• A more detailed report can be found here.

DEMOCRACY

Kris Kobach used flawed research to defend President Trump's voter fraud panel, say election specialists interviewed by The Washington Post.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

If President Trump is to improve U.S.-Russia relations, any nuclear deal in full should be contained in a treaty subject to the advice and consent of the US Senate, argues Dakota S. Rudesill on Just Security.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Two former Trump campaign aides have set up a new foreign lobbying firm. Its first client is a Russian-backed Serbian nationalist political party (The Hill).

REGULATION 

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to roll back restrictions on the use of asbestos (Newsweek).

The Trump administration has issued guidance encouraging states to take over certain environmental permitting powers related to bodies of water that had previously been handled by the federal government (The Hill).

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai acknowledged that he had falsely claimed that a cyberattack targeted the agency’s public comment system during the net neutrality repeal debate, but blamed the falsehood on the Obama administration (Ars Technica).

Large corporations have been able to absorb the impact of new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, but small businesses are struggling, reports Ruth Simon in the Wall Street Journal.

California environmental regulators released a report sharply criticizing the Trump administration’s arguments for rescinding the state’s waiver to set environmental regulations and fuel economy standards for automobiles (NYTimes).

The recent rollback of auto fuel economy standards is appropriate, because the Obama administration’s repurposing of the standards as an anti-climate change measure reflected a misuse of the program, contends Peter Van Doren at Cato@Liberty.

RULE OF LAW

A draft Inspector General report states that the administrator of the General Service Administration misled Congress about the White House’s involvement in a decision to cancel the construction of a new headquarters for the FBI, reports Jonathan O’Connell in the Washington Post.

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