Rachel Chung  //  12/5/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court allowed the third travel ban to take effect while legal challenges against it are pending. Commentators on both sides of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission weigh in before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments today. President Trump seriously shrunk two Utah national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, marking the largest reduction of public lands in U.S. history. President Trump fully endorsed Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race. President Trump’s outside lawyer, John Dowd, said in an interview that the President, by definition, cannot obstruct justice “because he is the chief law enforcement officer." New information and commentary on possible Russian interference in the 2016 election continues in the wake of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s guilty plea.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

President Trump’s outside lawyer, John Dowd, said in an interview that the President, by definition, cannot obstruct justice “because he is the chief law enforcement officer” (Axios).

• The claim sparked swift rebuttal from commentators (NYT, WaPo).
• Congress’ power to impeach for “high crimes and misdemeanors” applies both to crimes and to some non-criminal acts, and Comey’s firing is both, argues Jed Shugerman at Shugerblog.
• Though Trump is not the first sitting President to face obstruction charges, Dowd is the only presidential lawyer to argue the office is above the law (Just Security).
• The remark helps lay the groundwork for a possible effort to stop the Mueller investigation (WaPo).

New information and commentary on possible Russian interference in the 2016 election continues in the wake of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s guilty plea.

• President Trump and White House Counsel Donald McGahn knew in late January that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had likely given the FBI the same inaccurate account he gave Vice President Pence about a call with the Russian ambassador (WaPo).
• An email from former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland contradicts her earlier testimony before Congress (NYT).
• The President criticized the FBI for allegedly unequal treatment of Flynn and HIllary Clinton, claiming that Clinton lied repeatedly to the agency without consequence whereas Flynn’s lie “ruined his life” (The Guardian, NYT).
• Initial damage control efforts by White House aides ultimately made the story worse (WaPo).
• The view that Flynn’s guilty plea means special prosecutor Robert Mueller knows something bigger is legitimate but limited (Just Security).
• The Kremlin vehemently denied that Flynn persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin not to retaliate for sanctions issued by President Obama (WaPo).
• The Trump team has a real problem under the Logan Act, which makes it a crime for a U.S. citizen unauthorized by the government to communicate with foreign officials in an effort to “defeat the measures of the United States” (NYT). 

IMMIGRATION

The Supreme Court allowed the third travel ban to take effect while legal challenges against it are pending (NYT, Reuters, AP, The Hill, WaPo).

• The Supreme Court issued two brief, unsigned orders, here and here.
• A summary of the orders is here.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Commentators on both sides of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission weigh in before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments today (Take Care, The New Republic, NYT, WaPo, WaPo, Politico, National Review).

• Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips offered his own perspective (USAToday).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The U.S. and South Korea began an annual war drill on the Korean peninsula intended to develop interoperability between the countries’ air forces, less than a week after North Korea tested its most advanced missile (WSJ, CNN).

A State Department official defended Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s August decision to close the office of the cybersecurity coordinator, insisting that cybersecurity is still a priority in the Department (The Hill).

REGULATION

President Trump seriously shrunk two Utah national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, marking the largest reduction of public lands in U.S. history (WaPo).

• A legal fight over the Antiquities Act, which grants the presidential power to designate national monuments, is looming (The Hill).

As the tax bill neared passage, Republicans made a concerted effort to undermine the agency responsible for conducting a required consideration of the bill’s full cost (NYT).

• The bill’s process demonstrates that Republicans have abandoned any pretence of decency or honesty, contends Neil H. Buchanan at Dorf on Law.

Regardless of the merits of the FCC’s planned net neutrality rollback, Chairman Ajit Pai’s decision to publish the draft text of the proposed rule change is admirable, notes Chris Walker at Notice & Comment.

Consumer advocacy groups and New York City urged the FCC to delay the rollback vote, arguing that pending litigation could result in a massive regulatory gap (ArsTechnica).

Environmental and health groups sued the Administration after the EPA missed a major Clean Air Act deadline that requires the agency to report which areas of the country are non-compliant with ozone standards (The Hill).

The Trump Administration will reverse an Obama-era regulation that prohibits employers from pooling workers tips, allowing tip pooling between tipped workers who make full minimum wage and tipped workers (The Hill).

RULE OF LAW

President Trump’s reaction to the acquittal of an undocumented immigrant in the shooting death of Kate Steinle reflects hostility to our justice system’s principled inquiry into the truth, argues David Sklansky at Take Care.

President Trump fully endorsed Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race (NYT).

• The President’s endorsement came hours before a woman shared new evidence of a relationship with Moore when she was 17 and he was 34 (WaPo).
• Polls, previous unofficial support, the tax bill, and cues from Senate Republicans may explain why Trump abandoned his earlier efforts to keep a safe distance from Moore (WaPo).

If a defamation suit in New York state court proceeds, President Trump could be called to testify--in which case the shadow of President Bill Clinton’s misleading testimony, which led to his impeachment, will loom (WaPo).

CHECKS & BALANCES

President Trump will meet with top Congressional leaders on Thursday, just a day before the shutdown deadline, to discuss a year-end spending agreement (WaPo).