Lark Turner, Ian Eppler  //  7/10/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit weighed in on Hawaii’s most recent challenge to President Trump’s revised travel ban. Hawaii then filed a new motion before Judge Watson. Criticism continues of the Pence-Kobach “Election Integrity” commission. EPA has asked the D.C. Circuit to stay its ruling requiring the agency to enforce an Obama-era rule on methane emissions. It has been reported that, during the campaign, Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a lawyer linked to the Russian government who promised to provide negative information on Hillary Clinton.

IMMIGRATION

D-Hawaii Judge Derrick Watson punts Hawaii’s motion for clarification on EO ruling to SCOTUS; the Ninth Circuit punts it back (NYT, Politico, Lawfare).

• Read the district court’s initial order here.
• Read the Ninth Circuit opinion here.
• The Volokh Conspiracy’s Ilya Somin analyzes the rulings here and here.
• Dorf on Law considers Judge Watson’s position here.
• Read Hawaii’s renewed motion before Judge Watson here.

An immigrant crime wave probably doesn’t exist, writes Alex Nowrasteh at the Cato Institute.

ICE’s internal deportation policies may be harsher than either President Trump’s EO or DHS’s public guidelines (ProPublica).

DEMOCRACY

President Trump’s “Election Integrity” Commission is neither necessary nor bipartisan, write Danielle Lang and Samir Sheth for Take Care.

• Hundreds of voters in Colorado and Florida have cancelled their registration out of fear that their information will be turned over to the commission.
• In the New York Times, Michael Wines and Rachel Shorey analyze why even many Republican officials have refused to provide data to the commission.
• A federal district court in DC heard oral arguments on whether the commission’s data request should be enjoined.

In overruling the EDPA, the Third Circuit correctly protects citizens’ First Amendment right to record police, writes Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy.

• Read the decision here.

President Trump’s campaign trail comments should be held to a different defamation standard, argues his personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz (WaPo).

• Read Kasowitz’s filing here.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Why the former Surgeon Generals’ call to ban involuntary surgery on intersex babies matters, as viewed through refugee law (Take Care).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

What the U.S. might learn from Jordan’s approach to jihadists (Lawfare).

Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall tells SCOTUS not to review Michigan sex offender ruling (Sentencing Law and Policy).

• Read the SG’s amicus brief here.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Jared Kushner’s investment in the real estate tech startup Cadre raises concerns about conflicts of interest, argue Walker Davis and Katie Zumalt-Rogers of CREW.

In a television appearance, former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub described the fraught relations between the office and the White House (Politico).

REGULATION

The Environmental Protection Agency asked the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to stay its ruling requiring the agency to enforce an Obama-era rule on methane emissions (The Hill).

The Department of the Treasury has announced plans to revise eight Obama-era tax regulations (The Hill).

The Department of Labor is likely to remove enforcement provisions from the Obama-era “fiduciary rule” on retirement savings (WSJ).

Despite the Trump administration’s climate change skepticism, the administration may have endorsed action on climate change by signing onto a joint statement at the G-20 summit, notes Dan Farber at Legal Planet.

RULE OF LAW

Christopher Wray, President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, is an apolitical “workhorse,” write Aruna Viswanatha and Del Quentin Wilber in the Wall Street Journal.

CNN may face “regulatory retaliation” for news coverage that President Trump dislikes, suggests Walter Olson at Cato@Liberty.

The Secret Service’s decision to question Kathy Griffin regarding a controversial photo shoot involving a simulated beheading of President Trump may have been politically motivated, argues Gerard Magliocca at Concurring Opinions.

CHECKS & BALANCES

Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit will be stepping down, giving President Trump his first opportunity to appoint a judge to the significant DC Circuit (Buzzfeed, WSJ).

• Jonathan Adler speculates on potential nominees at The Volokh Conspiracy.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

During the campaign, Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a lawyer linked to the Russian government who promised to provide negative information on Hillary Clinton (NYT, WaPo).

• Over the past few days, Trump Jr. has given differing statements about this meeting to the New York Times.
• Callum Borchers of the Washington Post argues that Trump Jr.’s latest statement to the New York Times was “incriminating.”
• Trump Jr.’s denials of wrongdoing are closer to confessions, writes Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine.
• This meeting may have violated a federal law prohibiting campaigns from soliciting things of value from foreign nationals, suggests Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog.

In a Sunday morning tweet, President Trump claimed that he “strongly pressed” President Vladimir Putin on election interference during a meeting between the two at the G-20 Summit, but that it is “time to move forward” (NYT, The Hill, WaPo).

• President Trump also claimed on Twitter that he discussed forming a joint cyber security unit with with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
• But members of Congress, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), criticized the proposal.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has submitted a proposed budget for his investigation, but it will not be made public (WaPo).