Derek Reinbold ,  //  7/12/17  //  Daily Update

Donald Trump Jr. has released an email chain responding to an offer of Russian documents that “would incriminate Hillary” Clinton, prompting a wave of legal analysis as to the implications of his actions. The White House Panel on Voter Fraud has been hit with several lawsuits accusing it of violating federal privacy laws and operating in secrecy. Vice President Pence continues advocating for his prosecutorial policies. Questions about conflicts of interest plague President Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, Christopher Wray, and the upcoming nomination of a new Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

In response to an offer of Russian documents that “would incriminate Hillary” Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. said, “I love it.” (NYT).

• In the wake of the Times’s report, Trump Jr. published the full email chain and a statement (here and here).
• Rick Hasen unpacks FEC opinions and analyzes whether foreign solicitation and coordination claims against Trump Jr. are credible in a series of posts (here, here, here, here, and here).
• These emails and activities are not just a personal problem, they implicate the entire Trump campaign, argues Bob Bauer at Just Security.
• Jed Shugerman wrote two posts, concluding that Trump Jr. was criminally liable and that Kushner and Manafort were potentially further liable for misprision of a felony, then cautioning that opposition research may be protected speech.
• Mounting evidence of collusion makes the allegations of President Trump obstructing justice more damaging, writes Alex Whiting at Just Security.
• The most important question is what Russian lawyer Natalia Vesilnitskaya, who called the meeting, offered to Trump Jr., Kushner, and Manafort, write Rolf Mowatt-Larsen and Ryan Goodman at Just Security.
• Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (here) and the Federal Elections Commission (here) calling for an investigation of Trump Jr.’s acts (Common Cause).
• Investigators would probably have to do more to substantiate criminal charges, argue Matt Zapotosky and Ellen Nakashima at The Washington Post.

IMMIGRATION

Senior officials at DHS are floating a proposal that would require foreign students to reapply for permission to stay in the United States every year (WaPo).

CIVIL RIGHTS

The Human Rights Campaign announced a proactive grassroots expansion on the offensive against the Trump-Pence agenda (HRC).

DEMOCRACY

The White House Panel on Voter Fraud has been hit with mutliple lawsuits over the last week accusing it of violating federal privacy laws and illegally operating in secret (NYT).

• The focus of the DOJ with regard to voter data is to pressure states to take more people off the rolls, writes Tierney Sneed for Talking Points Memo.

A group of Twitter users blocked by President Trump sued him and two top White House aides claiming President Trump’s twitter feed is a public forum (NYT, Ars Technica).

• The complaint can be found here.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at a DARE Training Conference about drug issues and federal prosecutorial policies (DOJ Justice News).

The United States Sentencing Commission released a new publication that examines the use of mandatory minimum penalties and the impact of those penalties on the federal prison population (United States Sentencing Commission).

• Read the full report here. 

President Trump’s advisers have recruited two businessmen, posing potential conflicts of interest, to devise options for the war in Afghanistan (NYT).

The Trump Administration has discouraged government agencies from using a leading Russian cybersecurity firm’s software amidst fears that the firm’s products could serve as a Trojan horse for the Kremlin’s hackers (Politico, The Hill).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

With the imminent retirement of Walter Schaub, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, President Trump will decide the identity of the next ethics chief (The Hill).

Questions about Christopher Wray’s ability to be resistant to political pressures are expected to dominate his FBI Director Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday (WaPo).

 The Global Anticorruption Blog released its July update tracking corruption and conflicts of interest in the Trump Administration (Global Anticorruption Blog).

REGULATION

A proposed CMS rule would eliminate an Obama-era regulation banning pre-dispute arbitration for nursing home residents might lead to fewer nurses and worse care, argues Nicholas Bagley at Take Care.

Randal Quarles, President Trump’s nominee to be the Federal Reserve Vice Chairman of Supervision, will need to create consensus around changes to provisions like the Volcker Rule, writes Gina Chon at NYT Dealbook.

The House of Representatives and the Trump Administration filed briefs opposing a motion by State Attorneys General to intervene in House v. Price (Health Affairs).

• The House of Representatives brief can be found here.
• The Trump Administration brief can be found here.

 The Trump Administration is reconsidering Obama-era penalties for automakers that violate fuel efficiency standards (The Hill).

RULE OF LAW 

Defenses of President Trump—whether in the travel ban litigation or the emoluments cases—has not been “presidential,” argues Leah Litman at Take Care.

CHECKS & BALANCES

President Trump has a big opportunity to reshape the federal judiciary and has already started shifting courts rightward, write Paul Barrett and David Ingold at Bloomberg News.