Derek Reinbold , Rachel Chung  //  7/25/17  //  Daily Update

A federal district court refuses to halt the Election Integrity Commission’s requests to states for certain voter data. Massachusetts’ highest court rules that the federal government cannot ask the state to detain individuals solely to enforce federal immigration law. President Trump’s attorneys ask the Sixth Circuit to halt a pending case against him arising from his conduct at a campaign rally. And the New York Times reports on a Clinton-era memo arguing that a sitting President may, in fact, be criminally indicted.

RULE OF LAW

If Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigns, there are three scenarios for his succession at the Department of Justice, each with very different implications for special counsel Robert Mueller, notes Steve Vladeck at Just Security.

“It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties” — so notes a legal memo prepared by independent counsel Kenneth Starr during his investigation into President Clinton (NYT).

• The prospect of indictment could impact the President’s decisionmaking, notes Renato Mariotti at Just Security.

Beyond collusion, it is too easy for foreign governments — legally — to influence U.S. politics, writes Uri Friedman at The Atlantic.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Pardons have brought about constitutional crises throughout history; so President Trump should be considering not whether he can self-pardon, but what the consequences of employing that power would be, argues Bernadette Meyler at Take Care.

• Whether the president has the power to self-pardon is not clear; however, misuse of the pardon power can lead to impeachment, writes Gene Healy at Cato @ Liberty.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Jared Kushner met with the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors, answering questions about his interactions with Russian officials (WaPo).

• “I did not collude,” Kushner stated after the meeting (NYT).
• Kushner’s prepared remarks before the Senate committee are here.
• Kushner blames everyone around him for his failings, and the notion that his legal team is to blame for his security clearance form omissions is “bizarre,” writes Leah Litman at Take Care.
• Kushner is likely a “civil officer” under the Constitution, which makes him susceptible to impeachment, notes Ryan Goodman at Just Security.

Donald Trump, Jr. and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow, also in a closed session (CNN).

• Federal law bars candidates from soliciting political contributions from foreigners; it also distinguishes between foreign nationals and foreign governments for purposes of sentencing, notes Ciara Torres-Spelliscy at The Brennan Center.

In light of Friday’s report about U.S. intelligence agencies intercepting communications in which Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak recounted campaign-related conversations with now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Helen Klein Murillo and Steve Vladeck break down the perjury case against Sessions (Lawfare).

Russia is not our “enemy” under the Treason Clause, and accusations of treason should be treated with enormous caution, writes Carlton Lawson at Take Care.

Yesterday, the Trump Administration signalled that it would accept legislation limiting President Trump’s ability to lift sanctions on Russia (NYT).

The Federal Election Commission must not shy away from the Russia probe, writes Stephen Spaulding at The Hill.

IMMIGRATION

Trump v. IRAP stands to be one of the most important executive power cases the Court has ever heard, argues Adam Feldman at Empirical SCOTUS.

A veteran ICE agent is concerned about a shift in the agency’s culture, including a new push to deport young people, writes Jonathan Blitzer at The New Yorker.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that ICE cannot legally ask Massachusetts law enforcement to detain individuals solely for the purpose of immigration enforcement.

• The Court’s opinion is here.
• Summary and initial analysis of the opinion here.

DEMOCRACY

A federal district court declined to block the Election Integrity Commission’s request to states for certain voter data, rejecting arguments that the Election Integrity Commission’s request violated Americans’ privacy (LA Times).

• The memorandum opinion is here.

President Trump’s legal team filed a writ of mandamus asking the Sixth Circuit to stop a lawsuit filed by protesters who claim then-candidate Trump instigated an assault at a campaign rally (Politico).

• The writ is here.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Re-privatizing the military would be a serious foreign policy mistake, argues Jon D. Michaels at Take Care.

The U.S. and Japan met to discuss the importance of cooperation against “large-scale” cyber threats, recounts Morgan Chalfant at The Hill.

DOJ should consider federal prosecution as a viable option for dealing with enemy combatants, contends Mary B. McCord at Lawfare.

REGULATION 

The quality of care in many nursing homes is deplorable, and forced arbitration could give the industry another tool to shield its conduct from public scrutiny, writes Nick Bagley at Take Care.

The Senate healthcare bill would give the Department of Health and Human Services unprecedented control over states, write Stan Dorn and Sara Rosenbaum at Health Affairs.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is, in effect, calling on Congress to amend the Clean Air Act, which could prompt industry efforts to erode the integrity of EPA’s automobile greenhouse gas standards, writes Gregory Dotson at Legal Planet.

Pruitt has devoted considerable energy to dismantling the regulation of greenhouse gases, falling far short of upholding EPA’s mission as public health agency, writes Daniel Farber at ACS Blog.

The Trump administration is overselling its deregulatory achievements, writes Cass Sunstein at Bloomberg View.

• However, key appointees are nearing confirmation votes, which may entail some 180-degree turnarounds from Obama-era policies, notes Charlotte Garden at ACS Blog.

Under new leadership, the FTC is poised to pull back on enforcement, notes Barbara Mishin at Consumer Finance Monitor.

The Trump administration has proposed a wholesale repeal of Obama-era standards governing hydraulic fracturing on federal lands (The Hill).

In the surveillance debate, one question remains unanswered: how many Americans have had their information collected during US surveillance operations targeting foreigners? (POGO)

For administrative law purposes, the obstruction statute might be best understood as a structural law, providing a limited grant of independence to federal law enforcement, writes Aneil Kovvali at Notice and Comment.

And that's our update today!  Thanks for reading.  We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.  

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