Daily Update | July 25, 2018
Jacqueline Sahlberg, Ian Eppler // 7/25/18 //
A tape was leaked featuring a conversation between President Trump and his former attorney, Michael Cohen, involving efforts to purchase the rights to the story of a woman who allegedly had an affair with President Trump. The Trump Administration may have deported more than 450 migrant parents without their children. Federal labor mediators have advised the Education Department that its new work rules most likely illegally curtail workers’ protections and access to union representation. Ivanka Trump shut down her eponymous clothing brand after extensive criticism of the business’s potential to produce conflicts of interest. The Trump administration announced plans to use a Department of Agriculture program to provide $12 billion in aid to farmers who have suffered losses as a result of newly imposed tariffs.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
A tape was leaked featuring a conversation between President Trump and his former attorney, Michael Cohen, involving efforts to purchase the rights to the story of a woman who allegedly had an affair with President Trump (CNN).
Two prominent Trump fundraisers paid Rick Gates, an indicted former Trump campaign aide who is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, for consulting services related to business opportunities arising from the administration, report Kenneth P. Vogel, Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman and David D. Kirkpatrick in the New York Times.
A special master released hundreds of additional documents related to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to federal prosecutors (The Hill).
The upcoming midterm elections and the potential Washington, DC summit between President Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin present difficult questions for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, argues Bob Bauer at Lawfare.
Efforts to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein spearheaded by supporters of President Trump in the House of Representatives are unlikely to succeed, but the efforts reflect the internal dynamics of the House Republican caucus, writes Molly Reynolds at Lawfare.
IMMIGRATION
The Trump Administration may have deported more than 450 migrant parents without their children (NYTImes, WashPo, WSJ).
Federal prosecutors filed more criminal charges against immigrants in May of 2018 than at any other time under President Trump, but only a third of people apprehended by Customs and Border patrol were prosecuted criminally (crImmigration).
In the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, lawmakers pressed Trump administration officials for details on the deployment of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border (Hill).
CIVIL RIGHTS
Federal labor mediators have advised the Education Department that its new work rules most likely illegally curtail workers’ protections and access to union representation (NYTimes).
DEMOCRACY
Released documents show that Commerce Secretary WIlbur Ross wanted to add the citizenship question months before the formal request (Huffington Post, NPR, WashPo).
JUSTICE & SAFETY
The Trump Administration’s Iran strategy is overshadowed by “bellicose rhetoric,” writes J. Dana Stuster for Lawfare.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Ivanka Trump shut down her eponymous clothing brand after extensive criticism of the business’s potential to produce conflicts of interest (NYTimes, Politico, WaPo, WSJ).
REGULATION
The Trump administration announced plans to use a Department of Agriculture program to provide $12 billion in aid to farmers who have suffered losses as a result of newly imposed tariffs (NYTimes, Politico, WaPo, WSJ).
- Congressional Republicans criticized the move (Politico).
President Trump’s rare public criticism of the Federal Reserve poses challenges for the bank’s new Trump-appointed chairman, writes Sylvan Lane in The Hill.
The Trump administration has worked to undermine compensatory mitigation, a policy that attempts to strike a balance between environmental protection and development by allowing industry to pay to compensate for environmental harms, notes Dave Owen at Environmental Law Prof Blog.
The Federal Drug Administration’s plan to censor the word “milk” from plant-based products like soy milk may violate the First Amendment, writes Michael Dorf at Verdict.
RULE OF LAW
Coverage of President Trump’s threats to revoke the security clearances of several Obama administration national security officials continued.
- If President Trump ultimately decides to revoke the security clearances of Obama administration national security officials, there are several legal mechanisms by which he may do so, but the courts may intervene, writes Bradley Moss at Lawfare.
- President Trump’s threats to revoke the security clearances of Obama administration national security officials are proxy threats against current government officials who are investigating the Trump administration, contends Patrick Eddington in Just Security.
During a speech to a group of high school students, Attorney General Jeff Sessions laughed and praised a group who chanted “lock her up” in reference to Hillary Clinton (NYTimes, Politico, WaPo, WSJ).
FEDERALISM
Montana Governor Steve Bullock sued to block a recently announced Internal Revenue Service regulation that would allow many nonprofit organizations to refrain from disclosing their donors (NYTimes).
Tags:
Immigration Rule of Law Conflicts Federalism Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety