, Caroline Cox  //  6/14/18  //  Daily Update

Michael Cohen’s current attorneys are likely to end their representation of him in the investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The Trump Administration plans use fingerprint analyses on decades-old samples to determine immigrants who lied or falsified naturalization forms and then revoke citizenship from those individuals. The Department of Justice has begun supporting conservative college students claiming that their schools have violated their First Amendment rights. New lawsuits brought by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee allege that Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana’s congressional maps violate the Voting Rights Act. President Trump is expected to approve the levying of tariffs on Chinese goods, a move that is expected to worsen relations and create a trade war between the countries. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to call on the House to investigate the conduct of Intelligence Committee staffers.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

Despite President Trump’s lawyers’ assertions of broad presidential power, his actions demonstrate that he "fears the checks and balances that are part of our constitutional design,” argues Timothy Edgar in Lawfare.

Michael Cohen’s current attorneys are likely to end their representation of him in the investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (NYT, WSJ, ABC, Politico).

• Ryan Goodman highlights some of the topics within the Special Counsel’s purview that Michael Cohen could shed light on if he began cooperating with federal prosecutors in Just Security.
• Philip Bump outlines why Michael Cohen is President Trump’s greatest threat in the Washington Post.

The entire staff of the White House Counsel’s office was recused last summer from working on the Russia investigation since many of the “lawyers played significant roles in key episodes at the center of the probe,” reports Josh Gerstein in Politico.

IMMIGRATION

Immigration judges in the Department of Justice are expressing concern that the Department’s harsh immigration policies make it difficult to provide due process (NYT).

A Democratic congressman collapsed during a protest against the Trump Administration’s policy of separating families suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.–Mexico border (Politico).

House Speaker Paul Ryan plans to bring two immigration bills to a vote that are said to have the blessing of President Trump (NYT).

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is bucking tradition by self-referring immigration cases to significantly limit the number of immigrants given legal status, writes Bea Bischoff at Slate.

The Trump Administration plans use fingerprint analyses on decades-old samples to determine immigrants who lied or falsified naturalization forms and then revoke citizenship from those individuals (WaPo).  

CIVIL RIGHTS

The Supreme Court’s narrow decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop touches on very difficult issues at the intersection of free speech and anti-discrimination principles, but leaves many questions unanswered, writes Robert Post in Take Care.

The Department of Justice has begun supporting conservative college students claiming that their schools have violated their First Amendment rights (WSJ).

Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly praised the Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, which held in favor of a Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple (Politico).

While President Trump has embraced Middle Eastern leaders, his rhetoric in the United States continues to disparage Muslims (NYT).

The Federal Workers Alliance and a group of unions are challenging in court three executive orders that relaxed restrictions on the firing of federal employees as violative of due process and collective bargaining rights (The Hill).  

DEMOCRACY

The First Amendment should not be interpreted to prevent the enactment of carefully drawn laws to address the problem of foreign meddling in U.S elections, argues Richard L. Hasen in Just Security.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute turns the National Voter Registration Act on its head, writes Dale Ho in the New York Times.

• Read the opinion here.

New lawsuits brought by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee allege that Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana’s congressional maps violate the Voting Rights Act, writes Tony Pugh in McClatchy.

• Read the complaint in the Alabama case here.
• Read the complaint in the Georgia case here.
• Read the complaint in the Louisiana case here.

Justice Department officials considered the romantic relationship between a reporter and Senate staffer suspected of leaking before subpoenaing the reporter’s records and communications, Matt Zapotosky, Shane Harris, and Jack Gillum report in the Washington Post.

The Senate aide appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to the FBI (NYT).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserted that language about verification is present in the U.S.–North Korea agreement despite the fact that the statement does not include such language (Politico).

President Trump is claiming that North Korea no longer represents a nuclear threat after his summit with King Jong Un earlier in the week (NYT; WaPo).

• The Washington Post explains how the Pentagon’s budget clearly contradicts President Trump’s claim.
• The New York Times reports that Secretary Pompeo expects denuclearization to substantially progress during President Trump’s term in office.
• Morgan Gstalter at The Hill discusses how a former Navy analyst is criticizing President Trump’s claims about denuclearization.
• Aaron President David Miller and Richard Sokolsky at Politico argue that Trump’s meeting with Kim Kong Un was the right decision.

China may be the biggest winner from the North Korean summit, explains Jeremy Page at the Wall Street Journal.

Defenses experts and members of the Republican politicians are expressing concern that President Trump’s agreement with North Korea could cause instability in Asia (Politico).

President Trump is expected to approve the levying of tariffs on Chinese goods, a move that is expected to worsen relations and create a trade war between the countries (WSJ).

Christopher Krebs received Senate confirmation on Tuesday to head of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, which focuses on cyber protection (The Hill).

The recent Defense Department report submitted to Congress on the number of civilians it estimated were killed by U.S. military operations, although a step forward for transparency, should include additional information, Daniel R. Mahanty, Rahma A. Hussein and Alex Moorehead argue in Just Security.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Senate should prevent President Trump from acting to save the Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, argue Norman L. Eisen, Eliot A. Cohen, and Fred Wertheimer in the New York Times.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt directed a top aide to help secure his wife a job at a conservative political group, Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey, Brady Dennis and Shawn Boburg report in the Washington Post.

FEDERALISM

A proposal to split California into three separate states will be on the ballot in November (LA Times).

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE 

The core purposes underlying impeachment intertwine it with aspects of criminal law more closely than is initially apparent, writes Andrew Crespo in Take Care.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE 

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to call on the House to investigate the conduct of Intelligence Committee staffers, Laura Jarrett reports at CNN.