Karen Kadish, Ian Eppler  //  6/26/18  //  Daily Update

The Special Counsel has obtained phones and computers belonging to Erik Prince, a private military contractor who reportedly set up a backchannel meeting between Trump campaign staff and Russian government officials. Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, has said that border officials will no longer refer adults crossing the border with children for prosecution by the DOJ. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt attempted to recruit oil executives for leadership positions at the agency. The Trump administration is preparing to announce new restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States and technology exports to China. The DOJ will soon have to decide whether to appeal a New York district court ruling striking down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as unconstitutional.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

The Special Counsel has obtained phones and computers belonging to Erik Prince, a private military contractor who reportedly set up a backchannel meeting between Trump campaign staff and Russian government officials, reports James Gordon Meek in ABC News.

The Special Counsel has asked Randy Credico, a comedian and friend of Trump ally Roger Stone, for a voluntary meeting (Daily Beast).

Federal prosecutors cancelled a meeting with Stormy Daniels after her attorney, Michael Avenatti, leaked details of the session to the media (Politico).

President Trump was ripe for targeting by Russian intelligence, argues former CIA officer Rolf Mowatt-Larssen at Just Security.

IMMIGRATION 

Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, has said that border officials will no longer refer adults crossing the border with children for prosecution by the Department of Justice, report Ron Nixon, Erica L. Green and Michael D. Shear at The New York Times.

• The decision not to refer families for prosecution has restored the “catch-and-release” status quo of the border, writes Nick Miroff at The Washington Post.

Recent comments made by President Trump about the due process owed to immigrants in the United States without status has sparked a sharp response about the importance of process for immigrant populations.

• President Trump made these comments over Twitter. (Available here)
• Due process is required by the text of the Constitution as well as by Supreme Court jurisprudence argues Jonathan H. Adler at The Volokh Conspiracy.

The Trump administration’s rhetoric and claims about undocumented immigrants creates a skewed vision of the impact that immigrants have on the United States, writes Alex Nowrasten at Cato Institute.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions should not have closed off asylum relief for victims of domestic violence, write Douglas Ligor and Lisa Jaycox at The Hill.

A teenager has gone missing after leaving a migrant children’s center in Texas, raising questions of who is responsible for the children’s well-being, report Mihir Zaveri and Manny Fernandez at The New York Times.

JUSTICE AND SAFETY

The Department of Justice has been resolving an increasing number of alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts with formal declinations -- a decision by the department not to prosecute, writes Maddie McMahon at The Global Anticorruption Blog.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt attempted to recruit oil executives for leadership positions at the agency, reports Zahra Hirji at Buzzfeed.

President Trump has repeatedly asked members of his private club, Mar-a-Lago, for policy advice, notes Damien Markham at CREW Blog.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin has hired a former business partner as a consultant to help plan President Trump’s overseas travel, raising ethical concerns (Politico).

REGULATION

The Trump administration is preparing to announce new restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States and technology exports to China (Politico).

The severability question in the new challenge to the Affordable Care Act is not hard, and application of Supreme Court precedent leads to the conclusion that the allegedly unconstitutional individual mandate is severable, argues Nick Bagley at Take Care.

The Trump administration’s new regulation expanding access to short-term health insurance plans that do not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act is likely to produce consumer confusion, suggests Nick Bagley in the Wall Street Journal.

In a tweet, President Trump expressed surprise that Harley-Davidson moved production overseas after the European Union imposed tariffs on American motorcycles (NYTimes, WaPo).

The Department of Justice will soon have to decide whether to appeal a New York district court ruling striking down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as unconstitutional (Consumer Finance Monitor).

• Jennifer Mascott discusses the ruling at Notice and Comment.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed changing its focus from the study of climate and instead focusing on economic goals and national security, report Chris Mooney and Jason Samenow at The Washington Post.

RULE OF LAW

In a tweet, President Trump accused a Virginia restaurant of being “filthy” after it refused to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (NYTimes).

Tags: