Lark Turner  //  6/4/18  //  Daily Update

In a secret letter to the Mueller investigation, lawyers for President Trump argue that he has broad power to terminate and otherwise influence investigations; issue pardons in connection with those investigations; and cannot be subpoenaed by Mueller in connection with the investigation. Kneeling during the national anthem is a form of protest with roots in religion. Justice Department says it didn’t need Congressional approval for the April strike on Syria. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the U.S.’s trade tariffs “insulting and unacceptable.”

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

In a secret letter to the Mueller investigation, lawyers for President Trump argue that he has broad power to terminate and otherwise influence investigations; issue pardons in connection with those investigations; and cannot be subpoenaed by Mueller in connection with the investigation (NYT).

• Read the letter (NYT).
• The president will fight any subpoena, Giuliani says (NYT).
• The radical memo reflects Trump’s belief that he is above the law, writes Harry Litman at The New York Times.
• “The kind of presidency that Hamilton and others feared has arrived,” writes Bob Bauer at Lawfare.
• Law enforcement and politics intersect in the letter, which makes many specious legal claims, writes David Kris at Lawfare.
• The letter’s claims would be funny if they were not so scary, writes Ruth Marcus at The Washington Post.
• In a tour of Sunday morning talk shows, Rudy Giuliani defended the memo’s legal arguments while calling such uses of power “hypothetical” (WaPo).
• Most legal scholars agree that presidents can obstruct justice (WaPo).

Trump’s real and TV lawyers continue to make contradictory and disturbing claims about Trump’s powers and actions, argues Jennifer Rubin at The Washington Post.

IMMIGRATION

Immigrants are reporting domestic abuse less, likely due to fear of deportation (NYT).

CIVIL RIGHTS

Kneeling during the national anthem is a form of protest with roots in religion, writes Ansley L. Quiros for The Washington Post.

JUSTICE & SAFETY 

Justice Department says it didn’t need Congressional approval for the April strike on Syria (NYT).

• Read the memo here.
• The breadth of the opinion reflects Congress’s decades-long and ongoing failure to check the executive branch over its use of unilateral strikes, writes Steve Vladeck at Just Security.
• The OLC opinion is broad, but it’s nothing surprising, writes Jack Goldsmith at Lawfare.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the U.S.’s trade tariffs “insulting and unacceptable” (LA Times).

• Why should Canada be a friend to the United States? asks Stephen Marche in The Washington Post.

REGULATION 

The Fed’s proposal to repeal the Volcker Rule will backfire, argues the NYT Editorial board.

• The proposal should make us all nervous for four major reasons, writes Jared Bernstein at The Washington Post.

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