Adam Smith  //  3/14/19  //  Daily Update

Minutes after Paul Manafort received his second federal sentence in less than two weeks, Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance added a sixteen-count state indictment into the mix. DOD announced that it would begin implementing President Trump’s transgender service ban, despite a number of pending challenges in the federal courts. The Sixth Circuit upheld Ohio’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood. California imposed a death-penalty moratorium. President Trump grounded the Boeing jet blamed for deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

PODCAST

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Easha, and Jason discuss a new lawsuit by Huawei against various Trump Administration officials, plus they delve into international extradition law and look at the case of the company's detained CFO. 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

A Manhattan grand jury indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on sixteen counts of mortgage and insurance fraud (NYT; WSJ).

• The full text of the indictment is available here.
• Such state-level charges could render Manafort “pardon-proof,” note Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky at The Washington Post.

The indictment was announced shortly after a Washington, D.C., federal judge sentenced Manafort to 43 months for a raft of campaign-related offenses (WSJ).

CIVIL RIGHTS

The Supreme Court's decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop offers no warrant for rampant free exercise exceptionalism, in which the normal rules of constitutional law are suspended or inverted, writes Joshua Matz on this blog. 

The Pentagon announced that President Trump’s transgender military-service ban will take effect on April 12 (NYT).

• Lawyers representing trans service-members in a challenge to the so-called Mattis policy filed for an emergency injunction (WaPo).

An en banc Sixth Circuit upheld Ohio’s decision to strip Planned Parenthood of its state funding (AP).

• The opinion is available here.

DEMOCRACY

In the aftermath of an election riled by allegations of vote-tampering and voter suppression, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is expected to sign a controversial overhaul of the state’s voting systems into law (AP).

• All the more reason for Congress to enact a comprehensive voting-rights program, argues Sayu Bhojwani at The Hill.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on the state’s use of the death penalty, staying the executions of more than 700 people (NYT).

• California may have sounded a death knell for capital punishment in the United States, writes the editorial board of The New York Times.
• And Newsom’s decision would do Justice Harry Blackmun proud, contends Charlie Pierce at Esquire.

REGULATION

Following a spate of deadly crashes overseas, President Trump overruled the FAA and grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft (WaPo; AP).

• The President’s intervention spotlights DOT’s “lax” enforcement of federal air-travel regulations, writes Scott McCartney for The Wall Street Journal.