Ryan Hayward, Ian Eppler  //  3/23/17  //  Daily Update

As evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia mounts, President Trump's allies have sought to deflect attention by denouncing leaks and the intelligence community. The Trump administration appealed one of the entry ban rulings. Experts have denounced the administration's use of data collection and reporting requirements to target immigrants and sanctuary cities. And President Trump's constant falsehoods are raising significant legal concerns.

IMMIGRATION

The Trump Administration asked the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite its review of a ruling against its revised entry ban, reports Josh Gerstein (Politico).

• Here is the government’s motion.
• At Buzzfeed News, Chris Geidner analyzes why the Administration requested expedited review but asked the court not to rule for at least two weeks.
• Waiting to appeal lower court rulings is harmful to the Trump Administration’s arguments for the revised entry ban (San Francisco Chronicle).

The Supreme Court Case that upheld Japanese interment during WW-II shows why courts must consider evidence of anti-Muslim animus in the entry ban cases, argue Ian Samuel & Leah Litman on Take Care.

A terrorist-statistic provision of the revised entry ban is meant to target Muslims, according to Faiza Patel of the Brennan Center (The Daily Beast).

• Data collection and reporting requirements are part of a Trump Administration strategy to paint immigrants in a negative light (Migration Policy Institute).
• The Sunlight Foundation warns against using “weaponized disclosure” to violate privacy norms, intimidate the public, and sow racial division.
• Federal reports on threats posed by immigrants are “misleading at best” (Rewire).

Los Angeles’ Police Chief said that reports of sexual assault and domestic violence among Latino residents have plummeted amid deportation fears (LA Times).

• At Cato at Liberty, Jonathan Blanks argues such fears among residents can make police work more dangerous.

The Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court has written to Homeland Security Secretary Kelly to object to immigration enforcement at state courthouses.

President Trump’s new “laptop ban” reduces traveler privacy and security, according to Danny O’Brien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

RULE OF LAW

President Trump’s “adversarial relationship with the truth” is causing major difficulties for senior Executive Branch officials, which Jack Goldsmith analyzes at Lawfare.

President Trump declared that “I’ll criticize judges” after Judge Gorsuch denounced some of his attacks on judges.

False and misleading statements by Trump administration officials may have criminal implications, as Helen Murillo (a Take Care intern) explains at Lawfare.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

CNN reports: "The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign."

Representative Devin Nunes claims that U.S. intelligence incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump Transition (NYT, CNN, The Hill).

• Benjamin Wittes, Susan Hennessey, and Quinta Jurecic offer analysis at Lawfare.
• Ryan Goodman and Andy Wright explain at Just Security that President Trump is focusing on leaks as a (problematic) defense to the Russia Investigation.

Senator Mark Warner wants the Senate Intelligence Committee to speak with President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort as part of its investigation (The Hill).

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) discussed Russian intervention in elections in the United States and Europe in a speech to the Brookings Institution (Lawfare). 

The Constitution's Treason Clause may apply to U.S. persons complicit in election-related Russian cyberattacks, as Rebeca Puckwalter-Poza notes in the Pacific Standard. 

CIVIL RIGHTS

President Trump’s Secretary of Labor nominee may not be a faithful guardian of civil rights, explain Ian Thompson and Gillian Thomas (ACLU).

The First Amendment offers key protections against searches and inquiries from border agents, which the Electronic Frontier Foundation describes here.

The Trump Administration’s “turnabout on gay rights” has hurt Republicans, for reasons described in the New York Times by Alan K. Simpson.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Trump Organization is planning a hotel in Dallas with a real estate firm that has deep Turkish, Russian, and Kazakh roots, raising conflicts concerns (NYT).

President Trump’s domestic emoluments violate the Constitution, as Ron Fein and Brianne Gorod describe in detail for U.S. News & World Report.

CHECKS AND BALANCES

The House Oversight Committee sent letters to the administration requesting documents on former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s foreign contacts.

Judge Neil Gorsuch may not check President Trump’s use and abuse of executive power, as Jameel Jaffer describes at Just Security.

FEDERALISM

State attorneys general may play a key role in challenging President Trump’s policies, as Rachel Cohen explains at The American Prospect.

DEMOCRACY

The Department of Justice is “turning away from its responsibilities” to defend voting rights, argues Danielle Lang on Take Care.

REGULATION

The Trump administration’s indecision on health care policy creates harmful uncertainty for health insurers, as Rachel Sachs demonstrates on Take Care.

The Trump Administration’s attack on the constitutionality of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is baseless, as the NYT editorial board explains here.

And that's our update today!  Thanks for reading.  We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.  

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