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Rachel Thompson  //  3/5/19  //  Daily Update

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The House Judiciary Committee issued its list of more than 80 document requests to support an investigation into obstruction of justice, public corruption, and abuses of power. Following earlier recriminations of Cohen’s accusations of racism, HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced he would resign at the end of the President’s first term. Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker’s last day at the Department of Justice was this past Saturday, with the circumstances of his departure still unclear. Citing a lack of robust case law, the Supreme Court in a statement by Justice Kavanaugh has refused to hear a dispute regarding the disbursement of publicly-funded grants to a religious institution in New Jersey. Tenuous bipartisan support for a formal repudiation of the President’s declaration of a national emergency to fund a border wall appears to be coalescing before a vote. A new report indicates that the President ranks Fox News reporters according to perceptions of loyalty.

  

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

The House Judiciary Committee issued its list of more than 80 document requests to support an investigation into obstruction of justice, public corruption, and abuses of power (WSJ).

• An idea of the scope and targets of the investigation is summarized by Olivia Beavers and Morgan Chalfant at The Hill.
• Implications to the Presidency are analyzed by Natasha Bertand at the Atlantic.
• A climate of increased oversight is described by Michelle Cottle at NYT Opinion.
• In a response, the White House has called the probe ‘disgraceful’ and ‘shameful’ (AP)

Michael Cohen’s testimony from last week continues to prompt analysis of the accusations:

• Reading into Cohen’s testimony, Ryan Goodman writes that it appears the President’s instructions to misrepresent collusion extended beyond merely the Moscow Tower deal (Just Security).
• Former Obama White House Counsel Bob Bauer revisits the overt racism of the President’s birtherism campaign in light of Cohen’s labeling (The Atlantic).
• Contrary to statements made during his testimony Rebecca Ballhaus, Joe Palazzolo, and Michael Rothfeld report Cohen approach the Presidents legal team regarding a possible pardon (WSJ).
• Following earlier recriminations of Cohen’s accusations of racism, HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced he would resign at the end of the President’s first term (Politico).

The President’s longtime associate, Roger Stone, may have violated a gag order according to a government notification to the federal judge presiding over his criminal case (The Hill, NYT).

Former White House counselor and a recipient of a Judiciary Committee document request, Donald McGahn has returned to private practice at Jones Day but is expected to continue to wield outsized power as an outside adviser for judicial nominations, according to sources interviewed by Robert Costa at The Washington Post.

 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker’s last day at the Department of Justice was this past Saturday, with the circumstances of his departure still unclear, writes Morgan Chalfant at The Hill.

 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The President and his inner-circle’s overlapping network of interests with Fox News are laid bare in a new piece by Jane Mayer in the latest New Yorker.

• Attempting to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner, parent company of CNN, is perhaps the most overt effort to benefit Fox, writes Jon Brodkin (Ars Technica) citing the New Yorker report.
• The report also indicates that the President ranks Fox News reporters according to perceptions of loyalty, writes Hayley Miller (HuffPost).

 

REGULATION

Various lawsuits opposing the President’s emergency declaration have been filed, and of those some statutory challenges face an uphill but not insurmountable nor unprecedented chance of success, writes Leah Litman in a detailed commentary at Take Care.

The President’s creative application of emergency declarations could possibly benefit future efforts to combat climate change, argues Dan Farber at Legal Planet.

Citing a lack of robust case law, the Supreme Court in a statement by Justice Kavanaugh has refused to hear a dispute regarding the disbursement of publicly-funded grants to a religious institution in New Jersey, writes Lydia Wheeler at The Hill.

Justice Thomas’s historical disregard for stare decisis is catalogued and analyzed by Adam Liptak at NYT Sidebar.

Justice Kavanaugh’s apparent hostility toward the Establishment Clause is assessed by Mark Joseph Stern in an essay at Slate. 

Access Monday’s Supreme Court Order List and more information on the issued rulings:

• Ronald Mann at SCOTUSblog has an analysis of Justice Kavanaugh’s opinion in Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc., No. 17-1625
• Jessica Litman at SCOTUSblog has an analysis of Justice Ginsburg’s opinion in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, No. 17-571
• Daniel Hemel at SCOTUSblog has an analysis of Justice Ginsburg’s opinion in  BNSF R. Co. v. Loos, No. in 17-1042

 

RULE OF LAW

The Executive Power Clause of Article II is viewed through its historical context and contemporary manifestations in an essay beginning a weeklong in-depth analysis by Julian Davis Mortensen at The Volokh Conspiracy.

 

CHECKS & BALANCES

Tenuous bipartisan support for a formal repudiation of the President’s declaration of a national emergency to fund a border wall appears to be coalescing before a vote (NYT, WSJ).

• Some, like Senator Rand Paul, view the President’s actions as establishing a dangerous precedent for future administrations (Fox News).
• Others wish to preserve congressional control over the federal spending – or preserve their electability (NYT).
• A ‘Guide to the Legal Issues’ of the President’s emergency declaration was compiled by Samuel Estreicher and David Moosman at Verdict Justia.

 

FEDERALISM

California filed its 47^th lawsuit against the current administration, this time alleging that changes to the Title X federal family planning program unjustly punish healthcare providers, write Jose A. Del Real and Robert Pear at The New York Times.

 

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Weighing motivations for impeachment, a more compelling demonstration of unacceptable risk must be made to support any effort to remove the President, argues Keith E. Whittington in the latest of a series of essays on impeachment at Lawfare.

Instances of executive insubordination may have inadvertently buffered the President from some arguments for impeachment, write Joshua Matz and Laurence H. Tribe at Take Care in commentary taken from an epilogue of the paperback of their book out today.

 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Following the House Judiciary Committee’s document requests, the chairs of the House Oversight, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence Committees announced their own coming document requests regarding communications with the Russian President, according to Courtney Weaver at Financial Times.

In what would have been his first public appearance, dossier author Christopher Steele inexplicably and suddenly backed out of a panel on disinformation and democracy (Politico, HuffPost, The Hill).

 

 

Tags:

Rule of Law Conflicts Checks & Balances Federalism Regulation Justice & Safety Removal from Office Russian Interference

 

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