Caroline Cox, Ian Eppler  //  5/15/18  //  Daily Update

As the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians demonstrating the embassy’s move. Justice Department prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration act signal that the Administration is using an expanded interpretation of the law. The White House intervened to prevent the release of an EPA study into the safety of drinking water. The Trump administration’s proposed use of emergency powers under various federal statutes to support the coal industry may set a precedent benefiting renewable energy producers under future administrations. Millions accepted a fake news story about a Supreme Court ruling on Sharia law, demonstrating the speed and danger of fake news on the internet.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION

Michael Cohen’s efforts to seek “consulting” contracts with large companies in the early days of the Trump administration resulted in only limited success, report Rebecca Ballhaus, Peter Nicholas, Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo in the Wall Street Journal.

Lawyers for a Russian company charged with conspiracy to violate federal election laws as a result of interference in the 2016 election contended that the Special Counsel provided incorrect instructions to the grand jury (Politico).   

The Mueller investigation is unconstitutional under the majority opinion in Morrison v. Olson, argues Steven Calabresi at the Wall Street Journal. 

James Comey’s decision to announce the reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails on October 28 was based on faulty assumptions, writes former State Department counsel David Z. Seide at the New York Times.

IMMIGRATION

Evidence shows that contrary to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s comments, Central American immigrants assimilate into the United States very well (Cato at Liberty).

In denying detained asylum seekers “humanitarian parole,” ICE has violated its own policy directive to release asylum seekers that satisfy minimum requirements, writes Stephen King at the ACLU blog.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Attorney General Sessions was correct in connecting a spike in Chicago homicide rates to the legally mandated decline in street stops in the city, argues Paul Cassell at the Volokh Conspiracy.

Mitt Romney described the pastor who provided a blessing at the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem as a “bigot” based on the pastor’s past statements about Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism (Politico).

DEMOCRACY 

There are questions about whether constitutional rules regulating the use of war powers are still law, but coequal branches of government can reassert their consent to those rules, argues John Dehn at Lawfare.

Millions accepted a fake news story about a Supreme Court ruling on Sharia law, demonstrating the speed and danger of fake news on the internet, write Jason Schwartz and Shawn Musgrave at Politico.

JUSTICE & SAFETY 

As the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians demonstrating the embassy’s move (NYT).

• The Wall Street Journal provides a timeline of the events leading up to embassy move.
• The Washington Post reports that the Trump Administration exclusively blames Hamas for the violence.

Despite pressuring North Korea and Iran about nuclear disarmament, the United States is itself moving toward expanding its nuclear arsenal (NYT).

Justice Department prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration act signal that the Administration is using an expanded interpretation of the law (Inside Political Law).

REGULATION

The United States and China are negotiating a deal that would end US sanctions on Chinese electronics company ZTE in exchange for an end to Chinese tariffs on certain US agricultural products (WSJ).

Senate Democrats will likely force a vote on a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality regulations (Ars Technica, The Hill)

The White House intervened to prevent the release of an EPA study into the safety of drinking water (Politico).

The Trump administration’s proposed use of emergency powers under various federal statutes to support the coal industry may set a precedent benefiting renewable energy producers under future administrations, contends Dan Farber at Legal Planet.

RULE OF LAW

The Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt requested a 24 hour security detail before he began working at the EPA, undermining claims that the unusual detail was a response to threats made after he took office (The Hill, WaPo).

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