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Abigail DeHart, Caroline Cox  //  5/18/18  //  Daily Update

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North Korea renewed its criticisms of the United States and South Korea, and again threatened that it would call off the planned summit if American military exercises did not end. With oversight of ICE’s policy of locking migrants in prisons almost nonexistent, an effective American immigration policy should not employ imprisonment so lightly. Gina Haspel was confirmed by the Senate as first female CIA director, despite concerns about her involvement with a widely criticized torture program. Three states appeal to the Fifth Circuit attempting to salvage an Obama-era financial protection rule requiring retirement advisers to act in the best interest of clients. The U.S. Sentencing Commission released a new research report on federal offenders’ criminal histories that shows most federal offenders in custody have a prior offense.

 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION 

President Trump is scheduled to have series of sessions this summer preparing him for a possible interview with special counsel Robert Mueller (Politico).

Robert Mueller shared the classified Justice Department memo on the scope of the special counsel’s investigation with the federal judge presiding over the case against Paul Manafort (Politico).  

Legal experts have criticized Rudy Giuliani’s assertions that Robert Mueller could not subpoena President Trump (Reuters).

• Politico explains that Giuliani's comments are part of a new tactic to discredit the Russia investigation.

Though the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel memo from 1998 that specifically addressed whether a sitting president can be subpoenaed to testify in a criminal proceeding is not public, its author has provided insight into its contents (Just Security).

IMMIGRATION 

With oversight of ICE’s policy of locking migrants in prisons almost nonexistent, an effective American immigration policy should not employ imprisonment so lightly, argues César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández at Crimmigration.

President Trump has claimed that his statement asserting some undocumented immigrants are “animals” was in reference to MS-13 gang members (Politico).

CIVIL RIGHTS

U.S. Senators sent another letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions demanding more information about stingrays which covertly determine a phone's location by simulating a cell tower, writes Cyrus Farivar at Ars Technica.

DEMOCRACY

The White House communications team has limited the number of staffers in a daily meeting in an attempt to reduce leaks (NYT).

The rise of social media websites as effective campaign tools requires major reforms to campaign finance regulation, argues Jane Komsky at the Regulatory Review.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has delayed and made classified an upcoming briefing on U.S. election security (The Hill).

 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

North Korea renewed its criticisms of the United States and South Korea, and again threatened that it would call off the planned summit if American military exercises did not end (WSJ).

• The Washington Post reports that President Trump suggested he does not know much more about the situation than do the journalists covering the story.

President Trump stated that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un would remain in power if the United States and North Korea reach a deal (WSJ). 

President Trump’s efforts to create international oil sanctions against both Iran and Venezuela may result in rising oil prices, writes Clifford Krauss at the New York Times.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission released a new research report on federal offenders’ criminal histories that shows most federal offenders in custody have a prior offense (Sentencing Law and Policy).

• The full report is available here.

Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton has proposed an amendment to defense legislation that would reverse President Trump’s decision to eliminate the White House cybersecurity advisor role (The Hill).

• The Hill reports that Democrats generally are expressing concern about the eliminated position.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The newly appointed leader of the FTC’s consumer protection unit, Andrew Smith, was part of a legal team that defended a payday lender hit with a $1.3 billion court-ordered fraud settlement by the FTC (NYT; The Hill).

REGULATION 

The Trump Administration proposed an amended rule to roll back parts of the EPA chemical plant safety regulaton (The Hill).

• The proposed rule can be found here. 

Three states appeal to the Fifth Circuit attempting to salvage an Obama-era financial protection rule requiring retirement advisers to act in the best interest of clients (The Hill).

Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie signed a multi-billion IT contract for a digital health record transformation, despite concerns the project could be wasteful (Politico).

CHECKS & BALANCES

Gina Haspel was confirmed by the Senate as first female CIA director, despite concerns about her involvement with a widely criticized torture program (NYT).

FEDERALISM

Education Secretary Betsy Devos was criticized by New Jersey’s Attorney General for not cooperating with the state on curbing fraudulent activities at for-profit colleges (NYT).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE 

On the anniversary of the Russia investigation, President Trump repeated allegations that the FBI had spied on his presidential campaign in 2016 (WaPo).

President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen was working on a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow for months longer than he told Congress (The Hill; BuzzFeed News).

 

Tags:

Immigration Conflicts Checks & Balances Federalism Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety Russian Interference

 

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