Daily Update | May 8, 2018
Lark Turner // 5/8/18 //
President Trump attacks Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, says “there is no” obstruction of justice: “[I]t’s called fighting back.” The Trump Administration is implementing a “zero tolerance” policy on migrants trying to enter the United States illegally, who will now be sent to detention centers awaiting trial while their children are separated from them and taken into custody. A set of travel documents show EPA officials taking “extreme” measures to insulate Scott Pruitt from the public eye. President Trump says he will have an announcement on the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday. An increase in impeachment talk has made it more difficult to use the power against presidents whose actions merit it.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
President Trump attacks Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, says “there is no” obstruction of justice: “[I]t’s called fighting back” (NYT).
No one actually knows whether Mueller can legally subpoena the president, writes Amber Phillips in The Washington Post.
An overconfident Rudy Giuliani risks making the same mistakes as previous advisers to the president, argues James Hohmann at The Washington Post.
Giuliani’s Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week” was “catastrophic,” writes Jennifer Rubin at The Washington Post.
The actions of the presidents’ lawyers read like something out of an interesting election law and professional responsibility hypothetical, writes Diane Klein at Dorf on Law.
IMMIGRATION
The Trump Administration is implementing a “zero tolerance” policy on migrants trying to enter the United States illegally, who will now be sent to detention centers awaiting trial while their children are separated from them and taken into custody by the Department of Health and Human Services (NYT, WaPo).
Transgender migrants await asylum in the Central American caravan after many experienced trans friends’ murders (LA Times).
DEMOCRACY
A new initiative seeks to outline and promote progressive policies (Take Care).
JUSTICE & SAFETY
President Trump says he will have an announcement on the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday (WSJ).
- The president takes to Twitter to accuse former Secretary of State John Kerry of conducting “shadow diplomacy” on the deal (WaPo).
Trump defends CIA pick Gina Haspel, calling her past role in CIA torture programs “tough on terror” (WaPo).
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Mar-a-Lago is “a nearly perfect symbol of the Trump administration’s ethical failings,” argues Walter M. Shaub Jr. at The Washington Post.
Lawfare’s Benjamin Wittes sues to obtain FOIA-requested documents regarding State Department payments to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Lawfare).
REGULATION
A set of travel documents show EPA officials taking “extreme” measures to insulate Scott Pruitt from the public eye (NYT).
- Seven quotes from the documents demonstrate those measures (NYT).
Mick Mulvaney, acting head of the CFPB, seeks to dismantle it, write Glenn Thrush and Alan Rappeport for The New York Times.
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
An increase in impeachment talk has made it more difficult to use the power against presidents whose actions merit it (Take Care).
Tags:
Immigration Regulation Democracy Justice & Safety Removal from Office