Daily Update | May 9, 2018
Helen Marie Berg // 5/9/18 //
President Trump pulls out of nuclear deal with Iran and reinstates economic sanctions. U.S. Embassy cables reveal that the Trump administration ignored warnings from senior diplomats that expelling immigrants with temporary protected status would cause destabilization and increase illegal immigration. The Michigan Legislature’s proposed Medicaid work requirements discriminate against black urban residents in violation of federal civil rights law. A firm tied to a Russian oligarch and several other firms with business before the Trump administration made payments totaling more than $1 million to the same company used by Michael Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION
A firm tied to a Russian oligarch and several other firms with business before the Trump administration made payments totaling more than $1 million to the same company used by Michael Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels (NYT).
The John Edwards campaign finance case is troubling precedent for President Trump and Michael Cohen, points out Michael C. Dorf at Take Care and Dorf on Law.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has stepped down after sexual assault allegations, will his replacement keep coordinating with the Mueller investigation?, asks Jed Shugerman at Shugerblog.
President Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, claims that the President can resist a subpoena, but has no legal precedent to back that up, explains Harry Litman at The Washington Post.
IMMIGRATION
The Solicitor General clarified what he meant while arguing Trump v. Hawaii when he said that President Trump made his disavowal of a Muslim ban “crystal clear,” but his explanation does not add up, explains Leah Litman at Take Care.
Study shows that state and local policy are throttling President Trump’s immigration goals (Immigration Prof Blog).
Santa Clarita joins other cities in California in lawsuit against the state’s sanctuary law (LATimes).
U.S. Embassy cables reveal that the Trump administration ignored warnings from senior diplomats that expelling immigrants with temporary protected status would cause destabilization and increase illegal immigration (WaPo).
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Michigan Legislature’s proposed Medicaid work requirements discriminate against black urban residents in violation of federal civil rights law, explain Nick Bagley and Eli Savit at The New York Times and Take Care.
ACLU sues Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson for suspending rule to enforce the Fair Housing Act (ACLU).
JUSTICE & SAFETY
President Trump pulls out of nuclear deal with Iran and reinstates economic sanctions (WaPo, NYT, WSJ, LATimes)
- The New York Times explains what has changed and what remains the same after the withdrawal.
- President Trump promises to negotiate a better deal, a kind of promise he has failed to keep in the past (NYT, WaPo).
- Lawfare analyzes what comes next.
- Iran President Hassan Rouhani says he will attempt renegotiate the deal with the remaining countries (WaPo).
- U.S. allies promise to salvage deal (WaPo).
- The withdrawal may abruptly end international monitoring of Iranian nuclear facilities (WaPo).
- U.S. allies pushed the President to reconsider before he withdrew (WSJ).
- The New York Times checks the facts of President Trump’s claims about the deal.
- The withdrawal may bring about more hard-line, conservative domestic policy in Iran (WaPo, NYT).
- President Trump’s decision was based not on diplomacy but on an effort to dismantle Obama’s legacy (NYT).
House lawmakers reveal a new criminal justice reform bill backed by the President’s son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner (Politico).
The Senate should ask nominee for CIA Director Gina Haspel these twenty questions during her confirmation hearing, suggest Scott R. Anderson and Susan Hennessey at Lawfare.
- Haspel is the senior intelligence official who best understands Russia, points out David Ignatius at The New York Times.
- Haspel will not be able to defend the CIA’s torture program as lawful, argues Dror Ladin at the ACLU.
- Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a mastermind of 9/11 and prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, asks military judge if he can share information about Haspel with Senate (NYT).
- Haspel is the most qualified person to be nominated to lead the CIA, argues Mark Thiessen at The Washington Post.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt prioritized clean up of superfund site in California after a meeting orchestrated by conservative talk show host (The Hill).
Although Trump administration officials have misused public funds, the true scandal is their “pay to play” relationship with lobbyists (WaPo).
REGULATION
Automaker lobby opposes the Trump administration’s proposal to rescind of fuel efficiency standards (The Hill).
President Trump plans to send a request to Congress to rescind $15 billion in funds for various programs (Balkinization).
- Notice & Comment explains the recission process.
CHECKS & BALANCES
Attorney General Sessions complains of bias in federal courts, but federal judges do not rule uniformly against the President (Reuters).
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
The White House supported the DOJ’s decision to withhold information from Representative Devin Nunes to protect an intelligence source’s identity—even though the information was provided to the Mueller team (WaPo).
Tags:
Immigration Rule of Law Conflicts Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Russian Interference