Daily Update | November 26, 2019
Mackenzie Walz // 11/26/19 //
A federal judge rules that former White House counsel Don McGahn must comply with a congressional subpoena to testify before impeachment investigators. The U.S. Solicitor General files a brief in support of President Trump in a Supreme Court case that could result in him being forced to turn over his tax returns to the Manhattan DA, while the Court temporarily blocks the order from going into effect. And a federal court orders the DOD and the OMB to release to the Center for Public Integrity documents regarding the Administration’s withholding of military aid to Ukraine.
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
A federal judge ruled that former White House counsel Don McGahn must comply with a congressional subpoena to testify before impeachment investigators (NYT;WaPo; POLITICO).
- The judge’s ruling is available here.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
The U.S. Solicitor General filed an amicus brief in support of President Trump in Trump v. Vance, a case arising out of the NY District Attorney’s subpoena for President Trump’s financial records (SCOTUSblog).
- Legal documents from the case, including the amicus brief, are available here.
The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a subpoena from House Democrats for President Trump’s financial records while they consider whether to hear the appeal (The Hill; SCOTUSblog).
IMMIGRATION
The Department of Homeland Security’s Unified Agenda details forthcoming immigration regulations that would significantly affect employers, asylum seekers, and certain visa holders (ImmigrationProf Blog).
DEMOCRACY
President Trump should side with American ideals of freedom and democracy by signing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, contends Henry Olsen for The Washington Post.
- The Hill offers a range of actions President Trump can take regarding the legislation.
JUSTICE & SAFETY
A federal judge ordered the DOD and the OMB to turn over documents regarding the Administration’s withholding of military aid to Ukraine to the Center for Public Integrity (The Hill).
Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, who disagreed with President Trump and military leadership over the fate of the Navy SEAL recently acquitted of war crimes (WaPo; WSJ).
The US military has resumed operations in Northern Syria nearly two months after President Trump’s abrupt withdrawal of troops from the region (NYT).
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
What President Trump really wanted from Ukrainian President Zelensky was exoneration of Russia from the claims of election interference, argues Allan Lichtman for The Hill.