Daily Update | November 28, 2018
Paul Manafort secretly met with Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on three occasions, most recently in spring 2016. The Special Counsel has obtained emails between Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone that anticipated Wikileaks’ release of emails stolen from the Clinton campaign months before it happened. The White House is preventing CIA Director Gina Haspel from testifying before a U.S. Senate committee about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. What was announced as a temporary shelter for hundreds of migrant children in the desert in Texas has expanded to a detention camp holding thousands of teenagers. The Government Accountability Office will investigate whether a group of private citizens with no government roles connected to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida have had inappropriate influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs. A U.S. Geological Survey report found that drilling for fossil fuels on federally owned land is responsible for nearly one quarter of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
The Special Counsel has obtained emails between Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone that anticipated Wikileaks’ release of emails stolen from the Clinton campaign months before it happened, reports Anna Schecter in NBC News.
- Carol D. Leonnig, Rosalind S. Helderman, and Manuel Roig-Franzia report in the Washington Post that Donald Trump’s legal team received a draft statement of offense detailing criminal charges against Corsi before Thanksgiving.
- Read the draft statement of offense here.
Lawyers for Paul Manafort continued briefing President Trump’s lawyers on discussions with the Special Counsel even after Manafort entered into a plea agreement, Michael S. Schmidt, Sharon LaFraniere, and Maggie Haberman report in the New York Times.
It is difficult to understand why Paul Manafort lied to the Special Counsel’s office even after reaching a plea agreement, writes Harry Litman in the New York Times.
- Brian Beutler argues in Crooked that It’s also difficult to know what it means for the Special Counsel’s investigation that Manafort is no longer cooperating.
- Barbara McQuade and Mimi Rocah argue in the Daily Beast that lying is the worst thing Manafort could have done.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a 2017 meeting between Paul Manafort and Ecuadorian president Lenin Morena, including whether Wikileaks or Julian Assange were discussed, Carl Bernstein and Devan Cole report in CNN.
The Special Counsel’s investigation appears to be approaching an endgame, Garret M. Graff argues in Wired.
Michael Cohen is expected to submit court filings outlining reasons for leniency ahead of his sentencing scheduled for next month, Erica Orden reports in CNN.
IMMIGRATION
Despite the official end of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, border patrol agents have continued separating migrant children from their parents, Ginger Thompson reports in ProPublica.
The Trump Administration waived background checks for caregivers and short-staffed mental health workers at migrant detention camps, potentially endangering the thousands of teens and children held there, Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza report in the Associated Press.
Newly revealed government documents confirm that the underlying intent of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of family separation was to deter additional immigration and asylum petitions, raising the possibility that it constituted an illegal form of torture, argues Beth Van Schaack in Just Security.
What was announced as a temporary shelter for hundreds of migrant children in the desert in Texas has expanded to a detention camp holding thousands of teenagers, report Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza in the Associated Press.
U.S. military officials are considering extending the deployment of troops along the southern border beyond the original mid-December end date, Nancy A. Youssef and Alicia A. Caldwell report in the Wall Street Journal.
Department of Homeland Security officials expect additional confrontations and shutdowns at border crossings in the coming months, Nick Miroff and Tracy Jan report in the Washington Post.
The Trump Administration intends to appeal an injunction issued by a federal district judge blocking a presidential proclamation that would prevent certain immigrants from seeking asylum, writes Brett Samuels in The Hill.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Trump Administration's proposed changes to Title IX guidance risk seriously undermining important protections for students, Joanna L. Grossman and Deborah L. Brake argue in Verdict.
- Dana Bolger argues that the new rules protect schools rather than students in the New York Times.
The likely incoming chairman of the the House Judiciary Committee announced his intention to investigate the recent rise in hate crimes nationwide and how the Trump Administration's policies and rhetoric may be a contributing factor, writes Karoun Demirjian in the Washington Post.
DEMOCRACY
Any legislation aimed at improving the democratic process that the new Congress may consider should ideally take inspiration from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and make use of performance standards, rather than prescribe particular mechanisms, Justin Levitt argues in Take Care.
Stacey Abrams’s new group is making a bold and smart argument in their lawsuit challenging Georgia’s shoddy election system, arguing that the various aspects of the system as a whole cumulatively disenfranchise voters, Rick Hasen writes in Slate.
- Read the complaint here.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman heard closing arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Commerce Department’s decision to add a question about citizenship to the upcoming census, Adam Klasfeld writes for Courthouse News.
- Ari Berman argues in Mother Jones that the trial did not go well for the Trump Administration.
The tax code changes included in the Republican “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” will likely push more liberal non-profit organizations to organize as 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations rather than traditional 501(c)(3) charities, accelerating a trend catalyzed by Donald Trump’s election, writes David Pozen in the Atlantic.
The next Congress should take steps to better ensure American elections are free from foreign influence, including passing legislation to require disclosing the beneficial owners of limited liability companies and requiring more comprehensive disclosure in high-end real-estate transactions, Joseph Biden and Michael Carpenter argue in Politico.
JUSTICE & SAFETY
Republican senators are considering changes to a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that is currently awaiting a vote on the Senate floor, Seung Min Kim reports in the Washington Post.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” show shared interview scripts in advance with former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Maxwell Tani reports in the Daily Beast.
The Government Accountability Office will investigate whether a group of private citizens with no government roles connected to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida have had inappropriate influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs, Laura Fox and Zachary Cohen write in CNN.
- Read GAO’s letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren announcing the investigation here.
Democrats should enter the next Congress with a focus on combating corruption, but the problem is much bigger than President Trump alone, argues Will Wilkinson in the New York Times.
The Interior Department’s Inspector General cleared Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of wrongdoing in its investigation into whether he redrew the boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a political ally, write Juliet Eilperin and Lisa Rein in the Washington Post.
- Read the IG’s letter here.
Four anonymous donors gave $17 million to a conservative nonprofit group that distributed funds to organizations that backed President Trump’s inaugural committee and his Supreme Court nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, Michelle Ye Hee Lee reports in the Washington Post.
REGULATION
The EPA is expected to soon announce a new rule rolling back protections for seasonal tributaries, streams, and wetlands, reports Sharon Lerner in the Intercept.
A U.S. Geological Survey report found that drilling for fossil fuels on federally owned land is responsible for nearly one quarter of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, Megan Geuss writes in Ars Technica.
- Read the report here.
- Critics argue that the Trump Administration’s policy of encouraging such drilling is a bad deal for taxpayers, in addition to the environmental costs, Eric Lipton and Hiroko Tabuchi write in the New York Times.
RULE OF LAW
President Trump represents a serious threat to the rule of law, the cornerstone of any functioning democracy, argues Robert Reich in the American Prospect.
- The UC Berkeley School of Law American Constitution Society Chapter similarly argues that Trump’s attacks on judges threaten the rule of law in ACSBlog.
A federal judge refused to unseal charges filed by the federal government against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Rachel Weiner writes in the Washington Post.
There are steps Matthew Whitaker can and should take to assuage justified concerns about his appointment as acting Attorney General, writes Alberto R. Gonzales in the Washington Post.
CHECKS & BALANCES
Although it is a close question, the House does have the power to subpoena the president to seek testimony in an investigation, argues Andy Wright in Just Security.
- However, the White House has various avenues to slow-walk congressional investigations, writes Viola Granger in Just Security.
The White House is preventing CIA Director Gina Haspel from testifying before a U.S. Senate committee about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Julian Borger reports in the Guardian.
Democrats and civil rights groups have united in a bid to block the nomination of Thomas Farr to the federal bench, Catie Edmondson writes in the New York Times.
FEDERALISM
The New York Court of Appeals held that the Constitution guarantees jury trials to noncitizens charged with crimes that could subject them to deportation, writes Jonathan Stempel in Reuters.
- Read the opinion here.
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
Donald Trump’s conduct in office warrants Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings upon assuming control of the House, Jason Sattler argues in USA Today.
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
Paul Manafort secretly met with Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on three occasions, most recently in spring 2016, Luke Harding and Dan Collins report in the Guardian.
- Philip Bump lays out the timeline of this new revelation alongside what we already know in the Washington Post.
Tags:
Immigration Rule of Law Conflicts Checks & Balances Federalism Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety Removal from Office Russian Interference