Daily Update | November 8, 2018
Zak Lutz // 11/8/18 //
Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at President Trump’s request; Matthew Whitaker, Sessions’ Chief of Staff, was named Acting Attorney General. The ACLU called for the DOJ to investigate Border Patrol for voter intimidation. Government officials acknowledged the spread of Election Day misinformation on social media site. Motel 6 agreed to pay a $9 million settlement after it worked with ICE agents to arrest guests. In October, three new credible allegations of corruption were raised against the Trump Administration, involving Secretary Zinke’s property dealings, President Trump’s business dealings in Saudi Arabia, and intervention on behalf of Republican donor Sheldon Adelson in Japan.
IMMIGRATION
Motel 6 agreed to pay a $9 million settlement after it worked with ICE agents to arrest guests (NYT).
DEMOCRACY
The ACLU called for the DOJ to investigate Border Patrol for voter intimidation (Hill).
Government officials acknowledged the spread of Election Day misinformation on social media sites (Hill).
DHS said it was not aware of any cyberattacks related to the midterm elections (Hill).
JUSTICE & SAFETY
While the Trump Administration seems intent on imposing sanctions on Iran, it has no definable goal for those sanctions, argues Suzanne Maloney in Lawfare.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
In October, three new credible allegations of corruption were raised against the Trump Administration, involving Secretary Zinke’s property dealings, President Trump’s business dealings in Saudi Arabia, and intervention on behalf of Republican donor Sheldon Adelson in Japan (Global Anticorruption Blog).
REGULATION
The FCC errs in its proposal to reduce the Lifeline program to provide cell phone service to low-income people in natural disaster zones, argues Olivia Wein in The Hill.
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at President Trump’s request; Matthew Whitaker, Sessions’ Chief of Staff, was named Acting Attorney General (Hill, ImmigrationProfBlog, LAT, Lawfare, Legal Planet, NYT, Politico, Sentencing Law and Policy, WaPo, WaPo).
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
Facebook took down about 100 Russian-linked accounts prior to the Election (Hill).
Despite some arguments to the contrary, the Russians did interfere with the 2018 elections--primarily through disinformation campaigns, argues Joshua Geltzer in Just Security.
Tags:
Immigration Conflicts Regulation Democracy Justice & Safety Removal from Office Russian Interference