Daily Update | October 22, 2019
Nicandro Iannacci // 10/22/19 //
House Democrats slow the impeachment inquiry. President Trump dismisses the Emoluments Clause as "phony," but watchdog groups disagree and now say that he has over 2,500 conflicts of interest. Facebook takes down foreign misinformation. And the House moves to dismiss a lawsuit by the President seeking to prevent Congress from getting his tax returns.
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
House Democrats have decided to slow the impeachment inquiry, with a likely extension into the Christmas season (NYT).
- Even as support for impeachment has risen among most Americans, Republicans remain almost unanimously opposed (NYT).
On Monday, House Republicans failed to censure Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for his leadership of the impeachment inquiry (POLITICO).
- The Senate Intelligence Committee is pursuing a comparatively slower and narrow investigation (WSJ).
Several Democrats are considering a bid to replace the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) as chairman of the Oversight Committee (WaPo, POLITICO).
In a letter to Acting DNI Joseph Maguire and IG Michael Atkinson, Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked for an outline of “specific steps” being taken to protect the Ukraine whistleblower (POLITICO).
- The letter is here.
Congress has a constitutional duty to provide oversight of the executive branch, writes Caroline Frederickson at The New York Times.
The core of the impeachment inquiry is the president’s potentially criminal self-dealing in Ukraine, writes Philip Zelikow at Lawfare.
Collecting negative information about Vice President Joe Biden was connected to a related effort to investigate 2016 election interference, writes Ryan Goodman and Alex Potcovaru at Just Security.
Congress should act in the interest of voters and impeach the president, writes Marci Hamilton at Verdict.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION
Lawyers for President Trump and New York prosecutors agreed to an expedited schedule for resolving a dispute over the president’s tax returns, including possible Supreme Court review (Lyle Denniston Law News, POLITICO).
The House asked a federal judge to dismiss President Trump’s lawsuit to prevent Congress from obtaining his tax returns (WaPo, The Hill).
IMMIGRATION
The White House determined that Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli and Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan are ineligible under the Vacancies Act to serve as acting DHS Secretary (NYT, WSJ, POLITICO).
The Trump administration plans to collect DNA samples from asylum seekers and other detained migrants for addition to a federal criminal database (AP, BuzzFeed News).
The administration has made it more difficult for employers to gain approval for foreign workers, writes Stuart Anderson at Forbes.
JUSTICE & SAFETY
President Trump announced that a limited number of troops will remain in Syria (WaPo, WSJ).
A British judge denied a request from Julian Assange to delay his U.S. extradition hearing, setting the first full hearing for February (WaPo, The Hill).
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
President Trump dismissed concerns about his prior decision to host the G7 at one of his Florida properties, referring to the “phony” Emoluments Clause (NYT, POLITICO).
The president has accrued more than 2,500 conflicts of interest (CREW).
- CREW’s new conflicts tracking tool is here.
CHECKS & BALANCES
A majority of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s Supreme Court picks and have little or no confidence in any future picks (The Hill).
More than any president before him, President Trump uses the Recommendations Clause to block congressional efforts to obtain policy recommendations, writes Benjamin Schwartz at Lawfare.
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
Facebook announced that it took down four disinformation campaigns from Iran and Russia (NYT, WaPo, The Hill).
- The company also announced a series of “election integrity efforts” to address future threats (Ars Technica).