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Abigail DeHart, Nicandro Iannacci  //  9/10/18  //  Daily Update

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Vice President Mike Pence said, if asked, he would sit for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Russian interference in the 2016 election. President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen offered to rescind a non-disclosure agreement with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Immigration judges are objecting to DOJ policy and personnel changes, including an annual case quota, that appear designed to speed up the immigration courts. Increasingly, President Trump is using official or nonpartisan events to attack the press. The President is fixated on the idea that tech companies are silencing his conservative base as part of a broader campaign to undermine his presidency. The EPA lost more than 1,500 of its staff in the first 18 months of the Trump's administration.

 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION

Vice President Mike Pence said, if asked, he would sit for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Russian interference in the 2016 election (Politico).

Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in jail for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 election (NYT, WaPo, WSJ, LAT, Politico).

President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen offered to rescind a non-disclosure agreement with adult film star Stormy Daniels (NYT, WaPo, WSJ, LAT, Politico).

Randy Credico, the associate of an adviser to President Trump, was questioned in front of a grand jury as part of the Mueller investigation (Reuters, WaPo, Politico).

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether anyone in the Trump Organization violated campaign finance laws (Bloomberg News).

 

IMMIGRATION

Immigration judges are objecting to DOJ policy and personnel changes, including an annual case quota, that appear designed to speed up the immigration courts (NYT).

 

DEMOCRACY

President Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the source of a recent anonymous New York Times op-ed (NYT, WaPo, WSJ, Politico, AP). 

A new report shows that the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census is likely to increase costs and undermine accuracy (Election Law Blog).

• The report from Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality is here. 

As part of the DOJ’s ongoing investigation into alleged illegal voting in North Carolina, federal prosecutors subpoenaed 8 years of records from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (NYT).

Increasingly, President Trump is using official or nonpartisan events to attack the press (WaPo).

The president is increasingly fixated on the idea that tech companies are silencing his conservative base as part of a broader campaign to undermine his presidency (Politico).

President Trump may want to “open up” the nation’s libel laws, but isn’t likely to succeed, writes Los Angeles Times executive editor Norman Pearlstine.

 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Trump administration met several times with Venezuelan military officials allegedly plotting a coup against Venezuela’s President, but ultimately denied their requests for assistance (NYT, WaPo, Politico). 

The Trump administration has taken a number of actions related to China.

• President Trump said he has prepared new tariffs on Chinese goods and could roll them out on short notice (WSJ).
• The president is weighing sanctions on Chinese entities that are caught stealing intellectual property via cyber attacks (Bloomberg News).
• The administration also recalled high-level diplomatic officials in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Panama in response to the decision of those countries to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan (NYT).

According to a new report, the Trump administration has increased prosecution of gun crimes (Sentencing Law and Policy).

• The report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse is here.

 

REGULATION 

The EPA lost more than 1,500 of its staff in the first 18 months of the Trump's administration (WaPo; The Hill).

 

RULE OF LAW

The anonymous New York Times op-ed was an act of governmental stewardship, contends Daniel J. Rosenthal at Just Security.

 

FEDERALISM

The city of Atlanta joined a growing number of cities that have refused to work with ICE on immigration detention (ImmigrationProf Blog).

 

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Vice President Mike Pence denies that he or Cabinet members discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office (LATimes; CNN).

• The history of the 25th Amendment suggests such removal would not work (Politico).

 

Tags:

Immigration Rule of Law Federalism Regulation Democracy Justice & Safety Removal from Office

 

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