Mackenzie Walz  //  9/23/19  //  Daily Update

A New York judge ordered President Trump to appear for a videotaped deposition in a civil suit between his security guards and protestors. Twenty-three states filed suit against the Trump Administration, arguing the Administration’s revocation of California’s authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards was unlawful. The United States and El Salvador have reached an agreement that may allow the US to send asylum seekers to El Salvador. In response to the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities, President Trump has approved sanctions on Iran and the deployment of additional troops to Saudi Arabia. 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

A New York judge ordered President Trump to appear for a videotaped deposition in a civil suit between his security guards and protesters (The Hill).

Twenty-three states filed suit against the Trump Administration, arguing the Administration’s revocation of California’s authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards was unlawful (NYT; The Hill; NPR).

IMMIGRATION

The United States and El Salvador have reached an agreement that may allow the US to send asylum seekers to El Salvador (NYT; WaPo; WSJ).

• The countries’ joint statement is available here.

DEMOCRACY

President Trump’s rhetoric regarding the whistleblower complaint is likely to have a chilling effect, discusses Reis Thebault for The Washington Post.

Even if the legal argument that the DNI was not required to transmit the whistleblower complaint to Congress is plausible, the public deserves to know if the President bribed a foreign leader, argues Robert S. Litt for Lawfare.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

In response to the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities, President Trump has approved sanctions on Iran and the deployment of additional troops to Saudi Arabia (WaPo; WSJ).

President Trump has selected Matt Pottinger, his leading policy counselor on China and North Korea, to serve as his deputy national security adviser (WSJ).

CHECKS & BALANCES

As the White House continues to claim executive branch confidentiality to impede Congressional oversight, Congress needs to utilize instruments of pressure they can control, contends Benjamin Wittes for Lawfare.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

If President Trump used his office to pressure the Ukraine into investigating presidential candidate Joe Biden, he breached his fiduciary duty and ought to be impeached, argue George Conway III and Neal Katyal for The Washington Post.

• Renato Mariotti contends it is best, strategically and legally, to discuss this conduct in terms of impeachment, not criminal conduct.
• If an impeachment effort would be futile, Congress can still hold the President accountable for his abuses of power by censuring him, argues Karen Tumulty for The Washington Post.