6/5/18  //  Daily Update

The president wrote on Twitter that he can pardon himself for any crime. The Supreme Court gave the federal government a narrow win in Garza, the unaccompanied immigrant minor abortion case, while sidestepping sanctions for ACLU attorneys. In Masterpiece Cakeshop, the Court held that the application of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act to the baker violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause because it was “inconsistent with the State’s obligation of religious neutrality.” The Trump White House disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from a presidential visit over national anthem protests. Paul Manafort tried to contact witnesses against him, the special counsel wrote in a filing requesting that Manafort’s bail be revoked or revised.

6/4/18  //  Daily Update

In a secret letter to the Mueller investigation, lawyers for President Trump argue that he has broad power to terminate and otherwise influence investigations; issue pardons in connection with those investigations; and cannot be subpoenaed by Mueller in connection with the investigation. Kneeling during the national anthem is a form of protest with roots in religion. Justice Department says it didn’t need Congressional approval for the April strike on Syria. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the U.S.’s trade tariffs “insulting and unacceptable.”

6/1/18  //  Daily Update

The Human Rights Campaign has called for an investigation into the death of Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman who died while in ICE custody. A lawsuit filed by 21 organizations and two citizen plaintiffs challenges the constitutionality of a citizenship question the Trump administration has added to the 2020 census. DHHS is investigating requirements in California and Hawaii that obligate anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” to inform women about state subsidized family planning services. The administration is moving forward with metal tariffs imported from close allies in the EU, Mexico, and Canada. New Jersey became the second state after Massachusetts to enact an individual health insurance mandate.

5/31/18  //  Daily Update

In March 2017, President Trump pressured Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind his recusal from the Russia investigation. A new report suggests that Trump administration policies contribute to the risk of sexual abuse of LGBT ICE detainees—a risk 97 times greater than that faced by non-LGBT detainees. The denial of cert in Planned Parenthood v. Jegley leaves intact a decision at odds with governing precedent and will likely lead to uncertainty for abortion providers. Deposition transcripts reveal that the President's criticism of the NFL had a significant influence on the league’s decision to change its policy on standing for the national anthem. President Trump reportedly bragged at a closed-door fundraiser about a classified confrontation between U.S. troops and Russian mercenaries in Syria.

5/30/18  //  Daily Update

Michael Avenatti, Stephanie Clifford’s attorney, has frustrated efforts by federal prosecutors to obtain information about a deal involving President Trump and Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former attorney. President Trump says the investigation regarding the 2016 elections is “meddling” with the 2018 midterm elections. The Trump Administration lost track of 1,475 immigrant children last year who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on their own. Top nuclear weapons negotiator from North Korea arrived in Beijing amid reports that he will travel to the U.S. to finalize a summit meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. The DOJ granted antitrust approval to Bayer AG’s planned acquisition of Monsanto after requiring the company to sell off about $9 billion in assets to preserve competition.

5/29/18  //  Daily Update

The United States will delay new sanctions against North Korea while it continues discussions about reviving the planned summit with Kim Jong Un. In recent months, China has granted several trademarks to Ivanka Trump’s brand, raising questions about whether the trademarks are an effort to gain favor with the White House. The recently enacted bank deregulation bill backed by the Trump administration will significantly reduce regulations on all but the largest banks. The Trump administration’s rollback of an Obama-era executive order requiring increased flood protection for federally funded infrastructure projects poses serious risks in the future. In his efforts to undermine the credibility of the Mueller investigation, President Trump is rendering conspiracy theories mainstream.

5/28/18  //  Daily Update

The news that HHS has lost track of thousands of migrant children in its custody casts a new light on a case, Azar v. Garza, concerning the Trump Administration’s authority over undocumented minors. President Trump’s constant tweets attacking the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his campaign’s possible collusion appear to have succeeded in shifting public opinion among Republicans. The Federal Election Commission deadlocked on proposals to consider new rules to address the role of foreign money in funding politically active entities that do not have to disclose their donors. The NFL’s decision to not allow players to kneel during the playing of the anthem is probably illegal for a variety of reasons. Republican lawmakers are pressing regulators to prevent banks from restricting financing for gun sellers.

5/25/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump cancelled his June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The FBI is working to halt a “massive, sophisticated” Russian hacking network. Civil rights groups issued searing criticism of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s claim that the law permits schools to report undocumented students to immigration enforcement. The U.S. Court of Military Commission Review froze the appeal in the 9/11 case, United States v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, et al., because it currently lacks a quorum. President Trump signed into law rollbacks of some Dodd-Frank regulations. The DOJ is opening a criminal investigation into bitcoin trading and potential price manipulation. Former President Obama called for stricter regulation of technology firms’ use of user data.

5/24/18  //  Daily Update

A federal judge ruled that President Trump’s decision to block Twitter users based on their political views constitutes a violation of the First Amendment. Moderate House Republicans demand a vote on immigration. President Trump says he will cancel a proposed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un unless the North Korean regime first accepts a list of unspecified demands. The FBI admits overstating the number of locked smartphones it has been unable to access because of encryption. The EPA bars reporters from a national summit on toxic chemicals. The White House sets a meeting for Republican congressional leaders regarding an F.B.I. informant who contacted members of the Trump campaign during the Russia investigation.

5/23/18  //  Daily Update

By demanding that DOJ open an investigation into the FBI’s scrutiny of his campaign contacts with Russia, President Trump came closer to breaching an established restraint on executive power. The administration’s decision to hold migrant children on U.S. military bases while their parents await trial for illegal entry into the U.S. raises many concerns about traumatic effects on children. President Trump’s proposal for new abortion restrictions on federal family planning money would bar doctors from informing a woman where she could go to receive an abortion, unless she said she had already decided to end her pregnancy. President Trump is making the recruitment of intelligence sources even more difficult. The EPA booted reporters from a meeting about toxic chemicals.

5/22/18  //  Daily Update

The White House affirmed President Trump’s use of the word ‘animal’ to describe undocumented immigrants, issuing a press release that referred to MS-13 as ‘animals’ 13 times. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced a suspension of the threat to place tariffs on Chinese imports. As the U.S. pours upwards of $2.8 trillion into counterterrorism efforts, the government has no clear, government-wide definition of counterterrorism or activities that should be funded as such. Michael Cohen helped a donor to President Trump’s campaign secure an investment from a Qatar fund. President Trump refuses to use a secure cell phone. The Volcker Rule might be on its way out.

5/21/18  //  Daily Update

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would withdraw a computer assessment tool that provides local communities with data to help gauge and combat neighborhood segregation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a directive limiting immigration judges’ use of administrative closure, which “could put hundreds of thousands of deportation cases that are essentially closed back on federal court dockets.” The Department of Health and Human Services proposed rules that would force organizations like Planned Parenthood to choose between ceasing abortion services or losing some government funding. Three months before the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. met secretly with Erik Prince, former head of the private security firm, Blackwater; George Nader, an emissary for the Saudi and Emirati governments; and Joel Zamel, an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation, in an encounter that has come under the scrutiny of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

5/18/18  //  Daily Update

North Korea renewed its criticisms of the United States and South Korea, and again threatened that it would call off the planned summit if American military exercises did not end. With oversight of ICE’s policy of locking migrants in prisons almost nonexistent, an effective American immigration policy should not employ imprisonment so lightly. Gina Haspel was confirmed by the Senate as first female CIA director, despite concerns about her involvement with a widely criticized torture program. Three states appeal to the Fifth Circuit attempting to salvage an Obama-era financial protection rule requiring retirement advisers to act in the best interest of clients. The U.S. Sentencing Commission released a new research report on federal offenders’ criminal histories that shows most federal offenders in custody have a prior offense.

5/17/18  //  Daily Update

New evidence reveals that President Trump did reimburse Michael Cohen for the payment made to Stormy Daniels during the election. President Trump called some undocumented immigrants “animals” at a roundtable on California’s sanctuary state policy. Google is offering American political groups free cyber protection in the wake of Russian attempts to interfere with democratic elections. The White House is conducting searches for staffers’ unauthorized cell phones in an effort to reduce leaks to the press. In hearings, lawmakers raise national security concerns in response to President Trump’s Twitter pledge to aid Chinese company, ZTE. According to recently filed financial disclosures, President Trump has earned $59 million over the past three years operating a skating rink and other attractions in New York City.

5/16/18  //  Daily Update

U.S. Border Patrol has consistently undercounted the number of deaths of migrants on American soil. North Korea suggests that it may back out of the summit with the United States in response to joint South Korea–U.S. military exercises. The White House announced plans to eliminate the top cyber policy advisor position. In a memorial event for law enforcement officials killed in the line of duty, President Trump stated that a “dangerous anti-police prejudice” is growing in the United States. The Trump Organization has brought on a Chinese state-owned company as a partner for a real estate development project in Indonesia, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest after the Trump administration expressed support for ZTE, a Chinese electronics company under US sanctions.