4/18/18  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court struck down a law allowing deportation of some immigrants who commit serious crimes as unconstitutional due to vagueness by a vote of 5-4, with Justice Gorsuch joining Justices Kagan, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Breyer in the majority. James Comey’s public criticism of President Trump during his book tour may hurt his image as fully apolitical. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would not take up a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller against termination by President Trump. In a move backed by Congressional Democrats, the Department of the Interior decided not to reduce royalty rates on offshore drilling, overriding the recommendations of an advisory panel. The 9th Circuit will appoint a special prosecutor to defend the criminal contempt conviction of Joe Arpaio after he was pardoned by President Trump.

4/17/18  //  Daily Update

The state of California has rejected the Trump administration’s initial request to deploy National Guard troops along the Mexico border. President Trump put the brakes on new Russia sanctions meant to punish Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The strikes in Syria were justified as “legitimate,” not “legal”—but legitimacy without legality is a threat to the stability and predictability of the international system. President Trump asked a federal judge to allow him to review documents seized from Michael Cohen’s office before criminal investigators have a chance to see them. Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, is testing the limits of attorney-client privilege.

4/16/18  //  Daily Update

A federal judge left in place an injunction over President Trump’s transgender troop ban, ruling that transgender people are a protected class. On Friday evening, the United States and European allies launched airstrikes in Syria targeting chemical weapons sites. There is a two-front legal war raging over the right of undocumented teenaged girls to receive abortions—the Supreme Court took up the issue at conference on Friday. Gina Haspel’s nomination to be the next CIA director is facing opposition from senators questioning her role in destroying videotapes of brutal interrogations conducted by the agency. Following an FBI raid on his home, hotel room, and office, President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, filed for a temporary restraining order in the S.D.N.Y. President Trump issued a pardon to Scooter Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney.

4/13/18  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration has been sued for issuing an allegedly misleading report on terrorism which was used to justify the second travel ban. The D.C. Circuit questioned whether White House budget director Mick Mulvaney can legally run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while simultaneously running the Office of Management and Budget. President Donald Trump’s nominee for EEOC general counsel, Sharon Fast Gustafson, refused to tell the Senate whether she believed that discrimination against LGBT workers is a form of unlawful sex bias. The National Rifle Association reported that it received more money from people with Russian ties than previously acknowledged.

4/12/18  //  Daily Update

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg concluded two days of testimony on Capitol Hill. The Justice Department will temporarily suspend the Vera Institute of Justice’s Legal Orientation Program, which provides legal assistance to detained immigrants facing deportation, as it audits the program’s cost-effectiveness. White House deputy national security adviser for strategy Nadia Schadlow has resigned, making her the third senior National Security Council official to leave since John Bolton was appointed national security adviser. The FBI raid on the office of Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, sought records related to the “Access Hollywood” tape in addition to records related to payments to Stormy Daniels. A bipartisan group of senators introduced a new bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller from termination by President Trump, and the Judiciary Committee will likely hold a vote within the next week.

4/11/18  //  Daily Update

The Justice Department is investigating whether colleges and universities are violating antitrust laws by sharing information about applicants who have applied early decision. The Postal Service’s governing board has remained empty since December 2016, and the vacancies are hurting operations. Trade groups are challenging the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s payday loan rule. The goal of the FBI raid of Michael Cohen’s office was to find records related to payments made to women claiming to have had affairs with President Trump. A Ukrainian steel mogul’s payment during the 2016 presidential campaign to the Trump Organization in exchange for an appearance by then-candidate Donald Trump is a new focus of the special counsel’s investigation.

4/10/18  //  Daily Update

The Trump Organization asks the President of Panama to intervene on their behalf in a legal fight over ownership of the Trump International Hotel in Panama City. Russian markets are declining as foreign and domestic investors have sold stocks in the face of American sanctions. Former CIA directors send letter to Congress endorsing CIA director nominee Gina Haspel as her confirmation hearing begins. President Trump acknowledges that farmers will be harmed by new Chinese tariffs and calls them “great patriots.” Upon receiving a referral from Robert Mueller, the FBI raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen and seized communications between Cohen and the President.

4/9/18  //  Daily Update

Immigration authorities have detained 506 pregnant women since the Trump Administration ended a policy in December to release most pregnant women while their immigration cases are pending. The Justice Department called for Harvard College to disclose admissions information in a brief filed in a civil rights lawsuit accusing Harvard of discriminating against Asian-American applicants. Facebook announced that it will begin requiring purchasers of political or issue ads on its platform to first reveal and verify their identity. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has come under fire for spending extravagantly on office furniture and private jet travel. Paul Manafort is seeking to suppress evidence the Justice Department obtained from a storage locker.

4/6/18  //  Daily Update

The Office of Refugee Resettlement has turned its attention towards abortion. San Francisco filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Jeff Sessions after his December repeal of 25 memoranda providing civil rights protections to minorities and the disabled. Mark Zuckerberg’s post-Cambridge Analytica conversation with Ezra Klein suggested an independent tribunal as a governance structure for Facebook. President Trump publicly denied knowing his lawyer paid $130,000 to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known in her films as Stormy Daniels. Acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Mick Mulvaney paid two senior staffers more than $230,000, substantially more than they had previously made, while criticizing the CFPB for wasteful spending.

4/5/18  //  Daily Update

The DOJ asks a federal court to halt its order stopping government officials from preventing unaccompanied immigrant minors in custody from getting abortions. President Trump signs proclamation to send National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border. A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that black students are punished more severely than their peers. H.R. McMaster, in one of his last public comments as national security advisor, criticized lack of action from the Trump Administration in response to alleged Russian election interference. The Trump Administration will sanction several Russian oligarchs in retaliation for alleged interference in the 2016 election.

4/4/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump announced plans to order the military to guard the southern border of the United States. Young immigrants in government custody are being denied access to abortions. Department of Interior documents reveal that mining and drilling interests influenced the Trump administration’s decision to shrink national monuments in Utah last year. President Trump asks court to move the lawsuit against him by Stormy Daniels to a private arbitration. New York and 16 other states sue the Trump Administration for adding a question about citizenship to the 2020 census, claiming that it violates Congress’s constitutional mandate to conduct an “actual enumeration.” Robert Mueller informed President Trump’s lawyers that the President is not a criminal target, but remains under investigation.

4/3/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are discussing ways to pressure North Korea before the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the president. Texas has submitted a request to Attorney General Sessions to opt into the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which would allow the state to more quickly death row execute prisoners. President Trump praises Sinclair Broadcasting in wake of criticism that the broadcaster required local anchors nationwide to read the same scripted message about fake news. The publisher of the National Enquirer moved to dismiss Karen McDougal’s lawsuit, claiming that the deal they struck with her to remain silent about her alleged affair with President Trump is protected by the First Amendment. When President Trump called to congratulate Putin on his reelection, he proposed meeting him at the White House.

4/2/18  //  Daily Update

In a series of tweets Sunday morning, President Trump announced a new refusal to compromise on a “DACA deal” and threatened to leave NAFTA. Cambridge Analytica’s model functions similarly to Netflix’s recommendations algorithm. China retaliated against U.S. trade penalties with tariffs on meat and fruit, among other items. The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to moot the Microsoft case regarding the access to records under the Stored Communications Act, citing passage of the Cloud Act. Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin, claims he did not leave the agency willingly.

3/30/18  //  Daily Update

A federal district court judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program can move forward. Former Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee to block the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Kremlin plans to expel 150 Western diplomats in response to the the expulsion of Russian diplomats from a variety of western nations. A new government study suggests that thousands of teachers had their federal grants taken away and converted to loans, sometimes for minor errors in paperwork. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rebuffed a call from Republican leaders to appoint a second special counsel to look into the FBI’s handling of its most high-profile probes.

3/29/18  //  Daily Update

Under a Trump Administration proposal, immigrants who accept public benefits could be denied legal U.S. residency. Oral argument in the Supreme Court’s second case on partisan gerrymandering this term revealed a lack of consensus on the issue. President Trump has left unfilled dozens of vital diplomatic positions. A district court has found that that D.C. and Maryland have standing to sue President Trump for violating the emoluments clause by accepting business from foreign leaders at the Trump Hotel. The President’s most unpopular policies have some similarities—one is that they are laden with animus.