Eve Levin  //  8/6/17  //  Topic Update


Special Counsel Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury in Washington D.C. in relation to the Russia probe (WSJ).

Two bipartisan pairs of Senators have proposed legislation to limit President Trump’s ability to fire Mueller (WaPo).

  • There may be a glitch in one of the bills, argues Charlie Gerstein at Take Care.
  • Congress could codify existing special counsel regulations, argues Rick Pildes at Lawfare.
  • The two bills can be found here.

Vladimir Putin expelled 755 American diplomatic personnel from Russia (The Hill).

  • Putin will allow the United States to decide which diplomats will leave (The Hill).

President Trump signed the Russia sanctions bill but expressed concerns about it (WaPoLA Times).

  • President Trump’s signing statement can be found here.
  • The legislation reluctantly signed by President Trump as well as his attached signing statement raise several legal issues, argues Richard Epstein at Just Security.
  • The White House also released a public statement on the bill, which is available to read here.
  • Lawfare provides an overview of the bill and the controversies related to its passage.
  • Commentators noted the President’s tough decision between wanting to improve Russian relations and a potential congressional override should he veto the Russian sanction legislation (LA Times).
  • Vice President Pence had gone tough on Russia after its response to U.S. sanctions (WaPoThe Hill).
  • Melissa Etehad summarizes the sanctions bill at the New York Times.
  • Putin will, reportedly, send troops to the NATO border in coming weeks (NYT).

President Trump personally dictated a misleading statement on his son’s meeting with a lawyer affiliated with the Russian government who promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton (WaPo).

  • The White House confirmed the President’s involvement, reports Peter Baker at the New York Times.
  • President Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, had originally claimed that President Trump was not involved in the drafting of the statement (WaPo).
  • In a statement, the administration claimed that President Trump’s role in the drafting of the statement was “something that any father would do” (The Hill).

In a speech to Congressional interns, Jared Kushner claimed that the Trump campaign was too disorganized to collude with Russia (Foreign Policy).

  • The audio is available here.

The Republican National Committee has asked its staff to preserve documents related to the 2016 election, in anticipation of a potential investigation (The Hill). 

Senator Lindsay Graham has warned President Trump against moving Jeff Sessions to the Department of Homeland Security (The Hill).


Updates | The Week of February 19, 2018

2/25/18  //  Daily Update

Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a new charge against Paul Manafort while Richard Gates pled guilty. Meanwhile, President Trump's proposal to arm teachers drew controversy in Washington.

Jacob Miller

Harvard Law School

Updates | The Week of February 5, 2018

2/11/18  //  Daily Update

The Nunes memo set off aftershocks; agencies scrambled to implement the Trump Administration's policies to mixed effect; and Congress passes a budget after a brief overnight shutdown.

Updates | The Week of January 22, 2018

1/28/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump attempted to fire Special Counsel Mueller in June 2017 over his obstruction of justice probe, but refrained after White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to quit.