Law
March 17, 2020 — Scott Johnson
We have closely followed Team Mueller’s prosecution of Concord Management and Consulting. The prosecution seemed to have been brought for the purpose of the news that would be generated by the indictment. When Concord appeared in court through sophisticated defense counsel with a wry sense of humor and a delight in tormenting Team Mueller — Eric Dubelier — Team Mueller sought to escape with the least possible embarrassment. They (embarrassingly)
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March 13, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I wrote this past December about House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff’s acquisition of telephone records used in the committee’s “impeachment inquiry report” here (part 1), here (part 2), here (part 3), and here (part 4). In those posts I tried to infer the underlying facts from the “impeachment inquiry report.” We were nevertheless left hanging. How did Schiff do that? Kim Strassel follows up this week in her Wall Street
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March 11, 2020 — Scott Johnson
In the Innovation Law Lab case, a divided Ninth Circuit panel upheld an injunction against enforcement of the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (“MPP”). Under the MPP, non-Mexican asylum seekers who present themselves at the southern border of the United States are required to wait in Mexico while their asylum applications are adjudicated. The MPP must be the most effective measure implemented by the Trump administration to stem the crushing
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March 7, 2020 — Scott Johnson
You may have read about Senior United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton’s whack upside the head of Attorney General Barr this week. The whack was administered in Judge Walton’s opinion ruling on the Freedom of Information Act case that seeks the Department of Justice’s release of an unredacted version of the Mueller report. The opinion is accessible online here. Judge Walton’s whack is misguided. The Wall Street Journal takes
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March 7, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Writing about developments in Trumplaw here this past Sunday, I confused two Ninth Circuit decisions that were decided on the same day. Both cases are worthy of note; they are a double whammy. In the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant case, the Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against enforcement of a rule and presidential proclamation that, together, strip asylum eligibility from “migrants” who cross into the United States along the
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March 1, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I can’t say I had my heart in it, but I have served my sentence for disseminating what I believe to be the deleted Schumer tweet hoax. I sentenced myself to review last week’s developments in Trumplaw. I’m not sure the punishment fit the crime, but here are my brief and not entirely serious notes on the three appellate decisions that addressed key Trump administration issues. East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
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February 29, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
As Scott noted this post, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled yesterday that that Article III of the Constitution forbids federal courts from resolving the dispute between the House of Representatives and the executive branch over whether former White House Counsel Don McGahn must comply with a subpoena to testify before the House. The decision is, of course, a victory for President Trump. It means
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February 29, 2020 — Scott Johnson
After falling for the blatant Schumination hoax, I want to note without further comment three significant appellate court decisions ruling on Trump administration policies. I link to stories on the decisions followed by links to the slip opinions of the decisions themselves. 1. “Appeals court temporarily blocks Trump administration’s ‘Remain-in-Mexico’ policy.” A federal appeals court on Friday slapped a temporary halt on the Remain-in-Mexico policy — one of the most
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February 26, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The Trump Department of Justice has steadfastly opposed racial discrimination without regard to which racial group is the victim. Yesterday, pursuant to this policy, the DOJ filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Asian-American plaintiffs who were discriminated against as a result of Harvard University’s race-based admissions preferences for African-American applicants. The case is on appeal from a district court ruling that found no discrimination by Harvard. We discussed
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February 26, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Today the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in State of New York et al. v. U.S. Department of Justice, upholding the Trump administration’s order withholding Byrne Program Criminal Justice Assistance funds from state and local governments that defy federal immigration law by declaring themselves “sanctuaries” for illegal aliens. The court’s opinion is here. The back story includes three prior Court of Appeals decisions going against the administration: the 9th
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February 20, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
I don’t know how much longer we’ll have Michael Bloomberg to “kick around” or, if he persists, whether he will remain worth writing about as a candidate. However, I want to say more about the attacks against him for his alleged behavior towards female employees. I don’t want to discuss this from a political perspective, except to say that the allegations are extremely damaging politically. I want to talk about
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February 13, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I have a pen and I have notes, to borrow a phrase. I have notes of comments made by President Trump at the White House reception for conservative media on April 24, 2017 on the occasion of his first hundred days in office. I used my notes to write up my account of the reception for Power Line readers in “At the White House with Trump.” In a scenario out
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January 22, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump will attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Friday. He will be the first president to do so. The event is held every year on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. The Trump administration is supporting the pro-life movement in substantive ways as well. The most recent example is the Justice Department’s filing of a brief supporting an Ohio law that
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January 9, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Last month, a federal district court judge issued an injunction against using $3.6 billion dollars of Pentagon funds to construct more border wall. Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a very brief opinion, reversed that decision and lifted the injunction. No one should be surprised to learn that the district court judge who blocked the use of the funds, David Briones, was appointed by President
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January 4, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Some of us who criticize the House’s second article of impeachment against Trump — alleged obstruction of justice based on refusing to produce documents and witnesses — argue that the remedy for the non-cooperation is to seek enforcement of subpoenas in court, not to impeach the president. However yesterday, as discussed below, the Trump Justice Department argued in court that the judiciary shouldn’t even consider enforcing House subpoenas because to
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December 22, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, I wrote about a case in which the Fifth Circuit, in a unanimous decision, ruled that a suit could proceed against a Black Lives Matter activist for violence he didn’t commit or encourage. The police officer who brought the suit was hit in the head by a rock thrown during a BLM protest. However, he did not claim that the individual he sued, DeRay McKesson, threw the rock,
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December 20, 2019 — Scott Johnson
When FISA court presiding judge Rosemary Collyer issued her order rebuking the FBI earlier this week, I wondered where the court had been. Don’t FISA judges read the newspapers? Like so many involved in the Russia hoax, Judge Collyer gave every appearance of having tumbled only lately to the misconduct committed before her court, courtesy of the Department of Justice Inspector General report issued last week. I embedded a copy
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