March 2019 – National News Roundup

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 9 (March 17–23)

March 26, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Okay, folks. The Mueller report dropped this week, which appropriately has taken a lot of our attention. But as we watch the news unfold on that, it’s important to remember that Nixon wasn’t ultimately indicted by his Special Investigator report, and his impeachment process took years. There’s not going to be one fell swoop on this administration either; we all have to keep chipping away at this mess together.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a House investigation! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

This was The Week When It Happened in the Russia Investigation, and I think we’re all pretty anxious to see what happens next. The important thing to keep in mind — and I’m talking to myself here as well as all of you — is that Mueller led the first of several separate credible investigations, which means we’re definitely not done no matter what comes next. Okay, here are the main things to know:

It’s Mueller Time?* Special prosecutor Robert Mueller released his final report to Attorney General William Barr on Friday afternoon. AG Barr initially responded with a letter promising “as much transparency as possible”, and spent the weekend reviewing the materials. Then on Sunday evening, he released a four-page public summary of the Mueller report’s findings — findings which, I feel the need to note, almost certainly spanned hundreds of pages, so a four-page summary after forty-eight hours is pretty bare bones to say the least. Nonetheless, the summary contains two pieces of information we all should track: 1) Mueller has issued no new indictments beyond the ones he has already filed (which means no indictment for Trump); and 2) Mueller punted on the obstruction of justice question, which Barr used to declare there wasn’t any. That last bit is important because Barr circulated his unsolicited iffy opinions about Mueller’s obstruction of justice investigation before he was even Attorney General, and right now nobody other than his team knows what evidence Mueller actually found. We also don’t know if Barr will release the Mueller report to anybody else.
So What Happens Now?* Democrats continue to push for a public release of the Mueller report, with sensitive information redacted — and have signaled that they are willing to subpoena Barr to testify if necessary. Trump is, unsurprisingly, gleefully announcing this exonerates him when the report literally says the opposite. Meanwhile, several investigations into Trump-related matters are still ongoing, and in particular the New York investigation has a much broader scope than Mueller’s did. So we’re definitely not done, and we may be gearing up for a court battle over the report not unlike the one Nixon caused.
House Probe Blues.* With the Mueller investigation wrapped up, it makes sense to shift focus to the House, New York, and other investigations still ongoing. Unfortunately, the House Judiciary Committee is encountering some snags in its requests for documents — by which I mean, several entities are totally refusing to send them anything. The naughty list contains lots of names you’d never expect, such as Julian Assange, Roger Stone, and the White House — by which I mean, ‘names you’d never expect to give the House Judiciary Committee any subpoenaed documents.’ Needless to say, this is probably the beginning of a protracted battle as well.

Against the backdrop above, the Disregard of Governing Norms stories almost seem like a distraction, but it’s important that we don’t get jaded about the Trump family’s bad behavior! Here’s what I have for you:

Personal Enrichment Redux (Again). Forbes reported this week that Trump has charged his own reelection campaign $1.3M in rent, food, lodging and other expenses since taking office. As far as I can tell, this is probably legal, but it sure doesn’t help his ongoing emolument lawsuits. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on Trump’s sketchy relationship with Deutsche Bank, including its loans of over $2B despite many, many red flags.
Other Trump Family Malfeasance. Trump’s finances made a splash, but there was plenty of other special, special Trump family news to go around this week. First Jared Kushner made headlines because he’s been using WhatsApp to communicate with foreign officials — and the inevitable AOC and HRC commiseration tweets only somewhat soften that blow. And speaking of Twitter, Trump used the platform to have a one-sided fight with a dead guy, which I think it’s fair to conclude he lost. So we continue to be governed by a family of Roald Dahl villains.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Campaign Watch 2020. Speaking of elections, there has been a lot of movement on an already-crowded field for the 2020 Presidential election, so now seems like a fine time to do a mini-roundup. Here’s a quick blow-by-blow of some recent circus: 1) A bunch more people have announced their intent to run, including Beto O’Rourke and Kirsten Gillibrand; 2) Elizabeth Warren is calling to kill the electoral college, which will be popular here in MA (though she’s from MA, so I wouldn’t write home about that); and 3) Joe Biden hasn’t even announced he’s running yet but somehow he’s still in the news for considering Stacey Abrams as a running mate.
Boeing Follow-Up.* In horrifying follow-up to the Boeing crash, Boeing has announced this week they will no longer be charging extra for safety upgrades that make their planes safer — and if you’re like me, that’s how you learned that holy crow, Boeing used to charge airlines for safety upgrades. They also apparently billed the plane as not requiring pilot training if pilots had flown earlier versions of the 737, despite, you guessed it, a bunch of differences between the MAX and earlier versions of the 737. Can I just say, this entire story is like an object lesson in Why Deregulation is Bad.
Social Media Weirdness. Social media was extra weird this week, which in 2019 is really saying something. First Facebook was in the news for finally agreeing to stop letting advertisers blatantly illegally discriminate in their targeted ad practices. (Quick lawyer context note: Among other things, Facebook was alleged to be letting advertisers promoting housing and job opportunities screen out ad recipients of color, which is super duper not legal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.) In less “would you like a cookie” and more “would you like some tea” news, former Congressdude Devin Nunes is suing Twitter over some mean tweets about him, which so far has mostly resulted in a truly wild parade of exhibits and a parody cow account gaining six million followers — which, incidentally, is more followers on Twitter than Nunes has. In case anybody is wondering whether Nunes has a valid case here…uh, no. No, he does not.

The Bad:

College “Free Speech” Executive Order. While Nunes was suing Twitter because people said mean things, Trump was signing a “free speech” executive order designed to make it easier for the alt-right to talk at universities. Needless to say, this might actually harm free speech, so it’s not awesome news.
Immigration Updates. Immigration was in the news on all kinds of unpleasant fronts this week. CBP detention centers in Texas are so overcrowded that the administration is releasing people en masse, which would be good news except that locals think they’re doing it to manufacture a crisis that will get them more funding. In the meantime, among the people CBP has detained at said border was a nine-year-old citizen they held for 30 straight hours after picking her up on her way to school and a Dreamer flight attendant they held for six straight weeks. We can expect this type of illegal detention to get worse, thanks to a recent Supreme Court case that held that immigrants can be detained without a hearing if they have a prior conviction — even if they were released to the community years ago. As Justice Breyer noted in his dissent, this decision has major potential for abuse in the current political environment, and also likely sets up a constitutional fight further down the road.
Bibi’s Trump Card. In “this definitely won’t destabilize the Middle East” news, Trump is endorsing Israel’s claim on the Golan Heights, which have been disputed territory since they were annexed by Israel over fifty years ago. This wouldn’t be great all by itself, since it overturns decades of U.S. policy, but the timing makes it look like he’s interfering with the Israeli election. And that’s particularly bad because Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, the corrupt sitting Prime Minister, is unapologetically using Trump as campaign leverage to try to keep ahead of his own scandals in a close election. So basically… Trump doesn’t like clean elections in Israel any more than he likes them here.

The Good:

Postpartum Pill. The FDA approved a drug that treats postpartum depression this week, which is the first of its kind to ever be approved. Unfortunately, it’s also quite expensive and requires a significant hospital stay, but just the fact that the drug is being developed speaks volumes about our shifting priorities in healthcare.
Recent Court Resilience. Despite the recent SCOTUS immigration case, there was a lot of positive court news this week. A federal judge halted drilling in Wyoming, asking the administration to document climate change implications, which is the first time that has ever happened. And in slightly better SCOTUS news, the court declined to hear a case about a Hawaiian B&B refusing service to a lesbian couple, which means the decision that it was an illegal action stands. And a federal district court judge issued an order telling the administration that there was still an injunction in place preventing a trans military ban — so they should scrap that new policy they just proposed, please and thank you.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry that most of it isn’t better. For making it through, you deserve this collection of stories about nice moments of human connection and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully less confusing) news, and I hope you will be back as well — but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me springtime weather!

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 8 (March 10–16)

March 19, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This was a strange, stressful week for most of us, between New Zealand and key votes in Congress. About the best I can say is that it was a strange, stressful week for Trump too — a fact of which he was all too aware, if his tweet tantrum from this weekend was any indication. So at least there’s that.

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

There was a fair bit of activity on the Russia Investigation, though not as much as some previous weeks. Here are the main things to know:

House Investigation Activity.* This was a busy (and, frankly, kind of amazing) week for the House of Representatives. First the House Oversight Committee heard the testimony of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and AOC in particular grilled him like a cheese sandwich. Then we had a sublime moment when the entire House — seriously, literally the entire House — voted for the public release of the Mueller report. Unfortunately, we quickly came back down to Earth when Trump had a Twitter tantrum about it and Lindsay Graham blocked the vote in the Senate.
Sentencing Updates.* Paul Manafort had his second sentencing hearing this week in front of Judge Amy Berman Jackson — the same judge currently fighting with Roger Stone about his inability to follow a gag order — who gave him a slightly more severe sentence than the first one. All told, Manafort will serve a total of seven and a half years in prison, which is nothing to sneeze at when you’re his age. He was also indicted on new and unpardonable charges in New York basically as soon as he left the courtroom, so he’s far from done with criminal court. Meanwhile, Manafort’s buddy Rick Gates was not sentenced this week because he is continuing to cooperate, so they pushed out the hearing for now.

This was also a surreally awesome week for Disregard of Governing Norms, because the Senate got over itself long enough to pass some things to reinstate order. Here’s what I have for you:

National ‘Emergency’ Updates. The Senate finally voted the resolution condemning Trump’s national ‘emergency,’ which managed to sail through with a 59–41 vote (and if you think that was a typo, I had the same initial reaction.) This is a big deal, even though Trump was able to veto it, because we only knew about four GOP Senators who were definite yeses ahead of time — and then twelve of them crossed the aisle to tell Trump where to stuff it. The bill now goes back to the House for reconsideration, and since the declaration is unpopular with constituents it’s very possible we’ll get a vetoproof majority on the second go-around.
Senate Has Its Say. The Senate also voted to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war against Yemen this week, presumably because they’ve hit a breaking point with Trump’s repeated support for sketchy Saudi practices. It’s the first time the Senate has ever passed something based on the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973. If the House supports the bill as well, it will be the first time Congress has used the Act to end US military involvement in a foreign conflict since its passage forty-six years ago. So we’re still in “watch-and-see” mode but it’s potentially a big deal as well.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Fraud Styles of the Rich and Famous. The FBI charged fifty people as part of a convoluted fraudulent college admission ring this week. The indicted individuals are alleged to have faked everything from learning disabilities to athletic achievements as well as paying elaborate bribes, and two were famous celebrities — one of whom was Aunt Becky, and incidentally “Aunt Becky pulled a rich white lady crime” is definitely the most 2019 thing I’m going to type this week. The whole thing highlights major problems with the college admission process, which is heavily stacked to favor wealthy and privileged people even before you factor in fraud.
Boeing Follow-Up.* In the wake of last week’s Boeing tragedy, Trump ordered the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max flights this week. Though the FAA initially resisted, they eventually followed suit after a number of similarities were discovered between this crash and the one last fall. More attention is being given to the FAA practice of ‘self-certification’ and pilot training as well, which will hopefully lead to safer practices.

The Bad:

Pentagon Anti-Trans Policy. The Pentagon announced a new anti-trans policy this week, which will go into effect on April 12. Though the policy technically is not a full ban, it prohibits troops from transitioning and forces them to serve under the gender they were assigned at birth, so it’s plenty traumatizing nonetheless.
Immigration Updates. The Trump administration also announced this week that they plan to close all of their 21 international immigration field offices, which will dramatically slow legal entry into the country. They also announced that they’ll take volunteers to form a militia at the border, because they have the good priorities.
New Zealand Terrorist Attack. [Author note: This story is legitimately traumatizing and was heavily publicized, so there is no shame in skipping this paragraph — do what you need to do.] A white supremacist gunman livestreamed himself shooting indiscriminately in two mosques, killing a total of fifty people during two different religious services. Because the event was livestreamed to Facebook, the video was uploaded over 1.5 million times, though social media platforms were informed by the New Zealand government that airing the video violates the country’s laws. Between the video and a lengthy manifesto published on 8chan and other fringe social media, the shooting has drawn attention to the role of social media in propagating terrorism — at least, among people who aren’t Trump. The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Arden, has called for banning semi-automatic weapons in response to the shooting.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. There were a lot of great court cases this week. A court in Ohio held that a former Apprentice contestant could sue Trump for defamation despite his current status as President, which obviously could have a number of implications down the road. The Connecticut Supreme Court also held that families who lost children to the Sandy Hook shooting could sue Remington, the gun manufacturer that makes and sells the semi-automatic used in the shooting. And a federal court issued a landmark 106-page ruling regarding insurance and mental health coverage, holding that the company breached its fiduciary duty by using discriminatory practices to save money. (That last case is heading into the remedy phase now, so there will likely be more news on it soon.)

So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough! For making it through, you deserve this dog in a beekeeper suit and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully less confusing) news, and I hope you will be back as well — but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me ice cream and chocolate spoons!

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 7 (March 3–9)

March 12, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The word I would use for this week is “discombobulating” — though admittedly that may just be me, since I’m drafting this while sick again. But regardless of your fever state, there was a lot happening, much of it contradicted itself, and Congress and the Trump Administration continued to play tug-of-war with a variety of topics. I’ll do my best to unpack and outline for y’all!

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a sentencing hearing! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

We’re finally seeing a slower week on the Russia Investigation, but there were still a couple of significant news stories. Here are the main things to know:

Manafort Sentence Sadness.* Manafort’s sentencing hearing on his Virginia cases happened this week, and a lot of us found it pretty disappointing. Though sentencing guidelines suggest 19–25 years of prison time for his financial fraud convictions, he was sentenced to 47 months by a judge who described him as living “an otherwise blameless life.” He still has another sentencing hearing this week in front of Judge Amy Berman Jackson — the same judge currently fighting with Roger Stone about his inability to follow a gag order — and we might see a more severe sentence out of that hearing. That said, Judge Jackson’s case carries a maximum penalty of ten years, so we’re unlikely to see more than fourteen years total of incarceration.
Following Up on Kushner Clearance.* After I wrote last week that Trump pressured staff to grant Jared Kushner security clearance earlier in the year, news came out that he did the same thing for Ivanka, who didn’t actually pass her clearance check either. We learned this because a White House source gave documents to the House Oversight Committee in response to last Monday’s probe. So now House Democrats are arguing about how to proceed on investigating the Trump children, and there will almost certainly be more developments. I’ll keep y’all posted.

This was not a great week for Disregard of Governing Norms, particularly because Mitch McConnell dug in his heels on some major legislation. Here’s what I have for you:

Senate Slack and Showdown is Back. This week, the House Democrats passed H.R. 1, a sweeping ethics and election bill designed to address corruption and improve voting access. Though the bill contains many types of reform that benefit voters, Mitch McConnell is refusing to let it onto the Senate floor — and his stated reasoning was “Because I get to decide what we vote on.” (Someday dictionaries are gonna have a picture of him under ‘obstructionist jerkface.’) He thankfully cannot do the same on the resolution condemning Trump’s ‘national emergency,’ but the Senate still hasn’t moved on that either. That’s likely because GOP leaders are still trying to figure out a way around passing it, despite the bill’s bipartisan support. And while this is going on, Trump has introduced yet another budget that asks for billions in wall funding (among other nightmare demands such as ending subsidized FAFSA loans and making Medicare a block grant program). On the plus side, said budget is likely to wind up as toilet paper in the House, because let me tell you how much nobody wants another extensive shutdown after he’s already declared an emergency to get said funding.
This Week’s Trump Malfeasance. This week’s general Trump grossness, ho boy, where do I even start. Just like last week, we’re going with rapid-fire summary: 1) In response to last week’s report about Trump’s deep ties to Fox News, the DNC announced it officially is refusing to let Fox News host debates in 2020; 2) Relatedly, Fox-related staffer Bill Shine is resigning from his position as the White House’s top communications adviser to work on Trump’s 2020 campaign; 3) Just like last week, Trump quietly signed a sketchy executive order again, this time canceling reports of civilian deaths caused by drones; 4) News broke that Trump has ties to the woman who founded the massage parlor where Patriots owner Robert Kraft was caught soliciting sex from trafficked women; 5) Michael Cohen is suing the Trump Organization for failing to pay millions of dollars in legal fees; and 6) Trump claimed that “the Democrats hate Jewish people” at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Omar Upset Update. That last bit of Trump news above is likely a reference to ongoing conflict within the Democratic Party in the wake of Ilhan Omar’s comments last week, but it’s certainly not a fair summary of what ended up happening there. In light of some pretty awful official Islamophobic attacks on Omar as well as a generational divide within the party regarding Israel, the resolution originally planned for this week got broadened to a general anti-bigotry resolution. The resolution passed through the House and hopefully signals the end of this particular Dem fight — though incredibly, 23 Republicans refused to support the resolution, and noted in-House supremacist Steve King voted ‘present.’ (Every single Democrat, however, voted ‘yes.’)
Chelsea Manning Back in Jail. Chelsea Manning was held in contempt of court this week for refusing to testify in a grand jury for a Wikileaks case, saying that she had already given extensive testimony on the topic and that she objected to the secretive nature of the process. (It was also likely relevant that her immunity meant she could not invoke the Fifth Amendment to protect herself during testimony.) Manning will remain in jail until she decides to testify or the grand jury concludes, which could be a matter of weeks. Needless to say, given Manning’s history, this story has very complicated implications about the use of civil contempt of court against marginalized former inmates. I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

The Bad:

Immigration News. There was more immigration news this week, none of it especially great. News broke that the administration is continuing to separate families at the border despite a court order otherwise (more on that below). Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen defended the administration’s practices before Congress on Wednesday, insisting that there is a crisis at the border (and conveniently neglecting to mention that her department caused it). And ICE was in the news again, this time for keeping tabs on people who protest Trump in New York City.
North Korea Nuclearization. Shortly after Trump walked away from last week’s summit, we learned that North Korea appears to be rebuilding its missile launch facility. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is threatening further sanctions, but Trump is simply saying that it’s “too early to see” and that he “would be very disappointed” if he decides to believe the reports. (It figures that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is the one time Trump pulls out the “I’m not mad” card as President.)
Boeing Tragedy Aftermath. Boeing 737 Max 8 planes are being grounded in many parts of the world after an aircraft crashed in Ethiopia today, resulting the deaths of all 137 passengers (including 19 United Nations staffers). This was the second deadly crash of this type of jet in the last six months, which contextualizes why many countries are leery of the jets, and there is some indication that the first crash may have been due to a lack of pilot retraining. The United States is still flying the Max 8 jets for now, though only two American airlines — American and Southwest — use them regularly.

The Good:

HIV Advances. News broke this week that scientists have successfully cured a second instance of HIV, about twelve years after their initial breakthrough. The procedure used is very complicated but suggests that a replicable cure may be possible — effectively, a second success illustrates a proof of concept. This is incredible news, even though we’re still pretty far from a widely-available cure; it represents a major milestone in research.
Recent Court Resilience. There were a lot of good court decisions this week. Another federal District Court judge ruled that Wilbur Ross violated the Constitution by trying to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, making two so far to say the move was illegal. Another federal judge held that the Trump administration is responsible for the additional families separated by the zero tolerance policy before its formal announcement last spring, including them in the class action lawsuit being brought on the subject by the ACLU. In the opinion, the judge noted, “The hallmark of a civilized society is measured by how it treats its people and those within its borders.” A Ninth Circuit judge also created more protections for asylum seekers, holding that they have a right to a habeas corpus review before deportation in certain contexts. And lastly, the Iowa Supreme Court held that Medicaid may be used to cover sex reassignment surgery, overturning a state ban on the practice.

So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough! For making it through, you deserve these photos from a bird photo booth and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully less confusing) news, and I hope you will be back as well — but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me a better system than Daylight Savings Time!

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 6 (February 24 — March 2)

March 5, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The news is slowly becoming the Constitutional Crisis Show, if the past few weeks have been any indication, and this week was no exception — it’s been a wild and disturbing ride. But we’re continuing to see promising investigation from the House, so we might see positive change on the horizon. (Very, very far on the horizon.) I’ll keep you posted!

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a resolution! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

For a thing that everybody claims is winding down, we sure do keep seeing more and more activity on Mueller’s Russia Investigation and its many investigative cousins. Unsurprisingly, this section is yet again one of the busiest sections of the NNR — but for us, more activity generally means more better, and this week is no exception! Here are the main things to know:

Mueller Is Legal (and Water is Wet).* The D.C. Circuit of Appeals ruled by unanimous 3–0 decision this week that there was nothing unconstitutional about Mueller’s appointment as special counsel. And if you’re like me, this is how you learned that former Trump aide Andrew Miller tried to dodge a grand jury subpoena by arguing that Mueller’s appointment was unconstitutional. (I give him points for originality, if nothing else.) The jurisprudence created by this may come back to bite Mueller, but in the short term it’s business as usual.
House Impeachment Ahoy (Maybe)! Okay, fine, it’s not a guarantee. But the House Judiciary Chairman, Jerrold Nadler, sent out 81 document requests today to kick off a broad probe of Trump’s abuse of power in office, such as obstruction of justice and public corruption. This is a significant step towards impeachment for several reasons: the House Judiciary Committee is the only entity that can decide to impeach; an investigation would be the first step for that process; and obstruction of justice is definitely impeachable — it was the basis for Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. The document requests, as you might expect, hit a broad swath of Trump associates, touching on people from multiple areas of his personal, professional and political life. Just for extra schadenfreude, several of the people tapped were names rattled off by Cohen on Wednesday when AOC got him to give specifics (but more on that below).
Cohen Testimony.* Michael Cohen testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform this week, which was a wild ride spanning half the week. Before he testified, he fielded threatening tweets from sitting Congressman Matt Gaetz and released prepared statements that forecast some pretty major Trump malfeasance — and sure enough, Cohen’s allegations before the House Committee included all kinds of bombastic content. Cohen said that Trump was given prior knowledge of the Wikileaks plan, which obviously would be a really big deal if true and appears credible at first glance. He also submitted many documents relating to Trump’s financial dealings, some of which might lead to Trump’s taxes being subpoenaed, and alluded to another federal investigation into Trump. And Cohen concluded by stating that he fears this country will not see a peaceful transition of power if Trump loses the election in 2020. For those of y’all playing the home game, by the way, this testimony is tied to the other House action mentioned above, but a separate investigation from the Mueller investigation and the Southern District of New York investigation mentioned by Cohen — although Nadler is coordinating with both.
Throwing Roger Stone (Again). Because Roger Stone apparently can’t go a single week without ticking off his judge, he has already broken the gag order he was issued last week — incredibly, not just by complaining about the Cohen testimony or Instagramming about his charges (though he definitely did those too). Not one for small gestures, Stone apparently has an entire book coming out about the very topic he was told not to discuss and he didn’t think to bring that up with the court until he’d already had a gag order issued twice. The arrogance here is staggering, folks.

This was also not a great week for Disregard of Governing Norms, because we started to see all kinds of weirdness. Here’s what I have for you:

National Emergency Resolution Update (Again). The House successfully passed a resolution blocking Trump’s national emergency declaration this week, mostly along party lines but with a 245–182 vote. Trump, unsurprisingly, promises to veto the measure and tweeted a warning to the GOP on the topic. But that warning appears to have backfired, if it did anything at all, because four GOP Senators have come out in favor of the resolution — which is enough votes to put the bill on Trump’s desk and make me do a little happy dance. McConnell is required to hold a vote in the Senate in the next few weeks, so we’ll definitely see this play out one way or another in the near future, and I’ll let folks know what happens.
New Old Trump Malfeasance. Because 2019 is The Most Extra, there was a bunch more obnoxious Trump scandal news in the same week as all of the investigation stuff above, despite (or perhaps because of) his jaunt abroad. I’m just going to rapid-fire a list of all the newsworthy things: 1) In summer 2017, Trump ordered his aide Gary Cohn to get the Time Warner merger blocked because he hates CNN; 2) In 2015, Trump knew some of the debate questions in advance because Fox News told him; 3) Just this week, Trump promised an executive order that likely messes with right to free speech under the First Amendment (despite, ironically, claiming it protects it); and 4) In May 2018, Trump ordered John Kelly to give Jared Kushner security clearance despite lack of actual clearance, which the Trump family proceeded to lie about repeatedly. That last one, incidentally, has gained the interest of the House investigation, and committees promptly folded it into their other inquiries.
Let’s Review What ‘Antisemitic Slur’ Means. Ilhan Omar made news by questioning sketchy AIPAC practices in a problematic way yet again this week, this time saying, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that . . . push[es] for allegiance to a foreign country.” (For those folks who don’t know this, dual loyalty is another very old antisemitic trope borne of Jewish diasporism.) That was legit not okay, and I sure wish she would learn to criticize Israel without dogwhistling in the process. But Jewish Democrat Eliot Engel didn’t help matters by calling the dogwhistle “a vile antisemitic slur,” and no one — not the House Dems, not AIPAC, not Israel — is well-served by the official resolution condemning Omar that’s scheduled to take the House floor on Wednesday. These actions are outsized for Omar’s infraction and create a false equivalence with the hateful rhetoric being spewed by the far right — particularly because that type of resolution was exactly what the House did when King came out in favor of white nationalism. (As if to prove my point, a hot take Washington Post op-ed has already materialized calling Omar “the Steve King of the left.”) I can’t believe I have to say this, but dogwhistling antisemitism is not the same as explicitly backing racial violence that kills people. And if the DNC wants to be The Not Racist Party of 2019, they should not adapt outsized measures shaming the first-ever Black Muslim congresswoman because she said a problematic thing at a town hall.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Appointment Purgatory.* We have a number of appointments in the works as I type this, and most of them are strange and at least vaguely concerning. On the “sadly completed” end of the spectrum we have Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist now confirmed to head of the EPA. And in “probably completed but possibly not” news, we have Eric Miller, a vaguely scary conservative judge who is being installed on the Ninth Circuit despite significant shenanigans involved in his confirmation — which Dems may or may not choose to fight. Speaking of scary conservative judges, further down the spectrum we have Judge Neomi Rao of Date Rape and Dwarf Tossing fame, who just made it out of committee and hopefully won’t prevail on the Senate floor. I’ll keep folks posted on further developments for these three.
North Carolina News (Redux). In further North Carolina news, Mark Harris also announced this week that he won’t be running in the new election. Meanwhile, Harris’s campaign contact from last time, who apparently was the one who hatched the absentee ballot scheme in the first place, has been indicted on charges. North Carolinians apparently still don’t agree on whether voter fraud is a problem and what all of this means, and the first primary won’t be held until May. But it will certainly be interesting to see the next election in progress.
Nuclear Summit Fail.* Trump’s nuclear summit with North Korea fell apart this week after only a day of discussion, with virtually no progress made towards denuclearization. True to Trump form, on the day he left he simply said that they disagreed about sanctions, but by a few days later he was blaming Michael Cohen for the failure. Oh, and before he left, he sided with Kim about North Korea’s alleged human rights abuse against Otto Warmbier.

The Bad:

Immigration Updates. It’s been a bit since we’ve done one of these, and given how upsetting this paragraph is I can’t say I missed it. ICE was in the news over the past week because DHHS documents have surfaced indicating thousands of adults and kids experience sexual abuse while they are in ICE custody — in 178 documented cases, abuse perpetuated by adult ICE staff. For women who have experienced sexual abuse on their way to the U.S. border, this likely compounds existing trauma, and it’s another form of horror that can require years of recovery. Meanwhile, numbers at the border remain unprecedented, and 29 parents that were separated from their kids and deported last year have returned to the border to request asylum and reunification.
Abortion Gag Rule. The Trump administration put a rule into place this week barring family planning clinics that provide abortion or abortion referrals from receiving federal funding, a move that House Democrats are saying obviates congressional intent. (The House Dems’ argument is backed up by the fact that an anti-abortion bill failed in the Senate the same week.) About the best things I can say regarding this policy are that twenty-one states have filed suit to block it, and Planned Parenthood plans to keep on keeping on anyway.

The Good:

HR 8 Advances. A bill designed to allow more time for background checks when people attempt to purchase guns made its way through the House this week, advancing with a 240 to 190 vote. It’s unclear whether this bill will survive the Senate, but it’s the most sweeping gun control legislation in more than two decades, and it’s nice to see movement on this issue of any kind after the couple of years we’ve had.

So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough! For making it through, you deserve this video of Star Wars otters and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well — but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me seven more gallons of caffeine!