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National News Roundup: Year 2, Week 1 (January 21–27)

January 30, 2018 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

By gabriellah money (becca’s boots), via Wikimedia Commons

I described the news this week to someone as “chaotic petty” earlier today, which seems as good a descriptor as any — it’s shades of dirty surreality nearly all the way down, my friends. Still, that’s better than last week, so I suppose I’ll take it.

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 Medusa, unless you ask Courtland Sykes! — 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:

There was a metric ton of news on the Russia Collusion Investigation front this week, and some of it was pretty wild. Most of it can be boiled down to updates on the Mueller investigation, one way or another:

Mueller’s Minion Movement.* News broke this past week that Mueller quietly interviewed Jeff Sessions last week, looking for information on a potential obstruction of justice claim. This is a big deal, both because Sessions is the first member of this bizarro Presidential Cabinet to be interviewed and because there’s growing evidence to suggest that Sessions has been doing Trump’s dirty work, especially on obstruction-of-justice-related issues (though I’ll say more about that below). Meanwhile, Mueller prepares to interview Steve Bannon as well, and Senate Democrats are pressing to give Mueller a transcript of Trump Jr’s testimony, which is basically another way of saying they think he perjured himself. So there’s a lot going on right now.
Mueller vs. Trump.* In addition to the other movement mentioned above, Mueller has begun pressing to interview Trump himself. This news was originally met with Trump’s typical bluster that he “would love to do it” and “is looking forward to it,” — leaving personal attorney and all-around whipping boy Ty Cobb to walk back the statement afterwards. Mueller has already given a list of subjects to Trump’s attorneys, signaling that this interview is likely to happen in the next few weeks; though I obviously haven’t seen the list, I bet he added a couple new ones after multiple bombshells hit this week — more on that below.
Potpourri of Sketchy Trump Moves.* This week was a veritable cornucopia of bad Trump behavior coming to light, and nearly all of it involved obstruction of justice in one way or another. First news broke that one of Trump’s first actions post-Comey-firing was to quiz acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe about how he voted in the 2016 election, continuing his disturbing theme of demanding absolute loyalty from the FBI and having no boundaries. (Eventually he also told Sessions to get McCabe fired, and now McCabe is stepping down, and I’m sure that’s entirely unrelated.) But the really big story of the week is that Trump ordered Mueller fired in June, and the only reason we didn’t hear about this sooner is that White House Counsel with a Modicum of Sense Don McGahn refused to follow the order and threatened to resign over it. And presumably he’s the only guy who knows how Trump files his taxes, so Trump backed down. Then, as CNN gleefully points out, the White House publicly denied that this happened eight times, further building Mueller’s obstruction of justice case for him. So now, of course, It Is On in Congress, with Democrats clamoring to pass legislation to protect Mueller’s process and Republicans divided on whether they would support it.

In addition to all of those gems, this week there was also some rare movement in both directions on the Emoluments Clause issue:

RNC Rotgut. Arguments in an emoluments clause lawsuit moved forward this past week, apparently in front of a fairly receptive judge. And that’s not a moment too soon, because multiple outlets are reporting that Trump plans to address the RNC at his own hotel this upcoming week — which, and here’s the kicker, isn’t even the hotel where the RNC gathering is being held. These two things are probably related, in case anyone was curious.

Your “Normal” Weird:

DACA Debates. This was a pretty weird week on the DACA front, and I don’t say that lightly. Trump made an offer on Wednesday that managed to piss off nearly everybody, because it both granted a path to citizenship for Dreamers (a thing we don’t currently have at all) and also ended family-based migration (a thing we definitely currently have, and half the Trump administration personally benefited from). Then by Thursday, Schumer had officially rejected Trump’s plan and it looked like the Senate was planning to drop DACA from budget talks all together, although there are still some bipartisan efforts floating around. And if you’re scratching your head saying “Didn’t the Democrats literally agree to reopen on the condition that DACA was addressed only three days before?” Why yes, gentle reader, yes they did.
Davos Drop-In.* Trump appears to have mostly managed his two-day trip to Davos for the World Economic Forum, prompting not much worse than some booing when he trash-talked the press. It’s a bit surprising that he managed to talk with global leaders without spitting on himself, but on the other hand, expectations weren’t high and his involvement wasn’t that great to begin with, so perhaps it’s all relative.
Solar Panel Blues.* Trump initiated a tariff on solar panels this week, alienating a bunch of conservatives as well as a bunch of liberals. But the events leading up to the tariffs seem pretty convoluted, and that might explain why his actions are being defended by Al Gore, of all people. It’s hard for me to tell at this early stage whether this will be bad, but it’s certainly strange, so the Weird column it is.
Good for You, Guggenheim. News broke this week that the Guggenheim refused the Trumps’ request to borrow a van Gogh painting in September. To soften the blow, however, they offered to loan the Trumps a used gold toilet that was part of an interactive piece called ‘America.’ Said toilet had been installed as a temporary interactive exhibit in a public restroom in the museum. The story is just the latest illustration of an incredibly consistent truth to emerge in the past year, which is that nobody hates Trump quite like New Yorkers do.

The Bad:

Abortion Ban Legislation Alert.* McConnell has moved to hold a vote on legislation introduced by Lindsay Graham that would ban abortions after 20 weeks (which is about halfway through the second trimester, for those of you playing the home game). The measure will require 60 votes, which McConnell isn’t terribly likely to get, but it’s likely Trump put pressure on him to move forward after more than a week of pro-life action. And regardless of whether he has the votes, we should still watch this carefully.
Sexism and Sketchism. This was really not a great week for the role of women in politics, I tell you what. First news broke that Rep Patrick Meehan used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment suit brought by a former aide, and then later said she “specifically invited” his overtures. Eventually he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2018, and it just couldn’t have happened to a nicer sleazeball. Finance chairman of the RNC and all-around creepy rich guy Steve Wynn resigned amid sexual harassment claims as well, and I know I’ll sure never look at the Bellagio the same way again. Meanwhile, Missouri Senate candidate Courtland Sykes wants everyone to know he’s onto us Gorgon feminists, what with our snake-filled heads brimming with ideas about being allowed to wear shoes. And last but not least, a bunch of media outlets are very concerned that we know about Hillary Clinton’s PR decisions from ten years ago, because docking an employee several weeks of pay and ordering counseling was definitely an inappropriate response to harassment in 2008 if you were a female politician. (Note that no accountability has been placed, funnily enough, on the aide who harassed people.) So all of that was a fun jaunt into 1952.

The Good:

Net Neutrality Executive Orders.* Governors of Montana and New York both signed executive orders this week enforcing net neutrality in their states. Because the FCC’s decision preempts direct regulation of ISPs, both of the executive orders require state agencies to only do business with ISPs that offer neutral services. I’m genuinely really curious to see what happens to these orders legally, and I’m also excited to see states taking proactive steps to try to preserve an important process. So, thanks Montana and New York! We forgive you for Greg Gianforte and Donald Trump. For now.
Cleveland Indians Come Clean. The Cleveland Indians announced today that they are retiring their beloved racist caricature of a mascot from team uniforms, opting for a new depiction beginning in 2019. While it would be cool for them to stop calling themselves ‘the Cleveland Indians’ while they are at it, or possibly just fully retire the merchandise instead of continuing to sell it, I’ll take baby steps where I find them.
Nassar Nightmares End. Speaking of sports, this past week also concluded a notorious sentencing hearing of Larry Nassar, the doctor convicted of sexually assaulting ten adolescent athletes who presented to him for medical care from 1995 through 2018. The sentencing hearing drew more and more accounts of abuse into the open, ultimately culminating in over 150 people disclosing sexual abuse in the guise of medical care (including multiple Olympic gymnasts). He was sentenced to 40 to 175 years of incarceration for the underlying ten sexual assault on a minor convictions; this is in addition to a 60 year sentence for child pornography already handed down and a separate sentencing hearing for Michigan charges that begins on January 31. There is also a separate lawsuit pending, with over 140 plaintiffs, alleging institutional complicity on the part of Nassar’s affiliates USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. All told, it’s truly staggering that this pattern continued for twenty years as uninterrupted as it did, and the closing of that chapter of sports practice can only be a good thing.

And that’s all the news that I have for now. If we’re following old patterns, next week will be a good news cycle. And I think we can all use some good news, so I’m gonna go ahead and hope for it. But either way, catch you next time!

National News Roundup: Week 52 (We’ve Come Full Circle!)

January 23, 2018 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

By Polymath38 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The National News Roundup is one year old today! And what a year it’s been, ye gods. Relatedly, it’s also been quite an anniversary week — the only real bright spot is that Trump had to sulk at the White House all weekend because a government shut down forced him to skip his fancy inaugural party at Mar-A-Lago. Go ahead and drink deeply from that schadenfreude spring; we won’t judge.

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 an Olympic athlete! — 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 actually did see a bit on the Russia Collusion Investigation front this week, but it was overshadowed by all the other rings of the circus happening simultaneously. Here’s what you may have missed:

Bannon Brouhaha Two: Electric Bugaloo.* Well, Steve Bannon did indeed testify before the House Committee this past week, but he didn’t answer any questions, claiming ‘executive privilege’ every time he was asked things about Trump and slowly making the House Committee want to strangle him. (The House Committee is considering a contempt citation, in fact, because as Rep Peter King says, ‘I have contempt for Bannon anyway.’) Then it came out that the White House instructed Bannon to be obstreperous in the hearing. Since ‘executive privilege’ isn’t exactly a thing in Bannon’s case, this is probably another instance of obstruction of justice on Trump’s part. It will definitely be interesting to see what Mueller does with this in his own questioning process.

There were unfortunately multiple other constitutional crisis moments this week as well, for the first time in a little while, and the remaining topics really get my goat. First we have a Separation of Powers issue:

You Don’t Get to Skip the Ninth Circuit. After a federal judge held last week that Trump’s rescission of DACA must be partially revoked, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to hear the case directly, attempting to skip right over the Ninth Circuit appeals court (despite being forced to file an appeal there as well). Sessions is calling this a ‘rare step,’ which is putting it mildly — in actuality, it’s probably an executive overreach. In addition to ignoring ordinary legal process, the executive branch is attacking the judicial branch with the request, because it’s trying to co-opt and subvert judicial procedure. I’m hoping the Supreme Court will just slap down the request and the case will go to the Ninth Circuit like normal, but I guess we’ll have to see what happens.

And last but not least, this week featured another round of First Amendment Attacks, because Trump finally got around to his inane Corrupt Media Awards and also made life harder for marginalized people.

Steven Colbert Was Snubbed.* After several technical difficulties, Trump did eventually have his ‘fake news awards’ this week (which did not include Steven Colbert in the proceedings, despite his best efforts). As several media outlets have noted, ‘first place’ went to an opinion-editorial, and several other ‘awards’ were given to tweeted statements or quickly-corrected early drafts of stories. But even though these awards are ridiculous, they’re also really dangerous; they normalize the idea that a sitting President is allowed to call out news organizations by name and reinforce suspicion of the President’s disfavored outlets (such as CNN). Plus, they’re really just super tacky.
Religious Freedom to Discriminate. Early in the week, Trump celebrated ‘religious freedom day’ (which is a real thing, going back to 1993) by condoning intolerance in a written statement riddled with dog whistles. Generally his dog whistles signal something, and this turned out to be no exception; later that same week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a new ‘Conscience and Religious Freedom Division’ of the Office of Civil Rights, and guess what it does? (If your guess was ‘back health workers who refuse to treat people,’ you win a prize! Unfortunately, the prize is… health workers who refuse to treat people. Better luck next time!) This decision appears to be related to this administration’s refusal to grant abortions to teenage immigrants, and was announced the day before Trump spoke at a pro-life rally — but more on that below. Unsurprisingly, the ACLU has already announced an intent to sue.

Your “Normal” Weird:

This Week in Trump. This was an uncommonly weird week of Trump watching, even by our modern standards, and none of it exactly inspires confidence. First there was the hoopla around Trump’s yearly physical, which he used to get a doctor to claim that he has no cognitive or mental issues and also that he has great genes (yes, really) — though of course, this doesn’t exactly guarantee that he’s a good President. Meanwhile, the story broke that Donald Trump paid a porn star $130,000 in hush money because he didn’t want her to disclose that he slept with her during Barron’s infancy — behavior that even said porn star observed wasn’t exactly stellar. (We also learned from this story that like all people stuck in the ’80s, Trump really hates sharks.) The entire intrepid affair is disturbing, but not for the reasons getting media attention — simply put, it implies practices and personality exploitable by blackmail. Of course, both the clean bill of health and the prurient past made a very surreal backdrop when Trump eventually spoke to the March for Life on Friday and complained that the law allows babies to be born in the ninth month of pregnancy (again, yes really). One presumes that he meant to complain about… c-sections, I guess? I’m actually not even sure. All in all, this week’s Trump news gets points for originality but marks off for its execution.
Shutdown Show Down. The shutdown circus has been a wild ride, I don’t mind telling you. After early attempts at a bipartisan bill in the Senate failed, and the White House made it clear they wouldn’t play ball on reinstating DACA, Democrats started refusing to vote for the House bill because it did not provide any protection for DACA recipients. Then Mitch McConnell put severe pressure on Democrats, goading them and telling them that they had to choose whether they wanted CHIP or DACA. This made them double down, of course, and the whole thing officially went off the rails on Friday, causing an official partial shutdown. Eventually Mitch McConnell told the Democrats he definitely would allow a vote on DACA if they would just vote to turn the government back on, and managed to get enough votes to resume government action until February 8 (although 18 Democrats still voted against the measure, holding out for DACA reform). At this stage, the House has voted for the provision as well, and the White House signed it around 9:00. So the shutdown is officially over, at least for a few weeks.

The Bad:

Travel Ban v. Seventy Million. The Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments on the Travel Ban 3.0, which has a lot of valid things to legally criticize to put it mildly. But the case won’t be heard until April — which means the ban will remain in effect until at least late June, which is the earliest we’re likely to get a decision. And of course, since the current version has no end date, a junk decision could mean we’re stuck with it indefinitely. (Meanwhile, we’re supposed to hear about the fate of Syrian TPS by the end of the month, and I’m sure that will be a hoot and a half too.)
Other Immigration Updates. This was yet another truly awful week for immigration on a lot of other fronts as well. No More Deaths, a humanitarian effort based in Tuscon, published a report alleging that Border Patrol has intentionally destroyed over 3,500 gallons of potable water left for desperate migrants, as well as food and blankets, under a policy known as ‘Prevention by Deterrence.’ (The premise of the policy is simple: If you intentionally kill enough people trying to cross the border to the United States, fewer people will try it.) The report included videos of Border Patrol engaging in this practice as recently as last year. Meanwhile, Salvadorans and Haitians with temporary protected status were informed that they need to reregister within sixty days in order to keep their status, despite the programs winding down within the next eighteen months. And as an encore, Haitians were quietly removed from the list of workers eligible for seasonal visas in agriculture, creating fewer venues of lawful residence in the United States. This was, of course, only days after Trump disparaged the country in bipartisan negotiations. These policy changes, particularly taken in tandem, paint an ugly picture: An administration trying to locate all the lawfully residing Haitians and Salvadorans while systemically removing their lawful status, so that nearly 300,000 people will be easy to round up and deport as soon as they’re eligible in 2019. We need to be watching this, y’all.

The Good:

Korean Olympic News.* North and South Korea announced this week that they’ll be appearing under one flag for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Olympics, which is an exciting step. In addition to potentially signaling thawing relations, it’s also likely to be soothing to the South Koreans who have been watching an increasingly bombastic display between Trump and Kim Jong-un — it suggests that their President, Moon Jae-in, has been getting more of a voice in proceedings.
Net Neutrality Lawsuits. Attorneys general from twenty-one states filed a lawsuit to block the net neutrality repeal this week, arguing (probably correctly) that the new rule hurts consumers and oversteps their Congressional authority. The suit was only one of many to emerge, as a plethora of entities made their displeasure with the policy known; at minimum, Mozilla and the Open Technology Institute have filed as well. It will be interesting to see whether these suits go anywhere, especially as they occur while Democrats in Congress try to use the Congressional Review Act to undo the move legislatively.
Gerrymandering Jettisoned Part Deux. Following on the heels of last week’s news in North Carolina, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held today that Pennsylvania unconstitutionally gerrymandered as well, with the same issue — that the districts were drawn to intentionally favor Republicans. These districts will need to be redone before the 2018 election as well, and unlike the first case, this was based on the Pennsylvania constitution, not the federal one — so the decision is not appealable to the Supreme Court. I’m really excited to see what happens from here as a result! Also, as I noted last week, tossing district divisions based on partisan intent has historically been a very hard thing to get courts to do, so it’s nothing short of amazing that it’s suddenly raining redistricting!

And that’s all the news that I have for now! It’s been a week, but at least it’s just about over, which is probably the best I can say for it. Hang in there until next time!

National News Roundup: Week 51 (January 7–13)

January 16, 2018 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The news continues to be Spectacular Spectacular this week, and not necessarily in a positive way. On the plus side, however, that appears to include some spectacularly good news, so at least it’s balanced. I’m hoping next week will be better, because hope springs eternal.

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 an FBI agent! — 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:

It’s a bit quieter on the Russia Collusion Investigation front this week, but there’s still a lot happening. Here are the main highlights to know:

Fusion GPS Transcript Release.* Diane Feinstein posted the entire transcript of the closed-door testimony of Fusion GPS’s founder, Glenn Simpson, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (You may recall Fusion GPS and their hired associate, Michael Steele, as heavily involved in the assembly of the Pee Tape dossier — not that official news sources will call it that.) It’s all very confusing, and I say that having read both the transcript and expert analysis of it (particularly recommending Elizabeth McLaughlin’s citation-heavy analysis, though the New York Times analysis has lots of useful info also). So though it’s not precisely my area, here’s my $0.02 summary: Despite a lot of efforts to discredit Fusion GPS as a company and Diane Feinstein for releasing the transcript, I think Fusion GPS and Simpson absolutely know what they are doing, have experience investigating Russian organized crime in particular, and through Steele may have found credible indications of potential blackmail as well as collusion. We don’t have enough information at this stage to know what on Earth has actually happened, but we absolutely should be investigating this more; there’s a very real chance that Russia does indeed have kompromat and semi-consensual cooperation from a sitting President. In other words: BRING ON THE SALACIOUS SUBPOENAS.
Steve Bannon Brouhaha.* Steve Bannon stepped down from his position at Breitbart this week, embattled after duking it out with Trump in the social media streets all week. This probably won’t mean much at the Breitbart end, since I’m sure they have an endless supply of snakes over there. But it’s great news for the House Investigation Committee, which is trying to get Bannon to testify right now. He’s hired an attorney to help him prepare, which might mean interesting things in the next few weeks. (Well, more interesting than watching Bannon and Trump sling mud at each other, which was admittedly pretty interesting before it got old.)
FISA Fights.* The House reauthorized the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this week, rejecting reforms that would better preserve civilian privacy. The Senate has voted to begin debate, and is likely to vote in the upcoming week. But weirdly, the biggest point of resistance at the moment appears to be Trump himself, who is now questioning some of the provisions — in part because Fox News is questioning them, and in part because he thinks they were used in part to create the Steele dossier. In other words, disturbingly, Trump actually might object to a sketchy thing remaining law because the sketchy thing happened to him. (It’s a shame this rare exhibit is unlikely to result in him growing some empathy, because that would be a welcome respite and fascinating to watch.)

Your “Normal” Weird:

Guess Who’s Running Now. (No really, your guess is probably as good as mine.) This has been a weird and confusing week for discussing people’s plans to run for office. First Oprah Winfrey gave an excellent speech at the Golden Globes last Sunday, which somehow resulted in everybody talking about whether she should run for President (though Oprah herself has indicated no plans to run). In more concrete news, Chelsea Manning filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Maryland this week, but has firmly issued no comment about her plans to run. And never one to be left out, Arizona’s own anti-immigration sadist Joe Arpaio announced he’s running for the Senate now that Jeff Flake’s seat will be up for grabs — but he’s enough of a media hound that he might not have even filed paperwork. So… some famous people might or might not be running for things?
Hawaii Nuclear Scare.* A false alarm was raised on Saturday that Hawaii had an incoming missile threat. The statement was walked back within the hour it was released, though that still was more than enough time to scare the daylights out of lots of Americans, particularly given our recent history with North Korea. It’s unclear what exactly caused the false report, but I think it’s fair to say we’re all glad to hear that it wasn’t actually true.

The Bad:

Immigration Updates. There were a lot of developments on immigration this week, and all of them were terrible — the news has spent a lot of time on Trump’s famously racist remarks and the resulting did-he-or-didn’t-he–say-the-racist-thing aftermath, but a lot of other things snuck under the radar while the brouhaha happened above. For starters, the comments were made in the context of DACA negotiations that had bipartisan support but still appear to be going nowhere, in part due to Trump’s unwillingness to cooperate. Even worse, due to Trump’s apparent reluctance to grant legal status to people who — and I can’t stress this enough — had access to legal status before his administration took it away, we might not avoid a government shutdown this upcoming Saturday. Additionally, there’s a fourth teenage girl in ICE custody suing to gain access to a doctor to terminate her pregnancy, which is being uniformly barred as a matter of course for any pregnant women in custody — including at least one rape survivor. And finally, ICE conducted a systemic nation-wide raid on 98 different 7–11 franchise locations on Wednesday, arresting 21 people and presumably harassing over a hundred more. The raid was ostensibly to send a message to employers, but since Trump arrested workers and pardoned the executive involved in the infamous 2008 raids last month, it’s kind of hard to take that at face value.
Not Gonna Work. The Trump administration opened the door to letting states require employment as a qualification for their Medicaid plans, which… is a terrible plan, frankly, particularly when most Medicaid recipient families already work. But that hasn’t stopped Kentucky, which has already been granted permission to do just that! Admittedly Kentucky is not alone in this; among the other states seeking permission are Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin — and each state has slightly different proposed requirements, since states can be responsible for their own Medicaid plans within reason. Since many of the states will exempt the people who aren’t already working (namely children, elderly people, and people living with disabilities that prevent work), this appears to mostly be cruel window dressing. But hopefully that means it’s also easier to eventually reverse.

The Good:

Inexplicable Drilling Victory.* Ryan Zinke walked back his announcement that he would permit offshore drilling in Florida in the same week that he announced a draft plan to permit it. It’s not clear what motivated his sudden change of heart, though Florida governor Rick Scott (and probably money) was in some way involved. At any rate, I put this firmly in the category of “I don’t know what happened but I’m for it.”
DACA Court Win. A federal court held this week that Trump’s rescission of DACA effective this year was illegal and must be partially revoked, and the decision comes just as Trump and Congressional officials are struggling to hold functional bipartisan meetings to revive the program. In the short term, Dreamers are being instructed to reapply, but there’s likely to be an appeal on this court case, so we need to watch it carefully.
Gerrymandering Jettisoned.* In other awesome court news, a federal court also recently held that North Carolina unconstitutionally gerrymandered when it drafted districts in 2016 to intentionally favor Republicans. The court has ordered the state to redistrict by January 24, and Republicans are likely to appeal as well, so it’s going to be important to keep an eye on this as we move forward with 2018 elections. But tossing district divisions based on partisan intent has historically been a very hard thing to get courts to do, and it’s honestly really, really exciting that we saw it happen this week.

And thus continues our Extra Extra edition news — lots of news of pretty much every type, but that’s better than news that’s uniformly bad. I’m hopeful that we’ll get some more good news next week, but I guess we’ll all find out together! Until then, keep on keepin’ on.

National News Roundup: Week 50 (December 31-January 6)

January 9, 2018 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Well, okay, we’re back, and so’s this administration — with a vengeance. All of them, and Sessions in particular, appear to be making up for lost time, though this season’s cast of characters still involves a lot of buffoonery — but hey, at least we know Trump is clearly having as bad of a week as the rest of us!

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 an FBI agent! — 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:

There was a fair amount that broke on the Russia Collusion Investigation front in the past few weeks, which we haven’t focused on specifically during the break. Here are the main highlights to know:

Recent Collusion Developments. I wrote a bit about some of this last week, because it broke over the weekend, but it’s important enough to bear repeating: Australia learned the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton back in spring 2016 — and subsequently tipped off the FBI, jump-starting our own first federal investigation — because George Papadopolous got drunk and told them so. As Seth Abramson notes in some twitter analysis, this sheds some light on the timeline of the FBI investigation, and also potentially seriously strengthens the legal case for collusion. News also broke that Trump ordered the White House’s counsel to stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself, which obviously didn’t pan out but sure looks like blatant obstruction of justice. And the latest news to break on this front is that Mueller is now saying he wants to interview Trump directly — in response, I’m sure, to the earlier stories.
Manafort Suing Mueller. This news comes straight from Bizarro World, which is a neat trick because I didn’t think anything could still faze me by early 2018: Paul Manafort is suing the Department of Justice to stop the investigation against him (or at least slow it). The complaint itself is truly stunning; it rambles about Kenneth Starr for a full two pages like it’s still 1998 and then argues that Mueller should never have been appointed because… reasons? (It’s not exactly clear on that point.) Then the whole thing concludes by arguing that Manafort being an agent of Ukraine in 2014 is somehow unrelated to the collusion claims — a claim that’s laughable on its face for about a dozen reasons — and therefore they should stop investigating it. I cannot stress enough how much this isn’t how any of this works; the established remedy in an improper criminal investigation is that the evidence found gets excluded; the investigation itself does not stop. Unsurprisingly, nobody expects this ploy to succeed; it’s just a cheap political move designed to discredit Mueller further. Honestly, if I were the judge hearing this case I would be tempted to sanction these attorneys for even filing.
BUT HER EMAILS! In other deeply aggravating investigation news, the FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation for a zillionth time, and is threatening to investigate her use of emails on a private server yet again as well. Putting aside the fact that the Clinton Foundation has been investigated without result for literally years, and the fact that much more egregious breaches of protocol than a private server have happened over and over and over again in the past year without any apparent investigative progress, and the fact that the alleged behaviors happened before 2013 and there’s a five-year statute of limitations on federal felonies…you know what, actually don’t put any of that aside; they’re all valid reasons to be really annoyed about this. But it’s also totally fair to be displeased by all these fiddle strains while we’re still waiting for somebody to do literally anything about all this smoke being reported, so you can go ahead and have opinions on that aspect as well.

There were also more egregious attacks on The Free Press front than we’ve seen in a while, though honestly they’re becoming so commonplace that I worry about how normalized it’s become:

Corrupt Media Awards. Trump announced this past week (via tweet, naturally) that he’ll be giving out ‘Most Dishonest & Corrupt Media Awards’ next week at 5:00 PM, presumably to further his dual motives of bashing the media and demanding attention like a cranky toddler. But the real focus of the narrative has moved to Stephen Colbert, who started lobbying for awards (which he’s decided should be called ‘the Fakies’) pretty much immediately. My personal favorite of his proposed categories are ‘Fakes Dishonesty’ and ‘Least Breitbarty.’ (Also, news broke today that Trump will be taking more ‘executive time’, by which I presume he means ‘time to figure out how executive functioning works’, so he might not get to it next week.)

Your “Normal” Weird:

Cease and Desist Sharing Things. The biggest, weirdest story everybody is talking about this week is Michael Wolff’s tell-all book about the White House, Fire and Fury. Trump certainly wasted no time sending cease-and-desist letters to Wolff about the book’s dissemination, to his publisher about the book’s publication, and to Steve Bannon about his remarks in the book (which, I don’t know how that would even work; it’s not like he can take back the quotes when Wolff has him on tape). Meanwhile, Trump unleashed a stream of vitriol about the whole thing both online and through spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders, prompting Wolff to take potshots at the President’s thoroughly trashed credibility with the smugness of a guy who knows he has meticulous recordings.
North Korea/South Korea Communication. After tensions ratcheted last week (which Trump decided to handle by yelling about the size of his nuclear button, despite the fact that he doesn’t have one), South Korea and North Korea’s relations appear to be thawing some — which is probably good, but still confusing. More specifically, North Korea reached out to South Korea on a hotline that’s been dormant nearly two years, resulting in brief and stilted (but not especially heated) communication. They’ve agreed to continue talks next week, and are expected to discuss North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics (which will be housed in South Korea in February) among other things.
White House Opposes Texting. White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced this week that staff are now banned from using their personal cells in the West Wing, and must use government-issued devices. This would be a reasonable rule, except for the part where the government-issued devices don’t permit texting. And, of course, the rule doesn’t apply to the President, because of course it doesn’t.

The Bad:

Sessions Rescissions. Upon returning to his racist happy place post-holiday, Jeff Sessions wasted no time rescinding several more forms of humane guidance; most notably, he rescinded rules designed to end debtors’ prison and announced he was repealing the Cole memo, a 2013 policy designed to accommodate states’ legalization of marijuana from 2013. The latter is particularly galling because it happened only three days after California legalized the drug, and California’s new laws permitted people already jailed for possession to petition for release. But even if his aim was tailored, his actions may have caught a lot of other targets; marijuana is legalized or partially legalized in many states at this point, and his memo lets U.S. Attorneys decide if they want to prosecute. Unsurprisingly, several senators are pretty publicly displeased with his decision. (Of course, Sessions isn’t that popular with his own party in general at the moment, so that might be a pretext.) At this stage, we’ll have to wait and see what prosecutors do with their newfound freedom; it’s my fervent hope that the California U.S. Attorneys refuse to prosecute anything at all.
ICE Cold. Acting ICE director Tom Homan went onto Fox News this week and said that government officials of sanctuary jurisdictions should be jailed, along with a lot of other baseless garbage about how sanctuary jurisdictions work. Unsurprisingly, many officials had much to say about this idea, particularly when the guy saying it doesn’t even have official control of the agency. Against this backdrop, it is disappointing but not surprising that the Department of Homeland Security also announced today it is ending temporary protective status for 200,000 displaced Salvadorans, making El Salvador the fourth country to be terminated in the last four months. There are a lot of reasons why this is troubling, though the program won’t officially end until September 2019. So all in all, not a great week on the immigration news front.

The Good:

Trans Service Members Enlisting. Per the court decision a few weeks ago, the military started enlisting openly trans members this past week. This is the first time this has ever been permitted, though the ball was first set in motion under President Obama, and it’s both surprising and exciting to learn that the Pentagon doesn’t plan to appeal the court decision further.
Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud. After substantial and extended legal challenges, Trump disbanded his ill-conceived commission on voter fraud this week. Of course, he’s still going to look into voter fraud, because he’s terrible, and he apparently plans to tap ICE to do so (which is probably illegal). But at least Kris Kobach won’t be working on it, and the harebrained ICE plan will probably get shut down pretty quickly. So I’m going to call this one more good than anything else.
Notorious RBG. Presumably to counter persistent rumors that she was about to retire, Ruth Bader Ginsburg just hired clerks through 2020. Thankfully, Justice Kennedy hired clerks for 2018–2019 as well; he was a more likely risk for retirement but the move suggests that he plans to stick it out another year too. For now I’m cautiously hopeful that the court’s makeup is not likely to change soon, though of course no one can predict the future. And given the current circumstances, I’ll call that good news as well.

And that’s what I have this week — lots of news of pretty much every type, but that’s better than news that’s uniformly bad. I’m hopeful that we’ll get some more good news next week, but you’ll hear from me about it either way! Until then, keep on keepin’ on.

National News Roundup: Truncated Holiday Special! (Part 2)

January 3, 2018 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Hello, and welcome to 2018! Well okay, Day 2 of 2018. But so far so good! We made it through 2017, and hopefully this year will be better, and in the meantime enjoy this sampling of New Year News. Same format as last week: Brief bullets with the best, the worst, and the weirdest. It’s the latest in resolution crazes!

Standard standing reminders still apply, though: 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 an ambassador! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the Special!

The Weirdest:

Down the Hatch and Bachmann Blues.* Orrin Hatch announced today that he’s retiring this year, after nearly four decades of service. This is weird news, rather than good news, because it comes only a couple of weeks after rumors swirl that Paul Ryan is stepping down, potentially leaving both the Senate and the House without continuity of leadership at a time when the GOP controls all branches of government. Which is… well, it’s weird, and a mark of how interesting our times are. And speaking of Interesting Times, Michelle Bachmann apparently told a televangelist that she might run for Al Franken’s seat in 2018. I don’t know what to think of this, so I’m just gonna hope she was speaking in tongues.
Russia Investigation Updates.* This has been a fascinating week for the Russia investigation. First a jailed Russian hacker claimed he can prove he hacked the DNC on the Kremlin’s orders, which may or may not be true but it sure created a stir. Then news broke that Australia learned the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton back in spring 2016 because George Papadopolous got drunk and told them so. As Seth Abramson notes in some twitter analysis, this sheds some light on the timeline of the FBI investigation, and also potentially seriously strengthens the legal case for collusion. So, all that good weirdness happened while we were on break.

The Worst:

North Korea News.* There’s only one really concrete bad story this week, but it really is the worst. After the United Nations issued sanctions on North Korea, and Kim Jong Un reacted… let’s just say not very well, news also broke that China might be ignoring the sanctions, and South Korea seized ships that it believes were violating the sanctions. Meanwhile, Tillerson wrote an op-ed and Trump wrote some tweets. China denies the allegations, and also notes that this isn’t how a U.S. President should behave. And, uh, they aren’t exactly wrong on that last count. It’s been a stressful week on the North Korea front all around.
PACHA Pink Sheets.* News quietly broke over the past week that Trump fired all remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. It’s unclear which of several different jerk motives were at play, but my guess is that it was a combination of “I don’t want any of Obama’s people doing literally anything” and “my beliefs about this disease are stuck in the 1980s.” I can’t imagine this council will be replaced anytime soon, unfortunately.

The Best:

Moore Is Less (or: Petty Slights Part Deux). We’ve got a good thing going at Schadenfreude Central apparently, because this week had yet another instance. This time, Roy Moore tried to challenge the special election process by claiming voter fraud — and his complaint was tossed the same day it was filed. Then they went ahead and certified the Doug Jones victory, also the same day, while Roy Moore continued to refuse to concede (which apparently is a habit of his). At this point, since there’s been a certified winner, it doesn’t actually matter that Moore didn’t concede — we’re pretty much all moving on without him. Oh, and for an encore, news broke that Moore’s Jewish attorney publicly supported Doug Jones.
Some More Courtroom Wins. A federal judge in Washington put another national stay on part of the travel ban this past week, specifically protecting refugees who have bona fide familial relationships to people in the United States. This has the potential to really help a lot of people fleeing dangerous situations, so though it’s not a permanent fix it’s an excellent start. Meanwhile, the 9th Circuit found that the travel ban was an unconstitutional overreach of authority, though the ban itself remains in effect due to a Supreme Court order pending its decision. Though these wins are by no means conclusive, they represent concrete hope for people whose lives have been disrupted by the ongoing travel ban battle.

And that’s the New Year News, folks! We go back to our regular routine next week, with the news coming out on again on Monday, January 9. Until then: Keep on keepin’ on.

National News Roundup: Truncated Holiday Special! (Part 1)

December 26, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I promised myself I would still do the news over the break, because I want y’all to stay informed. But it’s the holidays, and we all want to take a little time to dream about a world that’s less of a trash fire than this one — and besides, loved ones have convinced me that Perhaps It is Good Activism to Take Some Time Off. So we’re doing a Holiday Special this week as a compromise: Brief bullets with the best, the worst, and the weirdest. I promise it’ll be better than Star Wars!*

The Weirdest:

Voting by Fish Bowl.* A Virginia election initially went to a Democrat by literally one vote early last week, which would have given them a seat in the lower chamber of their House and eleven additional votes. But then the Republican incumbent convinced three judges that a random uncounted vote should go to him, we were back to a tie. Then they were planning to decide who wins by drawing names out of a hat, but the Democratic candidate announced that she is filing a motion to reconsider the uncounted ballot decision. I would be too, frankly, and I hope she’s successful.
I Guess We’re Fighting with the United Nations Again?* The United Nations collectively and overwhelmingly told Trump where to stuff his Jerusalem resolution this past week, voting 128–9 on a nonbinding resolution of their own to overrule it. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, handled this by telling the United Nations — a group we founded in 1942 — that she and Trump would be “taking names.” (Oh, and she said it on Twitter, because that’s the platform of choice for issuing international threats nowadays.) But 128 nations is a lot of names, so I’m not convinced the administration plans to follow up on that.
Congress Punts on (Almost) Everything. After the tax bill happened (and there’s more on that below) Congress basically agreed to punt everything else until next year, putting a stopgap in place that funds the government until mid-January. That said, though, the stopgap bill also provides emergency funding for CHIP and community health centers until March, and they did “lay groundwork” for a DREAM Act bill sometime in the new year. So a few things got done, though not very much, before Congress began a ten-day break.

The Worst:

Tax Reform Remix.* After some intrepid Democrat staffer found several Byrd Rule violations in the House bill after the House voted on it on Tuesday, it became clear that last-minute changes would need to be made to the bill. The Senate passed the cleaned-up version on Tuesday night, and the House vote went through a second time on Wednesday. Trump signed the bill on Friday, so this is now a done deal, and my header isn’t lying; it’s the actual worst. We’ll get it repealed in the new year.
Mueller Mutterings.* Conservative criticism of special counsel Robert Mueller is reaching something of a fever pitch, prompting the top Democrat in the Senate Intelligence Committee to make a Senate speech warning against firing him. (I’m still holding out hope that Trump wouldn’t be foolish enough to try that, because it won’t be great for him either if he does, but that doesn’t always stop this administration.) On the plus side, the House Judiciary Committee Democrats voted in experienced NY Rep Jerry Nadler to replace the resigning John Conyer; Nadler has served on the committee for twenty-five years, and is an extremely solid choice for handling anything that comes up.

The Best:

A Very Mnuchin Christmas (and Other Petty Slights). Here at Schadenfreude Central, you can enjoy the fact that a guy sent Steve Mnuchin a gift-wrapped box of horse manure for Christmas this year, along with a note observing that he was returning the favor for the tax reform bill. Meanwhile, the UK government is trying to talk Prince Harry out of inviting the Obamas to his wedding, for the simple reason that he’s most emphatically not inviting the Trumps and they don’t want to deal with an orange-hued Twitter tirade. But since Prince Harry bonded with the Obamas at the Invictis Games this past year and appears to be actually friends with them — and his wedding is not an official state event — I hope he gets his way on this. The Trumps, by the way, are definitely not getting an invite, and nobody is acting like that option is even on the table.
Some Actual Good News. The six J20 protesters charged with felonies for protesting on Inauguration Day were found not guilty this week, ending a four-week trial and a nearly year-long process. Incredibly, the prosecutor conceded in its trial arguments that there was no evidence that these six people committed any of the violent actions charged — two were street medics, and one was a photojournalist covering the protests — but argued that they participated in a protest where other people did, so they should be held accountable. (Quick editorial note from your resident attorney author: While it’s true in many jurisdictions that people who conspire to commit a felony can be charged for anything that happens during the commission of that felony — including murder if it goes horrible awry — it’s pretty disturbing both philosophically and legally to argue that a plan to protest is a conspiracy to commit a felony.) With all sincerity, these verdicts are an important bastion against the criminalization of ordinary protest, for the simple reason that there was no evidence any of defendants had done literally any rioting. If any of these convictions had stuck, they could be used to convict people simply pinned in the wrong spot when a protest goes south — an experience that happens to many, many peaceable protesters if someone in the crowd starts a riot.

And that’s the Holiday Special, folks! We’ll do A Very News New Year next week, probably on the ordinary release date, and then we’ll be back to our regular routine by 1/9. Until then, keep on keepin’ on!

*The Christmas Special, that is. No promises about Last Jedi; I still haven’t even seen it.

National News Roundup: Week 47 (December 10–16)

December 19, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

By Randall McNair (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

The theme of this past week’s news was largely “brace yourself for raining shoes” — and several boots and a sandal have yet to drop as I write this. This week, keep your eyes peeled for Mueller mayhem, final votes on tax reform, and personnel changes on Capitol Hill. But in the meantime, here’s some info on what has happened already.

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 an FBI agent! — 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 week was pretty quiet on the Russia Collusion Investigation front, in part because rumors started circulating that Mueller was about to be fired — but here’s what has happened:

Mueller Email Adventures. Over the weekend, the Trump administration accused Mueller of unlawfully obtaining tens of thousands of emails from them because he went through the third-party General Services Administration. But as several legal experts note, public email accounts have no expectation of privacy, and it would be prosecutorial misconduct not to request the records. These claims fuel concern that the President is looking for an excuse to fire Mueller, despite his lack of authority to do so (and his claims to the contrary).
Text Message Kerfuffle. Some unflattering texts between two FBI agents have Republicans clamoring to have a second special investigator investigate Mueller. This appears to be a whole lot of nothing — a subordinate calling Trump an ‘idiot’ and expressing a preference for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election hardly implicates Mueller in 2017, particularly when Mueller removed the FBI agent as soon as he learned of the texts. But the story does appear to be another indication that the administration is gaining steam in a push to discredit or oust the special prosecutor.

Your “Normal” Weird:

The Latest in Harassment Personnel Changes. With last week’s sweeping resignations come new seat-holders, and boy howdy is some of the process looking weird! I think I touched upon this last week, but the governor of Michigan has announced they won’t hold a special election at all, opting to leave John Conyer’s former seat open for an entire year and simply having ordinary elections in 2018. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s governor has appointed Lt Governor Tina Smith to take Al Franken’s seat, but it’s unclear when Franken plans to leave (and her appointment has created chaos in the state’s politics). And it’s completely unclear who is favored to replace Trent Franks, despite a primary election happening in only two months. So it’s been a bit of a wild ride all around.
Trump Harassment Shuffle. There was lots of surreal and decisive movement on the Trump is a Serial Harasser front this week, though I’m still not sure what if anything will come of it. Among the highlights: Fifty-six female Democrats asking the House Oversight Committee to investigate allegations of Trump’s sexual abuse; Trump making surreal and sexualized statements about a sitting Senator; Nikki Haley saying that the people accusing Trump of sexual misconduct ‘should be heard’; and Kamela Harris joining the group of Senators saying Trump should resign.
Jones Upset Aftermath. Democratic candidate Doug Jones won the Alabama Senate seat this week in an incredibly close election, making him the first Democrat to hold a senate seat there in literally decades. It’s incredibly exciting, and some much-needed good news, and it highlights some major personnel changes happening in the Senate’s near future. But despite Democrats urging otherwise, Jones probably won’t join the Senate until 2018 — the votes need to be certified, and Roy Moore also isn’t conceding despite the RNC’s signal that it won’t pay for a recount. And on top of all of that, the Alabama Supreme Court held that the state doesn’t have to preserve voting data, which might make a recount take forever if it does happen. Since Republicans are unlikely to delay the tax vote (despite Dems delaying in 2010 in a similar situation), this means he won’t be able to help with next week’s travesty.

The Bad:

Tax Reform Remix. The tax reform roller coaster appears to be nearing a stop this week, but that’s not a good thing, as it’s currently slowing down right near a gilded circle of hell. Mnuchin released a one-page report this week, which Forbes (rightfully) says he should be ashamed of releasing; among other things, the report confirms that the tax cuts are so expensive that they cannot pay for themselves, and “welfare reform” (i.e. Medicaid and Medicare cuts) will be necessary to pay for it all. That, unfortunately, did not stop Bob Corker and Mark Rubio from eventually hopping aboard for the final version of the bill, leaving the GOP so confident they had the votes that they let McCain take the week off. Though the final version of the tax reform bill does soften a lot of the House version’s harshest edges, it still includes a repeal of the health insurance mandate, and it’s very likely to widen wealth inequality in the country. The Washington Post put out a good comprehensive summary of the final version, which is definitely worth a read (or at least a skim) if you get a chance. But the short version is: If you aren’t rich, it isn’t gonna be great.
Net Neutrality Neutered. The FCC vote on net neutrality this week went ahead as expected on Thursday, despite requests from 18 attorneys general to postpone in light of a fraudulent comment investigation. The vote resulted in a repeal of net neutrality regulations by 3–2. This is bad news for activists, for reasons I’ve noted before (as well as for people who simply want to watch their Netflix in peace), but it isn’t the end of the line — there are several different efforts already in play to undo the repeal, which I’ll write more about that below.
CDC Seven Forbidden Words. News broke this weekend that the CDC was given a list of ‘forbidden’ words by the Trump administration which cannot appear in official reports; more to the point, that list included words like “evidence-based,” “fetus,” and “transgender.” This is not the first instance we’ve seen of bizarre agency censorship — the EPA in particular has been noted for this all over the place, and the USDA has done it too — but there’s something uniquely alarming about the idea that our Center for Disease Control can’t note what works when combating epidemics. DHHS has denied the story, which I wish still meant something in 2017; since it doesn’t, we’re left wondering whether this was an actual policy, an attempt at a policy that backfired, or just a rumor that snuck past the Washington Post goalie.

The Good:

Federal Judge Withdrawals. Several deeply embarrassing federal judge nominations went the way of the dinosaurs this week! The first to go were Brett “Does it count if my wife practiced law?” Talley and Jeff “I Literally Told You I Illegally Discriminate” Mateer, who were both unceremoniously screened out by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. But after another nominee, Matthew Spenser Peterson, couldn’t answer extremely basic questions about legal procedure — like “I don’t know what a motion in limine is” level of basic — he withdrew his nomination today. Hallelujah, it’s raining turkeys!
Net Neutrality Preservation Plans. Immediately after the FCC vote on Thursday, both politicians and attorneys general were springing into action. Senator Markey announced that he is filing a Congressional Review Act resolution to undo the FCC vote (which already has fifteen sponsors). On the legal end of things, several attorneys general are suing the FCC in connection with the fraudulent comment investigation, with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman leading the charge and potentially as many as eighteen other states supporting the suit. Following Markey’s lead, the governor of Washington announced a cooperative plan to preserve net neutrality, to the extent that the FCC doesn’t preempt state action; Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson also joined Schneiderman’s suit.

And that’s basically the news that was fit to email this week — some good, some bad, most unfinished. It’s like the Big Dig of news weeks! And speaking of unfinished, the next few weeks are going to be a bit wonky here at Roundup Center, because both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Monday. The tentative plan is to issue the Christmas roundup on December 26, and I’ll check in from there on how to handle New Year’s. Until we meet again, happy holidays!

National News Roundup: Week 46 (December 3–9)

December 12, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

FORTEPAN / Saly Noémi, via Wikimedia Commons

I’ll be honest, y’all, I’m running out of ways to say “this week sucked.” But Amy Siskind and I agree: This week gives your vacuum cleaner a run for its money. (Although to be fair, you should probably throw that thing away anyway; it hasn’t been working the same since the Great Staircase Incident of ‘03.)

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 spy! — 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 week was a bit quieter on the Russia Collusion Investigation front, though there were a few stories:

Manafort’s Ghost-Writing Adventures. A week after Mueller’s team agreed to Paul Manafort’s release pretrial, news broke that Manafort had been ghost-writing an op-ed about his work in the Ukraine as recently as November 30 — which violates the judge’s gag order on speaking publicly about the case, and has Mueller withdrawing support for the bail agreement. Manafort is denying he ghost-wrote anything, as is the pundit who supposedly commissioned the op-ed. But frankly, that bail agreement was such a colossally bad idea that it should be withdrawn anyway, so I can’t work up the energy to get too fussed about this.
Records May or May Not Have Been Subpoenaed. Among the more confused stories of the week is a news story that Mueller was subpoenaing Trump’s bank records, which was followed by a news story that Mueller was not subpoenaing them. Some outlets split the difference and reported that Mueller subpoenaed records of someone close to Trump. So it’s still not quite clear what happened, but someone probably subpoenaed some records about something?
Donald Trump Jr.’s Privilege. Trump Jr. spent almost eight straight hours testifying this week, largely about his role in things related to Russia. But among the things to come out of that meeting was his claim that he didn’t have to answer questions about conversations with his father because of attorney-client privilege. (Spoiler: That’s literally the opposite of how attorney-client privilege works; you waive the privilege by including people other than the attorney in the conversation.) So, uh… that happened, because Congress let it.
KT McFarland on Ice. Not the morbid kind; the Senate has just placed her nomination as ambassador to Singapore on hold because Flynn’s plea suggests she wasn’t exactly truthful to them. (As we recently learned, she also described Russia as “throw[ing] the U.S.A. election” to Trump.) At the moment, she’s one of nearly 200 positions that haven’t been greenlit for one reason or another. But she’s also part of an increasingly coherent mess of Officials Who Have Somehow Been Sketchy about Russia — and though it can be hard to keep track, the New York Times has your back and put together some helpful infographics.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Harassment, Politics, and You (Part II). Yet again, we experienced an utterly bizarre week in terms of Congressional harassment. In the early part of this week, House Democrat John Conyer stepped down, and then Michigan’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, announced he was going to leave that district unrepresented until 2019. Conyer’s resignation was followed fairly quickly by a similar announcement from Senator Al Franken. Disturbingly, none of this was the most sensational Congress news this week, because House Republican Trent Franks resigned as well, apparently due to offering his aides $5M to impregnate them (and if you haven’t read Alexandra Petri’s piece on this, do yourself the favor because it will give you back your will to keep reading the news). Meanwhile, Roy Moore enjoys the support of both Trump and the RNC’s funding streams again, and Trump himself is a sitting President with nineteen sexual misconduct claims against him. (Several senators and some of his accusers have called on Trump to resign just like the other politicians did, but I’m not sure we can hang our hats on that actually going somewhere.)
Gay Cake Oral Arguments. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Colorado cake case this week, which pits the rights of same-sex couples to enjoy freedom from discrimination in public accommodations against the rights of store owners to freely express religious practice. Overall, the justices seem pretty evenly divided and Justice Kennedy’s swing vote is looking incredibly hard to predict. That’s really rare by this point, because the court had an unusual amount of consensus before there was a ninth justice, and a lot of decisions were 6–3 immediately after Gorsuch joined. Hopefully we’ll know specifics eventually, though the SCOTUS decision might not come out for months.
Shutdown is Shut Down (For Now). The House passed a shutdown prevention measure this week, but only kicked the can down the road about two weeks — we’re going to be right back where we started before it’s even Christmas. All of it feels like a stopgap at best and myopic at worst, but I guess that’s what calling our reps is for. Either way, it’s the second time they’ve punted on creating a long-term solution in the past few months, and that’s an awful lot of not ensuring the government can stay functioning for one season.

The Bad:

Embassy Imperative. Trump announced this week that he is ordering the United States Embassy to Israel moved to Jerusalem, a move he had been forecasting for some time but I was hoping he wouldn’t actually do. While technically he’s correct that he was enacting a law passed in 1995, all of our Presidents since the law’s inception in 1998, from Clinton to Dubbya to Obama, have exercised a waiver and kept the embassy in Tel Aviv for almost twenty straight years. This is because moving it is a really, really bad idea, and it’s no surprise that the State Department is downplaying the decision. Perhaps relatedly, conflict is already breaking out at the Gaza border over the decision, with Palestinians protesting by the thousands and Israeli forces launching air strikes in response. The conflict is as heartbreaking as it is predictable.
Consumer Protection Bureau Sadness. Despite not even officially, definitely being in charge, Mick Mulvaney is starting to mess things up for the Consumer Protection Bureau. This week’s news is that he suddenly dropped enforcement of a suit against a mortgage company whose misleading practices damaged thousands of consumers — at the damages stage, when the court had already issued a multi-million dollar in the Bureau’s favor. Unsurprisingly, banks think he’ll mean good things for them, and they’re probably right. I suppose it’s not even news by this stage that somebody who hates the agency ends up in charge of every single agency we have, but it’s still depressing to it happen yet again. Meanwhile, Trump is tweeting about how he’s going to make the bureau do things, which is both obnoxious and illegal. Must be Tuesday.
New DHS Secretary. The Senate confirmed new Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielson this week. I went back and forth on whether this was a Good news event or a Bad one for quite some time; on the one hand, it’s comforting to see our normal appointment process being followed, and Nielsen is an experienced security staffer from the Dubbya administration. But on the other hand, she’s currently deputy chief of White House staff, which means she’s very used to taking orders from John Kelly — so this may be as simple as trying to replace Elaine Duke with someone who will listen to his orders more often. The simple truth is that a lot depends on details we don’t yet have — so we’re stuck waiting to see what happens, and in the meantime I’m going to assume the worst so that I’m better prepared.

The Good:

Trans Military Win. A federal court that had previously blocked part of Trump’s ban of trans military service issued another holding today, this time requiring the military to accept trans applications starting January 1. The decision ultimately rests on refusing a stay of a prior order, with the judge finding that the military is unlikely to be irreparably injured by admitting trans applicants. The holding only decides what happens for now while the appeal is pending, but it’s still a nice respite and a sign that the judge doesn’t think the ban will last.
The Silence-Breakers. TIME named its Person of the Year this week, and counter to Trump’s claims, they put “the silence-breakers” on the cover — women who helped popularize the Me, Too movement in the past few months and created accountability for several high-profile cases of sexual harassment. (The founder of the movement, Tarana Burke, was included in the article but not on the cover.) The movement definitely has created a larger conversation about sexual harassment and accountability, and we definitely haven’t seen the last of its effects playing out as Franken, Franks and Conyer step down this week. And regardless of what you think of the movement, I think we can all agree that it’s nice they didn’t give it to a white supremacist this year.

So that’s what happened this past week; hopefully next week will be better, though I’ll be back with another roundup either way. And seriously, get rid of that vacuum cleaner.

National News Roundup: Week 45 (November 26-December 2)

December 5, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

You know how sometime in the last few months, there has probably been a point when I have said “comfort food at the ready” and then you read the news and thought “Wait, that wasn’t so horrible, maybe I’ve become inured to the true terribleness of our situation by my cocoon of low expectations”? This week, I am sad to report, will not be that week — it’s less “comfort food at the ready” and more “Sorry your friend Lando Collins sold you out but at least the carbonite makes the hurting stop.” If you get a moment, I really recommend reviewing materials on trauma resilience, emotional first-aid, and self-care this week.

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, but not the merger kind! — 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 week saw multiple really big stories on Russia Collusion Investigation front, though what will result from them remains to be seen. Here are the two main highlights:

Manafort Released. Mueller’s team agreed to Paul Manafort’s release pretrial at the beginning of the week, removing provisions requiring GPS monitor and limiting domestic travel. Although four properties valued at $11.46M have been offered as collateral, that doesn’t seem to much reduce flight risk of a guy with a net worth estimated over $50M. It was a move that baffled and infuriated me until the end of the week, when we suddenly got more context about what was going on with Flynn.
Flynn Plea Bargain. Michael Flynn struck a plea bargain on Friday, pleading guilty of lying to the FBI and assuring his full cooperation with the Mueller investigation — which so far has already included disclosure that Jared Kushner knew he was meeting with Russian officials. Trump responded by letting slip on Twitter that he knew about Flynn’s lies to the FBI before Flynn was fired, which people note suggests obstruction of justice — and then, in a wild twist, it turned out that Trump’s chief counsel had written the tweet. He then followed this up by claiming it’s not possible for the President to obstruct justice (despite Nixon literally being impeached for this in the 1970s). So I’m sure it’s an interesting time to work at the White House, at the very least.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Harassment, Politics, and You. This has been an utterly bizarre week in terms of Congressional harassment. In the early part of the week, Prominent House Democrat John Conyers stepped down from the House Judiciary Committee due to allegations of sexually harassing his aides. (He is being replaced by New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler.) Though Nancy Pelosi has been calling for his resignation, both he and Al Franken remain in their positions on Capitol Hill for now, and TIME is opining that we probably have only seen the tip of the Congressional harassment iceberg. Also, Veritas tried to catch the Washington Post in a sting operation with a fake Moore rape charge. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi skipped a meeting with Trump this week because he insulted them and tweeted that it would be a waste of time. So of course he responded by putting two empty seats next to himself at the meeting, because harassment’s clearly the name of the game this week.
Other Trump Oddities (A Partial List). Though they are far from the most noteworthy things to happen this week, there was an awful lot of bizarre Trump behavior that got swept under the rug because so many other things are on fire right now. Among the highlights: Trump claimed the Access Hollywood tape was fake; apparently is still theorizing that Barack Obama was born abroad; tweeted videos from a British anti-Muslim extremist currently facing hate crimes charges; and insulted British Prime Minister Theresa May when she took exception to said shared videos.
Opioid Crisis Conway. Let’s see if I can make it through this section without vomiting in my mouth even a little bit. Jeff Sessions announced several bits of news about the opioid crisis this week, but the most obnoxious story is that Kellyanne Conway apparently is the official White House spokesperson for the opioid crisis. I really don’t have words for what a bad idea this is, so I’m just going to trust that y’all know why we maybe shouldn’t leave a debilitating national epidemic in the hands of a person with no relevant experience who already has another full-time job, thinks microwaves monitor people, and is under investigation for violating the Hatch Act. Let’s move on, before I strain something.
State Department Speculation.* Rumors circulated this week that Trump was about to oust Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and replace him with Mike Pompeo. (Pompeo is currently the head of the CIA, but the plan apparently also involved replacing him with Arkansas senator Tom Cotton.) This type of change would be what we in the legal field like to call “abjectly terrifying,” given the current delicate situation with Korea and both men’s reputations for being war hawks, and it also evidences a disturbing trend of normalizing Trump’s habit of ignoring Cabinet appointment procedure. But for now, both Trump and Tillerson are saying that no changes are imminent, and Tillerson made it through a potential Friday Firing intact for the time being. So I’m not quite sure what’s happening from here, but I’m going to keep my fingers permanently crossed that it doesn’t involve Secretary Pompeo.
CVS Bought Aetna. Yep, you read that right. CVS (as in the pharmacy convenience store chain) just agreed to buy Aetna (as in the health insurance company). I honestly have no idea what this even means; nobody in pharma has ever successfully bought the health insurance provider before. It’s possible it will lower healthcare costs, like the company says; it’s also possible that this will lock out competitors and make prices skyrocket. Maybe it will create porcine flight technology. I have no idea, y’all; this is really weird.

The Bad:

North Korea News (Again).* North Korea fired a ballistic missile again this past week, for the first time in more than two months. What differentiates this missile from the previous ones is that it was much more powerful; experts estimate North Korea can now successfully reach anywhere in the mainland United States. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is still stressing diplomacy, but we should all be watching this carefully.
How Not to Honor Veterans (Also A Partial List).* Trump was incredibly insulting to Navajo veterans at an event honoring them this week, receiving them with a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the background and pausing to call Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” in the middle of his statements for no discernible reason. (As several people on the Internet have noted, Pocahontas was Algonquin, Warren claimed to have Cherokee heritage, and Trump was honoring Navajos, so it’s a racist conflation of several different cultures on top of all the other forms of offense happening). The insult to injury is that the role Navajo code talkers played in World War II is a really remarkable and oft-overlooked part of our national history, which we of course didn’t get to hear about or honor because he was too busy using actual war heroes as a means to criticize Elizabeth Warren. Then, for an encore, he reduced the national monument known as Bear Ears, which has major tribal significance, by 85% — removing over one million acres all told. So now the Navajo Nation is suing Trump to preserve it, and moral of the story, if Trump invites you to the White House he’s probably about to do a jobby in your proverbial stew.
Senate Tax Reform News (Again Again). The Senate tax reform bill passed through committee by 12–11 along partisan lines this week, and then after some initial mishaps on Thursday, they passed the whole enchilada 51–49 at 2 AM on Saturday morning (with Bob Corker being the sole Republican holdout, since Collins, Murkowski, Flake, and McCain all came onboard). Folks, I won’t sugar-coat this; they passed this bill in the middle of the night with a bunch of its provisions scrawled in the margins and after refusing to give anybody enough time to read the thing. To say that this was not good governance would be a major understatement, and it’s deeply disappointing to see “moderate” Republicans fold like card tables to preserve their donations. About the best that I can say is that the Senate version has some major departures from the House version, and the House can’t rubber-stamp those changes (more on that below), so now it’s gone to conference committee, and that’s already off to a rocky start.
Travel Ban Back Online. Right alongside the tax reform news in the This Sure Is Hard to Stomach queue was the Supreme Court’s decision to remove injunctions on the travel ban today. Though the decision did not touch upon the merits of the case, it is the first time all the provisions of the final travel ban have been put back in play, and it’s particularly hard to swallow only a day or two after Trump retweeted viral anti-Muslim videos. I’m still halfheartedly hoping that SCOTUS wants to gather data to consider when pondering this case on the merits — a theory supported by the fact that Ginsberg and Sotomayor didn’t write out a full dissent — but it’s not a great day for Team People Who Don’t Hate Immigrants.

The Good:

An Australian Proposal. During a floor debate on codifying same-sex marriage in Australian Parliament (which was passed by referendum recently), an Australian lawmaker proposed to his long-term partner, who was watching from the gallery. The Australian House says this is the first time a marriage proposal of any type has happened on the floor, and it’s pretty cool that the first time it happened was in this context! Also, I want to live in a country where the Deputy Speaker’s response to something like this happening on the floor is “I should note for the Hansard that that was a yes, a resounding yes.”
AMT Owed. I’m not yet sure if this counts as good, or just hilarious, but New York Magazine reported today that the Senate accidentally screwed up a really major provision of the Tax Reform bill they just passed — which means the House can’t vote on the bill as-is without seriously angering donors. More specifically, here’s what apparently happened: An older version of the bill abolished the corporate Alternate Minimum Tax entirely, but in order to court hold-outs McConnell had to add a lot of expensive provisions. Since the bill can’t add more than 1.5 trillion to the debt in order to use the reconciliation process (and avoid a filibuster), one of the drafters put the AMT back into the draft. Only problem is, they forgot to lower it at all even though the whole point of this exercise was to create tax breaks, so they lowered the regular tax rate to 20% and then set the minimum tax rate at 20%! Obviously, going back to the drawing board means more opportunities to get moderate Senators and House members off-board. But even if we don’t see major gains from this, it’s still some good, good schadenfreude.

And that’s what I have this week — I’m super sorry about it all. But maybe Lando Collins will join the Rebel Alliance by Episode 6, if we can hold on that long…

National News Roundup: Week 44 (November 19–25)

November 28, 2017 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

By Florian Prischl (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

Well folks, we managed a long stretch without an actual true Bad News Cycle, so I suppose we were about due — but that doesn’t make it suck less. Comfort food at the ready, y’all. This is a rough one.

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, but not the merger kind! — 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:

Not a lot happened on the Russia Collusion Investigation front this week, but there are a few rumors:

Rumor Sampling. Multiple outlets are speculating that Jared Kushner’s newly-reduced responsibilities may suggest his star is waning, or he is worried about incoming investigations (or both). There are also rumors that Rosenstein may need to be recused, at the same time that rumors circulate that Trump’s lawyers think the investigation is nearly complete. And since Mueller charged both Gates and Manafort under a little-used and underpowered law, people are speculating about what else the investigator might have in store.

That said, the real news here at Constitutional Crisis Corner is movement on the Threat to Free Speech front:

FCC and Net Neutrality Repeal. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai formally announced his plan to repeal net neutrality this week, which he’s selling as a return to freedom to the Internet. In reality, it potentially endangers all first amendment rights of citizens dissenting from the current government, and there is already an investigation into fraudulent implementation. On a surface level, the policy is merely unfair and disadvantaging to consumers, because it allows Internet provider companies to set rates of speed and price based on what sites the user is accessing and prioritize their own subsidiaries. But it’s also a dangerous plan on a political level, because it would make it much, much easier to control the flow of information and ability to use the Internet to politically organize. The commission votes on the proposal in mid-December, so now is an important time to call your reps.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Merger Management.* The Department of Justice filed to oppose a merger between ATT and Time Warner this week, which is commonly believed to be a retaliatory action motivated by the fact that Time Warner owns CNN. This is a really weird move, to say the least, and it will be very interesting to see what courts do with it.
Trump Foundational Issues.* The Donald J. Trump foundation made the news this week because it’s attempting to wind down after admitting to self-dealing last year. There’s just tiny flaw in this plan: It’s not allowed to do that, because it’s under investigation. In fact, since Trump first announced an intention to wind down the nonprofit after investigation had been announced, it seems pretty likely that the investigation is why it was winding down in the first place. So that’s not sketchy at all.
Trump TIME.* Trump tweeted that he turned down an offer of TIME’s Person of the Year for 2017, which was quickly discredited by TIME when they observed they don’t notify their choice until December 6. I honestly have no idea what motivates the most powerful man in America to lie about whether or not a magazine thinks he’s important, especially when he was already awarded the honor last year, so I’m not even gonna try to wrap my brain around it. It was weird, y’all.
Competing Commission Heads. In a surreal move I’m honestly surprised hasn’t happened before, Trump named current White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This was, however, a few hours after the departing director of the CFPB promoted his chief of staff to deputy director and said she would be the acting director. Under the law that created the bureau, Dodd-Frank (which Trump has been trying to neuter for half a year now), the director chooses their own interim replacement. But the Department of Justice is arguing that another law generally authorizes the President to fill interim federal positions, so CFPB-led pick Leandra English is suing to stop them. Either way, the whole thing is surreal and disturbing. Welcome to 2017, where the laws are made up and the cases don’t matter.
Haitian TPS News. In what I can only describe as an ambiguous move at best, the Department of Homeland Security announced this week that it will extend Haitian TPS for another year and a half, but then end it permanently in July 2019. This leaves about 57,000 Haitian nationals here in the United States scrambling to figure out a plan; since Haiti is still lacking a lot of infrastructure and having significant public health issues, many may not want to return immediately (if at all). The decision is particularly confusing because eighteen months is an unusually long time to wind down a TPS program — but it’s a common extension window. All in all, it’s a very mixed decision for relevant immigrant populations, and it adds tension to populations awaiting a TPS decision in the near future (such as people from Honduras and El Salvador).

The Bad:

Tragedy in Egypt. Over three hundred people were killed, and another hundred were injured, when Muslim extremists bombed a mosque in Egypt this past week. Though militant attacks on mosques are rare in the region, the act of terrorism illustrates the increasingly-common practice of targeting of Sufi religious groups. Officials are describing it as the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history.
CHIP’s Still Down. Congress still hasn’t extended CHIP, which expired on September 30 while everybody was fighting about the ACA. As a result, forty-two states are facing a difficult situation, and twelve states will run out as soon as next month. I honestly cannot overstate how appalling it is to still have no solution for the situation nearly two months after it first arose — it’s rooted in simple negligence, not controversy, and there are nine million children receiving health insurance through the program nationwide.
Puerto Rico Power Struggles. A full two months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Puerto Rico still strives to have enough power and water for its residents. This is compounded by the fact that Whitefish Energy is ceasing work on Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, claiming that the island owes them money for services already rendered. For those of y’all playing the home game, why yes, that is indeed the same two-person company that was inexplicably awarded a contract through suspicious means a few months ago, and they are in fact failing to finish service during the worst electrical outage in U.S. history. I think we found a new definition of ‘chutzpah,’ y’all. On the plus side, at least this has rekindled the conversation about solar power as an option.
State Department Woes. Things are apparently still a mess in the State Department, between Tillerson firing his security chief, his department redesign chief quitting three months into the jobs, and a dozen State Department officials accusing Tillerson of violating federal law that prohibits allies’ use of child soldiers. This is, of course, on top of the record numbers of State officials who have already left the department, so it’s not surprising that morale’s in the toilet over there.
Racism Still in Sessions. While everybody was distracted by their turkey, Jeff Sessions has been hard at work this week. Among the fun new policies are ending federal prison contracts with 16 different halfway houses (because who needs rehabilitation when you’re just gonna lock ’em back up again, amirite?) and offering additional grant funding to jurisdictions that facilitate immigration enforcement. These are, of course, just the latest in a long string of horrid and reactionary policies, but in aggregate it’s all sufficiently terrible that I’m proud I didn’t defenestrate my computer. This time.
DeVos’s Proposed Civil Wrongs. Betsy DeVos is considering several changes which would limit the scope of discrimination investigations in schools. The major highlights of the draft include directing investigators not to look at systemic issues, granting schools ultimate authority to dismiss cases, and removing the appeals process. So, you know, basically all the parts that would which make it a civil rights investigation at all. On the plus side, the draft won’t be finalized until next year, so there’s plenty of time to call and complain repeatedly.

The Good:

New Orleans Mayor. LaToya Cantrell was elected the first female mayor of New Orleans this week, an exciting milestone for a city over 300 years old. Cantrell will be a sitting city council member until May, and has been an activist in the area since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This is a welcome form of progress in an otherwise difficult week.
Recent Constitutional Wins. There have been a few different promising court cases in the last few days. In Baltimore, a federal court judge held that the ban on transgender military service members is unconstitutional — and took this holding further than the previous court decision by including coverage of sex reassignment surgery in the holding. There was also a recent court case finding that Trump’s executive order to block funding to ‘sanctuary cities’ was an unconstitutional overreach of authority. The language of the order is very strong, perhaps because it’s the latest in a long chain of similar court holdings on the topic.

And that’s what I have this week — sorry, no take-backs. Here’s hoping you stay your preferred level of engaged and enraged until we meet again next week!