Dem
47
GOP
53
There have been a few legal developments we really need to catch up on. (And we still have a monster "Political Bytes" or two in the hopper.)
The Apprentice, Federal Government Edition: Donald Trump is not satisfied with just having his personal attorney turned "Acting Attorney General" as his lapdog; he wants each U.S. Attorney to also be completely subservient to him, regardless of their qualifications for the office. Trump had installed Charles Floyd as the interim U.S. Attorney in Seattle, but never forwarded his name to the Senate for confirmation. By law, Floyd can only serve for 120 days, but Trump left him there and gave him a new title. The federal judges in the district found that to be unlawful and named a replacement U.S. Attorney, as the law requires when the temporary stint has expired. Roger Rogoff, a veteran federal prosecutor, arrived at the U.S. Attorney's office to meet with Floyd and start in his new position, but was fired by e-mail while he was waiting in the lobby. This follows a pattern of Trump breaking the law by improperly installing people as U.S. Attorneys without getting Senate confirmation and then simply leaving them there. And when the courts find that the attorney is serving unlawfully and vote to install a proper U.S. Attorney, Trump immediately fires them.
Our Take: This should really be getting more attention than it is, especially with Todd Blanche's confirmation hearings this week. Blanche continues to approve of these illegal maneuvers to avoid Senate confirmation and the law governing vacancies and temporary positions, because he knows full well the lackeys can't get 50 votes in the upper chamber. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said it best, "This administration doesn't want to deal with advice and consent—they just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda."
Another Election Case, Another Loss: Trump's string of election losses continues to pile up, and he's now 0 for 13 in trying to get states' voter rolls. The latest is from West Virginia, which is one of 30 states that refused Trump's demand for sensitive voter data. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston dismissed the DOJ Civil
WhitesRights Division's lawsuit on the grounds that the demand was "devoid of any factual basis" and "includes no indication that West Virginia is suspected to be noncompliant with [federal voting rights laws]." West Virginia's Secretary of State Kris Warner, a Republican, called the decision "an important victory for the rule of law, voter privacy, and the dedicated election officials across West Virginia who work every day to ensure the accuracy of our state's voter registration system."Our Take: Trump won't give up trying to convince the voting public of his need to rig the upcoming elections (including his best impression of the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz, not to mention last night's speech), but courts and elected officials of both parties are working hard to tell their own story to the public that states control elections, the rule of law will hold and voters can be confident that they can cast a ballot and rely on the integrity of the process and the outcome.
Subpoena This!: The New York Times filed motions to quash the subpoenas issued to its reporters over their coverage of the Qatar
bribejet and its lack of sufficient security measures, which had already been publicly acknowledged by the White House. The reporters did not testify to the grand jury on Wednesday, as demanded in the subpoenas. Instead, the paper claims the subpoenas were issued solely to "intimidate the journalists and the Times itself" and wants them struck down.Our Take: Well, it's about time, Times! This is what needs to happen with every illegal maneuver of this corrupt regime. Fight back, especially those companies with the resources of The New York Times. There's absolutely no reason to capitulate—unless, of course, you're a billionaire owner with an important merger to get through, but that's a different problem.
Brennan Strikes Back: John Brennan, former CIA director and another target of the retributive DoJ, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration claiming that the evidence that is most relevant and that will show he has done nothing wrong is at risk of disappearing. He wants the judge to order Trump and the DoJ to preserve all evidence related to the investigation of him. They are already obligated to do that, of course, but he can point to many examples of this DoJ violating court orders and failing to preserve critical evidence, such as, ahem, Jeffrey Epstein and various grand jury materials.
Our Take: This is a long shot, but it's a really smart move to go on the offensive and put Trump on notice that Brennan is taking the fight to him. This administration routinely violates the law in litigation, so any kind of discovery can prove very fruitful for his case and any other target. More of this, please.
And so, we've put a finger in the legal dike. The problem is that, with Trump, there's always another giant leak just around the corner. (L)