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White Supremacist Has a Top Level Security Clearance

July 5, 2018 at 9:26 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

ProPublica and Frontline have identified a white supremacist who punched Charlottesville protesters as Michael Miselis, a PhD student who has a federal security clearance as a systems engineer for Northrop Grumman.

“Northrop Grumman did not respond to several requests for comment. However, interviews with current and former Northrop employees, as well as an internal email, make clear the company knows of Miselis’ actions in Charlottesville and involvement with RAM. Miselis informed his superiors about his contact with reporters from ProPublica and FRONTLINE, as is required by any individual who holds a higher-level security clearance.”

“So far, it seems, the company has taken no action against Miselis, who remains employed.”

‘The GOP Must Be Destroyed Before It Can Be Rebuilt’

July 5, 2018 at 7:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Max Boot: “After a lifetime as a Republican, I re-registered as an independent on the day after Donald Trump’s election… I am more convinced than ever that I made the right decision. The transformation I feared has taken place. Just look at the reaction to President Trump’s barbarous policy of taking children away from their parents as punishment for the misdemeanor offense of illegally entering the country. While two-thirds of Americans disapproved of this state-sanctioned child abuse, forcing the president to back down, a majority of Republicans approved. If Trump announced he were going to spit-roast immigrant kids and eat them on national TV (apologies to Jonathan Swift), most Republicans probably would approve of that, too. The entire Republican platform can now be reduced to three words: whatever Trump says.”

“Personally, I’ve thrown up my hands in despair at the debased state of the GOP. I don’t want to be identified with the party of the child-snatchers. But I respect principled conservatives who are willing to stay and fight to reclaim a once-great party that freed the slaves and helped to win the Cold War. What I can’t respect are head-in-the-sand conservatives who continue to support the GOP by pretending that nothing has changed.”

“That is why I join Will and other principled conservatives, both current and former Republicans, in rooting for a Democratic takeover of both houses in November. Like postwar Germany and Japan, the Republican Party must be destroyed before it can be rebuilt.”

How Trump Is Undermining Industries He Pledged to Help

July 5, 2018 at 7:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Even as the president’s pro-business stance is broadly embraced by the corporate community, in some significant cases the very industries that Mr. Trump has vowed to help say that his proposals will actually hurt them. They also warn that policies designed to aid one group will eat into someone else’s business in ways that policymakers should have anticipated.’ … Automakers, for instance, had sought looser emissions rules.”

“However, Mr. Trump’s proposed rollback goes further than expected, and now automakers say it could ultimately spawn years of legal battles and perhaps even subject the industry to more regulations, not fewer, if individual states start enforcing their own, separate rules… Oil and gas companies say a Trump administration proposal to bail out the coal industry will cut into their market share, while steel tariffs make their production equipment costlier.”

Mueller Taps More Prosecutors

July 5, 2018 at 7:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Special counsel Robert Mueller “is tapping additional Justice Department resources for help with new legal battles as his year-old investigation of Russian interference with the 2016 election continues to expand,” Bloomberg reports.

“As Mueller pursues his probe, he’s making more use of career prosecutors from the offices of U.S. attorneys and from Justice Department headquarters, as well as FBI agents — a sign that he may be laying the groundwork to hand off parts of his investigation eventually.”

Pompeo Heads to North Korea Again

July 5, 2018 at 7:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Turning the enthusiasm of the meeting in Singapore into a concrete, verifiable agreement is now the job of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is leaving Washington early Thursday for North Korea. It will be his third trip there, but the first to flesh out a timetable and a common understanding of what the Singapore commitment to ‘work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula’ really means,” the New York Times reports.

“Complicating the task is this: Mr. Pompeo, a former C.I.A. chief who knows the details of the North Korean program intimately and has solicited plans for how to accomplish his goals, must show that he can get the North Koreans to go far beyond the agreement his predecessor once-removed, John Kerry, achieved in negotiations with Iran.”

Global Economy Braces for Trump’s Trade War

July 5, 2018 at 7:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “President Trump’s first tariffs are scheduled to hit $34 billion of Chinese imports on Friday, and Beijing plans to swiftly respond with levies on an equal amount of goods. Border officers here could receive the order as early as midnight to slap new taxes on hundreds of American products, including pork, poultry, soybeans and corn.”

“And so would begin an unprecedented commerce battle between the world’s two largest economies — a conflict analysts fear could rattle markets, cripple trade and undermine ties between the United States and China at a time when the administration seeks Beijing’s cooperation on North Korea.”

“As the global business community watches the clock, China is moving to pin the fallout on Trump, framing the United States as a bully the Asian nation is forced to confront.”

Poland’s Supreme Court in Disarray as Judges Defy Purge

July 5, 2018 at 7:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Surrounded by cheering supporters, Poland’s top Supreme Court justice took a defiant stand on the courthouse steps here Wednesday morning, hours after the government purged the tribunal. She vowed to keep fighting to protect the Constitution and the independence of the nation’s courts,” the New York Times reports.

Said Justice Malgorzata Gersdorf: “I’m doing this to defend the rule of law and to testify to the truth about the line between the Constitution and the violation of the Constitution. I hope that legal order will return to Poland.”

Liberals Target Collins and Murkowski In Court Fight

July 5, 2018 at 7:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Liberal political strategists hope to block President Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee by replaying a strategy they used to help defeat the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year,” the Washington Post reports.

“The multimillion-dollar plan of advertising and grass-roots activism will focus heavily on convincing two Republican defenders of the ACA, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), to buck the president again by denying his first choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Trump plans to reveal his selection Monday.”

A Game for Our Times

July 4, 2018 at 11:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

An old classic re-designed: Monopoly Cheater’s Edition.

Fast Company: “The original Monopoly was designed in 1903 as a protest against uber-rich turn-of-the-century families like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts–the original 1% that consolidated power by owning everything. But in the political climate of 2018, another class has risen to rule. They’re rule-benders, law-breakers, and, for lack of a better term, cheaters, who seem to intentionally rub their own misdeeds in the face of the American public. Intentionally or not, this is the modern day Monopoly game to roast them.”

An Immigrant’s Anthem

July 4, 2018 at 10:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The 5-year-old and his family had traveled thousands of miles to escape. When they finally arrived on American soil, free from the marauders who had burned their house to the ground, the boy was placed in a holding pen with his brother and sisters, while immigration officials decided their fate.”

“From this story, a classic piece of music emerged. The family, fleeing religious persecution in Russia in 1893, was soon reunited and allowed to enter the country. And that little boy, born Israel Beilin, would grow up to become Irving Berlin. Twenty-five years after emigrating, the same year he became an American citizen, he composed ‘God Bless America.’”

“The song, which rings out with special fervor each Fourth of July as a kind of unofficial national anthem, is turning 100 this year, and at a fraught moment in America’s relations with would-be immigrants, it is worth remembering its origins.”

White House Aides Will Stay for Confirmation Fight

July 4, 2018 at 7:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Top White House officials worn out from the chaos of the Trump administration and eyeing the exits in the coming weeks are now considering staying on through the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice,” three White House officials and two outside advisors tell ABC News.

”White House counsel Don McGahn, Legislative Affairs director Marc Short and Domestic Policy director Andrew Bremberg have told colleagues in the days following Supreme Court Justice Kennedy’s retirement announcement that they plan to stay on staff through the confirmation process.”

Quote of the Day

July 4, 2018 at 6:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I try to be careful with the language that I use. When people ask me questions, for example, about why is Mr. Trump so submissive to Vladimir Putin, and whether or not Mr. Trump fears that the Russians have something on him, I say, I don’t know. Perhaps. Maybe. I just don’t want to get into details about what I know or don’t know. I have to be very mindful of my obligations as far as classified material is concerned.”

— Former CIA Director John Brennan, quoted by the New York Times.

Rauner Won’t Endorse Democrat Over Nazi

July 4, 2018 at 6:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) refused to endorse Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), who is running for re-election against challenger Arthur Jones (R), an avowed Nazi, WCIA-TV reports.

Said Rauner: “No. The one thing I will say is the person, that guy, Johnson or whatever his name is, should not be on the ballot.”

Avenatti Says He’ll Run for President

July 4, 2018 at 6:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, says he will launch a presidential bid in 2020 if President Trump runs for re-election, Politico reports.

Said Avenatti: “If he seeks re-election, I will run, but only if I think that there is no other candidate in the race that has a REAL chance at beating him. We can’t relive 2016. I love this country, our values and our people too much to sit by while they are destroyed.”

The Stakes Are Higher Than You Thought

July 4, 2018 at 11:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The following piece for members is from Robert M. Shore, who as a partner of Raines Feldman LLP focuses on appellate work and constitutional law.

Much news coverage of Donald Trump’s upcoming Supreme Court appointment focuses on the effect of that pick on abortion rights, and deservedly so. Over their lifetimes, more than one-third of American women will face that choice, and for the last 45 years, they’ve largely been able to do so free from overt government interference. There is little doubt that Trump’s pick will oppose abortion rights, and it’s unlikely that a majority of senators will stand in the way of that nomination. So Roe v. Wade is on its way out the door, likely to be expressly overruled before the next presidential election. To that extent, the news media probably has it right.

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Trump Proposed Invading Venezuela

July 4, 2018 at 10:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can’t the U.S. just simply invade the troubled country?”

“The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, both of whom have since left the administration… McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship.”

“But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.”

Poland Purges Supreme Court

July 4, 2018 at 10:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Poland’s government carried out a sweeping purge of the Supreme Court on Tuesday night, eroding the judiciary’s independence, escalating a confrontation with the European Union over the rule of law and further dividing this nation. Tens of thousands took to the streets in protest,” the New York Times reports.

“Poland was once a beacon for countries struggling to escape the yoke of the Soviet Union and embrace Western democracy. But it is now in league with neighboring nations, like Hungary, whose leaders have turned to authoritarian means to tighten their grip on power, presenting a grave challenge to a European Union already grappling with nationalist, populist and anti-immigrant movements.”

Kavanaugh Seen as Leading Pick for Supreme Court

July 4, 2018 at 8:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “According to a person close to the president, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who has served 12 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is the leading candidate in the president’s mind, followed by Judge Amy Coney Barrett and then Judge Raymond Kethledge.”

“Mr. Trump believes Judge Kavanaugh has been on the bench long enough to give the president a sense of where he stands on various issues and that Judge Barrett is fairly young and could use more judicial experience. The administration might want to keep her in reserve should Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, leave the court.”

Washington Post: “An intensifying debate over Judge Brett Kavanaugh… gripped Republicans on Tuesday, with conservative critics highlighting past rulings and his links to GOP leaders while his allies — including inside the White House — forcefully defended him.”