Author: jonathanturley

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

Presidential Protection or Abduction: Why Secret Service Wrong for all the Right Reasons on Jan. 6

Below is my column in the Hill on the surprising claim this week that the Secret Service ignored direct and repeated demands of former President Donald Trump to go to Capitol Hill on January 6th. It is an allegation that raises some interesting questions. On one hand, the Secret Service is trained to take immediate action to protect a president. On the other hand, it cannot effectively control the presidency by controlling a president like a modern Praetorian Guard. In the end, if this account is true, the security team was likely wrong in refusing the order of the President to be taken to Capitol Hill.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Presidential Protection or Abduction: Why Secret Service Wrong for all the Right Reasons on Jan. 6” →

Constitutional Law, Politics

Former Trump White House Counsel Subpoenaed by J6 Committee

In what could become a major escalation over privilege, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot has issued a subpoena to former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.  Much of Cipollone’s positions and statements have already been made part of the record through documents and witnesses. However, the J6 Committee wants to force him to testify directly. That could trigger a major court right if Cipolone continues to resist testifying.

Continue reading “Former Trump White House Counsel Subpoenaed by J6 Committee” →

Bizarre, Congress

Key Witnesses Challenge Bombshell Allegations of Key Witness Before the 1/6 Committee

There is an old expression in the media that some facts are just too good to check. It is a recognition that journalists can sometimes be reluctant to endanger a good story by confirming an essential fact. The Select Committee on the Jan. 6th riot is facing a similar accusation this week after critical witnesses not contradicted some of the most explosive assertions of last week’s witness, Cassidy Hutchinson. Specifically, critical witnesses said that no one on the Committee reached out to confirm her account of former President Donald Trump lunging for the wheel in “the Beast” in a physical altercation with his security team on that day.  The controversy highlights the failure of the Committee to offer a balanced investigation.

Continue reading “Key Witnesses Challenge Bombshell Allegations of Key Witness Before the 1/6 Committee” →

Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Politics

“Star Chamber Comeback”: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Loses Flint Water Cases in Spectacular Fashion

Attorney General Dana Nessel has lost the Flint case in spectacular fashion this week. Over six years ago, I wrote earlier about misgivings over the prosecutions but Nessel’s office created new challenges for the prosecution. In an unanimous 6-0 ruling, the Michigan Supreme Court held that her office committed a fatal and inexplicable error in prosecuting nine officials for the Flint water crisis, including former Gov. Rick Snyder. The court ruled that prosecutors doomed the case when they decided to bypass the conventional grand jury system in favor of a single judge to indict the officials. Now the cases have been tossed out. Continue reading ““Star Chamber Comeback”: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Loses Flint Water Cases in Spectacular Fashion” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics, Supreme Court

Crisis of Faith: Politicians and the Press Escalate Attacks on the Legitimacy of the Supreme Court

Below is my column on the growing attacks on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court after the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. As the Court ends its term, Democratic leaders are calling for removing justices, packing the Court, and other extreme reactions to the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “Crisis of Faith: Politicians and the Press Escalate Attacks on the Legitimacy of the Supreme Court” →

Criminal law, Media, Politics

‘I Think You’re Clear”: New Audiotape is the Latest Contradiction of President Biden’s Denials of Knowledge of Hunter’s Foreign Dealings

We have previously discussed the growing evidence that President Joe Biden has repeatedly lied about his knowledge of his son Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings. Now an audiotape of the President highlights those contradictions. In the call from late 2018, Joe Biden calls to discuss a New York Times article detailing Hunter’s dealings with a Chinese oil tycoon accused of economic crimes — telling him, “I think you’re clear.” Once again, the refusal of Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel in this matter is itself becoming a scandal in the face of these contradictions. Continue reading “‘I Think You’re Clear”: New Audiotape is the Latest Contradiction of President Biden’s Denials of Knowledge of Hunter’s Foreign Dealings” →

Academia, Bizarre

“Anybody Here, Seen my Old Friend Abraham?”: Cornell Silent on Disappearance of Lincoln Bust and Gettysburg Address

Cornell University has been silent after Cornell University biology Professor Randy Wayne raised the sudden disappearance of a bust of President Abraham Lincoln in front of a bronzed Gettysburg Address plaque in a library display. Wayne told The College Fix that he had heard that the display was removed after a complaint, but there is no confirmation of the reason since the university has not responded to him or media inquiries. Wayne is left asking the same question as Dick Holler in his 1968 song “Abraham, Martin and John“:

“Anybody here, seen my old friend Abraham?

Can you tell me where he’s gone?

He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good, they die young

You know I just looked around and he’s gone

Professor Wayne simply heard “Someone complained, and it was gone.” Continue reading ““Anybody Here, Seen my Old Friend Abraham?”: Cornell Silent on Disappearance of Lincoln Bust and Gettysburg Address” →

Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Politics

“The First Thing We Do”: Liberals Push Two Leading Lawyers Out of Major Firm After Winning Second Amendment Case

As previously discussed, there has been a campaign from the left to pressure firms to force out Republican lawyers or to drop conservative clients (with the support of lawyers and legal commentators). Now, after former Solicitor General Paul Clement and his colleague Erin Murphy won one of the most significant constitutional victories in history, Kirkland & Ellis has yielded to the mob and forced them out of the firm. It seems that, if you want to take a Second Amendment case, you should have the decency of losing. In a column in the Wall Street Journal, the lawyers recount how they were shown the door after objections from lawyers in the firm and clients. The left appears to be channeling the views of Dick the Butcher in Shakespeare’s Henry VI that “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Continue reading ““The First Thing We Do”: Liberals Push Two Leading Lawyers Out of Major Firm After Winning Second Amendment Case” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

What to Expect in a Post-Roe World

Below is my Hill column on what to expect in a post-Roe world. That world is already taking shape with states crafting their laws reflecting the values of their citizens from Colorado passing a law protecting the right to abortion up to the moment of birth to Louisiana banning all abortions except in limited circumstances. The fact is that most Americans are in the middle in this debate with more nuanced views than many political leaders. In the months to come, we will see if that view will prevail in the majority of states.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “What to Expect in a Post-Roe World” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Politics, Supreme Court

Hastings Chancellor and Dean Questions the Legitimacy of the Supreme Court After Dobbs

We have been discussing political figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. questioning the need for a Supreme Court or media figures calling for the Supreme Court to be abolished because it is not ruling the way that they demand. Such extremist views have always found a place in public discourse, but what is alarming is the degree to which legal academics have joined in this reckless rhetoric. Law professors like Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinksy have called the justices “partisan hacks” while others have supported targeting the individual justices at their home. Georgetown Law Professor Josh Chafetz declared that “when the mob is right, some (but not all!) more aggressive tactics are justified.” Now the dean and chancellor of University of California Hastings College of the Law David Faigman is questioning the legitimacy of the Court after the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.   Continue reading “Hastings Chancellor and Dean Questions the Legitimacy of the Supreme Court After Dobbs” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

The Dobbs Decision and the Resumption of the State-By-State Abortion Debate

Below is my column in USA Today on the reversal of Roe v. Wade. When Dobbs was accepts, I wrote that for thirty years as a television and print legal analyst I have annually downplayed claims of commentators that a given case before the Court was a true threat to Roe. However, with Dobbs, I saw a true existential threat to the decision for the first time. It has now played out as expected with a historic 6-3 ruling to overturn the case.

Yet, some coverage has clearly misrepresented the opinion and falsely claimed that it makes abortion illegal in the United States. Others falsely claim that the justices wrote an opinion opposing abortion. The decision focuses on who must decide this question, not what should be decided. The issue of abortion will now return to the states where abortion is expected to remain legal for most women in the country. Roughly 13 states, however, are moving to end abortion and the decision obviously represents a major change in the rejection of a federal constitutional right to abortion services.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “The Dobbs Decision and the Resumption of the State-By-State Abortion Debate” →

Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Supreme Court

The Dobbs Decision Unleashes Rage and Revisionism

In the aftermath of the historic ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, politicians and pundits have denounced the Supreme Court justices and the Court itself for holding opposing views on the interpretation of the Court. Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the justices “right-wing politicians” and many journalists called the Court “activists.” Most concerning were legal analysts who fueled misleading accounts of the opinion or the record of this Court. Notably, it is precisely what the Court anticipated in condemning those who would make arguments “designed to stoke unfounded fear.” Continue reading “The Dobbs Decision Unleashes Rage and Revisionism” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics

“Just Do It”: Democrats Continue to Struggle to Find a Crime to fit the Offense

Below is my column in The Hill on claims of Democratic members that they have established the case for a criminal conspiracy by former President Donald Trump. The search of the home of former justice official Jeffrey Clark shows a serious escalation of the investigation by the Justice Department. Probable cause of a federal crime had to be alleged as part of the Clark warrant. Yesterday’s hearing exposed Clark’s efforts to challenge the election, including a letter that was wildly inappropriate that he drafted for the top Justice officials to sign. His effort was very disturbing and was rightfully rejected by these officials. However, the claims of an established crime by Trump remain rather fluid and undefined. Making such a case is far more challenging than making the claim on national television. While castigating Trump counsel John Eastman for telling legislators to “just do it,” the same message seems to be coming from members and legal experts on some cable programs.

Here is the column:

Continue reading ““Just Do It”: Democrats Continue to Struggle to Find a Crime to fit the Offense” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics

Fast and Curious: Kinzinger Holds Up Eric Holder As Paragon of Integrity and Independence in an Attorney General

The hearings on January 6th have had many riveting moments where former Trump officials detailed their efforts to convince former president Donald Trump that legal and factual claims of a stolen election were unfounded and unsupportable. From Vice President Michael Pence to Attorney General Bill Barr to an array of Justice and White House lawyers, there were many profiles of courage that emerged from the testimony. There have also been glaring disconnects like Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) chastising those who refused to accept the results of the 2020 elections and sought to challenge the certification in Congress. Thompson challenged the election of George W. Bush. (His fellow Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sought to challenge Trump’s certification in 2016),  However, one of the most glaring disconnects came yesterday when Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) cited former Attorney General Eric Holder as an example of the ideal of an apolitical and independent Attorney General. Holder was one of the most political attorneys general in history and Kinzinger previously denounced him for his abuse of office as a partisan. He was held in contempt over his obstruction of the Fast and Furious investigation.

Continue reading “Fast and Curious: Kinzinger Holds Up Eric Holder As Paragon of Integrity and Independence in an Attorney General” →

Constitutional Law, Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Hands Down Major Gun Rights Victory

As predicted, the Supreme Court handed down a momentous opinion in favor of Second Amendment rights today in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. In what will likely prove one of the most important decisions in his illustrious career as a conservative jurist, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a 6-3 majority opinion that brought greater clarity to this and future challenges under the Second Amendment. Continue reading “The Supreme Court Hands Down Major Gun Rights Victory” →

Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks