Category: Congress

Congress, Criminal law, Media, Military, Society

Report: Clinton Emails Contained “Operational” Information and Put Lives At Risk

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziWe have been closely following the Clinton email scandal and this morning additional information was leaked on the 22 “top secret” emails withheld by the States Department An official is quoted as saying that some of those emails contained “operational intelligence” and jeopardized “sources, methods and lives.” While I agree with the Clinton campaign that these leaks are themselves problematic (both in terms of their timing and their disclosures from an ongoing investigation), I have long maintained that this was a serious scandal and that Clinton’s evolving defense does not track with national security rules or procedures. I consider the decision to use exclusively an unsecure server for “convenience” to be a breathtakingly reckless act for one of the top officials in our government. I am also deeply concerned about the level of “spin” coming from the campaign that is misrepresenting the governing standards and practices in the field. Much of what has been said in defense of Clinton’s use of the email system is knowingly misleading in my view.

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Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

State Department: 22 Emails Will Not Be Released As “Top Secret”

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziThe email scandal has deepened for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today with the announcement that the State Department will not release 22 emails because they contain “top secret” information, the highest level of government classification. The latest batch of emails contains seven email chain with top secret information.  While Clinton once insisted that she never sent or received classified information, it is now official that many of the emails did indeed contain classified information. Clinton later argued that she did not send or receive information “marked” as classified. While many of us in the field noted that such markings are not the only issue for those who handle classified information, the classification level given so many emails will likely increase the criticism of Clinton’s decision to use exclusively her own, unsecure email system over the protected system in place at State. She has insisted that this was done for “convenience” and recently rejected the suggestion that the use of the system showed “an error in judgment.” In the very least, the decision to use a private email system was a horrendously bad decision for a Secretary of State when a secure system was available. It is hardly a compelling argument to advance that you took this reckless step for “convenience.”

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Bizarre, Congress, Lawyering, Media, Politics

“Think Hard and Fast About Your Priorities”: Federal Judge Chastises Rep. Chaka Fattah For Not Paying His Criminal Defense Lawyers

Chaka_Fattah_official_headshotPennsylvania Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah faced a rare tongue lashing from U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III over the failure to pay his defense counsel in his corruption and racketeering trial. Judge Bartle snapped at Rep. Fattah to get “your priorities” straight.

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Congress, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Inspector General: Clinton Emails Contain Special Access Material Above The Top Secret Level

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziFox News and NBC are reporting that Congress has been informed that Hillary Clinton’s unsecure home server contained information classified at levels higher than previously known, including classified Top Secret/Special Access. That would represent some of the most sensitive information to U.S. intelligence. I have held a TSSCI clearance since the Reagan Administration and I am again astonished by the remarkably bad judgment in the use of this server.   In dealing with this type of information, it is generally restricted to SCIF and other highly restrictive access rules.  Indeed, the limitations impose restrictions that have many of us grumbling constantly about the time and travel needed to deal with such documents in a safe and secure manner.  CNN is reporting that “several dozen” new emails have been identified at the high classification level.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society

Federal Court Rules Against Obama Administration’s Withholding Documents From “Fast and Furious” Investigation

ajacksonUS-DeptOfJustice-Seal_svgIn a major victory for Congress, U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson Berman rejected the executive privilege claims of the Obama Administration in withholding documents from a House Committee looking into the Fast and Furious “gun-walking” scandal. I have long maintained that the refusal of the Administration to turn over material to this and other committees is denial of congressional authority protected under Article I. The case is Comm. on Oversight & Gov’t Reform v. Lynch, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5713.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts

House of Representatives Files Opposition To Summary Judgment Motion In ACA Challenge

800px-Capitol_Building_Full_ViewOn December 2, 2015, the United States House of Representatives filed its motion for summary judgment in its challenge to the Administration’s unilateral actions taken under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). At the time, the Administration filed its own summary judgment motion. This evening, the House filed its opposition to the Administration’s motion.

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Congress, Media, Politics, Society

Gallup Poll: Only Two Percent Of Americans Rank Gun Control As Major Concern

President_Barack_Obama150px-shotgunactionPresident Barack Obama has made gun control a priority in 2016 and the latest area of confrontation with Congress. There is clearly a calculation that the public will support another area of conflict between the branches and the assertion of unilateral executive power. That is what makes a recent poll so interesting. Gallup found that “gun/gun control” ranked near the bottom of concerns for most Americans. How low? Try only two percent of those polled.

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Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Media, Politics, Society

WHAT OBAMA TAUGHT TRUMP

495px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_SkidmoreBelow is my Sunday column in the Washington Post on Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entry into the United States. Trump’s rhetoric has shocked many in his promises to unilaterally force sweeping changes regardless of Congress. Yet, Trump’s criticism of Congress and pledge to go it alone should be vaguely familiar for many. Both Obama and Trump advocate to use unilateral powers to change the immigration laws as a rejection of a “do nothing” Congress. Faced with opposition in Congress, President Obama insisted that he would order many of the very changes rejected by the legislative branch. Despite my agreement with President Obama on many of his policies, it is a dangerous and destabilizing legacy or a system based on the separation of powers. While these men may differ on their policy choices, the powers are the same. President Obama has been asserting many the powers referenced by Trump despite constitutional objections and losses in court like the Canning decision. For this reason, the objections from Obama supporters may ring a bit hollow for Trump supporters. While Trump may have coined “You’re fired” as an entertainment tag line, it was President Obama who fashioned it into a political doctrine in his rejection of Congress. This has been a role that Trump has spent years cultivating on reality shows. It is reality TV meets realpolitick. Below is the column.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Politics, Society

President Obama Reportedly Preparing Unilateral Gun Control Regulation As Response To Recent Shootings

SseudqLThe New York Daily News has a controversial front page this morning blasting politicians and others who are offering prayers while opposing to take steps to curtail gun access in this country in the wake of the latest massacre in California. It is the same message sent by President Barack Obama who appears ready to use executive authority to restrict gun sales at gun shows. The problem with calls for such action is that Congress has declined to order such changes — raising yet another potential conflict over executive overreach in our system. Moreover, the right to own firearms is now recognized as an individual right under the Second Amendment, limiting the extent to which gun ownership can be meaningfully curtailed. Absent a constitutional amendment, many of the calls for banning gun ownership would fail as unconstitutional.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics, Society

The House Of Representatives Files Motion For Summary Judgment In ACA Challenge

800px-Capitol_Building_Full_ViewThis evening, the United States House of Representatives filed its motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against the unilateral actions taken by the Administration under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Three months ago, Judge Rosemary Collyer rejected a motion to dismiss the case by the Administration. The motion below seeks a final ruling on the merits of the lawsuit.

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Bizarre, Congress, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Society, Uncategorized

Beauty Remains In The Eye Of The Beholder As China Prevents Canada’s Miss World From Traveling To Finals

Anastasia_LinThis week, China has once again shown the world that there is nothing quite so ugly as its ongoing struggle to bar basic rights and freedoms to its people.  The authoritarian government’s effort took a particularly bizarre turn when it reportedly stopped Canada’s China-born Miss World, Anastasia Lin, 25,  from boarding a flight to the beauty pageant finals in China.  Lin is a member of the repressed Falun Gong movement and just testified in Congress on Chinese repression in July.

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Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law

Turley to Speak Thursday At Federalist Conference In Washington

images-1Today I will have the pleasures of speaking at The Federalist Society’s 2015 National Lawyers Convention being held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. The theme for this year’s convention is: The Role of Congress. I will be on a panel entitled “Administrative Law: Agency Rule: How Congress Can Reclaim its Legislative Authority” starting at 2 pm in the State Room. I will have the honor of speaking with Hon. Tom Coburn, Former United States Senator, Oklahoma; Mr. Christopher C. DeMuth, Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute; and Prof. Michael Uhlmann, Claremont Graduate University. The panel will be moderated by the Hon. A. Raymond Randolph, U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics, Society

FEDERAL COURT DENIES ADMINISTRATION MOTION AND SETS ACA CASE FOR FINAL RULING

800px-Capitol_Building_Full_ViewThis afternoon, Judge Rosemary Collyer issued her ruling on the motion by the Administration to forego a ruling on the merits in the United States House of Representatives v. Burwell, a challenge brought by the House to unilateral action taken by the Administration under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). After losing its motion to dismiss the case on standing grounds, the Administration sought (over the objections of the House) to remove the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia without ruling on the merits of the case. Judge Collyer denied the motion and set the case for final briefing and ultimately a final ruling.

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Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Clinton Reportedly To Turn Over Server To the Justice Department After Months of Demands From Congress

170px-Msc2011_dett-clinton_0298After months of refusing demands to turn over her personal email server, Hillary Clinton has agreed to do so. The server will be turned over to the Justice Department as part of the investigation into her use of a private email account as Secretary of State. It was also disclosed that at least two emails on the unsecured server were classified “Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information” — one of the government’s highest classifications. Some of the information is reportedly linked to NSA/satellite intelligence and the Inspector General says that there was material that was classified at the time it was sent over the unsecured server.

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