Below is my column in USA Today on the recent ruling against President Donald Trump in a civil lawsuit where his counsel sought dismissal on constitutional grounds. It was a weak argument that made bad precedent for the Office of the President. With yet another change in his legal team, Trump needs to focus on continuity among his legal team. More lawyers does not necessarily translate to a stronger case. Indeed, it can undermine a case when lawyers are advancing conflicting or reckless arguments.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Bad Cases (and Bad Lawyers) Can Make For Bad Law”
While various networks have advanced narratives of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe being fired as part of a Trump bloodlust, FBI Director Christopher Wray weighed in this week to say that 
President Donald Trump is under intense fire for 
Municipal Judge Wilfredo Benitez is at the center of a controversy after he reportedly 
At the turn of the last century, surrealists had a parlor game in Paris called “The Exquisite Corpse” where writers would create collective stories by writing lines without knowing what preceded them. The lines were often nonsensical like the line that gave the game its name: “Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau. ” (“The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine.”) With minutes of his firing, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe became such an exquisite corpse with various politicians adding lines to his story that seemed entirely disconnected to his story. Former FBI Director James Comey used McCabe to pitch his upcoming book while former Attorney General Eric Holder used him to effectively attack career staff at his former agency. The point of the game in both politics and literature is not to advance a coherent narrative but insert your own lines into a collective story.
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the implications of the termination of Andrew McCabe and his revealing public statement. The statement presents a particularly difficult problem of former FBI Director James Comey.
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the issuance of a subpoena to the Trump organization for records pertinent to Trump business dealings in Russia. President Trump previously responded to a question of whether such inquiries into his business dealings would be a “red line” by saying that it would. Whether it is a red line or a “Rubicon,” Mueller seems to have crossed it. Of course, the Trump Organization has been asked for information previously and it is cooperating. However, this is a direct demand for business records. In the best case scenario, this could be a clean up subpoena to guarantee that all available documents have been reviewed. Then again it might be a new front in the investigation. Notably, this weekend, President Trump and his counsel ramped up their criticism of the investigation — criticism that I continue to view as unwise and inappropriate.
I have previously discussed the blunders of the Trump legal team and how they have undermined their client, including missteps by counsel John Dowd. (
President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen has moved to claim 
We just hit another milestone today with over 34,000,000 views. We are also recently passed 40,000 followers on Twitter. We remain the “little engine that could” among blogs with a growing collection of people who are seeking a place for civil but passionate discourse on legal and policy issues of our time (and perhaps a few wacky stories). We often use these milestones to look at the current profile of the blog and its supporters around the world.
House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) leveled a serious allegation at former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Jordan alleged that Jordan leaked classified information about the Trump-Russia investigation to CNN. Clapper later became a CNN contributor. I 
There is a major controversy unfolding at Penn Law School. Professor Amy Wax has been 
I have previously written how Trump personal counsel Michael Cohen has left himself utterly exposed ethically in his effort to protect the President from the brewing scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels. Cohen has struggled to deny any connection of the payoff to Daniels to the President or Trump organization. It is for that reason that a new document released by Daniels’ counsel (and my former research assistant) Michael Avenatti is so curious. The arbitration documents include the listing of Trump Organization Vice President and lawyer Jill A. Martin. Martin is listed as counsel for Essential Consultants LLC, a shell Delaware company formed by Cohen to help disguise the payment of the $130,000 to Daniels (whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford). The arbitration documents in Orange County, California were signed on February 22 — less than a month ago. It is bizarre that, given the huge effort to insulate Trump and his organization from this payment, Martin would effectively intervene in this way.
Like many people, I was