Category: Media

Columns, Media, Politics, Society

The Rush Of Judgment: How Recent Stories On Barr Left The Relevant Facts And Law Behind

440px-William_BarrBelow is my column in The Hill newspaper that looks at three different stories attacking Attorney General Bill Barr as acting unethically and corruptly from the Flynn case to the Berman decision to the Cohen case.  I have not hesitated to criticize Barr on his policies or actions. However, these are based on long-standing differences over constitutional and legal issues.  It is the character attacks that I found notable in last week’s stories particularly in the absence of supporting evidence.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “The Rush Of Judgment: How Recent Stories On Barr Left The Relevant Facts And Law Behind” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics

“Irreparable Harm”: How The Flynn Case Became A Dangerous Game Of Legal Improvisation

440px-Michael_T_FlynnBelow is my column in USA Today on the D.C. Circuit ordering Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.  After this column ran, new evidence emerged that further undermined the FBI and the targeting of Flynn, as discussed in another recent column.  Notes from fired FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok show that former FBI Director James Comey told President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden that Flynn’s call to the Russian diplomat “appear legit.”  Nevertheless, Biden (who denied having anything to do with the case) is noted as raising the idea of a charge under the facially unconstitutional Logan Act, a law that has never been used successfully to charge a single person since the beginning of this Republic.  Comey of course was the one who later bragged that he “probably wouldn’t have … gotten away with it” in other administrations, but he sent “a couple guys over” to question Flynn, who was settling into his new office as national security adviser. We now know that, when Comey broke protocols and sent the agents, he thought the calls were legitimate and that agents wanted to dismiss the investigation in December for lack of evidence. They were prevented from doing so as Strzok, Biden, and others discussed other crimes, any crime, to nail Flynn just before the start of the Trump Administration.

If all of that seems “illegitimate” and “irregular,” it pales in comparison to how two judges on the D.C. panel viewed the handling of the Flynn case by Judge Emmet Sullivan.  It seems that everyone from the President to the Vice President to the FBI Director to ultimately the federal judge have engaged in a dangerous form of improvisational law when it came to Michael Flynn.  That will now hopefully end though many questions still remain.

It is possible for Judge Sullivan to appeal, though the upcoming hearing on Flynn has been removed from the docket.

Here is the column: Continue reading ““Irreparable Harm”: How The Flynn Case Became A Dangerous Game Of Legal Improvisation” →

Columns, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

History Shows Free Speech Is The Loser In Mob Action

Below is my column in The Hill on the ongoing destruction of memorials and statues. After this column ran, I learned that one of the iconic busts of George Washington University had been toppled on my own campus. I did not learn that from our university, which was conspicuously silent about this destructive act at the very center of our campus.  There is something eerily familiar in the scenes of bonfires with police watching passively as public art is destroyed.  Such acts are akin to book burning as mobs unilaterally destroyed images that they do not want others to see.  There are valid issues to address on the removal of some public art but there is no room or time for debate in the midst of this spreading destruction.  Even when there is merit to objections to literally or artistic or historical works, mob action threatens more than the individual work destroyed by such action. The media has largely downplayed this violence, including little comparative coverage of an attack on the Democratic state senator who simply tried to videotape the destruction of a statue to a man who actually gave his life fighting against slavery in the Civil War.  As discussed earlier, history has shown that yielding to such mob rule will do little to satiate the demand for unilateral and at times violent action. People of good faith must step forward to demand a return to the rule of law and civility in our ongoing discourse over racism and reform.

Here is the column:

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Bizarre, Lawyering, Media

Lisa Bloom Accused Of Preventing Special Needs Students From Receiving Settlement Funds

1368px-Belisaire_demandant_l'aumone_Jacques-Louis_DavidLisa Bloom has struggled for the last few years with what was a carefully maintained media image. There was the dust up with her former client Kathy Griffin. She then broke from her client Harvey Weinstein in a public reversal. Then there was her public statement that she believed that Joe Biden was a rapist who continues to lie about his crime but that she would still support him. Now she is in the middle of litigation where she is accused of preventing families of four special needs children from getting settlement funds because she wanted a cut. They insist that she abandoned them and never had a fee agreement.

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Free Speech, International, Media, Politics

Biden Pushes Facebook and Twitter To Remove Trump Criticisms of Mail-In Voting

220px-Biden_2013We have been discussing the erosion of free speech on social media and the Internet. This includes calls from leading Democratic leaders for years to implement private censorship of political speech, a view supported by academics who have declared that “China was right” about censorship.  The latest attack on free speech comes from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign which has asked Facebook and Twitter to remove posts by Republican President Donald Trump aimed at discrediting mail-in voting. While Trump’s statements have been widely criticized as without foundation, they constitute political speech.  Biden however wants these companies to help censor such statements from his opponent and many are supporting the effort. Continue reading “Biden Pushes Facebook and Twitter To Remove Trump Criticisms of Mail-In Voting” →

Free Speech, Media, Politics

New York Times Reporter Who Denounced Paper For Cotton Editorial Under Fire For Advancing Absurd Conspiracy Theory

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YouTube Screenshot

New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones was one of the journalists who denounced the New York Times for publishing the views of a conservative U.S. Senator on the use of troops to quell rioting in U.S. cities.  Hannah-Jones applauded the disgraceful decision of the Times to apologize for publishing such an opposing viewpoint and denounced those who engage in what she called “even-handedness, both sideism” journalism.  Now Hannah-Jones has deleted a tweet advancing an anti-police conspiracy theory.  When Hannah-Jones and others objected to the publishing of the views of Cotton, opinion editor James Bennet reportedly made an apology to the staff. That however was not enough. He was later compelled to resign for publishing a column that advocates an option used previously in history with rioting. Unlike the editor of the Times, however, such theories are not viewed as cause for resignation or “both sideism.”  The concern for many of us is that the media is not just losing its touchstone of neutrality but continues to apply  vastly different standards for journalists and editors, even at the same newspaper.

Continue reading “New York Times Reporter Who Denounced Paper For Cotton Editorial Under Fire For Advancing Absurd Conspiracy Theory” →

Criminal law, Justice, Media, Politics

Prosecutors Allege Political Influence At the Justice Department In Stone Case and Other Matters

US-DeptOfJustice-Seal_svgHouseofRepSealThe House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing today on the allegations of political interference with the handling of Justice Department cases, including the controversy over the sentencing recommendations in the prosecution of Roger Stone, a longtime friend and confidant to President Donald Trump.  As I said on NPR this morning, I think such hearings are important and legitimate efforts to answer such widespread concerns.  (The hearing is stacked with only one witness allowed in defense of the Administration but that is unfortunately a long-standing problem in Congress).  Even though I support the congressional inquiry, I continue to believe that the sentencing recommendation in Stone was excessive and unwarranted.  I admittedly have a bias as a long-standing criminal defense attorney but I criticized the original sentencing memorandum before any action was taken by Main Justice.  I have always maintained however that Stone was corrected convicted on some of these counts and warrants some jail time for his criminal conduct, including opposition to any presidential pardon.

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Criminal law, Media, Torts

NPR Retracts Report That Labelled Louisville Woman As “Right-Wing” Extremist In Fleeing Armed Protester

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Louisville Metro Police Department

NPR is being hammered this week for its reporting on right-wing extremists attacking peaceful protesters.  The news organization previously showed images of a female motorist who struck a protester on Wednesday as an example of “Right-wing extremists are turning cars into weapons.”  Despite the video released quickly by the police (and the fact that police found she was fleeing a protester with a gun and did not charge her),  the woman was described as part of a pattern of protesters being innocently mowed down.  These cases often raise difficult legal questions in torts on issues of defamation and false light (combining two of the favorite subjects of this blog: media and torts).

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Academia, Criminal law, Media, Politics

George Washington Toppled At George Washington University

300px-George_Washington_University_seal.svgWe have been discussing the destruction of statues and public art in the recent protests, including a new column this morning. I have been highly critical of the defacing of our monuments and destruction of public art.  Now the destruction has reached my own campus.  The Hatchet reports that one of our iconic busts of George Washington was torn from its foundation on campus. It has not however been discussed by the University or attributed to protesters.

Continue reading “George Washington Toppled At George Washington University” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

CNN Analyst Calls For Barr’s Impeachment

This-is-cnn-CNN’s legal analyst Asha Rangappa is calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Bill Barr.  Rangappa claims that Barr “tried to bamboozle the country” in the recent controversy over the replacement of Geoffrey Berman, who until Saturday had been the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. She further states that there is no ability for the Inspector General to investigate any improper conduct despite evidence that “Barr was attempting to obstruct justice by removing [Berman].  There is no such evidence and the call for impeachment shows a continuing misconstruction of the history and standard for impeachment.

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

Bolton’s Win Could Cost Him More Than Just Profits

John_R._BoltonOn Saturday, federal district court judge Royce Lamberth denied a motion to enjoin the release of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s tell-all book in a 10-page order.  The book, titled “The Room Where it Happened,” is already in circulation with reporters literally standing outside of the courthouse reading from it.  As argued in the column before the decision, Lamberth rejected the injunction.  However, he lambasted Bolton for his failure to complete the classification review that he agreed to as part of his taking the position with President Donald Trump.  There are already possibly classified subjects being teased out of the book by the media.  Lamberth decried the fact that Bolton has “gambled with national security” and said that his actions “raise grave national security concerns” but “the damage is done.” Perhaps it is done for the release but the damage to Bolton may only be beginning. As Lamberth noted, he now faces civil and criminal liability, which are discussed in the column. 

Here is the column: Continue reading “Bolton’s Win Could Cost Him More Than Just Profits” →

Academia, Free Speech, Media, Politics

Syracuse Student Newspaper Sacks Columnist After Questioning “Institutional Racism”

downloadWe recently discussed the apology of the New York Times for publishing a column from a leading United States Senator on the possible use of troops to quell rioting after the death of George Floyd.  That decision, and the sacking of the opinion page editor, represented one of the lowest moments in American journalism.  It made echo journalism the official policy of one of the oldest news organizations in the United States.  The lesson was not, it appears, lost on young college journalists at Syracuse University who sacked a columnist because she questioned claims of “institutional racism.” Adrianna San Marco notably did not write her opinion in The Daily Orange but she was canned for challenging this widely held view.  My greatest concern is the lack of specificity from the editors on the objections to her column beyond “reinforcing stereotypes.”  Such actions demand a clarity in the standard being applied to writers.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Democrats Hit Bolton After He Accuses The House Of “Impeachment Malpractice”

John_R._Bolton440px-Adam_Schiff_115th_official_photoLast year, in columns and testimony, I chastised the Democrats for the shortest investigation on the narrowest grounds with the thinnest record of any presidential impeachment in history.  The insistence of impeaching by Christmas doomed any chances of a compelling impeachment case.  It appears now that one person agrees with that assessment: former National Security Adviser John Bolton.  I referenced Bolton and his upcoming book as one of the reason why a little more time could vastly improve and expand the House case.  Bolton said that he simply wanted a court to refer the privilege claim, which could have been accomplished easily in the time wasted by the House (including the long delay in sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate).  In response, the Democratic leadership is lashing out at Bolton for refusing to come forward despite his offer to do so after a federal judge heard the privilege claim.

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Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Google Targets Conservative Sites In Latest Crackdown

250px-googleGoogle has moved against another set of conservative sites. While many have celebrated the action against ZeroHedge and The Federalist, I remain deeply concerned over the free speech implications of such actions. I have written for years about public and private censorship, including recent actions to regulate and control speech on the Internet. Democratic leaders have been calling for censorship on the Internet and in social media for years, a move that will destroy the greatest forum for free speech in the history of the world.  Writers have joined in this movement and two such academics recently declared “China was right” all along about censorship.

As will come as no surprise to many on this blog, I view this latest action as another form of private censorship that targets conservative sites while ignoring similar rhetoric from the left.  I am not very complex when it comes to such conflicts over free speech.  I am not as much concerned with the merits of these fights as the implication of targeting some sites over others.  I know very little about ZeroHedge while I am familiar with some of the writers on The Federalist. Google has said comparatively little about the reason for barring the sites and what NBC originally reported has been contradicted by the company. However, it is the explanation given for the action taken against the Federalist that I wanted to address.  It seems to follow the pattern of politically biased, content-based discrimination against conservative sites by companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google.  Despite the clear bias shown in these actions, most academics are either applauding the crackdown or remaining conspicuously silent as companies silence those with opposing or unpopular views.

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Academia, Media, Society, Uncategorized

Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe Under Fire For Referring To The Selection Of African-American Vice President As “Cosmetics”

120406010959-laurence-tribe-headshot-story-bodyHarvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe is under fire this week after referring to the selection of an African American for vice president over Sen. Elizabeth Warren as mere “cosmetics.” The comment set off a firestorm with critics calling the comment racist.  I have strongly disagreed with Tribe’s legal positions and his rhetoric. However, I testified with Tribe during the Clinton impeachment and I have interacted with him for years. He is neither a racist nor dismissive of racial concerns.  Tribe has spent his life fighting for his vision of a more perfect and equal union.  People need to afford others a modicum of decency and consideration in such ill-considered commentary.  Anyone who believes that Laurence Tribe is a racist is discarding decades of public interest work over a wayward comment.

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