Category: Politics

Animals, Environment, Politics, Society

Famed Yellowstone Wolf “Spitfire” Killed By Trophy Hunter Just Outside Of Yellowstone
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A trophy hunter in Montana killed the most famous and beloved wolf in Yellowstone National Park after “Spitfire” wandered slightly outside of the park.  This hunter will now be able to enjoy the thought of killing this beautiful animal that has inspired thousands of visitors.  Spitfire was a seven-year-old wolf from the Lamar Canyon Wolf Pack and dubbed the Queen of the Lamar Valley. It is a tragedy that is all too familiar, including our prior discussion of the shooting of one of the last wolves from the most famous pack in Denali National Park in Alaska under similar circumstances. Continue reading “Famed Yellowstone Wolf “Spitfire” Killed By Trophy Hunter Just Outside Of Yellowstone” →

Lawyering, Media, Politics

Daniels v. Avenatti: The Advance Authorization Defense

The media is replete this week with stories of the “demise” and “fall” of attorney Michael Avenatti, who skyrocketed to fame in his representation of porn star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels. Avenatti’s skill at both litigation and public advocacy led to calls for him to run for president. That was before Avenatti became embroiled in a public rift with his live-in girlfriend, who alleged physical abuse, and then allegations of unethical conduct by Daniels.  It often seems that people enjoy only one thing more than a meteoric rise of a celebrity: the later fall from a great height. In this case, those declaring the ethical case as a threat to Avenatti’s license should look closer at the known record.

Continue reading “Daniels v. Avenatti: The Advance Authorization Defense” →

Columns, Criminal law, Politics

Legal Kremlinology: Mueller’s Break With Manafort Leads To Frenzy Of Speculation Over The Russian Investigation

Below is my column in USA Today on the collapse of the cooperation agreement with Paul Manafort.  As predicted in the column, President Donald Trump picked up on the conflict to allege that Mueller is pressuring people to lie in order to make a case against him.  In the meantime, the White House confirmed that Manafort’s counsel has been conferring with the Trump legal team to tell them what Manafort was supplying and the questions being asked under the cooperation agreement. It is a highly unusual move and prosecutors usually bar such joint defense agreements or meetings from contenting for obvious reasons. It is not clear what Manafort was told but it is hard to believe that Mueller would be moronic enough to fail to make such a clear condition.

 

Here is the column: Continue reading “Legal Kremlinology: Mueller’s Break With Manafort Leads To Frenzy Of Speculation Over The Russian Investigation” →

Lawyering, Media, Politics

Stormy Daniels Accuses Michael Avenatti Of Unethical Conduct

Michael Avenatti, counsel for Stormy Daniels, is having a seriously bad month.  He was earlier accused of domestic battery by a girlfriend, who secured a restraining order last week.  (The police declined to bring a felony charge in the case).  Now, Daniels has gone public with accusations that Avenatti solicited donations without her approval and did not reveal where the money has gone.  In perhaps the most serious allegation, she alleges that Avenatti sued Donald Trump for defamation in her name but without securing her approval.  (For full disclosure, Avenatti is my former student and I have previously praised his impressive success as a lawyer.

Continue reading “Stormy Daniels Accuses Michael Avenatti Of Unethical Conduct” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Trump Tweets Image Accusing His Own Deputy Attorney General and Others Of Treason

In a highly disturbing and inappropriate tweet, President Donald Trump retweeted an image that accused his own deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, of treason as well as special counsel Robert Mueller, former FBI Director James Comey, former national intelligence director James Clapper, Bill and Hillary Clinton and others. The image is accompanied with the question “Now that Russia collusion is a proven lie, when do the trials for treason begin?”  Such an image and question, even made in jest, would be deeply insulting and below the office of the presidency.  The President has previously called the media “the enemy of the people” and used equally intolerant language toward judges.  Regardless of how one feels about the Special Counsel investigation or the role of some of these people, people of good faith must speak out against such attacks on the character of these individuals.  I have been a critic of some actions in this investigation and specifically Rosenstein’s conflict of interest, but I would never question their loyalty to this nation. Continue reading “Trump Tweets Image Accusing His Own Deputy Attorney General and Others Of Treason” →

Columns, International, Politics

Lewinsky Implicates Bill Clinton In Federal Crimes As The Clintons Embark On 13-City Speaking Tour

225px-Bill_ClintonBelow is my column in The Hill newspaper on the underreported disclosures made by Monica Lewinsky in her recent interviews with A&E.  Even with the Clintons starting a popular 13 city speaking tour, there has been little coverage of the fact that Lewinsky implicated Bill Clinton in a myriad of possible federal crimes. Indeed, the interview by Frank McKenna, the former Canadian Ambassador to the United States, conspicuously avoided any questions about Clinton’s alleged sexual assaults or the new disclosures by Lewinsky about his alleged encouragement for her to lie to federal investigators.  The disconnect is mystifying.  Democrats continue to line up to hear Bill Clinton who was accused of multiple women of sexual assault and only last week was implicated in crimes by Lewinsky.  That disconnect could come back to haunt Democrats if they seek to hold Trump accountable for conduct that they have dismissed by Clinton.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Lewinsky Implicates Bill Clinton In Federal Crimes As The Clintons Embark On 13-City Speaking Tour” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, International, Media, Politics, Torts

Will Manafort Sue The Guardian? Former Trump Campaign Chair Declares Assange Story “Totally False and Deliberately Libelous”

UnknownIn my column yesterday, I discussed the major news story out of the Guardian that former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort repeatedly met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The Guardian reported that  Manafort visited Assange in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016. That last visit allegedly occurred around the same time as Manafort’s selection as Trump campaign chair. Ecuador’s Senain intelligence agency reportedly said that the logs include “Paul Manaford [sic]” and mentioned “Russians.”  Now however Manafort and Wikileaks have completely denied the story and Manafort charged that the story is “totally false and deliberately libelous.”  If so, that could lead to an interesting defamation lawsuit that should be relatively easy to prove either way. Continue reading “Will Manafort Sue The Guardian? Former Trump Campaign Chair Declares Assange Story “Totally False and Deliberately Libelous”” →

Media, Politics

Gallup: 60 Percent Of Americans Disapprove Of Trump Performance

donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedThere is another poll out to today showing growing dissatisfaction among voters over President Donald Trump’s performance in office. According to Gallup, sixty percent Americans disapprove of President Trump’s job performance.  What is interesting is that Trump still maintains his core of 38 percent of supporters.  That still makes him more popular than figures like French President Emmanuel Macron with only 26 percent of voters with a favorable view of his tenure in office.  However, it is hard to see how Trump can prevail in 2020 with such an increasingly alienated and hostile majority.

 

Continue reading “Gallup: 60 Percent Of Americans Disapprove Of Trump Performance” →

Columns, Courts, Politics, Supreme Court

Roberts’ Rebuke of Trump Rings Hollow, Given Justices’ Conduct

Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the recent public statement issued by Chief Justice John Roberts.  While I am entirely sympathetic with the statement (which is also true) about the unfairness in referring to “Obama judges” ruling against the Trump Administration, the public rebuke only highlighted the glaring disconnect in Roberts’ defense of apolitical courts and his deafening silence over the conduct on his own Court.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Roberts’ Rebuke of Trump Rings Hollow, Given Justices’ Conduct” →

Politics

Trump: “Thank You President T”

President Donald Trump often seems to double down after criticism and this morning may be such an example.  Trump has been widely excoriated for his response to what he was thankful for on Thanksgiving.  Trump was thankful for his own leadership and success.  Now Trump has tweeted “Thank You President T” after noting falling gas prices. Continue reading “Trump: “Thank You President T”” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Politics

Federal Judge Strikes Down Law Criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation

There is an important federalism ruling out of Michigan that will likely rekindle the debate over the continuing inherent powers of the states vis-a-vis the federal government.  Despite the massive expansion of the federal criminal code, most crimes were viewed as state not federal matters in the early days of the Republic.  Now, a federal judge in Michigan has ruled that Congress went beyond its constitutional domain in 1996 in criminalizing female genital mutilation.  The issue is not whether FGM should be criminalized but whether this is a state or a federal matter under the Constitution.  Over half of states (27) have criminalized FGM.  Senior United States District Judge Bernard A. Friedman threw out six of the federal charges against Jumana Nagarwala, who was accused of performing FGM on girls around the age of seven.   Continue reading “Federal Judge Strikes Down Law Criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics

The Khashoggi Murder: Trump Suggests “The Vicious World” May Be More To Blame Than The Saudi Crown Prince

donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedPresident Donald Trump continues to refuse to accept the findings of his own Administration and overwhelming evidence of the guilt of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the savage murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  Trump’s refusal has continued despite the report of a tape of a  “smoking gun phone call” of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with an alleged instruction to “silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible.” In a new interview, Trump has suggested that perhaps we should all just agree on blaming a “vicious world.”  Continue reading “The Khashoggi Murder: Trump Suggests “The Vicious World” May Be More To Blame Than The Saudi Crown Prince” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Rutgers Reverses Ruling Against Professor Who Wrote About Hating All White People
downloadWe have been discussing the often inconsistent approach taken to controversial statements or postings of students and faculty at our universities and colleges.  The latest such case involves Rutgers University history professor James Livingston, who stated in a post that he hated all white people and wanted them out of his neighborhood.  The school has now cleared him of all wrongdoing and that is a victory for free speech. However, it is not clear if the same result would have occurred if the content of the hateful message were directed at blacks or minorities.  The concern is the inconsistency of a content-based approach to such sanctions.

Continue reading “Rutgers Reverses Ruling Against Professor Who Wrote About Hating All White People” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

UCLA Refuses To Cancel Pro-Palestinian Conference Despite Pressure From Politicians and Activists

4929447497826304UCLA has departed from a disturbing trend toward speech censorship on campuses and refused to yield to demands to shutdown a pro-Palestinian conference, including demands from Congressman Brad Sherman and the Los Angeles City Council. In demanding the action, both Sherman and the city council have shown again a rising anti-free speech trend coming from the left — similar to the devastating rollback in Europe. Continue reading “UCLA Refuses To Cancel Pro-Palestinian Conference Despite Pressure From Politicians and Activists” →