Much of the negative media directed toward President Donald Trump is clearly self-inflicted. However, as we have previously discussed, there has been a pronounced anti-trump media bias. Indeed, former Jimmy Carter has observed that the media has treated Trump usually harshly. An example of this bias was evident is the odd fish story that was aired this week by CNN and other outlets about Trump overfeeding the famed Koi pond at Alaska Palace in Tokyo
I will be speaking today at a conference at Yale as part of the annual William F. Buckley Jr. Program. The conference is on “The Constitution and the Courts: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of Freedom.” My specific panel addresses “Judicial Confirmations and Interpreting the Constitution: Borking, Activism, and Originalism.”
Speakers at the conference will include former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, Randy Barnett, Carlos Eire, E. Donald Elliott, David French, Mollie Hemingway, Michael McConnell, Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., Nicholas Rosenkranz, Peter Schuck, Ilya Shapiro, Jonathan Turley, Ed Whelan, and Adam White.
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the highly controversial move of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to use Paul Manafort’s own lawyer as a witness against him. What is most striking about this move is that it was entirely unnecessary given the other evidence of alleged violations of federal law governing foreign agents. The case against Manafort is strong but the denial of attorney-client protections in the case should be a matter of great concern for all citizens — regardless of your view of the underlying merits of the Russian investigation.
The DNC and Clinton emails released by Wikileaks ultimately exposed a pattern of false statements by Democratic leaders particularly Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Schultz insisted that they were completely neutral in the primary despite every indication to the contrary. It was later revealed that Donna Brazile, who replaced Schultz, had first leaked questions for the debate with Sanders to Clinton and then lied about the incriminating emails later to the media (she suggested that they were fake). Now Brazile is making a come back and has been put back into a position of power at the DNC and ironically on the Rules Committee. She is also shopping a book. In the book, Brazile confirms that Hillary Clinton essentially bought the DNC by assuming responsibility for its crippling debt in exchange for control over the organization before the primary. In other words, as shown by the earlier emails and now by Brazile’s own account, the primary was indeed rigged against Bernie Sanders and anyone running against Clinton.
It has been something of a nightmarish week for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). First, former DNC head Donna Brazile revealed in her book that Hillary Clinton effectively bought the DNC before the primary by assuming its towering debts in exchange for control over critical parts of the organization. In addition to the emails showing the DNC favoring Clinton, the book seems to confirm that Clinton and her allies took over key financial decisions for the DNC before the primary. The deal would show that a variety of Democratic leaders, including most notably Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, openly misled the public in the primary. The disclosure in the book came right after the DNC moved to push out Sanders supporters and bring back Clinton allies into key positions last month.
While this scandal was brewing this week, an email surfaced showing that a DNC official told staff not to share employment opportunities with straight white men — a clear effort to discriminate in access to job opportunities. I (and many others) tried to get the DNC to confirm the email. The DNC has largely stonewalled all inquiries beyond a belated and ambiguous statement.
Below is my column in USA Today on the Rick Gates indictment and his potential as a witness for the prosecution in the Mueller investigation. The other obvious concern for the defense should be General Michael Flynn. It is curious that there was no indictment of Flynn given his similar alleged violations involving work as a foreign agent. Flynn would also be a natural target for prosecutors in seeking cooperative witnesses. With George Papadopoulos’ plea and cooperation, other witnesses will start to consider whether they will get a chair when the music stops. The President’s attack on Papadopoulos certainly sends a chilling message for those who might follow his lead, but these are heavy potential charges for potential targets.
Here is the column:
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the Manafort indictment. Details continue to unfold in the Mueller investigation, particularly after the plea agreement with George Papadopoulos, 30. While Papadopoulos is clearly cooperating and could spell bad news for the the White House, the Manafort indictment was conspicuously removed from the Trump campaign. Mueller appears to have bagged a former high-ranking Trump campaign official, but the center of gravity of the criminal complaint remains far afield from the White House.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “THE MANAFORT INDICTMENT AND INVESTIGATING WHERE THE LIGHT IS”
An official at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has posted a help wanted ad for its technology department that seeks the best candidates unless they are heterosexual white males. The alleged email from Data Services manager Madeleine Leader was express and open about her prejudice against straight white males but neither the DNC nor Leader felt obligated to respond to the controversy. The story was reported from the Daily Wire.
I have written to the DNC to try to get a comment but have not received a response. I will update with any response from the DNC.
We have previously discussed how President Donald Trump has repeatedly been used by federal courts as the most important witness against his own policies due to his ongoing and ill-advised tweets. Indeed, in all three rounds of the immigration litigation, Trump’s tweets and comments were critically important to courts in ruling against his Administration, including the most recent injunction rulings of the third travel ban order. Now a judge in Washington has relied on Trump’s tweets to rule against him on his ban on transgender military personnel. Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly of the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Jane Doe v. Donald Trump (pdf), found that the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed” on their claims that the ban is discriminatory. The court decision, again, features a Trump tweet.
I have previously written about my concerns in the removal of statues and names from public buildings due to contemporary views of historical figures like George Washington. For that reason, it should come as little surprise how I view the decision of the current congregation of Christ Church in Alexandria to a memorial plaque to George Washington. I once lived near the church and occasionally went to services there. including the funeral of our late Associate Dean Admiral John Jenkins. It is a thrill to sit in a church that once served Washington and others. It is deeply disappointing to see the congregation now reject that long history in the removal of a plaque placed on the church in 1870. The reason offered below by church leaders is that the plaque made people feel unwelcomed or threatened because Washington was a slave owner.
Last night, the media was thrown into a frenzy with news that special counsel Robert Mueller has secured the first charges in his investigation into Russian election interference. Despite the fact that the name or names of those indicted have not been released and the specific charges were not disclosed, the report was heralded as a breakthrough moment in the Russian investigation. CNN contributor David Gergen stated “Well, it certainly looks like the dam is starting to break now.” It could be and then again it might not be. Again, the breathless desire among some commentators is out-stripping the available information. For months, many of us have been saying that it was extremely unlikely that Mueller would assemble this huge prosecutorial team and spend millions without charging someone on something. The core question is whether he is going to move on the two primary allegations in the Russian investigation — collusion and obstruction — that might implicate Trump or his family. In other words, we may have to wait for the arrest or surrender to know if Mueller has unveiled a mountain or a molehill.
Yesterday, we discussed the potentially precarious ethical position of Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer Marc Elias, who allegedly denied media reports that the Clinton campaign had any connection to the controversial Russian Dossier. After the Washington Post ran an extensive story on how the Clinton Campaign and Democratic National Committee hired controversial research firm Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on Donald Trump in Russia in the “Russian Dossier” matter. Reporters at the New York Times have accused Elias of lying in past categorical denials of any connection to Clinton or the DNC. The reports indicate that not only did the Clinton team fund the opposition research but that Elias may have been the person handling much of the arrangements. Now Elias’ position has worsened after a report out of Congress that he was present in an interview when campaign chairman John Podesta denied any campaign role in the funding or acquisition of the dossier.
Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez made a curious point in a Tuesday night speech when he declared “the Electoral College is not a creation of the Constitution.” Given the focus of the DNC chief on elections, the misunderstanding of the origin of the electoral college is a bit like a chief of police not knowing that warrants are required by the Fourth Amendment. To make matters worse, Perez made his statement at the Indiana University Law School. Just for the record, Article II of the Constitution states “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.”
Continue reading “Perez: “The Electoral College Is Not A Creation Of The Constitution””
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the effort to remove President Donald Trump through Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. I ran a column a couple days ago in the Washington Post on the constitutional and procedural issues of a 25th Amendment attempt. This column looks at the medical and historical aspects of the controversy. The effort appears to have picked up steam this week with reports of Democrats reaching out to psychologists — just as they did against Barry Goldwater. The demise of the “Goldwater Rule” is a dangerous development. I have no more idea of Trump’s mental state than I do other leaders. What I do know is that claims of narcissism or other conditions are unfounded absent an evaluation and far more serious evidence of mental illness to justify a 25th Amendment effort.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Trump, the 25th Amendment and The Demise of “The Goldwater Rule””
University of Illinois math professor Rochelle Gutierrez has triggered a national controversy over her recent anthology for math educators entitled, “Building Support for Scholarly Practices in Mathematics Methods.” Gutierrez suggests that mathematic tends to perpetuate white privilege that must be actively addressed in classrooms. For many, math is one subject that was viewed inherently objective and unbiased in its emphasis. Albert Einstein and others saw beauty in math. He stated “Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” Yet, Gutierrez appears to see the “politics that mathematics brings” and white privilege. Continue reading ““Mathematics Itself Operates As Whiteness”: University of Illinois Professor Triggers Controversy In Calling For Professors To Recognize Math As Privilege”