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.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Friendly Fire: Did McCabe’s Dig At Trump Undermine Comey?”
In all of the discussion of the firing of Andrew McCabe, various news outlets focused his “loss” of his pension as opposed to the fact that career officials called for his firing for serious misconduct. It now appears that what was lost will soon be found for McCabe. The firing denied McCabe early pension recovery at age 50 of roughly $60,000 a year. However, that only means that he will receive the pension like other federal officials when he reaches the federal retirement age. If Democratic members have their way, it could be even shorter than that.
Continue reading “Lost and Found: It Turns Out McCabe Never Lost His Roughly $2 Million Pension”
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.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Trump Drew A Red Line For Mueller; Mueller Just Crossed It”
Below is my column on various proposal for gun control reforms after the latest school massacre in Florida. As the column discusses, the constitutional burden is more demanding than suggested by many politicians. This is clearly a right that is subject to reasonable limitations but it is an individual constitutional right that affords gun owners a higher protection in the court.
Continue reading “Will Court Challenges Shoot Down The Array Of New Gun Control Law?”
President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen has moved to claim at least $20 million in damages from porn star Stormy Daniels. Cohen is alleging at least 20 violations. With the recent allegations of physical threats and post-election actions, the political costs to this strategy is likely to continue to rise. Notably, Cohen is not simply pursuing damages through his limited liability corporation Essential Consultants. An attorney for Trump is now directly calling for Daniels to be forced into arbitration . . . and silence.
Continue reading “Trump’s Attorney Files To Silence Daniels and Force $20 Million In Damages”
This evening, I discussed why I thought Attorney General Jeff Sessions would fire Andrew McCabe. Now that has come to pass in a late night announcement that McCabe has been terminated just 24 hours before his retirement (and eligibility for a pension).
Below is my column in USA Today on the nomination Deputy Director Gina Haspel to head the CIA. While Sen. Rand Paul has declared that he will oppose Haspel over torture, some Democrats (who are being criticized for previously failing to act on torture allegations) are again hedging on whether they will oppose a nominee solely due to her involvement in the torture program. However, one promising development is an effort by Sen. Dianne Feinstein to have Haspel’s record on torture declassified. There remains some debate over Haspel’s role on notable cases. Reports still indicate that Haspel oversaw the torture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri at the “Cat’s Eye.” However, it is not clear if she was “Chief of Base” during the torture of Abu Zubaydah. ProPublica issued a correction Thursday that she was not Chief at the time of the Zubaydah torture. There is no debate that Haspel ordered the destruction of evidence of the torture program.
Here is the column (which has been edited since its original posting):
Continue reading “Gina Haspel’s CIA Nomination Is A Women’s Milestone We’d Be Wise To Avoid”
We have previously discussed the continuing debate over France’s generous vacation and work regulations — and their impact on productivity. Anyone who goes to France in the summer will find most stores shut at the peak of tourist season as the French take off for month long vacations. One Frenchmen however wanted to work . . . and he now going to pay the price for productivity. In Lusigny-sur-Barse, a baker has been ordered to pay a €3,000 fine for refusing to close his shop and work less.
Continue reading “French Baker Fined For Refusing To Work Less”
There is a major controversy unfolding at Penn Law School. Professor Amy Wax has been removed from first-year courses after making controversial comments about the performance of black students at the school. Regardless of the merits of Wax’s comments, the action raises serious questions over academic freedom and free speech. We have been discussing controversies over academics being punished for controversial views including two recent cases involving the use of the “n-word” in classes on offensive speech at DePaul and Princeton.
Continue reading “Penn Law Professor Removed From First-Year Classes After Controversial Statements”
The family of the late Democratic National Committee Staffer Seth Rich has sued Fox News for intentional infliction of emotional distress and related torts in the airing of allegations of a conspiracy involving Rich and Wikileaks. Despite my great sympathy for this family in the loss of Seth Rich, the complaint (below) is in my view without serious merit. The causal connections are too attenuated and liability would undermine first amendment protections for the free press.
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.Continue reading “Trump Org Lawyer Tied To Effort To Gag Stormy Daniels In Arbitration Proceedings”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the effort of the Trump legal team to reach deal to have the President sit down with the Special Counsel in exchange for certain conditions or concessions. The problem is a matter of timing. As has been a repeated problem, the Trump team seems a couple steps behind the unfolding controversy.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Trump Offers To Meet With Mueller, But Is It Too Late For Damage Control?”
Today is an important anniversary for former intelligence chief James Clapper. No it is not his marriage anniversary or conventional milestone. Clapper can celebrate the running out of the statute of limitations on his alleged perjury before Congress — five years and Clapper is now beyond the reach of the law.
We previously discussed the bizarre case of Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP leader who claimed to be African-American yet turned out to be white. She later insisted that she chose to be black. Now she has a Netflix special (doesn’t everyone?). In the final irony, the company giving Dolezal a special has been denounced as promoting “white privilege.”
Continue reading “Rachel Dolezal Special Declared “White Privilege””
While people of good faith can still debate whether Hillary Clinton and her staff received considerably deference in the criminal investigation into the email scandal, there remains troubling cases where the Justice Department has shown no such deference or restraint told less powerful individuals. The most glaring example was the ridiculous treatment of former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier. Saucier was sentenced to a year in prison for simply taking pictures on a nuclear submarine without any intention of compromising national security. Last week,