Last night, we passed the 44,000,000 mark in views on the blog. The blog continues to grow at a record and accelerating pace. The continued growth is due primarily to our loyal readers who return every day to discuss contemporary legal, political, and occasionally bizarre stories. We have used these moments to give thanks for our many regular readers around the world and give you an idea of the current profile of readers on the blog. We continue to rank with the top legal blogs in the world and I am particularly proud of our growing international readership. As always, I want to offer special thanks for Darren Smith who has continued to help manage the blog and help out folks who encounter posting problems. Continue reading “Res Ipsa Hits 44,000,000”
Category: Uncategorized
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Trump, was arrested today with three other suspects after the Justice Department charged fraud connected to an online fundraising campaign worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The campaign, “We Build the Wall,” was said to have raised over $25 million. It is worth noting that the Justice Department has continued to investigate or prosecute various Trump supporters under Attorney General Bill Barr despite calls by Democratic members and commentators to impeach him.
When I testified on the violence in current protests in cities like Portland, most of the Democratic senators insisted that violence in Portland was due to the arrival of federal officers to protect the federal courthouse and that the violence subsided after the federal officers were withdrawn. As other witnesses pointed out, the violence had been raging for weeks and a riot was declared by the Portland police the very night before. The violence has indeed continued though the coverage has been light, including the arson at a county government building yesterday. One of the most shocking incidents involve the attack at a Black Lives Matter demonstration of a man who was beaten after people filmed and mocked him. Police say one of the chief attackers was Marquise Love, 25, and he is someone already familiar to police. In an interesting twist, Love is now reportedly raising funds while on the run from police.
Continue reading “Main Suspect In Brutal Attack At BLM Protest Seeks Donations While Evading Police”
During the Bush Administration I wrote in opposition to the ban of federally supported research using fetal tissue stem cells. At the time, my father was dying for Parkinson’s — just one of millions of people who were suffering from conditions and diseases that could be cured or relieved with the help of such research. Now, The Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board, appointed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, has blocked virtually every application for fetal tissue research to the HHS on ethical grounds. The result is the same. It is an effective ban disguised as an ethics review and the result is the lost of vital time and research for millions who are suffering in this country. It also places a political chokehold on academic work that will put our country at a disadvantage with virtually every other country pursuing new cures and treatments based on fetal tissue research. Continue reading “Trump Board Rejects 13 of 14 Proposals For Fetal Tissue Research”
Goodyear Tire company is under fire this week for a listing of acceptable and unacceptable symbols or attire in the workplace. President Trump has railed against the inclusion of MAGA hats as “unacceptable” and called for a boycott. I do not agree. I think it is appropriate to ban political endorsements or symbols in a business but there is a legitimate concern over what is deemed “acceptable.” The touchstone of free speech protections is content neutrality and Goodyear appears to be enforcing a viewpoint preference. The question is whether, as a private business, it has an obligation to be neutral. Continue reading “Rubber Hits The Road: Goodyear Under Fire For Listing Of Unacceptable Symbols”
Where Shakespeare is credited in writing “Much To Do About Nothing,” the Senate may have achieved credit for writing “nothing about much.” It is remarkable about how comparably little can be said in 1000 pages. The Senate Intelligence Committee released report yesterday on its own Russian investigation. I have been plowing through the report but what was most striking thus far is how little really new material the Senate was able to uncover. Indeed, it notes that it did not even look into the basis for the claims of the Steele dossier, which was used and widely cited for the early allegations of collusion. One of the few notable points is that the Report states that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort worked closely with a known Russian intelligence officer and that he “represented a grave counterintelligence threat” due to that relationship with Konstantin Kilimnik. Yet, the Report is largely descriptive of known allegations with few concrete conclusions or original disclosures. It confirms and adds details on Russian interference with the election, but it does not materially add new information on key areas where some of us hoped the Committee could gain greater access.
Continue reading “Senate Intelligence Report Is Long On Pages And Short On Intelligence”
Iowa State University is embroiled in a controversy this week that involves two of the favorite subjects of this blog academic freedom and freedom of speech. At the center of the controversy is ISU English Professor Chloe Clark who issued a syllabus for her English 250 class that banned students from expressing opposing to Black Lives Matter, abortion, same sex marriage or other causes or groups. She warns students that they will be dismissed and “I take this seriously.” Iowa State has intervened after an outcry and forced Clark to remove the language.
I recently wrote a column discussing how Democratic leaders, including Vice President Joe Biden, have argued against continuing the investigation by U.S. Attorney John Durham despite growing evidence of misconduct by Justice Department officials and now the first guilty plea by former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. Now, Andrew Weissmann, one of the top prosecutors with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, has derided the Clinesmith plea while actually calling on Justice Department attorneys to refuse to help on ongoing investigations that could implicate aspects of his own prior work. [Update: I have include a longer quote from the column by the two authors and I have written another posting to address objections raised by Professor Goodman.]
We have previously discussed allegations against FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith who played a key role in maintaining the secret surveillance of Trump campaign advisers in the Russian Investigation, including the falsification of a filing to the secret court. U.S. Attorney John Durham who is investigating the matter, has announced that Clinesmith will now plead guilty to making a false statement. The implications of this criminal plea is enormous but the media has engaged in a pattern of willful blindness to mounting evidence of wrongdoing in the Russian investigation by FBI and DOJ figures. Continue reading “FBI Lawyer In Russian Investigation To Plead Guilty For False Statement”
The media is alight today after the publication of a piece in Newsweek by Chapman University Professor John C. Eastman that raised the question of whether Sen. Kamala Harris is a citizen and eligible to be Vice President. She is. The courts have long recognized that individuals born in the United States are citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment. In fairness to Professor Eastman and Newsweek, this has been a debate that has been raised during prior elections over candidates ranging from Chester Arthur to Barack Obama to John McCain. Continue reading “Yes, Kamala Harris Is Eligible For Vice President”
This morning I will be addressing our incoming class of law students, an honor that I have enjoyed for almost two decades. This term, our orientation like our classes, will be virtual. However, we are all committed to making the best of it.
Postings today will be delayed due to the speech. Continue reading “Turley Speaks To Incoming GW Class”
A bizarre case has unfolded in Texas where Judge Alexandra Smoots-Thomas has been charged with shooting at the girlfriend of her husband. Smoots-Thomas was previously suspended after allegations that she spent campaign funds on jewelry, luxury items, her mortgage payments, and other personal expenses. The case could raise some novel defenses.
Continue reading “Texas Judge Charged With Shooting At Husband’s Girlfriend In Driveway Standoff”
There has been a free speech controversy raging at Stockton University in New Jersey after doctoral student Robert Dailyda was hit by six student code of conduct charges after he used a picture of President Donald Trump as a back drop to a zoom class. Various students called the background a form of hate speech and a threat. The school has now dropped five of the six charges but the remaining charge still constitutes a denial of free speech on social media. The school maintains that Dailyda can be disciplined for saying that he would “fight to the death for our country.” Continue reading “Stockton University Reaffirms Charge Against Student Who Used A Trump Background For A Zoom Class”
I recently wrote a column concerning a pattern of willful blindness by the media as new evidence emerges of serious wrongdoing by the FBI in the origin and continuation of the Russian collusion investigation. The latest information comes from the Senate Intelligence Committee which released a declassified briefing report to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2018 on the Steele dossier’s Primary Sub-source. It is hard to read the document linked below and not conclude that the FBI misled the Congress on the subject. This occurred after the FBI misled the FISA court, including the submission of falsified documents to continue the surveillance.
Students at Northwestern University are demanding the abolition of fraternities and sororities as inherently racist institutions. The Instagram page “Abolish NU IFC/PHA [Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Association]” denounces all those who support the Greek system as “perpetuating harm” to minorities.