This is not helping. President Donald Trump continued a tweet tirade against the impeachment investigation today, including quoting a highly controversial pastor in his warning that removal of Trump would spark a “Civil War.” Equally disturbing was Trump’s call to have the whistleblower brought to him and for Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff to be questioned for possible treason.
Continue reading “Trump Warns Of “Civil War” And Calls For Schiff To Be Questioned For Treason”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the prospect of a Senate impeachment trial for President Donald Trump. While Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that she is “heartbroken” and “prayerful” over the prospect of impeaching Trump. Whether those are crocodile or heartfelt tears, Pelosi may have to worry more about another possibility: this could be the trial that Donald Trump has long wanted, including the prospect of calling Joe Biden as his first witness.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Lord of War: A Senate Trial Could Be Exactly What Trump Needs”
As many of you know, I am no fan of such trophy hunts. I often hike in remote spots to see bears and other animals in their natural habitat. We have previously followed the controversy over the shooting of “Cecil the Lion” by an American dentist Walter Palmer from Minnesota as well as subsequent controversies of an Idaho hunter taunting animal advocates and killing giant elephants or giraffes or famed wolves or mountain goats or hundreds of hippos for trophies. We also discussed the shooting of an iconic elephant as well as disgusting videotape has emerged of a trophy hunter shooting a sleeping lion. The latest outrage is over new pictures of English hunters posing with dead zebras. Shooting a zebra is about as challenging with a long-range rifle as shooting a neighborhood dog.
Continue reading “English Hunters Post Pictures Celebrating Dead Trophy Zebras”
It a tremendous show of courage, Polish Gay Pride marchers refused to be deterred by a hostile city government in Lublin and a violent crowd of counter protesters to hold their first parade. Notably, a court rejected the claim of the mayor that he was cancelling the parade because of security concerns. That is the excuse used by universities like DePaul to cancel conservative speakers, but the court found that it was just an excuse to bar the controversial parade.
Continue reading “Polish Gay Pride Marchers Refuse To Yield To Violent Attacks”
“FOX & Friends” took on a WWF feel this week when FOX News correspondent Geraldo Rivera said that he would like to give a beating to the whistleblower behind the Ukrainian story: “I would love to wap him, but that is another story.” Silly Wabbit, beat downs are for kids.
Continue reading “Geraldo: I Would Love To Beat The “Rotten Snitch” Attacking “This Poor President””
Professor Kyle Kusz, who teaches a kinesiology professor at the University of Rhode Island, has declared yet another example of the culture of white supremacy in America: Tom Brady. Kusz concludes that it is white supremacy that explains the popularity of Brady in his book “Making American White Men Great Again: Tom Brady, Donald Trump, and the Allure of White Male Omnipotence in Post-Obama America.” It is a bizarre theory since, as I have patiently explained in the past, Brady’s success is only explained by the fact that he sold his soul to the Devil decades ago and he is watched over by a barely disguised Cerberus in the form of Bill Belichick.
Continue reading “Professor: Tom Brady’s Popularity Due To White Supremacy”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the implications of the still developing Ukraine story. The testimony yesterday and release of the information on the complaint still lacks the critical nexus needed for a public corruption crime. If you establish the basis for such a crime, then the use of the separate server becomes a serious problem as covering up a crime. But you still need a crime. Otherwise, Trump can argue that he had been the victim of leaks about diplomatic calls and they took the step to better control access to such information. So, if you want impeachment, find the quid.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “You Want Impeachment? Find A Quid To Go With The Pro Quo”
Yesterday, there was an extraordinary — and defining — moment on MSNBC when host Nicole Wallace cut off coverage of President Trump’s press conference on the basis that the network did not agree with what he was saying about Joe Biden and his son’s controversial windfall contract with a Ukrainian energy company during the Obama Administration. Wallace simply declared Biden was cleared and that Trump was lying so there was no need for viewers to listen. It ignored any semblance of covering the news and MSNBC appears perfectly okay with a host regulating what viewers believe based on her view of what is true.
Continue reading “MSNBC Cuts Off Presidential Press Conference Because “The President Isn’t Telling The Truth””
It is my great pleasure to give a keynote speech at the Federal Identity Conference in Tampa, Florida today — an international gathering of government, private, and academic experts in the field of biometric technology. I will be presenting material from two forthcoming law review articles on privacy in the biometric age. I will be speaking at the Tampa Convention Center at 10:15 am.
Continue reading “Turley To Speak At Biometic Conference”
The release of the transcript of the conversation of President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy falls a quid short of a pro quo but still raises troubling questions. As I have discussed on CBS and BBC, the transcript shows that Trump never expressly tied military aid to the “favor.” However, he does push his counterpart to reopen the investigation and even promises to put together a call with his private counsel Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General Bill Barr. However, the Justice Department has released a statement that Barr was not informed of the call by Trump and never spoke with the Ukrainians. While Republicans have called the release of the transcript as a mistake, I believe credit again should be given for the waiver of executive privilege. As with the Mueller report, the White House erred on the side of transparency and that should be noted. There remains a serious question for Congress to investigate but the transcript does not establish the quid pro quo that is practically needed for a compelling case of impeachment.
Continue reading “Transcript: Trump Asks For “Favor” in Investigating The Bidens But Stops Short Of A Quid Pro Quo”
Calls for impeachment are rising on Capitol Hill as more details emerge from a call by President Donald Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he repeatedly asked for the investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Now, reports indicate that Trump froze roughly $400 million in military aid shortly before the call. The timing could reinforce arguments of an implied or express quid pro quo arrangement. Update: Trump confirmed that he ordered the withholding of funds.
Continue reading “Report: Trump Froze Military Aid Shortly Before Ukrainian Phone Call Asking For An Investigation Of Joe Biden And His Son”
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is running against President Trump in the Republican primaries, drew headlines on Monday by declaring that Trump’s call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asking for an investigation of Joe Biden and his son constitutes treason. Indeed, the normally circumspect Weld, said that Trump could be executed for his conversation. The claim is wildly off base. The call could theoretically be criminal if, as I have written recently, there were a quid pro quo or suffice as an impeachable offense. That will depend on the facts that unfold in the coming weeks. However, it achieves nothing to escalate the debate far beyond the reasonable interpretation of the criminal code.
Continue reading “Weld: Trump Guilty Of Treason”
A German court in Frankfurt was ruling on false health claims in a product advertising case when it made a notable threshold finding: a hangover is a legal “illness.” The finding was necessary to define the product as claiming to heal of human illness. The ruling explains its reasoning, but my question is whether the finding would mean that having a hangover would also then qualify as an illness to missing work and other employment protections. I ask because this month a French court ruled that the family of man who denied having sex while on a business trip could file for compensation for a work-related injury or death. Does this mean that in the European Union, the family of a worker who drinks himself to death might be able to receive compensation for a work-related death?
Continue reading “German Court Rules Hangovers Are Legal “Illnesses””
Below is my column in the Hill on the implications of the controversy over the call of Donald Trump to the President of the Ukraine. Trump has now admitted to asking for the investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. As predicted in this column, the Democratic leadership has struggled to dampen calls for an impeachment, including the effort of Nancy Pelosi to call for legislation on indicting a sitting president. Of course, not only do many of us believe that you can indict a sitting president, but the legislation is utterly irrelevant to question of impeachment. Not surprisingly, the pressure is building after years of claiming the desire, but not the grounds, for such an impeachment.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Pelosi’s Nightmare: The Democrats Stumble Over Potentially Impeachable Offense”
One of the areas that I teach in torts is the use and limits of the privilege of self-defense and defense of property. We recently discussed in Illinois case involving the use of a spring gun in a case of defending property. Now in New York, postal worker Troy George has been charged with murder, manslaughter and weapons possession after he chased down an alleged burglar and killed him with a pipe.
Continue reading “Bronx Postal Worker Charged With Murder After Chasing Down Burglar And Killing Him With Pipe”