Below is my column in The Hill on the Manafort plea agreement, which continued to release an unrestrained joy and ecstasy among commentators, who (yet again) predicted the imminent demise of Donald Trump. Norman Eisen, who served as White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform in the Obama administration, predicted that President Trump wouldn’t “survive” Manafort’s testimony. That is of course without knowing if Manafort has anything damaging on Trump. This appears an example of hope over experience in light of prior predictions of imminent indictments and resignations. Manafort may have damaging information or he may not. There are however some clear winners and losers in the Manafort plea that are not based on pure speculation.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Winners and Losers Of The Manafort Plea Bargain”
For a week, a scandal has grown over an anonymous accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
Let’s just put it this way: Matthew McCloskey, 52, makes 
I am always surprised by commentators who not only predict a historic event but put a specific date on its occurrence. Rudy Giuliani of course predicted that the Mueller investigation would be over by September 1, 2018 (
There is a curious criminal case out of Bolivar, Ohio where a grocery store employee was charged with felony theft worth $9,200. What is different about this case is that the almost $10,000 theft was composed of individual slices of lunch meat over the course of eight years at Giant Eagle. 
I have previously written about the continued use of blasphemy laws in the West, including Spain and Ireland. The continued enforcement of medieval concepts of blasphemy as evidenced by the detention of Willy Toledo, who was accused of ridiculing God and the Virgin Mary in court. Toledo is being targeted due to comments made on social media in support of three women who are being prosecuted for blasphemy. It is chilling to think that an actual judge would hold such a hearing in modern times. The nation that gave us the Spanish Inquisition still claims the right to imprison people for insulting God.
George Washington University has found itself in the eye of the storm over Hurricane Maria after President Donald 
There is a truly bizarre case out of Arizona where Paul Menchaca, 30, is accused of an elaborate scheme to trick caregivers into bathing him and changing his diaper. Menchaca allegedly convinced the women that he had Down syndrome to retain them for these uses. The caregivers grew suspicious when Menchaca was often aroused during these procedures. He now faces 
Hillary Clinton surprisingly tweeted a clearly false allegation against Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday that had already been widely disproven. Clinton told followers that Kavanaugh referred to birth control pills as “abortion-inducing drugs.” He didn’t but that does not appear to matter to many spreading this false story, including Clinton. Clinton said that she wanted to be
College of Southern Nevada Sociology Professor Mark Bird allegedly had a curious way of protesting President Trump: he shot himself in the arm. According to the 
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the rising pressure on Sen. Susan Collins over her vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. There is considerable anger over Collins maintaining that she would never vote for a nominee hostile to Roe v. Wade but refusing to acknowledge the widespread view of Kavanaugh as not only hostile to the reasoning of Roe but appointed by a president who promised only to nominate an anti-Roe justice. As with Neil Gorsuch, Collins appears inclined to vote for Kavanaugh despite her oft-repeated pledge. She insists that she is comfortable after Kavanaugh told her that Roe is “settled” law. However, many have put Collins’ position as falling somewhere between hopeful thinking and willful blindness. As discussed below, the unsettling thing about settled law is that only five votes make anything truly settled on the Court.
I will have the pleasure of participating in the annual Supreme Court review today previewing the upcoming October term. The other panelists will be former Solicitor General Gregory Garre, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill. Associate Dean (and Supreme Court litigator) Alan Morrison will moderate the panel.