I ran a column yesterday discussing one of findings of the House Intelligence Committee dealing with James Clapper. The report was largely well-supported and was even critical of Trump’s calling for Wikileaks and the Russians to release hacked material. However, one element of the Democratic rebuttal also struck me as equally credible. The Democrats objected, among various shortcomings in the Committee investigation, that a critical call was never pursued by the majority. The timing of the call strikes me as raising a legitimate question and, absent countervailing facts from the majority, would seem to constitute a glaring omission. It is not clear why the majority did not try to determine the identity of the “blocked caller” before the infamous meeting of Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and Russians in Trump Tower.
I have previously criticized the University of California at Berkeley for its highly biased history in dealing with conservative speakers who come to campus. Now, federal judge Maxine Chesney has agreed with the Young America’s Foundation (and the U.S. Justice Department) in rejecting a motion to dismiss by Berkeley — forcing the school to deal with its policies and priorities on the exercise of free speech. The president of the University of California system is Janet Napolitano, former United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Rules Against Berkeley In Victory For Free Speech”
There is an interesting legal challenge in Cambridge where an independent Senate candidate has alleged that Democratic city leaders have improperly used their authority to try to shutdown his campaign against Mass. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Specifically at issue is a bus featuring campaign slogans parked in the lot of an apartment building owned by Shiva Ayyadurai. Ayyadurai’s signs poke fun at Warren’s disputed claim that she is Native American. Ayyadurai whose family came from India has posted signs proclaiming “Only A REAL INDIAN Can Defeat The Fake Indian.” City officials ordered the signs removed, though the basis for the action is hardly self-evident. Ayyadurai has filed a free speech challenge in federal court.
I (and many others) have cautioned the President for over a year that his tweets and public comments are underlying his case (and litigation like the immigration challenges) in federal court. Now the Justice Department has used the President’s latest comments in a call-in to “Fox and Friends” as eviscerating efforts to claim privilege over documents on his behalf in the review of the material seized from his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. While opposing counsel like Democratic state attorneys general have used Trump’s comments against his Administration and the Justice Department has struggled to defend against such use, this is the first time that his own Justice Department is using the President’s comments effectively against his interests. In the meantime, it was revealed yesterday that the FBI seized 16 different cellphones from Michael Cohen.Below is my column on the question of whether President Donald Trump should pardon his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen has notified a judge in California that he will refuse to answer questions in a case brought by counsel for Stormy Daniels by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. President Trump, who has ridiculed people who invoke their Fifth Amendment rights, called into Fox and Friends to
Here is the column: Continue reading “SHOULD TRUMP PARDON COHEN?”
We have been discussing the investigation by the Inspector General of the Justice Department into the leaking of FBI memos by former Director James Comey. I have previously explained why there are serious questions concerning Comey’s conduct. Now there is an interesting development after Fox News confirmed that the law professor used by Comey for his leak was in fact a “special government employee” (SGE) for Comey’s FBI. That status of Columbia Professor Daniel Richman raised new concerns
We previously discussed the shameful loss of the famed Denali wolf pack to hunting and development. Now North Carolina is on the brink of losing the last of its wild population of endangered red wolves. These beautiful and iconic animals have been reduced to just a few dozen due to the failure of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials (and state officials) to take necessary action to protect them.
I have the honor today of giving the 2018 Thomas M. Kerr, Jr. Lecture on Law and American Society at Carnegie Mellon University. My lecture will be on The Rise and Fall of Free Speech in the West and will be held in Gregg Hall (Porter Hall 100) on Thursday, April 26th from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Continue reading “Turley To Give The 2018 Thomas M. Kerr, Jr. Lecture At Carnegie Mellon University”
MSNBC host Joy Reid is reported on the Daily Beast (where she appears as a columnist) to have reaffirmed her earlier claim that hackers “fabricated” old blog posts to make her appear homophobic. The claim is alarming whether true or false. It true, archiving website The Wayback Machine was either compromised or a party to the deception. If false, Reid has lied to the media in a major story involving her own conduct. The company has issued a denial that it was in any way compromised or responsible for the comments.
Continue reading “MSNBC Host Joy Reid Claims Hackers “Fabricated” Her Alleged Homophobic Comments”
California State University Randa Jarrar is facing calls for her termination after she appeared to celebrate the death of former First Lady Barbara Bush. A petition calls for the “Immediate termination of Professor Randa Jarrar for racism and inflammatory comments regarding a former First Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush.” Jarrar’s comments were disgraceful and hateful, but there remains a question of the free speech rights of teachers and professors in their private lives.
I recently discussed my chagrin at a challenge to the wonderful outdoor program for first-year students at Bates College. As a lifelong backpacker and hiker, I have always admired Bates for the program. One of the oldest college clubs is the Penn State Outing Club, which is 98 years old. In one of the most moronic decisions of the year, Penn State has announced that its outdoor recreation club will not be allowed to go outside because it is too dangerous to be out in the wilderness.
Continue reading “Penn State Orders Century-Old Outdoor Club To Stop Outdoor Activities”
There is a disturbing case out of Florissant, Missouri where Ruby Sawyers lost her home due to an unpaid debt. Regrettably, that is not unique or even rare in this economy, but the debt was owed to her former attorney and the person who bought the home was her former attorney, David Waltrip. What is also concerning is the cost of the litigation in a custody case.
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the reported investigation of former FBI Director James Comey for his removal and leaking of memos related to the Russian investigation. The release of the memos already contradicts critical aspects of Comey’s explanation for his leaking of the information. What is troubling is that many have worked mightily to avoid the clearly unprofessional aspects of Comey’s conduct. Comey could well be accurate in his account of Trump and justified in his concerns over Trump’s conduct but that does not excuse the actions that he has exhibited in both the leaking of the memos and the timing of his book. Comey’s best-selling book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, could prove tragically ironic if Comey showed a higher loyalty to himself in responding to his own firing rather than the investigation that he once headed. In the very least, there remains a serious question of Comey’s priorities in these matters.
Here is the column:
Joshua Taylor, 25, insisted that “I am a nice guy” but police may need a bit more supportive evidence. Taylor threatened to put his housemate’s head on a spear and went on a rampage with a machete. Taylor has 24 convictions for 48 crimes, including for public order and criminal damage.
We have followed the rapid destruction of the secular government and civil liberties in Turkey under the authoritarian rule of Erdogan. Erdogan used a failed coup to push his effort to create a de facto Islamic regime and to complete his work in arresting his critics, including forcing the resignation of thousands of secular academics, and suspending all civil liberties in a proclaimed state of emergency. Previously, Erdogan threatened the United States if it didn’t handIslamic cleric Fethullah Gulen over to him and that a failure to yield to his demands would be a “big mistake.” Now he is taking hostages. Erdogan is suggesting that he will not turn over pastor Andrew Brunson (who was arrested in 2016) unless we turn over Gulen for likely torture and execution. Erdogan, who has destroyed the once free press of Turkey as well as secular institutions, is leaving no doubt as to his achieving tyrannical rule in the once modern Islamic nation.