Criminal law, Lawyering, Military

Trump Rescinds Medals For Prosecutors In Gallagher Case

President Donald Trump took a highly extraordinary — and in my view a highly inappropriate — step on Wednesday in ordering the Navy to rescind the achievement medals awarded to military prosecutors in the case against Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. Gallagher was accused of murder and other crimes in his killing of a teenage ISIS fighter who was his prisoner in 2017 in Iraq. It is hard not to view the President’s intervention as retaliation against prosecutors who took an unpopular case and carried out their duties despite being publicly ridiculed by the Commander in Chief. The move undermines the professionalism and independence of the military justice system.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law

“Entirely Divorced” From The Facts: Court Dismisses DNC Lawsuit Against Trump

I have written previously about the often frivolous lawsuits brought by Democratic leaders that not only threaten to create bad precedent but undermine legitimate claims against President Donald Trump. One such meritless action was filed by the Democratic National Committee, an action that came perilously close to crossing the line of Rule 11 on meritless or vexatious actions. Judge John Koeltl, a Clinton appointee, was scathing in dismissing the action against key members of the Trump Administration and Wikileaks as “entirely divorced” from the facts.

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International, Society

Transgender Weightlifter Clears Away For Olympic Appearance Amid Growing Controversy

We have previously discussed the ongoing controversy over transgender individuals competing in female sports where critics say they have an unfair advantage. That debate may now go to the Olympics after Laurel Hubbard dominated the recent weightlifting competition in Tokyo. Hubbard competed for New Zealand in men’s weightlifting before her transition in her thirties. She then transitioned as is now sweeping away the competition.

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Bizarre, International, Politics

“God Has Raised This Man Up”: Christian Leader Declares That The Mueller Hearing Was A Divinely Engineered Flop

Many of us viewed the Mueller hearings as a “flop” or “disaster” for the Democrats. However, most of us viewed the failure as a clearly befuddled Robert Mueller, conflicted findings, and a lack of new information. It turns out, according to Lauri Cardoza-Moore, there was another reason: divine intervention.

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Criminal law, International

American ISIS: “I Want To Be The Beheading Person”

Two Somali-Americans were arrested at Tucson International Airport for conspiring to join the Islamic State. What is striking about the arrest is how images that repulse ordinary people will attract those people with extremist or twisted mentalities. Ahmed Mohamed and Abdi Hussein were arrested at the airport on July 26th and the FBI released communications from the men, including Mohamed telling the undercover agent, “[I]f I go to Syria I want to be the beheading person.”

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Bizarre, Lawyering

The No Call Case: New Orleans Lawyer Wins Right To Depose Roger Goodell

As many on this blog know, I am an avid football fan (Bears, of course) and my love for the sport is only equaled by my long-standing contempt for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. However, the recent decision of State Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard of New Orleans to order Goodell and three officials to be deposed over the infamous “no-call” play last year is baffling. All of us immediately cried out after flagrant passer interference by the Los Angeles Rams was missed by officials (the only people in the universe who appear to have missed the violation). The failure likely cost the New Orleans Saints a return to the Superbowl. However, I cannot see how such a failure can possibly be judicable case for fraud. A no call is no case in my view.

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Bizarre, International, Society, Torts

Oh Canada: Airline Tells 71-Year-Old Disabled Woman To Share Hotel Bed With Male Stranger

We have previously discussed the increasingly brutal conditions on airlines which are continuing to reduce legroom and every possible comfort for travelers to further drive record profits. Some of the airlines however appear to be disregarding the most basic safety considerations. Air Canada recently told Elizabeth Coffi Tabu, a 71-year-old cancer patient in a wheelchair, that she would have to share a bed with a male stranger at a hotel for the night. What is incredible is that this markedly abusive decision could have easily resulted in serious liability for the airline.

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Columns, Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics

The Mysterious Mister Mifsud And Why No One Wants To Discuss Him

Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the name that came up repeatedly in the Mueller hearings to the surprise of many viewers. The name is Joseph Mifsud and we still know little about him because Mueller, like so many others, refuses to discuss him. It is an example of how much of the origins of the Russian investigation remain largely walled off from public discussion.

More of such information arose this week after former Trump Adviser George Papadopoulos announced that he is heading back to Greece to retrieve $10,000 that “he suspects was dropped in his lap as part of an entrapment scheme by the CIA or FBI.” Once again, few people have heard of this money or the underlying allegation.

Here is the column:

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Politics, Society

The Republican Party Denounced As Hate Group By Pultizer Prize Winning Columnist

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts this weekend penned a column identifying a new hate group: the Republican Party. Pitts accused the party of being race baiting for years and now believes that they meet the definition of a hate group with the KKK and neo-Nazis. The column is the latest example of how we no longer recognize good-faith differences in opposing views in our age of rage. It also reflects how hate speech often is defined in highly generalized terms that allow for arbitrary designations, particularly for those who espouse different views than your own.

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Columns, Congress, Criminal law, Politics

The Media Brushes Over Mueller Contradictions After “Blockbuster” Turns Into Bomb

Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the aftermath of the Mueller hearings. This week, the Democrats belatedly moved to get a court order to release Grand Jury material withheld in the Mueller Report. That material represents a tiny percentage of text and the request is months too late. I testified many weeks ago that, if the Democrats were really serious about impeachment, they would have filed soon after the report was issued. Every indication remains that the Democratic leadership is still running out the clock on impeachment while trying to convince voters that they really do want to impeach Donald Trump.

Democrats are now insisting that it was not Mueller but really McGahn that they expected to put away Trump. It would be a sequel to a colossal flop and they are not exactly moving with dispatch . . . as time ticks by.

Here is the column:

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Politics, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Trump On Funds For Border Wall

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Friday in favor of the use of military funds for building new wall sections along our Southern Border. When the challenge was filed, I expressed doubt over its chances and said that I thought it would fail before the Supreme Court. It now has and the Trump Administration has a lot of money to build a lot of wall . . . just in time for the 2020 election cycle.

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Free Speech, International, Religion

Italian Town Makes Blasphemy Illegal

The northern Italian town of Sanoara has offered another chilling reminder of how the West is rejecting free speech at an accelerating pace. Mayor Walter Stefan has announced with some pride that the town is going to make it illegal “to blaspheme against any faith or religion.” That’s right, the town has embraced the same blasphemy used by extremist Muslim countries to punish those who dare speak against religion.

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Criminal law, International, Media, Politics

Trump: Sweden “Let Our African American Community Down”

President Donald Trump has caused considerable confusion in Sweden by first requesting “bail” (which does not exist in Sweden) for rapper A$AP Rocky in this assault case and then accusing Sweden of letting “our African American community down” by not freeing him. Trump’s intervention in the case was both highly ill-informed and inappropriate in tying U.S. foreign policy to the handling of a celebrity’s routine criminal case.

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Academia

Mizzou Sued Over Alleged Violation Of Legacy Gift

There is a fascinating filing against the University of Missouri this month. Hillsdale College has filed a lawsuit against Mizzou for violating the agreement that it had with 1926 Mizzou graduate Sherlock Hibbs. The filing is a novel arrangement with Hibbs that not only stipulates the academic views of appointed faculty but gives the default (and incentive for monitoring) to a rivaling academic institution. For Mizzou, the lawsuit is the latest controversy over its political leanings, though this is a more academic dispute over economic theory. While admissions appear to have risen at Mizzou (though numbers remain overall down), a controversy over gifts could not come at a worse time.

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Media, Politics

Mueller Hearing Generated Less Than 13 Million Viewers

The House Democrats and the media built up the Mueller hearings for weeks as the long awaited moment in the Trump investigations. It appears that the moment came far too late for most Americans. Less than 13 million viewers tuned in for the hearings, which was widely described as a disaster for the Democrats and, frankly, Mueller. In another example of the growth of cable over broadcast, Fox News secured the largest audience for the day — an ironic conclusion given the false report that Fox would not cover the hearing live. Yet, the numbers were down overall from the hearing of former FBI Director James Comey. The hearing undermined the Democratic position with a remarkably ill-conceived plan of having members just read portions of the report to Mueller who came across as befuddled and confused.

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