President Trump seems to have relied on the White House counsel’s office for advice on declaring a national emergency—but then disregarded the office’s repeatedly expressed doubts about the legal basis for the declaration.
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From a detached legal perspective, Trump’s actions are not terribly controversial or worrisome. In context, they are.
When litigation comes, the resolution of the president's invocation of a national emergency and of 10 USC § 2808 will turn to no small extent on the concept of judicial deference.
At the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, a group of former world leaders released a Declaration of Principles aimed at reaffirming shared democratic principles and a rules-based order in response to the rising tide of authoritarianism and anti-democratic trends in many countries. The Declaration for Freedom, Prosperity and Peace is the product of a year-long task force sponsored by the Atlantic Council and Canada's Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and led by Steve Hadley and Madeleine Albright among others, in which I and a group of former U.S.
The special counsel's office has filed a sentencing memo in the Paul Manafort case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The document is available here and below.
When the president issues an executive order or a proclamation, federal regulations require the attorney general to review the resulting document, and the attorney general has delegated this authority to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
On Friday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia instituted a gag order on counsel for the parties and witnesses in the Roger Stone case, additionally prohibiting all participants from making any public comments in the vicinity of the courthouse that could pose a risk of improperly influencing the proceeding. The full order is below.
Inquiring minds want to know.
As part of its effort to construct a border wall, the Trump administration has invoked a statutory delegation of authority signed into law by President Obama after the 2016 election.
The president signed spending legislation appropriating over a billion dollars for constructing a wall, along with a declaration of emergency to authorize an additional $6.5 billion.
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On Friday, the president issued the following proclamation establishing that a national emergency exists on the southern border pursuant to the National Emergencies Act.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
China's economic and security interests in Syria are drawing it deeper into the Middle East.
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Debates about cyber attribution already divide the U.S. policy process. NATO is at risk of the same problem.
On Feb. 13, the court handed down its decision on the U.S. preliminary objections in Certain Iranian Assets (Iran v. United States).
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Is Robert Mueller nearing the end of his Russia probe? The administration moves to block Chinese telecom giant Huawei. And you too can have your own private Mossad!
Shane says goodbye to Opportunity.
On Wednesday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Paul Manafort made intentionally false statements to the special counsel’s office while subject to a cooperation agreement. Accordingly, Judge Jackson ruled that “the Office of Special Counsel is no longer bound by its obligations under the plea agreement, including its promise to support a reduction of the offense level in the calculation of the U.S.