Latest in Executive Power
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) filed a statement of interest in the case involving President Trump’s challenge to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s subpoena for the partial release of Trump’s tax returns. The brief argues that the case ought to be resolved in federal as opposed to state court.
If the speculation is accurate, the actions by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence may have a firmer legal foundation than has so far been apparent.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York released a series of documents revealing that President Trump is suing both Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and the accounting firm Mazars over an attempt to obtain his tax returns. The complaint filed by lawyers of Trump suggests the request is unconstitutional since a sitting President cannot be criminally investigated. The court documents can be found here and below.
The absence of congressional authorization may not stop military action against Iran—but it likely means that any operation undertaken would be relatively small in scale.
In the past two decades, the United States has applied a growing number of foreign and security measures directly targeting individuals. A new paper considers this phenomenon and its implications for the administrative state, the presidency and the courts.
President Trump filed a lawsuit against the House Committee on Ways and Means, New York State’s attorney general and the state’s tax commissioner on Tuesday, to block the release of multiple years of his state tax returns. Trump filed this suit “in his capacity as a private citizen” after the Ways and Means Committee sued the Treasury Department for his tax returns.
On July 10, Judge Victoria A. Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan denied the government’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ third amended complaint in Arab American Civil Rights League et al. v. Donald Trump et al., in which the petitioners challenge the Trump administration’s travel ban on constitutional grounds. The order is available here and below.
On Monday, the White House notified the House judiciary committee that the president had directed former White House counsel Don McGahn not to appear before the committee on May 21 pursuant to a subpoena issued earlier this month.
On Monday, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel released the following opinion on whether former White House counsel Don McGahn enjoys immunity from compelled testimony by the House judiciary committee. The full opinion is below.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller argues that applying the obstruction statutes to the president will not chill performance of Article II duties. But Mueller’s own investigation demonstrates otherwise.