Federal Government

Comey says Clinton’s classified emails were forwarded to Anthony Weiner, defends probe revelation

FBI Director James Comey told a congressional hearing Wednesday that Hillary Clinton’s emails were somehow being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, a former congressman who was married to Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Comey spoke about the emails as he defended his decision to notify Congress, days before the election, that he…

May 3, 2017 11:12 AM CDT

Trump and the Constitution: Law course explores the limits of executive power

A new course at the University of Washington: “Executive Power and its Limits,” seeks to provide students with the tools—and critical thinking skills—needed to analyze the Constitution and Donald Trump’s presidency. Kathryn Watts, one of two professors teaching the course, says administrators responded to student demand when they created the class, and it filled quickly upon being announced.

May 1, 2017 2:50 AM CDT

May 4, 1970: Guardsmen kill 4 students at Kent State

The Vietnam War was not going well on April 30, 1970, when President Richard Nixon announced on national television that he had ordered American troops into Cambodia to destroy North Vietnamese encampments there. After enumerating his reasons for expanding the war into a neutral nation, Nixon veered into an attack against protesters, particularly college students, who were opposing the war in Southeast Asia.

May 1, 2017 12:20 AM CDT

Following precedent, Trump hopes to schedule a dinner with the Supreme Court’s justices

President Donald Trump’s plans to host a dinner for U.S. Supreme Court justices this week raised some eyebrows, but there is precedent for such a get-together. The dinner was originally set for Thursday according to a schedule distributed to reporters, but the event was later removed, Politico and the National…

Apr 26, 2017 4:35 PM CDT

Trump’s tax plan largesse extends to law firms

President Donald Trump’s tax blueprint unveiled Wednesday contains a provision that would benefit law firms. Under the plan, corporations that currently pay a tax rate of 35 percent would see their rate slashed to 15 percent, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun report. The lower…

Apr 26, 2017 3:15 PM CDT

Trump criticizes ‘ridiculous’ ruling blocking his sanctuary cities order

President Donald Trump on Wednesday used Twitter to criticize a federal judge’s decision that blocks his order banning federal grants to sanctuary cities. Trump said the decision was “ridiculous” and the plaintiffs challenging his executive orders were targeting jurisdictions within the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reported…

Apr 26, 2017 8:40 AM CDT

Judge blocks Trump order denying funds to sanctuary cities

A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s order banning federal grants to sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled in a suit by the city and county of San Francisco and Santa Clara County, reported the Chicago Tribune and Reuters.

Orrick found likely constitutional violations and issued a nationwide preliminary injunction.

Apr 25, 2017 3:57 PM CDT

Can ‘dreamers’ be deported? Sessions says it’s possible, though Trump has sympathy for them

President Donald Trump has stressed that “dreamer” immigrants protected by an Obama administration program can “rest easy” and not worry about deportation. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions isn’t going that far. President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program allowed immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as…

Apr 24, 2017 12:13 PM CDT

Feds reportedly obtained FISA warrant to monitor Trump adviser during campaign

The FBI reportedly obtained a warrant last summer from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor the communications of Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump. Federal officials needed to present probable cause that Page was acting as a Russian agent to obtain the warrant from the FISA…

Apr 12, 2017 8:36 AM CDT

Alabama governor’s resignation and guilty plea followed state supreme court order

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley resigned and pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors on Monday after the state supreme court allowed impeachment proceedings against him. Bentley pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors that stemmed from an alleged affair with a former aide, report the Washington Post, the New York Times and AL.com. The…

Apr 11, 2017 9:35 AM CDT

Squire Patton Boggs announces alliance with Trump’s personal lawyer

Squire Patton Boggs has announced it is forming a “strategic alliance” with President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Squire Patton Boggs, an international law and lobbying firm, will collaborate with Cohen in jointly representing clients around the world, according to the announcement. The Am Law Daily (sub. req.) and…

Apr 5, 2017 9:15 AM CDT

Could Health Secretary Tom Price kill Obamacare from the inside?

When House Speaker Paul Ryan took to the podium on the afternoon of March 24, 2017, it was supposed to be his moment of triumph. Ryan and his fellow Republicans had spent the last seven years railing against Obamacare, winning elections and raising millions while promising to repeal and replace it as soon as they took back the White House.

Apr 4, 2017 3:45 PM CDT

Florida governor pulls 21 more murder cases from state attorney who won’t seek the death penalty

Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Monday removed 21 first-degree murder cases from a state attorney who refuses to seek the death penalty. It’s not the first time that Scott has acted because of his disagreement with Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, the Orlando Sentinel and the Tampa Bay Times report.…

Apr 4, 2017 9:59 AM CDT

Client fires Morgan Lewis over Trump representation

Corrected: An private foundation has fired Morgan, Lewis & Bockius because of its legal advice on financial conflicts to President Donald Trump. H. Scott Wallace, co-chair of the Wallace Global Fund, told the law firm of his decision in a March 28 letter, report Law.com (sub. req.), Politico, Bloomberg Big…

Apr 3, 2017 9:51 AM CDT

Federal judge says Trump’s campaign rally command could have incited violence, allows suit

A federal judge in Kentucky has refused to dismiss a suit claiming that protesters were attacked at a Donald Trump campaign rally because of the candidate’s command to “get ’em out of here.”

Apr 3, 2017 8:39 AM CDT