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December 2017

Posted by New Neo on December 16, 2017 21 Comments
The recently-released Strzok/Page text messages reveal a pro-Clinton and anti-Trump bias on the part of Strzok and Page that got them removed from their respective positions. The texts made it difficult for them to be seen as part of an objective investigation of the very people for whom they had such strong feelings. And yet the public's trust in the integrity of such investigators rests on the idea that they can, and will, put aside such feelings entirely because most investigators are going to have political opinions and biases.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 15, 2017 10 Comments
I have to admit, I fell asleep at the baker's wheel. Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission was argued to the Supreme Court earlier this month and I, didn't cover it. Not out of lack of interest, but more feeling like we're chasing a swarm of daily dust ups created by (1) Trump Derangement Syndrome in all its many and varied forms, (2) Trump on Twitter, (3) media reacting to Trump on Twitter, (4) Alabama, (5) War on Women and #MeTwo, (6) Men at Work, (7) the End of the World. Plus, it was end of the semester, and things were busy. Excuses, I've had a few.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 15, 2017 11 Comments
The drama is almost over as the Republicans have unveiled their tax bill. They are also closer to victory since Sen. Bob Corker (TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have decided to back the bill, leaving the Senate with only two undecided Republicans. From The New York Times:
On Friday, as Republicans released details about the final bill, it became clear that the agreement would provide deep and longstanding tax cuts for businesses, while providingslightly more generous tax breaks to low- and middle-income Americans byreducing some benefits for higher earners.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 15, 2017 5 Comments
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), both of which said they would vote on the tax bill, have both come out as a yes for the bill only a hours before its scheduled to come out. The GOP now has zero senators declaring a no on the vote, but there are still a few undecided.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 15, 2017 24 Comments
Top Republicans in Congress continue to scrutinize the anti-President Donald Trump texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The two officials were romantically involved and worked on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. He kicked Strzok off the team over the summer due to these texts. But a specific text caught the eye of the top Republicans. In this one, it mentions an "insurance policy" against Trump's presidency and a man named Andy, which they have assumed means FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 15, 2017 27 Comments
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is making a lot of enemies in the Democratic Party these days. Having clung to Bill and Hillary Clinton like a cheap suit her entire political career, Gillibrand turned on Bill when it became inconvenient in the current #MeToo climate to continue worshipping him, as I wrote in Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand disavows Bill Clinton now that he can’t help her anymore. Clintonworld was not amused with that backstabbing opportunism.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 15, 2017 14 Comments
It comes as no surprise to Legal Insurrection readers as we have been following recent news cycles that sensational #FakeNews items spread rapidly through media, only to have retractions and corrections lag weakly behind. The same is true of #FakeScience.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 15, 2017 14 Comments
Donald Trump took office with the unprecedented ability to reshape the federal judiciary, with over 100 vacancies as of the Inauguration. Trump had the possibility of nominating in just one term in office nearly half the federal judiciary. Democrats' removal of the judicial filibuster in 2013 (the so-called Nuclear Option) cleared the way for Republicans to fill these vacancies regardless of Democrat objections, assuming Republicans retain control of the Senate in 2018.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 14, 2017 43 Comments
The July 5,2016 statement by James Comey declining to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information never passed the smell test. After Comey spent 15 minutes laying out, in brutal detail, all of Hillary's misdeeds and lies, Comey abruptly determined that no prosecution was warranted because no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges. Yet that wasn't Comey's decision to make as FBI Director, it was a decision for the prosecutors at DOJ.
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