Free Republic

The top attorney for House Democrats is poised to play a key role in determining whether Democrats begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Even though some of House counsel Douglas Letter's legal fights are on topics like ObamaCare and border wall funding, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has pointed to the lawsuits surrounding subpoenas for Trump’s private records as laying the foundation necessary for possible impeachment proceedings. Whether to formally initiate impeachment will be left up to House Democrats, but the information Letter is seeking in court is being teed up as crucial to that decision. However, it’s unlikely that the...

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday pressed Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers on why the public shouldn’t be allowed to see redacted portions of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, suggesting that he may be willing to consider releasing at least some of the restricted document. Judge Reggie Walton, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, posed the questions during a hearing on a pair of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits seeking the redacted portions of the report. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold filed the lawsuits earlier this year....

A group of California Democrats unveiled legislation Friday to place new requirements on how congressional districts are redrawn a day after the Supreme Court ruled that courts can’t resolve partisan gerrymandering claims. The bill, led by House Rules Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) along with Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) and Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), would require that states adopt independent redistricting commissions to draw new district maps after each decennial census.The proposal comes one day after the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision along ideological lines, found that partisan gerrymandering claims are a political issue that courts can’t weigh in on....

Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday said that the Supreme Court should take more action to overturn prior “demonstrably erroneous decisions.” In a concurring opinion issued in a double-jeopardy case, Thomas wrote that he believes the court was correct in not overturning a doctrine that allows an individual to be charged with the same crime by federal and state prosecutors. However, he wrote that the Supreme Court should revisit its use of the “stare decisis” doctrine, under which a past precedent is not be overturned unless there’s a compelling reason to do so. Thomas wrote that the use of the judicial...

The Supreme Court on Monday found that a criminal defendant can be sentenced for violating his supervised release, even if the release expires while he is incarcerated ahead of facing new charges. The justices, divided in the 5-4 decision, ruled against Jason Mont's argument that a district court shouldn't be able to charge him for violating his release because the term had expired at the time of the new sentencing. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh in the majority. Justice Neil Gorsuch joined liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer...

A pair of Massachusetts district attorneys filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday, asking that a federal judge place an injunction on the agency’s directive authorizing the arrests of undocumented immigrants at state courthouses. In the lawsuit, the district attorneys for Middlesex and Suffolk counties allege that an ICE directive authorizing the civil arrests of undocumented immigrants at courthouses is in violation of long-standing practices — and is harming the judicial system. “Entire communities now view the Massachusetts courts as places where they cannot go, for any reason, greatly impeding access to justice and undermining the...

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Friday offered up a line of questioning for Democrats to use on President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Franken, who resigned in December after multiple allegations of groping women, said that if he were still in the Senate he would want to drill down details on a statement that Kavanaugh made this week when he was nominated. After being introduced by Trump during an event at the White House on Monday night, Kavanaugh thanked the president, saying, "Throughout this process, I’ve witnessed firsthand your appreciation for the vital role of the American judiciary."...

Democratic billionaire donor Tom Steyer said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is wrong for saying his push to impeach President Trump is helping Republicans. Steyer pushed back against Pelosi’s claim during an interview with BuzzFeed News that aired Sunday night, calling Trump “reckless and dangerous and lawless.” “This is a historic time,” Steyer said. “If you step back for one second and think about this president, the most corrupt president in American history, somebody who is breaking the law on a daily basis.” Pelosi warned Democrats earlier this year against pursuing impeachment efforts against Trump, saying it could hurt...

Scott Anderson and Benjamin Wittes, who is a friend of former FBI Director James Comey, sued the administration on Friday after they failed to initially release the results of the survey, Talking Points Memo reported. The men had initially requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act in April but filed the lawsuit after the federal government didn't hand over the information in the timeframe required by law. The anonymous annual "climate survey" gauges employee's feelings about the agencies and was conducted from February to March, according to the report. The lawsuit argues that there is a high level...

Former FBI Director James Comey torched Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee over the release of a memo alleging the Department of Justice abused a surveillance program on Friday, tweeting, “That’s it?” “Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what?” Comey tweeted Friday. “DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs,” he added. That’s it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified...