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Supreme Court ethics in spotlight amid controversies: Billionaire Crow defies Senate request while Justices vow to uphold high standards
- New York Times: Harlan Crow Declines to Provide Information Sought by Senate Democrats: The billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow refused this week to comply with the Senate Judiciary Committee’s request to hand over information about gifts and travel he provided to Justice Clarence Thomas. “After careful consideration, we do not believe the committee has the authority to investigate Mr. Crow’s personal friendship with Justice Clarence Thomas,” Michael D. Bopp, Mr. Crow’s lawyer, wrote to the panel on Monday. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the chairman of the committee, balked at the rejoinder, saying in a statement on Tuesday that Mr. Crow had not provided a “credible response” to his panel’s requests.
- Washington Post: Roberts says Supreme Court will address ethics issues: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Tuesday night that he was “confident” the Supreme Court will convince the public that it “adheres to the highest standards of conduct.” Accepting an award at the American Law Institute, Roberts did not directly comment on the controversies that have surrounded the court’s members and their financial disclosures or the mounting congressional pressure for a specific code of conduct for the Supreme Court. But he said that disturbances outside the court have not affected the nine justices: “Inside the court, there is cause for optimism,” he said.
- Atlantic: Inside the Garden of Evil: In his interview, Harlan Crow waved off any suggestion of impropriety and defended his relationship with Thomas. The Dallas business executive, who has donated to GOP causes related to the law and judiciary, said the hospitality he had extended to the Supreme Court justice was not out of the ordinary for him. “For a long time, I’ve lived a certain lifestyle,” Crow said. “I’ve been successful. I have lived a comfortable life. I have a really big house. … I don’t think there’s anything bad about it.” Crow also said he saw no issue with his 2014 purchase from Thomas of three properties in Savannah, Ga., including the single-story house where Thomas’s mother was living. Thomas did not include the $133,363 real estate transaction on his financial disclosure forms, as federal law would have required.
- New York Times: Supreme Court Justices Don’t Like Being Criticized in Public, Which Is a Good Reason to Keep Doing It: We will all disagree as to whether public criticism of the court in specific contexts is fair. But what can’t be denied is that public pressure on the court has been, both historically and recently, a meaningful check on the institution’s excesses — and an essential means by which the public is able to hold unelected and otherwise unaccountable judges and justices to account. In the hotly debated case of ethics reform going on now, all nine justices have already publicly committed to following at least broad ethical norms. The court can go further, and it can (and should) adopt formal internal mechanisms to enforce whatever rules the justices agree to bind themselves to — much in the way that internal inspectors general hold both the executive and legislative branches to account.
Trump legal battles: March 2024 trial set for business records falsification, as DOJ probes and civil lawsuits mount
- Washington Post: Trial date set in Trump’s N.Y. criminal case, judge issues contempt warning: A judge Tuesday set a March 2024 trial date for Donald Trump and warned the former president that he could be found in contempt if he shared evidence provided to his lawyers in his criminal case on charges of falsifying business records. Trump appeared on a video feed at a Manhattan courtroom from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida with his attorney Todd Blanche. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told the parties not to make plans around and after the trial start date of March 25, 2024. When that happened, Trump shook his head.
- New York Times: Trump Lawyers Seek Meeting With Garland Over Special Counsel Inquiries: Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump sent a letter on Tuesday requesting a meeting with Attorney General Merrick B. Garland related to the special counsel investigations into Mr. Trump’s conduct.The letter cited no specifics but asserted that Mr. Trump was being treated unfairly by the Justice Department through the investigations led by the special counsel, Jack Smith. Mr. Smith is scrutinizing Mr. Trump’s handling of classified material that was discovered at his private Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, after his presidency, as well as his efforts to retain power after he lost the 2020 election. There are indications that Mr. Smith is approaching the stage of the investigation where he could start making decisions about whether to seek indictments of Mr. Trump and others in the documents case. The status of his other line of inquiry, into Mr. Trump’s efforts to reverse his election loss and how they contributed to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by his supporters, is less clear.
- Politico: Trump’s latest liability: Refusing to remain silent: Donald Trump’s next big legal test is whether the famously loud-mouthed former president can keep quiet. In recent days, he has subjected himself to new legal troubles by repeatedly vilifying the writer E. Jean Carroll even after a jury found that he defamed her. And in his criminal case involving hush money payments to a porn star, Trump is under a judge’s strict order to avoid talking publicly about certain evidence. If he violates that order, he could be held in contempt. “He was put on notice that if he engages in his usual behavior, that could result in a violation,” Catherine A. Christian, a former Manhattan prosecutor, said of a Tuesday court appearance in which the judge spoke to Trump by videoconference and admonished him not to breach the disclosure restrictions the judge has imposed in the case.
- Washington Post: The status of key investigations involving Donald Trump: Donald Trump is facing historic legal and legislative scrutiny for a former president. Trump has been indicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in New York in connection with hush-money payments in 2016. He is the first former president ever charged with a crime. The Justice Department is separately investigating the handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago and efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Fulton County district attorney is leading a parallel criminal probe related to the 2020 election, and the New York attorney general has sued Trump, three of his children and his family business for a medley of alleged violations. Trump has been sued twice by the author E. Jean Carroll for defamation and sexual assault. The first of those civil lawsuits ended with a $5 million judgment against him.
In The States
TEXAS: Three anti-democratic bills head to Gov. Abbott’s desk after House approval Tuesday
- Houston Chronicle: Texas legislature passes bills aimed at Harris County elections: Texas lawmakers approved two bills Tuesday aimed at Harris County elections that would give state Republicans the power to remove the county’s elections administrator and allow the Texas secretary of state to oust local elections officials for “good cause” after an election complaint is filed. The bills apply to counties with more than 3.5 or 4 million people, respectively; Harris is the only county in the state that meets those criteria. Under Senate Bill 1933, written by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), Secretary of State Jane Nelson—who was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott—can remove a local official after conducting an investigation prompted by “a recurring pattern of problems with election administration.” Senate Bill 1750 removes the elections administrator position in counties with 3.5 million people or more. In an 81-62 vote, House lawmakers voted to pass SB 1750 Tuesday afternoon.
- Dallas Morning News: Texas likely to leave voter fraud program under bill headed to governor for final approval: Texas is likely to leave a voter fraud protection program that has been beset by conspiracy theories under a bill headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The proposal, which passed out of the Texas House on Tuesday, would remove Texas from the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. Abbott has taken no public position on the proposed law. If the governor signs the bill, it could deal a fatal blow to ERIC, a non-profit that has been hemorrhaging participant states since conspiracy theories began floating in right wing circles alleging — with no evidence — that the non-profit organization was infiltrated by partisan actors. The organization has denied the allegations. Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, called the bill an “ugly byproduct from the fallout of the 2020 presidential election and the big lie that there was all kinds of election irregularities around the country and that the election was stolen, lies we know that have been debunked repeatedly by the federal courts.”
ARIZONA: Arizona judge rejects Kari Lake’s final 2022 election lawsuit
- Washington Post: Takeaways from Kari Lake’s failed legal challenge to the election results: Six months after losing her campaign for Arizona governor, Republican Kari Lake failed to persuade a trial judge to set aside the results of the election. Lake, a former television news personality and prominent election denier backed by former president Donald Trump, has refused to concede and mounted a legal challenge late last year, claiming that the results could not be trusted because they were tainted by fraud or mistakes. Courts rejected most of Lake’s claims, and her attorneys were sanctioned $2,000 for making “false factual statements,” but one part was allowed to go to trial: Lake’s accusation that election workers in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and most of the state’s voters, did not properly follow a signature-verification process for early ballots. During a three-day trial last week, Lake’s own witnesses detailed how that process did occur. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled Monday that Lake failed to prove misconduct or illegal conduct by county election officials. The judge also confirmed the election of Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), who beat Lake by more than 17,000 votes.
- AZ Mirror: Citing ‘plenary powers,’ GOP leader claims a non-binding resolution bans Arizona election machines: Claiming that a non-binding resolution overrides state law, an Arizona Republican state senator on Monday declared that Arizona counties are barred from using machines to count ballots — an assertion that was quickly shot down by elections officials, the state’s attorney general and county leaders. Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli penned a letter to all 15 Arizona counties on Monday, telling them that they were barred from using any machines to administer future elections. He claimed that the legislature’s recent approval of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1037 was binding under a radical interpretation of a constitutional provision that would effectively allow state legislatures to do whatever they want with elections. The core of the so-called “plenary powers” theory is that legislatures can change election rules and administration whenever they want and however they want, with no checks or balances by the judicial or executive branches. In this case, Borrelli claimed that, even though Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed actual legislation that would have changed state law to ban all election machines used in Arizona, a change in the law isn’t needed to bar those machines because of SCR1037.
MICHIGAN: House Elections Committee looking into voting rights bills, including pre-registration for 16-year-olds
- Michigan Live: Michigan looks at allowing 16-year-olds to preregister to vote: The voting age is 18 years old everywhere in America, but in many states you can preregister to vote at 17 as long as you’ll be 18 by the time of an election. Now, Democratic lawmakers and Michigan clerks want preregistration to begin at 16. “Early participation, getting preregistered, is important because democracy works best when we’re all prepared to participate and make our voices heard,” said Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City. She testified to the House elections committee Tuesday on her House Bill 4569, which would make Michigan the 16th state to allow its citizens to preregister to vote when they turn 16. After preregistering, the voter would be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. Sixteen is a notable milestone in responsibility for young adults, Coffia explained, as they can get drivers licenses and are becoming civically engaged through high school government classes. Changing the law, she told fellow lawmakers, will increase young voter turnout.
- WEMU: Michigan House panel opens hearings on elections bills: The state House Elections Committee opened hearings Tuesday on a package of voting rights bills. Some of these measures have been long sought by Democrats, such as making it easier to vote absentee. Some are part of implementing the voting rights amendment adopted by voters last year. One bill would allow 16-year-olds to pre-register, so they’re automatically added to voter rolls when they turn 18. Democratic Representative Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) is a bill sponsor. She also chairs the elections committee. She said 15 other states already allow pre-registration at 16 years old. “Mostly it has to do when they’re stepping into more adult responsibilities like driver’s license(s),” she said. Tsernoglou said local clerks learned a lot from dealing with COVID that should be carried over into future elections.
What Experts Are Saying
Andrew Weissmann, lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office, re: letter from Trump attorneys requesting meeting with Attorney General Garland: “This is the end of the road before an indictment. Standard practice to allow defense to make a presentation before deciding to charge. This is likely Trump’s effort to appeal after being rebuffed by Smith. Childish language notwithstanding.” Tweet
Harry Litman, former US attorney: “Sophisticated defense lawyers – and Trump still has one or two of those – understand that you ask for a meeting with the attorney general only as the very last step to stave off an indictment. That means team Trump expects the charges to come soon.” Tweet
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian at New York University: “Authoritarians always seek to discredit sectors of government and society that are devoted to investigation and impartial inquiry. That’s why intelligence services, which have their own histories of anti-democratic activity, can find their agents meeting the same fates as journalists, researchers, and prosecutors if the leader and his party fear they will expose his corruption or know too much about things he wants buried.” Lucid
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Washington Post: The deepening radicalization of Donald J. Trump
Atlantic: Four Forces Bind Trump’s Supporters More Tightly Than Ever
Trump Investigations
Washington Post: Trump’s mockery of the legal system
New York Times: Prosecutors Sought Records on Trump’s Foreign Business Deals Since 2017
Slate: Donald Trump’s Legal Team Is in Utter Turmoil
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Trump’s lawyers ask Fulton judge to let them respond to DA’s filing
January 6 And The 2020 Election
CBS: Jan. 6 defendant who put foot on desk in Pelosi’s office sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison
Associated Press: Officers describe chaos, fear on Jan. 6 as judge weighs prison time for Oath Keepers’ Stewart Rhodes
New York Times: Texas Man Who Tried to Breach Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6 Gets 7 Years
Opinion
New York Times: Is the Surge to the Left Among Young Voters a Trump Blip or the Real Deal?
New York Times: What Has Trump Cost American Christianity?
New York Times: Neil Gorsuch Has Given Himself Away
In the States
Miami Herald: Miami ordered to draw new voting map months before elections for 3 commission seats
KUAR: Second suit challenges racial ‘gerrymandering’ in Arkansas’ congressional redistricting
Associated Press: North Carolina gerrymander ruling gives electoral gift to GOP in Congress
