The fight over access to President Donald Trump’s tax returns could be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court in time for a decision before next fall’s election, under an agreement struck Monday between Trump’s attorneys and a local prosecutor in New York.
Trump’s lawyers agreed that if they lose a court battle scheduled for argument at the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, they will take no more than 10 days to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.
In exchange for Trump’s agreement to keep the legal fight moving at a brisk pace, lawyers from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office agreed to hold off trying to enforce a grand jury subpoena issued to one of Trump’s accounting firms in August.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a challenge to Republican-drawn electoral districts in Michigan that Democrats said were illegally configured to dilute their voting power, an action taken in the aftermath of major rulings by the justices in June prohibiting federal courts from hearing such claims.
[...]
The justices had put the panel’s decision on hold before they issued their rulings in the two major gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina. In a blow to election reformers, the justices found that federal courts have no role to play in reining in electoral map manipulation by politicians aimed at entrenching one party in power.
The Supreme Court on Oct. 7 threw out a similar case from Ohio in which a lower court had invalidated 16 Republican-drawn U.S. House districts that Democrats had said were drawn to unlawfully diminish their political clout.
An appeals court in San Francisco will hear arguments Wednesday in former Sheriff Joe Arpaio's bid to erase his contempt of court conviction from his record after he was pardoned by President Donald Trump.
The former six-term sheriff of metro Phoenix had appealed a lower-court ruling that refused to expunge his conviction for disobeying a 2011 court order barring his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.
The judge who made the ruling explained pardons don't erase convictions or the facts of cases and that Arpaio's clemency only mooted his possible punishments.
Arpaio's lawyers had previously told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the lawman was deprived of his opportunity to appeal his conviction because the pardon came before he was sentenced and final judgment was entered, so the conviction must be erased.
Special prosecutor Christopher Caldwell argues Arpaio gave up his right to appeal the conviction when he accepted the August 2017 pardon — and that if the former sheriff wanted to challenge the conviction, he should have rejected the clemency and taken his chances in the appeals court.
Republicans trying to “storm the SCIF†pic.twitter.com/aDUiB73Ha0
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 23, 2019
Quote by Scoopster:
Live stream audio: Trump v. Vance at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
Alrighty#FOIA
— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) October 23, 2019
(Grant Ankeny is the pseudonym Matthew Whitaker used for emails when he as acting AG) pic.twitter.com/UNqdpCqgyv
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) released evidence on Tuesday that the Justice Department buried the whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president by failing to refer the matter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Klobuchar suggested the Justice Department violated a longstanding agreement between the agencies to share information about possible campaign finance violations for potential enforcement action.
To recap: The whistleblower complaint at the heart of the impeachment inquiry didn’t just contain evidence that the president pressured a foreign government to help him win reelection. It also contained evidence of a potential campaign finance violation. When President Trump asked for dirt on his political opponent, he likely illegally solicited a “thing of value†from a foreign national.
Pompeo is handed a package of dog food by Italian journalist so US can learn to be faithful. pic.twitter.com/vENPE752ZO
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) October 23, 2019
🚨 Trump's attorney Consovoy just agreed that Trump could NOT be criminally investigated while in office if he shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, when pressed by Judge Chin.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 23, 2019
GOP Whip Thune on Taylor Ukraine testimony: “the picture coming out based on the reporting we’ve seen is not a good one. but I would say until we have a process that allows to see this with full transparency it’s pretty hard to come to hard and fast conclusionsâ€
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) October 23, 2019
Laura Cooper’s deposition is currently on hold while Republicans remain inside the SCIF apparently trying to negotiate a settlement with Schiff.
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) October 23, 2019
Source tells me the SCIF is now being swept because of the cell phone violations.
The Republican Party just stormed SCIF room with electronic devices that is prohibited. They have collect the electronic devices and @RepAdamSchiff is now speaking with Sergeant of Arms.
— Johnathan Ford (@FordJohnathan5) October 23, 2019
Dems say Cooper hearing is still stalled: Tom Malinowski just called this a “pathetic stuntâ€
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 23, 2019
It’s unclear when the Cooper hearing will start again since the members won’t leave the room
The GOP members are sitting there eating pizza right now, he said
OH boy: the House Sargent at Arms just walked into the SCIF...
— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) October 23, 2019
Quote by livingonli:
Someone I know was calling this a new version of the Brooks Brothers riot. (See Florida 2000).
Quote by Scoopster:OH boy: the House Sargent at Arms just walked into the SCIF...
— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) October 23, 2019
BREAKING ON CNN: The HOUSE Parliamentarian has RULED that the GOP who stormed the SCIF have broken congressional rules for interrupting a deposition and bringing their electronic devices into the room.
— Helen Armstrong (@HelenArmstrong5) October 23, 2019
CONSEQUENCES @NealKatyal @SpeakerPelosi @AdamSchiff @HouseDemocrats
Update: None of the GOP instigators are around anymore. Lawmakers are saying the deposition could begin this afternoon.
— Sam Brodey (@sambrodey) October 23, 2019
“The room,†said @RepCicilline, “is secure.â€