Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Take Up Census Citizenship Question

Supreme Court revives ban on transgender persons in the military: The Supreme Court yesterday revived the Trump administration’s policy of banning most transgender people from serving in the military. In a 5-4 vote, the justices lifted nationwide injunctions that had kept the administration’s policy from being implemented. The policy makes exceptions for several hundred transgender people already serving openly and for those willing to serve “in their biological sex.” Similar cases will continue to move through lower courts and could eventually reach the Supreme Court again. However the fact that five justices were willing to allow the policy to take effect for now makes it more likely that the policy will ultimately be upheld.  New York Times, Washington Post, Task & Purpose, Associated Press
 
Supreme Court takes no action on DACA: The Supreme Court took no action on Tuesday on the Trump administration’s plans to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the program that shields roughly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The court’s inaction indicates that it will not hear the administration’s challenge in its current term, which ends this June. The court’s move leaves DACA in place and takes away some of President Trump’s negotiating leverage - Trump has said he wanted to use a Supreme Court victory in the case in negotiations with Democrats over immigration issues and funding for a border wall. Trump tried to end DACA in 2017, calling it an unconstitutional use of executive power by President Obama. New York Times
 
Supreme Court allows foreign company to file sealed appeal papers: The Supreme Court yesterday allowed redacted and sealed court documents to be filed by an anonymous foreign government-owned company that wants to avoid turning over information in an investigation that is widely thought to be led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The unnamed country is fighting a grand jury subpoena and a $50,000-a-day fine for not complying with the subpoena. The court said it would allow the company's application for a stay the subpoena, as well as for any responses to be filed without the public seeing all or some of the documents. Several areas of the filing are blacked out, including the names of the attorneys representing the company, and the "corporate disclosure statement." In an unsealed portion, lawyers for the firm said that that the Supreme Court "should reverse" a federal appeals court ruling upholding the subpoena "before it upsets foreign relations in a way that an American judicial decision never should." CNBC, CNN, Associated Press
 
Mueller reportedly investigating Trump campaign ties to NRA: Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has reportedly expressed interest in the Trump campaign's relationship with the NRA during the 2016 campaign. "When I was interviewed by the special counsel's office, I was asked about the Trump campaign and our dealings with the NRA," said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide. The special counsel's team was reportedly curious to learn more about how Donald Trump and his operatives first formed a relationship with the NRA and how Trump ended up speaking at the group's annual meeting in 2015. Nunberg's comments about his interview with Mueller's team last February offers the first indication that the special counsel has been probing the Trump campaign's ties to the NRA. CNN
 
Democrats to ask Whitaker if the White House interfered in Mueller’s probe: The House Judiciary Committee sent a list of questions to acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker on Tuesday in advance of his testimony before the committee on February 8. Based off the questions, the committee is seeking to find out if Whitaker has ever been briefed on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian interference into the 2016 election and, if so, whether Whitaker shared any such information with President Trump or his lawyers. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), noted in the letter that the questions “relate to whether there has been interference with the special counsel’s work. They do not relate to the underlying substance” of Mueller’s investigation. The committee’s Democrats also plan to ask about Whitaker’s announcement that he would not recuse himself from overseeing the Russia probe despite a Justice Department ethics official’s recommendation to the contrary. Washington Post
 
Senate to vote on dueling government funding bills: Senate leadership on Tuesday struck a deal to vote on dueling proposals to reopen the federal government later this week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) set up two votes for Thursday afternoon, both of which will require 60 votes to advance. The first vote will be on President Trump's proposal to to reopen the government, provide $5.7 billion in funding for the border wall, and extend legal protections to some immigrants for three years. If that fails, the Senate would then vote on a three-week continuing resolution. There is no guarantee that either bill can get the necessary votes to pass and break the political stalemate that has closed roughly a quarter of the government for over a month. However, the deal between McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) is the first sign of movement after weeks of entrenched back-and-forth. The Hill, CNN, New York Times
Related:
The Hill: McConnell Blocks Bill to Temporarily Reopen DHS
 
FBI Agents Association warns shutdown imperils investigations: The FBI Agents Association, an organization representing thousands of FBI special agents, said yesterday that the partial government shutdown is hindering federal law enforcement operations. The organization said the shutdown is limiting investigators’ ability to pay confidential informants and witnesses at criminal trials. They also said that the shutdown is curbing the bureau’s ability to hire translators, paralegals, and other support personnel. FBI agents and support staff, deemed essential to national security and federal law enforcement, have been working without pay since the beginning of the shutdown. In a report issued Tuesday, Bureau employees working on drug cases or in counterterrorism or counterespionage described being unable to pay their informants used to gather evidence and intelligence. Wall Street Journal, NBC News, CNN
 
Top diplomat for European affairs resigns: A. Wess Mitchell, the top diplomat in charge of European affairs, will resign from the State Department next month, creating a key vacancy at a time when European leaders are questioning President Trump’s commitment to historic alliances. Mitchell cited personal and professional reasons in a January 4 letter of resignation that he submitted to Secretary of State Pompeo. In an interview, Mitchell said his resignation is not a protest of the administration’s policies or the direction of foreign policy. Washington Post
 
D.C. Circuit hears al-Nashiri appeal: The D.C Circuit on Tuesday heard the appeal of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the accused mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. During the proceedings, Nashiri’s defense attorney, Michel Paradis, argued that military judge Air Force Col. Vance Spath had breached the code of ethics because he applied to the DOJ for an immigration judgeship while presiding over Nashiri’s case from 2014 to 2018. Paradis said the D.C. Circuit must therefore dismiss Spath’s rulings in the case.
Contending that the judge’s conduct raised questions of potential bias that “shock the conscience,” Paradis called this especially concerning as Spath got the job while at a time when the DOJ under Attorney General Jeff Sessions was focused on wrapping up Nashiri’s case. Justice Department attorney Joseph Palmer urged the court to send the case back to the trial level, where the new judge handling the case  could weigh the issues, examine the motions on which Spath ruled, develop a record and decide how to proceed. Courthouse News
 
Michigan residents arrested for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan charged Muse Abdikadir Muse, Mohamud Abdikadir Muse and Mohamed Salat Haji with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS in a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. The complaint alleges that all three men pledged allegiance to ISIS in homemade videos. It says Muse Abdikadir Muse, who was arrested at the Gerald R. Ford Airport in Grand Rapids after checking into a flight for a multi-leg journey to Somalia, purchased airline tickets to Mogadishu where he was allegedly planning to join ISIS. Mohamud Abdikadir Muse and Haji helped pay for the trip and drove him to the airport and were allegedly aware of the true purpose of the flight. The Hill, Lansing State Journal
 
Four charged in bomb plot against Muslim community in New York: Three men and a 16-year-old boy have been arrested after allegedly planning to bomb the Muslim community of Islamberg in upstate New York. The alleged plot was uncovered after the 16-year-old boy was reported to police in Greece, New York. He had reportedly showed a photo of a schoolmate who, he told others, looked "like the next school shooter." The remark was reported to school security. After interviewing the boy, police discovered that he was allegedly working with three men to attack Islamberg, a small enclave in the Catskill Mountains. The town was founded more than three decades ago by a group of black Muslims who follow the teachings of Pakistani Sufi cleric Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani. Investigators recovered three homemade bombs and nearly two dozen guns following the tip. Reuters, NBC News

U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan: A U.S. service member was reportedly killed in combat in Afghanistan yesterday. The U.S. military has not yet released additional details and U.S. Department of Defense policy mandates the withholding of the name of a service member killed in action for 24 hours after next of kin are notified. This is the second US service member killed in action in Afghanistan in 2019. Army Sgt. Cameron Meddock died last week at a medical facility in Germany after being wounded by small arms fire on January 13 during a combat operation in Badghis Province, Afghanistan. CNN
 
Afghanistan government says it killed Taliban mastermind of deadly attack: Afghanistan’s main spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), said today that it had killed the Taliban commander behind a deadly attack on an agency base this week in an airstrike on Tuesday night. The commander was identified only as Noman. The agency said Noman was the mastermind of Monday’s  attack on an NDS base in Maidan Wardak province, in which the NDS said 36 people were killed and 58 wounded. Other officials said the casualty toll was higher. The Taliban, in a statement, denied that the commander had been killed. Reuters

Russia displays new missile: Russia showed foreign military attaches and journalists a cruise missile system on Wednesday that the U.S. says breaches the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Washington has threatened to pull out of the INF, alleging that the new Russian missile, the Novator 9M729 (called SSC-8 by NATO), violates the pact, which bans either side from stationing short and intermediate-range land-based missiles in Europe. Russia says the missile’s range puts it outside the treaty altogether and is not as long as Washington alleges, meaning that it is fully compliant with the INF. Russia has accused the U.S. of inventing a false pretext to exit a treaty it wants to leave anyway. Reuters
Related:
Reuters: Germany: Russia Needs to Stop Violating INF so Treaty Can Survive
 
China demands U.S. drop Huawei extradition request with Canada: China on Tuesday demanded that the U.S. drop a request that Canada extradite Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of the tech giant Huawei, shifting blame to Washington in a case that has severely damaged Beijing’s relations with Ottawa. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Meng’s case was out of the ordinary and Canada’s extradition treaty with the U.S. infringed on the “safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens.” Hua said China demands that the U.S. withdraw the arrest warrant against Meng and “not make a formal extradition request to the Canadian side.” Meng is wanted for allegedly lying to banks as part of an effort to evade sanctions on Iran. Associated Press
 
Pence announces U.S. support to oust Maduro: Vice President Pence took to Twitter yesterday to voice his support for upcoming mass protests in Venezuela against President Nicolás Maduro. The move is the most explicit backing yet by the Trump administration as opposition leaders try to unseat Maduro. “We are with you,” Mr. Pence tweeted on Tuesday in both Spanish and English, adding, “we stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad.” Earlier this month, Maduro began his second term as president after being re-elected in an election widely condemned as fraudulent. Venezuela's congress, or National Assembly, is refusing to recognize him. New York Times, Reuters, NPR
Related:
Reuters: Venezuela's Maduro Orders Revision of Diplomatic Relations with U.S.
 
Deripaska could benefit from sanctions deal: The Trump administration's decision to lift sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska may have been even less punitive than originally conveyed by administration officials. A binding confidential document signed by both sides reportedly contains provisions that free Deripaska from hundreds of millions of dollars of debt while leaving him and his allies with majority ownership of his most important company. The confidential document, titled “Terms of Removal,” also shows that the agreement would leave allies of both Deripaska and the Kremlin with significant stakes in his companies. New York Times
 
EU sanctions four over Skripal poisoning: The EU earlier this week sanctioned two senior Russian military intelligence officials and two of their officers. All four are blamed for poisoning former Russian double agent Sergei V. Skripal in Britain last year. Moscow dismissed the sanctions as groundless. The men have denied any involvement in the poisoning, conducted by spraying a chemical weapon in Skripal’s front door, last March. New York Times