INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia
DACA:
>> Trump may leave DACA in place for six months to allow Congress to act. President Trump has tentatively decided to leave the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program intact for six months to give Congress time to find a legislative solution, aides said Monday, a delaying tactic likely to please neither side in the bitter debate over immigration. Aides cautioned that Trump could change his mind before Tuesday, when the White House says he will announce whether he will keep the Obama-era program going, or expose to deportation about 800,000 immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children. As of Monday, it was unclear whether Trump will firmly commit to ending the DACA program after six months, begin allowing existing work permits to expire or simply revisit the matter at that time.
>> Attorneys general from New York and Washington state have threatened to sue if Pres. Trump ends DACA. Attorneys general from New York and Washington state have threatened legal action against the White House amid reports that President Trump will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program Tuesday. Attorneys General Bob Ferguson of Washington and Eric Schneiderman of New York issued statements today condemning the expected policy change, which Trump has been considering for months.
MENENDEZ TRIAL:
>> Menendez Trial Set to Begin With Tensions High and Washington. (NY Times) — NEWARK — For the first time in 36 years, a sitting United States Senator is facing a federal bribery trial, one that comes as a bitterly divided Congress reconvenes amid the unrelenting turbulence of the Trump administration. Since his indictment more than two years ago, Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, and last week he reiterated that. “I am going to be exonerated,” he said in a brief interview on Wednesday with reporters following a rally protesting President Trump’s immigration policies. Mr. Menendez is charged with 12 corruption-related counts, including six counts of bribery and three counts of honest services fraud.
>> Judge Rejects Menendez’s Request To Delay His Corruption Trial Because He’s A Senator (Daily Caller) — A federal judge in New Jersey rejected Sen. Bob Menendez’s request to allow breaks in his criminal trial in order to fulfill his Senate duties, excoriating the senator for seeking “special treatment.” Menendez’s lawyers filed a motion requesting that his upcoming criminal trial take recesses any time the senator is needed in Washington on official business. They argued that forcing the senator to leave an ongoing trial to attend to congressional business would violate his due process rights. “A trial taking place during a session of Congress risks involuntarily denying Senator Menendez his rights to due process and confrontation, unless he elects to forego his constitutional duty to cast his vote on critical issues pending before Congress so that he can be present in the courtroom,” his lawyers argued. U.S. District Judge William Walls appeared irritated by the request in a Friday order dismissing the motion.
COMEY
>> CONFIRMED: Comey Decided He Wasn’t Going to Refer Hillary For Prosecution Long Before FBI Investigation Was (Katie Pavlich/TownHall) — According to new transcripts released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday afternoon, former FBI Director James Comey made the decision not to refer then Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for prosecution long before ever interviewing key witnesses. Members of the Committee allege Comey made the decision months before FBI agents were finished with the criminal investigation into her mishandling of classified information during her time as Secretary of State. The transcripts were revealed in a letter sent to current FBI Director Christopher Wray, in which lawmakers are demanding an explanation and more documents surrounding the case.
