Station Selected:
With the headlines-grabbing news this week of the discovery of classified documents in the former office and current home of the President, a legal analysis of what we know and what we don’t, including the critical investigative questions in this (and any other “intent-focused”) inquiry—all affirming the fundamental notion that no one is above the law. That review leads necessarily to an early evaluation of the significant factual and legal differences between the Biden file and the Trump matter, focusing on the former President’s taking and retention at Mar-a-Lago of thousands of documents, about 100 of them classified in nature. Adding to Donald Trump’s broad circle of litigation and other legal challenges, a summary of his recent deposition testimony in the defamation lawsuit brought against him by E. Jean Carroll; the revelation that former senior advisor Rudy Giuliani has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, perhaps in connection with its investigation of the Trump-founded “Save America Pac”; the status of and important developments in the criminal trial of the Proud Boys for their involvement in the January 6 insurrection; and the parallels to the investigation of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for his possible criminal incitement of the recent mob attack on legislative and other government offices in Brasilia.
Returning to the all-important landscape-changing activities of the United States Supreme Court, at least three notable events this past week—namely, the (interim/non-final) decision of the Justices not to overturn the decision of a lower appeals court, upholding a newly-enacted New York law imposing restrictions on the open/public carry use of firearms; the refusal of the High Court to overturn the dismissal of an action by a private citizen against Members of Congress, alleging that they stole his vote by identifying President Biden as the winner of the 2020 election; and the identification by SCOTUS of eight additional cases for its review in this judicial term. Among those, yet another case testing the scope and breadth of religious rights (under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the First Amendment) when matched against the legitimate operational requirements of government business—this one, involving a former postal worker who sought a special accommodation to be released from work on the Sabbath (Sundays).
