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(Apr. 8, 2024) — by Joseph DeMaio The writer first presents text from Paul Clement and Neal Katyal’s 2015 subject essay followed by his own commentary in bold, indented text. Page breaks in the original C&K text are indicated in brackets.] Deep Dive Part 3 “While the field of candidates for the next presidential election is still taking shape, at least one potential candidate, Senator Ted Cruz, was born in a Canadian hospital to a U.S. citizen mother.15 Despite the happenstance of a birth across the border, there is no question that Senator Cruz has been a citizen from birth...

VIDEOLiberals in general and at MSNBC in particular are now in the "freak out stage" over what to them is the maddening DELAY of President Trump's J6 trial due to his immunity appeal. If you don't believe me then you can hear them say they are freaking out in this MSNBC show hosted by Jen Psaki in which guests Neal Katyal and Andrew Weissman declare their panic attack freak out status.

A win for Geraldine Tyler, who is now 94 years old, would be a win for property rights.The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a consequential case. The query before the justices: Was it unconstitutional when the government seized a woman's home over an unpaid tax bill, sold it for more than the amount of the debt, and then kept the profit? It may sound like a slam dunk case. Over the last several years, it has not been. But yesterday's arguments provided both a glimmer of optimism for the state of property rights in the U.S., as well...

Neal Katyal, a former Justice Department official, thinks former President Donald Trump's written response to the House panel's intention to subpoena him looks like an insanity defense. Katyal — a law professor and an Obama-era acting solicitor general — made an appearance on NBC on Sunday, three days after the House panel investigating the Capitol riot unanimously voted to subpoena Trump. The subpoena will compel the former president to cooperate with the committee or be held in contempt of Congress and referred to the DOJ for prosecution — much like Trump allies Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. [snip] Katyal also...

Derek Chauvin could not afford an attorney to appeal his convictions in the case of George Floyd. Chauvin’s insurance did not extend to appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court denied him a public defender. Although I thought Chauvin could not have received a fair trial in Hennepin County, it looked like he wouldn’t be able to raise the issue on appeal either. I put out the call on Power Line for some member of the Minnesota bar to represent Chauvin on appeal. In the best tradition of the American legal profession, my friend Bill Mohrman answered the call. Chauvin’s legal...

Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said Friday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that the “rot” that led to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, was not just from former President Donald Trump but other leaders who should be investigated by the Department of Justice. Guest-host anchor Jason Johnson said, “We’re starting to see more incriminating evidence leak out. We’re seeing just how deep the plan to steal the election of 2020 was. Newly revealed text messages obtained by CNN show Senator Mike Lee and Congressman Chip Roy going right to Mark Meadows in full support of the claims of...

FROM THE OP -ED BY NEAL KATYAL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES That’s why our founders wrote the impeachment clause to be broader than criminal activity. Many crimes are not impeachable (jaywalking, for example). Other activity isn’t necessarily criminal but is obviously a basis for impeachment (not defending the United States against a foreign attack).For our founders, the touchstone of presidential unfitness to serve was always abuse of the public trust. They viewed the president as having a fiduciary obligation to the American people — just like trustees — and if the president violated that duty, he should be impeached....

Neal Katyal, who helped draft the special counsel rules as a Justice Department lawyer in the late 1990s, said Friday that Attorney General William Barr can and should release special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report. Katyal, in an op-ed in The Washington Post, wrote that there are no regulations preventing Barr from publicizing Mueller’s findings, which were delivered to Barr late Friday afternoon. “The public has every right to see Robert S. Mueller III’s conclusions. Absolutely nothing in the law or the regulations prevents the report from becoming public. Indeed, the relevant sources of law give Attorney General P. William...

ustice Department on So-called ”Al Qaeda Seven”: We Will Not Participate in An Attempt to Drag People’s Names Through the Mud March 03, 2010 4:19 PM For several weeks, Republican lawmakers and a conservative group have been attacking the Justice Department for refusing to reveal the names of nine officials who have in some way advocated for or represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay. "The administration has made many highly questionable decisions when it comes to national security, " Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a recent statement, arguing that the public has “a right to know who advises the Attorney...

President Obama on Thursday nominated a former CIA officer and longtime lawyer who examined missteps in U.S. intelligence to be the spy agency’s next inspector general, hoping to fill a position at the watchdog office that’s been vacant for more than a year. If confirmed by the Senate, Shirley Woodward would fill the role left empty since David Buckley stepped down from in January 2015, on the heels of a landmark determination that CIA officials had gained unauthorized access to Senate computer files. Lawmakers called the episode a potential violation of constitutional separation of powers, and the spat led to...

We have both had the privilege of heading the Office of the Solicitor General during different administrations. We may have different ideas about the ideal candidate in the next presidential election, but we agree on one important principle: voters should be able to choose from all constitutionally eligible candidates, free from spurious arguments that a U.S. citizen at birth is somehow not constitutionally eligible to serve as President simply because he was delivered at a hospital abroad. The Constitution directly addresses the minimum qualifications necessary to serve as President. In addition to requiring thirty-five years of age and fourteen years...

A lawyer who came to prominence for his full-throated defense of a subsequently convicted terrorist was quietly promoted to the No. 3 slot at the Department of Justice last month, a post that puts him in charge of the administration’s policy regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees. The move has raised red flags on Capitol Hill and elsewhere among national security stalwarts who argue that the promotion could imperil the country’s longstanding war on terrorism.

Sufyan Ben Qumu was classified as a 'medium to high' national security risk before his release from American custody Qumu reportedly was Osama bin Laden's driver and worked for the al-Qaeda founder's company in Sudan Libyans promised to keep him behind bars, but he was released in 2010 Qumu was a former Libyan army tank driver and became a leader of the rebels during the uprising A former al-Qaeda terrorist released from Guantanamo Bay is believed to be the leader of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the US Ambassador, it was...

Vice President Biden doubled down on the bad intelligence excuse in last night's debate when the question of the deaths of American personnel in Libya was raised. Among other stories today, Senator Bob Corker and The Daily Beast's Eli Lake apparently seem to know at lot more about what happened in Benghazi that night than the President and Vice President. Senator Corker will become the senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee next year. The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin reports: This week he had extensive meetings with the FBI and intelligence officials on the ground in Benghazi as well as...

Seven years after the release of shocking images of tortured prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the Supreme Court has turned back the appeal of 26 inmates from that infamous facility who wanted to sue two military contractors for damages. The military's official investigation revealed "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" committed by military personnel and civilian contractors who provided support services at the prison. More than two dozen soldiers were reprimanded or court-martialed for their conduct. But those who were tortured want to sue two firms that hired the civilians who helped the military with...

A top Obama administration lawyer defending last year's healthcare law ran into skeptical questions Wednesday from three federal judges here, who suggested they may be ready to declare all or part of the law unconstitutional. And in an ominous sign for the administration, the judges opened the arguments by saying they knew of no case in American history where the courts had upheld the government's power to force someone to buy a product. "I can't find any case like this," said Chief Judge Joel Dubina of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. "If we uphold this, are there any limits"...

The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a court ruling that greatly diminished the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ability to police the airwaves for indecency. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal filed a certiorari petition ahead of Thursday's deadline after previously filing for two extensions. The administration is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision that struck down the FCC's indecency policy last July. The court ruled that the FCC's policy against fleeting expletives on live television, instituted in 2004 after U2 frontman Bono used an expletive during the 2003 Golden Globes,...

Senator Schumer is pretty sure that the Supreme Court is not one of the equal but separate branches of government, so as such it’s possible that Chuck’s advised the White House that they have the power to tell the Supreme Court what to do: The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Monday night it should stay away from a high-profile challenge to the 2010 health care law until after a lower court has had a chance to review the case. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal wrote, “there is no basis for short-circuiting the normal course of appellate review.” Katyal...

The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Monday night it should stay away from a high-profile challenge to the 2010 health care law until after a lower court has had a chance to review the case. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal wrote, "there is no basis for short-circuiting the normal course of appellate review." Katyal also says Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's case is problematic because he may lack sufficient standing to challenge the health care law.

Attorney General Eric Holder says nine Obama appointees in the Justice Department have represented or advocated for terrorist detainees before joining the Justice Department. But he does not reveal any names beyond the two officials whose work has already been publicly reported. And all the lawyers, according to Holder, are eligible to work on general detainee matters, even if there are specific parts of some cases they cannot be involved in. Holder's admission comes in the form of an answer to a question posed last November by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. Noting that one Obama appointee, Principal Deputy Solicitor General...