Voting rights advocates have for years tried to formulate a legal test the Supreme Court could use to determine whether a partisan gerrymander was so extreme as to be unconstitutional. If such a test could be devised, they hoped, the Court might issue an opinion reining in extreme partisan gerrymandering. Their past attempts have been unsuccessful, but the justices have offered up opinions in various dissents and concurrences about what might work.
Since Barr wrote Congress a murky missive on Sunday outlining what he learned from the Mueller report, the media and political world have been flooded with a torrent of bad faith claims. Here’s more on that and other stories we’re following.
Let’s start with some military strategy. In the late 19th and early 20th century, German military strategy, influenced by the work of the historian Hans Delbrück, became obsessed with the distinction between Ermattungsstrategie (exhausting strategy or more loosely attrition strategy) and Niederwerfungsstrategie (knockout strategy). This distinction played itself out in history with the German military repeatedly trying to win knock-out wars (famously in the blitzkriegs of World War II) but finding itself bogged down in wars of attrition (in the trench warfare of the Great War and the slaughter-house of the Eastern Front in World War II). This is far outside my field of expertise but it could be that being so oriented to a knockout war made the Germany army less adept at wars of attrition.
The Daily Beast has a good run down of internal angst in the Republican Party over Trump’s decision to push for full repeal of Obamacare. On the face of it, this seems like a self-defeating decision, one made in the face of opposition from members of Trump’s own cabinet. After all, opposition to previous efforts to repeal Obamacare fuelled mass protests that roiled Trump’s presidency and were a major factor in the Democrats retaking the House in the midterms.
There is a very short Daily Beast article that is making the rounds. The headline reads: “Obama Warns New House Dems That Liberal Policies Like the Green New Deal Are Very Expensive.” A funny thing happens if you read the article instead of just the headline.
Mike Lee takes Senatorial iconology to a new level:
WATCH: Sen. Mike Lee uses Reagan, a machine gun, and a velociraptor to argue against @AOC's Green New Deal https://t.co/q30t3Johaq pic.twitter.com/hluEacyvNE
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 26, 2019
One of the difficulties in covering the Trump administration, which the media has yet to solve, is that it is breathtakingly mendacious and constantly willing to make up stories out of whole cloth. Here’s an example which got lost amid the Mueller news: outright fabrication about a failed attempt by Trump to unilaterally change policy on North Korean sanctions.
In his narrative-molding letter to Congress on Sunday, Attorney General Bill Barr suggested that much of the Mueller report — but not all — will eventually be released.
Oral arguments begin this morning on three cases the Supreme Court will hear as it continues to weigh whether partisan gerrymandering is constitutional. Tierney Sneed is at the Court. Here’s more on that and other stories we’re following.
Newly emboldened by the end of the Mueller investigation and claiming vindication, Donald Trump is returning to an ambitious policy goal that he had previously been defeated at: completely eliminating the Affordable Care Act. This is something that Trump failed to do even when Republicans had control of both houses of congress. But now the Trump Administration hopes to achieve this goal via the courts.
Monica Lewinsky on Wednesday retweeted a post by law professor Orin Kerr, who mused about what might have happened if the infamous Starr Report had been handled the same way special counsel Robert Mueller’s report has been treated by the Trump administration.
Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos told Reuters on Tuesday that his lawyers applied for a pardon from President Trump and, after serving his 14-day jail sentence, he’s mulling withdrawing his guilty plea for lying to the FBI.
The tweet stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s actions in court on Monday.
Trump: "Yes" Robert Mueller acted honorably. pic.twitter.com/hOnnLFvDeL
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) March 25, 2019
After Attorney General Bill Barr released his brief summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr called for Barr to release as much from the report as possible.
No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019
In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future.
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019
The Special Counsel did not find any collusion and did not find any obstruction. AG Barr and DAG Rosenstein further determined there was no obstruction. The findings of the Department of Justice are a total and complete exoneration of the President of the United States.”
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) March 24, 2019
Dan Scavino, the White House social media director, sent this from his personal Twitter account:
FACT — As we’ve been saying for the past two years>>>>
“The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election."
— Dan Scavino🇺🇸 (@DanScavino) March 24, 2019
As we already knew, NO COLLUSION! Nothing different from what President @realDonaldTrump has been saying for the past TWO YEARS!!!
— Dan Scavino🇺🇸 (@DanScavino) March 24, 2019
The House Judiciary Committee on Sunday published the letter it received from Attorney General William Barr with his summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report. Read the letter below or here.