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Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith are seen in a combination of file photos in Washington, U.S., in 2023. REUTERS/Tasos Katopodis, Kevin Wurm/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. special counsel investigating Donald Trump obtained a search warrant for the former president's Twitter account in January and the company delayed complying, according to a U.S. appeals court opinion on Wednesday. The ruling said that Twitter had raised First Amendment concerns about a nondisclosure order issued over the warrant, as the company wanted to notify Trump about it. Prosecutors will often ask judges that targets of subpoenas issued in criminal probes not be notified in order to protect their investigations, a practice the appeals court cited in Wednesday's ruling. Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen and Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Donald Trump, Jack Smith, Tasos Katopodis, Kevin Wurm, Trump, Smith, Democrat Joe Biden, Jacqueline Thomsen, Kanishka Singh, Grant McCool Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, Twitter, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Trump, Department, Prosecutors, Capitol, Republican Trump, Democrat, Republican, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Washington

Special counsel Jack Smith, at the beginning of 2023, obtained a search warrant for the Twitter account of Donald Trump as part of his criminal investigation into the former president's effort to reverse his loss in the 2020 election, a federal appeals court decision revealed Wednesday. The appeals court ruling says Twitter completed its production of Trump's account information for Smith's office on Feb. 9. And Twitter argued that by keeping the warrant secret from Trump, he would be unable to shield communications made using his Twitter account from prosecutors by asserting executive privilege. The unanimous ruling against the company on all points was issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Twitter was bought last year by Elon Musk, the billionaire who also heads Tesla , and SpaceX.

Persons: Jack Smith, Donald Trump, Twitter, Trump, Michelle Childs, Florence Pan, Joe Biden, Cornelia Pillard, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Tesla, Joe Biden's DOJ Organizations: Twitter, Trump, Communications, U.S, Court, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, SpaceX

☆ Court Rejects New Sentencing for Al Qaeda Recruiter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a bid by a Yemeni prisoner at Guantánamo Bay to have a new military jury reconsider his life sentence for conspiring to commit war crimes as a propaganda chief for Al Qaeda and an aide to Osama bin Laden. Earlier appeals struck down two of the three crimes for which Ali Hamza al-Bahlul was convicted in 2008. His lawyer, Michel Paradis, had argued that a new sentencing jury should be assembled at the base to hear evidence and arguments on whether his remaining conspiracy conviction deserved a lesser sentence. Mr. Paradis also sought reconsideration of the sentence because, a year after Mr. Bahlul’s trial, Guantánamo’s military commission system was overhauled to explicitly prohibit the use of evidence “obtained by the use of torture or by cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.”A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that the sentence should stand and that the prisoner’s lawyers brought up the question of torture too late in the appellate process.

Persons: Osama bin Laden, Ali Hamza al, Bahlul, Michel Paradis, Paradis, Bahlul’s, “, ” Organizations: Al, U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit Locations: Guantánamo, Al Qaeda

The groups in 2022 had challenged the EPA’s decision not to reconsider its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding, which they claim has spurred climate regulations that drive up energy costs. David Wallace, the president of the FAIR Energy Foundation, said the groups are reviewing the decision and are considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The EPA’s endangerment finding was finalized in 2009, and determined that six greenhouse gasses, including carbon dioxide and methane, pose a danger to human health. The current challenge claims the finding is based on faulty science and that the EPA's refusal to reconsider it was arbitrary. v. EPA and FAIR Energy Foundation v. EPA, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, case Nos.

Persons: David Wallace, Harry MacDougald, Caldwell Carlson Elliott, DeLoach, Francis Menton, Brian Lynk, U.S . Department of Justice Read Organizations: Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council, FAIR Energy Foundation, U.S, Supreme, EPA, Electricity, U.S ., U.S . Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ FTC faces uphill battle in Microsoft/Activision appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In its appeal, the FTC said Corley's order allowing Microsoft to move ahead with the deal incorrectly held the agency to a legal standard that was too high. Some legal experts said the FTC had made a compelling argument, but also said there was no certainty for success. Antitrust scholar Sean Sullivan, who teaches at University of Iowa's law school, said an appeals court can modify or throw out a lower court opinion based on "errors of law." The appeals court is expected to move quickly. The appeals court "may be less than sympathetic with the argument it needs to hurry up and do something when the blame for the emergency lies entirely with the FTC," Ross said.

Persons: Jacqueline Scott Corley, Brad Smith, Kathleen Bradish, Bradish, Corley, Sean Sullivan, Sullivan, Douglas Ross, Ross, Mike Scarcella, Mark Potter Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade Commission's, Activision, U.S, Tuesday, Biden, San, Circuit, Appeals, U.S ., FTC, Microsoft, American Antitrust Institute, Antitrust, University of, Wild, of Columbia Circuit, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S

☆ Mountain Valley Pipeline Halted as Legal Wrangling Heats Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Coral Davenport | More About Coral Davenport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The LatestA federal court in Richmond has halted construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, setting off a battle with Congress that could end up at the Supreme Court. It was a highly unusual provision that was tucked into legislation that had nothing to do with pipelines — the law to raise the debt ceiling. Congress also included provisions to expedite construction of the pipeline and insulate it from judicial review. Those elements were added as a concession to Senator Joe Manchin III, the West Virginia Democrat whose vote has been crucial to President Biden’s domestic agenda. But environmentalists, Democratic members of the Virginia congressional delegation and some constitutional law experts argue that by directing a change in courts, Congress has violated the separation of powers clause in the Constitution.

Persons: Joe Manchin III, Biden’s Organizations: Supreme, U.S, Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Congress, U.S ., District of Columbia Circuit, West Virginia Democrat, Democratic Locations: Richmond, West Virginia, Virginia

☆ The elite Horatio Alger Association, which counts Clarence Thomas among its members, has repeatedly been given unusual access to the Supreme Court's courtroom: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Clarence Thomas' membership in the Horatio Alger Association gives it rare access, per the Times. The elite group welcomed Thomas into the fold after his stormy Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Thomas soon became a member of the Horatio Alger Association himself and cherished his ability to speak with students and mentor scholarship recipients. "They really treated him like a brother, like he mattered and, in return, he opened up the Supreme Court," Williams added. Thomas hosts the induction ceremony in the Supreme Court courtroom, where roughly 10 new individuals are welcomed into the elite organization.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Horatio Alger, Thomas, Anita Hill, Thomas —, District of Columbia Circuit —, Horatio, Ginni, Armstrong Williams, Williams, Tom Selleck, Lou Dobbs, —, Anthony Hutcherson, ProPublica, megadonor Harlan Crow Organizations: Horatio, Times, Service, Commission, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Distinguished, The New York Times, Horatio Alger Association, Judicial Conference Locations: Wall, Silicon, Virginia, Washington , DC, United States

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit by a group of congressional Democrats who had sought details about a government lease for a Washington hotel concerning when it was owned by former President Donald Trump. The court's action came after the lawmakers voluntarily dropped the case earlier this month. The justices had previously agreed to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to block the lawsuit. The lawmakers sought information about a 2013 lease of the Old Post Office building to the Republican former president's company to convert it into a hotel. RELATED CONTENT: L1N37C1HQ "U.S. Supreme Court to hear dispute over Democratic bid for Trump hotel documents"Reporting by John KruzelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden's, John Kruzel Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Monday, Democratic, General Services Administration, GSA, Post, Republican, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Department, Trump, Thomson Locations: Washington

☆ Debt Deal Includes a Green Light for a Contentious Pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Coral Davenport | Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The bill includes some other small steps aimed at getting energy projects of all types approved more quickly by modifying federal permitting policies under the National Environmental Policy Act. But opponents of the pipeline argue that completion was far from certain as several court cases are pending. A provision in the debt deal could deem those challenges moot, and would block any future lawsuits. The agreement would order federal agencies to approve any outstanding permits for the pipeline within 21 days and exempt those permits from judicial review. “This is an unprecedented end run around the courts, which have repeatedly rejected permits over M.V.P.’s failure to comply with basic environmental laws,” said Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club, which has challenged several permits related to the pipeline.

Persons: ”, Ben Jealous Organizations: National Environmental, White, Pipeline, U.S ., Appeals, Fourth Circuit, District of Columbia Circuit, Sierra Club Locations: Richmond, M.V.P

The opulent hotel with a soaring clock tower, located on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, opened shortly before Trump was elected in 2016. The hotel became a gathering spot for Trump supporters, lobbyists and foreign dignitaries, who Democrats and watchdog groups complained could patronize the hotel in order to curry favor with Trump when he was in office. Lawsuits accused Trump of violating the U.S. Constitution's anti-corruption provisions by maintaining ownership of his businesses including the Washington hotel while in office. The justices ordered those cases dismissed because they became moot with Trump leaving office in 2021 after his election loss to Biden, a Democrat. Some of the lawmakers who sued are no longer part of the committee while some others are no longer in Congress.

The case is the latest bid asking the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to rein in the authority of federal agencies. The companies are asking the Supreme Court to overturn its own decades-old precedent calling for judges to defer to federal agency interpretation of U.S. laws, a doctrine called "Chevron deference." The New England herring fishing regulations were issued by the fisheries service, part of the U.S. Commerce Department. The Biden administration said in court papers that the monitoring program will be suspended for the fishing year starting in April due to insufficient federal funding. The Supreme Court is due to hear the case in its next term, which begins in October.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the law, which instructed the U.S. Circuit said the law "makes clear" that those leases are no longer subject to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires a thorough look at environmental impacts of proposed major federal actions. Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda, who represented the environmental groups, said in a statement that the decision will harm Gulf communities and ecosystems. A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute called the order a “positive step toward more certainty and clarity for energy producers.”The Interior Department, which did not appeal the lower court decision, declined to comment. v. Debra Haaland et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, case No.

☆ State Attorneys General Lose Bid to Revive Facebook Antitrust Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jan Wolfe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Meta Platforms praised the ruling and said it would fight the Federal Trade Commission’s pending litigation. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg NewsWASHINGTON—An appeals court said it wouldn’t revive a major antitrust case against Meta Platforms Inc., handing a defeat to dozens of state attorneys general who sought to undo the Facebook parent’s acquisition of messaging platform WhatsApp and photo-sharing app Instagram. In a 3-0 decision on Thursday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a June 2021 ruling that dismissed the case.

☆ Judges Deny Donald Trump’s Bid to Block Mike Pence’s Testimony Surrounding Jan. 6
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence was subpoenaed earlier this year by special counsel Jack Smith. Photo: Caroline Brehman/ShutterstockWASHINGTON—A federal appeals court paved the way late Wednesday for former Vice President Mike Pence to appear before the grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. In a sealed decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Mr. Trump’s emergency bid to prevent Mr. Pence from testifying in the criminal inquiry, dealing the latest setback to the former president as he confronts a swirl of legal scrutiny.

☆ Opinion | How the Oklahoma City Bombing Case (and the O.J. Simpson Case) Shaped Merrick Garland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jeffrey Toobin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

A few days after he arrived in Oklahoma, Mr. Garland served as prosecutor in Mr. McVeigh’s bail hearing. The Justice Department was embarrassed by its failure to catch the mysterious perpetrator, and Ms. Gorelick told Mr. Garland to take over, which he did. For the trials of Mr. McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing, Mr. Garland helped select a prosecution team led by Joseph Hartzler and Larry Mackey, who never became as famous as the O.J. A fair verdict on Mr. Garland should await the outcome of Mr. Smith’s work. (In my interview with him, Mr. Garland not only refused to draw any comparisons between Mr. McVeigh and the Capitol rioters but also refused even to utter the words “January 6.”)

☆ Attorney for former President Trump appears before grand jury
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on education as he holds a campaign rally with supporters, in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's attorney Evan Corcoran appeared on Friday before a federal grand jury investigating the former U.S. president's retention of classified documents after he left the White House in January 2021. Corcoran and his attorney Michael Levy entered the federal courthouse in Washington and went to the third floor where the grand jury typically meets. In May 2022, Trump received a grand jury subpoena ordering him to turn over any records with classified markings, and officials from the Justice Department and FBI met with Trump's attorneys in June to enforce the subpoena. That claim later proved to be false, after the FBI discovered about 100 additional classified records among some 13,000 government documents in its Aug. 8 search.

☆ Trump rape defamation trial postponed, judge rejects E. Jean Carroll cases consolidation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

E. Jean Carroll visits 'Tell Me Everything' with John Fugelsang in the SiriusXM Studios on July 11, 2019 in New York. A spokesman for Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan — who is not related to the judge — declined to comment on the order. Judge Lewis Kaplan also denied a joint request by lawyers for Trump and Carroll to consolidate her two pending civil lawsuits against Trump into a single trial. Carroll's second suit, filed late last year, also alleges defamation and makes a legal claim of battery against Trump for the alleged rape itself. Trump during a deposition by Carroll's lawyers mistook a photo of Carroll for his ex-wife, Marla Maples.

The justices will hear the case during the court's next term, which begins in October. The case is the latest to come before the Supreme Court seeking to rein in the authority of federal agencies. The CFPB, which enforces consumer financial laws, was created after the 2008 financial crisis as part of a federal law known as the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. A Democratic-led Congress in 2010 set up the agency to draw funding annually from the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, which last fiscal year transferred around $642 million to the consumer protection agency. The court heard arguments in November in two other cases involving agency power.

☆ Washington court paves way for Albertsons' $4 bln dividend, declines to review case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Washington Supreme Court made the decision after a lower court judge refused last month to issue a preliminary injunction against the dividend. The Washington attorney general's office in November sued to block the dividend, arguing that it would weaken Albertsons before Kroger's $25 billion purchase. The merger proposal will be reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission, which polices merger and acquisition activity for compliance with antitrust law. In a statement, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his office was "surprised and disappointed the Supreme Court decided not to hear this case." Chief executives of the two grocers in November defended the $25 billion proposed tie-up at a hearing before a U.S. congressional committee.

☆ Justice Jackson working on a memoir, titled ‘Lovely One’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.”“Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday by Random House. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. Jackson joined the court last year after President Joe Biden named her to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a deal with the Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel.

☆ Supreme Court keeps in place Trump-era immigration policy allowing asylum-seekers to be quickly turned away
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Lawrencehurley_Pic.Jpg | Lawrence Hurley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The court voted 5-4 to grant an emergency request by 19 Republican state attorneys general who sought to intervene in defense of the policy. The brief court order said that while the administration cannot set aside the Title 42 policy, the decision "does not prevent the federal government from taking any action with respect to that policy." Gavin Newsom, has warned that the system for handling migrants seeking asylum would “break” if Title 42 is ended. Chief Justice John Roberts on Dec. 19 placed a temporary hold on Sullivan’s ruling while the Supreme Court weighed its next steps. Title 42, named after a section of U.S. law, gives the federal government power to take emergency action to keep diseases out of the country.

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday placed a temporary hold on a lower court ruling that would end a Trump-era immigration policy implemented during the pandemic to allow asylum-seekers to be quickly turned away at the border. The brief order came after Republican-led states asked the Supreme Court to keep the policy in place. Roberts ordered that the federal district court ruling, which was due to go into effect on Wednesday, be put on hold until the Supreme Court acts. He asked the Biden administration and groups challenging the policy to file a response to the states' request by Tuesday afternoon. The appeals court said in its order last week that the states had waited too long before attempting to intervene.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoDec 7 (Reuters) - Donald Trump should be immune from civil lawsuits over last year's siege on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, a lawyer for the former president told a federal appeals court on Wednesday. Democrats in Congress and police officers filed several lawsuits over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack that said Trump conspired with others to disrupt certification of the 2020 election results. But he reiterated that civil lawsuits should be barred because they could make other presidents vulnerable to future litigation over their speech. Joseph Sellers, arguing in defense of the lawsuits, said Trump does not have immunity because his actions disrupted the work of another branch of government. Several members of Congress who are suing Trump attended Wednesday's arguments, including Democrats Eric Swalwell and Pramila Jayapal.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump's last-ditch plea to block the release of his tax records to House Democrats, paving the way for their possible disclosure to the lawmakers. Earlier this month, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked the Ways and Means panel from accessing Trump’s tax records while the court decided how to act on Trump’s request. House Democrats, as well as the Biden administration, urged the court to reject Trump's request, saying their demand for the tax documents reflected a valid legislative purpose. Democrats have been calling for Trump to release his tax returns ever since the 2016 presidential campaign. While no law requires presidential candidates to release their tax returns, it has become the norm for both Democrats and Republicans to do so.

But now the states' motion sets the stage for a protracted legal battle that throws the future of the policy in doubt. A record number of migrants have been apprehended at the border since Biden took office in January 2021 and Republicans say ending Title 42 will draw even more crossers. After Sullivan's ruling, the Biden administration said it was making plans to manage the border without the order. The states said in their motion to intervene in the case that border states like Arizona and Texas would face "increased migrant flows" and that wherever migrants end up, "they will impose financial burdens on the states involuntarily hosting them." The states could also take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, where there is a majority of conservative justices.

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