Trump Watch: Barr is Raised | A Guide to Mueller's Filing Friday
Welcome back to Trump Watch, your weekly guide to Donald Trump and the law. In this edition: the president’s choice for attorney general, the Mueller team’s busy Friday, and new faces at the White House counsel’s office.
Just as this newsletter was going out Friday morning, the president had some news to share: Bill Barr, the conservative Washington, D.C., lawyer and of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis, will be his choice to be U.S. attorney general. It would be a familiar role for Barr, who of course headed up the Justice Department from 1991-1993, during the George H.W. Bush administration.
Trump’s announcement on Barr comes exactly one month after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned, under pressure from the White House. Barr would replace acting AG Matthew Whitaker, whose installation atop DOJ has generated much controversy and is being challenged in federal courts.
The veteran lawyer, if confirmed, would also step in during a fraught time for the Justice Department, which oversees special counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation and is often at the center of the president’s aspersions.
Here’s our first take on Barr—including his thoughts on Sessions’ tenure, the president’s calls to investigate his political rival, and the Justice Department's decision to challenge the blockbuster AT&T-Time Warner merger.
Filing Friday
Special counsel Robert Mueller III’s office normally operates in silence. His prosecutors tend to keep a low profile, and they rarely, if ever, reveal clues about the state of the investigation.
But the public might get the rare glimpse into the special counsel’s work today. Mueller’s office is expected to unveil new details about its interactions with two former members of Trump’s inner circle: Michael Cohen, the president's former personal attorney, and Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of his presidential campaign.
In New York, federal prosecutors will recommend a sentence for Cohen, in filings that will likely shed light on how much he has shared with the government. The last time we heard from Cohen, he admitted in Manhattan federal court to lying to Congress about details of the Trump Organization's pursuit of a real estate deal in Moscow.
Down in Washington, D.C., the special counsel’s team is expected to explain to a federal judge how Manafort’s cooperation with the U.S. went sour. Their court filing will outline how the former Trump campaign chairman and longtime lobbyist allegedly lied to federal authorities, which they describe as a violation of his September plea deal. Manafort’s attorneys have denied he broke his agreement.
The twin filings are likely to add onto what we've already learned this week. They're coming days after prosecutors revealed how Mike Flynn, the ex-national security adviser under Trump, provided “substantial assistance” to federal authorities.
In a sentencing memo filed in Washington, D.C., federal court, they said Flynn has aided in at least a criminal investigation—the details of which were hidden behind redactions—as well as the special counsel’s investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Overall, he has participated in 19 interviews with federal prosecutors, the special counsel said, recommending a non-prison sentence for Flynn. It’s a signal unlikely to be lost on other individuals who’ve been entangled in Mueller’s probe: early cooperation with the U.S. could reap rewards.
What comes after today’s filings? Cohen will be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Dec. 12. Manafort and his attorneys—Kevin Downing, Richard Westling, and Thomas Zehnle—will propose a timetable for their response. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing his case in Washington, D.C., set a tentative sentencing date for March, though that could change. Speaking in Jackson’s courtroom last week, special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann also told her they’re still weighing more potential charges against Manafort.
What else is happening: Two other people wrapped up in the larger Russia probe will be busy today. George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser who previously pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators, was released from federal prison in Wisconsin. Former F.B.I. Director Jim Comey is set to voluntarily testify before the House Judiciary Committee, after he reached a deal with the panel’s Republicans and withdrew his legal bid to quash their subpoena.
Trump Docket
>> Incoming at the White House counsel's office. Pat Cipollone, partner at Stein Mitchell Cipollone Beato & Missner, is expected to step into his new role as the top White House lawyer Monday, ushering in a new era at the legal shop. Cipollone joins nearly two months after he was first named—taking over for Emmet Flood, who has filled in as acting counsel—and at a critical time for the White House, with congressional Democrats expected to rain down subpoenas and investigations.
Cipollone is eyeing a group of lawyers to join him after multiple departures left the White House counsel’s office with a slimmed-down operation. Politico reported this week that he is considering bringing on Mike Purpura, a Hawaii-based lawyer and former associate counsel during the George W. Bush administration, to handle congressional investigations. The report also identified U.S. Chamber of Commerce lawyer Kate Todd and Kirkland & Ellis partner Pat Philbin as likely additions to the White House, with Todd likely to pick up the judicial nominations portfolio.
>> Taking aim at Trump’s asylum policy. A Hogan Lovells team, including partner Neal Katyal, is leading another legal challenge to a Trump administration rule that would bar migrants who’ve entered the U.S. without inspection, from being considered for asylum. The lawsuit comes after U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in the Northern District of California blocked the policy from taking into effect across the country. In this latest lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., federal court, Hogan Lovells is representing, pro bono, a Honduran mother and son, as well as nonprofit groups Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (CAIR Coalition) and Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).
>> The emoluments subpoenas are coming. The attorneys general for Maryland and D.C. began demanding records from the Trump Organization, government agencies, and other businesses this week, after U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland agreed to a timetable for discovery in their emoluments lawsuit against Trump. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the case to the Fourth Circuit soon. They informed Messitte last week of their plans to seek a rare writ of mandamus from the Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court.
>> All was quiet in the land of judicial nominations, as of Friday morning. The Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary committee once again cancelled a hearing to report out judicial nominees, with panel member Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, steadfast in his refusal to favorably vote on any nominee until legislation designed to bolster Mueller’s job security receives a vote. (Latest numbers on Trump's judicial nominations and confirmations, below.)
Gavel Tracker
How we get our numbers: The count on Article III pending nominations is the sum of Trump’s nominees to all Article III courts, including the U.S. Court of International Trade. Our court-by-court breakdown, however, only includes Supreme Court, appellate, and district court picks. Additionally: Our figure for pending nominations includes nominations for future vacancies, as well as existing vacancies.
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