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A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday granted the Defense Department’s motion for a stay pending appeal of a preliminary injunction barring the Pentagon from enforcing its journalist escort requirement. (Order.) For background on the injunction, see a prior Roundup.
In response to an order from Judge James Boasberg (D.D.C.), the Justice Department on Thursday “release[d] a sample set” of previously sealed filings related to a subpoena former Special Counsel Jack Smith issued to obtain call records from AT&T as part of his investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Notice of Filing Redacted Documents.) (NYT.)
President Trump delivered a speech last night alleging pervasive “vulnerabilities” in American election infrastructure that expose it to potential “hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference.” (Transcript.) (WaPo.)
The president reportedly is constructing a helipad on the south lawn of the White House without approval from Congress or the Commission on Fine Arts. (NYT.)
Jack Goldsmith argued that the Justice Department’s issuance last week of subpoenas to journalists at The New York Times underscores “the fragility of judicially enforceable legal safeguards for journalists, who are protected from government subpoenas and prosecutions more by norms than by law.” (Executive Functions.)
Adam Liptak considered whether the Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in Branzburg v. Hayes will prevent the department from forcing the subpoenaed journalists to disclose their sources. Writing for the Court then, Justice White stated that “[o]fficial harassment of the press undertaken not for purposes of law enforcement but to disrupt a reporter’s relationship with his news sources would have no justification.” (NYT.)
Quinta Jurecic argued that the hearing on Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general “made clear that Trump has demolished everything but the occasional pretense of an independent Justice Department.” (Atlantic.)
Andrew Turley and John Ewers argued that federal law does not allow the defense secretary to mobilize involuntarily reserve judge advocates general to serve as immigration judges or to represent the executive branch in detention and deportation cases involving unaccompanied migrant children. (Just Security.)
Daniel Maurer explored what “transparent, reasoned, non-arbitrary standard” a future administration should use to decide which military personnel to prosecute for participating in the president’s unlawful strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, should the administration choose to pursue accountability through prosecutions. (Just Security.)