One thing is already clear at Trump’s NY trial: Nobody liked Michael Cohen

At times during former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, the testimony has been just as devastating to Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who will be a key prosecution witness later this month.

May 2, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: SCOTUS winds up term with rulings expected on major cases about government power, accountability

The Supreme Court heard the last oral arguments of the term on April 25, and now we wait for the decisions with the expectation of the usual flurry of rulings at the end of June. In thinking about the pending cases, a significant number involve the scope of government power and how to hold the government accountable.

May 1, 2024 12:08 PM CDT

Takeaways from the Supreme Court argument on Trump’s criminal immunity

The Supreme Court spent hours Thursday morning debating former president Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for allegedly conspiring to undo the results of the 2020 election. The ruling, which could come in June, could do far more than chart the course of Trump’s case; it may forever alter the boundaries of presidential power.

Apr 25, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Nearly three-quarters of Americans think US democracy is getting weaker, ABA poll finds

Seventy-four percent of U.S. residents say American democracy is weaker than five years ago, according to an ABA poll released in advance of Law Day on May 1.

Apr 23, 2024 11:35 AM CDT

Lawyer who argued Nixon-Watergate case fears SCOTUS might expand presidential immunity for Trump

Philip Lacovara, counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor, spoke with the ABA Journal about his experience with U.S. v. Nixon and his concerns about Trump v. United States. “When the Nixon case was decided, I thought that while it would give subsequent presidents the opportunity to claim executive privilege, which was not an established doctrine, I never thought it would lead to a former president claiming immunity from criminal prosecution. Yet here we are.”

Apr 23, 2024 11:19 AM CDT

What to know about Trump’s New York charges—and any potential sentence

Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York, scheduled to begin Monday, centers on 34 counts against Trump of falsifying business records in the first degree, a felony that could result in his serving time at New York’s jail complex on Rikers Island or in state prison.

Apr 9, 2024 11:50 AM CDT

After man is sentenced for threat to kill chief justice, ABA president says threats risk ‘very fabric of our democracy’

ABA President Mary Smith issued a statement Monday that condemned “false statements and scurrilous accusations against judges for partisan, personal gain” that are being made by “national leaders and private citizens.”

Apr 9, 2024 11:07 AM CDT

Judge Cannon shoots down Trump’s presidential records act claim

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to have his charges of mishandling classified documents dismissed on the grounds that a federal records law protected him from prosecution.

Apr 4, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

Cannon tells lawyers to weigh if Trump conduct can’t be reviewed by courts

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified-documents case issued an unusual order late Monday regarding jury instructions at the end of the trial—even though she has not yet ruled on when the trial will be held, or a host of other issues.

Mar 19, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

How a sleuth defense attorney and a disgruntled law partner damaged the Trump Georgia case

In early September, a lawyer for one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election-interference case scheduled a call with the other defense attorneys to share what he thought could be a game-changing allegation.

Mar 19, 2024 8:47 AM CDT

Georgia judge dismisses six charges in Trump election interference case

The judge overseeing the election interference case against former president Donald Trump and several of his allies dismissed six counts in the sweeping 41-count criminal racketeering indictment, ruling that the charges lacked specific detail, but declined to dismiss the case.

Mar 13, 2024 10:00 AM CDT

Does narrowed question in Trump immunity case benefit special counsel? Some commentators think so

The U.S. Supreme Court avoided former President Donald Trump’s most extreme arguments—including that he has absolute immunity from prosecution for any acts while in office—when it crafted the question presented in its grant of certiorari Wednesday in the special counsel’s case over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Feb 29, 2024 3:09 PM CST

Did DC Circuit ‘put an asterisk next to’ decision denying Trump immunity? Court keeps case on speedy path but implies limits

The prosecution of former President Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election could stay on a speedy path as a result of deadlines set Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Feb 7, 2024 12:49 PM CST

Trump has no immunity from Jan. 6 prosecution, appeals court rules

A federal appeals court has unanimously ruled that Donald Trump can be put on trial for trying to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, rejecting Trump’s sweeping claim of presidential power that one judge feared could allow for political assassinations.

Feb 6, 2024 9:25 AM CST

What happens next in Trump’s Georgia election-interference case?

Shortly after Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) admitted in a Friday court filing that she had a personal relationship with the lawyer she appointed to lead the investigation into former president Donald Trump—and had taken vacations with him—the judge overseeing the case dashed off an email to the defense attorney who had first accused Willis of misconduct.

Feb 5, 2024 8:15 AM CST