You can read the report at this link.
“News Outlets Take Unusual Steps to Prepare for Onslaught From Trump”
Reporters and editors at national newspapers are increasing their reliance on encrypted communications to help shield themselves and their sources from potential federal leak investigations and subpoenas.
Multiple media organizations are evaluating whether they have enough insurance coverage to absorb a potential wave of libel and other litigation from officials who have already shown an inclination to file such suits.
And a nonprofit investigative journalism outlet is preparing for the possibility that the government will investigate issues like whether its use of freelancers complies with labor regulations.
With President-elect Donald J. Trump returning to the White House, media outlets large and small are taking steps to prepare for what they fear could be a legal and political onslaught against them from the new administration and Mr. Trump’s allies inside and outside the government.
For nearly a decade, Mr. Trump has demonized and tried to delegitimize the media. He has attacked reporters as “the enemy of the people.” He has repeatedly sued news organizations. In his first administration, the White House at times barred out-of-favor journalists from attending events.
But the early indications are that his new administration could be more hostile to the press. For example, Mr. Trump’s choice to run the F.B.I., Kash Patel, said before the election that a new Trump administration would “come after the people in the media.” Brendan Carr, the expected chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, recently raised the prospect of revoking federal broadcast licenses for television stations that he perceived as biased against conservatives….
“Judge Allows Release of Half of Special Counsel’s Report on Trump Cases”
A federal judge in Florida cleared the way on Monday for the Justice Department to soon release a portion of a report written by the special counsel, Jack Smith, detailing the decisions he made in charging President-elect Donald J. Trump with plotting to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
But in a five-page order, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, ruled that prosecutors and defense lawyers would have to appear before her in court on Friday to argue over whether the Justice Department could release to members of Congress the part of Mr. Smith’s report dealing with the case she oversaw: the one in which Mr. Trump was accused of refusing to return classified documents after he left office.
Under the ruling, the Justice Department would be free to release the part of the report about the election case as early as just after midnight Tuesday morning. Mr. Trump’s lawyers could still ask an appeals court or the Supreme Court to stop that part of Mr. Smith’s report from coming out….
Announcing the Winter/Spring Lineup of Safeguarding Democracy Project Events
We’ve got a great lineup of in person, online, and hybrid events!
Tuesday, January 28 Fair Elections and Voting Rights: What’s Ahead in the Next Four Years? Register for the webinar here. In-person registration here. Lunch will be provided. Tuesday, January 28, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT Room 1327 at UCLA Law and online Amy Gardner, The Washington Post, Pamela Karlan, Stanford Law School, and Stephen Richer, former Recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona. Moderated by Richard L. Hasen (Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project) Thursday, February 13 Finding Common Ground on Modernizing Voter Registration Register for the webinar here. Thursday, February 13, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT, Webinar Christina Adkins, Director of Elections, Texas Secretary of State’s Office, Judd Choate, Director of Elections in Colorado, and Charles H. Stewart III, MIT. Richard L. Hasen, moderator (Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA) Tuesday, March 4 What do Documentary Proof of Citizenship Requirements for Voter Registration Accomplish? Register for the webinar here. In-person registration here. Lunch will be provided.Tuesday, March 4, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT at UCLA Law School Room 1327 and online Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State, Walter Olson, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, and Nina Perales, Vice President of Litigation, MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) Richard L. Hasen, moderator (Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA) Monday, March 31 Combatting False Election Information: Lessons from 2024 and a Look to the Future Register for the webinar here. Monday, March 31, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT, Webinar Alice Marwick, Director of Research, Data & Society, UNC Chapel Hill, Kate Starbird, University of Washington, and Joshua Tucker, NYU. Richard L. Hasen, moderator (Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA) Thursday, April 10 Partisan Primaries, Polarization, and the Risks of Extremism Register for the webinar here.Thursday, April 10, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT, Webinar Julia Azari, Marquette University, Ned Foley, Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, Seth Masket, Denver University, and Rick Pildes, NYU Law School Richard L. Hasen, moderator (Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA) |
Supreme Court Rejects Racial Gerrymandering Claim Out of North Dakota Redistricting
Michael Li explains:
“‘I Think Things Are Going to Be Bad, Really Bad’: The US Military Debates Possible Deployment on US Soil Under Trump”
Michael Hirsh for Politico Magazine:
According to nearly a dozen retired officers and current military lawyers, as well as scholars who teach at West Point and Annapolis, an intense if quiet debate is underway inside the U.S. military community about what orders it would be obliged to obey if President-elect Donald Trump decides to follow through on his previous warnings that he might deploy troops against what he deems domestic threats, including political enemies, dissenters and immigrants.
On Nov. 18, two weeks after the election, Trump confirmed he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military for the mass deportations of illegal immigrants.One fear is that domestic deployment of active-duty troops could lead to bloodshed given that the regular military is mainly trained to shoot at and kill foreign enemies. The only way to prevent that is establishing clear “rules of engagement” for domestic deployments that outline how much force troops can use — especially considering constitutional restraints protecting U.S. citizens and residents — against what kinds of people in what kinds of situations. And establishing those new rules would require a lot more training, in the view of many in the military community….