Outside the Beltway

It’s not obvious that two more felons in the Trump inner circle will have any immediate impact.

Robert Mueller and his legal team get their first victories in court.

The President’s former lawyer and “fixer” is pleading guilty to a number of charges, including apparent campaign finance law violations related to the Stormy Daniels payment.

The latest reports about the circumstances surrounding the payoff to Stormy Daniels could pose big problems for Michael Cohen and his client.

Once again, the President has thrown the Rule of Law under the bus.

The Virginia case against Paul Manafort went to the jury on Thursday, and now everyone waits for their verdict.

Another step forward in the seemingly unstoppable movement toward nationwide legalization.

In what appears to be a move based purely on vindictiveness, President Trump has revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan.

A Pennsylvania Grand Jury report reveals decades of abuse by some 300 Catholic Priests impacting more than 1,000 children and 26 of the state’s Roman Catholic Diocese.

A group of lawsuits filed across the country are seeking to challenge the predominant method for allocation of Electoral College votes. These lawsuits appear to have little merit.

A Florida man who shot and killed an African-American male amid a parking lot confrontation will face manslaughter charges after all.

White supremacists held a rally in Washington on Sunday, and almost no one but their opponents and the police showed up.

Just days after being indicted on insider trading charges, New York Congressman Chris Collins is suspending his campaign for re-election.

Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination appears to be on track for confirmation before the new Supreme Court term begins in October.

Another Federal Judge has ruled in favor of a transgender student seeking the right to use the gender that conforms to the gender they identify with.

Andy Bitter has taken a new job but his former employer thinks it owns his social media account.

Facebook, Google, and several other companies have closed down accounts associated with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Another Federal Judge has dealt a legal blow to President Trump’s effort to shut down the DACA program.

The noose around the Trump Administration just keeps getting tighter.

Next week, some of the same groups that rallied in Charlottesville last year will be gathering in Washington, D.C. and the D.C. Metro is considering a transportation plan that is causing controversy.

A Federal Appeals Court has found that a Trump Administration policy purporting to punish so-called sanctuary cities is unconstitutional.

In what amounts to a significant, albeit not surprising, change in Catholic doctrine, Pope Francis has declared that the death penalty is unacceptable in all circumstances.

President Trump says he wants to talk to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but his own lawyers clearly don’t trust him enough to allow that to go forward.

A Federal Judge in Washington State has, at least temporarily, blocked the release of files that would allow anyone to make a 3-D printed gun. The First Amendment seems to clearly indicate that this ruling is wrong.

A Federal Judge in Oregon has rejected an efforts by a parent’s group to block a school district policy that allows transgender students to use the restroom facilities that conform to their gender identity.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’d like to stay on the Court at least until she turns 90, but it’s unlikely she’ll go anywhere voluntarily as long as Donald Trump is President.

Senate Democrats appear to be recognizing that there’s basically nothing they can do to stop the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

A Federal Judge in Maryland ruled last week that a lawsuit against the President based on a rather obscure provision of the Constitution could go forward.

One of the most prominent members of the American Catholic hierarchy has been removed from office in the face of mounting allegations of sexual abuse that stretch back decades.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly looking at the President’s Twitter feed as part of his ongoing investigation.

Former Trump lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen is reportedly ready to tell investigators that the President is lying about his knowledge regarding the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down part of a Hawaii law barring open carry of weapons, but this win for gun rights advocates may turn out to be short-lived.

A new recording of a conversation between Donald Trump and his one-time attorney/”fixer” Michael Cohen appears to put the President in a more difficult position than he has already been in.

A fourth poll in less than a month shows that most Americans support keeping the rights protected in Roe v. Wade alive.

New York and several other states have filed an incredibly dubious lawsuit against the Republican’s new tax law.

Donald Trump’s longtime attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen apparently recorded a conversation where the two men discussed paying off a Playboy model who claims she had an affair with him.

An initiative that would have purported to split California into three separate states has been barred by the California Supreme Court from appearing on the November ballot.

Some Democrats want to compel President Trump’s translator to testify about his private meeting with Vladimir Putin. That’s a bad idea.

Initial polling on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court find the public more divided than they have been for other recent SCOTUS picks, but that’s unlikely to impact the fate of his nomination.

Mariia Butina, a Russian “gun rights activist, is accused of being an unregistered agent of the Russian government and attempting to influence Republican Party policies regarding Russia in an operation that pre-dates the Trump Presidential campaign.

The Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued indictments against twelve Russian intelligence officials for election-related hacking, and in the process has shown most of the arguments made by the President and his surrogates regarding the Russia investigation are nonsense.

Another poll shows that the vast majority of Americans do not want to see the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade overturned.

At least in these early days, Democrats appear to lack a coherent message, or a coherent strategy, to propel any effort to block Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

There’s a reason President Trump’s Supreme Court picks are “normal” in a way his national security and economic teams are not.

In one area (with an important caveat) this has been a pretty normal administration.

A Federal Judge has rejected a Trump Administration effort to change a 20-year-old legal settlement that bars long-term detention of immigrant families.

There are good arguments as to why progressive Senators should vote against his confirmation. Let’s stick to those.

A selection that is likely to keep the Senate GOP united and red-state Democrats up for re-election under pressure to vote to confirm.

Some considerations on the politics of Roe v. Wade.