Inside the Legal Ramifications of Trump's Attempt to Fire Mueller
President Trump reportedly ordered the firing of Robert Mueller over the summer but reversed course after the White House special counsel threatened to resign. That's according to a recent report in the New York Times. Fordham University Law Professor Jed Shugerman explains the potential legal ramifications of these revelations.
"This now becomes part of a longer timeline for Mueller," said Shugerman. "The statue that covers obstruction of justice depends upon proving that there was a corrupt intent. So the more events that show a corrupt intent the stronger the case would be."
Former White House Communication Director Anthony Scaramucci took to Twitter, tweeting "...@POTUS should be able to have a private conversation with WH Counsel without the content being leaked." Shugerman says presidents can have private conversations, but they cannot conspire to commit felonies.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
