The Supreme Court ruled in the Trump Administration’s favor yet again, this time allowing the construction of the White House ballroom to continue over the objections of liberal groups. A military judge has tossed the confessions of alleged 9/11 ringleader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after finding they were not made voluntarily. Explosive emails from an attorney within the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James allege an improper targeting of President Trump and his companies.
And we look to other breaking legal developments: Dr. Anthony Fauci’s instructions to delete emails; updates on the case of Tyler Robinson, who has been charged with the murder of Charlie Kirk; and, a new criminal investigation into former FBI Director James Comey.
Supreme Court: Construction of the White House ballroom may continue
In an August 31 per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that the construction of the White House ballroom can proceed. A federal district court had previously enjoined the construction of the ballroom.
By a 5-4 vote, the Court observed that the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States (“Trust”) – which sued to prevent the construction project – lacked standing to challenge the ballroom because neither it (nor its members) had suffered a concrete or particularized injury. Instead, the Trust had only alleged that one if its members would suffer from having to view the ballroom because she found its scale and height distasteful. The Court also noted that the district court likely exceeded its authority by enjoining “the activities of a coordinate branch of government.” And finally, the alleged injuries sustained by the member of the Trust did not even remotely compare to the interests of the Executive to have secure infrastructure. The Court’s opinion, however, was careful to point out that it did not rule on the legality of the ballroom project.
Chief Justice Roberts wrote the dissenting opinion and was joined by Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson. He argued that the “construction is likely unlawful” because Congress has not given “express authority” for its construction. He also alleged that the aesthetic “injury” was sufficient for standing.
Military Judge tosses confessions of alleged 9/11 ringleader
On August 28, a military judge ruled that the government cannot use at trial the 2007 confessions of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged ringleader of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The judge found that the confessions Mohammed made to FBI agents nearly 20 years ago at Guantanamo Bay were not voluntary. According to reports, the judge reasoned that the prosecution “failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Mohammed’s statements to the F.B.I. were voluntarily given.”
Mohammed is accused of proposing the 9/11 terror plot to Osama Bin Laden and serving as the “operational leader” of the plot. He is also alleged to have trained “some hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
After the decision of the military judge, the chief prosecutor stated they were reviewing the ruling and would “make a decision on whether to appeal in the near future.”
Mohammed faces the death penalty if convicted. Previously, a federal court of appeals threw out a plea agreement that would have given Mohammed and two other conspirators life without parole. That plea deal was reached despite the objections of many families of the 9/11 victims, and it was voided after then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin repudiated the deal.
Emails allege New York’s top prosecutor targeted President Trump
As first reported by the Times Union, New York Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld sent an agency-wide email within the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging he was instructed by his supervisor (Investor Protection Bureau Chief Shamiso Maswoswe) to “find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump.” The email revealed he was also asked to target Truth Social, the President’s social media platform.
On Wednesday, September 2, the New York Post reported that the whistleblower met with the FBI and federal prosecutors “for several hours.”
Curiously, that email was wiped from the office’s servers and disappeared from the inboxes of over 2,000 employees. The fact that Letitia James targeted Trump is well-known - she campaigned on that platform, after all - although this is the first documentation of her pursuit of Trump to come from her subordinates. After her election, she brought a massive civil fraud case against Trump and his companies that resulted in a $500 million penalty and significant operational restrictions on Trump’s businesses. A New York appeals court dismissed the $500 million penalty as unconstitutionally excessive. President Trump’s effort to dismiss the other restrictions resulting from the civil fraud case is ongoing.
In other news:
Senator Rand Paul has released additional records from Dr. Anthony Fauci that show he instructed email recipients to delete his sensitive emails after reading - an obvious effort to evade transparency under the Freedom of Information Act and an arguable violation of law for the deletion of federal records.
A Utah judge ruled that prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence against Tyler Robinson, the accused killer of conservative icon Charlie Kirk, and will allow them to seek the death penalty. Yesterday, Robinson entered formal pleas of not guilty to all charges.
According to reporting from Fox News, a federal grand jury has issued a subpoena to Daniel Richman, former FBI Director James Comey’s “longtime friend and advisor” as part of a new investigation into Comey’s leaks of classified information to the media.
