WaPo:
D.C., Maryland may proceed with lawsuit alleging Trump violated emoluments clauses
The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in Maryland, marks the first time that a lawsuit of this kind has cleared the initial legal hurdle — a finding that the plaintiffs have legal standing to sue the president in the first place.
In this case, Messitte found that D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) and Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) have legal standing to sue Trump over the business of the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington.
As part of that ruling, Messitte said he rejected an argument previously made by critics of the lawsuit — that, under the Constitution, only Congress may decide whether the president has violated the emoluments clauses.
“In absence of Congressional approval, this Court holds that it may review the actions of the President to determine if they comply with the law,” Messitte wrote.
Aaron Blake/WaPo:
Mueller just drew his most direct line to date between the Trump campaign and Russia
That line is drawn in a new court filing related to the upcoming sentencing of London attorney Alex van der Zwaan. Van der Zwaan has pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with deputy Trump campaign manager Rick Gates and a person identified in the document only as "Person A." Person A appears to be a former Ukraine-based aide to Gates and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort named Konstantin Kilimnik.
Aaron Blake/WaPo:
3 no-good explanations for Trump’s lawyer floating pardons for Flynn and Manafort
The story is the most significant indication to date that Trump and/or his legal team have considered whether to invoke Trump's rather broad presidential pardon power — an option that Trump has alluded to but his legal team has downplayed. They also raise questions about whether the pardons were meant to influence Manafort's and Flynn's potential cooperation in the probe. Flynn has pleaded guilty and is cooperating, while Manafort is awaiting trial.
Brian Beutler/Crooked:
MARCH FOR OUR LIVES WILL HAVE TO BECOME A MARCH AGAINST THE FILIBUSTER
It would have been cosmically unfair for the GOP to win power with a minority of the vote, and then eliminate the main impediment they had abused under Democratic rule to more easily loot the country. But it would have been in the long-run interest of progressive goals—which is a big reason why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has resisted Trump’s demands.
When they elect a government that has their interests in mind, only to find that none of the items on the gun-reform wishlist can become law because they “only” have 59 votes, today’s young movement leaders will find that Trump has a good point, if not a sincerely held one.
Paul Waldman/WaPo:
Why conservatives are so mad about the Parkland students
But what really ticks conservatives off is that they themselves are feeling constrained from criticizing the Parkland students, because they are worried they will be criticized for attacking such sympathetic spokespeople….
But even in the nonloony corners, the Parkland students are making people frustrated. Head over to the National Review’s website today, and you can find a bunch of articles about guns. One is entitled “In Defense of ‘Gunsplaining’.” That term refers to the suggestion that if you are ignorant about firearms, then your opinions on the issue are of questionable value. Another is called “David Hogg: Oracle, or Useful Idiot?” This one says: “Hogg is basking in his 15 minutes of fame at an embarrassingly early age, and so we might avert our eyes from his much-viewed display of ingratitude, sanctimony, and profanity, except that we can’t, because manipulative adults in the media are deploying him as a useful idiot.”
Christopher Ingraham/WaPo:
The courts say the Parkland kids’ agenda is largely compatible with the Second Amendment
The students call for a ban on gun magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. This was a key provision of the 1994 assault weapons ban that a number of researchers credit with reducing the toll of mass shooting deaths during the 10 years it was in force.
In November, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a high-capacity magazine ban in Maryland, giving state legislatures “wide authority” to pass such laws, according to Supreme Court expert Lyle Denniston.
A March 2018 Quinnipiac poll found that 63 percent of Americans, including 50 percent of gun owners, said they supported such a ban.
There are 5 basic demands, the article reviews all of them.
Margaret Sullivan/WaPo:
The sliming of Parkland students shows the spreading stain of media polarization
As Charlie Warzel, who covers “information wars” for BuzzFeed News, put it recently: Extreme partisanship — pro-Trump media as well as parts of the far left — “is not about intellectual courage. It’s about winning.”
Monkey Cage Blog/WaPo:
Here’s who actually attended the March for Our Lives. (No, it wasn’t mostly young people.)
Even more interesting, the new protesters were less motivated by the issue of gun control. In fact, only 12 percent of the people who were new to protesting reported that they were motivated to join the march because of the gun-control issue, compared with 60 percent of the participants with experience protesting.
Instead, new protesters reported being motivated by the issues of peace (56 percent) and Trump (42 percent), who has been a galvanizing force for many protests.
March for Our Lives protesters were also more likely to identify as ideologically moderate. About 16 percent did so, higher than at any other protest event since the inauguration. But unsurprisingly, it was still a very liberal crowd: 79 percent identified as “left-leaning” and 89 percent reported voting for Hillary Clinton.
