By Jake Kaplan
Here are some of the legal news stories making headlines this week:
Former President Donald Trump and his associates are facing increasing pressure as their legal battles add up.
- Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance reportedly convened a special grand jury to consider whether to indict Trump, Trump Organization executives, or the business itself on charges including tax fraud, bank fraud, and insurance fraud. The panel is expected to serve for six months.
- Meanwhile, Trump filed a motion to dismiss a civil suit brought by Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell that accused Trump and others of inciting the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. In his defense, Trump argued that the First Amendment protected his speech, and that he has “absolute immunity” from being held accountable for actions taken within his duties as president.
- A new court filing revealed that federal prosecutors in the Rudy Giuliani criminal investigation have obtained a wider range of material than previously disclosed. Prosecutors have seized material from two former Ukrainian government officials and a Ukrainian businessman. They also obtained “historical and prospective cell site information” from Giuliani and his associate, lawyer Victoria Toensing.
- Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is also reportedly the subject of a criminal investigation into his taxes and the perks he received from The Trump Organization.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is involved in a legal battle over a 2019 internal memo that former Attorney General Bill Barr used to justify his decision to not charge Trump with obstruction of justice.
- Earlier this month, federal judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the release of the memo, and criticized Barr for misleading the court and the public with his decision.
- This week, the Justice Department unsealed the first four paragraphs of the memo, and Judge Jackson released an unredacted version of her opinion.
- However, the DOJ appealed part of the judge’s decision in an attempt to keep the rest of the memo secret. According to the Washington Post, the classified sections of the memo “contain brief factual and legal analyses of…some of the incidents of possible obstruction.”
- Preet and Joyce discussed Jackson’s decision to order the release of the memo on a recent episode of CAFE Insider.
