Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Ted Cruz Learns Not to Mess With Sally Yates

Yesterday, former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism. The hearing was supposed to focus on ties between Trump associates and Russia. But Senator Ted Cruz wanted to hear more about Yates’ decision to stand against President Trump’s travel ban, which led to her dismissal. Cruz is also a lawyer and he tried to challenge Yates by citing the law that allows the president to block immigrants from coming to the U.S. if that is in the best interest of the country.

Ted Cruz tried to pick on Sally Yates. Big mistake. pic.twitter.com/ZmDP8wbQuI

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 9, 2017

But Yates pointed out that it’s illegal to deny someone entry based on their race, nationality, or place of birth. She pointed out that her main concern was whether the president’s order was constitutional, and said she was not convinced that the ban was lawful. The heated exchange had many people on social media applauding Yates for her cool demeanor and smart response.

This is so delicious it’s better than the chocolate cake at Mar-A-Lago. Sally Yates is having Ted Cruz for lunch.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) May 8, 2017

In my darkest hours I will think of Sally Yates destroying Ted Cruz on national television, and it will sustain me.

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) May 8, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: May 9, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Macron Crushes Le Pen in the French Presidential Election

Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker who is for all intents and purposes a political newcomer in France, decisively defeated Marine Le Pen this weekend. Macron, whose ideology is best described as center-left won approximately 66 percent of the vote. Le Pen, who boasts a far-right ideology, garnered only 34 percent. There are some hurdles ahead–Macron’s new party, “En Marche!” is very young, and currently holds no seats in Parliament. Those elections will be held next month.

But Macron’s victory is seen as relatively good news for the EU. Le Pen had campaigned in part on a “Frexit”–France’s proposed version of “Brexit.” Macron, on the other hand, championed globalization, France’s position in the EU, and tolerance.

Macron vows to heal France’s divisions after victory over Le Pen https://t.co/dZeN02Uooh pic.twitter.com/gAz2pkV4dh

— Bloomberg (@business) May 8, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: May 8, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Michael Flynn, the ousted former national security adviser, appears to have violated federal law by accepting money during a trip to Moscow in 2015, according to top lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee. In a press conference after a review of classified documents related to Flynn’s brief stint as the head of the NSA, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the chairman of the committee, said that Flynn’s failure to disclose the payment could be a prosecutable offense.

“As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else,” Chaffetz said, referring to Flynn’s consulting firm’s undisclosed work with a company tied to the Turkish government. “And it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for a violation of law.” Chaffetz, who delivered remarks on Tuesday with his colleague, Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, added: “There was nothing in the data to show that Gen. Flynn complied with the law.”

According to Chaffetz, Flynn failed to disclose the payments when he was seeking a security clearance for his appointment as national security adviser. Moscow reportedly paid Flynn tens of thousands of dollars to make a speech in the capital in 2015, at an event organized by the state-owned Russia Today, or RT. White House officials on Tuesday said they would not turn over documents pertaining to Flynn’s foreign contacts while he served in the administration.

Flynn was pressured to resign from his post in mid-February, less than a month after being sworn in. After reports leaked that Flynn misled administration officials–including Vice President Mike Pence–about the content of his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, a public maelstrom ensued. Last month, Flynn offered to testify in the House and Senate investigations into President Donald Trump’s and his campaign advisers’ communications with Russia in exchange for immunity. His offer immediately raised a question: what did he seek immunity from? The latest revelations might offer a clue.

Following Chaffetz’s remarks on Tuesday afternoon, Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, released a statement, denying any wrongdoing on Flynn’s part: “As has previously been reported, General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of (the Defense Department), extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings.”

Also on Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is probing the Trump-Russia ties, announced it would hold a hearing on May 8. Testifying at the hearing will be former acting attorney general Sally Yates, who initially told the White House about Flynn’s misleading statements to Pence, and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Jason Chaffetz: Michael Flynn May Have Broken Federal Law with Moscow Speech appeared first on Law Street.

In a memo sent to the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the federal government will continue to contract private prisons to help house federal inmates. In doing so, Sessions is reversing a directive the Obama Administration gave in August 2013 to begin phasing out the government’s reliance on for-profit prisons.

“The memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureau’s ability to meet the future needs of the federal corrections system,” Sessions wrote, referring to the 2013 memo that was written by then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. “Therefore, I direct the Bureau to return to its previous approach.” A Justice Department spokesman later clarified that private prisons give the Bureau increased “flexibility” in housing federal inmates.

For a little over a decade, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been contracting private prisons to house a portion of federal inmates. As the prison population began to swell over the past few decades, hitting record levels under the Obama Administration, the federal government decided to outsource its imprisonment activities. By 2013, private prisons held 15 percent of the federal inmate population, or about 30,000 total prisoners. The prisoner population began to drop in 2013, and the Obama Administration decided private prisons, with their high costs and safety concerns, were no longer necessary.

“They do not save substantially on costs, and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Yates wrote in her August 2013 memo. President Donald Trump fired Yates last month, when as acting attorney general she refused to enforce his ban on refugees and travelers from seven largely Muslim countries.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, most of the private prisons the federal government contracts hold “criminal aliens who may be deported upon completion of their sentence.” Of the more than 189,000 federal prisoners in the U.S. today, 12 percent, or about 21,500, are housed in private facilities. The rest are distributed among the 122 federal prisons spread across the country or in “other types of facilities.”

In a scathing series of tweets on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) called out the Trump Administration’s decision to continue using private prisons as a “reward” for the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” private prisons donated to Trump’s presidential campaign. Sanders added:

We must end private prisons in America. Corporations should not be profiting by incarcerating our fellow Americans.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 23, 2017

And Cory Booker, the Democratic Senator from New Jersey, said for-profit prisons undermine “the cause of justice and fairness” by adding a “profit motive to imprisonment.” He added, referring to the Sessions memo: “This damaging decision cuts against our deeply held values of justice and liberty, while creating vast wealth for private prison operators.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Jeff Sessions: Justice Department Will Continue Using Private Prisons appeared first on Law Street.

President Donald Trump fired Sally Yates, the acting attorney general, late Monday night, after she said she would not defend an executive order the president signed last Friday. Dana Boente, a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, will serve as the acting attorney general for the time being. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a confirmation vote on Jeff Sessions, Trump’s choice for attorney general, as early as Tuesday.

The controversy that culminated in the firing of Yates began last Friday, when Trump signed an executive order, barring citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from coming to the U.S. for at least 90 days. Syrians are blocked indefinitely, and refugees from all countries will not be admitted to the U.S. for at least 120 days. Widespread dissent followed Trump’s order: thousands of protesters hit major airports and city streets around the country; Democrats, and many Republicans spoke out; and many religious and business leaders decried the order.

Late Monday afternoon, Yates sent a letter to Justice Department lawyers:

I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right. At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful.

According to Justice Department officials, Yates had been struggling with how to respond to Trump’s divisive order, and had even considered resigning. Trump responded to Yates’ defiance in a Twitter post last night, a few hours before she was fired:

The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2017

Monday evening, at about 9:15 p.m., Yates received a hand-written letter from the White House, stating: “the president has removed you from the office of Deputy Attorney General of the United States.” Soon after, a statement by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Yates “is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”

Spicer defended Trump’s executive order, which was approved by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel “with respect to form and legality.” Spicer said: “Calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.”

Attorneys general have resigned from their posts over the past few decades, but it is quite rare for one to be fired. In fact, the last time this happened was in 1973, during the so-called Saturday Night Massacre, when President Richard Nixon fired his attorney general and deputy attorney general. They were fired because they refused to dismiss the special prosecutor in the Watergate case.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Who is Sally Yates and Why Did President Trump Fire Her? appeared first on Law Street.

Topic of the day: celebrities getting political. Hollywood is busy during the award season, but many celebrities have taken the opportunity to speak out about their political views. ICYMI, check out the speeches by the “Stranger Things” cast and “Moonlight” star Mahershala Ali from the SAG Awards on Sunday night.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

President Trump Fires the Acting U.S. Attorney General for Defying Immigration Ban

Last night, President Donald Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates for defying his executive order on immigration. Trump and White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that Yates “betrayed the Department of Justice” when she refused to comply with Trump’s order. In a statement, the White House said that Yates is “weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration” and also made sure to point out that she was an Obama Administration appointee.

Yates wrote in a letter on Monday that she is responsible for making sure that the positions the Justice Department takes are right. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” she wrote. Republicans harshly condemned Yates, calling her a traitor and saying that the AG’s responsibility is to carry out the president’s orders. But she is a hero to many on the left.

Sally Yates was a career prosecutor for more than 2 decades & prosecuted Olympic bomber prior to being named Deputy AG. She exits DOJ a hero

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 31, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: January 31, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.