Tax Law

* This weekend was full of huge news in Trumpland. Following Michael Flynn’s guilty plea, President Trump tweeted that he fired Flynn because he lied to the FBI. If you recall, Trump originally said that he’d fired Flynn because his former NSA adviser had lied to Vice President Pence. [New York Times]

* Here’s why Trump’s shift is pretty important, according to Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller: “Oh my god, he just admitted to obstruction of justice. If Trump knew Flynn lied to the FBI when he asked Comey to let it go, then there is your case.” [The Hill]

* Slow your roll, prosecutors. President Trump is now saying that he never asked former FBI director James Comey to stop investigating Flynn, even though Comey testified to that version of events before Congress. Per Trump, it’s “[j]ust more Fake News covering another Comey lie!” [CBS News]

* But wait, there’s even more! It seems that President Trump wasn’t the author of that tweet. Apparently it was written by one of his lawyers, John Dowd, who now says it was “[his] mistake” as he’s “out of the tweeting business” and “did not mean to break news.” [Washington Post; Axios]

* Finally, in case you missed it, the Senate passed its version of the tax bill in the dead of night as it was still being written, with a 20 percent tax rate for corporations. Now, President Trump — the client who will never be satisfied — says that rate might go up to 22 percent. [CNBC]

* Last, but not least, President Trump has endorsed accused child-toucher Roy Moore via tweet (obviously) for the Republican Senate seat that was left open by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. This has reached a whole new level of ridiculousness. [CNN]

* In other news, CVS is planning to buy Aetna for $69 billion. We’ve not yet seen which law firms are representing the companies on the deal, but this is a move that could seriously change the way our health care system looks. (And as an aside, it could seriously change the way your EOBs look, since CVS is a fan of those absurdly long receipts.) [DealBook / New York Times]

* Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer who served just three months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, is now appealing, claiming that his trial was “fundamentally unfair.” Most would counter that raping an unconscious woman in the street is what’s really “fundamentally unfair,” but that’s neither here nor there. [NBC News]

* Trump team decries Kate Steinle verdict as jury finds their preferred political talisman not guilty of murder. [SF Gate]

* IRS needs $1.7 million in back taxes? X gon’ give it to you. [Law360]

* Judge Pryor thinks court packing is stupid, which probably burned all his bridges with the Heritage Foundation. [National Law Journal]

* Pay for in-house counsel is up… women still lag behind. [Corporate Counsel]

* Black women in law face discrimination on two fronts. It’s almost like they sit at the intersection of oppressions. [American Lawyer]

* Judge orders handcuffs to prevent spanking. [ABA Journal]

* Even Texas can’t defend voter suppression anymore. [Texas Tribune]

* More M&A firms join the AI train. [American Lawyer]

* If you were wondering how the tax bill would screw over attorneys, here it is. [Law360]

* Neil Gorsuch appeared at the Federalist Society dinner and made jokes about the “frozen trucker” case because a lifetime appointment means never having to say you’re sorry. [National Law Journal]

* Jared Fogle tried the old “sovereign citizen” trick. Unfortunately for him, admiralty courts have jurisdiction over subs. [ABA Journal]

* Does the media’s prophylactic use of “allegedly” to avoid libel contribute to a culture that dismisses women’s stories of harassment? An interesting Al Franken-inspired case study. [Washington Post]

* Don’t kill Section 230 just because some websites don’t take the time to manage their trolls. [Slate]

* Robert Hays secured a fifth term as chair of King & Spalding. Woe to those who oppose his glorious reign. Dilly dilly. [American Lawyer]

* The Washington Supreme Court has finally ruled that former Skadden Fellow Tarra Simmons can take the bar exam. [KING5]

* When you’re paying $160 million in bribes, you’re doing something wrong. [Law360]

* How I learned to stop worrying and love the First Amendment. [Slate]

* The most burning question after James Comey’s testimony. [The Slot]

* Remain ever vigilant. [Salon]

* Big new jobs in legal academia. [National Jurist]

* Remembering tax law legend Bill Andrews. [Tax Prof Blog]

* Will the Russia probe make stars of the lawyers involved? [Law and More]

* If you’re in New York and want to know more about litigation finance, check out this event. [Eventbrite]

* Harvard Law wants students to defer admission. Tuition deferral program still a no go apparently. [New York Times / Dealbook]

* Trump signing executive order to let the IRS choose when to enforce the Johnson amendment. I’m old enough to remember when conservatives had a meltdown over exaggerated allegations of IRS selective enforcement. Now it’s actually going to be legal and I doubt I’ll hear anything about it. [CBS News]

* Want to know how much a Sullivan & Cromwell partner takes home? Thankfully Donald Trump can tell us. [National Law Journal]

* Alabama enacts law allowing adoption agencies to reject gay couples. Alabama has one of the worst economies in America, but this was the issue that they really needed to address. Roll Tide. [Alabama]

* ABA President Linda Klein testifies on behalf of Legal Services Corporation. funding. Question: Is the ABA President job more or less difficult today? One could say “more” because she has to devote considerable energy to fighting a hostile government. Or you could say “less” because the most difficult argument she has to make is, “please don’t be monsters.” [ABA Journal]

* FAMU fired its dean. [Orlando Sentinel]

* New trend in litigation finance: buying portfolios of cases instead of investing in individual matters. We’ve reached the fund stage people! [Law.com]

* Former Guinea mining minister convicted of taking bribes. How did they know? Perhaps they thought he was a Dickensian throwback when he kept saying “Guinea” all the time. [Law360]

* Guess who gets to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s new tax plan? Lawyers and their law firms — which are largely organized as pass-through entities — will likely benefit greatly, as they’ll be able to reduce their tax rate from 39.6 percent to 15 percent. [ABA Journal]

* The Charlotte School of Law may be on the brink of collapse, but the school is heading to court to try to shake off three of the four federal class-action lawsuits that were filed by current students and recent graduates with motions to dismiss. We’ll have more on this later today. [Law.com]

* The Trump administration didn’t seem to fare very well during oral arguments in an immigration case yesterday. Chief Justice John Roberts certainly wasn’t impressed, and Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed even less so, dropping this benchslap: “It seems to me that your argument is demeaning the priceless value of citizenship.” [Reuters]

* Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will propose a rollback of the Obama-era net-neutrality rule that regulated broadband internet providers as common carriers. Critics aren’t pleased: “It makes no sense. We cannot keep the promise of net neutrality openness and freedom without the rules that ensure it.” [Big Law Business]

* Four third-year students at Harvard Law have demanded that the administration provide clarification as to how it assesses applicants who have been accused or convicted of sexual assault. “We put forth a call for transparency and affirmative efforts demonstrating the school takes sexual assault seriously.” [Harvard Crimson]

* Who says you can never go home again? Neil Eggleston, White House Counsel under President Obama, return to Kirkland & Ellis. [Law.com]

* The Biglaw scandal that just keeps giving and giving and giving… The Dewey retrial nears its end. [New York Law Journal]

* North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has opened up an investigation into the troubled Charlotte School of Law. We’ll have more on this story later today. [Politico]

* The Republican controlled North Carolina General Assembly is trying to mess with Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s ability to appoint judges to their state courts. But Judge J. Douglas McCullough — a Republican — has at least one trick up his sleeve to thwart the plan. [Slate]

* The NRA is ramping up its legal strategy in California as they anticipate the future political direction of the courts there. [LA Times]

* The excuse “the Russians did it” just doesn’t fly in the world of tax law… not even if you are Sotheby’s. [New York Times]

* Behind the legal battle over #BlackGirlMagic. [Jezebel]

* A look at the lawmakers who are questioning Trump’s Syrian strike. [Huffington Post]

* Justices outside of the mainstream are now the new normal. [Slate]

* When your lawyer has to make “oops, he forgot” your central defense, well, the pressure’s on. [Salon]

* What do we really know about Neil Gorsuch? [Law and More]

* New charges for the Situation. [The Hill]