Morning Docket: 07.17.17

* Ty Cobb, a former federal prosecutor, has resigned from his post as a partner at Hogan Lovells to join President Trump's legal team as the investigation into the campaign's possible collusion with Russia continues to expand. Cobb, who's related to the baseball player of the same name, leaves behind more than 30 years of history at the firm to collaborate with Marc Kasowitz, which should be interesting, to say the least. Dat stache, tho... [Bloomberg; New York Times] * In other news, yet another member of President Trump's legal team, Jay Sekulow, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and CBS's Face the Nation yesterday in an attempt to solidify claims that his client, the commander-in-chief, had no knowledge of Don Jr.'s emails and meeting with the Russians, and that "there was nothing illegal to cover up" anyway. [Newsweek] * Meanwhile, it looks like Trump's lawyers knew about Don Jr.'s emails and meeting with the Russians more than three weeks ago, which makes the president's assertion that he'd learned of it "a couple of days ago" all the more far fetched. In fact, per a recent FEC filing, President Trump’s reelection campaign paid $50,000 to Don Jr.'s criminal-defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, on June 26, two weeks before the email scandal was made public. [Yahoo News; Daily Beast] * "I think a politician or a public figure of note can have a Twitter account of public note which would not be deemed to be a public forum. But in the Trump Administration, what he says on his tweets are as much public in nature as a press conference." Renowned First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams explains why the litigants who sued President Trump for blocking their Twitter accounts might just have a shot when it comes to winning their case. [Big Law Business] * "I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian." An Airbnb host has been taken to task by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing after canceling a UCLA School of Law student's cabin reservation based on race. Airbnb must also develop a discipline system for discriminatory hosts. We may have more on this later. [The Recorder]

By Staci Zaretsky on July 17, 2017 8:43 am

Ty Cobb

* Ty Cobb, a former federal prosecutor, has resigned from his post as a partner at Hogan Lovells to join President Trump’s legal team as the investigation into the campaign’s possible collusion with Russia continues to expand. Cobb, who’s related to the baseball player of the same name, leaves behind more than 30 years of history at the firm to collaborate with Marc Kasowitz, which should be interesting, to say the least. Dat stache, tho… [Bloomberg; New York Times]

* In other news, yet another member of President Trump’s legal team, Jay Sekulow, appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation yesterday in an attempt to solidify claims that his client, the commander-in-chief, had no knowledge of Don Jr.’s emails and meeting with the Russians, and that “there was nothing illegal to cover up” anyway. [Newsweek]

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* Meanwhile, it looks like Trump’s lawyers knew about Don Jr.’s emails and meeting with the Russians more than three weeks ago, which makes the president’s assertion that he’d learned of it “a couple of days ago” all the more far fetched. In fact, per a recent FEC filing, President Trump’s reelection campaign paid $50,000 to Don Jr.’s criminal-defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, on June 26, two weeks before the email scandal was made public. [Yahoo News; Daily Beast]

* “I think a politician or a public figure of note can have a Twitter account of public note which would not be deemed to be a public forum. But in the Trump Administration, what he says on his tweets are as much public in nature as a press conference.” Renowned First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams explains why the litigants who sued President Trump for blocking their Twitter accounts might just have a shot when it comes to winning their case. [Big Law Business]

* “I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian.” An Airbnb host has been taken to task by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing after canceling a UCLA School of Law student’s cabin reservation based on race. Airbnb must also develop a discipline system for discriminatory hosts. We may have more on this later. [The Recorder]

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Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.