Anthony Scaramucci

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.15.17

* Unwilling to relinquish his 15 minutes of fame, Anthony Scaramucci goes for laughs with Stephen Colbert. [The Hollywood Reporter] * If, and admittedly that's a big if, Donald Trump gets impeached, Mike Pence will be ready. Just ask his personal PAC. [Huffington Post] * Check out these tax professor rankings. [TaxProf Blog] * Should the 1st Amendment trump the 2nd Amendment? It is first, after all. [Slate] * Someone has had it with free speech absolutism. [Richmond.com] * Are you ready to go off the grid? [Law and More] * No good will come from this lawsuit. [Salon] * This is what Trump should have said. [Dorf on Law]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.11.17

* SNL's take on the Mooch. [Huffington Post] * Outside of the T14, the news for law schools isn't good. [TaxProf Blog] * Ethics, smethics. The one thing the Trump presidency is good at is making money -- for Trump. [Business Insider] * Penn Law is bucking the GRE trend. [Daily Pennsylvanian] * You aren't being paranoid, they're coming after your civil rights. [The Slot] * Advice for providing legal representation to iGen. [Law and More] * A look at the procedure involved in Sarah Palin's defamation case. [PrawfsBlawg] * Who is next on Trump's Twitter frenemy list? [Salon]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.01.17

* I like football, I really do. But, uggh. It is getting harder and harder to justify. [Deadspin] * The only law John Kelly will ever have to understand. [Clickhole] * I mean... this will never get passed. But, legalizing marijuana and combating the racial injustice of the war on drugs is a great idea. [Huffington Post] * Things don't look good for public-sector unions in front of the Supreme Court. [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * Tips for building a great work style. [Corporette] * Charting the government's responsibility for segregation. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * There's a club forming for JDs who have been given the boot by President Trump. [Law and More]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.01.17

* Apparently Donald Trump dictated the Donald Trump Jr. statement that’s going to land his son in trouble. Here’s a bit of free advice: when you’re the subject of a criminal probe, let your lawyers draft your statements as opposed to washed up steak salesmen. [Washington Post] * Hooboy! Ad links Airbnb to terrorism. That’s… […]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.31.17

* After the spectacular failure that was the "skinny repeal" bill, President Trump has called for the filibuster to be abolished to prevent Senate Republicans from "look[ing] like fools." Sorry, but a bipartisan majority has already opposed eliminating the filibuster for legislation, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no desire to do away with it. [CBS News] * "If we are not careful, when we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition." Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who refused to enforce President Trump's travel ban, wrote an excellent op-ed piece for the newspaper of record on the need to protect the Justice Department -- and the rule of law -- from Trump. [New York Times] * A preemptive congratulations? Word on the street is that Deputy White House counsel Gregory Katsas is currently leading the pack when it comes to consideration for the vacancy on the D.C. Circuit. As mentioned previously here at Above the Law by my colleague David Lat, "If Greg Katsas wants it, then he’ll probably get it" -- and right about now, it seems like Greg Katsas wants it. [NPR] * White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci's expletive-laced public meltdown has people wondering what he was really like when he went to Harvard Law. Aside from the "leaked tapes" from Professor Laurence Tribe's constitutional law class, we bet you didn't know that Scaramucci once fouled President Obama on a basketball court before he graduated. [Law.com] * "Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA." Jury deliberation begins today in Martin Shkreli's fraud trial. Will the disgraced pharma bro be sent to jail for his alleged crimes, or will he be set free into the wilds of Manhattan to relish in his own douchebaggery? We suppose we'll soon find out. Best of luck to Mr. Shkreli, as he may need it. [DealBook / New York Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.27.17

* More details on the lawyer who took down the University of Florida's general counsel. [Deadspin] * Welp, this is what happens when they stop teaching treason at Harvard Law School. [Salon] * "Too skinny" is a bad thing when it applies to your health insurance. [The Slot] * The House Judiciary Committee is just bonkers, y'all. [Wonkette] * You should probably be stocking up on these. [Corporette] * Is your privacy taking a beating in the war against opioids? [Overlawyered] * Advice for lawyers: pick up the damn phone. [Wisconsin Lawyer] * Rikers Island traded one awful practice for another. [Pacific Standard] * Will this terrible murder be the beginning of an era of regulation for the cruise line industry? [Law and More]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.24.17

* Can the president be indicted? You betcha! "It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties. In this country, no one, even [the president], is above the law." [New York Times] * According to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the most notorious grandma of them all, the Trump administration was a little heavy-handed when it came to the travel ban from majority-Muslim countries, and its definition of close family was simply "too restrictive" for the high court to abide by -- which is why the "grandma ban" no longer exists. [Associated Press] * Why did Ty Cobb decide to join President Trump's legal team for the Russian election collusion investigation? Here's what he said, in his own words: "If the president asks you, you don’t say no. I have rocks in my head and steel balls." Well, that certainly explains it! [National Law Journal] * As the Supreme Court's junior justice, Neil Gorsuch has the unenviable task of serving on the cafeteria committee. It's a "truly disheartening assignment," especially since the vast majority of the people who are forced to eat there thanks to a lack of other options have described the food as poor, at best. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)] * A Cravath associate once said that Anthony Scaramucci, the Harvard Law grad who now serves as President Trump's new communications director, isn't one to "humble brag." But that won't stop him from helping the president with a few second-hand humble brags. During the press conference where he introduced himself to the world, he said Trump could "throw a dead spiral through a tire," "hit[] foul shots and swish[] them," and "sink[] 30-foot putts." This is all totally believable(?). [Law.com] * Leary Davis, founding dean of Elon Law and Campbell Law, RIP. [Roanoke Times]

By Staci Zaretsky