Pat Cipollone

* According to an eight-page letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, the White House will not cooperate in the impeachment inquiry because not only does it violate “the Constitution, the rule of law, and every past precedent,” but it also “lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation” and is merely an effort to “nullify the outcome of the democratic process” by negating the 2016 election and influencing the 2020 election. Well then! [Washington Post]

* In case you missed it, here’s what made a federal judge say, “Wow.” In an effort to keep redacted portions of the Mueller report from Congress, representatives from the DOJ essentially argued that a decision to release the Watergate grand jury evidence was “wrongly decided.” [Slate]

* Despite having been dragged into the DLA Piper sexual assault controversy, Kamala Harris has a lot of Biglaw support, and the newly formed National Lawyers Council for Kamala is hoping to raise at least $100,000 by the end of the month to help her campaign for the presidency. [American Lawyer]

* An investigation is currently underway at Yale Law School, where late this past weekend, anti-Semitic graffiti — a swastika with the word “Trump” next to it — was found on the steps to a side entrance to the school. [NBC Connecticut]

* Sign up here if you’d like to take part in a conversation between best-selling author John Grisham and former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara (S.D.N.Y.). I’ll be there to cover the event for Above the Law, and I hope to see you there. [TimesTalks]

* Michael Avenatti is suing Stormy for legal fees and remembering those names should serve as a reminder that impeachment as a concept six months ago and as a concept post-Ukraine revelations isn’t even in the same ballpark. [Daily Beast]

* Antonio Brown may not be an ideal litigant. [TMZ]

* A reminder that criminals are routinely too stupid to avoid a (digital) paper trail. [Courthouse News Service]

* A look at Pat Cipollone and his campaign to demean his office. [The Atlantic]

* Attention vapers: New York courts have got your back. [Law360]

* The Sixth Circuit could blow up the opioid suits under the foundational American doctrine of “big companies can’t do anything wrong.” [Law.com]

* In a very Silicon Valley kind of move, IP firm Harrity & Harrity opened an incubator for women and minority owned law firms. [American Lawyer]

* The most trusted corporate law firms. [Forbes]

* Feeling cute, might not allow Mueller to testify, idk: According to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, President Donald Trump’s “feeling on the matter” is that special counsel Robert Mueller shouldn’t be permitted to testify before the House. [Huffington Post]

* As it turns out, according to recently revealed tax transcripts for the years 1985 to 1994, Trump was in some deep financial doo-doo. His lawyer, Charles J. Harder of Gawker takedown fame, says the tax documentation is not only “demonstrably false,” but that the paper of record’s statements about it is “highly inaccurate.” [New York Times]

* In case you missed it, former White House counsel Don McGahn is still following Trump’s orders. He ignored a House Judiciary Committee subpoena for his testimony and records, citing a letter from current White House counsel Pat Cipollone on executive privilege. [National Law Journal]

* Michael Avenatti has been given right days to hire a defense attorney in the federal bank fraud case he’s facing, lest he wish to disclose his financials to the court for a public defender to be appointed. [Courthouse News Service]

* Do we really need another law school? That’s the hope down in Shreveport, Louisiana, where Southern University may be opening another campus following a study to determine its viability. [710 KEEL]

* President Donald Trump claims that Michael Cohen lied under oath when he testified that Trump told him to violate campaign finance laws and that the allegations are “totally false.” Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, has some words Trump ought to be concerned about: “audio and tape.” [USA Today]

* “I can fire him whenever I want to fire him, but I haven’t said that I was going to.” In other Trump-related news, the president has confirmed that Pat Cipollone will serve as his next White House counsel, and also confirmed that he’s still really pissed off at AG Jeff Sessions about the Mueller probe. [Associated Press]

* In the wake of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s highly political confirmation hearing where he brought up Clinton conspiracies during his testimony, Chief Justice John Roberts really wants the American public to know that the judiciary “requires independence from the political branches.” Really. He pinky promises. [CNN]

* If you’re interested in learning what junior partners are making at Williams and Connolly, look no further than Fourth Circuit nominee Allison Jones Rushing’s financial disclosure form. The 2007 Duke Law graduate pulled in more than $650K during her first year as a partner at the firm. [National Law Journal]

* This ex-Foley & Lardner partner “should have known better” than to backdate documents, paste his clients’ signatures onto them, and mislead the IRS during an audit, so he’s been suspended from practicing law for two years. [American Lawyer]

* When you’re better known for your love of beer than your love of anything else, here’s the TMZ headline you get after feeding those in need: “JUSTICE KAVANAUGH SERVING MEALS TO HOMELESS … Hold the Beer, Please.” [TMZ]

* And in other Kavanaugh news, a group of witches will be holding a ritualistic event to hex the newly confirmed justice. Their goal is “to make Kavanaugh suffer,” and they plan to cast a spell and use effigies, coffin nails, and graveyard dirt to get the job done. [USA Today]

* President Trump defended his mockery of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, saying in his 60 Minutes interview that “if I had not made that speech, we would not have won.” When reminded that he was being a disgusting human being, he brushed it off, saying, “I’m not going to get into it, because we won. It doesn’t matter. We won.” [NBC News]

* Per President Trump, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is “the greatest leader in history” because he’s so awesome at pushing through conservative federal judges with lifetime appointments. “Keep sending them our way, and we’ll keep changing the court system forever,” McConnell said. Brooooo. [New York Times]

* How do we know Pat Cipollone is the next White House counsel? “I haven’t named the new White House counsel, but over a short period of time. Pat’s a great guy. I don’t want to say, but he’s a great guy. He’s a very talented and he’s a very good man, but I don’t want to say.” You’ve already said enough, Mr. President. [Washington Post]