What happened
The federal Court of International Trade yesterday ruled against the 10% global tariffs President Donald Trump imposed in February after the Supreme Court struck down steep import taxes he had enacted under a different legal authority. Trump’s tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 are “invalid” and “unauthorized by law,” the trade court said in its 2-1 decision. 

Who said what
Yesterday’s ruling dealt “yet another legal setback” to Trump’s “efforts to wage a trade war without the express permission of Congress,” The New York Times said. But the court “only explicitly blocked” collecting the tariff from two small businesses and Washington state, finding that the other 23 states in the lawsuit hadn’t paid any relevant tariffs. Another reason the ruling’s “immediate impact might be limited,” The Wall Street Journal said, is that the tariff expires July 24, “at which point the administration plans to pivot to different tariffs” that are “more routinely used and seen as legally durable.” 

What next?
The ruling “weakens” Trump on his “core economic initiative” a week before he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss bilateral trade, The Washington Post said. It also “sets the stage for another protracted legal battle” over refunding the billions collected under Trump’s previous illegal tariff regime, Reuters said.

What happened
The FBI is investigating the Atlantic reporter who wrote an unflattering profile of Director Kash Patel and “more than two dozen former and current members” of Patel’s security detail to “find leakers among his team,” Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian reported yesterday at MS NOW. Patel “ordered the polygraphing” of the FBI staff and “has been described as being in panic mode to save his job,” they said, citing people briefed on the developments.

Patel sued The Atlantic and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick for reporting last month that FBI personnel were concerned about his erratic behavior and excessive drinking. Fitzpatrick reported Wednesday that Patel travels with and hands out bourbon bottles engraved with “KASH PATEL FBI DIRECTOR” and the FBI shield.

Who said what
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson declined to comment on the polygraph report but told MS NOW there was no such criminal leak investigation and Fitzpatrick “is not being investigated at all.” And the personalized bourbon bottles “are part of a common practice in the FBI” of exchanging “commemorative items in formal gift settings,” he said. A former longtime senior FBI official “burst out laughing” when asked if previous FBI directors had distributed “personally branded liquor bottles,” Fitzpatrick reported.

What next?
If the FBI criminal leak investigation is “confirmed to be true,” Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in a statement, “we will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously.”

The breakaway group Stay Free Alberta submitted a petition this week seeking a referendum on independence, turning in 302,000 signatures, well ahead of the 178,000 (10% of eligible voters) required for the authorities to consider such a move. It marks a “key step” toward a possible vote, according to The Associated Press.

The separatist movement is rooted in what’s known as Western alienation. Some residents believe Alberta is “often overlooked by decision-makers” in Ottawa, said the BBC. Anger with the federal capital has “long been brewing” in the province, particularly regarding the development of its abundant natural resources.

Some Albertans argue that the federal government, especially under the ruling Liberal Party, has “stood in the way of the province’s oil and gas industry in favor of pro-climate legislation,” said the BBC. Separatists maintain that independence would “unlock resources.” The overwhelmingly right-wing movement was once “on the political fringes,” but over the past year, a “unity crisis has become increasingly likely.” Recent changes pushed through by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have made a constitutional referendum easier to trigger.

So far, Prime Minister Mark Carney has not responded to the petition. But even if the federal government allows a referendum to go ahead in October, a “yes” vote won’t automatically bring independence.

In any case, polls suggest that the majority of Albertans would vote “no,” with only 26% supporting independence from Canada, according to a survey by Abacus Data. A rival petition by the anti-separatist group Forever Canadian received 450,000 signatures.