If President Trump was trying to neuter Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into his campaign and Russia when he appointed Matthew Whitaker acting attorney general, he may have been "too clever by half," conservative law professor John Yoo writes at The Atlantic. Whitaker "cannot legally hold the office," thanks to the Constitution's Appointments Clause, and it's very unlikely this Supreme Court will uphold the White House's legal argument that his appointment is valid.
Yoo expressed a famously expansive view of presidential powers in his defunct "torture memo." But even Yoo has argued that Trump occassionally exceeds his presidential powers, and the Whitaker appointment is one of those times. Whitaker can try to shut down the Mueller investigation, an idea he's publicly advocated, but it won't stick, Yoo explains:
The White House may have thought it had cleverly figured out a way to curtail the investigation by appointing Whitaker, but it has instead virtually assured that Mueller will complete his job in his own good time. With questions surrounding the ethics and now the legality of his appointment, Whitaker will have little political capital to expend in defending any limits on Mueller. And even if Whitaker displays terrible judgment and makes the fateful choice to cut off the probe, Mueller now has the grounds to refuse to obey the orders of an unconstitutional attorney general. Trump's clever maneuvering has provided Mueller all the space he needs to finish his investigation and even hand over his files and concluding report to a Congress eager to launch impeachment proceedings. [John Yoo, The Atlantic]
"Trump critics should not find joy in such a result," Yoo cautioned, because "every action of the Justice Department might fall before challenges to Whitaker's appointment," including the prosecution of criminals. You can read Yoo's conservative legal case that Whitaker is an invalid attorney general, and his helpful suggestions for what Trump can and should do, at The Atlantic. Peter Weber
Singer Andrea Bocelli shared on his Facebook page Tuesday that he and some members of his family tested positive for coronavirus in March, but were "fortunate enough to have a swift and full recovery recovery" by the end of the month.
Bocelli shared that he had a mild case, and waited to tell fans because he did not want to "unnecessarily alarm" them. Bocelli also said he has donated blood to help researchers find a cure. Last week, Bocelli told The Wall Street Journal he had been infected and had a "fever" and "a little bit of a cough."
For Easter on April 12, Bocelli sang alone inside the Duomo in Milan, with his performance livestreamed on YouTube. He set a record for biggest audience to watch a classical livestream, with more than 2.8 million concurrent viewers at one point. Catherine Garcia
President Trump on Tuesday night accused Twitter of "interfering" in the 2020 presidential election after the company attached a fact check to two of his tweets that made false claims about mail-in ballots.
Trump declared that mail-in ballots are fraudulent, which led Twitter to include links in the tweets redirecting users to a page with facts on the issue. This was the first time Twitter has labeled Trump's tweets as being misleading, and he was quick to respond, claiming that the company is "completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!"
Twitter did not delete any of his tweets, despite calls to do so by people directly affected by his messages, nor did the company ban his account. In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said his tweets "contain potentially misleading information about the voting process and have been labeled to provide additional context." Trump dismissed Twitter's fact checking, saying the research was conducted by "Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post." Catherine Garcia
Twitter on Tuesday labeled two of President Trump's tweets about mail-in ballots as being misleading, the first time the company has tagged false claims he has made on the platform.
The tweets, which incorrectly declared that mail-in ballots are fraudulent, now have labels that say, "Get the facts about mail-in ballots." The links redirect users to a fact-check page with articles about the matter. A Twitter spokesperson said Trump's tweets "contain potentially misleading information about the voting process and have been labeled to provide additional context."
Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager, said in a statement his team "always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters."
Trump has long faced criticism for spreading falsehoods on Twitter, and over the last few days has used the platform to insult several Democratic lawmakers and spread a conspiracy theory about Lisa Klausutis, a woman who died while working for Joe Scarborough when he was a member of Congress. On Tuesday, Klausutis' widower asked Twitter to delete Trump's tweets, saying he has "struggled to move forward with my life" because of the "barrage of falsehoods, half-truths, innuendo, and conspiracy theories" about his wife's death. Catherine Garcia