Bacon's Rebellion

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Juicy Supreme Court Arguments on Tap Today

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by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in

For those of you who might be interested, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today on cases involving access to Trump financial documents. The arguments will be held by telephone and will be available for the public to listen to live.

First up will be two cases (consolidated) dealing with whether Congress can have access to Trump private financial records. Next will be a case in which the District Attorney in New York has subpoenaed Trump’s accountant for his financial records in connection with a criminal investigation.

Oral arguments will begin at 10 a.m.  They can be heard on any of several news outlets. I use C-Span. Just go to its website and click on the applicable Supreme Court link. If you do this before 10 a.m., be patient; nothing happens until the Supreme Court clerk activates the call and calls the Court to order.

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26 responses to “Juicy Supreme Court Arguments on Tap Today”

  1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
    Nancy_Naive

    5-4 political hackery. Trump has destroyed the basis of the one case of American exceptionalism — our justice system. As flawed as it may be at times, it is lauded even by our enemies. Even Iran sought and received a just response, albeit delayed 40 years.

  2. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    You know you’re really bored when…..my prediction, 9-0 that executive privilege does not apply to this issue.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Before I have heard the arguments and questions/comments by the Justices, I think Steve’s prediction is closer to what will be the result. Roberts will do what he can to show that the Supreme Court is not as partisan as it is perceived.

      And, for that matter, I do not find listening to the arguments boring.

  3. Nancy_Naive Avatar
    Nancy_Naive

    I’ll stick with 5-4 and majority opinion penned by Kavanaugh, as a statement of gratitude.

    The best thing the GOP can do is lose the presidency this go around. For that reason alone it should be 9-0, but hacks cannot help themselves.

  4. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    I can’t work up much enthusiasm at this point. I’m thinking the Federal law does not require disclosure and that perhaps the issue is if the State has the power to order release of a Federal return but I’m not going to be surprised if the issues are more esoteric than that… Not even sure what the SCOTUS agreed to take this case unless they do plan to try to overrule the States.

    What the pandemic has shown us is that opinions about what the powers of the POTUS and the States are and are not and are not near as “settled” as we thought they were.

    1. Steve Haner Avatar
      Steve Haner

      Fair point. Act in haste, regret at leisure…

  5. sherlockj Avatar
    sherlockj

    The House of Representatives portion is the weaker half. That case has to show connection to the legislative process. Anybody think that the House intends to legislate based on the President’s tax returns?
    As for the criminal investigation, the state will have to show that the President’s records are being sought because they are potentially germane to the case rather than a back door to releasing them.

  6. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Dick,
    Thank you for this post. I have an anecdote to add about Mr. Trump his concerns about keeping his finances secret. I worked for McGraw-Hill, based in New York, for 18 years from 1982 to 2000, including postings in Washington, Chicago, Moscow and Cleveland. Most of that time was an editor or bureau chief with Business Week magazine, now Bloomberg Business Week. From 1989 to 1993, between my two tours in Moscow, I was an editor on BW’s international desk out of the headquarters tower on 49th and 6th avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
    Although I never got involved with Trump at the time, he knew he had a very bad reputation as a cheat, liar and fraud. Steve Shepard, our editor in chief, had a standing rule that no stories about Trump would ever go into print at the magazine without his personal approval. These were the days when Trump was the darling of the tabloids for his sexcapades and would actually call up gossip and business reporters and pretend to be a press agent drumming up positive coverage for Trump. He had a very bad rep in the New York real estate and finance community for his well-documented lying, dirty dealing and fraudulent behavior. One of the things the New York media really wanted was to learn about his personal finances and whether they were fraudulent or not.
    BW got its wish. Trump was building some real estate in Tokyo and the Japanese authorities got hold of some of Trump’s records. Our Tokyo bureau sent in what they could get and a New York editor who dealt with real estate and finance was assigned to coordinate coverage. While not complete, the records presented a good picture of Trump’s holdings.
    When the story came out, Trump called the editor personally and screamed at him abusively. He demanded a meeting with Steve Shepard, the top editor, which was granted. The editor and lawyers were present, too.

    At the meeting, Trump insulted the editor who handled the story personally, assuming the editor was Jewish. Trump proclaimed, “I can get into clubs you never could get into.”
    The editor was a cool character. He let that ride for a little while and then replied, “Mr. Trump, I happen to be Episcopalian.”
    The matter was dumped when our lawyers informed Mr. Trump that if he sued, we’d wrestle away his financial records during the discovery process which would be an international affair involving a number of different courts with different rules in different countries.
    I wasn’t involved with any of this, but it was a famous internal story.
    Dick, thanks again for the post. I’ll be watching the news with interest.

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      I was working at 43rd and 6th for some of the time you were working at 49th and 6th. Used to love eating at “The Dish of Salt” down by you and I spent many hours in the McGraw-Hill book store in the basement level of your building. Pre-Amazon / internet you found good books on technology by going to bookstores and browsing. Did yo ever happen to frequent Jimmy’s Corner on 43rd between 6th and 7th? I loved that place and still do. Sadly, Jimmy Glenn (founder and proprietor) died from complications of COVID19 last Thursday at age 89. I kept in touch with Jimmy over the years and had the chance to spend about an hour talking with him at his bar last October. Great man, great American story. If I could spin a Virginia angle on the man’s life I’d write and post an obituary on this blog.

      Anyway, nobody doubts that Trump is a major league narcissistic pain in the ass. However, that justifies neither the extralegal attempts by his opponents to sabotage his presidency nor the hopelessly slanted coverage he receives from the main stream media. Lyndon Johnson was well known as an asshat too.

    2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
      Nancy_Naive

      McGraw Hill, purchased by AMEX in 1978? Or so. American Express was going to close down the textbook stuff when Bill Norris (CEO of the other CDC) took issue. Told them if they did he’d cancel his 35,000 cards and make sure the rest of Minnesota followed. That was the first time I became aware of Norris as a social champion. The guy was a phenomenon.

  7. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead V

    I might have to miss this one. Wagon Train is coming on TV at the same time.

  8. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Just watched “Midway”… good WWII flick…….. those guys REALLY were HEROES, the Greatest Generation!

    1. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead V

      You can’t beat the original Midway movie. Fonda, Heston, Holbrook, Coburn, Mitchem, Ford, Morita, and even Tom Selleck. I think they used stock ww2 footage for the action scene.

      1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
        Nancy_Naive

        Well, actually they did, in 1942.

  9. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    They did. good movie!

  10. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Agree midway one is better. No. 2 has good computer imagery but is slow and pensive

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      OK, in the spirit of Coronavirus lockdown viewing …

      Best war movie ever? I’ll go first:

      1. Apocalypse Now
      2. Letters from Iwo Jima
      3. Inglorious Bastards
      4. A Walk in the Sun
      5. Dr Strangelove
      6. Saving Private Ryan
      7. Full Metal Jacket
      8. Lawrence of Arabia
      9. Platoon
      10. Cassablanca

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        Letters from Iwo Jima

        https://www.listchallenges.com/f/lists/668144d7-d214-4839-98eb-4d95969803a8.jpg

        though it scored high on Rotten Tomatoes

    2. Nancy_Naive Avatar
      Nancy_Naive

      DJ’s#5 is #1
      Catch22
      M*A*S*H
      All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
      Kelly’s Heros
      DJ’s#8
      Zulu
      Deer Hunter
      Paddy Chayefsky’s Americanization of Emily
      King Rat
      Sand Pebbles

      Casablanca was not a war movie. It was THE movie.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        what the heck is DJ’s#5 is #1 ?

        and Paddy Chayefsky’s Americanization of Emily

        Sand Pebbles was sad… Deerhunter – dark.. M*A*S*H – the movie rather than the series..

        1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
          Nancy_Naive

          Strangelove
          An expose of war

          I cannot believe I forgot the best, “Bridge over the River Kwai “

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            no Rambo, First Blood?

  11. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead V

    Waterloo is a must see movie. Rod Steiger as Napoleon. Christopher Plummer is Wellington. This was done in 1970 with 17,000 reenactors. Orson Welles plays a great King Louis too.

  12. Nancy_Naive Avatar
    Nancy_Naive

    Look for words akin to “Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of absolute immunity generally presents many complexities.”

    5-4

    1. Nancy_Naive Avatar
      Nancy_Naive

      Always willing to have the last word on an unintended subject. War is diplomacy by other means is inane. There is no glory in war, for every Medal of Honor is purchased with the lives of 1000s of women and children. Civilians outnumber combat casualties, and since 1900, 100,000,000 women and children have been killed in war.

      Ministers, presidents, generals, and other banal boogeymen don’t promulgate war. We do. We wave our flags and pack the widows and orphans at the front of the parades.

  13. James Wyatt Whitehead V Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead V

    I can’t wait for the first movie on Space Force.

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