First up, Trump and Kellyanne fight with Nordstrom. Trump earlier this week tweeted that "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person – always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!" (And it was retweeted by the official @POTUS account)
Then, Kellyanne stated on Fox & Friends: "Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would tell you," Conway said. "It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully -- I'm going to just, I'm going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online."
The comments could run afoul of a federal law that bars public employees from making an "endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity."
James Nuzzo, a legal scholar and founder of the Colchester Group consulting firm, took a closer look at President Trump's tweet and noticed something very important was missing: Specifics. All the tweet accuses Nordstrom of "doing" is being "very unfair," Nuzzo points out. Any lawsuit the company brings against Mr. Trump would have almost no chance of success. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that only factual misrepresentation, in other words specific lies — not opinion — would be considered libel or slander. And the tweet almost seems to have been crafted very wisely with that precedent in mind. Someone saying another person or company is "unfair" is almost the definition of an opinion as "fairness" cannot really be defined legally or otherwise. In short, don't expect President Trump to get a slap on the wrist or any other kind of slap from the courts over this.
Congress is a different matter. A much stronger argument could be made that Congress could officially censure President Trump for his conduct connected to the tweet against Nordstrom and several others like it that specifically attacked or demeaned businesses and individuals.
Plus, we ask Just how much trouble is Michael Flynn in? and talk about North Korea conducts ballistic missile test.
In the Suit, we talk about Washington v. Trump and do our best to summarize the decision.
- The procedural history of 9th Circuit decision:
- A. The state of Washington went to federal district court asking for a temporary restraining order (TRO). When a hearing happens, Washington wants a declaration that the order is illegal and unconstitutional and permanently enjoined from enforcement. (Minnesota jumped in as a plaintiff, too)The District Judge granted that TRO. The President asked the 9th circuit to stay the TRO. So, Washington said, “STOP enforcing this EO until a full hearing can happen.” The district court did. Then the President said to the circuit court “stop the district court’s order stopping my order until a full hearing can happen. And the 9th circuit said, “nope, we’re going with that restraining order.”
- Standing — cases and controversies — you can only bring a lawsuit if you have a particular and specific, non-theoretical injury that a court could actually redress. The states of Washington and Minnesota said that they were harmed because the EO kept people from coming to their public universities and the states are...
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