Can Congress Get President Trump’s Tax Returns?
During the 2016 election, Donald Trump became the first major Presidential candidate in recent history to refuse to disclose his tax returns, citing ongoing IRS audits. Since taking office, President...
View ArticleThe Constitutionality of the Trump Organization’s Illegal (?) Chinese Trademark
Over the past week, several sources reported that the Trump Organization finally won its long-running battle to obtain a Chinese trademark. See, e.g., CNN (Feb. 17, 2017). A “squatter” had previously...
View ArticleEconomic Substance De-Codification and the Supreme Court
As one of the revenue raisers to offset the costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, Congress added Section 7701(o) to the tax code. That provision, which has nothing to do with health care,...
View ArticleFlynn’s Foreign Emoluments Clause Problem and the Potentially Explosive Solution
As widely reported by numerous outlets, Rep. Cummings recently sent a letter to President Trump alleging, among other things, that retired Lt. General Michael Flynn violated the Foreign Emoluments...
View ArticleDid the GSA Properly Find Trump’s “Full Compliance” With the D.C. Hotel Lease?
Commentators have argued that the Trump Old Post Office LLC (Trump Hotel LLC) has violated its lease agreement with the General Services Administration (GSA) from the moment that Donald Trump took the...
View ArticleEmoluments Clause: Ivanka Edition
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Trump, recently changed her position in the White House from informal advisor to unpaid government employee. See CNN (Mar. 29, 2017). Through this change,...
View ArticleThe IRS Gets Handcuffed by the Congress
The House and Senate recently reached agreement on a comprehensive spending bill and expect to pass it soon. Regarding the IRS, the bill freezes the agency’s budget at $11.2 billion and thus does not,...
View ArticleThree Reactions to the DOJ’s Brief in CREW v. Trump
On Friday, 6/9/17, the U.S. Department of Justice filed its brief in CREW v. Trump, in which the plaintiffs allege that the President has violated Constitution’s Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses...
View ArticleExploitation of Public Office and the Foreign Emoluments Clause
Under the Foreign Emoluments Clause, a person holding an office of profit or trust under the United States (a U.S. Officer) cannot, without Congressional consent, accept an “emolument . . . of any kind...
View ArticleIf Trump Jr. Didn’t Know Campaign Finance Law, He Won’t Be Prosecuted
A controversy has recently erupted over a June 2016 meeting between some members of the Trump campaign team, including the President’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and at least one Russian citizen. The Trump...
View ArticleLoss in Anti-Inversion Case Strikes Potentially Major Blow on IRS’s...
In Chamber of Commerce et al. v. IRS et al., the plaintiffs scored a major victory in their challenge to the validity of some “anti-inversion” regulations issued under Section 7874 of the Internal...
View ArticleHow the DOJ Should Fix Its Definition of “Emoluments”
Last week, a federal district court heard oral arguments in CREW v. Trump. No transcript or audio recording of those arguments is currently available, but persons who attended the hearing noted the...
View ArticleThe Separation of Powers Doctrine May Save Trump from Obstruction Charges
Commentators have floated a number of theories under which President Trump could face criminal consequences for his firing of FBI Director James Comey. Under one view, that firing reflected an unlawful...
View ArticleThe President’s Absolute Immunity for Unlawfully Firing a Subordinate
My prior post examined a state court case, Ex Parte Parry, which held that the prosecution of the state’s chief executive, Governor Rick Perry, for an official act would violate the separation of...
View ArticleTrump’s Obstruction of Justice Defense and the Bribery Counterargument
My prior posts have described some constitutional challenges facing any criminal prosecution of President Trump for an official act, such as the firing of FBI Director James Comey. A legislature’s...
View ArticleCan States Game the Republican Tax Bill with the Charitable Contribution...
As part of the new tax bill, Congress imposed limits on the Section 164 deduction for state and local taxes paid or accrued. Under prior law, taxpayers could generally deduct those taxes without...
View ArticleInvoluntary Rulemaking?
As the various entries in this Symposium show, agencies enjoy considerable flexibility in determining whether, when, and how to publicly communicate their enforcement priorities and legal...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court’s Weird Definition of Tax Obstruction
In Marinello v. United States, 584 U.S. — (2018), the Supreme Court wrestled with whether the federal tax obstruction statute reaches conduct unrelated to an ongoing or contemplated IRS proceeding....
View ArticleScott Pruitt’s Security Detail–A Tax Problem?
Over at PostEverything, Professors Daniel Hemel and David Herzig argue that Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, “could be in tax trouble on top of his ethical and...
View ArticleThe DOJ Quietly Made Campaign Finance Violations Easier to Prosecute
My prior post examined the often-overlooked and extremely strict requirements for establishing criminal violations under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Although ignorance of the law usually...
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