Background Briefing: July 18, 2022

 

Why Trump Should Immediately be Sued Under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment

We begin with a strategy to capitalize on the case the January 6 committee is developing that makes it abundantly clear Trump led the insurrection against the United States government and therefore under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment he should be disqualified from holding federal office since he participated in an insurrection against the United States. Joining us is Alan Morrison, Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service and a Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School where he teaches civil procedure and constitutional law. He has argued 20 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and previously worked for the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which he co-founded with Ralph Nader in 1972 and directed for over 25 years. We discuss his op-ed at The Hill, “Democrats should use 14th Amendment insurrection clause to keep Trump off the ballot in 2024” and how by suing Trump now, the Democrats could preempt Trump’s time and place in choosing his announcement to run in 2024 and force discovery that would compel Trump to have to answer questions in a deposition or plead the 5th. 

 

The Call For Biden to Declare a Public Health Emergency on Abortion

Then with 80 Democrats in the House and 18 in the Senate calling on President Biden to declare a public health emergency on abortion, we speak with Rachel Rebouché, Interim Dean and a Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law. A leading scholar in reproductive health law, feminist legal theory, and family law, she is an author of Governance Feminism: An Introduction, the editor of Feminist Judgments: Family Law Opinions Rewritten. And she is the co-author of an article at The Atlantic, “The Harshest Abortion Restrictions Are Yet to Come” which we discuss.

 

Enormous Sums Are Pouring Into Democratic Primary Races Over Support For Israel That the Campaign Ads Do Not Mention

Then finally we look into the enormous sums of money groups aligned with AIPAC, the Israel lobby, are pouring into Democratic primary races in Maryland and Michigan without the transparency that they are only concerned about Israel not the domestic issues raised in the campaign ads. Joining us is Dov Waxman, Professor and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair in Israel Studies at University of California Los Angeles, where he also directs the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. He has also been a visiting fellow at Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Oxford University, and is the author of dozens of scholarly articles and books including Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel, and most recently, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know.