Patrick's Notebook

by Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press

— Federal law enforcement officers’ actions at protests in Oregon’s largest city, done without local authorities’ consent, are raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis — one that could escalate as weeks of demonstrations find renewed focus in clashes with camouflaged, unidentified agents outside Portland’s U.S. courthouse.

State and local authorities, who did not ask for federal help, are awaiting a ruling in a federal lawsuit filed late last week by state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. She said in court papers that masked federal officers have arrested people off the street, far from the courthouse, with no probable cause — and whisked them away in unmarked cars.

Constitutional law experts said Monday the federal officers’ actions are a “red flag” in what could become a test case of states’ rights as the Trump administration expands its federal policing into other cities. » Read the rest of this entry «

By Zack Budryk

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday spoke out against federal officers “rounding people up at will” in Portland, Ore., saying the handling of unrest there should be left to local law enforcement.

“We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will,” Paul tweeted Monday.

The senator linked to a post on the conservative blog HotAir about reports of protesters in Portland being detained by officers in unmarked vans. The link criticizes the federal officers’ presence as attempting to convey “to vandals, protesters, whoever, that there’ll be no accountability for anything these guys end up doing to them.”

We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will. https://t.co/vkSHmlOzDW

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 20, 2020

» Read the rest of this entry «

by Alayna Treene, Stef W. Kight

President Trump and top White House officials are privately considering a controversial strategy to act without legal authority to enact new federal policies — starting with immigration, administration officials tell Axios.

Between the lines: The White House thinking is being heavily influenced by John Yoo, the lawyer who wrote the Bush administration’s justification for waterboarding after 9/11.

Yoo detailed the theory in a National Review article, spotted atop Trump’s desk in the Oval Office, which argues that the Supreme Court’s 5-4 DACA ruling last month “makes it easy for presidents to violate the law.”

• The president has brought up the article with key advisers, two Trump administration officials tell Axios.

Yoo writes that the ruling, and actions by President Obama, pave the way for Trump to implement policies that Congress won’t. » Read the rest of this entry «

Update:

An attorney suspected of shooting the family of Judge Esther Salas has been found dead of gunshot wounds in a vehicle in Rockland, New York, according to authorities who believe the wounds were self-inflicted.

The man was found dead in a car on Route 17 in Sullivan County, wearing a FedEx uniform, law enforcement sources told local media. He was reportedly an attorney whose case was heard by Salas in 2015.

Authorities are investigating whether a gun found at the scene of the death – which they’ve presumed to be a suicide – matches the one that killed Salas’ son and wounded her husband on Sunday during the attack at their North Brunswick, New Jersey home.

The gunman who attacked Salas’ family was also wearing a FedEx uniform when he knocked on their door Sunday evening around 5pm and reportedly used an “ordinary car” when he fled the scene. Mark Anderl, Salas’ husband, was first to be shot upon answering the door, followed by the couple’s son Daniel Anderl. Salas, who was in the basement at the time, was not hurt.

The FBI, New Jersey State Police, and US Marshals are investigating the shooting at Salas’ home. Her husband remains hospitalized in critical condition. A motive for the attack has not been put forth, though law enforcement sources have theorized it may have been a home invasion gone wrong. » Read the rest of this entry «

by rt.com

A gunman dressed as a delivery driver has killed the son of federal Judge Esther Salas in New Jersey and left her husband critically injured. The judge presides over an ongoing case involving Jeffrey Epstein.

The shooting happened on Sunday morning at the home of Judge Salas in North Brunswick township in New Jersey. The gunman dressed as a Federal Express delivery driver to get in, according to media reports. The suspect remains at large, the FBI said on Twitter.

The FBI is investigating a shooting that occurred at the home of Judge Ester Salas in North Brunswick Township, New Jersey earlier this evening, July 19. We’re looking for one subject & ask that anyone who thinks they may have relevant information call us at 1-973-792-3001.

— FBI Newark (@FBINewark) July 20, 2020

Daniel Anderl, 20, a freshman student at the Catholic University in Washington DC, was killed by the shooter with a bullet to the heart. » Read the rest of this entry «

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani reveals family history

It would be unfair to judge a 19th Century man by 21st Century principles. Assessing the people of Africa’s past by today’s standards would compel us to cast the majority of our heroes as villainsSlave Driving In Africa In The 19Th Century. From Africa By Keith Johnston, Published 1884.

Amid the global debate about race relations, colonialism and slavery, some of the Europeans and Americans who made their fortunes in trading human beings have seen their legacies reassessed, their statues toppled and their names removed from public buildings.

Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes that one of her ancestors sold slaves, but argues that he should not be judged by today’s standards or values.

My great-grandfather, Nwaubani Ogogo Oriaku, was what I prefer to call a businessman, from the Igbo ethnic group of south-eastern Nigeria. He dealt in a number of goods, including tobacco and palm produce. He also sold human beings.

“He had agents who captured slaves from different places and brought them to him,” my father told me.

Nwaubani Ogogo’s slaves were sold through the ports of Calabar and Bonny in the south of what is today known as Nigeria.

People from ethnic groups along the coast, such as the Efik and Ijaw, usually acted as stevedores for the white merchants and as middlemen for Igbo traders like my great-grandfather. » Read the rest of this entry «

by HuffPost.com

Donald Trump’s campaign spent nearly $400,000 in donations on the president’s businesses over a two-day period earlier this year, according to financial filings with the Federal Election Commission.

The money was paid in 43 transactions from March 31 to April 1, according to second quarter records filed by the Trump Victory Committee, first spotted by the Open Secrets arm of the Center for Responsive Politics. Trump Victory is a joint fundraising committee of the president and the Republican National Committee.

The transactions were identified as payments for “facility rental/catering services” to the “Trump Hotel Collection.”

The president’s Trump Organization told Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold Friday that the money paid for a weeklong “donor retreat” at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort. The payments were broken down into several payments because the resort can’t handle credit card payments over $10,000, Fahrenthold was told. This “sounds odd, but it’s plausible,” he noted on Twitter. » Read the rest of this entry «