Lawfare No Bull

On Dec. 7, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper, addressing the issue of the North Carolina state legislature’s heavily gerrymandered congressional districts. The state legislature argues that the state Supreme Court lacks the legal authority to review this issue, as that authority is given to the legislature itself, according to the Constitution’s elections clause.

On Dec. 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in Blassingame v. Trump, regarding whether former President Donald Trump should receive absolute civil immunity for allegations related to his Jan. 6, 2021 “Save America” rally and his conduct surrounding the subsequent attack on the Capitol. Trump appealed the D.C. district court’s February ruling on this issue, which did not grant him immunity.

On October 13, the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol held its ninth public hearing. The first committee hearing since July, this was an inquiry into former President Donald Trump’s “state of mind, intentions, and motivations.”  Unlike previous hearings, the committee did not hear any live testimony. It did, however, present new evidence about the events on and around Jan. 6, including outside communication with the secret service, internal secret service messages, and video footage of members of congress in an undisclosed location while the Capitol was being breached by rioters. At the conclusion of the hearing, the committee unanimously voted to subpoena former President Trump for documents and testimony relating to the attack on the Capitol. Cheney asserted that the committee is “obligated to seek answers from the man who set this all in motion.”