Charlie Savage
New York Times national security and legal reporter; MSNBC contributor;
author of the books "Power Wars" and "Takeover"
Last synced from Twitter 947d ago
Withering Criticism of F.B.I. as Watchdog Presents Russia Inquiry Findings
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, the Justice Department’s inspector general recounted egregious problems with wiretap files.
We Just Got a Rare Look at National Security Surveillance. It Was Ugly.
A high-profile inspector general report has served as fodder for arguments about President Trump. But its findings about surveillance are important beyond partisan politics.
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Charlie Savage
NEW: The IG report has primarily been interpreted through a Trump lens. But if we shelve politics for a moment and focus on surveillance policy & civil liberties issues, what it revealed about the FBI's national-security wiretapping powers is devastating.
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Horowitz Hearing Live Updates: No Vindication for F.B.I. in Russia Inquiry Report, Watchdog Says
The Justice Department inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, outlined problems with F.B.I. surveillance in testimony about his exhaustive report on the Russia investigation.
Report on F.B.I. Russia Inquiry Expected to Show Mistakes but No Anti-Trump Plot
A much-anticipated report by the Justice Department’s inspector general will criticize the F.B.I. but also debunk many conspiracy theories.
Trump Administration Sued Over Social Media Screening for Visa Applicants
Visa applicants must disclose their social media user names, a rule that grew out of Trump’s vow of “extreme vetting” of foreign visitors. A new lawsuit objects.
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Charlie Savage
NEW: A just-filed lawsuit developed by @knightcolumbia & @BrennanCenter is challenging Trump's "extreme vetting"/travel ban order rule that requires foreign applicants for US visas to disclose their social media handles, including pseudonymous accounts.
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Trump Blocked Key Impeachment Witnesses. Should Congress Wait?
At the first House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing, Republicans’ witness said lawmakers were rushing impeachment and should instead let court fights over access to witnesses play out.
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Charlie Savage
JUST PUBBED: GOP witness Turley's testimony zeroes in on the dilemma for House Dems: their evidentiary case for impeachment is missing a knowable fact -- but that remaining hole is not filled because Trump himself is blocking key witnesses from testifying.
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Read the 1986 Justice Department Report for Ed Meese “Separation of Powers: Legislative-Executive Relations”
A few days ago, I wrote a piece analyzing Attorney General Bill Barr's Federalist Society speech on his maximalist view of executive power, which I, argued, had more to do with Ronald Reagan's 1980s than George Washington's 1780s. I included a...
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Charlie Savage
Read the 1986 Justice Department Report on executive power commissioned by Ed Meese “Separation of Powers: Legislative-Executive Relations”
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Trump Keeps Losing in Court. But His Legal Strategy Is Winning Anyway.
As fights over the president’s stonewalling of Congress play out slowly in courts, he is reducing the prospect that voters learn new damaging facts about him before the 2020 election.
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Charlie Savage
Why Trump is actually winning in court despite the fact that judges keep ruling against him
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Charlie Savage
Liberals cheering for Judge Jackson's scathing 120-page ruling in the McGahn subpoena case should consider that nearly a third of the year was used up by the time she issued it. That seeming loss was a big win for Trump. nytimes.com/2019/11/27/us/… pic.twitter.com/TjLll5avh9
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OMB FOIA complaint
Source document contributed to DocumentCloud by Charles Savage (The New York Times).
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Charlie Savage
New FOIA lawsuit: The NYT is seeking emails between a top Mulvaney aide, Robert Blair, and the OMB official who oversees foreign military aid, Michael Duffey, regarding Ukraine. (The White House is generally not subject to FOIA, but OMB is covered by it.)
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Donald McGahn Must Testify to Congress, Judge Rules; Appeal Is Expected
A judge rejected the Trump administration’s argument that senior White House officials are immune from congressional subpoenas.
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Charlie Savage
NEW: Judge rejects Trump administration claim that former WH counsel Don McGahn is immune from congressional subpoenas and orders him to testify. (But it will be appealed.)
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Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department
The Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a broad ethics scandal.
Navy Is Said to Proceed With Disciplinary Plans Against Edward Gallagher
Top military officials threatened to resign or be fired if their plans to remove Chief Gallagher from the SEALs were halted by President Trump, administration officials said.
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Charlie Savage
@HFXforum @luizachsavage Here's the story that just pubbed revealing his threat to resign in the Navy SEAL war crimes case Trump has intervened in, by @maggieNYT @helenecooper @David_Philipps
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Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts
A watchdog report will portray the pursuit of a wiretap of an ex-Trump adviser as sloppy, but it also debunks some accusations by Trump allies of F.B.I. wrongdoing.
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Charlie Savage
Lots of new detail with my colleague @adamgoldmanNYT
Horowitz's report appears likely to stoke the debate over the FBI Trump-Russia investigation without resolving it-offering both sides things they can point to as vindication for their rival worldviews.
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Republicans Seek to Muddy Impeachment Evidence as Their Defense of Trump
They put forward a shifting array of arguments to defend the president against impeachment — some of which conflict.
Barr Bridges the Reagan Revolution and Trump on Executive Power
The attorney general wrapped his maximalist vision of executive power around an embattled president.
Impeachment Investigators Exploring Whether Trump Lied to Mueller
As part of the Russia inquiry, President Trump had given written answers to questions from Robert S. Mueller III.
Did Trump Commit ‘Bribery’? Pelosi’s Impeachment Accusation, Explained
Her declaration reflected a shift by Trump’s critics from talking about the Ukraine affair using more abstract concepts like “quid pro quo” or “abuse of power.”
Trump Denigrates Ex-Envoy Yovanovitch on Twitter During Impeachment Testimony
The insults came as Marie L. Yovanovitch testified about how she felt threatened by him, prompting Democrats to accuse the president of real-time witness intimidation.
Trump Denigrates Yovanovitch, Ex-Envoy, During Impeachment Testimony
The insults came as Marie L. Yovanovitch testified about how she felt threatened by him, prompting Democrats to accuse the president of real-time witness intimidation.
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Charlie Savage
Schiff accuses Trump of witness intimidation for attacking former ambassador to Ukraine during her testimony. The House is already considering impeachment articles on obstruction of Congress/justice, incl. witness interference. w/ @shearm & @peterbakernyt
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American-Born Woman Who Joined ISIS Is Not a Citizen, Judge Rules
A surprise ruling from the bench is a blow to Hoda Muthana’s bid to move her and her 2-year-old son, the child of a slain ISIS fighter, out of a refugee camp in Syria.
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Charlie Savage
A judge has ruled that Hoda Muthana, the American-born college student who joined ISIS, and whom Trump said should not be allowed back in the USA, is not a citizen. She's in a Syrian refugee camp. Her fate - and that of her 2 year old - is in doubt.
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