John Mikhail (Georgetown): The Definition of “Emolument” in English Language and Legal Dictionaries, 1523-1806. Donald O. Mayer (Denver) and Adam J. Sulkowski (Babson College): Emoluments and Implications from Conflict of Interest Laws and Private Sector Fiduciary Duty. Trump’s 2020 campaign has already paid out $600K — to Trump. The U.S. military is dropping $130,000 a month for a Trump Tower rental. Ivanka Trump is making millions off her father’s presidency. How Donald Trump is monetising his presidency: Six months in, Mr Trump’s conflicts of interest look even worse. 13 Trump scandals you forgot about: Any other year, one of these could have derailed a presidency.
Who’s going to trust Republicans after this fiasco? “In short, the Republicans may wind up being tagged as both incompetent and malevolent”. When did the GOP become so sinister? While Democrats are busy infighting, Republicans have found a way to unite and stand behind a president for whom everyone is a winner or loser. The real reason the Trump administration has such a leak problem: There’s a solution, but they’re not going to like it. The lesson Trump hasn’t learned: Trump says that he surrounds himself with “the best people” — but too often, that means people like himself. President Trump’s rallies are about boosting his ego, not his agenda.
The ugly way Trump’s rise and Putin’s are connected. Sarah Kendzior on how Trump fulfilled a 30-year fantasy of becoming president, with a little help from the Kremlin. Sue Halpern on hacking the vote: Who helped whom? Meet the new team of lawyers trying to protect Donald Trump. Trump’s Russiagate attorney is himself entangled in Russian corruption. Nate Silver on how Trump and Congress are probably on a collision course over Russia. Trump, Sessions and America’s looming constitutional crisis: The deeper that special counsel Robert Mueller digs, the more the president panics. A constitutional crisis is inevitable — at this point, why would we expect anything else?
