FEATURING PROF. LAWRENCE O. GOSTIN – The new strain of coronavirus that has made headlines for weeks now, infected thousands and killed hundreds, is still not nearly as fatal as the flu virus. But the fact that it a previously unknown strain with no cure or vaccine has governments deeply worried about the spread of the disease. The epicenter of the coronavirus is the Chinese city of Wuhan which is currently under lockdown. Governments are considering travel advisories and restrictions to China, and the Chinese government is working feverishly to stop the spread.  

Lawrence O. Gostin is a University Professor, Georgetown University where he directs the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is also the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law where he has served in numerous high-level capacities. He also co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Global Health Law and served on two global commissions to report on the lessons learned from the 2015 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

FEATURING NICOLE NGUYEN – Before President Trump’s Muslim ban there was an Obama-era federal program that sounded so much nicer than a ban – Countering Violent Extremism. A federal program ostensibly designed to, in the words of Homeland Security, “counter efforts by extremists to recruit, radicalize, and mobilize followers to violence.” The program known by its acronym CVE, has been aimed squarely at Muslim Americans, and, according to a new book, deeply harmed communities. 

Nicole Nguyen, assistant professor of social foundations of education at the University Illinois-Chicago. She is the author of A Curriculum of Fear: Homeland Security in US Public Schools. Her new book is called Suspect Communities: Anti-Muslim Racism and the Domestic War on Terror

US Senators spent Friday debating over the presentation of witness testimonies for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. After some moderate GOP Senators said earlier this week that they would vote for witness testimonies, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s directive to his party members to vote down witnesses appears to have largely worked and the Senate may even vote on acquitting the President before the weekend. 

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander issued an astonishing statement to justify his vote against witnesses, saying he already had enough evidence of the President’s wrongdoing on Ukraine. But in Alexander’s eyes, the wrongdoing was simply “inappropriate,” and did not rise to the level of removal from office. He said in his statement, “There is no need for more evidence to prove that the president asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.” And, “There is no need for more evidence to conclude that the president withheld United States aid, at least in part, to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.” Senator Alexander then labeled those actions, “inappropriate,” and concluded, “the Constitution does not give the Senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year’s ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate.” The “yes-he-did-it-and-so-what” sentiment echoes the argument of several of Trump’s defenders. Republican Senators Susan Collins and Mitt Romney were the only GOP Senators saying they would vote for witnesses to testify as of Friday morning.

Meanwhile Trump traveled to Des Moines, Iowa for another of his signature political rallies on Thursday night. He spent much of his 1-hour plus speech declaring the impeachment trial all-but-over and attacking former Vice President Joe Biden. Writing in The Nation magazine, veteran journalist John Nichols wrote, “The president forgot to mobilize Republican caucus voters and instead took the opportunity to rip into the Democratic presidential candidates.” Trump also touted his recent trade deals as a victory for Iowans, many of whom have been hurting from retaliatory tariffs. On Monday Iowan voters will attend the Democratic and Republican caucuses to pick a winner of their state’s primary races. 

Associated Press on Friday published an investigative report into Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow who has been a prominent member of the impeachment defense team. Sekulow, according to AP, “is being paid for his legal work through a rented $80-a-month mailbox a block away from the White House.” The backdrop for this is that, “Charity watchdogs for years have raised concerns about the blurred lines between for-profit businesses tied to Sekulow and the complex web of non-profit entities he and his family control.” Additionally,

FEATURING NEGIN OWLIAEI – Earlier this week a 27-year old Iranian student named Alireza Yazdani arrived at Detroit Metro Airport, ready to continue his PhD at Michigan State University. But upon his arrival Customs and Border Patrol authorities questioned him. The interrogation lasted six hours after which a weary Yazdani simply gave up and allowed authorities to send him back home. He is one of dozens of documented cases of Iranians with legitimate reasons for traveling to the US and valid travel papers being turned away. Since the US provoked a near-war with the Iranian regime in early January, cases like Yazdani’s are piling up and civil rights advocates are deeply concerned. 

Meanwhile the House of Representatives on Thursday voted to sharply constrain the Trump administration from waging a war on Iran without Congressional approval. They also repealed the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUFM) passed in the wake of the 9-11 attacks. Trump has threatened to veto both measures. 

Negin Owliaei, researcher and editor at Inequality.org, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies. She previously worked as a journalist and digital producer at Al Jazeera Media Network. 

the Senate impeachment trial over President Donald Trump’s Ukraine misconduct continued on Thursday for a second day of Senators’ questions to the two legal teams that were put in writing and read out by presiding Chief Justice John Roberts. Attorney and law professor Alan Dershowitz, arguing to defend the President made an extraordinary claim on Wednesday that critics denounced as justifying a monarchy and even many Republicans appeared taken aback by. He said, “If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment,” Observers were aghast at the argument he put forward which also implicitly admits that Trump acted to further his reelection chances in 2020. Representative Adam Schiff, the leader of the House impeachment team also expressed shock when speaking to reporters on Thursday, denouncing Mr. Dershowitz’s defense of Trump as “absurdly dangerous.”

In other impeachment news, Republican Senators aggressively corralled their colleagues into falling in line behind Trump in promising to vote against witness testimonies and push for a swift acquittal by Friday. Earlier in the week, after former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book manuscript captured news headlines, a handful of moderate Republicans said they would consider voting for witness testimonies. But by Thursday news emerged that Republicans claimed to have the 51 votes necessary to end the trial. The White House had also been circulating a letter saying it was moving to block Mr. Bolton’s book from being published. Now Bolton’s lawyer is pushing backagainst the White House claim that the book has too much classified information for public consumption. In an email to the White House attorney Charles Cooper wrote, “We do not believe that any of that information could reasonably be considered classified,” and that since Bolton may be called to testify, it was, “imperative that we have the results of your review of that chapter as soon as possible.”

A number of Democratic Presidential candidates remain shut out of the campaign trial leading up to the Iowa Caucuses on Monday, including Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar. Meanwhile, as former Vice President Joe Biden is under no such obligation he has been actively campaigning even as his name continues to come up during the Senate impeachment trial. Speaking at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, Biden said, “They’re smearing me … because they know if I’m the nominee, I’m going to beat Donald Trump like a drum.” But voters are wary, and Biden is under pressure to prove he can withstand accusations of ethics concerns. One Iowa voter told Associated Press, “Whether there’s anything to it or not, there’s going to be a lack of trust and doubt that we could end up like we did four years ago,” referring to voter distrust of Hillary Clinton. 

In other electoral news, South Bend, Indiana Mayor

FEATURING JACK REARDON – The very first Democratic primary race of a critically important election year takes place in Iowa on Monday February 3rd. Known for its unique style of caucusing instead of elections, thousands of Iowans will gather in school gyms and arenas over the state to push for their favorite Democratic candidate in a manner that may appear chaotic to those of us outside the state.

Iowa’s caucuses have given the state a unique place in electoral politics, and political organizers have used the spotlight to highlight their favorite issues. Earlier this week more than two dozen members of the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement stormed into the candidate office of former Vice President Joe Biden angry about his centrist stance on healthcare. Five people were arrested. 

Jack Reardon, Community Organizer With the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement’s Movement Politics Team

President Donald Trump has launched an attack at member of his own party and one of his own former inner cabinet members, John Bolton. The former National Security Advisor who left the White House last year is being considered a likely witness in the Senate impeachment trial after leaks from a book manuscript by Bolton appeared to corroborate Trump’s wrongdoing. Bolton is an aggressive war hawk who had pushed for a conflict with Iran. The President justified Bolton’s departure by saying that had Bolton stayed, the U.S. “would be in World War Six by now.” It is not clear if Trump knows how many World Wars there have been. The White House has also formally threatened to stop Bolton’s book from being published. A copy of the manuscript had been sent to the White House’s National Security Council’s Records Management Division for clearance. Bolton’s lawyers are accusing that office of leaking the manuscript. 

Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has apparently said behind closed doors that he lacks the votes to block witness testimonies. With a slim majority in the Senate, just four Republicans would have to join all Democrats in voting to bring forward witnesses. A vote on witness testimonies is likely to be set for this Friday. If the vote passes, the Senate will have to then vote on each individual witness. On Tuesday Trump’s impeachment defense team ended its opening arguments with Attorney Jay Sekulow making the claim that the leak of Bolton’s manuscript was inadmissible. Now that the opening arguments on both sides have wrapped up the historic impeachment trial enters a new phase where Senators have the opportunity to write down questions for House impeachment managers and Trump’s lawyers which will then be read by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. There are 16 hours over two days that have been set aside for this part of the process. 

While Republicans are bending over backward to support Trump, some are angry at what they see is the administration’s denial of a Congressional role in military decision making. Emerging from a closed-door State Department briefing on Iran on Tuesday, Senator Rand Paul said, “The position of this administration, and probably most of the recent administrations, is they don’t care what Congress thinks, and they don’t believe they need any authorization for any war ever.” Trump authorized a significant air strike in early January that killed a top Iranian general while he was in Iraq, provoking a near-war. There are currently several bills before Congress that address the authority to wage wars.

In other news 

FEATURING KHURY PETERSEN- SMITH – President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled with great fanfare his version of a peace plan for the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine. Employing his usual bombastic style filled with superlatives, Trump in a joint announcement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security.” 

A day earlier Trump had hosted a meeting in the Oval office with Israeli leaders. The complete absence of Palestinian leaders in the unveiling of Trump’s plan underscores the extent to which Palestinians have been sidelined under this administration – even more so than earlier administrations who at least paid some lip service to the Palestinian side.

Khury Petersen-Smith, Middle East Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. 

The political fallout from former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s new book continues to reverberate in Washington DC and the Senate Impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Leaked sections of Bolton’s book about his time in the White House were first reported by the New York Times on Sunday during the period that Trump’s legal defense team was presenting its opening arguments. It has given impetus for a Democratic call for witnesses like Bolton to testify before Senators. Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins echoed her colleague Mitt Romney’s words in saying that reports of Bolton’s book “strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues.” Mr. Trump has accused Bolton of lying and said that he never told his former National Security Advisor that he wanted to leverage US military aid to Ukraine for an investigation into Joe Biden. In addition to the Ukraine story, Bolton’s book shows that he was also deeply concerned that Trump was offering personal favors to autocratic rulers. He apparently shared those concerns with Attorney General William Barr. The Justice Department has countered that Bolton’s account is not true. 

Meanwhile Trump’s legal defense team continued its arguments on Monday with plans to wrap up before the end of Tuesday. But the President’s lawyers have been contradicting one another as they attempt to make the case for acquittal. On Saturday lawyer Jay Sekulow claimed that there were no direct witnesses. Then, on Sunday the story of Bolton’s book broke, making clear that Bolton did indeed witness Trump’s Ukraine misdeeds. On Monday, Trump’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz then claimed that if Bolton’s account was true, it still wasn’t impeachable. On Monday attorney Pam Bondi addressed Senators focusing on the same premise that drove Trump’s Ukraine plan to withhold aid – that Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s appointment to a Ukrainian gas company was an act of corruption. The line of arguments focusing on Biden contradicted the loud claims by Republicans that there was no evidence showing Trump leveraged US military aid for investigations into Biden. Trump’s team also spent a surprising amount of time defending Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has become a political liability for the Republican Party. In spite of the fact that Mr. Trump repeatedly referenced Giuliani in his phone call with another head of state – President Zelensky of Ukraine – Trump’s impeachment defense team claimed contrary to irrefutable evidence that Giuliani played a very minimal role in the administration’s Ukraine policy. 

An NPR reporter named Michele Kelemen has been barred from traveling with the State Department’s press corps on Secretary Mike Pompeo’s upcoming foreign visits. Pompeo lost his cool during a weekend interview with another NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly repeatedly screaming at her using profanity after which he published a statement maligning the journalist and the media in general.

FEATURING MARJORIE COHN – As President Donald Trump’s defense team continues to deliver arguments in the early part of the week the opening salvo from attorney Jay Sekulow was to claim that all Trump was guilty of was having a policy difference with the Democratic Party and for that he was unfairly impeached. 

But since last Friday Trump’s impeachment defense has had to contend with several key damaging stories: First a secret audio recording of Trump from Lev Parnas makes clear that the President decided to oust US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. And second, that former National Security Advisor John Bolton does indeed have firsthand knowledge of Trump’s Ukraine dealings and has written a book about it. 

Read Marjorie Cohn’s latest article ‘First the Trial, Then the Evidence? Impeachment in Wonderland,’ in Truthout, HERE.

Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and a writer for Truthout.