Hi, and welcome back to Trump Watch! No news this week, right? Right? None?? Okay, cool. Follow me on Twitter at @jacq_thomsen for all of that non-news, and email me about it at [email protected].

(l-r) Douglas Letter, William Consovoy and Donald Trump.

Trump's Delay Strategy Gets A Supreme Boost

Donald Trump has always been known as litigious. In his past career in real estate, he encountered obstacles the same way: Lawyering up, and pouring enough resources into the case to outlast his challengers. Losses, on paper at least, were few and far between.

Adding in the presidency did little to change that strategy. When House Democrats won the 2018 midterm elections, they vowed swift investigations into alleged wrongdoing by Trump and his administration. And when they started to dig into his private businesses and family members, Trump turned to Consovoy & McCarthy to lawyer up and head to court.

On Thursday, it was obvious how successful that strategy was. By suing to challenge subpoenas and forcing the House into court over other investigations, the president came out on top with U.S. Supreme Court rulings to remand a pair of cases over his tax returns down to lower courts, arguably stretching out the timeline for a final decision until after the presidential election this November.

The justices did rule against Trump in the case involving a Manhattan district attorney subpoena, arguing he is not immune from the effort. But they did affirm the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to remand the case to the district court, where Trump can raise different legal issues about the terms of the subpoena. Any ruling from that is likely to be appealed and who knows how long that will take.

For the House, they'll have to push for an accelerated timeline at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for judges there to consider the new balancing test the justices crafted for the subpoena to get a ruling ahead of the election.

At the end of the day, this House will go down in history for its court battles with the president. At this rate, assuming Trump loses reelection and Democrats hold onto the House, the session will end in January with them having asserted their rights in court, with few tangible results.

And with a clear litmus test, this and future presidents could flat-out refuse to negotiate and instead force a judge to decide if the subpoena meets the set criteria.

It's not all bad news for the House. Sure, they've lost some leeway over the subpoenas, but just the specific type being challenged by Trump—those to third-parties for a president's private records. And they avoided a ruling along the lines that Justices Alito and Thomas called for in their dissents, which would have been even more restrictive on the subpoenas.

They also walked away with a ruling that affirmed their right to investigate, which could arguably help them in their court fights to enforce subpoenas after the administration refused to engage in negotiations.

But, armed with time, it's Trump—the King of Delay—who's walking away with the temporary win. If he wins reelection and Democrats hang onto the House, well that's a different story.

SPONSORED BY ALM

Announcing Two Incredible Keynote Speakers for the Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference

WIPL is known for having some of the most engaging and energizing keynote speakers attend to share their thoughts, experiences, war stories and tips on effective leadership. And this year is no exception. This year, we are grateful to welcome two remarkable women come and inspire us: Tina Tchen, the President and CEO of the "Times Up" Legal Defense Fund and Paula Boggs, Founder of Boggs Media LLC and Former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Law and Corporate Affairs at Starbucks from 2002-2012. READ MORE

Geoffrey Berman, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. (Photo: David Handschuh/ALM)

Berman, Barr and Those Sandwiches

Soon after the Supreme Court handed down its opinions, the House Judiciary Committee was hearing closed-door testimony from former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman about his recent ouster.

In his opening statement, Berman recounted an effort by Attorney General William Barr to force him out of the job, beginning with an in-person meeting in New York at a hotel. ("There were sandwiches on the table, but nobody ate.") He said Barr offered him a position leading DOJ's Civil Division, but he turned him down.

"The Attorney General pressed me to take the Civil Division position, saying that the role would be a good resume builder," Berman said. "He said that I should want to create a book of business once I returned to the private sector, which that role would help achieve."

Berman also said Barr told him that, if he did not resign, he would be fired. Berman said that, after the meeting, he met with his executive team and contacted attorneys to potentially represent him in court if he was fired, "on the ground that I was appointed by the Court of the Southern District of New York and therefore could not be fired by the attorney general or the president."

Berman and Barr spoke again later that Friday, during which Berman turned down an offer to be chair of the SEC. And later that night, Barr announced Berman was stepping down, which the then-prosecutor denied in his own statement. Barr released a letter the next day announcing Berman would be fired and temporarily replaced by Berman's deputy, Audrey Strauss, instead of U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito, as originally announced.

"With that concession, and having full confidence that Audrey would continue the important work of the office, I decided to step down and not litigate my removal," Berman said.

The full transcript of Berman's interview has not yet been released. But the revelations from even the written testimony point to Democrats not letting up on pursuing claims of political motivated acts within the Justice Department. Stay tuned for Barr's testimony before the committee at the end of the month.

Your Weekly Roger Stone Update

Poor Roger—he lost his Instagram this week. And he was already suspended from Twitter. At least he can spend a little less time on his phone.

This week he also appealed Judge Amy Berman Jackson's order directing him to surrender to federal prison authorities on July 14, asking the D.C. Circuit to push that date until September.

Judges David Tatel, Thomas Griffith and Patricia Millett set a fast-moving briefing schedule, and on Thursday the Justice Department said they support Jackson's ruling on Stone's surrender date. "Such careful consideration shows that the district court's reasons amply support its conclusion that appellant should be granted a 14-day, rather than a 60-day, extension and that he should be detained beginning July 14," the filing reads.

Time is running out for Stone, whose attorneys are set to file a response to the Justice Department by noon tomorrow, as he's set to surrender to federal authorities on Tuesday. Which also means time is running out for a pardon or commutation….