Estrich Goldin LLP

??| Will Trump Help LA? The fires got the new president's attention. In his inaugural address, he pointed to them: "From weeks ago, without even a token of defense, they're raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer." And then he politicized them. "But we can't let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That's going to change." https://lnkd.in/guKWQzF3

??| FIRE What was Donald Trump's reaction to the deadly and devastating wildfires literally burning down a county that didn't vote for him? This is what he wrote on Truth Social. "Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way." https://lnkd.in/dfYPKpdG

????| The Routine of the Rule of Law This year, Jan. 6 was a routine day. Congress certified the election of Donald Trump. They did it in 30 minutes, instead of the overnight session in the wake of riots four years ago. As one Democrat put it, there were no election deniers on the Democratic side. The rule of law triumphed, routinely. Imagine how different it might have been had the results of the election been different. The big question — at least for those of us who are fans of the rule of law — is just how routine the next four years will be. https://lnkd.in/g56rrkWT

???? | Harvard Law School Steps Back in Time According to figures released last month, there are a grand total of 19 Black students in the first-year class at Harvard Law School, down from 43 in last year's entering class. It is a major step backward for a school that has produced some of the leading Black lawyers in America, a step backward that dramatically affects not only Black students, but the quality of education for all students at HLS. https://lnkd.in/gc__HSR8

???? | Matt Gaetz's Legacy What a Christmas present! In its report released last Monday, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee cited "substantial evidence" that from 2017 to 2020, former Rep. and would-be Attorney General Matt Gaetz "regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him," including an underage 17-year-old, and from 2017 to 2019, had in his possession illegal drugs including cocaine and ecstasy, on "multiple different occasions." Investigating a 2018 trip Gaetz made to the Bahamas, the committee found that he violated House rules by accepting transportation and lodging, which is not allowed. https://lnkd.in/gw3F5AK5

????| When Elon Speaks ... Something very scary happened in Washington this week. The world's richest man flexed his political muscle. And the House collapsed. All in a day. Republicans and Democrats had negotiated for months about a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown — complicated negotiations to keep the government funded through mid-March including $110 billion in disaster relief and payments to farmers. President-elect Donald Trump, who could have (and plainly should have) weighed in on the negotiations, didn't. And then on Wednesday, before the House could approve the bipartisan deal, Elon Musk decided he didn't like it. https://lnkd.in/gEgyNCXQ

??| ABC News Caves to the Bully That's the best I can say about ABC's decision to settle the defamation suit that Donald Trump brought against ABC News because star anchor George Stephanopoulos said he had been held liable for "rape." Trump's claim: he was not held civilly liable for "rape," but for "sexual assault." In fact, the judge had already rejected Trump's efforts to make a federal case out of that distinction. In rejecting Trump's effort to get a new trial, respected federal Judge Lewis Kaplan made clear that Stephanopoulos' mistake — calling it rape — was not a mistake at all. https://lnkd.in/g-ve2S9A

????| The MAGA Attack on Joni Ernst The first woman combat veteran to serve in the Senate, and a sexual assault survivor, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst understandably had serious questions about the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. Initially, she said he would "have his work cut out for him" to be confirmed and told Fox News that she was not yet a "yes" on his bid, notwithstanding a lengthy meeting with him. This was after two other Republican women senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, indicated that they had questions for Hegseth, an unqualified nominee with serious black marks about his past drinking, treatment of women and financial mismanagement. https://lnkd.in/es4XBSmu

??| And So It Ends On Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed motions to dismiss the two pending criminal cases against Donald Trump, the D.C. case centered on his actions to subvert the result of the 2020 election and the Florida case about classified documents. The legal system failed. Just how it failed is a matter of some debate. "If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison," Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said on social media, "It's time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again." https://lnkd.in/eDE7wSWB

?? He's Trolling Us What to make of Donald Trump's nominations of the Fox News team to the Trump Cabinet? Attorney General Gaetz? Can this be serious? An expert on wrestling to take down the Department of Education? An opponent of public health to run Health and Human Services? What kind of game is this? Is he really just trolling us to see how far outside the mainstream he can go? https://lnkd.in/gWhEFy3e