1 States Officially Sue Trump Over Emergency Declaration
It’s official – 16 states are teaming up to sue the Trump administration over the declaration of a national emergency on the southern border. As we told you before, President Trump announced the emergency last week, claiming it's necessary to build a wall to stop drug and human trafficking into the United States. Now, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is stepping to the public stage to say the emergency declaration is a presidential overreach. He added that he expects victory in the court system, and that “it's so simple, a first-year law student could argue the case.” The complaint, which has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks to stop the administration from using emergency powers to divert money from other programs to a wall. Becerra notes, "[Trump] said, 'I didn't need to do this.' Those are not the kind of words you hear from a president who's about to declare a national emergency.” This coalition of states in the lawsuit includes Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Virginia.
2 The White House Goes Hard At McCabe, As Rosenstein Exits
President Trump is continuing to vent on Twitter about former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and current Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – and he’s now accusing them of illegal and treasonous acts. The President started the day unloading about McCabe’s “60 Minutes” interview. McCabe said that Justice Department officials were discussing the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office if the Vice President and cabinet determined him unfit to serve. He also discussed investigations into Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey and possible links with Russia. Trump blasted McCabe – saying he was fired and added, “looks like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught.” More tweets followed. And while McCabe hasn’t reacted, Rosenstein appears to be…as word broke overnight that he’s planning to leave his post in mid-March. An announcement on a nomination for his replacement could occur as soon as this week.
3 Protests Erupt Over Trump Emergency Declaration
Over 200 small protests took place in cities across the country over President Trump's national emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Organized rallies happened in California, New York, Chicago and at Lafayette Square in front of the White House. The demonstrations are in response to Trump's plans to redirect nearly eight billion dollars from the Defense Department to help build a border wall as his administration says there's a crisis along the southern border. As MoveOn.org activists put it, the rallies were organize to “defend our democracy and immigrant, Muslim, black and brown communities from Trump’s dangerous national emergency power grab.”