The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (the SDNY) recently filed its sentencing memo in U.S. v. Michael Cohen. That memo has led to substantial speculation over whether the SDNY has evidence that President Trump criminally violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Many commentators believe that the SDNY does, particularly because […]
Shortly after the 2018 midterm elections, President Donald Trump accepted Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation. Under a default statutory rule, when the office of Attorney General becomes vacant, the Department of Justice’s Deputy Attorney General may “exercise all the duties of that office.” See 28 U.S.C. § 508. If this provision had applied, Deputy Attorney […]
The 2018 midterm elections are around the corner, and Democrats are favored to retake the House. Democratic leaders have indicated that, should they regain control, they will perform robust investigations into President Trump and his administration. Trump’s tax returns have drawn particularly strong interest, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has already promised that obtaining […]
This week, the IRS tried to clarify how proposed regulations on state tax credit programs apply to Section 162(a) business deductions. But its attempted clarification has created only more problems. Under the proposed regulations, a taxpayer who makes a transfer to a Section 170(c) organization must reduce her charitable contribution deduction by the amount of any state […]
After Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, several states adopted a charitable contribution strategy to help their residents avoid the new Section 164 deduction limits for state and local tax payments. Under the strategy, taxpayers would make donations to state-controlled funds and receive state tax credits for those donations. Taxpayers would then use […]
The IRS recently changed the rules on how some tax-exempt organizations must report information related to their “substantial contributors” (that is, those who donate $5,000 or more in a year). This change has sparked a political controversy, fueled by concerns over “dark money” in politics and the Citizens United decision. One state (Montana) has already […]
This week, a federal district court ruled that a lawsuit brought by D.C. and Maryland under the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses, against President Trump, could proceed. See D.C. v. Trump, 2018 WL 3559027 (D. Md. 2018). The decision is notable because it offers the first extended judicial interpretation of “emolument,” as that term appears […]
In May, the IRS announced that it would issue regulations addressing state efforts to avoid some new deduction limits enacted under the 2017 tax bill. My prior blog post on the states’ strategy is here. I have also posted my full length article, The Charitable Contribution Strategy: An Ineffective SALT Substitute, on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: The Tax […]
My prior post examined the often-overlooked and extremely strict requirements for establishing criminal violations under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Although ignorance of the law usually provides no defense to criminal liability, in FECA, it does. That is, under 52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)(A), criminal violations arise only when someone “knowingly and willfully” violates FECA’s requirements. Under the Department […]
Over at PostEverything, Professors Daniel Hemel and David Herzig argue that Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, “could be in tax trouble on top of his ethical and political problems.” Hemel & Herzig, “Scott Pruitt’s travel could leave him with a big tax bill,” (April 16, 2018). The authors note that Pruitt’s […]
In Marinello v. United States, 584 U.S. — (2018), the Supreme Court wrestled with whether the federal tax obstruction statute reaches conduct unrelated to an ongoing or contemplated IRS proceeding. Section 7212(a) states, in relevant part, that anyone who “corruptly or by force . . . obstructs or impedes, or endeavors to obstruct or impede […]
As the various entries in this Symposium show, agencies enjoy considerable flexibility in determining whether, when, and how to publicly communicate their enforcement priorities and legal interpretations. But sometimes, through statutes like the Freedom of Information Act, an agency may be forced to reveal things that it would otherwise keep out of the public’s eye. For […]
As part of the new tax bill, Congress imposed limits on the Section 164 deduction for state and local taxes paid or accrued. Under prior law, taxpayers could generally deduct those taxes without limitation, even when those taxes were personal in nature (that is, when those taxes were not connected to business or investment activities). […]
My prior posts have described some constitutional challenges facing any criminal prosecution of President Trump for an official act, such as the firing of FBI Director James Comey. A legislature’s attempt to criminalize a President’s official acts would raise separation of powers problems and would seem inconsistent with the great legal protection otherwise afforded to […]
My prior post examined a state court case, Ex Parte Parry, which held that the prosecution of the state’s chief executive, Governor Rick Perry, for an official act would violate the separation of powers under that state’s constitution. The post argued that the U.S. Supreme Court could adopt a similar separation of powers argument if […]