Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including Democrats accused President Donald Trump of an ongoing campaign to interfere in the 2020 elections; The Justice Department’s internal watchdog released a 476-page report that largely refutes Republican claims that the investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election was based on political motives; Amazon is contesting Microsoft’s $10 billion Pentagon contract, and more.

Your Monday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Sign up for CNS Nightly Brief, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your email Monday through Friday.

National

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., joined at right by Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the ranking member, convenes the panel to hear investigative findings in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

1.) Raising the stakes of the impeachment inquiry, the Democrats accused President Donald Trump on Monday of an ongoing campaign to interfere in the 2020 elections.

Then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington in May 2019. (Carolyn Kaste/AP)

2.) The Justice Department’s internal watchdog released a 476-page report Monday that largely refutes Republican claims that the investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election was based on political motives.

FILE - This Monday, Sept. 12, 2016, file photo, shows the exterior of the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington. A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s efforts to halt legal proceedings in a case accusing President Donald Trump of violating the U.S. Constitution _ opening the door for Trump’s critics to soon gain access to financial records related to his Washington, hotel. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

3.) With a seemingly impossible hurdle to jump, Democrats argued Monday morning before the D.C. Circuit that they can sue President Donald Trump for ignoring the Constitution as foreign governments poured money into his pockets.

FILE - In this June 19, 2017, file photo President Donald Trump, left, and Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, center, listen as Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon, speaks during an American Technology Council roundtable in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. Amazon and Microsoft are battling for a $10 billion opportunity to build the U.S. military its first “war cloud.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

4.) A month after Microsoft scored a $10 billion Pentagon contract, Amazon is contesting the award in court, saying President Donald Trump illegally steered the contract to hurt Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.

5.) A federal judge said Monday she will issue a nationwide injunction to block a Trump administration rule that makes it harder for immigrants to qualify for waivers of the citizenship application fee.

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, the Supreme Court in Washington, at sunset. The Supreme Court is turning to gun rights for the first time in nearly a decade, even though New York City gun owners already have won changes to a regulation they challenged in court. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

6.) Eliciting a statement of concern from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case stemming from a suicide note that described a secret court policy in Louisiana targeting the poor.

Regional

7.) Three months after health officials declared the end of a measles outbreak, the New York attorney general is celebrating the end of a lawsuit that cast the state’s vaccine mandate as religious discrimination.

8.) There’s a landfill in eastern Pennsylvania whose odor, residents say, extends for 20 square miles. The Third Circuit heard arguments Monday about whether one couple can seek damages on behalf of the entire community.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to our free newsletters

Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.