Quotes from Jeffrey Toobin

Mueller's report, if read carefully, establishes that Trump committed several acts of criminal obstruction of justice. The impeachment proceedings against both Nixon and Clinton were rooted in charges of obstruction of justice, and Trump's offenses were even more extensive and enduring.

Because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal, we had that thing, you know," Trump said, according to Comey's notes. (Comey thought this was an example of Trump's penchant for Mafia talk. When making improper demands, the president, like the gangsters, would switch to a studied vagueness—like "that thing, you know.")

Barr neglected to mention that the investigation that was under way when Trump took office took place because the Russian government engaged in a systematic attempt to help Trump win the election, which Trump and his staff encouraged.

Rosenstein had never been in the Oval Office or met Trump before this day, and he received a fast introduction to the president's conversational style—the meandering subject matter, the mumbled sentence fragments, the persistent aggression.

Trump finally had what he had wanted all along—an attorney general who put Trump's personal political well-being ahead of the national interest, the traditions of the Justice Department, and the rule of law.

For two years, in response to the Mueller probe of foreign involvement in the 2016 election, Trump had made his mantra "no collusion." And here was his personal attorney heading overseas to collude with Ukraine to help Trump in the 2020 election.

Mueller forfeited the opportunity to speak clearly and directly about Trump's crimes, and Barr filled the void with his sycophantic, and high-volume, exoneration.

The story of American policy in Ukraine over the next four months, from May to September 2019, demonstrated this tectonic struggle in action. Trump and Giuliani's goal in this period was straightforward—to use every lever of government policy to force Ukraine to help Trump win reelection.

Yovanovitch's testimony was an act of tremendous honor and importance.

Military aid to Ukraine represented a rare point of bipartisan consensus in Trump's Washington—supported by liberals who disdained Putin's reactionary authoritarianism and by conservatives who wanted to check, as in Soviet days, Russian expansionism. Trump saw the military aid in a different way—as the most compelling form of leverage to use on Zelensky.

All the president cared about was using Ukraine—this battered, vulnerable, embattled nation—to help him get reelected.

In other words, by early July, Zelensky knew the price for continuation of American military aid to his country: the announcement of a Ukrainian investigation of Trump's political rivals.

On Monday, July 22, Giuliani, Volker, and Yermak had a three-way call for thirty-eight minutes where Giuliani received assurance from Yermak that Zelensky understood what was expected of him in a phone call with Trump. The investigation of the Bidens—not burden sharing with the West, not corruption in Ukraine, not saving lives from Russian bullets and bombs—was all that mattered.

It was notable, in light of subsequent defenses of Trump's behavior on the call, that he made only two demands of Ukraine: to investigate CrowdStrike and the Bidens. Trump said nothing about the need for Zelensky to fight corruption in Ukraine or to defend his country against Russia. All Trump cared about was extorting this vulnerable nation for his personal electoral advantage.

Trump's behavior was so wildly and obviously inappropriate—pressuring a foreign leader to help the president's reelection—that two listeners that very morning went to John Eisenberg, the National Security Council lawyer, to complain.

As one justice explained, "The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.

The fake news industry was largely dependent on Facebook. The content farms' websites generated little traffic on their own, so their owners depended on gullible readers sharing the stories on social media, which usually meant Facebook.

Beyond diversity, the story of Obama's influence on the courts is more complex. Indeed, it could serve as a metaphor for his Presidency: symbolically rich but substantively hazy. Obama took office after years of intense conservative focus on the courts.

Students follow rules. Students complete assignments. The job of students - in part, at least - is to please their teachers. Now, I realize I may be exaggerating a little here, but basically I think I'm right: students do what they're told.

One of the main things I know about O.J. Simpson is that he is a compulsive talker. So if I were to ask him one question, I would get 45 minutes on the history of the case. It would be irrelevant what I would ask him - he would just start talking.

I'm a big fan of good grades. But I am going to suggest to you that you will find that the skills of a student are of somewhat less use to you once you get out into what is sometimes referred to as 'the real world.'

When Obama took office, Republican appointees controlled ten of the thirteen circuit courts of appeals; Democratic appointees now constitute a majority in nine circuits. Because federal judges have life tenure, nearly all of Obama's judges will continue serving well after he leaves office.

Everyone wants to be paid well - I know that I certainly do. But there are lots of other satisfactions that we get from our work. To feel needed. To feel accomplishment. To believe that our work matters. Being a lawyer gives you a rare chance to experience that kind of success.

Cameras in the courtroom is a great idea.