Andrew P. Napolitano

The longer the Russia probe drags on, the greater Donald Trump’s jeopardy

In August, when President Trump's lawyers persuaded him to refrain from attacking independent counsel Robert Mueller publicly — he had many times called Mr. Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt" — they also told him that the investigation was not aimed at him and not to worry because it would be over by Thanksgiving. Published November 29, 2017

Government continues to tax, borrow and spend because parties don’t recognize limits

Should the government borrow against the future? Should it guarantee higher taxes for your children and grandchildren in return for lower taxes for you? Published November 22, 2017

Investigation of Hillary Clinton and her shortcomings not yet complete

The Department of Justice will soon commence an investigation to determine whether there should be an investigation (you read that nonsense correctly) of a scandal involving the Clinton Foundation and a company called Uranium One. It appears that FBI decisions made during the time that Hillary Clinton was being investigated for espionage will also be investigated to see whether there should be an investigation to determine whether she was properly investigated. (Again, you read that nonsense correctly.) Published November 15, 2017

Government steals liberty and doesn’t give safety

What if the government doesn't really deliver for us? What if its failures to protect our lives, liberties and property are glaring? What if nothing changes after these failures? Published November 8, 2017

Russia collusion inquiry employs witness-squeezing

Earlier this week, the government revealed that a grand jury sitting in Washington, D.C., indicted a former Trump presidential campaign chairman and his former deputy and business partner for numerous felonies. Published November 1, 2017

‘Universal jurisdiction’ is a convenient fiction

I am in Switzerland this week interacting with and lecturing to students and faculty at the University of Zurich. The subject of our work is the U.S. Constitution and its protections of personal liberty. Published October 25, 2017

Obamacare subsidies are problematic

Late last week, President Trump signed an executive order directing the secretaries of the Treasury and health and human services to cease making payments to health care insurance companies in behalf of the more than 6 million Americans who qualify for these payments under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Published October 18, 2017

NFL protest may be in bounds of the law

Sometimes the public expression of unwanted ideas reaches directly into our living rooms. When President Trump attacked a half-dozen or so professional football players who, instead of standing during the traditional playing of the national anthem prior to football games, "took a knee" by kneeling on one or both of their knees during the anthem, hundreds more players on national television took a knee in defiance of the president. Published October 11, 2017

Government must keep the nation safe

Here we go again. The United States has been rattled to the core by an unspeakable act of evil perpetrated by a hater of humanity. A quiet, wealthy loner rented a hotel suite in Las Vegas, armed it with shooting platforms and automatic weapons, knocked out two of the windows, and shot at innocents 32 floors below. Fifty-nine people were murdered, and 527 were injured. Published October 4, 2017

Trump travel ban continues on its strange odyssey

The weird odyssey of President Trump's travel bans continues. The original ban, signed as an executive order Jan. 27, barred absolutely all immigrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The countries had actually been chosen by the State Department of former President Obama. Mr. Obama never signed a ban, but Mr. Trump did. Published September 27, 2017

Paul Manafort indictment spells legal trouble for Trump

The Donald Trump I know is a smart guy who often thinks a few steps ahead of those whose will he is trying to bend. But I lately wonder whether he grasps the gravity of the legal peril that is beginning to show up around him. Published September 20, 2017

Hurricanes, other natural disasters are God’s will

Like many Americans during the past three weeks, I've been bombarded by news about the destructive power of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida. The stories are of misery, death and destruction. Published September 13, 2017

DACA and the rule of immigration law

Earlier this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that in six months, the Department of Justice will begin the long process for deportation proceedings against 800,000 young people who came to America as babies and young children in the care of their parents and others because those entries into this country were and remain unlawful. Published September 6, 2017

Creeping dangers to the rule of law

Amid the bad news this summer of racial tensions in Charlottesville and biblical-like floods in Houston and preening saber rattling between Pyongyang and Washington, a dangerous below-the-radar trend has been developing about which all who believe that the Constitution means what it says should be concerned. It is the reckless influence upon local law enforcement coming from the Trump administration. Published August 30, 2017

Afghanistan strategy gives Trump focus other than Charlottesville

On the heels of his worst week in office, during which his crude comments about race were widely perceived as defending racism and hatred -- comments that sent some of his natural domestic allies fleeing -- President Trump could not bring himself to articulate a mea culpa. Published August 23, 2017

Charlottesville shows why free speech is important

Last weekend, serious violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a group of white supremacist demonstrators was confronted by a group of folks who were there to condemn the message the demonstrators had come to advance. The message was critical of the government for removing a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public place. Published August 16, 2017

Sanctuary cities run afoul of the rule of law

Earlier this week, the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) told the mayor of Chicago that it would cease funding grants to the Chicago Police Department that had been approved in the Obama administration because Chicago city officials were not cooperating with federal immigration officials. Published August 9, 2017

Spying is clearly spelled out by Constitution

What if the federal government captures in real time the contents of every telephone call, email and text message and all the fiber-optic data generated by every person and entity in the United States 24/7/365? What if this mass surveillance was never authorized by any federal law? Published August 2, 2017

Jeff Sessions recusal leaves Trump under siege

During the past two weeks, President Trump has made no secret of his unhappiness at the management of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Actually, Mr. Trump seems most agitated at the growing parts of the Justice Department that are not under Mr. Sessions' management. Published July 26, 2017

Donald Trump Jr.’s Russian meeting may be an actual crime

Last week, The New York Times revealed that in June 2016, Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son; Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and chief confidant; Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's then-campaign chief executive; and others met secretly at Trump Tower with a former Russian prosecutor and a former Soviet counterintelligence agent to discuss what negative (most likely computer-generated) information the Russians might have to offer them about Hillary Clinton. Published July 19, 2017