A4| Monday, October 7, 2019 PWLC101112HTGKBFAM123456789OIXX ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
BYBRENTKENDALL
ANDJESSBRAVIN
WASHINGTON—The Su-
preme Court returns from its
summer recess on Monday to a
set of polarizing cases that
could demonstrate the impact
of President Trump’s appoin-
tees—and the influence of Chief
Justice John Roberts—against
the backdrop of an impeach-
ment inquiry and a looming
election.
Pick a hot-button issue and
it’s on the docket—or could be
soon. Gay rights? Oral argu-
ments are set for Tuesday. Mr.
Trump’s cancellation of the im-
migration program known as
DACA? It’s slated for November.
Gun rights? That’s on tap for
December, the first major Sec-
ond Amendment case in a de-
cade. And on Friday the court
U.S. NEWS
agreed to rule on abortion re-
strictions in Louisiana, a case
that could send early signals
about whether a more conser-
vative court will begin narrow-
ing abortion rights.
“All of those cases are red
meat to a lot of people,” says
Dan Ortiz, a law professor at
the University of Virginia. “And
there are things in the pipeline
that could make things even
more interesting.”
In terms of public visibility
and legal impact, the 2019
docket could eclipse anything
the court has handled since
Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch
and Brett Kavanaugh joined the
court. Some of the decisions
are likely to land near the
term’s end in June. That timing
could thrust the court into the
political arena just as the 2020
presidential contest comes into
focus, particularly if the jus-
tices step in to resolve sub-
poena battles or related power
struggles between Mr. Trump
and congressional Democrats
who are investigating him.
At the center sits Chief Jus-tice Roberts, who heads per-
haps the most conservative Su-
preme Court in 80 years. He is
dealing with competing pres-
sures: seizing the opportunity
to implement the rightward le-
gal vision that animated his ca-
reer versus exercising the re-
straint many believe necessary
to preserve the court’s credibil-
ity. The chief justice also is fac-
ing the prospect of presiding
over any Senate impeachment
trial of Mr. Trump.
It is a “misperception” to
view the court as a political
body, Chief Justice Roberts said
last month in New York. Of 19
cases resolved by 5-4 votes last
term, only seven fell along per-
ceived ideological lines, he
noted. “It shouldn’t come as a
surprise because we don’t go
about our work in a political
manner,” he said.
Nevertheless, those seven
5-4 splits included most of the
major cases, including a land-
mark Roberts opinion eliminat-
ing the power of federal courts
to remedy partisan gerryman-
ders. Given the court’s right-ward trajectory, the question
this term is “whether the chief
justice is going to make sure it
goes slowly and incrementally,
or whether we are going to see
the majority really do some
stuff,” says University of Chi-
cago law professor David
Strauss.The gay-rights litigation fo-
cuses on whether federal civil-
rights law protects LGBTQ peo-
ple from discrimination in the
workplace. A bedrock 1964 law
prohibits sex discrimination;
Tuesday’s cases ask whether
that language must be read to
prevent employers from firing
workers because they are gay
or transgender.
No case could have more im-mediate practical impact than
the justices’ review of Mr.
Trump’s 2017 decision to end
the Deferred Action for Child-
hood Arrivals program that has
provided legal protection and
work permits to hundreds of
thousands of undocumented
immigrants who were brought
to the U.S. as children.
Lower courts blocked the
DACA wind-down, saying the
Trump administration didn’t
offer a sufficient legal rationale
and explanation of why it was
changing course.
The White House argues
that DACA itself is unlawful and
maintains that federal courts
don’t have authority to review
the administration’s decision to
rescind the Obama administra-
tion’s “nonenforcement” of im-
migration law.
In a separate immigration
case, the court will consider
whether states like Kansas can
bring charges against illegal
immigrants who put false So-
cial Security numbers and
other information on a federal
employment-verification form.The justices also are consider-
ing a border case involving a
civil suit against a U.S. border-
patrol agent who allegedly shot
and killed a Mexican teenager
on Mexico’s side of the border.
On gun rights, the court in
December is hearing a chal-
lenge to New York City restric-
tions that barred the transport
of firearms to second homes or
shooting ranges. The city has
asked the court to dismiss the
case because legislators subse-
quently changed the law to al-
low gun owners to carry their
licensed handguns outside city
limits.
Later in the term, the jus-
tices will return to the issue of
taxpayer support for religious
schools and also will again take
up the Affordable Care Act, ex-
amining whether the govern-
ment must pay billions of dol-
lars to health insurers who sold
coverage on exchanges under
the Obama-era health law. It is
possible the justices could face
a second ACA case later in the
term that seeks to invalidate
the entire health law.Court Tees Up Term of Hot-Button Cases
Rulings on abortion,
gay rights, guns will
highlight the effect of
Trump’s appointees
Mr. Barr’s review, sent letters
to Australia’s prime minister
and other leaders last week,
urging them to participate in
the probe.
Australia’s ambassador to
the U.S. responded by saying
Australia would work with the
attorney general. As for any im-
plication that a former Austra-
lian diplomat who provided in-
formation that began the FBI
inquiry in 2016 had engaged in
wrongdoing, “We reject your
characterization of his role,”
the ambassador wrote.
—Dustin Volz in Washington
and Mike Cherney in Sydney
contributed to this article.Australia and New Zealand.
Australia’s foreign ministry
didn’t respond to a request for
comment.
When prosecutors seek help
from outside the U.S. in obtain-
ing evidence for an investiga-
tion, the requests usually go
through the Justice Depart-
ment’s Office of International
Affairs, or through Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation legal atta-
chés stationed at U.S. embas-
sies.
Mr. Barr is largely sidestep-
ping that process.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, chair-
man of the Senate Judiciary
Committee and a supporter ofdirectly with foreign officials.
But current and former law-en-
forcement officials say Mr.
Barr’s direct involvement could
strain relationships with U.S.
intelligence agencies and for-
eign partners.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top
Democrat on the Senate Intelli-
gence Committee, said in an in-
terview that he had heard from
several concerned intelligence
officials.
“This could put the Five
Eyes relationship in jeopardy,”
Mr. Warner said, using the
term to describe an intelli-
gence-sharing agreement
among the U.S., U.K., Canada,political opponents, but no evi-
dence of that has emerged. He
has asked several foreign lead-
ers, including in Ukraine and
Australia, to assist Mr. Barr. In
May, Mr. Trump ordered lead-
ers of the U.S. intelligence com-
munity to “quickly and fully”
cooperate with the probe.
Mr. Barr’s work has come
under scrutiny as Congress
pursues an impeachment in-
quiry, triggered by Mr. Trump’s
requests to a foreign counter-
part to open investigations re-
lated to political rivals.
Mr. Barr’s allies say the
high-profile nature of the re-
view requires that he interactcenter of Mr. Barr’s inquiry. Op-
position lawmakers there, too,
are expected to question gov-
ernment officials later this
month about Prime Minister
Scott Morrison’s phone conver-
sation with President Trump
regarding the inquiry.
In London, Mr. Barr’s re-
quests have irked counterintel-
ligence officials over a per-
ceived thwarting of procedural
norms, according to people fa-
miliar with the response. Brit-
ish intelligence officials have
privately expressed annoyance
that it appeared the U.S. Jus-
tice Department was going
around them to talk to political
leaders, these people said.
The Justice Department,
which declined to comment for
this article, said recently that
Mr. Barr had asked Mr. Trump
to introduce him to a number
of foreign leaders to advance
his review, including Mr. Morri-
son in Australia.
According to a department
official, Mr. Barr is accompa-
nied on at least some of these
trips by U.S. Attorney John
Durham, whom Mr. Barr tapped
to lead the review of the ori-
gins of the investigation that
became special counsel Robert
Mueller’s probe into whether
the Trump campaign coordi-
nated with Russian interference
in the 2016 election. Congress
has examined the issue over
the past two years, but Mr.
Barr has said he hasn’t been
satisfied with the explanations.
Mr. Trump has said he ex-
pects the review to show that
crimes were committed by hisAttorney General William
Barr is sparking discord in sev-
eral foreign capitals, going out-
side usual channels to seek help
from allies in reviewing the ori-
gins of a U.S. counterintelli-
gence investigation begun dur-
ing the 2016 presidential
campaign.
By meeting directly with for-
eign leaders—rather than rely-
ing on investigator-to-investi-
gator channels—Mr. Barr has
stirred up domestic politics in
some of the countries he has
tapped for assistance.
In Rome, the national-secu-
rity committee of Italy’s Parlia-
ment last week asked Prime
Minister Giuseppe Conte to ap-
pear and answer questions
about his contacts with Mr.
Barr. Far-right opposition law-
makers criticized Mr. Conte for
deferring to Mr. Barr’s request.
The Italian Prime Minister’s
office said Mr. Conte isn’t wor-
ried about the meetings be-
tween Mr. Barr and Italy’s intel-
ligence services, and said he
would comment publicly only
after he has been heard by the
national-security committee of
Italy’s Parliament.
In Canberra, Australian au-
thorities said they were cooper-
ating with Mr. Barr but dis-
puted allegations that one of its
diplomats acted inappropriately
in 2016—an allegation at the
tration officials believed there
was a link between the aid
holdup and Mr. Trump’s inter-
est in Kyiv launching new
probes.
As the complaint has created
a political threat for Mr. Trump,
he has repeatedly lashed out at
the first whistleblower, a Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency official,
leading Democrats and some
Republicans to defend the per-
son and point out he is entitled
to protection under federal
whistleblowing laws. A White
House official said last week
the White House hadn’t actively
sought to learn the whistle-
blower’s identity and hadn’t
contacted the intelligence com-
munity’s inspector general to
ask for that information.
Mr. Trump and his allies also
have attempted to portray the
whistleblower complaint as a
partisan plot by Democrats in
Congress, federal officials and
the whistleblower’s lawyers.
Mr. Bakaj, the whistle-
blower’s lead attorney and a
former intelligence and Penta-
gon official, donated $100 in
April—before the events alleged
in the complaint took place—to
a Democratic technology non-
profit, earmarking it for Mr. Bi-
den’s campaign. He declined to
comment about the donation.
Mr. Atkinson, the Trump-ap-
pointed intelligence community
inspector general, said in his
review of the complaint that he
found some indications of pos-
sible political bias on the part
of the first whistleblower, buthe concluded the complaint
was both urgent and credible.
House Intelligence Commit-
tee members are still trying to
confidentially interview the
first whistleblower, an inter-
view that could happen as soon
as this week.
Mr. Trump and his allies have
said it is proper for him to ask
foreign leaders to investigate
corruption broadly. Democrats
have cited the allegations as evi-
dence that the president and his
administration were willing to
use the power of his office to
persuade a foreign country to
undertake a probe designed to
help his re-election campaign.
The emergence of at least
one additional whistleblower
“demonstrates that there was a
view by more than one civil
servant that this behavior by
the president was inappropri-
ate, unprofessional and possi-
bly impeachable,” said Bradley
Moss, a whistleblower attorney
who is a partner in Mr. Zaid’s
firm but who isn’t involved in
the Ukraine case.
Over the weekend, Mr.
Trump criticized the few Re-
publicans who have rebuked
him, singling out Sen. Mitt
Romney (R., Utah) as a “pomp-
ous ass” in a Twitter message.
Mr. Romney last week called
Mr. Trump’s pressure on
Ukraine and his comments in-
viting China to undertake a
probe “wrong and appalling.”
—Ted Mann, Gordon Lubold
and Alex Leary
contributed to this article.That person has been inter-
viewed by the intelligence com-
munity inspector general, Mi-
chael Atkinson, triggering
whistleblower protections as
provided by federal law, but
hasn’t filed a separate formal
whistleblower complaint, Mr.
Zaid said. ABC reported on
Sunday that the legal team was
representing a second whistle-
blower. Mr. Atkinson’s office
didn’t respond to a request for
comment.
Mr. Zaid wrote on Twitter
that the second whistleblower
“made a protected disclosure
under the law and cannot be
retaliated against.”
Asked to clarify if his team
had been approached by one
additional potential whistle-
blower or others as well, Mr.
Zaid replied: “There are defi-
nitely multiple whistleblowers.”
He offered no further comment.
In a statement Sunday,
White House press secretary
Stephanie Grisham said: “It
doesn’t matter how many peo-
ple decide to call themselves
whistleblowers about the same
telephone call—a call the presi-
dent already made public—it
ContinuedfromPageOne
Trump Call
Sparks New
Complaint
doesn’t change the fact that he
has done nothing wrong.”
The whistleblower com-
plaint, released late last month
after the Trump administration
sought to block its transmission
to Congress, alleges that the
Republican president sought to
use the powers of his office to
push Ukraine to investigate
Democratic rival Joe Biden and
that White House officials
acted to conceal evidence of thepresident’s actions. It said it
drew from testimonials of sev-
eral unidentified U.S. officials
who expressed concern about
Mr. Trump’s conduct to the
whistleblower.
During his July 25 phone
conversation with President
Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine,
Mr. Trump mentioned aid that
the U.S. provides Ukraine, but
he didn’t present it as an ex-
plicit quid pro quo for a probeof Mr. Biden and his son, ac-
cording to a reconstructed
White House transcript that the
administration released after
the controversy erupted. That
call came more than a week af-
ter Mr. Trump asked his acting
chief of staff to place a hold on
the more than $391 million in
aid to Ukraine.
Text messages among State
Department officials released
last week show some adminis-Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general, in Washington last week.ERIN SCOTT/REUTERSByAruna Viswanatha
andSadie Gurman
in Washington and
Giovanni Legorano
in RomeBarr’s Outreach
On Russia Probe
Roils U.S. Allies
Attorney General William Barr, center, leaving St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington Sunday after the annual Red Mass.JOSE LUIS MAGANA/ASSOCIATED PRESSSome decisions
could thrust the
court into the
political arena.