Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University et al v. Trump et al

Filing 57

LETTER addressed to Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald from Jameel Jaffer dated December 21, 2017 re: the government's concession concerning the President's tweets. Document filed by Rebecca Buckwalter, Philip Cohen, Holly Figueroa, Eugene Gu, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, Brandon Neely, Joseph Papp, Nicholas Pappas.(Jaffer, Jameel)

December 21, 2017
Via ECF and by Fax
The Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald
United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street, Room 2270
New York, NY 10007-1312
Re:

Knight First Amendment Institute, et al. v. Trump,
et al., Case No. 17-CV-5205 (NRB)

Dear Judge Buchwald,
Plaintiffs submit this letter to alert the Court to the government’s
concession, made during a recent oral argument before the United States
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, that President Trump’s tweets are
official statements.
The government’s concession was made during en banc oral
argument held on December 8, 2017 in International Refugee Assistance
Project v. Donald Trump, No. 17-2231 (4th Cir.) (“IRAP”), a case
concerning the lawfulness of the President’s revised travel ban. The
Fourth Circuit does not make oral argument transcripts available, but an
audio
recording
of
the
argument
is
available
at
http://coop.ca4.uscourts.gov/OAarchive/mp3/17-2231-20171208.mp3.
The colloquy in which Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney
General Hashim M. Mooppan addressed the legal significance to be given
to President Trump’s tweets took place between 36:07 and 37:08 of the
audio file, including in the following exchange at 36:54-37:01:
JUDGE PAMELA HARRIS: “And it is the Department’s position,
right, that these—the President’s Twitter account—those are
official statements of the President of the United States?”
MR. MOOPPAN: “Right.”
Following this exchange, several judges asked Mr. Mooppan to confirm
that he was acknowledging that the President’s tweets are official
statements, and Mr. Mooppan so confirmed.
The government’s concession to the court in the IRAP argument
provides further support for Plaintiffs’ argument, set forth in memoranda

535 West 116th Street, 314 Low Library, New York, NY 10027 | [phone] | [e-mail]

supporting Plaintiffs’ pending motion for summary judgment, that
Defendants’ operation of the President’s Twitter account is state action
subject to the First Amendment.
Respectfully,
Jessica Ring Amunson (pro hac
vice)
Tassity S. Johnson (pro hac vice)
Jenner & Block LLP
1099 New York Avenue, NW,
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20001

/s/ Jameel Jaffer
Jameel Jaffer (JJ-4653)
Katherine Fallow (KF-2535)
Carrie DeCell (motion for
admission forthcoming)
Alex Abdo (AA-0527)
Knight First Amendment Institute
at Columbia University
314 Low Library
535 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
[phone]
[e-mail]
Counsel for Plaintiffs

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