Jeffrey Toobin

Journalist at Freelance

Contributing Opinion Writer at The New York Times

Author of "The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy," to be published February 2025. @jeffreytoobin1.bsky.social

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Articles

Trump Has His Law Firms Right Where He Wants Them

2 weeks ago | rsn.org | Jeffrey Toobin

Nine major corporate law firms have groveled before President Trump by agreeing to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services to the executive branch. The immediate result of these capitulations is clear: The firms avoid federal sanctions and remain free, for now, to enjoy the boom times in their corner of the legal market. But another consequence is also true, if less immediately apparent.
Trump Has His Law Firms Right Where He Wants Them

2 weeks ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Jeffrey Toobin

Share Nine major corporate law firms have groveled before President Trump by agreeing to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services to the executive branch. The immediate result of these capitulations is clear: The firms avoid federal sanctions and remain free, for now, to enjoy the boom times in their corner of the legal market.
Trump Has His Law Firms Right Where He Wants Them

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Jeffrey Toobin

Nine major corporate law firms have groveled before President Trump by agreeing to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services to the executive branch. The immediate result of these capitulations is clear: The firms avoid federal sanctions and remain free, for now, to enjoy the boom times in their corner of the legal market. But another consequence is also true, if less immediately apparent.
Jake Tapper Hires a Crisis Communications Firm to Stop Criticism

3 weeks ago | acecomments.mu.nu | Jeffrey Toobin

Whaaaa...? Jake Tapper getting enraged and defensive about valid criticism and using sneaky social media tactics to push back on it? That makes no sense at all!Tapper is getting a lot of criticism from a lot of people for posing as a "reporter" on Biden's Dementia. He made a PR move yesterday, offering a non-apology on CNN. It's the standard non-apology, where you say something that sounds a little reflective and self-critical but in fact you're doubling down.
A U.S. Supreme Court Opinion That Could Avert a Constitutional Crisis

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Jeffrey Toobin

In an extraordinary, if perhaps temporary, rebuke to the Trump administration, the Supreme Court issued an order at around 1 a.m. on Saturday forbidding the government from deporting a group of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling, by a presumed seven-to-two vote, signaled genuine fury at the failure of Trump officials to abide by the law and, even more to the point, the directives of judges, including those on the Supreme Court.
Jeffrey Toobin on Trump's Pardons and the Founding Fathers

1 month ago | airmail.news | Jeffrey Toobin

In our system of checks and balances, the president’s unilateral power to grant pardons is a constitutional anomaly. (So, at least according to Donald Trump, is the right to impose tariffs. How’s that going?)Presidents enjoy this power thanks principally to the advocacy of Alexander Hamilton at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
Jack Nicklaus wins right to use his name, image and likeness to promote his golf course design business

2 months ago | golfdigest.com | Jeffrey Toobin

In the seemingly endless legal slugfest between Jack Nicklaus (the golfer) and the Nicklaus Companies, LLC (his former corporate alter ego), the latest round has gone to the Golden Bear—the human being, that is. Last week, a trial judge in Manhattan dismissed the case brought by the company which sought to control Nicklaus’ attempts to use his own name to promote his golf course design and other businesses. In a 35-page ruling, Justice Joel M.
Pardons and Paybacks Are Trump's Two Modes of Justice

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Jeffrey Toobin

Payback and projection have long been two of President Trump's touchstones. He settles scores in return for every perceived slight and accuses his targets of what he has done himself. In his second term, that approach has bled into the law, with perilous consequences. More than most other areas of presidential authority, the Justice Department gives Mr. Trump a way to settle scores - and to help friends.
Cases Closed | Jeffrey Toobin

Mar 6, 2025 | nybooks.com | Jeffrey Toobin

The scandal involving Russian attempts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election never acquired a catchy nickname or defining detail, and that may be one reason the story faded so quickly from public consciousness. The words “Watergate” and “Monica Lewinsky” immediately summon specific facts and images, but the first scandal of the first Trump presidency, to the extent it’s remembered today, is probably best known for the man who led the investigation of it.
The Courts Offer Democrats Relief From Trump for Only So Long

Feb 14, 2025 | nytimes.com | Jeffrey Toobin

In the shambling Democratic response to the onslaught of changes wrought by President Trump in the first weeks of his second term, there has been one bright spot. Democrats control the attorney general's office in 22 states, and they have filed the most important - and, so far, most successful - cases against controversial Trump administration initiatives.