The Morning Wrap - The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Appearing: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday made his first public appearance since he took refuge at Ecuador's Embassy in London two months ago, the Associated Press reports. Assange, who is trying to avoid extradition to Sweden on sex crimes allegations, said on the mission's balcony that President Obama should stop a so-called "witch hunt" against his website.

Investigating: Deutsche Bank and several other international banks are facing scrutiny by state and federal prosecutors over claims that they moved billions of dollars through their banks to Iran, Sudan and other sanctioned countries, The New York Times reports. A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment. But he said the German bank decided in 2007 that it would "not engage in new business with counterparties in countries such as Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea and to exit existing business to the extent legally possible."

Settling: Former Dewey & LeBoeuf partners have decided to give more than $70 million as part of a proposed settlement, The Am Law Daily reports. The settlement comes less than three months after the firm declared bankruptcy.

Fact Finding: Several freshmen Republican lawmakers, senior staffers and a nude member of Congress swam in the Sea of Galilee last summer during a fact-finding trip to the Holy Land, prompting an FBI investigation, Politico reports. More than 20 individuals participated in the late-night swim, which involved drinking. ?A year ago, my wife, Brooke, and I joined colleagues for dinner at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After dinner I followed some Members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit,? U.S. Representative Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) said in a statement. ?It is my greatest honor to represent the people of Kansas in Congress and [for] any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents, I apologize.?

Resigning: Bryant Cochran, chief magistrate judge in Murray County, Ga., stepped down last week, ending a judicial ethics probe into the judge's practice of handing out pre-signed, blank arrest and search warrants to local police officers, the Daily Report reports. Cochran, who also had sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by two women, said he "accept[s] full responsibility for the warrants that were pre-signed. This is SOLELY the reason for my resignation."

Refusing: A federal judge in Utah on Friday declined to throw out a suit filed by the Brown family, which stars in the TLC reality show "Sister Wives" and wants polygamy decriminalized, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. "Both the Brown family and the people of Utah can now expect a ruling on the power of the state to criminalize private relations among consenting adults," George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley, the family's lawyer, wrote in a blog entry.

Source: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/08/the-morning-wrap-4.html

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