Win Mcnamee / Getty Images President Donald Trump answering questions about Michael Cohen.

One of the consistent themes of 2018 was the centrality of the US legal system to nearly every major story that took over the news — stories that highlighted the importance of, consequences of, stability of, and fragility of the system and its institutions. In short: President Donald Trump is testing the limits of the system, and that's tiring. The storylines touched a dizzying number of issues: Trump and his efforts to enact harsh immigration policies, even without congressional action; judicial nominations and how Chief Justice John Roberts is dealing with the Trump era; former attorney general Jeff Sessions, his near-constant battle with Trump, and the fallout from his forced departure; and the special counsel’s investigation of Trump and his allies, including the president's onetime campaign manager and his longtime personal lawyer. In the midst of all that, November also brought the midterm elections — and their own legal questions about the stability of our systems. Here's a look at the year in legal news through some of BuzzFeed News' biggest and best coverage of what's happened. President Donald Trump

Trump’s Tweets Have Been A Legal Disaster For The Justice Department Nico Ortega for BuzzFeed News

As always — as it always was? — the president's tweets have played an outsize role in announcing major policy and personnel changes in his administration. Despite the words he tweeted, we learned in 2018 what we had suspected: Some of his biggest moves take those officials who would be in charge of implementing them — like the transgender military ban — completely by surprise.

The Trump Administration Chose To Mislead When Questioned About Its Family Separation Policy Mike Blake / Reuters

Welcome To The Giuliani Phase Of The Trump Presidency Mike Segar / Reuters

Chief Justice John Roberts Has Changed A Little Bit. And That Could Be A Big Deal. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Chief Justice John Roberts took on an outsize role in 2018, as the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy pushed Roberts into the position of being the presumptive middle vote on the court in addition to being its administrative head — and as Trump's continued lashing out at federal judges who ruled against him led Roberts to issue a rare public statement rebuking the president.

Senate Democrats Have Referred A Secret Letter About Brett Kavanaugh To The FBI Jim Bourg / Reuters

Trump’s New Judges Are Everything Conservatives Hoped For And Liberals Feared Pool / Getty Images

Even as the Kavanaugh hearings proceeded, many lower court federal judges were being confirmed — conservative nominees supported, by and large, by the Federalist Society and pushed through the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley. Although Trump has had some bumps along the way, 2018 came to a close with him having confirmed as many appeals court nominees as Barack Obama had confirmed in his entire first term. The Department of Justice

This Is Why Jeff Sessions Just Can't Quit Trump Andrew Caballero-reynolds / AFP / Getty Images

The Justice Department Deleted Language About Press Freedom And Racial Gerrymandering From Its Internal Manual BuzzFeed News; Getty Images

More people know who Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is than likely have ever known who the No. 2 at DOJ is. As the overseer of the Russia investigation during Sessions' tenure at the helm of the department, Rosenstein has suffered attacks from Trump and impeachment threats from a handful of House Republicans. He's pushed back at moments and remains in his Senate-confirmed role as the year comes to a close — even as the confirmed people above him and below him at DOJ have left, replaced by “acting” officials serving in their role with no Senate confirmation.

Matthew Whitaker's Acting AG Appointment Has A History. Here It Is. Rob Dobi for BuzzFeed News

Trump announced that Sessions was leaving the Justice Department by tweeting that Matthew Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff, would be taking over as acting attorney general. Whitaker, a former political candidate who had previously expressed skepticism of the special counsel's investigation, almost immediately faced questions about his new role — including whether the appointment was even constitutional. DOJ has fought back thus far in court, though, and Whitaker remains in the job as acting attorney general — and has decided not to recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel's investigation — as 2018 comes to a close. The Mueller Investigation

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's links to Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election was a throughline for the year — despite, as many Trump defenders will say, there having been no charges that anyone involved in the Trump campaign attempted to help Russia's efforts.



Paul Manafort's Trial Is Not About Trump And All About Trump Brian Snyder / Reuters

5 Big Things That Robert Mueller Just Told Us About The Russia Investigation Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Getty Images

Trump's longtime, but now former, personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is not formally cooperating with federal prosecutors — and has been sentenced to three years in prison — but Mueller has made clear in court filings that Cohen has provided substantive information to the special counsel's office in multiple areas of its investigation. The turnaround from Cohen, who has admitted to arranging payments to women to keep their allegations of affairs with Trump hidden from the public during the campaign, could be significant — given his knowledge of and connection to Trump's Russia ties and acknowledgment that he lied about them.

An Accused Russian Agent's Journey To Washington Began In South Dakota Facebook; Joe Ahlquist for BuzzFeed News; Getty Images; BuzzFeed News

Florida Is A Giant Mess Again And Lawsuits Are Flying Ahead Of Possible Recounts Saul Martinez / Getty Images

The 2018 election did not end on Election Day, with disputed outcomes in several states — but primarily Florida — leading to recounts and litigation. Lawsuits raised questions about how older people and those with disabilities fare under rules passed by lawmakers claiming an aim of stopping voter fraud — and, in a particularly Florida twist, counting continued long after the results were decided.

In North Carolina, a close congressional race took on added focus when allegations were made that voter fraud involving the handling of absentee ballots might have handed the race to the Republican. Come 2019, the race — and who comes to Congress — could turn into a legal question courts need to face.

Republicans Scored Victories Investigating The Obama Administration. Now They May Wish They Hadn't. Al Drago / Getty Images