I appreciate the spirit of transparency in which this memo was shared.

 

However, upon initial reading, and now re-reading, it is not at all the type of legal memo I expected, one citing statute and case law for its positions.

 

It is really more of a lobbying document, and if I received a document like this in a different context (e.g., in regard to an issue being considered by Congress) my presumption would be that the client had told its counsel that it was unwilling to negotiate on a matter and that they were therefore instructed to prepare the strongest possible memo justifying that intransigent position.