TPM Reader TL follows up on my discussion yesterday of Teddy Roosevelt and where he fits in the ranking of US Presidents, specifically whether the seemingly consistent decision to place him 4th is rating him too high. TL makes what I think is probably the best case that can be made, and it’s a pretty good one. It focuses on the fact that Roosevelt is in many ways the first modern President. He’s the first American President who approached the job in a way that would be fundamentally recognizable to us today.
Manhattan Grand Jury Indicts Trump Org, Chief Financial Officer Weisselberg
A Manhattan grand jury on Wednesday returned indictments against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.
The full indictments are set to be unveiled Thursday.
The reported charges are the result of a years-long investigation into the Trump Organization from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Vance recently joined forces in the probe with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was pursuing her own civil investigation of the Trump businesses. The Manhattan DA twice went to the Supreme Court pursuing the enforcement of subpoenas for Trump’s financial records, finally receiving the records in February.
Vance has reportedly sought Weisselberg’s cooperation with the investigation, given the Trump financial executive’s extensive knowledge of the Trump Organization’s inner workings. Weisselberg has, apparently, refused those efforts.
DOJ ‘Urges Congress’ To Pass Voting Laws After SCOTUS Upholds AZ Restrictions
The Justice Department on Thursday said it “urges Congress to enact additional legislation” to protect voting rights in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold two restrictive voting laws in Arizona.
Continue reading “DOJ ‘Urges Congress’ To Pass Voting Laws After SCOTUS Upholds AZ Restrictions”
READ: Trump Org, Weisselberg Indicted Over Alleged 15-Year-Long Fraud Scheme
A Manhattan grand jury hit the Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg with 15 counts stemming from what the indictment describes as a fifteen-year long fraud scheme.
Continue reading “READ: Trump Org, Weisselberg Indicted Over Alleged 15-Year-Long Fraud Scheme”
Kagan Laments America’s Dark History Of Voter Suppression In Dissent, Citing The Court As A Primary Antagonist
In a dissent to Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee stretching longer than Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan recites the United State’s brutal history of suppressing minority voters, ultimately pointing to Thursday’s opinion as just the latest chapter in the quest to bar those voters from the ballot box.
Watch The New Episode Of The Josh Marshall Podcast: The Rocky Road To An Infrastructure Deal
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is now live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss the infrastructure negotiation dance, as well as the dynamics around the Jan. 6 select committee.
Watch below and email us your theme song submissions and questions for next week’s episode.
You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.
Biden Expresses ‘Disappointment’ With SCOTUS Voting Decision, Reemphasizes Need For S1
President Joe Biden expressed his “deep disappointment” with the Supreme Court’s major voting rights case decision Thursday, in which the six conservative justices further weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Considering the Meaning of the American Revolution and the Promise of Liberation
As we move into the July 4th weekend, I wanted to make a bid for an appreciation of the liberationist impulse at the heart of the American Revolution and its radical character.
As I explained a few weeks ago, there is a strong argument for the deficiency of the first American Republic, which in this view is the constitutional order created in 1787 and reconstructed through war and constitutional revision in the late 1860s. But the constitution created in 1787 is not synonymous with the American Revolution. Indeed, in critical respects it was in tension with it. Some of the constitution’s greatest opponents viewed it as a betrayal of revolutionary tumult.
The Declaration of Independence is the work of the Continental Congress, a revolutionary and illegal body which managed the process of the disintegration of Britain’s American empire. The document was drafted by a committee made up of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, with Jefferson, because of knack with words, writing a first draft.
Continue reading “Considering the Meaning of the American Revolution and the Promise of Liberation”
Where Things Stand: DeSantis Begs Trumpworld To Cancel FL Rally
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is threading a weird needle.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: DeSantis Begs Trumpworld To Cancel FL Rally”
Cheney Joins Jan 6 Select Committee In Face Of McCarthy Threat To Punish GOP Participants
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday announced that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) will serve as a member of the select committee tasked with investigating the deadly Capitol insurrection that then-President Trump helped incite. Continue reading “Cheney Joins Jan 6 Select Committee In Face Of McCarthy Threat To Punish GOP Participants”