Trump’s War on the Constitution

Posted on by Josh Marshall

It’s a cliché and more or less true that the Constitution’s “high crimes and misdemeanors” language can mean whatever Congress wants it to mean. That is not only because in this area Congress’ decision-making is certainly un-reviewable. It is because the Constitution’s writers were intentionally expansive in their definition. They were most focused not on statutory crimes but misrule. I wanted to take a moment to note that what we have unfolding in Minnesota is really a definitional impeachable offense.

I say this with no expectation that he will be charged with it, let alone convicted and removed from office, certainly not under Republican rule. But these are precisely the kinds of abuses of power, unconstitutional actions, that are most squarely within the impeachment mechanism’s meaning.

Continue reading “Trump’s War on the Constitution” →

The Epic, Mega Skydance Paramount Warner Deal: Some Thoughts

Posted on by Josh Marshall

News came today that Warner Bros Discovery decided that Paramount-Skydance’s bid ($111 billion) to acquire the company was superior to that from Netflix ($82.7 billion). WBD told Netflix it had four days to up its offer. Little more than an hour later Netflix said it didn’t need four days. It was bowing out. The deal was no longer economic at the price Paramount was offering. An additional fact is that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was at the White House while these things were happening, apparently trying to see whether Netflix had the thing any major company needs for a merger in 2026: the personal approval of Donald Trump. Apparently they didn’t have it. That’s the autocracy playbook. And at the federal level, that’s the game we’re playing right now.

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The Trump DOJ’s Defense Of The Abrego Garcia Prosecution Only Works If You Squint Real Hard

Posted on by David Kurtz

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE–The Trump DOJ has spent the last several months constructing a narrowly focused narrative that then-acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire of Nashville was the sole decider in seeking a human smuggling indictment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia last May while he was still confined in El Salvador, a victim of a wrongful deportation in violation of a immigration judge’s order.

Continue reading “The Trump DOJ’s Defense Of The Abrego Garcia Prosecution Only Works If You Squint Real Hard” →

Walz Calls Medicaid Freeze Out for What It Is: Another Layer Of Trump’s ‘Campaign of Retribution’

Posted on by Nicole LaFond

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rolled out a sweeping new anti-fraud package he plans to ask his state legislature to pass just one day after Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration would freeze $259 million in Medicaid funding for Minnesota. During a press conference announcing the package, which he claimed the Trump administration knew about, he called Vance’s actions “totally illegal and unprecedented” and another prong of Trump’s “retribution” campaign against Minnesotans.

Continue reading “Walz Calls Medicaid Freeze Out for What It Is: Another Layer Of Trump’s ‘Campaign of Retribution’” →

VIDEO: David Kurtz Reports from Abrego Garcia’s Vindictive Prosecution Hearing

Posted on by John Light

TPM’s David Kurtz has been covering, in person, a hearing in Nashville in which the Trump administration sought to prove it did not pursue a vindictive prosecution against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man it erroneously imprisoned in El Salvador last year. Immediately upon leaving the courtroom, David sat down with me to record a Substack Live on what happened. Watch that here:

Continue reading “VIDEO: David Kurtz Reports from Abrego Garcia’s Vindictive Prosecution Hearing” →

The Franchise: Trump’s (Election) Lie-Laden State of the Union

Posted on by Khaya Himmelman

Hello! Welcome back to The Franchise, our weekly newsletter on elections, voting rights, and the (many) ways in which the Trump administration continues to interfere with election administration, the franchise and democracy overall.

We’re glad to have you back. 

There’s a lot to cover — especially after Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. We heard about widespread non-citizen voting (not a thing), the “crooked mail in ballots” (not a thing), and, non-descript “rampant” election cheating apparently being done en masse, by Dems alone! (Also not a thing.) 

This week, we’ll break down the most egregious election lies that made it into Trump’s State of the Union address, as well as his big push for the SAVE America Act. We will also cover the ways in which Democratic attorneys general are preparing for Trump’s inevitable interference in the midterm elections, and, of course, the latest in the never-ending redistricting wars.

Let’s get into it. 

Trump Spreads the Myth of Non-Citizen Voting to the Masses

On Tuesday night, during his State of the Union address, Trump spent a good amount of time rattling off some of his favorite election lies as a way to make a case for the SAVE America Act — legislation that would make it easier for the administration to exert even more control over states’ rights to administer elections and set their own rules for mail-in ballots, voter registration and more.

Here’s some of the most egregious election-related lies Trump included in his remarks: 

  • “Cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant.”
  • “They [Democrats] have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.” 
  • “So in my first year of the second term — should be my third term.”

Trump spent a few minutes of his lengthy speech also talking about a non-existent issue and a favorite GOP myth:  non-citizen voting and the need for the SAVE America Act, a voter suppression bill that would, among other things, mandate documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections.

“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act,” he said. “It’s very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship. No more crooked mail-in ballots, except for illness, disability, military or travel.”

The legislation, as we have reported before, would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters and keep alive the false narrative that non-citizens are voting en masse in our elections. There is zero evidence to suggest that non-citizen voting is happening. It’s also worth mentioning that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Despite the lack of evidence, it’s been a particular area of fixation for Republicans for years.   

Earlier this month, the House passed the Save America Act in a 218-213 vote. The legislation is currently dead on arrival in the Senate unless Republican leadership decides to change the filibuster rules in order to pass it, something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has repeatedly said his conference does not currently have the appetite for. 

House Democrats, responding to Trump’s push for the Save America Act, wrote on X on Tuesday night that the legislation is “a federal takeover of state and local elections.”

“Trump and Republicans want to suppress the vote,” they added. “They’re trying to RIG elections, but we won’t let them.”

Democratic Attorneys General Prepare for the Inevitable 

Democratic attorneys general are preparing for the very likely possibility that Trump will interfere in some lawless way in the midterm elections. 

Trump basically said he will insert himself into the election administration process when he issued the brazen call to “nationalize” elections earlier this month. Let’s also not forget that in January the FBI executed a search warrant in a Fulton County election hub related to 2020 election conspiracy theories with an apparent goal of somehow uncovering fraud in a secure election five years later (???). And, of course, as we have been reporting for months now, Trump’s DOJ is demanding sensitive voter data from states across the country. So yes, states are just a little worried about what might happen in the midterms. 

In response, as Politico outlined this week, Democratic attorneys general are, for good reason, preparing for all possible scenarios. 

“[Trump] wants to continue to have his party prevail, seemingly by whatever means necessary,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Politico. “So we have to be ready for that, sad and tragic as it is.”

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown described some of Trump’s recent remarks as a “red-alarm fire that people need to take very seriously.”

Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that she fears that a Fulton County like-raid could very well happen in Michigan, too.

“We recognize that what happened in Fulton County could happen in Detroit. Not because there’s any merit to claims that anything wrong happened in Detroit, but because we know that those claims will be made again,” she said. 

And Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford similarly told Politico that Trump “likes to sow chaos because he thinks it’s going to throw people off their game.”

“But he has met his match when it comes to the Nevada attorney general’s office; he’s met his match when it comes to the Democratic attorneys general,” he added. 

Around the States: Redistricting 

Maryland

Maryland’s Democratic-led redistricting effort is failing. Tuesday was the unofficial deadline (and the candidate filing deadline) to act on the state’s redistricting proposal ahead of the midterms. 

The Maryland House approved a new congressional map earlier this month, but has faced consistent opposition to the proposal in the Senate. 

Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore has not given up on the effort, however. 

“I think that these are artificial deadlines that are put together by politicians, and I think politicians can adjust in any way that they see fit,” Moore told Fox45. 

Utah

In a win for Democrats, a federal court rejected a Republican effort to block the state’s newly approved Dem-favoring congressional maps.

As a reminder, a Utah judge rejected a new Republican-favoring congressional map in November, instead approving a map that likely secures a Democratic district.

In Other Election News

‘A really really big decision’: The court cases looming over the midterms (Politico)

Georgia State Election Board declines to seize control of Fulton County elections, for now (Georgia Recorder)

Exclusive: State election chiefs are huddling to plan responses to Trump’s expected interference in midterms (Democracy Docket) 

Time for the States to Gear Up for Trump’s Fake Elections Exec Order

Posted on by Josh Marshall

The Post has an article today, an exclusive they say, about a draft executive order purportedly being circulated between the White House and various conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists in its broader circle. The proposed order claims that China has been found to be interfering in U.S. elections — specifically rigged the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor — and that as a result of that the president, as commander-in-chief, can and must directly take control of U.S. elections for the midterms and the 2028 presidential elections.

Two points merit saying on this. The first is that these are the rehashed, insane theories that were literally and figuratively laughed out of court in 2020. These are all absurd. Everybody knows they are absurd and false. The legal theory is what demands our attention. The authors of the order believe that if something is an emergency the president can invoke a kind of hidden dictator clause in the Constitution which allows him to assert powers which the Constitution explicitly forbids to him. This is not so. They secondarily believe in what we might call a “because” or “therefore” logic or clause. So because we have found that Threat X exists, the president can do whatever he wants to combat that threat. And as commander-in-chief, he can do anything he wants. This is also not so.

Continue reading “Time for the States to Gear Up for Trump’s Fake Elections Exec Order” →

Big Hearing in Nashville Today

Posted on by Josh Marshall

I wanted to alert you of something we’re on today. Among other things, it’s the kind of off-the-beaten-path reporting your membership dollars pay for. We sent David Kurtz to Nashville today for a hearing in the Abrego Garcia case. Since we’re a number of ICE murders and false imprisonments down the line at this point, remember that the Justice Department conceded that Abrego Garcia had been erroneously included among those sent last spring to the bespoke dungeon facility in El Salvador. He was brought back to the U.S. only after he was hit with a new indictment. His lawyers have argued to the judge in the case that the charges should be dismissed because this is a case of vindictive prosecution. Normally this is an extremely high bar for the defense to clear. But in this case, the judge replied by saying that he’s inclined to think that the defense is right. Today’s hearing was scheduled to give the government the opportunity to prove that the defense and (mostly) the judge are wrong.

Continue reading “Big Hearing in Nashville Today” →

Showdown Over Interim US Attorneys Brewing In Seattle

Posted on by David Kurtz

Greetings from Nashville

It’s 4 a.m. as I begin to write here in Nashville, where I’m jamming out Morning Memo before heading over to the new federal courthouse for the vindictive prosecution hearing in the Abrego Garcia case.

A special shoutout to The Hitchcock, a brand new bar about a block from the courthouse that kept Morning Memo well lubricated upon arrival in Nashville last night. Ask for Justin. He’ll take good care of you.

Before I jump into the news, a quick reminder of the special promotion we’re running for Morning Memo readers who aren’t TPM members: 40% off an annual TPM membership. We’re gearing up for TPM’s annual membership drive, which kicks off next week, and this pre-offer is a great deal that I hope will lure you into officially joining the TPM community.

Keep an Eye on Seattle

The all-Biden-appointed federal district court in Seattle may be where the Trump administration’s fight to keep judges from appointing interim U.S. attorneys comes to a head, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Some alum of the Seattle U.S. Attorney’s Office are leading a charge for the judges there to pick an interim U.S. attorney who is willing to sue when the Trump DOJ purports to fire them, as it’s already done to judge-appointed interim U.S. attorneys in the Northern District of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Western District of Washington’s U.S. Attorney’s Office is currently without a U.S. attorney, after the judges there declined to extend the initial 120-day term of Charles Neil Floyd, who is now running the office as the designated first assistant.

The Bloomberg piece does a good job of describing why — beyond faintness of heart or the complex legal questions involved – judges so far haven’t challenged the firings. It’s practical. For obvious reasons, finding a candidate willing to put their legal careers on hold to fight it out with the Trump administration isn’t easy:

Former US attorneys said a surefire public firing shrinks the candidate pool for a traditionally highly coveted job. That leaves retirees, law professors, or people in small law practices nearing the end of their careers as the more likely contenders. Finding someone willing to take up a legal dispute with the Trump administration further narrows the list.

Plus, even if you win, where does that leave you?

“It would probably only be worth the battle as a matter of principle,” said Mark Yancey, a former acting US attorney in Oklahoma City who led DOJ’s training academy for prosecutors. “But even if you win that battle, have you lost the war if you’re in office and have an unsupportive department who could make your life miserable?”

Among the reported contenders for the role who arguably fits the criteria for someone willing to challenge their presumptive firing: John McKay, the former U.S. attorney and TPM fave who was … wait for it … famously fired by the Bush II administration in the now-quaint U.S. attorneys scandal where TPM made an early mark. McKay declined to comment to Bloomberg.

The Retribution: Kash Patel CYA Edition

In hot water for his use of the FBI jet and last weekend’s junket to the Winter Olympics in Italy, FBI Director Kash Patel appears to be using retributive purges to shore up his own position.

At least 10 FBI personnel, including at least half a dozen agents, with ties to the Mar-a-Lago search have been fired, NBC News reports.

Specifically, the fired personnel were involved in a request during the Mar-a-Lago investigation for phone toll records for Patel and Susie Wiles, who later became the White House chief of staff, the NYT reports.

Abrego Garcia: Substack Live

I’ll be doing a Substack Live report immediately after today’s hearing in the Abrego Garcia criminal case in Nashville. No telling how long the hearing will go, but if you’re signed up through Substack to receive Morning Memo via email, you should get a notification when we start. And of course we’ll post the video, so you’ll be able to watch it at your leisure later.

I’ve previewed the heck out of this hearing so I won’t belabor the point except to say again that this is the preeminent vindictive prosecution challenge anywhere in the country right now. If you need more of a preview:

  • The Intercept: Trump Won’t Stop Trying to Punish Kilmar Abrego Garcia
  • WaPo: Prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García faces critical test in court hearing

Major Decision on 3rd Country Removals

In a significant ruling in a case where the Trump administration has repeatedly violated court orders, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Boston has declared DHS’s third country removal policy illegal:

This case is about whether the Government may, without notice, deport a person to the wrong country, or a country where he is likely to be persecuted, or tortured, thereby depriving that person of the opportunity to seek protections to which he would be undisputedly entitled. The Department of Homeland Security has adopted a policy whereby it may take people and drop them off in parts unknown—in so-called “third countries”—and, “as long as the Department doesn’t already know that there’s someone standing there waiting to shoot . . . that’s fine.”

It is not fine, nor is it legal.

Murphy paused the effect of his ruling for 15 days to give the administration a chance to appeal, in a case that has already made it to the Supreme Court once and is likely to end up there again.

Must Read

Investigative Post: Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol is dead

Mass Deportation Watch

  • Texas: A state grand jury unanimously declined to indict a federal agent in the killing of a U.S. citizen last March. The involvement of a federal agent in the shooting did not become publicly known until last week.
  • New Jersey: State Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill to rein in ICE: Fight Unlawful Conduct and Keep Individuals and Communities Empowered (FUCK ICE).

Thomas Goldstein Convicted

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, once a premier Supreme Court advocate, was convicted on 12 of 16 counts in a tax and mortgage fraud case arising from his double life as a globe-trotting high-stakes poker player.

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