Trump can only remove a Fed board member “for cause." This has meant something like a real reason grounded in actual misconduct, not a fake reason that the president pulled out of his ass. But fake pretexts are the coin of Trump's realm. (cc @kjephd.bsky.social) newrepublic.com/article/1996...
Saying that Supreme Court precedent matters here is highly suspect. No, it doesn’t matter anymore.
And the Fed member (if a resignation) would be able to serve until the replacement is confirmed by the Senate. bsky.app/profile/delo...
He also could only fire an FBI director "for cause", but here we are.
Future generations will be confused that “trumped-up charges” was a phrase before his presidency.
"Fake pretexts" are the coin of the deep state. Which installed him.
Trump's allegations against Lisa Cook are not the story. The story is that a Trump loyalist is deeply corrupting agency processes for the express purpose of manufacturing pretexts for referring Trump's leading enemies for DOJ prosecution. Dug into this process here: newrepublic.com/article/1996...
Russia's goal is to crush the dollar. Trump takes his cues from Putin. Ergo.....
Why isn’t every Democrat talking about Bill Pulte?
It's Shaye Moss Redux, with Pulte playing the role of Giuliani.
If it was just them, I wouldn't care.
Unlike the Schiff and James cases which are deeply rooted in retribution, this seems to me more of a method for getting the Fed stacked in his favor.
He is doing his best to get rid of women, Black people, and Black women throughout the federal government.
As well as his evident aim to suborn the Fed
EXACTLY. Thank you @gregsargent.bsky.social . Trump isn't dumb. He learns what serves him. Not you. & what serves him is what PUTIN does in Russia to destroy all opposition. Trump is developing the Russian system where all you need is to accuse your opponent, then you can disappear them.
Problems With Your Pulte, Centex, or Del Webb Home? You’re Not Alone While these homes are advertised as well-designed & energy-efficient, many homeowners have experienced serious construction defects, delayed warranty repairs & costly problems soon after moving in. share.google/JezJIJ4RfRXO...
Concerningly, if the Fed lowers rates in Sept. Trump might interpret that, or frame it, as his threats being a vessel for the change he wants to see, making this kind of thing more and more likely to happen.
Good point to remember.
Shameful
Retribution for???
And people close to Pulte are boasting publicly, proudly and explicitly about this corruption: bsky.app/profile/pkru...
What is scary is the number of 'Quisling' bureaucrats involved in these actions (such as the 1000+ on #EpsteinFiles) without material making it out explicitly showing criminal activity by Team Trump. High risk, of course, but ...
Yes this IS the story. Is anyone else covering it?
Below I laid out some questions that news orgs could be asking now. The discovery process in Lisa Cook's lawsuit may also shed light on them: newrepublic.com/article/1996...
The GOP, once so concerned about corruption & weaponization of government, created The United States House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government only to dissolve it so Trump could corruptly & vindictively hurl threats & flex govt powers against individuals.
Also, Greg, where else are they looking? Can’t believe they were just counting on mortgage file. IRS? What else? Utterly terrifying.
How exactly is that going to “backfire” for him? Having the corruption laid bare doesn’t seem like it’s going to have any consequences for him
“The loyalists around Trump are much more open and much bolder in their authoritarianism than they were six months ago," says Steve Levitsky. "They’ve learned fight by fight that they can get away with it." Trump's accomplices are running wild. Examples below: newrepublic.com/article/1996...
Yes. They all appear on TV looking so smug in their new power.
"Senior DOJ and DHS officials"
In Nazi Germany, this dynamic was called “working toward the Fuehrer.” Not waiting for Hitler’s direct orders, they took the initiative to enact what they thought he would want.
Give them space and they will take it
They think they can get away with it. I always recall the Nazis in Vilnius who attempted to dig up and hide 40k bodies as the Soviet army approached. On some level, that will happen to these guys too.
Yeah but we're keeping our powder dry for those kitchen table issues
"They've learned fight by fight that they can get away with it". Exactly and precisely how everything's incrementally become worse and worse and keeps doing so. Like a toddler's first boundary-testing attempts, indulgence and absence of consequences has taught them their power isn't (yet) limited.
We're going to need a lot more Luigi's
I'm reading it less as impunity and more as desperation. They can see the polling, they know they're likely to lose Congress next year and see that as an existential risk to their project. They'd rather throw the dice and risk civil war than accept a hostile Congress with subpoena power.
Ds should make it crystal clear that anyone who carries out corrupt/illegal orders for Trump can't count on bureaucratic obscurity to evade accountability later. Yes, he might preemptively pardon. But Ds should say: Do you really want to stake your future on Trump? newrepublic.com/article/1996...
LOL right. Like that would ever happen with this crop of Dem leadership. The ones who thought Garland would ‘save us.’
He can’t pardon state convictions though, which I imagine most of these would be.
@skyview.social unroll
Today's bureaucrats in the future: "But I vas just followink orders, mein herr!"
Crystal.
and pardons won’t save anyone from state laws of which kidnapping is one
Perhaps when blue states start arresting and charging federal officers with kidnapping for arresting people without warrants or probable cause, individual officers will have second thoughts about “following orders.”
Then we start the fight where we directly challenge the Pardon. A "Preemptive Pardon" is a fabrication and a gross abuse of power. As are the nebulous time-period Pardons for "crimes that may have been comitted" and the mass pardons for thousands of people at once.
So... Make them laugh so hard they pee themselves and try to sneak away?
In fairness, the thought of Democrats imposing any meaningful consequences in the highly unlikely chance they regain power is pretty damn funny.
Particularly if Trump's remaining lifetime may be brief.
They should also be reminding these people trump might die before he gets a chance to pardon them.
Can’t pardon state crimes like kidnapping, murder, assault, etc.
The pre-emptive pardon presumes he’ll have the mental wherewithal to get that done. I suspect his trajectory is a heart attack that takes him out in one move, and now you’re relying on JD Vance to pay Trump’s debts. Not a bet I would take, personally.
The momentum towards a modern French Revolution will eliminate the group referred to as the future GOP Cabinet.
Or on the possibility that you haven't broken state laws as well?
Democrats should also start seeding the idea that pardons for misconduct involving the White House itself are invalid and won’t be honored
They could also say: anyone who accepts a pardon from Trump can consider their career in government over. Accepting the pardon is an admission of guilt, and we will work within the law to make sure your crimes are brought to light and civil penalties leveled.
“I was following orders” has not worked since Nuremberg. You may be a sniveling coward and an oleaginous sycophant (GOP Senate and Trump cabinet) but that does not absolve you from personal responsibility. You will face the consequences of your cowardice. Hope you enjoy what you are doing.
This was a topic at a war college seminar (circa 2008): you’re in the Oval, POTUS asks you to do something illegal, has a signed pardon in hand clearing you in case things go sideways…do you do it? Led to discussions of public service, what we swear an oath to, legal/moral/ethical etc…1/2
While all of that appears to have disappeared for now at the senior levels of this administration, those principles are still embedded in our foundation…it will be up to us to 1) keep our elections free and fair and 2) vote in those who will champion those principles once again…
That threat might have carried more weight if Democrats had actually followed through and done this in 2021-24 following Trump's illegal actions in his first term. Unfortunately, this country has a long history of looking the other way or wanting to look forward and not back.
Unpopular opinion: D’a should say “we won’t honour your corrupt pardons”.
They should study what happened to Giuliani ... But for the time being, they know that the corrupt Supreme Court and the subservient congressional majority have their backs. And the mainstream media is sanewashing everything they do to keep their cash cow going.
Dems have a proven track record of not upsetting the apple cart, not even to remove the rotten ones!!!
What infuriates me is that no one is saying this. Is Jamie Raskin saying this?
From most senior to ICE wearing masks, those violating laws and regulations should fear facing repercussions. No Garland (and Biden) who let things slide ...
Trump can pardon them all he wants. Those will be meaningless to the ICC
This is such a good point, and I don’t know why lower-level admin officials at least aren’t thinking about this. Higher-ups might have already negotiated preemptive pardons. But the people working for them likely have not and would be running huge risk to count on pardons.
Dems on House Oversight have mechanism for whistleblowers to report directly to them. But I don’t know what they can do with this info if they get this with Repubs controlling everything: oversightdemocrats.house.gov/contact/tip-...
We should openly support vigilante action against people Trump pardons. Fuck the norms when they only hurt us but protect them. Fuck that.
"Trump's pardons will be deemed null and void" would do nicely.
And what if we, the citizens, decide to ignore Temu Hitler's pardons and hold the evil bastards accountable anyways? Would the allies have respected Hitler's pardons? Yeah, that's what I thought.
We’ll just have to ram through the pardons and cite Trump‘s actions along the way. Throw in a “national emergency” excuse somewhere in there.
Democrats could also just refuse to honor Trump's corrupt pardons if they ever retake power. That might technically violate the law, but the rule of law will already have been thrown out, so Trump's collaborators shouldn't assume they know what a post-Trump restoration will look like.
If the rule of law is thrown out, an Article V convention or civil war may be near.
Trump is likely to beat the Dems to the punch on "not honor"ing presidential pardons.
bsky.app/profile/atru...
