This week, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans threatened violence on a national scale if he is prosecuted for his crimes. In states across the country, elected MAGA Republicans will begin to work together to enact legislation and rules that make them have the final say on who leads us. The only way to ensure they are unsuccessful is to hold them accountable.
Here’s what you need to know for the weekend:
Main Points for the Weekend:
1. President Biden gave a speech last night about the threat to democracy posed by MAGA Republicans. MAGA Republicans are working to overturn and subvert our rights – a threat to future elections and our access to our most fundamental rights.
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- Top point to make: MAGA Republicans are promoting political violence in order to push their agenda of taking away our rights.
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- If you read one thing: USA Today, 9/1/22: ‘MAGA forces’ determined to ‘take country backwards,’ Biden says in speech from Philadelphia. “Biden said ‘MAGA Republicans’ do not respect the Constitution, believe in the rule of law or recognize the will of the people… ‘MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards – backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love,’ Biden said… He later called on all Americans to be committed to saving democracy. ‘For a long time, we’ve reassured ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed, but it is not. We have to defend it, protect it, stand up for it. Each and every one of us.’”
2. MAGA Republicans continue to call for violence if Trump is prosecuted for his many, many crimes. Not only are they threatening law enforcement, but MAGA Republicans now are calling for “riots in the streets”, if the Justice Department prosecutes the former president for obstruction of justice. Troublingly, most Trump voters see civil war as somewhat likely within a decade.
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- Top point to make: Trump and his MAGA allies will continue to resort to violence to avoid accountability for his crimes.
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- If you read one thing: The Hill, 8/28/22: Graham predicts ‘riots in the streets’ if Trump prosecuted over classified docs. “‘If there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, after the Clinton debacle … there’ll be riots in the streets,’ Graham told former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy, who now hosts Fox News’s “Sunday Night in America.” Trump shared a clip of the interview on Truth Social later Sunday evening… Graham himself has been subpoenaed in that probe in connection with phone calls made to Georgia election officials seeking to change the election results in the state.”
3. The two former top Trump White House lawyers, Pat Cipollone and Pat Philbin, are expected to appear before a grand jury today. The lawyers were present in the White House during Trump’s final days as president and are believed to have vital information about the extent to which he took criminal actions in order to try and stay in office.
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- Top point to make: Trump must be held accountable for his criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of an election he knew he lost. His allies must cooperate with investigations.
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- If you read one thing: CNN, 9/1/22: Former Trump White House lawyers expected to appear Friday before January 6 grand jury. “Cipollone and Philbin repeatedly pushed back on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and opposed a proposal to replace the attorney general with someone willing to look into false claims of election fraud. Both Philbin and Cipollone indicated that they would resign should such a plan be executed… Philbin and Cipollone’s appearance before the grand jury adds to their mounting legal troubles spurred by their connection to Trump.”
4. The former president admitted to “financially supporting” January 6th rioters and says he will pardon them if re-elected to the presidency. Trump’s statements show he believes those who violently stormed the Capitol did nothing wrong.
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- Top point to make: Trump is explicitly endorsing the political violence he instigated on January 6th, and he will use violence to further his own goals in the future.
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- If you read one thing: Insider, 9/1/22: Trump says he’s ‘financially supporting’ January 6 defendants and will look ‘very favorably’ about full pardons if he wins the 2024 election. “When asked during a call-in with the conservative Wendy Bell Radio show how he can help the defendants, Trump said he’s “financially supporting people that are incredible,” adding that he hosted some defendants in his office just two days ago.”It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them,” Trump said, referring to sweeping Justice Department and FBI investigations of the deadly insurrection… POLITICO reported earlier this year that Trump considered issuing a blanket pardon for all individuals who participated in the Capitol riot during his final days in the White House.”
Expert voices
Andrew Weissmann, senior prosecutor in the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election: “Above all, the redacted affidavit (and an accompanying brief explaining the redactions), which was released on Friday, reveals more evidence of a righteous criminal case related to protecting information vital to our nation’s security.” NYT Op-Ed: We Knew the Justice Department Case Was Righteous. This Affidavit Confirms It.
Michael Stern, former senior counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives: “[F]rom a legal and constitutional standpoint NARA was not only justified in denying Trump’s assertion of executive privilege. It really had no choice in the matter.” Just Security: Assessing Trump’s Claim of ‘Executive Privilege’ on FBI Access to MAL Docs
Norman Eisen, senior fellow at Brookings and the co-founder and executive chair of States United Democracy Center, re: recently released Barr memo: “Current Attorney General Merrick Garland and his colleagues should be applauded for not pursuing this appeal further and for releasing the memo. They might have adhered to the traditional norm of protecting the Justice Department’s internal deliberations. But adherence to norms when they don’t fit egregious circumstances is what got Mueller in trouble. When dealing with Trump and his enablers, a different approach is required. That is a lesson to all of us going forward.” Slate Op-Ed
Nathan Kalmoe, professor at Louisiana State University, re: reporting of rising threats directed at the National Archives: “In our book, [Lilliana Mason] and & I found that public support (esp Rep support) for threats against officials was greatest at times when Trump was in greatest legal peril — namely amidst his two impeachments. Not surprising to see a rise in threats now.” Tweet
Noah Bookbinder, president of CREW, re: Donald Trump’s declaration on “Truth Social” for him to be declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election or “have a new [e]lection, immediately”: “Not only is this post utter nonsense—it’s dangerous. Donald Trump is still trying to overturn an election he lost. So long as he is not held accountable and is given a platform to spread his message, we run the real risk he’ll inspire another insurrection.” Tweet
Juliette Kayyem, Obama administration assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security: “[T]error and violent movements grow by the aura of a ‘win’ and a capability to continue that myth. They also weaken when they can no longer convince new recruits or elites that there is anything but violence (in other words, they cannot moderate their stance)…So one way to look at Trump and Graham is that their only remaining response is to go directly to violence. It isn’t good; it is disturbing. But it is also telling, pathetic, obvious. Trump’s success in the past was to be able to hide or obfuscate his violent incitement.” Twitter Thread
Neal K. Katyal, acting solicitor general in the Obama administration, re: recently released by DOJ Barr “memo”: “What Mr. Barr did must be strongly and swiftly repudiated by Republicans and Democrats alike, because otherwise it will enable attorneys general to sidestep prosecution of not just the president who appointed them but also all those who serve that president.” NYT Op-Ed: What Bill Barr Did to Clear Trump Is Still a Danger
Joyce Vance, former US attorney, re: Department of Justice’s search and seizure of classified materials from Mar-A-Lago: “There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to whether DOJ is going to indict the former president. The one clear piece of information we have is that DOJ is treating this as a serious criminal matter that will require a decision on whether to prosecute before it is complete. The case isn’t over just because DOJ has now retrieved the documents…Like always, the outcome will turn largely on the strength of DOJ’s evidence… Expect Merrick Garland’s team to pursue these issues carefully and think them out thoroughly before any charges are brought.” Civil Discourse
Harry Litman, former US attorney: “DOJ filing at 30,000 feet:
- Facts (11 pages): Trump’s assertion he cooperated is a joke; in fact, he delayed access repeatedly.
- Law: (20 pages): first principles: THESE ARE NOT HIS RECORDS. He has no legal entitlement to challenge anything.” Tweet
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University: “The Big Lie has traction because it lets any GOP politician become a mini-Trump, denying certified election results to get to power or to try to stay there illegally. No wonder election deniers now make up nearly two-thirds of Republican candidates for state and federal jobs that have authority over voting contests.” LA Times Op-Ed: Look to authoritarian parties abroad to see where the GOP is headed
Joyce Vance, former US attorney (Podcast Episode): “Serious concerns about witness safety are being made by DOJ in a matter that involves the former President of the United States. @PreetBharara and I discuss DOJ’s unsealed Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit on a new episode of @cafedotcom Insider. Listen: bit.ly/3QYhlro” Audio Link | Tweet
Austin Sarat, professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, and Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor: “Today Republicans are still falling over themselves to prove their loyalty to [Donald Trump] by outdoing each other in extremism…Democracy won’t save itself… There is much to be done by Americans committed to preserving our republic and to saying “no” to Trump.” Guardian Op-Ed: Americans are starting to get it: we can’t let Trump – or Trumpism – back in office
Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, and Norm Eisen, senior fellow at Brookings Institute: “Judge McBurney‘s even-handed approach demonstrates a key advantage of the Fulton County litigation, and part of the reason that it has emerged as the leading-edge accountability vehicle for the anti-democratic crimes of Trump and his cronies. You have a driven and effective DA who’s matched by a capable and fast supervising judge. That’s how the judicial system is supposed to work, which in this case is very bad news for the former president.” Slate Op-Ed: Brian Kemp’s Looming Testimony Is a Big Problem for Donald Trump
Stephen Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at University of Texas School of Law, in conversation with former US attorney Preet Bharara: “And so I think the question for everyone listening to this, the question for the courts, ultimately, in the Lindsey Graham dispute, is, do we actually think Lindsey Graham was making these phone calls because he was thinking about election reform legislation, or do we think he was making these phone calls because he was trying to exert political influence? And if it’s the latter, then that’s not supposed to be protected by the [Constitution’s Speech or Debate] clause.” Stay Tuned With Preet Transcript
David Laufman, former chief of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence and export control section: “Additional info that Trump’s people concealed from gov’t the continued presence of classified docs, and other evidence of obstruction, are the type of ‘aggravating factors’ in a retention case that usually lead to criminal prosecution.” Tweet
Renato Mariotti, former federal prosecutor: “The location of the classified documents (in the drawer in Trump’s desk) and the fact that they were mixed in with other documents (presumably Trump’s personal property) is evidence that Trump was responsible for the willful retention of those documents.” Tweet
Barbara McQuade, former US attorney: “Among the statutes cited in the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is one that prohibits obstruction of justice. That offense may sound familiar because it was one of the potential crimes investigated during Trump’s presidency by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. This time, though, this charge could actually stick.” USA Today Op-Ed: This isn’t the Mueller probe. Why Trump charges in DOJ case aren’t out of the question.
Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, Philip Allen Lacovara, served as counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor and former deputy U.S. solicitor general: “To have a reasonable chance of imposing effective sanctions, Garland should focus on the relatively straight-forward offenses that prompted the Mar-a-Lago search and on securing an indictment by mid-November, after the midterm election when DOJ might be perceived, falsely or not, as interfering in that race.” Slate: Mar-a-Lago Filing Shows Merrick Garland Must Move Quickly to Indict Trump
