Dear friends,
“We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power.”
The good news is that the court firmly rejected the argument that Trump or any president requires impunity in order to do the job. In fact, some of the crimes for which he will stand trial concern his failure to do his job. As you no doubt recall, the former president refused to take action to stop the violent attack on the capitol.
To be certain, the former president’s delaying tactics are far from over. He has until Monday February 12 to file an appeal to the Supreme Court.
If, however, the Supreme Court does accept the case, the crucial question will become how quickly the justices act in asking for briefs and in scheduling arguments. Should they move rapidly to hear the case and issue a decision, there remains the chance that a trial on the election charges will occur before the general election in November.
In a slick move by the three judges who ruled today, they made the deadline to appeal to the Supreme Court very tight, forcing him to hopscotch over a time-wasting appeal to the full court of appeals.
And just when you think you’re up to speed on Trump’s legal troubles:
The Attorney General asked for $370 million in damages. And now it appears that Weisselberg lied. The ketchup must be flying.
This evening, the House failed to pass articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Apparently, there are plans to vote again soon (Cue Nancy Pelosi pointing out that the minimum requirement for a Speaker is the ability to count.)
The articles of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas accuse him of “reckless abandonment of border security and immigration enforcement” and willful refusal to “maintain operational control of the border.” It’s a pretty pathetic move, given their own abandonment of the bipartisan border deal.
My partner wonders if the Democrats may actually have set up the Republicans by agreeing to a border deal that they knew the hard right would tank. I love this idea (for which we have no evidence).
In 2022, Oregon voters approved a measure to disqualify legislators from reelection if they have excessive absences; last week, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled
that 10 Republican state senators who staged a record-long walkout last year to stall bills on abortion, transgender health care and gun rights cannot run for reelection.
This constitutes some refreshing accountability.
I like the energy.
with love,
L