A NEWSLETTER FROM DAVID CORN |
A NEWSLETTER FROM DAVID CORN |
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It’s Accountability Time for Trump’s Henchmen |
By David Corn March 30, 2024 |
Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, DC, on February 23, 2024. Jose Luis Magana/AP |
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Accountability can be a bitch. Just ask the lawyers who tried to help Donald Trump mount a coup.
This week there were signs that the system can punish those who assault the constitutional order of the republic. A judge in California ruled that John Eastman, the attorney who promoted the baseless theory that Vice President Mike Pence could nullify Joe Biden’s electoral victory and who misrepresented facts in lawsuits he helped to file to challenge the 2020 election results, should have his law license stripped. And in Washington, DC, Jeffrey Clark, a senior Justice Department official who conspired with Trump to fraudulently use the department to overturn the election, faced a disciplinary hearing that could result in his disbarment. He pleaded the Fifth during the proceedings, while the disciplinary counsel of the District of Columbia Bar, who was prosecuting the case, declared, “What Clark was attempting to do was essentially a coup at the Department of Justice.”
And don’t forget that three attorneys involved in Trump’s scheming to remain in power have pleaded guilty in the Georgia case: Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, and Sidney Powell. Though the Georgia prosecution has a long way to go before it reaches a courtroom, their pleas confirm a fundamental and dramatic point: Crimes were committed as Trump conspired to defy the election results. Who says so? Trump’s own (former) lawyers did by acknowledging they had engaged in illegal acts. (Eastman and Clark are charged in that case, along with Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and others. Giuliani had his law license suspended in New York for making false statements while he tried in Keystone Kops fashion to get courts to overturn Trump’s election loss.)
The wheels of justice have turned frustratingly slow in the two criminal cases filed against Trump for his 2020 plot to steal America. The Supreme Court has delayed special counsel Jack Smith’s case by agreeing to consider Trump’s absurd argument that he has total immunity from criminal prosecution for any action he took as president (unless he is impeached). And the Georgia case—a complicated RICO prosecution that began with 19 defendants—has been delayed by motions related to District Attorney Fani Willis’ romantic relationship with an attorney she hired for the prosecution team. Meanwhile, in the stolen-secret-documents case in Florida, federal Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee with little experience overseeing criminal trials, has issued a series of Trump-friendly rulings criticized by legal experts that have caused that case to move at a snail’s pace.
There’s no telling whether either of the federal trials will occur prior to the November election. It’s possible; then again, further delays could ensue. And it’s unlikely the Georgia case, with all its complexities, will yield a trial that concludes before Election Day. That leaves the porn-star/hush-money case, due to go to trial in New York City in mid-April, as the only one of Trump’s four criminal cases now set to be resolved before voters hit the polls.
The inability of the judicial system to handle these matters swiftly—with Trump and his high-priced attorneys stalling the proceedings with motion after motion—gives these disbarment proceedings greater significance. There ought to be a simple rule: You try to cheat in an election, you pay a price. This should especially apply when the aim is to reverse the results of a legitimate and fair presidential contest to keep a narcissistic demagogue in office. But as we’ve seen, law enforcement does not always function with speed and efficiency. These disciplinary actions against Eastman and Clark are not a substitute, but while the criminal cases drag on they offer an additional avenue for holding Big Lie malfeasants responsible.
Such action is not only important as a disincentive—a warning to future conspirators—but also as a shaming that officially brands these anti-constitutional perps as liars and connivers and enemies of democracy. Eastman, Clark, and the others need to be ostracized—taken off the board so they are no longer a threat to the United States. If this cannot be done in due time within the courts, other means are necessary.
This is especially true for Clark. He appeared in one of the most chilling scenes in the federal indictment of Trump for election interference. In that document, federal prosecutors noted that on January 3, 2021, as Trump, Clark, and their compatriots scrambled for a last-minute action to thwart the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, Clark had a chat with Patrick Philbin, then the deputy White House counsel. Philbin told Clark—who at one point was pushing the idiotic conspiracy theory that the Chinese used smart thermostats to rig voting machines against Trump—that “there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election” and that if Trump remained in office there would be “riots in every major city in the United States.” Clark replied, “Well, that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.”
The Insurrection Act allows a president to use the military to quash civil unrest. Here was Clark contemplating calling out the troops to keep Trump in the White House, perhaps turning a plain ol’ political coup into a military coup. This man should be kept far from power.
Yet Clark is poised to be a major player again if Trump wins the 2024 election. He has reportedly been working with Project 2025, the right-wing venture managed by the Heritage Foundation that is pulling together plans, including authoritarian measures, for a second Trump presidency. And, once again, Clark has his eye on the Insurrection Act. The Washington Post reported in November that as part of this enterprise Clark has been working on a scheme to activate the Insurrection Act at the start of a second Trump administration so Trump could deploy troops against civil demonstrations—which is what an autocrat would wish to do.
If Clark is disbarred, that might not stop Trump from rewarding his past loyalty with a White House gig (assuming Clark manages to avoid conviction and a prison sentence in the Georgia case). But Clark will be stained, officially sanctioned as dishonest and unethical. Just maybe that will slow him down or, at least, cast a taint on whatever he tries to pull if he returns to government.
Another act of accountability occurred this past week when NBC News pulled the plug on former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel and reversed its decision to hire her as an on-air analyst. As Chuck Todd, the network’s chief political analyst, and multiple MSNBC hosts said, signing McDaniel was dumb and inappropriate. Why would a media outlet that professes to care about accuracy and truthfulness pay $300,000 a year to a partisan operator who promoted the Big Lie and who was personally involved in the plot to overturn the election? Here was Trump Normalization Syndrome in action—treating McDaniel as if she were just another politico who could be recruited as a cable news talking head. Like Eastman, Clark, and others, she warranted a scarlet letter and excommunication from polite political society, not a big payday. With a mutiny on its hands—MSNBC hosts publicly declaring they would not have McDaniel on their shows and NBC reporters griping internally—NBC relented. (Disclosure: I am an MSNBC analyst.)
Of course, MAGA conservatives howled and accused NBC News, MSNBC, and the left of being censorious and canceling McDaniel. Though the deal should never have been made, this episode ended up being rather instructive. It served as a reminder that the Trumpers who attempted to subvert democracy shouldn’t be normalized. (She’ll still pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars from NBC.) The abettors of authoritarianism do not deserve a voice within responsible media. The rebellion at NBC and MSNBC was not about silencing a right-wing pundit; it was about sending a message: Those who enabled and aided Trump’s effort to destroy democracy are not welcome in the national debate.
Trump has not yet faced the music for his crimes against the Constitution. In the end, he might slip through the cogs of the justice system. Thus, it’s all the more important that his helpmates be penalized. With Trump and his crew hoping to move the United States toward autocracy, acts of accountability are in high demand. They demonstrate that our system—or parts of it—can protect and serve democratic values in the face of this pressing threat. And those of us who believe in constitutional democracy can use all the encouragement we can get these days.
Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com. |
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Dumbass Comment of the Week |
Is it possible, the judges ask, that No Labels is going off its rocker, as it has so far failed to find a candidate to run for president on its supposed bipartisan and centrist ticket? They inquire because the dark money group announced that on April 1, it will hold a “Common Sense Talk” featuring former Fox and former NBC host Megyn Kelly. The outfit promises that she will “share her insights into the current state of US politics.” It adds, “Her analysis will undoubtedly provide valuable context and help us understand the direction this country is headed.”
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Kelly, infamous for once declaring that Santa Claus “just is” white, is hardly a voice for reasonable debate and bipartisan centrism. She has hosted a fundraiser for the right-wing Moms for Liberty, and her SiriusXM show has provided a platform for far-right extremists. One example: In September, she had Charlie Kirk, the Trump fan-boy who heads Turning Point USA and who has a history of stoking racial animus, on the show. Kelly and Kirk lambasted football star Travis Kelce for encouraging people to get flu and Covid shots. Hailing Kelly as the source of political wisdom won No Labels a nomination this week and is another indication that the group is fueled by BS.
The tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore brought out the inner racism of some conservatives. On social media, alt-righters rushed to blame DEI for the ship crash that took out the bridge. We don’t have space to recognize all of them, but the judges thought they could honor Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian who poses as a grand public intellectual of the right, as a representative of this foul crowd. On Newsmax, he pontificated:
Just at the time we’re building bigger and bigger and more dangerous ships, we’re assembling longer and longer trains that derail like we saw in E. Palestine, Ohio, with more and more toxic [cargos]—we’re not upping our game, as far as increasing the level of expertise, especially meritocracy. So we’re not hiring necessarily the best people. We used to say we’re going to hire the best people regardless of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation. Now we’re saying, well, we may hire the best people but more importantly is their ideology or their ethnicity or their gender or their sexual orientation. Unfortunately, it’s exactly the wrong time to do it because it’s a much more dangerous interconnected world.
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We don’t even yet know who made what mistake on the ship that collided with the bridge, and here’s Hanson suggesting DEI is somehow the cause of this tragedy. That makes me wonder: Was DEI responsible for the Titanic? The Hindenburg? How does man-of-letters Hanson explain that air traffic now is much safer than it was back in the day when all the pilots were white guys? He was peddling high-class racism.
When independent presidential candidate, anti-vaxxer, and conspiracy-theory-monger Robert Kennedy Jr. introduced 38-year-old Silicon Valley lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his vice-presidential pick on Wednesday, he proclaimed, “There is no American more qualified than Nicole Shanahan to play this role.” That was absurd. She has no political and little policy experience. She is best known as the ex-wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, whose divorce settlement left her extremely wealthy. So rich that she single-handedly paid millions of dollars so Kennedy could air a campaign ad during the Super Bowl. It’s evident that Kennedy chose to put an ATM on the ticket.
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When Shanahan stumbled her way—too often giggling—through a meandering speech accepting Kennedy’s invitation, she uttered several silly comments. But one particular promise of what she would do if elected veep caught the judges’ attention: I will assemble the best technologists and scientists in the world, and we will use the latest in AI and computation to examine the health records databases of our nation and those other nations who are also on a quest to solve chronic disease. We will find answers to our most pressing health concerns within weeks, not decades…We can solve the mysteries guarded by corporate influence…We can end this chronic disease epidemic.
The technical term for such a statement is woo-woo. It's admirable that Shanahan wants to address cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and other long-term and devastating diseases. But finding the answers “within weeks, not decades” is the stuff of fantasy. She seems to believe that it’s only due to the influence of Big Pharma and health care corporations that we don’t have cures for all these illnesses. I’m no fan of the medical-industrial complex, but her claim that she can unearth the solution to these problems within weeks is nuts—but in line with Kennedy’s assorted anti-vax and Covid conspiracy theories.
Which is the crazier remark: Kennedy declaring Shanahan is the most qualified vice presidential candidate in the entire country, or Shanahan vowing to divine the answers to chronic disease within weeks? The judges decided they need not choose. This week the trophy goes to both Kennedy and Shanahan. We hope they can share it. |
There were plenty of thoughtful replies to the recent issues about Trump Normalization Syndrome and the impact of Covid on today’s politics in a nation I termed “the United States of Amnesia.” That second one was inspired by a piece in the Atlantic by George Makari and Richard Friedman, two clinical psychiatrists at Weill Cornell Medical College, who contend that our current politics are off-kilter because the country has not fully processed the trauma of the pandemic.
Pamela Blair wrote:
I appreciate the issue brought up by Drs. Makari and Friedman, but I think there’s another issue looming over us which they’re not acknowledging—the looming climate crisis. Although it’s difficult or even impossible to talk about so many factors all at once, I do believe that the gloom people are feeling has to do with all the things which are unsolvable by the individual—rising temperatures leading to more destructive fires, hurricanes, droughts, etc. Add to that Gaza (where President Biden’s performance has been sub-par) and Ukraine (same for Congress), and other international struggles. People feel helpless as well as hopeless. This is especially true for younger people, who see the future as grim. It’s no wonder that we then focus on the smaller and more immediate items of discomfort, such as inflation, especially in the grocery store.
I have no suggestions for how to approach this, but I know it goes beyond the unresolved grief around our year with Covid. It’s just another of the many factors making people despondent about the future. Shelly Bird had a major complaint:
It stuns me Makari and Friedman can discuss this without mentioning—not even once—the disproportionate impact Covid had on women and children, especially among the poor. Women became the primary caretakers of the children who were isolated at home, were the first forced out of the workforce to deal with the crisis—so economically harder hit than any other demographic. They are also more frequently taking care of the elderly day-to-day—the most vulnerable people who got hit so hard in the early days (and late days) of the Covid pandemic. Nurses, still primarily female, and medical staff who were around the Covid infections daily were the first to fall. And women are the people who, on top of everything else, had to carry the emotional baggage for the family without breaking down or considering their own mental health needs.
But the most depressing part of all of this was watching the Dobbs decision, Trump’s misogyny unleashed, and our states gleefully resurrecting old suppressive laws against women all over again. In short, women feel abandoned and ignored, with good reason. Men—even our “good” men—were for the most part dead silent about Dobbs or even admonished the women for being “hysterical” about the Dobbs decision and what was happening at the state level. And it has gotten steadily worse, with daily reminders to women how isolated, under attack, and undervalued they are in this country.
American women feel betrayed. Covid and our very broken health care system and Dobbs brought it all to the fore. Worst of all, nothing much seems to have changed (yet) to make the next round with a pandemic easier, or to improve women’s health care. Trust has been broken. I don’t think it will come back easily, if ever. And in my opinion, this is the root cause of the funk. I will say there may be a silver lining in it—women are more determined than ever to lead us out of this mess. That is, if they are allowed to lead.
It’s not my job to defend someone else’s article, but I do think that Makari and Friedman were addressing the issue in macro terms and not breaking it down demographically. Obviously, people of color were hit harder, as well, by Covid. As for Dobbs, I have seen plenty of male politicians rally for women’s freedom in the aftermath of that decision. They could do more. But it’s my hunch that these Democrats will enthusiastically join women in trying to make reproductive rights a top priority in 2024.
Responding to my skepticism about Makari and Friedman’s call to mount a national review of the pandemic and how it was handled, Sara S. Nichols emailed:
I do think that a deep dive into national trauma over the pandemic would be worthwhile. I think that the Dems at least temporarily changed the national conversation when they did that about January 6. However, I think it's important not to minimize inflation. If you're on the side of the economic divide that I am, it feels somewhat trivial. But to Kyle, the 32-year-old cable guy I met Saturday, it doesn't. He is supporting a family of three children under 7 on $24,000 a year. He is clearly smart, hardworking, and great at his job. His wife is caring for their kids. His rent and food have gone up dramatically. His salary has stayed the same. The whole family faces homelessness if the trajectory continues.
Biden and the Democrats must address such economic hardships. The tough thing is coming up with policies to lower inflation (especially food prices) and the cost of housing that can a) pass Congress and b) work. But Biden should be speaking out more on this and showing that he gets it. Tim Feran proposed an idea:
Thanks for the piece on Covid “amnesia” and its effect on our politics. I wonder if Biden could sidestep the downside of revisiting that awful time by honoring the medical professionals during a big deal event— akin to the placing flowers on the Unknown Soldier memorial. A big public—and media—event? Which then becomes part of the campaign commercials or convention show?
It seems the Biden White House and campaign want to avoid most talk of Covid, presumably out of fear of triggering the culture wars the pandemic caused. But might this be a way to remind people of what happened and who screwed up? Michele Coxon sent in this lovely note:
In Pacifica, small coastal town south of San Francisco, an Irish immigrant named Mike Mooney asked the city if he could establish a memorial to 9/11 soon after that horrific day. He built a lovely garden with bench and flag along the creek in the old quarry. The area is a favorite walking trail to the ocean and used daily by people coming from other areas, as well as us locals. Soon other little garden plots began forming along this route. The creekside is now alive with memorials to children and friends fallen by drugs, memorials to old pals and pets, and expressions of grief and joy. Mike also planted a garden for his now deceased wife. Mine became a memorial for all who have suffered and died and to the grief I feel over what we are doing to our planet, current politics, extinctions of our animals and ourselves. Visitors always stop, admire, wonder and are genuinely moved by the tributes. I tell this story because your article exemplified a little garden patch as a way to both remember, express grief and pain, and move beyond. I think we may be entering a time when many more gardens need to be planted and tended with enduring love and remembrance and the will to continue moving forward.
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“Is it spring yet?” “Yes, Moxie.” “That’s my favorite season. All the new smells.” “What about summer?” “That’s my favorite, too. I love going to the beach.” “And fall?” “Also a favorite. Running in the leaves.” “Winter?” “Another favorite. Playing in the snow.”
“So they’re all your favorites?” “You have a problem with that?” |
Read Recent Issues of Our Land |
March 26, 2024: Donald Trump and the United States of Amnesia; No Labels, RIP?; Bad River’s inspiring ride; “Tennessee Rise” lifts up a Senate campaign; and more.
March 23, 2024: Trump Normalization Syndrome—a threat to the USA; the most important 1 percent in 2024; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Ari Fleischer); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
March 19, 2024: It’s time to start worrying about Christian nationalism; Constellation is lost in space…and time; the wonderful musical party Karl Wallinger left behind; and more.
March 16, 2024: Time to unleash Kamala Harris to trigger Trump; Our Land needs you; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Dwight D. Opperman Foundation); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
March 12, 2024: Jared Kushner and the award that’s not good for the Jews; old cops versus new cops in Criminal Record; James Grady delivers a different mystery with The Smoke in Your Eyes; and more.
March 9, 2024: Trump’s back on top, and this is not fine; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Mark Robinson); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
March 5, 2024: The threat to democracy from white rural rage; the common flaw of Maestro and Napoleon; Tierney Sutton’s jazzy take on the racial wealth gap; and more.
March 2, 2024: Barbara McQuade on disinformation in 2024; Richard Lewis, RIP; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Sen. Tommy Tuberville); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
February 27, 2024: The new “It Can Happen Here” project; the darkness of True Detective: Night Country; and more.
February 24, 2024: The racism is the point; the Smirnov affair; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more. |
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Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com. |
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