Courts Keep Churning

Judge Aileen Cannon isn’t giving Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) the SCIF he wants at Mar-a-Lago; he wants to can stay home to look through classified documents. DDT asked for a sensitive compartment information facility (SCIF) at his Palm Beach estate. Her 16-page protective order conforms with general practices of federal courts by noting that DDT’s lawyers don’t have full security clearances yet. Cannon also ordered the appointment of a classified information security officer, responsible for ensuring lawyers have access to national security information and handle it carefully. She didn’t specify where the SCIF would be, but they are typically in or near federal courthouses. Prosecutors can ask that some audiences be kept off-limits to the documents. Access to classified information is more restricted to DDT’s co-defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. Specific court orders will be required for sharing classified information with Nauta.

Fulton County (GA) Judge Scott McAfee determined that DA Fani Willis’ 19 RICO codefendants do not have to participate in the same trial: Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell will be tried on October 23, and the others can wait. McAfee didn’t give a trial date for DDT and his other 16 co-defendants. Chesebro’s attorneys also want to question grand jury members who approved the indictments, questioning the legitimacy of their actions. An assistant Fulton County district attorney disagreed, maintaining that attorneys cannot question grand jurors about their deliberations. McAfee has not ruled on the request, indicating that the jurors would have to be willing and pointing out the threats and doxing for many of them after the indictments.

In a harbinger of things to come, reporters stated that “tensions ran high” during this week’s hearing, complete with “snide comments,” raised voices, and “accusations” from both sides. One defense attorney said he should be permitted to continue his argument because the hearing was being “broadcast live.” Powell’s attorney wants prosecutors’ arguments in writing so that he can preview them before coming to court.

Chesebro’s attorney accused the assistant DA of having “lied to the court” about existing case law regarding his right to talk with grand jurors. McAfee asked him to stop his heated response, but the defense attorney’s justification was that the proceedings are being “broadcast live.” Legal expert Lisa Rubin said the attorneys were inappropriate in requesting to question grand jurors. She said that the defense attorneys had neither the facts nor the law on their side so they threaten “the DA’s team with prosecutorial conduct.”

McAfee also shut down the defense attorney’s arguments after he accused the assistant DA of firing “personal attacks” and “[impugning] the reputation” of his colleague. The attorney also complained that the state’s presentation of a PowerPoint was “not an efficient use of the court’s time.” McAfee said that his complaint “is not part of the record right now” because “this is not part of the consideration, and if you want to handle that outside of [court] we will do that.”

Chesebro also wants transcripts to be unsealed from the first special grand jury that recommended charges but did not vote on the indictments. McAfee said he will hold weekly hearings to deal with Chesebro’s and Powell’s motions so that they don’t build up.

The 11^th Circuit Court will consider an appeal from former chief of staff Mark Meadows after Judge Steve Jones turned down his request to move his RICO charges from Fulton County (GA) to a federal court. Oral arguments are scheduled Friday if the court determines they are “warranted.” Meadows withdrew his request for an emergency stay because the court promised to expedite its ruling. Meadows is indicted for participating in eight “overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy”; his attorney stated “nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal.”

For the second time, anti-immigrant federal Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program unlawful but didn’t terminate deportation protections and work permits for 580,000 immigrant “Dreamers.” Last year, the 5^th Circuit Court also declared DACA illegal, and the case may go to the Supreme Court. By the end of March, 578,680 immigrants, who illegally came to the U.S. as children, live in the U.S.—over half of them in California, Texas, Illinois, and New York—because they meet the requirements of the executive order. DDT tried to terminate the 2011 law in 2017, but the policy has been moving through the courts. A appeal will go to the highly conservative 5^th Circuit Court.

In a case about removing DDT’s name from the state election from 14^th Amendment language, a federal judge in Colorado dismissed DDT ’s attempt to move the case to a federal court and declare voters bringing the case lacked standing. Judge Philip Bremmer, appointed by George W. Bush, called the case “defective” because Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, also named in the lawsuit, didn’t want to move the case from state court. A similar lawsuit was filed in Minnesota’s state court this week by registered voters.

New Hampshire’s GOP Secretary of State David Scanlon has stated that he has no legal basis to disqualify DDT or any other candidate as it relates to the 14^th Amendment. His announcement came the day after DDT’s campaign sent him a letter signed by dozens of GOP state lawmakers urging him to refuse the quest to disqualify DDT.

In a case about the House Freedom Caucus leader, Scott Perry (PA), the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that his communications with lawmakers to overturn the 2020 election are off-limits to special counsel Jack Smith. The three-judge panel, two of them appointed by DDT and third by George H.W. Bush, ordered a judge to individually review almost 2,000 documents with a stricter standard. Perry tried to help DDT replace the DOJ AG after the 2020 election with Jeffrey Clark who would get the agency to reverse its finding that President Joe Biden had been fairly elected.

On the seventh day, the Texas House rested its impeachment case against suspended state AG Ken Paxton after failing to call a star witness and fighting with defense attorneys about allegations that real estate developer bribed Paxton.  House lawyer Rusty Hardin also realized that he made his announcement for resting the case too soon, cutting off further questioning of the current witness by either side. The defense attorney motioned for a directed verdict, requesting a dismissal of the articles of impeachment from lack of evidence, causing more problems. Jurors met behind closed doors for 45 minutes; when they returned, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, acting as judge, told them the defense had withdrawn its motion.

Laura Olson, Paxton’s mistress, also backed down from testifying after agreeing she would be a witness because she hadn’t received a 24-hour notice. When they returned, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, acting as judge, told them the defense had withdrawn its motion. By late afternoon, Olson was eligible to testify, but both sides agreed she could leave without taking the stand. She had been planning to assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Instead, prosecutors called Drew Wicker, Paxton’s personal assistant. Both sides will give closing arguments on Friday before the jury determines a verdict. 

Throughout the trial, defense lawyers attacked the witnesses for their disloyalty toward their employer and lack of documentation for the FBI when they reported Paxton. All the witnesses described how they told Paxton that he was creating problems for himself through excessive favors for Nate Paul, the real estate developer.

Paxton must still stand trial for state securities fraud charges dating to 2015. Although he has pled guilty to that case, his lawyers said a successful impeachment might encourage him to a plea agreement. The FBI, investigating Paxton since 2020, may be “monitoring” the trial for the testimony of eight whistleblowers about Paxton’s alleged crimes. It could lead to a federal indictment.

Paxton’s wife, a senator, sat through the proceedings including the recent testimony of Paxton’s infidelity, part of the catalyst for his other crimes. She won’t be able to vote, but she must be present to increase the number of votes to impeach him. In essence, her presence creates a “no” vote.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is facing a lawsuit for withholding information about her travel at the same time she’s trying to change the state’s public records law. To remove transparency, the law would make information about travel for the governor and other “constitutional officers” exempt from the law—and be retroactive to before Sanders took office.  

The law would also block release of records “reflecting communications” between the governor’s office and her Cabinet secretaries, after a previous version more broadly blocked the release of state agencies’ “deliberative process.” Even Republicans in the state question GOP lawmakers’ support for the law, and the former state police director, who served under Mike Huckabee—Sanders’ father—condemned a retroactive change, stating it shows admission of wrongdoing.

Google is facing a DOJ trial about its policies and deals with other industry companies, accusing Google of an illegal monopoly in the search market that harms innovation. Questions:

• Are Google’s deals with Apple and other providers exclusive?
• Does Google limit online ad competition through search?
• Is Google’s dominance limiting search innovation?
• Who counts as Google’s competitors in search?
• Who is expected to testify?

And the biggest case for the day—the felony indictment of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, for lying when he bought a gun in 2018 which he kept for 11 days. But that’s a much longer story.

DDT: Week 184 – More Destruction of U.S.

Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) had another hard week. His press briefings are failing, and his tweets, such as delaying the election, have turned off GOP legislative leadership. Back on the campaign trail in Tampa (FL), he can’t even put together a crowd. Only 80 miles from the biggest retirement community in the U.S., the highly conservative Villages, this photo shows the best he can do on the campaign trail.  

In his continued effort to destroy the U.S., DDT wants to block the US post office from delivering ballots. He appointed friend and megadonor donor Louis DeJoy as postmaster general to delay the ballots. Congress allotted the USPS $10 billion in its COVID-19 stimulus bill, but Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin holds the money hostage in return for proprietary information about USPS top ten lucrative private-sector contracts. DDT threatens to withhold the funding if the USPS doesn’t immediately hike its prices. Earlier Mnuchin tried to extort sweeping USPS operation control—approval of personal, contracts, and collective bargaining–in exchange for congressionally allotted monies.

The pandemic made vote-by-mail far more popular so DDT wants to block receiving ballots and sending them back in a timely fashion. In 34 states, completed ballots not received by Election day are not counted; in other states, ballots without postmarks aren’t counted. DDT’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany calls the New York primary voting an “absolute catastrophe” because ballots are still being counted, and DDT calls it “RIGGED.” Yet the delay is partially DDT’s fault.  

At least one state postmaster, Maine’s James Thornton, told his workers to prioritize Amazon packages and delay first-class and priority mail, perhaps to curry DeJoy’s favor. Willfully delaying the mail is a criminal offense, but several 4’ X 5’ bins filled with first-class mail have been left overnight, undelivered, in the five Portland (ME) units multiple days per week. Delivery problems have been reported by voters and postal workers in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

The Senate also confirmed Bill Zollars for the U.S. Postal Service board despite the federal government suing him for defrauding the Pentagon while he was CEO of YRC Worldwide. Mnuchin used a $17 billion slush fund supporting businesses concerned vital to national security to loan $700 million to YRC, valued at $70 million. YRC owes another $825 million to multiple creditors. Zollars replaces Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman, forced out by DDT in his plan to privatize the USPS while trying to destroy mail-in ballots.

DDT contends “mail-in voting” and “absentee voting” are different, rejecting the first but “totally” supporting the latter. His personal lawyers disagreed in a lawsuit described on DDT’s website: “the terms ‘mail-in’ and ‘absentee’ are used interchangeably to discuss the use of the United States Postal Service to deliver ballots to and from electors.” As for claims of fraud, of over 250 million ballots cast by mail in the past 20 years, only 143 prosecutions have been connected to fraud—a rate of 0.00006 percent. DDT also accused states of sending out “hundreds of millions of universal mail-in ballots.” The U.S. has only 153 million registered voters, and only California plans to send absentee ballots to all their registered voters. No state sends ballots or applications for mail-in voting to any non-registered voters. Republicans, such as Oregon’s Secretary of State Bev Clarno, refuted baseless conspiracy theories from DDT and AG Bill Barr about forged ballots. As for complaints about delayed elections, Oregon, the first state to provide mail-in voting, announces almost all results by midnight of Election Day.

Although he won’t fight COVID-19, DDT declared war on the social platform TikTok and plans to ban the Chinese-owned app in the U.S. Concerns might be legitimate because Chinese may be using TikTok to spy on people in the U.S. or interfere in U.S. elections, but DDT is upset only because teens faked a huge audience at DDT’s Tulsa (OR) campaign rally by using the app to order tickets.

DDT’s conservative Supreme Court will allow him to defy Congress by continuing to spend over $6 billion diverted from military funds to pay for his border wall in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California. Judges in California and Texas ruled against the unconstitutional transfer of these funds, and the 9^th Circuit Court concurred. Yet five justices ruled he could continue until possibly considering the litigation which wouldn’t be taken up until October at the earliest. SCOTUS’ minority recommended the court allow the government to finalize the construction contracts while stopping Pentagon fund expenditures and beginning construction. The conservative majority rejected the compromise, in effect providing a final judgment before hearing the case.

Taxpayers are also building a multi-million dollar 13-foot “anti-climb” fence around the White House which blocks the view of the building.

After refusing to follow both the Supreme Court and a lower court ruling that he accept DACA applications, DHS announced it will “reject all” first time DACA applications and cut protections for current beneficiaries from two to one year while it takes action “to thoughtfully consider the future of the DACA policy.”

The Pentagon’s new mandatory training course for all personnel to prevent leaks calls protesters and journalists “adversaries.” A former Pentagon press secretary and CIA spokesman, George Little, compared the term to Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s use of “battlespace” when talking about city streets in the U.S. Since a backlash, the Pentagon has dropped the term “adversaries” for residents of the U.S.

The COVID-19 epidemic has reached such dire proportions in South Texas that Starr County apppointed an ethics committee and a triage committee to determine who will receive life-saving help or be sent home without help, possibly to die.

Furthering DDT’s quackery, VP Mike Pence met with two hydroxychloroquine-touting doctors whose video was removed from both Twitter and Facebook for false and dangerous information. Pence then met with Ohio’s GOP governor, Mike DeWine, who, two days later, told the state pharmacy board to stop a rule banning the drug for COVID-19 patients in Ohio. One of the “doctors” is a non-practicing ophthalmologist who co-founded an investment fund, and the other one frequently contributes to the Fox network and other right-wing media. FDA’s head, Steven Hahn, called it “a decision between a doctor and a patient,” something DDT and many other Republicans deny to women requesting an abortion. Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-parasitic medication, is prescribed for malaria; COVID-19 is a virus, not a parasite.

Issue One, a bipartisan political reform group, reported on money laundering schemes illegally funneling foreign money into super PACs through shell companies, thanks to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United (2010) permitting dark money donations for super PACs. Their analysis shows how this is happening.

A complaint accuses DDT’s presidential campaign of laundering $170 million to avoid revealing what vendors are being paid for services by feeding money through companies controlled by campaign officials. In 2018, then-campaign manager Brad Parscale and other campaign officials created the company, American Made Media, which has been paid over $106 million. Spending reports don’t reveal payments to companies actually doing the work for the campaign. Parscale’s private company, Parscale Strategy, has funneled campaign money to pay $180,000 each to Eric Trump’s wife, Lara, and Donald Trump Jr’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.

In testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, Adam D. DeMarco, an Iraq veteran who serves as a major in the D.C. Army National Guard officer, described protesters forcibly removed from Lafayette Square last month and refuting claims from DDT,  AG Bill Barr, and acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan. DeMarco stated “demonstrators were behaving peacefully” and deployment of tear gas was an “excessive use of force.” He also said fencing didn’t arrive until 9:00 that evening although Monahan said the area was cleared after it arrived. Although Monahan claimed protesters were warned, DeMarco said that they could not hear the announcement for a hand-held megaphone 50 yards away. Protesters were attacked 40 minutes before curfew, and a perimeter wasn’t set up until almost three hours later. Monahan also testified about the debacle, blaming peaceful protesters for “sustained” violent incidents and violent confrontations with law enforcement.

Norman Eisen’s new book, A Case for the American People: The United States v. Donald J. Trump about DDT’s impeachment, gives more information about the Roger Stone’s coverup to hide DDT’s wrongdoing. Barr protected Stone with a lesser sentence which DDT commuted. Eisen also gives more information about DDT’s illegally lying to special counsel Robert Mueller during the Russia investigation.

Some clueless media people have praised DDT for his change in “tone” about the seriousness of COVID-19 within the past couple of weeks. As usual, they twist themselves into knots in their attempt to find something positive to report on DDT. His only reason for briefly stating the problem of the virus comes after his aides gave him enough maps of the surging virus to convince him his GOP voters face a crisis. It was a political decision. Yet on the first press briefing of the week, he started his insistence on reopening states. Meanwhile, a new poll indicates 80 percent of people in the U.S. believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. His dropping polls in the past few weeks have caused him to attack the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Fox network. 

August 1: U.S. COVID-19 infections in U.S. – 4,764,318; deaths – 157,898.

Week 182 – Hope for the Future

Throughout the week, I save news giving me hope or just making me laugh. Here are those from the past couple of weeks.

Since the Supreme Court declared almost half Oklahoma’s land is under Native American ruling, one-fourth of oil and gas drillers and 60 percent of refinery capacity operate on reservation land. The Keystone XL pipeline also crosses the Indian country. Regulation for all this moves from oil-friendly Oklahoma to federal and tribal governments. The state’s shale fields were already hard hit with a one-third drop in oil prices this year. The Bureau of Indian Affairs may also have authority over clean-air programs and pipeline grants within the reservation.

Chief Justice John Roberts granted permission for New York DA Cyrus Vance to skip the 25-day waiting period to move forward in issuing a subpoena for DDT’s financial records. Roberts did not grant the same privilege to the House for requests to immediately go forward. In last Thursday’s hearing where DDT’s lawyers gave the same failing arguments and seemed unprepared, a federal judge gave DDT until July 27 to file more challenges to the subpoena. To investigate hush money DDT paid two different women with whom he had affairs, Vance asked for eight years of DDT’s personal and business records from he accounting firm Mazars USA. The firm does not object.

The Supreme Court also ruled against DDT on his DACA program, but he illegally rejects applications and hasn’t even filed for a rehearing with the required 25 days. Also, he consistently changed his mind about moving forward: no executive order, signing a bill to “give [Dreamers] a road to citizenship, no permission for “amnesty” but “want[s] to make people happy.” Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of Home Security, refused to remove the website statement that the Supreme Court ruling “has no basis in law.” A federal court has ordered DDT to accept the applications and return the policy to where it was before September 2017.

DDT rescinded his controversial plan to deport all students who are not enrolled in at least one face-to-face class this fall. Lawsuits against DDT had alleged the action violated the Administrative Procedure Act governing rule-making and was a political move to force universities to reopen campuses with classes in person.

After DDT sent his thuggish federal agents to Portland (OR), Oregon’s AG Ellen Rosenblum announced her office will sue federal law enforcement agencies and start a criminal investigation into the agents’ force. She seeks a temporary restraining order stopping them from detaining Portlanders after agents had no probably cause to seize and detain them. Several people destroy DDT’s behavior as “Pinochet-style abducting citizens.” August Pinochet became president of Chile in a junta when he overthrew a democratically-elected leader and became the country’s dictator. Violations of human rights through rape, torture, abduction, murder were common in the 1970s along with Operation Condor, a secret campaign to wipe out the opposition as people were “disappeared.” 

The brutality by federal agents has energized the protest movement and caused protest crowds to grow. On Friday night, a naked woman went up to federal officers line and pointed her finger at them, daring them to shoot. They sprayed pepper balls at the ground inches from her feel. She didn’t move. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the presence of federal agents is “like adding gasoline to a fire.” [Right: federal agents firing pepper spray.] 

Brown also said the deployment of federal officers is “a mere distraction from the president’s failure to lead this nation through a global pandemic. It is a blatant abuse of power by the federal government. They are inappropriately trained [according to DHS]. Their presence is not needed. And frankly they’re exacerbating an already challenging situation. It is absolutely counterproductive to the work we’re trying to do here.”

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has decided to ban the Confederate flag at military installations by listing flags that can be flown.  With the new policy, the LGBTQ rainbow flag will also be banned. Esper’s memo stated unauthorized flags—like the Confederate flag—are acceptable in museums, historical exhibits, works of art, and other educational programs.

As DDT gives everyone a rosy picture of COVID-19 in the U.S., Senators pass along the opposite image to their constituents—especially vulnerable ones up for re-election such as Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Forty states see surges in infections, and 67 percent of registered voters distrust and disapprove of DDT’s virus information.

During DDT’s first few months, he used the 1996 Congressional Review Act to erase 14 Obama-era regulations, a law used only once previously. According to that law, any regulation not submitted by the agency within 60 legislative days can be fast-tracked.  Thus far this year, DDT signed at least 33 executive orders and plans far more as Democrats eye them for dissolution:  

• Destroying environmental law signed by Richard Nixon stopping environmental impact requirements for Infrastructure that he has avoided for over years;
• Preparing another illegal DACA order with the claim the Supreme Court told him to do it;
• Banning undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census;
• Eliminating a fair housing regulation designed to block racial disparities in the suburbs;
• Weakening an Obama-era controls on climate-warming methane pollution.
• Restricting the type of scientific research to be used to craft environmental and public health regulations;
• Forbidding retirement investment managers from considering environmental consequences in their financial recommendations;
• Making asylum even more difficult for migrants;
• Erasing civil rights protections for transgender patients seeking health care;
• Allowing homeless shelters to deny transgender people access to single-sex shelters corresponding to their gender identity;
• Stopping persecution for businesses killing birds “incidentally”;
• Permitting energy firms to use undersea sonic blasts to search for oil, regardless of the impact on ocean mammals’ health.

As of a year ago, judges have overturned at least 70 executive orders, and the GOP Congress has overturned three more. In three years, Earthjustice filed over 100 lawsuits to defend environmental and health protections. Of the settled 49 lawsuits, Earthjustice won 39. Presidential candidate Joe Biden and Democratic leaders have kept a careful eye on the executive orders for a review. DDT believes he is creating new laws when he signs executive orders, but his orders are only implementations of laws by the Executive branch. Orders cannot overturn U.S. laws, but Congress can overturn DDT’s orders.

Hackers have found almost 300 documents in which police shared detailed reports about the threats in protests from far-right extremists attempting to create chaos and disorder instead of DDT’s myth of the “antifa.” Law enforcement intelligence was politicized, causing danger to both protesters and police, according to the communication, because of sensationalization of antifa threats with no substance, a situation not part of the factual material about the boogaloo documents. The disaster lay with the desire of the intelligence to paint the antifa as threatening as the far right although the latter showed no concrete evidence of serious criminal activity. Details about their communication. The good news would be dissemination of DDT’s government manipulation.

On July 1, several civil rights laws went into effect in Virginia:

• Removing unnecessary abortion regulations.
• Preventing driver’s licenses suspension over unpaid court fees.
• Ending the requirement of principals to report to police misdemeanors committed at school.
• Limiting to $50 what health insurers can charge for insulin.
• Extending to aspiring Americans in-state tuition at public colleges and driver privilege cards.
• Banning discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in employment and housing.
• Banning the practice of so-called “conversion therapy” on minors.
• Decriminalizing cannabis possession.

DDT received a sad comeuppance this past week. A week ago, he spent his morning retweeting messages from Chuck Woolery, a conservative former game show host who accused health experts of lying about COVID-19’s seriousness. Woolery wrote:

“Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”

Woolery continued by claiming there “much evidence, yes scientific evidence, that schools should open this fall.” The next day he sent his last tweet for now:

“Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones.”

Woolery deactivated his Twitter account on Wednesday; his son is apparently doing well.

World COVID-19 cases, 14,646,706; deaths, 608,978. USA cases, 3,898,550; deaths, 143,289.

Ending with a bit of humor.  After DDT repeatedly told the world the U.S. would have fewer cases of COVID-19 without testing, Dan Rather offered some assistance to DDT: “We can apparently solve the issue of undocumented immigrants by just not counting them.” DDT could save $20 billion.

DDT Runs Afoul of Executive Orders, COVID-19

For eight years, the Republicans hated presidential executive orders–until they elected Dictator Donald Trump (DDT). Their opposition to these orders stay in the GOP platform because Republicans decided to retread the 2016 platform citing their hatred of President Obama. DDT loves signing orders because he gets to look important.

Eight years, ago, President Obama signed an order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program allowing undocumented young adults who were brought to the United States as children to apply for protection from deportation. In 2017, DDT signed his own order ending the program, telling almost 800,000 young people they should immediately be deported. After lawsuits against the order wandered the courts for almost three years, the Supreme Court ruled, 5-4 with Chief Justice John Roberts the swing vote, against DDT’s order, calling it “arbitrary and capricious.” The decision didn’t state DDT was wrong, just that he didn’t provide sufficient justification.

The executive order was sent back to the Department of Homeland Security, and, after a day of tantrums, DDT declared the high court wanted him to rewrite the order for reissuing.  

Damon Linker wrote about the decision:

“Presidents and their appointees can’t simply do anything they want, even when the aim falls within their purview. They need to abide by the rule of law in taking action…. It’s what separates a nation governed by law from one ruled by the whims of a malicious despot and his obsequious enablers.”

BuzzFeed’s Zoe Tillman wrote:

“This outcome is similar to what happened in the census citizenship question case — in both cases, Roberts wrote for the majority of the court that the Trump admin could in theory do what they were trying to do, but that officials had gone about it in an unlawful way.”

Law professor Steve Vladeck commented about the ruling:

“It’s not that Chief Justice Roberts is a closet progressive. He’s not. It’s that the Trump administration is really bad at administrative law.”

Steve Benen continued with the theme of his new book, The Imposters:

“Many of the White House’s recent failures are the result of its indifference to the substance of governing.

“Earlier this week, North Korea literally blew up a diplomatic office, in part because Trump launched a risky gambit for public-relations purposes, failed to do his due diligence, never bothered to formulate a specific plan or policy, and sat helpless as his half-hearted effort failed.

“Soon after, the political world was confronted with revelations from John Bolton’s new book, in which the former White House national security advisor describes the president as, among other things, a man who doesn’t care about governing, doesn’t know how government works, and prioritizes politics over policy.

“Meanwhile, Trump’s plan to hold a risky campaign rally in Tulsa is becoming increasingly controversial in ways his political operation may not have anticipated. Those who take governing seriously care about data, evidence, and expertise — and in this case, the coronavirus data out of Oklahoma is awful and getting worse; the evidence points to an enclosed venue where the virus can spread easily and quickly, and the experts are telling anyone who’ll listen that this is a bad idea.

“But because Trump and his allies are no longer members of a governing party, and have instead become leaders of a post-policy party, these developments are sadly predictable.”

Being able to legally work and attend school in the U.S. has made DACA recipients productive. About five percent of them contribute to healthcare work during the danger of COVID-19. Over 90 percent of DACA recipients are employed, and 45 percent of them attend school. In January 2018, 87 percent of people said DACA recipients should be allowed to stay if they work or attend school.

DDT believes Roberts wants another executive order, but a new attempt on his part could address whether the original DACA order was illegal or lacking in “sound policy.” This issue was not addressed in this week’s ruling and could last another three years or more in the courts. It could also be problematic in an election year.

Since the DACA executive order, DDT has learned to write ones totally without substance while making exaggerated statements about their effects. For example, he said he was keeping meat plants open during the pandemic, but the order told Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to work with OSHA to make decisions.

DDT used the same approach when he signed his “law enforcement reform” order earlier this week. He said his order banned chokeholds, except “when an officer’s life is at risk.” The order actually states chokeholds are permitted wherever law allows them.  

DDT described his order as “pretty comprehensive.” These are his “orders”:

Police brutality has occurred.

Congress will pass policing-related legislation. (Congress started working on reform before he wrote the order.)

DOJ funding will pay police departments to provide federally-approved training programs. (An example of the huge loopholes is money only for departments prohibiting the use of chokeholds “except in those situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law.”)

The HHS Secretary should encourage police departments to improve law enforcement handling of mental health crises, addiction, and homelessness. (No explanation how.)

A national database should track police misconduct.

No policies, no orders, but DDT can use his statement to veto anything from Congress with a lie that he’s already created “reform.”  He’s already demanded law enforcement officers keep their immunity and described his appreciation for police brutality. People want “law and order,” according to DDT, although “some of them don’t even know that’s what they want, but that’s what they want.”

When Barack Obama was president, DDT stated President Obama “signs executive orders because he can’t get anything done. I’ll get everybody together.” Then he moved on to complaining about the few times President Obama golfed. With his own ability to sign these orders, however, DDT holds up his signature, pointing to it like a toddler pointing out his toilet-training achievement.

DDT’s favorite part of signing orders comes from the speech he gives afterwards. In this case, he extolled the virtues of police officers, returning to the idea that the massive police brutality, even more obvious during the past three weeks, is from a few bad apples. He called school choice, which means using taxpayer funds to support religious groups, as the “civil rights statement of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond.” (Not voting rights of equality in justice—just taxpayers paying for religious instruction.)

Although DDT claimed to have met with families of nine victims of police or racially motivated killings, none was in his audience for his signing. His photo-op showed himself surrounded by male cops, only one of them black. “We have to break old patterns of failure,” DDT said. 

Meanwhile, DDT is pushing VP Mike Pence, the evangelical, to tell governors to lie to their people so they will think COVID-19 has disappeared after a backlash to his rally tomorrow. With spikes in the virus throughout over half the states, Pence told governors to tell people the virus has disappeared. DDT claims the only reason the number of cases could go up would be more testing. Dana Milbank compared this reasoning to people believing they aren’t gaining weight if they don’t weigh themselves. DDT and Pence are willing to kill hundreds of thousands to win an election.

Predictions show the U.S. COVID-19 death toll to over 200,000 by early October, up from 170,000 deaths, because of states lifting lockdowns and ignoring safety measures to prevent the virus. Florida insisted on opening the state and keeping it open, but yesterday, it was one of four states—Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas—with almost half the 33,000+ new cases for the day although they have about 20 percent of the nation’s population. Pence also lied to reporters about the new virus spike in Oklahoma, its highest one-day total since the pandemic began in the state on March 6, by calling it a “flattening” curve.

Pence also wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed about “overblown” reports of a “second wave” while DDT is “winning the fight.” A factcheck about Pence’s piece, however asserted he “overstated the amount of coronavirus-related medical equipment distributed by a Trump administration program on multiple occasions, according to public data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” The amount of masks, shields, and other PPE was far less than Pence stated, especially the 1.5 million N95 masks instead of the 143 million Pence declared.

As both DDT and Pence call for a “celebration” to the current end of COVID-19, people need to remember their comments earlier this year before over 120,000 people died of the virus in the United States.

Weekly Good News Begins with Defeating Confederacy

The biggest publicity this past week surrounded the possibly removal of Confederate monuments and other symbols of treason throughout the United States. Last week Marines banned displays of Confederate, followed by a Navy ban. The controversy when the Army considered renaming its bases such as Bragg and Benning, two of at least ten major Army installations named for traitors who led Confederate troops. In a tweet-fit protecting his white supremacist base, Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) wrote: 

“My Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations.”

For once not every GOP member of Congress fell in line behind DDT. In a voice vote, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a provision in the Pentagon’s spending bill to rename the Army bases honoring Confederate traitors. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said:

“If we’re going to have bases throughout the United States, I think it should be with the names of individuals who fought for our country.”

Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus pointed out “most of the Confederate generals for whom our bases are named were undistinguished, if not incompetent, battlefield commanders.” Fort Bragg (NC) is named after the one of the most bumbling commanders in the Civil War who was relieved of command after losing the battle for Chattanooga in 1863. Benning, who lost at Antietam and Gettysburg, complained that abolition would lead to “black governors, black legislatures, black juries, black everything. Is it to be supposed that the white race will stand for that?” The bases got Confederate names because the military needed states to provide the land and allowed locals to pick the names.

House Democrats continued the momentum by pushing to remove the 11 Confederate statues on Capitol Hill. Four of them are being removed, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) introduced legislation to eliminate the rest of them. Most of the Confederate statues came in with the Jim Crow laws in the early twentieth century. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who chairs the panel overseeing the statues, said even a move to hide them in storage without states’ say “would violate the agreement with the states, which is contractual and legislative in nature.”

Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS), both senior CBC members, introduced legislation giving Congress the ability to remove all of the Confederate statues in the collection within 120 days. States could reclaim their statues, or they could be given to the Smithsonian. Rep. Will Hurd (Texas), the only black Republican in the House, said Capitol Hill is the wrong place to remember the leaders of the Confederacy. He said:

“The bottom line for me is [if] someone didn’t want to be part of this great country, then why would we want to have their statue on the Capitol?”

Many protesters and local governments aren’t waiting for the federal and state governments to take action because they move slowly. For example, a bronze statue of Confederate Edmund Kirby Smith still stares at visitors to the Florida capitol despite the two-year-old law to replace him with civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Confederate-backer Uriah Milton Rose and white supremacist James activist Daisy Gatson Bates. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam endorsed removing Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee from the Capitol, but a Richmond (VA) circuit judge temporarily blocked its removal pending a lawsuit against the action. The lawsuit claims Virginia promised to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” the statue in 1890 when the state annexed its location. Fredericksburg (VA) has already taken out an 800-pound slave auction block, and Alexandria (VA) no longer has a statue commemorating Confederate soldiers. Richmond did get rid of Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham.

Mississippi, the only remaining state with the Confederate emblem on the flag, requires a two-thirds vote in the GOP legislature for a new flag, and GOP Gov. Tate Reeves wants the people to decide. The most popular design for a new flag was designed by a segregationist senator, producing more controversy.

Although 57 Confederate monuments and another 143 symbols celebrating the Confederacy have been removed from public grounds in five years, another 773 Confederate monuments still stand among almost 1,800 Confederate symbols in the U.S. With Confederate monuments being taken down in states such as Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, and Virginia, activists want systems of white supremacy also taken down—police and judicial systems disproportionately affecting blacks.

In other good news, the former federal judge appointed to review the DOJ’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against Michael Flynn said the request should be denied because of a “gross abuse” of prosecutorial power. John Gleeson said the government “has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President.” Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States while explaining DDT would remove sanctions after he became inaugurated. Gleeson stated prosecutors’ arguments to dismiss the case were “riddled” with legal errors. He also wrote Flynn had clearly committee perjury and should be punished.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who appointed Gleeson for a recommendation, will make the decision that could go to an appeals court. In an argument before the appeals court, the DOJ prosecutor argued the case should be dropped because it would be a political spectacle. Two of the three judges appeared doubtful about dropping the case; the third judge is a DDT appointee.

Peaceful protesters wounded by being violently cleared from the area for DDT’s photo-op at the church are suing AG bill Barr and other federal officials. The lawsuit demands restitution for “trauma and injuries” and a court order blocking officials from repeating the action. DDT first denied any use of tear gas, but officials later used the term in a statement. Reporters collected canisters of tear gas agents at the scene, and Barr is being sued in both his official and his personal capacity.

CBS polling shows an overwhelming bipartisan support for DACA recipients. As the country waits for the Supreme Court to announce its decision regarding the retention of the program, approval comes from 95 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents, and 73 percent of Republicans. DDT terminated the program, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refuses to take up legislation regarding the issue.

A coalition of farming and conservation groups asked the 9^th Circuit Court to hold EPA chief Andrew Wheeler in contempt for defying its order to immediately suspend use of dicamba, a poisonous weed-killer notorious for its tendency to drift and destroy nearby crops.

After studies showing facial recognition from photos fails the accuracy test with both minorities and women, IBM will stop selling the product, and Amazon declared a one-year pause. For example, Amazon had identified 28 members of Congress with people who had been arrested.

Several White House aides, disturbed by DDT’s tweets, are avoiding them by turning off their notifications.

A book from national security adviser John Bolton is due out on June 23, but the White House claims it still has classified information. Good news is pending.

Another DDT “tell-all” book is due out on August 11, this one from DDT’s niece, his deceased brother’s daughter. Too Much and Never Enough from Mary Trump supposedly includes her part in the NYT revelations about DDT’s taxes, his “fraudulent” tax schemes, and the $400 million in today’s dollars he received from his father’s real-estate empire.

Former Joint Chiefs of Staff James Mattis said, “We can unite without DDT.” Polling agrees.  

• 53 percent support: Black Lives Matter (up from 37 percent in early 2017).
• 74 percent support: protests after George Floyd’s killing.
• 69 percent belief: Floyd’s killing indicative of larger problems in law enforcement (up from 43 percent after 2014 police killings of unarmed black men).

Approval of the Black Lives Matter movement has been shown by the popularity of this photo of the street mural from space.  

Florida’s former top coronavirus data scientist, Rebekah Jones, was fired because she refused to manipulate the data to show fewer COVID-19 infections in the state than fact. She is now publishing the data on her own website, indicating a considerable difference—today’s 83,720 instead of the state’s tally of 75,568 on June 14. Data comes from the state health department, hospitals, and a volunteer organization mapping virus testing sites. She also concluded the 

The state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, is also stuck with 980,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine, assumed not effective to treat COVID-19, after ordering 1 million doses in April. Even with doctoring the figures, Florida hit 1,900 cases last Friday, breaking its previous record.  That number was almost ten percent of all new cases in the U.S. on a day and now total 2,162,144 by June 14. The number of deaths has reached 117,853.

Shutdown Continues Deprivation, Covington Gains Prominence

Day 33 of government shutdown: Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) may be feeling the consequences of his government shutdown. After he wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that he would give his State of the Union speech in the House in six days, she told him that he could give the annual speech at the Capitol after the government was reopened. She had invited him on January 3 with “no thought that the government would still be shut down.” DDT cannot give his speech in the House without a concurrent revolution for a joint session of Congress and an invitation from the House. DDT referred to the Democrats as being “radicalized,” a term that then House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) endorsed using as a pejorative term about Democrats in the early 1990s. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who supports the government shutdown, said that elected people should “put America’s public first.”

Pelosi accused DDT of “holding the health, safety and paychecks of the American people hostage” and said that Democrats fear he may do so again in future if they agree to his demands. Someone explained to DDT that he couldn’t go to the House with congressional approval, he launched into his usual tantrums, blaming Pelosi for trying to keep “the truth” from the public and controlling Schumer. DDT also was shocked that Pelosi would take this action for the first time in U.S. history. He skipped over the part that trying to give during the speech during a president-caused government shutdown is unprecedented (unpresidented?).

Deciding that he has lost the argument, DDT insulted Pelosi and said that he would wait until after the government reopens to give that “great” speech.

Lara Trump, wife of DDT’s son Eric Trump, calls the loss of paychecks for 800,000 people “a little bit of pain … for the future of our country.” An example of the “little bit of pain” caused by the shutdown is the requirement by Newton (AL) requiring  43 subsidized tenants to pay full rent until “the government opens up.” One 48-year-old woman living on disability with her daughter and granddaughter will immediately see her rent increase from $110 per month to $505. For Lara Trump, that wouldn’t be even a “little bit of pain”; for this family, the almost 400-percent increase is devastating. Rural people who voted for DDT are discovering the “pain” that he can cause them.

Poll since DDT started the government shutdown doesn’t look good for him:

• 71 percent think that the border wall, which they say is having a negative impact on the country, is not worth a government shutdown.
• 66 percent want DDT to agree to budget without wall funding.
• 60 percent think that the shutdown is causing serious problems for the United States.
• 20 percent report being personally impacted by the shutdown’s cutback in services and programs.

Because of the shutdown, some jail inmates cannot have visitors—not only family but also attorneys—even if they have not been convicted of any crimes. Medical care is also being denied to people in jail because of no availability. The Kentucky union of prison officials have started a billboard campaign to open the government. And they are targeting McConnell as responsible for the shutdown. Today, the House passed the tenth bill to open the government, and McConnell rejected all ten. He is up for re-election next year.

FBI agents have been forced to put investigations on hold because of the shutdown. An undercover agent investigating child exploitation said that he’s “had to put pervs on standby.” Investigation into MS-13 gang members had been slowed because Spanish speakers are on furlough. Another agent working counter-intelligence cases said that they can “only conduct administrative functions.” Indictments are postponed, and grand jury subpoenas put on hold.

DDT’s shutdown caused the cancellation of the 16^th annual International Export Control and Border Security Conference, scheduled for 270 security experts from 85 countries to discuss border-related issues such as weapons policy, licensing, and enforcement, including nuclear-arms proliferation. The State Department described the move as a postponement but did not offer a date when the conference would be rescheduled.

Tomorrow, the Senate plans to offer Democrats a deal to stop holding DACA recipients hostage for three years in exchange for $5.7 billion to begin DDT’s wall. Today, the Supreme Court refused to hear the court cases that had stopped DDT’s executive order against the DACA program. That decision makes DDT’s bargaining chip moot for at least ten months.

Arizona Republicans have a way to pay for DDT’s wall: State Rep. Gail Griffin introduced a bill forcing each resident to pay $20 to get porn sites on new computers and smartphones unlocked. Forget the fact that the idea is unconstitutional; the necessary funds for DDT’s current wall would still be short $5,559,680,000 . And imagine the logistics of requiring manufacturers to comply. The idea came from Chris Sevier, a self-described porn addict.

During the government shutdown, the annual March for Life brought about 200,000 people to Washington, D.C., including a large contingent from Covington Catholic High School, a prep school for privileged—mostly white—teenagers in Kentucky, represented by Mitch McConnell who refuses to allow senators to vote on House bills to reopen the government. Most people in the United States were unfamiliar with the school until Nick Sandmann and a group of 50 to 70 students  came from the March for Life to jeer at Nathan Phillips, an older Native American and Vietnam veteran, and a group trying to raise awareness of Indigenous people. When Nick was faced with bad press regarding his behavior, his mother hired a PR agency to organize a campaign that would back the press off from criticism of her son.

Families of Covington students hired the attorney Robert Barnes who appeared on Fox & Friends where he threatened legal action against anyone making false or defamatory statements about the teenagers. He also gave journalists and celebrities 48 hours to apologize and delete their tweets. Videos of the event showed the teens screaming, harassing women, making rape jokes, and taking off their clothes. Barnes may also have to deal with past photos of Covington students in blackface during a basketball game against a rival team with black players. Covington students described blackface as “school spirit.”

This morning, Nick appeared, without his MAGA hat, on NBC Today show where he claimed that he couldn’t remember anyone yelling “build the wall” and “go back to the reservation,” that the chants that he and his fellow students shouted were “positive” displays of “school spirit.” According to Nick, the students, mostly wearing their MAGA hats, were reacting in fear to the “African-Americans” who shouted insults at them. Five Black Hebrew Israelites were seen on video calmly standing, and a sixth videoed them and the crowd while the Covington students was jumping, moving around, and shouting. Phillips led his group between the small group of blacks and the large group of Covington students, who then blocked him from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Racism is “not tolerated” at his “Catholic school,” Nick said. Rev. Marshall Jolly disagrees with Nick’s assessment, as shown in his tweets about his experience with Covington. Nick said on Today that he saw no reason to apologize for what he called “listening to [Phillips] and standing there” and that he had every right to be there.

DDT’s response to Nick’s behavior:

“Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.”

A week earlier, DDT joked about the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre of several hundred Lakota Indians by the U.S. Cavalry when he ridiculed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) with his customary insulting term of “Pocahontas.”

The dialog on both right and left sides in the past five days has demonstrated one thing: Nick learned from his school, his parents, and other adults that he has the right to stand wherever he wants, even if he is blocking an elder and the resources to hire anyone to threaten people who disagree with him. He feels no obligation to apologize to someone who he has upset, even if it was inadvertent. Males like Nick have a great future: Brett Kavanaugh is now a Supreme Court justice.

Lawyers Winners of Elections, Other Lawsuits

The real winners of the midterm elections and the first 662 days of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) in the Oval Office are the lawyers. Nowhere has this been more obvious in the past week than in the South where Georgia and Florida Republican officials—candidates for offices—are screaming “fraud” and charging off to the courts.

During a campaign rally a few days before the 2016 presidential election, Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) said, “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election—if I win.” He won and accepted the electoral vote although not the popular vote—which he lost. Now he’s losing in at least three states and refusing to accept the midterm election races.

As Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s lead over his opponent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) dwindles, Scott, also the U.S. Senate candidate, has been joined by Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to echo DDT’s cry of voter fraud despite disagreement from the state secretary of state, a Scott-appointed Republican. Scott didn’t object to GOP counties breaking his own emergency order when predominantly GOP Bay County, hit hard by a recent hurricane, allowed voters to illegally cast ballots by email.

Scott filed at least five lawsuits trying to defeat Nelson, including not counting all ballots received after Election Day which disenfranchises all overseas voters including veterans. Florida voters are now suing him for illegally abusing his position as governor to win his race for U.S. senator by stopping the counting of legal votes. Despite Scott’s lawsuits, Florida has started a machine recount of the vote and may have a manual vote if the difference in that election drops below 0.25 percent. Scott is ahead by about 12,000 votes in 8 million plus ballots before all have been counted; Florida’s gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is behind GOP Ron DeSantis by about 40,000 votes.

In Georgia, former Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who resigned when he falsely declared himself governor-elect, has lost a lawsuit to block ballots. In this election of almost four million voters, his Democratic opponent, Stacy Abrams, is behind by about 58,000 votes, but a judge has ruled that provisional ballots must be counted because Kemp, in charge of elections, has not maintained voter information security, increasing the risk that his purge of over 700,000 names on the registered rolls was illegally “manipulated or mismanaged.” The court orders mandated publicity about a website for provisional ballot voters to find information about whether their provisional ballots had been counted and why. The judge stated that the ballots were rejected “through no fault of their own.”

Under Kemp, Georgia voter updates by people getting or renewing state driver’s licenses never moved into the state’s voter database, and they didn’t know that Georgia had illegally failed to register them to vote. State law mandates that provisional ballots are counted only if names are on the voter registration list where they may have been removed because of Kemp’s actions. The Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA) requires the provisional ballots be counted if voters are eligible to vote.

Another judge ordered Georgia to count 5,000 ballots rejected because voters didn’t complete date of birth when signing mail-in ballot envelopes and ordered the state’s vote counting to continue until Friday instead of ending today. As of Sunday, Abrams needed 19,000 more votes to trigger a recount and 21,000 more to force a December runoff. The almost 22,000 provisional ballots plus over 2,000 ballots coming from overseas and military brings the total of uncounted ballots to nearly 29,000.

The November 27 run-off for U.S. Senate pits Mississippi candidates Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) against Mike Espy, behind by 8,000 votes, for the final two years of a senate term because neither candidates garnered 50 percent of the vote. At a campaign rally four days before the midterm elections, Hyde-Smith responded to a man who praised her, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” Mississippi recorded at least 581 lynchings of black people, about 12 percent of the 4,743 between 1882 and 1968 and the most of any state in the country. DDT-supporter Hyde-Smith repeatedly refused to answer questions by saying that she had issued a statement calling the remark an “exaggerated expression of regard.”

DDT already lost the U.S. Senate position in Arizona that went to the Democrat Krysten Sinema. Opponent Martha McSally was gracious in her concession, perhaps because she expects to be appointed to former Sen. John McCain’s position if Jon Kyle leaves in January.

A sour-grapes failed GOP candidate for the Arizona legislature is suing her winning opponent, U.S.-born Latina Raquel Terán, accusing her of not being a U.S. citizen. Alice Novoa already sued Terán in 2012 for the same (non)offense, and the case was dismissed because her attorney provided the birth certificate. Novoa avoided $650 in court fees with her claim that she doesn’t work and has no income.

Nonelection lawsuits:

Maryland opened to door to lawsuits involving DDT’s unlawful appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting AG for Jeff Sessions replacement. Brian Frosh, Maryland AG, asked a federal judge to remove Whitaker from that position because the appointment is unconstitutional. This request is part of the state’s ongoing lawsuit to force DDT to retain a key provision of the Affordable are Act, including protections for people with pre-exiting conditions. Maryland AG Brian Frosh declared that any action Whitaker takes regarding the ACA for the federal government would be invalid because he cannot legally serve as acting AG and asks for an immediate injunction. In 2014, Whitaker maintained that the U.S. Supreme Court’s upholding the ACA was one of the worse rulings in its entire history.

DDT believes that he is protected in Whitaker’s appointment by the 1998 Federal Vacancies Reform Act, stating that a president may temporarily fill a vacancy for a position requiring Senate confirmation with any senior official who has been in the department for at least 90 days. Another statute makes the deputy attorney general next in line at the DOJ. The lawsuit maintains that a more specific law takes precedence over a more general law. The AG also argues that DDT should have less flexibility in replacing the AG because a president under investigation could install a “carefully selected senior employee who he was confident would terminate or otherwise severely limit” the inquiry. Whitaker is justifying his position with an 1898 Supreme Court Case supporting the appointment of the acting U.S. consult in the country that is now Thailand when no one else was available after the Senate-confirmed consult was sick. The argument against this case is that the AG office did not become vacant through an unexpected emergency and several Senate-confirmed DOJ officials are available.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has also called for hearings to address “serious questions” about his appointment because of Whitaker’s outspoken opposition to the Robert Mueller investigation.

In a First Amendment lawsuit, CNN is suing the White House for stripping Jim Acosta’s of his press credentials. Acosta was targeted after false accusations of “laying hands” on a press intern. The accurate video shows her stepping into his space to grab his microphone and his saying, “Pardon me, ma’am.” Also included in the suit are tops aides John Kelly, Sarah Sanders, Bill Shine, the head of the Secret Service, and the officer who took Acosta’s pass. After a complaint was filed, the White House claimed that Acosta lost his credentials because he refused to give up his microphone.

The DOJ has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop lawsuits in three courts of appeal—the 2^nd, the 9^th, and the D.C.—to block President Obama’s DACA program where these courts allow the program to continue.

DDT’s administration is also facing a lawsuit accusing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and a top deputy of sexism in determining their policy decisions. Filed in January, the lawsuit argues against DeVos’ prevention of Title IX guidance on handling campus sexual assault cases; the current filing adds that her decision was impacted by discriminatory and stereotyped views of women, based on evidence obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. These records show that the Department of Education obtained input from sources pushing inflated and widely discredited statistics about false rape allegations. Another source came from Candice Jackson, who provided a book  Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus (Laura Kipnis), that falsely described the Title IX guidance permitting women to seek legal recourse for “awkward sexual experiences” and then ask for protection from “sexual bogeymen.” Jackson also received information from Gordon Finley, part of the National Coalition for Men, who referred to the former Title IX guidance as a “war on men,” and she falsely maintained that 90 percent of sexual assault accusations come from misunderstandings or drunken regrets. Other sources provided prejudicial information to the department’s leaders about claims regarding sexual assault. DDT’s statements and behavior toward women also figure into the lawsuit’s amendment on sexism.

Two weeks ago, DeVos lost her court battle after she tried to end regulations helping defrauded students receive federal loan forgiveness and keep colleges from mandating arbitration for complaint resolution instead of going to court. President Obama’s consumer protections are now in effect.

Court Rulings Mostly Right Wrongs

Election Day is only 50 days away, and the GOP continues its attempts at voter suppression. In an honest move that may cause them to lose the 2018 North Carolina election, progressive groups Common Cause and the League of Women Voters that won the redrawing of gerrymandered districts said that there was not enough time to complete the task in the next two months. The contortions of district lines caused the state to have 10 of 13 seats in the U.S. House with only 53 percent of the vote.

The majority in a panel of three judges from the 9^th Circuit, two appointed by George W. Bush, upheld Arizona laws that prevent anyone except a family member, caretaker, or postal worker from turning ballots into elections officials and blocked out-of-precinct voting. The decision is especially onerous for Native Americans who are many miles from both voting precincts and post offices. As usual, the fake reason for the law is to avoid voter fraud, but the rationale comes from white entitlement and lack of understanding about other cultures and living conditions. The decision will be appealed to the full court but stays in effect for the upcoming election.

A Missouri judge made Republicans happy when he removed a redistricting measure for this fall’s ballot.

Yet not all bodes well for Republicans in court decisions.

Federal prosecutors have postponed their demand that North Carolina state and local elections officials give them well over 20 million ballots, poll books, and voter authorization forms going back almost nine years by September 25. Subpoenas also required photo images of voters, and subpoenas to the state DMV required DMV voter registration documents and those completed in a language other than English from both citizens and people not born in the U.S. Almost 2.3 million absentee ballots could be traced back to individual voters which caused privacy concerns. The subpoenas for these records cited ICE and a grand jury in Wilmington as the source for the demand after U.S. Attorney Bobby Higdon announced charges against 19 non-U.S. citizens for illegal voting. A state audit counted 41 non-U.S. citizens acknowledged voting out of 4.8 million ballots. Higdon hopes to get the documents in January 2019.

A court in North Carolina also ruled in favor of expanding Gov. Roy Cooper’s authority to make certain appointments, ruling that the legislators had overstepped their authority and violated the separation of powers’ requirement. When Cooper was elected, the GOP legislature immediately passed several laws to restrict his abilities compared to that of his GOP predecessor.

For the second time in four years, federal judges struck down the GOP Virginia General Assembly boundaries of 11 electoral districts that pack minorities together so that white candidates in adjacent districts can win elections. Little progress has been made before the October 30 deadline. With the GOP failure to more forward, the governor has asked the GOP speaker of the state house to turn the project over to the courts. The districts will be used for state elections in 2019.

A Virginia judge also removed an independent candidate from the ballot in the 2^nd District congressional race because of “forgery” and “out and out fraud” on her petition. Staffers working for the GOP candidate had collected many of the signatures to get her onto the ballot to split the progressive vote and ensure a win for their boss. Of the 377 signatures that five of them put on petitions, at least 146 were false, some of them for people who had died.

Florida Republicans thought they could keep Puerto Ricans who had fled their island after Hurricane Maria from voting if they refused them Spanish-language ballots. A district judge disagreed and ruled that 32 counties across the state had violated the Voting Rights Act. He ordered them to provide bilingual voting materials, including ballots and poll worker support, for Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican voters. According to his ruling:

“Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Unique among Americans, they are not educated primarily in English — and do not need to be. But, like all American citizens, they possess the fundamental right to vote.”

The enactment is on an expedited basis to give Florida officials “ample” time to appeal if “they seek to block their fellow citizens, many of whom fled after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, from casting meaningful ballots,” according to the judge. “It is remarkable that it takes a coalition of voting rights organizations and individuals to sue in federal court to seek minimal compliance with the plain language of a venerable 53-year-old law,” he added.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the so-called “charity” Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Foundation, linked to billionaire Charles Koch, must disclose its donors to California officials. The three-judge panel of the 9^th Circuit Court reversed a lower court ruling from last year.

A grand jury will be convened to investigate whether Republican gubernatorial candidate and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach intentionally failed to register voters in 2016.

The court woes of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) continue. He tried to get out of going to court over paying hush-money for a nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels so that he and former attorney Michael Cohen don’t have to give dispositions. By not contesting the suit, DDT thinks that he has escaped, but Daniels still has a defamation suit against DDT.

The fate of DDT’s IRS returns is still in court, this time the Washington, D.C. Circuit. EPIC’s Freedom of Information Act case is arguing that IRS must release his returns to correct misstatements of fact about his financial ties to Russia in his tweets. At least two-thirds of people want DDT to release the returns. The 98-page financial disclosure that DDT is forced to make public shows that his biggest windfalls come from his property that he frequently visits. For example, he made $37 million from Mar-a-Lago, up from $15 million in 2015, and $20 from his nearby golf club.

A federal judge refused to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, ruling that Texas and six other conservative states couldn’t prove irreparable harm from the program. He also stated that he believed the program is unconstitutional, but the time has passed to rescind it.

Cities can’t prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go because it amounts to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment, according to a 9^th Circuit Court ruling in Boise (ID). Six homeless people sued the city in 2009. The judge also wrote:

“A city cannot, via the threat of prosecution, coerce an individual to attend religion-based treatment programs consistently with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”

A federal judge in Boston ruled that ICE should not remove undocumented people in the process of applying for green cards even if they have final orders of removal. The ruling may not require a penalty from the government or apply outside the New England area. Five couples are suing DHS, ICE, DDT, and law enforcement because spouses were detained by ICE when they went for marriage interviews with U.S.-citizen spouses, a requirement for the application process to prove they have legitimate marriages. Emails show coordination between ICE and Citizenship and Immigration Services to coordinate interviews and arrests. The suit began with a woman who was brought from Guatemala when she was three years old and married U.S. citizen Luis Gordillo. They have two children.

A Canadian court unanimously overturned Ottawa’s approval of a pipeline project because the government failed to consider concerns of some First Nations and did not consider the impact of increased tanker traffic. The pipeline, almost 700 miles long, would take bitumen from Alberta to the western ports to ship to Asia. The ship traffic has already had a devastating affect on southern resident orcas which are almost extinct.

Parents of a Sandy Hook victim may continue its defamation lawsuit against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after his repeated lies that the 2012 massacre killing 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school was a “fraud.” Six other Sandy Hook families also filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones in May. Jones’ Infowars is also facing a lawsuit for misidentifying a person as the shooter at the Parkland (FL) school who killed 17 people and another defamation suit from the person who recorded the vehicular murder of Heather Heyer at the Charlottesville (VA) rally last year. Jones’ law firm is also representing the co-founder of the neo-Nazi, white supremacist website The Stormer.

An arbitrator has denied the NFL request to throw out Colin Kaepernick’s grievance that owners conspired to keep him out of the league because of his protests for social injustice. The ruling shows that Kaepernick has sufficient evidence of collusion for a lawsuit. Eric Reid’s grievance for joining the protests is still pending. The NFL had to put on hold its policy that would require players to stand if they are on the sideline during the national anthem because of problems that it classified protests as conduct detrimental to the team.

Lawsuits Proliferate As Progressives Win

Lawsuits about the orders of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) continue to pile up, and decisions continue to go against him and his conservative views.

In a union victory against DDT’s attempts to weaken organized labor, a judge struck down most of three executive orders to enable government agencies to easily fire workers and restrict union negotiation with managers. The decision stated that DDT violated congressional opinion that good-faith union negotiations are vital to the public interest:

“It is undisputed that no [executive] orders can operate to eviscerate the right to bargain collectively as envisioned in the [statute].”

DDT’s failed orders would have reduced improvement of work performance from four to three months before employees are fired, created greater difficulty in appealing performance evaluations, blocked negotiations on important workplace issues could not be negotiated, and greatly reduced time for union business during work hours. One remaining provision allows agency changes to a union agreement for bargaining in bad faith.

A federal judge ruled against DDT and the NRA in favor of AGs from 19 states and Washington, D.C. to stop the posting of 3-D printed guns online until the lawsuit is settled. The DOJ had stated that posting the directions was a national security problem until last April when it reversed that conclusion.

The judge who ordered the DOJ to “turn that plane around” has demanded the government not to deport a pregnant Honduran woman seeking asylum after she fled her home country because her partner “beat her, raped her, and threatened to kill her and their unborn child.”

A Maryland KKK leader, 53-year-old Richard Preston, was sentenced to four years in prison for firing a gun at a black counterprotester within 1,000 feet of school property during last year’s deadly white supremacy rally in Charlottesville (VA). Most of the racist protesters at the rallies who haven’t been given prison time lost their jobs, Patreon has blocked Robert Spencer from its platform, and white supremacist Richard Spencer can’t find a lawyer for a federal lawsuit about his role in the rally.

In North Carolina, the Supreme Court permitted two constitutional amendments to be on the ballot after a panel had blocked them.  Voters are being asked to change the way that state boards and commission members are appointed and the way that judges are picked to fill vacant spots. GOP legislators initiated these amendments to remove power of appointments from the governor after the state elected a Democratic governor, Roy Cooper. All five living governors from both political parties objected to the amendments and supported Cooper’s position. GOP legislators’ rewrite of the amendments still lacks clarity, according to Democrats, and Cooper will appeal because the court did not rule on the merits of the case.

In a loss for GOP legislators, a panel of three federal judges from the 4^th Circuit Court ruled that North Carolina’s congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans over Democrats and mandated new districts before the November elections although primaries have already resulted in the selection of candidates. Courts have already determined that the districts violate constitutional standards. North Carolina legislators plan to ask the Supreme Court for help which could result in a 4-4 split leaving the decision with the lower court. The Supreme Court had told the three-judge panel to review their decision after the high court’s decision in the Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case stopped because the plaintiffs lacked standing. The Supreme Court addressed gerrymandering cases from Wisconsin and Maryland but avoided any decision of their merits. The 4^th Circuit Court panel suggested appointing a special master to draw new districts, ignore party primaries for the general election, or making the November elections a primary with a general election before January when the 116^th Congress convenes.

A federal judge dismissed a suit from conservatives accusing Dallas County (TX) commissions of discrimination against white voters. He said the reverse was true, that the white voters’ “voting power has been strengthened, rather than diluted, by the concentration of Anglos in [Precinct 2].” Three of the five county commissioners are white, but only one is a Republican. A strategist pointed out that redrawing the map might cause the board to have only Democrats.

A judge ruled that Nick Lyon, Michigan’s state health director, will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter over two deaths linked to Flint’s water crisis because he failed to notify the public about Legionnaires’ disease in Flint that killed 12 people and sickened another 90 in 2014 and 2015.

Smithfield Foods, the biggest pork producer in the world, was hit with a $473.5 million judgment to neighbors of three hog farms in North Carolina. Another 500 neighbors are awaiting litigation because North Carolina lawmakers are trying to protect Smithfield. This description shows an unhealthy and stinking environment around the farms and the maltreatment of the pigs. Unlike North Carolina, Missouri forced Smithfield to reduce the odor.

Approximately 600 LGBTQ inmates at San Bernardino County Jail (CA) have been awarded up to $1 million for being forced into the jail’s “Alternative Lifestyle Isolation Tank,” pending approval by the U.S. District Court in Riverside. They were locked in the “Tank” for up to 23 hours a day with no access to specialized programming, social interaction, or other outside activities, denied equal access to opportunities that other prisoners were provided in job training, educational, drug rehabilitation, religious, and community re-entry programs. Openly gay Dan McKibben, former sheriff’s deputy who died in 2016, initiated the lawsuit in 2014.

In Illinois, Marsha Wetzel won a landmark court victory after suing her retirement home that failed to protect her from harassment because she is a lesbian. The 7^th Circuit Court disagreed with a lower ruling that claimed a landlord cannot be held responsible for other residents’ behavior. Instead, the court determined that the Fair Housing Act bars landlords from “purposefully failing to protect” a tenant from “harassment, discrimination and violence” and sent the case back to the lower court.

Pending suits:

Seven states—Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia—suing to end the DACA program have been joined by Kansas, Maine, and Mississippi. Their unsubstantiated excuses of additional costs for education, health, and law enforcement ignore losses from losing DACA recipients who contribute to the economy through employment (89 percent), business entrepreneurs (6 percent, car purchases (62 percent), and home purchases (14 percent). The loss of 144,000 DACA recipients in these ten states can remove $7.4 billion in their annual GDP, 82 percent of it in Texas. The ten states would also annually lose $311 million in tax revenue, $245 million in just Texas. A win for these ten states against DACA could cause the same losses for the other 40 states that would lose $35 billion in annual GDP.

People for the American Way (PFAW) is suing to get information about the Bible study sessions for Cabinet members in the capitol after being refused any materials for nine months. Conservative pastor Ralph Drollinger has influenced U.S. members of Congress and brags about his influence with Cabinet members, describing Capitol Ministries as a “factory” to produce politicians like Michele Bachmann who “sees the world through a scriptural lens.”

Sixteen states are asking the Supreme Court for permission to legally fire people for being transgender. The 6^th Circuit Court had ruled against the firing of Aimee Stephens for transition while at her job with a Michigan funeral home. The mis-named Alliance Defending Freedom maintains that the word “sex” means only biological sex and cannot be used for gender identity. The states in the suit include Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming as well as Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R), Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R), and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R). Kentucky AG Andy Beshear (D), who refused to sign the brief on behalf of the state, called Bevin’s decision to sign on “surprising” given that Kentucky state employees do enjoy protections against anti-LGBTQ discrimination, thanks to an executive order that Bevin has not rescinded.

Approximately 8,000 U.S. lawsuits have been filed against Monsanto, recently purchased by the German drugmaker Bayer, regarding the possible cancer risks of glyphosate-based weedkillers. The most recent settlement against Monsanto was $289 million.

Released from Central California Women’s Facility after a 15-year term, Stacy Rojas filed a lawsuit against the sexual abuse that she and other inmates suffer in the prison. Rojas reported that guards stamped on one woman’s breast, cut the clothing off another, left women in isolation cells so long that they had to soil themselves, and harassed them with graphic sexual insults and suggestions. In addition to seeking damages, Rojas wants a whistleblowing process externally managed to hold guards and other staff accountable for mistreatment and excessive force as well as accessing adequate medical care, food, and clothing.

Across the country, people are suing public schools to get a quality education for their children.

• Racial integration: a father in Minnesota is fighting for children to attend racially integrated schools because segregated schools lower test scores and graduation rates for low-income and nonwhite children.
• Funding: parents are turning to state courts for sufficient school funding because a 1973 Supreme Court decision ruled that unequal school funding does not violate the U.S. Constitution. A New Mexico judge mandated a new funding system for schools because of underfunded schools, especially those that serve large numbers of Native American, Hispanic, and low-income students. Kansas ruled that underfunding schools is unconstitutional, and Pennsylvania and Florida courts agreed to hear similar cases.
• Literacy: last year a federal judge in Michigan ruled that “access to literacy” is not a fundamental federal right for Detroit students, but most state constitutions guarantee the right to an adequate education.

AG Jeff Sessions expressed his discontent with federal judges to an audience of judicial system officials in Iowa, especially their rulings against DDT’s Muslim ban and for so-called “sanctuary cities” because the decisions brought media criticism of DDT. Yet DDT abuses Sessions every day.

Feds on the Losing Side in Court

Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) is desperately trying to put himself above all laws, even appointing a nominee for the Supreme Court who believes a Republican president doesn’t have to go to court, but some of the recent lawsuits go against DDT’s wishes.

A huge win is a federal judge’s ruling that a lawsuit can move forward to determine whether DDT has broken the law against officials accepting emoluments from domestic and foreign governments. AGs from Maryland and Washington, D.C. maintain that DDT’s profit from his businesses such as his hotel and restaurant violates the constitutional clause that prevents any business transactions giving DDT a “profit, gain or advantage.” The judge agreed.

According to law professor John Mikhail, dictionaries published from 1604 to 1806 use a “broad definition” for emoluments, including “profit,” “advantage,” “gain,” or benefit.” Mikhail added, “Over 92 percent of these dictionaries define ’emolument’ . . . with no reference to ‘office’ or ’employment.’” Thus the emoluments clause stops any benefit or profit to a president from any government whether in his capacity as president or in any other role, such as the owner of a hotel like the Trump International Hotel in Washington. DDT wants the emoluments clause to narrowly refer to compensation for official services, making it a bribery clause.

DDT desperately wants to stop the case because the legal discovery in the lawsuit allows extensive knowledge of his business and financial records, possibly his tax returns which he has kept secret.

A federal judge ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program must be fully restored. The judge wrote that DDT’s administration had again failed to justify closing down the program but delayed his ruling for 20 days for an appeal. The opinion stated that DDT’s decision “was arbitrary and capricious” with legal judgment that was “inadequately explained.” His full ruling shows more of his irritation with the government’s arguments. The judge appointed by George W. Bush is the third federal judge to reject DDT’s excuse for closing the program.

The 9^th Circuit Court gave DDT a tiny win when it ruled that a judge can’t overrule DDT’s withholding federal funding for sanctuary regions for the entire nation and sent the case back to the lower court. The circuit court did declare that the order is unconstitutional for its nine states because it exceeded DDT’s authority because Congress is in charge of spending. In his order, DDT attempted to require local law enforcement to carry out federal responsibilities.

A federal judge invalidated the Federal Election Commission regulation permitting donors to “dark-money” groups, including 501(c)4 non-profits, to remain anonymous. The ruling may lead to requirements forcing nonprofits to disclose people who donate $200 or more toward influencing federal elections. The suit began when Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS didn’t disclose sources for the $6 million used to defeat Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2012. The FEC has 45 days to issue interim regulations or appeal, but an appeal would require a unanimous vote from commissions—probably impossible.

In another donor issue, Montana’s Gov. Steve Bullock is suing the IRS because of its new policy that politically active nonprofit groups don’t need to tell the IRS or other government entities about their major donors. Bullock maintains that the new guideline undermines nonprofit regulations and policing of illegal spending in political campaigns. According to the lawsuit, the government failed to follow the Administrative Procedure Act, the same law used for other suits regarding DDT’s executive orders. It evades the public comment mandate and rewrites policy by calling it a “revenue procedure.”

A judge refused a request from Michael Cohen’s lawyer to put a gag order on Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, to stop him from making public comments about Cohen. Avenatti has said that honoring that request could mean a judge might put a gag order on DDT. In connection with his lawsuit about DDT’s allegedly paying Stormy Daniels “hush money” before the 2016 presidential election, Avenatti said that he now represents three more women with the same claim.

A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit against DDT’s question about citizenship in the 2020 census can go forward because of evidence that the decision was driven by discrimination. He allowed DDT’s negative tweets and statements about immigrants, including the one about “shithole” countries. Plaintiffs from 28 states and a coalition of immigration rights groups allege that the question is designed to drive down census responses in immigrant communities.

A federal judge blocked Defense Distributed from releasing 3D printed gun plans online, and the case goes back to court on August 10. The 3D guns have no background checks or serial numbers and are illegal in the U.S. because they evade metal detection.

The 9^th Circuit Court ruled that new California gun safety laws are constitutional. One requires new models of semi-automatic handguns to have identifying information stamped on bullet casings. Another is a requirement to prevent accidental discharges of handguns, and a third bans concealed carry on school grounds.

An Iowa judge issued a temporary injunction on the state’s new voting law and returns the absentee early voting period to 40 days from the new law’s 29 days. The injunction also blocks some ID requirements on absentee ballots. Secretary of State Paul Pate, who is up for re-election, plans to immediately appeal the decision on legislation that he promoted.

A federal judge ruled that Florida’s college campuses can be used for early voting sites because the state’s ban is unconstitutional.

The 7^th Circuit Court has ruled that a transgender woman denied hormone therapy while in custody may pursue her lawsuit, overturning a lower court decision that dismissed her case. Lisa Mitchell wasn’t assessed by Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections for over a year; clinicians then recommended the hormone therapy. Without any policy justification, she was still denied treatment because she was due to be released within a month, and parole officers, after her release, stopped her from any hormone therapy and forced her to dress and present like a man.

Four cities—Chicago, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Baltimore—filed a lawsuit against DDT and his cabinet for “waging a relentless campaign to sabotage and, ultimately, to nullify” the Affordable Care Act. The tipping point for the suit was DHHS’ decision to keep substandard health insurance plans for up to three years instead of three months. DDT earlier expanded association health plans not required to cover basic health benefits, eliminated the individual mandate, vastly reduced funds to advertise the ACA, and refused to defend the ACA in court, arguing that pre-existing conditions protection are unconstitutional. Part of the lawsuit’s justification are DDT’s claims that he will get “rid of Obamacare” by destroying it. Without the ACA, cities are forced to pay more for uninsured people. The “take care” clause of the ACA requires the president to ensure that the ACA is faithfully executed.

Last year, 18 states filed a lawsuit opposing DDT’s attempt to block federal cost-sharing subsidies to make the ACA affordable for low- and middle-income people. The case was dismissed, but 12 states filed a lawsuit last week against DDT’s expansion of association health plans. Yale University law professor Abbe Gluck said:

“No scholar or court has ever said the president can use his discretion to implement a statute to purposely destroy it. If there’s ever going to be a violation of the ‘take care’ clause, this is it.”

Nineteen attorneys general have joined California AG Xavier Becerra opposing DDT’s plans to freeze fuel-efficiency requirements for cars and trucks through 2026, refuting the need to improve public health, combat climate change, and save consumers money. DDT will also try to revoke California’s legal waiver to set its own tailpipe restrictions granted under the 1970 Clean Air Act and restrict the dozen states from following California’s lead. His own administration refutes DDT’s “fake” information: an analysis from the National Highway Traffic Safety and the EPA estimates a savings of $500 billion “societal costs,” thousands of fewer highway fatalities, and $2,340 lower cost on each new car. Officials at an internal EPA presentation warned that DDT’s proposal contained “a wide range of errors, use of outdated data, and unsupported assumptions.” Enthusiasm for DDT’s proposal, meant to bring the Koch brothers back onto his team, came only from the oil and gas industry.

Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer who received an extremely light sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2016, is back in court asking for his conviction overturned. A lawyer claim to a panel of three judges that Turner only wanted “outercourse” and cannot be convicted of rape because it was a “version of safe sex” with no “penile contact.” Justice Franklin D. Elia said, “I absolutely don’t understand what you are talking about.” Witness reported that the victim’s dress was pulled up over her waist and she was not moving. At the time, Turner admitted to digitally penetrating her.

On the same day that Washington State AG Bob Ferguson joined other AGs to block posting 3D gun blueprint on the computer, he and three other AGs warned DDT against defunding Planned Parenthood. Ferguson’s 10-0 record of wins with only three that can be appealed. He called DDT’s administration “sloppy in how they do their work” and that it typically breaks federal laws. State AGs have worked together to file about 56 multistate lawsuits against DDT, almost as many as the 60 filed against President Obama in all eight years.

DDT’s rush to overturn every move by President Obama has been delayed not only by lack of quality but also by his bombastic public comments.  His incompetence may save the nation.