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Here’s the highlight reel of last week’s posts and events. Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to catch up on anything you missed—links to everything below.
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The Week Ahead: The week started with flags for upcoming developments in Kash Patel’s defamation suit against The Atlantic; the D.C. Circuit’s 2-1 decision halting construction on Trump’s ballroom (Chief Justice Roberts entered an administrative stay of that decision late in the week, which lets construction continue until the Court rules); the Trump administration’s decision to shut down and authorize destruction of a FinCEN database used to track down who is behind illegal conduct committed by shell corporations, and Luigi Mangione’s guilty plea in federal court. We also looked at a new uptick in ICE arrests.
E. Jean Carroll, Jeffrey Epstein, and the Power of Being Believed: Attorney Roy Cohn advised Donald Trump at a young age: “Just deny everything and fight.” He still does. But E. Jean Carroll showed the world that a loser is just a loser, and now the Supreme Court has refused his last effort to avoid paying the $5 million verdict a jury awarded her. We also explore the dark underside of cases like this and Trump’s treatment of his victim—how it affects other cases like that of the Epstein survivors and why E. Jean’s willingness to stand up for what was right despite the way Trump publicly ridiculed her makes a difference.
The Washington Post Is Wrong About Todd Blanche And Presidential Power: On Tuesday, Jeff Bezos’ newspaper, The Washington Post, went all in on the unitary executive theory today, stating that “Todd Blanche is right about DOJ ‘independence,’ like it or not,” despite the fact that Trump’s directives, which Blanche should be ignoring, have led to a spate of vindictive, failed cases that tarnish the department’s reputation. Instead of advocating for the time-honored view of shared power among the three branches of government, The Post seems to be arguing that it’s up to the attorney general to exert beneficent control over the president he serves. Have they met Donald Trump? If you missed this one during the week, it’s an important read; click the link above.
Kash Patel’s Response: Patel’s response to The Atlantic’s motion to dismiss his defamation case against them is less about the substance of the matter and more about where the case is procedurally. We go through it in detail, but it’s a lose-lose situation for Patel, who will have to go through discovery and a deposition if the judge lets his case move forward.
The Legal Latest with Katie Phang: Katie Phang and I got together to discuss the latest legal developments while I was on a layover between flights at the Atlanta airport.
They’re Building the Excuse Now: On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced a Department of Commerce “report” that claims more than 24,000 noncitizens illegally voted in the 2020 election. The report, described as “a bald-faced lie” and “dodgy” by Lauren Groh-Wargo and Marc Elias, respectively, is just another way for Lutnick to curry Trump’s favor, even if that means bringing in ringers from a pro-Trump think tank to author a report that supposedly came from the Census Bureau. What they’re doing here fits a pattern we’ve become used to, where the administration makes claims about elections that aren’t true, that don’t withstand scrutiny by the courts, and we need to be prepared to push back.
Five Questions with Ambassador Nina Hachigian: Retired Ambassador Nina Hachigian, CEO and Founder of the Alliance for Local Leaders International, joined us to talk about the importance of local elections and officials, and where she sees opportunities for us to strengthen democracy in our towns and cities.
Bad Food: You’ve almost certainly seen reports about Cyclospora and the wave of food recalls happening right now. But how we got here is a tale of grift, and DOJ’s absence from the scene—it has authority to both prosecute crimes and take civil action to keep tainted products off the market—is something I’m not seeing discussed anywhere. So we caught up on all of that Saturday night in a piece you’ll want to read now if you missed it last night!
These are complicated legal times, and it’s easy for the truth to get lost in the chaos. Civil Discourse doesn’t just track today’s headlines—it connects them to the legal and political history that explains why they matter. We don’t forget what’s at stake. We don’t let Trump and his allies rewrite the past.
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We’re in this together,
Joyce