It's one thing to quietly and surreptitiously defy the federal courts, however it's quite something else to publicly boast about it and taunt the judges who attempted to stop apparently lawless actions. Now that they feel that they've gotten away with it, you can bet that more acts of defiance are planned by the tRump crowd...after all, who is it that can either force compliance or order prompt cessation of failure-to-comply actions by the government?
After all, the position of "Go on, we dare you to make us conform to court orders!" is so radical a stance that the courts - up to and including SCOTUS - are soon to realize that in fact there IS NO enforcement mechanism to ensure adherence to judicial rulings when "the rule of law" is supplanted by authoritarian diktats...yet, here we are,staring into the abyss, with apparently no checks operating on flouting the law.
As I believe Jay previously wrote, the courts aren't completely unarmed here.
First, these are civil cases, not criminal. So any cabinet secretary, or Stephen Miller, held in contempt cannot be pardoned by Trump.
Secondly, the law does allow the Court to appoint another individual to serve a contempt citation. They aren't limited to the US Marshalls. If Bondi refused to allow the use of the Marshalls, the Court could, for example, appoint DC Chief of Police Pamela A. Smith to do it.
The Courts just need to be willing to cross the rubicon and start sending Trump cabinet officials and other minions to jail.
But, they have deliberately crossed the line into an authoritarian dictatorship. They are thumbing their noses at us and saying ‘catch me if you can’. It also means they don’t believe any of us (the Opposition) have any Constitutional rights. This is the Nazi playbook and it is one dictators the world over have used. We are on new ground never experienced by most US citizens. All of us are going to need to come up with a plan to notify family if we get snatched.
My point is, the judicial system *can* "catch" them, if they're willing to do so. You are correct that there doesn't seem to be immediate preemptive relief, but that doesn't mean they can't be stopped.
As can be seen by the Kash Patel/SEAL Team incident, as well as Hegseth, Patel, and other cabinet secretaries initially opposing Elon's "Five Things" order to federal employees, these people actually don't like each other. There's a limit to how far they're willing to go for Trump (and Elon.) Even Rubio attempted to follow a judge's order on that impounded $, a couple of Musk's DOGE employees defied Rubio.
If judges/SCOTUS start citing people like Miller, Noem and their minions for civil contempt, Trump *can't* help them. His personal history indicates he's unlikely to even try. He'll pretend he never even met them and had nothing to do with illegal deportations. Noem, Miller, and possibly most crucially the, likely not wealthy, government employees who assisted them would likely be *personally* liable. Make these people personally liable, and they'll abandon Trump/Musk like rats off a sinking ship.
Part of the reason Trump couldn't accomplish as much destruction the last time was the constant churn and chaos in the "administration." Introduce some chaos to Trump 2.0 and he'll be much less effective.
“Personally liable” for $$$ ?? Elon Musk would simply pay whatever judgment any of these officials might be liable for-come on-get real!!Just as Musk has said he would fund challenges to any elected official who doesn’t do what Trump wants. Monetary damages will simply be a minor blip as long as Musk is around and there seems to be no avenue to get rid of him.
I agree about the Nazi playbook- I presented a timeline of how the Nazis in their blitzkrieg (lightening war) conquered Poland and quickly ran over the rest of Europe. In two days Britian and France declared war on them. It took the US until Pearl Harbor. Now we have Americans blind to the fact that Trump is a modern day Hitler. Read more here: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/how-much-friggen-evidence-do-congressional
William Shirer’s ‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich’ is still the scariest book I have ever read. I read it in 1970. I’am going back through it now. It is a playbook for the tRump regime.
I hope and pray these judges have the courage to "cross the rubicon" because I fear that their lives and the lives of their families will be in danger if they choose to do so.
"[...]their lives and the lives of their families will be in danger if [...]"
That's the whole point of facism. They bully you into submission regardless of what you do - the only logical response is to fight them, openly, brave and from the high ground.
This is the last stand: If the courts fall, there is only the streets. And I have a feeling even some MAGA voters don't exactly like their constitutional rights being defied. Sure, Democrat officials cannot lead resistance, but others can.
America may very well never become great again - but truly just and free it should be.
I do think that the fascist MAGA thugs *are* threatening anyone who doesn't cave in to them, with death to themselves or their spouses and children. I can't think of anything else that explains the complete capitulation of previously reasonable members of Congress, including 98% of Democrats. I applaud, revere and champion the stances of the federal judges who are consistently defying Trump's dictatorship grabs. I pray they have the courage–and some kind of divine protection–to continue.
What is the likelihood that the courts will “cross the rubicon”? I really appreciate your remarks as they are at the heart of what I am most interested in at this moment…that is, when is someone/court/congress/?? Going to DO SOMETHING!?
We are now down to exactly where the rubber meets the road. If the Courts do not cross this Rubicon (looking especially at you, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett), it'll be Game Over for our republic.
We need to defend the Rule of Law, due process, right to a trial, right to a lawyer, right to not be afraid of being disappeared by our own government.
Trump's admin already freezing bank accounts of political opponents without due process.
He is ignoring judicial orders. What’s the next step to authoritarianism?
I don't understand about Americans who are Trump supporters and also celebrate St. Patrick's Day 🍀.... so your family were illegal immigrants and now you hate that? 🤦♀️
I will be wearing this "Keep the immigrants, deport the racists" shirts in front of bigots 👇
Unfortunately, courts have, for decades, ruled that Due Process does not apply to non-citizens who are not on US soil (and the international side of airports does not count as US soil in this context). That's even though the Constition talks about "people" or "persons" rather than citizens.
In this, and many other ways, both parties have gotten very sloppy and handed Trump a turnkey autocratic state.
This horrified me. trump sold those people into a prison system filled with El Salvador's most violent criminals. Being that they are Venezuelan, they have no one in the country to speak for them, no one to hold the prison accountable on their behalf. They haven't had a trial, they haven't been sentenced.As far as I can tell, their crime may have been having a tattoo.
Also trump had allowed Venezuelans into the Country and gave them an exemption of some kind, allowing them to stay. Are these people part of that group that he exempted?
“The judges have the ability to deputize others to enforce their orders. A great choice would be the DC Chief of Police to take action. After the continuing resolution gutted the District’s government, including cutting the police, it isn’t a stretch that he would be happy to help the courts.”
I've seen that idea, and I think right now ALL non-violent ideas should be attempted. Fighting back when in serious peril has no bounds other than violence. Hopefully, we can avoid that.
The police ARREST the criminals. These people need to be rounded up and ARRESTED! This is:
• a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
• Dismantling of our democracy
• A COUP!
This is an “Act of War” on the American people and our allies. It’s time to take real action and STOP this COUP in the FALSE name of “efficiency” & “ridding waste.”
Agree. A military countercoup may be required. Very dangerous territory, depending on how the military reacts. I am confident the military will not attack fellow Americans, but SOMEONE in military or police enforcement need to act immediately. Many lives are ready to be sacrificed to put down the musk/orange/nazi/fascist coup. Law enforcement could put an end to this immediate danger.
A military countercoup? And who is going to lead that? Hedgehog? Hedgeworth? Whatever his name is. A few rogue soldiers in the military who value upholding the Constitution over the whims of a demented sociopath and his followers? Let's hope there are some out there.
I'm scared they're going to fire all the sane generals and colonels and majors next, and put their thugs in those positions, who will then viciously order the troops to attack Americans. We will be in the hands of lower-level soldiers, relying on them to disobey orders from lawless thugs.
We may have to rely on state militia or national guards that governors have control over, to do the enforcement. I don't know much about them. But I guess I'm about to do some research. We can count on CA, IL, MN, and MA. (Gov. Healy of MA just created a website--ma.gov.FED UP--inviting laid-off federal employees to come work for her in MA.)
But, I think it is a safe bet SecDef Pete Hogsbreath is busily sorting the active duty troops into those who are willing to kill their fellow citizens on orders from tRump and everyone else. He will create killing squads. Kent State here we come all over again.
What exactly have Daily phone calls and emails accomplished? I don't see anything and I have been doing this for many many months, actually years. There is Indifference which is dangerous.
Don't give up hope. I think it has a cumulative energetic effect. DO something every day without being attached to the specific outcome. Don't give up. Can you go to an Indivisible gathering in your area? Can you attend a Bernie or an AOC or a Tim Walz rally? If enough of us do enough small acts, it will have the 100th monkey result (scientifically documented).
Yes. And we're going to have to fight. It's up to us, but it's going to require fierceness, courage, and possibly putting our comfortable middle-class lives on the line. I keep thinking of New Hampshire's motto: Live Free or Die. It used to be a poetic bit of history. Now...
Nearly every Substack I’ve read today took up this atrocity. No one explained it better than you, Jay. Thank you for the effort you put into this newsletter. You are a true champion for Democracy.
Oopsie? The flippancy, the arrogance is a deliberate addition of insult to injury. I gotta go punch a pillow. If I swallow my disgust and anger, I'll only wind up with an eating disorder. Fuck these people.
On another note: Jay, you wrote "Allegiance"? That makes me like you more than ever. Very cool.
“I hereby urge, in the strongest possible terms, the ICC in the Hague to issue international arrest orders for Donald Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk, Marco Rubio, Mike Johnson and US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth for actively, knowingly, purposefully and with intent, aiding and abetting Russia in its continued war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.”
I was trying to reach the ICC to report them. They are war criminals! Could you write them?
Maybe not. But we have to do something. Take action. Writing to international war criminal tribunals begging for their help in imprisoning fascists wanting to take over my country seems like a very creative and pro-active thing to do. It's symbolic.
"Oopsie... too late' ... OOPSIE?!?! A government official thought mocking the law and a judge's order was in any way acceptable??? What in the ever loving hell has happened to these people and their brains that they even conceive of this behavior? I sincerely hope the Supreme Court sees which way the public wind is blowing because most of us have had ENOUGH.
Unfortunately, these are very serious people with every intention of running their 2025 playbook just as far as humanly possible until something or somebody stops them
There's a reason Trump likes him so much... Got me thinking about Shakespeare again. "Where civil crimes make civil hands unclean" is so damn appropriate right now.
Good luck with that. Do you recall how long it took a court in California to finally disbar Jeffrey Clark? We have far more immediate concerns to figure out how to address.
Still, keeping them in disarray and dealing with their own hides can set the stage for initiating internal betrayals and power grabs. Enough small cuts can cause a bleed out. Let some Iagos whisper into Trump's, Musk's, Johnson's, Vance's ears just as Iago did in Othello's.
Sure, but it's one of many ways we can do things to fight back. I also think the flagrant contempt the trumpies are exhibiting to the judiciary might inspire bar associations to move a little quicker.
Disciplinary proceedings, including disbarment, are usually under the jurisdiction of state bar associations and state courts and can be carried out independent of federal court proceedings, and state bar associations aren’t on the forefront of the resistance.
State bar associations had better get on the stick soon. Although we know too many states where that won't happen. Especially when it comes to DOJ attorneys.
Exactly. That is the “thank you, I won’t forget it.” he gave to Roberts. He believes they gave him a Stay out of Jail card. He can do anything. And with those spineless suckers he probably can.
I took that "thank you, I won't forget it" as a veiled threat because Roberts was part of the 5-4 ruling ordering the administration to release $2 billion in payments for work already completed by contractors.
This all boils down to one fact — the GOP hired a convicted criminal to be President of a country with vast resources. Trump has shown repeatedly over his life that he obeys no one except himself. Civil or criminal — the courts are going to have a hard time with this and other crimes that will continue to occur, and clog our court system. Congress? Where are you?
Fort Sumter, and they have fired the first shot of the war.
A sea-going vessel or an aircraft operates under the registry of its nation and is the sovereign territory of that nation, with the captain of said vessel the sole arbiter and authority of their nation while in international waters/airspace. (They can even legally perform marriages.)
It is a different law, but it reads almost identically in the statue. The pilot in command of an aircraft outside of the United States is the sole authority in charge of executing the laws of the United States. Even a federal air marshal on board an airplane must comply with the captains directives.
I suppose that I did not make my point clearly enough. Stephen Miller is arguing that the judges order did not apply because the aircraft was in international airspace. The flight deck and the entire interior of the aircraft ARE US TERRITORY.
Jay, I’m not sure if it will apply to tomorrow’s article for The Big Picture, but another Trump administration tactic I’m watching is their attempts to claim nationwide injunctions aren’t valid, as they’ve done with of some of the federal employee firing cases. I find this ironic as in the past they’ve supported actions by Texas district judge Matthew Kacsmaryk with respect to abortion medication and I think other issues.
Thank you for giving a thorough explanation and timeline on these deportation actions, I’m following them but it’s hard to parse all the information for truth. I read the US is paying $6M for their imprisonment for a year, the cost of two weekend trips for Trump to Mal-a-Lardo. That injustice can be bought so cheaply.
Ab initio, Boasberg and Sorokin should issue immediate orders to show cause re contempt, naming Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, Kristi Norm, Marco Rubio, Tom Homan, Stephen Miller, and all other minions who participated in this atrocity, including the crews and pilots of the planes used. The OSCs should require the personal attendance of every citee and the judges should deputize any law enforcement officer to execute the orders. The aircraft should be seized as assets/Evidence, and an ICC arrest warrant should issue for Nayib Bukele and his administration in El Salvador. It’s a small action, but it’s a start.
A note about the “internment” of Japanese-Americans during WW II. The case that got to the Supreme Court was Korematsu—sometimes called the most racist decision in the court’s history. Ken Korematsu, the plaintiff, lived long enough to file an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the Guantanamo cases.
It's one thing to quietly and surreptitiously defy the federal courts, however it's quite something else to publicly boast about it and taunt the judges who attempted to stop apparently lawless actions. Now that they feel that they've gotten away with it, you can bet that more acts of defiance are planned by the tRump crowd...after all, who is it that can either force compliance or order prompt cessation of failure-to-comply actions by the government?
After all, the position of "Go on, we dare you to make us conform to court orders!" is so radical a stance that the courts - up to and including SCOTUS - are soon to realize that in fact there IS NO enforcement mechanism to ensure adherence to judicial rulings when "the rule of law" is supplanted by authoritarian diktats...yet, here we are,staring into the abyss, with apparently no checks operating on flouting the law.
As many on Substack are asking: Now what?
As I believe Jay previously wrote, the courts aren't completely unarmed here.
First, these are civil cases, not criminal. So any cabinet secretary, or Stephen Miller, held in contempt cannot be pardoned by Trump.
Secondly, the law does allow the Court to appoint another individual to serve a contempt citation. They aren't limited to the US Marshalls. If Bondi refused to allow the use of the Marshalls, the Court could, for example, appoint DC Chief of Police Pamela A. Smith to do it.
The Courts just need to be willing to cross the rubicon and start sending Trump cabinet officials and other minions to jail.
But, they have deliberately crossed the line into an authoritarian dictatorship. They are thumbing their noses at us and saying ‘catch me if you can’. It also means they don’t believe any of us (the Opposition) have any Constitutional rights. This is the Nazi playbook and it is one dictators the world over have used. We are on new ground never experienced by most US citizens. All of us are going to need to come up with a plan to notify family if we get snatched.
My point is, the judicial system *can* "catch" them, if they're willing to do so. You are correct that there doesn't seem to be immediate preemptive relief, but that doesn't mean they can't be stopped.
As can be seen by the Kash Patel/SEAL Team incident, as well as Hegseth, Patel, and other cabinet secretaries initially opposing Elon's "Five Things" order to federal employees, these people actually don't like each other. There's a limit to how far they're willing to go for Trump (and Elon.) Even Rubio attempted to follow a judge's order on that impounded $, a couple of Musk's DOGE employees defied Rubio.
If judges/SCOTUS start citing people like Miller, Noem and their minions for civil contempt, Trump *can't* help them. His personal history indicates he's unlikely to even try. He'll pretend he never even met them and had nothing to do with illegal deportations. Noem, Miller, and possibly most crucially the, likely not wealthy, government employees who assisted them would likely be *personally* liable. Make these people personally liable, and they'll abandon Trump/Musk like rats off a sinking ship.
Part of the reason Trump couldn't accomplish as much destruction the last time was the constant churn and chaos in the "administration." Introduce some chaos to Trump 2.0 and he'll be much less effective.
I’m still wondering who will be the first to fall. I’m guessing it is Little Marco, at this point.
“Personally liable” for $$$ ?? Elon Musk would simply pay whatever judgment any of these officials might be liable for-come on-get real!!Just as Musk has said he would fund challenges to any elected official who doesn’t do what Trump wants. Monetary damages will simply be a minor blip as long as Musk is around and there seems to be no avenue to get rid of him.
I agree about the Nazi playbook- I presented a timeline of how the Nazis in their blitzkrieg (lightening war) conquered Poland and quickly ran over the rest of Europe. In two days Britian and France declared war on them. It took the US until Pearl Harbor. Now we have Americans blind to the fact that Trump is a modern day Hitler. Read more here: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/how-much-friggen-evidence-do-congressional
William Shirer’s ‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich’ is still the scariest book I have ever read. I read it in 1970. I’am going back through it now. It is a playbook for the tRump regime.
While I haven't read it yet I would gather that it makes Stephen King and other authors of horror look like Disney fairy tales.
It is very well written. He was a US reporter stationed in Germany when it started it is meticulously researched.
I hope and pray these judges have the courage to "cross the rubicon" because I fear that their lives and the lives of their families will be in danger if they choose to do so.
"[...]their lives and the lives of their families will be in danger if [...]"
That's the whole point of facism. They bully you into submission regardless of what you do - the only logical response is to fight them, openly, brave and from the high ground.
This is the last stand: If the courts fall, there is only the streets. And I have a feeling even some MAGA voters don't exactly like their constitutional rights being defied. Sure, Democrat officials cannot lead resistance, but others can.
America may very well never become great again - but truly just and free it should be.
I do think that the fascist MAGA thugs *are* threatening anyone who doesn't cave in to them, with death to themselves or their spouses and children. I can't think of anything else that explains the complete capitulation of previously reasonable members of Congress, including 98% of Democrats. I applaud, revere and champion the stances of the federal judges who are consistently defying Trump's dictatorship grabs. I pray they have the courage–and some kind of divine protection–to continue.
Me too Bambi, contempt of court works.
We have moved into a realm where force must be met with force. Trump has made the first move to employ force. The courts must reply with force.
Perhaps we are getting closer and closer to a gun fight between Fedearl Marshalls and whatever gun slingers Trump can rally to his assistance.
I hope judges will enforce their orders!
What is the likelihood that the courts will “cross the rubicon”? I really appreciate your remarks as they are at the heart of what I am most interested in at this moment…that is, when is someone/court/congress/?? Going to DO SOMETHING!?
Let's send Stephen Miller to that jail in El Salvador
I don’t know if he even deserves that much. He is evil. He’s truly evil look at his dead eyes …disgusting man.
I think Abu Ghraib would be a better destination for Miller. And Noem. Maybe she can shoot some more dogs in the face there before it happens to her.
And MAGA and Trump don’t care! Nor will they abide by any court ruling they don’ like regardless as to which level of court it comes from.
Law, order, court decisions mean NOTHING to these people and they will just IGNORE THEM.
Why do you think Trump has weaponized the FBI, the Department of Justice and the CIA?
There's also a post on Democracy Docket that lays out the Court's options and powers. See https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/if-the-marshals-go-rogue-courts-have-other-ways-to-enforce-their-orders/
We are now down to exactly where the rubber meets the road. If the Courts do not cross this Rubicon (looking especially at you, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett), it'll be Game Over for our republic.
We need to defend the Rule of Law, due process, right to a trial, right to a lawyer, right to not be afraid of being disappeared by our own government.
Trump's admin already freezing bank accounts of political opponents without due process.
He is ignoring judicial orders. What’s the next step to authoritarianism?
I don't understand about Americans who are Trump supporters and also celebrate St. Patrick's Day 🍀.... so your family were illegal immigrants and now you hate that? 🤦♀️
I will be wearing this "Keep the immigrants, deport the racists" shirts in front of bigots 👇
https://libtees-2.creator-spring.com/listing/keeplb
Unfortunately, courts have, for decades, ruled that Due Process does not apply to non-citizens who are not on US soil (and the international side of airports does not count as US soil in this context). That's even though the Constition talks about "people" or "persons" rather than citizens.
In this, and many other ways, both parties have gotten very sloppy and handed Trump a turnkey autocratic state.
This horrified me. trump sold those people into a prison system filled with El Salvador's most violent criminals. Being that they are Venezuelan, they have no one in the country to speak for them, no one to hold the prison accountable on their behalf. They haven't had a trial, they haven't been sentenced.As far as I can tell, their crime may have been having a tattoo.
Also trump had allowed Venezuelans into the Country and gave them an exemption of some kind, allowing them to stay. Are these people part of that group that he exempted?
Why would anyone, I mean anyone, trust anything that Trump says or does?
I'm afraid this odd focus on innocent Venezuelans is just the trial run for mass deportations of everyone and anyone Trump doesn't like.
We the People greatly outnumber the criminals, nazis and fascists in OUR White House. We the People must take back our country. Numbers matter.
Deputize the DC Chief of Police
“The judges have the ability to deputize others to enforce their orders. A great choice would be the DC Chief of Police to take action. After the continuing resolution gutted the District’s government, including cutting the police, it isn’t a stretch that he would be happy to help the courts.”
~ Mark Mansour
https://open.substack.com/pub/mmansour/p/trump-defies-the-courts
How can we get his idea to the Judges?
I've seen that idea, and I think right now ALL non-violent ideas should be attempted. Fighting back when in serious peril has no bounds other than violence. Hopefully, we can avoid that.
The police ARREST the criminals. These people need to be rounded up and ARRESTED! This is:
• a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
• Dismantling of our democracy
• A COUP!
This is an “Act of War” on the American people and our allies. It’s time to take real action and STOP this COUP in the FALSE name of “efficiency” & “ridding waste.”
Agree. A military countercoup may be required. Very dangerous territory, depending on how the military reacts. I am confident the military will not attack fellow Americans, but SOMEONE in military or police enforcement need to act immediately. Many lives are ready to be sacrificed to put down the musk/orange/nazi/fascist coup. Law enforcement could put an end to this immediate danger.
A military countercoup? And who is going to lead that? Hedgehog? Hedgeworth? Whatever his name is. A few rogue soldiers in the military who value upholding the Constitution over the whims of a demented sociopath and his followers? Let's hope there are some out there.
I am trying to come up with ideas to stop this coup. What are yours?
This is another avenue:
“Conclusive Audits Could Serve Trump’s Impeachment”
Read Kevin McKinney’s excellent article below and SHARE!
https://open.substack.com/pub/kmac/p/if-the-2024-election-was-hacked-whats
“I am confident the military will not attack fellow Americans”.
I wish I shared your confidence, but I grew up in Ohio, where people still say about Kent State: “it should have been done a long time ago”.
I'm scared they're going to fire all the sane generals and colonels and majors next, and put their thugs in those positions, who will then viciously order the troops to attack Americans. We will be in the hands of lower-level soldiers, relying on them to disobey orders from lawless thugs.
They already have…
Agree. Foreigners, aliens, and psychopaths have declared war on America. Are we going to take this lying down?
We may have to rely on state militia or national guards that governors have control over, to do the enforcement. I don't know much about them. But I guess I'm about to do some research. We can count on CA, IL, MN, and MA. (Gov. Healy of MA just created a website--ma.gov.FED UP--inviting laid-off federal employees to come work for her in MA.)
But, I think it is a safe bet SecDef Pete Hogsbreath is busily sorting the active duty troops into those who are willing to kill their fellow citizens on orders from tRump and everyone else. He will create killing squads. Kent State here we come all over again.
Yes, I will never forget Kent State and Crying while watching the News report. Still traumatized.
It was the beginning of my awareness that we are not necessarily safe in our own country under the Constitution to which our leaders sign an oath.
I delivered the Owensboro Messenger Inquirer the morning after (as well after Bobby Kennedy and MLK) I know why you cried.
I hate to admit it, but you’re probably very correct
Need to call White House and reps in Congress about this flagrant violation of the law.
What exactly have Daily phone calls and emails accomplished? I don't see anything and I have been doing this for many many months, actually years. There is Indifference which is dangerous.
Don't give up hope. I think it has a cumulative energetic effect. DO something every day without being attached to the specific outcome. Don't give up. Can you go to an Indivisible gathering in your area? Can you attend a Bernie or an AOC or a Tim Walz rally? If enough of us do enough small acts, it will have the 100th monkey result (scientifically documented).
I think it's useless to call the White House. But we should definitely call our senators and reps daily.
Yes. And we're going to have to fight. It's up to us, but it's going to require fierceness, courage, and possibly putting our comfortable middle-class lives on the line. I keep thinking of New Hampshire's motto: Live Free or Die. It used to be a poetic bit of history. Now...
“Conclusive Audits Could Serve Trump’s Impeachment”
Read Kevin McKinney’s excellent article below and SHARE!
https://open.substack.com/pub/kmac/p/if-the-2024-election-was-hacked-whats
Nearly every Substack I’ve read today took up this atrocity. No one explained it better than you, Jay. Thank you for the effort you put into this newsletter. You are a true champion for Democracy.
Oopsie? The flippancy, the arrogance is a deliberate addition of insult to injury. I gotta go punch a pillow. If I swallow my disgust and anger, I'll only wind up with an eating disorder. Fuck these people.
On another note: Jay, you wrote "Allegiance"? That makes me like you more than ever. Very cool.
“I hereby urge, in the strongest possible terms, the ICC in the Hague to issue international arrest orders for Donald Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk, Marco Rubio, Mike Johnson and US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth for actively, knowingly, purposefully and with intent, aiding and abetting Russia in its continued war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.”
I was trying to reach the ICC to report them. They are war criminals! Could you write them?
https://otplink.icc-cpi.int/
https://www.icc-cpi.int/contact
Liaison Office to the UN
Liaison Office of the International Criminal Court to the United Nations
Head of the Office
Ms Karen Mosoti
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 566
New York NY 10017
Tel: 1 212 486 1346/47/62
Fax: 1 212 486 1361
Also, “Conclusive Audits Could Serve Trump’s Impeachment”
Read Kevin McKinney’s excellent article below and SHARE!
https://open.substack.com/pub/kmac/p/if-the-2024-election-was-hacked-whats
Much as I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think that will work.
Now Trump's idea of ethnic cleansing of Gaza would probably rise to the level where ICC should get involved.
random citizens can't invoke ICC jurisdiction, unfortunately
Maybe not. But we have to do something. Take action. Writing to international war criminal tribunals begging for their help in imprisoning fascists wanting to take over my country seems like a very creative and pro-active thing to do. It's symbolic.
What a GREAT idea! I will write them. The American people cry out for help to our sane neighbors on the planet.
"Oopsie... too late' ... OOPSIE?!?! A government official thought mocking the law and a judge's order was in any way acceptable??? What in the ever loving hell has happened to these people and their brains that they even conceive of this behavior? I sincerely hope the Supreme Court sees which way the public wind is blowing because most of us have had ENOUGH.
These are not serious people. These are also people who believe they have earned the right to run roughshod over the rest of the country.
Unfortunately, these are very serious people with every intention of running their 2025 playbook just as far as humanly possible until something or somebody stops them
Yes, they have done it for DECADES.
There's a reason Trump likes him so much... Got me thinking about Shakespeare again. "Where civil crimes make civil hands unclean" is so damn appropriate right now.
Step 1: use disbarment as a sanction against the government attorneys, including their boss, Pam Bondi.
Good luck with that. Do you recall how long it took a court in California to finally disbar Jeffrey Clark? We have far more immediate concerns to figure out how to address.
Still, keeping them in disarray and dealing with their own hides can set the stage for initiating internal betrayals and power grabs. Enough small cuts can cause a bleed out. Let some Iagos whisper into Trump's, Musk's, Johnson's, Vance's ears just as Iago did in Othello's.
Sure, but it's one of many ways we can do things to fight back. I also think the flagrant contempt the trumpies are exhibiting to the judiciary might inspire bar associations to move a little quicker.
Disciplinary proceedings, including disbarment, are usually under the jurisdiction of state bar associations and state courts and can be carried out independent of federal court proceedings, and state bar associations aren’t on the forefront of the resistance.
State bar associations had better get on the stick soon. Although we know too many states where that won't happen. Especially when it comes to DOJ attorneys.
This comes back to that SCOTUS ruling from last summer. He's relying on being able to get away with everything under "official acts".
Exactly. That is the “thank you, I won’t forget it.” he gave to Roberts. He believes they gave him a Stay out of Jail card. He can do anything. And with those spineless suckers he probably can.
I took that "thank you, I won't forget it" as a veiled threat because Roberts was part of the 5-4 ruling ordering the administration to release $2 billion in payments for work already completed by contractors.
This all boils down to one fact — the GOP hired a convicted criminal to be President of a country with vast resources. Trump has shown repeatedly over his life that he obeys no one except himself. Civil or criminal — the courts are going to have a hard time with this and other crimes that will continue to occur, and clog our court system. Congress? Where are you?
Congress is GGGOOOONNNNEEE. We might as well cut out the District of Columbia and float it out to sea. It's up to us now, Ada Fuller.
Hope all those Venezuelans in Doral that voted for this are happy now!
Most could not vote because they're not citizens, but they certainly supported Trump.
Oh, a lot of them can vote, and did, for him.
If tRump isn’t stopped, I truly believe that a civil war will erupt and it’s not going to be pretty!
Not pretty, but damn it, I hope civil war does erupt. It will, I think, take that in order to get our country back.
Fort Sumter, and they have fired the first shot of the war.
A sea-going vessel or an aircraft operates under the registry of its nation and is the sovereign territory of that nation, with the captain of said vessel the sole arbiter and authority of their nation while in international waters/airspace. (They can even legally perform marriages.)
"We'd love to get married, but if you could please focus on flying the plane, we would greatly appreciate that."
That may not work if they used Venezuelan aircraft, as they have done in past deportations.
If so, it would be arguable in court.
As it turns out, they have used a US airline this time (GlobalX, which seems to be the main contractor for deportation flights).
As a retired airline pilot, that puts the deportees on US territory.
Maritime law doesn't apply to airspace.
It is a different law, but it reads almost identically in the statue. The pilot in command of an aircraft outside of the United States is the sole authority in charge of executing the laws of the United States. Even a federal air marshal on board an airplane must comply with the captains directives.
I suppose that I did not make my point clearly enough. Stephen Miller is arguing that the judges order did not apply because the aircraft was in international airspace. The flight deck and the entire interior of the aircraft ARE US TERRITORY.
If that holds, could the pilot of Air Force One have a marshal arrest Trump or any of the other passengers?
WHAT a great idea.
A great point. But it would take an extremely courageous and patriotic pilot.
Jay, I’m not sure if it will apply to tomorrow’s article for The Big Picture, but another Trump administration tactic I’m watching is their attempts to claim nationwide injunctions aren’t valid, as they’ve done with of some of the federal employee firing cases. I find this ironic as in the past they’ve supported actions by Texas district judge Matthew Kacsmaryk with respect to abortion medication and I think other issues.
Thank you for giving a thorough explanation and timeline on these deportation actions, I’m following them but it’s hard to parse all the information for truth. I read the US is paying $6M for their imprisonment for a year, the cost of two weekend trips for Trump to Mal-a-Lardo. That injustice can be bought so cheaply.
LOCK THEM (HIM) UP!!
Yes lock his ass up,and his crappy minions too!!
Scotus is bought and sold. Trump will win. I've known this for a long time now.
Ab initio, Boasberg and Sorokin should issue immediate orders to show cause re contempt, naming Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, Kristi Norm, Marco Rubio, Tom Homan, Stephen Miller, and all other minions who participated in this atrocity, including the crews and pilots of the planes used. The OSCs should require the personal attendance of every citee and the judges should deputize any law enforcement officer to execute the orders. The aircraft should be seized as assets/Evidence, and an ICC arrest warrant should issue for Nayib Bukele and his administration in El Salvador. It’s a small action, but it’s a start.
Yes and add in the guards/military- whoever it was that got them onto those planes.
A note about the “internment” of Japanese-Americans during WW II. The case that got to the Supreme Court was Korematsu—sometimes called the most racist decision in the court’s history. Ken Korematsu, the plaintiff, lived long enough to file an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the Guantanamo cases.