The big story this week, of course, is that we may finally see Trump indicted in Manhattan, according to 1) reports of planning and logistical meetings between the DA’s office and law enforcement around the danger of violent MAGA protestors, and 2) Trump’s own “Truth Social” post where he not only flagged to his followers that he will be arrested on Tuesday but that they should come out and protest. Yes, he’s doing it again, just like he did with January 6.
There are several angles to this story that are of note. First: What charges the DA will bring? Second: How have national leaders responded to the notion of a Trump arrest? Third: How will the arrest itself likely go down on the day it happens? And fourth: What Trump will do in response, given the fact that he is now back on Facebook and is planning a rally in Waco, Texas for March 25?
There’s a lot to unpack, so it will be an interesting week. But I wish again to underscore that any indictments in New York are likely just a prelude to further charges that will come out of Fulton County, GA for more serious election-related crimes and then ultimately, we hope, from grand juries in Washington D.C. for a host of other crimes he committed.
A few other stories I am following:
Putin on the Fritz. Like his useful idiot in America, the Russian president is finally facing some accountability, even if largely symbolic for now, for his crimes. The International Court of Criminal Justice has put out a warrant for Putin’s arrest on war crimes related to the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children, which renders him unable to travel to most of the world. Putin tried to shift the narrative by making a surprise visit to the occupied city of Mariupol, but that had its own set of optics issues. (Some noted that Hitler also visited Mariupol in December of 1941, around the time he realized the war was lost.)
Big cracks in Trump’s defense. I have my eye on two big developments in the federal investigations of Trump’s criminality. The first is that the Justice Department scored a big legal victory against Trump. It successfully argued to the court that Trump’s lawyer, Evan Corcoran, must testify because of the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege. That means Trump is almost certainly going to be charged with obstruction because this motion was more or less a test-run of that charge. The second development is that Mike Pence has now indicated that there are some portions of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s subpoena that he will honor even while he fights more narrow parts of it on privilege grounds. That’s bad news for Trump’s case because Pence has first hand knowledge of key events and may have documents that help prove Trump’s illegal efforts to overturn the election.
Battle over the abortion pill. An extremist federal judge in Amarillo, Texas is expected to soon issue a ruling banning the use of mifepristone, the abortion medication drug, on the ground that the FDA somehow unlawfully authorized it some 20 years ago. That will set of a chain of legal reviews that may, or may not, leave such an order in place, depending on who is on the panel of judges for the Fifth Circuit. Also, the state of Wyoming recently became the first state in the Union to ban abortion pills, a move that is certain to draw legal challenges as well as copycat legislation across red state America. Currently, around half of abortions in the United States are performed using such medications, so the stakes are very high around their continued, legal use.
The banking sector remains wobbly. Following the chaos of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank takeovers by the federal government, regulators sought to calm investors and depositors. Their first step was to provide greater liquidity and to ensure all deposits, regardless of size, would be backstopped by a new program allowing banks to borrow to cover possible runs on deposits by putting their U.S Treasuries up as collateral. But investor nervousness continues and appears to be putting near enormous pressure on regional and other banks. First Republic Bank based in San Francisco and Credit Suisse all saw their stock prices plunge recently, and many worry that the financial sector contagion is not yet fully contained.
Returning to our main story, it’s certainly going to be a very interesting and historic week if indictments issue against Trump. His supporters are angry and fired up, but so far it mostly looks like on-line “braggadocio” rather than organized resistance. Some within QAanon are even saying it is part of “The Plan” that he be indicted and that they should just trust in that Plan. And Trump’s allies in Congress, while quick to condemn the prosecution as politically motivated, appear to have amnesia about their own “witch hunts” of the Clintons.
Have a great rest of your weekend! And special thanks as always to my paid supporters who make this newsletter and my on-line advocacy possible.
Jay
From Douglas Wood
THE GREAT MUCKY MUCK, he called for his mob,
Said the Law was soon coming, and it was their job
To protect the poor Muckster, and "take back our nation!"
He said it with rage, and with great indignation.
"They can't arrest ME. I'm the Great Mucky Muck!
I've always had help, I've always had luck.
The laws don't apply, not to me, they do NOT,
They're for fools, little people, who don't have what I've got.
I've got lawyers and congressmen, count 'em, you'll see,
Boatloads and truckloads, and they all work for me.
They're scared of me, see, and they do what I say,
That's just how things are, and there's no other way.
I can't be stopped, can't be held by your rules,
Not a genius like me, your rules are for fools!"
And so raged the Muck, to his army of boneheads,
Nincompoops, numbskulls, cretins and coneheads,
"Come and protect me, bring clubs and bring bear-spray,
Bring helmets, bring spears, bring handcuffs, bring hairspray!
You can't let them take me, you simply cannot,
I'm the Great Mucky Muck--the only one that you've got!"
But we've heard it before, this call to the mob,
To "take back the country," to finish Muck's job.
We've heard it before and we'll hear it again.
There's just one way to stop it, you see, and that's when
He's arrested, convicted, with no if, and, or but,
And he's tossed in the hoosegow
And the steel door clangs
Shut.
Excuse me for the digression, but I loved "Putin on the Fritz." I immediately imagined Peter Boyle saying it.