#Dean Obeidallah

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

“We are at war.” This is a line I’ve written frequently to wake people to the stakes facing our nation. Donald Trump and his MAGA regime have declared war on our freedoms and our Republic. Tragically, too many of my fellow Democrats don’t get that. That is why I so appreciate what Elie Mystal—NY Times Best-selling author and justice correspondent for The Nation-- said Thursday when I interviewed him about the tactics Democratic leaders should be utilizing to fight back. Mystal urged Democrats to look at the resistance movements adopted by other “nations that been overrun by fascists.” He then cited France’s Charles De Gaulle who headed a government in exile after the Nazis occupied France during World War II.

By way of a quick reminder, in June 1940, Nazi tanks rolled in the streets of Paris as Hitler defeated the French military. An armistice was reached where the Nazis established a puppet government headed by France’s Marshal Philippe Pétain. This pro-Nazi regime became known as the Vichy government because the armistice was signed in Vichy, France.

But French General Charles de Gaulle refused to surrender. Instead, he set up in England a shadow government. British PM Winston Churchill recognized de Gaulle as the leader of the “Free French Forces.” On June 18, 1940, de Gaulle famously delivered a radio address to France from London—which became known as the “Appeal of 18 June” --urging the French people to resist the Nazi occupation. This speech is considered by historians as the beginning of the French Resistance. De Gaulle would continue to rally the French to fight the Nazis— even planning an attack in 1941 on the Vichy government which saw some success and boosted morale of the resistance efforts.

It is in that spirit that Mystal cited De Gaulle as an inspirational role model for Democrats to emulate. Mystal explained that “de Gaulle goes to England and acts as if he's the French President despite having absolutely no power to do so.” Yet De Gaulle “continued to put it out there about what France should be doing.” And in doing so, he played a major role in turning French “public opinion against the Vichy government,” Mystal explained.

The best-selling author then connected De Gaulle to today’s politics. “The Democrats should be doing the same thing” adding, “They are a government in exile, and they have to start acting like it.” To that end, Mystal was emphatic “that the Democrats should be running a kind of European style shadow government.” He noted that this shadow cabinet could “do counter programming to address every time Trump says something as well as every time Trump or his administration says or does something.” Democratic shadow cabinet officials would respond with not just fact checking but laying out what Democrats would have done if in power.

This idea of a shadow government has long been part of British politics. In the U.K, “The Shadow Cabinet” is a team of senior spokespeople chosen by the opposition party to mirror the Cabinet in Government. As the UK Parliament’s website explains, “Each member of the shadow cabinet is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the Cabinet.” For example, there is a shadow Secretary of Defense and Home office. This allows the opposition party to be viewed as an “an alternative government-in-waiting.” It's true we have not formally seen this before in U.S. politics. Although I’d argue that Trump was in effect a “shadow President” for Biden’s term—often grabbing more press than the actual President. But the fact this has not be tried before is why the media would cover it. And of course, the GOP would mock and malign the shadow government---but that would simply mean more press for our shadow leaders.

Elie Mystal is right: The Democrats should take a page out of the United Kingdom and France’s Charles de Gaulle by forming a “shadow government” to form inspiration to fight against the Trump Regime’s onslaught of lies and lawlessness.

From the 06.20.2025 edition of SiriusXM Progress' The Dean Obeidallah Show:

[corporationsarepeople]

If you just watched corporate news—and I sincerely hope you watch more than that—you would think Donald Trump is all powerful, all knowing and “all” just about everything. They are breathlessly covering Trump wall to wall and by doing so are by design trying to make him appear omnipotent, that “resistance is futile” and that he is winning in ways never seen before. Why? Simple, the corporate media executives want the tax cuts, less regulations and freedom to merge their companies as Trump has promised them.

But back in the real world, not only are we finally seeing organized resistance by a growing number of Democratic leaders, we are also seeing Trump losing over and over in the courts this week—with even a Trump appointed judge ruling against him.

Be inspired, read Dean’s examples. Things look bleak but—as always—look for the helpers.

[thatstormygeek]

Late night comedy shows have been having a ball with Trump—now known as “Don Snorleone”—for falling asleep.  On Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel responded on his ABC show to Trump dozing off again with a barrage of jokes such as, “The city that never sleeps versus the defendant who keeps nodding off during the trial.” Jon Stewart on The Daily Show chimed in Monday night with his quip about Trump napping in court, “As he should. I mean, he’s been up since 2 a.m. rage tweeting. He needs his anger sleep.”  (Last Monday, Stewart covered Trump falling asleep with a great run of jokes, including: “Imagine committing so many crimes, you get bored at your own trial.”) And last week, Stephen Colbert did a series of very funny jokes on his CBS show after Trump fell asleep the first two days of the trial. A few of Colbert’s quips at Trump’s expense include, “Yesterday, Trump fell asleep. During the proceedings. He took a little white power nap.” Colbert added, “But today he was sharp, focused and…he fell asleep again.” Later Colbert joked, “Well, I think we found the new mascot for Celestial Seasonings: Sleepy crime tea.” 

I’m not sure if the corporate media will ever change when it comes to covering their golden calf Trump who provides them with ratings and revenue. But at this point I will rely on the comedians for political news given they are doing better work than corporate media journalists—and they are making it funny!

[sjerzgirl]

Listen to what Dog Killer Noem says about the hostile takeover of LA. Not by immigrants. By the US government!!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obediallah at The Dean's Report:

No one can deny that Donald Trump has shown a significant level of cognitive decline since he first ran for President in 2015 at the age of 69 years old to where he is today at 78. But what we’ve seen with Trump is far more than normal aging. Trump—as countless mental health experts have stated—is showing symptoms of dementia.  While people can debate if Trump is in the early or mid-stages of severe cognitive decline, what can’t be debated is that this poses a very serious national security issue for our nation. Consequently, this issue demands far more media coverage. On Monday night, I interviewed, psychologist Dr. John Gartner--the founder of “Duty to Warn” –who was first on my show back in April when he was waving red flags about Trump’s mental decline. In April, Gartner noted that Trump “can't get through a rally without committing one of these” tell-tale signs of dementia, such as saying the incorrect word or “combining or mixing up people and generations.”  

He also directed my attention to a petition signed by more than 500 licensed mental health professions—including best-selling authors and well-respected psychologists—warning that Trump was exhibiting signs of dementia. Gartner noted in April that “we're noticing deterioration almost every day” with Trump. Here we are six months later.  After discussing what Dr. Gartner has observed with Trump over the past few months, I asked this simple question: “Does Donald Trump have some form of dementia?” In response, Gartner answered succinctly, “There's absolutely no doubt.” Gartner explained that on his podcast, “Shrinking Trump,” he has welcomed mental health professionals who specialize in dementia—such as from “Duty to Inform”-- and they reached the same conclusion. “We've had neuropsychologists, neuropsychiatrists on the show who have gone through their analysis” and confirmed what they are observing is dementia, Gartner noted. He added, “When you really talk to the experts and the super experts, it's even more apparent,” that Trump’s exhibiting symptoms consistent with this condition.

Dementia is not a term that should be thrown around whimsically to score political points. Dementia—as Dr. Gartner explained—is “brain damage.” He continued that it’s “a deteriorating organic process in the brain where the cognitive processes start to break down.” He added alarmingly that with people like Trump, “they only go in one direction. They keep sliding downhill.” Adding to the credibility of this diagnosis is that dementia runs in the Trump family. As Donald’s own nephew, Fred Trump III, explained on my show recently, Donald’s father, Donald’s older sister, Maryanne and Donald’s cousin, John Walters all had dementia. And as the NY Times reported ten days ago in an article on Trump’s cognitive decline, “Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately.”  They added, “He rambles, he repeats himself, he roams from thought to thought — some of them hard to understand, some of them unfinished, some of them factually fantastical.”

Just look at Trump’s conduct in the past week that provides more jarring examples. At an event at the Detroit Economic Club when he was supposed to address economic issues, he literally began to speak of Elon Musk’s missiles landing, “Biden circles” that were “beautiful” but Biden “couldn’t fill them up” to “we’ve been abused by other countries, we’ve been abused by our own politicians”–all in the same incoherent answer.  I played that clip for Dr. Gartner who commented that it makes “you realize how completely lost Trump is.” In addition, Trump while appearing on a podcast last week literally delivered a 12 minute (yes, 12 minute) meandering answer that was so incoherent it caused the hosts to joke that Trump was not rambling, he was “weaving.” One host added that they “don’t even want to know the answer anymore,” they just want more “weaving.” They were humoring Trump who was not making sense.

And at a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump told the crowd to vote on “January 5”—not November. That of course could simply be a minor mental flub, but what came next was truly bizarre. Trump told the audience that it was time to end the questions and just listen to music. I’m not kidding. The context was that two people had passed out from heat at the event, to which Trump asked, would “anybody else would like to faint?” Trump then declared, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”  Then—as the Washington Post reported—"For 39 minutes, Trump swayed, bopped — sometimes stopping to speak — as he turned the event into almost a living-room listening session of his favorite songs from his self-curated rally playlist.”

Yes, Trump stood on stage for nearly 40 minutes at a packed Town Hall where instead of answering questions, he danced. I know it sounds like a Saturday Night Live sketch, but it was real life. If President Biden had done that when he was the nominee, we would’ve seen non-stop coverage exploring his mental state. All of this is why this is truly a national security issue. As Dr. Gartner explained, a person with dementia like Trump could be easily manipulated by “corrupt businessman or any hostile foreign power.” He cited the examples of how devious people have taken advantage of those with dementia to get them to sign a will that makes the person the sole beneficiary. But in the case with Trump, we are potentially talking about Trump agreeing to allow wealthy backers like Elon Musk to financially benefit at our expense. Or worse, allow our enemies to take advantage of him—more than they even did in the past.

Dean Obeidallah succinctly explains that Donald Trump’s dementia is not only a political issue but also a national security issue.

[contemplatingoutlander]

When Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison appeared on my Sirius XM show Friday, I asked him if the DNC or Democratic leaders would be countering Trump lies about Biden masterminding this and other prosecutions. Harrison said Trump “wants Joe Biden to get involved” in his court cases and that “we can’t take the bait.” But if Democrats don’t respond, then all that some of the public will hear about the origin of these prosecutions is Trump’s claim that they’re Biden’s doing. If Democrats don’t respond with the truth, then it will be that much easier for the public to be misled. Trump’s obvious goal in lying about Biden’s involvement is to convince voters to ignore any guilty verdicts any jury might return. Trump has to have seen the polls that say a conviction will hurt him badly in November. For example, a February Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll found that 53% of voters in key swing states say they won’t vote for Trump if he’s been convicted of a crime. According to a Politico report from last month, “By a more than 2-1 margin, respondents said that a conviction would make them less likely to support Trump (32 percent) as opposed to more likely (13 percent). Notably, more than a third of independents said it would reduce their likelihood to support Trump.” [...] That is why Democratic leaders must counter Trump’s lies on a daily basis. And they have the best response to Trump’s made-up claim that Biden is responsible for Trump’s prosecution: the ironclad fact that the case originated with Trump’s own lawyer when Trump was president and that Trump’s multiple attempts to thwart or delay the prosecution are why it’s getting started so late.

At the same time the Dems can’t inadvertently give credence to the “there’s two sides” lie by echoing and re-echoing Trump’s unhinged rants.

Which is something Dark Brando is good at

https://apple.news/Av3MRh-2PSPePMSSPgbfwwA

[sataniccapitalist]

Christian Fascism: This Law is Just the Start of Worldwide Fascist Movement? w/ Dean Obeidallah

Christian fascists are taking over America, but they have their sights set even higher. Regressive laws based on religious texts are emerging in what was once a secular democracy. Personal freedoms are being curtailed in favor of biblical interpretations of morality.

Religion is being used to justify attacks on women's rights, and this is just the beginning. Thom Hartmann and Dean Obeidallah discuss why religious fascism is on the rise and what we can do to stop it... besides praying.

[tomorrowusa]

Disclosure: I don't go out of my way to visit Twitter/X these days though sometimes a link will take me to a post there or, more often, a news site will display a tweet in an article.

The HuffPost recently displayed a relevant pre-Musk 2021 tweet from Hillary Clinton. (screenshot)

That quote may be slightly too long for a bumper sticker but it would fit nicely on a meme or a poster. 💡

In case you've been in a news vacuum this weekend...

Opinion: Kristi Noem might have underestimated the decency of dog lovers

“If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog,” goes the famous line attributed to late President Harry Truman. And if you do get that dog, be sure to keep it far from GOP South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who reportedly brags in her new book about an incident some two decades ago when she shot her 14-month-old puppy named Cricket because the dog was “untrainable.” [ ... ] Perhaps Noem included the tale of shooting Cricket in her book because she had read reports of how Trump did not like the beloved pets that bring joy to millions. As Trump’s late wife Ivana wrote in her memoir “Raising Trump,” “Donald was not a dog fan.” [ ... ] Given that history, assuming she knew about Trump’s antipathy to dogs, maybe Noem thought that the story of shooting Cricket would give her a bit of an edge as the GOP’s apparent presidential nominee chooses his running mate.

Among Republicans, kowtowing to Trump apparently now involves bragging about executing dogs.

[bighermie]

MSNBC Columnist Says Trump "Must Die In Prison" to Send a Message to the Public That "You Can't Do This" | The Gateway Pundit | by David Greyson

[unicausnews]

Jun 26, 2025 07:01 AM IST Nephew of Donald Trump, expresses considerations about his uncle's psychological health, citing a household historical past of dementia.  Fred Trump III, nephew of President Donald Trump, pointed to a troubling household historical past of dementia whereas voicing considerations about his uncle’s psychological health. Trump's nephew notes troubling indicators of cognitive decline and contrasts them with the general public picture of his grandfather's well being.(Bloomberg) Fred, who lately authored All within the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, didn’t mince phrases throughout a current look on The Dean Obeidallah Show on SiriusXM and spoke about worrying indicators of cognitive decline within the forty fifth U.S. President. “I do know what I noticed in my grandfather,” Fred stated, referring to Fred Trump Sr. , Donald Trump’s father, who lived with Alzheimer’s for eight years earlier than passing away in 1999. Fred III claimed the elder Trump’s well being was removed from what Donald had publicly stated. ALSO READ| 'Great American pilots very upset:' Trump continues flip-flop over injury carried out to Iranian nuclear websites “You know, Donald stated, 'Oh, my father was tiptop till the tip.' I can guarantee you, that was not the case.” POTUS' nephew additionally introduced up different members of the Trump prolonged household, like Donald’s cousin John Walters, who reportedly struggled with dementia as properly. Fred famous that Donald now “seems older” and appears more and more unfocused in his public appearances. “The issues he is spewing and the craziness, and he simply cannot keep on with a message. He used to have the ability to keep on with a message,” he identified. Trump niece echoes the identical concern about her uncleFred’s feedback echo these made by his sister, Mary Trump, a psychologist. Both siblings have repeatedly raised alarms over their uncle’s behaviour and public statements, and each have endorsed then Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential race. Ironically, this comes at a time when Trump himself has repeatedly questioned former President Joe Biden’s cognitive well being, accusing him of psychological decline all through the earlier election cycle. But now, some voters and specialists are beginning to mirror those self same considerations again onto Trump. Dr. Jennifer R. Mercieca, a communications and journalism professor at Texas A&M University, informed informed the Daily Beast, “His lack of focus makes it appear as if he is experiencing cognitive decline, that his mind isn't well-disciplined, and he is unable to take care of a thought and carry it by means of to a logical conclusion.” ALSO READ| Natasha Bertrand vs Donald Trump: Why POTUS says CNN journalist must be 'thrown like a canine' However, White House doctor Sean Barbarella declared the President in “wonderful well being,” stating that an ordinary psychological check confirmed “Cognitive perform, assessed utilizing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), was regular with a rating of 30 out of 30.” Read More: https://news.unicaus.in/world/united-states-of-america/trump-dealing-with-biden-like-well-being-points-nephew-drops-bombshell-claims/

[interestingtimesss]

And now Trump has decided that migrants should be turned into “gladiators” for his amusement:

From a CNN opinion piece:

Opinion: Is this the worst idea Trump has ever had? Almost

Dean Obeidallah

Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program, “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him on Threads. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.

CNN —

As the son of a Palestinian immigrant father, there has always been something personal for me about former President Donald Trump’s frequent peddling of hate and lies against non-white immigrants. I’ve often wondered if my late father — who came to the United States in the mid-1950s — would’ve chosen this nation to live in if a bigot like Trump was a leading politician at the time and made demonizing immigrants the cornerstone of his campaign.

That same question came to mind again after I observed Trump’s latest effort to gin up hate against people whose only “crime” is believing in the famous poem on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty that promises our nation was to be a refuge for the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

This incident occurred Saturday afternoon when Trump — at a gathering of conservative Christians — shared with the crowd his “Hunger Games”-themed idea of pitting migrants against each other in physical combat. Trump first asked the audience if they had ever heard

of Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

From there, Trump boasted that he had told White: “Why don’t you set up a migrant league of fighters and have your regular league of fighters. And then you have the champion of your league — these are the greatest fighters in the world — fight the champion of the migrants.” Trump then added, “I think the migrants’ guy might win, that’s how tough they are.”

You would think at a Christian event Trump would have spoken of the teachings of Jesus Christ, who encouraged compassion for those in need. Perhaps Trump could have quoted from the famous passage in the book of Matthew, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat ... I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

But Trump — his recent Bible sales venture notwithstanding — is not about these core tenets of Christianity. Trump is only about what he believes can help him return to power.

Obviously, Trump’s point in his migrant UFC proposal was that despite the toughness of the professional UFC fighters, the migrants coming to America are actually stronger, tougher and more dangerous. Trump wants his supporters to view migrants as a threat from which only he can protect them.

This is the same theme Trump has leaned on since he launched his first presidential run nine years ago, when he told the crowd that migrants coming over the Southern border were “bringing crime; they’re rapists.” The irony, of course, is now that Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies and is charged with crimes in three other jurisdictions, he is the one bringing crime.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has escalated his demonization of migrants with comments such as claiming they are “poisoning the blood of our country”— which was condemned by many as parroting not just white supremacists but also Adolf Hitler, who raged about the “contamination of the blood” in “Mein Kampf.” Trump has also repeatedly claimed that migrants have been responsible for a spike in crime when in reality, in 2023, our nation was at or around its lowest violent crime rate in more than 50 years. Plus studies show immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than people born in the US.

But facts have never mattered to Trump. All that matters is what Trump believes will help him personally.

Trump did though say one thing that was accurate Saturday. That moment came when Trump told the audience that the UFC president didn’t like the migrant fight league idea, adding, “But actually, it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

Trump is telling the truth there: Musing about a migrant fighting league is vile — but it’s not his worst idea. That is reserved for a few other Trump ideas including his effort to overturn the 2020 election to remain in power despite losing — which has resulted in Trump being charged with numerous criminal charges in both federal and state courts.

There’s also Trump’s idea to invite his supporters to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, for a “wild” time and then directing the angry crowd to the Capitol to “stop the steal.” This is a big reason why the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol concluded in their final report that “the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump,” adding, “None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”

And we can add to “worse” ideas than the migrant fighting league Trump’s repeated celebration of the Jan. 6 attackers, including recently praising them as “warriors” and vowing to pardon his supporters who sought to end our democratic republic on Trump’s behalf.

Trump proposing a dehumanizing physical battle between migrants who would then fight the UFC champions — which conjures up Roman gladiator matches — is simply more evidence of Trump’s depravity. It’s also another reason why Trump must be defeated this November. A convicted felon who attempted a coup and has politically weaponized hate should never be permitted to serve as president of this great nation ever again.

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

[sjerzgirl]

Please. Draw the remaining cockroaches out of hiding. Let's make a party of it.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. Individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want and then offer themselves without being asked.” Those words written by Yale Professor Timothy Snyder in his book, “On Tyranny” came to mind twice recently. The first was last week when MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski headed to Mar-a-Lago to capitulate to Donald Trump. And then again on Monday, when we learned that Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice was surrendering to Trump by voluntarily dismissing criminal charges against Trump in both the attempted coup and Espionage cases. These two incidents actually share a great deal in common. Both involve visible people with power who are fully aware of the danger Trump poses to our Republic and who Trump has vowed retribution against. And both surrendered soon after Trump won, thus, emboldening the aspiring autocrat. In defense of Jack Smith, he did move swiftly after being appointed Special Counsel in November 2022. The failure has always been and continues to be Merrick Garland, a person I have been vocally criticizing since late 2021 for his failure to timely prosecute Trump--even causing Democratic legal pundits to attack me in 2022 for not understanding how the DOJ works.

True, while I am a lawyer, I never worked in DOJ. But I’m a student of history and understood where this could go if Garland did not move swiftly. That is why in Jan 2022--on the first anniversary of Jan. 6--I wrote an op-ed for MSNBC pressing Garland to charge Trump that concluded with the line that if Garland didn’t move swiftly to hold Trump accountable: “I believe historians will count it among the key mistakes that ultimately led to the end of the United States as a democratic republic.” To be clear, Special Counsel Smith’s dismissal was demanded by Garland’s DOJ as he noted in his six-page filing on Monday.  Smith wrote that, “It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President.” The basis for that DOJ view is NOT a specific line in the US Constitution nor a US Supreme Court decision. Rather it was two memos drafted by the DOJ’s Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)—one in 1973 when there were questions about charging then President Richard Nixon in connection with Watergate and the second in 2000 when President Bill Clinton was embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

But as Smith notes in his filing, neither addressed the facts before us of: 1. A former president charged as a private citizen for committing crimes--as in Trump’s Espionage and obstruction case; and, 2. A former President charged after leaving office for crimes committed in office--as we have with Trump’s Jan. 6 attempted coup case. Smith—who has independence as a Special Counsel—is still required by way of DOJ regulations to “comply with the rules, regulations, procedures, practices and policies of the Department of Justice.” Thus, Smith ask Garland’s DOJ for guidance. And as you would imagine, Garland’s DOJ-- that has failed to charge even one GOP official for their role in helping Trump overturn the 2020 election--told Smith to stand down.   Smith wrote that Garland’s OLC “concluded that its 2000 Opinion’s ‘categorical’ prohibition on the federal indictment of a sitting President—even if the case were held in abeyance—applies to this situation, where a federal indictment was returned before the defendant takes office.”  In sum, as Smith noted, “Accordingly, the Department’s position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”

Smith has done all he can to warn us of the threat Trump poses. When the Jan. 6 indictment versus Trump was first unsealed in Aug. 2023, Smith publicly declared, “The attack on our nation’s capital on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies.”  The Special Counsel then took direct aim at Trump, “Lies by the defendant [Trump] targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government, the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.” And earlier this year in connection with the U.S. Supreme Court case where Trump argued he should be immune from prosecution for any crimes he committed in office, Smith again rang alarm bells about what Trump was seeking. The Special Counsel wrote in a passage prescient for where we are today: “The defendant’s claim that he cannot be held to answer for the charges that he engaged in an unprecedented effort to retain power through criminal means…threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation of our Republic.”

[...] Again, Garland and Scarborough have chosen to surrender to Trump—just as we can expect others will going forward. We must not. As Prof. Snyder tells us: “Do not obey in advance.”  Instead, we must take the fight to Trump. That is the way we protect our freedoms, our self-determination and our Republic.

Picking Merrick Garland to lead the DOJ was the biggest mistake President Biden ever made, and he helped Donald Trump escape his legal issues.