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All Trump's Recidivists

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emptywheel
Steve Bannon was actually the first known Trump pardon recipient to return to crime after the pardon. But he kicked off a growing trend.
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The Soft Bigotry of No Expectations on Trump

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emptywheel
In an editorial, WaPo made yet another demand that Kamala Harris provide more details of the policies she is promising. Yet in the process, WaPo confesses that they have made no such demands in the 21 months that Trump has been running.
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There Are No Backsies on Dobbs

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emptywheel
Horserace journalists have been loathe to hold Trump accountable for the things he did as President. But Kamala Harris has finally made Trump own something, his role in stripping women of their bodily autonomy. In response, Trump has started to panic.
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Trump Wants to Hide His Attempt to Assassinate Mike Pence from Voters

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emptywheel
In 2016, Donald Trump bragged he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and he wouldn't lose any voters. In 2024, he's inventing legal delays in hopes of preventing voters from learning the true horrors of his claim to have authority to get Mike Pence killed on January 6.
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Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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emptywheel
We talked a lot about the superseding indictment against Donald Trump.
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Michael Shear and Reid Epstein Feign Stupidity about Trump's Decade-Long Pitch for Authoritarianism

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emptywheel
In 2020, Joe Biden, a member of the Silent Generation, offered a defense of democracy as democracy, which was enough for people who remember fascism and actual communism. In an era when many have forgotten that history and lost faith in democracy, GenX Kamala Harris has to do something more: She has to sell democracy, which Trump has been discrediting for a decade, itself.
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ABC Treats Kamala's 21-Year Old Misstatement about Prosecutions as News but Not Trump's Daily Lies about His Own Crimes

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emptywheel
If you let Trump lie about his own crimes without fact check every day, as ABC does, then you're engaged in a more egregious act of misrepresenting the truth than Kamala Harris did by misstating whether she prosecuted or was involved in criminal cases over two decades ago.
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The Missing Detail about Encryption in the Pavel Durov Investigation

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emptywheel
The two encryption related crimes charged against Telegram founder Pavel Durov pertain to an affirmative requirement to register encryption Telegram provided. That's a distinction that hasn't been incorporated in most American reporting.
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Strict Scrutiny and Rational Basis Scrutiny

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Ed Walker
Plus, how can an institution survive if the people who run it ignore institutional norms?
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As Maggie Haberman Unabashedly Joins the Kayfabe, Tim Walz Sings the Menards Jingle

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emptywheel
The "influencers" that Kamala Harris has prioritized up to this point not only reach audiences that many mainstream audiences do not, but they provide other ways to communicate that will be critical to any attempt to beat Donald Trump.
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The Superseding Trump Indictment Is about Obstruction as Much as Immunity

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emptywheel
The superseding indictment against Trump didn't, just, remove all mention of Trump's government officials and tweak the language to emphasize his role as candidate. It also shored up the focus on preventing Joe Biden's electoral certificates from being counted in a way that DOJ has started to do with some crime scene defendants.
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The Pared Down Superseding Indictment for January 6

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emptywheel
Jack Smith did supersede the January 6 indictment against Trump: but it is simply a pared down indictment, mostly removing Jeffrey Clark.
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Kamala's Campaign Pushes Trump's Impulse Control Problems

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emptywheel
Kamala Harris' campaign has started to play with Trump's impulse control. The debate over the debate is only the latest example.
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The Proud Boys' Reliance on Telegram Didn't Save Them, But It Thwarted Preventing the Attack

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emptywheel
The Proud Boys' sedition trial and the prosecution of Enrique Tarrio's DC cop buddy, Shane Lamond show that Telegram can be absolutely central to a successful prosecution. Where it may provide criminals their greatest advantage, however, is in trying to prevent future crime.
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Be Careful What Trump's Lawyers Wish For, Superseding Indictment Edition

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emptywheel
Several outlets have reported that Jack Smith is not going to ask for mini-trial on Trump's January 6 charges before the election. That may mean he has decided to supersede the existing indictment. But we likely wouldn't see that until after the election.
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The Second Amendment, as Applied

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Peterr
Just as the Alito-authored Dobbs spawned a host of ugly laws, regulations, and ripple effects across the country, the Thomas-authored Bruen is now doing the same. Welcome to the Federalist Society Judicial System.
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A Manufactured Fight over Incumbency Hides Trump's Fascism

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emptywheel
Contrary to a common interpretation of the DNC, Kamala Harris is not eschewing the incumbency she has Vice President. She is running on a continuation and expansion of Joe Biden's successful policies. And she is running, just as Joe Biden did and was doing, on defeating both Trump's electoral bid but also the threat he poses to democracy itself. 
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Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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emptywheel
Hear what Nicole and I had to say about the Democratic National Convention.
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Ukraine, Russia, and the Long Shadow of Nuclear Proliferation

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Quinn Norton
A Cold War History and a Too-Hot Future It is hard to overstate the significance of the square at the heart of Kyiv, Ukraine, now called the Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The stones of the Maidan have silently endured generations of trouble and…
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To Become Leader of the Free(dom) World

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emptywheel
We got Leon Panetta last night instead of Beyoncé because Kamala Harris had to check off that Commander in Chief box in the job description to be America's President. But at this moment, we're overdue for a reconsideration of what it means to be the Leader of the Free(dom) World.
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