Timeline
The Good Old USA Project
Two US State Department indictments outline ongoing Russian plans to illegally fund rightwing social media influencers and subverting US elections to elect Republicans.
The DOJ unsealed two federal indictments accusing Russian state media employees of illegally funding right-wing social media personalities and launching a state controlled operation called "Doppelganger" to undermine US support for Ukraine and elect Republicans. Although partially redacted by the DOJ, a Russian political strategy document's stated goal "to secure victory" for a Republican Presidential candidate in 2024 is by targeting voters in swing states. It was mockingly titled "The Good Old USA Project."
"Candidate" Trump Indicted, Again
A new federal grand jury has indicted Trump with 4 criminal charges that supersede the original conspiracy and obstruction charges filed 13 months previously.
Less than two months ago, the Supreme Court shocked the legal community and ruled that Presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for their "official acts." In response, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith reworked the original 4 count election interference indictments to exclude Trump's abuse of presidential powers to pressure the Justice Department and narrow the focus on the crimes of conspiracy and obstruction committed by "Candidate" Trump.
A King Above the Law
“With fear for our democracy, I dissent,” wrote Justice Sotomayor, joined by Kegan and Jackson. “Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institutions of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and the system of Government, that no man is above the law.” The Justices noted that, “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
The Flag of American Theocracy
The "Appeal to Heaven" flag flown by Supreme Court Justice Alito is an anti-democratic symbol adopted by Christian Nationalists fighting to remake America as a religious theocracy.
The leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) promote themselves as apostles endowed by God to wage a religious war against American multicultural democracy and secular society. GOP members of Congress, including Speaker Johnson, have signaled their allegiance to this dangerous anti-democratic movement by displaying the “Appeal to Heaven” banner outside of their offices. Lindsay Beyerstein reported in Salon that, “the banner is the calling card of a Christian supremacist movement seeking to impose theocracy on America.”
MAGA Corrupts the Courts
Ultra rightwing conservative justices are turning a blind eye to corruption and are putting their thumbs on the scales of justice in order to help Trump avoid legal accountability.
The public's faith in the American legal system is collapsing for good reason. Rightwing justices have overturned decades of legal rights and are helping Trump avoid accountability by supporting rightwing legal theories without precedent or merit. Regardless of all of this, Chief Justice Roberts has rejected ethics reform despite the growing number of court scandals, including Justice Thomas accepting millions in undisclosed gifts from rightwing billionaires and Justice Alito publicly flying flags supporting the January 6 Insurrection.
Abandon All Logic, Ye Who Enter
It was shocking, it was without legal precedent it was the Supreme Court dominated by MAGA conservatives who abandoned all logic to support Trump’s Hail Mary pass of “absolute executive immunity.”
For three hours the MAGA majority on the Supreme Court discarded any pretense of jurisprudence and instead went down a dark rabbit hole of rightwing conspiracy theories and bizarre hypotheticals to avoid discussing the Constitution, legal precedent, or Trump's attempted coup. Michael Dreeben, speaking for the Government, correctly pointed out that "There is no immunity that is in the Constitution unless this court creates it today." Instead Justice Kavanaugh proudly stated that "I’m not concerned about the here and now" and Justice Alito declared that he didn’t want to talk about the “particular facts.”