Click here for Heather Cox Richardson's newsletter for March 30. (I'm getting very lazy about this blog; why should anyone bother reading this? Just subscribe to HCR's newsletter.)
Anyway, for one thing, "Today a federal judge ruled that the non-disclosure agreement the former president required employees to sign is so broad and vague it is unenforceable." This could open the door for others to write books or otherwise publicize things that went on in the Trump White House that "the former guy" would rather didn't see daylight.
Also today, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that a defamation lawsuit against the former president by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos could go forward. The suit had been on hold because Trump’s lawyers argued that a sitting president could not face legal action. While two previous courts ruled against him, today’s decision is from the highest court in New York. It opens up the possibility that Trump will face a deposition in which he could be asked, under oath, about sexual assault accusations.
That's good news! "The former guy" under oath? The man can't help lying any more than he can help breathing. Supporters have warned him in the past not to agree to testify under oath because he might fall into a "perjury trap." There's one unbeatable defense against perjury -- don't lie! But for "the former guy," anything that requires him to tell the truth under penalty of perjury is a perjury trap.
On Friday, former president Trump told the Fox News Channel that his supporters were “hugging and kissing” the law enforcement officers at the Capitol on January 6, but now two U.S. Capitol Police officers have sued the former president for inflaming the insurrectionists on January 6, nearly leading to their deaths.
How could the man say something so preposterous? I guess it tells us what he believes about assault, just as he stated on the Access Hollywood tapes: If you're a star (or a supporter), you can get away with it.
News broke today that Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a major Trump supporter, is being investigated by the Department of Justice for traveling with a 17-year-old girl he paid to accompany him. The probe began during the last administration under Attorney General William Barr, and is linked to a political ally of Gaetz’s, Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida, who last summer was indicted on sex trafficking charges. Greenberg was associated with Trump ally Roger Stone.
Gaetz is a detestable little puppy who has long been "the former guy's" foremost supporter in the House -- Gaetz in the House, Graham in the Senate. His buddy Greenberg is a real piece of work; click here for an article by David Harris in the Orlando Sentinel entitled "Who is Joel Greenberg? Former tax collector tied to U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz steeped in controversy before criminal charges."
These stories are enough to spell a bad day indeed for supporters of the former president, but there is an even bigger story, broken yesterday by the incomparable Jane Mayer at the New Yorker.
While Republicans insist that the For the People Act voting rights act, H.R. 1, is a partisan plan, in fact, a leaked conference call from January 8 between a policy advisor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and leaders of a number of conservative groups showed the participants’ concern that H.R. 1 is quite popular even with Republicans. Across the political spectrum, ordinary Americans especially like its provision to limit the dark money that has flowed into our elections since the 2010 Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision, permitting billionaires to buy an election’s outcome.
In the 2020 federal election cycle, dark-money groups spent more than a billion dollars. More than 654 million came from just fifteen groups, the top of which is connected to McConnell. In February, a Data for Progress poll showed that 68% of likely voters, including 57% of Republicans, like the bill that would staunch the flow of this money.
Apparently the money guys on the conference call came to the conclusion that it was fruitless to argue in the media that the For the People Act, H.R. 1, is a bad piece of legislation, because it's just too popular with everyone, including Republicans. They decided not to waste their money fighting the bill in the media, but just to concentrate on killing it in Congress (meaning the Senate).
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