You know, it would have been malpractice for any lawyer who didn’t tell Anthony Fauci to take the Fifth Amendment before a Senate committee witch hunt last week. The Senate Republicans were looking for any opening, phony though it would be, to ask the Justice Department to indict Fauci, a demand of the MAGA wing and of Donald Trump. And the Todd Blanche Justice Department will indict anyone they’re ordered to. Already grand juries and judges and unprecedented numbers have thrown out some of these corrupt charges.

There were several other beyond the pale outrages that day. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., HHS Secretary, sent Tony Fauci’s private emails, or they were done on government computers, some were potentially embarrassing, to Rand Paul, the right-wing committee chair. How many times will RFK Jr. soil the family legacy?

But maybe the worst was Josh Hawley, a Yale law school graduate, John Roberts Clerk. He knows the Fifth Amendment is a constitutional protection. But he decided instead to play cheap games, asking Fauci what color was his tie, knowing full well if you take the fifth once you have to keep taking it. Hawley must have been watching old Joe McCarthy clips, because that’s the way he acted. You know, when Donald Trump took the Fifth Amendment four hundred and forty times, Hawley was just cheering him on.

But it’s no surprise. On January 6th, Hawley gave a fist bump to the riders outside the Capitol, urging them on. When they stormed the Capitol, there was video of Hawley running like a scared jackrabbit. Once a coward, always a coward.

-

Recent polls on the 2028 Presidential race find the same Democratic front runners: Kamala Harrris, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
I’ll give you those four and take the other possibilities and not even ask for points.
That reflects shortcomings of the Top Four, especially Harris, but more it reflects history and an understanding that politics is not a static business, the environment and conditions change.
Politicians and the press should focus predominately on this November’s critical elections, and not the next Presidential contest. (I’m violating this for the last time until after Nov. 3)
For 2028, where will the economy be ? What will be the outcome of the disastrous Iran war ? How about Ukraine ? How will the politics of A-I play out, will China have caught or surpassed the U.S. ? What will be Donald Trump’s political and cognitive state ? How about the outcome of this November’s elections which will help shape the Presidential contest ?
I learned this lesson in the first midterms I covered. It was 1974; when polls or pundits focused on the next Presidential race --President Nixon was in his second term and facing impeachment --a Georgia peanut farmer and Governor wasn’t on any radar screen. That was Jimmy Carter.
It’s also worth recalling some of the front-runners at this stage: Republicans Rudy Guiliani and Jeb Bush and Democrats Gary Hart and Mario Cuomo. None got to measure the drapes in the Oval office.
These early 2028 surveys primarily reflect name recognition. Some of those voters forget about Harris’ miserable 2019 presidential campaign or even in 2024 when she got the nomination after President Biden dropped out and ran a mediocre campaign. Supporters say she got break when the Democrats made South Carolina, with a large number of black voters, the initial primary in 2028.
South Carolina provided decisive in the nominations of Barack Obama in 2008, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. That was when it was fourth ---the clean up hitter -- sorting out earlier splits decisions.
The left-wing mainstream debate, intensifying this year, likely will be even more inflamed in a Presidential year. There will be divisive debates over Israel, a government run health care system, immigration and other issues.
The most compelling candidate on the left is AOC a talented politician. I’d be surprised if she could win in swing districts or competitive states.
In following a unpopular President, the premium is on finding someone totally different, a counter to the incumbent.
With Trump that’s a large menu. Most of the leading Democratic Governors should do pretty well on that score.
Finally -- after spending most of a column disowning my own dictum about deemphasizing the next Presidential race -- it always depends on how a top tier candidate adapts to the major leagues of politics. Barack Obama did; Jeb Bush didn’t.
One more violation: The media loves to speculate on a possible GOP competition between J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio. That may hinge on Trump’s whim of the moment. OMG.
The November elections will play a significant role. If Republicans hold on to Congress it’ll be a huge reaffirmation of Trump, despite the polls. He will be the political king.
For dispirited Democrats it would give impetus to the left -- “we’ve tried it your way and failed.”
If instead Democrats win the House, and perhaps the Senate, how they perform will be important. A party riven by ideological battles and overreaching will make it harder to suggest it’s ready to govern.
A party reasonably united and holding Trump accountable, will set a favorable predicate for the Presidential election.
Predictably the hopefuls will go all out to help Democratic candidates this fall. It’ll be interesting to see which national figures are welcomed by Senate candidates James Talarico in Texas or Josh Turek in Iowa.
Nothing is better than delivering in your own state. If Pennyslvania’s Josh Shapiro wins a big gubernatorial reelection and his coattails carry three Democratic House challengers with him, politicians will take notice.
The next Presidential race will kick in full gear by year end. For the next thirteen weeks, however, all the focus should be on the midterms.
Two years from now we’ll collect on my earlier wager.

James and Al fight back on Dr. Fauci’s behalf after Republican attacks on him and his legacy and discuss the influence of the Democratic Socialists on the party and the upcoming midterms before welcoming congressional candidate for NE-02, Denise Powell. They dive into the state of her race for a winnable district in a notoriously red state, looking at the prominence of the agriculture industry, concerns about the budget deficit, and fair tax policies. They also emphasize the need to focus on affordability and explore her journey into politics, why she’s running, and why she can win.

Email your questions to James and Al at politicswarroom@gmail.com or tweet them to@politicon. Make sure to include your city– we love to hear where you’re from!

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Humor can be a great asset for politicians when they use it effectively. But it also can be miserable when they don’t know how to do it. And that’s what we saw Friday night at the White House Correspondence Dinner with Donald Trump, who is a total stranger to effective humor. Previous presidents have used that occasion to poke fun at themselves or with real humor go after their opponents.

JFK in nineteen sixty two made fun of reporters’ expense accounts. I assure you, that’s a very, very sensitive subject. he also said that he was now convinced that there was a groundswell of support for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 Republican presidential nomination. He said that after he spent a weekend in Palm Beach, Florida.

Ronald Reagan in nineteen eighty six or eighty seven, I believe it was talked about Mario Cuomo from New York, who was widely considered likely to run for president in nineteen eighty eight, seeking a Democratic nomination. And Reagan said, I’ve got good and bad news. He said, the good news is, Governor, there’s a real surge of support for an Italian nominee. But it’s for Lee Iacoca.

Clinton, Obama, and both Bush presidents used good humor at that dinner and people came away, you know, generally feeling good, despite what I think is a dinner that’s over that no longer serves a purpose.

But Trump is a man who is incapable of real humor and he’s incapable of self-deprecation because he’s too insecure. And instead, on Friday night, what he did, he engaged in mean spirited insults. He went after Caitlin Collins, the star CNN journalist who has a temerity to be a good and a tough reporter, and he made fun of fat people he didn’t like. That was ironic coming from the most obese president since William Taft in nineteen twelve. I think this dinner has outlived its useful usefulness. It certainly outlived its usefulness with Donald Trump there.

James and Al raise awareness about the effect of misinformation and voter ID laws, call for strong leadership from the ground up, and weigh election predictions and candidate quality. Then, they welcome Emmy-winning journalist turned congressional candidate for PA-10, Janelle Stelson, to discuss her campaign against Scott Perry. They explore the challenges Democrats face in the district, her focus on healthcare, corruption, and the economy, how to address lies from the Right, and the need for change that targets the actual desires that constituents share with the candidates.

Email your questions to James and Al at politicswarroom@gmail.com or tweet them to @politicon. Make sure to include your city– we love to hear where you’re from!

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Donald Trump unsurprisingly says he’s the greatest and most knowledgeable sports fan to ever occupy the White House. Now he certainly does know a lot about golf. He plays it all the time, and he was a multiple winner of his club championship. However, what might have happened if someone said, Sorry, I beat you, you finished second in your club championship? I wouldn’t have been around for long.

He inappropriately pressured the soccer executives during the World Cup to overturn a decision against a U.S. player. Other countries are now bringing a formal complaint. The New York Knicks players sure don’t want him back as he when he awkwardly attended the one game they lost in the finals. In contrast, President Ford was an acclaimed football star at the University of Michigan. President George H.W. Bush was a pretty good first baseman at Yale.

And his son owned a Major League Baseball team. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were deeply, deeply knowledgeable basketball fans. Obama even played ⁓ pickup games during his presidency. Trump is much less informed than any of those on football, baseball, or basketball. He does know a lot about ultimate fighting. That’s the one whose CEO, Dana White, is a big pal of the accused sexual assaulter, Andrew Tate.

Trump had an ultimate fighting championship at the champions rather at the White House for July fourth when one of them viciously criticized former first lady Michelle Obama and Trump of course said nothing.

So when it comes to presidential sports fans, let’s talk about the big ones and I’ll take Ford, Bush, Clinton, or Obama.

Michael Cohen, once Trump’s lawyer and legal hitman who turned ⁓ against Trump, now is back in the fold. There is one consistency. Michael Cohen was a sleazy thug when he worked for Trump for twelve years up until 2018 Then he faced legal charges, and assuming Trump may be in the decline, but the best way to beat it was to turn state’s witness against his boss.

He still then was a sleazy thug. Now he sees the president seemingly riding higher again, he has flipped once more and is in Trump’s corner. Like his earlier stints, Michael Cohen still is a sleazy thug.

As a semi related aside, Trump yesterday was booed as he tried to hog the spotlight at the World Soccer Championships. This is the second time in the last month that Trump has been booed at a major sporting event. When he attended the New York Knicks Championship Finals game against the Spurs, the only one they lost by the way, he was booed at Madison Square Garden. So the only connection here is Donald Trump and Michael Cohen are together again.

They deserve each other, and they deserve the accompanying boo’s.

In Donald Trump’s crazed and duplicitous speech about election security, his grievance about the 2020 election or pushing voter suppression legislation were covers for his real purpose: setting the predicate for sabotaging the midterms elections.
He will try to use the phony claims of foreign interference, illegals voting and widespread fraud -- which he bizarrely enumerated in a White House speech -- to intimidate voters, especially minorities and interfere with voting and undercut results.
With no internal checks, he seems intent to do anything to subvert the very real prospects of major Democratic gains this November.
Efforts so far to suppress the vote have not succeeded. Courts have rejected proposals to ban mail voting or using the Post Office for restrictions. The SAVE act, requiring proof of citizenship, is dead in Congress.

It’s a distraction to worry about cancelling the midterms; it won’t happen, Instead Democrats, with legal experts expect major Trump efforts to undermine Democratic votes.
He is much better prepared than he was in his futile attempts to overturn the legitimate 2020 presidential election. Unlike then he will not face any internal resistance and no doubt believes the Supreme Court is a more friendly venue.
Trump cares deeply about these midterms, desperate not to face a Democratic-run Congress that investigates the Administration’s misdeeds and holds him accountable.
He already has telegraphed likely moves, and Democrats are preparing challenges pre-election, election day, post election and possibly when the next Congress is scheduled to be sworn in.
The major threats in the offing include:
-- sending ICE agents near heavily Hispanic voting areas under the false pretense of stopping illegal migrants from voting. This is a certainty. These ICE enforcers intimidate Hispanics who’re American citizens; some could be reluctant to show up and face unjustified scrutiny.
That’s what the Trump forces would be counting on in sending agents into Texas’ Rio Grande Valley during the early voting and Election Day. This would be immediately challenged, though the Supreme Court essentially condoned this racial profiling.
-- invoking the Insurrection Act which Trump has threatened multiple times. This would enable him to send troops or the national guard into urban areas - -Democratic strongholds -- creating chaos. The last time that was done was 1992 when the Governor of California and Mayor of Los Angeles requested federal forces to help quell violent riots.
Jack Goldsmith a Harvard law professor and former top Republican Justice Department official and Bob Bauer, a leading Democratic attorney and former White House counsel, have warned that the Act is dangerously unlimited, in need of reform.
Invoking the Insurrection Act would be a provocative and purely political act --the guise would be the threat of violence -- but Goldsmith and Bauer write the President would receive “significant deference” from the Supreme Court.
-- seizing the ballots and voting machines on Election Day to expose massive fraud which doesn’t exist. Trump has said he should have done that in 2020 and he’s far more emboldened now.
Moving quickly, for instance, he might order the seizure of ballots in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. That shouldn’t be legitimate as elections are under the purview of state and local governments, and Congress, not the President.
Legalities are a mere nuisance to President Trump.
-- finally, on January 3 the old Congress will have gone out of business with the new Congress set to be sworn in. In the House, the clerk usually routinely assembles a list of winners to be seated.
But if Democrats have won only a small majority, the clerk, tapped by Mike Johnson, the current Speaker, might reject some Democrats due to charges of alleged fraud.
It’s not clear to anyone exactly how this would play out. It is clear if it means control Trump would do whatever he thinks it takes.
This may seem outrageous but Trump has strong cards. The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the Pentagon and Treasury can be counted to support him, lock step.
This was not true in 2020 when Trump’s Vice President, Attorney General, Defense Secretary and even some White House lawyers stood up to him.
Democrat are fully preparing for this with scores of law firms, public interest and citizen groups. In 2020, Dana Remus and Bob Bauer, top Biden advisers, rallied teams of legal support and designated three former Solicitors General to lead on election challenges: Seth Waxman, Don Verrilli and Walter Dellinger-- the SG 3 or as the New Yorker called them, the three amigos. They were brilliant, winning 60 of 61 cases against Trump, leaving his only recourse to encourage the violent mob that unsuccessfully tried to stop the election count in Congress.
These same prominent lawyers, except for Dellinger, who passed away, are deeply into preparing for the Trump onslaught this year.
This year it’s midterms, not the focus of a Presidential contest, and there’s no chain of command. Privately, there’s concern that someone like Marc Elias might play an outsized role. Elias is a terrific self-promotor, appears often on cable news, and is close to leading Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer.
But he lacks the legal gravitas. He takes credit for thwarting Trump in 2020, and did work on recount and other issues. But those involved with the major matters that resolved the outcome dismiss an Elias role.
He notes he has argued five Supreme Court cases, Waxman, by contrast, has argued more than 90 cases before the High Court and with significant victories on matters ranging from the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill to granting legal rights to Guantanamo prisoners to abolishing the death penalty for juveniles.
After the last election, the SG3 thwarted Trump’s final efforts at the Supreme Court.
In the weeks and months ahead, remember July 16; Trump told us what he was going to do.

James and Al analyze the Senate races in Michigan and Maine after the Platner debacle, reflect on Lindsey Graham’s career, and call for greater press freedoms. Then, they welcome NY-17 congressional candidate Cait Conley to discuss her military background, the end of the war in Iran, and how she plans to win against Mike Lawler. Together, they discuss her plans to address the cost of living crisis, tackling political corruption and bringing about more accountability, fixing the tax system, the importance of ethical leadership, and the need for change in Washington, DC,

Email your questions to James and Al at politicswarroom@gmail.com or tweet them to @politicon. Make sure to include your city– we love to hear where you’re from!

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Watch Politics War Room & James Carville Explains on YouTube.

James Carville & Al Hunt have launched the Politics War Room Substack

Get updates and some great behind-the-scenes content from the documentary CARVILLE: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID by following James on X @jamescarville and his new TikTok @realjamescarville

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Cait Conley: Twitter | Website | FaceBook | Instagram

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------

There may not have been a more ethically challenged Attorney General nominee than Todd Blanche.

As Deputy Attorney General, he has been the main force at an unscrupulous Justice Department from covering up the investigation into sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein to blatantly partisan indictments that were rejected by grand juries to cutting an unprecedented sweetheart deal enabling Donald Trump and his family to avoid sizeable tax bills.

There are two reasons this tarnished nominee. who faces the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing today, still could be confirmed. One is most Senate Republicans, who command a 53 to 47 majority, regularly vote in lockstep with Trump’s wishes.

The other is the opposition, in this case ten Democrats on the Judiciary panel, historically have lacked focus and discipline in these showdowns.

There are a handful of smart former prosecutors among these Democrats and a couple lightweights, well maybe welterweights.

The highest priority is the Epstein scandal. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein was Blanche’s account. He even participated in a secret meeting at the White House aimed at insulating Trump from the scandal.

Justice, contrary to congressional legislation, has only selectively released Epstein files sometimes with an eye to protecting Trump.

The one person who knows the most about the late pervert’s actions is his accomplice, convicted criminal, Ghislaine Maxwell. Blanche personally went to interview her with a design to clear Trump.

A few days later she was transferred to a more comfortable minimum security prison and given special privileges. This facility was supposed to be off limits to convicted sex offenders.

Blanche claimed he met with Epstein survivors; they say he has not. A number have called for Blanche’s rejection, one is scheduled to testify before the Judiciary committee.

The other priority, after Epstein, is the deal Blanche engineered with the IRS to set up a $1.8 billion slush fund for victims of government “weaponization.: After an outcry, Blanche backed down, said the fund was dead.

But the bigger deal was Blanche getting Trump and his family immunity from any tax audits of current or past filings. This was supposed to compensate for a leak of Trump’s tax returns for which he sued the agency for $10 billion. The suit was flawed, filed too late, and probably the most he could have gotten, under normal order, would have been an apology.

Instead Blanche gave Trump and family an unprecedented immunity from any current tax audits saving them, by some estimates, hundreds of millions.

A federal judge this week denounced the deal as improper, accused Blanche of “at best misleading and at worst disingenuous” testimony and forwarded her findings to appropriate attorney disciplinary bodies.

Senators, don’t focus on the slush fund, which could have been done without the deal. Blanche will claim it’s moot, which may or may not be true.

All your questions should be about the unprecedented and sleazy, Trump tax deal, following the judge’s decision and a petition by more than 30 former federal judges, Republicans and Democrats, denouncing the Blanche deal.

Maybe just a few questions on political efforts , under Trump’s orders, to bring frivolous criminal cases against his enemies.

If this all goes as expected, confirmation probably will come down to five Republicans. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski who has been willing to stand up to Trump pressure, and Maine’s Susan Collins facing a tough reelection. Then it would be up to three GOP Senators in their final months: Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and if he returns from hospitalization, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell.

The stakes are high: the rule of law.

This isn’t Germany or Italy in the nineteen thirties, but the word police state does leap to mind considering an evening last weekend, four New York Times reporters had a knock on the door and were served with a subpoena to appear in court this week about their story on why Trump’s new airplane did not possess the sufficient security protections to fly out of Ankara last week. He had to switch to his previous plane.

Now here’s why this story has just an awful ring to it. One, the new plane was a gift from Qatar. If not for the Supreme Court, that would seem to be a violation of the emoluments cause. Two, it is the public’s right to know if a plane used as Air Force One by the president and where taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade it, the people have a right to know if it’s not ready. Three, Trump lied about why he was switching planes. He said he wanted to show the new aircraft off to troops.

It is responsibility then of the news media to tell the truth. What was this really all about? Four, usually before any news media is questioned in an investigation, there has been investigations of others taking place to try to set the predicate. None of that has occurred. Five FBI Director Cash Patel has taken charge of this investigation. That’s unusual. But if it were previous FBI directors like William Webster or Bob Muller or Christopher Wray, you’d say, okay, maybe it’s maybe it’s acceptable.

But with this free drinking, rule violating, partisan little hit man, this is just nothing but an absolute political hit job. Questions arise also about the role of the Manhattan U.S. attorney Jay Clayton, slated to be director of national intelligence, who was the one that issued the subpoena to the Times reporters. This case is about political embarrassment. Trump celebrated new plane, at least as of now, is a dud and it’s a cover up.

Maybe it’s exaggerated, but you know it does have a little bit of a Gestapo ring about it.

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For a column two thoughts emerged: I’m still on a high on the founding fathers and some outrages are so crazy they’re comical.

So naturally let’s write about Donald Trump comparing himself to George Washington. On the father of the country I turn to two great historians who have written about him, Lindsay Chervinsky, head of the George Washington Library at Mount Vernon, and Ron Chernow who also authored the celebrated biography of Alexander Hamilton.

On every imaginable positive trait -- character, courage, integrity, leadership -- next to Washington, Trump is a midget.

Let’s look at some of the contrasts.

Washington saw three essential pillars for the new Republic: the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power and civilian control of the military.

Trump and his Justice Department see the rule of law as politically expedient.That criiticsm is leveled even by some high level Republicans, judges, former top Justice Department officials and the GOP’s last presidential nominee before Trump, Mitt Romney.

A survey co-directed by the UCLA law school -- including several dozen federal judges, elite lawyers, law school and political science professors, along with a national survey of 2,750 pf he general public -- found a significant erosion in the rule of law under the current Trump Administration.

Overwhelming majorities of legal experts surveyed say this Administration has used the Justice Department to go after political enemies and provided favors to the President’s allies.

On the transfer of power, before 2020 there were several bitter fights. In 1824 Andrew Jackson won the popular and electoral votes but fell short of a majority. It went to the House where Henry Clay orchestrated a victory for John Quincy Adams who appointed him Secretary of State.

In 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes won the presidency even though he lost on election day. Under a deal in return for the White House, his party agreed to pull federal troops from the South, opening the way for suppression of Blacks.

However, the losing party didn’t litigate those results -- Jackson captured the presidency four years later. Trump, going on six years after an election he demonstrably lost, still is ordering hundreds of FBI agents to try to find fraud in that election.

Trump has followed Washington’s insistence on civilian control of the military. I fervently believe in that, even though today there are scores of military officers who would be much better than Pete Hegseth.

Washington turned over control of the military after the Revolutionary War to a Congress he knew was incompetent. I doubt Trump would have done that.

I also suspect he would have been on the wrong side, in a classic test, when President Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur for insubordination. (During the Clinton Administration I was with a group of mainly conservative Republicans who complained we were too soft and needed a MacArthur. One asked someone else there, John Glenn, what he thought of MacArthur: “I’m glad Truman fired his ass,” the retired Marine Colonel and American hero replied.)

Washington also consistently sought out different views from subordinates during the war; the two most prominent members of his presidency were Thomas Jefferson and Hamilton, with markedly different views on the new country and who despised one another. Trump, by contrast, surrounds himself with sycophants.

Washington appreciated the need to build institutions. Trump relishes tearing down institutions, such as the Voice of America, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and the Federal Reserve.

After the Supreme Court said Trump could not arbitrarily remove Federal Reserve Governors, the White House doubled down, duplicitously going after the Fed. Top economic adviser Kevin Hassett, once a respectable and honest conservative economist, charged former Fed chair Jerome Powell, whose term doesn’t expire for a year and a half, was staying on the Board just to vote against Trump.

And while five Supreme Court justices ruled birthright citizenship was constitutionally protected, Trump Republicans, encouraged by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, always a GOP operative, are mapping ways to undercut this decision.

Back to the comparisons, Trump has tried to justify his money making scams by drawing a parallel to Washington who he said had two desks together -- one for his business interests and the other for the presidency. That was a lie. No hint of impropriety was permitted anywhere near President Washington, historians have noted.

He was a man of impeccable integrity, though the story is apocryphal about chopping down his father’s cherry tree and confessing, “I can not tell a lie.”

For Trump it often is more like, “I can not tell the truth.”

Recipients

--

HERE’S A JOKE: TRUMP COMPARES HIMSELF TO WASHINGTON

FATHER OF COUNTRY VS. THE CRYPTO SCAM KING

For a column two thoughts emerged: I’m still on a high on the founding fathers and some outrages are so crazy they’re comical.

So naturally let’s write about Donald Trump comparing himself to George Washington. On the father of the country I turn to two great historians who have written about him, Lindsay Chervinsky, head of the George Washington Library at Mount Vernon, and Ron Chernow who also authored the celebrated biography of Alexander Hamilton.

On every imaginable positive trait -- character, courage, integrity, leadership -- next to Washington, Trump is a midget.

Let’s look at some of the contrasts.

Washington saw three essential pillars for the new Republic: the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power and civilian control of the military.

Trump and his Justice Department see the rule of law as politically expedient.That criticsm is leveled even by some high level Republicans, judges, former top Justice Department officials and the GOP’s last presidential nominee pre-Trump, Mitt Romney.

A survey co-directed by the UCLA law school -- including several dozen federal judges, elite lawyers, law school and political science professors, along with a national survey of 2,750 of the general public -- found a significant erosion in the rule of law under the current Trump Administration.

Overwhelming majorities of legal experts surveyed say this Administration has used the Justice Department to go after political enemies and provided favors to the President’s allies.

On the transfer of power, before 2020 there were several bitter fights. In 1824 Andrew Jackson won the popular and electoral votes but fell short of a majority. It went to the House where Henry Clay orchestrated a victory for John Quincy Adams who appointed him Secretary of State.

In 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes won the presidency even though he lost on election day. Under a deal in return for the White House, his party agreed to pull federal troops from the South, opening the way for suppression of Blacks.

However, the losing party didn’t litigate those results -- Jackson captured the presidency four years later. Trump, going on six years after an election he demonstrably lost, still is ordering hundreds of FBI agents to try to find fraud in that election.

Trump has followed Washington’s insistence on civilian control of the military. I fervently believe in that, even though today there are scores of military officers who would be much better than Pete Hegseth.

Washington turned over control of the military after the Revolutionary War to a Congress he knew was incompetent. I doubt Trump would have done that.

I also suspect he would have been on the wrong side, in a classic test, when President Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur for insubordination. (During the Clinton Administration I was with a group of mainly conservative Republicans who complained we were too soft and needed a MacArthur. One asked someone else there, John Glenn, what he thought of MacArthur: “I’m glad Truman fired his ass,” the retired Marine Colonel and American hero replied.)

Washington also consistently sought out different views from subordinates during the war; the two most prominent members of his presidency were Thomas Jefferson and Hamilton, with markedly different views on the new country and who despised one another. Trump, by contrast, surrounds himself with sycophants.

Washington appreciated the need to build institutions. Trump relishes tearing down institutions, such as the Voice of America, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and the Federal Reserve.

After the Supreme Court said Trump could not arbitrarily remove Federal Reserve Governors, the White House doubled down, duplicitously going after the Fed. Top economic adviser Kevin Hassett, once a respectable and honest conservative economist, charged former Fed chair Jerome Powell, whose term doesn’t expire for a year and a half, was staying on the Board just to vote against Trump.

And while five Supreme Court justices ruled birthright citizenship was constitutionally protected, Trump Republicans, encouraged by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, always a GOP operative, are mapping ways to undercut this decision.

Back to the comparisons, Trump has tried to justify his money making scams by drawing a parallel to Washington who he said had two desks together -- one for his business interests and the other for the presidency. That was a lie. No hint of impropriety was permitted anywhere near President Washington, historians have noted.

He was a man of impeccable integrity, though the story is apocryphal about chopping down his father’s cherry tree and confessing, “I can not tell a lie.”

For Trump it often is more like, “I can not tell the truth.”

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ICE is lying about the murder of a decent hardworking family man, Lorenzo Artura, in Houston this week. Why do I believe that? Habit. Over the last year they have been caught in lies in Minneapolis, New Jersey, and Chicago and elsewhere about acts they’ve committed. Arturo had been here for thirty five years from Mexico. He was in the process of trying to get a work permit, a legal work permit. He had a small construction operation and worked hard, sent three kids to college, owned his own home. It’s kind of called the American dream.

On the way to pick up his work crew the ear the other morning, ICE attacked him in unmarked cars. They claim he used his car as a weapon to ram them, so they had to shoot and kill him. Given his character and history, I simply don’t believe that.

More likely, ICE agents could perhaps ill trained as others have been, panicked and shot and killed a really good man. Markwayne Mullin the new head of Homeland Security, vowed to change the out of control thuggage behavior and deception of the immigration agency over the past year and a half. Houston affords an opportunity to see if he’s serious and will tell the truth.

We’re waiting to hear from you, mister Mullin

Democrats remain in good shape for the midterm elections aided by a gift that keeps giving --- Donald Trump -- while dependent on minimizing internal problems caused by the left wing.
On the economy, which pollsters, public and private, say continues to dominate, only 33% of the public approves Trump’s handling, according to the recent Marist poll for PBS aand NPR; he does even worse in other surveys.
Even with gas prices falling and if the economy improves -- dubious --these views are pretty much baked in for the next four months. There’s a lag time between perceptions and changing economic conditions.
It’s wrong to claim Democrats can’t focus on corruption as well as the economy. Good politicians can walk and chew gum simultaneously. Trump emphasized the cost of living and immigration in 2024.
The Trump corruption issues has bubbled beneath the surface. But revelations he raked in $2.2 billion last year, while others in these investments were losing their shirts, and that he and his family are cutting lucrative deals all around he world is changing that.
It’s clear he’s using the White House as a personal money making machine. There never has been Presidential grifting anywhere like this.
The one ray of hope Republicans seized on has been the election of a handful of left wing democratic socialists in primaries. The GOP paints these radicals as harbingers of what a Democratic control of Congress would look like.
Trump has charged they’re “communists,” reflecting either his ignorance or his age, probably both.
The leftists, while a very small slice of the party and any congressional caucus, are well organized in deep blue venues and are especially successful against aging or lackluster mainstream candidates. More than ideology they win because of the deep anger at Trump and the entire political establishment.
As the New York Times Tom Edsall has reported, much of their support derives not from working class or minority voters but from more educated left wing whites.
Some of their rhetoric won’t travel well. Darializa Chevalier, who beat an incumbent in New York City last month, calls for open borders, no migrant deportations, even of violent criminals, and wants to empty the prisons. Melat Kiros, who defeated an incumbent iin Denver, says America is responsible for the 9-11 attack on the country.
Democrats need to strongly condemn those views, starting with Baarack Obama and hopefully some younger members too,
One person whose efforts to take on the radical left is counterproductive is New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who last year called on his party to work with Donald Trump. Foolishly naive, that is exactly what the successful leftists complain about.
A real model is Georgia Democratic Senator, Jon Ossoff, who connects the economy and corruption issues -- “They enrich themselves while you pay more” --and rails against a system rigged by insiders.
For most Democratic candidates this fall it’s important not to get sucked into the right wing or left wing cultural issues.
An appealing agenda for the challenging party is relatively straight forward: an aggressive economic policy, restoring the Trump Medicaid cuts, expanding Obamacare with a public option, raising the minimum wage, more incentives for affordable housing.
This can be paid for with taxes on the wealthy. Just returning to the 2017 individual tax rates would raise more than $2 billion, that’s before anything from corporate taxes or loopholes.
Any agenda should include a tough ethics package for Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President. Ban stock trading for office holders, require total transparency, put enforcement teeth in the Emoluments clause which forbids taking gifts or payments from foreign governments.
That still leaves Democrats with a problem: Israel. The left is overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. Domestically, there has been a disturbing uptick in antisemitism.
Much of the blame is with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu whose hard line, brutal policies have alienated many Americans. The new Trump-Vance hard line against Netanyahu is in line with the views of most mainstream Democrats who are committed to the state of Israel and fervently hoping a better leader will be elected his fall.
Moreover, elements of the Democratic left don’t have a monopoly on antisemitism. There are antisemites in the Trump Administration like Paul Ingrassia who has acknowledged there is a “Nazi streak in me.”
For all the talk lately about the Democrats’ “crazy left,” the GOP’s “crazy right” is a bigger force. Arizona Republican Paul Gosar has closely associated with Nick Fuentes, a neo-Nazi, holocaust denier. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles calls for deporting all Muslims and has written that gays and lesbians have no place in America.
This election, however, is far larger than the fringe figures on either side.
Joseph Ellis, a foremost authority on the Founding Fathers while discussing those extraordinary events in Philadelphia 250 years ago, ventured a thought about these critical midterm elections.
“Something much larger is at stake,” Ellis notes. “The Republic is on the ballot.”

I’ve never been a soccer fan, dating back to the games when my seven and and eight-year-old kids were playing. They had little interest in the game. But I’ve enjoyed an epiphany this week, marveling at Paraguay’s tenth shootout to defeat European power Germany, or the incredible drama of Cape Verde. Population 500,000, playing defending champion Argentina evenly for a hundred and ten minutes, losing in overtime to the team led by Lionel Messi, the Michael Jordan of soccer.

My grandson Kai has adopted his favorite team, Norway. I got hooked earlier by the Scottish fans during their stay in Boston when they charmed and miraculously outdrank the locals. Amid all this, however, a stigma. A US player, Folarin Balogun was suspended.

I don’t know enough to say whether that was justified or not, but those are the rules until Donald Trump and his disreputable commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, intervened with a corrupt head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, who undid the suspension. Now I’m still probably gonna cheer for the American team, but that’s cheating. And if that decision is upheld.

Any victory will have an asterisk. However, let’s not let several sleazy characters and actions undercut a fabulous World Cup. Go Norway.

Almost as repulsive as Trump’s unprecedented use of the presidency to enrich himself, he raked in at least two point two billion dollars since taking over in January of twenty twenty five, and he’s cut other deals with foreign governments and other nefarious sources to ⁓ keep the money spigot flowing in the future.

But almost as repulsive is the lies he spins to justify his corruption. He says everyone is getting richer because of the great economy he’s created. Actually, the last 17 months of the Biden presidency generated a stronger economy and more jobs, and inflation was the same. He says, well, everybody’s cashing in now. I’m just cashing in because I’ve got a lot of lot more money than most. Well, try telling that to the welder in Chillicothe, Ohio, whose real wages have barely stayed ab above water the last 17 months. Or to the nurse in Augusta, Georgia, who hasn’t seen a ring increase in real wages at all during this Trump presidency.

As for the claim, this is normal for presidents. All presidents come to the White House to enrich themselves. Jefferson died in debt. Ulysses S. Grant had to write his memos his ⁓ his memoirs while suffering from a painful throat cancer to make sure his family would be okay.

And they say, well, how about Obama? Look, he’s gotten rich. Well, Obama’s major growth in his worth during his presidency, but profits from an earlier autobiography, which he wrote himself. That’s not an option that that Trump has. Trump and his family view the presidency primarily as a rip off vehicle thanks to clueless taxpayers.

I tell you, people are wising up to this corruption and he’s gonna get in real trouble.

As America turns 250, James and Al discuss the rise of the DSA and its popularity among younger voters, rising antisemitism, how the recent SCOTUS decisions will impact the country, and the effects of polarization on our future. Then, they welcome historian Joseph Ellis to look back at the nation’s inception, the courage of the Founding Fathers, the long process of forging a more perfect union, and the value of understanding our history. They are also joined by IA Rep. Josh Turek to examine the changing politics of Iowans, highlight the affordability crisis, and game out a midterm win against Senator Joni Ernst.

Email your questions to James and Al at politicswarroom@gmail.com or tweet them to@politicon. Make sure to include your city– we love to hear where you’re from!

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William McRaven is a genuine American hero, a decorated, retired four-star admiral. He was the commander of U.S. Special Operations, and he planned and led the incredibly difficult operation that killed nine eleven mastermind Osama bin Laden.

All should read his piece in The Atlantic, that America deserves answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his dismissal of some of the country’s best generals and admirals. McRaven notes that when President Lincoln dismissed General McClellan for lack of aggression, he explained it. As did President Truman in firing Douglas MacArthur, and as did Defense Secretary Gates in ousting two top Air Force officers. From Hegseth nothing on his dismissal or downgrading of dozens of prominent officers disproportionately blacks and women.

Most recently he forced out General Chris Donahue as commander of U.S. Army Europe. Top military people say Donohue may be the most respected officer in the Army. A warrior, strategically brilliant, courageous, and loyal to his troops. Hegeseth has given no reason for any of this. The strong suspicion is that the morally challenged, unqualified defense secretary, like his boss, only wants to be surrounded by politically correct sycophants. Admiral McRaven wrote, Hag says getting rid of senior leaders that he could he, McRaven considers among the very best generals and admirals, may leave America, quote, without the experienced voices they need to make the best decisions, and that the Congress and the public should demand answers.

The Admiral wrote, as, quote, our national security depends on it.

I love the Fourth of July, the pride, the patriotism of celebrating that extraordinary achievement in Philadelphia 250 years ago.

This year we’ll have a nice family recognition but Donald Trump has made a mockery of any national celebration. It’s all about him, a series of narcissistic and tacky tributes.

Such a lost opportunity for a national day of unity, appreciating our rich history, flaws and all. It’s not to be.

I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs; my Dad used to take us to the Valley Forge Musical Fair on July 4 with wonderful medleys of patriotic songs.

Years later I vividly remember the celebration of America’s 200th birthday in 1976. This was after bitter political fights over the Vietnam War and Watergate which forced President Richard Nixon’s resignation.

It was a message of unity at a time the country needed it. Much of the credit goes to President Gerald Ford.

That year, on July 4 the President went to Valley Forge, spoke at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and then to New York to watch the tall ships from around the world sail into New York harbor.

The President of France and the Queen of England, at different times, joined the commemoration. There were special asides. I recall the Washington Star publishing in the old English though I can’t locate a copy.

The President struck an uplifting tone, there was jubilation.

Starting over a decade later, a family highlight was Alan Greenspan’s party at the Federal Reserve Building overlooking the fireworks on the National Mall. Honoring the Fourth of July with American heroes like John Glenn was special.

In contrast to the 200th, Donald Trump has made the 250th all about him. He vowed there would be “the most spectacular Trump rally of them all.” He established an alternative to the congressionally-approved America 250 committee.

Ford went to Valley Forge to honor those Revolutionary soldiers who spent a freezing winter there, Trump staged a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn. A planned musical event was cancelled when most of the artists said they wouldn’t participate in an ode to Trump.

The Administration also is trying to minimize historical realities, like slavery, that don’t fit the narrative. But there’s no shortage of pictures, banners and posters of Trump; it’s like Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.

His narcissistic remake of the nation’s capital, in commemoration of the anniversary, is a disaster. He is ruining the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool. He’s planning a gaudy 250 foot Arc de Trump in front of Arlington Cemetery, the resting place for so many who served the country.

On July 3, the PBS Fourth will air top flight entertainers and music, the finale will be spectacular fireworks at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Around America there will be parades, bells ringing, bonfires, firecrackers, recitations of the Declaration of Independence.

That inspiring spirit will be absent in Trump’s Fourth.