Democrats Are Showing How You Do It: Threatening Jail Time
A growing number of state and local Democrats are warning federal workers they'll be charged for following unlawful orders
It’s happening.
Democrats — not at the national level, mind you — are starting to threaten the armies of federal employees — military, civilian, law-enforcement, civil servant, whatever — with legal consequences for complying with unlawful orders. AKA most of the orders coming from Pres. Donald Trump.
You might not have noticed all the examples I’m sharing today, because corporate media haven’t exactly headlined this growing trend among state and local Democrats.
I argued back in May that Democratic officials had a duty to threaten future consequences as a counterweight against anyone expecting to claim someday that they were just following orders.
And now, slowly but surely, it’s happening. By my count, we now have three Democrats at state and city levels putting federal workers on notice.
Everyone sat up when Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) did it forcefully and unapologetically on Monday, after Trump threatened to send in the National Guard despite the city’s falling crime, Trump’s lack of consultation with the city, and the uniform opposition from city and state leaders. Here’s the key part of Pritzker’s threat:
[T]o the Trump administration officials who are complicit in this scheme, to the public servants who have forsaken their oath to the Constitution to serve the petty whims of an arrogant little man, to any federal official who would come to Chicago and try to incite my people into violence as a pretext for something darker and more dangerous: We are watching and we are taking names.
This country has survived darker periods than the one that we are going through right now, and eventually the pendulum will swing back, maybe even next year. Donald Trump has already shown himself to have little regard for the many acolytes that he has encouraged to commit crimes on his behalf.
You can delay justice for a time, but history shows you cannot prevent it from finding you eventually. If you hurt my people, nothing will stop me, not time or political circumstance, from making sure that you face justice under our constitutional rule of law.
The next morning, Philadelphia, PA, District Attorney Larry Krasner followed suit, ramping up his previous pushback against Trump’s threats to storm the streets of Philly. As MSNBC’s Ja'han Jones spotted, Krasner on Tuesday threatened arrest explicitly, with a reminder that Trump’s pardons are only federal and won’t apply to other charges:
[I[f the National Guard comes to Philadelphia and commits crimes, they will be prosecuted locally and Donald Trump cannot pardon them.
As far as I’m aware, though, the first Democratic official to actually make good on this kind of threat is Newark, NJ, Mayor Ras Baraka. As I wrote earlier this month, Baraka isn’t just suing putative U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for his wrongful arrest. He went down the chain of command and also sued Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel.
It’s the first example I’m aware of in which a Democratic leader isn’t just threatening, but actively pursuing at least a civil judgment against one of the rank-and-file, or at least someone in direct command of the rank-and-file.
And there’s at least a hint from one federal Democratic politician of consequences and accountability for anyone expecting to argue they were just following orders.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) warned earlier this month, as I also noted, that anyone abusing immigrants should expect to be questioned about it under oath.
It’s not clear whether Ossoff was suggesting abusive captors will be prosecuted or merely subpoenaed to testify before Congress. But it’s something.
And it’s also not clear why there’s not a more robust, concerted Democratic campaign from party leadership to put everyone in Trump’s chain of command on notice that they will be held accountable for following Trump’s orders once Trump’s no longer around.
For instance, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has maintained that Trump’s surge of federal troops and law enforcement into Los Angeles was illegal. And yet, he hasn’t gone as far as Prizker has, even after Trump’s troops hit his state and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promised to liberate Los Angeles from Newsom and other elected officials.
As I wrote back in June, military officials like Gen. Gregory Guillot who oversaw that operation were barely mentioned in the media, and not at all in the remarks of California officials, in warrants, or even in civil lawsuits. Why shouldn’t the Guillots comply in the absence of pushback or fear of personal consequences?
Even Pritzker and Krasner aren’t going as far as they could. If the National Guard deployments aren’t lawful, then National Guard troops and USNORTHCOM commanders should be held accountable for those deployments. By California officials.
It’s understandable that local and state officials overwhelmed by Trump’s baleful glare might not pull every lever they have. But it’s unconscionable that so far they’re alone, with national Democratic leaders virtually silent, as far as I’m aware, about what the future might hold for Trump’s enablers.
Where is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)? Where is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)?
As congressional leaders, they more than most should understand that a lot of people in the government will follow orders regardless of law or morality when there’s no external pressure to disobey those orders. Everyone on the federal payroll needs reason to give pause before complying.
Good-faith federal employees who want to defy unlawful federal orders are helped by being able to cite the threat of future prosecution or lawsuits. Here’s what I wrote back in May when I first called on Democrats to do what we’re now starting to see:
From law-enforcement officials and members of the military assisting with illegal detentions of human beings to cabinet members ordering it so, everyfuckingone needs to know there will be consequences.
Consequences now from state and local Democratic law enforcement. Consequences in 2027, presuming Democrats win at least one chamber of Congress. Consequences in 2029, presuming there’s an election and the winner isn’t Merrick Garland.
Fear of Trump isn’t the only reason people comply with his orders — it’s also the absence of a counter-balance. There’s no consequence to fear if they do comply.
In fact, threatening consequences will help federal officials of good faith push back! “Of course, Attorney General Pam Bondi, I’d love nothing more than to ram this taser up the ass of our detained Tren de Aragua terrorist-slash-ActBlue fundraiser, but [Democratic official of choice] says I’ll be prosecuted if I do.”
It would be unfair to expect members of the military, especially, to know what the law does and doesn’t say about unlawful orders and how to defy them without getting screwed. Luckily, there are resources.
As I wrote back in May there are multiple organizations that provide support to those in uniform who would like not to break the law or violate the Constitution.
The only excuses rank-and-file military, government bureaucrats, and political appointees have had for following unlawful orders is that they didn’t know, because there was no one out there warning of the consequences.
Now there is. And even the most loyal Trump servant is on notice that he won’t live forever, and the rest of us see what they’re doing. And democratic leaders are going to make sure there are consequences.
As for whether this can help now, it’s worth noting what’s happened in the six days since Pritzker warned Trump and his minions to stay out of Chicago. They have.
TFN creator and writer Jonathan Larsen co-created Up w/ Chris Hayes and wrote for Countdown with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC, helped launch CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° and Air America Radio, and has also worked at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Young Turks.
You need to have a larger audience and I can’t believe you don’t. Yes!!! This is how the Democrats should fight back.
It's about fucking time. Also any pardons issued by Trump will not be honored