Judge Just Fucking Says It: Trump's Breaking the Law

Some Republicans are agreeing without, y'know, actually doing anything about it

Feb. 11: Judge says White House actions “violate the plain text” … Kavanaugh and Roberts already on record against Trump claim … Trump fires ethics watchdog so his unethics won’t be watched … Trump drops NYC mayor prosecution because he didn’t like it …

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U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who just declared that the White House is breaking the law. (Photo / U.S. District Court for Rhode Island.)

If you saw me last night on Nicole Sandler’s show, The Nicole Sandler Show, you saw me lose my shit a little bit. Total 180 from the calm persona I try to affect here.

Nicole played a clip from MSNBC, the progressive network and my former employer. The clip of the progressive network came from a former Republican attorney appearing on the show of a former Republican member of Congress. On the progressive network.

It was George Conway, of the Lincoln Project. And he said we were in a constitutional crisis. That was what pissed me off. As I attempted to argue in yesterday’s TFN, the White House is still treating the courts as if they matter: They’re appealing rulings and their allies are advocating impeachment. All of which is part of the process.

Conway, though, was suggesting the administration had gone further than that, especially with Vice Pres. JD Vance challenging judicial authority over the executive branch. Conway interpreted that as a call to ignore the courts.

I lost my shit because too many on the left and too many supposed allies from the right — who for some reason get airtime on progressive networks instead of progressive voices — extrapolate to the worst case and then cede every inch of ground between reality and that.

It’s like when the Kennedy White House supposedly got two conflicting messages from the Kremlin — one civil, then one belligerent. They responded to the civil one and only to that one, keeping relations stable. Do that!

The culture of the left is so driven by essentialist concerns about who these people “really” “are” that their worst utterances get elevated and the left starts acting like that’s all there is to their adversaries. Answer the civil messages!

So Conway declaring a premature constitutional crisis pissed me off. Knowing my understanding of such crises was fuzzy at best, I looked it up. “Constitutional crisis” is a fuzzy term, but basically seems to come in two categories.

One I’ll call the inadequate-Constitution crisis. For instance, the Constitution doesn’t say what we’re supposed to do if the president is implanted with a xenomorph. (Even though we all know what we’re supposed to do.)

That’s not really where we are. But the other kind of constitutional crisis is when the Constitution is crystal clear what we’re supposed to do. And no one does it.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

However — I ranted at the Republican guest on the Republican show on the progressive network — we’re not at that point yet! The White House is complying with judicial orders!

Turned out, I wasn’t up on the news from a few hours before. The news of a judge declaring that the White House was, uh, not complying with a judicial order.

Fuckin’ Conway.

So, yes, technically, it seems: Constitutional crisis. But it also turns out that’s not as apocalyptic as some of you Newsfuckers might assume. Bear with me — you can always freak out later.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell yesterday ordered Pres. Donald Trump to start obeying his previous order. It was McConnell last month who ordered the White House to drop its freeze of billions in grants and other federal spending.

The White House didn’t, and yesterday, McConnell wrote that “These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the TRO [Temporary Restraining Order].” Here’s the passage:

In other words, the White House was acting just as lawlessly as everyone’s been saying. Fuckin’ Conway.

So, first of all, some good news about our constitutional crisis. Constitutional crises are survivable. America’s had something like half a dozen. Some constitutional crises are so gentle you don’t even notice them. One is so gentle, in fact, that you’re soaking in it!

Remember TikTok? The Supreme Court upheld the law giving TikTok the choice of selling itself off or being banned. Neither happened because Trump simply opted not to act.

But even there, Trump took steps toward ultimate compliance — he (illegally) granted himself the special accommodation of 75 days’ delay to figure it out. Plus, it’s pretty tough for the Supreme Court to tell Trump exactly what steps he should take, or which officials will be held accountable for not doing…whatever.

McConnell’s case is different. And he wasn’t afraid to up the ante. Even if his ruling is overturned on appeal, he wrote, U.S. officials must until then obey the restraining order or risk being found in contempt of court, which is punishable by fine and/or jail time. Here’s McConnell (emphasis is his):

“[It is a] basic proposition that all orders and judgments of courts must be complied with promptly. * * * Persons who make private determinations of the law and refuse to obey an order generally risk criminal contempt even if the order is ultimately ruled incorrect. The orderly and expeditious administration of justice by the courts requires that an order issued by a court with jurisdiction over the subject matter and person must be obeyed by the parties until it is reversed by orderly and proper proceedings.”

(Wait til they find out McConnell’s a hardcore Democrat and worked with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.)

While it may not be clear who’s supposed to flip the off switch for TikTok, it’s a lot clearer for federal spending. Treasury Department officials are now at risk of being found in contempt if they refuse to act on McConnell’s order. As are any White House officials whose memos tell Treasury not to comply.

But, but, the Supreme Court, you Newsfuckers may lament.

Ah, yes. The Supreme Court.

There’s good news here, too. Despite its historic and un-American ruling granting some legal immunity to (Republican) presidents, the Supreme Court hasn’t given Trump everything he wants and has ruled against him.

And on this particular issue, two judges, including a Trump appointee, are emphatically on record against Trump’s position. Specifically, they’ve already rejected the White House claim that presidents have the power not to spend allocated federal funds, a crime known as impoundment.

In 1985, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts — a White House lawyer at the time — wrote a memo in which he said he hoped to “dampen any hopes that inherent constitutional impoundment authority may be invoked to achieve budget goals.” Referring to that supposed authority, Roberts wrote that the president “has none in normal situations.”

Trump may claim that this isn’t a budget issue, that he’s rooting out fraud, but he’s on record saying otherwise, his lawyers have admitted his other fraud claims are baseless, and McConnell has already written that “The freezes … [were] not a specific finding of potential fraud.”

And Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a 2013 opinion — before he was nominated to the high court by Trump — that:

“It is in our view extremely difficult to formulate a constitutional theory to justify a refusal by the President to comply with a congressional directive to spend…

“...even the President does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend.”

And this is from a judge who believes frat bros have unilateral authority over women’s bodies!

If McConnell’s ruling does make it to Roberts and Kavanaugh, Trump will be asking them not just to ignore their past opinions, but in Kavanaugh’s case to overturn them. That’s because McConnell, the sneaky bastard, packed Kavanaugh into his initial order by quoting him.

McConnell waded into battle with the White House wearing armor that Trump’s own justice forged.

What’s different about judges is that basic stuff like congressional power of the purse is part of the bedrock of their very existence. Every ruling they’ve made rests on that and similarly foundational principles. To rule otherwise not only invalidates everything that’s driven their every decision, in this case it would mean rendering moot the very institution, the branch of government, to which they’ve dedicated themselves and by which they define themselves.

What matters ultimately, though, is whether We the People care enough to steel the courts and wavering members of Congress to do their constitutional duty. McConnell’s order goes a long way toward accomplishing that.

SO DID ROBERTS In a helpful contextual piece (gift link = TFN loves you) on our current constitutional crisis, the New York Times reminds us that Roberts saw this coming. And issued a warning.

In his 2024 year-end report, Roberts two months ago addressed head-on the proclivity of unnamed but distinctly JD Vance-ian politicians to challenge judicial authority, one corner of the three-sided checks and balances. Here’s Roberts:

“...elected officials from across the political spectrum [sic] have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.”

Americans have been conditioned to see Supreme Court rulings as something akin to papal writ, reversible only by the court itself, legislation, or amending the Constitution. People are not likely to look kindly on Trump or his congressional enablers if he violates Supreme Court rulings, especially if Americans see no benefit from it, especially if they’re hurt by Trump’s other policies, and especially in light of Trump’s general disregard for the kinds of guidelines literally every other person in this country has to follow. To wit…

Trump Fires Ethics Watchdogs for Watchdogging Ethics

Pres. Donald Trump yesterday illegally and unethically fired Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Director David Huitema, who was confirmed to a five-year term in office just two months ago.

The OGE’s primary function is to ensure that presidents don’t do the kinds of things that every fiber of Trump’s being compels him to do: Taking bribes; handing out favors; and conflicts of interest of all shapes, sizes, and hues.

Obviously a watchdog for all of that was never going to work. We’re assuming Trump told Huitema, “We’re going in a different direction.” The Office of Government Unethics direction.

Hilariously, on the very same day, Trump’s attempt to bounce another ethics watchdog, the head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) boomeranged on him.

Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger was notified over the weekend that his services safeguarding whistleblowers and other federal employees from retaliation and other illegal executive actions would no longer be needed so that the White House can freely engage in retaliation and other illegal executive actions.

Dellinger, too, was confirmed by the Senate last year to a five-year term. He can only be removed for cause according to “the law.”

And before the ink was dry on Dellinger’s lawsuit challenging his dismissal, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Dellinger reinstated while the court considers the merits of his suit.

Dunno whether they let him into his office this morning, but he’s still on the website!

Trump Declares Bribery Awesome

Pres. Donald Trump yesterday confessed that he can’t make America great again unless the nation’s executives are allowed to engage in bribery overseas.

For decades, American businesses dealing with colleagues and officials in other countries have been barred from engaging in bribery and other corruption, even when it’s legal or winked at in those countries.

In an executive order — that reads like someone fed “Cuz I wanna” into Google Translate for legalese — Trump yesterday told the Justice Department to stop enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for six months, barring exceptions approved on a case-by-ignored-case basis by actual Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi’s supposed to review DOJ enforcement policies during that time, to ensure that this pesky actual literal law doesn’t get in the way of Trump’s attempts “to conduct foreign affairs and prioritize American interests, American economic competitiveness.”

This is, of course, a massive coup for the kleptocratic coup. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act provided benchmarks for how to conduct business. If you wanted to do business with the U.S., you couldn’t assume bribes and corruption would help you.

Fun fact: The rule of law is actually a prerequisite for functioning markets and economies.

Trump is now attempting to demolish the guardrails, fueling a race to the ethical bottom which will be won, of course, by those with the most money.

As The Guardian points out, Goldman Sachs got smacked under the law Trump’s no longer enforcing, for allegedly pillaging Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund (for government to make private investments). Trump’s order greenlights the world’s richest to stampede over everyone else and feast on their money.

At the end of last year, 31 companies were under federal investigation for foreign corruption. Bon appetit!

Trump Steps on More Law Rakes

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley yesterday issued a restraining order against Pres. Donald Trump — definitely not his first — blocking the White House from freezing health research funding.

Lawsuits against the freeze, from state attorneys general and research organizations — including schools and hospitals — will be heard later this month.

Trump on Friday slashed federal grants for researching Alzheimer’s, cancer, and infectious diseases, just the way Trump’s super-fit and -healthy voters were hoping he would.

Now, Kelley has ordered the Trump White House to give a status report today on the unfreezing. And to give biweekly updates confirming that federal agencies are complying with the unfrozenness.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) has already declared Trump’s research freezes illegal, according to the headlines (but her statement was considerably more mealy-collins-mouthed: “Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations legislation includes language that prohibits the use of funds to modify NIH indirect costs.”)

Trump ally Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) has also opposed the research freezes. But both of them have suggested that the remedy is to ask inevitable Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., if he could maybe see what he could do about this using his sanity and shit.

FOREIGN AID The advocacy group Public Citizen on Monday filed suit to block Trump’s freeze on foreign aid, which included virtually shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (which TFN thoroughly — if I do say so myself — newsfucked here.)

The freeze has already led to hundreds of babies born with HIV because aid workers couldn’t access already-purchased retroviral drugs to prevent transmission from their mothers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio — a devout Christian who believes his faith should be a part of everything he does at least when it means persecuting LGBTQ+ people and forcing women to keep unwanted cell clusters in their bodies — has argued that his department simply has to give babies HIV and starve older kids and let folks of all ages spread malaria because how else can he evaluate spending to ensure Trump will like it?

It’s not as if agencies can somehow magically evaluate their spending without stopping everything, like they’re capable of doing every other year under every other president.

New York City Mayor Rebrands as Trump Adams

On the same day that Pres. Donald Trump was found to have disobeyed a judicial order, fired his ethics watchdog, and legalized bribery, Trump also engaged in the most hilariously transparent case of presidential corruption we’ve seen yet.

Trump’s instantly politicized Justice Department — just add Bondi! — dropped its corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. But it’s the lazy-ass way they couldn’t be bothered to disguise their motives that was just…

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, literally a former Trump defense lawyer, ordered prosecutors to drop their case against Adams. For now.

The reason? Nothing to do with, y’know, the evidence. The stated reason was that Trump wants Adams to help out with immigration shit.

In other words, by the transitive property of Trumpism, not only is he above the law, but now so are politicians he likes. It’s trumple-down corruption!

And Bove literally argued that prosecuting Adams might hurt his shot at getting re-elected.

It gets better.

Bove argued that the charges be dismissed without prejudice — meaning prosecutors are free to re-file again. Y’know, like, if Adams doesn’t play ball.

Hilariously, Bove’s memo also calls Adams a liar. Bove claimed that prosecution would impair Adams’s ability to assist with Trump’s (fake) immigration crackdown. Which, obviously, isn’t a thing in the law. But also isn’t true. Adams himself had said the prosecution wasn’t distracting him.

Adams is was might again be accused of taking bribes from Turkish officials in exchange for helping Turkey open a new consulate. Y’know, foreign corrupt practices, but here.

Three Quickies

• There’s been a fourth fatal aviation incident since former Real World and Road Rules star Sean Duffy took over the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A Learjet’s landing gear failed upon arrival in Scottsdale, AZ, yesterday, causing a collision with a parked Gulfstream. At least one person was reported killed, although the circumstances weren’t clear. Weirding this up even more, the Learjet was owned by Motley Crue singer Vince Neil, raising the obvious question of how the fuck can Vince Neil afford a Learjet? Previous aviation fatalities during Duffy’s three weeks in charge include the Washington chopper/passenger jet thing, the Medevac crash in Philly, and the ten dead up in Alaska. And, yes, TFN’s about to start losing track. And, yes, at this rate we’re expecting multiple fatalities from the inevitable Sammy Hagar hot-air balloon tragedy. (h/t)

• American farmers have already been screwed out of millions of dollars by Pres. Donald Trump, which I referred to on last night’s Nicole Sandler Show as “coalition-building.” The Washington Post reports that farmers say they’ve spent millions that the federal government is on the hook to reimburse — and isn’t. The funds were approved as part of programs authorized by Pres. Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, with farmers installing new infrastructure, planting new crops, and investing in renewable energy because the law said they’d qualify for grants and loan guarantees. Welcome to the resistance.

• You diligent and fair-minded Newsfuckers keep reminding me that bird flu started under Pres. Joe Biden and therefore there’s nothing Pres. Donald Trump could have done to prevent the rise of egg prices. Or the news that Costco, Trader Joe’s, and some Krogers are now rationing eggs. The thing about blaming Trump is that, while it’s true he’s not at fault, he did promise to bring the prices down. And it’s 100% fair to blame someone for not doing what they promised to do, even if especially if they knew they were lying.

TCB

SWAG Your TFN Team hasn’t mentioned The TFN Store in a while, so I wanted to let you know we’ve added some more swag. Like this tuff stuff:

Please keep in mind, the shop is administered by a third party that’s stingy about returns and has its own policies and practices that are probably anathema to all the glorious socialism we’re fighting for here at TFN. (Even though it does look pretty sweet.)

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Go get ‘em, kids. Let people know how they’re getting fucked: Constitutional crises end when We the People say fuck that!