I won’t do too much of an intro this week since the two big topics — Judge Aileen Cannon’s latest crazy order and Trump’s desperate attempt to post a bond to stave off New York civil enforcement proceedings — are the ones that Renato and I cover in depth this week (with some help from former CIA lawyer Brian Greer on the former). However, in case you missed it, my Substack video from last June giving a little primer on the Presidential Records Act might be helpful before tuning into the podcast.
One thing I’d like to highlight (again) is the self-contradictory legal arguments Trump makes in his cases. I’ve noted before, for example, that Trump has argued opposite positions in different proceedings concerning the events of January 6. The same is true in Mar-a-Lago: Remember that Judge Cannon’s first foray into the classified documents case involved her exercising an extraordinary equitable jurisdiction in order to rule on Trump’s claim that he was entitled to a special master to review the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, because most or all of them were covered by “executive privilege.” Executive privilege, of course, would mean that, by definition, the documents are presidential records, not personal records. But here we are, a year and a half later, with Trump arguing that documents containing nuclear secrets are, actually, his personal records. It’s not necessarily surprising that Trump is making these contradictory arguments in front of the same judge, but it is a little crazy that the judge continues to go along with them.
My pieces this week:
My Cafe Insider piece this week explains why TikTok poses a national security threat to the United States. (And yes, American social media platforms are evil too, but TikTok is worse.)
Other articles worth reading:
This New York Times piece illustrating that Republicans who don’t watch Fox News are less likely to support Trump in the presidential election. This dovetails with my earlier Substack piece on the “propaganda feedback loop” which Fox News perpetuates, compared with traditional mainstream media outlets
This is a little off-track from my usual subjects of interest, but in the wake of the news about Princess Kate, this Washington Post piece about the increase in early onset cancers among young people hit close to home; in addition to being diagnosed with breast cancer myself three years ago, I have known so many people my age (under 50) receive cancer diagnoses in the past several years. It appears to be a trend. :(
Upcoming events:
THIS WEEK! Guest Speaker Barb McQuade, Thursday, March 28, 4 p.m. EDT. Barb will be a guest speaker for my class, Preserving Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age. Barb is about to release her book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, and I’m excited to get her perspective on where we are as we head into the 2024 election. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers three hours before the discussion, and will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers the following day.
Freedom Academy Book Club, Friday, April 19, 12 p.m. EDT. We’ll be discussing Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America with author Andrew McKevitt. Drew’s book illuminates how our society became so saturated with guns, and how gun ownership intersects with race, politics, and money. This discussion will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers.
Have a great weekend — and go Bulldogs!
And I didn't even know Yale had a basketball team. GO WOLFPACK!
You originally gave us the term “loose Cannon” for her, and she is certainly living up to it. Thank you for making some kind of sense out of nonsense.