The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[pr0ner]

Stephanie Grisham OUT as press secretary, never once having held a press briefing on camera.

[pr0ner]

They found someone even worse to be press secretary, as the new one will be Kayleigh McEnany.

[Skinypupy]

They found someone even worse to be press secretary, as the new one will be Kayleigh McEnany.

That's actually a pretty genius move when you consider their demographic. Get a pretty(ish) blond up behind the podium spouting even the most insane talking points, and the Red Hats will all fall right in line.

I mean, isn't that Fox's entire business model?

[Unagi]

That's her on the left....

[LawBeefaroni]

They found someone even worse to be press secretary, as the new one will be Kayleigh McEnany.

That's actually a pretty genius move when you consider their demographic. Get a pretty(ish) blond up behind the podium spouting even the most insane talking points, and the Red Hats will all fall right in line.

I mean, isn't that Fox's entire business model?

She is perfect for the job.

This president will always put America first, he will always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, and isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?

[Max Peck]

I wonder if Modly can hear the oncoming bus yet?

The Daily 202: Trump weighs intervening on behalf of ousted captain, as acting Navy secretary apologizes for rant

Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly said over the weekend that he moved swiftly to relieve Capt. Brett Crozier from command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt because he didn’t want President Trump to get involved after Crozier's letter sounding the alarm about the spread of the novel coronavirus on the aircraft carrier leaked to the media.

Well, that did not work.

Trump announced on Monday evening that he’s going to “get involved” in the case and “look at it in great detail.” He said he spent time earlier in the day reviewing Crozier’s personnel file and recounted several details of his distinguished military career.

“I'm going to get involved and see exactly what's going on there because I don't want to destroy somebody for having a bad day,” the president said during his daily coronavirus briefing. “You have two good people and they're arguing and, believe it or not, I'm good at settling arguments.”

[El Guapo]

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel.

The bottom line is that oversight of Trump is effectively impossible, because Republicans won't allow it (that is, they won't intervene in the slightest when Trump blows through oversight and related protections). So it doesn't really matter what oversight procedures get set up.

So, it's all on November.

[malchior]

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel.

The bottom line is that oversight of Trump is effectively impossible, because Republicans won't allow it (that is, they won't intervene in the slightest when Trump blows through oversight and related protections). So it doesn't really matter what oversight procedures get set up.

So, it's all on November.

I'm getting to the point where I am convinced November doesn't matter and it might already be over. There is absolutely no reason for these moves other than the administration is blatantly corrupt. They are making these moves in the open in plain daylight. You do that because you know nothing will stop you. Not even elections.

From this piece in the NY Times. Congress put in a council of IGs to oversee the $2T stimulus plan and suddenly Trump is replacing 5 IGs. Come on. We're boned.

After using a signing statement last month to undercut the power of a new inspector general position Congress created to police the use of corporate bailout funds in the coronavirus stimulus package, Mr. Trump late on Friday fired Michael K. Atkinson, the watchdog for the intelligence community, and announced nominations for five new inspectors general.

Democrats immediately condemned Mr. Fine’s sudden sidelining from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee as “corrupt,” in the words of Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the minority leader.

“President Trump is abusing the coronavirus pandemic to eliminate honest and independent public servants because they are willing to speak truth to power and because he is so clearly afraid of strong oversight,” Mr. Schumer said.

[Kraken]

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel.

The bottom line is that oversight of Trump is effectively impossible, because Republicans won't allow it (that is, they won't intervene in the slightest when Trump blows through oversight and related protections). So it doesn't really matter what oversight procedures get set up.

So, it's all on November.

I'm getting to the point where I am convinced November doesn't matter and it might already be over. There is absolutely no reason for these moves other than the administration is blatantly corrupt. They are making these moves in the open in plain daylight. You do that because you know nothing will stop you. Not even elections.

They are going all-out to ensure that no Democrat can win in November. If it looks like one will, they will cancel or invalidate the election. There's no way they will allow themselves to be voted out because they know they'll never win a fair fight.

The Constitution is clear that Trump's term ends next January 20, so Pelosi would become interim president. No way they'll let that happen, either.

I have no idea how a coup like that ultimately ends. I hope I'm wrong and we never find out.

[El Guapo]

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel.

The bottom line is that oversight of Trump is effectively impossible, because Republicans won't allow it (that is, they won't intervene in the slightest when Trump blows through oversight and related protections). So it doesn't really matter what oversight procedures get set up.

So, it's all on November.

I'm getting to the point where I am convinced November doesn't matter and it might already be over. There is absolutely no reason for these moves other than the administration is blatantly corrupt. They are making these moves in the open in plain daylight. You do that because you know nothing will stop you. Not even elections.

They are going all-out to ensure that no Democrat can win in November. If it looks like one will, they will cancel or invalidate the election. There's no way they will allow themselves to be voted out because they know they'll never win a fair fight.

The Constitution is clear that Trump's term ends next January 20, so Pelosi would become interim president. No way they'll let that happen, either.

I have no idea how a coup like that ultimately ends. I hope I'm wrong and we never find out.

I don't think they would ever outright cancel the election, because that would be too risky and uncertain. They'll just get even more shameless in facilitating voting in Republican counties and restricting voting in Democratic counties, with the coronavirus being the perfect catch-all justification for all such restrictions. And they have every reason to expect that the SCOTUS will back them up, no matter how shameless and transparent they get.

[Skinypupy]

From this piece in the NY Times. Congress put in a council of IGs to oversee the $2T stimulus plan and suddenly Trump is replacing 5 IGs. Come on. We're boned.

After using a signing statement last month to undercut the power of a new inspector general position Congress created to police the use of corporate bailout funds in the coronavirus stimulus package, Mr. Trump late on Friday fired Michael K. Atkinson, the watchdog for the intelligence community, and announced nominations for five new inspectors general.

Democrats immediately condemned Mr. Fine’s sudden sidelining from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee as “corrupt,” in the words of Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the minority leader.

“President Trump is abusing the coronavirus pandemic to eliminate honest and independent public servants because they are willing to speak truth to power and because he is so clearly afraid of strong oversight,” Mr. Schumer said.

It's still incredible to me that Trump can simply wave his hand and outright dismiss every IG and every piece of oversight, and there is not a single damn thing that literally anyone can do about it.

That's such a catastrophic system failure that I struggle to wrap my head around it.

[Zaxxon]

It's still incredible to me that Trump can simply wave his hand and outright dismiss every IG and every piece of oversight, and there is not a single damn thing that literally anyone can do about it.

That's such a catastrophic system failure that I struggle to wrap my head around it.

There are lots of things that lots of [Republican] people can do about it. They're just complicit, so they don't.

Us plebes? Pitchforks and torches are pretty much our remaining options, now that voting looks to be on the chopping block.

[Octavious]

I think there's zero chance that we get a legit election. The crap he will pull and get away with will be stunning. We're well and truly fd at this point.

[Kraken]

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel.

The bottom line is that oversight of Trump is effectively impossible, because Republicans won't allow it (that is, they won't intervene in the slightest when Trump blows through oversight and related protections). So it doesn't really matter what oversight procedures get set up.

So, it's all on November.

I'm getting to the point where I am convinced November doesn't matter and it might already be over. There is absolutely no reason for these moves other than the administration is blatantly corrupt. They are making these moves in the open in plain daylight. You do that because you know nothing will stop you. Not even elections.

They are going all-out to ensure that no Democrat can win in November. If it looks like one will, they will cancel or invalidate the election. There's no way they will allow themselves to be voted out because they know they'll never win a fair fight.

The Constitution is clear that Trump's term ends next January 20, so Pelosi would become interim president. No way they'll let that happen, either.

I have no idea how a coup like that ultimately ends. I hope I'm wrong and we never find out.

I don't think they would ever outright cancel the election, because that would be too risky and uncertain. They'll just get even more shameless in facilitating voting in Republican counties and restricting voting in Democratic counties, with the coronavirus being the perfect catch-all justification for all such restrictions. And they have every reason to expect that the SCOTUS will back them up, no matter how shameless and transparent they get.

Agreed; they will only preempt the election as a last resort, if they think there's no way to steal it. So the real question becomes, what happens after that? 40% of voters will cheer, 40% will scream bloody murder, and 20% won't understand or believe what just happened.

I've convinced myself, though, that Democrats have no path to victory no matter how many people want to vote for them. Someone convince me otherwise. Please?

[stessier]

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

[Fretmute]

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

After yesterday, I feel that's misplaced.

[El Guapo]

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

I'm honestly not sure what support there is for that belief. I am reasonably confident that if the question comes to SCOTUS as "should Donald Trump and the Republicans be able to cancel the election and/or declare themselves the winners?" the answer would *probably* be no. But that's not what's going to come to them. It's going to be "is there a constitutional issue posed by having one polling place and no absentee ballots in each of Milwaukee, Miami, and Charlotte, while having one polling place per person in the rural parts of those states?" And SCOTUS would 100% sign off on those shenanigans, as Wisconsin today shows.

[malchior]

Let's be clear, there is a 99.99999% chance that there will be an election in November. It is in the Constitution. What isn't clear is if it'll be fair. If this is a fair election then Trump is toast. Almost certainly. His only path in a fair election is the slight chance that he wins the electoral vote again. And demographics are even a little worse since 2016. The Republicans have sussed this out already and have been undermining voting in the very states he needs to win. For example, after today they'll have a bigger majority in the WI Supreme Court after today. They have many statehouses in states that matter. They can change the rules and almost certainly will.

On top, there will likely be Federal investigations targeted at candidates or their families. They've already got several whoppers teed up on Biden's extended family already. The Democrats are still playing by the rules as well so expect them to be hopelessly over matched by the onslaught. There will be lawsuits. Keep in mind SCOTUS has very important oversight lawsuits coming down the pike as well. It might unlock the box on Trump investigations but I'd bet even money that they'll rule for Trump. In any case, even without the coronavirus shenanigans this was looking to be the ugliest election in American history. Easily. It'll be worse.

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

After yesterday, I feel that's misplaced.

It's definitely misplaced. We'll likely get clear indicators when Mazars comes down. This SCOTUS should not be trusted to not be partisan. We've come a long way from Bush v. Gore and not in a good way.

[stessier]

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

I'm honestly not sure what support there is for that belief. I am reasonably confident that if the question comes to SCOTUS as "should Donald Trump and the Republicans be able to cancel the election and/or declare themselves the winners?" the answer would *probably* be no. But that's not what's going to come to them. It's going to be "is there a constitutional issue posed by having one polling place and no absentee ballots in each of Milwaukee, Miami, and Charlotte, while having one polling place per person in the rural parts of those states?" And SCOTUS would 100% sign off on those shenanigans, as Wisconsin today shows.

I thought it was the State Supreme Court that made that ruling, not SCOTUS. If it was SCOTUS, I guess I won't be sleeping anymore.

[malchior]

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

I'm honestly not sure what support there is for that belief. I am reasonably confident that if the question comes to SCOTUS as "should Donald Trump and the Republicans be able to cancel the election and/or declare themselves the winners?" the answer would *probably* be no. But that's not what's going to come to them. It's going to be "is there a constitutional issue posed by having one polling place and no absentee ballots in each of Milwaukee, Miami, and Charlotte, while having one polling place per person in the rural parts of those states?" And SCOTUS would 100% sign off on those shenanigans, as Wisconsin today shows.

I thought it was the State Supreme Court that made that ruling, not SCOTUS. If it was SCOTUS, I guess I won't be sleeping anymore.

There were two rulings. WI Supreme Court said the primary must happen today. SCOTUS had a separate ruling about absentee ballots yesterday that is being pilloried as partisan in favor of the GOP.

This is a good recap of it if so interested.

[YellowKing]

We used to count on the partisanship of the court to at least be tempered by an objectivity towards the law. I still feel Roberts (despite his unfortunate showing in the impeachment trial) more or less adheres to those old school standards. However Kavanaugh is a pure partisan shill, and is all they needed to put their thumb on the scale.

In my opinion there has been no more destructive political move in modern history than McConnell's theft of Garland's court seat. It has paid dividends over and over and over, and will continue to do so for decades.

[El Guapo]

Let's be clear, there is a 99.99999% chance that there will be an election in November. It is in the Constitution. What isn't clear is if it'll be fair. If this is a fair election then Trump is toast. Almost certainly. His only path in a fair election is the slight chance that he wins the electoral vote again. And demographics are even a little worse since 2016. The Republicans have sussed this out already and have been undermining voting in the very states he needs to win. For example, after today they'll have a bigger majority in the WI Supreme Court after today. They have many statehouses in states that matter. They can change the rules and almost certainly will.

On top, there will likely be Federal investigations targeted at candidates or their families. They've already got several whoppers teed up on Biden's extended family already. The Democrats are still playing by the rules as well so expect them to be hopelessly over matched by the onslaught. There will be lawsuits. Keep in mind SCOTUS has very important oversight lawsuits coming down the pike as well. It might unlock the box on Trump investigations but I'd bet even money that they'll rule for Trump. In any case, even without the coronavirus shenanigans this was looking to be the ugliest election in American history. Easily. It'll be worse.

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

After yesterday, I feel that's misplaced.

It's definitely misplaced. We'll likely get clear indicators when Mazars comes down. This SCOTUS should not be trusted to not be partisan. We've come a long way from Bush v. Gore and not in a good way.

I don't think that the WI Supreme Court will have a bigger GOP majority. It's a GOP incumbent on the court that's running for reelection; so the results are whether the court will have a 5-2 GOP majority (as of today) or a 4-3 GOP majority (if the GOP incumbent loses).

Also, on Mazars, as of now it's unclear whether SCOTUS will hear any cases before November, as last I heard they were suspended due to coronavirus issues. I strongly suspect that the SCOTUS will just not hear any cases before November, which is the easy way out which gives Trump what he wants - keeping his finances under wraps through the election.

[malchior]

Also, on Mazars, as of now it's unclear whether SCOTUS will hear any cases before November, as last I heard they were suspended due to coronavirus issues. I strongly suspect that the SCOTUS will just not hear any cases before November, which is the easy way out which gives Trump what he wants - keeping his finances under wraps through the election.

True. I was assuming they'll still get the spring session out of the way but the crisis indeed could leave this unclear. I wanted to see Mazars because it was the clearest indication to me if the SCOTUS was compromised. That they picked up the case at all was disturbing to be honest.

[Alefroth]

I still have faith in SCOTUS. I think enough of them care about the country that it will work out if it gets to them.

I admit this may be misplaced, but that is how I'm sleeping at night.

What power would SCOTUS have if they did decide to rule against Trump?
It's feeling more like a military coup is the only thing that could stop Trump.

[Unagi]

[Alefroth]

Maybe. Do you know what mechanisms the SCOTUS has to enforce their rulings?

[malchior]

Maybe. Do you know what mechanisms the SCOTUS has to enforce their rulings?

Norms. Which is what I suspect you are getting at.

[Alefroth]

Maybe. Do you know what mechanisms the SCOTUS has to enforce their rulings?

Norms. Which is what I suspect you are getting at.

Exactly. What reason would Trump have to follow a court order? He's been shown over and over again he can get away with anything.

[malchior]

In that sense, he hasn't flouted any court orders. Then again he really hasn't needed to because the SCOTUS has been bending over backwards to accommodate his emergency requests as RBG recently pointed out in a recent dissent. The point in my mind is he doesn't need to do anything drastic. He just has been slowly chipping away at things. He doesn't need to cancel an election because he has an entire GOP apparatus willing to break glass all over to accommodate him. It is not going to happen.

[malchior]

He is canning 7 IGs. This is a giant step toward autocracy. Also, it is a blatant money grab on the $2T. In plain sight. Nothing will stop this guy.

[Kraken]

POTUS is the most powerful position on the planet. With great power comes great HAHAHA!!!

[Skinypupy]

While this certainly looks to be the case on the surface, I’d want a little more info about how IGs are typically managed by other administrations. Is that a position that typically stays as holdovers, or are they generally replaced with a new admin and we just don’t hear about it?

If he’s the first POTUS to take that drastic a step, then yes, I’ll add it to the pile of concern. If it’s something every previous administration has done as well and they’re just getting around to it, I don’t think I’m going to lose much sleep over it...even if the action looks overly shitty on its face.

[El Guapo]

Maybe. Do you know what mechanisms the SCOTUS has to enforce their rulings?

Norms. Which is what I suspect you are getting at.

Exactly. What reason would Trump have to follow a court order? He's been shown over and over again he can get away with anything.

Yeah, as malchior says, he hasn't really had to directly flout a court order yet. Depending on the circumstances, that could be risky. For example, going against a strong SCOTUS opinion that was like 9-0 would be very very risky.

BUT, I doubt that we'll ultimately have to deal with that scenario.

[Defiant]

[malchior]

While this certainly looks to be the case on the surface, I’d want a little more info about how IGs are typically managed by other administrations. Is that a position that typically stays as holdovers, or are they generally replaced with a new admin and we just don’t hear about it?

If he’s the first POTUS to take that drastic a step, then yes, I’ll add it to the pile of concern. If it’s something every previous administration has done as well and they’re just getting around to it, I don’t think I’m going to lose much sleep over it...even if the action looks overly shitty on its face.

This is why he gets away with stuff like this. Everyone wants this to be normal. It is not. They aren't just getting around to it. He first said he is going to remove the IG Atkinson who actioned the whistleblower report. It was blatantly punitive and corrupt.

The latest IG firing was the guy who was going to be lead on oversight of the $2T stimulus bill. Why him? Why now? That IG was selected by the head of the council of IGs. Trump now wants to replace 7 of the 9 Inspector General's on the committee with his own people (allegedly to be very clear). It sends a message to play ball or get canned.

IGs are typically non-partisan career officials who have careers spanning multiple administrations. Trump wants to buck this tradition to install only his own people and stifle the little oversight left. Especially crazy since the system was set up because of Nixon. The why is important. It seems likely he wants no oversight on the spending.

To sum it up, this is a wake up and smell the coffee moment. There usually is time for skepticism but this isn't it. This is end game autocracy here. The entire point of it is to get the money and this is how. Once he has the money he uses it to retain power. People don't seem to get it. The danger is here.

Edit: Here is a US Senator on the same wavelength

President Trump sees federal money as a tool to reward friends and punish enemies.

A competent Inspector General overseeing COVID relief funds would have thrown a wrench in his plans.

Now the IG is gone, so Trump can turn America into the new Ukraine.

[Alefroth]

Maybe. Do you know what mechanisms the SCOTUS has to enforce their rulings?

Norms. Which is what I suspect you are getting at.

Exactly. What reason would Trump have to follow a court order? He's been shown over and over again he can get away with anything.

Yeah, as malchior says, he hasn't really had to directly flout a court order yet. Depending on the circumstances, that could be risky. For example, going against a strong SCOTUS opinion that was like 9-0 would be very very risky.

BUT, I doubt that we'll ultimately have to deal with that scenario.

Risky in what way? What do you think would follow him flouting a 9-0 decision? What's going to happen to him for canning the stimulus IG?

[Octavious]

Oh look he tweeted this morning about preventing voting from mail. and so it begins. We're so fucked.

[Skinypupy]

Oh look he tweeted this morning about preventing voting from mail. and so it begins. We're so fucked.

For those who may have missed it.

Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans

I do find it funny that he's resorted to simply saying the quiet part out loud (when more people vote, Republicans lose). Then again, he's preaching to the morons who firmly believe there were 3MM illegal votes cast last election so...¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Unagi]

“and for whatever reason” ??

[Skinypupy]

Oh, and here's the exchange yesterday.

President Trump: "I think mail-in voting is horrible, it's corrupt."

Reporter: "You voted by mail in Florida's election last month, didn't you?"

Trump: "Sure. I can vote by mail"

Reporter: "How do you reconcile with that?"

Trump: "Because I'm allowed to."

People sitting in their living rooms signing thousands of ballots? JFC, dude.

The cascading levels of delusion and paranoia here are absolutely mind-boggling.