Incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin (D-MD) posted today: “House Democrats are in the fight to bring government back from the brink of authoritarianism.
asserted
Democrats → income → authoritarianism
We will shine a light on President Trump’s quid pro quo, coin-operated, pay-to-play corruption and renew American government as an instrument for the common good.”
asserted
We → shine → good
Raskin told MS NOW that he intends to subpoena the law firms that struck deals with Trump to learn more about alleged coercion from Trump.
asserted
that → tell → Trump
He also said he intends to investigate Attorney General Todd Blanche for his refusal to produce documents required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act and for the Department of Justice’s persecution of those Trump considers enemies, including James Comey, Letitia James, Adam Schiff, Mark Kelly, Maggie Goodlander, and Jason Crow.
asserted
Trump → say → Comey
Raskin also told Greg Sargent of The New Republic that the Judiciary Committee will work with Democratic appropriators to defund Trump’s corrupt prosecutions.
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Committee → tell → prosecutions
“We have the power of the purse,” Raskin told Sargent.
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Raskin → have → Sargent
“We’ll be working closely with our Appropriations Committee partners to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to cut off money that is being used for political harassment and persecution.
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that → work → harassment
Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) is in line to chair the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
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Garcia → chair → Committee
Yesterday, he told reporters the committee would focus on four major areas.
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committee → tell → areas
Garcia noted that a Russian oligarch paid for Don Jr.’s wedding party, the Saudis invested $2 billion in Jared Kushner’s business, and Eric Trump is on the board of companies that are getting Pentagon contracts.
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that → note → contracts
Trump himself has pocketed billions from crypto schemes.
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Trump → pocket → schemes
The other three areas on which the committee will focus are the Department of Homeland Security and the abuses of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, corporate corruption, and those associated with sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
asserted
committee → focus → Epstein
Eamon Javers of CNBC reported today that “Sen[ator] Ron Wyden’s Finance Committee staff intend to dig into JP Morgan’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, with a particular focus on the conduct of high ranking executives and their handling of the bank’s relationship with the disgraced financier.”
asserted
staff → report → financier
Yesterday the Senate posted new job listings, including one for an attorney to lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s work on “government ethics and anti-corruption legislation and to participate in the Committee’s oversight and investigations work.”
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attorney → post → work
Gabe Kaminsky of CBS News reported today that Democrats plan to investigate the finances behind Trump’s presidential library.
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Democrats → report → library
Last March, Trump said he doesn’t “believe in building libraries or museums” and that the building is “most likely going to be a hotel.”
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building → say → libraries
Nonetheless, Trump’s foundation, which is run by Trump’s son Eric and son-in-law Michael Boulos, told the IRS it was building a library.
asserted
it → run → library
The foundation says it will raise $950 million by the end of 2027.
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it → say → 2027
Money has poured into the foundation from companies Trump sued and that settled based on promises to contribute to the fund.
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that → pour → fund
People eager to avoid Trump’s wrath have also contributed.
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People → avoid → wrath
A former advisor told Kaminsky: “The library is one of the last few places he can squeeze people for money.”
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he → tell → money
Meanwhile, Trump appears to be acting, as President Abraham Lincoln once said of Major General William S. Rosecrans, “confused and stunned, like a duck hit on the head.”
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Lincoln → appear → head
He has remained largely quiet about the election but is continuing to talk about his projects in Washington, D.C.
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He → remain → Washington
Apparently afraid those projects will now come to a halt, he wanted his triumphal arch approved today so work could start immediately.
uncertain
work → come → halt
Tonight his hand-picked commission voted as Trump wanted, agreeing to approve the arch, but just before midnight, Judge Tanya Chutkan stopped construction for fourteen days.
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Chutkan → pick → days
This afternoon, in his first action after the election, Trump issued an executive order designating the Oval Office and Cabinet room of the White House a “national landmark” and federal landmark” to prevent future presidents from altering them.
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Office → issue → them
He told reporters he wanted to “make it impossible for anybody to ever destroy this incredible space.”
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anybody → tell → space
Although the nation’s founders envisioned the Executive Mansion—it wouldn’t officially be called the “White House” until 1901—as a modest space that demonstrated the president was not a king, Trump has splashed so much gold frippery around the place former president Barack Obama joked during the campaign that it looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
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Hussein → envision → Factory
While the president focuses on his legacy, the rest of MAGA appears to be panicking.
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rest → focus → MAGA
The right wing is trying to blame Tuesday’s wipe-out on the Iran War, or on Vice President J.D. Vance’s negotiation of the disastrous memorandum of understanding that last June turned the conflict from an upfront clash into a simmering conflict.
asserted
that → try → conflict
But polls before the election showed that although the American people were upset about many things, at the top of their complaints about the Trump administration was corruption.
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corruption → show → administration
Fittingly, the value of Trump’s social media company and his meme coin plummeted yesterday after the results of the election became clear.
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results → plummet → election
Annie Massa of Bloomberg noted that the dramatic drops suggest that investors “may be anxious about the implications of the election for the businesses with links to the president, which are now expected to receive fresh congressional oversight.
uncertain
which → note → oversight
The idea of oversight appears to be worrying people other than investors, and some appear to be thinking not of the American people, but of how to get themselves out of the range of fallout from Tuesday’s losses.
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some → appear → losses
Today Harmeet K. Dhillon resigned from the Department of Justice, where she dismantled the department’s Civil Rights Division, the central cause for which Congress created the department in 1870.
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Congress → resign → 1870
As Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post report, on her watch, more than half the lawyers in the division and hundreds of career staffers left.
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lawyers → report → staffers
Rather than continuing the work of protecting vulnerable minorities from discrimination, she turned the department to pushing Trump’s social agenda, including purging the country of “woke ideology.”
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she → continue → ideology
Matt Cohen and Yunior Rivas of Democracy Docket recall that under Dhillon, the administration stopped defending voting rights.
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administration → recall → rights
Dhillon also led the administration’s effort to take control of states’ voter rolls and pushed the Republicans’ extraordinary mid-decade redistricting campaign.
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Dhillon → lead → campaign
Outgoing Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) posted today that when Congress returns next week, he expects to get the necessary signatures for a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.
asserted
he → post → Act
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
