It's Not A Presidency. It's A Crime Spree - And It Needs To End

It's time now for Congressional Democrats to develop a clear strategy to more forcefully challenge Trump's destructive lawlessness

Morning all. Yesterday Trump and Bondi released less than 1% of the Epstein files despite a clear legal requirement to release everything by midnight last night. They’ve redacted entire documents and covered the faces not of victims, but of the men who committed the crimes. It’s a brazen and shocking f-ck you to the survivors, to Congress, to the American people. It’s also illegal, wildly illegal.

It is time now for Congress, and civil society more broadly, to discuss and begin more forcefully confronting Trump’s utter disregard for the law. The felon-in-chief’s crime spree started in the very early days of the Administration when they began illegally and unconstitutionally dismantling government agencies and programs, walking away from contracts, firing government employees, and stealing money appropriated for Congress for their own illicit purposes. It’s continued in his walking away from Senate ratified treaties with other nations; taking a billion dollar Qatari airliner for himself; the tearing down of the East Wing and his attempt to build himself a gilded ballroom; the savage assault on the rights and freedoms of people in communities across the country; sending innocent people to foreign gulags; the stealing of the USIP building from Congress, and then naming it after himself; the stealing of private government data about the American people; his attempt to sell out Ukraine and Europe to Putin for direct bribes; the dozens of War Crimes he’s committed in the Caribbean and the Pacific; the hundreds of illegal actions he has taken against the states and private institutions which have been reversed by the courts; the illegal renaming of the Kennedy Center, and his attempt to seize the public golf course adjacent to The Mall for his own venal purposes; the abuse of his pardon power, and the unprecedented corrupt we’ve seen; the levying of illegal tariffs and implementing Mad King “taxation without representation” once again; the ignoring the House subpoena for the Epstein files since July; and now in this outrageous, flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the law he just signed that required him to release the Epstein files by midnight last night (I’m sure I am leaving something out).

Our Declaration of Independence described these lawless actions by an out-of-control leader as “injuries,” “abuses,” and “usurpations.” The entire American project was designed to build a nation where these things could not be possible, again. But here we are; it is not okay; and simply, it is our historic duty as Americans to fight our modern day mad king with far greater ambition and resolve.

Congressional Democrats have been slow to make this historic and dangerous lawlessness central to our conversation with the American people. We have righteously talked about affordability and tariffs, and his assault on our health and health care. But it is time now for our leaders to find a higher gear on his historic lawlessness here at home, and his dangerous betrayal of America and our democracy abroad.

For there is a thru-line to all of this - he is for himself and the oligarchs, and we are the defenders of America and its people. It is all one story.

We’ve seen the beginnings of Congressional Democrats finding a higher gear in recent months. In July the Rep. Robert Garcia’s House Oversight Committee was able to successfully issue a subpoena for the Epstein files that Trump and Bondi were attempting to disappear. The House Litigation Task Force has filed dozens of amicus briefs in critical lawsuits against the lawless regime. In October the Senate, led by Senator Tim Kaine, voted to repeal Trump’s illegal tariffs. In November the entire Congress issued one of its most significant rebukes of a sitting President in US history, and passed a law requiring Trump to release ALL OF THE EPSTEIN files by midnight last night, a law Trump signed. In November six courageous Members of Congress released this video warning against Trump’s lawlessness:

Last week Rep. Haley Stevens launched a campaign to Impeach and remove the lawless and dangerous Bobbie Junior. In a very powerful moment last week Rep. Delia Ramirez promised to hold Kristi Noem accountable for her many, many crimes:

On Thursday Senators Durbin and Duckworth sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice for the illegal actions of DHS/ICE agents in Chicago.

On Thursday Colorado Senators Bennett and Hickenlooper scuttled a Senate funding bill in protest of serial criminal Russell Vought’s illegal attempt to dismantle a world leading, government funded climate lab in Colorado.

This week Governor Newsom launched an extraordinary new project to highlight Trump’s lawlessness and pardoning of criminals:

We are getting there. Millions marching under a No Kings banner. Criminal referrals. Blocking appropriations bills as leverage. Bi-partisan efforts to force the regime to comply with the law. Web sites documenting the crimes and a clear commitment to hold Trump and his fellow criminals accountable (unlike last time). Inspiring videos challenging the military to honor their oath and follow the law, not him.

What else? What else can and should our leaders be doing now? A more formal alliance with the blue states and blue AGs? A federal version of our Resolutions Project and Letter to America? It is clearly time now for us to “Let Facts to be submitted to a candid world” as the Founders did almost 250 years ago…..

Voters are clearly aware of what is happening:

Here is something I wrote a few weeks ago:

one area where there needs to be a very serious internal discussion in the family is what are we going to ask for in the budget negotiations beyond desired levels of funding for critical programs. Should we be requiring

• the resignation of malevolent and lawless Cabinet secretaries and advisors

• the ending of the tariffs

• full support of Ukraine and our European allies

• the roll back of the ICE expansion

• provisions that reign in/expose their corruption and lawlessness, including forcing Treasury to release all the Epstein related financial records they have

• the canceling of the illegal building of the gilded ballroom and the restoration of the East Wing

• what else?

In addition I think it is time now to create a bicameral Congressional team that files criminal referrals to DOJ on every act of the regime’s lawbreaking, so that we are 1) documenting the crimes for future accountability 2) reminding everyone in the corrupt regime that they someday may face dark legal or reputational consequence for what they’ve done.

I think one clear, concrete step would be to turn the House Litigation Take Force into a muscular fully staffed bi-cameral project that works closely with the 23 (soon to be 24) Dem state AGs to forge a comprehensive national strategy to counter Trump’s ongoing and destructive assault on our Constitutional order.

It is time now for our leaders to find that higher gear and become the defenders of America - not just the warriors for working people - that the moment demands.

Now….

Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms - Support Our 2026 Candidates

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• Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $241,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas | Donate to all five state parties in a single contribution | Enjoy my conversations with Alaska Chair Eric Croft, Florida Chair Nikki Fried, Iowa Chair Rita Hart and Texas Chair Kendall Scudder | Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties!

In three new essays (here, here, here) I talk about how one of the ways we win the 2026 midterms is by providing early support to our candidates and parties to allow them to staff up, be loud, define the terms of the debate now, before the inevitable onslaught on AI slop, Russian disinfo, and Trumpian lies funded through bribes and corruption wash across the land. The midterms could be won or lost in these next few months - not in the fall of 2026 - and we need be fighting now with everything we got.

Winning The Big Arguments With Trump, Defend Our Democracy - We have two recommended actions today:

1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Five-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our now five part agenda:

1. Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his current efforts to force Ukraine to surrender

2. Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean and the Pacific - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law

3. Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world

4. Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties by blocking the expansion of ICE; restoring due process for immigrants across the country; vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents; ending the use of the military on our streets and the unlawful occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented corruption; and by forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress, end the rancid cover up, and release all of the Epstein files

5. Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; support and co-sponsor Rep. Haley Stevens’ effort to Impeach and remove Robert Kennedy

2 - Celebrate America, Our Constitution, Our 250th Birthday By Bringing Our Resolutions Project To Your Community - Next year, on July 4th, America celebrates it’s 250th birthday. We need to make this holiday, a celebration of our Declaration Of Independence from a mad king, our day, and not allow it to become his.

One way we can do this is by bringing our Resolutions Project to your community or state. Imagine if by July 4th of next year a large number of towns, counties and states had passed formal resolutions, in the spirit of our Declaration of Independence, defending our Constitution and condemning the “injuries,” “abuses,” and “usurpations” of our mad king. For as our Founders wrote in the Declaration:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

So far Hopium members have introduced or passed resolutions in 85 communities in 23 states. In the coming days we will be convening to discuss how to bring this campaign to more places and start planning to Own The Fourth next year.

Finally, please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder!

Keep working hard all, and I remain proud - so proud - to be in this fight with all of you - Simon