Trump Indicted: Focus Now On Wisconsin, Awfulness of GOP on Full Display

DeSantis Disgraces Himself, Again

Some morning after indictment thoughts:

Trump’s DOJ Initiated The Stormy Daniels Case - The whole GOP attack line - rogue prosecutor in Dem city about an unimportant matter - doesn’t really stand up to any kind of scrutiny:

• New York is Trump’s home town, so should be among most friendly venues in the country for him.

• As Senator McCaskill noted on MSNBC last night the original case, the case against Michael Cohen, was brought by Trump’s DOJ. On these same facts the DOJ marshaled Cohen was convicted and sent him to jail. So Trump’s own DOJ proved there was a crime here.

• After reviewing the evidence provided to them, a grand jury indicted Trump, not Bragg.

• Finally what happened here was no small matter. Trump used illegal funds to pay off Daniels to ensure her silence right before the election, an election he only won by 70,000 votes in 3 states. The crime involved could have very well determined the outcome of the Presidential election. Could the story of Trump cheating on Melania with a porn star while she was home with her new born son have cost him those 70,000 votes? Of course it could have. If it broke the momentum on the HRC email story in the final ten days - even for a day - this revelation could have cost Trump the Presidency. Why else would he have paid the money, and done so surruptiously ? It was a threat to his election.

Of course, Trump has understood that he was never good enough or popular enough to win an American election outright which is why cheating and lying has been so central to his political strategy - seeking and receiving Russian help, illegally paying off Stormy and a Playboy model right before the election, shaking down Zelensky to influence the 2020 election (Impeached), trying to break the post office in 2020, corrupting the census, claiming fraud in 2020 when none existed and of course then trying to illegally overthrown the election on January 6th (did I leave anything out?).

Cheating and gaming the system is a sign of weakness, not strenght or savvy. You don’t cheat if you are going to win. It is also a deep and ongoing betrayal of our country and democracy, among the most authentically un-American acts by an American leader in our history. Cheating in an election is among the Highest of the “High Crimes” in the Constitution, perhaps the Highest of all.

That Republicans continue to minimize Trump’s ongoing betrayal of the country, his manifest illiberalism, continues to be the most dangerous and disapointing part of the whole terrible Trump era. For being so they join his betrayal, become enablers of it - the whole Party is guilty of it. The historic rot, corruption and betrayal goes way way beyond Trump.

Need Everyone To Give to WI Dems, Do 1-2 Call Shifts in Next Few Days - There is little doubt the Trump indictment could rally Republicans to show up in Tuesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election. I am asking everyone who hasn’t given to give now to the WI Dems, and sign up for a remote phonebank shift or two this weekend (you can do so here). You will just be calling Dems to ask them to vote so the calling isn’t hard, and you can do it from your house. This is all about turnout now so these calls matter.

If you want to learn why this race matters so much watch my Tuesday discussion with the dynamic WI Dem Chair Wikler. He makes a very powerful case for the true national importance of this election.

The Republican Response Last Night Was a Vivid Reminder of How Truly Awful and Ridiculous They’ve Become, and Why We Need to Keep Working Hard - I’ve written a lot these last few weeks about how the version of MAGA we are seeing now is the most awful and dangerous we’ve seen. Like the brave people of Israeli it’s time for us do more to stand up to this ongoing threat to our democracy, and call it out for it is. We cannot accept that what we are witnessing is a normal manifestation of politics in a democratic society - it isn’t. And as bad as it is that as the indictment has neared Trump has surged in the polls inside the Republican Primary, the response by Republicans defending him last night, spreading the Soros conspiracy, slandering a duly elected prosecutor, lying about the facts of the case, and just going all out defending deeply indefensible behavior, is another confirmation of how far they’ve fallen and why we need to keep doing the work and Get to 55 in 2024.

The winner, not surprisingly, of the most ridiculous Trump defense came from his increasingly desperate MAGA apprentice, Ron DeSantis. Note two mentions of the Soros conspiracy in a single, short official government statement, and of course the promise of a blatantly un-Constititional act to protect a serial criminal from prosecution:

Bill Kristol @BillKristol

Understanding this is idiotic performative posturing by DeSantis, I'll still point out that DeSantis's threat "not to assist in an extradition request" from NY shows more contempt for the rule of law in the U.S. than Trump himself does, as he seems to intend to turn himself in.

Bill Kristol @BillKristol

Dear @GovRonDeSantis: "A Person charged in any State...who shall...be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction..." -U.S. Constitution, Article IV, section 2

I also have been a bit stunned by the Rs calling what the Grand Jury did in NY '‘un-American” - equal justice under law is perhaps the most quintessentially American thing of all. Trump’s prosecution may be many things but “un-American” isn’t one of them.

Keep working hard, and do help our friends in Wisconsin today - Simon