How Trump Fumbled the Ball

Publisher's Roundup, Week 4

Dear Contrarians,

This was the week an agonizing choice faced our nation…how to choose between the hated Eagles (hey, they beat my hometown Rams and my adopted hometown Commanders) and the overdog: the infuriatingly successful Chiefs.

Fortunately, someone’s gotta lose—which brings me to Trump’s week. He and his administration were pummeled in the courts of law and the court of public opinion. The pro-democracy coalition of unions, democracy groups, state AG’s and others won major successes every day of the week ranging from permanently enjoining Trump’s illegal rewrite of the Constitution’s citizenship provisions to staying his “fork in the road” federal firing scam, and much, much more.

I myself helped score two of those court orders as chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund. We opened the week on Monday with the first action seeking to block Elon Musk and his White House DOGE team from invading Treasury’s systems, and we secured a court order doing just that with our wonderful colleagues at the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees, the Service Employees International Union, and Public Citizen Litigation Group.

We at SDDF closed the week by helping secure another order—this time forbidding the Trump administration from releasing the names of thousands of FBI personnel who worked the Jan. 6 prosecutions. We rushed to court on Thursday to prevent the danger of that doxxing, including the risk of retribution from the 1600 insurrectionists that Trump pardoned or commuted and their ilk. By Friday, we had an order in place to prevent that, again with great colleagues like Mark Zaid, Margaret Donovan, Chris Mattei, Pam Keith and the FBI agents and staff.

Those wins may explain Trump’s backhanded compliment to me at the end of the week.

And we covered it all at The Contrarian!

Trump Fought the Law and the Law Won

*On Sunday, as the Trump administration threats against the FBI and DOJ were ramping up, Andrew Weissman, Jen Rubin, and I broke down what was coming from Trump and the legal embarrassment he would face. Such a serious subject, but we had to laugh a bit at the lunacy of it all.

*As soon as news broke that the Trump administration had indeed fired top prosecutors at the Department of Justice who worked on January 6 cases. Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen and I wrote on how Trump’s FBI Purge Puts Vengeance Above the Law.

*When Trump’s legal losses mounted, leading to record low poll numbers, Jen interviewed me to discuss Trump’s flooding the zone—and the fine showing of “Shock and Awe” our democracy is putting up in response, including my cases and those of many others.

*Former US Attorney Barb McQuade pulled no punches in addressing Trump’s sham of an interim US Attorney in DC, Ed Martin: Amateur hour at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

*Former prosecutor Mimi Rocah wrote on the corrupt pressure campaign to get SDNY to Drop Its Case Against Mayor Eric Adams, digging into why Trump DOJ officials might drop the charges at any moment.

*Jen’s weekly “Word or Phrase We Could Do Without” took a hard look at Trump’s transactions with media giants, which are so far from good faith “settlements” that the word has lost its meaning.

Musk and the DOGE Bags

Trump outsourced governing to Musk while he pursued his real interest: chairing the Kennedy Center Board so that he can see Broadway road companies for free. No publication in America had more incisive analysis and opinion about MOTUS–the Musk of the US–this week than The Contrarian. And what a foul aroma it was…

*Members of Congress took to the streets to protest alongside citizens when the news broke about Musk’s attempt to shutter USAID. Jen immediately alerted us to what, in the words of Rep. Jamie Raskin, amounted to a “Constitutional Crisis.”

*We published video field reporting from the public protests outside the Treasury Department, in which thousands of Americans rallied peacefully but adamantly, voicing their outrage. Organized by Indivisible, the crowd demanded action against Musk’s Trump-enabled power grab.

*Jen spoke with Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible about the demands of the thousands of Americans outraged at Elon Musk being handed the keys to the Executive Branch.

*Jen interviewed former Rep. Tom Malinowski to understand the gravity of the outrageous conduct at the Treasury, what’s at stake—and potential solutions. “Nothing’s ever over,” he reassured us.

*Jen also talked about Musk’s power grab and how to fight it (including at a USAID) with both Representative Dan Goldman and Senator Andy Kim.

*Alex Aronson, Executive Director of Court Accountability Action, wrote It’s the Corruption, Stupid, a sharp column noting that polls suggest this could all work against the billionaire blitzkrieg– as long as Democrats have the spines to back it up.

*Political analyst Norm Ornstein (known around here as Norm the Elder) looked through a broader lens in Fighting the Putsch, instructing Democrats in government on how they can use the tools of bureaucracy as wrenches in the plans of Trump, Musk, and their GOP cultists in Congress.

*Kim Lane Scheppele expanded the aperture even further, connecting the dots of how Elon and his “Muskovites” are depriving our federal institutions of the equivalent of oxygen. This must-read comes from a contributor who has experienced autocracy firsthand abroad and can recognize the encroaching threat back home.

*Democracy is Fighting Back. If activists can push elected Democrats into action, the Musk-Trump steamroller may grind to a halt. After all, for all the chaos, excess, lawlessness, vilifying, and excuse-making you’ve read about above, Trump has done absolutely nothing to improve the lives of Americans, Rubin wrote.

More Heroes and Villains of the Week

*Jen Rubin interviewed Maya Wiley on the administration’s attempt to undermine DEI initiatives and other civil rights programs. Wiley, the President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, has dedicated her life to the fights for justice, equality, and fairness.

*Jen Rubin also used a searing daily column to interrogate whether or not we collectively believe in our own Declaration of Independence, as the mainstreaming of White Christian Nationalism betrays that most foundational tenet: “all men are created equal.”

*Jen Rubin and Robert P. Jones, president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), looked at a small but crucial subsection of our society and discussed the latest results of PRRI’s survey on Christian Nationalism in the U.S. and its implications on our democracy.

*Olivia Julianna spoke on behalf of a younger generation, offering the reality check that, for citizens in their twenties, Trump’s regime isn’t unprecedented—it’s in fact the only American life they’ve ever known.

*Meanwhile, the president’s acts of senseless cruelty continued. On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, he banned transgender girls and women from school sports. It’s bigotry or bust for the Trump administration, writes Shalise Manza Young.

*Ilan Goldenberg wrote on how Netanyahu’s visit to DC this week was the culmination of a 15-year strategy that has fundamentally reshaped the U.S.-Israel alliance from one undergirded by bipartisan unity to one bound by his and Trump’s right-wing politics.

Sacking The Economy— and Saving It

Not content to terrorize millions and fail in court, Trump also set out to wreck our bank accounts. Fortunately countervailing forces met him there and on democracy generally, led by labor.

*Our brilliant friend Michael Podhorzer, former political director and assistant to the president for strategic research for the AFL-CIO, wrote about the single most proven–yet underdiscussed–constraint on oligarchy and autocracy: unions.

*Harvard economist Jason Furman explained how Trump’s trade war promises to tax more than consumers.

*Jen broke down how the Trump-initiated trade war and tariffs—oops, I mean consumer taxes—affect ordinary Americans.

*That was echoed by Jared Bernstein’s explanation on why Trump’s Trade War Is Worse than You Think. Passing tariff costs onto consumers will only lead to deeper economic pain.

*On the other hand, Trump’s a notorious phony. Was anyone surprised that the tariffs placed on Canada and Mexico were postponed? He must have hate-read Jason, Jen, and Jared!

*Trump’s antics require us to apologize to our neighbors—and who better to do that than George Conway, who offered a virtuosic apology to Canada, putting blame where it’s due and gifting us with a musical number et un peu de Français. Essential viewing. Let us know if he should visit the Mexican Embassy next week.

*And we closed out on Friday with Jen’s Undaunted figure of the week: labor unions!

The Big Game

Well, the other big game. I’m putting aside the contest for the future of America for a few hours (yes, really), whipping up some ever more expensive deviled eggs and guacamole for our TV tailgate and settling in with football, family, and friends. Today, the country turns to a game so elevated in American culture that we distinguish it with Roman numerals. For many, it’s an event of patriotism and pride; for others, it’s an afternoon to hang out and enjoy ads; for still others, it’s a total waste of time for an entire country!

But for basically anybody, it’s an exceptional occasion to test out a new cookie recipe. In celebration of all of that, we offered:

*A column of reverence for the enduring spirit of New Orleans by Mitch Landrieu;

*Some words of irreverence from The Contrarian’s own Meghan Houser

*A smashing recipe for Super Bowl brittle from Marissa Rothkopf. As she notes, “The spread feels more American than the game itself.”

Finally, my Publisher’s Roundup would never be complete without our Contrarian Pet of the Week. This week features Joyce Vance’s lovely chicken, Leeda. Her favorite part of the Superbowl is the Puppy Bowl because she loves her doggie friend, Bella. Their tailgate party is unmatched.

Here’s hoping for a great game that doesn’t devote too much camera time to any felonious celebrity in attendance. I’m betting the winning team notches more points than he has convictions—that would be a high-scoring game!

Warmly,

Norm