The Democracy Index

February 28, 2025

A Note from Joyce: Hi Friends. I’m off this week, picking up a new puppy after we lost our beloved Boxer last fall. There will be pictures in my newsletter, Civil Discourse! But I’m leaving you in very capable hands. My close friend and former DOJ colleague, Julie Zebrak, who has been instrumental in getting the Democracy Index off the ground is filling in during this very important week. Like always, we aim to get you the information you need the most in a concise form.

The parallels between Donald J. Trump and the characters in Hollywood films glorifying the mob have been a long-running theme of his public and political life. It’s not just his history with the underworld as a real-estate developer. It’s how we now know he runs his organizations—first, The Trump Organization, and now, the United States of America.

Think back to your favorite organized crime films. They feature theatrical displays of obedience and sycophancy, along with economic grift.

This week’s Cabinet meeting was a textbook example of the former. Ahead of the meeting, the President set the tone, posting on Truth Social, “ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON. The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!” At the meeting, Trump prompted the group to signal their deference to Musk, “Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If you are, we’ll throw him out of here.” With that, the Cabinet began a round of applause. Musk then stood to address the room, towering over the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense, and the other Cabinet officials, who strained their necks to watch the richest man in the world field questions from the press. On Thursday, Trump elevated Musk, a “Special government employee” above the duly appointed-and-confirmed Cabinet officials, for all the world to see.

That’s what we saw in broad daylight, in front of the cameras.

Behind the scenes is where the corrupt dealings take place, where self-dealing and conflicts of interest have become standard operating procedure. In a jaw-dropping indication of grift, Trump’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reportedly plans to cancel a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to purportedly upgrade air traffic control communications systems by handing that lucrative contract over to Musk’s Starlink (a SpaceX technology). Executives at Musk’s X are also reportedly pressuring an advertising agency, Interpublic Group, to have its clients purchase more advertising on the social media platform; Interpublic took these comments as threats to their pending $13 billion merger with another ad agency. Not to be outdone, Trump used the Oval Office this week to broker negotiations between rival golf leagues, the PGA and LIV Golf (which he called “much more complicated” than the Russia-Ukraine peace talks). Trump’s golf courses will benefit from any deal he secures.

In real time, we are watching as Trump and Musk turn the U.S. government into a piggy bank for billionaires, with the GOP Congress’ tacit consent. Less obvious, however, is their affinity for lining up what appear to be protection rackets. All of which undermine the rule of law.

Take Ukraine. As of this week, we see that America’s “protection” of Ukraine now hinges, in part, on a mineral deal with the besieged country. When asked why Ukraine would agree to such a deal, Trump answered that it would give Ukraine “350 billion and lots of equipment, military equipment, and the right to fight on.” Trump concedes that he will only ensure Ukraine’s security in order to get a piece of the action. And while at first glance, Trump securing U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral repositories might not seem like a bad approach, extorting Ukraine and undermining an ally who has been under siege is not typically how the U.S. treats its friends.

The protection racket approach may be playing here out at home, as well. The pardons of the January 6 defendants on day one of the Administration and the Department of Justice’s recent move seeking dismissal of the Eric Adams prosecution certainly look like favors curried. What we don’t know yet is whether there will be a collection date in the future.

To truly flex his heft, Trump will need his Roy Cohn(s). That’s where Acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin came in this week, proving his loyalty by referring to himself and his office on X as President Trumps’ [sic] lawyers. And that’s why Attorney General Pam Bondi’s memo to Department of Justice lawyers to “vigorously defend[ing] presidential policies and actions” caused a stir within the legal community.

It’s clear that Trump and his team are working hard to remove the government attorneys who are sticklers for rules, and instead seek to install supine lawyers whose first answer is “yes.” Toward that end, last Friday evening, the President’s disregard for the rule of law took a decidedly ominous turn when former Fox weekend host-turned-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissed the Pentagon’s top lawyers — the Army, Navy, and Air Force JAGs. What may have seemed like another slew of dramatic firings upon further reflection is actually much more chilling, as Joyce Vance and Steve Vladeck explained. Hegseth himself said on Sunday that he did not want lawyers who would act as “roadblocks” to decisions he or his commanders made. Hegseth’s disdain for these lawyers is not new; he’s referred to them as “jagoffs,” and criticized the Geneva conventions.

In another disquieting development, Trump’s intent to strongarm the lawyers appears to have extended outside of the federal government and into private practice. On Tuesday, Trump, in a stunning act of retribution, signed a White House memo targeting a private attorney by name and a private law firm who had been pro bono representing former DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith. Trump directed agencies “to suspend any active security clearances held by [Jack Smith’s attorney] and all members, partners, and employees of Covington & Burling.” Stripping Smith’s personal lawyers of the tools – in this case, security clearances – they need to effectively and zealously represent their client is a dangerous effort to intimidate all lawyers not to take on clients whose interests run contrary to Trump’s. Trump is, as they say, sending a message. Our colleague Steve Vladeck at The Contrarian did an excellent job explaining why this particular act sent shockwaves through the legal community.

Lawyers in the judiciary do not get a free pass, either. There’s been a notable uptick in members of the GOP, including Elon Musk and those that should know better like Senator Mike Lee (a former Supreme Court clerk himself), calling for the impeachment of judges whose rulings run counter to the Administration’s goals. That’s not surprising given a slew of high profile court rulings reigning DOGE and the President in this week (including wins by a team of attorneys which includes The Contrarian’s own Norm Eisen). The GOP’s frustration with the judiciary does not, however, excuse what Balls and Strikes Editor-in-Chief Jay Willis observed as increasingly racist attacks, and what Joyce Vance made clear in Civil Discourse, “Calling for judges to be impeached just because you don’t like their decisions is nothing short of anti-constitutional.”

You’ll notice that almost everything highlighted in this week’s issue of The Democracy Index is linked to a news source. In the United States, we have taken for granted that we have a free press to keep us informed and to ferret out wrongdoing, corruption, and the truth. That is why we are keeping an eye on how the erosion of the rule of law and other anti-democratic maneuvers go hand-in-hand with the Trump Administration’s strikes against the free press and First Amendment. In various ways, the White House and Cabinet have begun to sever communication with the public, warn media outlets against critical coverage, and limit our access to the truth:

• The White House announced it will determine the press pool that will have direct access to the president. The White House press pool has traditionally been chosen by the White House Correspondents' Association, an independent group of journalists dedicated to “free press and robust coverage of the presidency.”

• Several media outlets, including Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post, have begun to self-censor or may even settle litigation to remain in the White House’s good graces.

• The FDA canceled a scheduled public meeting of vaccine experts to determine which flu strains to include in next year’s flu vaccine. The move will impact timing of flu vaccine production, risking increased flu hospitalizations and deaths next year.

• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed the measles outbreak plaguing the U.S. saying that such outbreaks are “not unusual” — a claim health experts say is not true, and is the latest in a pattern of RFK Jr.’s misleading statements about measles. SInce January, Texas has reported 100 measles cases in under-vaccinated communities, and an unvaccinated child died this week. The situation only promises to get worse.

• Elon Musk, noting DOGE’s move-fast-and-break-things ethos, acknowledged that DOGE had accidentally canceled Ebola prevention. He promised it was quickly restored. But that is not true.

While it’s hard enough to stomach the combination of malevolence and incompetence endangering our democracy and the rule of law, we must insist on and seek out truthful reporting. That’s why the press, including independent media outlets like The Contrarian, is so important. Access to the truth and the ability to express dissent are fundamental to a healthy democracy and are some of the strongest bulwarks we have against a Gangster Government.

***Friday in the Oval Office, Trump cautioned President Zelenskyy that “I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy.” Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance admonished Zelenskyy for not being grateful enough and not showing them the necessary respect. Needless to say, no deal was reached over minerals—as Trump and Vance have now firmly and performatively positioned the United States in Russia’s camp.