crime

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – It’s possible that he’ll be in prison. Or perhaps, because of poll numbers that fall as trial dates approach, the Republican Party won’t end up nominating the current frontrunner as their presidential candidate in 2024. And, of course, in the general election, despite its lukewarm attitude toward Joe Biden, […]

Constitution

Trump Isn’t too Big to Jail — if we are a Nation of Laws

OtherWords

By Mitchell Zimmerman The day after Donald Trump was arraigned for his alleged effort to steal the 2020 election, he posted a naked threat: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” That followed his federal indictment. After he was indicted in Georgia, Trump openly warned a witness not to testify. “I am reading […]

Bill of Rights

Trump’s Indictment for Jan. 6: Revisiting “Psychopathocracy”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A Grand Jury empaneled by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has issued an indictment (full text here) against Donald John Trump on four counts, Smith delivered a statement, saying, “Today, an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters, and conspiring […]

Constitution

Hollow Men: The Blowhards of Jan. 6 were Yellow-Bellied Cowards

Juan Cole

Reprinted in commemoration of Brian Sicknick and other victims of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The damning Jan. 6 public hearings revealed a plethora of historical detail, but they also shed light on character. Some of these revelations were profiles in pusillanimity. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of the slimiest […]

Colonialism

Trump joins Aaron Burr and Jefferson Davis as Former High Office-Holder Investigated for Sedition

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, and Spencer S. Hsu at the Washington Post got the scoop that the Department of Justice has for some time been investigating Donald John Trump for possible charges in connection with his campaign to overturn the 2020 election results. (I call him Donald […]

Authoritarianism

Trump knew of Capitol Breach when he Tweeted against Pence; had Conspired Criminally with Eastman: Jan 6 Committee

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The January 6 Select Committee in the House of Representatives showed its hand for the first time on Wednesday, alleging in a court filing that Donald J. Trump and attorney John Eastman formed a criminal conspiracy for the purpose of overthrowing the elected government of the United States. The Committee […]

Bill of Rights

Yes, Speech can Incite Violence: What Decades of Research Show about Trump’s Impeachment Trial

The Conversation

By Kurt Braddock | – Senators, acting in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump that begins on Feb. 9, will soon have to decide whether to convict the former president for inciting a deadly, violent insurrection at the Capitol building on Jan. 6. A majority of House members, including 10 Republicans, took the […]

Congress

Supreme Court Slaps down Trump’s Claim of Immunity from Grand Jury Subpoena

The Conversation

By Stanley M. Brand | – In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that President Donald Trump has no immunity, by virtue of being president, from a state grand jury subpoena for his business and tax records in a criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney. “[N]o citizen, not even the president, is […]

Constitution

War Criminal in the White House

Dan Dinello

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment) – With the drone missile assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, President Trump launched a reckless criminal act of state terror designed to provoke a war. Iran de-escalated the situation as of Wednesday — refusing to engage in a retaliatory cycle of violent escalation while demonstrating their military capability. Trump […]