The Weekly List

This week, unchecked by checks and balances,  Trump continued his retaliation tour, unabashedly showcasing his will to  control the Justice Department. After career prosecutors made  recommendations for sentencing for his longtime associate Roger Stone,  which were overridden by the DOJ, a mass exodus ensued, nicknamed the  ‘Tuesday massacre’ — a nomenclature now familiar in the era of Trump.  Feeling unshackled, Trump publicly criticized prosecutors, judges, and  even jurors, seeming to openly seize the DOJ as a department under his  control, without a hint of independence.

Trump also flexed his political will by  deploying the Department of Homeland Security to impose measures on  so-called sanctuary cities, while inviting the New York governor to the  White House, after suggesting in a tweet that the state should terminate  lawsuits against him and his businesses in exchange for reopening  Global Entry to New York citizens. Trump continued to threaten his  perceived political enemies and the so-called deep state with  retribution for his grievances despite aides’ attempts to calm him down.

Senators, now fully recognizing Trump had only  been further empowered by their impeachment acquittal, reigned in his  ability to strike Iran, and expressed odd surprise that this was indeed  the outcome of their lapse in holding Trump accountable. Without  consequences for his actions, the public increasingly worried about what  an unbridled Trump will do next.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-170/

This was one of the most frightening weeks, as  Trump seized on his impeachment acquittal to retaliate against his  perceived enemies. Within 48 hours, Trump’s Department of Homeland  Security suspended the Global Entry program for New York residents,  Trump’s Treasury Department turned over confidential records on Hunter  Biden to Senate Republicans opening investigations at his behest, and  Trump ousted Alexander Vindman and his twin brother from the National  Security Council and recalled Gordon Sondland from his post as U.S.  ambassador to the European Union.

The only brakes on Trump’s momentum in seizing  power were a visual rebuke by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who ripped up  Trump’s State of the Union speech on national television while standing  behind him, and Sen. Mitt Romney voting to convict Trump of abuse of  power, the first senator in U.S. history to vote to remove from office a  president from the same party, denying Trump a strictly partisan vote.

Trump closed the week with an event at the East  Room in the White House, where he openly praised only those who had  stood unequivocally by him, while promising revenge against his enemies,  including Pelosi, Romney, and a long list of others, including  institutions like the FBI.

Some of us have been calling out Trump’s  authoritarian impulses since November 2016. This week the rest of the  country not already there, caught up!

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-169/

This week, despite explosive new allegations  implicating Trump in leaked portions of the manuscript for John Bolton’s  upcoming book, the Senate voted 51–49 on Friday not to call witnesses,  all but ensuring Trump will be acquitted in the impeachment trial. This  marks the first time in U.S. history that an impeachment trial will  occur with no witnesses. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate  Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asserted an acquittal without witnesses  and documents would be meaningless.

The gravity of what many viewed as a cover-up  was summarized by presidential historian Jon Meacham, who noted after  the Senate vote, “Trump may well have now become the most powerful  president in American history,” and he is “functionally a monarch at  this point.” Meacham added, “think about the long term implications of  having a president who is above the law.”

In fact, Trump’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz actually  asserted Trump’s actions of seeking foreign help were in the U.S.  interest, before reversing himself and blaming the media for  misinterpreting his words. The rest of Trump’s legal team danced around  questions and obfuscated the truth, leading Pelosi to call on them to be  disbarred. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued his battle with  NPR, kicking one of their reporters off his plane, while Trump  congratulated him for verbally attacking reporter Mary Louise Kelly,  saying, “You did a good job on her.”

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-168/

This week the Senate impeachment trial of Donald  J. Trump began, even as evidence continued to trickle out. House  Democrat impeachment managers made their case for the two articles over  three days, laying out their argument with an intricate presentation and  appealing to Republicans’ better angels to put partisanship aside for  the sake of preserving our fragile democracy. As the week came to a  close, it appeared Senate Republicans were unwilling to do so.

The atmosphere of the largely obfuscated Senate  chamber was described as that of an elementary school classroom, with  Senate Republicans joking and, at times, leaving the chamber in  violation of Senate rules while Democrats were speaking. It was unclear  by week’s end if Republicans would heed the polling which consistently  showed the overwhelming majority of Americans wanted to hear from  first-hand witnesses.

At the start of the trial, Trump visited Davos,  Switzerland for the World Economic Forum as staffers sought to portray  him as a hard working president above the fray; but as would be typical  with Trump’s trips abroad, he quickly devolved into making outlandish  statements and insulting U.S. allies. On Wednesday, as he returned to  Washington, Trump was sending a record volume of tweets and fuming over  impeachment and that his defense would be presenting on Saturday, the  “death valley” of television ratings.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-167/

This week the articles of impeachment were  transmitted to the Senate, and the impeachment trial formally began.  Senators were sworn in, but it was unclear if they planned to follow the  oath they swore to deliver impartial justice.

This week the House released hundreds of pages  of documents provided by Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani.  Parnas made stunning disclosures in MSNBC and CNN interviews of other  Trump regime members being “in the loop” on Trump’s plan to withhold aid  from Ukraine pending the announcement of investigations, including Vice  President Mike Pence, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and many  others.

As the Senate trial was about to begin, the  nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found Trump had violated  the law by withholding Ukraine aid. The government of Ukraine also  announced it would open a criminal investigation into Trump regime  members’ alleged surveillance of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Maria  Yovanovitch disclosed in the Parnas documents, while Secretary of State  Mike Pompeo skipped scheduled Congressional hearings on Iran, and  largely hid from the media for the balance of the week.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-166/

This week as the country was on the brink of war  with Iran, we stood alone, with the Trump regime having neglected to  consult with our allies in Europe or the region. Reporting indicated the  decision to strike that precipitated the latest crisis was made by  Trump and Trump alone, amid his shrinking circle of less experienced but  more compliant national security experts. After Iran retaliated, Trump  seemed flat-footed, saying he would address the country that night, then  backing off. The next morning he addressed the nation in a speech which  he seemed to struggle to deliver, full of lies and misinformation, and  which clarified little on strategy or the reason for the escalation. One  of the numerous unintended consequences of the escalation was a downed  Ukrainian Air plane, with 176 passengers killed over Tehran in the fog  of war.

The basis for the strike was in dispute during  the week, as the regime failed to provide Congress or the American  people with information to back their ever-changing rationale. By the  end of the week, the regime indicated it was threats to U.S. embassies  that led to the strike, with Trump specifying, without providing  evidence, four embassies in total. Reporting also indicated there was  another planned strike the day Soleimani was killed, targeting a senior  Iranian military official in Yemen, that failed — indicating a broader  attack may have been underway, and further muddying the regime’s account  of events.

This week former National Security Advisor John  Bolton offered to testify in the Senate impeachment trial, which Trump  later said he would likely block, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  scheduled a vote to send the articles to the Senate. Republicans  continued to largely stand behind Trump, even as he nearly brought the  country to war without reason, and as the impeachment trial is set to  get underway.

Read the full list: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-165/

Throughout my time keeping the list, I have been  concerned that since Trump would do anything to stay in power, when he  felt he was losing his grip, we risked him taking extraordinary actions.  This week, Trump assassinated Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani — a  decision he made while vacationing in Mar-a-Lago, and unilaterally,  without seeking approval or consulting with Congressional leaders.

As a backdrop, this week additional reporting  and documents released under Freedom of Information Act requests painted  a far more dire picture for Trump heading into a Senate impeachment  trial. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued to hold the articles of  impeachment, the mood seemed to shift with Senate Majority Leader Mitch  McConnell trying to defend his statements about pre-judging the matter  and his actions of moving in lock-step with the White House.

This week the country was again rocked by an  anti-Semitic attack, amid a massive increase of hate crimes in U.S.  major cities. Trump remained passive on the rise of hatred of all kinds,  which continued to escalate to record levels in 2019.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-164/

This was the quietest week in months as Congress left Washington for a  two-week holiday break. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to  transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate, Trump spent the week  stewing and repeatedly attacking her on Twitter and in his limited  public appearances. Sen. Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican  Senator to speak out against Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s handling  of the impeachment trial, saying she was “disturbed” by his “total  coordination” with the White House.

Trump spent the week at Mar-a-Lago, removed from  White House staffers and consumed with airing his personal grievances  and amplifying far-right conspiracy theorists. He and his allies  attacked Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for cutting out his cameo  appearance in a Christmas showing of “Home Alone 2.” Trump also spent  much of his days quoting hosts and guests on Fox News, and retweeting  allies and conspiracy theorists.

This week the media did a bit of reckoning on its coverage of Trump, after Rolling Stone published an interview of “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, in which he  admitted he has been “naive” in his coverage and complicit in the  spread of disinformation. Evangelical leaders continued their online  battle over whether Trump’s moral unfitness was grounds for his removal.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-163/

This week, the House Judiciary Committee debated  and voted to approve two articles of impeachment against Donald J.  Trump, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. After two fiery  days of debate, the panel took a somber vote Friday, marking the fourth  time in U.S. history the Judiciary passed articles of impeachment.  Remarkably, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on Fox News the night  prior, saying he was in “total coordination” with the White House, and  there was “zero chance” Trump would be removed from office.

On the same day Democratic House leadership  announced the House would move forward on impeachment, Trump hosted  Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office, closed to  U.S. press. Notably, the day prior, Ukrainian President Volodymyr  Zelensky, who has yet to be invited to the White House, met with Russian  President Vladimir Putin in Paris, without Trump issuing any sort of  statement or tweet in support of Ukraine.

This week the Justice Department Inspector  General report was released, and although IG Mike Horowitz found no  political bias and said the FBI was justified in opening its  investigation, Trump and Attorney General William Barr both publicly  disparaged the report. Former AG Eric Holder called on Barr to step  down.

With impeachment in full gear, Trump, who fears  the stain on his legacy, while portraying strength, has taken to binge  tweeting — on one day alone tweeting or retweeting 123 times. The full  House will vote on impeachment next Wednesday, and as the week came to a  close, only one moderate House Democrat had defected.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-161/