The Weekly List

This week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a  formal impeachment inquiry of Trump. I’ve always had the sense that when  we were finally on the road to the end of the Trump regime, the weekly  list would ramp up big time. Week 150 has 225 not normal items, 10% more  than any other week — a sign of the bedlam we will face as the truth  slowly drips out, and Trump uses every means possible to distract from  it and remain in power.

The impeachment inquiry, although narrow in  scope, has already turned over and intertwined troubling items from  earlier weekly lists, which like so many in the chaos, were normalized  and forgotten. Although the impeachment inquiry is focused on Trump’s  conversations and actions towards Ukraine, we already have reporting of  similar cover-ups of communications with leaders from Russia and Saudi  Arabia. As the inquiry expands it is also ensnaring others, including  Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, whose repeated efforts  to cover up for Trump are gradually being assembled into a mosaic of  behavior unbefitting his office.

It is remarkable that it took 150 weeks for a  courageous whistleblower to bring Trump’s actions into the light of day,  after all the highly decorated and reputable officials who worked for  the regime at one time or another allowed Trump to operate our  government in the fashion of a mob boss, and left in silence without  speaking out or exposing corruption and criminal activity for the good  of the country.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-150/

As Congress returned to session, House Democrats  had conflicting messages on impeachment. The Trump regime’s Justice  Department seized on the divergence, saying lawmakers were not entitled  to see the full Mueller report or grand jury information — the rationale  used for seeking the documents. The emboldened regime also said it  would pursue criminal charges against Trump opponent former FBI deputy  director Andrew McCabe, and more stories emerged of the regime  threatening agency officials in the National Oceanic and Atmosphere  Administration. The Supreme Court again sided with Trump on an important  anti-asylum decision, and Trump took new steps to roll back protections  against the environment.

The Air Force said it would investigate crews’  stays at Trump’s property in Turnberry, Scotland, and almost 40 visits  were identified. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of  State Mike Pompeo thumbed their noses at the emoluments clause,  headlining events at Trump Hotel DC. A federal appeals court overturned a  lower court ruling that will allow a Emoluments Clause lawsuit to  proceed.

This week, Trump invited the Taliban to Camp  David days before the anniversary of 9/11. The invitation was canceled  and days later he fired his third national security advisor, giving him  the highest turnover in presidential history of senior foreign policy  advisors and NSAs. The Taliban visited Moscow later in the week.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-148/

This week is not the longest list with Congress  out on summer break for the sixth and final week, but it is perhaps the  most alarming in terms of the irreverent authoritarian actions by Trump,  who continues to push boundaries having suffered no consequences for  anything yet. Examples of his power base expanding were reported,  including the Pentagon refusing to cooperate in a probe of spending at  Trump’s Turnberry resort, the Justice Department filing a bogus  anti-trust case against four auto companies cooperating with California  to cut emissions, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Administration backing Trump over its own scientists. Even the  Republican Party continues to fold to Trump, as four states canceled  their GOP 2020 presidential primaries, while those unhappy with the tone  or direction of the party continued to retire rather than speaking out.  Trump is also ramping up attacks on the free press, journalists, and  now, social media companies ahead of the 2020 election.

Reporting this week also signaled continued  concern about Trump’s mental health, and he spent the week fixated on a  false statement made Sunday about Alabama being in the path of Hurricane  Dorian, and continued on the story until Friday. As the economy  weakens, and having no real accomplishments over the summer, Trump was  likened to a bull seeing red, and again spent the week as much of his  summer striking out at familiar and random targets. Court filings this  week indicated Trump has no plans to cooperate with House Democrats when  they return next week.

Meanwhile, news in Europe indicates that  far-right populism there may have peaked as Britain’s new Prime Minister  Boris Johnson suffered setbacks, and far-right Matteo Salvini was  pushed out of Italy’s new government. China acquiesced to protestors’  demands in Hong Kong, following 13 weeks of protests.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-147/

This week, renewed questions surfaced about  Trump’s mental health, as he referred to himself as the “King of  Israel,” the “chosen one,” and “hereby ordered” U.S. companies to change  their dealings with China. Trump created another unprovoked  international crisis with long-time ally Denmark, cancelling a trip he  invited himself on, last minute, over the country’s unwillingness to  discuss selling him Greenland.

As fears of a recession loomed and his approval  rating weakened, Trump went on the attack of the Federal Reserve and its  chairman, Jerome Powell, as well as oddly blaming the media for being  in cahoots with Democrats to hurt the economy ahead of the 2020  election. As conditions worsened, Trump doubled-down on his trade war  with China, claiming presidential power from a 1977 Act which was not  meant to address trade disputes.

More than two dozen mass shooting were thwarted  by law enforcement since the El Paso and Dayton shootings, yet Trump  reversed himself on taking any action on gun control, and tweeted  support of a white supremacist hate group at a rally in Portland.  Trump’s paranoia, erratic behavior and authoritarian maneuvers seemed  magnified by Congress being out of town for their long summer break. The  narrative again this week was dominated by Trump and his never-ending  series of shiny coins and not normal, authoritarian-like actions.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-145/

This week Trump’s beloved economy faltered under  pressure from his trade war with China, a ballooning U.S. budget  deficit, and other global factors. An anxious Trump, realizing a strong  economy is essential to his re-election, lashed out at the Federal  Reserve, while confiding in allies his plan to blame any downturn on Fed  Chair Jerome Powell. Meanwhile his shrinking inner-circle of sycophants  assured him forecasts were wrong.

Trump held two rallies this week, one at a Shell  Chemical plant outside Pittsburgh, where later it was revealed union  employees were mandated to attend — “No scan, no pay” —  and warned not  to protest. At a second rally in New Hampshire, Trump rambled, veering  off script and repeating points he made earlier in the speech.

This week the concerns of an uprising and  mainstreaming of white nationalism continued, while Trump regime  officials continued to make blatantly racist and xenophobic statements,  and defend cruel and inhumane treatment of people of color. The  Republican Party remained silent, instead seeking to downplay white  nationalism and blame Democrats. Trump urged his authoritarian ally in  Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to deny entry for two Muslim  members of Congress — an unprecedented thwart of democracy. Protests  heated up in Russia and Hong Kong.

This week has the most incidents of violence,  attempted violence, and acts of hate inspired by Trump and his rhetoric  since I started keeping track. The week started with two deadly mass  shootings — one directly linked to the language used by Trump and Fox  News — and rather invoking the role of consoler, Trump instead further  stoked division and hate. What many may have missed in Week 143 is the  amount of close calls by other white men — seemingly activated by  Trump’s rhetoric and gaslighting on white supremacy and hate — that  could have led to even more bloodshed. Or the remnants of racism and  xenophobia that Trump has brought into the mainstream with his actions  and words.

The Republican Party saw further defections of  House members retiring in 2020, but still lawmakers refused, with few  exceptions, to condemn Trump’s mishandling of the mass shootings, his  continuing divisiveness and hate, or his blocking of the FBI and other  agencies’ attempts to confront domestic terrorism carried out by white  supremacists. This week once again there was a bevy of resignations from  key roles, as power continues to consolidate into the hands of Trump  and his band of sycophants. A mass raid in Mississippi, the largest in  U.S. history, produced images of children crying as their parents were  taken by ICE agents from places of work. Again, not a peep from the  Republican Party.

This week House Democrats quietly escalated what  appears to be the start of a stealth impeachment inquiry, suing to have  former White House counsel Don McGahn appear for public testimony.  While Congress is away for six weeks — a noticeable hiatus given Trump’s  now unfettered control of the narrative and acting seemingly  unchallenged — court cases filed by House panels continued to move  forward.

The week closed with the shocking revelation  that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell, allegedly by  suicide, the day after court documents were unsealed, revealing other  powerful men involved in his ring of sex trafficking and rape of girls.  Conspiracy theories, some fanned by Russian-backed bots, exploded  shortly after, seeking to distract from the strange occurrence of  Epstein’s death.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-143/

This week started with Trump’s attacks on Black  leader House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings, whose panel has  several ongoing investigations targeting Trump and his family. Trump  used dehumanizing language like “rats” and “infest” to disparage  Cummings’ home district of Baltimore, then broadened his attack during  the week to other prominent Black men including Al Sharpton, who he  called a “con man” and CNN host Don Lemon who he called “dumb.” Trump  refused to back off, escalating his racist attacks — gaslighting the  country that he is not the racist, but Cummings is — as news of  hate-based shootings and instances of overt racism spread in an anxious  and increasingly divided country.

A new label for Senate Majority Leader Mitch  McConnell — Moscow Mitch — struck a nerve with the leader, and as the  media and Democrats questioned his unwillingness to secure the country’s  election, his other ties to Russia came under scrutiny. Headwinds for  impeachment continued post Mueller’s testimony as over half the House  Democrats formally called for the start of an impeachment inquiry, while  Trump continued to deny Russia interference happened or is happening  now. Trump pushed out the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats,  one of the few remaining voices who stood up to Trump on foreign policy,  and perhaps the last non-partisan stop-gap to future Russia  interference.

The future of the Republican Party came into  question this week, as Rep. Will Hurd, the only Black American member of  the House for the GOP, became the ninth Republican to say he will not  seek re-election in 2020. Among the nine are also two of the 13 GOP  women, including Rep. Susan Brooks, who was meant to recruit more women  to run.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-142/

This week Robert Mueller testified before the  House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees about his 448 page report.  The testimony was the first glimpse many Americans had of its findings,  especially Mueller’s stark warnings on Russia’s past and ongoing  interference, and Trump’s and other regime members’ financial and other  conflicts. While the media quibbled over whether Mueller was  made-for-television articulate, the House Judiciary Committee took the  first steps to effectively start an impeachment investigation, as over  100 House members have now come out in favor of impeachment. Despite  testimony by Mueller and FBI director Christopher Wray, as well as a  bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee sounding alarms about Russia’s  ongoing efforts at election interference, Senate Majority Leader Mitch  McConnell continued to halt efforts by Congress to counter Russian  meddling.

Troubling signs of eroding norms and Trump  seizing power at an alarming rate continued. Trump ramped up attacks on  the media, calling them “fake” and “the enemy of the people,” and saying  the press has lost all credibility. Trump continued his diatribe on the  Federal Reserve and targeted U.S. companies with his ire. A disturbing  Supreme Court ruling allowed Trump to take funds from the Pentagon to  build his wall, while he continued to push to end asylum and ramp up  rhetoric on deportation — further fanning the flames of “us” versus  “them” in America.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-141/

This week, in a shocking display of racism,  Trump tweeted that four congresswomen of color should “go back” to the  countries they came from. Amid Republican silence, rather than backing  off, Trump ramped up his attacks, leading to a mid-week rally where his  supporters chanted “send them back.” At first Trump seemed to distance  himself from his supporters’ chants, but the next day doubled-down,  calling the supporters “incredible patriots,” while escalating his  attacks on the congresswomen further. Still, by week’s end, no  Republicans publicly criticized Trump, rather backing him or seeking to  redirect his racist comments to a discussion of political ideology.

This week as the House voted to condemn Trump’s  racist tweet, and to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce  Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt on the citizenship  question — yet both votes were symbolic gestures, having no real impact.  Questions were raised by members of Congress about Barr’s involvement  with dismissing charges against the police officer who allegedly  strangled Eric Garner to death, and in ending the Southern District of  New York’s investigation into campaign finance violations over  hush-money payments to silence two women. The House also entertained an  impeachment resolution from Rep. Al Green, which 95 House Democrats  voted to advance — the highest level of support so far — as Robert  Mueller prepares to testify next week.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-140/