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/