The Weekly List

This week Trump’s strange behavior towards  Russia drew renewed concern as he advocated for adding Russia back at  the Group of Seven summit in France, then held up military aid to  Ukraine. A vacated seat unfilled by Trump at the Federal Elections  Commission left the election watchdog group without a quorum ahead of  the 2020 election, while voting irregularities were reported this week  in Mississippi and Georgia. Fresh signs of Trump’s authoritarian bent went  unchecked, as reporting surfaced a loose network of his allies seeking  to discredit journalists, and Trump offering pardons to aides if they  break the law in fast-tracking his wall ahead of 2020. Concerns of a  pending recession heightened, as Trump’s trade war with China continued  to escalate, and for the first time while Trump has been in office, more  Americans think the economy is getting worse than better. This week there was public outcry as the regime  continued to take steps to limit immigration, while troubling conditions  at detention centers persisted, and the regime is considering DNA  testing of migrants. As Hurricane Dorian headed towards Florida, for the  second time in two weeks, Trump canceled a scheduled trip to visit  European allies, supposedly to stay back and monitor the storm, but  instead spent Saturday golfing. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-146/

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/

This is the longest week so far, and it felt  that way. The chaos of our lives has obfuscated the damage and extremes  under Trump, as each week blurs into the next week’s crises and  unprecedented actions. This week’s turmoil centered on Jeffrey Epstein’s  arrest and the resignation of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, the 13th  Cabinet member to depart the regime — next week there will certainly be  new plot lines to engage and exhaust the American people. This week the Democrats seemed to take a step  back, amid party infighting. Notably, the Trump regime continues to  successfully stonewall all the House efforts at accountability, and  seemingly Democratic leadership is taking a slight uptick in Trump  popularity as a rationale to back off in tone, while in actuality, the  lack of action by the Democrats has normalized the previously  unthinkable of accepting foreign help and obstructing justice. While the  country eagerly awaited Robert Mueller’s testimony on July 17, that too  evaporated and became a moving target. Trump careened from one rage to another this  week, but notably, he is largely getting his way. When things go against  him, he finds new ways to re-center and seize the narrative. His  central message of immigration continues to be front and center and Fox  News seized on the theme of “these are not our children” to dull the  news on conditions at detention centers, as deportation raids were set  to start. Trump continued to repeat his themes that the media is “the  enemy of the people,” that he will serve more than two terms, and that  Democrats are enabling millions of “illegal aliens” to vote — all  setting the stage for an unpredictable 2020 election. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-139/

This week, two years after visiting France for  Bastille Day and admiring its military display, Trump hosted a “Salute  to America” on July Fourth, replete with an expansive array of military  hardware and troops. The scenes of tanks rolling into the nation’s  capital drew comparisons to other authoritarian regimes who flaunt their  military might through public displays, including North Korea, where  Trump paid a surprise visit as the week began. This week, Trump thumbed his nose at the Supreme  Court’s decision in Week 137 not to allow a citizenship question on the  2020 Census. The Justice and Commerce Departments, after stating the  questionnaire was being printed without the citizenship question,  completely reversed themselves 24 hours later following a single tweet  by Trump. By weeks’ end, the DOJ said it would, at Trump’s behest, try  to put forth a new argument in court justifying the question, while  Trump mused he had four or fives options to get his way. Notably, Trump  has now challenged the authority of both the legislative and judicial  branches — including the nation’s highest court — to counter his  unilateral power. And the Justice Department, under the leadership of  Attorney General William Barr has been rendered a tool to help his  efforts. Reports by the Department of Homeland Security  Inspector General revealed dire conditions at immigrant detention  facilities at the border. Trump defended the facilities and Border  Patrol agents, as protests and uproar from Democrats continued.  Republicans remained silent. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-138/

This week as Trump backed off mass deportations,  public outcry grew over conditions at detention centers for migrant  children. Reminiscent of Theresienstadt Ghetto in the Nazi era, the  Trump regime offered limited tours of detention centers to the  media — viewings that contradicted interviews of immigration lawyers and  advocates who described first-hand the inhumane conditions and  traumatized children. Much of the country was moved and heartbroken over  a photo of a Salvadoran father and daughter who drowned on the bank of the Rio Grande trying to cross to the U.S. This week Trump headed to the G-20 summit in  Osaka, Japan, ahead of which he attacked Japan, China, and European  countries. While there, he cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin  and reveled in joking about 2016 election interference and attacking  the free press. Trump had a second private meeting with Saudi Arabia  Crown Prince MBS despite United Nations findings of his likely  involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Supreme Court made two major decisions on  gerrymandering and a Census citizenship question, and seemed to signal a  shift towards revisiting controversial issues with the now five  conservative justices. Robert Mueller agreed to testify before two House  committees on July 17, as the Trump regime continued to stonewall all  congressional investigations. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-137/

This week Trump manufactured two major story  lines: an almost war with Iran, and mass roundups and deportations of  “millions” of immigrants. The two stories occupied much of the national  attention, while Trump continued to stonewall Congressional attempts at  oversight. Authoritarian expert Masha Gessen wrote about  “The Unimaginable Reality of American Concentration Camps,” as a  national discussion over conditions at border facilities played out.  Journalists, who have been given no access to facilities, reported  through interviews on the alarming treatment of migrant children,  including overcrowding, illness, and lack of basic necessities. Trump came close to starting a war with Iran on  Thursday, and reportedly was prepared and close to launch a missile  attack. Of concern, Trump continued to act unilaterally and not seek  Congressional approval — notably Speaker Pelosi said Friday she was not  informed of Trump’s planned attack, despite being second in line for the  White House. Meanwhile, pressure to start an impeachment inquiry grew  as 76 House members called for impeachment as public opinion, largely  among Democrats, is shifting in favor of it. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-136/

This week in an interview with ABC News, Trump  suggested he would take damaging information from foreign governments on  political adversaries without reporting it to the FBI, setting off  alarm bells. The Chair of the Federal Elections Commissions took the  unusual step of issuing a public statement reminding campaigns that  taking foreign assistance is illegal. Nonetheless, Trump allies largely  defended his statement, and continued to block measures to protect the  2020 election. As this played out on a chaotic Thursday, press  secretary Sarah Sanders, one of the few remaining members of the  original regime, resigned. Also this week, watchdog Office of Special  Counsel recommended the removal of White House counselor Kellyanne  Conway, saying she had repeatedly violated the Hatch Act — an  unprecedented recommendation. Trump sparred with the media over reporting on  his supposed trade deal with Mexico, while conditions at the southern  border continued to deteriorate. Notably, Trump has been linking  economic and national security in his recent actions, allowing him to  invoke Cold War era acts and bypass Congressional approval. The House  voted on a resolution opening the door to contempt of Congress charges  for members of the regime. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-135/

This week Trump traveled to the U.K., where he  was met with mass protests which he denied existed, then to his property  in Ireland en route to the 75th anniversary of D-Day ceremony in  Normandy, where he attacked Robert Mueller and Speaker Nancy Pelosi in  an interview. In London, Trump and his children acted more as if a royal  family than a head of state, and continued to intertwine their business  dealings and the presidency. Democrats in the House continue to clash over  starting impeachment proceedings, as the Trump regime continued its  stonewalling Congress for both witnesses and documentation related to  the Mueller probe, the 2020 census citizenship question, and even the  environment. This week was notable for the escalation of  broad-based attacks on women’s rights and protections, as an actress in  “The Handmaid’s Tale” bemoaned how quickly the country is mirroring the  fictional dystopian nation of Gilead. Conditions for migrants at the  border worsened, with more deaths and army and oil-field worker  facilities being requisitioned to house migrant children. Read the full list here:  https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-134/

This week, special counsel Robert Mueller addressed the nation for the first time since the start of his investigation. Notably, Mueller said, “If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” contradicting Attorney General William Barr’s statements, and Trump’s repeated proclamations of “no obstruction.” Mueller resigned and closed the special counsel office, and seemed to pass the ball to Congress on whether to pursue charges against Trump. Speaker Nancy Pelosi demurred, but pressure built this week after Mueller’s appearance with 55 members of Congress backing an impeachment inquiry, up from 31 last week, including 13 of the 24 House Judiciary Committee members. Trump exploded after Mueller’s appearance, seeking to discredit him and the investigation. Later, he shifted the narrative by starting a trade war with Mexico, invoking a decades old act to empower himself to impose tariffs over a so-called “national emergency” at our southern border. As the week came to a close, Trump’s Department of Justice thumbed its nose at a court order to produce documents related to Michael Flynn. The regime has now usurped both the legislative and judicial branch — seizing and consolidating power with increasingly authoritarian actions. Adding to the authoritarian feel were the continued attacks on the rights of marginalized communities and women, the stripping of protections for the environment, and a shocking discovery this week related to the 2020 census citizenship question. And yet, there has been no accountability or consequences for Trump, his family, and the remaining members of the regime. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-133/

This week the first Republican, Rep. Justin  Amash, came out for impeaching Trump. While Trump allies sought to  attack and punish Amash to avoid further defections, momentum grew among  the House Democratic caucus for impeachment hearings. Feeling the  pressure Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended staying focused on policy, but  directly attacked Trump for a “cover-up,” leading Trump to storm out of a  scheduled meeting with Democratic leaders, saying he refused to work  with them until they stop investigating him. The two leaders publicly  battled, as altered videos of Pelosi appeared online, a redux of false  attacks on Hillary Clinton’s mental acumen used in 2016. In authoritarian-type moves, Trump granted his  attorney general alarming powers to investigate the investigators. Trump  bypassed Congress, invoking a national emergency again to sell weapons  to Saudi Arabia, and “joked” about serving up to five terms in office.  Trump continued to stonewall House oversight as Trump prevented Don  McGahn from testifying, and appealed rulings thwarting his efforts to  block the release of financial documents from Mazars USA and Deutsche  Bank. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-132/