We seem to be trapped in a state of malaise. We are discontented, but we don't know why. We are so broken that a significant number of us believe we were better off four years ago than we are now.

Stop for a minute and consider that. How can so many people believe the man who killed hundreds of thousands of Americans with COVID, who incited an armed insurrection, and for almost four years has tried to break Americans’ confidence in the very concept of free and fair elections is a better alternative?

LIE #1 EXPOSED: Stormy brings receipts

In light of Stormy Daniels taking the stand, it’s important to remember that Donald denies an affair even took place. My biggest takeaway from her testimony is that Stormy Daniels appeared credible.

Based on some of what she shared under questioning by the prosecutor, I suspect much of it was incredibly humiliating for Donald as Daniels shared some intimate details.

She began by recounting how the two of them met at a golf event. She declined Donald’s first invitation to dinner and then she changed her mind after being pressured by her publicist.

Donald told Daniels that he reminded her of his daughter, Ivanka. And he called her “honeybunch.” I can reveal this to you now: honeybunch is my family’s preferred term of endearment.

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In his hotel suite, Donald asked her questions about her “business,” and whether or not she had ever tested positive for sexually transmitted diseases, to which she said no.

Daniels then testified about a brief conversation she had with Donald about Melania when he showed Daniels a picture of her. He then reassured Daniels that he and Melania did not share the same room at which point, from where he sat behind the defense table, Donald mouthed an expletive. I’m pretty sure it rhymed with “witch.”

Donald knew what he wanted from the beginning.

Daniels was invited for dinner, but there was no dinner. Donald stripped down to his underwear and sat between her and the door. He dangled promises of being on The Apprentice, and of helping her cheat to succeed on the show. Daniels also mentioned that Donald did not use a condom during their sexual encounter.

Finally, Daniels testified that her manager was approached by Michael Cohen to buy her story for $130,000. She confirmed she was informed that Cohen was representing Donald.

After a lunch break, Donald’s attorneys filed a motion for a mistrial based on Daniels’ testimony, asserting it was “prejudicial” and replete with unnecessary details designed to “inflame the jury.” "THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!” Donald posted on Truth Social.

Apparently, for Donald and his team, Daniels telling the truth was a step too far.

Justice Merchan denied their motion. LIE #2 EXPOSED: Donald’s graduation excuse

At the beginning of the trial, Donald complained vociferously that because of the trial schedule, Justice Merchan was forcing him to miss his son’s high school graduation, even though at the time Merchan had not yet made a ruling. When Merchan did rule, he said that, given the fact that the trial is running ahead of schedule, the defendant would, in fact, be able to attend.

Without intending to, it’s likely Merchan called Donald’s bluff because it’s likely he had no interest in attending his son’s graduation and we learned today that he is reportedly due to speak at the Minnesota Republicans’ annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner on the same day.

The Florida graduation ceremony starts mid-morning, so it’s possible Donald goes to both events. But let’s be real, most parents who care about their children throw a party or have dinner to celebrate their kid. They don’t hop on a plane as soon as the ceremony is over.

Donald’s graduation ploy was a cheap and calculated attempt to garner sympathy from his followers and drum up more outrage at Merchan.

A HISTORY FULL OF LIES

Donald’s lies may become true in his mind as soon as he utters them, but they’re still lies.

As a kid, Donald was forced to become his own cheerleader — first, because he needed his father to believe he was a better and more confident son than his older brother (my father) Freddy was, and finally because he began to believe his own hype, even as he paradoxically suspected on a very deep level that nobody else did.

Donald has always needed to perpetuate the fiction my grandfather started that Donald is strong, smart, and otherwise extraordinary, because facing the truth — that he is none of those things — is too terrifying for him to contemplate.

Donald’s entire story has been one big lie. And for the first time ever, between the E. Jean Carroll verdict, Letitia James’ civil fraud verdict, and Donald’s election interference trial, he is finally facing accountability for it.

Every lie that is exposed reveals Donald to be the small, insecure man he always has been. We must expose him more – the stakes are too high.

After becoming the first president in history to be found guilty of contempt, Donald’s trial in lower Manhattan continued and, overall, it was another significant day of MAGA losses.

Too often the corporate media overlooks important stories and it's my intention, whenever possible,  to cut through the noise and ensure that important stories are not just covered but discussed and analyzed in a meaningful way.

Here are TEN critical stories that received little attention but deserve to be covered widely:

1. Kaitlan Collins shuts down J.D. Vance:

Appearing on Wednesday’s edition of “The Source,” MAGA Senator J.D. Vance was caught like a deer in the headlights after Kaitlan Collins pressed him about whether he’d accept an invitation to be Donald’s running mate — in light of the fact that Donald incited an angry mob against Vice President Mike Pence on January 6th and didn’t lift a finger to stop them.
"The last time I checked, President Biden wasn't approving of the chants to hang his vice president and didn't call his vice president when their life was in danger on Capitol Hill, something that Mike Pence himself has testified to," Collins explained. "So my question is, does it give you any pause to be [Donald's] vice president given how he treated Mike Pence?"
"Kaitlan, I'm extremely skeptical that Mike Pence's life was ever in danger," Vance said before Collins cut him off. "I think Mike Pence would disagree with that part, senator," she insisted.

Unsurprisingly, Vance attempted to diminish the importance of the insurrection on January 6, which Collins refused to let him get away with:

“...The idea that Donald Trump endangered anyone's lives when he told them to protest peacefully, it's just absurd,” Vance said.

"But they were chanting that they wanted to hang him," Collins pointed out.

She also didn’t let Vance get away with his absurd assertion that Donald’s New York trial is being orchestrated by President Biden to keep Donald from campaigning:

"I think the biggest threat to American democracy, Kaitlan, is that the Biden administration is trying to prevent Donald Trump from campaigning and taking his case to the American people,” Vance said.

"It's a judge in New York that's presiding over that case," Collins interrupted. "And the Biden administration is not preventing Donald Trump from campaigning. He just did two events tonight!”

Then, in perhaps the best moment of the segment, when the two were discussing the campus protests, Collins asked Vance, “So you agree that people who break in and vandalize should be prosecuted?”
Vance responded, “Exactly.”

“Okay. I'm just checking because you did help raise money for people who did that on January 6, which was impeding an official proceeding, breaking into and vandalizing the Capitol.”

I think it’s long past time that networks like CNN stop hosting political figures like J.D. Vance who have no interest in the truth. But, if they insist on continuing to have them on, this is a good example of how they should be interviewed. 3/ Republican Congressman Mike Kelly exposed for his hypocrisy:

Today it was revealed that the family of  Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), who criticized President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for being “loaded with bad policy and wasteful spending,” received a grant of nearly $315,000 from the program for their car dealership.

The grant, part of the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), was used to install a solar panel array at the dealership, which is expected to save the business around $27,300 annually.

This isn’t the first time Kelly’s car dealership has benefited from a federal program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dealership received a nearly $1 million loan from the Paycheck Protection Program. This loan was, of course, forgiven. Ten bucks if you can tell me where Helly stands on student loan forgiveness.

1/ I am so tired of him.

I am tired of his face. I am tired of his style of speech. I am so tired of his lies. I am tired of his bluster, his narcissism. I am tired of his fraud and his crimes. I am tired of the relentless news coverage and the danger he poses to democracy.

I am so tired. Read on for why.👇

His Face

Or, more specifically, his facial expressions. Let’s start with the pout. It’s his way of trying to look tough, but he can’t pull it off because he isn’t tough. If we’ve learned nothing else in the last eight years, it’s that he’s a perpetually aggrieved child who can never find satisfaction and who blames everything bad that happens to him on everyone else.

Then there’s the sneer, which is worse. He saves it for those occasions when he scores a point against a perceived enemy — like getting the Mike Johnsons and Ron DeSantises of the world to come to Mar-a-Lago to kiss his ring, or on those alarming occasions when he gets away with breaking a norm (or a law) or, maybe even worse, when he gets an assist from an increasingly corrupt institution like the Supreme Court.

Together, the pout and the sneer perfectly encapsulate the tension that exists between his arrogant belief that he is utterly untouchable and his desperately fragile ego and unconscious sense that he is a weak, terrified little boy.

His Style of Speech

He just won’t stop talking. And the longer he speaks, the more he lapses into a stream of consciousness that defies logic or meaning. There is no nuance, no attempt to be coherent, no aspiration to eloquence.

Word Choice: Everything is always terrible or incredible. It is always like nothing you’ve ever seen. There are no shades of gray; only the black and white of hyperbole, because if it is in any way related to him or his enemies, it must be the best or the worst.

Asides and Non Sequiturs: He meanders without ever really getting to the point, and along the way he veers off onto a totally unrelated topic. He could be talking about nuclear weapons and then launch into a monologue about water pressure or lightbulbs while his supporters wait for a conclusion he never draws.

Repetition: When he wants to drive home a point, he doesn’t just repeat it once, he repeats it incessantly. He pounds it down. Repetition reinforces his message,even as it hides the lack of substance and factual information — and his brand of simple-minded patter makes it all the more effective. As Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda for Nazi Germany put it, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” In cognitive psychology, this is known as the “illusory truth effect.”

Rhetoric: He speaks down to the lowest common denominator and doesn’t hesitate to call on his followers to commit violence on his behalf, riling them up with promises to pay their lawyers or otherwise offering them immunity. It is the coward’s way, but he excels at it.
And here lies his disturbing resemblance to cult leaders. They, too, traffic in simplistic tropes and make vague promises; they see themselves as unique, chosen, and, in some cases, divine; they create a clear division between their group (the “chosen” ones) and the out group (the “enemy” or “other”). Cult leaders dehumanize the other, portraying them as inferior or inhuman (“vermin”).

Sound familiar?

When you hear that voice, rambling, repetitive, and threatening, remember: it’s not empty noise — he’s preying on the vulnerability of his followers, who at this point seem almost incapable of listening to any voice but his. 2/ His Lies

Truth was not a particularly valued commodity but this man takes lying to a whole new level. He tells lies — about the weather, about crowd sizes — that are easily disproved. He lies to his followers and to himself about himself — his wealth, his business, his record.

The truly baffling part is that many people believe him. And for every person that believes him, there are 10 who know he’s lying, but don’t care.

Narrative Necessity and Solipsistic Reality:

Does he believe his own lies? Fellow psychologist Robert Jay Lifton suggests that his belief is not always definite and fixed but has become a part of his narrative necessity. He partially believes in this falsehood while consciously manipulating it to manipulate the American public. His self-centered reality allows him to keep the belief active despite external challenges.

I think it depends to a great degree on whether or not the lie he is telling relates to him personally. In other words, if he’s lying about his net worth or his criminality or poll numbers he must out of necessity believe them — they are a defense mechanism against his own extraordinary insecurity. The alternative would be to acknowledge that he is actually a loser, and that would be intolerable for him.

1/ UPDATE: I wouldn’t be surprised if the Supreme Court does Donald a massive favor with its immunity decision—call it an in-kind campaign contribution—but I’ll explain below why it may not matter in the short-term, at least in the context of Donald’s day of reckoning.

Today I counted FIVE major courtroom updates you shouldn’t miss, with the best news at the end:

1. In front of the Supreme Court, Donald’s attorney argues that his client could legally order the assassination of his political rival:

During the hearing over “absolute immunity,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked, “If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person, and he orders the military or orders someone to assassinate him, is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?”

Without hesitation, Donald’s attorney John Sauer answered, “It would depend on the hypothetical but we can see that would well be an official act.” In other words, yes.

Let’s stop and take that in: In front of the Supreme Court of the United States, an attorney in good standing actually argued that the president should be immune from prosecution if he has his political rival assassinated. 2/ A reminder that the current Supreme Court is corrupt and illegitimate:

This hearing was brought as a result of the federal indictment of Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election which centered around his inciting an insurrection against his own government. Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Ginni, was intimately involved in those efforts yet, in his infinite and easily bought wisdom, Thomas has decided he does not have to recuse himself.

This is a conflict of interest so glaring, so in-your-face offensive that it’s a travesty we cannot ignore — it’s a slap in the face to the very concept of judicial impartiality.

1/ When it comes to Donald’s long list of crimes, alleged or otherwise, there’s always more beneath the surface:

Let’s take a closer look at Donald’s political action committees (PACs) and the sketchy ways they seem to be helping him pay his legal bills:

The $8 Million enigma:

According to a detailed report by Roger Sollenberger, a significant part of Donald’s legal expenses, a stunning $8 million, has been funneled to an unidentified party or parties through what seems to be a corporate middleman –Red Curve Solutions, the firm that handles their political accounting. This setup purportedly obscures the real recipients of Donald’s legal payments,potentially violating federal law and the restrictions on corporate political contributions. 2/ Sollenberger writes that these “payments are described in FEC filings as ‘reimbursements’ for legal expenses and fees. The filings suggest that Red Curve is, at least in part, functioning as a financial hub for a legal expense cost-sharing agreement between these various Trump committees.”

Reporter Zac Anderson notes, “Red Curve Solutions helps political campaigns with a range of services, including ‘comprehensive budgeting, accounting and financial management and compliance services," according to the company's LinkedIn page.

The fact that such a large sum of money is being funneled through a third party, raises several red flags. It suggests a deliberate attempt to obscure the flow of funds in order to hide the true recipients of these payments. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has strict rules about transparency in campaign finance, rules that are designed to prevent corruption and ensure the integrity of our political system. If these payments are indeed in violation of these rules, it would represent a serious breach of ethics and, potentially, a criminal act.

1/ UPDATE: To say today was a blow for Donald and his attorney, Todd Blanche, is an understatement.

Donald’s bad run continued as he attended this morning’s gag order hearing and the continuing testimony of David Pecker in his election interference trial.

The wheels of justice continue to grind.

I tracked the trial throughout the day and noted EIGHT significant developments in order to provide you with updates, but also to provide insights into Donald’s behavior inside and statements outside the courtroom.

Let’s begin with Donald’s disastrous contempt hearing:

Prosecutors argued that Donald’s statements outside the courtroom yesterday also violated his gag order:

As Donald’s contempt hearing began, prosecutors warned Judge Merchan that Donald’s "extrajudicial statements" posed a "very real threat" to the proceedings’ integrity. They highlighted ten examples of possible contempt and then referred to statements Donald made to reporters outside the courtroom, in which he called potential witness Michael Cohen a liar immediately after opening statements bringing the total to eleven.

It’s good to see the prosecution continue to parse Donald’s statements and sift through his Truth Social posts, but unless Merchan makes the consequences sufficiently severe, Donald will have no reason to stop flouting Merchan’s authority — and his gag order. 2/ Prosecution asked Merchan to warn Donald he could be thrown in jail

The prosecution is calling for a fine of $1,000 per violation, and requested that Judge Merchan  warns Donald that jail could be next. The prosecution also wants Donald to be ordered to remove his offending social media posts.

I can tell that this entire hearing likely left Donald seething with an impotent rage.

First, he’ll find any demand to remove his posts infuriating, an indication that his loss of control extends beyond the courtroom.

Second, the mere suggestion that he could face jail time for non-compliance is beyond Donald’s comprehension. Being incarcerated for even a day would likely be beyond Donald’s ability to manage.

1/ Today was a great day for justice and a BAD one for Donald. Read on:

In two different New York City courtrooms, Donald was forced to start grappling with the consequences of his years—and in some cases decades—long flouting of the law.

I followed both proceedings today and found TEN key updates that you should know about. Let’s dive in.

Today is the beginning of Donald’s reckoning

In one room, prosecutors exposed Donald’s alleged criminal conspiracy to interfere with the election: the hush money payments; the deal with former America Media CEO David Pecker to have The National Enquirer run positive coverage of Donald while simultaneously attacking his opponents; the sketchy accounting used to hide the truth from American voters before the 2016 election were all outlined in the prosecution’s opening statement for a jury to see.

In another room, Letitia James was fighting to reinforce Donald’s bond, a symbolic gesture that signals the end of an era of Donald’s impunity.

We’ve waited years for this moment because the wheels of justice grind slowly. But justice is catching up and today. And for that, I am grateful. It’s a day that has been a long time coming. 2/ Donald’s biggest fear is coming true: The world is seeing him as the loser he is:

As someone who has known Donald for almost six decades (oy), I can tell you that beneath the bluster, there lies a fear so profound, it consumes him. It’s not the fear of losing his wealth or power or his status — although, to be clear, he lives in terror of these things as well — it’s something more personal: It’s the fear of being seen as a loser.

Donald has spent a lifetime, with a seemingly endless stream of help from various sources, building an image of success and invincibility. He’s crafted a persona that, to people who knew him from The Apprentice, made him appear larger than life. The truth is, though, it’s all smoke and mirrors. The reality of Donald is that he is nothing of what he has claimed to be. And his greatest fear is that the rest of the world will finally find that out.

This is exactly what is unfolding in Judge Merchan’s courtroom — a place in which Donald has no power, no control, and no authority.

As David Axelrod notes:

“...As Trump sits and watches the criminal trial he hoped to avoid unfold, he must know that a potential reckoning he has spent a lifetime eluding could be coming. He has been reduced to a criminal defendant in a courtroom where someone else has absolute power and the rules very definitely apply. The weariness and vulnerability captured in those courtroom images betray a growing recognition that he could wind up as the thing his old man most reviled.”

“A convicted criminal? No, worse. A loser.”

1/ UPDATE: A New York courtroom sets its stage for Donald’s dramatic downfall. As the gavel echoes, his once formidable power crumbles, and his psyche begins to fray at the edges. Uncover the unraveling of a man under the harsh spotlight of justice. My thoughts below.👇

Donald, Unprecedented:

There are a lot of crucially important events unfolding across the country (Supreme Court decisions, chaos in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives) and the world (Ukraine, Sudan, Israel, and Palestine), so in some ways it seems perverse, once again, to focus so much attention on one man. The fact remains, however, that the trial taking place in Room 1530 in the Manhattan Criminal Court will have a massive and complicated impact on the future of this country.

For the first time in American history, a former occupant of the White House is facing criminal charges. As David Corn of Mother Jones put it, “[Donald] keeps setting new Guinness Records in terms of unprecedented history.”

The reality is, the future of the country is, to a significant degree, tied to the future of Donald Trump. 2/ Standard Operating Procedure:

Before jury selection began, Judge Merchan took Donald through the Parker warning — standard operating procedure in a criminal trial:

“You have the right to be present during the trial and to assist your attorneys. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“If you disrupt the proceedings, you can be excluded from the courtroom and committed to jail based on your conduct, and the trial will continue on in your absence. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

“If you do not show up, there will be an arrest. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

Per the judge’s instructions, Donald will be stuck in that New York City courtroom for at least four days a week and eight hours a day. He is not free to come and go as he pleases. He needs to ask for permission if he wants, for example, to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court for the presidential immunity case (denied) or his son’s high school graduation (despite the fact that he didn’t attend the high school graduations of his four older children). The decision is pending, despite Donald’s claim that the judge has already ruled against him.

No doubt Donald feels as though he’s being singled out for extraordinary punishment, but that’s because he has so rarely been in a situation in which he has no control over either the narrative or the proceedings. Because this is a criminal trial, he will have virtually no say about anything that happens inside that courtroom and, indeed, over anything that happens to him if he steps outside the lines that Judge Merchan draws.

Donald doesn’t handle it well when he feels like the walls are closing in on him. He freaks out — and acts out — when he feels thwarted because he so rarely ever has been. We’re looking at a very old and fairly complex psychology that goes back to his childhood. The crows finally coming home to roost when he’s in his late 70s is something that he’s not going to be able to manage.

We’re going to be seeing Donald Trump in a unique context for which he is totally unprepared. At a rally or at a press conference, he controls the room. He is determining the narrative, and any gaps or ramblings can be put down to the fact that he’s riffing or being extemporaneous or doing improv.

In the courtroom, however, Donald can’t speak out of turn — he will be subject to the judge’s rules. And a lot of people are going to see certain traits, like his thuggishness, his temper, his sense of grievance, that may play well to some in certain settings, but that in this setting will come across very differently. He will be seen to be rude, weak, and incapable of controlling himself when bound by the same rules to which the rest of us must conform.

There’s a reason he tried to get this case delayed until the 11th hour. Even after one day, it was clear Donald wasn’t faring well. He’s experiencing serious psychological trauma. The narcissistic wound that he’s suffering right now is basically short-circuiting him.

1/ UPDATE: Donald’s first day in court, and the hits keep coming! Judge Merchan threatens Donald with JAIL; Trump Media stock plummets; Donald can’t stay awake.

Read to the end for TEN trial updates, including the moment Donald GETS IN HIS LAWYER’S FACE! 👀👇

Today Donald became the first person in history to sit for his own criminal trial after leaving the Oval Office.

Overall, today marks a significant milestone — the rule of law, at least in this one instance, is holding and the wheels of justice are starting to turn a little faster. 2/ An ex-prosecutor says Donald will blow his defense by being in the courtroom

While Donald’s presence was not mandatory during his civil fraud trial, he is required to attend his criminal trial in person. Today, he whispered exasperated comments to his attorney, he glared at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman who reported on his nap, and, according to Haberman, even falsely claimed he stormed out of court in a fundraising email.

Knowing Donald, his characteristic bluster, sense of grievance, and lack of impulse control will be on full display during the trial. Whether he’s making faces or making audible comments when he shouldn’t be speaking at all, his lack of respect and anger could have a tremendous influence on the jury.

During his fraud trial, Donald was heard making disparaging comments, glaring at opposing counsel, and storming out. That trial did not end well for him.

In an appearance on MSNBC, legal expert David Henderson said these same “antics” could prove to be Donald’s undoing: “You start whining and making faces and pouting in front of the judge, what tends to happen in a trial is … that can affect the outcome of the case,” he said.

Of course, there is the risk of jail too...

1/ Donald and his sycophants just got caught in a whirlwind: blunders, court failures, disbarments, humiliations… It’s turned out to be the strangest 48 hours yet for Donald’s campaign, criminal trial, and his enablers. Read on 👇

In a turn of events that could only be described as a comedy of errors, Donald and his enablers have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons, careening from one humiliating misstep to another.

First, Donald’s legal team seems to have decided to take a stroll in a minefield. Every step triggers another legal setback, making them look like a bunch of incompetent amateurs taking orders from the worst client ever. Then, there’s the rest.

All in all, I count SEVEN instances of questionable legal moves, outright incompetence, and behavior bordering on malpractice, both political and legal.

1. Donald’s legal team accidentally subpoenas the wrong person... 2/ Donald’s attempts to delay his New York criminal election interference hush money case led to a humiliating snafu.

His attorneys intended to subpoena former D.A. investigator Jeremy Rosenberg — but sent it to the wrong person instead.

What the actual recipient did next is hilarious.

When a random Brooklyn resident with the same name received the subpoena, he informed Donald’s attorneys that he had no files to share and added that he would be keeping the $15 sent to him for document handling.

Meanwhile, Donald’s attorney Todd Blanche, complained about the dismissive attitude of the subpoena recipient, completely unaware of the mistake until the mix-up was revealed in a court filing by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

When Donald’s legal team finally identified the correct Rosenberg, they sent the subpoena to the wrong Brooklyn address.

2. Donald accidentally tells MTG and Boebert to kill the wrong bill, and they do… blocking something he authorized...

1/ The fact that the corporate media gave these stories such little attention today is journalistic malpractice:

Donald loses in criminal court… Letitia James gets closer to taking away his properties … and Donald just pissed off one of his key voting bases.

Each of these stories deserves to be covered widely—instead, crickets 👇 2/ Donald’s $175 million bond is even shadier than we thought… and Letitia James is closer to liquidating Donald’s assets.

Not only is the bond company unlicensed in New York; it hasn’t even been vetted by a voluntary state entity who could verify it meets eligibility requirements.

There’s even more 👇

Like many New Yorkers, that day and in the days that followed, I pored over every report, every video, and every photograph in order to try to make sense of what had happened. But there was no sense to be made.
1/
🧵 Not long after, I turned inward. I didn’t want to hear other people’s stories. I didn’t want to tell my own—it was too personal, too difficult. And I didn’t want to see the pictures anymore.
2/
marytrump.substack.com/p/farther-away…

In 2018, John Roberts appointed a federal panel of judges to investigate 83 ethics complaints against Brett Kavanaugh. Although considered “serious,” the complaints were dismissed because the panel determined it had no authority to discipline a SCOTUS justice.
1/
🧵 Three years later, we learned that the FBI had received over 4,500 tips about Kavanaugh during the hearings. In 2019, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chris Coons (D-DE) wrote a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray asking why none of these tips was pursued.


2/ marytrump.substack.com/p/the-lowest-c…

Remember this?

1/ When I first saw it, I thought it said this:

2/

I was listening recently to @aimeemann's phenomenal 2021 album, Queens of the Summer Hotel, and her track “At the Frick Museum” came on. It brought me back to the time when I lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and used to visit the Frick two or three times a week.

1/ twitter.com/i/web/status/1… I was particularly drawn to "The Boatman of Mortefontaine," a painting by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot that hung on the first floor but the entire museum, with its beautiful setting and intimate collection, is one of my favorite places.

2/

I was out all day last Friday and was spared the media’s decision to turn the brutal beating of an innocent young man into some kind of dystopian game show. Charles Blow referred to the countdown clock as, “a damning indictment of American perversion.” Yes.

1/ Police brutality against Black Americans occurs with such frequency that there is a recognizable pattern of responses that politicians and pundits use to deflect blame from the officers, to shift it onto the victim, or to change the subject entirely.

2/
marytrump.substack.com/p/a-failing-of…

Far too often in the last seven years, I have said the word hate and felt the feeling of it more than in the previous five decades combined. I have, more times than I can count, said “I am so tired of hating people I don’t know.”

1/ More accurately, it's usually that I hate what somebody, in this case, Merrick Garland, has done--or hasn't done, like not indicting Donald based on Mueller’s blueprint for ten charges of obstruction. The statutes of limitation for almost all of these have now passed.

2/

I was riveted by the Republican chaos surrounding the vote for Speaker of the House but it didn’t last long. By the end of day two, it all felt rather shameful and demoralizing.

1/ The mainstream media, in trying to make sense of the intra-party chaos, tried to look at the conflict through an ideological prism but that only makes sense if there’s an ideology organized around the principle of hating Kevin McCarthy.

2/
marytrump.substack.com/p/a-brief-prim…

On this week’s episode of #TheMaryTrumpShow the #NerdAvengers, we're joined by sociologist Dr. Lena Rodriguez #TarotDownUnder. So, did the Nerds get their cards read?

1/ No—we did not (maybe next time?) BUT we did get some amazing insights into what people from other countries think about the chaos that continues to grip American politics.

2/

I’ve been obsessed with the vote for Speaker of the House and find it fitting that the resolution to this debacle occurred on the 2nd anniversary of January 6th. Although it's not surprising that the party of seditionists chose as its Speaker a seditionist, it is horrifying.

1/ It’s going to take a while to process the events of the last week, especially since the vote for speaker and the insurrection are intimately connected. And as chaotic as this week was, we will also likely look back on it as the calm before the storm.

2/