Looking forward to Tuesday’s conversation with @LSRTweets @hoffman_bruce @GeorgetownICAP’s Mary McCord & Jen Johnson.

All part of #SummitforDemocracy events.

Register here: eventbrite.com/e/confronting-… More info here from @georgetownsfs: georgetown.edu/event/a-summit…

The Justice Department just filed its response to the lawsuit filed by Gohmert & more trying to force Pence to declare Trump the winner at the joint session of Congress on 1/6.

DOJ—the same DOJ that reports to Trump—says the lawsuit should be tossed out of court.

DOJ is right. DOJ says any conceivable claims should’ve been brought against the House & Senate, not the VP.

That’s not just a technical point. It’s a huge (if obvious) acknowledgement that the VP doesn’t have substantive authority to reject slates of electors on 1/6–the suit’s key claim.

THREAD

How to ensure accountability for the Trump era is a hard, important, & hopefully urgent question.

@PostOutlook just published a great set of essays diving deep into the topic.

Here’s a quick look: /1 Historian Sam Tanenhaus explains why post-Trump accountability is essential for the country to move forward. /2 washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/1…

THREAD

This 👇 was 3 years ago today.

My @GeorgetownICAP colleagues & I, alongside @MikeSigner & more, sued the unlawful militias that had contributed to violence in Charlottesville exactly 2 months earlier.

And it began a journey that continues. /1 cnn.com/2017/10/12/pol… A few months after filing our Charlottesville suit, we at @GeorgetownICAP published a catalogue of state laws that prevent unlawful, unsanctioned private armies.

Here's the current version of that report, updated to reflect today's state laws: /2 law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-conten…

THREAD

There's a very short law that's causing a lot of angst right now.

With @bartongellman @FareedZakaria & more talking about 3 USC 2, let's take a look at why an attempt to use it simply to override voters' will would be unlawful. /1 Here's the whole law:

"Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct." /2

THREAD:

Friday marks exactly 1 year since Americans read the 5 words that will forever define the Trump presidency:

"Do us a favor though."

Here's a quick look at how Trump's quid-pro-quo presidency remains alive & (un)well today. /1 nytimes.com/2019/09/25/us/… "A president who abused the public trust for his personal benefit" defined what got Trump impeached, as @neal_katyal & I said.

"For a president to exploit for private political gain the tools of national power placed in his or her hands" was appalling. /2 nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opi…

THREAD:

There's a lot of concern right now about Trump & how he might handle an election loss after @bartongellman's article & the terrible answer Trump gave to @BrianKarem.

But we're not powerless to ensure a peaceful transfer if Trump loses.

Here's what can be done now. /1 1st, Electoral College reps, Members of Congress, governors, & Defense Department leadership can pledge to abide by election results regardless of any single candidate's claims otherwise.

I called for this in Feb. 2019 via @CNNOpinion. /2 cnn.com/2019/02/23/opi…

THREAD

Wednesday marks 1 year since 9/9/19, when the Intelligence Community's Inspector General notified Congress he'd received an "urgent concern" from a whistleblower & deemed it credible.

That set in motion Trump's impeachment.

Would it today? /1 lawfareblog.com/inspector-gene… The Intelligence Community's Inspector General who took seriously the whistleblower's complaint, persevered when Trump's White House & Justice Department tried to bury it, & ensured Congress learned of it has been forced out by Trump. /2 nytimes.com/2020/04/03/us/…

THREAD

There are steps that state & local officials can take, right now, relying on laws already on the books, to protect Americans from the threat posed by unlawful private militias.

Here's a quick guide based on work led by Mary McCord & our @GeorgetownICAP colleagues. /1 1st, there's litigation: faced with unlawful private militia activity, officials can file civil suits seeking court orders preventing such activity from reoccurring.

That's what @GeorgetownICAP did in Charlottesville alongside @MikeSigner & more. /2 washingtonpost.com/outlook/this-l…

THREAD

Why is Trump talking about pardoning Snowden?

It’s important to understand what Trump’s up to if we’re going to react responsibly.

So here goes. /1 First, Trump simply wants to distract by changing the subject, as he so often does.

COVID deaths, voter suppression—there’s so much bad for Trump that he wants a topic change to Snowden.

We shouldn’t let him. But we should understand that his motivation goes deeper. /2

Today, 1 year after the terrible shooting in El Paso, I’m holding in my heart the victims & their families.

I’m also frustrated by Trump’s failure to address—& active worsening of—the white supremacist threat.

We need leadership that addresses rather than aggravates the threat. Trump on white supremacist terrorism is Trump’s presidency in a nutshell: dedicated civil servants who continue to try to do right, undercut by a POTUS who does the opposite.

DHS put out a strategy v. domestic terrorism—only to see the Acting Sec. ousted. defenseone.com/ideas/2019/09/…

THREAD

Keep a close eye on Capitol Hill this week.

Congress will be focused on America's civil rights legacy, AG Barr's politicization of the Justice Department, Trump's distortion of the census, & DHS actions in Portland.

Here's a preview: /1 On Monday, the body of civil rights icon John Lewis will lie in state at the US Capitol.

The arrival ceremony will be private, but then there will be a public viewing.

For background, a great @EJDionne tribute: /2 washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

Wrong answer, @realDonaldTrump. Wrong, terrible, dangerous answer.

https://twitter.com/WardDPatrick/status/1284848660057137153

If you’re interested in what we can do NOW to address Trump’s anti-democratic refusal to commit to honoring the election results, please read this: cnn.com/2019/02/23/opi…

Trump: “I acted very early. I closed our country to China. By the way, Bolton disagreed. He thought we shouldn’t do it, okay?”

@MichaelCBender: “Did you consult with Bolton on coronavirus?”

Trump: “No.” wsj.com/articles/trans… Trump: “I think testing is overrated.”

@MichaelCBender: “Why is that?”

Trump: “Look, if we didn’t test all the cases that we’re reporting, you wouldn’t know about any of those cases. In many ways it makes us look bad. The fact that we’re so good at something makes us look bad.”

"The idea that this whole book is being held up after an extensive process feels like an abuse of power."

I spoke with @ThePlumLineGS for his great new @PostOpinions piece on the Trump administration's effort to silence John Bolton: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… "The claim by the government that the process was still ongoing does not feel in good faith. The official with genuine expertise had already weighed in. Bolton seemed to be getting the runaround with the goal of simply delay."

The argument being made by Flynn's lawyer to the DC Circuit boils down to this:

- Don't let the facts come out about why DOJ flipped.

- Don't let the trial judge ask questions.

- Don't even let him think about it.

- Just--quickly, quietly--make this all go away. NOW. DOJ says the Flynn case threatens to harm "the integrity of" not just law enforcement but also the judiciary.

But it's not the unprecedented dropping of criminal charges, after 2 guilty pleas, for a crony of the President's.

It's...the district court's appointment of an amicus!

THREAD

On Friday at 9:30 am, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral argument in the Michael Flynn case.

I'll be tuning in to hear argument plus commentary from the dynamic duo & legal odd couple @neal_katyal & @gtconway3d.

Join us!

To prepare, here's essential reading. /1

https://twitter.com/neal_katyal/status/1271188268919463937

In @nytopinion, @neal_katyal & I explain why the Barr Justice Department's abrupt move to drop Flynn's prosecution "embeds into official US policy an extremist view of law enforcement as the enemy of the American people." /2 nytimes.com/2020/05/08/opi…

THREAD

Here 👇 we have Trump again doing what @Dahlialithwick & I warned about yesterday: denying reality, & conjuring his own unreality.

It's an escalation in the nature & danger of Trump's lies.

Some key points below from our @Slate piece. /1

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1271062068238651392

"Almost every Trumpian fictionalized tour de force starts with a false claim—also known as a lie—that is readily disproven or even obviously wrong to the naked eye, & then subverts it." /2 slate.com/news-and-polit…

THREAD

Proud to write with @neal_katyal @jentaub & @tribelaw about Trump’s authoritarianism both in the streets & in the courts.

Key points here from our new @PostOpinions op-ed. /1 washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… “The Trump administration’s authoritarian behavior on the streets is being matched by its authoritarian positions in the federal courts.” /2 washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

Folks, this 👇 is a bright red blinking WARNING sign.

Brandon has as much integrity as anyone I know.

If he can’t take whatever drug deal is about to go down, we’re all about to see something rotten to its core.

Remember: next DOJ filing due Monday. What will Barr’s DOJ say?

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1258447664213045249

And there it is:

https://twitter.com/mikebalsamo1/status/1258463269897060353?s=21

https://t.co/rfhFA4zz8x

THREAD

For Law Day (today!), I urged on @just_security "a vision of law that’s about not just skill but also virtue," & I shared concerns about what's missing in the Trump era.

Here are key points. /1 justsecurity.org/69971/law-day-… "Kennedy knew it all was fundamentally wrong. Still, he chose to go along, hoping someone else would do the right thing. He made that choice despite knowing he’d soon be stepping down from the court, with this his last chance to do the right thing." /2 justsecurity.org/69971/law-day-…