If. That’s where my pro-democracy litigation colleagues and I come in.

As the great David Ignatius explained in his Friday column in the Washington Post, Trump’s “multifront campaign to rewrite the rules for the 2026 midterm elections” is faltering under legal onslaught. Trump “has failed in nearly every phase of his assault” on our elections.

Ignatius credited our legal work for helping achieve those strikeouts. We’ve stopped both of Trump’s anti-voter executive orders in court, fought back against his redistricting schemes across the country (helping limit the theft to a likely net of just two congressional seats stolen), and continue to challenge ballot-seizure efforts from coast to coast. We do that work hand in hand with a nationwide coalition of civil and voting rights advocates, labor allies, and partners across the broader pro-democracy movement.

Our efforts are thanks to our Contrarian paid subscribers. That support helps make the work possible. If you are a paid subscriber, thank you! If you haven’t taken out a paid subscription, please consider doing so.

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Your subscription will also help fund our big push that comes next, as described by Ignatius:

“We know the playbook of Trump and the election deniers. We’ve sued them before, and we’ve beaten them before,” Norm Eisen, the head of Democracy Defenders Fund, told me in an interview. His group is organizing a $20 million effort that he calls Project 126, an implicit pledge to double the 63 legal victories that blocked Trump’s push to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Eisen shared a list of 10 midterm election threats his lawyers have mobilized to stop. They include attempts to purge voter rolls of supposed noncitizens, impose new rules for mail-in voting, deploy federal agents to polling places, seize ballots or voting machines and intimidate election officials.

“We’ve been preparing all year,” explained Seth Waxman, a former solicitor general under President Bill Clinton. Waxman is helping Eisen coordinate litigation strategy for volunteer lawyers at his firm, WilmerHale, and a dozen other prominent law firms. They will be ready to file complaints, requests for restraining orders, affidavits and other legal documents if Trump’s allies try to obstruct voting or ballot counting.

On Friday we did just that, with a court filing fighting back against Trump’s effort to deny ballots to tens of thousands of California voters. This latest election sabotage effort began on Tuesday, when the Trump regime sent California elections officials a thumb drive supposedly containing a list of about 20,000 noncitizens registered to vote in the state. Trump had two years to raise this but instead sent a purge list just two days before mail ballots were due to go out — and on Thursday Trump’s DOJ sued the state, demanding action on the list.

We at DDF and the Campaign Legal Center immediately intervened on behalf of our wonderful clients, including two of our nation’s leading civil rights groups, the NAACP and LULAC. The Trump DOJ’s lawsuit is a nakedly unconstitutional and illegal ploy. We will shut down this overreach.

The Trump regime’s election interference this week didn’t stop there, and neither did our work. On Tuesday, we filed a Hatch Act complaint against several administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Attorney General Todd Blanche, regarding the early-morning raid at Rep. Ilhan Omar’s house. There appears to be no legitimate reason for doing this search so close to the midterm elections — the case involves immigration issues dating back decades that have previously been passed over by law enforcement. With election day speeding toward us, the timing of the raid evinces illegal political intent — and we are calling it out.

We also helped lead the way this week in exposing the latest unqualified Trump appointee, now-former White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia. After her disastrous first day, I went on MS NOW to evaluate her catastrophic fail — including her history of holding herself out as a lawyer even though she never passed the bar.

We then submitted letters to the State Bar of California and the state attorney general, asking that they immediately investigate whether she had practiced law without a license in California. As we allege in the complaint, Zacharia served as general counsel to a California nonprofit without a state bar license. No one is above the law, not even those standing at a White House podium (even if you only lasted five days and gave exactly one briefing).

Thanks to the help provided by your paid subscriptions, we are able to protect our elections — and to hold this administration accountable in a myriad of other ways. Of course, that includes through our outstanding Contrarian coverage every day! See for yourself in this week’s round up of the best of the Contrarian.

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Midterm Watch

Meet the Democrats’ Working Class Wave

Tim Dickinson looked at the blue-collar vanguard of this year’s blue wave — a group that includes a teacher, an ironworker, a nurse, a logger, a pastor, and urban- and wildland firefighters, all of whom hope to change the fact that only 2 percent of members of Congress have spent any part of their adulthood in the working class. Are these Democrats “the answer to the faux populism of MAGA and Musk?”

What Dems Can Achieve in the States

Jennifer Rubin wrote on the Democrats with a chance to flip governorships from red to blue — including in Iowa, Georgia, Alaska, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, and Florida — and what else is up for grabs and at stake in the states. “A patchwork system of civil right enforcement is not ideal, but it is preferable to civil rights deserts.”

Is 2026 the Year That Independents Can Break the Two-Party System?

Natalie Fertig wrote on how Americans are clamoring for more choices on the ballot and why backers of the independent movement say just one or two wins this year will change the game. “These groups feel that Democrats are leaning into a message this year that most will not follow through with long-term.”

How MAGA Is Codifying Voting Oppression

April Ryan spoke with Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King on building Black and Brown political power, midterm turnout, and the fight after November. “We’re literally at the point where oppression is being legislated. [And] we are very focused on activating these young people who have lost their rights.”

The World Stage

Marco Rubio’s Descent into Darkness, and the True Meaning of the West

Tom Malinowski wrote on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent speech at the Parthenon, a commentary on nationalism and “the West” that was less a dog whistle for fascism than a wolf whistle. “Where have we heard such a worldview before?”

Trump’s Strategic Genius on Display Again

Brian O’Neill gave Trump’s proposed deal of an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine less than full marks — on strategy, feasibility, and everything else. “For a president who boasts about his unmatched intellect, negotiating prowess, and singular ability to end wars, Trump continually demonstrates an inability to think more than one move ahead.”

Godzilla Returns

Max Stier did not mince words about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to invite Elon Musk to the Pentagon to help strategize about the future of warfare. “[It’s] akin to inviting Godzilla back to your home after he wrecked it once before.”

Rights Under Threat

How the ACLU Is Safeguarding Immigrants and Elections

On the podcast this week, Jennifer Rubin and I chatted with Mike Zamore about the ACLU’s new report on Trump’s mass deportation agenda and how the ACLU is working to safeguard mail-in voting against the administration’s potential threats to the midterm elections. “When authoritarians are looking to hack a democracy, immigration is their phishing attack.”

Hiding Until After the Mid-Terms Won’t Work

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote that it’s “no surprise” the FDA is waiting to release its “so-called safety review of mifepristone, the drug most often used in medication abortions, until March 2027, when the midterms will be safely in the rearview mirror” — but the reality is that women’s reproductive rights are still very much on the ballot this November.

Fighting Back

Ready, Set, Vote: No Kings 4 Is Here

Find a No Kings event near you today to help mobilize voters and ensure that the midterms are TOO BIG TO RIG! Also in this week’s roundup of actions for democracy: where you can cast your ballot early; how to join “the movement” to end gender-based violence; door-knocking (or dialing) for democracy in Florida; and more.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Washington, Maryland, Texas, Minnesota, Georgia, and more local actions for democracy nationwide. As always, you can get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and please send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Sen. Andy Kim Reveals How He Will Root Out Government Corruption

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) joined Jennifer Rubin to discuss the anti-corruption legislation he has introduced in the Senate and how Americans pay a “corruption tax” every time Trump and Co. profit from illicit financial agreements.

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on bad strategy (At the Reins, Michael de Adder), bad spin (New and Improved, RJ Matson), a bad deal (Driving the Deal, Michael de Adder), and the worst president (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

‘30 Rock’ Once Seemed Too Absurd to Be Real. Instead, It Predicted the Future

Meredith Blake wrote on how 30 Rock, which debuted on NBC 20 years ago, imagined a world that seemed too stupid and ludicrous to be real — and ended up just being ahead of its time. “While other sitcoms from the era, like The Office, have lived on via endless rewatches on streaming, 30 Rock has endured in a different way.”

An Inside Look at an Exiled Russian Journalist Targeted as a ‘Foreign Agent’

Meredith also wrote on the documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile, which follows Russian reporters trying to work in exile after the invasion of Ukraine. “You have the consolidation of the media and all these different pressures before journalists start getting thrown in jail,” says the director, Julia Loktev. “But how do you know when that tipping point is?”

Share This Cookie Brittle — and Voting Plans — with Your Neighbors

Marissa Rothkopf offered us her own personal, deliciously cookie-shaped campaign to encourage friends and neighbors to vote.

Contrarian Rescue of the Week

And last but never least: Meet Waylon!

U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle allegedly sent those messages over Signal to Eric Deters, a former congressional candidate and longtime Trump ally, just days before her confirmation hearing in 2025. Between that, Trump’s crypto coin corruption, and his taxpayer-funded campaign ads, the past few weeks have been among the most grifty we’ve seen in this administration so far. But the good news is that my pro-democracy litigation colleagues and I are pushing back in the courts of law and public opinion — thanks to your paid subscriptions. Please consider joining the pushback.

1. Ambassadorial Misconduct

Let’s start with Guilfoyle. She reportedly pressured Deters to wire $100,000 directly into her American Express account just days before her confirmation hearing in 2025. The exchange is just one of a series of damning text messages reportedly revealing how Deters allegedly repeatedly paid Guilfoyle to pressure executive branch officials on his behalf. And Guilfoyle knew this conduct was unacceptable — she even chastised Deters for sending requests in writing: “Eric, I really wish you would stop papering all these things…just call me on signal.” This is one of the most blatant scandals I’ve seen involving a U.S. ambassador. She, of course, denies these allegations, but the Signal exchanges the WSJ released stink to high heaven. The federal law that makes it illegal to bribe public officials or witnesses or offer them unlawful rewards also explicitly covers nominees (which Guilfoyle was at the time), and though the Supreme Court has made it very hard to bring federal bribery charges, the DOJ must investigate.

That’s not even the only Guilfoyle scandal this week! Guilfoyle also faces allegations that she has abused her diplomatic position to promote a Greek energy and construction company and permit a registered lobbyist for the firm to take part in official diplomatic meetings, raising serious concerns about conflicts of interest. We were busy this week calling for a congressional investigation if Congress changes hands — as seems increasingly likely. This one is a doozy.

2. Meme Coin Madness

Guilfoyle’s story is about so much more than her particular interaction with Deters. She, of course, was allegedly attempting to sell access to Donald Trump — but that was minor league ball compared with Trump himself. The president publicly sells access to himself all the time — in fact, the firm behind his meme coin continues to auction off spots to “the most exclusive dinner in the world” for those who are the largest holders of the $TRUMP coin.

My Democracy Defenders colleagues and I have been hammering away to expose these conflicts. We recently received Trump’s annual financial disclosures — and they are damning. They reveal that his $TRUMP meme coin alone accounted for a staggering $636 million of his crypto-related earnings in 2025. And, as of this summer, nearly one million buyers had collectively lost an estimated $3.81 billion on this worthless meme coin, whose value had plunged roughly 97 percent from its peak.

No wonder nearly 90 percent of Americans think corruption in government is widespread and roughly 80 percent believe government corruption is causing their costs to increase.

3. Taxpayer-Funded Political Ads

Trump reportedly ordered his budget director to divert millions of dollars in taxpayer funds from the Department of Homeland Security to run political ads — including one recycled from his 2024 campaign. This is against the law. Full stop. Congress has made it perfectly clear: You cannot use taxpayer money to fund political ads. Trump has now run multiple ads with our money, all of which aired on major networks during prime time. This is expensive airtime, and we are paying for it.

Facing backlash, including from a number of congressional Republicans, Trump said that his super PAC, MAGA Inc., will begin covering the cost of these ads. But his announcement on Truth Social implicated him in another violation of federal law. As a federal official, he cannot direct super PAC spending. And the madness doesn’t stop there. He’s compounded numerous illegalities, including using music in these campaign-style ads without permission. Trying to get out of breaking one law by breaking other laws is quintessential Trump.

The illegality doesn’t stop there. JMSN, our client, saw his song “Love Me” play illegally as the score of one of these television ads. We are proud to represent JMSN alongside Ballard Spahr LLP and Hecker Fink LLP to demand that the Trump administration and MAGA Inc. immediately stop using his song in their ad.

Enough is enough. This week, we and our colleagues sued the Trump administration on behalf of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and a candidate for Wisconsin treasurer, Yee Leng Xiong, for its illegal use of millions in taxpayer dollars for these political ads. We will not allow Trump to take funds, some of which were meant to honor fallen officers, and redirect them to his election propaganda.

4. Pickpocketing the Public

Trump’s willingness effectively to steal from taxpayers doesn’t just stop at ads or meme coins. It’s also infecting our federal agencies. In May, Trump’s Justice Department settled his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS by creating a $1.776 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization” fund. The plot — with Trump on both sides of the v — effectively forced taxpayers to funnel money from our schools and roads directly to his political allies, including individuals charged in connection with the January 6 insurrection.

We at Democracy Defenders Action serve as co-counsel with Platkin LLP and Susman Godfrey LLP for a bipartisan group of 35 former judges who urged the court to reject this scheme. Fortunately, Judge Kathleen Williams did exactly that, denying the settlement in its entirety. She concluded that the lawsuit had been filed in bad faith and was intended “to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ that had no viable basis in law or fact.” Indeed, she found that the suit was brought in such bad faith that the lawyers who litigated the case had violated their professional ethics obligations — and should be sanctioned. She later reinforced her decision, rejecting Trump’s bid to block enforcement of her order and the sanctions it imposed.

Trump’s team filed an emergency request with the 11th Circuit appellate court to stay these sanctions, but we vigorously opposed it. The 11th Circuit agreed with us and rejected it. With your support, we are proud to have played a key role in stopping the slush fund from coming to fruition and ensure that the appropriate sanctions arising from this sham lawsuit and slush fund remain in place. So much winning — thanks to the help made possible by our paid subscribers.

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5. The Epstein Files Cover-Up

For more than a year, Democracy Defenders Fund has been fighting on behalf of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to expose the truth and secure justice. DDF has filed multiple FOIA requests and has helped to build the case that the DOJ is blatantly violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In April, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General opened an audit in direct response to our complaints, and just last week Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted our motion for summary judgment, directing the DOJ to expedite the production of records referencing Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago. We have no doubt that this administration will continue to stall and obstruct, but we will not back down, especially with the Contrarian community behind us. We will get the Trump-Epstein files.

6. Last-Minute Attempt to Rewrite the Rules of Mail-In Voting

Desperate to assert his will over our elections, Trump attempted to use the U.S. Postal Service to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots. He issued an executive order purporting to give the USPS authority not just to deliver mail-in and absentee ballots but also to control how they are handled. The EO directed the agency to impose new rules that would be virtually impossible to implement ahead of the election, intentionally trying to sow chaos and undermine voter confidence. This is patently illegal: The Constitution grants the president no such authority. The power to regulate elections rests with Congress and the states.

My colleagues and I at DDF, along with wonderful partners across the pro-democracy ecosystem, immediately jumped in and filed motions in all 13 mail-in voting proceedings to ensure voting remains free and fair. A federal judge blocked the rule nationwide, and the Supreme Court left in place the lower-court order preventing its implementation before the midterms. I’m confident my mail-in ballot will count, and I want each of you to feel that same confidence in your vote, however you choose to cast it.

7. Insider Truth: Selling Trump’s Posts

In August, Truth Social turned presidential communications into a pay-to-play scheme. Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs the social media app, launched a paid service to give Wall Street firms early access to Trump’s posts. Firms that opt in could reportedly be charged as much as $100,000 a month for this advance access. The service will allow the big banks to execute trades based on information that other investors don’t have — allowing them to make a nearly risk-free profit off less sophisticated or powerful investors. But this wouldn’t harm just everyday investors and retail traders who can’t pay an exorbitant fee; it will drive up the costs of entering the market — a cost that will be passed down to banks’ clients like you. Just when you think Trump and his cronies couldn’t find any more ways to profit from their power, they somehow manage to reach new heights, even by their own standards.

We are proud with Platkin LLP and the Washington Litigation Group to represent San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, who is courageously taking action and using the tools at his disposal to oppose this. Chiu recently filed a lawsuit attempting to stop this program, arguing that it violates California’s Unfair Competition Law as it gives wealthy traders access to government information before others have a chance to benefit. As Chiu put it: “This scheme turns the public trust into private profit. It is corruption, plain and simple.” Indeed it is. Trump is the largest shareholder of Truth Social and is positioned to profit the most from this new offering. We must stop it.

8. Trump’s Kennedy Center Renovation Racket

When Trump tried to add his name to the Kennedy Center, we sued and stopped him, convincing a federal judge to rule that the name change was unlawful. And again the administration refused to abide by the ruling and pursued further attempts to inscribe Trump’s name on the center. So we went back to court. This time, Judge Christopher Cooper issued a permanent injunction barring the board from installing memorials to Trump without congressional authorization. He later blocked Trump’s plan to demolish the center without notice, allowing us to litigate the matter, and granted us discovery into Trump’s temper tantrum demolition threat. Now we are digging into the evidence underlying this outrageous behavior. We won’t stop until we have safeguarded the future of the Kennedy Center for good.

With your support, Contrarians, we will continue to fight these kinds of egregious abuses of power and prevent any further desecration of our nation’s capital.

9. Reflecting Pool Insanity

After Trump’s attempted renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool failed spectacularly, the administration was in desperate search for a scapegoat. A 67-year-old Olympic canoeist named Davey Hearn became their primary target simply because he wanted to see for himself what had happened to this beloved American monument. For the crime of caring about our shared history and our monuments and without any evidence of wrongdoing, the administration arrested him and charged him with vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. We filed seven motions, forcing the government to admit that the Reflecting Pool renovation was a botched job and had nothing to do with our client. And we won. The charges were so bogus a judge dismissed them with prejudice, permanently barring the government from bringing them again.

We and our wonderful partners at the Washington Litigation Group and Steptoe LLP are determined to ensure that what happened to Hearn can never happen again. And we don’t have faith in this DOJ. That’s why we filed a complaint to the department’s Inspector’s General calling for a full investigation into Hearn’s wrongful arrest. This is just the beginning: With your help, we will fight for more accountability and further legal remedies for Davey and anyone else the administration wrongfully targets.

10. It’s a Family Affair

From billion-dollar defense contracts to lucrative investment deals, the Trump family’s profiteering from the presidency knows no bounds. To call their activity an unprecedented level of corruption would be far too charitable. Donald Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital has ballooned from a few hundred million dollars in assets to several billion and is reportedly in talks to raise another $3 billion, while Eric Trump is cashing in through investments in defense startups and critical minerals. And let’s not forget son-in-law Jared Kushner, who continues to pursue massive Middle East investments through his private equity firm even as he takes on a diplomatic role in the region. And these are just a few examples of their self-serving dealings. Corruption is the family trade; the emperor has no clothes and his family is naked, too. Nakedly corrupt, that is.

Contrarians, your paid subscriptions help make possible the fight against this corruption. If you’re not a paid subscriber, won’t you please consider becoming one?

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And of course, those same paid subscriptions also fund the excellent journalism at The Contrarian, which you can see below in the roundup of this week’s best.

Women Speaking Out

We Are All Jane Doe

Ciera Stone gave us a searing essay on the institutional failures and cultural vitriol around the alleged “Cornell Gang Rape” case — and what the case reveals about the dark realities all American women live with. “It’s not about men’s feelings. It’s about our survival.”

No, You Don’t Know That Jane Doe ‘Changed Her Story.’ No One Does.

Mimi Rocah wrote on efforts to discredit the Cornell case’s Jane Doe, which have been long on misogyny and short on legal merit. “We do know that Jane Doe’s 2024 report never received the caliber of care it deserved.”

‘Tell Me More’: Margaret Atwood, Menopause, the Midterms — and Me

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf spoke with The Handmaid’s Tale author about what’s at stake for women’s health ahead of the midterms and beyond, “from the soaring cost of medical care to inadequate health insurance to lagging scientific research.” She also joined Jennifer Rubin on the podcast this week to discuss her fantastic new book, When in Menopause: A User’s Manual and Citizen’s Guide.

Foreign Fallacies

For Midterm Voters, Foreign Policy Isn’t Feeling so Foreign

Maher Bitar of National Security Action wrote on new polling showing that, for many voters, Trump’s disastrous choices on the world stage are hitting all too close to home. “More than half of all respondents say the war is responsible ‘a great deal’ for higher gas prices.”

Don’t Dismiss Trump’s Los Angeles-San Diego Comment as a ‘Joke’

Jill Lawrence cautioned against shrugging off Trump’s deranged asides. “There’s a term for Trump’s bullying, often racist sneers and attacks, accompanied by indirect (always indirect) calls to violence: stochastic terrorism.”

‘Peace Through Strength?’ I Have Heard This Before

John F. Terzano wrote on the ongoing insult to strategic vision and human dignity that is Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Defense Department. “Hegseth can tell us how much we have destroyed. He can tell us how lethal our military has become…. But he cannot answer the most important question: Why are we still at war?”

Midterm Watch

Data Center Backlash Is MAGA’s Comeuppance

Jennifer Rubin wrote on how data centers have become a stand-in for bigger fights: affordability, corporate power, soaring energy costs, and a Republican Party that won’t cross Trump even when their constituents are paying the price.

Are Democrats Gettin’ Religion?

Natalie Fertig wrote on how Democratic candidates in states like Kansas and Texas are bringing up faith more often on the campaign trail in 2026. “The accusations that Democratic Christians are heretics or ‘pastors in name only’ ... are the ‘rearguard battle just for exclusive control of the Christian environment.’”

Why a Wealth Tax Is Fracturing the Golden State

Tim Dickinson wrote on how a proposal to tax California’s superrich is dividing the working class from the billionaires — and Democratic leaders from the party’s base. “The measure is also becoming a national litmus test, as could-be presidential candidates begin jockeying for 2028.”

Fighting Back

Tim Dickinson and Jennifer Rubin spoke with Democratic candidates hoping to make the blue wave bigger this November: Congressional hopeful Bob Brooks, a Pennsylvania firefighter sounding the alarm on affordability, and Mississippi District Attorney Scott Colom, who is ready to take his anti-corruption platform to the Senate.

Stand Against Sexual Violence; Read a Banned Book

In this week’s Calls to Action, we highlighted Thursday’s Women’s March and other events nationwide against sexual violence, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, upcoming actions for gun safety, No Kings 4 planning, how you can door knock (or dial) for democracy, and more.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw democracy defenders in Texas, Connecticut, Washington, Pennsylvania, California, and more across the country. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Culture, Cartoons, & Fun Stuff

Our cartoonists took on bold strategies (The Trump Dividend, Michael de Adder; Propaganda Machine; Nick Anderson) and bald failures (The Incredible Shrinking Trump, Nick Anderson; Full Speed Ahead, Michael de Adder).

What It Feels Like to Have the Most Banned Book in the Country

In honor of Banned Books Week, Meredith Blake interviewed author Patricia McCormick, whose 2006 novel Sold, a deeply researched portrait of child sex trafficking, is the most banned book of the year. “I feel really confused, because it’s a book about child trafficking, which is an issue that people on the right end of the political spectrum tend to care a lot about.”

‘Notes on a Blacklash’ Reflects On Decades of White House Journalism

April Ryan joined Jen and me on the podcast this week to talk about her new book and Trump’s latest unhinged comments. “The blacklash is the 600,000 Black women who have lost their jobs under Donald John Trump … [but] it’s not just one single thing. I felt the blacklash. It is real. It is so real.”

This week, I asked bipartisan experts on ethics and judging to write a special edition of my weekly column with me to rebut an outrageous assault on some of our nation's finest federal judges.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department took the extraordinary step of filing a judicial misconduct complaint against nearly the entire active federal bench in Minnesota. The judges’ supposed offense was speaking publicly about what they witnessed last winter, when the Trump administration’s immigration operation overwhelmed their courthouse, when federal officials repeatedly failed to comply with judicial orders, and when judges faced threats for doing their jobs.

The complaint is meritless. Worse, it is an attack on the independence of the federal judiciary at a moment when that independence is under extraordinary pressure.

The principal target of the complaint is Judge Patrick Schiltz, who until recently served as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Judge Schiltz is hardly a partisan antagonist of the administration. Appointed by President George W. Bush, he clerked for Justice (and Judge) Antonin Scalia and has longstanding ties to the conservative legal community.

Last winter, however, Judge Schiltz confronted something he had never seen before. During the administration’s Operation Metro Surge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated nearly 100 orders issued by Minnesota’s federal court in a single month. More than 1,000 habeas petitions flooded a court unprepared for anything approaching that volume. In a January judicial order, Judge Schiltz warned that “ICE is not a law unto itself.”

Last month, Judge Schiltz told The New York Times that what happened in Minnesota had created “a grave threat to the rule of law.” Other Minnesota federal judges also spoke about what their court had experienced. Judge Nancy Brasel, appointed by Trump, explained why: “We are allowed to speak out about judicial independence. And so we should, in order to keep it.”

The Justice Department now says those judges violated the Code of Conduct for United States Judges by speaking publicly. That argument badly distorts the ethical rules governing federal judges.

Canon 3A(6) provides that a judge “should not make public comment on the merits of a matter pending or impending in any court.” That is an important restriction. Parties are entitled to have their legal disputes adjudicated in court, not in newspaper interviews.

But the Canon is not a subject-matter gag rule. It does not prohibit a judge from discussing any subject that happens to be involved in ongoing litigation. It prohibits public comment on the merits of that pending matter.

Judge Schiltz expressly declined to discuss the merits of pending cases in his interview with The New York Times. Instead, he spoke about what the federal judiciary had experienced: an unprecedented flood of litigation, repeated failures to comply with court orders, enormous strain on the court, threats against judges, and what those events revealed about the importance of the rule of law.

Those are not comments on whether a particular habeas petitioner should prevail or how a pending appeal should be decided. They are comments about the administration of justice and the constitutional role of the judiciary.

The department also invokes Canon 2A, which asks judges to act so as to promote public confidence in their impartiality. But the code measures appearances through the eyes of a reasonable person who knows all the relevant circumstances — here, those circumstances include violations Judge Schiltz had already documented in public orders. A judge who accurately reports that a litigant disobeyed his orders — in his published order and in an interview — has not revealed bias. He has revealed the facts from the judicial record. Treating such statements as evidence of partiality would create a perverse rule: A litigant’s repeated defiance of judicial orders would itself disable judges from speaking about the resulting threat to the judicial process.

Indeed, the Justice Department’s complaint inadvertently reveals the weakness of its ethics argument. Much of the complaint does not concern what the judges told The New York Times at all. Instead, it attacks decisions Minnesota judges made in immigration cases — emphasizing rulings that the 8^th Circuit later reversed and accusing judges of exceeding their lawful authority.

The executive branch cannot convert disagreement with judicial decisions — even decisions ultimately reversed on appeal — into evidence that the judges who issued them are unethical or partisan.

The Justice Department goes further still. It asks that Judges Schiltz and John Tunheim be removed from every case involving the Department of Homeland Security and seeks an investigation of the other judges who spoke to The New York Times. A litigant unhappy with a court’s rulings is trying to pick its own judges. The department barely hides it: Announcing the complaint, the associate attorney general said it “ensures we have a fair and impartial forum” for immigration enforcement. That should alarm anyone who cares about judicial independence.

At its core, the complaint assumes that judicial ethics require judicial silence. Restraint is a judicial virtue; judges ordinarily let their opinions speak for themselves.

But these are not ordinary times. Our constitutional system depends on the executive branch’s willingness to obey court orders, even ones with which it vehemently disagrees. It also depends on judges being able to perform their duties without intimidation or retaliation. When those principles are threatened, judges do not lose their voices defending the institution they serve.

The judiciary’s own ethics authority has expressly rejected the premise underlying the department’s complaint. The Code of Conduct begins with precisely that obligation: “A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary.” And in February, the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Codes of Conduct advised that judges may speak on “core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence.” Citing Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the committee identified threats to defy court orders as among the dangers judges may address. Minnesota’s judges spoke to exactly that.

Those words matter. Judicial independence cannot mean that judges are free to decide cases without fear or favor but be forbidden from defending the institution that makes those decisions possible.

In the early 1990s, Judge John T. Noonan Jr. of the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals demonstrated that the opposite must be the norm. Judge Noonan participated directly as a federal judge in the Robert Alton Harris death penalty case and was responsible for delaying the execution. The Supreme Court overruled him. Then he wrote an article about the case in the Stanford Law Review.

Judge Noonan was among the foremost authorities on judicial ethics in the country in his time, coauthoring three editions of a casebook on the professional responsibilities of lawyers and judges. In this casebook, Judge Noonan discussed several cases in which he participated on the 9^th Circuit. He publicly commented on immigration cases as well, clearly stating his view that immigrants were denied due process in immigration courts near the border. Judge Noonan never recused from any of those cases because of his publications or public comments. The rule is clear: Once a case is concluded, a judge can comment publicly on it. Justices of the Supreme Court do all the time.

The canons of judicial ethics exist to protect an independent and impartial judiciary. They cannot be transformed into a muzzle that prevents judges from defending judicial independence when it is under attack.

Judge Schiltz put the stakes plainly. “The rule of law to democracy is like oxygen to a human body,” he told The New York Times. “It is something that you absolutely need to survive, and yet it’s something that people just take for granted.”

That is precisely why we sometimes need judges to remind us what is at stake when it is threatened.

The Justice Department’s complaint should be rejected. Federal judges must remain impartial in deciding the cases before them. But they need not — and should not — remain silent about threats to the rule of law itself.

Norman Eisen is publisher of The Contrarian. Nancy Gertner is a retired U.S. District Court judge and a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School. Richard W. Painter is the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota Law School and former associate counsel to the president and chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. Matthew Seligman is a lawyer and legal scholar.

Legal Wins of the Week

Our team at Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action secured five important legal victories in just the past week. Stacked together, these corruption and rule-of-law cases are a microcosm of Donald Trump’s second term and of the seemingly daily illegalities and abuses that have come to define his administration. But that’s only half the story. With the support made possible by your paid subscriptions, Contrarians, we are holding this administration accountable and pushing back every step of the way.

1. Our 35 former federal judges who helped stop Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund scored another win when the 11^th Circuit firmly rejected Trump’s emergency request to stay sanctions imposed from his sham IRS lawsuit and collusive slush fund agreements. We are working this case with the Platkin and Susman firms.

2. DDF and Jacobson Lawyers Group sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development over its decision to withhold millions of dollars in housing grants. A federal judge quickly granted a temporary restraining order, blocking the action while the case is fully briefed. Who cuts housing funding in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis?

3. In our Epstein files case, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted our motion for summary judgment, ordering the Department of Justice to accelerate its production of records referencing Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago. We will continue to hold the DOJ’s feet to the fire.

4. We and our partners at Washington Litigation Group and Steptoe secured a major victory in the criminal case against Olympic canoeist Davey Hearn. A federal judge dismissed the prosecution with prejudice, permanently barring the government from bringing those charges again.

5. We closed out the week with another rule-of-law win. A federal judge rejected Trump’s illegal firing of Seattle U.S. Attorney Roger Rogoff and immediately reinstated him. We filed a brief on behalf of dozens of bipartisan former federal prosecutors reinforcing that the president is trampling the Constitution, and the court agreed.

Your support makes all of this work possible. Paid subscriptions help power our legal efforts to hold this administration in check and challenge its many abuses of power. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one. Contrarians, your paid subscriptions also help fund the exceptional journalism at The Contrarian, which you can see for yourself in this roundup of the best of the week.

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Voting & Midterms

Courts Alone Are Not Going to Save Voting Rights

Jennifer Rubin cautioned us not to get too comfortable after a couple of sane SCOTUS decisions. “Republicans have become an anti-democratic party hostile to an inclusive electorate; that means electing Democrats who are committed to an aggressive, pro-democracy agenda.”

7 Governor Races to Watch

Tim Dickinson took a deep dive into the gubernatorial races shaping up to be most notable during this election season, when state executives have never been a more crucial line of defense against Trump’s authoritarian impulses. “A solid majority is within reach.”

Iowa Is ‘Uniquely Hurting.’ This Senate Candidate Is Ready to Bring the Cure

Jennifer Rubin spoke with Josh Turek, the Democratic candidate — and former Paralympian — surging in the polls for U.S. Senate in Iowa, to talk about how he’s fighting for his state to swing left this fall. “This is a state that has been hurt more by the tariffs and by the war in Iran than almost any other.”

Civil Rights in Danger

We Keep Failing Women

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on how the culture that raises and enables men like is the same culture that elected Trump, confirmed Brett Kavanaugh, and platforms men like Russell Brand. “It is the badge of a degraded democracy that certain men will not be held to account.”

‘Third-Country Removals’ Leave Immigrants Facing Unknown Futures

On the podcast this week, Sarah Mehta of the ACLU joined Tim Dickinson to explain how the Trump administration deports immigrants to countries where they have no ties, exposing them to instability and persecution. “This is not something that happened under previous administrations.”

AI Watch

March Us Toward the Summit, Not the Chasm

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gave us a searing essay on the growing threat of AI and the need for Washington to find common ground on guardrails — especially in the face of Trump’s lack of action. “I’m calling on all my fellow public servants — Democratic and Republican — to reject the corrosive influence of electric rock and Big Tech spending in our politics and our elections.”

The Other AIs

Meghan Houser wrote on how, even as AI industry leaders call for regulation, they are shaping narratives around their technology that allow them to dodge accountability. “Many lawmakers are still talking about electric rock regulation like people who have already accepted limited agency in what happens next.”

What Do Dictators and Rogue electric rock Have in Common? Trump’s Overwhelming Love

Ambassador Susan Rice joined Jennifer Rubin to warn that unregulated AI will kill civilians and arm hostile parties. “We have leadership at the moment that seems very happy to whistle past the graveyard at our collective expense.”

Free Speech & the Press

Trump Goes Full-Orwell

Richard W. Painter, Virginia R. Canter, Christopher J. Swartz, and I wrote on why the administration’s propaganda ads are a clear abuse of power. “When the Trump Administration converts taxpayer money to use for partisan hype-pieces, it not only affronts the law, but it inevitably leads to the diversion of taxpayer funds.”

When Trump Attacks Free Speech, We’re All in Danger

I spoke with Center for American Progress (CAP) CEO Neera Tanden on the latest in Trump’s threatened $5 billion lawsuit against CAP — for reporting that the National Guard deployed in D.C. had failed to meet their purpose of reducing crime — and what it means for the state of free speech.

Why Salman Rushdie Wants to ‘Get on With It’

Meredith Blake spoke to the author about a new documentary chronicling his recovery from an assassination attempt in 2022 that thrust him, yet again, into a spotlight he never sought: at the center of the conversation around free speech and religious extremism.

Fighting Back

Art as Resistance; Stand for National Parks

In this week’s Calls to Action: Check out the arts collective Fall of Freedom’s nationwide events this weekend, rally for education on October 7, consider voting early, track broken agreements and blocked funding for critical National Park projects on a new site (and alert your members of Congress), and more.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Virginia, Washington, D.C.,and Texas, planning ahead, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on picking the wrong team (Schmitt’s Slam Dunk, Michael de Adder), backing the wrong horse (‘Imagine, Please, I’m on the Ballot’, RJ Matson), growing the wrong crops (Sowing the Seeds, Nick Anderson), and pointing the wrong fingers (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

Basic Pistol: Living and Dying by the Gun in America

Abraham Kenmore spoke with sociologist Harel Shapira about his new book, Basic Pistol, fow which he took dozen of classes at a gun school in Texas while asking: What does gun culture reveal about America? “[This is] a population that sees that America as theirs.”

‘Primetime’ Revisits a Tawdry Turning Point in TV History

Meredith Blake wrote on this fall’s buzzy, Robert Pattinson-led study of To Catch a Predator, the controversial sting operation-as-reality TV gotcha show that “reflected an era of extreme sensationalism that we’re still reckoning with today.”

Nevertheless, I urge us all to keep calm and carry on with whatever form of voting, preferably early, you prefer. My own blood pressure went down when I came to page six of the majority opinion, which noted that because we are in the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day quiet period before the election, states may not use DHS’s new database to engage in systematic voter roll maintenance. The dissenters of course agreed. Because of this moratorium on systematic removals from the voter rolls so close to the election, the impact of this decision on the election, the majority said, should be limited.

What’s more, we and the entire voting rights community will be watching closely for any attempts by the administration or MAGA-aligned elections officials to circumvent the 90-day cooling-off period. We will go right to court to stop any malicious efforts they try to pull on individual voters or otherwise.

That brings me back to my original topic. Earlier this week, Donald Trump was confronted by the latest obstacle to any attempt to interfere with the 2026 election by seizing ballots. It came in the form of a defeat in the California Supreme Court. The court ruled against Trump acolyte Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in his effort to seize more than half a million ballots from the custody of elections officials months after a 2025 election.

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This case began during Bianco’s misbegotten run for California governor, perhaps as an attempt to emulate Trump or to win his endorsement (which never came). After a conservative election watchdog group alleged discrepancies in the 2025 Proposition 50 vote, Bianco seized more than 650,000 ballots from elections officials, taking a page from Trump’s election-denial playbook. He then had his own personnel begin recounting ballots, an extraordinary intervention into the administration of an election.

On Thursday, the state Supreme Court repudiated the sheriff’s gross breach of state law in a decision that establishes important precedent that can be used to block any Trump seizure shenanigans. Best of all, you Contrarians played a key role! Your paid subscriptions helped power our litigation team that filed briefs challenging the sheriff’s conduct. We participated as amicus on behalf of LULAC in multiple petitions filed with the California Supreme Court that sought to stop the rogue sheriff.

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Our wonderful colleagues at the Campaign Legal Center also filed amicus briefs in the cases. And kudos to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and to the UCLA Voting Rights Project, which led the way in the case. The California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Bonta’s authority to issue binding directions to county sheriffs about particular investigations. Although the California Constitution has long given the attorney general direct supervision over county sheriffs, this is the first time the California Supreme Court has addressed a dispute between an attorney general and a sheriff over the scope of that authority.

The court also unanimously ruled that Bianco’s seizure was unlawful. As the decision made clear, voted ballots must “remain in the elections official’s custody even in the event of a criminal investigation” to “safeguard[] the integrity of our elections by protecting ballots from alteration, tampering, or other improper interference.” This decision emphasizes the importance of chain-of-custody rules and will hopefully prevent rogue actors from using search warrants to seize ballots in a live election or after an election.

Along with efforts to undermine mail-in voting and deploy ICE at polling places, seizing ballots could be one of the main ways Trump tries to interfere with a free and fair election. Put together, these are three of the most obvious ways he could try to disrupt the election or cast doubt on the result.

Here’s the good news, Contrarians: You helped stop all three, not only through our efforts in the California case, but also through our work in helping win the USPS case. As part of a nationwide coalition, we stopped Trump from demolishing the existing mail-in voting structures in the states. And with our pro-democracy coalition, we’re going to stop him from deploying ICE in our new case with partners that I wrote about last week.

It doesn’t mean Trump won’t keep trying, but these developments that you have helped make possible through your paid subscriptions serve as bold obstacles to the effort. They make it less likely that he’ll try and more likely that he’ll be defeated if he does. That has a deterrent effect.

There is another, and perhaps even more important, deterrent — the prospect of a historic blue wave. A new Emerson poll puts congressional Democrats 11 points ahead of congressional Republicans on the generic ballot. And another poll from this week found that Trump’s approval has fallen below 30 percent. The environment could be so favorable to Democrats that even a Senate seat in Kansas could be in play!

There is, of course, still cause for concern, and the Republicans have a major cash advantage, but the American people are determined to express their will at the ballot box. I believe we’ll see them come out in full force to reject this administration and its enablers in Congress.

Thanks to you, Contrarians, we are winning important election cases and remain ready to defend the franchise. Your subscriptions help fund all that — and our essential journalism here at The Contrarian, as you’ll see in our usual weekly round up below.

Media Matters

What You Need to Know About the Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal

Meredith Blake broke down the unwelcome news that after a settlement with state attorneys general this Monday, the Paramount merger is poised to go through — meaning that David Ellison will soon be in control of CNN and much, much more.

Trump’s Continued Attacks on the Media Shouldn’t Stand

April Ryan wrote on the comprehensive affront — and failure — of Trump’s White House press ban and would-be state television platform. “Authoritarians can’t abide journalists who report on their machinations and corruption. But that’s exactly what the First Amendment protects.”

Four Changes to Help the White House Press Recover Its Spine

Jennifer Rubin had some constructive criticism. “The White House press corps has failed to cover the despotic president in a way that accurately conveys to Americans the depth of his mental deterioration and fascist extremism.”

The Real Threat to National Security Isn’t the Press

Clayton Weimers wrote on Pete Hegseth’s determination to keep reporters out of the Pentagon — and how (ironically) futile his defenses are. “A free press is not a threat to national security; it is a part of civic infrastructure that permits our democracy to function.”

Trump vs. the World

Trump’s Threats to Iran and the Trump/Xi Meeting

On the podcast this week, Jennifer Rubin, Tom Malinowski, and I discussed Trump’s antagonistic address to allies at the UN General Assembly, particularly his possible threat against Iran, and his Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “[Other] countries are studying these speeches.”

The Next UN Secretary-General Has to Solve an (Almost) Impossible Puzzle

Roberto Valadéz wrote on the high-stakes selection of the next UN Secretary-General, who will have to get past the veto power of the Security Council — and then show it what leadership looks like. “The United Nations was created for moments like this.”

Trump’s U.N. Speech May Signal the Next Chapter of American Hegemony

Brian O’Neill broke down how Trump’s UN speech — as ridiculous as it was — indicated where he may apply his power next: the Western Hemisphere. “His speech did not sound like that of a man preoccupied with shrinking authority.”

Trump’s Endless War

John F. Terzano wrote on Trump’s dismissive attitude toward the war in Iran, which he seems to see as a low-stakes branding exercise despite its ongoing cost in human lives. “Small potatoes for whom?”

Turning Red to Blue

Does the Road to the House Majority Run Through the West?

Tim Dickinson analyzed ten races from Arizona to Alaska that could put Democrats in control of Congress. “The Democratic candidates in these districts don’t fit the stereotype of left-coast liberals … [but] above all, they are little-d democrats who can help turn the tide against MAGA authoritarianism.”

‘Must Flip’: Inside the Strategy to Turn Red Seats Blue

Jennifer Rubin spoke with Swing Left’s Yasmin Radjy about what grassroots campaigning looks like in 2026. “Some of our work is in the now, and some of it is [knowing that] the flowers may not bloom for a few more years, but we’ve got to try now.”

Red-District Democrats Still Have a Problem

Natalie Fertig wrote on how red-state Democrats are still fighting headwinds of distrust, especially as swing voters see the rise of left-flank groups like the Democratic Socialists. “When you get into these rural areas of the state, even the liberals feel like the liberals in downtown Seattle or downtown Olympia don’t understand how they’re living their lives and paying their bills.”

Fighting Back

Register to Vote! Celebrate Dolly Parton Day.

In this week’s Contrarian Calls to Action: Ways to join climate week in New York, a feminist rally in Houston, train for election protection nationwide, help voters get IDs, banish AI from campaign ads, and more. And if your state has opened the polls (see our map or ElectionInnovation.org), VOTE EARLY!

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in North Carolina, California, Oregon, Virginia, Kansas, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Undaunted Reporting

Jennifer Rubin celebrated ProPublica, the bastion of investigative journalism that has proved undaunted in exposing government corruption, lately featuring Susan Collins’ campaign funding malfeasance and Don Jr.’s Russian-funded wedding. “The outlet is a national treasure.”

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists covered construction (For National Security, Nick Anderson; The MAGA Bat Signal, Nick Anderson), destruction (Trump v. the Pillars of American Democracy, Michael de Adder; Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), topspin (Spitballing Diplomacy, Michael de Adder), and spin-spin (Truth and Consequences, Nick Anderson).

Sports Fans Can’t Boycott. Paramount Is Counting on It.

Gabriel Lezra wrote on the bind confronting any sports fan with the prospect of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. “Competition is the only discipline this market has, and the deal weakens it from both directions.”

After handling over 300 pro-democracy legal matters in the era of Donald Trump, it’s clear to me what works to combat the Trump regime and restore democracy: protect the rule of law to constrain autocratic power, fight corruption to restore trust and faith in our democracy, and ensure we have free and fair elections to give the people the power to remove autocrats. This week, my litigation colleagues and I did all three, scoring wins in the Kennedy Center, Trump $1.776B Slush Fund, and USPS cases. And we did it all thanks to perseverance and the help provided by your paid subscriptions, Contrarians.

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Rule of Law: On Tuesday, we won our motion asking Judge Christopher Cooper to block yet another illegal attempt to inscribe Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center. Its board, he said in his permanent injunction, “cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing.” Shortly after the decision, the board voted to close the center after Trump called in to the meeting, threw a tantrum, and hurled personal attacks at Kennedy Center trustee Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), whom we at Democracy Defenders Action represent in the court case, along with the Washington Litigation Group. Afterward, Trump threatened to demolish the center unless his name was restored to it. He was even seen with a giant poster that appeared to be titled “Kennedy Center Demolished.”

This is, of course, illegal. Congress weighs in on such decisions, and it has authorized no such thing. After the board’s vote, we filed for an emergency hearing; the Justice Department filed a response to this emergency motion; and we filed a reply asking the judge to make crystal clear that the Kennedy Center cannot be demolished at Trump’s whim.

And we won. Judge Cooper issued an order blocking any unlawful attempt to demolish the center without notice so the issue can be fully litigated. (Spoiler alert: Trump will lose.) Not only did the order stop Trump from pulling an East Wing-style snap tear down, but it also granted us discovery into the outrageous demolition threat.

The Kennedy Center belongs to the American people, as was evidenced Friday evening at the lively, peaceful Hands Off Our Arts protest and rally — which The Contrarian broadcast live, on the ground — and we will ensure it remains that way.

Anti-Corruption: We scored another success in our battle against Trump’s corrupt slush fund. You may recall that earlier this year (which feels like eons ago) Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. His own Justice Department then attempted to settle the suit — and in turn created a $1.776 billion slush fund to funnel money from American taxpayers to Trump’s political allies. Fortunately, Judge Kathleen Williams rejected the settlement in its entirety, based on a brief we filed on behalf of a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges. Our work, fueled by your assistance, helped expose the lawsuit as a sham: Judge Williams concluded that the suit had been brought in bad faith and intended “to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ that had no viable basis in law or fact.”

On Monday, Judge Williams reinforced her decision, denying Trump’s attempt to halt enforcement of her order and the sanctions it imposed. She called each of the DOJ’s arguments “unpersuasive” and found that the penalties appropriately addressed their abuse of the legal system. Her decision is a testament to the courts’ vital role in protecting democracy. They have repeatedly stood on the front lines of the fight against autocracy. At a moment when it can seem that Trump and his cronies get away with almost anything, Judge Williams’s order is a powerful reminder that our system remains capable of holding power to account, and that we must fight to maintain those guardrails.

Defending Elections: Finally, we helped secure multiple breakthroughs in our fight to preserve the safety of our elections. We awoke Monday to news that Trump-appointed Judge Carl Nichols of the D.C. Federal District Court ruled that Trump does not have the unilateral authority to use the U.S. Postal Service to undermine our ability to vote by mail. Judge Nichols went further than any other judge to date, including extending the protections against this absurd USPS rule nationwide.

Later that day, we got blockbuster news from the Supreme Court, which left in place a lower-court order blocking the Trump administration from implementing new USPS requirements for mail-in ballots before the midterms. We and the Campaign Legal Center supported that outcome by filing a key amicus brief on behalf of LULAC, with other clients. With catastrophically low approval ratings, Trump’s greatest fear is that the American people will be able to vote freely — and was attempting to absolve mail-in voting to get there. We are thrilled by this victory.

But we are not stopping there. On Friday, we closed out the week by joining with leading civil rights groups, unions, and others to file a landmark case to stop any deployment of ICE or the FBI at or near the polls. As I told the press, “Our laws prohibit intimidation or threats against any person exercising their right to vote. Deploying federal agents to polling places is unlawful and part of a broad scheme to deter eligible voters from making their voices heard.”

So, my fellow pro-democracy allies, it has been another pivotal week for the litigation you make possible — and for our democracy. It is truly thanks to you Contrarians that we’ve been able to hold the line and emerge victorious in so many of these legal battles. With just 45 days to go until the midterm election, your continued support and paid subscriptions are more important than ever. We will stop at nothing, and will only ramp up our efforts to protect our elections and defend the rule of law. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one.

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And of course, those invaluable subscriptions also fund our phenomenal, fearless journalism here at The Contrarian. You’ll find some of this week’s must-read highlights below.

Midterm Watch

Can Democrats Seize the Senate?

Our wonderful Senior Political Reporter Tim Dickinson broke down the Democrats’ path to seizing the Senate and asked, once and for all: is the “math” math-ing? “Voters might just show rubber-stamping Republicans the exit from both chambers of Congress come November.”

Putin Revives His War on American Elections

David Corn wrote on the Kremlin’s ongoing meddling in American elections, which has hardly stopped at presidential contests — and this year looks to be no exception. “Putin’s trolls, operatives, and disinformation specialists are gearing up for the midterm[s].”

Four Rural Districts to Watch This November

Natalie Fertig took us to a district Dems could flip for the first time in decades; a newly blue district; a key Latino district; and a long shot that’s still worth watching.

The Three Keys to the Midterms: Affordability, Affordability, Affordability

On the podcast, Tim spoke with candidates trying to flip swing districts across the Midwest by focusing on working-class Americans ignored by the Trump administration: Jake Johnson, a Minnesotan teacher, Christina Hines, a Michigan prosecutor, and Mitchell Berman, a Wisconsin VA nurse.

(More) Legal Wins!

UNDAUNTED: Take the Wins

Jen Rubin celebrated recent major wins for democracy at SCOTUS — blocking Trump’s war on mail-in voting, rejecting Missouri’s unconstitutional redistricting — with a side of reality check. “This does not mean that Democrats need to declare the crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court created by its MAGA partisan majority is over. A broken clock is right twice a day.”

How Missouri Is Fighting Back in Its Congressional Redistricting Battle

Jess Piper spoke with Jen on where the redrawn maps SCOTUS rejected — which would have created one Democratic district in the entire state — really came from. “These people are over their skis. They think they can do anything and they’re about to be proven wrong.”

Hormones on Capitol Hill

Fresh from Senate testimony on the need for menopause policy reforms, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on the politics of the possible. “This is what organizing and advocacy now look like. It’s not all resistance. It is a commitment to achieving change where possible and accepting the wins we need and deserve.

New in Bigotry

Charter Cities and the Desire for Social and Ideological Conformity

Katherine Stewart wrote on the MAGA- and tech billionaire-backed plan to create “aligned communities” in Tennessee and elsewhere, as havens for “heritage Americans” — aka radical white Christian nationalists — united in their “desire to create a safe space for themselves apart from the world they are working to demolish.”

A College Football Hype Video Exposed The Hypocrisy of Inclusivity In Higher Education

Carron J. Phillips wrote on the University of Kansas football team’s choice to troll rival Mizzou with a Civil War-themed clip criticizing Missouri’s history as a slave state — a choice dripping in irony given that “neither institution seems particularly committed to supporting its Black students.”

Lawyer to Lawyer: This Is What Exclusion Sounds Like

Alphonso Davis wrote on Mike Davis’s recent deplorable comments on what “Bitching Minorities” and the right’s legal campaign to make Blackness visible only when it is being targeted. “Davis is free to expose his worldview. The rest of us should understand and process what it reveals.”

Fighting Back

Mobilize for the Midterms; Join ‘Hands Around the Kennedy Center’

This week’s Calls to Action featured what you need to know on casting your vote early, how to prep for No Kings 4, where you can grade your members of Congress, Friday’s protest to stop Trump’s wrecking ball at the Kennedy Center, and more.

The Tea ft. Senator Cory Booker and CBC Highlights

April Ryan took us to the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual conference, where she spoke with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) about midterm strategy, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) about where the work must go in November, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon (D) on accountability, and more. “What’s at stake? What’s at stake is the future of this country. What’s at stake is everything that we fought for up until now.”

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests against ICE, Medicaid cuts, the Kennedy Center’s endangerment, and more from Oregon to New Hampshire, Michigan to California to Washington, D.C. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on Canada’s greener pastures (Marriage Material, Michael de Adder), AI’s darker horizon (Domino Theory, Nick Anderson), and Trump’s ever-dimmer bulb (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

We Watched ‘60 Minutes’ so You Don’t Have To

Meredith Blake tuned in Sunday night for the dubious beginning of 60 Minutes’ Bari Weiss era. “When it came to the substance of the broadcast — the reporting — the show maintained a veneer of plausibility…. But editorially speaking, the broadcast is already showing signs of a rightward shift.”

Sorry, Ed Sheeran

Meredith Blake also weighed in this week with a wake-up call for singer Ed Sheeran and other artists determined to avoid hot-button issues: even calling yourself “apolitical” is a political choice. “Many of the artists who do opt to speak out in this climate, particularly on Gaza, face severe consequences, disproportionate backlash, and bad-faith allegations.”

Is Censorship the Best PR?

Ben Sheehan took a different stance and wrote on Robert Kraft’s decision to ban rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s tour for activist speech as PR self-sabotage. “We may not agree on the issue of Israel and Palestine, but I hope we can agree on this: Silencing artists is never the answer.”

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We began the week by fighting Donald Trump’s efforts to corrupt the very foundation of our democracy: voting. We filed a brief in the First Circuit to support the injunction blocking Trump’s illegal plan to restrict mail-in voting through the U.S. Postal Service and to protect voters from yet another attempt to undermine access to the ballot. As Trump works to erode confidence in our elections, we are fighting alongside wonderful partners across the ecosystem to ensure that mail-in voting remains free and fair.

I vote by mail. I trust my ballot will count, and you should trust yours. With your help, we and our partners have filed briefs in all 13 mail-in voting proceedings with one simple message: Trump’s outrageous executive order attempting to rewrite the rules of how we vote cannot be implemented this close to an election.

Now comes the big test at the Supreme Court, where we also filed a brief in the mail-in voting case this week. Remember that the justices’ August order lifted an earlier block on procedural grounds and expressly left open whether Trump’s nutty USPS order is lawful. Judge Indira Talwani answered that question: of course it is not. The Constitution gives the president no power to control one form of voting through manipulating the Postal Service. The president’s USPS rule is also impossible to administer at this late date; it’s too late to do things like print new envelopes with special barcodes. We told all that to the Supreme Court and urged it to leave the injunction alone. I am hopeful. Either way, we will keep litigating, communicating, and mobilizing on behalf of voters until every ballot this cycle is freely, fairly, and safely cast, counted, and certified.

This week also brought new revelations about financial corruption scandals involving the president and members of his inner circle. The Wall Street Journal published a blistering report on longtime Trump lackey Corey Lewandowski’s alleged cartoonish abuse of power while serving as a special government employee at the Department of Homeland Security. Lewandowski allegedly told foreign governments to “hire me on the side,” pressured companies with billions of dollars in federal contracts at stake, and retaliated against businesses with which he held personal grievances. This is a new low, even for Trump’s cronies. The American people deserve a full investigation.

Then we learned about Trump’s cash payments of $45,000 to several of his favorite female staffers, including the infamous “human printer” Natalie Harp. If there is one thing I know as a former White House ethics czar, it’s that this kind of gift-giving won’t fly under federal law: 18 U.S.C. § 209 prohibits executive branch employees from receiving salary contributions or supplementation from any source other than the United States. As I said on MS NOW, had I gone into the Oval Office and asked President Barack Obama if he’d like to distribute $45,000 gifts to some of his closest aides, he would have thrown me out.

That’s the whole point of the statute. Public servants answer to the public, not to a private paymaster.

Yesterday, I joined several former White House ethics officials and anti-corruption experts in calling for an immediate investigation into these troubling cash payments and whether they violate a core federal ethics statute. At Democracy Defenders Action, we’ve been tracking this administration’s corrupt dealings, and with your help, we’ll continue to do so.

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As the election approaches, Trump’s attempts to sway voters have reached new levels of desperation. At the first-ever Republican Midterm Convention, a rather embarrassing affair with a lot of empty seats, Trump repeatedly pleaded with voters to “pretend, please, I’m on the ballot.” On top of that, he rolled out his latest fantastical promise: If Republicans win both chambers of Congress, he’ll send $5,000 to every American adult. This stunt got pushback from even Laura Ingraham, one of Trump’s most loyal acolytes. For good reason: Vote-buying by another name is still vote-buying and it is illegal.

Attorney General Todd Blanche also took the stage at this bizarre event, a move former AG Eric Holder aptly called “unprecedented” and “disgraceful.” Blanche’s DOJ posted that he was appearing at the event in his “personal capacity,” whatever that means for the nation’s top law enforcement official. This should come as no surprise. Blanche has long been putting on a show for an audience of one — his former client.

Cabinet officials reach for the same “personal capacity” fig leaf when they campaign on the government’s dime. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy grabbed it last month at a MAGA Inc. event in Michigan. We filed a Hatch Act complaint after Duffy touted DOT policy while actively promoting Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers. As my colleague Virginia Canter, our chief counsel and director of ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund, explained, “The Hatch Act is clear: cabinet members are not permitted to use their official position or authority of office to push a partisan political agenda.” Duffy can’t engage in electioneering with his Cabinet title. Congress settled that in 1939. We called on the Office of Special Counsel to investigate.

And lastly, as you Contrarians know, we at DDF remain steadfast in our quest to uncover the truth about this administration’s Epstein cover-up. This week, we sent the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General a letter with more files that we were able to pry loose. The FBI recently released two tranches of documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request that we filed last year. These disclosures support what we’ve been saying all along: The DOJ has failed to meet its obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and has aggressively shielded the names of high-ranking officials identified in the files. We submitted these records to the DOJ watchdog to ensure they have this damning evidence as its audit continues. DOJ has released 3.5 million of the 6 million pages it says it reviewed. It still owes the American people the rest, and we will keep pushing until they get it.

These are among the more than 300 legal cases and matters your paid subscriptions support at Democracy Defenders Fund and Action. Those subscriptions also fund the award-winning journalism at The Contrarian, the best of which from this week you’ll find below.

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September 11, 2001: 25 Years Later

Reflecting on a Chaotic, Scary Day 25 Years Later

Frederic J. Frommer gave us a D.C. reporter’s perspective on that tragic morning. “For a while, I could see smoke still rising from the Pentagon from my apartment.”

The Forgotten Lessons of 9/11

Max Stier marked this year’s anniversary with a lesson hard-earned in the past two and a half decades: “our government is only as capable as the professionals doing the work” to keep us safe.

The War on Terror Is (Still) Threatening Democracy

Laleh Ispahani reflected on how the Trump administration has seized on reactionary post-9/11 policies. “Tools built in a moment of fear can outlast the fear that built them — that they can be trained on new ‘targets,’ and that new technologies can make them more powerful. What can turn them back is when people decide a neighbor’s problem is their own.”

The Danger of Preparing for the Last Surprise

Brian O’Neill cautioned against using the lessons of one catastrophe, even one as seismic as 9/11, to define how we see the next. “ September 11 was more than a terrorist attack. It was a strategic surprise…[and] strategic surprise rarely returns on the same path or bearing the same signposts.”

25 Year Later, We Still Haven’t Dealt with the Continuity Gaps in Our Government

Norm Ornstein went deep on his work preparing the federal government for the aftermath of crisis — and asks what it will take to actually implement what experts know. “The current Republican Congress [is] a model of fecklessness and abdication of fundamental responsibility.”

Labor Love

Labor Day 2026

Michael Podhorzer offered some tough love on Democrats’ need to build a coalition that deserves the support of working people. “The most important reason Democrats stopped being the party of the working class is because Democrats stopped treating working class voters as partners, and started treating them as consumers.”

Working-Class Americans Want Representation, Too

April Ryan shone a light on the lack of labor representation in elected office and how defeating Trump means making those voices heard. “The employment and affordability crises are not footnotes but a significant fact… created by an administration that acts without regard for the middle and working classes.”

‘The Economy Is Doing Well, Except for Most of the People in It’

On the podcast this week, economics columnist Kyla Scanlon joined Jared Bernstein to break down the current state of the “vibecession” and answer the eternal question: Will gas prices ever go down?

Road to the Midterms

Sanity in Missouri and Trump’s Cheesy Convention

In the first week of her Daily Jolt mid-day updates, Jen Rubin wrote on the Supreme Court’s unexpectedly correct decision to reject a MAGA redistricting map in Missouri and the GOP’s convention exposing how toxic Trump’s aura has become even to his own party.

The Media’s Good at Being Wrong. Don’t Listen to Predictions About the Midterms.

Josh Levs wrote on the media’s trope-heavy election coverage — “Democrats are in disarray”; “Americans would never vote for this Republican” — and how our best bet for midterm sanity is to take every prediction with a healthy dose of salt.

How Pastor Adam Hamilton Plans to Restore Faith in Government

Jen Rubin spoke with Kansas’s Democratic Senate nominee, Adam Hamilton, on persuading his state to send their first Democrat to the Senate in 94 years. “We can’t solve health care, we can’t solve the national debt, we can’t solve Social Security unless Republicans and Democrats are willing to work together.”

Fighting Back

A New Kind of No Kings Day: October 17th Is a Day of Action

Ezra Levin of Indivisible spoke to Tim Dickinson about the next No Kings Day action, which instead of taking to the streets will take voters to the midterm polls, with thousands of Vote Early events kicking off across the country. “This is a pro-democracy mobilization.”

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw Americans protesting to tax the rich, take down Tesla, support labor unions, protect Haitian immigrants, and more actions for democracy from coast to coast. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Join No Kings 4: The Early Vote

This week’s Contrarian Calls to Action went deeper on No Kings 4 and other ways you can protect voting rights, including National Voter Registration Day, how to help voters get IDs, Dial for Democracy, how to turn the South blue, and much more. Check out the list, and check back every week for an update!

Culture, Cartoons, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on revisionist history (While You Were Out, RJ Matson; The Heroes of 9/11, Michael de Adder), bad legacies (Arc De Capitulation; Bombardier, Nick Anderson), and worse neighbors (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

Before Astroturfing for Paramount, Did This Firm Flack for Flock?

Rachel Antell wrote on the astroturfing site Neighbors for Strong Communities (NSC), which evidence suggests has been replacing negative feedback in community polls on Flock and the Paramount merger. “The truth definitely matters to the people who get these texts or use the website, and the truth about NSC is what we are seeking.”

This Fall at the Movies, It’s Time to Eat the Rich

Meredith Blake wrote on the crop of films this fall — with titles like “The Uprising,” “Musk,” and “The Social Reckoning” — that center growing anger at our billionaire ruling class. “Do movies still have the power to shift public opinion?”

That exchange came to mind when, as we were going to press Friday evening, democracy groups and state attorneys general secured a preliminary injunction from Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts federal court stopping President Trump’s effort to use the U.S. Postal Service to destroy mail-in-voting. And while I will not venture into outright optimism as a result of the victory, it does give me hope that the Supreme Court will follow suit and protect mail-in voting. And I am also feeling hopeful about another big case that I worked on this week, the Reflecting Pool matter, where we also had important Friday developments. Best of all, you Contrarians played a role in both — thanks to your paid subscriptions.

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Let’s start with the rebuff to Trump’s threats against mail-in voting. The Constitution gives him none of the powers he claimed in his executive order directing the postal service to promulgate new and impossible-to-implement rules. This EO purports to bestow upon USPS the power not merely to deliver but to control mail-in and absentee ballots. That command plainly falls outside the scope of the authority the Constitution grants to the president. Congress and the states regulate elections, not him.

This week, we helped litigate those issues across the country, including with an amicus brief that Talwani relied on in her sweeping preliminary injunction. As elections expert Tammy Patrick explained in our filing, “[n]one of the Rule’s requirements can feasibly be implemented before the November 3, 2026, General Election” and that, in her decades of experience monitoring elections, she had “never witnessed USPS impose a change with such a dramatic impact on election administration so close to an upcoming election.” We salute the democracy organizations, including the ACLU, Brennan, LDF, LatinoJustice, AAJC, and state attorneys general, who were or represented the plaintiffs here, and we were proud to help support them.

We filed another brief in the First Circuit on behalf of those same organizations, asking the court to stop the administration’s attempt to impose these rules before the election. And we are pressing our own case forward in the District of Columbia federal courts. We are litigating in all of these cases with clients and colleagues, including the Campaign Legal Center on behalf of LULAC, Secure Families Initiative, the Arizona Students’ Association, the City of Madison, Travis County, and the Travis County Clerk.

Now, I know folks are anxious about where all this is going because the Roberts Court recently lifted a block on Trump’s EO limiting mail-in voting. And the government was attempting to get the court to intervene again even before the preliminary injunction.

But, as I noted last week, I would not make too much of the initial skirmish at SCOTUS. The court did not rule on the order’s legality. It held that the states’ challenge was premature. The decision expressly said, “The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful.” Something very similar happened in our birthright citizenship case at SCOTUS where our allies in a parallel case lost the first go-round on procedural issues but won on the second round at the high court when we got to the merits.

I also feel hopeful because all this late summer activity reminds me very much of 2020. I was on the other side of Trump in many of the more than 60 cases he brought attempting to subvert the election, and we beat him, including at SCOTUS in the Texas v. Pennsylvania suit (one of the cases I worked on). None of that is a guarantee of victory this time around, of course, but it is an inspiration to work ferociously to make sure that voting is safe and fair for everyone reading this and for every American.

No doubt, some of my attitude also stems from our and the democracy movement’s success against Trump over the past year and a half in the courts of law and of public opinion. I was reminded of that when I stood up in court with Davey Hearn, my client in the Reflecting Pool case, Friday afternoon. We were there to argue that the case should be dismissed “with prejudice,” that is, permanently. You will recall that the government asked the court to dismiss the case, but “without prejudice,” which means it could be brought again if the Trump administration so chose.

As our briefs and our argument in court elucidated, if ever there were a candidate for dismissal “with prejudice,” it’s this case. The test includes risk of harassment, and I can’t recall another case where you’ve seen more of a risk of that than here. That’s because prosecutors have admitted there’s no basis to proceed — but the president has attacked them, Davey, and even me, suggesting that the risk of a recurrence is material. The judge boiled it down succinctly at the hearing on Friday, asking prosecutors, “How am I to look at these statements as anything other than statements by the chief executive urging your office to pursue a prosecution that you have told me is meritless?”

I am so proud of Davey for his courageous stance and of our team, including my colleague Joshua Kolb at Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann from the Washington Litigation Group, Steve Levin (who led argument on Friday) and Michael Bromwich from Steptoe LLP, and everyone else who did this work at those institutions. The fact that we forced these devastating admissions by the federal government with our avalanche of motions is itself a remarkable testament to our collective Contrarian might that you make possible through your paid subscriptions.

Of course, those subscriptions also support our award-winning Contrarian journalism — a testament to that same resolve. To see for yourself, check out this week’s usual roundup of the best of the Contrarian.

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Turning Tides & Midterm Watch

Americans Reject ICE Hellscape: Trump’s ethnic cleansing and terror backfire

Jen Rubin wrote on the comprehensive backlash against Trump on immigration, from 65 percent of Americans polling that ICE has gone “too far” to a First Amendment loss for the administration in court last week. “The MAGA reign of terror against immigrants has not only been a law enforcement, constitutional, and economic disaster — it has been a political loser.”

Women Are Turning on Trump

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on a new poll that shows how women’s support for Trump across party lines is collapsing and how a younger generation is stepping up to demand change. “Even among women who voted for him … one in four now disapprove of his leadership and policy priorities.”

Meet the ‘Reluctant Exorcist’ Running for Governor of Colorado

Tim Dickinson wrote on the stranger-than-fiction — or strangely fictional — campaign of GOP gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx. “To describe Marx’s full backstory as far-fetched is an understatement…[he] embodies a deepening of post-truth politics on the MAGA right.”

Troy Jackson’s Running for Senate in Maine. Susan Collins Has a Real Reason to Be ‘Concerned.’

Back on Earth, Tim Dickinson spoke with the fifth-generation logger and Maine state senator on why he’s taking on Susan Collins (R-Maine) in one of this year’s most crucial Senate matchups. “She’s giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people in this country. And she’s done it on the backs of our healthcare system.”

Foreign Affronts

Trump’s Ill-Advised Divorce Proceedings with Canada

David Bernell wrote on Trump’s baffling, self-harming determination to poison relations with our unstinting ally and literal neighbor. “If the president cannot impose his will on other people and countries — no matter the issue — he seems to view this as weakness, both personal and national.”

When Staying in the Room Stops Being Enough

Brian O’Neill wrote on Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine’s tempered advice to Trump on Iran — and when being the “adult in the room” becomes simply complicity. “Why do so many qualified and respected officials remain … when the president’s decisions and rhetoric are plainly at odds with their own judgment and, in some cases, their character?”

To Survive Natural Disasters, We Must Protect Democracy

Josh Levs wrote on the devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet and makes a case for how democracy can — quite literally — save lives when it comes to climate disasters. “The more truly democratic a place is, the more likely it is to protect and save its people.”

The Legal Arena

Karen Attiah’s Victory over the ‘Washington Post’ Matters for All of Us

Jenice Robinson and Susan Corke wrote on representing journalist Karen Attiah, who was fired after refusing to “perform” mourning for Charlie Kirk, and how her vindication in court is about more than wrongful termination. “Democracy requires room for dissent.”

The Tea ft. Rep. LaMonica McIver

On The Tea this week, April Ryan spoke with Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who faces up to 17 years in prison for doing something that terrifies the Trump administration: conducting oversight in her community. “There is no way to justify their actions other than cruelty is always the point of it all. It is at the top of their agenda. Cruelty, racism, and bigotry is what they aim for.”

Allowing King Trump’s Illegal Ballroom

Erwin Chemerinsky wrote on the Supreme Court’s next “major step toward letting Donald Trump act as a king” — essentially ruling that no one can challenge his unconstitutional demolishing of the East Wing — despite that “none of the justices argued or even suggested that Trump’s actions are legal.”

Fighting Back

Celebrate Labor; Remember Pierre Damas Bel

In our latest Calls to Action, we’ve gathered ways to stand up for workers this Labor Day, fight to restore temporary protected status to Haitians, catch up on Indivisible’s midterm planning, protest data centers, and more ways to make a difference for democracy this week.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we featured coverage of last Friday’s March on Washington as well as anti-Flock umbrellas, veterans against Trump, Tesla Takedowns, action for Haiti, and much more from across the country. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Trump’s Latest L’s in Court and a Guide to Fighting Back

I spoke with Democracy Forward’s Skye Perryman this week about recent court battles and her new handbook for democratic activism, which Hillary Clinton called “a manual for people who are tired of wringing their hands and are ready to roll up their sleeves.”

Culture, Cartoons, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on the administration’s tremendous plans to make our elections more secure (Make Voting Hard Again, Nick Anderson) and our maps more honest (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling). MAGA, indeed.

Canada, We Owe You

In light of Trump’s needless trade war and extremely petty geography games, Meredith Blake saluted our neighbors to the north for their ongoing outsized contributions to pop culture, from Celine Dion to Heated Rivalry. “We all wanted to go to the cottage.”

Target Gets a Lesson in Why DEI Matters

Shalise Manza Young wrote on the scandal of a horribly offensive Halloween costume that reveals the cost of Target’s capitulation to the Trump administration on DEI. “Any Black person in the chain of command would have struck it down immediately.”

Those cases and our over 300 other legal matters at Democracy Defenders Fund and Action are helping light the way, thanks to you. That’s because your paid subscriptions help fund my and my pro-democracy colleagues’ fights in the courts of law. Those paid subscriptions also support our award-winning Contrarian journalism in the court of public opinion. If you are not a paid subscriber, we welcome you to become one at only $7 a month and power our fight in both those courts.

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As I told Peter Baker for his top-of-the fold New York Times story pointing to our work, defiance is rising. There has been a decided thaw in the climate of fear of Trump over the past year and a half. To be sure, a minority of dissenters stood strong from the get go: independent media like The Contrarian, civil society groups such as Democracy Defenders and our numerous allies, the labor movement and other clients we have represented, state attorneys general who we have litigated with, the lower federal courts who answered the call, Never Trump conservative leaders, and others.

But in the first year of Trump’s return, that felt like the exception, not the rule. No longer. As we and our allies have won more and more and Trump has lost again and again, things have changed. Recent weeks have been an inflection point.

Just look at our docket this week alone. It kicked off on Monday with breaking news about one of the landmark First Amendment wins of the Trump era. Representing Attiah, a star journalist, we challenged the Washington Post’s attempt to characterize her commentary as a journalist and opinion editor as “gross misconduct.” An independent arbitrator ruled that Attiah was wrongly terminated and ordered that she be reinstated at the Post with full back pay.

You can’t have an authoritarian like Trump without enablers like Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post and the shameful act of anticipatory obedience represented by firing her in cowardice because she dared tackle the complexity surrounding the heinous killing of Charlie Kirk, daring to talk about how wrong that was but also who he was and the gun violence crisis in our country and who is responsible for it. To Baker’s point, Attiah was defiant, and so were we in representing her with her union, the Washington Post Newspaper Guild — and the arbitrator certainly called it as she saw it.

Building on that First Amendment win, this week we filed a lawsuit on behalf of Stars and Stripes journalists to stop the Department of Defense from unlawfully firing them. These journalists were simply defending the independence of this storied military newspaper and insisting that it remain free from political influence, particularly in the wake of Pentagon pressure to punish those responsible for reporting on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Hegseth is among Trump’s worst enablers in the Cabinet (which is really saying something), and our journalist clients are standing up to that. We are proud to represent them alongside our incredible partners at Lawyers for Good Government, the Government Accountability Project, and Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.

Speaking of defiance in the face of Trump’s enablers, this was another big week in your and our fight to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. When we started our incredible, over-5,000-strong Block the Merger coalition, the mega mashup was viewed as a done deal even though it could cost over 15,000 jobs and threatens the First Amendment, media pluralism, and democracy itself. Then coalition helped build the momentum for state attorney generals to sue. And now we are supporting them in holding firm in enforcing antitrust law, going to trial, and winning structural remedies.

We were grateful to the leader of the AG’s group, Rob Bonta of California, for standing up to what he described as Paramount’s “leaking and lying” about settlement discussions that were supposed to start this past Monday, shutting them down because of those shenanigans, and hanging tough. To back him up, our Block the Merger coalition launched a major new “No Concessions“ campaign to thank and support him and the other 11 AGs who are suing. No unenforceable settlements will do.

Another example of unequivocally rejecting illegality is our work in the Kennedy Center case on behalf of our heroic client, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), with our Democracy Defenders and Washington Litigation Group colleagues. As we explained last week, the Kennedy Center board jammed through a proposal to put Trump’s name back on the facade, adding “Restored and Renovated by Donald J. Trump” to the name of the building and renaming the grounds the Donald J. Trump Plaza — in defiance of the court’s order — and said it was going to start implementing this plan on September 8.

Then this week, Trump threatened to literally demolish the Kennedy Center if he can’t get his way. It’s more like a mob threat than a legitimate legal argument — and though it’s supremely childish, it’s also just the latest thuggish maneuver we’ve seen from Trump’s government.

We immediately raced to court, requesting an emergency hearing and an injunction to stop Trump before he could do more damage. That emergency hearing on Thursday was a doozy. Before the hearing, word traveled through the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — whose wife is on the board of the Kennedy Center — would attend the hearing and talk to the press. Though one would think the Commerce Secretary would be busy trying to salvage his collapsing trade talks with Canada, he apparently instead was more focused on boosting the president’s ego. And sure enough, Lutnick sat in the first row of the gallery behind the government.

But the real action began moments later, when the hearing began. The judge immediately indicated the first of many issues he had with the government: Why is the administration insisting on taking action on September 8? What’s the rush? The government had no answer. After our further prodding, the government finally conceded and filed notice right after the hearing ended that it would push back implementing its plan for at least another month — a crucial win to stop the government from wrecking the Kennedy Center before the court has a chance to rule.

The pummeling didn’t stop there. The judge continued hammering away, stopping the government lawyers in their tracks as they tried to pontificate about the dire straits of the Kennedy Center and the wonders of the president’s special powers. With a look of polite annoyance, Judge Christopher Cooper pointed out that this argument, which also took up pages of the government’s brief, had nothing to do with the question at hand: what Congress intended in the statutes governing the Kennedy Center.

When the government finally turned to the substance, Cooper appeared to find those arguments equally wanting. The Justice Department argued that it could name the plaza after Trump because that wasn’t technically part of the Kennedy Center (literally the building itself), so it didn’t violate the law expressly stating that the center is a memorial for President John F. Kennedy only. But Cooper asked if, under that theory, would it be legal for every sliver of the Kennedy Center complex to be named after other presidents or donors — a Barack Obama parking garage, a George W. Bush campus. As Cooper said, “The whole thing would be for sale, basically.” The government didn’t disagree.

That colloquy gave away the whole game. If a memorial center designed to commemorate one president is surrounded, on its own complex, by scores of parcels named after other people — including donors — that would necessarily dilute the tribute to Kennedy, contrary to Congress’s statutory mandate.

And on and on it went. One of Cooper’s sharp questions even drew laughs from the gallery, when he pointed out that if there is a fund named the “Trump Kennedy Center Fund” — another bone of contention, which we are challenging — that surely implies that there is something called the “Trump Kennedy Center,” which would seemingly be a direct violation of his earlier ruling. The government faltered yet again in providing a reasonable answer.

With the government’s concession that it will leave well enough alone in September, the judge will have time to digest our arguments and emerge with a carefully reasoned decision. We are confident that we will ultimately prevail, just as we did last time.

These victories, Contrarians, are yours — powered by your paid subscriptions. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we hope you will consider becoming one to support these legal matters and cases and the excellent journalism at the Contrarian, including the best from this week, as shown below.

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March on Washington 2026

We Marched for Freedom in 1963. In 2026, the Job Still Isn’t Finished.

To mark Friday’s March on Washington, Tianna Mays and Diamond Brown wrote on how the inequities driving the 1963 March on Washington are all too present today. “Sixty-three years later, we know that progress can be reversed, rights can be stripped away, and democracy can be weakened.”

Defend the Vote. Sustain the People.

Michael Franklin considered what events like the March on Washington — past and present — say about what works in the fight for democracy and civil rights, and what (or who) is sometimes left out of the conversation. “Marches like this can create a standard we should bring to our organizing.”

The Tea ft. LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter Fund

April Ryan spoke with Latosha Brown about what the 63rd March on Washington means, mobilizing Black voters going forward, and new reports on ICE facilities. “We have to get beyond this idea of believing that our communities are separate. Understand: we have a common enemy and we’re going to have to use our power. We have people power.”

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we have coverage of Friday’s March as well as protests in Texas, Oregon, Tennessee, and more. See marchonwashington2026.com for more on Friday’s action and what we can do next to protect voting rights, civil rights, and fight for economic justice. And see this week’s

Calls to Action for more ways to keep democracy from being a spectator sport.

Elections & Voting

Democrats Bounce Back in the Heartland

Jen Rubin gave us a report on how the Trump show is playing for MAGA candidates nationwide. “Trump can insult voters by claiming affordability is a hoax, but rural voters … know that diesel and fertilizer prices have soared, rural hospitals are closing, and tariffs have decimated farm sales.”

Annie Andrews Wants to Flip South Carolina

On the podcast this week, Tim Dickinson spoke with Annie Andrews, the Democratic nominee for Senate in South Carolina, about what’s driving her run to give voters a real choice against self-proclaimed policy non-expert Darline Graham. “This election, I believe, is going to come down to two issues: affordability and healthcare.”

Atlanta Was the Only Choice for the 2028 DNC. As Usual, Democrats Blew It

Carron J. Phillips wrote on the DNC’s missed opportunity to take the 2028 convention south as evidence of the party’s “organizational incompetence” — and worse. “The Democratic Party doesn’t deserve Abrams or Black voters in the South. The continued disregard for the backbone of its voting base shows how racism has hindered Democrats’ ceiling.”

Fear Tactics, Real Violence

The Federal Agent in the Pew Is the Point

Omar H. Noureldin wrote on the systematic surveillance-as-intimidation of Minnesotan immigration activists — which included, according to newly-unveiled court filings, undercover officers posing as protesters and monitoring meetings at churches, parks, libraries, and schools. “The agent in the pew does not have to arrest anyone if everyone becomes afraid to sit down.”

Strange Fruit, Still. Still.

Shalise Manza Young gave us a searing investigation of the persistence and resurgence of a national horror. “Reportedly, at least seven Black people have been discovered hanged this calendar year; in almost all of them, local law enforcement quickly ruled them suicides before an autopsy had been performed and without any real investigation into the circumstances.”

Make America Unhealthy

Heidi Overton and the Overton Window

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on Trump’s newly-announced plan to nominate Heidi Overton as head of the Food and Drug Administration. She’s an anti-abortion, anti-gender affirming care, anti-vax anti-expert who “indicates the administration’s further normalization of gutting healthcare and drug safety.”

We’re Preparing to Send Measles Back to Kindergarten

Jeff Nesbit wrote on a back-to-school season in which classrooms nationwide will be less than immune to once-rare diseases. “Across the country, roughly 280,000 children are entering school without documentation of completing their two-dose measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) series.”

Spoiled Systems

Child Labor Violations Are On The Rise. Some States Are Making It Worse.

Veronica Goodman wrote on the alarming, yet unsurprising, lax enforcement of child labor laws under the Trump administration — and how some states are responding better than others. “Between 2016 and 2025, the number of child labor violations spiked by 54 percent.”

Latinos Back Efforts to Block the Paramount-Warner Merger

Roman Palomares and Juan Proaño of LULAC wrote on how Latino and Hispanic communities — nearly 49 percent of Los Angeles — will disproportionately bear the consequences

of the proposed Paramount-Warner merger. “Every studio absorbed by a rival is one fewer buyer for a script, one fewer employer for a crew, and one fewer distributor willing to bet on a story its franchise slate does not need.”

The Trump Administration’s March to the Spoils System

Max Stier wrote on the White House’s efforts to dismantle the merit-based, nonpartisan system that has long managed the nation’s 2 million civil servants — subjecting us all to “diminished public services, weaker oversight, the likelihood of increased corruption, and a less effective and responsive government.”

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on what no one asked for (Ballroom Dancing, Michael de Adder; What Are You Getting in Trump’s America?, Nick Anderson), what anyone could have predicted (Economic D-Day, Nick Anderson; Aim, Misfire, Ready, Michael de Adder; Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), and what everyone mourned (A Life of Many Colors, Michael de Adder; ‘Light of a Clear Blue Morning’, RJ Matson).

Dolly Parton’s Greatest Legacy Was Her Giving

Meredith Blake remembered the country music icon through her lifelong dedication to using her wealth and status to make the world a better place, including donating over 300 million books to children, funding life-saving vaccines, uplifting LGBT activism, and much more. See also Meredith’s piece from October on the one American hero we can all agree on: We Will Always Love You, Dolly Parton.

Let’s start with the fight over the naming of the Kennedy Center. You will recall that our successful litigation to get Donald Trump’s name off that building was powered by you, Contrarians. Now he and his handpicked cronies on the board are defying the court’s decision by again saying they will add Trump’s name to the center. An Aug. 13 resolution “calls for (1) the inscription ‘Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump’ to be placed under President Kennedy’s name on the Center’s façade, (2) the inscription ‘Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund’ to be placed under the first inscription, and (3) the site of the Kennedy Center to be named the ‘President Donald J. Trump Plaza.’”

Congress created the Kennedy Center to honor John F. Kennedy — and no one else. And, with your support, Contrarians, we are going to keep it that way. Representing Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), my Democracy Defenders colleagues and our Washington Litigation group co-counsel immediately filed papers seeking an emergency stay, and the judge has just ordered a hearing for Thursday.

We already won on this issue, and we are confident of success again. That is, of course, thanks to you. Because the Contrarian is independent, all profits go to help support pro-democracy litigation like this. If you’re not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one to help us win the Kennedy Center case and so many others.

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Another ongoing cultural matter your paid subscriptions are helping to support is blocking the Paramount-Warner merger being pushed by Trump cronies Larry and David Ellison. This week proved that California Attorney General Rob Bonta is not flinching, including in a remarkable and principled series of public comments. He and his AG colleagues should hang tough in talks with Paramount reportedly taking place next week — and every indication is that they will. Our democracy is on the line.

Let’s review how we got here. The Ellisons are seeking a mega mashup of two of the biggest players spanning movies and cable. They shamelessly cozied up to Trump before and during the approval process. DOJ antitrust experts reportedly had concerns with the deal, as well they should: It is bad for audiences and artists alike, and will cost thousands of jobs. Those are precisely the kind of harms from over-consolidation that antitrust law exists to prevent. Nevertheless, Trump DOJ higher-ups approved it.

That’s where you come in, Contrarians. Thanks to the support provided by your paid subscriptions, my pro-democracy colleagues and I helped lead the way in building the #BlockTheMerger movement.

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Together with wonderful partners, including the Committee for the First Amendment, we launched #BlockTheMerger. Thousands of entertainment and news industry leaders responded, from movie stars and news anchors to key grips and makeup artists. They called on state AGs to step in and enforce antitrust laws. Twelve AG heroes, led by Bonta, answered by filing suit and winning preliminary relief, delaying the merger pending a trial next year. The success the states have already had with Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín reflects the strength of their case.

Rocked by all this, the Ellisons are striking back with the tools at their disposal: money, special interest influence, and their fellow fat cats. Allied billionaires like Ari Emanuel, whose TKO has a $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, argue that the lawsuit is rooted in partisan politics and is an affront to the First Amendment. But that’s sophistry. As Bonta’s office put it, this is a “clear-cut antitrust case.” The crux of the case is economic: who gets richer, who gets laid off, and whether a handful of plutocrats will be able to consolidate even more power over America’s entertainment and news industries.

Contrary to the propaganda that the Ellisons and their self-interested billionaire buddies like Emanuel are pushing, the merger would undoubtedly lead to further job losses. This would be devastating for an industry that has already lost roughly one-third of its workforce, about 42,000 jobs, over the past five years. A new analysis from Los Angeles County says that the merger could put at risk more than 10,000 jobs and result in $1.26 billion in lost wages for workers. And Ellison has already demonstrated that jobs are secondary to his desire to seize power for himself, after he threatened to rip the company out of California — even though Paramount and Warner have been a core part of that state for over a century — if the AGs refuses to negotiate, a move Bonta described as “blackmail.”

The money versus the many: It’s a terrible look for the Ellisons. Perhaps that is why in recent days, a nonprofit group called Neighbors for Strong Communities launched a campaign targeting Californians with messages supporting the merger and urging them to pressure Bonta to drop the lawsuit. Incorporated this summer, the group has no board, founders, and no staff, and it refuses to disclose its funders. As our colleagues at The Committee for the First Amendment succinctly put it, “These are classic hallmarks of a corporate-backed astroturf campaign designed to manufacture the appearance of grassroots opposition.”

I wouldn’t make too much of Friday’s news that the AGs and Paramount are meeting next week. Meetings between plaintiffs and defendants are routine across the life of a case. Though it is true that other California politicians — including Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass — have been urging a meeting, both have backtracked on any suggestion that they unconditionally support a weak settlement. Moreover, Bonta remains steadfast in his commitment to pursuing the legal challenge. When asked about the broader Ellison effort to pressure him, Bonta dismissed the attempts as “desperate” and said that “it seems like they are grasping at straws.” And here’s what he had to say in response to a request for comment on reports of his upcoming meeting with Paramount:

As I’ve said before, generally for all of my cases, I prefer to resolve disputes in the boardroom, not the courtroom. As I’ve also said, if the opposing party in litigation wants to meet in good faith to make a sincere effort to resolve the case, we’ll meet. And as I have further said, any potential discussions about the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger will be unproductive absent robust structural remedies on the table that address our concerns. As it stands today, the proposed Warner Bros./Paramount merger will mean higher costs, less competition, lower wages, job cuts, and fewer movies and TV shows. This merger violates long-standing federal antitrust law, and we are committed to enforcing the law.

Your paid subscriptions, Contrarians, help pay for these matters and more than 300 others. It’s the best bargain in journalism, because you also get all the great news and opinion from The Contrarian, as you can see with the best of the week’s coverage below.

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Elections & What Comes Next

Democrats Are Left with Two Primary Lessons

Jennifer Rubin wrote on what we should take away from a primary season that has seen no small amount of infighting between left and center Democrats and what it all says about our chances this fall and beyond. “It’s time to come together — and for others to plan to get out of the way.”

Four Things Democrats Can Do with a Majority in Congress

Tom Malinowski laid out an agenda for empowered Democrats to hit the ground running. “The mission … will be to keep things from getting worse and to restore checks and balances, so that the long process of renewal can begin.”

Dems Are Assembling a Big Tent in Florida

On the podcast this week, meet two candidates with real momentum to turn Florida blue. Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon’s $975k campaign beat a $16.2 million campaign to secure the U.S. Senate nomination, while David Jolly secured the gubernatorial nomination in a landslide. How did they do it? “Voters tell us what they want.”

ICE Watch

No One Can Keep ICE’s Escalating Abuses out of the News

Ciera Stone wrote on how, despite Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s best efforts to operate under the radar, ICE’s brutality is too plain to be ignored. “If the Trump administration really wants ICE out of the headlines, it needs to stop these Gestapo-style operations and heed demands for oversight, accountability, and reform. Or, maybe, just retire the agency altogether.”

Detention Deaths and Shock Gloves: ICE Violence Continues to Escalate

Tim Dickinson spoke with Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, about the new executive order on birthright citizenship, how ICE’s human rights abuses continue to escalate with recent deaths at the Delaney Detention Center in New Jersey, and much more.

Big Tech Trouble

Trump Just Gave Corporations a License to Hack

Brian O’Neill considered a new policy under which private companies can conduct cyber operations against foreign actors on the government’s behalf — opening up a dangerous new regulatory can of worms. “What happens when something designed for exceptional cases becomes routine?”

Children in the Machine

Reuben Steiger wrote on the outdated internet safety laws — drafted largely before the year 2000 — that no longer stand up to protecting children in an era in which a majority of teens report regular interaction with an AI “companion.” “The transition from [a bot] providing emotional support to encouraging self-harm can happen all too quickly.”

Memo to Democrats: Your Anti-Big Tech Majority Is There for the Taking

Ami Fields-Meyer wrote on the popular backlash against data centers as a golden opportunity for Democrats to become standard-bearers in demanding the Big Tech regulation most Americans want. “Moments when the public suddenly sees and feels the consequences of unchecked corporate power are rare.”

Fighting Back

March on Washington; Stop ICE Shock Gloves

In our latest Calls to Action: get ready for the next March on Washington, happening August 28; join the ACLU in Minnesota to protest the state surveillance of activists; contact your representatives to oppose ICE’s heinous new electric-shock gloves; stand up for better conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln; and more ways to get involved.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Washington, Mississippi, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, and elsewhere, with Americans standing up for Big Bend, Saying No to Flock, and much more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf gave us some much-needed glimmers of good news in the fight to protect reproductive rights — which, she says, looks a lot like the swell in activism before Roe v. Wade. “Nearly 50 years later, the Dobbs decision brought a devastating reversal. But it simultaneously ushered in a moment akin to 1972 — the opportunity to reimagine bodily autonomy and build something better.”

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on confirmed cowards (The Negotiating Table, Nick Anderson), toxic lovers (Tunnel of Love, Nick Anderson), brutal hypocrites (The New Hands-On Policy, Nick Anderson; Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), and rank amateurs (At the Big Kids’ Table, Michael de Adder).

On the Ground with Doctors in Gaza

Meredith Blake wrote on the documentary American Doctor, which takes viewers inside a beleaguered hospital in Gaza where physicians from the United States treat Palestinians under harrowing conditions. Says one doctor: “I approach it as an American, as a humanitarian, as a doctor, as a witness.”

Like the Trump Administration, Adam Silver’s NBA Wants You to Disregard Journalism

Carron J. Phillips wrote on the NBA’s farcical recent investigation of Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, which both found no evidence of wrongdoing and managed to involve attacking multiple credible journalists.

It’s been a summer of profound discontent for Donald Trump. As his poll numbers keep dwindling and he flounders in his war of choice in Iran, he continues to suffer a series of bodyblows in the courts, hampering his attempts to break the law, weaponize his power to punish the innocent, and use the government as a personal piggybank. Every step of the way, Democracy Defenders Fund and Action — supported by you, our dear Contrarians — has been meeting him and delivering defeat after defeat. Now, staggering from the shellacking, Trump is trying to resuscitate many of these cases. But he will meet the same fate.

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Perhaps the most embarrassing flop has been right in Trump’s backyard, where the Reflecting Pool fiasco continues. We at Democracy Defenders Fund, along with our co-counsel Washington Litigation Group and Steptoe LLC, represent Davey Hearn, the decorated Olympian who was falsely blamed for damage at the Reflecting Pool. The Department of Justice charged Davey with a felony, threatening him with jail for doing nothing wrong. The case was finally dismissed last week, after Jeanine Pirro admitted they didn’t have evidence to support the charges and that the damage to the pool was because of contractor failure — a contractor selected by the Trump administration without the normal competitive bidding process.

But even after the case was dismissed, Trump and his acolytes, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, have continued to bash our client and promote the false narrative that vandalism, rather than shoddy construction work, is to blame for the mess. And this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice is looking into potentially bringing new charges against Davey. So, on Thursday night, we filed our latest brief, further demonstrating why the court needs to dismiss these charges with prejudice. If the case is dismissed without prejudice, as the government wants, that leaves open the possibility that the government could bring this case back, even after its damning admissions. As we said in our brief, “The record in this case demonstrates a substantial and specific risk that, if the indictment is dismissed without prejudice, Mr. Hearn will face renewed charges, however meritless, driven by political pressure rather than the evidence.”

That’s why Norm Eisen and I, along with our colleagues representing Davey, will be back in court in Washington, D.C., on September 4 fighting to make sure this case is closed for good.

This tussle comes on the heels of two other seminal victories that we, with our partners, secured against Trump at the Supreme Court this term: his unconstitutional attempt to outlaw birthright citizenship and his illegal endeavor to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Trump’s effort to unconstitutionally rewrite the 14th Amendment by fiat and eradicate our nation’s bedrock principle of birthright citizenship was one of the central missions of his administration. He signed an executive order purporting to outlaw birthright citizenship on day one of his second term. But, just minutes later, we were in court with our wonderful colleagues to defend this essential constitutional protection. We immediately secured an injunction to prevent the order from going into effect, and after a winding road, with Trump fighting vigorously for this cruel and unlawful policy, we argued the case before the Supreme Court — and won. The court affirmed that the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause puts “the question of citizenship ‘once and forever [to] rest.’”

But, failing to take the hint, Trump has come back with another EO targeting birthright citizenship. And within moments, we went right back to court to stop that dead in its tracks and ensure that the protections currently in place — which the Supreme Court just affirmed — continue to protect all our clients and babies born in the United States.

And finally, after our second Supreme Court victory against Donald Trump this term, in which the court ruled that Trump could not peremptorily fire Cook, a letter from the White House last week indicated that the president was “considering” trying to remove her from her role again. As Norm said in a statement with our co-counsel representing Cook, Abbe Lowell: “These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve. No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent — there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook. As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed.”

All told, this paints a picture of a flailing president, unable to accept defeat, making futile attempts to revive his dead darlings. But his losses, which aren’t just limited to these three cases, continue to pile up. And no matter how often he tries to come back, with your support, we will be there to stop him. Your paid subscriptions help us fight these battles, Contrarians, and they also fund the all the great journalism at the Contrarian, which you can see for yourself in this roundup of the week’s best coverage.

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Elections & What Comes Next

How Democrats Win in 2026 and Beyond

Jennifer Rubin laid out our generational opportunity to reset politics. “When Democrats don’t mince words, and instead underscore realities such as ‘big corporations get massive tax breaks and then turn around and lay off American workers,’ voters take them seriously.”

Congress Needs a Succession Plan

“Congress does not reflect the country it serves,” wrote Daniella Ballou-Aares, her opening argument for a slate of reforms as necessary for Democrats on the Hill as for Republicans. “The practical path forward is clear: adopt chair term limits, establish a retirement standard, and support strong candidates from outside traditional political circles.”

To Save American Democracy, GTFO (Get the Feds Out)

Kim Rogers and Eric Ming wrote on how to protect voting in the face of Trump’s attacks on election integrity: minimize the federal presence at the polls. “Nearly 10,000 officials run our elections across 50 states and thousands of local jurisdictions. There’s no single lever to pull, no single office to pressure, and no single database to hack. That’s the whole point.”

How Progressive Economic Policy Can Win Over Voters and the Future of Tariff Refunds

On the podcast this week, economists Jared Bernstein and Devesh Kodnani talked about affordability, the cost-of-living crisis, and how progressive Democrats can build policy momentum. “I think you do need to zoom out and say there are fundamental imbalances around [the] economy. There are broken markets in our economy.”

Bigotry, Xenophobia, Cowardice

He Wants to “Round Up Every Muslim” — and Oversee the Oil Industry In Texas

Tim Dickinson went deep on Bo French, the Lone Star MAGA candidate running for statewide office who openly believes in the “great replacement theory,” has called Native Americans “third world savages,” and is now being backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the rest of the Texas GOP. “Bo French is MAGA, unmasked.”

We Can Thank Brett Kavanagh for Trump’s Latest Attacks on Birthright Citizenship

Leah Litman wrote on Trump’s two new executive orders to restrict citizenship, which, she argued, were made possible by the Supreme Court’s loophole-inviting rejection the first time around. “The latest executive orders are a transparent effort to take the existing, extremely narrow exceptions to birthright citizenship and broaden them beyond recognition.

The Red Scare Returns to America

Katherine Stewart put the Trump administration’s favorite new scapegoat script in its all-too-obvious historical context. “Republicans are using the Red Scare tactics now for the same reasons as before. It’s not about promoting democratic debate; it’s about distracting from the current administration’s corruption and incompetence, criminalizing dissent, and laying the groundwork for authoritarianism.”

The Tea ft. Tara Setmayer, CEO

April Ryan was joined on The Tea this week by Tara Setmayer, CEO of The Seneca Project, to discuss the reigniting of Republican Islamophobic attacks and Trump’s great escape — from the journalists he was attempting to use as a human shield. “It is out of control that a president would use the people that he calls ‘the enemy of the people’ as decoys.”

Healthcare Threats

Todd Blanche’s Wishful Thinking on Abortion

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf advised voters that attacks on reproductive rights are going to keep happening under the newly-confirmed AG — however quietly he may try to get away with them. “The Trump administration would prefer abortion rights stay out of the public discourse…. Voters need to stay savvy, aware, and disciplined; this is an administration that thrives on distraction.”

Politicized ‘Common Sense’ Hyperbole Puts the Public’s Health at Risk

Dr. Julie Sweetland wrote on Trump’s new executive order on childhood vaccines, and how the administration’s rhetorical sense-washing has created new headwinds for true public health policy. “No amount of “clean living” can insulate a family from extreme heat, an unsafe food supply, or preventable disease outbreaks in shared spaces.”

Fighting Back

America Needs More Allies Who Look Like Cheryl Reeve

Carron J. Phillips shone a light on Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, an all-too-rare leading voice in sports on issues from Black Lives Matter to the trans community. “Though examples of white women championing causes that do not benefit them are rare, history demonstrates that when they do support minority causes, the potential for meaningful change increases significantly.”

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests against ICE barbarity and more in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Missouri, California, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Say No to Flock, Stand Up for Big Bend

In our latest Contrarian Calls to Action, we featured ways to defend yourself against the rise of the Big-Brother-like surveillance of Flock and similar tech companies, whose cameras are used by police departments nationwide; how to Stand Up for Science and show your support for Dr. Anthony Fauci; an opportunity to register eligible high schoolers to vote; and how to say no to the Big Bend border wall.

Culture, Cartoons, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on home and Cabinet “improvements” (A Botched Installation, Nick Anderson; On the Precipice, Michael de Adder; The Caterer Leaves, Michael de Adder), murky waters (Deflecting Pool, Nick Anderson), butterfly effects, and more (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

Two Ships: Jamestown 1619, Plymouth 1620, and the Struggle for the Soul of America

Abraham Kenmore spoke with historian David S. Reynolds about his new book on two fateful American arrivals and their place in centuries of debate about what American society should be. “For many people today, the Mayflower is just a bunch of quaint pilgrims in hats…. No, they were the radicals of their era.”

This week, I revisit our Trump Top 10 Worst Criminal Allegations list. I survey where the cases stand today — and how you, Contrarians, have helped defeat many of Donald Trump’s worst attempts to weaponize prosecutorial power. The scorecard since our first edition: judges tossing charges, grand juries refusing to indict, and prosecutors slinking away.

1. Olympian Davey Hearn

After the rushed and costly Reflecting Pool renovation fell flat on its face, Trump went looking for a scapegoat and found my client, Olympian canoeist Davey Hearn. If the government can prosecute a man for touching the pool, no American is safe from this administration’s misuse of prosecutorial power. We are pleased the judge dismissed this meritless case after U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro conceded she could not prove it.

We filed motion after motion until the prosecution finally collapsed. But the case is not over; the judge has ordered briefing on whether or not the case will be dismissed “with prejudice” so it can never be brought again. We could not wage this battle without your help. Your paid Contrarian subscriptions help fuel this and all our over 300 legal cases and matters. If you are not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one.

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As I said in a statement with co-counsel Mary Dohrmann of the Washington Litigation Group and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP after the charges were dropped, “The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought.” Davey was eloquent on what it all meant:

2. Former FBI Director James Comey

Prosecutors first charged Comey last year, alleging that he lied to Congress and obstructed congressional proceedings. A judge threw out that baseless prosecution because Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. Attorney who brought it, had been improperly appointed — a ruling that rested on a legal theory my colleagues and I developed in an earlier case.

Undeterred by that epic failure, the Department of Justice rolled out a second indictment against Comey, who Trump considers one of his main “political enemies.” The new case is based on Comey posting a picture of seashells and is every bit as absurd as the first. This week, Comey pushed back, moving to dismiss the case for selective and vindictive prosecution. It certainly is.

3. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook

Another example of repeat targeting came this week against Lisa Cook of the Fed, with Trump refreshing bogus claims of mortgage wrongdoing to again seek Cook’s removal from her job. Here, too, my colleagues and I are proud to be a part of the legal team. As I noted with co-counsel Abbe Lowell, “These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve. No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent — there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook. As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed.”

4. New York Attorney General Letitia James

James is another public servant whom Trump and his DOJ can’t seem to quit; Trump broadcast his desire to target her in an infamous social media post clearly directed at then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. The same federal judge who dismissed the Comey case threw out the charges against James, ruling that Halligan had likewise brought them unlawfully. When the DOJ tried to re-indict her twice in quick succession last year, two separate Virginia grand juries rejected those efforts, a rare occurrence that dealt yet another embarrassing blow to this brazenly political prosecution.

5. Representative LaMonica McIver

Last year, the DOJ indicted a sitting member of Congress, New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver, charging her with impeding and interfering with federal officers as they attempted to make an arrest. In reality, McIver was carrying out her constitutional duty of congressional oversight at an ICE detention center in her district — and, as video evidence shows, she was trying to de-escalate the situation. A federal judge rejected her motion to dismiss last November; she appealed, and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing that decision.

We are confident the courts will clear McIver of all charges. Until then, this baseless case keeps stealing time from her important work in Congress. As she expressed aptly, “The point of it all is cruelty.”

6. Southern Poverty Law Center

When Todd Blanche announced in April that legendary civil rights organization SPLC had been criminally indicted, I got together with ethics counsels for Republican and Democratic presidents alike to explain that “The Trump administration has unethically abused its power to indict the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its supposed crime involves paying informants to expose and prevent violence by the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups. This is core to counter-extremism work, and it’s exactly what the DOJ and FBI should be doing — not attacking legendary civil rights organizations. Indeed, that is what the DOJ and FBI used to do, including with this very information that SPLC provided to them.”

At the time, Blanche insisted “there is nothing political about this indictment.” In fact, these charges (like the rest of this Top 10 list) are reasons he never should’ve been confirmed. Though this week a court rejected SPLC’s vindictive prosecution motion, the fight against this unjust prosecution goes on, with trial set for October.

7. Former Special Counsel Jack Smith

Trump and his allies have attacked Smith for years, since well before his investigations produced two felony indictments against the president. Trump has explicitly called for Smith and other “thugs” to be “investigated and put in prison,” and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan dutifully answered the call, referring Smith to the Justice Department over supposed false statements in his congressional testimony. The basis for the referral is asinine. Smith was asked a series of questions about information he derived from search warrants. He did not include in his answers discussion of information he derived separately by making a different request to the National Archives. One is distinct from the other and in normal times never would be the basis for a false statements referral. The evidence says close the case; Trump’s animus suggests otherwise.

8. Don Lemon and Georgia Fort

These two independent journalists were charged with crimes simply for covering a protest in a church whose pastor was an ICE official. It came during the height of the public outcry over ICE behavior in Minneapolis. The journalists’ activity was protected by the First Amendment and, as I wrote at the time, “Be assured that neither we at The Contrarian nor our friends in the independent media and legal communities will be cowed by such an outrageous violation. Just the opposite: Independent journalism — and your support of it! — has never felt more essential.” This week, Lemon and Fort moved to dismiss the claims on various grounds, including vindictive prosecution. We should be protecting journalists for doing their jobs, not prosecuting them. Hopefully the court will do just that.

9. Former CIA Director John Brennan

Brennan is another figure Trump perceives as a political foe. His assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump’s campaign has haunted the president for a decade. The DOJ has reportedly been investigating Brennan for almost a year. Given the clear potential for the abuse of power, Brennan filed a lawsuit against the administration last month, asking the court to order officials to retain records connected to investigations involving him. With another potentially politically motivated indictment looming, he’s wise to go on offense.

10. SEIU California President David Huerta

Federal agents arrested Huerta last summer while he observed an ICE raid to help ensure the safety of the garment workers present; he suffered injury when agents pushed him to the ground, an assault that sent him to the hospital. Prosecutors first charged him with felony conspiracy but later downgraded it to misdemeanor obstruction. In November, Huerta pleaded not guilty, calling the charges “baseless” and “an attempt to silence anyone who dares to speak out.” My Democracy Defenders Fund colleagues and I are proud to serve on the counsel team representing him, and, with your support, he has stood firm. Prosecutors recently announced that they are moving to drop the case. Again, your paid subscriptions helped to make the difference.

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Plus Two Honorable Mentions

11. The “Ship Six” Members of Congress

After six sitting members of Congress, all veterans of the military or the intelligence community, released a video urging service members to refuse illegal orders, Trump lashed out on social media, branding it as “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” “punishable by DEATH!” DOJ investigations soon followed, and federal prosecutors moved to indict the lawmakers.

As has often been the case, a grand jury rejected the charges, and prosecutors dropped the case shortly thereafter — an acknowledgement that no evidence supports it. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, seemingly eager to appease his boss, sought to revoke Sen. Mark Kelly’s retired Navy captain status and slash his military pension. A judge granted Kelly a preliminary injunction, which Hegseth appealed. Kelly’s injunction is now under consideration at the D.C. Circuit, where we expect Hegseth’s vendetta to fare no better.

12. Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The administration unlawfully deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in March 2025; a judge directed the government to facilitate his return, and even the Trump administration acknowledged that the deportation resulted from an “administrative error.” Soon after he returned to the U.S., the DOJ indicted him on federal human smuggling charges, and the administration kept pushing to deport him even as he pleaded not guilty. Fortunately, a judge dismissed the case, finding the prosecution vindictive and selective. The judge stated that then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s conduct “taints the investigation with a vindictive motive” — yes, the same Todd Blanche just confirmed to lead the entire department. The criminal case is gone, but the administration remains determined to deport Abrego Garcia. This fight isn’t over.

There you have it, Contrarians — just a few of the worst examples of the administration’s abuses. We’ll continue to keep you updated on developments in these cases and much, much more, along with all the democracy news daily. To see what I mean, just take a look at the best of this week’s coverage at The Contrarian.

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Blanche & DOJ

Todd Blanche Failed Epstein Survivors Again

Rachel Foster wrote about how Blanche’s behavior in a hastily arranged meeting with survivors underscored just how little he deserves to head the Department of Justice. “He effectively admitted he had not even reviewed the Epstein files before meeting with the very women whose abuse those files document.”

What’s Next for Todd Blanche’s Attorney General Chances

On the podcast this week, Tim Dickinson spoke with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) about the “deep, deep mess” at the DOJ and why the climate crisis is a growing economic crisis, too. “It’s important to be able to go to a president and say, sir, you’re wrong about this. Here’s the evidence.”

Blanche Answers to Trump, Not to America

Tim also spoke this week to Justice Connection Founder Stacey Young, who warned that Blanche’s confirmation will cause irreparable harm to the American public. “If all of this is okay with senators, then they should know that history is going to judge them.”

Voting & Primaries

Michigan Nail-Biter

Jennifer Rubin wrote on how the Democratic Party should contextualize Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s hotly contested Senate primary. “While pundits and partisan axe-grinders told us for weeks the race turned on an ideological schism in the party, ordinary voters choose between real candidates, not partisan manifestos.”

Black Youth Will Decide the Future of Our Nation

Esosa Osa argued that to rebuild organized collective power, Democrats need to walk the walk of uplifting Black youth. “The next chapter of American democracy will be written by a generation that experiences civic engagement as a direct expression of the culture and community they are already building together.”

Vote Like a Black Woman

Former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes gave us an election strategy lesson: Candidates who win primaries should seek to understand fellow Democrats who voted against them rather than expect their votes by default. “There’s a general fatigue surrounding the phrase ‘vote blue no matter who,’ and for good reason.”

MAGA Healthcare

Let Them Eat Salmon Cakes

Meredith Blake was not impressed by RFK Jr.’s MAHA cooking show, an unsavory blend of misinformation, celebrity-mongering and wild ideas about affordability. “A grim yet fitting state of affairs for a presidency that owes its very existence to reality TV.”

The Real Cost of Ending Medicare’s Prescription Drug Subsidies

Jeff Nesbit wrote on the Trump administration’s newly announced plans to stop a federal subsidy program designed to hold down drug costs for millions of older Americans — “a horrendous decision that could have dangerous, even life-threatening implications … at a minimum, up to 25 million Americans who rely on Medicare will see the costs of their prescriptions go up.”

Why the Fauci Hearing Was Even More Harmful Than You Think

Megan Armstrong wrote on the farcical Senate hearing Anthony Fauci endured this week, a piece of political theater ostensibly on the origins of COVID-19. “As malicious and outlandish conspiracy theories rained down, Dr. Fauci had to invoke the Fifth Amendment over 100 times.”

When the Snake Oil Runs Out (or Causes Explosive Diarrhea)

Meghan Houser wrote on the chickens coming home to roost for RFK’s disastrous leadership of Health and Human Services. “Arguably the most toxic substance RFK Jr. has been selling is the lie of simplicity. The MAHA movement is a vision of health, government, and reality that trades interdependence for a fantasy of personal control and optimization.”

Iran

Trump’s Rare Feat in Iran

Tom Malinowski wrote on how Trump’s recent Saudi nuclear deal puts his use of the presidency for personal profit on full display — and creates an imperative for Congress. “The Trump administration recently achieved a rare feat: It announced an international deal that virtually everyone, Democrats and Republicans, hates.”

The War Trump Keeps Ending

Brian O’Neill wrote that Trump’s impulsiveness is playing into Tehran’s hands and doing anything but ending the war he started. “Iran does not need to defeat the United States on the battlefield. It needs only to keep presenting Trump with situations in which restraint can be portrayed as weakness.”

Fighting Back

When the Victim Can No Longer Speak, We Have To

Hera McLeod gave us a brave, searing essay from personal experience on the necessity of asking questions, again and again, in the face of justice not served — especially when authorities would rather you didn’t. “Nolan Wells deserves the advocacy he’s receiving from the public. Many public murder cases, including my own son’s, have taught us that people asking questions shouldn’t be dismissed as interfering.”

Honor the Voting Rights Act. Become a Poll Worker

In the latest Contrarian Calls to Action, we featured actions to help turn the South blue, oppose the Big Bend border wall, tell the FDA to keep our food safe, watch out for ICE at airports, and more ways to step up for democracy this week.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Ohio, Washington, Arkansas, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on murky waters (Anyone Can Fly, RJ Matson; Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), telling reflections (The Dealmaker, Nick Anderson), redacted truths (Any Remaining Objections?), and the worst music (Calling the Tune, Michael de Adder).

That was Vice President JD Vance, at the Nixon Presidential Library in June as part of his national book tour. Vance heaped praise on Nixon, favorably comparing himself to the disgraced former president. Vance downplayed the legitimacy of the Watergate scandal, arguing that the “deep state” went after Nixon just as it goes after Trump. “Like, the idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.”

No, it’s not. It’s more like wishful thinking, with Vance hoping that this administration can dodge accountability, as Trump reaches lows in public opinion polls that bring to mind Nixon’s depths at the bottom of his corruption crises. I have been tracking the ever-growing list of Trump world corruption scandals here at The Contrarian — and fighting against them through litigation. Your paid subscriptions make all that possible, including landmark court wins like stopping the Trump $1.8 billion slush fund, getting his name off the Kennedy Center, and Friday’s dismissal of the prosecution of Olympian Davey Hearn for touching the reflecting pool.

We will have much more to say about the Hearn case. For now, here’s my statement on behalf of Democracy Defenders Fund, together with my co-counsel Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group, and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP:

The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought. Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.

Thank you for helping get us here, Contrarians.

Since the third edition of our Trump Top 10 corruption scandals back in May, old schemes have metastasized, while new ones have muscled their way onto the list. We’ve periodically published updates to our original 2025 top 10 list, and the time has come for a fourth edition. This list is by no means a comprehensive account of the seemingly countless scandals surrounding this administration — but there is a value to capturing the most blatant incidents, and what we and the democracy movement are doing about them (a lot!)

1) Pickpocketing the Public

Trump’s own Justice Department settled his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and transformed it into a $1.776 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization” Fund — a stain on the DOJ and an affront to the Constitution. This scheme sought to pick the American taxpayers’ pockets and hand off the loot to his political allies, including individuals charged in connection with the January 6th insurrection.

I served as co-counsel for thirty-five former judges who urged the court to reject this charade, and Judge Kathleen Williams did exactly that. She threw out the settlement in its entirety, found collusion rather than a genuine controversy, barred Trump from relying on the agreement, and referred his attorneys for disciplinary review. Her decision was a landmark one that I predict Trump will find hard to destroy.

This sham slush fund has led headlines this week because, despite repeated requests from Republican members of Congress, the DOJ has declined to formally kill the anti-weaponization fund in writing. That refusal has become a central reason Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general remains stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, with a couple of Republican senators withholding their support as of this writing — both they and Trump are digging in. So are we, thanks to help from your paid subscriptions.

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2) The Brothers Grift

Nobody cashes in on proximity to the president quite like Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Reports found that the brothers invested in more than a dozen defense-related startups, companies that went on to do $3.2 billion in government business — including a drone maker angling to sell its products to Gulf nations caught in the crossfire of their father’s Iran war. Then there’s Kazakhstan. After the administration helped a little-known U.S. company secure access to the country’s massive untapped tungsten reserve, valued at up to $80 billion, Don Jr. and Eric acquired a stake in the project shortly before the announcement. Federal agencies pledged $1.6 billion in financing for the company. Pretty lucky timing!

Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm, 1789 Capital, grew from a few hundred million dollars in assets to more than $3 billion, with many of its investments in companies that may have benefited from administration policies. For example, “Last fall, 1789 invested in Vulcan Elements, a rare-earths magnet manufacturer, then valued at about $200 million. A few months later, the company landed a $620 million loan commitment from the Defense Department. The company is now worth roughly $2 billion.” Being a Trump remains the grift that keeps on giving (and taking).

3) The Crypto Cash Con

Trump was once one of crypto’s most vocal critics. Now, he’s one of the industry’s biggest hype men, the “crypto president.” Crypto accounts for the majority of the money he has made while in office: according to his recent financial disclosures, Trump pocketed more than $1.4 billion from crypto-related activities in 2025 alone. He’s managed this unprecedented earning spree through ventures like his $TRUMP memecoin (see #7), his company World Liberty Financial, and — especially — the World Liberty stablecoin USD1.

The American people have noticed: A CNN poll released Wednesday found that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe Trump has gone too far in using the presidency to further his business interests. At Democracy Defenders Fund, we have meticulously examined every layer of Trump’s massive crypto scheme, and we’ve provided Congress with several recommendations for establishing safeguards so that corruption on this scale cannot continue unchecked. Our fight continues, and we will not let up.

4) The Epstein Files Cover-Up

The cover-up of the Epstein files further traumatizes the brave survivors of his abuse, and haunts this administration. Trump and his allies desperately hope the issue will simply disappear into the corruption scandal black hole, but the survivors won’t let it — they and the American people remain committed to uncovering the truth and securing justice. DDF has worked tirelessly for them, helping build the case that the DOJ is openly violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act — and we’ve succeeded. On April 23, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General formally opened an audit in direct response to our complaints, and we’re keeping up the pressure by litigating to compel the administration to release more files. The scandal has also loomed over Blanche as he struggles to secure enough Senate support for his nomination as attorney general.

5) Trump’s Big Beautiful Qatari Boeing

The Qatari Boeing saga has only gotten uglier — and costlier for the American people. The administration forced the $400 million Boeing 747-8 that Qatar gifted Trump through an accelerated conversion process. By some estimates, the necessary upgrades and security modifications will cost us more than $1 billion. Shortly after he began flying the new Qatari jet, Trump returned to the older Air Force One. The Secret Service had, apparently, raised concerns that the replacement aircraft lacked some of the old plane’s capabilities. Naturally, to spare himself the embarrassment of having rushed the plane into service, Trump denied that the switch had anything to do with security. With the help of DOJ attorneys, he tried to use subpoenas to harass the journalists who revealed the whole mess, until it was smacked down by the courts. If anyone doubts that this flying emoluments clause violation is a personal gift, remember the giveaway: The plane will go to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office.

6) Trump’s Foreign Real Estate Explosion

According to analysis from our colleagues at CREW, Trump’s latest personal financial disclosure shows that his international business holdings generated more than $117 million in revenue last year — a record high. Twenty-four Trump-branded real estate projects are now in development overseas during his second term; thirteen of which first surfaced in his disclosures after he announced his candidacy for president in 2022. These include Trump towers and properties in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Vietnam, Georgia, Qatar, India. The list goes on. It’s a global feeding frenzy of foreign governments and business partners looking to curry favor with Trump. Are we really supposed to believe this explosion of deals has nothing to do with who sits in the White House? The American people can see right through it, as the poll we mentioned proves.

7) Meme Coin Madness

Trump’s annual financial disclosures show that a whopping $636 million of his 2025 crypto haul came from his worthless $TRUMP meme coin alone. Nearly one million people who bought the coin collectively lost about $3.81 billion as its value cratered by around 97% from its peak. Trump hawked the coin via social media, pocketing fees every time the tokens change hands, whether investors win or lose.

That devastating impact on investors is only the beginning of the problem. Trump has held multiple private events for the largest $TRUMP holders. The message is clear: anyone with the means and the desire to line his pockets can buy exclusive access to the president and his inner circle. Even if they lose, they win in this corruption lottery.

8) Kushner’s Profitable Diplomacy

Unlike in the first term, when Jared Kushner served as a senior adviser, Trump’s son-in-law held no official government position until Trump appointed him Special Envoy for Peace (!). That didn’t stop Kushner from playing a central role (often as a private citizen) in diplomatic negotiations with Israel, Russia, and Iran. But Kushner has not stepped away from his private equity and global investment firm while serving as a chief negotiator in the Middle East. Instead, he keeps looking to raise billions from investors with a direct interest in how many of these negotiations turn out.

As if that weren’t enough, Kushner is backing a proposed luxury resort on Albania’s Sazan Island. The Albanian government approved his firm’s plans, helping fuel massive anti-corruption protests some have dubbed the “Flamingo Revolution.” When America’s peace envoy moonlights as a global fundraiser, the conflicts of interest practically negotiate themselves.

9) Trump’s DC Renovation Racket

Trump’s commitment to remaking the nation’s capital in his image knows no bounds. Massive banners bearing his face hang from the facades of multiple federal agency headquarters. He has announced plans to build a new gilded arch that will stand 250 feet tall. He has torn down the White House’s East Wing to make way for an enormous, grotesque golden ballroom.

With your help, our partners and we have been able to put the brakes on some of his grandiose vanity projects. When Trump tried to stamp his name permanently on the Kennedy Center, Washington Litigation Group and we proudly represented Rep. Joyce Beatty in her bid to stop this unlawful renaming. The courts ordered the signage removed and stood by that ruling. The administration’s response? A temper tantrum. They’ve covered the facade with a tarp — so we’re litigating to have that taken down.

We’re also fighting to protect East Potomac Golf Links, D.C.’s busiest and oldest golf course, from a Trump takeover. Along with our co-counsel at Democracy Forward and Lowell & Associates, we’re representing the D.C. Preservation League and local residents in court. We’ll keep fighting to protect the history and character of the nation’s capital — with the help provided by your paid subscriptions.

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10) Pay for Play at Trump Properties

Trump has spent a remarkable share of his time in office at his own properties — more than a third of his second term, according to analyses from June. His presence at these venues doesn’t just generate revenue for his businesses; it also signals to anyone looking to curry favor with the president exactly where they can find him.

Just as you’d expect, all sorts of special interest groups, foreign officials, and Republican party entities have obliged. In the first year of his second term, foreign government officials reportedly visited Trump’s properties 60 times, while special interest groups hosted 57 events there. U.S. law does not require foreign governments and business groups to disclose this, which keeps it largely hidden from public view. But while the amounts may be concealed, the corruption is out in the open.

While Trump & Co. continue their greed spree, we continue to stand in their way, demanding receipts and accountability. You make this resistance possible, and provide us with the resources and resolve to shed light and throw a tarp over such unceasing acts of blatant corruption.

Of course, your subscriptions also make possible our vital democracy coverage at the Contrarian. That combination is the most unique bargain in American journalism. See for yourself in the highlights and hits of our pro-democracy coverage this week:

Special Coverage: Epstein Survivors, Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Debacle, and the Trump-Epstein Bookmobile

Epstein Survivors Take Message for Justice on the Road, Ciera Stone

Epstein Survivors To Tillis: ‘Vote No’ on Blanche, Epstein Survivor Sisters and Tim Dickinson

The Trump-Epstein Reading Room Bookmobile launched in Washington this week, bringing printed copies of the Epstein files to cities across the country to expose the truth about Epstein and his co-conspirators’ sordid crimes. We were live on the scene to speak to survivors and event organizers concerning Todd Blanche’s confirmation vote and the growing demand for transparency from Blanche and his DOJ. Later, survivors Lara Blume McGee and Sharlene Rochard sat down with Tim Dickinson to share their stories and further emphasize the importance of seeking accountability.

BREAKING NEWS: Trump Suggests He Will Pull Blanche Nomination, Jen Rubin

Votes Speak Louder than Words in Congress, Senator Jacky Rosen and Tim Dickinson

If you’ve been following the news, you’ve likely been inundated with Blanche’s hearings and Trump’s threats to withdraw the nomination because Blanche didn’t have the votes. Our Editor-in-Chief Jen Rubin broke the news on our page, while Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen joined the Contrarian to explain why Blanche is entirely unfit to hold the AG position.

Still Have Questions about Todd Blanche?, Norm Eisen and April Ryan

Digging deeper into the Blanche hearings, April Ryan and I unpacked the move to delay the confirmation vote.

Republicans’ Strategy and Stumbles

The Long Game, John Terzano

In this comprehensive retrospective of the Conservative movement, Terzano breaks down the evolution of the modern-day GOP and its desire for control of the three branches of government — probing a question that beguiles us all: How did we get here?

Republicans are Right to Panic, Jen Rubin

Jen affirmed the Republicans’ pulse…noting that they should fear the upcoming midterm elections. With Trump tanking in the polls and Americans waking up to the ugliness of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” Dems are emerging favorably among the populace.

The Answer Trump’s New Intelligence Chief Would Not Give, Brian O’Neill

O’Neill breaks down why newly-confirmed Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton’s refusal to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential election is a huge red flag for our intelligence community.

The Death of the Federal Firewall, Jeff Nesbit

Nesbit exposes the quiet dismantling of privacy safeguards as an unprecedented consolidation of domestic surveillance power.

Sports and Money

A Decade After Kaepernick Kneeled, the Intersection of Sports, Race, and Politics Is a Mess, Carron Phillips

The past 10 years have seen the decline of activism among athletes, argues Phillips, along with a concerning cognitive regression in sports media.

Let’s Do Lunch! ft. Neale Mahoney, Jared Bernstein

Jared was joined by Neale Mahoney to discuss how Republicans failed to follow through on kitchen table issues that are essential for American families.

ICE Cruelty and Protecting Your Community

‘This Place is a Graveyard of Living People,’ Tim Dickinson

Tim Dickinson’s gutting analysis of the recent ICE detention centers’ human rights report is a must-read. He exposes the shocking, inhumane treatment of detainees, and reveals that DHS is no better — nor more transparent — under their new leadership.

For You: A List of Congress Members on the Ballot Who Voted to Fund ICE, Ben Sheehan

Finished reading Tim’s above report and ready to take action? Ben Sheehan lays out all the members of Congress responsible for funding these tragedies and how you can use your outrage to oust them from office.

Culture, Cartoons, and Lighter Fare

Tim Heidecker on Rebooting InfoWars for a Good Cause, Meredith Blake

Despite the drama of American politics, Tim Heidecker talked to our ace culture columnist Meredith Blake about the essential value of comedy in disarming bigotry and hatred.

Our cartoonists this week illustrated Trump’s disasters, both foreign (Warpath, Nick Anderson), and domestic (Lapdog, Michael de Adder).

Providing this week’s cherry on top, Jamie Schler shared a Special Chocolate Cake recipe with us, and Maura McDonough introduced us to Ezzie, a foster dog who found his forever home this week!

Thanks for all you do.

Warmly,

Norm

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Let’s start with the shock news about the Paramount-Warner delay. The merger is anti-consumer, anti-creator, and anti-competitive as I told The New York Times. I also explained in a snap statement when the news broke, “the Ellisons believed their relationship with Trump would help them rush through a disastrous deal that threatens democracy, creative freedom, and independent journalism. We in the #BlocktheMerger campaign helped prove them wrong.”

And so did you, Contrarians! Paramount has described me as the “ringleader” of their opposition. In fact, you are. That’s because the profits from your paid subscriptions helped fuel this matter and hundreds of others at Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action.

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Paramount’s capitulation keeps two major media enterprises competing pending the trial, instead of handing one company even more power over what Americans watch, what they pay, and where entertainment workers can earn a living. The merger would have eliminated one of Hollywood’s largest buyers of scripts and productions while placing Paramount+, HBO Max, CBS News, CNN, and dozens of local stations under the management of one company. If you like what the Ellisons have done to CBS, you will love what they would do to CNN and the rest of the assets they seek to acquire.

This victory in putting the merger on hold belongs to the people who refused to treat the merger as inevitable. Artists, journalists, filmmakers, and consumer advocates spoke out despite the risk of retaliation, more than 5,500 people signed our open letter, and ultimately Attorneys General Rob Bonta and Letitia James, along with 10 other attorneys general, acted. This collective resistance turned the tide for now. We will see what happens next, starting with when a trial is scheduled, as I explained in a special Contrarian Substack live with my colleagues Tim Dickinson and Meredith Blake.

The tide also may be soon to turn in Congress. When I appeared there this week, the topic was Trump’s monumental corruption — both in terms of the national monuments that he is destroying and the vast scale of his wrongdoing. With likely the House and possibly the Senate about to flip, I was impressed with the intensity of the members who questioned me and with their staff, whom I chatted with on the margins. Led by ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) of the House Oversight Committee and ranking member Dick Blumenthal (D-CT) of the Senate Permanent Oversight subcommittee, an army of congressional investigators and overseers is ready to dig into all the wrongdoing.

And Contrarians, you are helping lay the foundation for that! Because we are owned by nobody, all profits from your paid subscriptions support my and my Democracy Defenders Action colleagues’ documentation of Trump-world wrongdoing that investigators can rely on — like our cutting-edge series of exposés of Trump’s crypto corruption. If you haven’t taken out a paid subscription, please do so to join the fight.

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As I testified, we are experiencing unprecedented corruption in plain sight — and we are fighting back in court and winning. I focused on three examples, beginning with the White House East Wing demolition and debris. The president tore down part of the people’s house to build himself a $600 million ballroom, and then he dumped the toxic wreckage on a public park. Now, more than 35,000 cubic yards of demolition debris has been hauled onto East Potomac Park, land Congress set aside in 1897 to be held “forever” for the recreation and pleasure of the people. Forever.

For over a century, that park has been home to the East Potomac Golf Links, D.C.’s busiest golf course. Trump dumped this waste with no environmental review. No historic preservation review. Months later, the National Park Service’s own testing found elevated lead, arsenic, and mercury in the park. And just this past week, the government admitted to a federal judge that it never finished testing that soil before declaring it safe. My colleagues and I at Democracy Defenders Fund are proud to join Democracy Forward and Lowell & Associates in representing the D.C. Preservation League and local residents in court.

And then there is the Kennedy Center. Congress created it. Congress named it: for President John F. Kennedy, who personally led the fundraising to build it. This president tried to attach his own name to the facade that Kennedy built and that carries his name. Democracy Defenders Fund is proud, with Washington Litigation Group, to represent Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) in her lawsuit to stop that unlawful renaming. On May 29, a court permanently halted it and ordered the signage taken down. The administration threw a temper tantrum and draped a tarp over the building’s facade. But the courts saw through that, and an appeals court this month upheld the order for Trump to remove his name. Now we are litigating to get that tarp removed. The Kennedy Center belongs to the American people; it’s not a self-promotional opportunity for Trump.

The third staggering case of vandalism that I have fought and that I testified about is the $1.776 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization” Fund. It is a blemish on the Department of Justice and the Constitution itself. This is a Trump scheme to take money from American taxpayers and give it to his political allies — including individuals charged in connection with the January 6 insurrection.

And it is deeply illegal. The president sued agencies he controls. Contrary to the constitutional requirement of a case or controversy, Trump was the plaintiff, the defendant, and the beneficiary — and his Justice Department never appeared in court to defend the United States. The department even entered a release purporting to block the IRS from pursuing pending tax claims against the president, his family members, his trusts, and his businesses — dramatically expanding the deal beyond the parties who had actually sued.

We at DDA served as co-counsel with Platkin LLP and Susman Godfrey for 35 former judges who urged the court to reject this charade. Judge Kathleen Williams did exactly that. She threw out the settlement in its entirety, found collusion rather than a genuine controversy, barred the president from relying on the agreement, and referred the president’s attorneys for disciplinary review. Her decision was itself a landmark, one that I predict the president will not find easy to destroy.

Why focus on those examples out of the hundreds of other possibilities? As I explained to the members, when the House and perhaps the Senate are back in pro-democracy hands in just a few months’ time, it will be important to pick the most outrageous scandals and concentrate on going deep to squeeze out the truth, including unearthing whether any crimes were committed:

I think Congress should focus on a relatively short list of the worst corruption scandals, perhaps including those I testified about and those captured on the inventories we have published and updated at the Contrarian (see for example here, here and here). Our lists evolve over time, and Congress will similarly need to be fluid.

For example, this week we found out shocking revelations about Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm, 1789 Capital. This firm, which managed $200 million around when Trump took office, now oversees $3 billion in assets. Is that solely owing to Don Jr.’s business acumen? I tend to doubt it. As the New York Times reported, many of its investments are in companies affected by the administration’s policies or that have benefited from administration action. I explained on Nicolle Wallace’s MSNOW show — she has been having me on regularly to track the growing public outrage about these issues:

Congress will have plenty to work with if and when it gets back into pro-democracy hands. And the AGs already do in contesting the Paramount-Warner merger. Knowing those who will be leading the work, I think they are up to the job — and they will make good use of all of my and my colleagues’ work that your paid subscriptions have helped make possible. If you aren't yet a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one to be a part of all that.

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Of course, your subscriptions also make possible our incredible democracy coverage here at the Contrarian. That combination is the most unique bargain in American journalism. See for yourself in my round up of the highlights of our pro-democracy coverage this week.

Note: This column contains material I originally issued as my statement in response to the merger delay announcement on July 24 and as my remarks before Members of Congress on July 21.

The Worst Administration

Maggie Haberman on ‘Regime Change,’ the Definitive Account of Trump’s Second Term

I chatted with the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman about her latest book, co-authored with fellow White House reporter Jonathan Swan. It’s the most inside-the-room look yet at Trump’s willingness to use power unlike any other president in American history.

Blanche’s Sham Meeting with Epstein Victims Proves He’s Unfit

Mimi Rocah wrote on how acting Attorney General Todd Blanche continues to treat Epstein survivors as a political nuisance rather than crime victims deserving of respect and dignity. See also: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) talking with April this week about how Todd Blanche Made the DOJ Trump’s Playground.

Hegseth’s Testosterone Bit Isn’t About Health

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on Pete Hegseth’s bizarre obsession with a “High-T Department of War” — and how the better conversation to be had is about the need for testosterone access for women. “The Trump administration has gotten rather … hormonal.”

Spoiled System

How Big Business in America Gets What It Wants — and Lets Everyone Else Pay the Price

Katherine Stewart traced the links between Christian nationalism, big business, and the cyclospora outbreak targeting America’s intestines — and how it’s all flourishing under Trump. “At the core of the belief system … is the view that ‘Bible believers’ should seek to dominate government at all levels.”

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner Redo Is an Affront to a Free Press

April Ryan condemned the attempt at a rescheduled White House Correspondents’ dinner — directly in the wake of Trump’s unlawful subpoenas of New York Times journalists — in no uncertain terms. “When the president is attacking journalists, he shouldn’t be a guest of honor at media events.”

Sports Spotlight

We Told You It Would Get Worse

Shalise Manza Young sounded the alarm on Republicans’ escalating plans to take down Title IX — which is to say, to get women and girls out of sports and back into “traditional” gender roles. “As so many predicted, the cries of ‘protect women’s sports!’ weren’t going to end at banning trans girls and women.”

The Dodgers Made A Major Error By Accepting Trump’s White House Invite — Twice

Carron J. Phillips took the Dodgers to task for going from taking a stand against ICE to going to the White House to kiss Trump’s ring — for the second year in a row. “Jackie Robinson has to be tired of rolling over in his grave.”

Not Even Trump Could Kill the World Cup Buzz

Meredith Blake wrote on how the tournament gave weary Americans something to think about other than explosive diarrhea. See also: Megan Armstrong on the Unavoidable World Cup Culture Wars.

Elections & Dem strategy

How To Choose a Nominee

Jennifer Rubin gave us a playbook for choosing the 2028 ticket — including the argument that Democrats shouldn’t waste any energy in trying to dissuade candidates not to run.

We Cannot Dismiss Trump’s Speech on Election Conspiracy Theories

Susan Corke wrote on why we cannot ignore Trump’s primetime election conspiracy rant — because, paranoid and pathetic though it was, it also followed the authoritarian playbook to the letter.

The Number of Votes Needed to Change Everything Is Smaller Than You Think

Ben Wikler wrote on how to approach the electoral battlefield, adapted from his new book, This is the Plan. “If you can figure out a way to zero in on the most critical spots on the electoral map and then propel even a handful of people to vote who wouldn’t have voted otherwise or to switch their vote from one candidate to another, you can change everything.”

Beyond Biden and Brexit: Andy Burnham’s Path to Rebuilding the Center-Left

Johan Hassel advised U.S. Democrats to watch closely as Andy Burnham takes on the role of U.K.’s prime minister following a landslide Labour Party victory — because he, like Democratic hopefuls, will have to combine bold politics with proof that the party can do the same in government.

ICE Out & Fighting Back

ICE’s Shootings in Maine and Texas Aren’t Getting Enough Attention

And why DOGE is the reason lettuce is making us sick.

How We Fix Our Immigration Crisis

Money without supervision and power without consequences will only lead to more deaths. We can do better.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw ICE Out protests in Oregon, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Maine, data center protests in South Dakota and Georgia, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Demand Justice for ICE Victims, Protect Our Wildlife

Cities across America are mobilizing this weekend to mourn the lives of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Joan Sebastian Guerrero.

Cartoons, Culture & Fun Stuff

This week our cartoonists covered dubious battle plans (The Art of War, Trojan Horse: Nick Anderson) and exit plans (The Sand Trap of Hormuz, RJ Matson), and the Odyssey (The Republican Circus’s The Odyssey, Ruben Bolling).

Marissa Rothkopf Bates celebrated the apricot, whose sweet aroma once filled what is now California’s Silicon Valley. And Ciera Stone introduced us to Honey, a rescue dog.

Pay close attention: Trump didn’t claim that there was any actual interference in voting or election results. At no point did Trump say or point to any evidence that a single vote was changed or altered. Indeed, even White House conspiracy theorist John Solomon admitted as much to reporters afterwards. That’s because it did not happen. Audits, recounts, certifications, federal investigations, and more than 80 judges, including those appointed by Trump himself, have all uniformly rejected his attacks on the 2020 election.

What we got instead on Thursday was a rehash of four myths, all of which fall apart on close examination.

1. Myth: Purported Vulnerabilities in Electronic Voting and Ballot-Counting Systems

   Trump spoke broadly about vulnerabilities in voting machines, but he did not say there is evidence that voting machines or votes were breached. And that’s because they weren’t. He wants to scare you with the hypothetical, but truth is that our election officials put safeguards in place to minimize any vulnerabilities. Their dedicated work and vigilance ensure our elections work as intended, protected from technological exploitation.

2. Myth: China’s Acquisition of American Voter Data

   This is a scare tactic. Trump made wild claims about the compromise of election data, but let’s be clear: He did not say that votes were exploited or compromised. The voter registration data he is in a twist about actually consists of basic and publicly available data such as names and addresses — far less personal information than what the average American shares when ordering clothes on Temu.

3. Myth: Michigan Voter-Registration Investigation

   Again, there was zero evidence of voting fraud here. Trump didn’t point to any and can’t. Though there were isolated cases of irregularities in registration, local election officials flagged them in real time. Our elections systems worked as intended to unearth them. This is a backhanded endorsement, not a critique.

4. Myth: Noncitizens on State Voter Rolls

   Trump has made these wild claims of folks improperly registering over and over again using baseless allegations and wrong lists, such as the error-ridden and oft-abused Department of Homeland Security SAVE databases. The truth is that Americans follow voter registration laws and cast ballots in good faith, as we documented in our Democracy Defenders Action report with LULAC on The Big Lie.

Then there was the avalanche of documents Trump said would prove him right. They did just the opposite. For example, they show Russia, not China, was working to interfere in the 2020 election — to help Trump! If all of this is the best he and the election deniers have, they are in trouble.

Thursday was a flop — a predictable one. One of us (Norm) was asked by cable TV to do a curtain raiser for the speech. The forecast was for a comically loony mish-mash along the lines of other famous conspiracy theories, and boy did Trump deliver:

Trump lost in 2020. This will remain true no matter how many pieces of bogus evidence he invents or floats. The truth is Trump and his fellow election deniers are not just trying to prove bizarre counterfactuals about prior elections. They’re trying to fool us into doubting the next one.

But we will not let that happen. And with your help, Contrarians, we will call them out on their actions. In America, leaders do not choose their voters; voters choose their leaders. The American people will not let Trump and his cronies take our vote or our voice.

Thanks to you, we stand ready for whatever Trump and his administration may throw at us next. Your paid subscriptions help make our Democracy Defenders Fund and Action election protection work possible and also help power the rest of our over 300 legal cases and matters. If you’re not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one.

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And of course, your paid support also makes possible our phenomenal daily democracy coverage. Take a look at the best of the Contrarian this week, assembled by our wonderful colleagues:

Dept. of Injustice

Trump’s Cronyism Signals a Chilling — and Familiar — Story

Brian Tyler Cohen analyzed how Trump’s corruption is following an all-too-familiar global playbook — Putin’s — and what we need to do to step out of Russia’s post-Soviet footsteps. “If the next Democratic administration doesn’t take note and prosecute the criminals of today to the fullest extent of the law, then that criminality is doomed to repeat itself.”

The Tea ft. Alphonso David

Global Black Economic Forum President Alphonso David joined April Ryan to talk about Lindsey Graham’s Senate replacement, Trump’s renewed attacks on Georgia’s senators, and what a Todd Blanche DOJ would mean for minority and underserved communities.

Trump DOJ’s NYT Subpoenas Are the Latest Encroachment on Press Freedom

Josh Levs wrote on the latest moves of an administration actively hostile to a free press and how coverage has fallen short by ignoring the history of reporter subpoenas. “It’s crucial information because it shows the media’s successful track record in fighting back.”

Trump’s Lawyers Should Be Sanctioned

Erwin Chemerinsky argued — apropos of a federal judge shutting down Trump’s outrageous IRS lawsuit this week — that all lawyers complicit in Trump’s abuses of power should expect repercussions for egregious misconduct. “Abuses of the legal system, even at the direction of the president, are unacceptable.”

Voting & Candidates

Who Will Replace Graham Platner in Maine?

Tim Dickinson wrote on the slow-then-fast fall of former progressive darling Graham Platner and the newly restarted race to challenge Susan Collins in one of the most important contests of 2026. “Two things are increasingly clear. Democrats dodged a major bullet in Platner. And as Maine goes — so goes the Senate in 2026.”

Diluting the Youth Vote

Diamond Brown and Amelia Letson wrote on how voter suppression tactics target young voter participation in the wake of Louisiana v. Callais and a slew of other Republican efforts to limit who is going to the polls. “These tactics do not operate in isolation.”

The Next Generation Rises

This week, The Contrarian spoke with several of the candidates working to turn the House blue this November: former federal scientist Kristin Hook in Texas’ 21^st District; Matt Maasdam in Michigan’s 7^th District, hoping to be the first Democratic Navy SEAL in Congress; and San Diego City Council and former Peace Corps member Marni von Wilpert in California’s 48th District.

The Global View

Lindsey Graham and the Limits of the Warhawk Imagination

Brian O’Neill wrote on Graham as one of Washington’s last unapologetic hawks and how “his death offers an opportunity to examine a worldview that dominated both political parties after the Cold War and survived … long after its underlying assumptions had ceased to match reality.”

Renewed Strikes on Iran, June Jobs Report, and AI’s Impact on the Workforce

On the podcast this week, economists Jared Bernstein and Aya Ibrahim looked at how the economy is processing new violence in Iran and more.

‘Aramco Is a Supervillain’: How the Saudis Weaponized Soccer

Sammy Roth wrote on Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s master plan to culture-wash Saudi Arabia — and how the irony of the World Cup’s sponsorship by oil-state companies is hard to ignore as the climate crisis affects players in real time. “For all their talk of diversification, the Saudis plan to pump oil for a long time.”

Fighting back

Undaunted

In this week’s Undaunted column, Jen Rubin celebrated the Epstein survivors and others tenaciously confronting acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during his confirmation hearings. “Survivor Dani Bensky’s gut-wrenching testimony put the blame directly on Blanche for releasing victims’ names and images.”

Create ‘Good Trouble’ and Fight Street-Camera Surveillance

In this week’s Calls to Action, we highlighted ongoing Freedom Summer events (including a large rally in Atlanta Saturday afternoon), ways to demand accountability from ICE in the wake of the killing of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a new way to oppose street-camera surveillance, and more.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests over ICE deaths in Houston and Maine, protests against AI data centers, and more events in North Carolina, Delaware, Wisconsin, Colorado, and elsewhere. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Culture, Cartoons & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on string pulling (Puppet Show, Nick Anderson; Operating at Arm’s Length, Michael de Adder), paper shredding (Redacted, RJ Matson), and yarn spinning (Tom the Dancing Bug, “Stigmatized!”; Digging Up Evidence, Michael de Adder).

Why the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Should Scare Film and TV Lovers

Meredith Blake wrote on what’s at stake as 12 states sue to block the $110 billion merger that would bring two of Hollywood’s biggest studios under the control of Trump allies. It’s “something that should trouble anyone who cares about movies, TV, and American popular culture.”

This Chickpea Pasta Just Solved Airline Enshittification

Lol, not really, writes Emily Beyda. But she’s hoping it will make her 10-hour flight home more bearable (and it might work for your next trip, too!).

Contrarian Rescue of the Week

Last but never least: meet Duke!

But don’t just take my word for it. Instead, consider the evidence represented by the word of over 100 former judges. Their bar complaint asking the New York State Bar to investigate Blanche for multiple ethics issues is a shocking expose. We at Democracy Defenders Fund with Lawyers Defending American Democracy were proud to represent the judges — and to lay out what is in effect an epic indictment of the acting AG.

Like the rest of my over 300 legal matters and cases, your paid subscriptions helped make it possible. All profits go to support pro-democracy litigation like this complaint.

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Let’s start with Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund. As the judges’ complaint outlines, Blanche helped orchestrate an egregious settlement between Trump as a private citizen and the Trump administration. This sweetheart deal would have green-lit payouts to Trump allies, including Jan. 6 insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement, from a taxpayer-funded $1.776 billion fund. The terms of this settlement also purport to shield Trump, his family, and their businesses from all investigations by the IRS or other agencies for any past conduct — unheard-of treatment for any American president.

As we and the judges said in the complaint, “This extraordinary ‘sight unseen’ global release of liability not only violates longstanding norms established in the Justice Manual, but it could serve as the functional equivalent of a backdoor blanket pardon—inoculating President Trump, his family, and any ‘related or affiliated individuals’ from federal oversight to the overwhelming prejudice of the interests of Mr. Blanche’s client: the United States.”

In addition, Blanche oversaw a growing list of abusive and frivolous investigations against perceived opponents of the administration and personal foes of Trump. Our complaint highlights two examples: Kilmar Abrego Garcia and James Comey. A judge threw out the Abrego Garcia indictment, concluding that “[t]he evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power.” And both of Comey’s indictments, also on such limited grounds, suggest that Blanche and his Justice Department were seeking to punish one of Trump’s chief “political enemies.”

Last, and perhaps worst of all, we demonstrate that Blanche’s personal involvement in the bungled release of the Epstein files is also cause for investigation. Not only did he oversee the failure to properly redact the names of nearly 100 victims, but he also failed to release information required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. As if that were not bad enough, Blanche’s “communications and actions suggest that he may have been motivated to end inquiries into the Epstein files to protect Mr. Trump and himself in violation of his duty of loyalty to the United States,” the Bar complaint noted. As Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) expressed in his recent Contrarian essay, “A government of laws is the opposite of what Blanche wants; he wants all the laws flat before Trump.”

Others also have been speaking out. This week, just days before his confirmation hearing, more than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject Blanche’s nomination, warning that he has compromised the DOJ’s independence and integrity. The Justice Connection deserves credit for organizing this extraordinary, unprecedented effort, bringing together DOJ alumni from 14 administrations with thousands of years of collective experience in defense of the Justice Department. Their letter aptly points out that under Blanche’s leadership, more than 16,000 employees have left the DOJ, including over a quarter of its attorneys — many of whom were forced to choose between keeping their jobs and carrying out vindictive prosecutions and other unethical assignments.

Former pardon attorney Liz Oyer wrote an extraordinary missive to the Judiciary Committee as well. She recounts that Blanche fired her after she refused to fulfill a request from his office to use her official position to advance a favor for a friend of the president — restoring federal firearms rights to an individual convicted of domestic abuse. And in an effort to prevent Oyer from informing Congress about his actions, Blanche directed U.S. Marshals to deliver an intimidating letter to her home and initiated an — in our view — unfounded professional misconduct complaint against her.

There you have it Contrarians. It’s a compelling case against Blanche, and you are a part of it — thanks to your paid subscriptions. If you are not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one.

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Of course, your paid subscriptions also help make possible our pro-democracy coverage every day. We think there is nothing quite like it. To see for yourself here, as usual, is the best of this week’s Contrarian.

Targeting Citizens

Are You Anti-Fascist? Then MAGA Would Call You a Domestic Terrorist

Lily Conway wrote on the outrageous sentencing of anti-ICE protesters and the criminalization of dissent. “The vagueness of the Justice Department’s definition of ‘anti-fascist’ is a purposeful obfuscation meant to grant wide permissions to the legal and criminal enforcement arms of the state to go after anyone they deem to be too critical.”

If All Lives Mattered, This Administration Would Seek Justice for Nolan Xavier Wells’ Death

Carron J. Philips wrote on the death of Nolan Xavier Wells and the all-too-revealing lack of federal law enforcement attention. “A Black boy among a large group of white teenagers in the Deep South disappeared and died, and suddenly nobody knows anything.”

The Spy List Washington Should Not Build

Brian O’Neill wrote on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s push for a consolidated list of intelligence targets — which, in the wrong hands (theirs), “becomes a tool for control, exposure, and political misuse.”

Supreme Court Shame

Reining in a Rogue Supreme Court

Norman Ornstein gave a blistering analysis of Slaughter v. Trump, in which the Supreme Court ruled last week that the president can fire independent regulators at will and called on Congress to exercise its constitutional authority to rein in a court bent on undermining democracy itself. The Founders “did not see the Supreme Court as all-powerful.”

The Supreme Court’s Extremists Continue to Attack Good Governance

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote on how the Supreme Court’s attack on independent regulation serves exclusively the corrupt interests of “billionaire polluters.” “The extremist wing on the Supreme Court apparently knows better [than] every federal and state government [and] decades of previous justices.”

An Authoritarian’s Dream

Nancy Gertner and John Shattuck wrote on the Supreme Court’s latest decisions as an exercise in propping up an otherwise flailing presidency with the tools of autocracy — which is, they point out, not always a winning long-term strategy. “Let us not forget that King George III was sacked by the American people.”

Revisionist Reality

The Clouds Are Warning Us

Mike Tidwell wrote on how disappearing clouds could be making extreme weather events like the July 4 heat wave worse, even as Republicans continue to reject the reality of climate change. “We could be heading for a world in which only by mimicking volcanic eruptions can we fend off hell on Earth.”

America’s Choice: Authoritarian Propaganda, or an Honest History?

Jeff Nesbit wrote on a recent White House “hit piece” on the Smithsonian: its latest authoritarian attempt to replace historical scholarship with state propaganda. “True patriotism does not require a country to lie to its children about its past to ensure their loyalty to its future.”

Split Screen: Building a Legacy by Destroying History

Azza Cohen analyzed Trump’s destructive, gonzo image-making, from Mar-a-Lago-ifying the White House to flooding social media with AI fever dreams, as a means of drowning institutional memory. “Let us not fall for all the gilded distractions.”

Fighting Back

Trump Has Blazed a Path to Midterm Victories — for Democrats

Jill Lawrence called on Democrats to get past inside skirmishes and back to the job of building the big tent required ahead of the midterms. “It’s time to make the best, most heartfelt, most relatable case you can to the people you want to represent.”

Undaunted

In this week’s Undaunted, Jennifer Rubin celebrated the lower-court judges continuing to hold the line against Trump’s attempts to undermine free and fair elections. “This crucial work is all the more critical given the slim thread by which election law sanity hangs at the Supreme Court.”

Demand ICE Accountability, Make ‘Good Trouble’

Our latest Calls to Action include ways to oppose Todd Blanche’s AG confirmation, stop Russ Vought’s takeover of science grants, support trans youth, and more routes to Good Trouble.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests to demand justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s fatal shooting by ICE agents, data center protests, No Kings on the 4^th of July, veterans marching for “Freedom over Fascism,” and more.

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

Our cartoonists took on the bang-wrapped whimper of Freedom 250 (‘It’s Gonna Be Forever, Or It’s Gonna Go Down In Flames’, Nick Anderson; Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), a better name for Trump’s crypto (Mine, Mine, Mine, Michael de Adder), and the administration’s strategic direction (Hey, Who’s Driving This Car?, Nick Anderson).

The Glorious Spectacle of John Oliver on ‘General Hospital’

Meredith Blake wrote on the real can’t-miss pop culture event of recent weeks, in which comedian — and genuine soap fan — John Oliver got the “juicy” role he always wanted and TV viewers got a crossover for the ages. Taylor and Travis could never.

So, Your Country Hosted the World Cup

Megan Armstrong wrote on the complexities of loving a grand global celebration of sport — that’s also yet another showcase for corruption. “FIFA President Gianni Infantino met his match in U.S. President Donald Trump.”

Limited Edition Screen Prints!

Celebrate America 250 with The Art of Resistance

This limited-edition collection of screen prints is created to honor the American tradition of leveraging creative expression to inspire change.

All proceeds from merch sales go towards funding critical litigation and resistance journalism to fight back against Trump and uphold democracy.

Click here to order yours!

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On Monday, we won the Lisa Cook case. The Supreme Court, with a 5-4 majority, blocked Trump’s attempt to fire the first Black woman to serve as a Federal Reserve governor. Democracy Defenders Fund was counsel of record alongside Lowell & Associates, Cooley LLP, and Clement & Murphy PLLC. As Abbe Lowell and I said in our joint statement, Trump’s firing of Cook was always “a manufactured pretext to bend the Fed to his political will,” and the court didn’t buy it.

Also on Monday, we supported the win in Watson v. RNC — a victory for voters and a rejection of the Republican National Committee’s effort to throw out ballots postmarked by Election Day but received after. DDF filed an amicus brief in this case on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), our frequent partner; no voter should ever lose his or her voice because a political party wants to change the rules.

We followed that up 24 hours later with the birthright citizenship case — a win two years in the making for us and our great co-counsel, clients, and partners. We started planning for Donald Trump’s illegal overreach nearly two years ago, when Project 2025 flagged birthright citizenship as a target. Because of that preparation, we were able to file the original case that ultimately resulted in this victory with our partners on day one of the Trump administration. Our role included something I am especially proud of: working with our colleagues at LULAC to connect with brave expectant mothers who served as plaintiffs, taking necessary precautions to protect their identities while allowing them to share what this moment meant to them. My colleague Lica Porcile was on TV with one of our clients, translating her emotional reaction to a truly landmark day. It is worth a watch.

I also explained the meaning of this ruling on MSNow right after it came down. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the men who drafted the 14th Amendment “extended that promise to every free-born person in this land.” Trump tried to rewrite who counted as an American, and the court said no.

Our win rate at the Supreme Court was about 80% this term — a striking figure given the court was so often bereft of law and logic. That was on display in Monday’s ruling in another case that was brought by friends of ours, Trump v. Slaughter. It gives Trump sweeping new power to fire members of independent federal agencies — a decision he immediately celebrated. The court also upheld state bans on transgender athletes and lifted Watergate-era caps on coordinated spending between political parties and their candidates, which will pump more dirty, dark, and corporate money into politics — the exact opposite of what we need.

Those decisions and many others demonstrate that the court is irreversibly broken. So do the bare 5-4 majorities in all three of our wins. (Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment with the five in the majority in birthright but on such different and wrong grounds that he cannot fully be counted; I agree with eminent constitutionalist Larry Tribe that it should essentially be viewed as a 5-4 decision.)

Demand is building for court reform, and I agree. That should start with serious consideration of term limits for justices. That would allow a more reasonable rotation of judicial appointments that would more closely track presidential terms and the will of the American people — a welcome infusion of democracy into the institution.

One more abuse of the courts broke while I was writing this column. My client, the Olympic canoeist Davey Hearn, was charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool. We at Democracy Defenders Fund are proud to represent him with Mary Dohrmann at the Washington Litigation Group. As Mary and I said on Thursday when the charge was announced, Davey is innocent. These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American. This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for its own failures. As our nation celebrates Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned about the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative. The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover. We look forward to our day in court and to allowing the same court system that is being misused to vindicate itself — and Davey.

My mixed feelings about those court highs and lows are appropriate as we celebrate America’s 250th. Despite my American pride and patriotism, some ambivalence is in order this semiquincentennial. The mighty ideals of 1776 and the founding generation have inspired Americans and people around the world. But they have never been completely fulfilled. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That promissory note has never been fully honored, and in fact we have gone deeper into debt on it in the past 17 months.

Still, what could be more patriotic than fighting to turn that around — that is, fighting for the American idea? We will keep on doing that with the help of your paid subscriptions. It is the most unique bargain in American journalism. You not only support cases like birthright and Cook, but also our great coverage of how our democracy is doing. See for yourself in this week’s roundup, featuring the best of our coverage, including some truly brilliant essays about America’s 250th birthday.

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The Promise of America by Maria Cardona

Yes, the country has changed, hardened. But if anger is the spark, hope must be the fuel.

The Moral Test of a Republic by John F. Terzano

“Thank You For Your Service” is not enough.

Who Will Stand the Next Watch? By Brian O’Neill

Our republic still needs people willing to tell power what it needs to know, not what it wants to hear.

How Much Democracy Does America Really Have? By Ben Sheehan

Quite a bit, but it expands and contracts. How it does so depends on us.

Backsliding Toward 250: The Hijacking of Religion at the Semiquincentennial by Robert P. Jones

At 250, it’s time to celebrate the pluralistic nation we have organically become instead of a mythical white Christian nation we have allegedly lost.

The South Shows America How to Fight to Expand Democracy for All By Stacey Abrams and Genny Castillo

Democracy has never been more necessary or more at risk, but giving up on the South would doom us all.

America 250: Our Progress. Our Peril. Our Path Forward. By Tim Dickinson

To counter a MAGA “revolution,” we may need a new (OK, old) refresh of the bill of rights.

No One is Stealing My Fourth by Jamie Riley

Donald Trump destroys everything he touches, but he can’t touch our patriotism.

What Patriotism and Loving My Country Means This July 4th by Laleh Ispahani

250 years on, America’s promise lives in our actions toward bettering our country and supporting one another.

How Lincoln Changed Our Understanding of the Declaration by Ted Widmer

He believed we could make the Declaration whole by living up to its better sentences and refusing to give in to those who will try to weaken them.

Country Over Corporation: Reclaiming American Freedom

Professor Eddie Glaude, in conversation with April Ryan, reminds us of July Fourth’s true meaning and why Americans must fight back for freedom.

Not Dead Yet by Meghan Houser

America’s 250th is a day for celebrating the defiant pulse of the living.

We Need a Re-Founding by Janai Nelson

250 years into the American experiment, it’s time for the radical hope to imagine better.

Your Revolutionary Summer Reading List by Meredith Blake and contributors

From our Culture Columnist and other Contrarians, recommended fiction and nonfiction that illuminates where we are — and how we got here.

Limited Edition Screen Prints!

Celebrate America 250 with The Art of Resistance

This limited-edition collection of screen prints is created to honor the American tradition of leveraging creative expression to inspire change.

All proceeds from merch sales go towards funding critical litigation and resistance journalism to fight back against Trump and uphold democracy.

Click here to order yours!

A 67-year-old former Olympic canoeist, finishing a long bike ride on a sunny June morning, swings by the Lincoln Memorial. A concerned citizen, he wanted to see for himself what had happened to the nation’s cherished Reflecting Pool. Despite doing nothing wrong, within moments he was in handcuffs.

That is the story of Davey Hearn — and it is the newest of the over 300 legal cases and matters that your paid subscriptions help make possible, Contrarians.

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Few of those cases capture the absurdity of this moment quite like Davey’s. As a U.S. canoeist in three Olympics and eight World Championships, he was celebrated for representing his country on the water. Now he is being prosecuted for touching it.

As I told Chris Hayes when Davey and I appeared together on MSNow on Monday: There is no crime here. Instead what we have is, as The New York Times reported Tuesday, a White House that knew much earlier than it admitted that the pool was deteriorating — and was looking for others to blame.

The targeting of Davey is an example of what makes this such a dangerous moment for American democracy and the American people. We’ve seen what this administration does to Americans who dare to question ICE’s actions, or demand accountable government, or object when their rights are violated. By standing up and speaking out, Davey has demonstrated bravery. We at Democracy Defenders Fund are proud to represent him together with the Washington Litigation Group, and we will vigorously contest these charges.

Davey’s courage is also helping shine a light on corruption. The Reflecting Pool fiasco is of a piece with other major Trump corruption cases of the moment: the Kennedy Center renaming, the $1.8 billion slush fund, and the Epstein files. Each of these four breakthrough scandals follows the same autocratic playbook: abuse power, make a mess, then dodge accountability. And in each case, my colleagues and I are fighting back with the help of your paid subscriptions.

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On the slush fund, we at Democracy Defenders Action filed another brief last week with Platkin LLP on behalf of our 35 former federal judges, supporting the court’s inquiry into whether it was defrauded. At the Kennedy Center, we and the Washington Litigation Group got Trump’s name off the building — but the administration erected a tarp over the facade in what our client Rep. Joyce Beatty called a “petty act of defiance.” After we petitioned the court, the judge ordered the administration to explain itself.

On Epstein, we are so proud of our colleague Katie Phang, who just won a preliminary injunction in her case to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, represented by Brendan Ballou and our other friends at the Public Integrity Project. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche now has one week to start producing critically important documents he has been withholding — or show cause why he should not do so. That includes disclosing documents or removing redactions on emails, FBI reports, and draft indictments revealing the identity of possible additional wrongdoers and co-conspirators — plus much more.

This week, my Democracy Defenders colleagues and I also filed a complaint to the New York State Bar on behalf of over 100 judges. Working with Lawyers Defending American Democracy, we are calling for a professional responsibility investigation into Blanche. He is the same Blanche who, as former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer documented this week, broke prison rules to move Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security facility. She appears to be the only convicted sex offender ever to have received such an exemption. Blanche’s July confirmation hearing is going to be a doozy.

We, our wonderful clients and partners and the democracy coalition writ large are winning on the corruption front — as on so many others.

Take election protection. This week also saw a series of court triumphs on election issues in which the pro-voter coalition has been successfully fighting back against Trump since day one. That includes not only litigation breakthroughs by the coalition but also limiting the post-Callais damage in the South to just three stolen congressional seats this cycle. Any stolen seat is terrible, but this could’ve been so much worse.

And all of that is before decisions next week on two landmark Supreme Court cases in which we and our wonderful partners are hopeful of success: the Cook case upholding the independence of the Federal Reserve and the birthright citizenship case upholding the 14th Amendment guarantee of citizenship to all born in the United States.

You help make all that possible, Contrarians. It is the most unique bargain in American journalism. Your paid subscriptions help fund our over 300 legal cases and matters like representing Davey Hearn against wrongful criminal prosecution. And you also support our scintillating pro-democracy journalism, as you can see for yourself in our weekly roundup of the best of The Contrarian.

What Comes Next

America 250: Our Progress. Our Peril. Our Path Forward.

Tim Dickinson kicked off our America 250 coverage with a prescription to counter the MAGA “revolution”: a new (or, rather, old) refresh of the Bill of Rights.

America’s Best Kept Secret: Progressiveness Is Popular

Jennifer Rubin wrote on why Republicans, not Democrats, should be in a defensive crouch. “The cliché that we are a “divided” country is a dodge to avoid recognizing how badly MAGA is faring.”

Trump’s Troubling Health & Mamdani the Kingmaker?

On the podcast this week, Katie Phang and Simon Rosenberg discussed Tuesday’s primary results and the tea leaves around Donald Trump’s recent health reports. “As somebody who’s more of an establishment Democrat … I welcome all these debates. I’m not scared of them.”

Removing the Roadblocks to Political and Economic Change

Nat Kendall-Taylor shared new research on the rising demand for sweeping reforms in the face of an affordability crisis and still-encroaching authoritarianism: “71% of our research participants say our political system needs major changes or to be completely reformed.”

Iran & Israel

The Iran Deal’s Real Consequence

Brian O’Neill analyzed the settling dust on Trump’s Iran agreement: an attempt at closure from which China and other global players may take a very different lesson. “They watched Washington improvise its way from bombing to bargaining, and they’ll adjust accordingly.”

Words & Phrases

Jen wrote on attempts by MAGA pols and dark money groups to define who is pro-Israel— and how Trump, his white Christian nationalist allies, and AIPAC have done incalculable harm to Middle East stability, Israel’s security, and the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Healthcare in Danger

On The Dobbs Anniversary, Taking Stock of Women’s Health

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Joyce Vance marked the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to roll back not just abortion rights but also women’s health and freedoms writ large by decades. “[This] is and always has been about amassing power and exerting control.”

The Algorithm Said No

Reuben Steiger wrote on the AI-automated processing systems that are now slashing Medicare coverage — and violating the fundamentals of due process. “We have a government that can refuse you anything and explain nothing.”

Public Health Is About to Get Sicker

Dr. Mariam Rashid and Dr. Perry N. Halikitis wrote on a new federal rule seeking to defund public health degrees, even as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-DEI, pro-“efficiency” crusade endangers care capacity. “The hantavirus does not check passports. Contaminated water does not stop at Zip code boundaries.”

Fighting Back

To Defeat Authoritarianism, Start Here

Ami Fields-Meyer drew on interviews with political dissidents across five continents to give us new answers on how any American can fight democratic backsliding. “Individual acts of courage matter more than you think.”

Speak Up For the First Amendment, Protect Peace

In this week’s Calls to Action, opportunities to tell off the Federal Communications Commission, defend voting rights, oppose Rick Perry’s proposed elimination of the Peace Corps, protect ICE protestors, mobilize for All of Us 250, and more. And if your state’s primary dates are still to come: VOTE!

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw continued celebrations of Juneteenth, protests in Oregon and Illinois, support for the Prairieland defendants, ongoing Albania protests, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on a money pit (Charity Case, RJ Matson), a cesspit (Color Guard, Michael de Adder; Crime and Punishment, Nick Anderson) and the pits in human form (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

A Sitcom’s Message of Tolerance 50 Years Ago

Frederic J. Frommer wrote on the groundbreaking episode of The Bob Newhart Show that featured an openly gay character in a storyline of dignity and acceptance. “Newhart, an actor known for his own sense of decency, certainly lived up to that reputation.”

“If It’s Too Loud, Turn It Up”

Alan Light spoke with the incomparable Tori Amos on In Times of Dragons, a fiery protest album by way of the saga of an imagined relationship with a “Lizard Demon” businessman. “I don’t believe that you can sit on the sidelines, not right now, not anymore.”

The Culture Wars Feel Inescapable. It Wasn’t Always This Way.

Meredith Blake wrote on Isaac Butler’s new book, The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars, which looks to the twilight of the Reagan years for the origin of a present in which “seemingly every choice we make — from the sports we enjoy to the music we listen to — feels like a political statement.”

Syrian-Inspired Lazy Girl Chickpeas and Rice

Emily Beyda gave us a quick-and-easy recipe perfect for keeping your cool in the hot, hot heat of summer.

As I told Nicolle, the artifact that hit me the hardest was the center’s original print of the Declaration of Independence.

That founding document kicks off the displays — spanning five floors — telling the story of the Obama presidency in the context of the past 250 years. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all … would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The Obama presidency felt like a huge payment on that note, and the past 17 months like a massive debit. But the two-and-a-half century story the center tells is a reminder that together we can overcome this moment and restart progress. Or as Barack put it in his remarks at the opening on Thursday, quoting one of his and Dr. King’s favorite sayings, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

Wednesday morning, I got to spend a few minutes with President Obama at the center at a gathering for administration veterans in the Sky Room at the pinnacle of the building. We caught up a little bit, reminisced about friends present and departed, and talked democracy.

Obama was trailed by his White House photographer, Pete Souza. We have gotten to be buddies over the years, and I turned the tables on him by taking a selfie of the two of us.

Like countless people I talked to in Chicago, Pete thanked me for the Kennedy Center case, the slush fund case, and the over 300 other pro-democracy litigation matters you help make possible through your paid subscriptions, Contrarians.

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After meeting with Barack, we were invited to spend the day exploring the center and talking to the people who helped create it. It was like a day-long house party (in an exceptionally fancy and large house). Here I am, still in the Sky Room, with the artist Idris Khan. He covered the ceiling in thousands of hand-stamped words from Obama’s Selma speech, layered and ascending toward a skylight — as if the words themselves are rising up to the heavens.

As I strolled the building, I also met Nicola Green, a British artist who has made art about Obama and what his rise meant to the U.S. and the world. The remarkable story of her work with him will be a subject of her book coming out in August — we will have her on The Contrarian to tell the tale! Three of her silkscreens from the series “In Seven Days...” are on display on the first floor of the center. They are inspired by thousands of drawings, photographs, and notes she gathered during the 2008 campaign.

I also got to visit with the great American artist Carrie Mae Weems, whose “The Cool Blue Wind” is a photographic collage on silver and gold metallic paper, washed in blue, with an original jazz soundtrack playing above.

The images and music evoke Obama’s 2008 campaign — I was there, and I can tell you that like a jazz ensemble, there were elements of improvisation and of everyone coming together in beautiful unison. She also reminded me that artists are foundational to resistance, a lesson (as she and I discussed) that I also learned from Vaclav Havel.

Speaking of resistance, the official opening ceremony the next day was a fascinating study in repudiating Donald Trump — without ever mentioning his name.

That began with every living presidential couple taking the stage, save one. (You can’t see Hillary and Bill, they were behind Sasha and Malia from my angle, but take my word for it — they were there!) The absence of that presence was loud.

Then there were the musical acts. Again, they never uttered the name of the current president — I’m sure they were asked to keep it classy. But it was a lineup of musical performers Trump could only dream of for his coming 250 event, and one that exemplified the talent, joy, and diversity that are his antithesis. This was the grand finale, with Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Common, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Eddie Vedder:

Finally, the Obamas’ remarks were a moving affirmation of our American story and their role in it. But they did not pull punches on where we are now. Take this from Michelle:

I hope that when you walk through this campus and bring your children here…you fully absorb the elation of achieving something together…. And I know that can be hard to grasp right now, when everything feels so upside down, when fact and fiction run together, when folks seek to stifle speech, limit access to education, devalue diversity, erase the inconvenient parts of our history, when our phones constantly buzz with the latest outrage.

I hope that this place can offer a respite from all that, at least for a little while. I hope it can reignite the optimism and empathy and ambition that has always powered this country’s greatest change.

Barack’s challenge to Trump came when he celebrated our democracy, as he had said he would at our Wednesday morning gathering — including talking about that copy of the Declaration that had struck me so powerfully on my center walk-through:

Over more than two centuries, through petitions and protests, marches and strikes, moral appeals from the pulpit and conversations at the family dinner table, men and women from all walks of life of every color, every faith, every region took up the cause of democracy and made it their own, until “We the people” came to include not just some of us, but all of us.

And that’s why the story we tell in this building begins not with Michelle’s origins or my origins, but with our nation’s, with the founding era print of the Declaration of Independence, and a pen and ink stand used by Frederick Douglas, Lincoln’s bible and a pamphlet by Ida B. Wells, suffragists’ buttons and a hard hat worn by FDR’s labor secretary, Frances Perkins.

And it’s why the exhibits here focus not just on policies but on the shared values that make democracy possible. A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people, and that no one is above the law or beneath its protection. A belief in checks and balances in our government and an accountability that comes with an independent judiciary and a robust, free press. A belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political party but to the people and our Constitution. A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections, recognizing that in a large, complicated society like ours, no group or faction gets its way 100% of the time. And a belief that qualities of character, honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion, a sense of duty and honor, those things matter in our public dealings, just as they do in our private lives.

These are the values and traditions I believe in, and they are not Republican or Democratic values. They’re American values we can all share, regardless of party, values every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold, values that John MacCain and Mitt Romney believed in, no less than I did.

It is our greatest inheritance, the story of America at its best, because it reflects a basic faith in the decency of our fellow citizens and the possibility that despite all of our differences, we can see each other and understand one another and make common cause together.

Like a nesting doll, Obama’s words surround the petty evil of the current regime with the greatness of his presidency, embedded within the vastness of America’s past 250 years — and our next 250. Those remarks and my time at the center give hope.

When I traded notes with some of those sitting around me after the speech, they tended to agree. Here I am with a holy Trinity of late night — and a Jedi knight:

A lot of people are paying attention to our shared work, Contrarians. That includes both our unparalleled coverage of our democracy and our litigation to protect that democracy.

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See for yourself with our usual weekly roundup of the best of The Contrarian.

The Iran “Deal”

The Iran Deal is Worse Than the War

Jennifer Rubin wrote on the Versailles-signed agreement that will supposedly end Trump’s costly folly of a war. “Trump promised at the start of his illegal war to extract an unconditional surrender. Certainly, the document does read like a near total capitulation — but not by the Iranian regime.”

Did We Gain Anything From the Iran War?

I spoke with Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) on what — if anything — Trump has achieved in Iran besides global economic insecurity, death, and destruction. “We’re worse off than before.”

The Clock Is Tehran’s Friend

Brian O’Neill wrote on what’s likely to come next in Iran, and why Tehran’s aim is to make the dealmaker live with a deal that never closes. “Iran does not need collapse. Collapse would clarify things. Ambiguity is more useful.”

Policy Report Card

The Screwworm Is the Cost of RFK Jr. All But Killing Public Health

Jeff Nesbit wrote on how a cattle parasite is reaping the Trump regime’s anti-science agenda. “This isn’t a food safety crisis (at least not yet)…. But to the pocketbook of the typical American consumer, the return of the screwworm is a slow-burning catastrophe.”

Republicans Starved Social Security

Jen wrote on Republicans’ latest “solutions” to the Social Security solvency problem and the questions Trump refuses to address. “We anxiously await the answers — and for Democrats to raise the Social Security issue over and over again on the campaign trail and in every available oversight and budget hearing.”

It’s Impossible to Believe This Administration Likes Black People

Carron J. Phillips wrote on the Pentagon’s removal of a prominent portrait of America’s first Black four-star general, Chappie James, and the silence around a UFC fighter’s attack on Michelle Obama as the latest in an ongoing pattern of erasure and abuse. “The race to the bottom is being led by those who serve at the top.”

Voting

After Callais, Democrats Must Bet Big on the Black-led Organizing in the South

Pamela Shifman warned against the would-be pragmatic strategizing that would have Democrats focus voting efforts outside the South in the wake of Callais. “To abandon the South now would mean turning our backs on the very people who have consistently put everything on the line for American democracy.”

What ‘the Math’ Says About the Midterms

Tim Dickinson interviewed VoteHub data science guru Zachary Donnini to size up Democratic prospects for capturing Congress in 2026. “The Senate landscape is incredibly chaotic.”

Voters Reject the GOP’s Chaos, Corruption, and Rising Costs

Brooke Butler wrote on the special elections that have shown Trump and MAGA Republicans underwater in districts across the country. “Democrats know we need candidates who can articulate a clear contrast between their forward-looking vision … and [a] trail of broken promises.

Fighting Back

From FDR to the Obama Center

Lorraine Forte also wrote about the opening of the Obama Presidential Center this week and how the space makes clear that it is not intended as a grand monument to the former president but to the power of democracy. (Unlike, you know, certain more recent presidential constructions.)

Take Action for Juneteenth and Voting Rights

See the Contrarian Calls to Action this week for ways to keep the spirit of Juneteenth going into “Freedom Summer,” plus prep for “All of Us 250” and how to protest Trump’s renewed push of the anti-voting rights SAVE Act.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week we saw protesting around the G7 and corruption in the World Cup, Pride flags flying, a No Kings protest in Colorado, anti-ICE activism, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Culture, Cartoons, & Fun Stuff

This week found our cartoonists in a reflecting mood (Metamorphoses, Nick Anderson; Clean You Can See, RJ Matson) in the face of thwarted presidential ambitions (Renaming Rights, Michael de Adder; Speak Softly, Nick Anderson, Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

The New York Knicks Are the Perfect Antidote

Megan Armstrong invited all of us to bask in this New York minute at a time when collective joy has been in short supply. “Nothing compares to witnessing the end of a drought, the breakthrough of human spirit bucking against historical precedent.”

America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries

Abraham Kenmore spoke with historian Eddie S. Glaude Jr. about his new book, America, U.S.A., which traces the moments when the United States has marked its founding — and who has been left out of these commemorations. “My love of this place — not the abstraction of this place — is rooted in the people.”

‘Idiocracy’ Now!

Meredith Blake wrote on Mike Judge’s 2006 dystopian satire, which bombed at the box office 20 years ago but has since seemed all too prophetic to many viewers — especially after last past weekend’s corporate-sponsored blood sport at the White House.

Let’s start with the Kennedy Center, where this happened in the wee hours early on Saturday:

The removal of Trump’s name was thanks to our client, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), to my colleagues at Democracy Defenders Action, to our co-counsel Washington Litigation Group — and to your paid subscriptions, which help fuel my and my colleagues’ pro-democracy litigation.

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Of course, Trump being Trump, he and his cronies did it in the stupidest and most unlawful way. Throughout the 24 hours before the Friday midnight deadline, Trump & Co. kept trying and failing to get a stay of the order to remove his name. We responded to his desperate gambits with snap filings of our own and defeated him at both the trial and appellate level.

Then Trump blew past the court-ordered midnight Friday deadline in order to erect a scaffold and then hang a tarp, clearly so he could attempt to hide the removal of the letters. It was a literal cover-up! But, true to form, he botched the attempt to hide the removal, allowing photographers to capture an iconic image.

The scale of Trump’s corruption makes Richard Nixon look like a piker — and Trump’s bumbling makes the Watergate burglars look slick. As we noted in response to the regime’s midnight motion to get another 12 hours, “Defendants had two weeks to comply with the order, and only need an extension because of their inexcusable delay.”

Meanwhile, the whole pathetic display only heightened already strong public attention across the nation. Why do people care so much about this case? Trump’s name on that building defaced the memory of a beloved, fallen president. We don’t need more than that to be horrified.

But there is more. The Trump administration has featured the most outrageous corruption of any president in American history. Like the $1.8 billion slush fund (more in a minute about that), the Kennedy Center renaming is a corruption scandal. The naming rights to the building are literally priceless. Congress mandated the name, and by law that is sacrosanct. For Trump to violate that by putting his own name on the structure is yet another theft from the American people.

And the removal of the name is visible, tangible proof that Trump’s corruption and Trump himself can be stopped — that the rule of law still reigns in America and we can take back the institutions of our democracy. And if Trump thinks he’s just gonna leave the tarp there indefinitely to cover up his shame, we have plans for that, too.

We could not fight Trump’s corruption without you Contrarians. We are capping off our week-long pledge drive for new paid subscriptions to support the Contrarian 1-2 punch. The first is our great weekly coverage. The second is the fact that all profits from those paid subscriptions go to help support my and colleagues’ pro-democracy litigation.

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Your support was on full display not only at the Kennedy Center but also earlier on Friday when we supported some folks who put the kibosh on Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund. A Virginia federal judge enjoined the fund at the request of a wonderful group of lawyers and their clients. She had this to say about a bipartisan brief that we filed in that case on behalf of a Republican and a Democratic senator:

Senators Booker and Cassidy’s timely brief is very useful by providing the unique perspective of current members of the U.S. Senate and explaining how the Anti-Weaponization Fund implicates significant legal and constitutional issues including the Appropriations and Appointments Clauses of the Constitution, as well as the separation of powers.

The judge also read the following passage from our brief aloud from the bench at the hearing where she granted the injunction:

A scheme deliberately designed to recast insurrectionists — including those who perpetrated violence against law enforcement officers — as victims and legitimate prosecutions as persecution does not merely rewrite history. It creates incentives for similar conduct in the future, with the explicit encouragement of the officials responsible for administering justice.

Kudos to our Democracy Defenders Action co-counsel at Platkin LLP and to our local counsel at WLG, plus the superb lawyers and their clients who brought the case in the first place.

But it’s not enough to stop the slush funds from flowing. We have to hold accountable the people responsible. That’s why we, with Platkin LLP and Susman Godfrey, represented a bipartisan group of 35 former judges who successfully petitioned a Florida federal judge to investigate the whole mess.

That case is important because it provides an additional vehicle to probe the $1.8B and the associated “settlements” purporting to wipe away vast liabilities from Trump and his family. Late Friday night, Trump’s lawyers filed their brief attempting to justify this outrage. It substantially consists of attacking the motives and acumen of our dozens of former federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties and with hundreds of years of collective experience on the bench.

Now it is our turn to file a response explaining why this scandalous behavior — unlike anything we have ever seen in our history — is unjustifiable. Stay tuned.

As I finished this column, the New York Knicks won their first championship in 53 years. Some spoke of the Curse of Donald when the Knicks’ 13-game playoff winning streak was broken on the very night Trump attended. The Curse seemed to persist like a hangover into the next game, with the team falling behind by 29 points. But Knicks fans who hung in there saw their team overcome the largest deficit in NBA Finals history that night and then come from behind again on Saturday to win it all. You Contrarians have hung in there with our democracy (and us) over the past 17 months. We Contrarians and we Americans will also shake off the Curse of Donald and prevail. Our work on the Kennedy Center and slush fund cases are a powerful reminder of that.

For more proof, enjoy our usual rundown of the best of the Contrarian this week:

Injustice at DOJ

Catch-1001: How Coordinated Investigations Have Made Congressional Testimony Dangerous

Former federal prosecutor Alexis Loeb wrote for us on the suspicious convergence of pressure happening as groups like the SPLC and ActBlue are made to testify before Congress while facing active DOJ criminal investigations. “The risks go beyond an unfortunate sound bite.”

Todd Blanche Is Still Donald Trump’s Personal Lawyer

Peter Carr wrote on the corruption driving Trump’s unfit attorney general choice. “His fealty appears to have no bounds — even saying that Americans should be ‘happy’ that Trump is so involved in Justice Department matters.”

The DOJ’s Assault on Civil Rights

Erwin Chemerinsky reported on how the Justice Department just made it much harder for employees to prove discrimination on the basis of sex and race and much easier for employers to avoid liability. “It is astounding to see [DOJ] disregard long-established Supreme Court precedent and nullify a federal statute.”

Foreign Affairs

Cuba Is the Distraction. Ukraine Is the Opportunity

Brian O’Neill analyzed why Trump keeps chasing spectacles of dominance in Cuba and Iran while overlooking the one conflict that could strengthen his position. “Trump could easily portray himself as the leader who finally forced Europe to shoulder more responsibility while pressuring Putin into negotiations … but the conflict carries too many fingerprints he dislikes. NATO. Biden. Zelensky. Institutional.”

Reality Defies Trump-Friendly Predictions

Jen Rubin wrote on how poorly both Trump and Netanyahu predicted both the course of war in Iran — and the extent of the American public’s support for it. “Netanyahu’s reliance on Trump … render[s] Israel more isolated and his coalition more precarious than ever.”

Anti-Civil Rights Cruelty

A Cop in North Carolina Beat a Woman on Video — and Nobody Cares

Carron J. Phillips wrote on the case of a white police officer’s violence against a Black woman in North Carolina — which, despite being caught on tape, “has received minimal attention, illustrating just how desensitized America has become to violence from law enforcement.”

ICE Air: Gulags in the Sky

Gillian Brockell spoke with Tim Dickinson about the airlines that profit from Trump’s ICE deportation machine while inflicting new cruelties. “This whole process is just designed to wear [immigrants] down so that they’ll give up on their cases and sign a voluntary removal order to agree to be deported, which … [is] basically submitting to torture.”

I Warned About the Young Republicans’ Racist Group Chat. They Got a Passport.

Michael Franklin wrote on how the same pipeline that produced racist chats and “edgy” fascist jokes is infiltrating more and more Republican immigration talk. “This is how extremist ideas become governing ideas: First they are laughed off as jokes, then defended as debate, then repeated as campaign language, then embedded into bureaucracy, then treated as if they were always legitimate.”

Fighting Back

This Is What an All-Out Redistricting War Looks Like

Tim Dickinson wrote on a redistricting strategy report that could help Democrats beat MAGA Republicans at their own game, scoring as many as 21 new House seats in 2028. “The aim here is not to replicate the GOP’s ambition for permanent power…. The idea is to punish the MAGA GOP for starting this fight.”

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Albania, Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Tennessee, Oregon, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Contrarian Calls to Action: Oppose Trump’s Arch, Visit the ‘Trumpsonian’

In this week’s Calls to Action, we featured ways to shatter the corporatization of “Pride,” defend human rights during the World Cup, and block the nomination of Trump toadies.

Cartoons, Culture & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists covered questionable logic (All the Cards, RJ Matson; Horse Sense, Nick Anderson), fickle pleasures (A Smooth Exit, Nick Anderson; Are You Not Entertained?

Michael de Adder), and alien invasion (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).

What’s in a Name? For Drag Queens, a Lot.

Meredith Blake wrote on how the legal battle between Patagonia and Pattie Gonia shows the complexity of turning subversive art into a brand. “When progressives are squabbling over trademarks, the only people benefitting are the lawyers.”

Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives. Jamie Schler gave us a delicious weekend recipe and an ode to bridge-building.

Contrarian Pet of the Week

Last but never least, meet Sushi! This cat’s birthday suit is formal wear.

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But one of the fundamental lessons of the fight for democracy — indeed of any fight — is when you’re winning, pour it on. And that’s just what we did this week with two more major legal onslaughts against the slush fund plus much more (all covered here at the Contrarian, naturally).

First, we did not accept the Trump administration’s claim that it was backing away from the fund. In a sign that we had drawn blood, anonymous leaks that the fund was supposedly dead were followed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s testimony on the Hill. He declared that the fund was “not moving forward.”

With an administration that lies so much (just look at Trump’s flip-floppery on Iran, among countless other examples), we weren’t buying it. That’s why, a day after Blanche’s announcement, we sued to make sure that not a penny of this money is ever paid — and the associated “settlements” also are stopped.

Sure enough, after we filed, Trump apparently back-tracked, saying of the fund “I love it…. I think it’s so important” and “These are great people that were destroyed, their families have been destroyed.” Violent insurrections who attacked cops should be paid? We don’t think so. And who better than our clients — two January 6 prosecutors — to take that on?

But more was to come. On Thursday, we filed a rare bipartisan brief opposing the fund. We represent Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in an amicus brief fighting this outrageous attempt to take $1.8 billion from taxpayers. They assert that it violates the Appropriations Clause by spending federal money without congressional authorization. Like hiding the Epstein files — which we are also litigating — Trump’s fund has unusual bipartisan opposition on the Hill. Experts say those kinds of defections are a sign of failing authoritarianism.

Now the Trump administration has filed legal briefs claiming that the fund is not going forward. Well, we are going forward. We won’t stop until we have not only guaranteed that no money will be paid, but also that Trump’s sweeping “settlement” absolving himself and his family from vast liabilities is also reversed.

But our corruption-fighting week wasn’t yet over. That’s because of a leaked internal Kennedy Center memorandum to staff in response to our win in the case. The good news was that it contained a very detailed rundown of all the steps being taken to remove Trump’s name from the center. I can’t wait to be there when his name is excised from the front of the building. The bad news was that the document mischaracterized what the judge ordered. The memo claimed “[t]he Court did not rule that the Center must stay open during the renovation.” That is false, and on Friday we filed a motion with the court saying so. We will not let this stand.

Of course, that was not the only anti-corruption activity that we undertook this week. We filed a bar complaint against former Attorney General Pam Bondi, brought a new lawsuit to expose FBI Director Kash Patel’s Olympics boondoggle on the taxpayer dime, and continued the discovery push in our DOGE cases as we march toward our deposition of Elon Musk.

So, as you can see, our response to Trump’s flooding the zone with corruption is rule of law shock and awe. And all of our over 300 legal cases and matters at Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action are made possible by your paid Contrarian subscriptions. Because we are owned by nobody, profits go to support our litigation work.

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Of course, we don’t only fight in the courts but also in the court of public opinion. To see for yourself, just check out this week’s roundup of the best of the Contrarian.

Lives at Risk

‘Terrible and Inhumane’: Delaney Hall and the Grim Reality of ICE Detention

Tim Dickinson wrote on the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, run by a notorious for-profit jailer group, which has renewed a flashpoint as protesters rally outside for hunger strikers within. “Instead of improving conditions inside, DHS has chosen violence outside Delaney.”

The Voting Rights Act Is Gone. Our Nation’s Health Will Suffer the Consequences

Avenel Joseph wrote on the connection between the Supreme Court’s recent gutting of the VRA and the likely worsening of health outcomes in the states most affected — especially for Black Americans. “States where voting is more accessible report better mental health, fewer uninsured residents, and lower infant mortality.”

Primary Night & Voting Rights

Iowa May Go the Way of Texas

Jen Rubin wrote on how another red state, Iowa, entered play for the Senate in November — thanks to highly electable Democratic primary winner Josh Turek, who has “put the state’s long- and short-term economic woes in the context of a political system rigged by the oligarchy’s growing power and wealth.”

A Deeply Disturbing Decision in the Alabama Voting Case

Erwin Chemerinsky wrote on the Supreme Court’s ruling this week to allow Alabama to use voting maps found to be racially discriminatory, putting yet another nail in the coffin of the VRA. “The conservative justices seem to be following a single principle: Do whatever it takes to help the Republican Party.”

Voters Want Transformation, Not Restoration

Neera Tanden wrote on takeaways from CAP’s 2026 IDEAS Conference. “The fact is that people feel stuck — because they are stuck. They don’t believe the system works — because it doesn’t work for them…. The American people do not want to go back to a broken status quo.”

Pulte in as DNI

Trump’s New Intel Head Is Worse than Unqualified

Riley Pynnonen and I wrote on Trump’s pick to replace Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence: a man who is already a central figure in the president’s campaign of political retribution.

Bill Pulte Is Not Being Sent to Lead the Intelligence Community

Brian O’Neill wrote on how Trump’s acting DNI pick suggests the transformation of U.S. intelligence writ large. “Pulte’s selection does not break from the trajectory of outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s tenure. It suggests that trajectory is moving into more dangerous territory.”

Journalism Under Attack

The Tea ft. Jim Acosta & Isaiah Martin

On The Tea this week, April Ryan and guests spoke about ongoing attacks on journalism and Democrats fighting fire with fire. “The most egregious thing that we’ve seen all week is Bari Weiss and the Ellisons killing 60 Minutes.”

Of Course They’re Going After E. Jean Carroll

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf reported on Trump’s ongoing obsession with silencing the iconic journalist who has successfully sued him twice. “The Trump administration’s latest move to deploy Justice Department investigators against Carroll is not only an attempt to distort the rule of law to vilify her and her colleagues, but it also sends a clear signal to all of us. Go public, risk retaliation.”

When the Newsroom Becomes a Server Farm

Ruben Steiger wrote on the AI-based threats to substantive and local journalism, including “pink slime” sites, search decimation, and bailouts leading to industry dependency. “AI breaks the economics of investigative journalism.”

Racism in sports

Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend Hosted a Party. And the Haters Showed Up

Shalise Manza-Young wrote on the telling response to a celebration at the French Open. “Too many people loathe Black folk, but what they really hate is Black joy. To see that through it all … we are still here.”

The NAACP’s Sports Boycott Targets the Wrong Group of Black Americans

Carron J. Phillips wrote on the NAACP’s request for Black professional athletes to withhold support for predominantly white institutions in states affected by attacks on voting rights — and why this may be less effective than appealing to the college athletes on whom these institutions rely.

Fighting Back

How To Reclaim Power from the Right

Brian Tyler Cohen wrote on why this is a moment for Democrats to fight the administration’s law-changing, norm-bending fire with fire. “You could say that demonizing the opposition is bad for the country. But you can’t say it’s worse than Donald Trump’s presidency.”

In this week’s Contrarian Calls to Action: Mobilize for America’s 250th, Fight Pulte’s Noxious Nomination, plus more ways to stand up for democracy, ICE demonstrators, and voting rights. Also see Tim Dickinson’s conversation with Ezra Levin for more on the First Amendment Celebration Indivisible is planning with Jane Fonda (!) for June 14. I’ll be there!

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Oregon, Alabama, Kansas, Albanians against a Kushner resort, continuing ICE demonstrations, and Tesla takedowns. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Cartoons, Culture & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists covered narcissism (The Wart Stops Here, Michael de Adder), terrible choices (The Situation Room, Nick Anderson; No Experience Necessary, RJ Matson), and both at once (The Bari Weiss Fix at CBS, Nick Anderson).

How Trump’s Nostalgia-Fueled Concert Turned Into an Embarrassing Debacle

Meredith Blake wrote on the would-be star-filled lineup for “The Great American State Fair,” which has seen even Milli Vanilli sending regrets. “Instead of celebrating this milestone by showcasing the best in American culture, the Trump administration tried to resurrect some of the worst musical trends of the recent past.”

Emily Beyda encouraged readers to embrace comfort food when the election results are difficult to watch, and Ciera Stone introduced us to Vela, a rescue dog who needs a home.