Exactly one year ago today, Jen Rubin and I and a small band of colleagues were furiously working to launch a new publication dedicated to the idea of honest but unabashed defense of democracy. We were just three days from the January 13 birth of The Contrarian. Too many mainstream outlets and powerful people and institutions were bowing down to the incoming would-be autocrat. We didn’t know whether our new publication would be a success, but we knew we would fight authoritarianism with every ounce of our and The Contrarian’s being.
What a difference a year makes! Yes, the devastation, destruction, and even death Donald Trump has wrought have been vast. But we and the entire democracy movement have again and again frustrated his efforts to impose dictatorship. You have helped make that possible, dear Contrarians, through your paid subscriptions that not only fund our coverage but also my and my colleagues’ pro-democracy litigation. As I like to say, we have met Trump’s flood-the-zone autocratic approach with rule-of-law shock and awe.
Trump initially pursued his authoritarian aspirations using the traditional tools of the presidency. That included, for example, the power of the pen, surging an unprecedented number of illegal executive orders, such as those purporting to end birthright citizenship or asserting control of American elections.
We covered all of that here at The Contrarian–unabashedly, as promised. And you Contrarians also supported me and the coalition of democracy, civil rights, and other nonprofit groups to push back in one of the most extraordinary litigation campaigns in American history. In about 200 cases in this and parallel areas (including his abuse of spending authority and firing authority), federal judges again and again stopped Trump from capturing the dictator flag. (Yes, he fared better at the Supreme Court, but it takes only a small fraction of the cases.)
Those birthright citizenship and elections EOs were among the many that my colleagues and I and our wonderful partners and clients went to court to help stop. We also blocked the firing of tens of thousands of government employees and kept multiple government agencies open, all fueled by your paid subscriptions. Because we at The Contrarian are a not-for-profit, all proceeds go to support our scintillating coverage and this kind of pro-democracy advocacy.
All of that losing was very frustrating for Trump, so he looked to other outlets for his dictatorial energies. Having confronted failure again and again in civil litigation, he turned to exercise his criminal-justice powers, where an administration typically has broader leeway. The old saying goes that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and Trump deployed hand-picked cronies, including his former defense lawyer Alina Habba, to occupy once-distinguished federal prosecutorial offices.
Here, too, Trump met failure. Charges against two principal adversaries, Letitia James and Jim Comey, were tossed out because another one of those hand-picked cronies, Lindsay Halligan, was illegally installed by Trump. Contrarians, you were again a part of that. My litigation colleagues and I helped secure the very first precedent that these appointments were illegal. Then we filed a brief in support of Comey and James that helped their wonderful counsel get those cases dismissed.
Then there was a third area of Trump flexing and ultimate frustration: deployment of the National Guard. For all of the other disappointments at the Supreme Court (extensively covered here at The Contrarian), it finally did the right thing at the end of the year when it ruled that he had overreached his powers in Chicago. Trump was forced to admit defeat and pull back the Guard from multiple big cities, including Los Angeles—which my litigation colleagues and I are proud to represent pro bono, again made possible by your paid subscriptions.
As presidents often do when they’re facing domestic defeat, Trump has turned his autocratic attention abroad. This week, I wrote for The Contrarian with colleagues about the illegality of his Venezuela campaign and broke the news of our legal campaign to push back on it. Judging from the chaos surrounding Venezuela and the unpopularity of the invasion in the United States, Trump has another flop on his hands. That includes this week’s War Powers resolution, which passed the Senate with members of his own party breaking off to oppose him.
And that’s just a few of the examples of our coverage and legal pushback on all this and so much more, made possible by you. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to share the journalistic and litigation fight of the past year with over half a million Contrarians. Yes, as you will see from this week’s Contrarian roundup below, Trump is as dangerous as ever, but he’s much less powerful. That is thanks in no small part to each of you. Happy anniversary Contrarians!
And now for this week’s roundup, authored by my wonderful colleague Meghan Houser, Jamie Riley, Lily Conway and our Contrarian team.
Maduro’s Capture
Sen. Mark Warner joined Jen Rubin to discuss the dangerous precedent the United States just set by kidnapping a world leader. “How would [Trump] respond if Putin does that, not only in Ukraine, but elsewhere? Or Xi takes Taiwan? How do we have any moral standing to push back?”
Making a Mockery of Checks and Balances
Erwin Chemerinsky wrote on the Venezuela operation as a chilling mark of how far we have deviated from constitutional restraints. “A country that is ruled by someone who can do anything is not a constitutional democracy under the rule of law.”
Split Screen: The Reality Show Presidency and the Maduro Capture
Azza Cohen wrote on the White House’s social-media-obsessed communication strategy around Maduro’s capture, which reveals “the transformation of military operations into reality television content, with Donald Trump as the main character.”
Maduro’s Arrest Made WHO 400k Richer?
Rep. Richie Torres joined Jen to discuss the MAGA Republicans’ guide to earning $400k through insider trading—and how he plans to ban prediction market profiteering. “It not only corrupts the market, it corrupts the government itself.”
The “Donroe Doctrine” and the Coming Oil War
The Coming Legal and Congressional Action to Fight ‘The Donroe Doctrine’
This week, Richard Painter, Virginia Canter, Christopher Swartz and I, wrote about the Democracy Defenders Fund launching two parallel legal campaigns to fight back against Trump’s profiteering in Venezuela.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on the future in Venezuela and more
On the podcast this week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke with April Ryan about the uncertain future of action in Venezuela, and Carlos Eduardo Espina joined Jen to discuss what Maduro’s capture means for Venezuelans on the ground.
A Brilliant Operation Can Still Be a Bad Bet
Brian O’Neill looked ahead to the consequences of the administration’s “hemispheric demonstration.” “If Trump is now taking ownership of what happens inside Venezuela, the real test won’t be whether the first wave succeeded. It will be whether the United States can define—and exit—an end state that Venezuela and the region will accept.”
Anniversary of the Jan. 6 Riot
Jen spoke with author Nora Neus, whose new book offers a meticulously researched, minute-by-minute account of the January 6 insurrection. “I was really surprised by how many of the rioters felt duped by President Trump … and after the fact felt really let down by this man that they had, for many of them (until the pardons came through), given up so much for.”
Tim Dickinson caught us up on some of the most notorious insurrection offenders—or “great patriots”—a year after Trump’s pardon spree. Spoiler: at least six have been charged with child sex crimes.
ICE in Our Cities
Jen Rubin wrote on ICE’s killing of a young woman in Minneapolis. “This tragedy was entirely predictable.”
Jenn Borchetta, the ACLU’s deputy project director on policing, joined Jen to unpack what we should know as ICE’s militarization escalates. “When law enforcement leadership casts vast members of the community as enemies, we have seen that that leads to the misuse of force.”
In conversation with Jen, Ezra Levin of Indivisible demanded action against ICE. “When a regime like this comes for us, attacks our communities, murders Americans, and asks us to not protest, you know what we do? We protest. It is our job as Americans to express our outrage peacefully but powerfully in this moment.”
The Continuing Healthcare Crisis
Jeff Nesbit sounded the alarm on the new CDC childhood vaccine schedule, which slashes the number of universally recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11—even as the United States just reached its highest measles case total in 34 years. The CDC’s work “is being poisoned by rhetoric that treats life-saving medicine as a lifestyle choice.”
Jen wrote on the House vote to advance extension of ACA subsidies for three years—secured with a remarkable 17 Republicans joining Democrats—and highlighted the role of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who “kept the focus on healthcare, maintained his nerve during the shutdown, and continued to make the case to voters even after Senate Democrats caved.”
My Predictions for Women’s Health in 2026
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf warned us to brace for another year in which the federal government itself is hazardous to women’s health. “We can expect continued attacks on bodily autonomy and additional barriers to care.”
Looking Ahead in 2026
Trump’s 2026 Government Agenda
Max Stier forecasted a year that promises a continuation of Trump’s destabilizing and antidemocratic efforts and urged Congress and the public to use the remaining levers of democracy to hold the administration accountable.
Republicans Want Taxation Without Representation
Max Flugrath wrote on Republicans’ three-vector plan to lock in power without winning more votes, which hinges on a case now before the Supreme Court. If the GOP has its way, say hello to higher taxes — and goodbye to voting rights.
The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement
This week we saw protests against ICE in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C, Jacksonville, Fla., Philadelphia, and more, plus nationwide protests against Trump’s attack on Venezuela, and this weekend we’re tracking hundreds more events planned through Indivisible. Find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.
Shalise Manza Young gave us an essential reminder of what “might be the most important thing” we do any given day: find the kind of joy that sustains and nourishes. “You can’t fight when you’re exhausted, and there’s a vicious fight in front of us.”
Cartoons, Culture & Fun Stuff
This week our cartoonists took on Trump’s shiny new toy war (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), his crude motivations (My Precious, Michael de Adder; The Next Cold War, Nick Anderson), and law enforcement priorities back home (Weak on Crime, Nick Anderson; Portrait of a Terrorist; Michael de Adder).
Subject to Debate: MTV Isn’t Dead Yet. But It Might As Well Be.
Meredith Blake wrote on last week’s impromptu social media eulogizing of MTV, an iconic cable network that’s technically still alive but hasn’t felt relevant in years. “What [fans] were upset about was the loss of something much bigger than a single network: a shared touchstone in a popular culture.”
Thank you for continuing to provide excellent, factual analysis, legal defense and enough joy to sustain sanity. I am proud to be a continuing subscriber! A best investment.
I will continue to subscribe, particularly to support your legal defense activities. Trump and his minions are ramping up fascism, and our rights under the Constitution are under attack. We need to defend them now more than ever.