One of the defining characteristics of the Trump administration has been its heinous assaults on hard-working migrants who are guilty of no crime other than wanting to become American citizens. He has assaulted them at every turn, devastating migrant families and communities–a far cry from his campaign promise to target criminals. Perhaps the most outrageous of these Trump administration acts was the illegal abduction and rendition of hundreds of men to El Salvador, some on bogus claims that they had broken the law or were gang members when no such thing was true.
Because this is still the United States of America, we Contrarians do not need to take this lying down. That is why I was so proud, working with friend of the Contrarian Juan Proaño and his organization LULAC, to file on Thursday the very first Federal Tort Claims Act case that seeks accountability for the administration's wrongdoing. We did so on behalf of Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, who was unlawfully detained and removed from the United States. (You can read the New York Times report on this landmark case here.)
Mr. Rengel was among a group of Venezuelan nationals forcibly transferred by the Trump administration to CECOT, the notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador, despite a federal court order prohibiting that. No damages claim (here for over $1 million) can erase the trauma Mr. Rengel has suffered. But, this legal action is a necessary step toward accountability and justice. We and our LULAC partners will press to ensure the government gives Rengel and his family the resources they need through their recovery.
We will continue to fight Trump’s illegal and inhumane policies on this and many other fronts thanks to your help. Because the Contrarian is owned by nobody, all profits go to support legal matters like this one and more than 100 others that my colleagues and partners have filed. Your paid subscriptions not only get you the Contrarian’s unparalleled coverage of our democracy every day, but they also fuel the effort to preserve it. If you're not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one today.
This week, the Contrarian also offered some of the hardest hitting coverage of the Trump-Epstein scandal as enumerated in the roundup below—and, with your help, I also filed multiple FOIA requests across the government demanding the Trump-Epstein files. Indeed, after we filed, the media revealed that the exact documents we were seeking did in fact exist. My colleagues believe that the FOIA requests helped smoke that out. The Trump-Epstein files we are demanding on your behalf matter so much to our democracy (as I explained in a column this week). This administration is by far the most corrupt that we’ve seen in modern American history and the Trump-Epstein scandal exemplifies that. As with the Big, Brutal, Betrayal Bill and Trump’s massive paydays from the same crypto industries his government is in charge of regulating, this latest scandal is about benefiting his wealthy cronies and the terrible harm to the most vulnerable.
I believe all of that is why Trump's popularity has been steadily sinking since he was inaugurated. This week, with the Trump-Epstein scandal, it dropped to a startling 37%. The American people don’t like targeting innocent immigrants, the Big, Brutal Betrayal, the crypto cash-in, the Trump-Epstein connection, and the corruption all of that exemplifies.
Of course, here at The Contrarian, neither we nor you needed public opinion polls to tell us that Trump would be an authoritarian disaster. We knew that based on his own words during the campaign— including promising to be a dictator on day one—and his deeds. They ranged from the chaos of his first administration to his actions leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, to his 34 felony convictions. It hardly took a political genius to anticipate what the past six months were going to be, and yet you and we understood it when so many others did not.
And we have kept on getting it! This was another huge week for our Contrarian contributors….
Trump Should Be Panicking over Epstein
In the wake of reports of a potential meeting between Ghislaine Maxwell and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, Jen Rubin laid out exactly how the scandal threatens Trump’s survival as president and, by extension, the entire GOP. "Will Republicans go along with a massive coverup, the sort of corrupt self-protection racket that authoritarian leaders pull to defend indefensible conduct?”
Maurene Comey’s unjustified firing looks even more corrupt today
Mimi Rocah and Jacqueline Kelly wrote on the DOJ’s disturbing choice to fire Maurene Comey, the prosecutor who helped take down Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, without reason last week—or at least, without any reason that isn’t sheer corruption. "In any other DOJ universe, the prosecutors who finally held Epstein criminally accountable would be given the highest awards—not fired."
How deep does this conspiracy go? Rep. Raskin on the Epstein coverup
Rep. Jamie Raskin joined Jen to discuss the administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files despite bipartisan support, why MAGA feels betrayed by Trump’s noncompliance, and the incomprehensible lack of accountability for the accused abusers. "Donald Trump has this unusual habit of always returning to the scene of the crime."
E. Jean Carroll's take on the Trump-Epstein scandal
E. Jean Carroll gave her indelible thoughts on what it will take to hold the powerful accountable in the Epstein case, and how Trump’s base has clung to belief this long. "They will never accept a truth that goes to the heart of the cult, which is that Donald Trump is this Savior, and he's the one who's going to protect them against the evil Democrats….”
Public health–new and evolving threats
Bruce Siegel, CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals, joined Jen to explain how cuts to social welfare benefits will have a massive ripple effect on American society, including roughly 16 million people losing their health care coverage. "This is the biggest step backward for the safety net and just for caring for our fellow people I think in American history."
Tennessee opens a new front in its unrelenting attacks on bodily autonomy
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on a new law in Tennessee that allows doctors to deny treatment based on “conscience,” and which has already been used to deny a woman prenatal care. "One thing is certain: These kinds of laws double as an affront to democracy."
Abandoning Public Media Is a Threat to Public Health
Allyn Brooks-LaSure of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation explained the essential role public broadcasting serves in times of crisis, saving lives with timely local updates during floods, fires, and other disasters. With the extreme defunding in Trump’s budget bill, more than media literacy will be lost in communities nationwide.
The Monster Behind the Big Beautiful Bill
Author and anti-hunger advocate Mariana Chilton wrote on the devouring corporate greed behind the coming decimation of SNAP and Medicaid. “Something else is at work that has been present since America’s inception…Many people know it but seem afraid to lift the veil.”
No more politics as usual (and how Democrats must respond)
Republicans are brazenly rigging the 2026 midterms
Max Flugrath of Fair Fight wrote on the Trump DOJ’s backing of Alabama Republicans after a court found they intentionally suppressed Black voters—and how Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are racing to gerrymander while they can. "It’s authoritarianism in motion.... Republicans move full speed ahead. If Democrats won’t defend the people’s rights with equal resolve, the game is already over."
Booker’s lament can't stop Senate Republicans from acting as Trump's henchmen
In a congress that has effectively ceded the power of the purse to the executive branch, wrote Austin Sarat, Sen. Booker’s pleas to work across the aisle can only fall on deaf ears. "Reciprocity, courtesy, cordiality, and decorum were what used to make the Senate work. All that is long gone." Democrats must find their own version of the only game in town: hardball.
Democrats can wrangle back checks and balances with the 2026 budget
Tom Malinowski looked ahead to a new budget fight at the end of the (fiscal) year, on Sept. 30, arguing that it represents a vital opportunity for Chuck Schumer and his caucus to draw a new line and reclaim the power of the purse from the administration. “Let the mantra be: No budget guardrails, no budget deal."
After being attacked by Trump for years, Barack Obama should be an ‘angry Black man’
Carron J. Phillips highlighted one Democrat Trump has been targeting with belittling, dishonest, racist vitriol for a political lifetime—Barack Obama—and argued that it’s high time the former president stopped turning the other cheek. “Barack Obama embodies everything that Donald Trump aspires to be but knows he can’t…[and] with Obama’s oratory skills, his words will always do more damage than any sticks and stones could.”
Who’s fighting back
The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement
This week we covered billboards bringing the Epstein files message home, Good Trouble living on protests in Colorado, California, New Jersey, Tennessee, 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.
Rural America is worth saving: Jess Piper on finding blue dots in red states
Jess Piper joined Jen to warn how GOP-led cuts to Medicaid, public media, and weather services are devastating rural communities—but also to spread the word about real excitement in rural spaces and new avenues for Democrats to build local power and hope. “Trump might win this state. But you can win the school board. You can win the city council.”
How Andor is Inspiring Fans to Fight Authoritarianism in the Real World
Meredith Blake joined Indivisible’s Leah Greenberg to discuss the unlikely link between Star Wars fandom and real-world resistance. It turns out that fighting an Empire can get people excited about, well…
Three mayors are reducing crime by investing in residents
Shalise Manza Young wrote on three Black mayors–in Chicago, Baltimore, and Birmingham—who are leading historic declines in shootings and homicides by proving that investing in people, not policing, can reduce violent crime.
Fun stuff
This week’s cartoons brought broken “MAGA Goggles” in Tom the Dancing Bug, fascist-forward footwear in Nick Anderson’s If the shoe fits, and a getup only Trump could love in RJ Matson’s Nothing to see here….clearly, the emperor could use some new clothes.
Marissa Rothkopf Bates blessed us with another fantastic summer dessert. This week, she taught us how to bake a peach galette with ginger frangipane! This treat has a 100% success rate for satiating a sweet tooth!
This week, we were so lucky to feature the wonderful, the spectacular, the REGAL Stripey as The Contrarian Pet of the Week. Stripey is a 15 year old American Shorthair who loves to rest, watch TV with the family, and solve puzzles to earn some treats.
That's it for now Contrarians. Have a great weekend and see you at 9:15 AM ET on Monday for Coffee with the Contrarians! Warmly, Norm
Thank you, Norm, fellow Contrarians and Substackers. We are stronger together 🫂.
Thank you , Norm, for your diligent work for justice!!