February 8 Update: Trump's Lying

The most recent lies from Trump raise deep concerns. The pattern is that his administration lies, hoping their loyalists believe their lies. Once they’re called out on the lies, they act like nothing’s happened.

The lies have more sinister functions. They distract us from the real damage Trump is doing to democracy, and they make it nearly impossible to appeal to actual evidence. These are classic Russian disinformation techniques. Need I mention they go back to the 1920s and 30s as well?

Reporters just discovered that over a period of days during the campaign Sean Spicer referred to a terrorist attack in Atlanta. No such attack ever happened. This is the same pattern as the Kellyanne Conway Bowling Green massacre lie. (Daily Beast, 2/8/17)

Meanwhile, Trump repeats the lie that the murder rate is at its highest point in 45-47 years. Actually, it’s the lowest it’s been in that period, less than half what it was in 1980.

Now, one more. Trump’s list of underreported terror attacks includes places that have never had a terrorist attack! More to the point, the NYTimes shows how heavily covered were almost all of the attacks on the list. (2/8/17)

While this lying is happening, we learn of more Trump corruption. In a lawsuit, Melania Trump actually complains that she lost an opportunity to use her position as first lady for personal profit. But of course the next day the White House denies any such plans. See here and here.  

And of course we now know that Trump himself has never really relinquished his awareness of his own businesses, much less his stake in them. (CBS News, 2/8/17)

February 7 Update

Today’s lone Trump reflection: Trump’s lies & authoritarianism. Links in the comment boxes below.

We start with Lawrence Douglas’ observation that Trump’s lies specially target three institutions: the press, the judiciary, and universities, the very institutions that are committed to pursuing truth and exposing lies. Republicans have long been after universities, trying to reduce them to trade schools rather than centers for disciplined inquiry in all domains of life. The Observer, 2/7/17.

The full scale of Trump’s lying comes out in a NYTimes analysis (2/7/17) of three major lies in one Trump Facebook post on the Muslim Ban. (That’s what we should call it.) I’ve had several very smart people repeat one or more of these lies to me. But they’re lies.

So Trump tweets, “If something bad happens, blame [judge] and court system,” shouldn’t we take that as an implicit threat against the judiciary?

And when Trump tells military personnel the media “have their reasons” for failing to report terrorist attacks, you gotta feel the threat in that too. Here’s the full quote: “All over Europe it’s happening. It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported, and in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that.” New York Times, 2/7/17.

By the way, Bradd Jaffy notes that 48 journalists were killed covering terrorism in 2016 alone. 72 in 2015. NBC news responds that it covered 57 of the 78 attacks, some extensively (2/7/17).

For the full racist agenda of Trump’s claim against the media, see the list of supposedly underreported terrorist attacks his administration put out. Paris? Brussels? Oh, right: covered to death. Most terrorist attacks happen in Asia and Africa, but Trump’s list emphasizes Europe and North America (Telegraph 2/7/17). “The five countries with the highest total impact from terrorism were Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria. These five countries accounted for 72 per cent of all deaths from terrorism in 2015, with a total of 21,059 people being killed.”

If we really want to be honest about the racist dimension of Trump’s lies, he doesn’t include mass murderers by white racists in Charleston (against blacks), Victoria, Texas (burned a mosque), and Quebec (against Muslims, by a Trump supporter). In fact, here’s the FBI’s Most Wanted list for domestic terrorism. Mighty white, eh?

Finally, Trump lies a like a five year-old. This morning’s tweet: “I don't know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy - yet Obama can make a deal with Iran, #1 in terror, no problem!” (1) Trump has bragged that he knows Putin. It’s on video. (2) Russian investors basically bought Trump out of bankruptcy in 2008, but of course those deals weren’t “in” Russia. And (3) by what sort of logic does a fool defend himself by saying someone else did a bad thing? (Of course, pretty much the whole world things the Iran treaty was a good thing.)

January 31 Update

This week is all about authoritarianism. Yes, we had the immigration order. But it's more than an immigration order, it's the more fundamental threat to our system of checks and balances. Here we go.

Security expert John Schindler points out that Trump has elevated Bannon and Flynn while also displacing the DNI and the Joint Chiefs chair from the National Security Council principals' meeting. Thus, military and intelligence expertise are displaced by politicians and ideology. The Observer, 1/30/17.

The State Department has long had a "Dissent Channel," in which employees could express dissent from national policy without fear of reprisal. When over 100 career people dissented concerning the immigration order, Trump responded with intimidation. Per Sean Spicer: "And if somebody has a problem with that agenda then that does call into question whether or not they should continue in that post or not." (CNN, 1/30/17). This after Trump has already torn the top off the State Department's executive expertise and sent gag orders to other agencies.

Senator Marco Rubio called for information regarding the new immigration order, only to get this: "We were told that the directive was, they were not to share any information today." Politico, 1/30/17.

The situation is so distressing that even conservative commentators are warning of a breakdown in our governing fabric. David Frum imagines a democracy gone down with a whimper in the March 2017 Atlantic.

More alarmist is a piece by Google executive Yonatan Zunger, who pieces a huge conspiracy theory from disparate facts.

• The State Department is all but empty of top-level experience and expertise, vulnerable to whatever Trump might want to do.
• Trump has already filed his 2020 candidacy papers, a rare step that allows him to receive campaign contributions NOW and threatens non-profits who might speak out against him.
• On Wednesday Reuters reported the sale of 19.5% of Rosneft, the Russian state oil company. But of course to whom is unknown. This gels with the Steele dossier, in which it is supposed that Putin promised Trump 19% of Rosneft in return for lifting sanctions against Russia. (I would ask, perhaps this is Putin just trolling us, but it bears attention.)
• Let's remember that Trump has not yielded control of his businesses, even though he claimed he had done so in a press conference, complete with fake (blank) documents. 
• I'll add a couple of pieces here. Trump has just accused our ally Germany of manipulating its currency, at the exact same time that Russia has stepped up its violence in the Ukraine. Let's remember, now: Trump has never criticized Putin, and he once denied Russia was in the Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, all over the country, Republicans are moving to criminalize protest. Ask yourself, what would these measures have meant during the women's suffrage movement? Union organizing? The Civil Rights Movement? Stonewall? (NPR, 1/31/17).

So is alarmism in order?

 

This page is devoted to news and resources related to the struggle to maintain democracy over against the threats raised by a Donald Trump presidency and related anti-democratic initiatives.

New resources will appear daily at the top of this page. Resources are arranged by topic below.

Please suggest new links and people to watch as you're able.

Authoritarianism

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, "Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?" New York Times op-ed from 12/16/16. This piece lays out a full case.

Another full case from Thomas B. Edsall of the New York Times, 12/15/16. Lots of links to actual reports and evidence.

And Jonathan Chait just a week after the election in New York Magazine, 11/11/16: "Trumpistan Week One: The Unthinkable Slowly Becomes Normal."


"Trump Posse Browbeats Republicans." How Trump allies use intimidation to silence GOP critics. Politico piece by Rachel Bade, 12/21/16.

"Dear America, Why Did You Let Us Down?" Concern from Australia. Op-ed in the New York Times by Lisa Pryor, 12/16/16.

The Professor Watchlist has generated numerous stories. Here's one from Professor Tobin Miller Shearer in the Missoula Independent, 12/15/16.

Jamelle Bouie of Slate puts the North Carolina's legislature's attack on gubernatorial authority in the light of Trumpism, racism, and the decline of the GOP. 12/15/16

Trump cuts Twitter out of Silicon Valley meeting because Twitter refused to create a "Crooked Hillary" emoji. Nancy Scola in Politico, 12/14/16.

"The Republican War on Democracy," Jason Sattler op-ed in USAToday, 12/21/16.

David French of the National Review on how Trump is abandoning his promises to supporters. 12/21/16.

Paul Waldman of the Washington Post, "How conservatives will be forced to fall in line behind Trump," on Trump's authoritarian tactics. 12/21/16.

Messianic messaging from Trump and from the GOP. Second photo from @dandresner. 12/27/16

As things reach a boiling point with the intelligence community, the Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is planning to restructure the CIA. This is truly chilling, should he get away with it: he doesn’t like the results, so he crushes the agency.

CNBC reports that "Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub emailed Trump aides in November to lament that despite his office's repeated outreach, "we seem to have lost contact with the Trump-Pence transition since the election." 1/7/17

Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub also wrote Senators Shumer and Warren to complain that Trump is rushing through his appointees -- so much so that the office lacks time to gather information appropriately. Here's the letter. 1/7/17.

I don't have time to link this information, but it's easily documented. During Trump's 1/11/17 press conference Trump:

• Refused to answer questions from CNN, calling it a "fake news" organization.
• Showed off piles of folders that supposedly document his distancing himself from his businesses. The pages were blank.
• Threatened key intelligence agencies, saying they were acting like Nazis.

Disturbing News Related to Trump Appointees 

(in order of threat)

Monica Crowley, national security communication director.

• CNN discovers over 50 instances of plagiarism in a 2012 book by Monica Crowley, Trump pick for national security communications. During the campaign, Crowley encouraged Vladimir Putin to reveal the Clinton emails -- how'd she know? Demonstrating its impeccable commitment to ethics, the Trump campaign issues a statement: "HarperCollins—one of the largest and most respected publishers in the world—published her book which has become a national best-seller. Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country." Later we learn that large sections of her doctoral dissertation were plagiarized -- other works too. 

Betsy DeVos, Education.

• DeVos directly lied in her Senate committee hearing, claiming she had never served on the board of her parents' foundation. She was listed as an officer for 7 years. The Intercept 1/18/17.
• Betsy DeVos, Trump's Education pick, hasn't finished her ethics paperwork, but they're forcing the hearing anyway. Remember, DeVos is an actual enemy of public education who has never participated in public education other than to undermine it. She's up today (Jan 17). CNN 1/16/17.

Lt. General Mike Flynn, national security adviser

• Meeting with leader of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, a guy with a warm relationship to Putin. Nick Baumann, Huffington Post, 12/20/16.  
• General Flynn again. His nutty son -- the one who promoted Pizzagate -- tweets an article to the effect that Dad should be in charge of a reconfigured national intelligence structure. Linked embedded through this Laura Rosen tweet. 1/17/17. 
• Adam Khan tweets that the Obama administration fired Flynn for leaking classified information -- twice. 1/20/17.

Mick Mulvaney, budget

• "Do we really need government-funded research at all?" Julia Belluz at Vox, 12/21/16.
• "Trump's Budget Director Pick Spoke at a John Birch Society Event," just last July, Pema Levy in Mother Jones, 12/19/21. 

Tom Price, Health and Human Services

•  Health and Human Services nominee Tom Price bought a fair amount of stock ($1000-15,000) in a hip replacement tech company, one week before introducing (!!!) a bill that delayed implementation of regulations that would have affected the company. Said company contributed to his campaign fund both before and after the bill was introduced. Business Insider. 1/17/17.

Wilbur Ross, Commerce

• Nor has ethics paperwork been filed for Wilbur Ross, Commerce nominee. 

Jeff Sessions, Attorney General.

• Attorney General pick Jeff Sessions denounced by a circuit court in Alabama: "the misconduct of the Attorney General in this case far surpasses in both extensiveness and measure the totality of any prosecutorial misconduct ever previously presented to or witnessed by this court" while AG of Alabama in 1996. CNN, 12/21/16. 
• Elizabeth Wydra reports on Sessions' horrible track record as Alabama's Attorney General. Slate. 1/9/17. 

Corruption in the Trump Administration 

As far as I'm aware, Trump never signed over his business interests to anyone, including his sons. Daily News, 1/23/17.

"Trump team discussing 'half-blind' trust for conflicts of interest," Josh Gerstein at Politico, 12/21/16.

Carrie Levine of the Center for Public Integrity, "Donald Trump's sons behind nonprofit selling access to president-elect," 12/19/16. By the way, they are on no other nonprofit boards.


"Under political pressure, Kuwait cancels major event at Four Seasons, switches to Trump's D.C. hotel," Judd Legum at thinkprogress.org, 12/19/21.

Worries that a Trump administration might destroy or alter government data: "How Trump's White House Could Mess with Government Data," Clare Malone at fivethirtyeight.com, 12/15/16.

No sooner does the Office of Government Ethics blast Trump's plan for running his business through his sons as inadequate, the House Oversight chair calls in him for a private, transcribed interview. As CNN puts it, Rep Chaffetz is more worried about bad publicity for Trump than about Trump's conflicts of interest. CNN reporting, 1/13/17.

Russia and Trumpism

A single must-read on Donald Trump and why he poses an alarming threat to the stability of the United States. His embrace of Russia reflects implications with big-time organized cartels in the former Soviet Union, all of which link to Vladimir Putin. Reported with footnotes by James S. Henry in The American Interest. 12/19/16. 

On the Russian threat to the United States through Trump. Sarah Kendzior shares excerpts from Soviet bloc intelligence agencies, via stories in European news outlets like Bild. They knew Trump was evading taxes and cultivated relationships with him back in the 1980s. Check out the photos, with English translations at this story, posted 12/15/16.

PBS Frontline has a new piece on Putin and the larger picture of what he's doing. So does Michael Crowley (long piece) in Politico, 12/16/16.

Really happening: our allies are concerned that they can no longer trust US intelligence with Trump possibly compromised by Russia. Here's a piece by intelligence expert John Schindler in the Observer (1/22/17).

• I've already posted a couple of Israeli articles to the same effect, and the Times of London is pointing out the same thing, per this tweet. 

We've been pointing out Russia's desire to take advantage of instability in the Balkans. See this piece by Petri Makela in Medium (1/16/17). 

Finally, I've been reluctant to post the three-part Financial Times report on how Putin-aligned criminals essentially bailed Trump out of bankruptcy years ago. It's so technical I could barely follow it. I know this is Alternet/Daily Kos, but it summarizes those stories in a helpful way. (1/10/17).

  New York Times lead editorial asks about Trump's ties with Russia. 12/15/16.

FBI and CIA agree that Russia intervened in the election in order to promote Trump's chances. Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post, 12/16/21.

A Canadian take: "Russian's American Coup," Scott Gilmore in Maclean's. 12/12/16.

David Frum argues that China and Russia are playing Trump in the Atlantic (12/19/16): "Foreign Policy Poker with Donald Trump."

A 1988 Washington Post story expressing concern that the USSR had cultivated Donald Trump. Follow @sarahkendzior for running discussion. 1988.

Sarah Kendzior tracks Trump's involvement with Russia all the way back through the USSR days in Quartz, 12/23. This is a must read.

Just before the election David Corn reports intelligence concerns about Trump being coopted by Russia in Mother Jones. 11/30/16.

The Washington Post editorial board approached the Rubicon in suggesting that Trump might in factbe a Russian agent (12/30/16). It’s not an accusation, but an expression of concern. Consider this paragraph:

Why is Mr. Trump so dismissive of Russia’s dangerous behavior? Some say it is his lack of experience in foreign policy, or an oft-stated admiration for strongmen, or naivete about Russian intentions. But darker suspicions persist. Mr. Trump has steadfastly refused to be transparent about his multibillion-dollar business empire. Are there loans or deals with Russian businesses or the state that were concealed during the campaign? Are there hidden communications with Mr. Putin or his representatives? We would be thrilled to see all the doubts dispelled, but Mr. Trump’s odd behavior in the face of a clear threat from Russia, matched by Mr. Putin’s evident enthusiasm for the president-elect, cannot be easily explained.

In refuting the intel reports, Trump continually repeats talking points showing up on Russian propaganda. Lots – I mean, lots – of people notice that the time lapse between a line showing up on Russian media and coming from Trump can be as short as 20-25 minutes. The same thing happened regarding ramping up the US nuclear arsenal.

Two Israeli papers report that Israel is considering whether it can continue to trust the US with sensitive information. Either they've decided this on their own, or they've been warned by US personnel, per some accounts. The fear is that intel will go through Trump to Russia and eventually to Iran. Sources: Buzzfeed 1/13/17, Yediot Ahronot 1/12/17, Haaretz 1/12/17. This means that our own intelligence agencies believe Trump may be in Putin's pocket.

Regarding the Buzzfeed dossier, the British newspaper the Independent reports that Christopher Steele, the former spy who compiled the dossier, was deeply frustrated that the FBI seemed not to act on his concerns. He reported that Trump had conspired to downplay the Russian invasion of the Ukraine before the Trump campaign followed through by modifying the GOP platform with respect to the Ukraine. The report also documents Senator McCain's significant efforts to check out the story even before the election. So alarmed was Steele that he continued working after his contract expired. 1/14/17.

Meanwhile, two investigations emerge. A Senate panel will look into Russia's involvement with the election, including possible ties between Trump and Russia (NPR 1/13/17), and a Department of Justice inquiry into the FBI's handling of the Clinton email situation in the context of the election (CNN 1/12/17).

Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) tweets that Trump rep Carter Page had multiple meetings with Russian brokers who stood under US sanction, including Russian spies. You just have to read the reporting he's bringing out: huge money passing back and forth between Trump people and Russians. Among other things, he's sharing a $10 million fine against Trump Taj Mahal for illegal money laundering. Here's one story from Narcosphere (10/23/16), looking back at the history.

Back in October the Financial Times was tracking Trump's likely ties to dirty money from the former Soviet bloc. This, from a period in which Trump was financially vulnerable. Tom Burgis, 10/19/16.

Related to the CNN & Buzzfeed revelations of a report involving Trump collusion with Russia, a few items.

• David Corn, who first broke the story of a spy who knew about Trump working with Russia, reflects on his interview with that spy. Mother Jones, 1/13/17. 
• Since Trump's press conference, in which he said he knew better than to misbehave in Russia, an old report surfaces. A Hungarian model says Trump asked her to come to his room in Moscow in 2013. The Hungarian story linked here is November 2016. She first discussed the incident on Hungarian TV in May 2016.

Racism, Pervasive

FoxNews tweets Bill O'Reilly saying, "The left wants power taken away from the white establishment and they want a profound change in the way America is run." 12/21/16

Lancaster, PA: Jewish family flees community, hopefully temporarily, after Breitbart and other outlets blame them for the end of a school Christmas play. Lancasteronline, 12/22/16.

Ezra Klein interviews Heather McGee of Demos on Trump and racism. 63 minutes. 12/21/16. "Race remains the organizing principle in American politics."

White Supremacy on the Loose

White supremacists target Jews in Montana town, supporting Richard Spencer. Carimah Townes at thinkprogress.org, 12/18/16.

Resisting Trump 

"Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda."  Download the PDF.

Jeff Colgan of Brown University has created a "Risk of Democratic Erosion" reading list. 

Facebook "Prophetic Resistance" group.

Cognitive scientist George Lakoff on "How to Help Trump." 12/15/16.

Key Twitter Accounts:  

• @sarahkendzior (Sarah Kendzior)
• @jbouie (Jamelle Bouie)
• @jonathanchait (Jonathan Chait)
• @DavidCornDC (David Corn)
• @davidfrum (David Frum)
• @mashagessen (Masha Gessen, a Russian journalist)
• @Kasparov63 (Garry Kasparov, Russian chess champion and exile)
• @EvanMcMullin (Evan McMullin)