I’m hearing different things about why Bondi was fired. Much of it points to her failure to get indictments for some of Trump’s prime targets, like Letitia James. The Daily Mail reports that Trump believed Bondi tipped off Eric Swalwell about an FBI investigation about his alleged relationship with a Chinese spy. I don’t know how reliable the Daily Mail might be. As far as prosecuting Trump’s political enemies is concerned, unless and until the entire justice system is corrupted, top to bottom, I doubt another attorney general will do any better than Bondi to make Trump happy.
Update: Eric Swalwell says Bondi didn’t tip him off about anything. He says it was some FBI agents who tipped off reporters that Kash Patel was digging up an old accusation about Swalwell to mess with the California governor’s race.
Update update: I’m also hearing that Bondi is still expected to respond to a subpoena and testify to the House Oversight Committee about Jeffrey Epstein in a couple of weeks. Trump may be sorry he fired her.
This is Liberation Day plus one year! Remember Liberation Day? When Trump announced his first tariffs, including tariffs on islands occupied only by penguins? See Scott Horsley at NPR, Have Trump’s tariffs worked? This is where things stand a year after ‘Liberation Day’. Executive summary: Nope.
Trump’s new executive order on elections is even more insane than his previous orders.
It instructs the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to “compile and transmit to the chief election official of each State a list of individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State.”
The order then “requires the USPS to transmit ballots only to individuals enrolled on a State-specific Mail-in and Absentee Participation List, ensuring that only eligible absentee or mail-in voters receive absentee or mail-in ballots,” according to a White House fact sheet.
Right. The Dems have sued to block it, but of course Trump doesn’t have the constitutional authority to order changes to how elections are run.
Bondi was supposed to bend the rules of the Justice Department to make Trump the final judge of all. She did, regarding prosecutions, ignoring the long-standing practice of not charging unless there was evidence to likely secure a conviction. This is why the Feds have a 97% conviction rate. Bondi fired prosecutors who would not charge people on Trump's hit list. The people she chose for loyalty are incompetent in court. As a result, Bondi can't get a conviction. (Often, she can't get it before a jury – the judge tosses the case.)
And there's the problem. Most judges on the Federal bench know their stuff. They can't easily be removed. Just throwing out decades of what they believe regarding the process of law to cater to the whims of a senile president will fail because of the appeals process. A bad decision is certain to go to a higher court. But for most judges, including conservatives, giving up the law to indulge Trump's vendettas would be like the Pope giving up his job to become a Mafia enforcer.
Bondi, and her replacement don't have the power to overturn Article III process that defines the Federal Judiciary. It's in the Constitution that you can demand a jury. Mess with the process of selecting an impatial jury and a conviction can be tossed. Trump has the power, on a whim, to free anyone in the federal judicial system. It's not enough. He wants the power to throw anyone in prison, on a whim, for as long as he wants. This goes WAY beyond bending the rules.
Child Trump is like a toddler with emotional issues. Prone to violent tantrums, the adults put much of the valuable stuff, like corrupting the judiciary, on a shelf out of reach. I think justice will hold. So in the end game, Trump will use what's in reach, or try,. He will send Federal troops against civilians. He can give that order, and the troops must refuse. The Secretary of War is on a tear, firing top generals.
Today in Iran: Two military planes were shot over Iraq, a fighter with two crew, and an A-10. One of the fighter crew was recovered from Iran, The other is missing. The pilot of the A-10 ejected over Kuwait. So, since we have decimated their military, I conclude the planes were shot down by Boy Scouts with a slingshot.
Today in DOJ: Acting A/G Todd Blanche suggested that the Epstein Files "should not be part of anything going forward." That may be a clue what Bondi was fired over. I predict he won't respond to what DOJ did under Bondi. And Bondi won't be avaiable to Congress for her failures. Let's see how that plays out.
In the White House: Trump is getting his head around the degree to which the Iran war is a fiasco. Iran is playing hardball with the global economy and defeating its enemies using a different metric than bombs. Trump can neither stay nor leave without demonstrating his impotence.
Handwriting on the wall: The USSC will not strike down birthright citizenship. This is a signature item. Trump and Miller can't do deportations on the scale they intend to change the complexion of the US if they can't do lawless roundups. ICE is pulling its horns in from now to the midterms. The twin murders in the Twin Cities set ICE back. They have the same goals, but they have to be caught less from now to Nov.
The Cobra (aka Maurene Dowd) did a political obituary on Pam and Kristy. It is a great read.
If you just want to read the climactic ending keep reading. Otherwise jump to the link.
Opinion | Pam and Kristi, Kicked to the Curb – The New York Times
Thanks for the link!
@Bernie – I saw a cartoon of Bondi and Gnome, riding in a convertible, flying off a cliff, in true Thelma and Louise style.
Trump has tasked Vance with rooting out "fraud" in the blue states. The latest in trying to terrorize his political opponents. He knows he's in trouble wrt the midterms. Gird up, Democrats, it's going to be a rough ride to November.