You laid out what Congress can't do. I want to add how to make the courts work as hard as they can for it, because I think this is where Democrats will either look smart or waste two years.
Pick a few fights and make them airtight. Every time a lawyer walks into court with a sprawling, messy demand, the other side gets to argue about how messy it is and the judge never gets to the point. A short, clear request wins faster: here is the document, here is why Congress needs it, and here is the one reason the White House has for refusing. Judges love a case they can decide in a paragraph. Hand them ten of those, not one giant tangle.
Go in early and ask for speed. You wrote about the clock, and the clock is the other side's best friend. Every request should come with a plea to move quickly, and a team that treats the first week as urgent will beat a team that treats it as a warm-up. A ruling that arrives after the next election is a nice footnote and nothing more.
Don't overlook the quiet win. A judge ordering records kept safe doesn't make headlines, but it stops the shredder, and the file you described is only as good as what survives. Ask for that early and often.
The best historical reminder is the Nixon tapes. The Supreme Court told a sitting president he had to hand over his own recordings, and he lost his presidency within weeks. Nobody went to a cell because of that ruling. The paper told the story, and the country read it. Courts can do that again if the case in front of them is clean.
Last, expect to be sued first. The White House letter you described reads like groundwork for exactly that, so build every request as if a hostile judge will read it. If it holds up under that, it holds up anywhere.
You're right that this ends in 2028. Courts decide how much is waiting on the desk when that day comes.
“Hand them ten of those, not one giant tangle” is on the mark...and so is the point about preservation orders. A file is only worth what SURVIVES. That quiet win...may matter more than any chaotic hearing.
You’re also right about being sued first. Every request should be drafted for the LEAST friendly judge who might read it. Write it around the most grizzled asshole in a robe...that it might land in front of.
The Nixon tapes are the right reminder: the ruling didn’t jail anyone...but the PAPER...yeah...that told the story.
If there is one thing I want readers to get from this: Do NOT get your hopes up...for anything beyond what I've laid out here. Things we would all LOVE to see happen...will probably be promised, either directly or indirectly...BUT...do not get swept up in the emotional hype. Just watch what gets done.
Teri...you're welcome. I've been seeing a lot of people planning for things that almost certainly won't happen before January 2029...when we take BACK the WH.
I don't want people to set themselves up to be depressed for two years.
Thanks for your post…disappointing to say the least…but Congress does have the “power of the purse” and that is at least something! It also has the power to expose, as was done during the Watergate hearings, the vast level of corruption, and potentially even worse, of the Trump Administration. Not being able to prosecute them come January makes fielding great candidates, then electing Democrats in 2028 vitally important, thus setting up the ability to hold to account this corrupt President, his family, his cronies and anyone else that needs to be checked!
Thanks Jack, I always learn something new reading your posts!
You're taling about the two levers that matter most.
The power of the purse...oh yeah...that is REAL leverage...and the Watergate hearings...are a most USEFUL model for the power to expose: nobody was charged by that committee...BUT...the country watched and drew its OWN conclusions.
And...yes, that makes 2028...the hinge. The next two years are about building the record ...and putting STRONG candidates in front of voters...so that the record isn’t wasted...and our time and effort isn't wasted.
Glad the post was USEFUL...even if it wasn’t the news...either of us wanted.
It was useful. I was moderately excited, then I almost got tearful. Now I’m just like, “Oh, OK.”
#More Holding Fast
And, “We got work-a-do.” That’s what my first grandbaby girl said when she was 3. She’d gotten a John Deere “tractor” for her birthday and was ready to feed the cows. Back all loaded up with dead leaves and her work gloves on. Adorable.
The answer...is in the Constitution itself. Treason is the only crime the framers defined there...and they made it deliberately narrow: levying war against the United States, or giving aid and comfort to its enemies.
A conviction takes two witnesses to the SAME overt act...or a CONFESSION in open court.
“Enemies” has been read to mean a country or group we are actually at WAR with. That’s why prosecutors almost never touch the word...however angry people are. They reach for charges they can prove...like bribery...obstruction or fraud.
So...the long and the short of it...the word gets plenty of air on cable, but...it gets almost none in a courtroom.
How can the new congress keep the support of their constituents, if they are unable to enact any legislation or remove any of the incompetent players? Most people have minimal understanding of what you just described. I can see the public turning on the Dems, blaming them for not fixing the problems they “promised” to fix. 👹
Rachel C...yeah..that's the real risk, AND... it’s why I wrote the piece.
The danger...isn’t the org chart. It’s promising handcuffs...and delivering hearings.
The fix is to say HONESTLY...starting NOW,...what a Congress CAN do. Put the facts on the record...control the money...block bad appointments...and...pass popular bills...so voters can see WHO signs them...and WHO vetoes them.
People don’t need the civics lecture. They need to hear “here is what we PROMISED, here is what we DID, here is WHO stopped the rest.”
A party that sets that expectation in January...can KEEP its voters. One that lets them expect arrests by spring...will get exactly the backlash you describe...and it will NOT be good for this party, the country, or...democracy.
Hey, Jack. So should the Dems just alter the game plan and impeach trump? If they are able to pull that off, the next guy will feel the need to cooperate, no? I yield back.
Jack,
You laid out what Congress can't do. I want to add how to make the courts work as hard as they can for it, because I think this is where Democrats will either look smart or waste two years.
Pick a few fights and make them airtight. Every time a lawyer walks into court with a sprawling, messy demand, the other side gets to argue about how messy it is and the judge never gets to the point. A short, clear request wins faster: here is the document, here is why Congress needs it, and here is the one reason the White House has for refusing. Judges love a case they can decide in a paragraph. Hand them ten of those, not one giant tangle.
Go in early and ask for speed. You wrote about the clock, and the clock is the other side's best friend. Every request should come with a plea to move quickly, and a team that treats the first week as urgent will beat a team that treats it as a warm-up. A ruling that arrives after the next election is a nice footnote and nothing more.
Don't overlook the quiet win. A judge ordering records kept safe doesn't make headlines, but it stops the shredder, and the file you described is only as good as what survives. Ask for that early and often.
The best historical reminder is the Nixon tapes. The Supreme Court told a sitting president he had to hand over his own recordings, and he lost his presidency within weeks. Nobody went to a cell because of that ruling. The paper told the story, and the country read it. Courts can do that again if the case in front of them is clean.
Last, expect to be sued first. The White House letter you described reads like groundwork for exactly that, so build every request as if a hostile judge will read it. If it holds up under that, it holds up anywhere.
You're right that this ends in 2028. Courts decide how much is waiting on the desk when that day comes.
#HOLDFAST
Jane...thank you for this.
“Hand them ten of those, not one giant tangle” is on the mark...and so is the point about preservation orders. A file is only worth what SURVIVES. That quiet win...may matter more than any chaotic hearing.
You’re also right about being sued first. Every request should be drafted for the LEAST friendly judge who might read it. Write it around the most grizzled asshole in a robe...that it might land in front of.
The Nixon tapes are the right reminder: the ruling didn’t jail anyone...but the PAPER...yeah...that told the story.
If there is one thing I want readers to get from this: Do NOT get your hopes up...for anything beyond what I've laid out here. Things we would all LOVE to see happen...will probably be promised, either directly or indirectly...BUT...do not get swept up in the emotional hype. Just watch what gets done.
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
Thanks for those additional information to help clarify this mess.
#HOLDFAST
Teri...you're welcome. I've been seeing a lot of people planning for things that almost certainly won't happen before January 2029...when we take BACK the WH.
I don't want people to set themselves up to be depressed for two years.
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
Jack,
Thanks for your post…disappointing to say the least…but Congress does have the “power of the purse” and that is at least something! It also has the power to expose, as was done during the Watergate hearings, the vast level of corruption, and potentially even worse, of the Trump Administration. Not being able to prosecute them come January makes fielding great candidates, then electing Democrats in 2028 vitally important, thus setting up the ability to hold to account this corrupt President, his family, his cronies and anyone else that needs to be checked!
Thanks Jack, I always learn something new reading your posts!
#HOLDFAST…HOLDING ON TIGHTLY!
Christie
Christie..thank you.
You're taling about the two levers that matter most.
The power of the purse...oh yeah...that is REAL leverage...and the Watergate hearings...are a most USEFUL model for the power to expose: nobody was charged by that committee...BUT...the country watched and drew its OWN conclusions.
And...yes, that makes 2028...the hinge. The next two years are about building the record ...and putting STRONG candidates in front of voters...so that the record isn’t wasted...and our time and effort isn't wasted.
Glad the post was USEFUL...even if it wasn’t the news...either of us wanted.
#HOLDFAST #KEEP HOLDING ON TIGHTLY!
-Jack
It was useful. I was moderately excited, then I almost got tearful. Now I’m just like, “Oh, OK.”
#More Holding Fast
And, “We got work-a-do.” That’s what my first grandbaby girl said when she was 3. She’d gotten a John Deere “tractor” for her birthday and was ready to feed the cows. Back all loaded up with dead leaves and her work gloves on. Adorable.
Why is there no air in TREASON?
Good question, Beverly. I share your frustration.
The answer...is in the Constitution itself. Treason is the only crime the framers defined there...and they made it deliberately narrow: levying war against the United States, or giving aid and comfort to its enemies.
A conviction takes two witnesses to the SAME overt act...or a CONFESSION in open court.
“Enemies” has been read to mean a country or group we are actually at WAR with. That’s why prosecutors almost never touch the word...however angry people are. They reach for charges they can prove...like bribery...obstruction or fraud.
So...the long and the short of it...the word gets plenty of air on cable, but...it gets almost none in a courtroom.
-Jack
How can the new congress keep the support of their constituents, if they are unable to enact any legislation or remove any of the incompetent players? Most people have minimal understanding of what you just described. I can see the public turning on the Dems, blaming them for not fixing the problems they “promised” to fix. 👹
Rachel C...yeah..that's the real risk, AND... it’s why I wrote the piece.
The danger...isn’t the org chart. It’s promising handcuffs...and delivering hearings.
The fix is to say HONESTLY...starting NOW,...what a Congress CAN do. Put the facts on the record...control the money...block bad appointments...and...pass popular bills...so voters can see WHO signs them...and WHO vetoes them.
People don’t need the civics lecture. They need to hear “here is what we PROMISED, here is what we DID, here is WHO stopped the rest.”
A party that sets that expectation in January...can KEEP its voters. One that lets them expect arrests by spring...will get exactly the backlash you describe...and it will NOT be good for this party, the country, or...democracy.
-Jack
Promise speedy prosecutions in 2028 IF the Democrats control the office of President. That's a promise that can be delivered.
Hey, Jack. So should the Dems just alter the game plan and impeach trump? If they are able to pull that off, the next guy will feel the need to cooperate, no? I yield back.
I've been worried about how much can actually be truly rectified while we still have this totally compromised DOJ and Supreme Court.
I noticed we had nobody to attach handcuffs when Satan first took office this time. Early checkmate.