When did it become legal for any president to say he would withold

[malaise]

Federal funds to a state if he didn’t like who they elected for mayor?

Asking for all my relatives and friends in New York.

[Irish_Dem]

1. Nothing Trump does is legal. No one will stop him.

Many people love his crimes.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Saying that he would withhold funds is constitutionally protected speech.

Actually withholding the funds? That’s another matter.

And good morning.

[malaise]

3. Good morning

I did think about saying v doing as I wrote that😀

[thesquanderer]

14. Even "doing" essentially became legal the day the SC ruled he could not be criminally prosecuted for any official action

An illegal thing which you legally cannot be prosecuted for doing... essentially becomes a legal thing, for that person.

[malaise]

22. Scary Indeed

Rec

[MadameButterfly]

60. i think if you say something as president it has more ramifications than just anyone saying it

If you actually have the power to do the illegal thing its a threat.

A bomb threat isn't planting a bomb, but the threat is illegal. The threat has consequences.
A credible threat to New Yorkers for voting a certain way, or to Mamdani himself, is taking away their freedom of speech.
Influencing the result of an election by threatening illegal action, is surely as illegal as the bomb threats that kept people away from the polls on election day. If those who made the bomb threats were discovered, they would have been prosecuted.

He thinks he can tell everyone what to do or take away money and rights they are due. The blackmail will never end until he is stopped.

No giving in in advance.

[Dave says]

45. He has SCOTUS-granted immunity

He can do whatever he wants as long as it's vaguely related to "official duties". Yes, those that act on his direction are not immune, but his private DOJ won't act. Perhaps we regain power and then indict the hundreds of dolts under him, but that "perhaps" may not happen for a generation or two. We are not in good soup here.


On edit: I see thesquanderer already made this point a few hours ago. However, I add the part about the dolts getting indicted, so I'll let my post stand.

[tetedur]

4. He has to send the Federal funds to Argentina.

That is where our money is going even though the money was designated for American projects. And this is how he puts America First.

[pazzyanne]

8. He sure doesn't!

Qu'il aille en enfer !

(Parden my French!)

[liberalgunwilltravel]

5. It's not legal

And Russell Vought will not have a day of peace once he is no longer under the protection of this criminal regime. People are finally finding out who and what he is. Both he and Stephen Miller will spend the rest of their lives in fear because of all the terrible things they have done and will do. And people will want to see justice served. FAFO on steroids.

[gab13by13]

6. Who will prosecute them, Merrick Garland?

We are on the door step of Krasnov invoking the Insurrection Act which will make the atrocities he orders, legal.

[LuvLoogie]

10. Taking those classified documents wasn't legal

And the fascist regime is MORE firmly entrenched than it was then. They will never be prosecuted. Even if we regain control of congress and the white house. The SCOTUS will delay. There will be no shadow docket for expedited resolution of litigation that isn't brought by the GOPs or corporations.

This IS a return to the robber baron days. We will be thwarted at every front. The rape of the planet is about to accelerate in earnest, led by this regime. While the abuse of black and brown bodies is fed to Stephen Miller's America to keep them happy.

[thesquanderer]

16. Trump will pardon Miller and Vought before he leaves office (if he ever does). Unless...

...he is carried out feet first before doing so.

They could still be on the hook for state violations, but nothing federal.

[rubbersole]

26. They'll probably wish for "legal" prosecution.

Tarred and feathered - then ridden out of town on a rail would be a good start.

[yellow dahlia]

47. If we still had shunning, I posit these people would have banished pariahs long ago.

As it should be.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

41. It doesn't have to be the state

Or federal government that has to mete out justice.

[LymphocyteLover]

7. Dump is the most deranged evil partisan POTUS ever

Wheeee!

[Morbius]

9. WIBDI

What if Biden did it?

[GiqueCee]

11. Does anyone remember...

... Cheney and Rumsfeld trying to hustle the concept of a "Unitary Executive" as a desirable escalation of presidential power back in Bush the Lesser's first term?
Well, now you're lookin' at it. Are ya happy now, Cheney, you evil fuck?

[FakeNoose]

19. I'm guessing Russell Vought was taking notes at the time

They're all evil f*cks, aren't they?

[rubbersole]

30. And financed by the Koch Network.

Unlimited money and 30 years of planning/dreaming how to eliminate the pesky rule of law and democracy resulted in project 2025 being instituted by these "elected" puppets.

[GiqueCee]

40. Nailed it. nt

[Wonder Why]

12. When his terrorist friends in SCROTUS gave him almost unlimited power.

[spanone]

13. He's not a legal president, he's a dictator.

[returnee]

15. TSF will press the bounds of law...

…until he is stopped, and that is not easy to do. This is his modus operandi since forever. “Don’t like what I’m doing, try to stop me.”

[BlueTsunami2018]

17. What does legality have to do with it?

Fascists do what they want.

[AllaN01Bear]

18. if anybody paid atttention to what he said last time , he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do

please dont constrew this as a support for the man, i dont with all my fiber

[malaise]

20. Yes he told everyone

and Kamala also warned everyone as well.
rec

[Susan Calvin]

21. It didn't. nt

[Happy Hoosier]

23. When the Supreme Court told him he could do what he wants without consequence.

We have a wannabe king.

[LiberalArkie]

24. Hmm.. Rule of law vs the lawless? But if the government does nothing against the lawless?

I think back to the 50's and 60's south, if not for the Kennedys we in the South would still be lynching people. And it would be normal and not even worth local news coverage.

[malaise]

25. Indeed

Rec

[Kid Berwyn]

27. Founders didn't want political parties for this very reason.

Rich traitors and hypocrites got organized and now run all three branches into the ground.

[malaise]

28. The sad truth and not just in the USA

Rec

[Kid Berwyn]

31. EPSTEIN!

The Kryptonite that stops traitors in their tracks, dead.

The files are said to include photos of the imbecilic wingman in his “wet suit.”

[malaise]

32. I can't wait for this one to blow open

literally😀

[Kid Berwyn]

34. More to come! The late blackmailer's "work" reached around the world.

'Tip of the iceberg': Journalist who ended Prince Andrew's career says Epstein will ruin more

by Lesley Abravanel
MSN.com

BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, whose interview ended Prince Andrew's royal career, says that the scandal surrounding late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is only just beginning and that more names will be ruined, Newsweek reports.

In 2019, Maitlis was invited by the prince to speak about his friendship with Epstein and allegations he had sex with a 17-year-old trafficking victim, which he still denies.

SNIP...

In an interview with British radio station LBC, Maitlis says more careers are about to be ruined by the Epstein story.

"I mean, the number of people that have ended up lying for Epstein, whose careers have ended up in absolute tatters because of their connection to him. I think we're at the tip of the iceberg, I genuinely do," she said.

Continues...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/tip-of-the-iceberg-journalist-who-ended-prince-andrew-s-career-says-epstein-will-ruin-more/ar-AA1OrgBJ

One thing that needs to be made pellucidly clear is that Bill Barr's father, Donald Barr, hired college dropout Jeffrey Epstein to teach high schoolers at The Dalton School of NYC. May be that's why he assigned a quadruple-murdering cop as his federal cellmate.

[malaise]

35. Oh My!

Let it all “reign” out for royalty real and fake. 😀

[Kid Berwyn]

36. They won't need a little blue pill for all to see the truth stand up.

[malaise]

37. ROFL

😀

[myohmy2]

29. you're reminiscing...

...about the good old days when we had a Constitution and a democracy...

...

[Ol Janx Spirit]

33. This is like so many other things in the era of the Donny the Menace: we will find out that there was never a...

...law against it, but no administration in the past would have done it because of the political consequences they perceived would follow.

So many of the things we thought were "guardrails" were supported only by political consequences--including impeachment. But one thing he identified early was that there are very few political consequences for him related to any action.

So, it is probably not actually illegal at all. Congress would have to assert its authority over spending which it will not do--even if Democrats get back in power because of the filibuster. And impeachment is meaningless in these polarized times.

The only real leverage Democrats have now is to promise to do the same to red states and cities one day if and when they have power again, but does anyone think they would follow through with that threat?

Democrats want to do what is good for the country; while Republicans want to do what is good for billionaires and Christo-fascists. Not only does that not make for a level playing field; they are not even playing the same sports....

[Catherine Vincent]

38. ...

Trump can do whatever in the hell he wants and no one would dare stop him.

[malaise]

39. He will be stopped n/t

[republianmushroom]

42. Since roberts and 5 other SC Justices crawled up trump ass.

[pat_k]

43. It is unlawful impoundment -- and even after rulings declare the acts unlawful...

...mainstream reports just keep calling it "withholding" without the modifier "illegal."

It is absolutely infuriating. And I'm not too thrilled that a lot of electeds don't focus on the abuses and usurpations because polling doesn't put that as a top concern for most Americans.

When, oh when will they learned to LEAD. Don't follow the polls. Shape them!!

When will they learn that SILENCE is not the way to build political will for action. Of course, when so few are putting the abuses front and center, choosing instead to focus almost exclusively on the Economy and Health Care (without even bothering to say that protecting the status quo is NOT ENOUGH -- that it is long past time for Universal Health Care) the 47 regime's violations of our fundamental principles isn't high on the list for a majority.

[malaise]

44. THIS

mainstream reports just keep calling it "withholding" without the modifier "illegal."

[yellow dahlia]

48. I think too often they are listening to the "strategists"

and "consultant class".

I got your strategy, right here.

"It's the Constitution Stupid!"

I feel the Democratic leadership is afraid to talk to people about the civics of the situation. They're afraid to use big words like Separation of Powers; appropriations; impoundment. Maybe people need to understand what Article 1 means.

[pat_k]

52. Simple statements, stated over and over and over, are desperately needed.

And it doesn't need to be complicated. I think something as simple as this could do the trick:

The president promises to carry out the laws passed by Congress, whether they like them or not. If a president doesn't like a law, they work with congress to change it. It's a crime for a president or the people who work for him to single-handedly end a program Congress created. That's not how our government works.

Leave the erudite discussions of the balance of powers and how complicated the body of law that has evolved to deal with all sorts of grey areas has become for the experts. Within all that, the basic principles are sound and true.

I think perhaps the BIGGEST problem we have within the Democratic Party is a fear of making simple statements, either because we have in our heads a myriad of complicated exceptions or caveats and we lose track of the basic truth (or we fear there are little exceptions we don't know about).

Bottom line. Over and over, we lose people because we've lost sight of the forest for the trees.

We MUST stop making that mistake.

Looking for the right "message"? Just tell it simply. Assume no knowledge. Think about explaining to a 7 year old.

And if the message is challenged with "it's not that simple," great. Any exception they come up with always boils down to an attempt to deal with a grey area in a way that preserves the basic principle, so you've actually just been given the opportunity to bring it back to the basic principle.

[yellow dahlia]

54. Over and over again I see Chris Murphy delivering a succinct and simple,

yet informative, message. He does it without sounding like a "politician" w/ canned message. He is in front of the microphone more lately.

We are in such a precarious time - there is not much room for error.

I see so much positive in the grass roots work of We the People.

[pat_k]

55. Ariella Elm's daily wins posts have help me keep hope alive enough to

... do my "little bit of good."

Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
--Desmond Tutu.

[yellow dahlia]

57. Thanks for that message.

[leftstreet]

51. +many

[yellow dahlia]

46. The Republicans in Congress have handed over the power of the purse,

as given to them in Article 1 of the Constitution. It is a daily rant of mine.

They have violated their oath to the American people. They are supposed to be our representatives in Congress.

[Sogo]

49. When the SCOTUS said he can do whatever the hell he wants.

nt

[elleng]

50. He can SAY whatever he wants, came with First Amendment.

His ACTIONS are another thing.

[vapor2]

53. AND threaten Argentina if they don't vote accordingly

[oldmanlynn]

56. When our elected officials and our voters decided not to show up and let them do it

Sure, there’s a lot of terrible things going on in the Republican Party but we didn’t stop it. We didn’t even come out and vote so strongly to prevent it so part of this is we need to look in the mirror and see that we were upset that Biden farted wrong or Kamala had a weird laugh or whatever so we decided not to vote

[wolfie001]

58. The 6 sitting piles of shit on the SC gave him carte blanche to do whatever the fuck he wants

Sorry about the language but not one word is incorrect. Those 6 are christo-fascists.

[Skittles]

59. my guess

around the same time a multi-felon, rapist and seditionist was allowed to become "president"

[Jack Valentino]

61. It's legal to SAY nearly anything, and Trump does---- but it's not legal for him to actually DO it!

Further grounds for impeachment, if he does it.

[vapor2]

62. Also threatening voters in Argentina . SICK POS