Courts Swat Down Trump’s Executive Immunity Defense.
Plus: Hamas, Israel, and the Responsibility for Civilian Suffering and Deaths
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KIM WEHLE: Courts Swat Down Trump’s Executive Immunity Defense.
ON FRIDAY, THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS for the D.C. Circuit unanimously rejected Donald Trump’s claim that he is absolutely immune from any lawsuits relating to the 2020 election-stealing efforts and the January 6, 2021 insurrection. The ruling came down in three consolidated civil cases brought by a handful of Democrats in Congress and Capitol police officers who were at the U.S. Capitol that day. By coincidence, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan also ruled on Friday that Trump has no blanket immunity from prosecution in the January 6th criminal case against him, either. That case goes to trial on March 4, 2024—one day before Trump is presumptively crowned the Republican nominee for president on Super Tuesday. In all likelihood, the Washington, D.C., jury will convict. Which means the GOP’s nominee for president will have a federal felony conviction to his name and a sentencing date on the calendar going into the general election.
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GABRIEL SCHOENFELD: Hamas, Israel, and the Responsibility for Civilian Suffering and Deaths.
AFTER A SEVEN-DAY TRUCE in which Israel traded convicted terrorists for the freedom of nearly one hundred women and children held hostage by Hamas, the war in Gaza has resumed. Israel remains intent upon realizing its objectives: rescuing all of the remaining hostages, destroying Hamas, and ensuring that Gaza is never again in a position to attack the people of Israel.
But will Israel have the time and the freedom of action to accomplish these goals? A great deal hinges on the position of the Biden administration, which is facing cross-cutting pressures from various constituencies at home and abroad, including staffers in the White House and State Department who have voiced their opposition to the administration’s support for Israel, and in the left flank of the Democratic party. Perhaps as a result, in a coordinated fashion the administration has begun leaning on Israel to alter its tactics.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Ours was filled with chili, dense fog advisories, and a perfect tree (one of the last at the VFW!)
It’s that time of year! Time my the annual “worst Christmas music” list. Any additions? Reply to this message.
It’s nice to unplug sometimes… But what if you really unplugged? Some people move to the National Radio Quiet Zone, but my pal Chris Moody? He cut the internet off from his home, entirely. Only a landline. They’ve done something like this before, before they were parents. Chris and his wife Cristi sold their stuff and committed to the van life for a year after Chris left CNN. Watch my old roommate Andrew Heaton interview them about that. Chris writes and teaches journalism in North Carolina now, and has stopped the internet at his door. Read the whole thing in The Atlantic.
What is Turkmenistan really like? U.S. engineers are getting access to one of the world’s most-closed countries due to a new methane deal, but the guys at Yes Theory deliver a video tour of the little-covered country, and it’s very intriguing.
Fetterman from the top rope… The PA Senator hired disgraced former Rep. George Santos, now starring on video site Cameo, to deliver a message to his embattled colleague, Bob Menendez.
Behind the scenes… Of the greatest show on turf, Sunday Night Football.
“This Is the Final Compromise”… Donald Trump and the Implosion of the American Evangelical Movement, an excerpt of Tim Alberta’s new book in Vanity Fair.
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