Category Archives: authoritarian threats in US

Banana Republic Dept: “Comey under investigation for ‘threat’ to Trump on social media, officials say”

May 16, 2025, 7:14 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo: Trump administration officials said Thursday that they would investigate former FBI director James B. Comey, whom they accused of threatening President Donald Trump after Comey posted a picture of seashells on a beach arranged to spell out “86… Continue reading

“Trump Can’t Stop Trolling Everyone About 2028”

May 16, 2025, 7:04 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Political Wire: Donald Trump is once again suggesting — this time while addressing U.S. troops in Qatar — that he might run for a third term in 2028. Said Trump: “As you know we won three elections. And some… Continue reading

“Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation”

May 15, 2025, 7:03 amauthoritarian threats in US, cheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: The Trump administration has sharply expanded its campaign against experts who track misinformation and other harmful content online, abruptly canceling scores of scientific research grants at universities across the country. The grants funded research into topics like ways to… Continue reading

“The FEC Can’t Do Anything. Congress Should Leave It That Way”

May 15, 2025, 6:59 amauthoritarian threats in US, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Trevor Potter and Adav Novi in The Fulcrum: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is vital to America’s political process. As the only federal agency dedicated solely to enforcing election laws, the FEC plays a critical role in protecting voters and… Continue reading

“The End of the Rule of Law in America”

May 14, 2025, 7:17 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Judge Luttig in The Atlantic: The 47th president of the United States may wish he were a king. But in America, the law is king, not the president. Donald Trump may wish he could dictate his unconscionable global tariffs; dispense with… Continue reading

“DOJ ‘weaponization’ group will shame individuals it can’t charge with crimes, new head says”

May 13, 2025, 1:58 pmauthoritarian threats in US, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Ryan Reilly for NBC News: The conservative activist named by President Donald Trump as the head of the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” said Tuesday he planned to “name” and “shame” individuals the department determines it is unable to charge… Continue reading

“Rule of law is ‘endangered,’ chief justice says”

May 13, 2025, 7:16 amauthoritarian threats in US, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Josh Gerstein for Politico: Chief Justice John Roberts described the rule of law as “endangered” and warned against “trashing the justices,” but speaking in Washington Monday he didn’t point fingers directly at President Donald Trump or his allies for publicly… Continue reading

“Judges say unsolicited pizza deliveries are meant to intimidate them”

May 11, 2025, 7:55 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo: Federal judges say unsolicited pizza deliveries to jurists’ homes that began in February may number in the hundreds across at least seven states, prompting increased security concerns and a demand from a Senate leader for a Justice Department… Continue reading

“How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?”

May 9, 2025, 7:33 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Steve Letvitsky, Lucian Way, and Daniel Ziblatt NYT oped: How will Americans know when we have lost our democracy? Authoritarianism is harder to recognize than it used to be. Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. Rather than violently suppress opposition like… Continue reading

“Trump’s Third-Term Jokes Deserve a Serious Response”

May 6, 2025, 7:49 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NYT Editorial: This past weekend, he seemed to both step back from the idea and reiterate it. “It’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do,” Mr. Trump told NBC News. But then… Continue reading

“Threats to democracy and academic freedom after Trump’s second first 100 days; Bright Line Watch April 2025 survey”

May 5, 2025, 7:17 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Release: uring the first months of Donald Trump’s second presidency, his administration challenged constitutional and democratic norms on a wide range of issues, including the scope of executive power and the authority of courts to check it, individual … Continue reading

“Trump Says Third Term Is ‘Not Something I’m Looking to Do'”

May 4, 2025, 3:05 pmauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WSJ: President Trump on Sunday said he expects to leave the White House at the end of his second term without trying to run again, which would be prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. The 78-year-old had indicated in late March… Continue reading

“Trump says he’s unsure whether people in the US are entitled to due process”; “Trump, asked if he has to ‘uphold the Constitution,’ says, ‘I don’t know'”

May 4, 2025, 7:04 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NBC News: When Welker tried to point out what the Fifth Amendment said, Trump suggested that such a process would slow him down too much. “I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking… Continue reading

“Attacks on Judges Undermine Democracy, Warns Justice Jackson”

May 2, 2025, 7:53 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NYT: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court’s newest member, denounced on Thursday what she described as “relentless attacks” on judges, and an environment of harassment that “ultimately risks undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.” “ Across the… Continue reading