Jennifer Rubin in the WaPo: 

Two of the year’s best books on politics present contrasting diagnoses for what ails American democracy.

Liz Cheney’s “Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning” lowers the boom on the mendacious and cowardly Republicans and the now four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump, whom they enabled in nearly destroying our democratic system. “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, cites structural protections for the minority that have been exploited to the point that self-government is threatened. Both books have a point, but neither puts the blame squarely where it should be. . . . 

Plainly, we need both structural change and public virtue to repair our democracy. But there is another element the analyses do not fully acknowledge: voters. We get the government we want and deserve.

Video of Fox News interview yesterday. N.Y. Post has a story describing the interview. With respect to the federal indictment for conspiracy to subvert the 2020, Barr made clear that he believes that Trump “crossed the line” into criminal culpability:

“Barr added that he believes Trump ‘crossed the line’ after the 2020 election and that his alleged efforts to impanel fake electors in conjunction with demanding that former Vice President Mike Pence not certify Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory ‘was a calculated and deceitful plan.’

“’I think the chances are that he will be convicted on some counts,’” Barr said.” 

N.Y. Times opinion essay by Katherine Miller.

This is an interesting summary of Meadow’s relevance to some key issues. From my perspective, I would add that Meadow’s testimony would be especially relevant to any adjudication that might occur of Trump’s status under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. In particular, did Trump’s behavior on January 6 itself rise to the level of “engage[ing]” in the “insurrection” by refusing to use his presidential powers to stop the attack on the Capitol that was in support of his orchestrated campaign to derail the joint session of Congress so that it would not officially declare that his opponent had won the election?

NBC News.

“The purported names and addresses of members of the grand jury that indicted Donald Trump and 18 of his co-defendants on state racketeering charges this week have been posted on a fringe website that often features violent rhetoric, NBC News has learned.

“NBC News is choosing not to name the website featuring the addresses to avoid further spreading the information. …

“The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the surrender of Trump and his co-defendants over the next 10 days, initially declined to comment, but said in a statement Thursday after this article published that they are ‘aware that personal information of members of the Fulton County Grand Jury is being shared on various platforms.’

“‘As the lead agency, our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in Fulton County and other jurisdictions,’ a statement fro the sheriff’s office said Thursday. ‘We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty.’ …

“’These jurors have signed their death warrant by falsely indicting President Trump,’ a post on a pro-Trump forum read in response to a post including the names of jurors, which was viewed by NBC News.”

N.Y. Times. I think this extremely disturbing story qualifies as election law news given that the case concerns election law. Also, it relates to the concerns about the possibility of violence, or threats of violence, surrounding the 2024 election–and the degree to which this risk escalates depending on how events unfold over the next months.

The Jolt in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

“Lt. Gov. Burt Jones avoided charges in the far-ranging Fulton County indictment filed Monday that accused former President Donald Trump and key allies of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results. But Jones did participate in one of the election interference activities cited in the indictment — the Georgia fake electors scheme — and could still face prosecution. 

“On Wednesday, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia signaled it is considering a criminal complaint against Jones. The state agency’s head filed a motion to unseal a special grand jury report that potentially includes findings about Jones. 

“The lieutenant governor told Fox News he welcomed the chance to tell a prosecutor his story. 

“Jones’ case is complex. He was among the 16 Republicans who met secretly on Dec. 14, 2020 to sign election certificates claiming Trump as the state’s popular vote winner. Like the other alternate electors, Jones was notified last year by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis he could face charges.

“But a conflict-of-interest complaint against Willis led Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney to bar the DA’s office from investigating Jones. The ruling was in response to revelations that Willis hosted a fundraiser for Jones’ Democratic opponent in the 2022 election — a former colleague of hers. 

“Enter the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to probe Jones. …”

Fascinating Washington Post profile of Kenneth Chesebro, a protégé of Larry Tribe’s. One interesting tidbit:

“In 2000, when Tribe joined Vice President Al Gore’s legal team dealing with the recount of the presidential vote in Florida, Chesebro offered to assist, Tribe recalled. Chesebro helped parse Florida law governing deadlines for the selection of electors, Tribe said.

Twenty years later, Chesebro would cite the case in his work for Trump. Tribe said the interpretation twisted their research to argue that ‘any state can submit new electors at any time.’”

Washington Post team compares the two indictments, discussing the pros and cons of each approach (one narrower and the other much broader).