Remember the victims of Uvalde.

May 24, 2023

          Although there are major new developments that deserve attention, we must remember the solemn one-year mark of the Uvalde school massacre at Robb Elementary School. That sad anniversary coincides with the final day of the current Texas legislative session. In the one year since the mass killing, the Texas legislature has done nothing to reduce the risk of future massacres. The inaction by Republican legislators and Governor Gregg Abbott desecrates the memories of the children and teachers killed at Uvalde. See Austin NPR, Texas gun laws unchanged a year after Uvalde school shooting.

          Remember the victims of Uvalde:

• Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo, 10:

• Jacklyn Cazares, 9:

• Makenna Lee Elrod, 10:

• Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10:

• Eliahna Garcia, 10:

• Irma Garcia, 48:

• Uziyah Garcia, 10:

• Amerie Jo Garza, 10:

• Xavier Lopez, 10:

• Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10:

• Tess Mata, 10:

• Miranda Mathis, 11:

• Eva Mireles, 44:

• Alithia Ramirez, 10:

• Annabelle Rodriguez, 10:

• Maite Rodriguez, 10:

• Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio, 10:

• Layla Salazar, 11:

• Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10:

• Eliahana Cruz Torres, 10:

• Rojelio Torres, 10.

          Support organizations trying to end gun violence:

• Moms Demand Action.

• Everytown for Gun Safety.

• United Against Gun Violence | Brady.

• Sandy Hook Promise.

• Giffords.org

          Finally, vote against every politician who favors gun rights over children’s safety. That is the best way to honor the victims that Texas has forgotten.

Eric Swalwell cleared by House Ethics Committee.

          Eight years ago, a Chinese spy targeted Rep. Eric Swalwell by acting as a “bundler” for his 2014 campaign. The FBI alerted Swalwell that Christian Fang was a suspected Chinese spy. Swalwell cut ties with Fang and cooperated with the FBI’s investigation, for which the FBI thanked Swalwell.

          During the Trump administration, Republicans mysteriously learned of the FBI’s investigation of Christine Fang and began a years-long smear campaign against Swalwell. Kevin McCarthy kicked Swalwell off the House Intelligence Committee, and Marjorie Taylor Greene spread unfounded rumors about Swalwell while examining witnesses in hearings having nothing to do with the investigation of Fang.

          The House Ethics Committee conducted a two-year investigation. That Committee has now closed its investigation and has not recommended any action against Rep. Swalwell. See The Hill, House Ethics concludes Swalwell probe into link to Chinese spy, taking no action.

          Rep. Eric Swalwell is an honorable man whose name was slandered by leaks from the Trump administration—likely in retaliation for Swalwell’s tenacious opposition to Trump's corruption. The press should report on the Committee’s exoneration of Swalwell with the same prominence as it reported on the smears by Trump, McCarthy, and Greene.

I doubt the media will match its prior coverage, so you should help Rep. Swalwell by knowing the facts and correcting any post or statement that suggests that Swalwell engaged in impropriety. He did not. He acted with integrity and honesty by fully cooperating with the FBI. Tell a friend.

Ohio Republicans seek to change the process for amending state constitution.

          Many commentators have rightly noted that the wave of anti-democratic legislation sweeping through GOP-controlled legislatures is a sign of desperation. Republicans understand that their views on guns, reproductive liberty, and human dignity are supported by a dwindling minority of GOP voters. Faced with political extinction, Republicans are doing their worst before they lose power permanently. While the short-term losses are maddening, they are a sign of inevitable victory for Democrats over the long term.

          That scenario is playing out in Ohio. The people of Ohio are poised to amend the state constitution in November to protect the right to reproductive liberty. In response, Republican legislators are attempting to raise the century-old threshold for amending the state constitution from 50% plus one to 60%. They are doing so by holding an illegal election on the GOP proposal in August to raise the threshold for amending the state constitution. Republicans passed legislation this year that outlawed elections in August—a prohibition they will simply ignore. See The Guardian, ‘It destroys democracy’: Republicans bid to rewrite Ohio’s abortion rules.

          Per The Guardian:

As Ohio law currently stands, voters can amend the state constitution by a direct vote with a simple majority. If it passes this November, one such ballot initiative – brought forward by Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom – would codify the right to abortion in the Ohio constitution.

But Republicans in the Ohio house of representatives passed a proposal on 10 May that could make it much harder for that abortion rights measure to pass by requiring a supermajority vote for ballot measures. The proposal, Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR-2), is scheduled to come before voters in an August special election.

Opponents of the bill have already filed suit to stop the 8 August election, citing the state legislature’s recent move to prohibit August special elections. Given the short timeframe – election officials will begin to prepare ballots next month – the lawsuit would need to be resolved quickly to have an effect on the upcoming election.

          Republicans are going to lose this fight in every way possible. Their bid to raise the threshold at an illegal election in August will not pass. If it does, the courts will invalidate the election. If the Ohio Supreme Court does not invalidate the August election, Ohio voters will clean house in the Ohio Supreme Court. Ohioans will pass the amendment to the Constitution in November. It may take a few years, but Republicans have poked a bear. It is the beginning of the end of the Republican dictatorship in Ohio.

Harlan Crow’s attorneys claim he is immune from congressional investigation.

          The Senate Judiciary Committee has demanded that Harlan Crow provide information regarding his gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas. Crow’s attorney responded with a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee claiming that Congress has no ability to investigate Crow’s relationship with Justice Thomas.

          Mark Joseph Stern has soundly refuted the defenses raised by Crow’s attorney. See Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, Harlan Crow: Investigating my Clarence Thomas gifts is unconstitutional. Stern writes:

[According to Thomas’s lawyer], “Congress does not have the constitutional power to impose ethics rules and standards on the Supreme Court.” And so, by extension, Congress has no power to conduct investigations necessary to promulgate such rules.

It might come as a surprise to hear that the legislative branch cannot mandate ethics guidelines for SCOTUS given that it already does so: A federal statute requires the justices to disclose most gifts of any real value—indeed, that’s the law Thomas clearly violated when he concealed Crow’s presents from the public.

          The letter by Crow’s attorney to the Judiciary Committee raises a possible ethical concern for Justice Thomas and Crow’s attorney, the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (“GDC”). GDC has a thriving practice before the US Supreme Court and is now resisting a congressional inquiry into the relationship between Justice Thomas and GDC’s client, Harlan Crow.

          When GDC next appears to argue a case before the Supreme Court, will Justice Thomas recuse himself from that case because of the appearance of impropriety? After all, the effect of GDC’s representation of Crow is to resist a congressional investigation into Justice Thomas’s failure to disclose gifts from Harlan Crow. Any reasonable jurist would recuse themselves.

Trump's legal jeopardy is increasing by the day.

          Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan for hush money payments has been set for March 25, 2024. The judge said that the date would not be delayed. Trump was unhappy because that trial date is at the beginning of the GOP primary season. See NYTimes, Trump Criminal Trial Scheduled for March 2024.

          Separately, Trump's attorney has requested a meeting with Merrick Garland to discuss Jack Smith’s investigations. See The Hill, Trump lawyers request meeting with Merrick Garland over DOJ probe. The request suggests that Trump understands Jack Smith is nearing the close of his investigations—as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday in an article entitled, Special Counsel Is Wrapping Up Trump Mar-a-Lago Probe. Indeed, it is reasonable to assume that Jack Smith invited Trump's lawyers to speak about the investigation, and Trump decided to go over Smith’s head by appealing to Garland.

Support Democrats in Virginia!

          Readers John S. and Margo K. called my attention to an event hosted by the National Women’s Political Caucus of Virginia (NWPC-VA) to support Democratic candidates in the 2023 Virginia elections. Virginia will hold a primary on June 20, 2023, and a general election on November 7, 2023. See Virginia elections, 2023 - Ballotpedia.

          The NWPC-VA is hosting an event called “Rally for Virginia” on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific. The event will feature Heather Booth and five women candidates seeking election to the Virginia legislature. Register here: Rally for Virginia - The Road to Richmond, May 25 - Action Network

          I know that PostCardsToVoters is writing in support of candidates in the Virginia elections. If you are part of that effort, the “Rally for Virginia” event could be informative and inspiring!

“Return to sender, address unknown”—Elvis Presley.

          Almost every day, I receive misdirected emails when recipients of this newsletter mistakenly press “Reply to all” when they intend to “Forward” the newsletter to friends. Or they mistakenly send it to me when my email address “auto-fills” the “To” field. (E.g., a reader intends to forward the newsletter to a friend named “Robert Smith” but fails to notice when “Robert Hubbell” auto-fills in the “To” field.)

          In the early days of the newsletter, I responded to those emails by replying to the sender to inform them of their mistake. I now receive so many misdirected emails I simply delete them as soon as I recognize they are not meant for me. Usually, I can tell by the first line that an email is not meant for me. For example, the sender of one errant email intended to forward the newsletter to his newsroom colleagues with the note, “The son-of-a-b*tch is at it again,” but included me in the distribution. I deleted the email—but I can’t “unknow” what I read.

          Why am I raising this issue? Because over the last week, I have received several misdirected emails that begin with the sender expressing to a friend that the newsletter on that day was “depressing” or “frightening” or some similar sentiment. I interpret such statements as observations that are primarily focused on the news of the day. But the comments must also reflect on my retelling of the news which, of necessity, includes troubling developments.

          Please don’t misunderstand. I take no offense and am not fishing for positive comments about the newsletter. Rather, I believe the comments provide an important insight into how Americans are feeling about the prospect of a debt default—an event that has not happened in the 234-year history of the United States of America.

          The nearly universal pain that will be inflicted by a default is the most compelling reason to assume it will not occur. But in the meantime, some Americans are lying awake at night worried about their ability to make ends meet after June 1^st. It is reprehensible that Republicans have put all Americans in this position.

          I have no magic words to relieve that anxiety except to say that if a default happens, the devastating effects will force the parties to cure the default immediately, or the President will resort to implied powers in the Constitution to continue the issuance of treasury bonds. Either way, the moment of crisis should be short-lived. The pain and dislocation for Americans may linger long after Republicans have moved on to their next battle in the culture war.

          It is understandable to experience feelings of anxiety or fear as the nation lurches toward a possible default, but we will survive and prevail. It will not be easy, and it may hurt. But know this to a moral certainty: the foundations of the Constitution and the economy will endure long after the petty demagogues of today’s GOP have been forgotten. Take heart from that knowledge and stay strong!

Concluding Thoughts.

          See above.

Talk to you tomorrow!