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In many ways, Friday was just another day of outrageous stories from the Trump administration. But as I thought about the throughline for tonight’s newsletter, I realized that every major story hinted at the possibility of accountability for the lawyers who are enabling Trump’s corruption and lawlessness.
True, the stories do not scream “accountability,” but it is there nonetheless, just below the surface in the details of perjured testimony to Congress, bad faith indictments issued by a grand jury that was likely misled by a prosecutor, and a remarkable 19-case losing streak that is almost statistically impossible but for the fact that Trump orders his lawyers to keep filing the same baseless losing case over and over again.
Beneath it all are the lawyers. Men and women who swore to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, have broken their oaths to grovel before the most corrupt president in American history. Several lawyers from Trump’s first administration have already been disbarred. Several from the current administration have been referred to their respective licensing boards for attorney discipline. And it will only get worse. Pro-democracy organizations like Lawyers Defending American Democracy are filing complaints with state bar associations against Trump lawyers who have violated their ethical duties in egregious ways.
Accountability is coming for the lawyers because Trump cannot pardon them for violating their ethical duties. Their licenses hinge on their continued good standing with their state bar associations. (In some states, the courts preside over attorney discipline, but the result is the same.)
As we look at the major stories of the day, think about the possibility—indeed, the likelihood—that the lawyers featured in the stories will be held accountable
Trump undercuts Todd Blanche’s testimony to Congress that the $1.8 billion Weaponization Fund was “dead”
Trump made a liar of Todd Blanche by undercutting Blanche’s testimony to Congress that the $1.8 billion Weaponization Fund was “dead.” During a cabinet meeting on Friday, Trump said, “I wish it weren’t,” a statement that Senator Tom Tillis reasonably interpreted to mean that the fund “is still alive.” See CNN, Trump further muddies Blanche negotiations, saying he wishes ‘anti-weaponization’ fund weren’t dead.
Senator Tillis posted on Twitter,
The President made it clear today that the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it.
Moreover, Trump filed an appeal from a district court order that ruled the fund was the product of collusion between Trump and the DOJ. See CNBC, Trump appeals order slamming IRS lawsuit, referring lawyer to bar. Although Trump has not yet specified the grounds for the appeal, his attempt to overturn the district court order can reasonably be interpreted as an effort to resurrect the weaponization fund.
In short, while Blanche claims the fund is dead, Trump is telegraphing to anyone paying attention that the fund is very much alive notwithstanding Blanche’s testimony to the contrary.
Here’s the thing: No one believes Todd Blanche’s testimony that the fund is dead, not Trump, not the GOP Senators who oppose him (for now), and not the GOP Senators prepared to vote for him no matter what. Most Republicans are willing to overlook Blanche’s lies because they are part of the pantomime that has replaced the Republican Party. Republicans are willing to give Blanche a “pass” on his lies today and won’t shed a tear when he loses his license after Trump is out of office.
DOJ lawyers working under Blanche (who is Acting Attorney General) have been referred to the Florida State Bar for a disciplinary investigation in connection with the weaponization fund. It is a short step from disciplining a front-line attorney doing Blanche’s bidding to disciplining Blanche himself. When discovery finally reveals the backstory of the weaponization fund, we should expect to find that Blanche’s congressional testimony was riddled with mental reservations and word parsing that violate Blanche’s obligations of candor and honesty when making statements to Congress or the courts.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro dismisses indictment against former Olympic canoeist for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.
When the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial began to spontaneously shed large flakes of rubberized waterproofing, everyone knew that the contractor had botched the job because of time pressure from Trump. On Friday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro dismissed the indictment against the former Olympic canoeist, David Hearn, who allegedly vandalized the Reflecting Pool. In doing so, Pirro confirmed that everyone’s suspicions about the cause of the flaking—a flawed installation—were correct. See New York Times, Charges Dropped in Reflecting Pool Case as Prosecutors Say Work Was ‘Botched’. (Gift link.)
Per the Times,
Ms. Pirro blamed both the government’s vendor and the administration’s timetable, saying the pool’s poor state “was the result of a flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration” on July 4.
Pirro claimed that the false indictment was the result of misrepresentations by the Department of the Interior about the cause of the flaking. (“[O]n Friday, Ms. Pirro said that her prosecutors had been misled by the Interior Department . . . .”) Pirro had earlier claimed that the DOJ had “tremendous evidence” to support felony charges against Hearn.
Pirro’s contradictory statements about the evidence available to the DOJ are irreconcilable. Indeed, they strongly suggest that the prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence to support the indictment, but instead relied on representations by the Department of the Interior.
If true, someone misled the grand jury that issued the indictment, which must be based on evidence to establish probable cause that a crime has been committed. Per the DOJ’s Justice Manual, Section 9-27.000,
The attorney for the government should commence or recommend federal prosecution if he/she believes that the person’s conduct constitutes a federal offense, and that the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.
Statements by the Department of the Interior are not admissible evidence—unless someone at the Interior Department witnessed David Hearn committing vandalism. (They did not.)
The strong inference is that someone at the DOJ misled the grand jury about the evidence that was available to prosecutors or the applicable law. Attorneys for Hearn have filed a request for a complete copy of the grand jury transcript, citing “irregularities” in the grand jury proceedings. See NBC, Ex-Olympian in Reflecting Pool case seeks grand jury transcripts.
Indeed, the timing of Pirro’s request to dismiss the indictment is suspicious. She may be trying to get the case dismissed before the grand jury transcript is released. The fact that Pirro is attacking the Department of Interior for misleading the DOJ suggests that the transcript will be ugly. And the fact that Pirro is contradicting Trump’s claims of vandalism suggests that Pirro is more worried about her law license than Trump’s wrath.
This could get very ugly, fast. Stay tuned!
Trump administration has a 0-19 track record on demands for state voter rolls. That’s impressive—in a bad way
As reported in Democracy Docket, the Trump administration has now lost 19 cases in which the DOJ demanded state voter rolls. See Democracy Docket, After brutal Illinois defeat, Trump DOJ’s voter roll crusade is 0 for 19. The most recent loss occurred in Illinois, where U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless “denied DOJ’s motion to compel Illinois to surrender its complete statewide voter registration list.”
The odds of losing 19 straight cases are astronomical. To lose that many cases, you have to have a bad case, a bad lawyer, or both. And you have to be acting in bad faith. At some point, say after 10 losses, the DOJ lawyers know that their cases are meritless and should stop filing them.
In dismissing the case, Judge Lawless wrote that the DOJ had failed to show a legitimate purpose for the demand. The DOJ claimed it was trying to determine whether Illinois had complied with the National Voter Registration Act’s requirements for voter list maintenance. But Judge Lawless wrote:
Congress did not confer a general auditing power to the DOJ over state election officials.
When the next Democratic Attorney General is appointed by a Democratic president, the internal decision-making process at the DOJ can be reviewed. Who made the decision to file 19 meritless cases? Were those decisions made by a DOJ lawyer exercising good faith, or were they made to advance Trump’s partisan political interests?
We already know the answers to the questions, and we have a very good idea of who is making the decisions. The only question is whether the next Attorney General will have the courage to act quickly and forcefully to hold accountable those who decided to file 19 meritless lawsuits to help Trump suppress the vote in 2026.
Opportunity for Reader Engagement
Attend a screening of the Lightworkers documentary in Los Angeles on August 12.
If you live in the Los Angeles area, there will be a screening of the inspiring Lightworkers documentary on Wednesday, August 12 at 7 p.m.
Location: Westchester Municipal Community Room, D11 Office, 7166 West Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90045
The documentary will be introduced by me and Bobby Roth (the producer, director, and editor).
Here is the link to RSVP.
The event is free. There will be an opportunity to donate to the States Project. Donations are NOT required. The States Project has a $750k match until August 31, which means every donation given between now and August 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar or until the $750k is used up.
Concluding Thoughts
As I wrap up this newsletter on Friday evening, the world is on watch after Trump vowed to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure. To be clear, disabling Iran’s energy grid would threaten the lives of millions of civilians. That is why attacking civilian infrastructure is considered a war crime under international law. Indeed, even making threats to attack civilian infrastructure is a war crime. (The US does not recognize the International Court of Justice, the body that has jurisdiction over war crimes.)
We are fighting not only to save our democracy, but also to reestablish the rule of law and rehabilitate America’s standing in the world. Those are daunting tasks. But we have already taken the first steps in a process that may take generations to complete.
Rather than despair that we are too late or that we may never see the fruits of our labor, we should celebrate the fact that we have the courage and foresight to take action that will benefit future generations. After all, we are the beneficiaries of the efforts of those who came before us. We should repay our debt to them by following their example. And if we get really lucky, our children and grandchildren will notice what we are doing and follow our lead.
Talk to you tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / Noon Eastern.
Daily Dose of Perspective
Above, the Orion Nebula (M42, or NGC 1976), the fuzzy “middle star” in Orion’s Sword, and the nearest region of massive star formation to Earth. It lies roughly 1,270 light-years away — meaning the light captured in this image left the nebula around the year 760 CE, when Charlemagne was a boy and the Tang dynasty was in decline. The cloud spans about 24 light-years and holds some 2,000 solar masses of gas and dust, all of it lit from within by the Trapezium, a knot of hot young stars only a million or so years old.
Pro-democracy protest photos.
Please send photos to rbhubbell@gmail.
a few photos to spread awareness regarding Flock Cameras and ALPR devices in our overpass protest today 7/31. Located on the central coast of California in Arroyo Grande, CA.
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Vancouver, WA Banner Waving. Friday July 31, 2026 - Vancouver, WA - Banners Over I-5 Rally on the Evergreen bridge over I-5 Freeway. Wake up America! If you’re not outraged with what’s happening, you’re not paying attention! Vote them out!
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Face Down Facism, Berkeley CA 7/31/26
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Gorman Road Overpass here in Howard County (on I-95 between Baltimore and DC). Yes it was hot, but we still had over 30 folks participating in the two hours we were there. Our messaging - on both sides - was on Trump’s Mideast war of choice. Hoking responses were great!
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North Country Resilience volunteers displayed messages on the I-93 overpass in Franconia Notch in Franconia, NH on 7/31. There was a lot of positive response from northbound motorcyclists to RESIST + STAY STRONG. There were honks and waves for HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE from the folks in southbound vehicles, too.
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ndivisible Worcester MD and the Democratic Women’s Club of Worcester County Maryland demonstrating for the beach traffic on Friday afternoon in West Ocean City MD. We were joined by 3 young men from Belarus and 1 from China (here on J1 visas to work at the beach for the summer) who were pro-democracy, anti-MAGA.
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South Deerfield Massachusetts. Every Friday 3-4 PM …since it seems like FOREVER 😡
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Silent protest in Highlands, NC
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Weekly Sheffield MA protest
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Friday pics from Sonoma, CA posse 7/31
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Friday morning message from the Raleigh Bridge Brigade in Raleigh, NC
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Weekly morning protest (#68) on foot bridge over I-94, Minneapolis, MN
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Democracy Warrior every weekend in Teaneck, New Jersey
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A beautiful sky as backdrop in Rochester NY. Summer has reduced us to a skeleton crew…competing with many other outdoor ways to RESIST in our northern clime, to say nothing about hiking, biking the Erie Canal, picnics, grandkids, swimming in Lake Ontario, outdoor concerts in the parks… But commuter attendance below was as busy as ever so we will carry on! PS:…The drivers who flip-us-off are still there. We’re there for them too.
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Asheville, NC
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Hartford Visibility Brigade going strong for 15 months
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From Farmington Hills, MI. Letters made by Indivisible Huron Valley.
Robert: Every attorney (and non-attorney) who reads today's newsletter is cheering. You have given us great hope. It was quite a feat to see the through-line in these varied stories. And bless you for reminding us that "he" can't pardon or impact the decisions of state bar association decisions.
Thomas Paine: If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.