Wertheimer Political Report, October 16, 2025
If he talks like an autocrat and acts like an autocrat, he’s an autocrat.
A common characteristic of autocrats is prosecuting their political opponents. Russia under Vladimir Putin, China under Xi Jinping, Hungary under Viktor Orbán all have track records of pursuing the prosecution of opponents.
Trump fits right in.
Donald Trump made clear during the 2024 presidential campaign that if elected he would conduct a revenge and retaliation campaign against his perceived opponents.
On this, at least, he’s been as good as his word. Trump has moved in 2025 to do just that, grossly abusing his presidential powers and acting more irresponsibly than any empowered top person in our country since King George III.
He even publicly (by mistake, reportedly) instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi Justice Department to indict and prosecute three opponents.
And just yesterday, he met in public with the three top law enforcement officials and named three people who he wanted prosecuted: former Special Counsel Jack Smith, Former FBI Counsel Andrew Weissmann and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco (although Trump didn’t even know her last name).
It was also reported yesterday that “sweeping changes” at the Internal Revenue Service are being prepared in order to make it easier “to pursue criminal inquires of left-leaning groups.” Trump earlier had said, citing no basis, that George Soros and his son Alex Soros should be prosecuted under the RICO Act and that George Soros should be in jail.
For fifty years, after the Watergate scandals, it had been an ironclad understanding that when it came to indictments and prosecutions the Justice Department operated independently from the President and White House.
Trump has shattered that understanding.
In what may be the most irresponsible demand ever made by a President to an Attorney General, Trump all but commanded AG Bondi on Truth Social to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Senator Adam Schiff – instructing Bondi that “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”
The indictments of Comey and James followed quickly.
And now indictments may be coming soon against Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton and against Senator Schiff.
Trump, a convicted felon, does seem to like certain kinds of criminals – those who support him. For example, he pardoned the many convicted criminals who, on January 6, 2021, attacked the Capitol and helped his failed attempt to steal the presidency.
Trump also likes sex trafficker and sexual abuser, Ghislaine Maxwell. She claimed to the Deputy Attorney General that she had not seen any misconduct by Trump in his dealings with her partner in sex crimes, Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell then got special treatment from the Justice Department in being moved to a “Club Fed” prison camp after she had received a 20-year-sentence in 2022.
Our Founders foresaw the possibility of an autocrat, dictator or another king coming. They took steps to prevent it by creating three branches of government that had their own separate powers. Their extraordinary wisdom created a system that held together for 237 years. What they could not foresee, however, was that centuries later the protections embodied in our Constitutional system of three independent branches would fail because two of the branches bowed down to the executive branch.
We now have a narcissistic, self-serving, autocratic President, a Congress controlled by his party that lives in fear of the President and follows his commands like lemmings and a Supreme Court majority that has been bending the knee to the wishes of the president on almost all occasions.
Yet we persevere. Our democracy is being courageously defended by lower federal court judges, some of whom have taken on the Supreme Court majority, and ultimately by concerned citizens. Their voices will be heard loud and clear all over the country during the No Kings rallies being conducted on Saturday, October 18.
No Kings Day will be one of the largest coordinated protests in American history, with more than 2,500 rallies across all 50 states and in cities abroad. Their central message is simple and deeply American: “We have no kings. The power belongs to us.”
Regardless of what Congress and the Roberts majority do, the American people are stronger and will never give up and never give in. They have never tolerated leaders who believed themselves to be above and beyond the law. Indeed, that’s what birthed our nation to begin with (in what actor Robert DeNiro called “the original No Kings protest”).
Despite their vigilance, the Founders knew that autocracy would be a constant and existential threat. When our oldest Founder, Ben Franklin, was asked following the Constitutional Convention, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin famously replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
That is now the job of every concerned American – to keep our republic, our democracy, and our Constitution.
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D21 NEWS
Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Quote
“President Trump is providing up to a $40 billion bailout to Argentina, because he likes the Argentina President. At the same time American farmers have lost a major portion of their soybean market to Argentina, who is instead purchasing from China, and Trump is moving to fire American workers during the government shutdown.”
This is President Gerald Ford redux:
Trump to American Farmers and American Workers: Drop Dead
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TRUMPWATCH 2.0
In America, we don’t do kings.
NO KINGS IS BACK
https://indivisible.org/
On October 18, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people. Find an event near you.
There will be 2500+ events, including events in every state, Washington DC and the territories.
Stephen Colbert noted: “There are only three good kings in America: Gayle, Stephen, and Burger.”
See also the following for a list of the protests state by state: https://www.newsweek.com/map-list-no-kings-protests-october-18-10877439
The Supreme Court Is Poised to Rule That It’s Racist to Remedy Racism
“Is it racist to remedy racism? That’s the question at the heart of Callais v. Louisiana, which the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday. The case asks whether the Voting Rights Act gives Black Louisianans too much political power—and if so, whether the landmark law violates the Constitution” – Slate
The Supreme Court Case That Could Hand the House to Republicans
“Democrats would be in danger of losing around a dozen majority-minority districts across the South if the court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act.” – New York Times
Trump Team Plans IRS Overhaul to Enable Pursuit of Left-Leaning Groups
“The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily, according to people familiar with the matter.” – Wall Street Journal
The “Presumption of Regularity” in Trump Administration Litigation
According to a Just Security update of its earlier study, federal court concerns with Trump administration actions included the following:
- Courts’ concerns over noncompliance with judicial orders (over 15 cases)
- Courts’ distrust of government information and representations (over 35 cases)
- Courts’ findings of “arbitrary and capricious” administrative action (over 50 cases)
Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders
“Dozens of sitting judges shared with The Times their concerns about risks to the courts’ legitimacy as the Supreme Court releases opaque orders about Trump administration.” – New York Times
Jack Smith speaks out against the Trump administration in rare interview
“The former special counsel warned of threats to public servants and the independence of the judiciary in an interview at University College London Faculty of Laws.” – NBC News
Trump Names More Foes He Wants Prosecuted as Bondi and Patel Look On
“…President Trump tossed out, offhandedly, three names of people he wanted prosecuted: Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two criminal indictments against him; Andrew Weissmann, a former F.B.I. official who was a lead prosecutor for the team investigating the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia in the 2016 election; and Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.” – New York Times
Judge Temporarily Blocks Move to Fire Federal Employees During Shutdown
“Judge Susan Illston issued the temporary restraining order in a ruling from the bench on Wednesday, stopping the government from cutting federal workers at multiple agencies.” – Wall Street Journal
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
” Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.” – Politico
Vance downplays group chat messages: ‘Kids do stupid things, especially young boys.’
“Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday downplayed bigoted messages in Young Republicans’ group chats, suggesting they were nothing more than “edgy, offensive jokes.” – Politico
Lockdowns and a Mysterious Meeting: A Quiet Texas Prison Adapts to Life With Ghislaine Maxwell
“Unexpected arrival of Epstein associate upset camp’s routines; some inmates say she got favorable treatment” – Wall Street Journal
Border czar Tom Homan denies he took $50K from undercover agents
“Border czar Tom Homan rejected reports that he took a $50,000 bribe from federal agents, his most forceful denial yet of his alleged involvement in an FBI corruption investigation.” – Politico
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MEANWHILE, ON CAPITOL HILL
Mike Johnson’s nightmare: Kevin Kiley is unhappy with the speaker and has nothing to lose. The California Republican has emerged as an outspoken and fearless critic at a crucial moment for the speaker
–Politico
Maine Gov. Janet Mills enters Senate race after sparring with Trump administration –ABC News
Marjorie Taylor Greene, tearing into her own party, says GOP men in Congress are ‘weak’. “There’s a lot of weak Republican men and they’re more afraid of strong Republican women,” Greene said
–Washington Post
Congresswoman-in-limbo Adelita Grijalva on the dilemma she faces – Washington Post
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VOTER SUPPRESSION, MONEY, & OTHER ELECTION THREATS
Massie posts best fundraising quarter ever as Trump challenge looms – Politico
GOP fears mount in California redistricting fight
– Punchbowl
- Illinois. We reported in Tuesday’s PM edition that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is making an aggressive late push to get Illinois lawmakers to pass a new congressional map during the next few weeks.
- California. Democrats are feeling exceptionally optimistic about Proposition 50, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to pause the state’s redistricting.
- North Carolina. Tar Heel State Republicans announced Monday they’d redraw their map this fall. The goal is to nix one Democratic seat.
- Indiana GOP Gov. Mike Braun is inclined to call a special session to advance a new map in the coming weeks, according to sources familiar with his thinking.
- Maryland. Maryland’s House delegation is currently seven Democrats to one Republican — House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris. A number of Harris’ Democratic colleagues want to make a map that’s eight to zero.
- Utah. Republicans have launched a last-ditch effort to stop a court-ordered redraw from taking effect in 2026. A new map could net Democrats one seat, maybe even two. But Republicans can potentially thwart the map if they can collect tens of thousands of signatures by mid-November.
- If they reach the signature threshold, the map passed by Utah’s legislature will be placed on the ballot and won’t take effect this cycle.
Moulton launches Senate primary challenge to Markey in Massachusetts – Roll Call
