Fred’s Weekly Note Archive

A Watergate Lesson

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the “Saturday Night Massacre” – the firing of Special Watergate Prosecutor Archibald Cox in October 1973 that set off a firestorm and created a constitutional crisis. The Watergate scandals led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, the first and only resignation of a President, and spurred a series of historic […]

The House In Chaos

In 1994, Republicans, led by Rep. Newt Gingrich, won control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Republicans have had five Speakers in the nearly three decades since. Four of the five left their positions prematurely. The Tea Party movement and the House Freedom Caucus became major factors in an ongoing disruption that has […]

Democracy In Dysfunction – “What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been”

When it comes to dysfunction in our democracy, we are off the charts these days – from the House’s faux Biden impeachment inquiry, to the looming government shutdown, to the latest barrage of dangerous verbal attacks from former President Trump, to the gold bar influence-buying scandal engulfing Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ). The House Oversight Committee opened an […]

The Fight To Protect The Sacred Right To Vote Continues

This week, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a vital measure to protect the sacred right to vote. Every one of Sewell’s House Democratic colleagues joined as cosponsors. Former President Donald Trump unleashed a slew of new state voter suppression laws with his Big Lie that the 2020 presidential […]

Jim Jordan Is No Stranger To Impeachment

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has been pushing hard for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and this week he got his wish. On Tuesday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy directed House committees to open a Biden impeachment inquiry. McCarthy’s unilateral announcement may not have any legal validity. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump’s Justice Department issued a formal Opinion that remains […]

Our Democracy Is Under Attack

In December 2022, former President Donald Trump called for the Constitution to be terminated so that he could be restored to the presidency he lost in 2020. Our democracy held the line against his unprecedented coup attempt in 2020, but Trump’s attacks continue. Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the presidency has opened the door to […]

Is Bipartisanship Dead?

As the country faces a potential government shutdown at the end of September, Senators appear to be working in a bipartisan way to avoid the shutdown and fund the government for this fiscal year. But, in the House, it’s a completely different story. Bipartisanship is dead. It wasn’t always like this. For decades, in working […]

The Democracy Legal Strike Force

Last year, Democracy 21 Education Fund established the Democracy Legal Strike Force as a project of the organization to help hold accountable those who attacked our democracy in the 2020 presidential election, combat the still-thriving election deniers’ movement, and work to protect the integrity of our elections in 2024 and beyond. Since its launch, the […]

The House GOP’s “Impeach Biden” Scam

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note  |  August 10, 2023 Ever since they took control of the House in January, MAGA Republicans have been hunting President Joe Biden. House Republicans – led by beleaguered House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and key members of the extremist “Freedom Caucus” – are expected to move forward with an impeachment proceeding against […]

Meet “Co-Conspirator #4”

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note  |  August 3, 2023 Jeffrey Clark is presumed to be “Co-Conspirator 4” in the indictment of former President Donald Trump filed this week. Clark will go down as a footnote in history, but had Trump’s scheme to overturn the election succeeded, he might have changed history. In 2020, Clark was serving […]