The Warning Signs
In 2016, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC and, later, a criminal complaint with the Justice Department, following reports that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was soliciting foreign contributions, a clear violation of campaign finance laws.
Our complaints, investigative news reports, and the clarity of the law didn’t deter Trump and his campaign. They continued to solicit foreign contributions.
This was America’s early warning of Trump’s disdain for the rule of law.
(The FEC and Justice Department ultimately didn’t pursue our complaints, a common failure by them to enforce campaign finance laws.)
Just six weeks into his second term now, Trump apparently has set his sights much higher. Trump’s statements and actions indicate we may well have a wannabe dictator on our hands.
On Monday, Trump joined with Russia, North Korea, and Belarus to vote against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia for its war against Ukraine. The resolution was voted against by our putative adversaries and supported by our closest allies – allies that Trump has increasingly been turning away from.
Trump is moving quickly to do what dictators do – consolidate power for himself.
Dictators intimidate and stifle the press.
Trump regularly harasses and threatens the media and has sued media outlets for coverage he doesn’t like. He has blocked reporters and outlets from White House events and taken control of the White House press pool.
Dictators install loyalists to lead the military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies.
Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, Trump’s new FBI Director and Deputy Director, are perhaps the most unqualified and unsuited individuals ever to serve in their positions. They have strongly attacked the FBI for years and are expected to do with the agency whatever Trump wants.
Trump’s appointment of Ed Martin as interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia, who has now been nominated to hold the post permanently, is also unqualified and unsuited for the position. He quickly started to abuse his office by publicly threatening Trump critics and by opening a criminal investigation of Democratic Members of Congress who have criticized Trump.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, perhaps the most unqualified and unsuited person ever to hold the job, moved quickly on Trump’s behalf to fire the Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. The actions appeared tailor-made to make an issue of their race and gender. He’s also fired top legal staff, a move that shows, one former lawyer to the Joint Chiefs said, “they want somebody that’s going to do their bidding.”
Dictators foment unease and fear.
This is where Elon Musk comes in. Musk, Trump’s new partner in governing the country, is carrying out a robotic and chaotic ransacking of our government and raising basic questions about whether he and his DOGE organization are acting illegally. A number of lawsuits challenging their actions are pending.
Musk and DOGE are creating nationwide unease and fear, for Americans concerned about federal programs and services they rely on and care about, and for civil servants whose jobs and work are being impacted.
(Musk also just happens to be targeting agencies that have oversight of his business empire which has been built on $38 billion in government funds over the years.)
Dictators shut down opportunities for oversight.
Trump and Musk are shutting down or curbing agencies and individuals responsible for investigating and preventing government corruption, fraud, and integrity abuses – eliminating accountability for abuses by the Trump Administration.
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Obviously, this is no time to turn away and wait for the Trump era to end in four years. (When Trump muses he might seek a third term, he’s not kidding.)
And this is no time to treat Trump’s incessant false statements, his bullying and threats, and his disdain for laws as simply “Trump being Trump.”
After a slow start, the Resistance is forming.
Activists are making their voices heard. Democratic state Attorneys General are joining together to sue the Trump Administration for perceived illegal actions. Federal Judges are ruling to block or pause actions by Trump and Musk. Democrats are beginning to push back.
But an open question remains. Will at least some Republican Members of Congress – those who know better and recognize the warning signs – overcome their fear of the President and start standing up for the country, as Trump takes more and more dangerous steps toward dictatorship?
There is no standing still today. Expect the Resistance to grow in the days and months ahead.
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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
