Events on Wednesday served as a bracing reminder of Trump’s corruption and John Roberts’ betrayal of the Constitution in fabricating presidential immunity from whole cloth. Congressional Republicans inadvertently produced a memo from special counsel Jack Smith that revealed Trump had refused to return a national defense document so sensitive that only six people in the US government had access to it. Worse, evidence obtained by Jack Smith suggested that Trump had taken the highly sensitive document after his first term to advance his business interests.
Representative Jamie Raskin wrote a letter to the DOJ that described Jack Smith’s memo as follows (U.S. House Judiciary Committee Democrats):
These new disclosures suggest that Donald Trump stole documents so sensitive that only six people in the entire U.S. government had access to them, that the documents President Trump stole pertained to his business interests, and that Susie Wiles, then the CEO of Donald Trump’s super PAC, witnessed President Trump showing off a classified map to passengers on his private plane. This glimpse into the trove of evidence behind the coverup reveals a President of the United States who may have sold out our national security to enrich himself.
Trump’s Praetorian Guard, Judge Aileen Cannon, has permanently prohibited the disclosure of Volume II of Jack Smith’s report—the volume that focuses on Trump’s unlawful refusal to return national defense documents. But for the inadvertent disclosure by House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, we would not have known about the evidence suggesting that our current president was attempting to commercialize highly sensitive defense information.
Such was the case that Jack Smith was pursuing against Donald Trump until John Roberts (aided by Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) concluded that the Constitution contained a secret passage granting the president criminal immunity for anything arguably related to the performance of presidential duties.
If Roberts et al. had not stopped the criminal prosecution of Trump, chances are good that he would have never been elected to a second term.
But it gets worse. On Wednesday, press reports revealed that the DOJ had paid former General Michael Flynn $1.2 million to settle his case against the government for selective prosecution arising out of the lies he admitted telling the FBI, in which he denied contacts with Russian officials before Trump was inaugurated. See HuffPo, Justice Department Settles Lawsuit From Trump Ally Michael Flynn For $1.2 Million, AP Source Says. Trump pardoned Flynn in 2020 and has now paid Flynn for a prosecution that Flynn admitted was based on facts that supported his guilt and warranted conviction.
To complete the trifecta of corruption on Wednesday, press reports highlighted a memo released in the DOJ production of Epstein files that alleges that a large volume of documents was shredded by the “after action” team charged with investigating Epstein’s alleged suicide. See The Daily Beast, Trump DOJ Shredded ‘Huge’ Pile of Jeffrey Epstein Prison Docs After Death in New York Jail.
Per the Daily Beast,
Less than a week after disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in a New York jail, the Justice Department under the first Trump administration shredded “huge amounts of paperwork.”
A Bureau of Prisons “After-Actions team” went through the jail and shredded the files, according to a report drafted by an FBI official whose name has been redacted. The document is part of the tranche of files released by the Department of Justice earlier this year. [¶]
The FBI memo reported a call from someone at the prison who believed the shredding of documents by investigators was unusual. The memo stated, in part,
Caller found it suspicious that an after-action team charged with investigating would be shredding huge amounts of paperwork with all of the officials from the AIG, FBI and BO[P] in the building in the middle of an investigation. Those giving instructions to [redacted] said, ‘Make sure you get that box too.
There is no innocent interpretation of “after-action” investigators shredding documents at the scene of the suspicious suicide of a sex trafficker involved with leading businessmen and politicians. The strong inference is that Trump’s DOJ started a cover-up immediately after Epstein’s suicide.
Trump has dragged the DOJ and the Supreme Court into a deep well of corruption. As we take to the streets and the ballot box in 2026, one of our goals must be to achieve governable margins of control in the House and the Senate. (Yes, the Senate.) Only then can Democrats begin oversight, investigations, and impeachment proceedings that will pave the long march toward truth and reconciliation.
Any of the three stories above should constitute a term-ending scandal of nation-changing dimensions. The only appropriate response is an uprising of the people to reclaim their government from a Court, a Congress, and a DOJ that have failed to protect the Constitution and defend the rule of law.
As noted in Concluding Thoughts, some of the mainstream media, including pro-democracy-anti-Trump press, minimize or demean No Kings protests as cute but harmless efforts by progressives that are incapable of reclaiming democracy. They are wrong. We, the people, are the only remaining institution with the power and agency to end Trump’s corruption and renew the the rule of law. Ignore us at your peril!
The continuing chaos of Trump’s illegal war on Iran
Trump’s public statements regarding peace negotiations consistently contradict statements by Iran. It is impossible to know which side, if either, is telling the truth. As one reader put it,
Events since last Friday have left me with a scary hypothesis: Trump is now creating and hearing voices; he is delusional and now falls in and out of his (highly problematic) worldview and alternative reality he has created. The latter world is somewhat shaped by the press that accompanies him. The leading and provocative questions essentially encourage his schizophrenia. He cannot help himself because he is a showman and addicted to the attention.
In Trump’s telling, peace negotiations are going great, but if Tehran does not accept his first, last, and only proposal, the US will “unleash hell” on Iran.
Even as Trump touts his great negotiating prowess, he is sending troops to the Middle East. Iran rightly anticipates that those troops will begin a land invasion. See The Guardian, Trump’s peace plan falls flat as he insists the war is almost over while increasing troop numbers.
For its part, Iran denies that it is negotiating with the US, although it is reviewing the 15-point peace proposal sent to Iran by intermediaries. See The Independent, Tehran says it is reviewing Trump’s peace proposal but has ‘no intention’ to talk to US.
Although Iran allowed five ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the strait is functionally closed, all carriers have suspended shipping, and all insurance providers have canceled war risk insurance. See Strait of Hormuz Live Tracker — Shipping Disruption Dashboard.
One of the many unintended consequences of Trump’s ill-advised war is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has effectively seized control of the government. See The Economist, The Revolutionary Guards are taking over Iran | They now appear to run both the state and the war. (Gift article, accessible to all.)
Another unintended consequence of the war is that it is stressing the MAGA coalition, especially younger Republican voters. See The New Republic, How Trump’s War on Iran Is Hastening the Coming MAGA Crack-Up.
Per TNR,
His attack on Iran is the most unpopular American war in modern history. The New York Times compared support for Trump’s war with initial support for nine other wars going back to World War II, and found that Trump’s adventure was at the very bottom.
The numbers are striking. This week’s Quinnipiac poll finds that only 40 percent of voters support the war on Iran, versus 53 percent who oppose it. I asked Quinnipiac for a demographic breakdown:
Among voters aged 18 to 34, only 21 percent support the war with Iran, versus 71 percent who oppose it.
Among nonwhite voters without a college degree, only 21 percent support the war, versus 69 percent who oppose it.
A survey by the Pew Research Center confirms the growing unpopularity of the war. See Americans Broadly Disapprove of U.S. Military Action in Iran | Pew Research Center
Weeks into the U.S. military campaign against Iran, majorities of Americans say striking that country was the wrong decision and disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict.
About six-in-ten Americans (61%) disapprove of Trump’s handling of the conflict, while 37% approve.
There are also wide age gaps among Republicans:
84% of Republicans 65 and older and 79% of those 50 to 64 approve of how Trump is handling the conflict.
Smaller shares of younger Republicans – 49% of those 18 to 29 and 60% of those 30 to 49 – say the same.
It is a rarity for wars to become more popular as they drag on; to the contrary, they become lsetld As noted above, Trump’s war on Iran is already the least popular of the last nine US “wars” surveyed by the NYTimes.
As we protest on No Kings Day 3.0, we will undoubtedly encounter opposing viewpoints from passersby and counterprotesters. But we should be confident that most Americans oppose the war and support our resistance. One goal, among many, is to convince Americans that it is both acceptable and urgent to raise our voices in opposition. Trump is buckling under public pressure. Let’s ratchet it up as much as possible on Saturday!
Concluding Thoughts
As we join one of the largest political protests in American history, it is important that each of us acts as a chronicler, recording and spreading the word about the reality of what happens in the streets. It should surprise no one to learn that many major outlets underreport crowd size, number of protests, and geographic spread of protests. Don’t let the media off the hook. Send them photos, write letters to the editor, fill your social media pages with photos. Maximize surface area; make it easy for journalists, websites, and newspapers to meet their content quotas by providing them with compelling images.
A few suggestions to maximize the impact of your photos: Photos of large crowds assembled in public squares are a media favorite. If you photograph smaller groups, show group members protesting rather than posing for a group shot. If you photograph a protest sign because it is powerful, poignant, or funny, show the sign in action as a protest message rather than as a prop in a staged photo with a smiling protester. In short, focus on protests as a civic action rather than as a photo opportunity.
There isn’t anything wrong with group shots or staged pictures; indeed, they help build community and can serve as recruiting tools in newsletters and social media posts! But if we want to tell a story that will capture the attention of the media, we must provide them with photos that show action and determination as citizen-soldiers defending democracy.
Everyone who attends a No Kings Day protest in person or virtually is meeting the moment during a fraught time for our democracy. You should be proud of yourselves. Let’s communicate our passion and commitment to others by telling our story through photos that show the power of our movement.
See you in the streets on Saturday!
Daily Dose of Perspective
The Medusa Nebula is a large “planetary” nebula formed from the outer layers of a dying sun-like star that were expelled into space roughly 1,500 years ago, leaving behind a dense white dwarf at its core. At some point in the distant future, our sun will experience the same process. Hopefully, by the time our sun sheds its outer core, we will have migrated from Earth to a distant planet!
Pro-democracy protest photos
“I am so grateful for your newsletter, which I read almost every day. Iwas inspired by the homemade sign photo, so I made my own just now and put it in my front yard.”
Indivisible San Jose (CA) Great energy on the Overpass today - we are ready for No Kings 3!
Results from the Leyden, MA Resisters poster making party in preparation for Saturday’s No Kings! Tomorrow evening we get together to practice protest songs!
Indivisible Northampton folks at Brush Hill Ave (iver I-91) in W. Springfield, MA, on 3/25/2026
Pictures from the Albany Visibility Brigade 3/25/26
Today marks one year since our weekly protest on this bridge began with Engaged Defenders for Democracy. American Tobacco Trail Pedestrian bridge over I-40, Durham NC
Visibility Rochester NY
Gearing up for No Kings! May the force be with you an yours…
Here’s a photo of our last weekly Jamaica Plain (Boston)Visibility Brigade stand out before No Kings III. We (and many, many more) will be there, ready to help point the way towards the end of this insanity.
Charlotte, NC. This group has been on the street every week since July 23, 2025! And we intend to keep it going until the day after election day 2028!
South Street Bridge in Philadelphia, PA
oday’s message from the Raleigh Bridge Brigade in Raleigh, NC
Eagle River, Alaska.
Getting ready for No Kings in Newton, MA
I’ve been chalking messages for no kings around our little town of Louisville.
We are members of Portland District 2 Neighbors Indivisible Group here in Portland, OR. We sponsor a number of protests each week: Tuesday morning’s ICE Out of Portland protest, Thursday & Friday’s I-5 overpass protests, and Friday & Sunday’s Honk & Wave protests. The Sunday Honk & Wave is about to celebrate its one year anniversary.
Pittsfield MA. Photo by John Sharaf
Bethlehem NY Indivisible weekly protest, Delmar NY. Still cold, but the blue sky and sunshine help fuel our Resistance!
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