Thursday, August 14

Just after President Donald Trump announced the deployment of soldiers to the nation’s capital this week, a trial convened in San Francisco over California’s claim that Trump’s use of the military in Los Angeles earlier this year violated federal laws. In this week’s newsletter, I breakdown what you need to know.

Jacob Knutson, reporter

Trump expands military campaign against Americans Trump deployed armed troops to yet another major metropolitan area, saying this week he would use the D.C. National Guard to “liberate” the nation’s capital.  In announcing the new deployment, the president said his military campaign against Americans would not stop with D.C.: “This will go further,” Trump said, explicitly saying New York, Baltimore, Chicago and Oakland could be next. While Trump claimed that the military is needed to curb out-of-control crime and homelessness, it’s more likely that Trump is attempting to normalize the use of soldiers in routine domestic law enforcement — a practice associated with authoritarian states.

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Trump’s use of troops in LA on trial The same day Trump deployed soldiers to D.C., a trial began on the other side of the country over California’s claim that the president’s use of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the armed forces from enforcing civilian laws under normal circumstances. The trial revealed close coordination between the military and law enforcement agencies. Soldiers attended FBI briefings on upcoming arrests, set up traffic blockades and barriers for law enforcement operations and detained citizens on at least two occasions. Through the trial, which wrapped Wednesday, California is seeking a court order restricting Trump’s use of the military in civil law enforcement.

DOJ ratchets up James and Schiff probes The Department of Justice (DOJ) ramped up its investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of Trump’s foremost adversaries, by subpoenaing her office over its civil lawsuits against Trump and the National Rifle Association (NRA). The DOJ is apparently investigating if James’ office violated constitutional or legal rights through its suits against Trump and the NRA. However, the DOJ’s probe related to the Trump lawsuit appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to get the half-billion-dollar penalty against the Trump Organization overturned. In another clear example of weaponization, Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly assigned Ed Martin, who heads the DOJ’s vague weaponization taskforce, to probe dubious mortgage fraud allegations against James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), another prominent opponent of Trump’s.

Democracy Docket is tracking the 65 most important Trump accountability lawsuits fighting the administration’s power grabs. Become a member to find out which ones have succeeded so far.

Dive deeper: The acting U.S. attorneys driving the DOJ’s partisan turn   Trump is rapidly turning the DOJ into his personal law firm. Part of the effort entails installing loyalists in acting posts at the top of U.S. attorneys' offices who then use their positions to go after the president’s political opponents.    Though the appointments are meant to be temporary, Trump and the DOJ are exploiting loopholes and making extraordinary claims of presidential power to circumvent the appointment processes laid out by the Constitution and federal statutes. Alina Habba: A former personal attorney of Trump’s, Habba as interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey has opened investigations into New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and state Attorney General Matt Platkin and brought charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. LaMonica McIver (N.J.) — all Democrats. John Sarcone: As interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, former Trump campaign lawyer Sarcone has publicly disparaged New York AG James and is investigating James’ office. Sigal Chattah: A former member of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Chatta has also shown partisan bias while in her role as temporary U.S. attorney in Nevada. She spoke at an RNC event after being sworn in and publicly alleged without evidence that Nevada’s U.S. senators, both Democrats, committed corruption.

To do list Groups have organized over 50 "Fight the Trump Takeover" events across dozens of states for this Saturday to protest the GOP’s attempt to rig the 2026 election in their favor through mid-decade redistricting.

Odds and ends SCOTUS asked to bless racial profiling: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to void a lower-court ruling barring Department of Homeland Security officials from arresting people in Los Angeles based solely on their appearance, the language they speak or their occupation. Trump directs personal attorney to revise U.S. history: As part of his ongoing assault on facts and truth, Trump tapped Lindsey Halligan, one of his personal attorneys, to root out history he disagrees with within eight of the Smithsonian Institution’s museums. Trump’s pick for BLS suggests suspending jobs reports: E.J. Antoni, a Heritage Foundation economist who Trump selected to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, recently called for suspending the agency’s monthly jobs report.

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Quote of the week   Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) offered a plain-language warning on Trump’s use of the military that deserves to be highlighted.    “This president is trampling on the basic freedoms of the American people to a degree I don’t think we’ve ever seen. … It's pretty clear the president wants his own domestic police force, and step by step he's trying to create it. … It's a huge step toward an autocratic government."