When Donald Trump tried to stage a coup: Was June 1 the turning point?

During his three and a half years in office, President Trump has succeeded in damaging every institution of politics and government, from the Department of Justice to the federal courts to the Foreign Service and the State Department to the intelligence community, public health agencies and beyond. But until fairly recently he had more or less left the U.S. military alone.

There were been some skirmishes with his first defense secretary, James Mattis — but in the end, Mattis resigned over a policy dispute, an event well within regular executive branch norms. But then, after being lobbied by a Fox News commentator, Trump intervened in the military justice system and pardoned three accused war criminals late last year, causing the secretary of the Navy to resign in protest. It turned out Trump had no more respect for the military than anything else.

Nonetheless, the military brass did as they were trained to do, which is to respect the chain of command. But Trump’s latest manic episode with respect to the Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has tested that relationship in some very troubling ways. Continue reading.

Trump downplays concerns of Pentagon’s top general about church photo, calls it a ‘beautiful picture’

Washington Post logoPresident Trump in an interview broadcast Friday defended his photo opportunity at a church near the White House as “a beautiful picture” and downplayed concerns of the Pentagon’s top general that it created the perception of military involvement in domestic politics.

“I think it was a beautiful picture,” Trump told Fox News. “I’ll tell you, I think Christians think it was a beautiful picture.”

Trump’s comments came in a wide-ranging interview taped Thursday in Dallas, where Trump held a roundtable discussion on race relations and policing. Portions of the interview were aired by the cable station Thursday night, while other portions aired Friday. Continue reading.

Gen. Milley’s apology shows respect for the principles Trump tramples on

Washington Post logoTEN DAYS after walking in combat fatigues through Lafayette Square with President Trump, just after the park was cleared of peaceful protesters, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, has apologized for getting involved in domestic politics. The general is on target. He should never have been there, and it is to his great credit to admit the mistake. It may encourage others always to respect the Constitution, even when a president is beckoning to cross the line.

On June 1, people protesting the killing of George Floyd in police custody were pushed back with the use of chemical irritants, and Mr. Trump walked to a photo opportunity to hold up a Bible at St. John’s Episcopal Church, trailed by Gen. Milley, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Attorney General William P. Barr, among others. Earlier, Mr. Esper had joined the president in a conference call with governors and promised federal support against violence. Mr. Esper told the governors, “I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal. We need to dominate the battlespace.”

Both Mr. Esper and Gen. Milley showed miserable judgment. The military’s purpose is to fight foreign adversaries, the United States is not a “battlespace,” and walking along with Mr. Trump in a park where peaceful demonstrators had been repulsed sent a terrible signal. Last week, both the secretary and the chairman, having come under blistering criticism, issued letters to the troops reaffirming their commitment to the oath all have taken to uphold the Constitution and its values of free speech and assembly. Continue reading.

‘Gross abuse of prosecutorial power’: Court-appointed lawyer rebukes Barr’s handling of Flynn case

AlterNet logoA retired federal judge appointed to argue against the Department of Justice’s move to drop criminal charges against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has recommended that the court proceed with sentencing.

He called the department’s request to drop the case “a gross abuse of prosecutorial power” in an attempt to “provide special treatment” to a “political ally of the president of the United States.”

“The Department of Justice has a solemn responsibility to prosecute this case — like every other case — without fear or favor, and to quote the department’s motto, solely ‘on behalf of justice,’” former federal judge John Gleeson wrote in a brief filed Wednesday. Continue reading.

Aggressive Tactics by National Guard, Ordered to Appease Trump, Wounded the Military, Too

New York Times logoSome members of the D.C. Guard — comprising more than 60 percent people of color — have not told family they were part of the crackdown. Guard leadership, concerned about public opposition, even warned against buying food from vendors.

WASHINGTON — A white National Guard commander called the standoff in Lafayette Square “the Alamo,” implying that the White House was under siege. Black members of the D.C. Guard objected to turning on their neighbors. Army leaders told pilots to “flood the box with everything we have” as two helicopters buzzed protestersin the streets.

The National Guard is now engaged in an investigation of the havoc a week ago Monday in downtown Washington, similar to after-the-fact examinations more common to battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. There will be questions, interviews and competing narratives.

But on one point everyone is agreed: The first days of June, a calamitous period for the Trump presidency, have been a debacle for the National Guard. Continue reading.

Trump campaign demands CNN apologize for poll that shows Biden leading

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s campaign is demanding CNN retract and apologize for a recent poll that showed him well behind presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The demand, coming in the form of a cease and desist letter to CNN President Jeff Zucker that contained numerous incorrect and misleading claims, was immediately rejected by the network.

“We stand by our poll,” said Matt Dornic, a CNN spokesman. Continue reading.

‘What I saw was just absolutely wrong’: National Guardsmen struggle with their role in controlling protests

POLITICO spoke to 10 National Guardsmen who have taken part in the protest response across the country since the killing of George Floyd while in police custody.

Pvt. Si’Kenya Lynch, a member of the D.C. National Guard, was on duty at Lafayette Square near the White House last Monday when U.S. Park Police cleared the area of protesters ahead of President Donald Trump’s now-infamous photo op.

Lynch said she supports the protests, and that her brother was among the demonstrators on the other side of the line, adding that “he coughed a lot” due to the tear gas fired into the crowd.

“I was happy to see him out there … to walk for me when I couldn’t,” she said, adding that if she hadn’t been activated as a citizen-soldier, she would have been among the protesters “to support the people, and I wanted to support what was right.” Continue reading.

75-year-old man shoved by Buffalo police responds to Trump tweet: ‘Black Lives Matter’

The Hill logoMartin Gugino, the 75-year-old man police shoved to the ground during a recent protest in Buffalo, N.Y., on Tuesday said “Black Lives Matter” when pressed for comment after President Trump promoted a baseless conspiracy theory about him on Twitter.

In a tweet citing right-wing One America News Network on Monday morning, Trump wrote, “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment.”

“I watched, he fell harder than was pushed,” he added. “Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” Continue reading.

Former Harvard psychiatrist Lance Dodes on Trump’s ‘paranoid rage’: The president wants to ‘turn America into a police state’

AlterNet logoThe protests sparked by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day continue. This people’s uprising against police brutality and social injustice have spread far beyond Minnesota Minneapolis to all 50 states and around the world.

Donald Trump is a destroyer, not a healer. Given his tendencies toward authoritarianism, even fascism, Trump is only capable of sowing more division in a nation convulsing in pain and anger over the murder of George Floyd, the resulting explosion of police violence and what that reveals about our extreme levels of social inequality and broader culture of cruelty.

Enraged by the protesters in Washington, Donald Trump has now retreated into the White House, literally surrounding it with National Guard troops law enforcement agents (some with no badges or insignias), and an improvised wall of fences and barriers. Continue reading.

Salman Rushdie: I’ve seen dictators rise and fall. Beware, America.

Washington Post logoIn my life, I have seen several dictators rise and fall. Today, I’m remembering those earlier incarnations of this unlovely breed.

In India in 1975, Indira Gandhi, found guilty of electoral malpractice, declared a state of emergency that granted her despotic powers. The “emergency,” as it became known, ended only when she called an election, believing she would win, and was annihilated at the polls. Her arrogance was her downfall. This cautionary tale formed a part of my novel “Midnight’s Children.”

In Pakistan in 1977, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq staged a coup against Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and executed him in 1979. This dark story was the inspiration for my novel “Shame.” The circumstances of my life have given me some understanding of the dictatorial cast of mind. Continue reading.