All My Mornings Are Mondays—
Stuck in an endless February, even though it's only day two
Taylor Swift might have been thinking about romantic heartbreak when she wrote "All my mornings are Mondays / Stuck in an endless February" in her 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department, but it felt dead on the money today, with an explosive news cycle. The constant onslaught of major news stories dropping all day Monday was extra—even for life during Trump. It’s only the second day of February, but already, there’s a sense it will be eventful and require our attention.
We are still in a partial government shutdown. Although there was a deal Friday in the Senate—it would keep DHS afloat for two weeks while Democrats negotiate with the White House—the House didn’t pass the compromise before funding lapsed over the weekend. They could vote as early as Tuesday morning. That means that the Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA and TSA, is in shutdown, as is approximately $838.7 billion in military spending and funding for the Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and State.
The impasse is centered on DHS and, more specifically, ICE and CBP. Representative Ro Khanna said he’s a “firm no” on reopening the government and questions how Democrats “in good conscience” can vote to continue ICE funding. It remains to be seen just how many others share his view.
There was new reporting today, clarifying DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s role in the Georgia search warrant that was executed last week. The New York Times reported that “Mr. Trump personally ordered Ms. Gabbard to go to Atlanta for the search.” The DNI’s job is intelligence, not domestic law enforcement and Gabbard’s insertion into a federal criminal matter is virtually certain to be in violation of the law. Gabbard also placed a call to Trump that he returned, spending about a minute talking with FBI agents. It’s an incredible violation of the line that separates the White House from criminal prosecutions, and especially disturbing here because of Trump’s self-interest in ginning up a prosecution that could be used for political purposes. Gabbard subsequently denied that Trump spoke with the agents.
The question, as it is so frequently with this administration, is whether anyone with authority to do so will pursue the administration’s failure to abide by the law.
There was also a report this morning that a mysterious whistleblower complaint was filed eight months ago, accusing Gabbard of some unidentified misconduct. The complaint has been kept from Congress, on the excuse that it’s “extremely classified” and may involve “executive privilege.” Gabbard denied the allegations and said she was trying to figure out how the complaint could be shared with members of Congress.
Then there are the corruption allegations involving Trump and investment from foreign governments. The Emoluments Clause seems to be so dead that no one even mentions it anymore. The headline read, “Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company.” The story involves a $500 million investment that was made in a Trump company—after long withheld permission to let the United Arab Emirates purchase American AI chips was granted.
As for the president, he’s still fixated on how he secures a win for his party in the midterm elections, as they lag badly in the polls. He has a new plan that he floated on Dan Bongino’s podcast. Bongino, until recently, was the number two official at the FBI. Trump’s plan is to “nationalize” voting in the hands of the Republican Party. As we discussed, that’s really what the Fulton County, Georgia, search warrant is all about, so this comes as no surprise, although Trump’s inability to avoid saying the quiet part outloud continues to contribute to his problems. Trump said Republicans should “take over” voting procedures in 15 states he didn’t name, but presumably, they all lean Democratic.
Trump continues to use fake claims of voter fraud to justify his unconstitutional proposals for voting. Data doesn’t support Trump’s claims of widespread voting by non-citizens in federal elections. For instance, a 2024 audit in Georgia showed that only 20 of the 8.2 million people registered to vote were ineligible non-citizens, only nine of whom had actually voted. That’s a problem for those individuals who may merit prosecution, but nine votes don’t impact a federal election. However, the president needs a boogeyman to shine up his proposal to take over the election vote counts in November and this is the one he has seized upon.
We discussed the myth of non-citizen voting back in September of 2024, when Trump raised it in advance of the presidential election. At the time, he knit together two ideas with tremendous appeal to his base, although both are demonstrably false:
Our elections are compromised by enormous amounts of fraud
Democrats are ushering undocumented immigrants across the southern border and registering them to vote
A Brennan Center study of 42 jurisdictions during the 2016 election determined that out of 23.5 million votes that were cast, there were only about 30 cases of potential noncitizen voting. So even at the origin story of Trump’s obsession with non-citizen voting, there was absolutely no evidence to support it.
In other words, it’s a very Trumpian solution in search of a problem. That’s the origin of the SAVE Act and other Trump proposals to require people to prove their citizenship, using expensive-to-obtain documents like passports, in order to register to vote. The new incarnation, apparently, is a Republican takeover of elections to prevent Democrats from winning. Because we know non-citizen voting isn’t determining the outcome of any election, given the number revealed by actual studies, not presidential ramblings, about the issue.
Common sense helps us understand why this isn’t much of a problem: it doesn’t make sense for an individual or group of noncitizens to intentionally violate the law and register, risking prison and deportation, knowing that their vote won’t influence the outcome of anything, let alone the presidential election. It defies belief to think that people who have endured a difficult journey to get to this country would violate the law, with no expectation of gain at all, as soon as they get here. Like so many of Trump’s lies, as soon as you take a minute to think about it, it just doesn’t hold water.
Trump wants to disenfranchise legitimate voters, but it’s also about creating a narrative that the outcome of this election can’t be trusted—of course, only if Trump’s party loses. And it’s also, with the “surge” of ICE and its lawless arrests of American citizens and others legally in the country who have “the wrong” skin color, a way of keeping people away from the polls.
Nothing keeps people home on election day like making them fear arrest or deportation if they vote, even when they’re eligible to. Donald Trump is so afraid of losing that he has no qualms about interfering with the sacred right of Americans to vote.
From denials of fundamental rights to petty and vindictive: Trump announced he’s closing the Kennedy Center for renovations. Lawyers will go to court to try and stop it. But for now, Trump is some kind of malign surgeon, operating on the nation’s perfectly healthy architectural and cultural treasures and removing essential limbs like the East Wing of the White House or shuttering the Kennedy Center.
There were more revelations today about the horrific conditions inside of ICE facilities and DHS’ attempts to purchase warehouses and turn them into what can only be described as concentration camps. Maryland Representative April McClain visited one facility and had this report:
There are so many horrible stories that it’s impossible to share them all. But one that a friend shared this morning speaks volumes. Diana Crespo, who is 7, made it through the Darién Gap, the dangerous jungle where many perish, with her family. They waited, according to the law, in Mexico for legal guidance on entering. They were permitted to enter about a year ago. Fast forward to mid-January when Diana developed a serious nosebleed that lasted overnight. Her parents took her to emergency care in the morning, but they were arrested, despite legal permission to be in the country, and are currently being held in the same facility where Liam Ramos was held until this weekend, with the mother and daughter separated from her father.
That’s their reward for doing everything legally.
Journalist Garrett Graff wrote, “America cannot survive as a free society if ICE and CBP continue to operate as they have over the last year — let alone as both agencies are turbocharged and empowered with even more funding, more officers, more guns, and more arrests.”
Judge Jia Cobb in Baltimore entered an order today, firmly telling Kristi Noem she can’t keep members of Congress out of ICE facilities, which they are entitled, by law, to inspect. Noem tried to get around the law by playing loose and fast with the funding streams being used to block Congressional visits, but the Judge wasn’t buying it and she issued a temporary restraining order that prohibits enforcement of a January 8 memo Noem issued that purports to require members of Congress to provide seven days of notice before they can engage in oversight visits to immigration detention facilities.
Then there are new developments with the Epstein Files. Like the fact that Donald Trump is mentioned 5,300 times in them, although it should be noted that some of the most salacious claims appear to be unverified tips. But discussion of Trump’s role seems to have been obscured by DOJ’s haphazard release, which included nude photos of women and perhaps of girls, with faces unblurred so they could be easily identified.
The Justice Department seems to be more focused on protecting perpetrators than victims, even though the need to have time to make redactions was their excuse for failing to comply with the deadlines Congress set in the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The victims are undoubtedly asking why they came forward and exposed themselves to great risk, only to have nothing happen. It’s Congress’ job now to reassure us that victims can come forward and powerful men can be held accountable.
One of the men whose name comes up, although there is no evidence he was involved in criminal activity, is Brad Karp, the head of the Paul Weiss law firm. He was responsible for the firm’s decision to accept Trump’s demands when he issued an executive order against them. Karp’s position is emblematic of others who have been named—there are now questions that only he can answer.
Congress is already insisting on hearing testimony from one of those men, former President Bill Clinton. Ahead of the scheduled House Rules Committee meeting today to consider finding Clinton in contempt of Congress, he agreed to testify, as did Secretary Clinton, who does not appear in the files.
Clinton knew Epstein; there are photos of the two together, and Clinton traveled on his plane, although he has said it was only for Foundation work. He denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and says he ended the connection after his initial prosecution. One suspects that if there was evidence in the files that contradicted those claims, it would have been among the first to see the light of day, but regardless, it’s fair for Congress to pursue its inquiry and obtain the former President’s testimony. If he was part of Epstein’s crimes, he should be held accountable. Requiring Secretary Clinton to testify, when there is no evidence connecting her to Epstein, is surprising—perhaps the rule is that the wife of any man named in the files should be questioned as well.
If so, that certainly takes us back to Donald Trump, who is mentioned far more times in the files than Clinton, and whose current wife is pictured with both Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. While some news reports suggested the Clintons “caved” to Congress’ demands, it seems more likely they have set a precedent that will require people with far stronger linkage to Epstein—and their wives—to testify. If they don’t, the Republican-led investigation in Congress will face claims that it’s trying to hide the truth. The public needs to remain vigilant if it’s going to ensure the survivors get the justice they deserve, in the form of truth, public exposure, and accountability.
It was a long Monday, reminding us again that it’s hard to stay on top of everything that matters. If you appreciate the ability to read Civil Discourse and stay informed; to understand the legal and political context of current events and connect the dots, I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription. That’s what makes it possible for me to write the newsletter. Thank you for being here with me.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
