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Independent journalist Marcy Wheeler unwinds the true story of the attack on democracy that is bringing the United States to the brink of fascism.
39 Episodes
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Pam Bondi did two totally reckless things yesterday: re-ratify the indictment Lindsey Halligan obtained against Jim Comey, and immediately agree to investigate Democrats' involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/16/might-pam-bondis-latest-prosecutorial-abuse-give-us-ponies-and-puppies/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Just about every aspect of Trump's tariffs are falling apart. And he's trying to convince credulous people that, instead, he's delivering them a win. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjd_SkvN9c Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Marsha Blackburn and a bunch of other far right Republicans are whining that DOJ discovered they had ties to Donald Trump's criminal attempt to steal the 2020 election. Meanwhile, between ICE's kidnapping and hit-and-run and the Trump Administration's murder, torture, kidnapping, and bribery, we're seeing a crime wave from white nationalists. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
"America's Hitler" is not just ripping down the public entrance of the White House, he must be building a big new bunker to replace the old one. Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Stephen Miller is trying to use the ICE invasion of Chicago to create a pretext to invade with troops. So far, mobilization of the entire Chicago community has prevented that. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/16/how-city-of-chicago-beat-back-stephen-millers-shoddy-propaganda-so-far/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
The shutdown debate over healthcare has ignored one significant healthcare cost: What taxpayers are paying for the damage Kristi Noem's goons have done to people rounded up in their raids. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/05/400000-the-free-medical-care-kristi-noems-goons-made-taxpayers-pay/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Stephen Miller is trying hard to criminalize the Democratic Party. But the biggest crime scene in DC is the White House. Find out more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/06/the-crime-wave-is-coming-from-inside-the-white-house/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
The same journalists who normalized Trump's past politicized prosecutions are shocked that Trump did it again with Jim Comey. Read the post: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/26/mainstream-press-confesses-they-missed-the-other-politicized-prosecutions/ Watch: https://youtu.be/KBEgfIU8Oyg?si=j1tifL_zlEZqF9RY Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Given the looming shutdown, it's time for all the lefty pundits who demanded a shutdown to actually do something to win it. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/22/time-to-win-the-shutdown/ Support the government: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
The 2016 attack by Russia on the 2016 election helped US abandon rational discourse, created deep polarization, and continues to harm the US Deep State. Get the whole story: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzj-nJwdjvbfutHZdsNfOEou7UXvHm_SH Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
While much of the left is pushing for a shutdown later this month, almost none are talking about how a shutdown ties to any articulable strategy to fight fascism. Indeed, the hope it will be an "attentional" event simply outsources the agency of fixing the Democrats' attentional problems generally. Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/GH7kzWO2c1s?si=4QVJ4DX1Fvi2MU9H Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/09/the-education-of-ezra-klein/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom both gave press conferences showing that Trump's attempts to invade their states is about authoritarianism, not law enforcement. But Newsom's effort more successfully exposed Trump's authoritarian spectacle. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/02/a-tale-of-two-governors-confronting-versus-dick-wagging/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
In June, Republicans on the Supreme Court lifted a stay, giving DOGE access to all Americans' Social Security records. Then, DOGE gave Ed "Big Balls" Coristine -- a guy with ties to criminal hackers -- access to that. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/26/amid-hunt-for-crime-in-dc-whistleblower-implicates-ed-big-balls-coristine-and-john-roberts/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Tulsi Gabbard just stripped the security clearances of 37 intelligence officials, including one of the NSA's top math whizzes. Her excuse for doing so stems from conspiracy theories invented by a disgruntled whistleblower. Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbdY69KYf3U Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/21/quantum-leaps-the-so-called-whistleblower-that-got-nsas-top-mathematician-fired/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
We know why Vladimir Putin has leverage over Trump, and it's not the goddamned pee tape. Trump has survived for the last eight years--not just the Russian investigation, but his first impeachment, his second impeachment, January 6, stealing classified documents--by claiming every push for accountability was just a hoax by Hillary Clinton. Russia Russia Russia. But Putin has proof that Trump knows Hillary didn't frame him--instead, Russian spies framed her. And if he released that, it would destroy the very means by which Trump has avoided accountability for eight years.
Solicitor General John Sauer wrote a batshit letter to the appeals court reviewing Trump's tariffs. It's little more than Trump's Truth Social posts slapped on a page -- not even on DOJ letterhead! But here's why it might work with SCOTUS. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/13/trump-confesses-he-will-bankrupt-the-country-unless-scotus-lets-him-break-the-law/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
The ways in which John Durham sustained his prosecutions of Michael Sussmann and Igor Danchenko even after concluding that the theory of his case was actually Russian disinformation provide a good sense of how Pam Bondi plans to do it going forward. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/10/john-durhams-show-trials-a-preview-of-coming-attractions/ Support emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, and John Ratcliffe share a secret with Vladimir Putin's spies: There's an email redacted in the classified Durham appendix that makes it clear that Hillary Clinton didn't frame Trump, Russian spies framed Hillary. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/06/how-chuck-grassleys-politicized-redactions-gave-putin-leverage-over-trump/ Suport Marcy and emptywheel: https://www.emptywheel.net/about/support/
Back in 2021, John Durham discovered that both prongs of his investigation into Hillary Clinton -- that Hillary Clinton had a plan to smear Donald Trump, and that the FBI got notice of that -- were false. He also had to have known that Kash Patel and John Ratcliffe misrepresented what spooks have found. But he continued to investigate for another two years anyway, committing precisely the crime he set out to investigate. Read more: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/03/john-ratcliffe-and-kash-patel-and-durham-himself-committed-the-crime-john-durham-was-hunting/
Marcy Wheeler looks deeper into news that Trump's former defense attorney, now the deputy attorney general, will reach out to Ghislaine Maxwell. She lays out how Trump is orchestrating a cover-up scheme to protect himself from damaging Epstein revelations by getting Ghislaine Maxwell out of prison through a cooperation deal that will target his political opponents instead.
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