Trump transgressions occupied my
week: the illegal war on Iran and the unlawful demolition of the Kennedy
Center. I coauthored a bipartisan Contrarian exposé of the former and filed for
emergency relief to stop the latter. And though the devastation of the Iran war
cannot be compared with the destruction of the Kennedy Center, I was struck by
what we can learn from — and do about — each.
On Iran, there is much to say,
as I explained in my Contrarian essay with Republican luminaries who
formerly served in senior roles in all three branches of the federal
government. The war is grossly illegal. But there is, alas, little to be done
in my preferred venue for action, the courts. They have erected strict barriers
to suing in this area. (My colleagues and I did come up with one idea I am
trying to develop into a case; stay tuned for that in future weeks.)
Different as they are, these
topics do share touchpoints. Above all, both exhibit profound contempt for the
rule of law. In the case of Iran, the Constitution gives Congress the power to
take this kind of action, pure and simple. There is no excuse for failing to
get congressional authorization, and no president has ever tried something of
this scope and scale without doing so.
Of course, it is true that
presidents of both parties have committed offenses against the text of the
Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, but assembling those lesser
transgressions into a single justification will not fly.
And then there’s the matter of
the UN Charter, which the U.S. Senate ratified in 1945. That means it has been and
continues to be the “law of the land.” The president is required to follow it.
Instead, the Trump administration has grossly violated it, including by openly
calling for regime change, carrying out the assassination of a foreign
leader, and launching a war of aggression in the absence of an imminent threat.
There’s much more that I, along
with Judge J. Michael Luttig (Article III), former Sen. John Danforth (Article
I), expert ethics attorney Richard Painter (Article II), and others outline in
our essay, which I hope you will read.
Though hardly comparable, we
cannot ignore the illegalities occurring here at home, like what has happened
with the Kennedy Center. Even renaming it (the subject of our pending case) was
a flagrant violation of a clear dictate of Congress — and shutting it down for demolition and remodeling, as
Trump proposes to do despite Congress ordering it be a “living memorial” to the
slain president, would be, too.
And that’s not to mention the
devastating impact on the other statutorily mandated purposes of the Kennedy
Center. That includes serving as an arts hub for the nation. According to the law, the Kennedy Center Board must
“present classical and contemporary music, opera, drama, dance, and other
performing arts from the United States and other countries” and serve as a
leader in “arts education and policy,” among other functions.
The risk of losing the Kennedy
Center as we know it is too great to ignore. It may never recover, particularly
if Trump largely demolishes it. That is precisely why, with your support, we
have amended our complaint and are challenging this
blatantly illegal effort in court with full force, alongside our outstanding
co-counsel. We are hopeful that the court will intervene to halt this repeated
sidestepping of Congress and to protect a storied institution that belongs to
the American public, not Donald Trump.
No, it’s not the same as
stopping an illegal war. That was up to Congress — and the president’s party again failed us this week. But it is an
important initiative to maintain the rule of law, protect Congress’s role under
Article I, and keep the fight moving forward where we can. We’ve done that in
265 cases and matters to date — and we are going to keep going (including with
that litigation idea we’re developing related to the Iran war). That is thanks
to your paid subscriptions, and so of course is all of our scintillating
Contrarian coverage. See for yourself in this week’s roundup put together by my
wonderful colleagues.
An Illegal War
Trump Brings America Closer to a Quagmire in Iran
Brian Katulis diagnosed Trump’s
second-term foreign policy as “strikes without strategy” and wrote on what
America must now do to avoid another forever war. “If you don’t know where
you’re going, any road will take you there, and it will likely lead you astray.”
Operation Epic Fury and the Law
Brian Finucane took us inside
the illegality of Trump’s operation in Iran — and what it will take to hold him
to account under the Constitution, the War Powers Resolution, and international
law. “There is no silver bullet solution to the problem of a president
bypassing Congress to enact force unilaterally.”
Trump’s Avoidable, Deadly, Costly War with Iran
On the podcast this week, Sen.
Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) asked: Where is the intelligence or
evidence that an attack from Iran was imminent? They’ve seen none. See also:
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) condemning what he calls “ a War of Choice,” and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) on “funding an Unconstitutional War.”
-Norman Eisen
Selling Out / Cashing In
An Illegal, Unjustified War Underscores Danger of Media
Consolidation
Jen Rubin wrote on how, on
the advent of Trump’s deadly operation in Iran, the stakes of the journalism
crisis grow even higher. “Major news events — including complex wars —
highlight the danger in allowing a few MAGA billionaires to control our news.”
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