Above the law?

The New Republic:

Our descent into authoritarian rule continues. Over the weekend, Elon Musk raged on Twitter that people at CBS News deserve a “long prison sentence” based on a fabricated rationale. 

Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted out a line saying straight out that his presidency is above the law. 

And Trump nominated a nominee for U.S. attorney in D.C. who has elevated the idea that DOJ should have no independence from the president. 

According to scholars of authoritarianism, these are the things that happen when a country is sliding into authoritarian rule....

The Torture Memos and Donald Trump

John Yoo

Balls and Strikes:

....These tenacious defenses of the president’s right to invade foreign countries and states’ rights to ignore international law drew the attention of scouts at the highest levels of conservative legal thought. 

In 2001, President George W. Bush promoted him to deputy attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, where Yoo would pull off his masterpieces: the Torture Memos, which justified some of the worst atrocities America committed during the War on Terror.

In his memos, all of Yoo’s pontifications about the wishy-washy nature of international law paid off. He answered a series of questions from the CIA and Defense Department with veteran confidence: Al Qaeda? Not a “state,” and thus not covered by the Geneva Conventions. The Taliban? Not a real “government,” and thus not covered, either. Anyone we detain? 

If they’re not wearing army uniforms, they might as well be al Qaeda. And what can we do to them? Since the Geneva Conventions don’t apply to “enemy combatants,” we can do whatever we want. 

These memos and their principles were used to justify years of extraordinary renditions, waterboarding, and assassinations. Torture went from a rumor about CIA blacksites to official U.S. government policy, all thanks to John Yoo and the other merry men at the Office of Legal Counsel....

Trump thinks torture "absolutely works"

Yoo and Fox News

"Disinformation Space": Trump sucks up to Putin, smears Zelensky

Summit for bullies

Fact-checking Trump claims about war in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump has appeared to accuse Ukraine of being responsible for the war with Russia, in a flurry of claims from his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida.

Speaking to reporters, Trump also made claims about President Volodymyr Zelensky's popularity and observed that Ukraine had yet to hold scheduled elections due to martial law. He later doubled down on those comments in a fiery Truth Social post on Wednesday.

Trump's accusations - some of which appeared to mirror common Russian talking points about the war - came just hours after US officials met a Russian delegation in Riyadh to open talks to end the conflict, which has raged for almost three years.

Zelensky later accused Trump of "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia....

Does Putin own Trump?

Oliver Stone: "Years of bullshit" on JFK murder

See also The assassination of JFK: Case not closed