This Week in Democracy – Week 45: Trump Gets Away With Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election – Again
Another week of Zeteo's project to document the ongoing growth of authoritarianism in Trump's second term.
Welcome to ‘This Week in Democracy – Week 45’ – an abbreviated week, due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. But don’t worry, we’ll continue to track all the undemocratic actions Donald Trump and his allies take over the next couple of days and include them in next week’s edition.
Until then, we’ve still got a long list of things Trump and his cronies did that undermine democratic values and the Constitution and harm free societies around the world.
From the Trump administration launching investigations into lawmakers the president baselessly accused of sedition to the DOJ suffering a humiliating blow to Trump’s effort to punish his political opponents to a judge dismissing the criminal case against Trump over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, here’s ‘This Week in Democracy – Week 45’:
Saturday, November 22
The Washington Post reported that Costa Rica’s security minister said Friday that the country is still willing to accept Kilmar Abrego García on humanitarian grounds and grant him legal residency if he is deported from the US, despite the Trump administration’s lawyers arguing in recent court filings that the Central American country wouldn’t accept him and that the only country that would is Liberia.
On Twitter, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the 28-point peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which would force Kyiv to make major concessions, was “authored” by the US after a Republican senator claimed that Rubio distanced himself from the plan during a phone call with lawmakers earlier that day and said the proposal came from Russia.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the peace plan was the result of a meeting between Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and a Russian envoy who is a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and was sanctioned by the US in 2022.
Reuters also reported that the Trump administration is set to launch a new phase of operations related to Venezuela in a mounting pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.
On Truth Social, Trump continued to target six Democratic lawmakers who recently published a video telling members of the military to refuse illegal orders, accusing them of sedition “AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” and saying they “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW.”
A federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration can’t expand a border-specific rapid deportations policy to immigrants the government believed had been living anywhere in the US for less than two years, agreeing with a lower-court judge who found that the move would violate the due process rights of immigrants.
Sunday, November 23
On Truth Social, Trump once again called for the release of Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who was convicted of several charges after using someone’s security badge to allow an associate of Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to access county election equipment following the 2020 presidential election. Trump claimed that she is in prison “FOR ATTEMPTING TO EXPOSE VOTER FRAUD.”
He also shared a post that said the Democrats he has accused of sedition are “traitorous sons of bitches” who should be “impeached and prosecuted.”
In a court filing, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argued that the Washington Post’s reporting about Costa Rica being willing to accept their client makes “crystal clear that the government is willing to mislead the courts and defy court orders intended to shed light on its conduct.” They added that it’s further evidence that the Trump administration’s prosecution of him is vindictive.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her office would evaluate whether to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of roughly 700 Somalis living in the US. Last week, Trump vowed on Truth Social to end the designation for Somalis in Minnesota.
Monday, November 24
A federal judge dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after ruling that the prosecutor who brought charges against them, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed as the interim US Attorney of Eastern Virginia. Later, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters that the Justice Department “will be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal” to hold James and Comey “accountable for their unlawful conduct.”
The executive director of the disastrous US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced it will close after it suspended its operations following the so-called ceasefire agreement. The UN reported that more than 800 Palestinians were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites.
The Pentagon launched an investigation into Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) for “serious allegations of misconduct” in response to the viral video that Trump has ridiculously called seditious. On Twitter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the video, which urged military members to refuse illegal orders, “despicable, reckless and false.” In response, Kelly tweeted that “If this is meant to intimidate me…it won’t work,” adding, “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”
The Trump administration announced it would terminate the Temporary Protected Status of nearly 4,000 immigrants from Myanmar, making them deportable in 60 days to a country currently involved in a bloody civil war and ruled by a brutal military dictatorship.
ProPublica reported that ICE has sent more than 600 immigrant children to federal shelters so far this year, which is more than the past four years combined. Roughly 150 of the children were placed in federal shelters, and often separated from their families, after a traffic stop. The length of stays in the shelter system has also increased from one month under the Biden administration to six months under the Trump administration.
CBS News reported that fewer than one-third of the people arrested by Border Patrol during “Operation Charlotte’s Web” in Charlotte, North Carolina, were classified as criminals, and it’s unclear whether their records include convictions.
A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to expedite the processing of Freedom of Information Act requests by nonprofit organization Democracy Forward related to the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein Files, except for the search terms “whistleblower” and “flight logs,” which the judge concluded were “overbroad.”
The Justice Department again asked a federal court to publish sealed grand jury materials from investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, arguing that the recently passed legislation requiring the DOJ to release the Epstein files “override some of the underlying bases for grand jury secrecy.”
The Trump administration ordered a review of all refugees who entered the US during the Biden administration. The move, which will apply to roughly 233,000 people, could result in the termination of their refugee status if they are now determined to have not met refugee criteria. Additionally, the order suspended all processing of applications for permanent residence for those refugees.
Tuesday, November 25
The FBI’s counterterrorism division launched an investigation into the six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in the viral video calling on members of the military to refuse illegal orders, with four House members saying in a statement that the FBI contacted the House and Senate sergeant at arms to set up interviews with them. They noted that Trump is “using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress” and added that they “will not be bullied.”
MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) reported that Trump is considering firing FBI Director Kash Patel in the coming months due to the negative press he has received, including his girlfriend’s security detail and use of a government jet, and his feuds with other Trump administration officials. Sources said Trump may replace Patel with co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey, who had no previous FBI experience before Trump named him to his senior position. Trump can only install Bailey as acting director after he serves in his current position for 90 days, leaving him eligible to succeed Patel after Dec. 15. Later, Trump told reporters he’s not firing Patel, and added, “He’s doing a great job.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) filed a civil lawsuit against Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, claiming he abused his position by “scouring databases and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac” for private mortgage records of Trump’s Democratic opponents, including Swalwell. The lawsuit, which asks the court to direct Pulte to withdraw his criminal referral to the Justice Department, adds that Pulte’s targeting of Swalwell was “a gross abuse of power that violated the law.”
The Washington Post reported that FEMA and Illinois officials pulled dozens of its employees from surveying neighborhoods in Chicago that were damaged by floods because immigration agents were conducting crackdown operations nearby.
Twenty states and Washington, DC, sued the Trump administration to block its policy changes for the funding of a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program meant to provide permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. The changes would significantly cut the funding and put new conditions on the program, including giving HUD the authority to eliminate funding for organizations that acknowledge the existence of trans and nonbinary people.
Trump adviser Steve Witkoff was accused of “favoring Russia” after Bloomberg reported the transcript of a leaked October call that revealed he coached Putin’s top foreign policy aide on how to approach Trump regarding talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Asked about the call, Trump told reporters he heard it was a “standard negotiation,” and added, “He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s going to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what a dealmaker does.”
On Twitter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared a memo directing the Navy secretary to review Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) for “potentially unlawful conduct” in relation to the viral video where he and five other Democratic lawmakers urged military members to resist illegal orders. The memo requested that the Navy review be completed and briefed to Hegseth by Dec. 10.
Multiple news outlets reported that the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s 11-year-old nephew was arrested by ICE agents earlier this month and is in custody at an immigration detention facility in Louisiana. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the woman had a “previous arrest for battery” (though no battery charges were found in Massachusetts’s online court records) and has been in the US since her tourist visa expired in 1999. A Trump administration official said Leavitt “had no involvement whatsoever in this matter.”
In a court filing, Justice Department lawyers disclosed for the first time that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was the one who directed the deportations of 100 Venezuelan men to El Salvador’s mega-prison in March, despite Judge James Boasberg’s court order for them to remain in US custody.
A class of immigrants detained in a holding facility in Manhattan filed a motion to sanction the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and hold its secretary, Kristi Noem, in civil contempt for failing to improve conditions there, noting that “certain conditions appeared to worsen” after a judge’s August order. The motion noted that Noem and DHS “appear never to have implemented many of the required procedures, particularly those regarding attorney access, hygiene, and the provision of the Notice of Rights to all detained individuals.”
A federal judge blocked a DHS policy implemented in July that eliminated bond hearings for immigrants who entered the US without inspection while they go through deportation proceedings, a move that could allow the release of thousands of migrants.
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration has committed more than $10 billion in taxpayer funds to buy shares of private companies deemed essential to national security, including US Steel and Intel, raising concerns of corruption and market distortion. Additionally, Trump personally purchased up to $5 million worth of Intel’s corporate debt shortly after the government took a 10% stake in the company.
A federal judge ruled that immigration officers in Colorado can no longer arrest people without a warrant unless they have cause to believe the individual is in the country illegally and is likely to flee before an arrest warrant is obtained. As part of the ruling, the immigration officers must also document their reasons for arresting someone.
Inside Medicine reported that the CDC quietly named Dr. Ralph Abraham, Louisiana’s surgeon general, as the agency’s principal deputy director. Abraham has called COVID-19 vaccines “dangerous,” backed the drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as alternatives to the COVID-19 vaccine, and ended the state health department’s mass vaccination campaigns.
Wednesday, November 26
A Georgia prosecutor dropped the racketeering case against Trump and his allies for their efforts to conspire to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The prosecutor wrote: “Given the complexity of the legal issues at hand – ranging from constitutional questions and the Supremacy Clause to immunity, jurisdiction, venue, speedy-trial concerns, and access to federal records – and even assuming each of these issues were resolved in the State’s favor, bringing this case before a jury in 2029, 2030, or even 2031 would be nothing short of a remarkable feat.”
On Truth Social, Trump lashed out at the New York Times over its reporting on his growing fatigue, fewer public appearances, and shorter workdays. Trump called the article a “hit piece,” and the outlet a “RAG” that is “truly an ‘ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.’” He also attacked reporter Katie Rogers, who co-wrote the piece, calling her “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
A federal appeals court affirmed a nearly $1 million penalty against Trump and lawyer Alina Habba, finding their lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey was “sanctionable conduct,” and that many of their legal arguments “were indeed frivolous.” The court also rejected an effort by Trump to revive a 2022 lawsuit that targeted his political enemies, including Clinton and Comey, which alleged a racketeering conspiracy to tie Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with Russia.
A coalition of 21 states and DC sued the Trump administration to block a recent guidance that they argue prohibits some legal immigrants, including people who came to the US as refugees and asylum seekers, from being eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Two members of the National Guard were shot near the White House. On Truth Social, Trump, who was not in DC at the time, called the alleged shooter an “animal” who will “pay a very steep price,” and added they were also “severely wounded.” At least one person was in custody. Hegseth later announced that he will ask the Army secretary to deploy an additional 500 National Guard troops to DC.
The Justice Department asked a judge to lift a protective order in order to publicly release evidence and material obtained while investigating Epstein and Maxwell, including search warrants, financial records, flight logs, arrest reports, depositions from civil investigations, and materials from Epstein’s estate.
Trump announced that the US will not invite South Africa to the G20 summit in Florida next year, following the US’s own boycott of the summit in Johannesburg this past month. Trump’s announcement also came after this year’s summit in South Africa ended with a joint declaration covering climate change and economic inequality.
The New York Times reported that the White House is finalizing a deal with Northwestern University that would see the school pay a $75 million fine in exchange for the Trump administration restoring hundreds of millions in federal funds and closing a federal investigation into the university.
The Times also reported that immigration lawyers have seen a surge in the arrests of foreign spouses of US citizens during interviews at US Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, with agents telling them they overstayed their tourist or business visas, making them removable from the country.
Did you miss previous weeks? Catch up here.
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Thank you, Mehdi. This information is despicable, but I'm deeply grateful to you and your team for collecting it. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and may the Orange Turkey NEVER get pardoned. DA
If Republicans were to file criminal charges against Joe Biden, their brief would read very much like this week in our threatened democracy with only the names changed.