This Week in Democracy – Week 60: Hegseth’s Insane Press Conference, and Trump Pushes Voter Suppression Bill
Zeteo's weekly round-up, documenting the growth of authoritarianism in Trump's second term.
Welcome to ‘This Week in Democracy – Week 60.’ We wish we could tell you things were looking better than last week, but alas… Donald Trump and his cronies are still at it: bombing the hell out of Iran, lying to the American public, and destroying democracy.
From pushing a voter suppression bill in Congress to banning press photographers over “unflattering” photos, here’s just a taste of what Trump and his allies did this week that hurt free societies around the world, harm US democracy, and undermine the Constitution:
Saturday, March 7 – DOJ Pressures Federal Prosecutors
An investigation by the Wall Street Journal painted a frightening picture of the Trump administration’s targeting of US citizens as part of its mass immigration crackdown.
Federal prosecutors in cities where large immigration operations are taking place say they’ve faced pressure from top Justice Department officials to pursue charges against citizens for allegedly assaulting federal officers, pulling them away from cases related to public corruption, as well as drug and gun-related crimes. None of the 181 citizens accused of assault by government officials on Twitter have been convicted at trial.
Sunday, March 8 – Trump Pushes for Voter Suppression
On Truth Social, Trump continued his push to get the Republican-controlled Congress to pass the Save America Act, which could disenfranchise tens of millions of voters.
He warned that he won’t sign any other bills until it passes, and supported using a “talking filibuster” to get the bill through the Senate – a move that’s drawn skepticism from Republican senators.
Monday, March 9 – Another Pointless 2020 Election Probe
The Trump administration expanded its pointless investigation of the 2020 presidential election, with the Republican leader of Arizona’s state Senate confirming he turned over records to the FBI related to an audit of Maricopa County – which concluded that Trump lost the state – as part of a “federal grand jury subpoena.”
Later, The Atlantic reported that the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative branch of ICE is conducting its own investigation into Arizona’s 2020 election results.
Tuesday, March 10 – Ed Martin Faces Disciplinary Proceedings
Multiple news outlets reported that the DC Bar filed an ethics complaint against DOJ Pardon Attorney Ed Martin over threats he made to the Georgetown University Law Center in February 2025, when he was Trump’s interim US attorney for DC.
According to the complaint, Martin “used coercion to punish or suppress… the teaching and promotion of DEI” by warning the dean that his office wouldn’t hire anyone associated with the school if it didn’t change its apparent policies.
Wednesday, March 11 – Hegseth Bans Photographers Over ‘Unflattering’ Photos
The Washington Post reported that the Defense Department banned press photographers from attending briefings on the war in Iran after photos were published of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that his staff considered “unflattering.”
In a statement, the Pentagon’s press secretary suggested that if the move “hurts the business model for certain news outlets,” they should apply for the highly restrictive Pentagon press credential.
Thursday, March 12 – More Efforts to Suppress the Vote
CBS News reported that the Trump administration is considering cutting federal funding for a civil rights election program authorized under the Voting Rights Act to protect the right to vote and prevent discrimination at the polls.
Friday, March 13 – ’This Is What Authoritarianism Looks Like’
Attacking CNN for its Iran reporting, Hegseth said, “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.” He was referring to the Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO, whose company is on track to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN.
As Mehdi put it:
Did you miss previous weeks of ‘This Week in Democracy’? Catch up here. And check out more of Zeteo’s reporting from this week below:
The blather of Pete ("Hogwash") Hegseth was the fool playing "Call of Duty" in Iran, while giving a delusional impression of Fox ("Faux") News' propaganda (drivel) to the true "Fake News" Press Corps in attendance.
To be craven, stupid and loud is the maga trifecta. What does Whiskey Pete add? Massive insecurity and weakness like you wouldn't believe.
We're getting a rude awakening. Turning the country over to bad guys means no more nice things for us. Who knew?