Luke Brussel Profile picture
Law Chair, Westchester NY Democratic Party; Prof Law Fordham Anti-Corruption, @PennLaw alum, Exec Editor Penn Constitutional Law Jrnl; Vice-Chair BoD @ACSLaw NY
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Aug 22, 2018 10 tweets 2 min read
Corruption Indictment of GOP Rep. Hunter and wife for personal enrichment w campaign funds and fraudulent records to hide it: The latest in a long and growing string of corruption prosecutions of the Trump GOP. Analysis... 1/ 👉 2/ The growing number of Corruption charges and investigations of GOP officials should not be viewed as isolated cases. It is an “emergent phenomenon”, a series of connected emerging events within the Trump Republican Party. Corruption is generally identified as 1 of 3 types 👉
Aug 21, 2018 5 tweets 2 min read
Why do journalists keep taking Trump at his word and Report his version of reality as fact, even though he is known (and widely reported by journalists) to consistently lie? 👉 1/ mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/id… 2/ In this Reuters “Exclusive”, it is reported as fact that Trump “worries” an interview w Mueller would be a “perjury trap”, with no evidence provided to back the assertion. Perhaps Trump in fact knows that either a) he would lie or b) tell the truth and incriminate himself. 👉
Jul 28, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
If Cohen’s Claim that Trump Knew of Russia Meeting is True: Is Trump Guilty of a Crime? Answer: Maybe 👉 (thread) amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/07/26… 2/ The likely crime, if there is one, would be Conspiracy Against the US or Conspiracy to Defraud the US: Crimes which Mueller has already brought against Russian Intel, Manafort and other Trump associates. 👉
Jul 25, 2018 5 tweets 2 min read
Judge Rules Against Trump Motion to Dismiss in Emoluments Lawsuit by Maryland and DC - Ultimate outcome to turn on construction of Constitution. But, remember under the clause, Congress can approve any + all emoluments, thus... 👉 washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politi… 2/ the emoluments Lawsuit, even if successful may have no tangible effect on Trump profiting from the Presidency - and there would be no accountability for corruption, the clause and lawsuit merely address a conflict of interest. 👉
Jul 18, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
How the press inadvertently legitimates Trump (NYTimes edition): the Times reporting on indicted Russian Spy Maria Butina states that her “passion” for Trump and gun rights... was “a ruse” w no evidence presented that she did not in fact support Trump 👉 nytimes.com/2018/07/17/us/… 2/ By depicting Butin’s support for Trump and the NRA (of which she is a lifetime member), as a “ruse”, the Times depicts Trump and the NRA as unwitting dupes in a Russian Intel operation. But this, taken as fact, is unsupported in the article. If Trump/NRA ... 👉
Jul 17, 2018 9 tweets 2 min read
Trump’s backpedaling on his Helsinki remarks tells us two important things about Trump’s position: Trump’s political power has limits even within the GOP, and his political power is greater than his governmental power at present 👉 1/ Thread 2/ Trump’s political position, 90% approval among GOP voters, many or most of whom adopt his positions as their own whether or not they previously held the positions and w great personal loyalty to Trump, is strong. He has an intuitive understanding of them and political power.👉
Jul 17, 2018 8 tweets 2 min read
Trump has made undeniably clear this week that as President he is: 1) opposed to and in conflict w liberal democracies; 2) aligned ideologically and politically w Putin, Erdogan + illiberal and autocratic regimes.The Press, Congress, etc can longer call it mere rhetoric 👉 Thread 2/ Trump stated unequivocally that he sees the EU as a foe; trusts Putin over US intel services; seeks an alliance w Russia (at least in key global matters); and holds democratic leaders in contempt (Merkel, etc). His agenda is illiberal and breaks w all modern US precedent 👉
Jul 15, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
This Axios Report tells us a lot about how the legitimate press (not FoxNews Trumpists) fails in its reporting on Trump and winds up spreading his propaganda instead. Let’s Break it Down: I)The report accepts Trump’s underlying premise with no evidence to support it. 1/👉 Thread 2/ The central “fact” of the report is that “Trump no longer doubts ... that Russia interfered in the 2016 election”. This takes as fact/posits that Trump Did actually disbelieve that Russia interfered. There is no evidence provided to support that, and it is widely disputed...