Current Events > Trump Seems to Have Turned Against the Federalist Society

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/17/trump-judicial-issues/?utm_source=reddit.com

Donald Trumps once-transactional relationship with the conservative legal establishment has splintered in recent years, and his frustration toward the court system has grown potentially heralding more volatility in how he would navigate judicial issues in a second term.

Now the dominant front-runner for his partys presidential nomination, Trump has broken with many of the leaders and allies of the Federalist Society, a powerful conservative legal organization that boosted his campaign eight years ago and helped him stock the federal bench with their preferred picks. It is unclear how he would seek to fill judicial vacancies and make other related decisions should he win a second term, and he has not offered such a potential list of potential judicial nominees as he did eight years ago.

Trump has complained publicly and privately that his first-term Justice Department leaders were too weak, that his Supreme Court picks have tried to come across as too independent and that the court system has broadly been biased against him, as he faces 91 felony charges. Trump told donors in meetings in late 2023 that one of his only mistakes as president was that he did not pick the right people to lead the Justice Department, according to people who attended, and he regularly discusses plans for the department in a second term. In some ways, the handshake agreement he once held with the traditional conservative legal movement has evaporated.

They were intellectually qualified for the most part to become judges, said former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who has since become a Trump critic, speaking of Trumps first-term appointees. I dont think theres a chance that will be the case in a second term.

Trump now rails against the Federalist Society privately, according to advisers. He no longer speaks to many lawyers who were once instrumental, including former Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo, former White House counsel and Federalist Society board member Donald McGahn, or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the triumvirate who propelled much of his judicial record in the first term.

People close to all three men, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to be more candid, said they have concerns about Trump winning again but are loath to fight him publicly. Similarly, many in the conservative legal movement who have backed away from Trump are reluctant to speak out against him, and some have even expressed openness about working in a second Trump administration, sparking a larger debate in the movement about whether to do so, interviews show.

In a 2022 interview with The Washington Post, McConnell recalled that Trumps first candidacy had worried many conservatives at the time but that his Supreme Court list and picks had calmed their nerves and that his bargain with Trump had moved the country right of center.

That bargain has frayed in key ways since Trump left office.

Trump and Leo, a prominent conservative lawyer influential in his first term, have not spoken since 2020, according to people familiar with the matter. Their relationship ended over a heated fight in 2020 at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump accused Leo of picking Rod J. Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general, a person familiar with the matter said. Trumps anger around Rosenstein centered on his decision to appoint special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to oversee the Justice Departments probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. A person close to Leo said he did not recommend Rosenstein for the job.

Let them eat each other then.

That's fascism for ya.

Republicans are such cowards. Much was made about democrats having no spine, yet the last 2 decades has shown us just how cowardly the republican party is.

He plans to steal the election and install a bunch of trump/putin loyalists. He isnt really trying to hide it either

It doesn't seem like a wise idea to bite the hand that feeds here. But then again, Trump has the patience of a toddler.

solosnake posted...

He plans to steal the election and install a bunch of trump/putin loyalists. He isnt really trying to hide it either

He already tried this once and failed miserably.

Unless he outright wins the election it wont happen.

Trump is the anchor around their necks.

Ol' Ladybugs is looking more and more prophetic by the day.

electricbugs2 posted...

He already tried this once and failed miserably.

Unless he outright wins the election it wont happen.

Hitler failed the first time he tried to seize power too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch#:~:text=The%20Beer%20Hall%20Putsch%2C%20also,1923%2C%20during%20the%20Weimar%20Republic.

solosnake posted...

Hitler failed the first time he tried to seize power too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch#:~:text=The%20Beer%20Hall%20Putsch%2C%20also,1923%2C%20during%20the%20Weimar%20Republic.

Respectfully, you need to stop with the doom posting. Literally every post I see of yours is claiming Trump is stealing the election, and it isnt even summer yet. Relax.

electricbugs2 posted...

Respectfully, you need to stop with the doom posting. Literally every post I see of yours is claiming Trump is stealing the election, and it isnt even summer yet. Relax.

Respectfully, everyone needs to take this threat with the upmost seriousness, considering whats at stake here.

solosnake posted...

Respectfully, everyone needs to take this threat with the upmost seriousness, considering whats at stake here.

Which means getting out and voting in November, not posting about it on CE.

electricbugs2 posted...

Which means getting out and voting in November, not posting about it on CE.

Agreed. And while we're at it, we need to convince people we know to do the same as well. It's all about raising voter turnout enough to help thwart the GOP in multiple races.

electricbugs2 posted...

Which means getting out and voting in November, not posting about it on CE.

You really naive enough to believe Trump is just gonna go away when/if he loses another election? He is gonna claim he wins regardless what happens.

solosnake posted...

You really naive enough to believe Trump is just gonna go away when/if he loses another election? He is gonna claim he wins regardless what happens.

Good thing he's not immortal.

Humble_Novice posted...

Agreed. And while we're at it, we need to convince people we know to do the same as well. It's all about raising voter turnout enough to help thwart the GOP in multiple races.

Been trying to convince my relatives in Texas to vote D. 1st cousin is originally from Canada so hes an easy flip, his wife on the other hand is a tough sell. Wish I had US citizenship so I could help out.

solosnake posted...

You really naive enough to believe Trump is just gonna go away when/if he loses another election? He is gonna claim he wins regardless what happens.

Of course hes not, but he can claim whatever he wants. If he loses in November he can try a bunch more goofy lawsuits and cost himself even more money and humiliation.

solosnake posted...

You really naive enough to believe Trump is just gonna go away when/if he loses another election? He is gonna claim he wins regardless what happens.

So what. If he loses in 2024 and tries another January 6th, he'll just get more of his followers killed.

I fail to see any problems with that.

Ah, if you dont live in the US, then its probably pretty easy to not care. Must be nice to not have to really worry about it

electricbugs2 posted...

Respectfully, you need to stop with the doom posting. Literally every post I see of yours is claiming Trump is stealing the election, and it isnt even summer yet. Relax.

You seriously ignoring the steps he took to steal the 2020 election, and the steps he and his party has taken to tear down the walls that prevented him from doing so?

solosnake posted...

Ah, if you dont live in the US, then its probably pretty easy to not care. Must be nice to not have to really worry about it

I live half the year in the US actually.

ClayGuida posted...

You seriously ignoring the steps he took to steal the 2020 election, and the steps he and his party has taken to tear down the walls that prevented him from doing so?

What walls has he torn down exactly?

electricbugs2 posted...

I live half the year in the US actually.

What walls has he torn down exactly?

Removing all Republicans who voted to impeach him, removing all state Republicans that blocked his pathway to rigging the electors in his favor, despite losing the state election. The entirety of Project 2025

solosnake posted...

Hitler failed the first time he tried to seize power too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch#:~:text=The%20Beer%20Hall%20Putsch%2C%20also,1923%2C%20during%20the%20Weimar%20Republic.

He was also a much younger man then than Trump is now, with greater mental faculties. Trump could never have orchestrated something like the takeover of Germany... if he were a different person, he could surround himself with people smart enough to help him do that, but Trump never likes to be given directions by people that he knows are smarter than he is. He likes to fire people like that, that's what a lot of his aggression towards Fauci was about.

mercurydude posted...

He was also a much younger man then than Trump is now, with greater mental faculties. Trump could never have orchestrated something like the takeover of Germany... if he were a different person, he could surround himself with people smart enough to help him do that, but Trump never likes to be given directions by people that he knows are smarter then he is. He likes to fire people like that, that's what a lot of his aggression towards Fauci was about.

This assumes that Trump is trying to do it by himself.

mercurydude posted...

He was also a much younger man then than Trump is now, with greater mental faculties. Trump could never have orchestrated something like the takeover of Germany... if he were a different person, he could surround himself with people smart enough to help him do that, but Trump never likes to be given directions by people that he knows are smarter than he is. He likes to fire people like that, that's what a lot of his aggression towards Fauci was about.

Trump's ego is basically a double-edged sword for him.

ClayGuida posted...

Removing all Republicans who voted to impeach him, removing all state Republicans that blocked his pathway to rigging the electors in his favor, despite losing the state election. The entirety of Project 2025

And most of this will only be relevant if he steamrolls Biden in the election or if its another razor thin margin Project 2025 especially.

surely this means the supreme court will have less incentive to rule in favor of his immunity thing

Trump has complained publicly and privately that his first-term Justice Department leaders were too weak, that his Supreme Court picks have tried to come across as too independent

That should scare the shit out of everyone.

solosnake posted...

He plans to steal the election and install a bunch of trump/putin loyalists. He isnt really trying to hide it either

Hell try and fail. The GOP would have to win the House by enough of a margin that it wouldn't be affected by 6 to 20;defectors.

Takuya_Lee posted...

Hell try and fail. The GOP would have to win the House by enough of a margin that it wouldn't be affected by 6 to 20;defectors.

That's not how it works. If a presidential election goes to the House, each state delegation gets one vote. That's why everyone assumes (correctly) that the GOP wins if the election goes to the House.

EPR-radar posted...

That's not how it works. If a presidential election goes to the House, each state delegation gets one vote. That's why everyone assumes (correctly) that the GOP wins if the election goes to the House.

Aren't the Democrats favored to win the House this year though?

Humble_Novice posted...

Aren't the Democrats favored to win the House this year though?

Winning the House isn't the same as having 26 House state delegations that are majority D.