Attention to the Unseen

The New York Times reports: The first recent wave of legislation tightening voting laws came in 2021, when Donald J. Trump’s false claims of voter fraud spurred Republican lawmakers to act over loud objections from Democrats. Two years later, a second wave is steadily moving ahead, but largely under the radar. Propelled by a new coalition of Trump allies, Republican-led legislatures have continued to pass significant restrictions on access to the ballot, including new limits to voting by mail in…

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The Wall Street Journal reports: The Proud Boys organization has expanded its reach since Jan. 6, 2021, researchers say, withstanding criminal prosecutions and lawsuits against members who joined in the breach of the U.S. Capitol. The group’s former chairman, Enrique Tarrio, and three lieutenants were found guilty of sedition charges on Thursday. The historic verdict followed a lengthy jury trial in Washington’s federal courthouse, just steps from the Capitol complex stormed by Proud Boys and other supporters of then-President Donald…

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Politico reports: Prosecutors are seeking the most severe sentence yet in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — a 25-year prison term — for the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, characterizing it as a necessary punishment to deter future attacks against democracy. The Justice Department says Stewart Rhodes and his allies were among the most significant drivers of the violence that unfolded at the Capitol, amassing a stockpile of weapons nearby in Virginia…

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  The Washington Post reports: For nearly three decades, Leo has helped and led campaigns in support of the Supreme Court nominations of all the conservative judges now on the high court — John G. Roberts Jr., Samuel A. Alito, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. He also has had the ears of the most recent Republican presidents. When President George W. Bush planned to praise racial diversity in his 2003 criticism of affirmative action, Leo…

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The Washington Post reports: Conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo arranged for the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be paid tens of thousands of dollars for consulting work just over a decade ago, specifying that her name be left off billing paperwork, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. In January 2012, Leo instructed the GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway to bill a nonprofit group he advises and use that money to pay Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the documents…

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The Wall Street Journal reports: Special counsel Jack Smith is racing through a roster of interviews in his wide-ranging investigations related to former President Donald Trump, including with former Vice President Mike Pence and other top aides, as he contemplates filing charges, according to people familiar with the matter. The steps prosecutors are taking, the people say, suggest Mr. Smith is in the late stages of his inquiry into Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election….

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  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, co-led a hearing of the full Judiciary Committee entitled, “Supreme Court Ethics Reform.” The hearing explored the recent torrent of media reports detailing unethical conduct by Justices of the Supreme Court and legislative solutions to improve ethics, accountability, and transparency at the highest Court. Whitehouse’s Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act would require the…

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ProPublica reports: In 2008, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas decided to send his teenage grandnephew to Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in the foothills of northern Georgia. The boy, Mark Martin, was far from home. For the previous decade, he had lived with the justice and his wife in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thomas had taken legal custody of Martin when he was 6 years old and had recently told an interviewer he was “raising him as…

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Politico reports: In the deposition, conducted at Mar-a-Lago in October, [E. Jean Carroll’s attorney, Roberta] Kaplan asked Trump about the “Access Hollywood” tape, a recording from 2005 in which Trump can be heard saying, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” adding: “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” “Well, historically that’s true with stars,” Trump replied after watching a clip of his comments. When Kaplan pressed him on whether he stood…

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CNN reports: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor provided the early framework that steered the outcome in the dispute over the 2000 presidential election and ensured George W. Bush would win the White House over Al Gore, Supreme Court documents released on Tuesday show. Memos found in the newly opened files of the late Justice John Paul Stevens offer a first-ever view of the behind-the-scenes negotiations on Bush v. Gore at the court. They also demonstrate the tension among the nine justices…

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The New York Times reports: A standoff between House Republicans and President Biden over raising the nation’s borrowing limit has administration officials debating what to do if the government runs out of cash to pay its bills, including one option that previous administrations had deemed unthinkable. That option is effectively a constitutional challenge to the debt limit. Under the theory, the government would be required by the 14th Amendment to continue issuing new debt to pay bondholders, Social Security recipients,…

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