Here are this week’s SWAJ Research Links, compiled by SWAJ Team Member Mark Kurth.
National Inquiries
Fraudulent MAGA Political Operation Moms For Liberty Exposed By Newest Scandal
Moms for Liberty, the organization birthed by MAGA political operatives, bankrolled by far-right funders, and designed to coerce American families into the war on freedom and equality, is reeling after allegations of sexual assault were lodged against its architects. Christian Ziegler, Florida GOP Chair and husband to Moms For Liberty co-founder Bridget, faces accusations that he assaulted the couple’s sexual partner, plunging the pair and their organizations into chaos. The allegations are currently being investigated by law enforcement.
Trump asks Supreme Court to reject special counsel and stay out of immunity dispute for now
Donald Trump opposes the special counsel’s request for the Supreme Court to decide right now whether he has any immunity from federal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office – a question that must be settled before the trial, which is currently scheduled for March 4.
Special counsel Jack Smith asked the high court last week to review a lower-court ruling that Trump, as a former president, is not immune from the election subversion criminal case. Smith in his appeal to the justices asked them to take the rare step of reviewing the issue before a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, weighs in.
How Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, a supporter of 'parental rights' in schools, got caught in a sex scandal that may push her to resign from a school board
A report from the Sarasota Police Department last month revealed that the Zieglers had a threesome with a woman who has since accused Christian Ziegler of sexual assault, The New York Times reported. Though heavily redacted, the report used the words "raped" and "sexually battered."
After a consensual threesome with the woman, the group scheduled a second rendezvous, but the unnamed woman canceled after she found out Bridget Ziegler wouldn't be able to attend, BI previously reported. The woman later told police that Christian Ziegler showed up at her apartment anyway and assaulted her, The Washington Post reported.
Trump repeats anti-immigrant tirade, denies reading Hitler
“They’re destroying the blood of our country. That’s what they’re doing — they’re destroying our country,” Trump said Tuesday at an event in Waterloo, Iowa, echoing comments he made at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday in which he said immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Trump’s weekend remarks were met with much criticism, including from President Joe Biden , who compared his likely 2024 opponent’s rhetoric to that used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
“The language he uses reminds us of the language coming out of Germany in the 30s,” Biden told reporters Tuesday. “He has called those who oppose him ‘vermin’ and again this weekend he talked about the blood of our country being poisoned.”
Pope Francis authorizes blessings for same-sex couples
Pope Francis formally permitted Roman Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples on Monday, in a significant shift in the church’s approach to LGBTQ+ people.
The blessings may be carried out providing they are not part of regular Church rituals or liturgies, nor at the same time as a civil union, according to a Vatican document approved by the pope.
The latest ruling fleshes out the opening the pope made to blessing same-sex couples last October and marks a shift away from a 2021 ruling from the Vatican doctrine office which barred any blessings, saying God “cannot bless sin.”
Trump’s rhetoric in final campaign sprint goes to new dark extremes
The GOP primary front-runner said migrants are “poisoning the blood” of the US and quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin about the “rottenness” of American democracy.
Whipping up thousands of supporters at a New Hampshire hockey rink on Saturday, the former president again drew comparisons to the language of Nazi Germany with the comments about migrants from mostly Africa, Asia and South America “poisoning the blood of our country.”
The language “parrots Adolf Hitler,” President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign alleged. Experts pointed to passages in Hitler’s manifesto “Mein Kampf” in which the future dictator called for racial purity and said German blood was being “poisoned” by Jews.
Activists link US nonprofit to anti-LGBTQ laws in Africa. The group says it’s only promoting ‘family values’
But, despite condemnation from the White House, one prominent US lobbying group has faced persistent accusations of spreading anti-LGBTQ sentiment in several African countries. For months, CNN has investigated whether the Arizona-based organization Family Watch International, and its founder Sharon Slater, have helped promote a raft of homophobic bills in Uganda, Kenya and Ghana. The group has repeatedly denied these allegations.
Crisis communicators face blowback after disastrous college hearing
In certain circles of Washington and New York, the conversation is turning toward a less visible dimension of the controversy: Who got paid to give advice on one of the most disastrous public relations moments in modern memory?
The answer, in part, is that the university leaders were being advised by some of the most prominent legal and communications experts in the field of “crisis communications.” Now, the crisis communicators are in a PR crisis of their own: Rather than communicating, they are hunkering down in the storm. They’ve declined to comment publicly, even as critics say they share culpability for an episode that devastated the reputations of their clients.
US intelligence analysis warns Hamas’ influence has grown since its attack on Israel
As Israel’s relentless air campaign has killed thousands of civilians inside Gaza, Hamas – which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and Europe – has been able to cast itself as the lone armed group fighting back against a brutal oppressor killing women and children. Officials familiar with the different assessments say the group has successfully positioned itself across some parts of the Arab and Muslim world as a defender of the Palestinian cause and an effective fighter against Israel.
Hamas’ growing influence comes in the wake of its ghastly October attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 men, women and children. The US has staunchly defended Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the attack, including its campaign to eliminate Hamas entirely.
One year of Trump’s praise for authoritarians
But Trump’s latest praise for some of the world’s biggest strongmen and his comment that he wouldn’t be a dictator “except for Day One” has alarmed Trump’s critics, who say they fear the former president would veer even further to the right if re-elected. They point to Trump calling his political enemies “vermin,” a dehumanizing word that echoes fascist dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and second-term plans being drafted by Trump allies they claim would upend the norms of government.
The Most Interesting Part of the New York Times’ Scoop on the Fall of Roe
But the true shock of their piece lies in fact that none of it is shocking: Samuel Alito came to the court wishing to overturn Roe and lied about that fact at his confirmation hearings; Neil Gorsuch didn’t even bother to read the draft opinion authored by Alito before he agreed to put his name to it, or else secretly viewed a draft before it was circulated to other justices; Amy Coney Barrett has someone in her chambers who wants us to see her as a tormented and complicated woman, even as she refused to do anything but rubber-stamp an opinion that would confirm to the world that she was a token, partisan, politics-haired appointment. And Brett Kavanaugh? He is precisely as absurdly self-important, scheming, untrustworthy, and ineffectual as we all knew him to be.
Biden administration pleads with states after millions of kids lose Medicaid coverage
HHS wants states with the highest rates of children dropped from Medicaid to use certain federal rules that make it easier to get families back on coverage.
In letters sent Monday to the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urged the states to take up more of options CMS has offered to ensure coverage. The options include allowing states to use enrollee information they have to auto-renew coverage.
Justice Thomas complained about salary to GOP lawmaker, new ProPublica report says
Thomas was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and becoming increasingly frustrated with his financial standing, according to ProPublica. While he made the equivalent of $300,000 today, other members of the court were much wealthier.
According to the report, Thomas told the lawmaker that if Congress didn’t bump salaries, “one or more justices will leave soon.” Thomas had also repeatedly talked with other people about removing a ban on justices giving paid speeches, per ProPublica.
Lawmakers never green-lighted significant raises for the justices or lifted the paid speech ban.
States Fights
‘You can’t morally lead’: Florida Republicans strip party chair of power
“You can’t morally lead the Republican Party forward,” given the allegations, Evan Power, the vice chair of the group who is temporarily in charge of the Florida GOP, said after leaving the meeting. He added that Ziegler had the right to defend himself legally but that the party was facing a “political problem” given the details of the case that have emerged.
Colorado Supreme Court removes Trump from 2024 ballot
The Colorado Supreme Court made history Tuesday with an unprecedented, freeze-in-your-tracks ruling that former President Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to run in 2024 because the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding public office covers his conduct on January 6, 2021.
The 4-3 decision removes Trump from the Republican primary ballot in Colorado, which is scheduled for Super Tuesday in early March. However, the Colorado justices paused their ruling so Trump can appeal to the US Supreme Court, which could even preserve his spot on the state’s primary ballot if the appeal isn’t settled quickly.
Colorado Supreme Court says Trump is ineligible to run again
The Colorado court ruled that Trump cannot appear on the state’s presidential ballot next year, but the ruling will not take effect immediately to give Trump time to appeal.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the Colorado majority opinion reads. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
A woman who had a miscarriage is now charged with abusing a corpse as stricter abortion laws play out nationwide
Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights slammed the criminal charge against Watts, saying it would deter other women who suffer miscarriages from seeking medical help.
“As citizens, we are outraged that the criminal justice system is being used to punish Ms. Watts who, like thousands of women each year, spontaneously miscarried a non-viable fetus into a toilet and then flushed,” the group said in an open letter to the Trumbull County prosecutor.
“By seeking to indict her, you are clearly implying that anyone who miscarries at any point in pregnancy in our state must retrieve the fetal tissue whether they are at home, at work, at school, at a restaurant or other public place and preserve it until the tissue can be disposed of properly even though Ohio law does not define what a proper disposal method would be. … That fact alone renders your prosecution both unjust and ludicrous,” the letter says.
Appeals court rejects Mark Meadows’ attempt to move Georgia election subversion case to federal court
The opinion of the three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, delivered by a conservative jurist appointed to the court by former President George W. Bush, is a resounding blow to arguments raised by Meadows that his case should be moved because the allegations in the indictment were connected to his official duties in the Trump White House.
“At bottom, whatever the chief of staff’s role with respect to state election administration, that role does not include altering valid election results in favor of a particular candidate,” wrote Chief Judge William Pryor.