Here are this week’s SWAJ Research Links, compiled by SWAJ Team Member Mark Kurth.
National Inquiries
Takeaways from the Georgia indictment of Donald Trump and 18 others
The indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis included 18 defendants in addition to Trump, 41 charges in total and 30 unindicted co-conspirators. It marks a key departure from special counsel Jack Smith’s charges against Trump for election subversion. Smith had only charged the former president in his indictment earlier this month, even as he listed six co-conspirators.
Willis’ indictment also went well beyond what transpired in Georgia as she used racketeering violations to charge a broad criminal conspiracy.
19 defendants: Here are all the people charged in the new Trump indictment
In addition to charging Donald Trump, a grand jury in Fulton County, Ga., returned an indictment Monday of 18 other people as co-defendants in the former president’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere. They include Trump’s former White House chief of staff, a handful of his former lawyers and several so-called false electors.
Trump indictment forces a GOP reckoning on 2020
Trump announced on his social media site that he would be holding a “major news conference” on Monday where he’d present a detailed and “irrefutable report” on voter fraud from three years ago.
With Trump doubling down on his stolen-election rhetoric — and his decision to schedule a media event about it two days before the first Republican debate — the consensus was he is all but guaranteeing his GOP rivals would be forced to spend time on stage next week talking about an issue that continues to divide the party.
Republicans Are Having a Really, Really Hard Time Processing Trump’s Georgia Indictment
The South Carolina Republican also attacked Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, arguing that her office is too trivial to prosecute a former president. “You [have opened] up Pandora’s box to the presidency,” he said. “This whole exercise of allowing a county prosecutor to go after the former president of the United States will do a lot of damage to the presidency itself over time.” (Given that Willis is a state-level prosecutor and not a federal one, Trump would be unable to pardon himself should he reclaim the presidency after any conviction in Fulton County.)
The Two Heroes of the Georgia Indictment
In the Georgia indictment, the cast of characters tilts inevitably toward scoundrels: Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, et al., along with less-familiar heavies like Stephen Cliffgard Lee, Harrison William Prescott Floyd, and Trevian C. Kutti. The latter three “unlawfully conspired to solicit, request, and importune” a temporary election worker in Fulton County named Ruby Jewel Freeman, to the point of intimidation and harassment, to make false statements in connection with the election. She and her daughter, another election worker named Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, resisted them, and emerge as rare heroines in this squalid narrative. Their story bears repeating to remind you that human variety also accommodates people who stand up to bullies and defend democratic principles when they come under attack.
Appeals court embraces abortion-pill limits, sets up Supreme Court review
Food and Drug Administration decisions to allow the drug mifepristone to be taken later in pregnancy, be mailed directly to patients and be prescribed by a medical professional other than a doctor were not lawful, a three-judge panel of the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled.
Mifepristone will remain available for now under existing regulations while the litigation continues, in accordance with a Supreme Court order this spring. The Justice Department said it will go back to the Supreme Court to appeal Wednesday’s decision, which only partially upheld a lower-court judge’s ruling in favor of a coalition of antiabortion challengers.
Democrats’ climate law set off a wave of energy projects in GOP districts. A backlash followed.
Some communities are welcoming their slice of the $370 billion pot of federal tax incentives meant to accelerate the development of renewable energy and the deployment of electric vehicles as a way to bring back jobs. Others see the Inflation Reduction Act as a vehicle for boosting Chinese businesses and the reach of their government.
Trump enjoys strong support among Republicans. The general election could be a different story
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans — 63% — now say they want the former president to run again, according to new polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s up slightly from the 55% who said the same in April when Trump began facing a series of criminal charges. Seven in 10 Republicans now have a favorable opinion of Trump, an uptick from the 60% who said so two months ago.
But in a crucial warning sign for the former president and his supporters, Trump faces glaring vulnerabilities heading into a general election, with many Americans strongly dug in against him. While most Republicans — 74% — say they would support him in November 2024, 53% of Americans say they would definitely not support him if he is the nominee. Another 11% say they would probably not support him in November 2024.
States Fights
Montana Youth Sued Their Government Over Climate Change and Won. Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal
In her decision, issued Monday, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that a Montana policy that prohibits state agencies from evaluating the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when permitting energy projects was unconstitutional. “Montana’s emissions and climate change have been proven to be a substantial factor in causing climate impacts to Montana’s environment and harm and injury” to the plaintiffs, Seeley wrote.
State officials called the decision “absurd” and are planning to appeal it. But legal experts say that if the ruling stands, it could inspire similar lawsuits, strengthen climate-related cases in other states and set a new legal precedent over whether governments have a duty to protect citizens from the consequences of global warming.
Arkansas Issues Dire Warning to Students Interested in African American Studies
High school students in Arkansas who take Advanced Placement courses in African American history will not be given AP credit for their work, the state department of education warned Monday. In March, Arkansas passed the LEARNS Act, a new law that banned the teaching of critical race theory without specifying what critical race theory is. Arkansas Department of Education officials claim African American studies could teach implicit bias and be in violation of state law. “Arkansas law contains provisions regarding prohibited topics,” state education director of communications Kimberly Mundell wrote in a statement. “Without clarity, we cannot approve a pilot that may unintentionally put a teacher at risk of violating Arkansas law.” Though students will not be eligible to earn AP credits for the course, they can still earn high school credits.