Sweeping Bill Would Completely Overhaul Supreme Court as We Know It

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden proposed a new bill Wednesday that would pack the Supreme Court and dramatically overhaul the nation’s highest court.

Wyden’s bill would expand the court from nine justices to 15 over 12 years, and require two-thirds of the Supreme Court and federal circuit courts of appeals to overturn any law passed by Congress. The bill would require the Senate to automatically schedule a vote on nominees to the high court if they are held up in committee for more than 180 days.

Senators would be barred from blocking nominees to the court by refusing to vote on them. Federal judicial circuits would be expanded to 15 from 13, which would add 60 appellate court judges and 100 to district courts.

The bill would also increase financial transparency measures for Supreme Court justices, requiring them to make their tax filings public. The IRS would be required to audit their tax returns and release the results. Anyone nominated to the court would have to disclose three years of tax returns.

Court proceedings would also be affected, with a two-thirds majority of the court having the ability to force a fellow justice to recuse themselves from a case. Justices would be required to release opinions to the public and detail their votes on issues decided on an emergency basis, upending the infamous “shadow docket.”

The bill stands little chance of passing, particularly in the Republican-controlled House. But it is the strongest proposal from Democrats for reforming the judiciary, not only tackling the Supreme Court but making changes to the federal circuit as well. In July, President Biden announced his own ideas for judicial reform, but only called for 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices as well as a binding code of conduct.

Calls for court reform blew up after April 2023, when a ProPublica investigation revealed Thomas received previously undisclosed luxury vacations from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. Four months later, more revelations of undisclosed gifts followed, including at least 38 vacations and 26 private jet flights given to Thomas from an array of right-wing billionaires. Thomas in 2003 also accepted a free trip to visit Vladimir Putin’s hometown in Russia.

Justice Samuel Alito has had his own scandals, involving political advocacy in the form of political flags flying outside of his home, and he was also implicated for receiving gifts from Crow and other right-wing billionaires. Wyden’s proposal may not survive Congress or even legal challenges, but it is the first serious proposal to expand the court. The question is whether Wyden can get any other Democrats to sign on.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s indictment was unsealed Wednesday, revealing his five damning public corruption charges. 

Adams, who was once lauded as the future of the Democratic Party, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals.  He was also charged with one count of wire fraud, two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, and one count of bribery. 

The 57-page indictment alleged that starting in 2014, when Adams was the Brooklyn borough president, he “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” as contributions, including luxury travel. In 2015, Adams traveled to Turkey and began to “establish corrupt relationships,” according to the filing. 

The indictment refers to “a senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment” who “facilitated many straw donations” to Adams. Adams allegedly sought and received benefits from this Turkish official, who apparently organized for Adams and associates to fly for free, or at a discount, on Turkish Airlines and set them up with lavish accommodations around the world. 

Adams allegedly provided “favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received” from his foreign-national benefactors, according to the indictment. 

Throughout 2016 and 2017, Adams allegedly received free flights and discounted hotel accommodations (he once paid only $600 for a $7,000 room at the St. Regis Istanbul), but he did not report receiving any gifts to New York City’s Conflicts of Interest Board.

Adams allegedly received more than $60,000 worth of free or discounted airline tickets on Turkish Airlines between October 2016 and November 2017.

In 2018, when Adams made clear his intention to run for mayor in 2021, he allegedly received unlawful campaign contributions through “straw” donors, who contributed money to his campaign on behalf of foreign nationals and businesses.

Through New York City’s program to match small-dollar campaign contributions from New York City residents, Adams also allegedly misused public funds while falsely certifying their compliance with campaign finance law. 

“As a result of those false certifications, ADAMS’s 2021 mayoral campaign received more than $10,000,000 in public funds,” the indictment alleged. 

In 2021, Adams’s campaign employees allegedly coordinated with the head of a construction company, who was not Turkish but “a prominent member of a different ethnic community in New York City,” to contribute $10,000 worth of straw-man contributions. The businessman purportedly donated $2,000 and had four of his employees donate the rest, which he then reimbursed—and was matched by the city. In return, Adams helped the businessman to organize events and appeared to assist him in lifting a work-stop order, according to text messages between the two.

The indictment alleged that Adams and some others working at his behest attempted to conceal his wrongdoing by insisting that they had actually paid for free services, creating a fake paper trail and even deleting text conversations. Adams allegedly “deleted messages with others involved in his misconduct, including, in one instance, assuring a co-conspirator in writing that he ‘always’ deleted her messages.”

In September 2021, the senior Turkish official who’d allegedly plied Adams with free trips attempted to cash in on all of the favors to Adams. The official asked the mayor to pressure the New York City Fire Department to open a new Turkish consular building, a 36-story skyscraper, without a fire inspection. Adams allegedly acquiesced.

“Because of ADAMS’S pressure on the FDNY, the FDNY official responsible for the FDNY’s assessment of the skyscraper’s fire safety was told that he would lose his job if he failed to acquiesce,” the indictment said. “And, after ADAMS intervened, the skyscraper opened as requested by the Turkish Official.”

Donald Trump has never seen a silly little item he didn’t want to peddle.

Yesterday, it may have been assassination-themed sneakers, NFTs, or Bibles, but today it is watches. And of course, the Republican presidential nominee promises that “these Watches are truly special.”

As he lags behind Kamala Harris in fundraising and with Truth Social stock plummeting, Trump is desperate to raise money for his campaign and legal fees any way he can.

Trump promoted the ugly new merch on Thursday morning, encouraging customers to “Join President Trump’s Watch Community” and “Be a part of history.” 

The “Trump Victory Tourbillon” watch is for sale for the low price of $100,000 and is available in gold or rose gold. It features “classic sophistication combined with President Trump’s symbol of success: Gold.” The caseback features a personalized thank-you message from Trump himself.

Alternatively, if you can’t drop that much for a limited-edition watch, you could always grab the much less grand “Fight Fight Fight” watch for $499, including one color in MAGA red. The back of this watch features the image of Trump, post–assassination attempt, with his fist in the sky. The copy of the website reads, “With its timeless design and flexible style, you’re ready for any situation, just like President Trump!”

Despite being shared by the former president on Truth Social, and like the heavily marked-up “Trump Coins” he introduced the day before, the website claims it “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.”

J.D. Vance is not polling well among 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide.

A Harvard Youth poll found that only 18 percent of respondents had a favorable view of Donald Trump’s running mate. The Bulwark editor Jonathan V. Last argued Wednesday that this was a particularly bad number for Vance, especially when compared with the favorability of North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson.

A recent Elon University poll found that 27 percent of female respondents had a favorable opinion of the now-disgraced Republican gubernatorial candidate. The poll was taken before Robinson’s scandal broke last week—but after he’d said and done a slew of other insane things.

“The guy who says the Holocaust was overblown and Hitler was great, who wants to own slaves, who was a frequenter of backroom porn video booths, and who bragged about banging his wife’s sister.… That guy was able to get to 27 percent favorable with women in North Carolina,” Last wrote.

A closer look at the Elon University poll found that 15 percent of female respondents found Robinson “very favorable” and 13 percent found him “favorable.” Forty-two percent of female respondents said Robinson was “very unfavorable.”

Meanwhile, in the Harvard poll, 46 percent of respondents found Vance to be “unfavorable” and only 33 percent found his opponent, Tim Walz, unfavorable.

Last tried to throw Vance a bone.

“This Harvard poll did not test favorability ratings for the Taliban, or Vladimir Putin, or herpes. If they had, I’m sure all three would have been less popular than JD Vance,” Last wrote. “But not by much.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is finding some strange defenders in the wake of a federal indictment: the MAGA crowd.

Donald Trump’s fans—who are eager to demonize the Department of Justice, New York courts, and what they claim is the “weaponization of our country’s prosecutorial resources”—came to Adams’s defense in droves Wednesday night.

Adams is expected to face federal charges in a federal corruption investigation. Federal agents raided his residence Thursday morning, and top officials in his administration have similarly been raided by the FBI and indicted, with several resigning.

In a Trumpian turn, Adams has protested his innocence by implying that the probe is a witch hunt and saying that the charges are “based on lies.” The New York City mayor also cast blame on the federal government’s immigration response in the city, stating, “The federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system with no relief.”

Republicans pounced on Adams’s comments about migrants and decided the investigation must be a hoax. “If you’re wondering why the system turned on one of its own …” wrote commentator Tomi Lauren, attaching a separate video of Adams complaining about the pressure on public services from increased immigration.

“He was told to shut up by the ‘Democratic’ Party after this,” wrote Elon Musk, responding to a right-wing account posting the same speech. Some even suggested it was Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s doing.

Billionaire Bill Ackman agreed. “Eric loudly spoke the truth on the migrant problem in NYC and what the consequences would be for New Yorkers and the country,” wrote Ackman. “Doing so required bravery, as sharing these views publicly as a Democratic mayor did not win him any friends in the Party or with the Biden/Harris administration.” (Ackman later stated he believed the indictment was “devastating and credible.”)

Overall, it could become the GOP party line that because Adams criticized the Biden-Harris immigration policy, he had to be punished.

In reality, though the specific charges Adams will face are currently under wraps, the investigation is likely related to illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources and a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, not his policy on migrants.

This story has been updated.

Rudy Giuliani was disbarred Thursday by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, ending the legal career of another one of Donald Trump’s former lawyers.

It’s the second disbarment for Giuliani, who lost his law license in New York in July over his many false statements about the 2020 presidential election. In May, Giuliani’s D.C. law license was suspended after the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended that he lose his law license over his involvement in lawsuits alleging election fraud in 2020.

“We conclude that disbarment is the only sanction that will protect the public, the courts, and the integrity of the legal profession, and deter other lawyers from launching similarly baseless claims in the pursuit of such wide-ranging yet completely unjustified relief,” the board’s recommendation at the time said.

On Thursday, the court of appeals agreed.

Giuliani isn’t the first Trump lawyer to face consequences. Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis was suspended in May for her efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in favor of Trump, and Jeffrey Clark, another election denier, was recommended for disbarment in August. One of the major architects of Trump’s 2020 efforts, John Eastman, is no longer allowed to practice law in California and is appealing a recommendation for his disbarment.

It’s the latest setback for Giuliani, who recently tried to sue President Biden for defamation only to have the lawsuit thrown out earlier this month. Last year, two Georgia election workers successfully sued him for defamation, and he now owes them $148 million. Giuliani then tried to file for bankruptcy, only to fail, leading to the poll workers suing him again to seize control of his assets, including his real estate holdings.

The former New York City mayor is in a heap of financial trouble, from losing his accountant over poorly managed debts to trying and failing to persuade Trump to settle seven-figure legal debts. His WABC radio show was canceled for 2020 election lies, and he resorted to selling his own brand of “Rudy Coffee” to make some extra cash.

But his money troubles may be self-inflicted. In May, his creditors called out his “extravagant lifestyle” and “gross mismanagement,” accusing him of accomplishing “almost nothing” in his bankruptcy case. He still owes money to his former attorneys, who say he only paid them $214,000 of nearly $1.6 million in legal expenses.

Giulaini is still in legal trouble in Georgia and Arizona for election interference and is facing a pending sexual harassment lawsuit from one of his former assistants. It’s clear that the man once known as “America’s mayor” is now America’s laughingstock.  

This story has been updated.

Despite deleting an offensive, racist social media post against Haitian Americans on Wednesday, Representative Clay Higgins has doubled down, claiming that it was “all true.”

After making the post, which referred to multiple stereotypes, including the debunked racist rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are capturing and eating pets, Higgins faced immediate backlash online, and Representative Steven Horsford introduced a resolution to censure him.

Higgins deleted the post, and was defended by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called Higgins a “dear friend of mine” and told the press, “I’m sure he probably regrets some of the language he used. But you know, we move forward. We believe in redemption around here.”

But later Wednesday evening, Higgins said the exact opposite. “It’s all true. I can put up another controversial post tomorrow if you want me to,” he told CNN. “I mean, we do have freedom of speech. I’ll say what I want.

“It’s not a big deal to me. It’s like something stuck to the bottom of my boot. Just scrape it off and move on with my life,” Higgins said.

Horsford told CNN that he confronted Higgins on the House floor, trying to convince him that his comments had real consequences, and he was attacking people who have done nothing wrong.

“I asked him specifically to remove this post, and he said, ‘I’m going to pray about it.’ What do you need to pray about? Just do what is right and stop this hateful rhetoric that is causing people to feel targeted. He told me no,” Horsford said to Anderson Cooper. “And that is when I said, if you refuse, I will take this to the floor, we will move for a resolution to censure you, and that is exactly what we did.”

Republicans, led by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, have continued peddling racist attacks against Haitian immigrants, with Trump using them to bolster his call for mass deportations. Vance has been unrepentant, even defending his fabrication of the story. Meanwhile, Springfield has faced violent threats to its hospitals, schools, and government buildings, and Trump is trying to spread the rumor to another small town: Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Will Republicans face any consequences for their racist fearmongering?

Did Donald Trump just make Jack Smith’s job that much easier by admitting that he knows he lost the 2020 election?

During a speech Wednesday in Mint Hill, North Carolina, Trump appeared to give up the game when speaking about his performance four years ago.

“We did much better by the way, in the election of 2020, than we did in 2016,” Trump said.

“Millions and millions of votes more—more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country,” Trump said. This election-denying claim simply isn’t true, because Trump got roughly 74 million votes, while President Joe Biden got 81 million.

“But they beat us by a whisker. They beat us by a little whisker,” Trump said. “He beat us from the basement.”

Of course, it’s important to know that pretty much every time Trump opens his mouth, his words are admissible in court. So admitting that he didn’t win the election could potentially hurt the former president in court—specifically, in his election interference case in Washington, D.C., where special counsel Smith is seeking to prove that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election but still tried to overturn the results.

Trump has said he lost the 2020 election “by a whisker” before, during an interview earlier this month with podcaster Lex Fridman.

“We had a man in there that should’ve never been in there,” Trump said, speaking about Biden. “They kept him in a basement, they used Covid, they cheated, but they used Covid to cheat. They cheated without Covid too.”

Moments later, the former president claimed he had “lost by a whisker” in 2020. But after his interview, Trump claimed he was just joking.

“I did that sarcastically,” he said. “All you have to do is look at it, and they should have sent it back to the legislatures for approval. I got almost 75 million votes, the most votes any sitting president has ever gotten. I was told if I got 63, which is what I got in 2016, you can’t be beaten.”

Despite the obvious confusion Trump’s little joke caused, the former president has decided that “lost by a whisker” will be part of the hot air he intends to blow on the campaign trail and that its meaning, like everything he says, is whatever suits him.

Republican Representative Clay Higgins made a racist attack on Haitians Wednesday, referencing several racist tropes and the debunked pet-eating conspiracy from Ohio.

In his post on X (formerly Twitter), the Louisiana congressman said, “These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters … but damned if they don’t feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP.”

Higgins was apparently upset that a Haitian American nonprofit organization took advantage of an Ohio law allowing citizens to file affidavits for criminal offenses, and filed charges against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance for spreading the debunked rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, captured and ate pets, ducks, and geese.

Higgins’s post is not only bigoted but also echoes the same sentiments as Trump, Vance, and many other right-wing figures who have called for Haitians legally in the United States to be deported. Many of these figures, led by the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees, have continued attacking Haitians despite the uptick in violent threats against schools, hospitals, and government buildings in Springfield.

Recently, Trump has expanded his attacks against Haitian immigrants from Springfield to another small town, Charleroi, Pennsylvania. As was the case in Ohio, Charleroi’s town officials have pushed back, with Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning remarking, “There’s what the former president is saying, and then there’s easily observable reality.”

Manning told The New Republic’s Greg Sargent that the Haitian community has helped fill jobs in the small Pennsylvania town and even showed solidarity with workers at a factory that was closing. But details like that are of little concern to people like Higgins, Trump, and Vance, who refuse to let the facts get in the way of a racist narrative they think will help them politically.

It seems as though Donald Trump’s son-in-law has mastered the art of the scam.

According to an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, has yet to return even a cent of profit to its foreign investors.

The shady firm has received billions from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and other foreign governments. In fact, 99 percent of the firm’s approximately $3 billion in funding came from overseas sources, according to a New York Times report that spurred the Senate investigation. Yet Trump’s son-in-law has returned no profit to the governments. All the while, it’s estimated his firm has pocketed an additional $112 million in fees from the governments since 2021, according to the findings.

“Affinity’s investors may not be motivated by commercial considerations but rather the opportunity to funnel foreign government money to members of President Trump’s family, namely Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump,” wrote Senator Ron Wyden, head of the Finance Committee, in a letter to the company this week.

Thus far, Kushner and Affinity have made seemingly innocuous investments in companies like Shlomo Group, an Israeli car-leasing company; Zamp, a UAE-backed fast-food company; and Dubizzle Group, a UAE-based classified websites operator. But if Trump were to win in November, Wyden warned, the financial conflict of interest could heighten.

As it stands, “sovereign wealth fund investments and prospective real estate deals give foreign governments leverage over the Trump family,” wrote the senator. Further, “a potential future Trump administration will have financial motives to make foreign policy decisions that may be counter to the national interest in order to ensure Kushner and Ivanka Trump continue to collect millions of dollars in fees from foreign governments through Affinity.”

Is Kushner failing up? Or is it a masterful political play?