Coup Two
As is often the case, the sequel is worse than the original
Apologies for being glib with the headline for a deadly serious story, but that’s just one of my defense mechanisms.
While the media focused on the two horrible plane crashes this week, the truly major stories seemed to have gone relatively undetected. Through several unilateral actions Trump is showing through his deeds that he does not feel constrained, at all, by the Legislative or Judicial branches of government. I realize how alarmist it sounds, but make no mistake: we are in the midst of a coup. This one has been meticulously planned out and is unfurling before our eyes, and I fear that Congress and the Courts are either being slow to react or do not comprehend the gravity of the situation.
Consider:
On Friday of last week (January 24th), Trump fired 18 Inspectors General from various Federal agencies. These IGs are protected by law and cannot be removed without 30 day notice to Congress, along with a valid reason for dismissal. Note that, as Executive Branch employees, they serve “at the pleasure of the Presdient”, so the reason isn’t as important as the notice to Congress requirement.
On January 27th, at least a dozen Department of Justice officials who worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith on multiple criminal investigations of Trump were fired by the acting (non-confirmed) Attorney General. The rationale given was that these officials “could not be trusted to advance President Trump’s agenda”.
(The Department of Justice is supposed to serve the United States, not advance any Presidential agenda.)Late Thursday night (January 3oth), the acting (non-confirmed) director of the FBI notified every top level executive at the Bureau that they were to resign or retire by Monday or be demoted or fired.
Further, requests were made to identify all FBI agents who investigated January 6th criminals, with the assumption being that they would also be punished or fired. This proposal met significant pushback from within the FBI.
Early last week the highest-ranking career official at the Department of Treasury David Lebryk resigned rather than grant access to Treasury payment systems to private citizen Elon Musk. The newly confirmed Secretary of Treasure Scott Bessent granted this access after Lebryk’s resignation. Musk now has access to both the Enterprise Human Resources system that holds personal information for all Federal employees as well as the payment system, which was used to disburse $6 trillion dollars in 2023. Reminder, Musk is a private citizen, the largest government contractor, and has not been confirmed by anyone.
Finally, Musk and a band of apparent interns raided the headquarters of USAID, barring employees from entry and allegedly accessing confidential and top secret computer systems. Musk announced early Monday morning (February 3rd) that he had spent the weekend “Putting USAID into a woodchipper” and that the agency would be shut down.
While some of these actions are within the purview of the President, most are not. USAID, for example, is a government agency created and funded by Congress and cannot simply be shut down because a President doesn’t like it. Additionally, the agency is often a target of both Russia and China, nations who will benefit from it’s shuttering.
While I could go on and into more depth, with something this serious I will leave it to a professional. This is not a fun read, but it is a must read.
Stay strong my friends.
I'm truly terrified.