How to Prosecute a President After 2024
Plus: The Trumpists’ Dangerous ‘Peace’ Plan for Ukraine
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: The Wheels Are Coming Off the Biden Spin Bus
Overtime is for everyone. If you’re a subscriber: thank you. If you’re not, there’s no better time to subscribe to Bulwark+ than today. If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
PHILIP ROTNER: How to Prosecute a President After 2024
BETWEEN THE EXTREME PARTS of the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States (the insane hypothetical “Can the president order Seal Team 6 to assassinate his political rivals?” has now been answered with an equally insane “Yes!”) and the uncontroversial parts (explaining that there is no immunity for a president’s unofficial acts), there is a vast murky middle. What should we make of the ruling that a president is “at a minimum” entitled to a “presumption” of immunity from prosecution for acts that, while official, fall outside of his “core” official duties? What kind of a showing would it take to rebut that presumption?
SAM STEIN AND JOE PERTICONE: Democrats Begin to Make Moves for Life After Biden
National Democrats are increasingly warming to the idea that Vice President Kamala Harris should replace Joe Biden atop the ticket.
Three party officials told The Bulwark that, in recent days, operatives and donors have begun discussing with them what it would take to help supplement a Harris-led ticket should Biden choose to leave the race. One of those operatives said the conversations have become far more pronounced in the last 24 hours, as questions have mounted about Biden’s handling of the post-debate aftermath.
“There has been a very notable shift,” said a prominent centrist Democratic official. “The vibe-shift thing is real. And I think people are very resolute that we need a change and that a chaotic scramble for the nomination would be bad. I think people also think she is a prosecutor and we have to hire a prosecutor to prosecute this criminal.” (The criminal being Donald Trump.)
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Jon Lovett: Unprecedented Times
The Next Level: Burdened by What Currently is 🔐
The Focus Group: Derangement vs. Impairment (with Tim Miller)
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TAMAR JACOBY: The Trumpists’ Dangerous ‘Peace’ Plan for Ukraine
NO ONE IN THE UNITED STATES OR UKRAINE imagines that a re-elected President Donald Trump would be much of a friend to Kyiv. But the so-called “peace” proposal leaked last week by two former national security staffers from the Trump administration, now at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, is even more toxic than many expected.
Predictably enough, the plan stipulates an immediate ceasefire, obligatory negotiations with Russia and a temporary—in truth, likely to be permanent—abandonment of Ukrainian claims to the 20 percent of Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Moscow. The poison pill was less predictable: Under the plan, the United States would strong-arm Kyiv to defer membership in NATO “for an extended period”—again, in the real world, most likely forever.
MATT JOHNSON: Can Biden Still Lead the Fight for Democracy?
NEARLY FORTY MINUTES ELAPSED before the issue of democracy came up during the presidential debate last week. Jake Tapper asked former President Donald Trump about his role in instigating the riot at the Capitol on January 6th. Trump responded by touting his record on the border, energy policy, taxes, foreign policy, and just about every issue besides the one he was asked about. Then he accused Biden of “weaponizing” the justice system and declared that “he [Biden] goes after his political opponent because he can’t beat him fair and square.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Wednesday! A quick programming note: Overtime is off tomorrow, pending any late breaking news. Have a happy 4th of July, eat well, be safe, and be smart.
On the TV tonight… Axel F
The target of the right’s ‘revolution’… is pluralistic democracy itself (Philip Bump, WaPo)
Apocalypse Not… The Democrats’ situation could be worse. If they’re not careful, it will be. (David Frum, The Atlantic)
Young family finds happiness… on remote island off Maine.
Some straight talk on covering Joe Biden… 2 things can be true at once. (Chris Cillizza)
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.