Welcome to The Opposition, a weekly premium newsletter focused on the legal battles holding the Trump administration accountable for its anti-democratic executive actions. Upgrade to premium today for $2.50/week and always receive this newsletter in your inbox.

Happy Juneteenth!

After this week’s arrest of Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller and a mayoral candidate, federal agents have now arrested at least four elected officials — all Democrats — and two other public officials in recent weeks.

The Trump administration has claimed that the political affiliations of those arrested are irrelevant and it’s targeting only those who break the law. But statements from President Donald Trump and his cabinet officials suggest otherwise.

Also in this edition, we look at the massive turnout for “No Kings Day.”

As always, thank you so much for reading.

– Jacob Knutson, reporter

Catch up quickly 

• The American Bar Association sued the federal government to halt Trump’s "unprecedented and uniquely dangerous" attempt to intimidate law firms and the justice system.
  
  
• A Reagan-appointed judge blocked Trump from cutting funding for health research on racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people, accusing the president of committing “appalling” and “palpably clear” discrimination. “I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this,” the judge said.
  
  
• Several prominent lawyers filed a motion to take over as defense counsel for Kilmar Abrego Garcia in his criminal case in Tennessee. They include Rascoe Dean, former deputy criminal chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee — the office that is now prosecuting Abrego Garcia.

Trump’s crackdown is expanding to the political opposition

This week’s arrest of Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller and a mayoral candidate, was the Trump administration’s latest aggressive action against elected Democrats. 

Federal agents in recent weeks have also detained or taken into custody Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Only McIver was formally charged with a crime. 

Lander was arrested when he challenged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who were trying to arrest another man. McIver and Baraka were arrested while trying to conduct oversight of an ICE facility. Padilla was detained after trying to ask a question at a press conference given by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Other public servants and prominent leaders have been arrested and prosecuted, too, including Milwaukee County judge Hannah Dugan and David Huerta, the president of one of the largest labor unions in the country. 

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Lander and other Democrats of seeking to be arrested to bring attention to themselves.

“These politicians are trying to get their 15 minutes of fame and they are doing it on the backs and safety of law enforcement,” she said this week.

But the growing number of arrests come as Trump continues to threaten to use the power of the federal government against his political opponents.

Lander was arrested in Manhattan just days after Trump ordered ICE to target the largest cities in the U.S. to degrade the “core of the Democrat Power Center.”

“These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities,” the president claimed in his order.

And just moments before Sen. Padilla was detained last week, Noem claimed that the Trump administration was seeking to “liberate” Los Angeles from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s and Mayor Karen Bass’ leadership.

“We are not going away,” Noem said. “We are staying here to liberate the city from socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.” 

Lander’s arrest was emblematic of several alarming trends in the Trump administration’s use of federal law enforcement both against elected officials and around the country. 

Like in several recent arrests involving officeholders, the Trump administration  made claims against Lander that appear to be contradicted by video. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Lander of “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.” But in video of his arrest, Lander didn’t assault anyone.

Most disturbingly, Lander was arrested by plain-clothesed officers, some of whom were masked. With no forms of identification visible on some of them, nothing indicated they were federal law enforcement officers.

The use of masked or plain-clothesed officers to conduct arrests is becoming increasingly common among federal law enforcement agencies, particularly among Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on immigration raids.

Trump officials have claimed that the tactics are necessary to protect officers from harassment, citing unsubstantiated increases in assaults against law enforcement officials.

Legal and policing experts have warned that officers operating with full anonymity undermine accountable policing and spur distrust and suspicion of government. 

Anonymity in policing risks making it easier for people to impersonate officers as well.

They’re arresting elected officials — and we’re tracking, analyzing and reporting every move. As Trump escalates his crackdown on Democratic leaders, help us cut through the noise with relentless, pro-democracy journalism. Upgrade for just $2.50/week.

America showed up on “No Kings Day” 

Between 4 to 6 million people rallied against Trump at “No Kings Day” events Saturday, according to an estimate from journalist G. Elliott Morris based on crowd-sourced data. For context, the high end of that estimate would represent almost 2% of the U.S. population.

It’s a rough calculation, but it’s clear that a huge amount of people took to the streets across the country and exercised their fundamental rights.

There of course have been other nationwide protests over the past five months, like the nationwide Hands Off and May Day protests, but Saturday’s rallies seemed different.

They felt like a turning point, like a dispirited resistance again finding its feet, especially when contrasted to Trump’s drizzly and muted military parade.

The most inspiring moment of the weekend for me was the enormous crowd that rallied at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on one of the darkest days in the state’s history.

The official rally was canceled after a gunman murdered a state lawmaker and attempted to kill another, and law enforcement officials had asked the public to shelter in place because the shooter was still on the run.

Despite cancellation and the potential threat of an on-the-run gunman, tens of thousands of people showed up. 

“We aren’t scared away,” read a sign at the St. Paul rally.

To do list

• Join us next Tuesday, June 24 at 7 p.m. ET, for a virtual live Q&A with Democracy Docket founder and voting rights lawyer Marc Elias about the first five months of Trump’s second term. It’s a members-only event — upgrade to register. 

To get a deeper analysis of how Trump’s anti-democratic actions are playing out in court sent straight to your inbox every week, become a member for $10/month or $120/year and support our growing newsroom.