Wherever law ends, tyranny begins

Andrew Weissmann was one of Robert Mueller's top deputies in the special counsel's investigation of the 2016 election, and he's about to publish the first insider account, called "Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation." The title comes from an adapted quote by the philosopher John Locke that's inscribed on the façade of the Justice Department building in Washington, D.C.: "Wherever law ends, tyranny begins." The question for us: Did Mueller fail?

• — Short answer: No. And Yes. Weissmann's book portrays a group of talented, dedicated professionals who unearthed plenty of wrongdoing by a "lawless" president and his knowing accomplices, including Attorney General Bill Barr, congressional Republicans, and various Trump lackeys. The problem? The investigative team was the beset with internal divisions and led by a man whose code of integrity allowed their target to defy them and escape accountability.
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• — "There's no question I was frustrated." Weissmann pointed out that the special counsel's report never arrived at the clear legal conclusions expected from an internal Justice Department document. At the same time, it lacked the explanatory power of last month's bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report.
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• — While he describes Mueller as loyal, well-intentioned, and demanding, Weissmann goes to great lengths to understand the former FBI director's thinking on two central decisions: not to subpoena the president, and not to state plainly in the report what the evidence makes clear—that Trump obstructed justice. Ultimately, neither decision holds up to Weissmann's scrutiny. Perhaps, then, Mueller's biggest mistake was believing Congress would show as much integrity as he did. —The Atlantic

Ziegler: A dangerous moment for the Supreme Court

"America should hope that the country's political leaders pause before the damage to the Court's reputation becomes irreversible. This week, many are mourning [Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader] Ginsburg, even the conservatives eager to replace her. Her legacy is inextricably tied to the Supreme Court's own. We are in real jeopardy of cheapening both." —The Atlantic

Ed. Note: Mary Ziegler is a professor at the Florida State University College of Law.

MORE: Romney backs vote on Supreme Court nominee —Politico

Conspiracies are shaping the election...and more

If you're on social media, you've heard them. COVID-19 is a hoax. The election is rigged. Bill Gates wants to microchip the world population. Donald Trump is fighting an evil cabal of satanic child sex traffickers. And on and on. They're conspiracy theories all. But what happens when a sizable portion of the electorate buys into them lock, stock, and barrel? You have problems. Big problems. Democracy relies on an informed and engaged public responding in rational ways to the real-life facts and challenges before us. But a growing number of Americans are untethered from that.

• — "They're not on the same epistemological grounding, they're not living in the same worlds," says Whitney Phillips, a professor at Syracuse University who studies online disinformation. "You cannot have a functioning democracy when people are not at the very least occupying the same solar system." —TIME
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• — Coming to a Senate office near you? A U.S. Senate candidate linked to the QAnon conspiracy has drawn flak for posting messages accusing the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of upholding abortion rights to limit the growth of black and brown Americans. Lauren Witzke, who won last week's Republican primary in Delaware and will face Sen. Chris Coons in November, also tweeted that Coons is a "Christian-hating baby killer." She warned, "I'm coming for your seat, satanist." Hoo boy. —Independent
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• — They're also a health hazard. A University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center study published yesterday found that COVID-19 conspiracy theories are not only commonplace, they're gaining traction. Believers are more likely to be heavy users of social media and viewers of conservative media like Fox News, the study found. They're also 33% less likely to wear a mask when out, elevating the risk of catching and spreading COVID-19. —TIME

Waldman: As we reach 200,000 COVID-19 deaths

"[T]he president and his party tell us that we should be grateful that a mere 200,000 are dead, that were President Trump not so competent, so decisive, so brilliant, we'd be in far worse shape. To which we have to ask: Like who? After all, their argument is not simply that our government's response was on par with that of other countries, but that it was uniquely effective. Were that the case, it would mean not only that we wouldn't be doing worse than other countries, but that no country would be doing better. In Germany or Canada or Japan or South Korea, they don't have the benefit of Trump's extraordinary leadership to guide them through this crisis, so they must have had millions of deaths. Which of course they haven't." —The Washington Post

MORE: Pentagon used taxpayer money meant for masks and swabs to make jet engine parts and body armor —The Washington Post

Follow the money

A congressional investigation into the 2016 presidential election has unearthed evidence that major banks processed $2 trillion in transactions despite suspecting they were connected to illegal activity, including terrorism, the drug trade, and political corruption. Corporate watchdogs say the reports show that the U.S. government and banks need to do more to combat money laundering.

• — The backlash. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said the suspicious activity reports, known as SARs, which cover the years 1999-2017, had been "unlawfully disclosed" to BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. —CBS News
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• — The fallout. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called yesterday for reforming the government practice of offering banks deferred prosecution agreements instead of real punishments when they are caught abetting money laundering. She also proposed the creation of a new unit in the Treasury Department, separate from FinCEN, "to investigate these types of financial crimes." —BuzzFeed News
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• — Helping the banks. North Carolina TV viewers are being treated to a flattering new ad spot about Sen. Thom Tillis, who is facing a competitive re-election fight this November. The ad was funded with a $500,000 expenditure by the American Bankers Association and sponsored by the North Carolina Bankers Association. Why? Tillis helped to get two ABA-supported deregulatory provisions added to the CARES Act that helped banks boost their profits during the pandemic. Both of the provisions had been longtime wishlist items for the banking industry. —Sludge

MORE: FinCEN Files: Deutsche Bank tops list of suspicious transactions —Deutsche Welle

More bad news on ICE

The House Homeland Security Committee released a report detailing how some Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are denied medical care and forced into solitary confinement as a form of punishment. The latest allegations join an already growing list of wrongdoing committed by ICE.

• — The report was compiled from interviews with staff and detainees in eight jails across five states. Staff at these jails frequently ignored serious medical problems, denied medication to the detainees, and even mocked some of those with medical complaints.
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• — The report also reveals that some guards used solitary confinement as a threat and would place detainees in solitary confinement if they made too many medical requests. Additionally, legal help and translation services for detainees were found to be wholly inadequate.
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• — "I hope after reading this report that DHS officials act swiftly to address these glaring problems. What we found clearly indicates a pattern of violations across ICE's detention system that goes beyond just the facilities we visited," said House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson. —Forbes

Dowd: Healing our national heartbreak

"We all know the best path when we suffer our own heartbreak, but how about as a country? I would suggest that the path forward is the same for the United States. We must grieve, we can get angry, we must look inward and outward to understand, and then we have a choice. Do we become more cynical, lose hope, and shut down, or do we venture out with hope and greater capacity for empathy and compassion and begin to build a country we can trust and fall back in love with?" —ABC News

MORE: Rubin: Our democracy has turned dangerously undemocratic —The Washington Post

Black agriculture grows in Pittsburgh

In March and April, as the novel coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S., the program Ebony Lunsford-Evans designed to teach gardening to seniors on the North Side of Pittsburgh, Pa., was shut down. It was also the first spring for her business, FarmerGirlEb, through which she sells a variety of produce grown in plots peppered throughout the West End and North Side. At the time, nobody was sure how long the stay-at-home order would last and what it would mean for the season's sales.

• — But as it turned out, the season was a boon for Lunsford-Evans and a whole network of Black agriculturalists in the city. At the Homewood Historic Farm, Raqueeb Bey noticed an increased interest this summer from the community—more people getting in touch with her to learn how to grow their own food.
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• — "We love that more people are growing their own food. And we love it that more Black growers are coming together as a collective to work," Bey says.
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• — "We couldn't have asked for a better first season or introduction to our business," TaRay Kelly, of Soil Sisters Plant Nursery, says. She and her sister, Raynice, have a fall crop of seedlings that will be ready for sale in the forthcoming weeks. "The show must go on. Everything is back in its rotation." —Environmental Health News
  
  Thank you to Jim V., New York, for suggesting this story!

How will Bill Barr's cutting off of federal funding to New York, Portland, and Seattle on the premise that they are "lawless zones" play with Trump supporters living within these jurisdictions? Trump and his henchmen don't care—these cities are in blue states. The Trump regime is trying to undermine local leaders affiliated with the opposition, as aspiring dictators typically do. —Ron W., New York

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