A pivotal week for Ukraine

This was a difficult week for the Trumps. Four members of the family, including the ex-president, as well as his company, have been sued for financial fraud by the State of New York for overvaluing his assets by billions of dollars. The case was announced in great detail by New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday morning. Later that day, a federal appeals court ruled that the Justice Department could continue looking at the classified materials Trump absconded with to Mar-a-Lago, which the FBI recovered in August. Also on Wednesday evening, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection announced its next public hearing, scheduled for Sept. 28, at 1pm ET. And now, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master Trump requested in the stolen documents case, has given his legal team a timeline for proving their publicly made claims that the FBI planted the documents in Trump’s resort home. You know…the documents Trump says he declassified just “by thinking about it.” You can never count Donald Trump out, because he’s had an almost uncanny ability to evade justice. But if his streak of good fortune is about to end, we may look back on this week as the proverbial last straw. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

• Special master calls for help in Trump Mar-a-Lago documents fight —Politico

• Migrant-moving company gave GOP cash, has ties to DeSantis' immigration 'czar' and Rep. Matt Gaetz —NBC News

• Rep. Matt Gaetz won’t be charged in sex-trafficking probe —The Washington Post

• DOJ investigating Mike Lindell over potential identity theft, damage to protected computer —The Hill

• Alarm as Koch bankrolls dozens of election denier candidates —The Guardian

• U.S. puts sanctions on Iran morality police, accusing unit of abusing women —Reuters

• House Democrats reach deal on policing bills ahead of midterms —PBS News

• Florida brings battle over social media regulation to the Supreme Court —The Washington Post

• Ginni Thomas agrees to Jan. 6 select committee interview —Axios

• House GOP deploys a 2023 agenda it can use in November —Politico

‘Ukraine demands punishment’

Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t having such a great week either. His chief nemesis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressed the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly by video on Wednesday. Zelensky called for the creation of a special tribunal to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and also suggested revoking Russia’s voting, veto, and delegation rights within the UN. He may get some support from his international allies. Echoing Zelensky, President Biden declared in his own address that Russia’s abuses “make your blood run cold.” —The Hill

• Preparing to go nuclear? Putin mobilized hundreds of thousands of extra forces this week for his increasingly troubled offensive against Ukraine. In a rare televised address, he warned that if the territorial integrity of Russia is threatened, the Kremlin would “certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. It is not a bluff.” In response, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the UN must tell Putin to stop his “reckless nuclear threats.” —CNBC

• Now this is a rigged election. A Kremlin-orchestrated referendum got underway today in occupied regions of Ukraine that seeks to make them part of Russia. Officials installed by Russia are carrying ballots to apartment blocks accompanied by gun-toting police. The voting is scheduled to run through Tuesday. Take a guess which way it will go. Zelensky called Putin’s desperate moves this week—the troop mobilization, the nuclear threats, and the referendum—a “frank admission” that the Russian army has “crumbled.” —Associated Press

• Russia stands alone. The tide of international opinion appears to be decisively turning away from Russia, as a number of non-aligned countries are joining the U.S. and its allies in condemning Moscow’s war against Ukraine and its threats to the international rules-based order. Even Chinese and Indian leaders were critical of the war at a summit last week in Uzbekistan. The shift offers some hope to Ukraine and its Western allies that increasing isolation will put pressure on Putin to negotiate a peace. But Putin has staked his legacy on the Ukraine war and few expect him to back down. —Associated Press

MORE: Russian military setbacks in Ukraine incur a geopolitical price —The Christian Science Monitor

Cupp: Right-wing nationalism comes to…Sweden?

”Perhaps it’s some consolation to know the U.S. isn’t the only democracy in jeopardy—that we aren’t uniquely susceptible to these dark impulses, that this isn’t one of those ‘only in America’ problems. But that doesn’t change the fact that none of this is good. The rise in right-wing nationalism is corrosive and chilling, and the more it spreads, the worse it is for the world.“ —S.E. Cupp in Chicago Sun-Times

S.E. Cupp is a conservative political commentator and the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

MORE: U.S. ambassador: Finland and Sweden in NATO by Christmas —Politico

Focus on the Presidential Election Reform Act 

The House this week passed a set of electoral reforms aimed at shoring up ambiguities and archaic language in the presidential certification process. The Presidential Election Reform Act was introduced by Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, both members of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the related attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. The legislation passed in the House 229-203, with nine Republicans voting with all Democrats in favor. Most of the nine had also voted for Donald Trump's impeachment in the wake of the Capitol attack.

• What does it do? The 38-page bill would make a number of changes to the Electoral Count Act, which governs how Electoral College votes are submitted by states and then counted by Congress. Specifically, it would make it more difficult for members of Congress to muck up the certification process with objections that aren't based on legitimate concerns, and would clarify that the vice president's role in counting electoral votes is strictly ministerial.

• What are its chances in the Senate? The House bill is similar but not identical to narrower legislation that a bipartisan group of senators led by Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin have been working on this year. Collins said this week that she prefers the Senate legislation, as it already has the approval of enough Republicans in that chamber to pass the filibuster threshold.

• “The time to address this is now.” It's unclear when the Senate will take up any ECA reform legislation, but experts say it better happen soon. Ned Foley, an election law expert at The Ohio State University, said, "Now is the maximum veil of ignorance: where the two political parties don't know exactly what the lay of the land is going to be in '24 and '25, and so there's a greater chance of bipartisan consensus on the clear procedures for governing the process." —NPR

MORE: Jennifer Rubin: Cheney speaks at AEI to rightfully denounce her party —The Washington Post

Harris: When it comes to conspiracies, acting is as harmful as believing 

“The costs of acting as if the 2020 election were rigged led to millions of dollars worth of damage to the Capitol building, led to hundreds of arrests for Capitol rioters, led to multiple deaths, and imperiled American democracy. Given the severe risks involved, it’s worth wondering why people who did not sincerely believe the election was unfair would risk pretending. This question highlights the unique danger of conspiracy theories endorsed by those in power: There can be much to gain from pretending to believe them.” —Keith Raymond Harris on The Conversation

Keith Raymond Harris is a postdoctoral research fellow in philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany.

MORE: Study: Extremism in Florida on the rise due to misinformation, conspiracy theories —Fox 13 News

Will: One state’s vote will impact us all

“[W]hat makes [Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug] Mastriano more than an especially exotic political exhibit is his vow to appoint a secretary of state ‘who’s delegated from me the power to make the corrections to elections, the voting logs, and everything. And I can decertify every [voting] machine in the state.’ In the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Pennsylvania was decided by 0.7 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. In 2024, the state probably will again be closely contested, and its electoral votes could determine the national winner. So, imagine Mastriano, who has neither evidence nor doubts that Trump won the 2020 election, decreeing ‘corrections’ to the election. His motives are frightening because they are pure: He has the scary sincerity of the unhinged, whose delusions armor them against evidence.” —George Will in The Washington Post

George Will is a conservative political commentator and columnist for The Washington Post.

MORE: Bill Walczak: With democracy at risk, how do we get more people to engage and vote? —Dorchester Reporter

Dalmia: Signs of hope for liberal democracy

“Powerful figures and voices from virtually every conservative faction—neocons, paleocons, religious conservatives, libertarians—have risen to speak out. They are not just coming together in a new center-right fusion; they are also joining hands with sensible liberals to mount a united resistance against the illiberalism of the right and to make a renewed case for core liberal values: pluralism, toleration, openness, and civility. At the same time, they are reinforcing liberal institutions against a populist takeover by reforming the Electoral Count Act, experimenting with creative new fixes for the polarization that our broken primary system is generating, strengthening civilian control over the military, and much, much more.” —Shikha Dalmia in The UnPopulist

Shikha Dalmia is the editor of The UnPopulist and a visiting fellow at Mercatus Center's Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange at George Mason University.

MORE: Five strategies to support U.S. democracy —Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Kudos to the truth-seeking staff of The Topline for adhering to your principles and insisting that our rancid political climate has affected both major parties. Being upset when one’s own clan is critiqued for behaving in a way that would be lambasted if the other side did it is truly a sign of double standard. I continue to hold The Topline and Evan McMullin in the highest regard for pursuing integrity and the highest level of democratic idealism. Thank you. —Dr. Kurt W., Oregon

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