Trump’s Most Insidious Scheme (So Far)

Photo by The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The two months since Donald Trump’s reinauguration have been like a blitzkrieg. There has been no shortage of reports of radical actions – some constitutional and some not – against various facets of the federal government, immigrants (both legal and illegal), our allies, and others. There has been so much going on that it is impossible to cover everything, but there is one particularly worrisome aspect of the “shock and awe” MAGA onslaught.

One of the most troubling series of reports is the shocking lack of due process for MAGA’s enemies. In actions reminiscent of his first-term plans to “take the guns first and go through due process second,” the Trump Administration is currently focusing its pre-due process activities against Americans in other ways.

Trump & Co. have been summarily deporting immigrants without affording them the due process required by law. The Administration has cited the Alien Enemies Act to deport aliens without regard to legal procedures. The problem is that this law applies to wartime, not a peacetime immigrant crisis, and the Trump Administration’s use of the word “invasion” to justify their actions is not supported by the law. As a result, federal judges have ruled against the strategy with one judge commenting, “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than what has happened here.”

And yes, noncitizens (even illegal aliens) are entitled to some rights under US law. This includes the right to due process. Without due process, it is impossible to determine whether someone is guilty of a crime or even if they are an American citizen instead of an immigrant.

There is now no doubt that immigrants who do not have violent criminal records and even some legal immigrants have been caught up in the deportations. The Trump Administration claims that deportees are violent criminals and gang members, but the lack of due process makes these claims unverifiable. Tattoos seem to have been used as a major reason for many deportations, even though the FBI and DHS cast doubt on the use of tattoos to identify gang members. In some cases, immigrants are being slotted for deportation for offenses as slight as authoring a pro-Palestinian op-ed in a student newspaper.

Even tourists are sometimes being detained. In one shocking case, a 28-year-old Welsh backpacker on a tourist visa was shackled in “leg chains, waist chains and handcuffs” for 19 days before being deported, per BBC reports. Her apparent crime? Getting free accommodations from host families by helping “around the house.” The State Department says that people on tourist visas are prohibited from engaging in employment. (Ironically, Elon Musk allegedly worked illegally while on a student visa in 1995.)

Stories like these underscore the claim that the cruelty seems to be the point for MAGA. These reports, as well as others that include accounts of ICE arresting and detaining US citizens, also make me think that ICE is challenging ATF’s reputation as one of the most lawless and unaccountable federal law enforcement agencies. (As a public service, here is a legal guide to interactions with ICE agents.)

But the assault on the rule of law goes even deeper than denying due process. Trump’s most dangerous tactic may be one of the most underreported acts of his new Administration. There is now an established pattern of Trump directly attacking some of the nation’s most prominent law firms.

Trump’s attacks on law firms began with an Executive Order targeting Covington and Burling, a massive law firm that worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation. Trump’s order suspended the security clearances for the firm’s employees and restricted access to government buildings, including courthouses, severely impeding their ability to represent clients, particularly in federal cases.

Some firms, such as Paul Weiss, a firm that had worked with Trump investigators and filed actions against January 6 insurrectionists, quickly capitulated as rival firms schemed to take advantage of their vulnerability, but more Orders quickly followed against other firms that had the temerity to take on Donald Trump. At least five firms have been targeted so far.

It now seems that the firms are realizing that it is a case of hanging together or else hanging separately. Some of Trump’s targets are suing for First Amendment violations, and so far, they are winning against his blatantly unconstitutional strategy.

Why is Trump attacking law firms? The reasons are likely multi-faceted. The most obvious motive is revenge against lawyers who played a role in Trump’s legal problems over the past few years. It is notable that Orders have targeted firms that were involved with the Steele dossier and Robert Mueller.

Even more sinister is the probability that the attacks are designed to chill legal actions against the Administration. Yet another executive action threatens lawyers and firms that engage in activity that the Administration deems “frivolous.”

The purpose here seems obvious when one considers the new Administration’s already lengthy losing streak in the courts. If Trump can intimidate lawyers enough to keep them from filing lawsuits, the Administration can run rampant over the Constitution and the legal system. What good are rights if you can’t find a lawyer to represent you against the government?

Trump’s blitzkrieg against the law is a multi-pronged attack that includes targeting individual citizens, lawyers, and judges, as well as undermining the credibility of the court system. I have long suspected that Trump may eventually refuse to comply with court orders, especially if he senses that the public will not hold him accountable for doing so. He has already tiptoed up to that line.

Those of us who are students of WWII history know the full story of the blitzkrieg, however, and that can give us hope. In the early days of that conflict, Hitler’s “shock and awe” strategy ran roughshod over his enemies and racked up victory after victory. In the end, the German armies became overextended and taking orders from an inexperienced and ignorant leader ultimately led to massive strategic defeats. Once allied armies mobilized, the blitzkrieg tactic was ineffective, but it took long years of hard fighting to take back what what the Nazi blitzkrieg took quikcly.

Trump’s blitzkrieg is already running out of steam. The shock is wearing off, and the opposition is mobilizing and getting organized. The courts are throwing up roadblocks to stop and reverse Trump and DOGE’s unlawful actions, which goes a long way towards explaining the attacks on lawyers and judges.

Our legal system is a thin line separating our Republic from lawless authoritarianism. It is a disturbing tell that Trump and MAGA have placed such a priority on intimidating lawyers and judges into inaction as a means of undermining and circumventing the legal protections that keep us free.

As I’ve said in the past, if you like what Trump is doing, just imagine Democrats doing it to you because eventually, they will.