Mark Trachtenberg

It is going to take years---years!---to rebuild the United States Department of Justice after Trump is gone from office. A jewel of the justice system has been emptied out of institutional knowledge and wisdom.

Maybe we turned a corner yesterday https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/25/republicans-concern-minneapolis-shooting-00745707

Going to be very difficult to reconstitute the DOJ, the FBI, the CDC, etc etc. But I hope you are right.

So much of the damage being done is irreparable, I fear.

My Facebook post on the night of Trump’s first election win. Prescient.

Keep up the fight, Hen! You are an inspiration to so many!

New report card from current and former agents trashes Patel ("in over his head") and Bongino ("something of a clown.") FBI is described in the 115-page report as a “rudderless ship” and “all f–ked up.”
Rumors abound in DC that Patel may get the boot soon.

Three things about the Witkoff tapes:

1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia.

2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea.

3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.

We’re Led by an Administration of Liars Trump insisted Comey be prosecuted for supposedly lying to Congress—but his own administration is full of officials who lied to Congress.

American life and America itself are now being shaped—in terrible, even tragic ways—by people who really did mislead and outright lie to Congress under oath.

A month of Elon Musk on X: Conspiracy theories, fringe politics and self-promotion An NBC News analysis of one month of Musk’s social media posts shows what’s been on his mind, including a broad cross-section of fringe political topics.

NEW: I did a very deep dive into one month's worth of Elon Musk's posts on X so I could understand the breadth and depth of what he is posting about these days. In a word: fringe. www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu... 🧵

Will miss seeing your work in the Chronicle. Onward and upward!

Putin’s mesmeric sway on Trump Russia bets it can gain in US negotiations what it cannot win on the battlefield

"Whatever lies behind Trump’s cupidity towards Putin, we should be long past caring why. The reality is settled fact. Putin has fewer cards in his hand than Trump supposes. One of those cards is Trump." My column. www.ft.com/content/7deb...

Trump summoned the top American military officers stationed around the world to VA to tell them that the enemy they should be primarily concerned with now is American citizens.

Amazing chyron as the Vice President of the United States jokes about the <checks notes> indiscriminate murder of civilians in international waters, in blatant violation of domestic law & multiple international treaties we have signed & ratified.

We must stand resolutely against political assassination and political violence of all kinds, and just as resolutely against everyone who exploits acts of violence as the pretext or excuse for political repression of political opponents.

They could have done something like this in the Trump immunity case and given a chance for the special counsel to take Trump's federal election subversion charges to trial.

Expediting cases is a choice

Making Sense of MAGA An ideological roadmap to help you understand the madness.

This is a remarkable summary by @asharangappa.bsky.social of the anti-democratic and interconnected players behind the dismantling of American democracy and a frightening roadmap of where we already are and are ultimately heading…great essay.

open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

Best pizza in Houston, if you ask me.

Serve your country! Defend your culture!

Just in case it’s not already clear that ICE is a white supremacist thug army, Homeland Security is recruiting with a “defend your culture” slogan.

This is very, very bad.

More on Trump’s nominee to lead the office investigating Jack Smith:

➡️ He said that the descendants of slaves should pay reparations to the descendants of slave owners

➡️ He urged Congress to make J6 a national holiday

➡️ He called for Trump’s birthday to be made a national holiday (“MAGA Day”)

Republican Senators will get a partisan judge who supports their policy preferences for this seat whether it's Bove or someone else. Supporting Bove instead of demanding a different choice at this point is accepting/endorsing the most explicit attack possible on the republic and the rule of law.

The self harm that America is doing to itself must be studied and unpacked. As a former US ntl security official, this is frankly sheer torture to witness. A superpower killing itself. Willingly. I’ll add that friends of America in Europe r also watching this and wondering, why?

Seen in upstate NY

Exactly right.

The word of the day: “schadenfreude!” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schadenfreude. Brought to you by Elmo!

Superb op-ed by my friend @kovarsky.bsky.social on Trump’s flagrant abuse of the pardon power. Ds should campaign on a constitutional amendment eliminating or severely circumscribing that power.

What the Kate Middleton story says about us It's easy to talk about a photoshopped picture or an alleged affair and to demand more information, writes Ellen Braaten. It's much harder to discuss the fears of a mother who may not see her children...

As a cancer survivor, it pains me to hear people imagine coverups about Biden’s cancer. Here’s something I wrote last year for @wbur.org @cogwbur.bsky.social about what it’s like to get a cancer diagnosis and how it’s insensitive of us to make assumptions about others. www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

Trump's brain is gone It really should be a bigger story.

"Trump has always been an ignoramus who masks his intellectual shortcomings with bombast and declarations of his own brilliance, but his rambling nonsensical responses in these latest interviews should set off alarms." — @playtyperguy.com