One of the stranger things about analyzing Downmarket Mussolini's fascist executive orders is the way folks around me are always prepared to write off some of the most dangerous things Der Leader tries to do as mere "petty vindictiveness." Take for example Trump's recent executive orders targeting a law firm that sued Fox News for spreading lies about an electronic voting machine company, and two former members of his previous administration - a DHS official who refuted Trump's blatantly false claims that the 2020 election was rigged for Joe Biden, and a whistleblower he's accusing of Espionage Act violations and has accused of treason in the past. Is this about revenge for our (not so) beloved tangerine tyrant? Of course, but particularly in the first two cases, this is also about establishing Der Führer's "Big Lie" about the 2020 election being rigged against him, as the only officially sanctioned truth the government, and by extension its judiciary branch, should recognize.
First up we have the president signing an executive order designed to punish Susman Godfrey for forcing the Trump regime's quasi-official state news outlet, Fox, to settle with Dominion Voting Systems after they spent literally months openly broadcasting fascist conspiracy theories about the 2020 election (that Trump lost) being rigged:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/09/trump-executive-order-fox-news-law-firm
Trump signs order targeting law firm behind $787.5m Fox defamation suit
"Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday punishing the law firm that helped Dominion Voting Systems obtain a $787.5m settlement from Fox for lies about the 2020 election.
The order against the firm, Susman Godfrey, marks the latest effort by the president to punish attorneys and firms who have opposed his interests.
The order seeks to harm the firm by limiting its attorneys from accessing government buildings, revoking security clearances and essentially making it impossible for it to represent anyone who has business before the federal government."
Like a lot of Trump's efforts to punish or intimidate law firms, this blatantly unconstitutional executive order is mostly about trying to put Susman Godfrey out of business by denying them access to the federal government, and the courtrooms it controls. What's telling here is that Trump isn't even trying to make the argument that the firm broke any laws, or violated any rules; no reason for the executive order was given, and the president has only said
"there were some very bad things that happened with these law firms,” because Trump hasn't found a valid excuse for this ideological policing and he's not ready to just up and admit he's trying to take out his perceived political enemies for A) disputing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and B) forcing his friends at Fox to pay for its libelous claims about Dominion.
Which then brings us to Trump's blatantly authoritarian use of the DoJ to target two of his political "enemies" that served in his administration, but spoke out against the regime and in Krebs's case, actively debunked "The Big Lie" Trump has been telling about the 2020 election being rigged against him since it happened:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/09/trump-justice-department-critics
Trump orders DoJ to investigate duo who debunked claims of election fraud
"Donald Trump’s persecution of critics intensified on Wednesday when he ordered the justice department to investigate a whistleblower and a cybersecurity director who refuted unfounded claims of election fraud.
The US president signed memorandums targeting Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs, former homeland security officials who served in the first Trump administration."
Look my friends, I'm not expecting you to find much sympathy for a Big Law firm rolling in filthy lucre, or two former fascist collaborators that are now finding out the leopards will indeed eat their faces, but in this situation the "who" of this story, is far less important than the "what." What Trump is doing here is weaponizing the US government to punish folks for contradicting his "enforced unreality" surrounding the 2020 election, and let me assure you that there are a lot of people in the judiciary, legal profession, and media who have gone on record saying that Trump's claims where baseless (fascist) conspiracy theories, so that isn't just a question of the president arguing with the experts about some bullshit he picked up on Fox News. Furthermore, Trumps actions ultimately seek to make his enemies, the enemies of the United States government; this is a classic sign of a state sliding into an authoritarian dictatorship and thus cannot be dismissed as Trump simply being a petulant vengeful manchild.
Smoke em if you got em, because if Trump gets away with this, we're through the looking glass and his every utterance becomes our new reality.
#Trump #Fascism #BigLaw #DoJ #SusmanGodfrey #Authoritarianism #Fox #DominionVotingSystems #TheBigLie #2020USElection #Propaganda #ConspiracyTheories #Targeting #MilesTaylor #ChrisKrebs
