The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 25, 2025

President Donald Trump launched a cryptocurrency “meme coin” with his likeness on January 17th, just before inauguration day.  April 21st, with its value plummeting, the company offered top buyers of the coin a dinner with Trump and a personal tour of the White House.  That likely violates the Emoluments Clause.

The website for the meme coin loudly promotes a dinner with Trump at his Washington golf club for the top 220 owners of the coin, and for the top 25 owners, an “exclusive reception” and a “special VIP tour.”  But as of April 24th, any reference to touring White House was scrubbed from the site.  

With its value having fallen from $74.00 to a low of $7.66 on April 17, the price jumped after the announcement to $14.54 on April 23rd.  But it’s not the price of the coin that should worry Americans, but that corporations, special interests or foreign governments could exploit the offer as an opportunity to channel money to the notoriously transactional Trump in exchange for access and favors.

Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told  Mother Jones magazine, “This is about as unethical as you can get – essentially selling off access to the president.” 

We have a pre-scrubbing graphic,  and more on the Emoluments Clause, at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

April 23 – GetTrumpMemes.com via WaybackMachine.com – “Have Dinner With President Trump”

April 24 – GetTrumpMemes.com – “Have Dinner with President Trump” – Reference to White House Tour Scrubbed

American Constitution Society – (2019)  Profiting off the Presidency: Trump’s Violations of the Emoluments Clauses
Brennan Center for Justice – (2019)  How Will the Courts Handle the Trump Emoluments Cases?
American Democracy Minute – (2024) The Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause was Intended to Stop Bribery and Corruption.  Recently, Not So Much
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) – (2024)  The intensifying threat of Donald Trump’s emoluments
Mother Jones – Trump Crypto Coin Buyers Offered VIP Tour of White House
CoinStats – TRUMP Meme Coin Tumbles After Soaring on Exclusive Gala Announcement

Groups Taking Action:

CREW, Public Citizen

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Corruption #EmolumentsClause #DonaldTrump #TrumpMemeCoin

The post Trump ‘Meme Coin’ Cryptocurrency Scheme Selling Access to the President Raises Alarms for Emolument Clause Violations appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 3, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

December 1st, President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, convicted on federal gun and drug charges.  President-elect Trump recently nominated Charles Kushner, whom Trump pardoned for tax evasion and witness tampering, to become ambassador to France.  How did Presidential pardons evolve, and what are their limitations?

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the President the authority to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the Constitutional Convention debated whether the President could unilaterally pardon, or whether approval was needed by the Senate.  The U.S. Supreme Court later interpreted Section 2 as unilateral with broad powers, but limited to federal offenses.

Among the most controversial are President Andrew Johnson’s pardon of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and in recent times, President Gerald Ford’s pardon of President Richard Nixon, both citing the need for reconciliation.

The White House Historical Society notes that in order for a pardon to be given, a crime must first be committed, and can only extend to FEDERAL, not state crimes.  Ballotpedia, using DOJ statistics, calculates there were 21,130 pardons & commutations from 1902 to 2024.   Biden has now issued 26 pardons & clemencies, not including blanket clemency to 6500 Americans convicted of simple marjuana possession.  Trump pardoned 143, and gave clemency to 94 others.

See the statistics at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Politico – We haven’t seen a pardon as sweeping as Hunter Biden’s in generations
USA Today – Trump nominates Charles Kushner, who he pardoned in 2020, as US Ambassador to France

US Department of Justice – Political Contributor and Developer Charles Kushner Sentenced to Maximum 24 Months for Witness Retaliation and Other Crimes

US Department of Justice – Office of the Pardon Attorney – Statistics
The White House Historical Association – The History of the Pardon Power
Office of the Pardon Attorney, DOJ – Clemency Statistics
Brennan Center for Justice – Presidential Pardon Power Explained
National Constitution Center – Presidential pardons: A constitutional and historical review
BallotPedia – Executive clemency and presidential pardons

Pew Research – Trump used his clemency power sparingly despite a raft of late pardons and commutations

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #PresidentialPardon #HunterBiden #Clemency

The post President Biden Pardons Son, Trump Previously-Pardoned Ambassador Nominee & Family Member.   How Did Presidential Pardons Evolve? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 30, 2023

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

A  New Hampshire 2020 U.S. Senate candidate endorsed by former President Trump is questioning Trump’s qualification for the Presidency under the 14th Amendment, Section 3, designed to keep former Confederate leaders from holding office. 

Republican Corky Messner said in a NH Today radio interview that as a Constitutional Conservative, his reading of Section 3 suggests that Trump’s actions in the January 6th insurrection may disqualify him from the New Hampshire Presidential primary ballot, and says it should go to the courts soon.  Section 3 reads:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Messner said he is considering a lawsuit to move it quickly to the U.S. Supreme Court.  New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan said he is seeking legal advice in the matter. 

We have legal articles and more on Section 3 at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
National Constitution Center – 14th Amendment, Section 3
WGIR’s NH Today – 8-22 Corky Messner on Trump’s eligibility to run for President
NH Public Radio – Stories about Corky Messner
Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Review – The Sweep and Force of Section Three  (download of PDF for full paper) 
NH Journal – Will ‘Insurrection’ Keep Trump Off NH Ballot?
Politico – N.H. Republicans feud over bid to knock Trump off 2024 ballot
The Atlantic – (Paywall) The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again
NBC News – Trump supporters flood New Hampshire election office with calls after false claims about ballot access
Democracy Docket – How the 14th Amendment Could Disqualify Trump and His Allies

Groups Taking Action:
Free Speech for People, Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE! 
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers

The post State of New Hampshire Seeks 14th Amendment Legal Advice on Whether Candidate Donald Trump Can Appear on the First in the Nation 2024 Primary appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 8, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Democracy Docket – North Carolina Supreme Court Will Rehear Two Voting Rights Cases With New GOP Majority
NPR – How a major election theory case at the U.S. Supreme Court could get thrown out
Slate – Unfortunately, the Biggest Election Case of the Supreme Court Term Could Be Moot

Brennan Center for Justice – Moore v. Harper, Explained
SCOTUS Blog – Court seems unwilling to embrace broad version of “independent state legislature” theory

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause NC,  Campaign Lega Center, Represent.Us, Declaration for American Democracy, Protect Democracy

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We reported that the new majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court questionably agreed to rehear two cases, one of which later became Moore v. Harper, the most important Democracy case in decades. For better or worse, what the North Carolina court decides may impact all U.S. voters.

In Harper v. Hall, the North Carolina high court threw out the gerrymandered state house, senate and Congressional voting district maps in 2022.

State Republicans argued Moore v. Harper last December in the U.S. Supreme Court, using a fringe “independent state legislature” interpretation of the U.S Constitution, giving legislatures ultimate control over elections. That power would trump the state’s constitution, the courts and even a governor’s veto over redistricting, voting rules and election statutes.

Here’s the plot twist. It’s likely the rehearing of Harper v. Hall will result in it being overturned – BAD for North Carolina. But it could also make Moore v. Harper MOOT in the U.S. Supreme Court, where only three of nine justices seemed sympathetic to sketchy ISL legal argument. Democracy scholar Richard Hasen suggests it is a Republican calculus to get a likely result in North Carolina in the short term, and bring another stronger ISL case to the US justices later. NPR reports Ohio legislators are already preparing one. So moot doesn’t necessarily mean good news for American Democracy.

Find Moore v. Harper resources at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

The post The Outcome of Reheard NC Case May Make the Scary Moore v. Harper Case Moot. Is that a Good Thing? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles:
Charlotte News & Observer – NC’s highest court rules on gerrymandered legislature’s power, but the case isn’t over
Southern Environmental Law Center – North Carolina Supreme Court rules that racially gerrymandered legislature does not have unlimited authority to change NC’s Constitution
Ballotpedia – Voter ID in North Carolina

Groups Taking Action:
North Carolina NAACP,  Southern Environmental Law Center, Forward Justice

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Here’s a fascinating case from North Carolina that you’ll hear more about in the mainstream press in the next few days. The North Carolina Supreme Court has conditionally ruled that because the state’s legislature was elected with gerrymandered voting maps, state constitutional amendments enacted in 2018 may be invalid.

The case is being called “groundbreaking” and could have huge implications, but it’s not yet settled. Ballotpedia & the Charlotte News & Observer report that in 2018, voters passed a constitutional amendment to require photo ID to vote. Shortly after, the legislature passed SB 824 to codify it. The governor vetoed it, which the legislature then overrode, precipitating the lawsuits.

Voting rights advocates argued that 28 districts were knowingly racially gerrymandered, and that two-thirds of the districts needed to be redrawn to be in compliance with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Under that argument, the legislature therefore did not have the legal authority to propose the amendment in the first place. The state supreme court agreed.

The state high court did not overturn the amendment, however. It returned the case to the lower court with guidance and questions, and asked for a more rigorous opinion that the state’s high court could further consider.

North Carolina NAACP’s Deborah Maxwell, said of the ruling, “Rigging elections by trampling on the rights of Black voters has consequences.”

See links to articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post ADM for August 23, 2022: North Carolina Supreme Court May Invalidate Constitutional Amendment Proposed by Gerrymandered Legislature appeared first on American Democracy Minute.