The week Trump came for your vote and your news

Saturday, February 28

This was a hard week for democracy.

On Tuesday night, Donald Trump lied his way through the State of the Union, ordering Senate Majority Leader John Thune to go beyond the already disastrous SAVE America Act by requiring proof of citizenship to vote and banning no-excuse mail-in voting.

On Friday, I told you this would be a calamity for our elections and warned that Trump wasn't asking Congress to make these changes — he was demanding them. Now, Trump is taking matters into his own hands.

According to reports, anti-voting activists are working with the White House to issue an emergency executive order that would give Trump unprecedented control over our elections. The order is based on a false conspiracy theory that China interfered in the 2020 election.

Yes, it is illegal and unconstitutional, and yes, the courts would block it. But that does not mean the mere issuance of such an order would be harmless. It would cause real damage.

Trump is ready and willing to take drastic measures to swing the midterms in his favor. Every day that passes, his approval ratings sink further. His policies are growing more unpopular. The calls to release the Epstein files are growing louder.

On top of this, the DOJ is filing five new lawsuits to obtain access to sensitive voter data. The new lawsuits — targeting Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey — bring the total number of states sued to 30.

Speaker Mike Johnson said it himself: "If we lose the midterms, heaven forbid, it would be the end of the Trump presidency in a real effect."

This is a members-only newsletter — but today, it’s on us. Upgrade to join 60,000+ supporters who believe facts matter and democracy is worth defending.

DON'T MISS OUT

What worried me this week

Bari Weiss and David Ellison just took control of CNN.

After months of wavering between Netflix and Paramount Skydance, the Warner Bros. board has agreed to sell the company to Paramount — and with it, CNN.

Ellison has already installed Bari Weiss at the helm of CBS News, where she quickly transformed the Tiffany Network into the Trump Network. I expect CNN is heading toward a similar fate.

In countries like Russia and North Korea, authoritarian leaders control the media, corrupting news outlets to spread propaganda and serve their political interests. During Trump's second term, American media companies have capitulated in much the same way. With CNN now under Ellison's control, it will only get worse.

The only question remaining is whether independent, pro-democracy news outlets like Democracy Docket can scale fast enough to fill the void. If not, there will be shockingly little trustworthy news left for those who don't want a steady drumbeat of pro-Trump propaganda.

What I’m watching in the courts

In Fulton County, two former DOJ officials submitted a court filing accusing the department of failing "to live up to the high standard set by previous administrations" in its seizure of 2020 election records. The officials — former acting U.S. attorneys general Peter Keisler and Stuart Gerson — went further, condemning the department for abandoning its role as "a protector of constitutional rights and liberties."

However, ahead of an upcoming evidentiary hearing, federal Judge Jean-Paul Boulee reversed course, directing the DOJ and Fulton County to reach an agreement about the seized records outside of court before he considers additional evidence. Boulee also suggested that the DOJ may be permitted to keep the ballots it seized, regardless of the outcome in the case.

With the 2026 midterms right around the corner, that would be a terrible outcome — one that would allow Pam Bondi's DOJ to seize election records without fear of consequence.

What gave me hope this week

Following recent wins in redistricting, Democrats are poised to take the House in November. While Republicans launched the redistricting fight in Texas, they have lost the war. At best, they will break even. At worst, they will actually lose seats.

And while the Supreme Court may eventually gut what remains of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais, it looks increasingly unlikely it will do so in time to affect the 2026 elections.

Still, we cannot afford to rest easy. We must continue to fight back against attacks on our democracy — but I believe we are poised to win.

The CBS/CNN merger is the latest sign of legacy media capitulating to Donald Trump — and it won’t be the last.

Independent, pro-democracy journalism matters more than ever. We answer only to our readers — become a premium member to power our work.

FUND FEARLESS JOURNALISM