How The Majority Can Hold Trump Accountable for their Corruption, Crimes and Cruelty with Joyce Vance

Thanks so much to everyone who joined tonight. I seem to have continued my winning streak of truly awful photos for the start of a Substack live—you never know exactly when it’s going to kick in. But I hope our conversation more than makes up for that. If you missed us live, listen to it now by clicking on the picture above.

If you don’t already have the Substack App and want to be ready to join in for future live chats—I have some great ones lined up—go ahead and download it right now, while you’re thinking about it.

Today was one of those days when a lot happened, in and out of court. In a desperate effort to justify the unjustifiable, the Trump administration continues to lie about it. They lie about what they’re doing. They lie about what it means. They lie about how democracy works. And a lot of Americans, even people who have traditionally supported Trump, seem to be catching on.

Like when Stephen Miller tweeted a stream of lies claiming that January 6 defendants didn’t get due process, saying it was “impossible” for them.

That, of course, is a bald-faced lie. The January 6 defendants were indicted by grand juries. They had the option of pleading guilty—in front of a judge who ensured their plea was knowing and voluntary—or of going to trial and having a jury decide whether they’d been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They were able to file appeals if convicted, and a number of convictions were reversed on appeal. They were represented by their own lawyers. Government prosecutors were bound by the rules of professional ethics. In short, they had every ounce of due process our system provides.

Miller’s claim that “Those persecuted Americans could only dream of the ‘due process’ afforded illegal aliens” is just bunk. Not a single one of the January 6 defendants was rendered to an inhuman terrorist prison in El Salvador and left to rot for the remainder of their lives with no contact with their families or anyone on the outside.

The lies are so epidemic that there’s a risk that we'll grow accustomed to them. Instead, hold onto your shock and outrage and share it with others when you see something like this. The Trump administration understands the growing momentum of the protests over due process. They are watching Americans absorb the fundamentals: It’s due process for all of us, immigrants included, or it will be there for none of us. So they’re trying to use distraction and disinformation to get Americans to disengage. Don’t let them get away with it.

I hope you’ll enjoy Wajahat’s and my conversation tonight, as we discuss what it’s going to take to get through this.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

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