We Resist: Day 62

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

* * *

Here are some things in the news today:

There is more news about former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and his ties to Russia. I will have a dedicated piece on that news later today.

[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] Brian Ross and Matthew Mosk at ABC News: Russian Mafia Boss Still at Large after FBI Wiretap at Trump Tower. The key takeaway here, however, is: "For two years ending in 2013, the FBI had a court-approved warrant to eavesdrop on a sophisticated Russian organized crime money-laundering network that operated out of unit 63A in Trump Tower in New York. The FBI investigation led to a federal grand jury indictment of more than 30 people, including one of the world's most notorious Russian mafia bosses, Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov."

[CN: Injury] Mike Hayes at BuzzFeed: A Russian Lawyer Involved in a U.S. Prosecution Mysteriously Plunged from His Apartment Window. "A Russian lawyer who was a witness in a US federal court case connected to the largest money-laundering scheme in Russian history was hospitalized after plunging four stories on Tuesday in Moscow, a spokesman said. There are conflicting reports about what happened to the lawyer, Nikolai Gorokhov. His spokesman, William Browder—who was an alleged victim in the money-laundering scheme—says he was 'thrown from the fourth floor of his apartment building.' Russian media, often controlled by the state, says he 'fell while he and workers were trying to lift a Jacuzzi into his apartment.' ...Last week, after plenty of drama, Trump fired Preet Bharara, the high-profile US attorney who was handling the case."

[CN: Death] CBS News: Possible U.S. Strike Allegedly Kills 33 Civilians in School. "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which relies on an extensive network of contacts on the ground in Syria and which generally proves a reliable source of information on the war, said coalition aircraft 'most likely' carried out the strike but did not explain how it reached that conclusion. ...The reports about the strike in Mansoura come less than a month after the same monitoring groups said a U.S.-led coalition aircraft had hit a village just east of Raqqa, killing at least 20 civilians."

Ju-min Park at Reuters: North Korea Missile Test Fails, U.S. and South Say, as Tensions Simmer. "A North Korean missile appeared to have exploded on Wednesday just after it was launched, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said after detecting the latest in a series of weapons tests by the nuclear-armed state that have alarmed the region. ...The increasing frequency of the missile tests has fueled a growing sense of urgency over how to respond to the isolated, unpredictable state. North Korea launched four ballistic missiles from near its west coast on March 6 and this week conducted a rocket engine test that its leader, Kim Jong Un, said opened 'a new birth' of its rocket industry."

The Editors at the Wall Street Journal: A President's Credibility. "If [Donald] Trump announces that North Korea launched a missile that landed within 100 miles of Hawaii, would most Americans believe him? Would the rest of the world? We're not sure, which speaks to the damage that Mr. Trump is doing to his Presidency with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods. ...Two months into his Presidency, Gallup has Mr. Trump's approval rating at 39%. No doubt Mr. Trump considers that fake news, but if he doesn't show more respect for the truth most Americans may conclude he's a fake President."

Susan E. Rice at the Washington Post: When the White House Twists the Truth, We Are All Less Safe. "The foundation of the United States' unrivaled global leadership rests only in part on our military might, the strength of our economy and the power of our ideals. It is also grounded in the perception that the United States is steady, rational, and fact-based. To lead effectively, the United States must maintain respect and trust. So, when a White House deliberately dissembles and serially contorts the facts, its actions pose a serious risk to America's global leadership, among friends and adversaries alike."

Hey, remember when Judge Gorsuch insisted he was a fair judge? Well, he gave away the game today.

Gorsuch's use of “Democrat” as an adjective is more of a red flag than any ruling he’s been questioned on so far. https://t.co/r106IVzvAn

— Jesse Wegman (@jessewegman) March 21, 2017

Whoooooooooooooops!

Speaking of Gorsuch... Glenn Thrush at the New York Times: 'I'll Criticize Judges,' Trump Says, Hours After a Scolding for Doing Just That. "Hours after Mr. Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court declared during Senate confirmation hearings that he was 'disheartened' about Mr. Trump's unrestrained attacks on the judicial branch, the president was at it again, calling out the federal judges who have halted his second executive order banning travel from certain predominantly Muslim nations. 'Somebody said I should not criticize judges. O.K. I'll criticize judges,' Mr. Trump said on Tuesday night at a fund-raising dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee—reiterating his pique at a federal court judge in Hawaii who last week placed a stay on his second travel order."

Nik DeCosta-Klipa at Boston.com: Boston and 4 Other Massachusetts Cities Included on ICE's First Sanctuary City List. "Five Massachusetts cities, including Boston, are among the jurisdictions listed as uncooperative in a new public list released by federal immigration officials Monday. ...It is unclear whether there are any immediate policy implications of being included on the federal list. [Mr.] Trump has pledged to defund sanctuary cities—a tactic that would appear to run into legal roadblocks, if not widespread challenges."

K.K. Rebecca Lai, Troy Griggs, Max Fisher, and Audrey Carlsen at the New York Times: Is America's Military Big Enough? "Trump has proposed a $54 billion increase in defense spending, which he said would be 'one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.' ...Trump has not articulated a new mission that would require a military spending increase. This has left analysts wondering what goals he has in mind. ...Gordon Adams, a former senior White House national security budget officer, said, 'Unless you decide you're going to war—and going to war soon—nobody keeps a large military.'"

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Blair Miller at ABC Denver: Former Colorado GOP Chair Steven Curtis Charged with Voter Fraud. "The former chair of the Colorado Republican Party is charged with forgery and voter fraud for allegedly forging his wife's mail-in ballot from last year's election, according to court records and sources. ...Curtis spoke about voter fraud ahead of last year's election. 'It seems to be, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats,' he told KLZ 560. ...The Colorado Secretary of State's Office says this is the only voter fraud case that has ended in charges stemming from last year's election."

[CN: LGBT erasure] Zack Ford at Think Progress: Trump Administration Erases LGBT People from Survey of Older Adults. "This week, the Department of Health and Human Services arbitrarily decided to just stop counting LGBT people in two critical surveys, eliminating vital data collection that could be used to help address the health disparities that LGBT people are known to experience."

Charles Ornstein at ProPublica: We Fact-Checked Lawmakers' Letters to Constituents on Health Care. "As the debate to repeal the law heats up in Congress, constituents are flooding their representatives with notes of support or concern, and the lawmakers are responding, sometimes with form letters that are misleading. A review of more than 200 such letters by ProPublica and its partners at Kaiser Health News, Stat, and Vox, found dozens of errors and mischaracterizations about the ACA and its proposed replacement. The legislators have cited wrong statistics, conflated health care terms, and made statements that don't stand up to verification."

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?