Episode Details

Welcome back to This Week in Tyranny. While you were watching Elon Musk’s Roadster hop over a Cybertruck on 600 liters of compressed air like the world’s most expensive whoopee cushion, the Trump administration spent the week making sure nobody can stop it from doing anything.

This week: Trump let Putin off the hook to fix gas prices from his own war, his Justice Department threatened to jail election workers, two Democrats co-wrote a bill that locks judges out of protecting your public lands, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fired the general who warned him about missile defense, Trump says he can pardon himself, and ICE says it was chasing a dead man. Let’s get into it.

Trump Bails Out Putin to Fix Gas Prices From His Own War

Late Friday night, Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving the Russia sanctions law he signed himself last month. It’s named after his late golf buddy Lindsey Graham, and the Senate passed it 86 to 11. The order is titled “Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.” It implements it by not doing it, which is also how I implement my gym membership.

His official reason? “National interest.” The real one is at the pump. His war in Iran pushed gas past $4.30 a gallon, and those sanctions came with tariffs on countries buying Russian oil. So to clean up after his own war, he’s bailing out the guy bombing Ukraine. Russia said thanks that night with 332 drones and four cruise missiles, killing at least four people.

Even Republicans lost it. John Cornyn said, “Lindsey would be appalled.” Thom Tillis said if Trump wants lower energy prices, “he can do it by solving the Iran problem.” Don Bacon listed Trump’s lame-duck wish list, ballroom included, and said, “I think the agenda is dead.” Hold that thought.

Same week, Ukraine’s military Starlink slowed down mid-bombardment, grounding the drones that shoot down Russian drones. Two US officials told Reuters the order came from inside the White House. Trump: “it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon.” Elon: limits are “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” So it wasn’t Elon, and it wasn’t Trump, except Elon just told the whole internet it’s always Trump.

DOJ Threatens to Jail Vote Counters, Sends the Password on a Sticky Note

Trump’s Justice Department just threatened to jail election workers in Los Angeles for counting ballots. It started with a thumb drive. DOJ sent California about 20,000 names of people who were mailed ballots, people DOJ claims are noncitizens. It gave the state 48 hours to pull their ballots and sent the password on a sticky note, like every phishing scam I’ve ever deleted. LA County wouldn’t open it, the deadline passed, and DOJ sued California, then warned that anyone who counts those ballots risks “becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime.” Trump reposted it: “They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!” Three exclamation points. That’s how you know it’s legally sound.

Where’d the 20,000 come from? DOJ won’t say. This year it charged about 50 people with voting as noncitizens. There are more than 227 million registered voters. And DOJ is 0 for 26 on these voter-roll lawsuits.

Threatening the vote counters is just plan A. Trump’s childhood friend Peter Ticktin, lawyer for pardoned election denier Tina Peters, told a MAGA livestream “there would have to be martial law” if there’s “another rigged election.” In this crowd, rigged means one they lose. Peters met with Trump earlier this month.

And sometimes they don’t even have to try. A lawsuit says Texas never recorded nearly 600,000 people who registered to vote at the DMV last fall and winter, because a state software update broke. Early voting starts tomorrow. Pick your weapon: a threat, a martial law fantasy or a broken computer nobody fixed. Fewer of your votes get counted.

Democrats Write Judges Out of Public Lands, Hand Trump the Bull