Rule of Law

U.S. Institute of Peace Rebranded as 'Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace' After Armed Takeover

| Importance: 9/10

The State Department announced the U.S. Institute of Peace has been renamed the ‘Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace,’ with Trump’s name installed on the building’s facade in Washington, DC. The renaming follows the administration’s armed takeover and gutting of the …

Donald Trump State Department U.S. Institute of Peace Federal Judiciary authoritarianism institutional-capture propaganda narcissism rule-of-law
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DOJ Admits Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment; Trump's Former Personal Attorney Leading Prosecution

| Importance: 9/10

In a stunning courtroom admission during a November 19, 2025 hearing, the Justice Department acknowledged that the full grand jury never reviewed the final indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Prosecutor Tyler Lemons confirmed that only two grand jurors—the foreperson and one other …

James Comey Lindsey Halligan Michael Dreeben Judge Michael Nachmanoff Donald Trump +3 more doj-weaponization vindictive-prosecution abuse-of-power grand-jury legal-violation +2 more
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Trump Pardons 77 Allies Who Attempted to Overturn 2020 Election Including Giuliani, Meadows, and Fake Electors

| Importance: 10/10

President Trump issued comprehensive federal pardons to 77 individuals involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, Jeffrey …

Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani Mark Meadows Sidney Powell John Eastman +12 more pardons 2020-election accountability fake-electors institutional-capture +4 more
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Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Warns Rule of Law 'Under Attack Like Never Before'

| Importance: 8/10

On September 16, 2025, former Special Counsel Jack Smith delivered his first public remarks since leaving the Department of Justice in a speech at George Mason University, warning that “the rule of law is under attack like in no other period in our lifetimes.” NPR exclusively obtained a …

Jack Smith Department of Justice George Mason University Trump Administration doj rule-of-law institutional-capture political-prosecution special-counsel +1 more
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US Imposes Unprecedented Sanctions on Four International Criminal Court Officials

| Importance: 10/10

On August 20, 2025, the United States imposed targeted sanctions on four International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, escalating an ongoing campaign to obstruct international judicial proceedings into potential war crimes.

Key Details:

  • Four officials sanctioned: Two judges (Kimberly Prost and …

Kimberly Prost Nicolas Guillou Nazhat Shameem Khan Mame Mandiaye Niang Marco Rubio +2 more icc-sanctions international-law judicial-independence rule-of-law neutralize-referees +6 more
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Twelve House Democrats sue Trump administration for blocking detention facility oversight

| Importance: 9/10

Twelve Democratic members of Congress filed suit in federal court after being systematically denied access to ICE detention facilities nationwide. The lawsuit challenges DHS’s new policy requiring seven-day advance notice for visits and blocking all access to ICE field offices, which violates …

Rep. Joe Neguse (CO) Rep. Jason Crow Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY) Rep. Dan Goldman (NY) Rep. Bennie Thompson (MS) +9 more congressional-oversight ice-detention rule-of-law constitutional-crisis transparency-failure
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ICE blocks members of Congress from detention facilities, violating oversight law

| Importance: 8/10

ICE denied multiple members of Congress access to immigration detention facilities across the country, including Rep. Jason Crow at Aurora, Colorado and six Maryland Democrats at Baltimore’s Fallon Federal Building. Despite a 2019 law guaranteeing congressional access for oversight, ICE …

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Department of Homeland Security Rep. Jason Crow Sen. Chris Van Hollen Sen. Angela Alsobrooks +5 more congressional-oversight ice-detention transparency-failure rule-of-law immigration-enforcement
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Trump fires 18 Inspectors General in unprecedented purge of government watchdogs

| Importance: 10/10

President Trump fired 18 Inspectors General across multiple federal agencies in an unprecedented purge of government oversight officials. The mass firing included Robert Storch (Defense), Michael Missal (Veterans Affairs), Hannibal “Mike” Ware (Small Business Administration), and Mark …

Donald Trump Robert Storch Michael Missal Hannibal Ware Mark Lee Greenblatt +1 more corruption bipartisan-opposition rule-of-law oversight-capture inspector-general +4 more
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Trump Receives Unconditional Discharge for 34 Felony Convictions, Zero Penalties

| Importance: 9/10

Ten days before his inauguration, Donald Trump was sentenced in the New York hush money case to an “unconditional discharge”—meaning he faces zero jail time, no fine, no probation, and no restrictions whatsoever despite being convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. …

Donald Trump Juan Merchan New York State Courts elite-impunity two-tier-justice corruption rule-of-law
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Systematic assault on judicial independence begins

| Importance: 10/10

Trump administration launched systematic executive orders targeting law firms, mass firings of prosecutors, and open defiance of court rulings, creating what legal scholars describe as unprecedented constitutional crisis.

Trump Administration Federal Judiciary Law firms constitutional-crisis judicial-independence executive-overreach rule-of-law
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Supreme Court Grants Broad Presidential Immunity in Trump v. United States, Creating King-Like Powers

| Importance: 10/10

Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts within their “core constitutional powers,” presumptive immunity for “official acts” within the outer perimeter of their responsibilities, and no immunity for unofficial acts. …

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Justice Clarence Thomas Justice Samuel Alito Justice Neil Gorsuch +9 more supreme-court judicial-capture presidential-power rule-of-law authoritarian-consolidation +2 more
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Office of Special Counsel Report Documents Hatch Act Violations by 13 Senior Trump Officials, Finding "Willful Disregard" for Federal Law

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel released a comprehensive investigative report documenting that 13 senior Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act prior to the 2020 election, with the violations characterized as demonstrating “willful disregard for the law” and occurring …

Mike Pompeo Chad Wolf Kellyanne Conway Jared Kushner Kayleigh McEnany +8 more hatch act ethics violations republican national convention trump administration rule of law +1 more
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Trump Delivers RNC Acceptance Speech from White House South Lawn in Unprecedented Mass Hatch Act Violation Event

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump delivered his Republican National Convention acceptance speech from the White House South Lawn before 1,500 attendees in an unprecedented use of federal property for a partisan campaign event, culminating four days of systematic Hatch Act violations that transformed the White House …

Donald Trump Melania Trump Mark Meadows Mike Pompeo Chad Wolf +1 more hatch act ethics violations republican national convention white house abuse of office +2 more
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Bill Barr Intervenes to Reduce Sentences for Trump Allies Stone and Flynn

| Importance: 8/10

Attorney General Bill Barr personally intervened to reduce sentencing recommendations for Trump allies Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, causing four career prosecutors to withdraw from Stone’s case in protest and one to resign from DOJ entirely. After prosecutors recommended 7-9 years for …

Bill Barr Roger Stone Michael Flynn Donald Trump Department of Justice obstruction-of-justice abuse-of-power rule-of-law corruption politicization
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Federal Judge Holds DeVos in Contempt for Illegally Collecting on Corinthian Loans - $100K Fine

| Importance: 9/10

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in civil contempt of court on October 24, 2019, for violating a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Education from collecting on loans from 16,000 former Corinthian Colleges students and fined the Department $100,000. …

Betsy DeVos Sallie Kim Department of Education contempt-of-court betsy-devos student-debt corinthian-colleges rule-of-law
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Office of Special Counsel Issues Unprecedented Recommendation to Remove Kellyanne Conway for "Egregious, Notorious, and Ongoing" Hatch Act Violations

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel issued an extraordinary recommendation that White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway be removed from federal service for repeated Hatch Act violations, calling her conduct “egregious, notorious, and ongoing.” Special Counsel Henry Kerner, himself a Trump …

Kellyanne Conway Donald Trump Henry Kerner Office of Special Counsel (OSC) hatch act ethics violations kellyanne conway abuse of office trump administration +1 more
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Mueller Report Released - 448 Pages Documenting Russian Interference and Obstruction Episodes

| Importance: 10/10

The Department of Justice released Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 448-page Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, the culmination of a 22-month investigation that issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, and …

Robert Mueller Donald Trump William Barr Russian Government mueller investigation obstruction of justice russia interference presidential accountability impeachment +1 more
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Federal Judge Rules Epstein Plea Deal Violated Crime Victims' Rights Act

| Importance: 8/10

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra rules that federal prosecutors violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act by failing to inform victims about the 2008 non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein. The ruling found that prosecutors deliberately concealed the agreement from victims and their …

Kenneth Marra Bradley Edwards Paul Cassell Alexander Acosta Jeffrey Epstein judicial-oversight victim-rights-violations prosecutorial-misconduct transparency rule-of-law
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Trump Signs Travel Ban 2.0 (Executive Order 13780) - Revised Muslim Ban After Courts Block Original

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump signed Executive Order 13780 on March 6, 2017—“Travel Ban 2.0”—revising his original Muslim ban after federal courts blocked Executive Order 13769. The new order placed a 90-day restriction on entry to the U.S. by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and …

Donald Trump Derrick Watson Doug Chin Rudy Giuliani muslim-ban religious-discrimination authoritarianism immigration rule-of-law
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Federalist Society Captures Federal Judiciary with $250M Dark Money

| Importance: 9/10

The Federalist Society, funded by $250 million in dark money from anonymous donors, orchestrated the most systematic judicial capture in U.S. history. Trump outsourced judicial selection to the Society, appointing 231 federal judges including 3 Supreme Court justices, all from their pre-approved …

Federalist Society Leonard Leo Donald Trump Judicial Crisis Network Mitch McConnell judicial-capture dark-money democracy-erosion institutional-capture rule-of-law
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Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Sally Yates for Refusing to Defend Muslim Ban

| Importance: 10/10

President Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates within hours of her instructing Justice Department attorneys not to defend Executive Order 13769 (the Muslim ban). Yates had sent a letter to DOJ staff stating she was “not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent …

Donald Trump Sally Yates Dana Boente Jeff Sessions Rudy Giuliani rule-of-law doj-politicization obstruction-of-justice authoritarianism muslim-ban +1 more
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Trump Signs Muslim Ban (Executive Order 13769) Causing Airport Chaos and Mass Visa Revocations

| Importance: 10/10

President Trump signed Executive Order 13769, titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” banning citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries—Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—from entering the United States for 90 days. …

Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani Jim Mattis State Department muslim-ban authoritarianism religious-discrimination immigration rule-of-law +1 more
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Hospital Confrontation Over NSA Surveillance Program

| Importance: 9/10

Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andy Card went to George Washington Hospital ICU to pressure hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft to reauthorize the NSA surveillance program that the Department of Justice had deemed illegal. Acting Attorney General James Comey raced to the hospital with …

John Ashcroft James Comey Alberto Gonzales Andy Card Robert Mueller rule-of-law executive-power surveillance stellarwind constitutional-crisis +5 more
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Ford Issues Full Pardon to Nixon for All Watergate Crimes, Ensures No Criminal Accountability

| Importance: 10/10

On Sunday, September 8, 1974—exactly one month after Nixon’s resignation—President Gerald Ford addressed the nation from the Oval Office to announce his decision to “grant a full, free and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard …

Gerald Ford Richard Nixon watergate presidential-immunity accountability-failure institutional-corruption rule-of-law
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Supreme Court Rules 8-0 in United States v. Nixon: President Must Surrender Tapes

| Importance: 10/10

On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 8-0 decision in United States v. Nixon, ordering President Richard Nixon to deliver sixty-four tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials related to the Watergate scandal to the federal district court. Chief Justice Warren Burger—a Nixon …

Supreme Court Warren Burger Richard Nixon Leon Jaworski Harry Blackmun +2 more watergate judicial-oversight rule-of-law executive-power constitutional-law
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Leon Jaworski Appointed as Special Prosecutor to Replace Fired Archibald Cox

| Importance: 8/10

On November 1, 1973, just twelve days after the Saturday Night Massacre, Solicitor General Robert Bork announced he had selected, and President Nixon approved, Leonidas “Leon” Jaworski to serve as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. Jaworski, a prominent Texas …

Leon Jaworski Robert Bork Richard Nixon Archibald Cox watergate congressional-oversight institutional-corruption rule-of-law
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Supreme Court Rules Georgia Cannot Seize Cherokee Lands; Jackson Refuses to Enforce Decision

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-1 in Worcester v. Georgia that states lack authority to impose regulations on Native American lands, with Chief Justice John Marshall writing that Indian nations are “distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights” and …

John Marshall Andrew Jackson Samuel Worcester Cherokee Nation Georgia +1 more judicial-nullification executive-overreach indian-removal constitutional-crisis rule-of-law +2 more
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