Dem
47
GOP
53
When it comes to B.S. lawsuits, Donald Trump always has many irons in the fire. And so, even as the Paramount situation was drawing to a close (for now), his team was busy at work on other shenanigans. There were two stories along those lines this week.
First up is a story that bears a striking resemblance to the Paramount situation (see above). As readers will recall, Ann Selzer's last poll of the 2024 cycle (and, as it turns out, her last poll ever) predicted that Kamala Harris would win Iowa. She did not, which means Trump did. How he could possibly be damaged here is anyone's guess—again, he WON the state—but he nonetheless sued both Selzer and The Des Moines Register for fraud.
On Monday morning, Trump's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice the federal case they had filed. This was a little bit of a surprise, but pretty much every legal analyst concluded that with a meritless case and defendants who don't have deep pockets or a national platform, Team Trump had concluded there was little value in proceeding. Wrong! A new Iowa law that makes it much harder to pursue claims just like this one went into effect yesterday. So, Trump and his team refiled in state court on Monday afternoon. In other words, if you are having trouble keeping score, the President's lawyers took advantage of their very last opportunity to litigate under the more friendly version of Iowa law. Trump will use the case to do much bloviating about how he's a victim and he was treated unfairly, and when he loses in state court, he'll still be able to refile in federal court, and then do more bloviating.
All of this said, one wonders if this is a fight that actually makes sense for Trump. Again, he's not going to get an eight-figure settlement like the one he got out of Paramount, nor is he going to get a bunch of free media. All he's going to get is a chance to kvetch about his victimhood (and he's already got no shortage of those). Meanwhile, the defense is being handled pro bono by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. They would love, love, love to battle Trump in the court of public opinion, and since this is literally their bailiwick, they are very good at it. Iowa may be known for its pork and its corn, but in this situation, Trump is at risk of ending up with lots of egg on his face.
Moving on, the second silly lawsuit of the week is taking place a bit west of Iowa, in Los Angeles. The Department of Justice, as part of its anti-immigrant propaganda campaign, has sued the city, Mayor Karen Bass and the L.A. City Council, arguing that Los Angeles' sanctuary city policies are responsible for "the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles" and led to "lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism."
There is an argument to be made that some aspects of L.A. immigration policy tread upon federal prerogatives. That is not to say we agree with that argument, or disagree with it, merely that it exists. However, the DoJ is not making an argument. It's posturing and expending lots of hot air because L.A. is a blue city in a blue state, and is full of brown people, particularly brown people of Mexican descent. It's also led by a brown person. So, it's the most useful bugaboo available, right now, for purposes of Trump administration political theater. We will see if that changes if Zohran Mamdani is elected in New York. (Z)