“We Will Not Stand Silent”

Retaliatory investigations are neither an R nor a D issue, but an issue of autocracy vs. democracy

I'm devoting today's Substack to words that other people have written. They are very important words—words of the moment and words for the ages.

I don't generally sign onto letters, even those I agree with. My chief concern is avoiding any compromise to my credibility as a journalist. It's not as if it would surprise anyone to know I have views, and even to guess what they might be. (I do think people sometimes guess wrong; I identify as a rule-of-law Democrat, which sometimes leads me to take positions at odds with friends on the left.) But I don't want to give the impression that I have a personal stake in any issue, at least one that I haven't disclosed. I want Substack readers to have complete confidence that I'm giving them my best objective read.

But I did sign a letter that was published over the weekend, and I am proud of it. The letter, which was published in The New York Times, expresses grave concern about Trump’s presidential memoranda disparaging two of his many enemies, Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor—revoking their security clearances and ordering investigations of them by the Department of Justice. All of this was for the essential sin—the newly minted egregious felony—of contradicting the maximum leader.

We have watched as norm after norm, law after law, has been bulldozed by a power-mad would-be tyrant. Many of these actions have harmed millions of Americans. But singling out Krebs and Taylor for investigation and punishment represents a breathtaking descent into the very worst of authoritarian rule. As the letter expresses, “these actions, if carried out, will leave a permanent stain on our institutions and erode our democracy.”

I am honored to be in the company of the signatories, who include legal luminaries and good friends of all political stripes. We say this a lot, but it is both true and urgent, that the existential challenges Trump is posing to the democratic experiment transcend party and policy.

You can find the letter here, and I’ll also copy the text below.

Talk to you later.

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An Open Letter Opposing White House Retaliatory Investigations

We write with grave concern about the two presidential memoranda dated April 9, 2025, targeting Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor, respectively — two former national security officials who served the people of the United States. These executive actions represent a dangerous escalation in the abuse of presidential power: weaponizing federal agencies to carry out personalized retribution against named individuals.

Presidents of both parties have long respected the independence of federal law enforcement and refrained from using the power at their disposal to punish perceived enemies. Indeed, presidents have gone out of their way to avoid even the appearance of impropriety or influence. President Trump’s statements are a profoundly unconstitutional break with this tradition. He is explicitly targeting two Americans because they exercised their First Amendment rights and criticized him. That is a miscarriage of justice which these individuals, and other people and institutions vindictively singled out by him, will be unfairly forced to endure. The president of the United States must not direct federal authorities to investigate people with whom he disagrees.

This is not democratic governance. It is baseless retaliation — and it has no place in the United States of America. Across our history, there have been dark chapters where state power has been weaponized and dissent suppressed, including the crackdown during and after World War I, the Red Scare of the 1950s, and President Richard Nixon’s “enemies list.” These episodes are now seen as shameful deviations from the fundamental American principles of free expression and impartial justice. The April 9 presidential memoranda are an appalling rejection of those bedrock democratic values.

Indeed, the President’s actions not only evoke some of the worst moments in our history; they go even further. For a president to personally and publicly direct the levers of the federal government against publicly named citizens for political reasons sets a new and perilous precedent in our republic. It brings to mind the abuses of power that characterize authoritarian nations, not the United States. No matter one’s party or politics, every American should reject the notion that the awesome power of the presidency can be used to pursue individual vendettas. Behavior of this kind is more to be expected from a royal despot than the elected leader of a constitutional republic. This is the path of autocracy, not democracy.

For these reasons, we urge that the President immediately rescind these memoranda and that agency heads repudiate any order that undermines their oaths, politicizes their missions, or betrays the constitutional principles they are sworn to uphold.

These actions, if carried out, will leave a permanent stain on our institutions and erode our democracy. History will not forget who stood silent. We will not stand silent.