Trump Is Using Terrorist Charges to Wage Political War
Josh Kovensky on a dangerous politicization of the law.

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Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Kovensky has written an essay on the Trump
administration’s use of anti-terrorism law to target political groups it doesn’t like.
In that piece, Kovensky notes,
"Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine
prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his
political enemies.
It represents a dramatic departure from how the Justice Department has historically used the
federal material support for terrorism statute. For decades, counterterrorism prosecutors have
largely reserved the statute — 2339A — for the kinds of audacious plots that wreak real, lasting
damage or whose ambition forms the stuff of movie screenplays."
I spoke to Kovensky about his essay and the history and politics of this dangerous legal
innovation.
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Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Kovensky has written an article on the Trump administration’s use of anti-terrorism law to target political groups it doesn’t like.
In that piece, Kovensky notes, “Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his political enemies. It represents a dramatic departure from how the Justice Department has historically used the federal material support for terrorism statute. For decades, counterterrorism prosecutors have largely reserved the statute—2339A—for the kinds of audacious plots that wreak real, lasting damage or whose ambition forms the stuff of movie screenplays.”
I spoke to Kovensky about his essay as well as the history and politics of this dangerous legal innovation.
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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
My Nation colleague Joan Walsh recently profiled Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff for the magazine. Georgia is very much a purple state. The fact that Ossoff won there and stands a good chance at re-election is evidence of his political talent, turning him into an increasingly prominent national figure. Joan and I talked about Ossoff’s background and the long struggle to transform Georgia, a formerly red state where Democrats are making headway.
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