IN THE SPIRIT OF 1776 ◆ FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD
A Declaration
of Grievances
When public authority becomes an instrument of private benefit; when the force of government falls upon the governed; when the rights of the people and the promises made to allies are placed at the pleasure of one man—these acts deserve a plain recital.
We therefore set forth this record of grievances concerning the second administration of Donald J. Trump. Each charge is an editorial interpretation of documented events, supported by dated accounts, independent reporting, court rulings, and the administration’s response where available.
THE GRIEVANCES27 ARTICLES 108 SOURCES
- I He has made the powers of public office inseparable from the enrichment of his household.Public trust
- II He has invited great private fortunes to finance alterations to the people’s house, without full public accounting.Public trust
- III He has exercised the mercy of the republic in ways that favor political allies and convicted public officials.Public trust
- IV He has removed independent watchers charged to expose waste, misconduct, and abuse.Public trust
- V He has urged the machinery of justice toward his adversaries, blurring the boundary between law and personal reprisal.The rule of law
- VI He has threatened the broadcasters of unwelcome news with the power of the state.Freedom of expression
- VII He has sought to extinguish institutions established to inform the public without commercial or partisan command.Freedom of expression
- VIII He has sent armed agents to the doors of residents to demand an account of their citizenship and their votes.The franchise
- IX He has attempted to alter the rules of the ballot by executive will, against the authority reserved to states and Congress.The franchise
- X He has pressed states to surrender the rolls of their electors to a central authority asserting unproven fraud.The franchise
- XI He has permitted a dragnet in which even citizens of the republic are seized and confined.Liberty and due process
- XII He has transformed the threshold of a court into an occasion for arrest, deterring people from seeking judgment.Liberty and due process
- XIII He has sought to withhold citizenship from children born beneath the Constitution’s protection.Liberty and due process
- XIV He has filled the streets with masked federal agents whose force has fallen upon protesters, observers, and bystanders.Liberty and due process
- XV He has loosened the restraints upon an aggressor while applying new pressure to the nation under attack.The world beyond
- XVI He has allowed a besieged ally’s vital communications to become an instrument of coercion and uncertainty.The world beyond
- XVII He has made the pledges of common defense appear conditional, withdrawing reassurance from exposed allies.The world beyond
- XVIII He has treated neighbors and ancient partners as adversaries in commerce, weakening bonds of mutual advantage.The world beyond
- XIX He has withdrawn life-preserving assistance from the vulnerable, leaving preventable suffering in its wake.Moral obligation
- XX He has diminished the nation’s pursuit of knowledge, making scientific inquiry vulnerable to political favor.Moral obligation
- XXI He has welcomed extravagant favors from foreign powers while exercising the authority to negotiate with them.Public trust
- XXII He has sought to punish attorneys and firms for the clients they have represented and the causes they have defended.The rule of law
- XXIII He has attempted to suspend money appropriated by the people’s representatives through sweeping executive decree.Checks on power
- XXIV He has entrusted the restructuring of public institutions to a private billionaire’s project whose savings claims resisted scrutiny.Checks on power
- XXV He has defended federal officers after citizens were killed, even as evidence and the demands of local justice called official accounts into question.Liberty and due process
- XXVI He has subjected protections against preventable childhood disease to an erratic revision of scientific advice.Moral obligation
- XXVII He has cast aside protections for air, climate, and endangered life, leaving future generations to bear the risk.Moral obligation
Let the facts be read, the sources examined, and the judgment remain with the people.