1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

Lost in the noise of the past two weeks, not many people noticed that Trump took some unprecedented steps to nullify the one branch of Government he doesn't completely control - the judiciary. Firstly, he fired any Justice Department prosecutors who participated in investigations against him, and removed the security clearances of any former intelligence officials who have criticised him publicly, including former President Biden. He signed an executive order removing the security clearances and banning from federal buildings for any lawyer that was found to have assisted in impeachment investigations against him. Even those acting pro-bono. He signed an executive order banning not-for profit workers from a federal loan forgiveness scheme if they were deemed to have engaged in "improper" activities. This would likely include any not-for profits that challenge his policies in court. He then signed an executive order requiring any plaintiff wishing to challenge the legality of Trump's actions in court to provide, up front, a bond covering the totality of the Government's legal costs, to be forfeited in full if the case fails. These are all clearly designed to deter anyone from using the courts to restrain him, and they will work. Almost no one will have the money available to provide the necessary bond to even get their day in court, and even if they did... how many lawyers would want to take that job? It should be noted that this is exactly how Putin took control of Russia. Make resistance too costly. Intimidate the public into apathy. How is this legal? Especially the bond required? Please do something about this before it’s too late!