The Record

It was never just Trump.

And you don’t have to take our word for it.

A whole party told the country who he was, then confirmed him, funded him, and carried out his agenda. Every claim here traces to a Republican, one of his own appointees, a judge, or his own words. We are not asking you to trust the press, or us. Follow any link to the original.

The standard
How this is built, and why you can check it yourself

The fastest way to dismiss something is to dismiss who is telling you. So this record is built to survive that. Wherever a fact appears here, the source is named and linked, and it is chosen to be one you can weigh on its own, without taking anyone’s word for it.

1

Primary sources first. Court opinions, official transcripts, government records, and the words people said themselves, on video, in their own books, on their own accounts. Not someone’s summary of what was said.

2

We tell you who is speaking. A Republican, a judge, one of his own appointees, or Trump himself. The point of a receipt is the person it comes from, not the outlet that wrote it down.

3

No editorializing the facts. What was said or done, with the date, in context. You draw the conclusion; we do not draw it for you.

4

Every claim is a link. If one looks too strong to be true, click it and read the original. That is the whole design. Doubt is welcome here, as long as it is aimed at the source.

If you read nothing else
Six things, from six kinds of witness you cannot easily dismiss
In his own words
He called for “the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
A nonpartisan watchdog
The Government Accountability Office found his administration broke federal law by refusing to spend money Congress had appropriated.
A Republican senator
His own party is blocking his attorney general over a $1.8 billion fund to pay Trump and his allies, “a payout pot for punks.”
The courts, including judges he appointed
Federal courts have repeatedly ruled his actions unlawful, and the Supreme Court he reshaped has ruled against him too.
His own cabinet, before they joined him
The people now carrying out his agenda once called him “America’s Hitler,” “a con artist,” and “a pathological liar.”
About the voters he needs
“How stupid are the people of Iowa?”
Go deeper
The full accounting