(January 6th attack on the US Capitol)

The last few weeks lends a great deal of credence to the ideas and positions offered by former federal prosecutor, NYU Law professor, and MS NOW contributor Andrew Weissmann.  The American people have experienced a President who has put forth a plan to pay convicted January 6^th followers from a fund of close to $1.8 billion and provide himself and his family immunity from IRS prosecution from actions taken in the past and what could occur in the future.  Further, the man responsible for the fund, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has continued to lie and cover up the Epstein files and prosecute anyone President Trump would like to seek revenge against (yesterday it was announced he was being put forward to be the permanent Attorney General).  Trump has also nominated Bill Puilte as DNI to oversee all intelligence services even though he has no experience in the field and his main calling has been to dig up dirt on Trump’s perceived enemies.  We are also exposed to the daily untruths put forth by Mark Wayne Mullin, the newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security dealing with immigration issues and justifying the actions taken by ICE.  If that is not enough we can watch the briefings offered by Pete Hesgeth, the Secretary of Defense justifying the murder of people on the open seas and further lies dealing with the conduct and state of the war with Iran.  Then there is NSC head and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s verbal machinations about the war in Iran, the state of negotiations, and positions the President actually believes in.  Apart from the daily lies offered by the President on a myriad of issues be it the 2020 election, funding for his new ballroom, the reflecting pool, and massive arch he wants to build the public has become increasingly cognizant of the vast sums, roughly $4 billion the Trump family has amassed since Trump’s second term began.  In addition, Trump has used “insider trading” to the tune of millions of dollars to augment his personal wealth.  The operative words in all of these examples are fraud and lies.

Some might argue that what I have written is too partisan and over the years Democrats are just as guilty.  I would point out that history and incontrovertible facts would disagree.  The question must be raised; is there a solution to all the lying and corruption that screams from the headlines each day.  In his latest book, LIAR’S KINGDOM: HOW TO STOP TRUMP’S DECEIT AND SAVE AMERICA, Andrew Wiessmann reviews examples of corruption and lies and how politicians get away with it and offers solutions on how we can hold people accountable for their actions and statements to try to invigorate our democracy.  In a blend of personal observations and sound legal opinions Weissmann confronts the “chipping away of the rule of law” that has been ongoing the last few years.  According to the author we need to shore up our legal system against demagogues who seek to use lies to destroy our democracy.  Candidly, Weissmann asks why can people lie in politics, to gain office, power, and wealth with no legal consequence, when in other areas of lying and fraud they can be prosecuted?  It is clear we are a nation awash in lies and fraud.

(U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Brazil’s then-President Jair Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago in 2020)

Weissmann offers a number of examples to support his critique.  The one that is repeated over and over in the monograph is that the 2020 election was a fraud and that Trump actually won (which he repeats on a daily basis).  This has become a litmus test for Trump and anyone serving in the government.  Trump is allowed to get away with the lies because there is no criminal law that says the lie is illegal – no civil law imposes any punishment for such falsehoods.  In the end one-third of Americans support these lies.

Weissmann draws on his vast prosecutorial experience to provide examples of when lies can be prosecuted.  He delves into the Enron case highlighted by the actions of Kenneth Lay who was effectively prosecuted as his lies brought material benefit.  He focuses on organized crime centered on Vincent Gigante and the Genovese mob family, the environmental lies of Volkswagen and others.   Remarkably it is a crime to lie to shareholders, it is a crime to lie to Congress, but it is not a crime to lie to the public.  The problem is that lies metastases – i.e., J6 pardons, ICE enforcement and its consequences.  We now learn that out of the 1500 J6 people pardoned, 97 have been charged with new crimes unrelated to J6, a number of which deal with sexual abuse and violence.  

(President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club, on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense)

Our current media marketplace exacerbates the problem as it permits lies to flourish with no accountability.  Weissmann is dead on arguing that our “media marketplace is polluted with propaganda, disinformation, and emotional manipulation all in the guise of defending the First Amendment.  In short, authoritarians use the cloak of the freedom of speech to promulgate false factual speech and drown out the truth.”  With the arrival of AI differentiating the public lie from the public truth is only going to grow harder in the future and as a society we have no strategy to deal with it.

(Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche)

Since we have no domestic solutions to try and mitigate the problem of fraud and lies in the public sphere Weissmann turns to other countries for possible solutions.  He explores the case of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.  An example that mirrors that of Trump and how the Brazilian parliament has passed laws that rest on the premise that people have the right to truthful information in elections that supersedes the right of free speech when deliberate falsehoods threaten the democratic order.  In France Marine Le Pen is barred from holding office for five years because she engaged in embezzlement and was convicted.  In Germany there are laws that forbid free speech pertaining to a particular subject, denying the existence of the Holocaust is a prime example.  Interestingly, the United States has laws that do not allow convicted felons to run for office, but it is only  a state statute and does not exist on the federal level.

Weissmann proposes a Truth in Elections Act built on existing law.  The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 redrawn in 2013 criminalizes lying about military honors with the “intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefits” which has survived a Supreme Court challenge.  For Weissmann the courts are the key to any reform.  Due process has the ability to get at the truth – we have a jury system that in most cases people take seriously.  However, you need a Justice Department that is not headed by the President’s personal lawyer whose sole purpose is to carry out the revenge whims of the occupant of the White House.  Some might find Weissmann’s short volume a polemic, however, his views are based on facts and the law, two things that most people would have difficulty arguing with, unless your name is Trump.

(President Donald Trump arrives to speak to supporters on January 6th)