This is the newsletter Donald Trump doesn't want you to read.

Taking Down Trump now has a Substack - our new home for commentary and community on holding Trump accountable and bringing him to justice.

The phone in my office would not stop ringing.  While it may have been the New York AG’s office in the winter of 2013, the phone was a beige push-button landline phone circa 1983. 

I’d been leading the Trump University investigation for over a year, and we had amassed a very impressive evidentiary case, and yet the case was stuck.  Completely stalled.  Blocked from proceeding, based on a decision, or rather than the indecision, from the AG himself.  And so, the phone calls kept coming.

One man said he would call every day until he heard back, and he did, leaving a voicemail every time.  One woman sounded as though she were going to burst into tears, sharing that she was now able to take her pension as a teacher, but she could no longer afford to retire, because she had lost her entire retirement fund, over $40,000, on Trump University.  I dreaded fielding these calls from all these victims, who had bravely been willing to share their stories with me and even to make sworn affidavits in support of our case.  But I could not answer all their questions.

What was happening? What was taking so long?

Had we dropped the case?  No, I reassured them, the investigation was still open.  It was one of the only things I could say definitively.

Was there anything else they could do?  Did we need more information?  Was anything going to happen?  Would anyone ever be held accountable for what they’d done?

I could not answer.  I did not know.  At that point, I wasn’t sure if the case would ever see the light of day.  But it did, and we know now how that story ended.

I still get a lot of questions today.  Meeting new people for the first time, catching up with old friends, answering questions from all of you.  The first one, most of the time: What is going to happen?  Or it might be phrased as more of a plea: Please tell me something is going to happen.  Please tell me that he’s finally going to be held accountable.  We all know who the “he” is in this sentence.

I still do not know, not for sure.

But it’s different now.  We know how the Trump University story ended, and we know how the Trump Foundation story ended.  We can see the landmark victories by E. Jean Carroll.  We see multiple wins by Michael Cohen, who was on the other side of the table from us back in 2013. 

There is a path forward: we can see that clearly now.  And there is a map, or a guidebook of sorts, for how Trump can be defeated, for how he can finally be brought to justice, and how other predators and grifters and aspiring oligarchs can be brought to justice too.

And there is another massive difference.  It is all of us.  We have come together as a constituency and as a movement for justice and accountability, for protecting and restoring our democracy and the rule of law.  It is palpable feeling, every time I speak on any of these issues, that I am not alone, that we are not alone.  There are millions of us.  And we will persist until justice prevails.

Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash

That is why I’m creating this community.  To speak with all of you, to discuss these issues with you, to answer your questions and to ask more in return, to rally one another to take action, to lift our voices up until they are unmistakable and undeniable.  Without an algorithm, without erratic billionaires, without character limits.  A chance to indulge in longer weekly think pieces as well as audio pieces, summaries of important news that the mainstream media might be burying, suggestions for other articles and books to read, weekly opportunities to engage in open discussions and Q&A sessions, special guest appearances by other amazing allies in our cause and calls to action.  Plus, whatever else you make of it, whatever else we make of it, together: this is our space, to share our thoughts and our ideas and our stories, to build friendships and collaborations, as we fight until these fights are won.

I will also be sharing more content related to the Taking Down Trump book, including an excerpt, bonus content, inside stories on my experiences and the writing of the book that you won’t find anywhere else, and first dibs on all of the new projects and content that are coming soon, including book and merch giveaways — and the new show I have planned for later in the spring!

This community and content will all remain free for now, throughout 2024, but I hope that some of you may consider a paid subscription, as it will help pay our amazing team of producers, editors, and research assistants, so we can make more and more content, and I can spend more and more time with all of you.  And in turn, paid subscribers will have even more chances to interact, including in live video calls and helping us choose which topics to cover and to guide the community as a whole.

Thank you in advance, everyone.  It is a great blessing every day to wake up and remember that we’re in this fight together, and I hope we can make an even stronger community here on Substack.