The register

Every documented incident, newest first. Each row shows the incident date, its grade on the 5-point scale (or, for conduct before the June 2015 campaign launch, the off-scale pre-office mark), and how many sources it cites.

323 records shown · 0 filters applied

Subscribe to this view (RSS)

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Supreme Court Revives DHS 'SAVE' Voter-Citizenship Database Ruled Unlawful, Weeks Before the Midterms (September 2026)

    DHS turned SAVE, a benefits-eligibility tool, into a mass voter-citizenship checker by pulling in Social Security numbers and other federal records. A federal judge found that unlawful and found that eligible citizens had their registrations cancelled after being wrongly flagged. Weeks before the midterms, and inside the 90-day pre-election period, the Supreme Court let DHS resume using the system while the appeal continues, over a dissent warning that the harm of disenfranchising 'even a few lawful voters' outweighs any harm to the government.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    White House Airs Taxpayer-Funded Pro-Trump TV Ads on Fox News and Newsmax Ahead of the Midterms (September 2026)

    Six weeks before the midterm elections, the White House used public money to air a campaign-style ad glorifying the president on Fox News and Newsmax. It called the spot a patriotic public service announcement. Democrats asked federal watchdogs to investigate whether it breaks the long-standing ban on spending appropriated funds on 'publicity or propaganda' and the Hatch Act. No watchdog finding had been issued as of this entry's last update.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    White House Bans CNN, MS NOW and Politico Reporters; Briefly Keeps Them Out Despite Court Order (September 2026)

    Trump revoked the White House press passes of three news organisations over their coverage. A federal judge ordered the passes restored, doubting the government's after-the-fact national-security rationale. The White House at first kept the reporters out despite the order, then complied the same day.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOJ 'Grand Conspiracy' Probe of Trump's Investigators Subpoenas John Brennan to Fort Pierce Grand Jury as Lead Prosecutor Quits (September 2026)

    The Justice Department is using a Florida grand jury to investigate the officials who once investigated Trump, on a theory that the Russia inquiry and the classified-documents case were themselves a criminal conspiracy against him. It subpoenaed former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI personnel who worked on the Mar-a-Lago investigation. The lead prosecutor quit after reported pressure over the pace of the probe. No charges have been filed, and the targets deny wrongdoing.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Sirik Wedding Strike: US Munition Likely Hit Wedding Celebration in Southern Iran, Killing a 4-Year-Old and At Least Three Others (September 2026)

    A strike on the night of September 1 hit a wedding near the Strait of Hormuz, killing at least four people including a 4-year-old and wounding dozens. Reuters-consulted experts judged the weapon likely American; the US has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility and says it is investigating.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    US Resumes Large-Scale Iran Strikes, Trump Vows to Hit 'Much Harder' and Rejects Iran's Truce Offer as Senate Falls One Vote Short of Ending the War (September 2026)

    September 2026 saw the US resume heavy strikes on Iran, Trump threaten to strike 'much harder,' Congress come within one Senate vote of ordering an end to unauthorized hostilities, and Trump reject an Iranian truce proposal — leaving a seven-month war with no congressional authorization and no exit.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Kennedy Suggests Pennsylvania Measles Deaths Were 'Fabricated' as CDC Keeps Them Off the National Count During Record Outbreak

    During the worst U.S. measles year in decades, the federal health secretary publicly questioned whether a state's reported measles deaths were real, and the CDC excluded them from its national count and changed how it counts measles deaths -- a gap a Johns Hopkins expert said 'looks like either incompetence or concealment.'

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Trump's Bank Regulator Grants Conditional National Bank Charter to Trump Family's Crypto Venture (August 2026)

    A federal bank regulator run by a Trump appointee conditionally approved a national bank charter for the Trump family's crypto company, World Liberty Trust, to issue the USD1 stablecoin and custody digital assets. The president's family holds a reported 38% stake. Watchdogs said the OCC cannot impartially supervise a bank partly owned by the president who appoints and can remove its head. The approval is conditional, and the bank cannot open until it meets further requirements.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Children Held for Months at Dilley in Breach of Flores Limits; Judge Appoints Independent Monitor Over ICE and CBP

    ICE held children at its Dilley family detention center for months, far beyond the Flores settlement's 20-day standard, with an estimated 1,560 minors held past the limit in six months. A federal judge appointed an independent monitor and special master over ICE and CBP child custody. DHS responded that 'being in detention is a choice.'

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Judge Holds DHS in Contempt Twice for Deporting Protected Young Asylum Seekers, Including One Teen Deported to El Salvador Twice

    A Trump-appointed federal judge twice held DHS in contempt in 2026 for deporting young asylum seekers protected by a court settlement: at least 107 removals found in July, then the second deportation to El Salvador of the same 19-year-old in September, after he had already been returned once. DHS blamed 'communication errors.'

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    US Strikes Hit Water Desalination Plant and Highway Bridges in Iran's Hormozgan Province, Cutting Drinking Water to 10,000 People (July 2026)

    In mid-July 2026, US strikes in Hormozgan province hit bridges, tunnels, power infrastructure and a seawater desalination facility, leaving about 10,000 villagers without drinking water according to the regional water utility. Drinking-water installations are specially protected under the laws of war; the US has offered no target-specific justification.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Camp East Montana: Beatings, Medical Neglect and Deaths at the ICE Tent Camp on Fort Bliss

    Human Rights Watch and the ACLU documented beatings, medical neglect and coercive deportations at Camp East Montana, the ICE tent camp on Fort Bliss and the largest US immigration detention facility. Three men died there within weeks, one in a death ruled a homicide. ICE's own inspection found unreported uses of force. DHS denies all of it.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    ICE Agent Kills Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine; Trump Overrides Pause on ICE Traffic Stops

    An immigration agent shot dead a young Colombian father who was not the target of an ICE stop in Maine. It was the second fatal ICE traffic-stop shooting in a week. ICE paused most vehicle stops; Trump reversed the pause within a day, saying ICE could not give up 'THE TRAFFIC STOP!'

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOJ Subpoenas New York Times Reporters and Their Relatives' Phone Records Over Air Force One Reporting (July 2026)

    The Justice Department tried to force New York Times reporters to testify to a grand jury about their sources for stories on security problems with Air Force One. It also subpoenaed phone records of the reporters' spouses and one reporter's mother. A federal judge rebuked the department, which withdrew the subpoenas and admitted errors. It was the latest attempt under rules rewritten in April 2025 that allow subpoenas to journalists, after earlier subpoenas to Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reporters were also dropped.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Trump Removes Every Remaining Election Assistance Commissioner Months Before the Midterms (July 2026)

    Trump emptied the Election Assistance Commission, the only federal agency dedicated solely to election administration, firing its two Democratic commissioners by email and accepting the Republican's resignation. The White House said the firings were authorized by the Supreme Court's new removal-power ruling. The agency cannot update voting-system guidelines or take other formal votes until new commissioners are confirmed. It had been sitting on a pending demand, pressed by Trump's 2025 election order, to require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal registration form.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    ICE Officer Fatally Shoots Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Construction Worker Who Was Not the Target, in Houston

    An ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker with no criminal record, during a Houston vehicle stop in which he was not the person ICE was looking for. DHS claims self-defense; no officer wore a body camera. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and a county grand jury is investigating.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire 'Over': Nightly US Strikes, Blockade Reimposed, and Troop Deaths Moved Off the War Tally (July 2026)

    The June ceasefire collapsed into a renewed nightly US bombing campaign in July 2026: Trump called the truce 'over' and Iran's leaders 'scum,' the blockade was reimposed, strikes hit bridges, energy infrastructure and (per Iran) a nuclear construction site, Iranian authorities reported 50+ dead, four US soldiers were killed — and then quietly moved off the Pentagon's Iran war tally. Congress again declined to stop it.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Supreme Court Overturns Humphrey's Executor, Lets Trump Fire FTC Commissioner — But Blocks Fed Governor Firing (June 2026)

    The Supreme Court overturned Humphrey's Executor, upholding Trump's March 2025 firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter (Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya was removed at the same time) in a 6-3 ruling. The Court's holding is a constitutional ruling, not conduct by Trump, and it makes the Slaughter removal lawful. The conduct this entry documents is the attempted removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on a mortgage-fraud allegation she says was pretextual retaliation over rate policy; a 5-4 companion decision the same day blocked that removal while her suit proceeds.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    ICE Arrests Three Men at Manhattan Courts Days After Federal Judge Bars Courthouse Arrests

    Days after a federal judge restored limits on ICE courthouse arrests, ICE agents arrested three men at Manhattan immigration courts. Advocates call it the first clear breach of two court orders; ICE denies wrongdoing but won't say how the arrests were lawful. The core harm is a federal agency appearing to shrug off a specific, recent judicial order.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Islamabad Memorandum Ceasefire Collapses Within Ten Days: Hormuz Strikes, US-Iran Exchange, Trump Threatens Iran 'Will No Longer Exist' (June 2026)

    A 60-day ceasefire signed June 17 collapsed within eight days: Iran struck a cargo ship near Hormuz, the US launched its third round of strikes in three weeks, Iranian missiles hit US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, a Qatari civilian died in the crossfire with attribution still unconfirmed, and Trump threatened that Iran 'will no longer exist.' No new congressional authorization exists for any of it.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOJ Charges 15 Anti-ICE Protesters with Felony Conspiracy in Minneapolis

    Federal prosecutors charged 15 people, including a Macalester College professor, with felony conspiracy and related charges for protesting Operation Metro Surge. Defense attorneys and a constitutional law scholar call the charges overreach; similar cases nationally have a roughly 50% dismissal rate. A Human Rights Watch report released two days later concluded the operation being protested involved unlawful killings and racial profiling.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Trump Signs $70 Billion Secure America Act, ICE Arrests Surge to 10,000 in Five Days Amid Reported Quota

    Trump signed a $70 billion ICE/CBP funding bill on June 10, 2026. Within weeks, ICE arrests surged past 10,000 in five days -- nearly double the prior pace -- after leadership ordered nearly all officers onto arrest duty and reportedly imposed a 3,000-arrests-per-day quota, which government lawyers deny is official policy. Two senior officials were reassigned for insufficient arrest numbers.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Pay-to-Play: Trump's Dell Stock Precedes $9.7B Pentagon Deal, White House Ballroom Donors Win $50B in Contracts

    Trump bought Dell stock, then the Pentagon gave Dell a $9.7 billion contract two weeks later. Separately, 14 of 27 corporate donors to Trump's White House ballroom project won a combined $50 billion in new federal contracts within six months of giving. Ethics watchdogs call both pay-to-play; no formal violation has been charged.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Pentagon IG: Hegseth Dismantled Civilian Harm Safeguards During Active War (May 2026)

    The Pentagon's own Inspector General found that the Department had not fully implemented any of its civilian harm mitigation objectives, with 133 actions incomplete and civilian harm staff cut by about 90%, during an active war. Released the same day CENTCOM's commander said there was no way to corroborate reports of strikes on Iranian hospitals and schools.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Trump Rejects Iran Ceasefire Proposal, Plans 'Very Major Attack,' Cancels at Last Minute (May 2026)

    Trump rejected Iran's peace proposal, called the ceasefire 'on massive life support,' and had a 'very major attack' planned before Gulf allies talked him out of it hours before execution. Congress was not consulted. Vance publicly declared the US 'locked and loaded.' The episode reveals war-making conducted entirely at presidential whim, with no legal or democratic check.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Operation Project Freedom: Unilateral Hormuz Convoy Forced Standdown After Saudi Airspace Denial (May 2026)

    Trump launched a Navy operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz during a nominal ceasefire without notifying Congress. Saudi Arabia denied US airspace access, collapsing the operation; on May 7 Iran attacked three US destroyers in the strait. The 'pause for negotiations' cover story was contradicted by reporting that Saudi Arabia's airspace denial made the mission militarily impossible.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOJ Indicts James Comey Over Instagram Photo in 'Vengeance Tour' Prosecution (April 2026)

    Trump's DOJ indicted former FBI Director Comey for posting an Instagram photo of seashells reading '86 47,' claiming it was a death threat. Many former prosecutors and scholars called it a political prosecution of protected speech. Comey faces prison time for a social media post expressing opposition to Trump's presidency. The case is part of Trump's documented 'vengeance tour' targeting political enemies.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOJ Indicts Southern Poverty Law Center Over Its Paid-Informant Program (April 2026)

    Trump's DOJ indicted the SPLC — the nation's leading hate-group monitor — on fraud and money laundering charges over a now-defunct program that secretly paid informants inside white supremacist groups, alleging the payments defrauded donors and funded extremism. The SPLC pleaded not guilty on May 7, 2026. Norm Eisen said 'we've never seen a case like this under a Democratic or a Republican administration.' The prosecution is pending.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Immigration Judiciary Purge: 113 Judges Fired Without Due Process, Including Two Who Ruled for Student Activists

    Over 113 immigration judges have been fired without due process since January 2025 — more firings in one year than in the entire prior history of the immigration court system. The April 2026 firing, without stated reason, of two judges who had dismissed deportation cases against pro-Palestinian activists signals to every remaining judge that ruling against the administration can cost them their post, undermining the independence of courts adjudicating life-and-death immigration cases.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    U.S. Naval Blockade of Iranian Ports

    The United States imposed a full naval blockade on all Iranian ports after peace talks in Islamabad collapsed, threatening to destroy any vessel approaching. The blockade — the first U.S. naval blockade since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — is a belligerent act that, imposed in furtherance of an unlawful war, is a listed act of aggression (UNGA Res 3314, Art 3(c)). It threatens 25% of global seaborne oil and inflicts severe economic harm on Iran's civilian population; the US declared a humanitarian exemption for food and medicine, and whether that exemption operates in practice is disputed.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    U.S. Complicity in Israel's Operation Eternal Darkness: April 8 Lebanon Massacre

    Israel launched Operation Eternal Darkness on April 8, 2026 — 100 airstrikes in 10 minutes across Lebanon using 50 jets and ~160 munitions, killing 357 and injuring 1,223. The US remained silent and continued arms supply to Israel; whether US assistance reached this operation has not been established.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Trump Issues Ultimatum: 'A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight' Unless Iran Capitulates

    Trump's explicit threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran — every bridge, every power plant — with the stated goal of ensuring Iran 'could literally never rebuild as a nation again' were characterised by Amnesty International as 'a threat to commit war crimes' and by HRW as threats against objects protected by IHL. Carrying them out would raise war-crime liability under Rome Statute art. 8(2)(b)(ii)/(iv). The threats themselves are prohibited by AP I art. 51(2) if their primary purpose is to terrorise civilians, but they are not a listed Rome Statute crime. The threatened nationwide demolition was not carried out on April 7.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    U.S. Strike Destroys Iran's B1 Bridge, Killing Civilians on Nowruz Holiday

    US forces destroyed Iran's landmark B1 bridge near Karaj in two strikes during Nowruz holiday celebrations, killing 8 civilians and wounding 95. The US military called the bridge a planned military supply route; Iran denies any military use, and no independent body has assessed the claim. The strike followed Trump's 'Stone Ages' threats against Iranian infrastructure.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Repeated Strikes Near Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

    Repeated strikes near an operating reactor in a city of 250,000 raise serious concerns under the customary duty to take particular care around installations containing dangerous forces (ICRC Rule 42). Imagery places the April impacts on an anti-aircraft site outside the plant fence; attribution of each strike is not independently confirmed, and no body has found that the plant itself was targeted.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Defense Secretary Hegseth Declares 'No Quarter, No Mercy' for Iran

    The US Defense Secretary's public declaration of 'no quarter, no mercy for our enemies' is assessed as a probable war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii), which criminalizes 'declaring that no quarter will be given.' Recognized authorities have applied the law to the statement; no court has ruled. This prohibition is among the oldest in the laws of war.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Damage to Iranian UNESCO World Heritage Sites in US-Israeli Airstrikes

    US-Israeli strikes have damaged UNESCO World Heritage Sites and over 100 cultural heritage sites across Iran, including Golestan Palace, Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square complex, the 8th-century Jameh Mosque, and prehistoric sites dating to 63,000 BC. Damage to cultural property is regulated by the 1954 Hague Convention and customary IHL. Intentionally directing attacks against historic monuments that are not military objectives is a war crime (Rome Statute art. 8(2)(b)(ix)); the documented damage so far was caused by strikes on nearby government buildings, and no investigative body has found that a heritage site was itself targeted.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Global Energy and Food Security Catastrophe

    The Iran war triggered closure of the world's most critical energy chokepoint, causing the largest supply disruption since the 1970s. Iran closed and mined the strait. Despite a nominal ceasefire, the US and Iran exchanged fire in the strait on May 7, 2026: after Iranian attacks on three US destroyers, the US struck what CENTCOM called military sites at Qeshm and Bandar Abbas, while Iran said civilian areas were hit (unverified); a cargo vessel was hit, killing one sailor. Copernicus satellite imagery showed a large oil slick (71 sq km) near Kharg Island; its source is disputed and it has not been attributed to US strikes. Iran declared the ceasefire violated; the strait remains effectively closed.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    2026 Lebanon War — US Weapons Complicity in Mass Civilian Casualties and White Phosphorus Attacks

    Israel's 2026 Lebanon offensive — including white phosphorus munitions used over civilian areas — has killed over 1,000 people, wounded nearly 3,000, and displaced 700,000. Continued US arms transfers despite documented violations raise state-responsibility concerns under Common Article 1; individual criminal complicity has not been established, because no US-supplied item has been linked to a documented 2026 unlawful strike. HRW and UN experts have called for suspension of military assistance.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Trump Threats to Obliterate Iran's Civilian Power Infrastructure

    Trump's explicit threats to destroy Iran's civilian power infrastructure escalated from 'obliterate' to a promise of 'complete demolition' of every bridge and power plant. Amnesty International characterised them as threats to commit war crimes; no tribunal or UN body has found a threat itself criminal, and a threat is not a listed Rome Statute act. Strikes that were later carried out on Iranian bridges and power infrastructure are assessed in their own entries.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Iran War: Crime of Aggression — War Launched Without Congressional Authorization

    The United States launched a major war against Iran without congressional authorization, without a UN Security Council mandate, and while diplomatic channels remained open. The Brennan Center has called the strikes unconstitutional. International lawyers including Adil Haque and Brian Finucane (Just Security) and UN special procedures have characterized them as a manifest violation of the UN Charter and an act of aggression — what the Nuremberg Tribunal called 'the supreme international crime.'

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Attacks on Iranian Healthcare Facilities: WHO Verifies 18 Strikes on Hospitals and Medical Infrastructure

    A sustained pattern of strikes on Iranian hospitals, ambulances, and medical infrastructure has killed healthcare workers and forced the evacuation of six hospitals. The WHO verified 18 attacks on health sites through mid-March 2026, documenting systematic damage to protected medical facilities including Gandhi Hospital and Iranian Red Crescent centers. WHO counted 21 attacks on health workers and facilities by late March, with 17 Red Crescent centres struck and nearly 100 ambulances damaged or destroyed.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Lamerd Sports Hall Strike: US Airburst Missiles Hit a Sports Centre, School and Homes in Southern Iran, Killing At Least 21 (February 2026)

    Precision Strike Missiles, which burst above their target and scatter about 180,000 tungsten pellets, hit a sports hall, a school and homes in Lamerd on 28 February 2026, killing at least 21 civilians. A UN fact-finding mission found reasonable grounds that the US was responsible and that the strike was an indiscriminate attack amounting to a war crime under customary law, applying a recklessness standard. The US denies responsibility.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Minab School Strike: US Tomahawk Cruise Missile Kills At Least 156 at a Primary School

    A Tomahawk cruise missile struck a primary school in Minab, Iran, killing at least 156 people, including 120 to 123 children, in one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in the 2026 Iran war. Media investigations, a preliminary US military inquiry as reported, and the UN fact-finding mission (A/HRC/63/61) attribute the strike to the US.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    ICE Directed to Detain Lawfully Admitted Refugees Who Lack Green Cards After One Year (February 2026)

    The administration told ICE it may arrest and hold refugees, who were vetted for years before admission, simply because they have not yet obtained green cards a year after arrival, even though the government itself has frozen many green-card applications. Refugees and resettlement agencies sued; as of mid-September 2026 the case was at cross-motions for summary judgment, with no final ruling.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    America First Arms Transfer Strategy: Human Rights Safeguards Removed From Weapons Exports

    An executive order removed human-rights weighting from US executive arms transfer policy, replacing decades of bipartisan policy with a commerce-first approach. The subsequent emergency bypass of congressional review for $23+ billion in Gulf arms sales demonstrated the immediate consequences of removing these guardrails.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Federal Agents Kill ICU Nurse Alex Pretti During Minneapolis Immigration Protest

    A second American citizen killed by federal agents during Minneapolis immigration enforcement protests. The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — both unarmed U.S. citizens — during a single enforcement operation constituted a pattern of excessive force that prompted bipartisan calls for accountability.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Secret Cameroon Deportation Agreement and Torture of Deportees

    The US secretly deported 17 people from 9 African countries to Cameroon under a covert agreement, including people with US court protections against return to their home countries. Cameroon detained them without legal basis, and journalists attempting to document conditions were arrested. HRW says the transfers to a country with a record of torture in detention breach the prohibition on refoulement.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    ICE Officer Christian Castro Indicted for Lying About Shooting Venezuelan Man Through a Closed Door in Minneapolis

    An ICE officer shot a Venezuelan man through a closed door during the Minneapolis enforcement surge, then claimed he had been beaten with a shovel. The victims were charged, but those charges were dropped when video contradicted him. The officer now faces state assault charges and a six-count federal indictment for lying to the FBI. A federal prosecutor who reportedly said DOJ blocked a civil rights charge was fired.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    ICE Agent Kills Renee Good, American Mother of Three, in Minneapolis

    An ICE agent shot and killed an American woman during an immigration raid in Minneapolis. Video evidence contradicted the government's claim of self-defense. The administration used the killing to threaten the Insurrection Act and escalate immigration enforcement.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Operation Absolute Resolve: Unilateral US Military Intervention in Venezuela

    The United States launched a unilateral military intervention in Venezuela, bombing infrastructure and capturing the sitting head of state, without Congressional authorization or UN Security Council mandate. The administration called it a law-enforcement operation, with military support, to arrest an indicted fugitive. International legal experts, the UN Secretary-General, and governments worldwide condemned the operation as a violation of the UN Charter.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Eastern Pacific Convoy Strike: Eight Men Who Jumped Overboard Left in the Sea as US Forces Sank Their Boats (December 2025)

    A US strike on a three-boat convoy killed three men outright; eight others jumped into rough seas before US forces sank their boats, and none was ever found. The military first reported three dead and confirmed the eight only after reporting by The Intercept. The incident falls within a campaign that a UN Special Rapporteur found, at the reasonable-grounds standard, constituted crimes against humanity of murder.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Naval Blockade of Venezuelan Oil Exports

    A naval blockade of Venezuelan oil exports drew condemnation from UN experts as a violation of fundamental international law, with legal analysts characterizing it as an act of war imposed without Congressional authorization.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Secretive $7.5 Million Deal Sends 66 Deportees to Equatorial Guinea, Then On to the Countries They Fled

    A secret agreement with one of the world's most repressive regimes has sent 66 deportees to Equatorial Guinea, where they were detained and, in the case of all 29 on the first two flights, returned to their countries of origin, including people US judges had found would face persecution or torture there. The $7.5 million deal is part of a broader $40 million third-country deportation program targeting migrants from countries that will not accept their return.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Pentagon Censures Sen. Mark Kelly and Moves to Cut His Rank Over 'Illegal Orders' Video; Court Finds Likely First Amendment Retaliation

    The Defense Department used military-discipline machinery against a sitting senator for telling troops to refuse unlawful orders, after the President called the video sedition 'punishable by death'. A federal judge blocked the censure as likely First Amendment retaliation; prosecutors' attempt to indict the lawmakers reportedly failed before a grand jury. The government's appeal was argued on 7 May 2026.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Epstein Files: DOJ Withholds Evidence, UN Experts Warn of Crimes Against Humanity

    After signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Trump administration's DOJ missed legal deadlines, secretly re-redacted files, and withheld documents containing an unadjudicated allegation that Trump sexually abused a minor. Separately, UN special-procedure experts stated that a number of the crimes described in the files 'may reasonably meet' the threshold of crimes against humanity. The case has drawn bipartisan congressional subpoenas of AG Bondi, and calls for a special counsel over alleged perjury.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Immigration Rocket Dockets: Mass Fast-Tracked Hearings and In Absentia Removal Orders

    An accelerated immigration court system that fast-tracks cases through mass remote hearings, with two-thirds of all Somali cases nationwide rescheduled on short notice. The process systematically deprives respondents of due process, as the 2018–19 family rocket dockets showed, when 80% of completed cases ended in in absentia removal orders.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Pentagon Press Credential Policy Struck Down as Unconstitutional; Court Finds the Department Did Not Comply (2025–2026)

    A federal court permanently struck down the Pentagon's 2025 press-access policy as vague and viewpoint-discriminatory, then found the department had not complied and had instead cut reporters' access further. An appeals court let the escort rule stand pending appeal because the first judgment had not addressed it; the district court then preliminarily enjoined it as likely retaliation.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Border Patrol Agent Shoots US Citizen Marimar Martinez in Chicago; Prosecution Collapses as Evidence Contradicts DHS

    A Border Patrol agent shot an American woman five times in Chicago. DHS called her a domestic terrorist and prosecutors charged her with assault, but video contradicted the government's account and the charges were dropped. The agent's texts boasted about the shooting and claimed support from senior officials.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    ICE Agent Kills Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park, Illinois; Body Camera Undercuts DHS Account

    An ICE agent shot a Mexican father of two in the back of the neck during a traffic encounter near Chicago. DHS said the agent was seriously injured and dragged; body-camera footage has the agent describing his injuries as 'nothing major.' Illinois police opened an investigation eight months later.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Operation Midway Blitz: Chicago Immigration Surge Breached a Court Decree on Warrantless Arrests and Drew Orders Limiting Force Against Protesters and Press (2025)

    During the Chicago-area immigration surge, ICE made warrantless arrests that federal courts found breached a binding consent decree DHS had said it would stop following. A federal judge also restricted agents' use of chemical weapons against protesters and journalists. Appeals courts affirmed the consent-decree findings in part but vacated the use-of-force injunction on procedural grounds after the case was dropped.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    US Sanctions Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Under ICC Sanctions Order (September 2025)

    The Trump administration used its ICC sanctions order against three of the main Palestinian organisations that document abuses in Gaza and the West Bank and submit evidence to the International Criminal Court, freezing their US-linked assets and exposing anyone who works with them to sanctions risk.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    'Camp 57': ICE Detainees Held in a Former Disciplinary Unit Inside Angola Prison (September 2025–)

    DHS reopened a disused punitive unit inside the largest maximum-security prison in the US to hold civil immigration detainees, and said the prison's fearsome reputation was the point. One former detainee's account describes harsh conditions, which ICE denies; that detainee was deported in breach of a court order. ACLU Louisiana is challenging detentions there in court.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Operation Southern Spear: Lethal Drone Strikes on Caribbean and Pacific Drug Boats

    A sustained campaign of Hellfire missile strikes on suspected drug boats has killed at least 231 people (CBS News count, September 2026) without due process, public evidence of drug trafficking, or identification of the dead. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul and Human Rights Watch characterise the strikes as extrajudicial killings; Saul's September 2026 briefing note to the Human Rights Council found reasonable grounds that they constitute a crime against humanity, as have several scholars (Lawfare, War on the Rocks).

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Torture and Enforced Disappearances at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome Detention Centers

    Florida immigration detention centers are sites of documented torture including a punitive cage device, prolonged solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and enforced disappearances facilitated by the absence of any tracking system. At least six people died in Florida ICE facilities since October 2024.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Midnight Deportation of 76 Guatemalan Children: Labor Day Weekend Mass Removal Attempt

    The administration attempted a mass deportation of unaccompanied minor children in the middle of the night during a holiday weekend, circumventing legal protections that require children to appear before an immigration judge. A federal judge halted the operation after being awakened at 2:35 AM, but one plane had already taken off before turning around.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    FCC Broadcast License Threats and Government Coercion of Media

    A campaign of government coercion against media through broadcast license threats from the president and FCC chair, forced cancellation of a television show, pressure to remove apps, and demands that platforms suppress immigration-related content.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Firing the BLS Commissioner Over a Weak Jobs Report

    Trump fired the head of the federal agency that produces the jobs and inflation numbers on the day it published bad news for him, accusing her without evidence of rigging the data. The commissioner had no statutory protection from removal, but removing a chief statistician for unwelcome numbers attacks the independence of official statistics.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Sanctions Against UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine

    The United States sanctioned a UN human rights investigator for performing the duties of her mandate, in what UN experts described as an unprecedented threat to the international human rights system.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Operation Midnight Hammer: US Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Sites Without Congressional or UN Authorisation (June 2025)

    The US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 without asking Congress or the UN Security Council. A leading international law scholar, writing for the Lieber Institute at West Point, concluded the strikes do not qualify as self-defence. The operation was the first direct US use of force against Iran in this period and preceded the 2026 war.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Illegal National Guard Deployments to Los Angeles and Attempted Deployment to Chicago

    The administration deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles without the governor's consent, and attempted to send Texas National Guard troops to Chicago. A federal judge ruled the Los Angeles deployment unlawful, and the Supreme Court declined to stay an order blocking the Illinois deployment, finding the government had not identified a source of authority.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Expanded Travel Ban Targeting Up to 39 Countries, Predominantly Muslim and African Nations

    A sweeping expansion of travel restrictions targeting predominantly Muslim-majority and African nations, growing from the original first-term ban to cover 39 countries. The bans affect millions of people and have been widely characterized as religious and racial discrimination codified into immigration policy.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Repeated US Vetoes of UN Security Council Gaza Ceasefire Resolutions

    The US was the sole dissenter blocking Gaza ceasefire resolutions supported by all other Security Council members, while famine and allegations of genocide continued in Gaza. The pattern of vetoes enabled continued military operations with devastating humanitarian consequences.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Systematic Attacks on Press Freedom: Journalist Arrests, Detention, and Deportation

    A systematic pattern of press freedom violations including the arrest of journalists covering immigration enforcement, and the deportation of a journalist to the country he fled due to death threats. Abroad, journalists covering US deportation operations have been detained by foreign authorities.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Third-Country Deportations to Rwanda, Ghana, and South Sudan

    The US paid Rwanda, Ghana, Eswatini, and South Sudan to accept deportees who are not their nationals, in deals a federal judge ruled unconstitutional. HRW called the expulsion agreements violations of international human rights law, and domestic lawsuits in Ghana challenge the deal's legality.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: US-Funded Aid Scheme Where Hundreds Were Killed Seeking Food (May–November 2025)

    The Trump administration backed and funded a privatised aid scheme in Gaza whose four sites became scenes of near-daily shootings of hungry people, overwhelmingly by Israeli forces. The UN counted 859 killed near GHF sites in its first two months. The US approved $30 million for GHF after the killings were known. Whether that support amounts to complicity in war crimes is plausible but not established.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    US Airstrike Kills 61 to 68 African Migrants in Yemen Detention Center

    US airstrikes killed 61 to 68 detained African migrants sleeping in a Sa'ada detention center during Operation Rough Rider. Amnesty International's investigation found no evidence the facility was a military target and concluded the strike was indiscriminate and must be investigated as a war crime.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    US Strikes on Ras Issa Fuel Port Kill 84+ Civilians in Yemen

    US airstrikes on Yemen's most critical civilian port infrastructure killed 84+ civilians including three children, port workers, truck drivers, and civil defense personnel. HRW found the strikes an apparent war crime: CENTCOM's stated aim of depriving the Houthis of fuel revenue does not make the port a military objective, and even if valid military objectives were attacked, the civilian harm most likely made the attack unlawfully disproportionate.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    2025 Tariff Shock: Sweeping Import Taxes Trigger Global Trade Crisis

    The tariff regime was described by the administration as reciprocal response to trade imbalances, but the methodology for calculating tariff rates — dividing trade deficits by import values — was not a recognized economic method and did not reflect actual foreign tariff levels. Economists across the political spectrum warned of consumer price increases, supply chain disruptions, and reduced trade volumes. The tariffs on Chinese goods — reaching 145% cumulatively — effectively ended routine trade in many product categories. Markets fell sharply in the two trading days following the announcement. A 90-day pause was announced for most countries (excluding China) after Treasury Secretary Bessent and other officials lobbied Trump.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    HHS Dismantlement Under RFK Jr. During the Worst Measles Outbreak in 30 Years

    RFK Jr.'s dismantlement of federal health agencies during an active measles crisis — including firing vaccine advisors, cutting thousands of positions, and clawing back billions — coincided with the worst measles outbreak in 30+ years, which began in January 2025 before his confirmation, and degraded the federal response while America's measles-elimination status is threatened.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Termination of CHNV Humanitarian Parole for 532,000 People

    DHS terminated humanitarian parole for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, stripping legal status effective April 24, 2025. The Supreme Court allowed the mass revocation in a 7-2 ruling, and DHS urged affected individuals to 'self-deport immediately.'

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Executive Order on Elections: Voter Suppression and Presidential Seizure of Election Administration

    An executive order attempting unprecedented presidential control over federal elections — requiring proof of citizenship to register, decertifying voting machines in 39 states, restricting mail ballots, and demanding state voter files — struck down by three federal courts as unconstitutional but partially implemented by compliant states ahead of the 2026 midterms.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Signalgate: Top Officials Share Classified Strike Plans in Unsecured Group Chat

    Senior US officials including the Vice President, Defense Secretary, and CIA Director used a personal Signal group chat to discuss classified strike plans targeting Houthi forces in Yemen. A journalist was accidentally added. The Defense Secretary shared specific targeting and timing information, which the Pentagon inspector general later found put US personnel and the mission at risk. The incident revealed systemic disregard for classified information handling procedures.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Systematic Rollback of Disability Rights Protections

    Systematic dismantlement of disability protections through withdrawal of ADA guidance, cancellation of pending rules, elimination of Section 503 hiring goals, 50% staff cuts at the disability services agency, and an executive order promoting institutionalization — described by the American Bar Association as rolling 'back decades of disability rights.'

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Department of Education: Near-Abolition and Mass Staff Terminations

    The Department of Education serves approximately 50 million K-12 students through Title I funding to schools serving low-income students, special education grants under IDEA, and civil rights enforcement under Title IX and other statutes. It administers the federal student loan system covering 43 million borrowers. The mass staff reductions — 1,315 employees laid off in a reduction in force announced on March 11, 2025 (which, together with buyouts, roughly halved the department's staff) — severely affected the agency's capacity to process loan applications, investigate civil rights complaints, and distribute funding to schools. Schools serving the highest-need students, which depend most heavily on Title I funding, faced the greatest uncertainty.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Kilmar Abrego Garcia Deported to El Salvador Despite Withholding Order

    Federal officials removed Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador despite a preexisting withholding order barring that destination, then spent weeks litigating what it meant to 'facilitate' his return after the Supreme Court intervened. Returned in June 2025 to face criminal charges, he was released from ICE custody in December 2025, and the criminal case was dismissed in May 2026 as vindictive prosecution; the Justice Department has appealed.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Systematic Attacks on Judicial Independence and Defiance of Court Orders

    A pattern of court order defiance, threats against judges, calls for impeachment, and DOJ Civil Rights Division gutting that constitutional scholars describe as the most serious executive-judicial confrontation since at least Watergate.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Secret Deportation of 252 Venezuelans to CECOT Mega-Prison

    252 Venezuelans were secretly deported to CECOT, where HRW documented torture, sexual violence, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of basic necessities. At least 48.8% had no criminal history in the United States, and at least 62 had asylum cases pending. All 252 were sent to Venezuela in a July 18, 2025 prisoner exchange.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Forced Disappearances of Salvadoran Deportees in El Salvador's Prison System

    Systematic forced disappearances of Salvadoran nationals deported from the US, held incommunicado in Salvadoran prisons including CECOT with no access to lawyers, families, or courts. The US is accused of breaching non-refoulement by deporting people to a system that human rights groups document as practising enforced disappearance. Amnesty International has said El Salvador's state-of-exception abuses could amount to crimes against humanity.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    HSI Agent Kills US Citizen Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island; Federal Role Undisclosed for 11 Months

    A federal immigration agent shot a 23-year-old American citizen through his car window at a South Padre Island traffic point. DHS said he deliberately ran over an agent; police body-camera video and the passenger's account describe a car barely moving. The federal role came out only through a records request 11 months later, and a grand jury declined to indict.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Pattern of Wrongful Deportations: US Citizens and Protected Individuals Removed Despite Court Orders

    Multiple US citizens and legally protected individuals have been wrongfully deported, often in direct defiance of federal court orders. The pattern includes deportation of a man with explicit judicial protection, another removed the day after a court barred his removal, and a US citizenship claimant deported despite a restraining order.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Operation Rough Rider: US Killed More Civilians in 52 Days Than in Previous 23 Years in Yemen

    A 53-day US bombing campaign in Yemen produced an unprecedented civilian death toll, with Airwars documenting at least 224 civilian deaths — nearly matching the 258 it recorded over the previous 23 years of US operations in Yemen. Two incidents, the Ras Isa port strike and the Saada migrant detention centre strike, reach the war-crime threshold at the probable level.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    USAGM and Voice of America Broadcasting Dismantlement

    A coordinated attack on US government-funded international broadcasting placed 1,300 journalists on leave, terminated Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's grant, and attempted to gut Voice of America — until a federal judge ruled the actions illegal and ordered staff reinstated.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Deportation Proceedings Against Mahmoud Khalil for Pro-Palestine Protest Activity

    A Columbia graduate student with a green card was arrested by ICE for his role in Gaza solidarity protests and ordered deported on the novel grounds that his speech posed 'adverse foreign policy consequences,' establishing a dangerous precedent for using immigration enforcement to suppress political dissent.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Political Prisoners: Detention of Campus Activists for Pro-Palestinian Speech

    At least five noncitizen activists and scholars were detained by ICE for pro-Palestinian campus activism or writings, with an estimated 300 student visas revoked. Internal documents confirmed the detentions were based on speech and protest activity, not immigration violations, and multiple federal judges ordered their release.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Coercion of Universities: Funding Freezes, Research Cuts, and Demands for Political Compliance

    Billions in funding frozen or canceled to coerce universities into political compliance, with demands for protest suppression, admissions reform, and 'academic receivership' of specific departments. Columbia capitulated with a $221 million settlement; Harvard resisted and won a court order restoring $2.2 billion. NIH research funding was cut 24%.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE Employees Matched Social Security Data with Voter Rolls to Pursue Voter Fraud Claims

    DOGE employees at SSA secretly worked with a political advocacy group to match Social Security data with voter rolls to find 'evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results.' A signed data-sharing agreement and Hatch Act referrals followed. A whistleblower alleged DOGE copied 300+ million Americans' records into an unsecured virtual database.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Executive Orders Targeting Law Firms Representing Trump's Opponents

    Unprecedented use of executive orders to punish four law firms for representing clients adverse to the president. All four orders were struck down as unconstitutional violations of the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. The campaign chilled legal representation and coerced at least nine other firms into compliance deals that remain operative.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Deportation Traps at Immigration Court Hearings and Systematic Denial of Due Process

    ICE turned mandatory immigration court hearings into arrest traps, coordinating in real time with government attorneys to arrest immigrants whose cases were dismissed. Record-setting asylum denials, in absentia orders tripling to 50,000, and 'rocket dockets' processing cases too fast for legal representation destroyed systematic access to due process.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Dismantlement of Pentagon Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Program

    The Pentagon's civilian casualty prevention infrastructure was gutted in early 2025, removing institutional safeguards for complying with IHL precautions before the administration's subsequent military operations, in which serious civilian harm was documented.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE Guts National Weather Service: 30 Offices Lose Lead Meteorologists Ahead of Hurricane Season

    The National Weather Service lost roughly 550 to 600 staff, including meteorologists and storm modelers, through probationary firings and early retirements, leaving 30 forecast offices without lead meteorologists. The NWS Goodland, Kansas office became the first to abandon 24/7 operations. Five former NWS directors warned the cuts endanger lives heading into tornado and hurricane season.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Emergency Arms Sales to Gulf States: $16.5–23 Billion (Reported Totals Differ) Bypassing Congressional Review

    Using emergency waivers under the Arms Export Control Act, the administration has bypassed Congress to approve massive arms sales to Gulf states, including to the UAE despite documented evidence of UAE weapons flowing to the RSF in Sudan. The earlier rescission of NSM-20 removed an executive assurance policy; statutory conditions such as the Leahy laws remain.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Musk's Private Bodyguards Deputized as Federal Agents Without Required Training

    The deputization of Musk's private bodyguards as federal agents — with training requirements waived at White House request — represents an unprecedented merger of private security with federal law enforcement authority, bypassing the safeguards that exist to prevent untrained armed individuals from exercising government power.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE Fires 350 Nuclear Weapons Workers at NNSA, Including Pantex Warhead Assemblers

    DOGE fired 350 NNSA nuclear weapons workers, including warhead assemblers at Pantex and radioactive waste managers at Savannah River, as part of a 2,000-person Department of Energy purge. Most firings were rescinded within 24 hours after bipartisan alarm over nuclear stockpile security, but the incident exposed DOGE's indiscriminate approach to agencies with critical national security functions.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    CFPB Dismantlement While Musk Launches Competing XMoney Payment Service

    Musk used his government role leading DOGE to dismantle the CFPB, the agency positioned to regulate his XMoney digital payments platform, while gaining access to competitors' confidential financial data — a conflict of interest that ethics watchdogs and senators have flagged as potentially criminal under 18 U.S.C. 208. No charge or official finding has been made.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE Shuts Down Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: 'CFPB RIP'

    DOGE operationally shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a Congressionally-created agency protecting 330 million Americans from financial fraud — by ordering staff to cease all work, deleting social media accounts, and planning to fire nearly all 1,700 employees. Federal courts intervened but the agency remains gutted.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    ICC Immunity Demands: Ultimatum to Amend Rome Statute and Exempt Americans from War Crimes Prosecution

    A systematic campaign to destroy the International Criminal Court's ability to hold Americans accountable for war crimes, combining unprecedented sanctions on judges with demands to rewrite the Rome Statute itself. The campaign goes far beyond any previous US opposition to the ICC, seeking not merely non-cooperation but the permanent restructuring of international criminal justice.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Executive Order Sanctioning International Criminal Court Officials

    The administration imposed escalating sanctions on ICC officials -- including judges and prosecutors -- for investigating US citizens and allies, obstructing international criminal accountability and drawing broad condemnation from the UN and international legal community.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Deportations to Haiti Despite Gang Control and Humanitarian Collapse

    The US deported Haitians to a country whose capital's airport US airlines are barred from after commercial planes were hit by gang gunfire, where 90% of the capital is under gang control and 1.4 million are displaced. DHS terminated TPS for about 348,000 Haitians while the State Department maintained a Level 4 'Do Not Travel' advisory; the Supreme Court allowed the termination to proceed in June 2026.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Mass Termination of Temporary Protected Status Across 11 Countries

    TPS was terminated or targeted for termination across 11 countries, de-documenting over 1 million people. Federal courts have blocked or paused several terminations. The State Department maintains 'Do Not Travel' advisories for many of the same countries DHS claims are safe for return.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Trump Proposes Forcible Displacement of 2.3 Million Palestinians from Gaza

    President Trump publicly called for the removal of Gaza's Palestinian population, describing it as 'cleaning out' the territory. The UN, Arab League and international lawyers condemned the proposal as ethnic cleansing if implemented. The administration pressed Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinians and reportedly explored relocation to Libya and East Africa; no transfer was carried out, and the September 2025 20-point plan states that no one will be forced to leave Gaza.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Secret $6 Million Contract to Outsource Detention to El Salvador's CECOT

    A secret $6 million contract enabled the US to outsource detention to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where HRW documented systematic torture. The unreleased agreement created an unprecedented mechanism to evade domestic legal protections by transferring detainees to a foreign torture facility.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Surge in Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention

    At least 10,588 people were subjected to solitary confinement in immigration detention over 14 months spanning two administrations, with usage surging under the Trump administration. PHR reports that from 2018 to 2023 nearly three in four placements lasted 15 days or longer, the duration beyond which the UN Special Rapporteur on torture considers solitary confinement prohibited and capable of amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; whether a given placement amounts to torture depends on its purpose and severity, assessed case by case. DHS oversight offices were simultaneously decimated from 150 to 22 staff.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Mass Student Visa Revocations Targeting Pro-Palestine Protesters

    Roughly 1,700 student visas or status records cancelled by April 2025, including hundreds in a campaign targeting pro-Palestine campus protest activity, with the State Department using AI screening and testifying that criticism of Israel could justify revocation. The campaign suppresses protected political speech through immigration enforcement.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Guantanamo Bay Immigrant Detention: Solitary Confinement and Ill-Treatment

    Immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay face conditions that Human Rights Watch says may amount to ill-treatment prohibited under international law: isolation for up to 23 hours a day, punitive restraint in a chair, and incommunicado detention. ACLU and CCR lawsuits challenge the offshore detention as unconstitutional and beyond the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE-Directed Mass Firings and Forced Resignations of Federal Workers

    DOGE directed mass firings of probationary employees, coerced ~75,000 resignations through the 'Fork in the Road' program, and orchestrated reductions in force totaling ~300,000 federal positions. Courts found the probationary firings illegal, but the Supreme Court sided with the administration on appeal.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Suppression of Organized Labor: Union Busting, NLRB Destruction, and Collective Bargaining Revocation

    A multi-pronged attack on organized labor: destruction of the NLRB's quorum through the first-ever mid-term firing of a board member, an executive order stripping collective bargaining from 950,000 federal workers, and extension of the order to additional agencies — described as 'the single most aggressive action against organized labor in US history.'

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Second-Term Transgender Military Ban: Executive Order 14183

    The second-term ban was broader and more immediately disruptive than the first-term version. Executive Order 14183 directed the Secretary of Defense to update medical standards within 60 days and to issue implementing guidance within 30 days, mandating that transgender service members serve in their birth sex or face discharge. Service members who had been receiving hormone therapy and other gender-affirming medical care under a Biden-era policy would have that care immediately terminated. Legal challenges were filed promptly; district courts issued preliminary injunctions in March 2025, and in May 2025 the Supreme Court stayed one of them. Estimates of the number affected range from the 4,240 service members the Pentagon said in December 2024 had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria to advocacy estimates of about 15,000 transgender service members.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Colombia Deportation Standoff: Economic Coercion via Tariff Threats

    The US threatened Colombia with 25-50% tariffs, visa bans, and customs inspections to coerce acceptance of military deportation flights. Colombia capitulated within hours, establishing a precedent for weaponizing economic power to override sovereign decisions on migration.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Mass Firing of Inspectors General Across Federal Government

    Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general across the federal government without the advance notice to Congress that the Inspector General Act generally requires, and a later federal ruling said the notice failure violated the statute.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Military Deployments at the US-Mexico Border and the Posse Comitatus Act

    Over 10,000 troops were deployed to the US-Mexico border for immigration enforcement, with expanded authority to detain and search people in newly created military zones. In a separate case about Los Angeles, a federal judge found the administration 'willfully' violated the Posse Comitatus Act, the Reconstruction-era law separating military and civilian law enforcement.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Schedule F Reclassification: Mass Removal of Civil Service Protections

    Schedule F reclassification targets 50,000 federal employees for removal of civil service protections, enabling political firing for 'subversion of presidential directives.' The rule strips appeal rights, whistleblower protections, and Merit Systems Protection Board access, drawing lawsuits from over 30 organizations.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Suspension of Asylum at the Southern Border

    The administration imposed an unprecedented total ban on asylum claims at the southern border, shutting down the CBP One app and eliminating all avenues for protection. A federal judge ruled the president 'cannot adopt an alternative immigration system which supplants the statutes that Congress has enacted.'

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Intensified Cuba Sanctions Regime: Blackouts, Hospital Shutdowns, and Collective Punishment

    The systematically intensified US sanctions regime against Cuba has caused 20-hour blackouts, hospital closures, medication shortages for 5 million chronically ill people, and collapse of essential services. UN experts warned the measures may amount to collective punishment of civilians under international human rights law.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Federal Death Penalty Expansion and Discriminatory Application

    Executive order reversing the federal execution moratorium and mandating the death penalty be sought for all murders by undocumented immigrants 'regardless of other factors' — creating a discriminatory two-tier system where immigration status, not the severity of the crime, determines whether the government seeks death.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE-Directed Elimination of Federal DEI Programs and Mass Firings of DEI Workers

    Executive Order 14151 directed elimination of all federal DEI programs. DOGE implemented a three-phase purge, firing thousands of workers — including many who had no current DEI role — and in later court depositions DOGE staffers described using ChatGPT to flag humanities grants as DEI. A December 2025 class-action lawsuit alleges the purge targeted minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ employees.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOGE Associates Gained Access to $6 Trillion Treasury Payment System

    DOGE associates including Tom Krause (Broadcom executive) and Marko Elez (25-year-old with racist posts) accessed Treasury's $6 trillion payment system. Elez was mistakenly given write access to payment records. 19 AGs sued. Federal judges in New York temporarily blocked access, one calling the rollout 'chaotic and haphazard.' In a separate case, the 4th Circuit vacated a Maryland injunction in August 2025.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Weaponization of the Department of Justice: Retaliatory Investigations and Prosecutions

    Systematic weaponization of the DOJ through a retaliatory investigations unit, indictments of political opponents that were dismissed as brought by an unlawfully appointed prosecutor, mass departure of career prosecutors, and dismantlement of the Civil Rights Division and Public Integrity Section.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Systematic Destruction of Environmental Protections — Paris Agreement, UNFCCC, and Endangerment Finding

    An unprecedented withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, UNFCCC, and IPCC, combined with the rescission of the endangerment finding and rollback of 31+ environmental rules, constitutes the most comprehensive destruction of environmental protections in US history. The actions remove the world's largest historical emitter from the international climate framework while eliminating domestic regulation of greenhouse gases.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    FEMA Dismantlement — Budget Cuts, Mass Layoffs, and Destruction of Disaster Response Capacity

    A systematic effort to dismantle federal disaster preparedness and response capacity through budget cuts, mass layoffs, program terminations, and structural reorganization. FEMA's workforce has already shrunk by one-third, with plans to cut it in half. The disaster response workforce faces a 41% cut and the surge workforce an 85% cut, leaving the country dangerously unprepared for hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and other disasters.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Military and Economic Threats Against Greenland and Panama Canal Sovereignty

    The administration threatened military and economic coercion to annex Greenland and reclaim the Panama Canal, with the Pentagon developing actual invasion plans. In a May 2025 NBC interview Trump refused to rule out military force to acquire Greenland; in January 2026 he threatened tariffs on European allies over it before ruling out force at Davos.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Record ICE Detention Deaths and Medical Care Payment Halt

    46 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025 mark a two-decade high. ICE's October 2025 halt of medical care payments left detainees without access to health services as the detention population reached record levels, creating conditions that contributed to preventable deaths.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Rescission of ICE Sensitive Locations Policy — Churches, Schools, and Hospitals Open to Raids

    The rescission of the sensitive locations policy removed decades-old protections for churches, schools, hospitals, and shelters (courthouse arrests were governed by a separate ICE directive, also loosened in January 2025) from immigration enforcement. The rescission coincided with a broader surge in arrests of non-criminal immigrants and chilled access to essential services including healthcare and education.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Systematic Pardons of Political Allies and Financial Criminals — $1.3 Billion in Victim Restitution Erased

    A systematic pattern of pardons benefiting political allies, donors, and financial criminals. Over half of 88 clemency grants went to white-collar offenders, erasing $1.3 billion in victim restitution. Twenty corrupt politicians were pardoned. The DOJ's Public Integrity Section — responsible for investigating corruption — has been largely dismantled, and the head of the Pardon Attorney's office was fired and replaced with a political loyalist.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    PEPFAR Freeze: HIV/AIDS Treatment Cut for 20 Million People Across Africa

    The administration froze PEPFAR on Day One, cutting antiretroviral therapy for an estimated 20 million HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa. PEPFAR funded 70% of the global HIV response. Health workers reported clinics closing, drug supplies running out, and patients dying within weeks of the freeze. A Lancet HIV modelling study projects 0.77 to 2.93 million additional HIV-related deaths in 2025-2030 if PEPFAR support is discontinued alongside wider aid cuts, and far fewer if it is reinstated.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Deportation and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in ICE Custody

    ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in 13 months and recorded 16 miscarriages in detention. Women were shackled while miscarrying, denied prenatal care, and subjected to invasive procedures without consent -- all in violation of ICE's own 2021 directive against detaining pregnant individuals.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Systematic Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement and Wrongful Detention of US Citizens

    Latinos account for 90% of ICE arrests, 76% of raids target majority-Latino neighborhoods, the Supreme Court has stayed an order barring stops based on apparent race, language, location and occupation, and at least 170 US citizens have been wrongfully detained — constituting systematic racial profiling in violation of equal protection and non-discrimination principles.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Restrictions on Reproductive Rights and Comstock Act Revival

    A multi-pronged campaign to restrict reproductive rights through executive action, including withdrawal from EMTALA enforcement, enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, and preparation to invoke the 1873 Comstock Act as a de facto nationwide abortion ban without Congressional action.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Weaponization of Security Clearances for Political Retaliation

    A systematic campaign of security clearance revocations targeting political opponents, critics, and former officials who investigated or prosecuted Trump, including 51 intelligence officials, prosecutors, state attorneys general, and even an entire private cybersecurity company — constituting an unprecedented use of classification authority for political punishment.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    DOGE: Musk-Led Dismantlement of Federal Agencies Without Congressional Authorization

    DOGE operated as an unaccountable parallel executive structure. Musk's associates accessed federal payment systems, personnel databases, Social Security administration data, IRS systems, and classified networks. Congress had not authorized DOGE to exist, to fire employees, or to redirect agency funds. Courts issued numerous injunctions against DOGE actions. Multiple agencies had their websites taken offline, their career employees locked out, and their operations functionally suspended within weeks of inauguration. USAID was effectively eliminated — folded into the State Department without Congressional action — ending decades of foreign assistance infrastructure. Federal workers who objected or filed suit faced retaliation.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Second-Term Mass Deportations: Largest Enforcement Operation in U.S. History

    The administration declared a national emergency at the border on January 20, 2025, and directed federal military and law enforcement resources toward immigration enforcement. ICE operations expanded significantly; worksite raids and community arrests became routine. The administration deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national with a U.S. court order protecting him from removal to El Salvador, to CECOT on March 15, 2025; a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate his return, and the Supreme Court upheld that requirement; the administration resisted for weeks before returning him on June 6, 2025 to face criminal charges in Tennessee. The ACLU and other organizations documented multiple U.S. citizens and green card holders wrongly detained. Trump characterized the deportation operations as removing 'the worst, most violent criminals' despite documented cases of individuals with no criminal history being targeted.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Schedule F and Federal Worker Purge: Dismantling Civil Service Protections

    Schedule F's reclassification potentially covered hundreds of thousands of federal workers, stripping civil service protections that prevent politically-motivated firing. The 'deferred resignation' buyout offer — which OPM claimed would allow employees to stop working but continue receiving pay until late September 2025 — was criticized as legally uncertain, including under the Antideficiency Act; a federal judge in Massachusetts briefly paused the deadline in February 2025 but then ruled that the unions challenging it lacked standing. Tens of thousands of workers accepted. Agencies including USAID, the Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were simultaneously subject to mass reductions in force. By spring 2025, an estimated 100,000+ federal workers had left or been terminated.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Second-Term Press Attacks: AP Barred From Press Pool, Pool Access Restricted

    The AP's exclusion from press pool events — a credentialed, nonpartisan wire service — was triggered by the AP's editorial decision to continue using 'Gulf of Mexico' rather than 'Gulf of America,' the name Trump had issued an executive order to adopt. AP's position was that it followed geographic naming standards and could not adopt a contested renaming while it was politically motivated. Press freedom organizations condemned the exclusion as retaliation against a news organization for its editorial decisions.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Systematic Dismantlement of USAID and Global Humanitarian Consequences

    Systematic destruction of the US Agency for International Development resulted in termination of lifesaving programs across the developing world. A Lancet study projected more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030 if USAID funding cuts continue. Ending foreign aid is not an international crime, but the harm is grave and the dismantlement raised serious domestic rule-of-law questions.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Trump Emoluments: Foreign Government Payments Through Business Deals, Gifts, and Cryptocurrency

    An unprecedented pattern of foreign government payments flowing to the president's personal businesses and financial ventures, including real estate deals in Vietnam, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states, the LIV Golf partnership, a $400 million Qatari jet, and cryptocurrency schemes — prompting multiple Senate resolutions, introduced but not passed, that characterize the arrangements as Emoluments Clause violations.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Annexation Threats: Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada — Territorial Expansionism

    Trump's January 7, 2025 press conference at Mar-a-Lago was the clearest statement of the annexation posture: asked whether he would rule out military force to take Greenland, he said 'no.' Asked about economic coercion of Canada, he said tariffs were possible. His son Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland on what was described as a personal trip days before the press conference, raising diplomatic concerns. Denmark's prime minister stated that Greenland was not for sale. Greenland's prime minister stated Greenland's future was for Greenlanders to decide. Panama's president said the canal was and would remain Panamanian. Canada's prime minister described the threats as unacceptable.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    US Arms Transfers to Israel During ICJ Genocide Proceedings

    Continued US arms transfers to Israel during ICJ genocide proceedings, including emergency bypasses of Congressional review and the rescission of the NSM-20 safeguard. This raises complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity for which the ICC has issued arrest warrants (Rome Statute Art. 25(3)(d) and customary aiding and abetting). Complicity in genocide is alleged on the basis of the UN Commission of Inquiry's findings but is unadjudicated.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    The Springfield Pet-Eating Hoax: A False Claim Against Haitian Immigrants, Followed by a Wave of Bomb Threats

    Trump repeated a debunked rumour that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets. In the days that followed, the city's schools and public buildings were repeatedly evacuated over hoax bomb threats, KKK flyers appeared, and the Republican mayor blamed federal politicians' words. Trump then promised to strip the community's legal status and deport them.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    New York Civil Fraud Case: Liability Upheld, Nearly $500 Million Penalty Voided on Appeal

    Judge Engoron found that Trump had consistently and intentionally misrepresented asset values across a decade of financial statements. His Mar-a-Lago estate was valued in financial statements at up to $739 million — although deed restrictions limited its use and the Palm Beach County assessor valued it between $18 million and $27.6 million from 2011 to 2021. His Trump Tower triplex was listed at 30,000 square feet when it was actually 10,996 square feet — nearly three times its actual size. The fraud allowed Trump to obtain loans at more favorable rates than he would have received with accurate valuations.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    NATO Article 5 Threats: Encouraging Russia to Attack Allies Who Don't Pay

    NATO's collective defense commitment under Article 5 — that an attack against one member is an attack against all — was the foundational guarantee that had maintained European security for 75 years. Trump's statement that he would encourage Russia to attack members he deemed to be underpaying undermined the credibility of the deterrence that Article 5 provided. NATO allies condemned the statements as dangerous; European leaders described them as a fundamental threat to the alliance's deterrence value. In his second term, Trump continued pressing NATO members with threats of U.S. withdrawal contingent on spending levels, while simultaneously pursuing a Ukraine peace framework that European allies described as favorable to Russia.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    'Vermin', 'Poisoning the Blood', 'the Enemy From Within': Campaign Rhetoric Against Opponents and Immigrants, 2023–2024

    As a candidate, Trump called opponents 'vermin' to be 'rooted out', said immigrants were 'poisoning the blood' of the country, and suggested deploying the military against an 'enemy from within' that included a sitting congressman. Historians compared the language to fascist propaganda. Rhetoric is not an act, and no direct harm is tied to these statements in the sources reviewed; they are recorded as stated intent relevant to later second-term deployments and prosecutions of opponents.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    White Phosphorus Over Lebanese Civilian Areas and the US Supply Question

    Israel deployed white phosphorus over Lebanese civilian areas in 191 reported attacks across 17+ municipalities since October 2023, continuing through March 2026; US-supplied munitions were identified in the October 2023 Dhayra attack. HRW found the March 2026 Yohmor use unlawfully indiscriminate and called on states, including the US, to suspend arms transfers. US criminal complicity in the 2026 attacks is not shown.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    'If You Go After Me, I'm Coming After You': Threats Against Prosecutors, Witnesses and Gen. Milley (2023)

    While under federal indictment and running for president, Trump publicly threatened those pursuing him and suggested the country's top general deserved execution. A federal appeals court found his pattern of speech a significant and imminent threat to the trial and upheld most of a gag order. In his second term, the Defense Department stripped Milley of his security detail.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Federal Election Interference Indictment: 4 Counts for Defrauding the United States

    The indictment described a multi-pronged conspiracy: fabricating slates of Trump electors in seven states that Biden had won; pressuring Pence to refuse to certify or delay certification; pressuring state officials to change election results; coordinating with the Justice Department to send false claims to states; and promoting false claims of election fraud Trump knew to be false. The case was assigned to Judge Tanya Chutkan; the Supreme Court's June-July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity vacated the lower court's immunity decision and required further proceedings; Smith closed the case in November 2024 citing DOJ policy.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Trump Organization Convicted on 17 Counts of Criminal Tax Fraud

    Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's CFO for decades, had pleaded guilty in August 2022 to 15 felony counts and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He testified against the company. Weisselberg received about $1.76 million in off-the-books compensation over 15 years that the company did not report as income. The company was convicted on all 17 counts, including scheme to defraud and falsifying business records. The $1.6 million fine was the maximum allowed but was a fraction of what corporate criminal fines typically run; prosecutors noted the fine was limited by statute.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents: Indicted on 37 Federal Counts for Obstruction and Mishandling

    The indictment alleged that Trump had shown classified documents to people without security clearances, directed his staff to move boxes to avoid document review, and directed his attorney to falsely certify that all subpoenaed materials had been returned — when they had not. Trump's valet Walt Nauta was indicted as a co-conspirator. The case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee; she dismissed the case in July 2024 on the grounds that the Special Counsel's appointment was unconstitutional. The Justice Department appealed.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    January 6 Capitol Insurrection: Incitement of an Attack on Democratic Transition of Power

    Following months of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Trump held a rally on January 6 and incited his supporters to march to the Capitol. A mob of thousands stormed and occupied the building for hours, injuring 140 police officers, causing multiple deaths, and forcing the evacuation of Congress. Trump watched on television and, despite multiple requests, refused to call off the mob for over three hours.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    January 6: Capitol Insurrection, Incitement, Second Impeachment, Supreme Court Immunity

    For hours after the Capitol was breached, Trump did not issue a clear call to stop; at 2:24 PM, while rioters were in the building, he tweeted that Pence 'didn't have the courage to do what should have been done,' and his 4:17 PM video telling rioters they were 'very special' and he 'loved' them was posted while the attack was ongoing. Congressional Republicans and aides documented attempts to get Trump to intervene that he ignored or dismissed. The second impeachment passed with 10 Republican House votes — the most bipartisan presidential impeachment vote in U.S. history. Senate Minority Leader McConnell stated on the Senate floor that Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for January 6 before voting against conviction on jurisdictional grounds. The Supreme Court's July 1, 2024 immunity ruling narrowed the federal prosecution; it ended when Special Counsel Smith moved to dismiss after Trump's November 2024 election, citing Justice Department policy.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Georgia Election Interference: Trump Demands Secretary of State 'Find' 11,780 Votes

    Trump's January 2, 2021 phone call with Raffensperger was a direct attempt to pressure a state election official to falsify vote tallies. Trump made factually false claims about the election, threatened Raffensperger with unspecified legal 'risk,' and specifically demanded he 'find' a precise number of votes matching the margin Trump needed to win Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The conversation was recorded and published; Trump was later indicted for conspiracy and RICO violations in Georgia, but the case was dropped in November 2025 without trial.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Georgia Election Interference: Raffensperger Call, Pressure to Find 11,780 Votes

    The January 2, 2021 call lasted approximately one hour. Trump told Raffensperger he had won Georgia by 'hundreds of thousands of votes,' cited debunked fraud claims involving suitcases of ballots, a water main break, and Dominion Voting Systems, and asked Raffensperger to recalculate — or simply declare — a Trump victory. Raffensperger told Trump his information was wrong. Trump's lawyers and chief of staff were also on the call. Raffensperger's attorney Ryan Germany debunked specific claims in real time during the call. The recorded call was the most explicit documented example of Trump personally pressuring a state election official to alter certified results. The Fulton County indictment in August 2023 charged Trump under Georgia's RICO statute; the case was dropped on November 26, 2025, without a trial or conviction of Trump.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Georgia Call: Trump Pressured Secretary of State to 'Find' Votes to Overturn Election

    Trump spent approximately an hour on the call with Raffensperger, his deputy, and Trump's attorneys, pressing Raffensperger to reverse Georgia's certified presidential election results. He made multiple false claims about fraud that Raffensperger repeatedly corrected in real time. Trump told Raffensperger 'there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you've recalculated' and that finding 11,780 votes would put Trump ahead in Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The call recording was published; Trump's Georgia indictment in August 2023 cited it as a central piece of evidence.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    First-Term Pardons: Rewarding Allies Who Protected Trump from Prosecution

    Trump's end-of-term pardons formed a pattern: the beneficiaries were overwhelmingly personal associates, political allies, or people whose silence or loyalty had protected Trump from prosecutorial pressure. Manafort and Stone had both been convicted in Mueller's investigation. Flynn had pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI. Bannon was under indictment for fraud. The pardons rewarded loyalty and silence — establishing that cooperation with investigators would not be protected, while non-cooperation would be.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Trump and Giuliani Target Fulton County Election Workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss (2020–2021)

    A sitting president and his lawyer publicly accused two named election workers of fraud that state officials had already debunked. The women received death threats and racist abuse, Freeman left her home on FBI advice, and both were later formally cleared. A jury ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million for defamation; Trump later pardoned Giuliani for federal 2020-election offences.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    2020 Election Fraud Claims: 60+ Court Losses, No Evidence Found

    Trump's legal team, led at various points by Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, made dramatic claims in press conferences — coordinated election fraud, Dominion Voting Systems switching votes, Venezuelan electoral interference, suitcases of fake ballots — that were not supported by evidence filed in court. Judges demanded evidence; Trump's lawyers repeatedly stated in court filings that they were not alleging fraud, only procedural irregularities. CISA Director Christopher Krebs called the 2020 election 'the most secure in American history'; Trump fired him. Attorney General Barr stated the DOJ had found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome; Trump pressured him to say otherwise and Barr resigned.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Trump's COVID Infection: Experimental Treatment While Downplaying Pandemic

    Trump's COVID infection came after months of publicly downplaying the disease, refusing to wear masks, and holding indoor rallies. His treatment at Walter Reed included Regeneron's experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail (not yet FDA-authorized), dexamethasone — a steroid given only to patients with severe COVID per WHO protocols — and supplemental oxygen. His doctor Sean Conley gave contradictory statements about whether Trump had needed supplemental oxygen and on what days his oxygen saturation had dropped. Trump staged a motorcade through COVID patients outside Walter Reed while contagious. Upon returning to the White House, he removed his mask for a photo op while potentially still infectious to staff.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Postal Service Sabotage: DeJoy Changes, Mail Slowdowns Before 2020 Election

    Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General in May 2020 despite having no postal service background and being a major Republican donor. Within weeks, DeJoy implemented changes including eliminating overtime (which slowed mail delivery), removing letter-sorting machines (which processed mail faster), reducing post office hours, and ordering trucks to depart on schedule rather than wait for mail. Mail piled up. First-class mail delivery times — the metric by which election mail is typically processed — deteriorated significantly. Trump simultaneously told Fox Business the slowdown was deliberate, saying he was withholding USPS funding specifically because it would facilitate mail-in voting he opposed.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DeJoy USPS Sabotage: Removed Sorting Machines, Slowed Mail Before 2020 Election

    DeJoy's operational changes caused immediate and documented mail delays across the country. The changes were implemented months before the presidential election in which mail-in voting was expected to reach record levels due to COVID. Trump stated publicly that he was blocking Post Office funding to prevent mail-in voting. USPS removed 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines; some were dismantled before DeJoy announced a suspension of the changes in response to congressional and legal pressure. Multiple states sued. The sorting machine removals were not reversed even after the suspension.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Portland: Federal Agents in Unmarked Vehicles Abduct Protesters Without Identifying Themselves

    Federal agents from CBP, ICE, BORTAC, and other agencies, deployed by Trump to Portland amid George Floyd protests, began conducting clandestine arrests: pulling protesters into unmarked vans without identifying themselves, not stating reasons for arrest, and holding them briefly at the federal courthouse before release. Trump's acting DHS secretary and senior officials defended the tactics. Oregon's AG filed suit; a federal court issued a temporary restraining order protecting journalists and legal observers.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Federal Execution Restart: 13 Executions in 6 Months — Including First Woman in 67 Years

    The Trump DOJ resumed federal executions in July 2020 after 17 years with no federal executions. The 13 executions were the most in any comparable period since at least the 1940s. Attorney General Barr overrode objections from career death penalty specialists about the single-drug protocol. Several executions proceeded after the Supreme Court vacated lower-court stays. Lisa Montgomery, the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953, was executed despite documented severe mental illness and a history of extreme childhood sexual abuse.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    CDC and FDA Political Interference: Science Overridden for Political Messaging

    The Washington Post and New York Times documented a pattern of White House interference with CDC scientific publications. CDC reports in the MMWR — the agency's flagship peer-reviewed publication that had never previously been subject to political review — were reviewed and in some cases altered by Michael Caputo, a political appointee installed at HHS with no public health credentials. Caputo was later placed on leave after a Facebook video in which he accused CDC scientists of a 'resistance unit' against Trump. CDC Director Redfield testified that CDC school reopening guidance was replaced after Trump tweeted that it was 'very tough and expensive.' The FDA's hydroxychloroquine EUA and convalescent plasma approval were both accompanied by documented political pressure.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Bolton: Trump Told Xi to 'Go Ahead' With Uyghur Detention Camps

    According to John Bolton, Trump privately told Xi Jinping that building the Xinjiang detention camps was 'exactly the right thing to do', and repression of the Uyghurs was set aside as a reason for sanctions while trade talks continued. Trump denies the book's account. The Trump administration on July 9, 2020 sanctioned Xinjiang party secretary Chen Quanguo and other officials (Wikipedia) and, on its last full day, declared the persecution a genocide.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Executive Order 13928: First-Term Sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (2020)

    Trump used a national-emergency sanctions order to freeze the assets of the ICC's chief prosecutor and a senior aide because the court was investigating possible crimes by US personnel in Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch called it a 'perverse use of sanctions, devised for alleged terrorists and drug kingpins.' The order was revoked in 2021.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    George Floyd Protests: Lafayette Square Clearing, Militarized Response, Threat to Invoke Insurrection Act

    The clearing of Lafayette Square occurred approximately 30 minutes before the 7:00 PM curfew was to take effect. Independent investigators and journalists documented that the protesters were peaceful at the time of the clearing. The Park Police used pepper balls and OC spray; the Interior Inspector General found three dispersal warnings were broadcast by loudspeaker but not everyone could hear them, and that CS gas used nearby on 17th Street was deployed by D.C. police. Trump had convened a call with governors the same day, calling them 'weak' and urging them to 'dominate' protesters. Attorney General Barr appeared in person to supervise the clearing. The Bible photo-op that followed was condemned by Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, whose church was used as a prop without her knowledge or consent.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Lafayette Square: Federal Officers Forcibly Clear Protesters Before Curfew, Minutes Before Trump's Church Photo Op

    Tear gas, pepper spray, and mounted police were deployed against peaceful protesters who were within their legal rights to be in Lafayette Square until the 7 PM curfew. The clearing operation began approximately 30 minutes before the curfew. Once the square was cleared, Trump walked out of the White House to St. John's Church, stood in front of it holding a Bible, and had photographs taken. The Episcopal bishop whose church was used said she was 'outraged' and had not been notified. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley later apologized for participating in the walk. Defense Secretary Esper publicly opposed using active-duty troops as Trump had suggested.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Open Skies Treaty Withdrawal: Unilateral Exit from 35-Nation Arms Control Agreement

    The Open Skies Treaty allows its 35 signatories — including the United States, Russia, and most NATO and former Warsaw Pact nations — to conduct scheduled unarmed reconnaissance flights over each other's territory. The flights collect imagery that member states share, building collective military transparency. Trump administration officials argued Russia had violated the treaty by restricting U.S. flight paths over certain territories. European allies agreed Russia had compliance issues but argued the U.S. should address them within the treaty framework rather than withdraw, and warned that U.S. withdrawal would give Russia an excuse to exit entirely. Russia did subsequently withdraw from the treaty in January 2021, after Trump's withdrawal had set the precedent. The Biden administration reviewed but did not rejoin the treaty due to concerns about congressional opposition.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Title 42 Expulsions: Public-Health Order Used to Expel Asylum Seekers Without Screening, Over CDC Experts' Objections (March 2020)

    The administration used a COVID-19 public-health order to close the southern border to asylum seekers, expelling hundreds of thousands of people with no protection screening. Top CDC scientists said there was no public-health basis for it. Human Rights Watch found it violated the US obligation not to return people to persecution or torture.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    COVID Misinformation: Hydroxychloroquine, Bleach Injection, UV Light Promotion

    Trump repeatedly promoted hydroxychloroquine in White House briefings before studies established it was ineffective and potentially dangerous for COVID. He suggested at an April 23, 2020 briefing that injecting disinfectants might work as treatment and asked officials to study inserting UV light 'inside the body.' Governors reported hundreds of calls to poison centers and state health hotlines after the disinfectant comments. The FDA granted hydroxychloroquine an Emergency Use Authorization in March 2020 under White House pressure, then revoked it in June 2020 citing 'serious cardiac adverse events.' His false '35% mortality improvement' claim for convalescent plasma prompted FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to issue a correction the same day.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Diverting $3.8 Billion in Military Funds to Border Wall After Congress Refused

    In February 2020, the Trump administration announced the diversion of an additional $3.8 billion in Pentagon funds to border wall construction — funds Congress had appropriated for other defense purposes. It followed the September 2019 deferral of 127 military construction projects to free $3.6 billion, among them a $62.6 million middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In June 2020 the Ninth Circuit held that the transfers violated the Appropriations Clause; the Supreme Court declined, 5–4, to lift its stay, and construction continued.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    COVID-19 Downplaying: Woodward Tapes Reveal Trump Knew and Lied

    Trump told Woodward on February 7, 2020 that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' and acknowledged it was much more dangerous than the flu. On the same days he was giving Woodward these assessments, Trump was telling the public the virus was 'like the flu' and 'will disappear.' On March 19, 2020, Trump told Woodward: 'I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't like to panic people.' The Woodward recordings also captured Trump describing COVID's airborne transmission weeks before public health officials acknowledged it. The U.S. death toll reached 200,000 by September 2020 when the recordings were published.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Deliberate Downplaying and Policy Failures Contributing to Preventable Deaths

    Bob Woodward's taped interviews revealed Trump said in February 2020 that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' and 'more deadly than even your strenuous flus' — while publicly comparing it to the flu and calling Democrats' criticism of his response 'the new hoax.' The administration rejected WHO tests, blocked CDC mask guidance, slow-walked ventilator production, pressured states to reopen prematurely, promoted hydroxychloroquine against scientific evidence, and suggested people inject disinfectant. By Inauguration Day 2021, 400,000 Americans were dead.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Assassination of Qasem Soleimani: Extrajudicial Killing Without Congressional Authorization

    Trump ordered the killing of Iran's most senior military commander without consulting Congress and without a clear and credible imminent threat justification. The strike killed Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles against U.S. forces in Iraq. The administration offered contradictory and later-disputed justifications for the 'imminence' of the claimed threat.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Soleimani Assassination: Drone Strike Without Congressional Notification, Iran Ballistic Missile Response

    Soleimani was one of the most senior military commanders of a foreign government. His killing — outside declared combat zones, in the territory of a third country (Iraq) — raised significant questions under international law and the U.S. War Powers Resolution. Congressional leaders, including Senate majority leader McConnell, were not briefed in advance. Iran's ballistic missile response struck Al Asad Air Base and injured 110 U.S. service members; Trump initially told the public no one was hurt. The administration's justification for the strike — an 'imminent threat' — was not substantiated with specific intelligence that was shared with Congress.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    First Impeachment: Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress Over Ukraine

    The first impeachment arose from a July 25, 2019 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky in which Trump asked Ukraine to 'do us a favor' by investigating the Bidens and the 2016 election, while $391 million in congressionally approved military aid was being withheld. Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified that there was an explicit quid pro quo and 'everyone was in the loop.' Ambassador William Taylor testified that U.S. officials were told the aid was conditioned on the announcement of investigations. The Senate acquitted on party-line votes except for Romney, who voted to convict on the abuse of power article. Two days after the acquittal, Sondland was recalled as ambassador and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (who had raised the alarm about the call) was removed from his NSC post and reassigned to the Army.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Sondland Testimony: 'Everyone Was in the Loop' on Ukraine Quid Pro Quo

    Sondland had originally testified in closed session that he had no knowledge of a quid pro quo involving military aid. After two other diplomats — William Taylor and Tim Morrison — submitted testimony contradicting Sondland's account, Sondland submitted a supplemental declaration amending his prior testimony to acknowledge he had told a Ukrainian official that the release of military assistance would likely not occur until Ukraine announced investigations. In his public testimony, Sondland went further, naming Pompeo, Mulvaney, and Bolton as aware of the arrangement and stating the quid pro quo was explicit.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    War Criminal Pardons: Gallagher, Lorance, Golsteyn — Undermining Military Justice

    The Gallagher case was the most prominent: he had been reported by his own platoon members, who described him as 'freaking evil' and said they feared he would shoot civilians and colleagues. He was convicted by court-martial of posing with a corpse but acquitted of murder after a key prosecution witness changed his testimony. Trump followed the verdict by restoring Gallagher's rank and then, overriding Defense Secretary Esper's objections, blocking the Navy SEALs from removing Gallagher's Trident pin (the insignia of qualification). Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired after he sought a compromise with the White House outside normal channels. The pardons were condemned by military ethics experts as undermining the uniform code and the military's commitment to the laws of armed conflict.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Presidential Pardons: Political Allies and Corrupt Officials Pardoned

    Trump granted clemency 237 times in his first term (144 pardons and 94 commutations), including 143 grants on his last full day in office. Analysts documented that a disproportionate share of Trump's pardons went to political allies, relatives of political allies, or individuals whose cases were connected to Trump's political interests. The pardons of Manafort, Stone, Flynn, and Bannon were specifically notable because each had been convicted or charged in connection with conduct related to Trump's political activities, and each received executive clemency. The final day pardons also included Steve Bannon, who was awaiting trial.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Roger Stone: Convicted, Then Commuted, Then Pardoned — Witness Tampering and Obstruction Rewarded

    Stone was convicted of lying to Congress about his contacts with WikiLeaks, which had published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta by Russian intelligence. The jury found he had also tampered with a witness — elderly former radio host Randy Credico — to prevent him from contradicting Stone's false congressional testimony. All four prosecutors withdrew from the case after senior DOJ officials overrode their sentencing recommendation. Trump commuted Stone's sentence days before Stone was to report to prison; he issued a full pardon seven months later.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Betrayal of Kurdish Allies: U.S. Withdrawal Enabling Turkish Military Offensive in Northeast Syria

    After a phone call with Erdoğan, Trump announced U.S. forces would step aside from the Turkish-Syrian border, describing the Syrian Kurds as 'no angels' and suggesting the region's conflicts were 'not our problem.' Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring within hours. The SDF — which had lost 11,000 fighters combating ISIS — was forced to divert troops from guarding ISIS prisoner facilities; hundreds of ISIS prisoners escaped.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Sharpiegate: Trump Altered Official Hurricane Map with Sharpie, Pressured NOAA Scientists

    Trump's September 1 tweet falsely included Alabama in Hurricane Dorian's path. The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a correction saying Alabama was not at risk. Trump then displayed an Oval Office map showing the altered cone reaching into Alabama. Multiple officials at NOAA described feeling pressured not to contradict the president. The New York Times reported that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened firings if the contradiction was not resolved; the Commerce Department denied that Ross threatened to fire any NOAA staff. An unsigned statement supporting Trump's position was issued by NOAA over scientists' objections. A formal Inspector General investigation was opened.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    2019 Flores Replacement Rule: An Attempt to Authorise Prolonged Detention of Migrant Children With Their Families

    The first Trump administration wrote a regulation to end the court settlement that limits how long migrant children can be detained, so that families could be held together in ICE-licensed facilities for the length of their cases. Federal courts blocked the family-detention provisions before they took effect, holding that they contradicted the settlement's core presumption in favour of release.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    US–Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement: Asylum Seekers Transferred to Guatemala Without a Hearing (2019–2020)

    The US sent 939 Central American asylum seekers to Guatemala without letting them apply for asylum in the US. Guatemala's asylum system could not process their claims, and the HRW/Refugees International investigation found that almost none applied there and that some went home to the danger they fled. Transfers stopped in March 2020 because of Covid-19.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Ukraine Quid Pro Quo: Withheld $391 Million in Military Aid to Extort Investigation of Biden

    Ukraine had been under Russian military pressure since 2014. The $391 million in security assistance — congressionally appropriated bipartisan aid that had nothing to do with Biden — was withheld by Trump's Office of Management and Budget while the White House sought a Ukrainian announcement of investigations. The July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky documented the pressure: Trump told Zelensky he needed a 'favor' — an investigation of the 2016 election and of Biden — before the U.S. would proceed. A White House national security official filed a whistleblower complaint. The aid was eventually released in September 2019 after the whistleblower complaint became public.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Ukraine Extortion and First Impeachment: Withholding Military Aid to Coerce Election Interference

    Trump conditioned release of congressionally-approved military aid on Ukraine's announcement of investigations targeting his political rival. The scheme, exposed by a whistleblower and confirmed by multiple witnesses including Trump's own ambassador to the EU, made national security funds contingent on Trump's personal electoral interests. The House voted to impeach; the Senate acquitted on party lines after blocking witness testimony.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Children in Detention: Overcrowded Border Facilities and Humanitarian Conditions

    The DHS Inspector General's July 2, 2019 management alert documented conditions at Border Patrol facilities in the Rio Grande Valley: some single adults held for over a month in overcrowded cells, standing room only conditions, limited access to showers and clean clothing, insufficient food, and inadequate medical care. The Clint facility conditions, documented by attorneys visiting to conduct interviews, included children sleeping on floors, a 2-year-old with dirty clothes, limited access to soap and toothbrushes, and sick children not separated from healthy ones. The administration's response was that the facilities were overwhelmed by a surge in arrivals and that Congress needed to provide additional funding.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Children in Cages: CBP Overcrowding, Freezing Cells, and Documented Child Deaths

    The CBP Border Patrol stations along the southern border were designed for 72-hour holding. Under the Trump administration's enforcement surge, they held children for days and weeks, sometimes in chainlink-fenced areas — the 'cages' — without adequate food, water, sleep, or sanitation. At least six children died in or shortly after U.S. immigration custody between September 2018 and May 2019, after roughly a decade without a child death in CBP custody. The DHS OIG described overcrowding presenting an immediate risk to detainee health and safety.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Recognising Israel's Annexation of the Golan Heights (2019)

    Trump reversed decades of US policy by recognising Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. That set aside a Security Council resolution the US itself had supported and departed from the customary rule against recognising territory acquired by force. No identifiable victims of concrete harm are documented.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Barr's Mueller Report Summary: Misrepresented Findings, Withheld Report for Weeks

    Mueller's investigation documented ten episodes of potential obstruction of justice and concluded that while it could not exonerate Trump, it also could not reach a traditional prosecutorial judgment because of the OLC opinion barring indictment of a sitting president. Barr's summary letter stated 'the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia' and that Mueller had 'not established that members of the Trump campaign conspired.' On obstruction, Barr stated on his own authority that the evidence was 'not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense' — an independent judgment Mueller had explicitly declined to make.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Baghuz Strike: US Bombs Hit a Crowd of Mostly Women and Children in Syria; Military Hid It for Over Two Years (March 2019)

    A US special-operations task force called in bombs on a crowd near Baghuz in 2019 that military investigators believed was mostly women and children. The strike was hidden from the public for more than two and a half years. The military later called it self-defence and justified; its count of civilian dead is far lower than its own investigators'.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    National Emergency Declaration: Diverting Congress-Rejected Wall Funding

    Trump had explicitly asked Congress for $5.7 billion for the border wall; Congress appropriated $1.375 billion for fencing, far less than requested. Trump signed the appropriations bill and then simultaneously declared a national emergency to bypass the congressional decision and access Pentagon funds Congress had not authorized for this purpose. He acknowledged the emergency framing was pretextual, saying at the announcement: 'I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster.' Congress voted to terminate the emergency; Trump vetoed. Courts blocked parts of the diversion; the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed pending litigation.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Remain in Mexico (2019): Asylum Seekers Forced to Wait in Dangerous Border Cities; Appeals Court Finds Programme Likely Unlawful

    The first Trump administration made tens of thousands of asylum seekers wait in Mexican border cities, among the most violent in the region, for US hearings they mostly faced without lawyers. HRW documented kidnappings and assaults and found the programme violated non-refoulement; a federal appeals court found it likely unlawful, but the Supreme Court let it continue.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Roger Stone: Convicted of Seven Felonies, Sentence Commuted, Then Pardoned

    Stone was charged with lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, when he served as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks regarding the release of hacked Democratic emails. He also threatened a witness — radio personality Randy Credico, whom he called a 'rat' and threatened to harm his therapy dog — to prevent him from contradicting Stone's testimony. The jury of twelve convicted Stone on every count after deliberating for two days. All four prosecutors withdrew from the case (one also resigned from the Justice Department) after the Justice Department overrode their sentencing recommendation of 7 to 9 years with a more lenient one, following Trump's tweet calling the original recommendation 'very unfair.' The federal judge sentenced Stone to 40 months.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    2018 Asylum Ban: Proclamation 9822 Bars Asylum for Anyone Crossing Between Ports of Entry

    The administration tried to strip asylum eligibility from everyone who crossed the southern border between official crossing points, despite a statute that expressly allows them to apply. The courts blocked it, and the Ninth Circuit found it 'effectively a categorical ban' contrary to US law and refugee-treaty commitments.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Khashoggi Assassination Cover-Up: Trump's Protection of Saudi Arabia from Accountability

    Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-person hit squad sent from Riyadh. The CIA concluded with high confidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing. Trump publicly sided with Saudi Arabia over his own intelligence agencies, blocked sanctions on MBS, and used the murder as leverage in arms sales negotiations.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Paul Manafort: Bank and Tax Fraud Convictions, Conspiracy and Witness-Tampering Plea — Pardoned

    Prosecutors alleged Manafort was paid more than $60 million between 2010 and 2014 by Ukrainian sponsors for political work for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian president later forced from office and who fled to Russia. Manafort hid the income in offshore accounts and spent lavishly while lying on tax returns and bank loan applications. Mueller's investigation documented that Manafort had also shared internal Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report (Volume 5, August 2020) characterized as a 'Russian intelligence officer', calling Manafort's activities a 'grave counterintelligence threat'.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Veterans Affairs: Mar-a-Lago Members Shaped Policy, VA Secretary Firing

    The ProPublica investigation documented a 'shadow VA' in which the three Mar-a-Lago members — who paid $200,000 entry fees — exchanged hundreds of calls and emails with VA officials, reviewed candidates for top positions, pressed for months for additional vetting of a $10 billion electronic health records contract with Cerner, and shaped the VA's strategic direction without any official appointment. VA Secretary Shulkin had cooperated with the arrangements. He was fired amid internal feuding; Trump nominated his personal physician Ronny Jackson as replacement; Jackson withdrew after Senate investigators documented allegations of drunk driving, overprescribing, and creating a 'toxic work environment.'

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Federal Reserve Independence Attacks: Unprecedented Presidential Pressure on Fed Chair Powell

    Trump nominated Powell to chair the Federal Reserve in November 2017 and he was confirmed in February 2018. By July 2018, Trump was publicly criticizing Powell's interest rate decisions — the first time in decades a sitting president had publicly pressured the Fed chair in this manner. Over the following 18 months, Trump made more than 100 public statements criticizing the Fed's rate decisions. He called the Fed 'the biggest risk to the economy,' said the Fed had gone 'crazy' with rate increases, asked why he should have a Fed that was tightening while Europe was loosening, and repeatedly compared Powell unfavorably to Chinese central bank policy. Trump also inquired about whether he could demote or fire Powell, which advisers told him he could not legally do under the Federal Reserve Act.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Helsinki Summit: Trump Sided With Putin Over His Own CIA on Election Interference

    Trump and Putin met privately for approximately two hours with only translators present; there was no U.S. notetaker. (In 2019, The Washington Post reported that Trump had gone to unusual lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Putin, in one instance taking possession of his interpreter's notes.) At the public press conference, Trump said he didn't 'see any reason why it would be Russia' that interfered in the election — contradicting the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. When asked the next day, Trump claimed he had misspoken and meant to say 'wouldn't' instead of 'would.' The statement provoked condemnation from Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, and dozens of Republican members of Congress.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Refusing to Confront Russian Election Interference: Capitulation to Putin at Helsinki

    Standing next to Putin at a joint press conference, Trump declined to affirm the intelligence community's unanimous assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit him. He also refused to implement congressionally-mandated sanctions against Russia following the Salisbury chemical weapons attack and on other grounds. The Senate Intelligence Committee's 2020 bipartisan report confirmed not only Russian interference but that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared internal polling data with a Russian intelligence operative.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Family Separation Continuation: Violating Federal Court Orders to Reunify Families

    A federal judge in the ACLU's Ms. L. v. ICE case ordered the government to reunify separated children under five within 14 days and all others within 30 days. The administration missed the deadlines and admitted it lacked a tracking system. Parents were deported without their children; children were 'lost' in the system; in some cases children remained in U.S. custody for years after their parents had been removed to their home countries. The ACLU's family tracking project located hundreds of deported parents who didn't know where their children were.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Tender Age Shelters: Separating and Warehousing Infants and Toddlers

    While the Zero Tolerance policy is documented elsewhere, the specific treatment of children under 5 — the 'tender age' population — constituted a distinct category of harm. Infants as young as a few months old were taken from parents and placed in facilities where they were cared for by strangers. Whistleblowers described children crying inconsolably. The American Academy of Pediatrics called the policy 'child abuse.' A federal court gave the government 14 days to reunify this group; the administration missed the deadline.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Matter of A-B-: Sessions Declares Domestic- and Gang-Violence Asylum Claims Will 'Generally' Fail (2018)

    Sessions used his power to rewrite immigration precedent to declare that people fleeing domestic or gang violence will generally not qualify for asylum. Its standards were applied at the border to screen people out before they could make their case; federal courts held key parts of that screening policy unlawful, and the decision was vacated in 2021.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    MS-13 'Animals' and Dehumanizing Rhetoric: Using Gang Labels to Target Immigrant Communities

    Trump's use of 'animals' to describe MS-13 members — and his conflation of the gang label with immigrants broadly — followed the same pattern documented in incitement to ethnic violence: dehumanization of a group, followed by calls for harsh treatment. Scholars of political violence noted the specific language echoed anti-Tutsi propaganda before the Rwandan genocide and Nazi propaganda before the Holocaust. Trump used similar dehumanizing framing for other immigrant groups, describing Central American migrants as an 'infestation' and an 'invasion.'

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) and Maximum Pressure Campaign

    The IAEA confirmed Iran was fully complying with the JCPOA when Trump withdrew. His 'maximum pressure' campaign reimposed crippling economic sanctions, including on Iran's banking system, oil exports, and humanitarian goods. Iran resumed enrichment and crossed successive JCPOA limits. The campaign ended with the assassination of IRGC General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 and Iran further accelerating its nuclear program — ultimately leaving Iran closer to a bomb than when the deal was in force.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Kushner Security Clearance Override: Intelligence Community Rejected, Trump Overruled

    Kushner's initial SF-86 security clearance form, filed in January 2017, omitted more than 100 foreign contacts, including meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. He amended the form multiple times. Career intelligence and law enforcement officials raised concerns about his business's financial entanglements with foreign nationals, including a $1.4 billion loan his family company received from Qatari-linked investors, and meetings he had had with foreign officials during the transition. Chief of Staff John Kelly wrote an internal memo stating he personally overruled the career professionals' recommendation against granting clearance. Trump later denied to journalists that he had ordered the clearance, contradicting Kelly's memo.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Mike Pompeo: State Department Staff Used for Personal Errands, Spouse Events Charged to Taxpayers

    The State Department OIG's April 2021 report on the investigation begun by Linick found more than a hundred improper requests by Pompeo or his wife to department staff, including mailing personal holiday cards, caring for family pets and planning personal events. Trump removed Linick on May 15, 2020; Trump's letter cited lost confidence, and Pompeo later said the decision to remove Linick was his. Linick testified to Congress in June 2020 about the circumstances of his firing, including the errands investigation and alleged bullying by Pompeo aide Brian Bulatao over a separate review of emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Pompeo denied wrongdoing.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    April 2018 Strikes on Syrian Chemical-Weapons Facilities Without UN or Congressional Authorisation

    Trump ordered a second round of missile strikes on the Syrian government, this time with Britain and France, after a chemical attack in Douma. The strikes had no Security Council mandate and no congressional authorisation. The legal opinion written to justify them widened the President's claimed power to use force on his own.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Zero Tolerance Family Separation: Systematic Removal of Children from Asylum-Seeking Parents

    Attorney General Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy in April 2018 requiring criminal prosecution of all illegal border crossers. Because federal criminal custody excludes children, this automatically separated minors from their parents. Over 5,500 children were separated in six weeks. Courts ordered reunification; a June 2022 federal task-force report found about 1,400 children still not reunified.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Zero Tolerance: 5,500+ Children Separated, HHS Lost Track of Hundreds

    Zero tolerance created systematic family separation as deliberate policy — not incidentally but intentionally, with separation designed as a deterrent. The administration did not build a system to track which children belonged to which parents. A federal judge ordered reunification within 30 days; the government said it could not comply. In October 2020, ACLU lawyers reported they still could not reach the parents of 545 children — many of whom had been deported to Central America without their children, without being told where their children were.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Census Citizenship Question: Fabricated Justification, Intended to Undercount Minorities

    Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed the Census Bureau had been asked by the DOJ to add the citizenship question for Voting Rights enforcement. This explanation was false: Ross had asked the DOJ to request the question, not the reverse. The Supreme Court ruled the pretext was evident and blocked the question. In late May 2019, before the decision, documents from the hard drives of Thomas Hofeller — a Republican redistricting expert who died in 2018 — revealed he had written a study years earlier stating that a citizenship question would allow Republicans to draw districts based on citizen (rather than total) population, 'which would be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.' The documents suggest the question originated in a redistricting strategy its author said would advantage Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Trade War With Allies, WTO Violations, Economic Disruption

    The Section 232 tariffs were challenged immediately as legally dubious — U.S. national security law did not contemplate allies as threats, and Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Japan supply steel and aluminum to U.S. defense contractors. The EU, Canada, and Mexico all retaliated with targeted tariffs on politically sensitive U.S. products (Bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, soybeans). The broader China trade war — separate from the steel tariffs — involved escalating rounds of tariffs reaching 25% on $250 billion in Chinese goods; China retaliated against agricultural products; the U.S. government paid $28 billion in direct payments to American farmers to compensate for lost Chinese export markets.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Shithole Countries: Documented Racist Immigration Comments in White House Meeting

    The meeting was called to discuss a bipartisan immigration framework. Present were Senators Durbin (D-IL), Graham (R-SC), Flake (R-AZ), Perdue (R-GA), Cotton (R-AR), and others, along with DHS Secretary Nielsen. Multiple attendees confirmed the substance of the comments. The 'shithole' characterization was directed at Haiti and African nations; Trump contrasted them with Norway, where he had met with the prime minister the previous day. Nielsen testified to Congress that she did not recall the exact words used. Perdue and Cotton initially said they did not recall the President 'saying those comments specifically', then denied he had said 'shithole' — a position contradicted by Durbin's account; Sen. Tim Scott said Graham had confirmed the remark to him.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    First-Term TPS Terminations for Six Countries Under White House Pressure (2017–2018)

    The first Trump administration tried to end temporary legal status for about 300,000 people from six countries. A court found evidence of White House pressure, rewritten staff recommendations and presidential animus, and blocked the terminations; an appeals court later lifted that block on jurisdictional grounds. The terminations were held off by litigation until the next administration changed course.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    First-Term Refugee Cuts and Executive Order 13888: Record-Low Ceilings and a State and Local Veto Courts Held Likely Unlawful

    The first Trump administration cut refugee admissions to the lowest ceilings since the 1980 Refugee Act, and by executive order let states and localities veto refugee resettlement. Two federal courts held the veto likely unlawful under the Refugee Act and blocked it. The ceilings themselves were a lawful use of presidential discretion.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Hurricane Maria and the Federal Abandonment of Puerto Rico

    Maria caused the largest blackout in U.S. history and destroyed Puerto Rico's infrastructure. The Trump administration delayed FEMA resources, deployed far fewer personnel and supplies than comparable mainland disasters, slow-walked waiver of the Jones Act, sent paper towels rather than aid at a critical moment, and accused Puerto Rican officials of corruption when they asked for more help. A Harvard-led survey estimated 4,645 excess deaths and a George Washington University study commissioned by Puerto Rico estimated 2,975; Puerto Rico's initial official count, repeated by federal officials, was 64.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DACA Rescission: Ending Protection for 800,000 Childhood Arrivals

    DACA recipients — sometimes called Dreamers — had arrived in the United States as children, had lived here for years or decades, had submitted to background checks, and had registered with the government in reliance on the Obama administration's promise of temporary protection. Sessions announced the rescission by describing immigrants in terms that critics said echoed nativist rhetoric. The administration's stated legal basis was that DACA was an unconstitutional executive overreach; the Supreme Court did not reach this question, instead finding the rescission procedurally defective — the DHS Secretary had failed to adequately explain the agency's reasoning as required by the APA.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Ben Carson HUD Furniture: $31,000 Dining Set Ordered Above the $5,000 Limit, Then Cancelled

    The $31,561 dining set — table, chairs, and hutch — was ordered in September 2017 for Carson's HUD suite. A career HUD employee, Helen Foster, filed a complaint alleging she was reassigned after she raised concerns about the legality of the purchase. Foster said she was told by HUD leadership that the order would go forward and that 'someone' had ordered it who outranked her. After the purchase became public in February 2018, Carson and his wife initially disputed involvement; email communications later showed that Carson and his wife had selected the set, and Carson testified in March 2018 that he had 'left it to my wife, you know, to choose something.' The order was cancelled. The HUD inspector general's September 2019 report cleared Carson of misconduct.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Trump Pardons Sheriff Joe Arpaio for Defying a Court Order Against Racial Profiling (2017)

    A federal judge found Arpaio guilty of deliberately defying a court order meant to stop his deputies from detaining Latino drivers on immigration suspicion alone. Trump pardoned him before he could be sentenced, removing the courts' criminal sanction for an official's defiance of an order protecting constitutional rights.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Charlottesville: 'Very Fine People on Both Sides' After Neo-Nazi Violence

    The Unite the Right rally was organized by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, included marchers with torches chanting 'Jews will not replace us' on the night of August 11, and included violence against counter-protesters on August 12 before James Alex Fields Jr. drove into the crowd. Fields was later convicted of first-degree murder and federal hate crimes. Trump's August 15 press conference response defended those attending the rally as 'people who were very fine people' who were there because they 'protested the taking down of a statue' of Robert E. Lee, and drew a moral equivalence between the white supremacist rally and counter-protesters. Republican leaders including Paul Ryan, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and both former President Bushes publicly criticized the 'both sides' framing.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Charlottesville and Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories: Trump's Relationship with White Nationalism

    Trump's failure to clearly condemn the Charlottesville marchers — who carried torches and chanted neo-Nazi slogans — was part of a documented pattern of engagement with white nationalist and anti-Semitic content. Trump retweeted accounts associated with white nationalism, used the word 'invasion' for Hispanic immigration (a term that appeared in the El Paso mass shooter's manifesto), shared memes created by neo-Nazi accounts, and refused to commit to accepting election results — all while white nationalist and anti-Semitic incidents rose sharply.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Steve Mnuchin: Requested Military Jet for Honeymoon, Flew Air Force Jet to Kentucky on Eclipse Day

    The Treasury Inspector General opened an inquiry after criticism of the Kentucky trip. Mnuchin denied the trip was related to the eclipse ('Being a New Yorker, I don't have any interest in watching the eclipse'), and reimbursed the government $595 for Linton's travel out of a total cost of $26,900. The inquiry revealed the honeymoon jet request, which Mnuchin had withdrawn. The IG's October 4, 2017 report found 'no violation of law in these requests and uses' of government aircraft, but expressed concern about a 'disconnect' between the required standard of justification and the proof Treasury provided and the White House accepted. It reviewed nine military-aircraft requests since March 2017; the seven trips taken cost $811,800. Linton's Instagram post — tagging designer brands and replying dismissively to a critic — became a symbol of administration attitudes toward wealth and public service.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    ACA Repeal Failures and Sabotage: Losing 51-49, Then Dismantling Piece by Piece

    The administration's attempt to repeal and replace the ACA failed through three separate legislative vehicles: the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed the House but died in the Senate; the Better Care Reconciliation Act failed to advance in the Senate; and the 'skinny repeal' (Health Care Freedom Act) failed 51-49 when McCain, Murkowski, and Collins voted against it. Following legislative failure, the administration cut the Navigator program (enrollment assistance) from $63 million to $10 million, reduced the open enrollment window, and created an association of short-term health plans that could deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Termination of cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers triggered premium increases and a complex subsidy dynamic that ultimately cost the government more than the payments themselves.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Transgender Military Ban: Exclusion of Transgender Service Members via Tweet

    Trump's tweet announcing the transgender military ban was not coordinated with military leadership. The Joint Chiefs issued an unusual public statement saying they would not change policy until they received 'formal guidance.' Multiple federal courts issued injunctions blocking the original ban. After losing court cases, the administration issued a modified 'Mattis plan' that imposed restrictions based on gender dysphoria treatment; it was implemented in 2019 and reversed by Biden in 2021. An estimated 14,700 transgender people were serving in the military.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    DOJ Independence: Attacking Prosecutors, Demanding Investigations of Political Opponents

    Trump's attacks on DOJ independence were systematic across four years. He publicly tweeted demands for prosecution of Clinton and others; pressured Sessions to unrecuse and Rosenstein to limit Mueller's investigation; fired Comey; asked Mueller to be fired (stopped only by White House counsel Don McGahn's threatened resignation); demanded investigation of the FBI's origins investigation; and in December 2020–January 2021 pressured acting AG Jeffrey Rosen to pursue election fraud claims after Bill Barr had resigned rather than act on them. The January 3, 2021 Oval Office meeting in which Trump demanded Rosen be replaced with Jeffrey Clark — who would have sent false letters to state officials claiming DOJ had found election fraud — was documented in Senate Judiciary Committee testimony.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Betsy DeVos: Rollback of Student Borrower Protections, For-Profit College Deregulation

    DeVos, a billionaire Michigan donor with ties to the for-profit education industry through her family's investment portfolio, was confirmed in February 2017 in a 50-50 Senate vote — the first cabinet confirmation requiring Vice President Pence's tiebreaking vote in history. She immediately moved to suspend the Obama administration's Borrower Defense to Repayment rules, which provided a path for students defrauded by schools to have their federal loans discharged. More than 100,000 borrower defense applications accumulated while DeVos's department delayed processing them. Courts found the delays violated federal law. She also rescinded the Gainful Employment rule that required for-profit programs to demonstrate graduates could earn enough to service their student debt.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Raqqa Bombardment: US-Led Coalition Strikes Killed More Than 1,600 Civilians in Four Months, Amnesty and Airwars Find (June–October 2017)

    The US-led campaign to retake Raqqa from ISIS in 2017 used thousands of air strikes and some 30,000 unguided artillery rounds in a city full of trapped civilians. Amnesty and Airwars found more than 1,600 civilians reportedly killed; the coalition admits 159. Amnesty found prima facie evidence of unlawful attacks; no investigation has established individual criminal responsibility.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal: Abandoning International Climate Cooperation

    The Paris Agreement was the result of two decades of diplomatic effort to establish a global framework for addressing climate change. Trump withdrew citing economic impacts that were disputed by most economists, a commitment to the 'forgotten workers' of coal country, and a broader rejection of international cooperation he described as harmful to American sovereignty. Scientists and diplomats documented the withdrawal's immediate effect on global climate negotiations and the precedent it set for other countries.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Navy SEAL Raid in Ma'rib, Yemen: Villagers Say Five Civilians Killed, Including a 15-Year-Old Shot While Fleeing (May 2017)

    Four months after the deadly Yakla raid, US special forces raided another Yemeni village. The Pentagon reported seven al-Qaeda fighters killed and no civilian casualties; villagers said five civilians were killed, including a teenager shot while running away and an elderly man who mistook the soldiers for visitors.

  • Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

    Saudi Arms Deals and Complicity in Yemen War Crimes

    Trump's first foreign trip was to Riyadh, where he announced a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. continued to provide refueling, intelligence, and targeting support for Saudi-led coalition strikes in Yemen throughout the first term, even as the UN documented mass civilian casualties, attacks on protected sites, and a blockade causing mass starvation. Congress passed a War Powers resolution to end U.S. involvement, which Trump vetoed in April 2019, and he vetoed three resolutions disapproving arms sales in July 2019.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Mueller Investigation Obstruction: Witness Tampering, McGahn, Flynn Pardon Signal

    The Mueller Report documented a sustained pattern of obstruction. Trump ordered McGahn to fire Mueller in June 2017; McGahn refused and prepared to resign. Trump later ordered McGahn to publicly deny having received this order; McGahn refused. Trump publicly praised associates who did not cooperate and attacked those who did. The Mueller Report examined whether Trump's public and private statements about Manafort were intended to signal that a pardon was possible and so discourage cooperation. Mueller concluded that Congress, not the Special Counsel, was the appropriate institution to address obstruction given OLC policy against indicting a sitting president.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Voter Fraud Commission: Using Government Power to Propagate Election Lies

    The commission was predicated on Trump's false claim that he had lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million due to illegal voting. It attempted to collect sensitive voter data including partial Social Security numbers, party affiliation, and voting history from all states. At least eight lawsuits challenged the commission. It found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and was shut down in January 2018; the White House said the work would pass to DHS, but the Justice Department later disclosed in court that no state voter data would be turned over to DHS. Critics documented its primary purpose as political: to validate Trump's fraud claims and build infrastructure for voter suppression.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Firing James Comey: Obstruction of Justice and Attack on FBI Independence

    Trump fired FBI Director Comey while Comey's bureau was investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia. Trump's own statements to Lester Holt and to Russian officials — that the firing relieved 'great pressure' from the Russia investigation — directly contradicted the White House's stated justifications. Mueller's report identified ten episodes of potential obstruction and declined to exonerate Trump; it explicitly left open the question of indictment.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Tom Price: $1 Million in Private Jet Travel as HHS Secretary, Resigned After Public Disclosure

    Price's private jet use was revealed by Politico, which reported in September 2017 that he had taken multiple private charter flights at costs far exceeding commercial alternatives — including a $25,000 flight from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia, a route served by Amtrak trains for under $80 and commercial flights for under $200. After the initial Politico report, additional flights were disclosed including trips to Europe, Africa, and Asia on military aircraft. Trump initially said he was 'not happy' about the reports while keeping Price in office, then accepted Price's resignation on September 29, 2017. Price offered to reimburse approximately $52,000 — the cost of his seat only on the flights — but not the full charter costs.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Shayrat Airbase Strike: Unilateral Military Action Against Syria Without Congressional Authorization

    Following a chemical weapons attack on Khan Shaykhun attributed to the Assad regime, Trump ordered a cruise missile strike on the airbase allegedly used to launch the attack. The strike was conducted without Congressional authorization and without a UN Security Council mandate. U.S. officials pre-warned Russia, which warned Syrian forces. The airbase was operational again within hours.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Somalia Civilian Casualties: Loosened Targeting Rules and Transparency Rollbacks

    Trump's Somalia designation and overall loosening of targeting rules — including relaxing the 'near-certainty' standard for civilian safety — significantly increased the pace of airstrikes across multiple theaters. Amnesty International documented civilian deaths in Somalia strikes that the US had said killed no civilians. The administration also reduced the reporting requirements for civilian harm assessments, eliminating the only systematic public accounting of civilian harm.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Mosul al-Jadida Airstrike: US Bomb Collapses Building on Sheltering Families, Killing At Least 105 Civilians (March 2017)

    A single US bomb aimed at two ISIS snipers brought down a west Mosul building full of families, killing at least 105 civilians by the Pentagon's count. The US says hidden ISIS explosives caused the collapse and that it did not know civilians were inside. Amnesty found the coalition failed to take adequate precautions in a city where residents had been told not to flee.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Al-Jinah Mosque Strike: US Bombs Hit a Religious Gathering in Syria, Killing 38; UN Finds the US Failed to Take Feasible Precautions (March 2017)

    A US strike on a mosque complex in northern Syria during a religious lesson killed 38 people. The US said it was targeting al-Qaeda; the UN Commission of Inquiry and Human Rights Watch found no evidence of that, and the UN found the US failed to take feasible precautions. The US investigation admitted a 'preventable error' in missing the building's religious use.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Drone War Expansion: Relaxed Rules of Engagement and Surging Civilian Casualties

    Trump granted the military broader strike authority, designated large areas as 'Areas of Active Hostility' enabling expanded strike approvals, removed mandatory civilian harm mitigation steps, and stopped requiring senior White House approval for counterterrorism strikes. Amnesty International, Airwars and the UN documented civilian casualties across Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Travel Ban Expansions: From Muslim Ban to Permanent Entry Restrictions

    The travel ban evolved through three executive orders as earlier versions were blocked by courts for discriminatory purpose and due process violations. The third version added non-Muslim-majority countries to provide legal cover, and was upheld by the Supreme Court 5-4 in June 2018. The Court's majority assumed it could look behind the proclamation but applied only deferential rational-basis review, under which the national-security justification sufficed despite Trump's public statements calling for a Muslim ban; Sotomayor's dissent quoted those statements at length and compared the ruling to Korematsu v. United States.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Sessions Recusal, AG Firing, and the Mueller Obstruction Pattern

    Sessions's recusal created the conditions for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, since it meant Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein oversaw the Russia investigation. Trump spent 20 months publicly attacking Sessions for his recusal — including in tweets, press statements, and reporting — while his private conduct (documented by Mueller) included repeated instructions that Sessions should 'unrecuse' himself and take control of the investigation. The day after the 2018 midterm elections, Trump demanded and received Sessions's resignation, replacing him with Matthew Whitaker — a move DOJ legal scholars argued was designed to install an acting AG who would not be recused from the Russia investigation.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Ryan Zinke's Interior Department: Ethics Violations, Developer Deals, Land Monuments Gutted

    Zinke took a $12,375 charter flight from Las Vegas to Montana after speaking to the Vegas Golden Knights, a hockey team owned by a major campaign donor; the Interior Inspector General found the speech was not official business. A foundation he created was involved with Halliburton chairman David Lesar in a development project in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana. Two Connecticut tribes said Interior refused to sign off on their casino project after lobbying by MGM Resorts International and two Nevada Republican lawmakers. He reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half — the largest rollback of protected federal land in U.S. history. He resigned in December 2018; Interior's Inspector General had referred his conduct to the Justice Department in October 2018.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    First-Term LGBTQ Rollbacks: Transgender Military Ban, Healthcare Protections, Bathroom Guidance

    Trump's first executive actions on LGBTQ issues included rescinding a 2016 guidance protecting transgender students' bathroom access in public schools. In July 2017, Trump tweeted the military ban without notifying the Joint Chiefs; the tweet came after DOD had already been studying how to implement transgender service. The administration also reversed Obama-era healthcare anti-discrimination guidance, removed LGBTQ survey questions from the Census and government surveys, and reversed protections for LGBTQ workers in federal contracting. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in June 2020 that Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination covers LGBTQ workers.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    First-Term Attacks on Press Freedom: 'Enemy of the People' and Institutional Delegitimization

    Trump used the phrase 'enemy of the people' to describe mainstream media more than 30 times, echoing language used by Stalin, Mao, and other authoritarian leaders. His administration attempted to ban reporters from press briefings, challenged broadcast licenses in apparent retaliation for critical coverage, encouraged legal changes to make it easier to sue journalists, and called for investigations of reporters. International press freedom organizations documented the global impact: Trump's rhetoric gave cover to authoritarian leaders from Turkey to the Philippines to justify imprisoning journalists.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Scott Pruitt: EPA Corruption, Tactical Security Detail, and Regulatory Rollbacks

    Pruitt's tenure combined serious corruption with aggressive deregulation — two goals that reinforced each other. His round-the-clock security detail cost more than $4.6 million by June 2018; an internal EPA intelligence assessment found no specific credible threats justifying its expansion. He flew first class, citing security, over the reluctance of the lead agent of his own detail. He rented a condo from a lobbyist couple at $50/night while their firm had clients regulated by the EPA. He raised the salaries of two aides by about $56,765 and $28,130 using a Safe Drinking Water Act hiring provision after the White House had rejected the increases. He was ultimately undone by the accumulation of scandal but had already implemented dozens of deregulatory actions.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Press Freedom: 'Enemy of the People' and Systematic Media Attacks

    Trump's attacks on the press were systematic and escalating: he labeled specific organizations (CNN, NBC, the New York Times, Washington Post) 'fake news,' called reporters 'enemies of the people,' suggested revoking NBC's broadcast license, threatened to revoke press credentials, and cheered when supporters physically confronted journalists at rallies. At an October 2018 rally he praised Rep. Greg Gianforte, who had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for body-slamming a reporter. Reporters covering Trump rallies documented being surrounded by hostile crowds. Authoritarian governments around the world cited Trump's 'fake news' rhetoric when expelling journalists or restricting press access.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Judicial Appointments: Packing Courts with Ideological Judges Who Lied at Confirmation

    The Trump-McConnell judicial project placed 226 federal judges and three Supreme Court justices — the highest court transformation since Reagan. Kavanaugh was confirmed in a process widely criticized for inadequate FBI investigation of sexual assault allegations. Barrett was confirmed after McConnell refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland for 293 days, then confirmed Barrett in 27 days. Justices Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Gorsuch all joined the Dobbs v. Jackson majority overturning Roe; Kavanaugh had called Roe 'settled as a precedent' at his hearing.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Yakla Raid: Trump's First Military Operation Kills Civilians and a U.S. Navy SEAL

    The Yakla raid was authorized by Trump without the standard national security review process. The operation went wrong from the start: intelligence may have been compromised, the element of surprise was lost, and the ensuing firefight resulted in the deaths of a U.S. service member, three wounded Americans, and between 10 and 30 Yemeni civilians by different counts, including children. Among the civilians killed was 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen — the daughter of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had been killed in a 2011 Obama-era drone strike.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Muslim Travel Ban: Executive Orders 13769, 13780, and Presidential Proclamation 9645

    Trump signed an initial travel ban on January 27, 2017, halting entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending the refugee program. After courts blocked it, the administration issued revised versions that scaled back explicit language while preserving the core country-specific restrictions. The Supreme Court allowed a third version to take full effect in December 2017.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Muslim Ban Day One: Airport Detentions, Legal Chaos, Federal Stays

    The executive order was signed without coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. Customs and Border Protection received no guidance before implementation. Within hours, hundreds of travelers from the seven countries — including green card holders, refugees, and visa holders — were detained at airports or turned away from flights. Federal judges in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington state issued emergency stays within 24-48 hours. The order was eventually replaced by revised versions that were also challenged legally; the Supreme Court upheld the third version in Trump v. Hawaii (2018).

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    Travel Ban: Muslim-Majority Country Restrictions Through Three Iterations

    The travel ban's anti-Muslim intent was documented in Trump's own public statements: before the first order, Trump had called for 'a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States'; Rudy Giuliani publicly stated Trump had asked him how to create 'a Muslim ban' legally. The first order's implementation — without agency coordination, applying immediately to green card holders, causing chaos and hundreds of detentions at airports — forced a broad injunction within hours. Courts repeatedly found discriminatory intent. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the third version, with Chief Justice Roberts's majority explicitly declining to assess whether the stated national security justification was pretextual.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    White House Press Briefings: Documented Lies to Press and Public, Admitted to the Special Counsel

    Sanders told reporters in May 2017 that the reason Trump fired Comey was that FBI rank-and-file agents had lost confidence in him — a claim supported by the White House's stated justification for the firing. When Mueller's investigators interviewed Sanders, she acknowledged that statement had not been based on anything, that she had made it up in the moment, and that it was a 'slip of the tongue.' The Mueller Report quoted her directly: the claim was not based on 'any of the things you heard.' Other documented false claims from the briefing room included statements about the Trump Tower meeting, Trump's involvement in drafting a misleading statement about the meeting, and numerous false claims about immigration, trade, and policy matters that fact-checkers documented.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Inauguration Crowd Lies: The First Day and the War on Truth

    Trump demanded his Press Secretary go before the press to insist crowd comparisons showing his inauguration was smaller than Obama's were dishonest — a claim contradicted by photographic evidence, aerial comparisons and Metro ridership figures (the National Park Service does not publish crowd estimates). The next morning Trump personally called the acting National Park Service director to request additional photographs; documents released in 2018 showed a government photographer cropped the new images, at Trump's request, to make the crowd look larger. Counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Spicer by coining the phrase 'alternative facts.' The incident, on the first full day of the administration, set the template for four years of routine government deception.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Intelligence Community Attacks: CIA Briefings Undermined, Officials Publicly Attacked

    Trump's attacks on the intelligence community followed a pattern: dispute assessments that reflected poorly on him or contradicted foreign governments he was cultivating, attack the officials who provided them, reward officials who shaped assessments to his preferences, and revoke credentials of critics. He disputed the CIA's assessments of Saudi Crown Prince MBS's role in the Khashoggi murder, Russian interference in the 2016 election, North Korean nuclear progress, and Iranian nuclear program compliance. He announced the revocation of former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance and threatened the clearances of other former officials who had criticized him, and installed loyalists in acting DNI and other positions.

  • Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

    ICE Detention: Deaths, Abuse, and Inhumane Conditions in Immigration Detention Facilities

    Under Trump, ICE detention grew from approximately 41,000 to over 55,000 people at peak. Press tallies put deaths in ICE custody at roughly 40 during the first term, including 21 in FY2020, the highest annual number since 2005. A DHS OIG inspection found spoiled and moldy food, nooses in cells, improper segregation and inadequate medical care. A Senate investigation found women at one Georgia facility were subjected to excessive, invasive and often unnecessary gynecological procedures.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    ACA Sabotage: Deliberate Undermining of Health Insurance for Millions

    Having failed to repeal the ACA legislatively (defeated by the 51-49 Senate vote, including John McCain's thumbs-down), the Trump administration used regulatory and administrative mechanisms to undermine it: eliminating the individual mandate penalty, cutting navigator and outreach funding from $63 million to $10 million, supporting a lawsuit arguing the entire ACA was unconstitutional, and expanding short-term health plans that excluded pre-existing conditions. CBO projected that repealing the individual mandate penalty (enacted by Congress in the 2017 tax law, which the President signed) would increase the number of uninsured by 13 million by 2027.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Emoluments Violations: Profiting from Foreign and Domestic Governments While President

    Unlike every president in modern history, Trump refused to divest from his businesses, instead placing them in a trust managed by his sons. Foreign governments and domestic government agencies spent millions at Trump properties during his presidency. Courts dismissed emoluments cases on procedural grounds rather than merits; a January 2024 House Oversight Democrats report documented more than $7.8 million in payments from at least 20 foreign governments to Trump businesses during his presidency.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Systematic Hatch Act Violations: Using Government Resources for Political Campaigns

    The Office of Special Counsel — an independent federal watchdog — found that at least 13 senior Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act before the 2020 election, mostly by promoting Trump's reelection in official-capacity interviews; Pompeo by changing State Department policy to speak at the RNC; and Wolf and others by orchestrating a naturalization ceremony to create RNC content. Each could only have been disciplined by Trump, who took no action. Earlier, in May 2019, Conway responded to Hatch Act criticism: 'Let me know when the jail sentence starts.'

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Inaugural Committee: $107 Million Raised, Federal Investigations Into Corruption

    Federal prosecutors in Manhattan subpoenaed the inaugural committee in February 2019. Prosecutors subpoenaed records investigating potential coordination with foreign nationals and possible misuse of nonprofit funds. Tom Barrack, who chaired the fundraising effort, was indicted in July 2021 on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the UAE, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. The indictment alleged Barrack had used his position in the Trump campaign and inaugural committee to influence U.S. policy and public statements in favor of the UAE. Barrack was acquitted at trial in November 2022. Prosecutors were reported in December 2018 to be examining whether Middle Eastern foreigners used straw donors to funnel money to the committee; no such finding has been made public.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Presidential Conflicts of Interest: Trump Refused to Divest from Business Empire

    Prior presidents had either sold their business assets or placed them in blind trusts managed by independent trustees. Trump placed his holdings in a revocable trust managed by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, with Trump retaining the ability to revoke the trust at any time and receiving financial reports about the businesses. The Office of Government Ethics stated the arrangement was insufficient to prevent conflicts. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, housed in a federally-owned building under a lease Trump's own government administered, became a center of lobbying activity, with foreign governments and domestic interest groups booking events and rooms to seek favorable treatment. Saudi Arabia spent more than $270,000 at the hotel in a single year.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Michael Flynn: Turkey Lobbying Cover-Up, Foreign Agent, NSA Lies to FBI

    Flynn was paid over $530,000 by a Turkish-controlled entity while serving as one of Trump's most prominent campaign surrogates in 2016 — work he initially did not disclose and later retroactively registered as foreign agent activity. He lied to FBI investigators about his December 2016 contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, in which he discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had just imposed on Russia for election interference. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017, cooperated with Mueller, then attempted to withdraw his plea, and was ultimately pardoned by Trump in November 2020.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Hush Money: 34 Felony Counts for Falsifying Business Records — Found Guilty

    The prosecution established that Trump directed Michael Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 less than two weeks before the 2016 election. Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of false invoices and checks falsely recorded as 'legal expenses' — the 34 counts all arose from these falsified records. The Manhattan DA alleged the falsification was done to conceal the underlying crime of election fraud (influencing an election through unlawful means). The case also documented the AMI/National Enquirer arrangement in which the tabloid bought and suppressed stories from McDougal and others — the 'catch and kill' scheme. Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge on January 10, 2025, ten days before his second inauguration; the conviction remains on record. He filed his appeal brief with the Appellate Division in October 2025, and on August 28, 2026 federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein again refused to move the case to federal court on immunity grounds.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Trump Attacked Gold Star Khan Family for Opposing Him at DNC

    Captain Humayun Khan was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his actions on June 8, 2004, when he was killed stopping a suicide car bomb that would have killed many more soldiers. His parents appeared at the DNC in support of Hillary Clinton and against Trump's Muslim ban, which would have prevented their family's immigration. Trump responded by suggesting Ghazala Khan had been silent at the podium because she was 'not allowed' to speak under Islamic tradition — she said she was too overcome by grief to speak. Trump described himself as having made 'sacrifices' comparable to the Khans' loss.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    2016 Russian Election Interference: Mueller Findings and Senate Intelligence Committee

    The Senate Intelligence Committee's August 2020 bipartisan report documented that Paul Manafort shared confidential Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian political consultant the committee assessed had ties to Russian intelligence. The report characterized this as 'a grave counterintelligence threat.' The report also documented extensive contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian nationals. Mueller found the hacking and dumping of Democratic emails benefited the Trump campaign and that the campaign was aware of, and made use of, the releases — but did not find sufficient evidence of criminal conspiracy between the campaign and the Russian government.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    2016 Campaign Rally Violence: Rhetoric Encouraging Supporters Against Protesters

    Trump's 2016 campaign rallies were sites of documented violence against protesters, often preceded by Trump's encouragement from the stage. Trump offered to pay legal fees for supporters who assaulted protesters, described violence against protesters nostalgically, and encouraged crowds. Multiple protesters were punched, kicked, shoved, or sprayed with mace. A lawsuit by protesters shoved at a Louisville rally survived a motion to dismiss in 2017, but in 2018 the Sixth Circuit ordered the incitement-to-riot claim against Trump dismissed, holding his words protected by the First Amendment.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Hush-Money Scheme: Cohen's Guilty Plea Names Trump; Trump Convicted on 34 Counts (2024)

    Cohen's guilty plea was not just his own conviction — it was Trump's implication. Cohen stated in federal court that the campaign finance crimes (the Daniels and McDougal payments) were committed 'in coordination with and at the direction of' a candidate for federal office. Federal prosecutors' filings repeated that the payments were made in coordination with and at the direction of 'Individual-1', understood to be Trump. Cohen was sentenced to 36 months; he served about a year in prison before release to home confinement in May 2020, and completed his sentence in November 2021. Trump was never charged federally over the payments; he was convicted on 34 state felony counts in May 2024 and received an unconditional discharge on January 10, 2025, and is appealing.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    2015–2016 Campaign: Trump Advocates Waterboarding 'and Much Worse' and Killing Terrorists' Families

    During the 2016 primary campaign Trump promised to restore waterboarding and harsher methods, and said the US should kill terrorists' families. Both would violate the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture. As a candidate's statements, they are recorded here as evidence of stated intent, not as conduct.

  • Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Trump Tower Moscow: Active Negotiations During 2016 Campaign, Covered Up

    The Trump Tower Moscow project involved Cohen emailing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's office in January 2016 seeking Putin's personal assistance advancing the project. Trump signed a letter of intent in October 2015. Negotiations continued through June 2016. Cohen testified to Congress in 2017 that negotiations ended in January 2016 — a lie he later admitted under oath. The project would have been the largest Trump deal ever, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars and requiring Russian government approval. Throughout this period, Trump repeatedly denied any Russian business dealings and publicly advocated for lifting sanctions on Russia.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Trump Taj Mahal: $10 Million FinCEN Fine for Willful Anti-Money-Laundering Violations

    FinCEN found that the Trump Taj Mahal had, over the course of years, failed to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) on large cash transactions as required under the Bank Secrecy Act, failed to maintain adequate Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) programs, and failed to maintain basic anti-money-laundering controls. The violations were documented across thousands of transactions. FinCEN described the violations as 'willful' — meaning the casino knew what was required and did not comply. The $10 million fine was among FinCEN's largest against a casino at the time; the previous Trump casinos had also faced regulatory action.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Catch and Kill: National Enquirer's AMI Suppressed Stories to Protect Trump's 2016 Campaign

    The National Enquirer's 'catch and kill' program operated by buying the rights to stories from people with negative accounts of Trump — paying them for exclusives and then killing the stories. AMI purchased stories involving alleged sexual affairs and other damaging material. Federal prosecutors concluded the scheme constituted illegal campaign contributions; AMI entered a non-prosecution agreement admitting this. David Pecker's cooperation was central to the conviction of Michael Cohen and the eventual conviction of Trump himself.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Birther Campaign: Five-Year Campaign Questioning Obama's U.S. Birth, Racist Delegitimization

    The birther conspiracy theory — the claim that Obama was born in Kenya or elsewhere outside the U.S. — had no factual basis. Hawaii state officials repeatedly confirmed the birth certificate's authenticity. Obama released both a short-form and long-form birth certificate. Federal courts dismissed challenges to Obama's eligibility. The theory persisted in certain quarters as a form of racial delegitimization of the first Black president. Trump became its most prominent mainstream advocate, using it to build his political profile before his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump's 2016 acknowledgment that Obama was born in the U.S. came without apology and included the false claim that Clinton had started the birther controversy.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Trump University: Defrauding Thousands of Students Through a Fraudulent 'Education' Scheme

    Trump University promised to teach students Trump's real estate 'secrets' through courses taught by his handpicked instructors. In practice, it was found to be a high-pressure sales operation that extracted money from vulnerable people — including elderly retirees — through a series of escalating upsells. New York's attorney general sued for $40 million; a California class action settled for $25 million in 2016.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    E. Jean Carroll Sexual Assault and Decades of Sexual Misconduct Allegations

    E. Jean Carroll first publicly accused Trump of rape in 2019; the legal case was delayed by Trump's claims of immunity as president. In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape under New York's technical definition) and defamation. In January 2024, a second jury awarded $83.3 million in damages for Trump's continuing defamatory statements. Both verdicts were affirmed on appeal; the Supreme Court declined to hear the first in June 2026, and the second is on petition to the Court. Trump called Carroll's account 'a made up Fake story' and said she was 'not my type.'

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA: Documented Sexual Misconduct and Dressing Room Violations

    Trump bragged on the Howard Stern show that he would 'go backstage' before shows and that contestants 'are standing there with no clothes' — and that 'I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant.' Former Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants described the behavior; for the 1997 teen pageant, contestants were as young as 15. Other contestants said they did not see it, and the Trump campaign denied the accounts. Trump's ownership gave him structural access that contestants could not easily refuse.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    E. Jean Carroll: Jury Finds Sexual Abuse and Defamation; $83.3 Million Damages

    Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, alleged Trump attacked her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in approximately 1996. Trump denied knowing her and described her as 'not my type.' The jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape, under the definition in New York law at the time) and defamation, awarding $5 million. In her first suit, over Trump's June 2019 denials, Judge Kaplan found Trump liable for defamation on summary judgment in September 2023, and in January 2024 a jury awarded $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages — one of the largest defamation awards in U.S. history. The Supreme Court declined to review the $5 million verdict on June 29, 2026 and denied rehearing on August 17, 2026; the Second Circuit rejected Trump's appeal of the $83.3 million award on September 8, 2025, and Trump, joined by the Justice Department, petitioned the Supreme Court in July 2026. Multiple other women made similar allegations; Trump denied all.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Documented Racial Discrimination by Trump Organization Against Employees and Tenants

    John O'Donnell's 1991 memoir 'Trumped!' quoted Trump as saying: 'I've got Black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys wearing yarmulkes... I think that the guy's lazy. And it's probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in Blacks.' Trump told Playboy in an interview published in 1997, 'The stuff O'Donnell wrote about me is probably true'; two years later, seeking the Reform Party nomination, he denied making the statement. New Jersey Casino Control Commission records documented that supervisors at Trump's Castle were instructed to remove Black dealers from tables when certain high-rolling guests requested it, a discriminatory practice that resulted in regulatory sanctions.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    NDAs and Employee Silencing: Systematic Use of Non-Disclosure Agreements

    Trump's NDA culture predated the presidency. Former Trump Organization employees described comprehensive NDAs covering all aspects of their employment. The campaign NDAs were drafted by Trump's attorneys and covered staffers, volunteers, and contractors. Several current and former employees who spoke to journalists anonymously or were approached by journalists described fear of legal action as the primary reason they declined to speak on the record. Michael Cohen's 'catch and kill' operation with AMI (American Media Inc.) extended the silencing mechanism to women who alleged sexual misconduct. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House employee, claimed she was pressured to sign an NDA after her departure that would have prohibited any public criticism of Trump.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Central Park Five: Full-Page Ads Calling for Death Penalty, Refused to Apologize After Exoneration

    The five teenagers — Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — were 14 to 16 years old at the time of their arrest. They gave videotaped confessions after hours of unrecorded interrogation, recanted within weeks, and said the statements were coerced; the trial judge ruled the statements voluntary and admissible, and no court has made a finding of coercion. Their convictions were vacated in 2002 on the newly discovered evidence. In 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to the attack; DNA evidence confirmed his account and proved the five had not committed the rape. The city of New York settled with them for $41 million in 2014. Trump called the settlement 'a disgrace' and continued to maintain the five were guilty. On October 21, 2024 the five sued Trump for defamation in federal court in Philadelphia over his statements about them in the September 10, 2024 debate. His 1989 ads ran in the New York Times, Daily News, New York Post, and New York Newsday.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Tax Returns Investigation: $1 Billion in Losses, Tax Avoidance Schemes Documented

    The 2019 NYT investigation used IRS data from 1985-1994, finding Trump declared $1.17 billion in losses — an average of $117 million per year — largely from casino and real estate failures. The losses were so large that Trump paid no income tax in eight of the ten years. The 2020 investigation of complete tax returns found Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and $750 in 2017 through aggressive deductions, carried-forward losses, and tax credits. Trump had for decades refused to release his tax returns, claiming he was under IRS audit. He remained the only presidential candidate in modern history to refuse release until his returns were eventually obtained by courts after litigation.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Polish Workers at Trump Tower: Undocumented Workers in Dangerous Conditions, Then Stiffed

    Trump hired contractor William Kaszycki who used approximately 200 undocumented Polish workers to demolish the Bonwit Teller building for below-minimum wages — approximately $4-5 per hour, no overtime. Workers say they were not provided safety equipment for handling asbestos-laden material. When they complained about nonpayment, a foreman told them to 'get back to work or they'll be reported to immigration.' Trump settled the class action in 1999; documents unsealed in 2017 show he agreed to pay $1.375 million.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Sexual Misconduct Allegations: At Least 28 Women Beyond the E. Jean Carroll Civil Verdict

    The women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct covered a range of circumstances: models and contestants at Trump-owned beauty pageants, women at events and parties, employees in business settings, and strangers at social venues. The common elements across many accounts were unwanted kissing or groping in private settings with no witnesses. After the October 2016 Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump said 'when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy,' multiple women came forward stating the tape described what Trump had done to them. Trump called all accusers liars and threatened to sue them.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Decades of Stiffing Contractors: Trump's Documented Pattern of Refusing to Pay

    USA Today's 2016 investigation found that Trump and his companies had been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits in U.S. federal and state courts over the previous three decades; separately, hundreds of contractors, vendors and employees had filed lawsuits or liens saying they were not paid. Among those who reported not being paid: drapery installers, piano players, porters, waiters, dishwashers, real estate brokers, plumbers, and hundreds of hourly workers. Trump's standard response was to challenge the quality of work — often leaving small contractors to choose between expensive litigation or accepting partial payment.

  • Outside the grading scale: Pre-Office Conduct

    Housing Discrimination: DOJ Lawsuit Against Trump Management Corporation for Racial Discrimination

    The DOJ brought one of the largest housing discrimination lawsuits of 1973 against the Trumps, alleging their agents told Black rental applicants apartments were not available when they were available to white applicants, coded applications by race, and directed minority applicants to housing in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Trump denied the allegations vigorously and counterattacked the DOJ. The company settled in 1975 and was sued again in 1978 for violating the decree.