"Only The Best People": Trump's Odious Lawyer

Amanda Marcotte at Salon.com highlights the lawyer that the Malignant Loser has chosen to defend him before the Supreme Court against the charge that the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause bars him from holding public office after his involvement in the January 6 insurrection. Spoiler alert: the clown is a real right-wing nutcase of the type that seem to proliferate in Texas:

"The big news that kicked off this week was that the Supreme Court set Thursday to hear oral arguments over whether or not Donald Trump should be kicked off the ballot per the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the government from holding office. What got a lot less attention was the announcement of which lawyer would argue on Trump's behalf: former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell. Reproductive rights activists sure sat up and took notice of the mention of Mitchell. He is one of the most odious men in the entire anti-abortion world, which is quite an achievement, considering the misogyny that fuels that movement. 

Mitchell earned this "worst of the worst" title by being the architect behind the Texas "bounty hunter" law, which adds a level of creative sadism to abortion bans that would make the villain in the "Saw" movies envious. There have been so many vicious abortion bans passed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 that readers could be forgiven for forgetting how ugly the Texas law is. To recap: Beyond just banning abortion, the Mitchell-penned law offers a $10,000 bounty to any person who sues someone who "aids and abets" an abortion."  (our emphasis)

There's more about this extremist in her excellent takedown, if your stomach can take it. One of the things not mentioned is Mitchell's attempt to obtain the lists of people donating to pro-choice funds, in order to harass them and likely more. It's no surprise that Mitchell's extreme right views in part were shaped by his clerking for the late radical Justice Antonin Scalia, and include opposition to contraception.

He likely received some approving nods in Court today, especially from Alito and Thomas as a forced birther brother in arms. His presence on the Malignant Loser's legal team demonstrates the radical and vicious misogynist philosophy underpinning the Malignant Loser's campaign for office, an office which should be denied to him under the 14th Amendment.

(Illustration: YouTube / Tony Perkins (Fair Use)