Letters from an American - A Betrayal of Our Constitution

Episode Date: September 2, 2026

September 1, 2026The US Supreme Court allowed Trump to continue to build his ballroom, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the project is likely unlawful, but the project will likely be completed before that question is resolved, Trump’s behavior is a logical outcome of the theory of the “unitary executive,” In 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the commitment to the idea that no one is above the law, Trump is convinced that he can do whatever he wishes, including rigging elections so that he cannot lose, The US Postal Service is putting in place a new system for handling federal election ballot mail, in a hasty, chaotic, and flawed process, A whistleblower says that the administration has hidden the likelihood that there will be major disruptions in getting ballots delivered to voters, Work on this system has continued despite an injunction from a federal court ordering it to stop, The USPS has never played a gatekeeping function and Sen Richard Blumenthal called on the Postmaster General to abandon the plan and ensure that all Americans can vote without interference by the USPS, He told reporters that it appears the system is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans, And Trump seems largely unaware of what is going on in his administration.Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

September 1, 26. Yesterday, by a vote of five to four, the United States Supreme Court allowed Trump to continue to build his ballroom. The five right-wing justices concluded that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which had sued to stop the construction of the ballroom, did not have legal standing to sue, and that national security considerations came down on the side of construction. The majority said it was not resolving the issue of whether the project is legal. It was Chief Justice John Roberts who covered that aspect of the controversy. He wrote in dissent that the project is likely unlawful.

The White House is an iconic American building whose symbolism and history are wrapped up in its architecture, Roberts wrote. He wrote that it is critical to ensure that those responsible followed the rules in deciding what to tear down and what to build up at the people's house. Nonetheless, as Josh Gerstein of Politico reported, the project will likely be completed before the question of its legality is resolved. Trump's behavior in his second term is a logical outcome of the theory of the unitary executive. Under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, those eager to stop Congress from passing legislation that benefited the American people at the expensive businessmen,

began to argue for the idea that because the president was head of one of the three branches of the U.S. government, he could not be checked by either of the other two branches, the legislative branch, Congress, or the judicial branch, the courts. On July 1st, 2024, the United States Supreme Court, stacked with Trump's appointees, took this theory to a conclusion that overturned the central premise of American democracy, that no one is above the law. It decided that the President of the United States has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for crimes committed as part of the official acts at the core of presidential powers.

The court also said it should be presumed that the President also has immunity for other official acts as well, unless that prosecution would not intrude on the authority of the executive branch. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts said that a president needs such immunity to make sure the president is willing to take bold and unhesitating action and make unpopular decisions, although no previous president ever asserted that he was above the law or that he needed such immunity to fill his role. Roberts's decision didn't focus at all on the interest of the American people in guaranteeing that presidents carry out their duties within the guardrails of the law. This permission structure appears to have convinced Trump he can do whatever he wishes, including rigging elections so he cannot lose. Yesterday, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat of Connecticut, of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental,

who is the top-ranking Democrat on the permanent subcommittee on investigations, exposed what appears to be a plot to steal the 26 midterm elections. Blumenthal released a letter he had written to Postmaster General David Steiner, calling attention to an official whistleblower report, which he attached to the letter. It's eye-popping. The whistleblower warns that there are potentially catastrophic, problems in the development of the United States Postal Service's new system for handling federal election ballot mail. According to the whistleblower, the process for the creation and

implementation of an entirely new and untested set of IT systems for delivering ballots to voters for the midterm election has been secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed. The whistleblower says the administration has hidden the high likelihood that the new ballot mail verification processes will result in major disruptions in mail ballots ever getting delivered to voters. As presently designed, if even one barcode on one single ballot in a bulk mailing of 10,000 ballots fails to properly scan during the verification process, the entire batch is rejected and sent back to the state, effectively stopping the ballots from being

mailed to voters. The complaint continues. Even under ordinary circumstances, this would be problematic because of predictable errors in any barcode scanning process. But the rushed IT development of the new system means it will almost certainly have significant operating problems when released to the public. The whistleblower notes that multiple officials from the United States Postal Service have described the development process for the system as a shi-shed show. The whistleblower said that work on the United States Postal Service election ballot mail IT project began in June 26 and has continued, despite an injunction from a federal court, ordering work on it to stop.

Normally, it would take nine months to a year or more to roll out a project of this complexity, magnitude, and importance. Considering the rush and the consequences, the whistleblower wondered whether catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug. The complaint says the apparently sloppy and rushed manner in which the federal ballot mail portal and supporting IT systems are being built poses significant risk. Potentially millions of American voters may not receive their mail-in ballot this election cycle in a timely manner or at all. Blumenthal noted that the United States Postal Service has a restrained role as a mail

carrier. It has never before played a gatekeeping function and yet is now a building an entirely new system to put itself in a position to refuse to mail ballots that state election officials have determined should be sent out. He called for Postmaster General Steiner to abandon this ill-conceived, unconscionable plan and ensure that all Americans can exercise their constitutional right to vote, including by mail, without interference by the United States Postal Service. Blumenthal demanded Steiner answer no later than Friday whether the United States Postal Service has stopped work on the project as ordered by the courts, as well as provide the names of those who worked on the project and the dates they were active. By September 8th, he wants to see all

records about the project. Blumenthal told reporters, the main takeaway for me is that the Postal Service has designed a system to disenfranchise millions of Americans. One third of all Americans cast their ballots by mail, and the United States Postal Service puts all of their votes at risk. The administration's attack on elections is especially concerning, considering the recent suggestions that Trump is spending most of his time on his legacy projects like the ballroom, leaving him largely unaware of what is going on in the administration. Nancy A. Yusef, Missy Ryan, and Michael Scherer of the Atlantic reported yesterday that when Army Secretary Dan Driscoll went directly to Trump with his concerns about what Hegseth is doing to the Army, Trump was surprised to learn

how many generals and other top officers had been fired, pushed out, or passed over for promotion under Hegseth and expressed concern about the deep cuts to the Army's senior leadership. Driscoll resigned yesterday. As for the plan to sabotage mail-in voting, Representative Joe Morrelli, a Democrat of New York, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Committee on House Administration, which oversees the administration of federal elections, posted, these whistleblower allegations of, are extraordinary. If Trump administration officials knowingly built a system designed to prevent Americans from receiving their ballots, that is not election security. It is a betrayal of our

Constitution and the American people. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead of Massachusetts, recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.