America’s True Exceptionalism: A Culture of Impunity
INSIDE: Jeffrey Epstein ... Yoon Suk Yeol ... Doug Wilson
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
What Accountability Looks Like
The overnight news brings fresh evidence that America is exceptional among developed nations in its inability and unwillingness to hold the powerful to account even in the most egregious cases.
South Korea became the second country in the past six months to sentence a former head of state to a stiff prison sentence for couping. After being convicted earlier in the day, former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison with labor for leading an insurrection and conspiring with military officials to impose martial law in December 2024.
It took 14 months for South Korea to mete out justice for subverting the country’s constitution. In Brazil, it took 33 months from Jair Bolsonaro’s January 2023 attempt to overturn his election loss through force until his conviction. Bolsonaro is now serving a 27-year prison sentence.
The stunning overnight arrest of King Charles’ brother Andrew — and the police search of royal properties — in apparent connection with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal stands in sharp contrast to the U.S. handling of the scandal. It appears that the U.K. investigation of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office is focused not on Epstein’s child sex trafficking but on Andrew’s alleged sharing of government documents with Epstein while the then-prince served as a trade envoy.
While the fallout from the Epstein scandal, particularly the Trump DOJ’s release of its voluminous Epstein files (ironically, in an effort to placate the ravings of right-wing conspiracists) has been comparatively limited in the United States, ending some corporate careers, it is sweeping up officials abroad in corruption investigations:
United Kingdom: Peter Mandelson, the fired U.K. ambassador to the United States, is under investigation for allegedly passing on market-sensitive government information to Epstein. Two of his properties were searched by police earlier this month. Within days of the news of the criminal investigation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney resigned, taking responsibility for Starmer’s 2024 appointment of Mandelson as ambassador.
Norway: Former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland was charged last week with “gross corruption” over his Epstein ties. His arrest and the search of three of his properties came only after the Council of Europe revoked his diplomatic immunity. The married diplomats Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen are also under investigation for “aggravated corruption” for their dealings with Epstein. In both cases, the alleged corruption did not involve child sex trafficking but allegations of financial benefits from Epstein. Juul was suspended then resigned earlier this month as Norway’s ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.
France: Former Culture Minister Jack Lang and his daughter are under criminal investigation for the Epstein ties through an offshore company in the U.S. Virgin Islands, while the French foreign minister launched a separate administrative investigation of senior French diplomat Fabrice Aidan amid allegations that while he worked at the United Nations he shared diplomatic documents with Epstein.
Taking in the news of the former prince’s arrest, the writer Julian Sanchez wryly observed: “So SCOTUS, with its fabricated-out-of-thin-air immunity doctrine, has actually made American presidents less accountable than LITERAL royalty.”
The Police Statement on Andrew’s Arrest
In keeping with U.K. policy, the police did not name Andrew in its official statement on his arrest:
Thames Valley Police has opened an investigation into the offence of misconduct in public office.
As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2), at approximately 8am, arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.
The man remains in police custody at this time.
We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court.
Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.
“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence.
“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”
King Charles: ‘The Law Must Take Its Course’
Trump Detentions Overwhelm Trump DOJ
The spectacle of President Trump’s mass deportation operation didn’t make provisions for humanely detaining thousands of additional migrants or for processing their hundreds of habeas claims in court. The Trump DOJ has been overwhelmed by the case load, partly the result of poor planning, partly from a manpower shortage of the administration’s own making. But whoever is to blame, the burden still falls on migrants least able to absorb it:
MINNESOTA
In what may be the first contempt citation of a Trump II official, U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino of St. Paul held a DOJ lawyer in civil contempt of court and imposed a $500 a day sanction on him until he abides by her order to return the identification documents of a migrant shipped to Texas and then released without his papers or a way to get back to Minnesota (which was also a violation of the judge’s order).
Matthew Isihara, reportedly a military JAG who was imported to help the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the caseload from Operation Metro Surge, told the judge he’d been assigned nearly 130 cases in the past month. “I don’t think it is acceptable,” Isihara said in court. “I believe the volume of work over the last few weeks has exceeded the capacity of any one AUSA.”
While U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen denounced the judge’s sanction as “a lawless abuse of judicial power,” it seemed to get the job done. Attorneys for the migrant told Fox9’s Paul Blume that DOJ gave them a tracking number for the overnight delivery of his identification paperwork and that they expect to receive it today, before the $500/day sanction kicks in.
NEW JERSEY
In a remarkably contrite filing, Associate Deputy Attorney General Jordan Fox told a federal judge that the Trump DOJ had violated court orders some 54 times between Dec. 5 and Feb. 12 in New Jersey alone. The filing, first reported by Politico, suggested that the Trump DOJ is overwhelmed by habeas cases even in states that haven’t been specially targeted by President Trump’s mass detention operation.
The cataloging of the violations was ordered by U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz.
“I understand Your Honor’s concerns about these extremely important issues with constitutional implications,” wrote Fox, who is the chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Slavery Exhibit Still Not Restored
The Trump administration defied a federal judge’s order to immediately restore exhibits about slavery at the site of President George Washington’s one-time home in Philadelphia, prompting the exasperated judge to set a Friday deadline for the restoration of the exhibits. The Trump administration has appealed the judge’s decision, but didn’t ask for her to stay her order pending appeal until last night, after she set the Friday deadline.
‘Paleo-Confederate’ Prays with Hegseth
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth invited Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson to lead a worship service at the Pentagon, which promptly posted about it:
Hegseth’s full embrace of the Idaho pastor who calls himself a “paleo-Confederate” comes after the two met last year when Wilson delivered a sermon at Hegseth’s Tennessee church, as TPM first reported.
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Firing immigration judges plus voluminous arrests and detention equals deep shit legal backlog. In my opinion, a planned, fully intentional human rights abuses and violations. TPM on 🎯with news👍
As a minor footnote to all the other, much more important news here, a thank you to TPM for maintaining the important distinction between Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.