24 Oct 2023

Trump seeks to derail election-subversion charges

by | posted in: Politics | 0

Former President Donald Trump has launched a multifront legal attack on the federal charges he’s facing in Washington, D.C., arising from his bid to subvert the 2020 election.

In three motions to dismiss the case filed just before midnight, Trump contended that the case mounted against him by special counsel Jack Smith sought to criminalize his views on the 2020 election and efforts to lobby state lawmakers and Congress.

Trump argued that the indictment — which charges him with conspiring to obstruct Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, conspiring to deprive Americans of a fair election process and conspiring to defraud government officials administering the election — “does not explain” how he violated the laws he’s charged with breaking. He says the charges violate his First Amendment right to petition government officials to act on his concerns about the 2020 election. He contends his acquittal by the Senate in an impeachment trial days after leaving office bars him from being prosecuted for related conduct. And he says President Joe Biden’s reported statements about the case require an inquiry regarding selective prosecution, if not outright dismissal.

The filings, combined with an earlier motion to dismiss the case citing his “immunity” from prosecution for his conduct as president, represent Trump’s full strategy for preventing the case against him from ever reaching a jury. Trump repeatedly points to the unprecedented nature of the charges against him and says crimes he’s accused of were not meant to criminalize what he did in his final, frenzied bid to remain in power.

Trump’s motions pose the latest test for U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is grappling with the extraordinary nature of the case. Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges — including federal cases brought by Smith in Washington, D.C., and Florida. But it’s Chutkan’s case, scheduled to begin on March 4, that appears poised to reach a jury first. And Chutkan’s rulings can be appealed, triggering potential legal showdowns at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals or even the Supreme Court prior to Trump’s trial.

Chutkan has already fended off an effort by Trump to force her recusal from the case and issued a gag order aimed at preventing Trump from mounting public attacks that might taint the D.C. jury pool or intimidate prospective witnesses. Trump has appealed her order and Chutkan has briefly suspended it while she considers his concerns.

Trump’s wide-ranging attack on the indictment features three main arguments: that the charges defy his First Amendment rights, that he’s being vindictively targeted by a political rival and that the crimes he’s accused of do not align with what he actually did in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

For example, Trump — via his attorneys John Lauro and Todd Blanche — argued that his campaign’s effort to submit false slates of presidential electors to Congress was not an act of “deceit” or “trickery” required to prove he conspired to defraud the government. Rather, Trump allies publicly announced their intentions to send their preferred electoral slates to Congress while leaning on Republican-controlled state legislatures to recognize them.

At the center of Trump’s argument is a claim that criminalizing his post-election behavior would similarly criminalize ordinary political advocacy like lobbying or protest. He cited a newly released opinion by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to contend that Trump could not be accused of “corruptly” attempting to interfere with Congress’ Electoral College proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021 — noting that the opinion sought to protect all forms of political advocacy.

Prosecutors are certain to reject Trump’s characterization of his activities as benign political lobbying or an effort to support the integrity of elections. They say Trump spread knowingly false information about voter fraud to mount a pressure campaign against state governments and his own vice president, Mike Pence, in an effort to defraud the United States. He was atop a criminal conspiracy, they contend, that included assembling false slates of presidential electors to stoke a conflict on Jan. 6, when Congress met to finalize the results of the election, and surrounded himself with attorneys who crafted fringe theories intended to justify the effort. All of it, they say, was a pretense aimed at disrupting the transfer of power for the first time in American history.

Trump’s filings make little mention of the six alleged co-conspirators prosecutors described in the indictment — including attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who developed the strategy Trump ultimately deployed in an effort to subvert the election on Jan. 6.

All four, along with Trump, have also been charged by Georgia prosecutors with an elaborate racketeering conspiracy aimed at subverting the state’s election laws as well. Last week, Chesebro and Powell pleaded guilty to aspects of their conduct and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

24 Oct 2023

Patriots-Bills film review: How Bill O’Brien and Mac Jones found a winning formula

by | posted in: News | 0

After seven weeks, the Patriots finally found their formula.

Let’s skip the cliched “complementary football,” a tidy way of saying it’s generally a good idea to play well on offense, defense and special teams in the same game.

Obviously, a banged-up Patriots defense must continue producing turnovers, as Jabrill Peppers did intercepting Josh Allen on Buffalo’s first play from scrimmage Sunday. Obviously, more special teams performances that include rookie kicker Chad Ryland hitting all of his field goals, Bryce Baringer dropping 100% of his punts inside the opponent’s 20 and the Pats winning the field position battle will help.

But the Patriots’ real formula involves alchemy: transforming the anchor that dragged them down for six weeks into wind behind their sails for the rest of the season. That anchor, of course, was the offense.

Mac Jones played arguably the best game of his career Sunday, considering the caliber of the opponent, his surrounding talent and performance in high-leverage situations. He finished 25-of-30 for 272 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots scored a season-high 29 points and completed their first fourth-quarter comeback in years.

After the game, Jones credited Bill O’Brien for writing a winning script. That script came in five parts.

Start with a stabilized offensive line.

Starting right guard Mike Onwenu flipped to right tackle and plugged one of the largest holes in any starting lineup across the NFL. Onwenu allowed a single pressure in pass protection and helped the Pats post a 50% success rate when rushing, the second-highest of any offense in Week 7.

Over the last three weeks — including their hideous 34-0 shutout against New Orleans — the Patriots rank ninth in rushing success rate, which takes pressure off of Jones and allows for offensive balance.

Part two: more motion.

According to ESPN, the Patriots’ offense entered Sunday ranked 23rd in the rate of motion used at the snap with a season-long mark of 14%. Against the Bills, the Pats almost doubled that percentage, snapping the ball with a player in motion 24% of the time. That added eye candy stressed a Buffalo defense saddled with inexperienced linebackers and a tackling problem.

The Patriots averaged 10.6 yards per play on these snaps. Of note: the NFL’s two highest-scoring offenses, Miami and San Francisco, rank first and third in rate of motion used, respectively.

Part three: more run-pass-options (RPOs).

The Patriots called five RPOs on their first 11 snaps, averaging 8.2 yards per play. Jones feasted on RPOs at Alabama, where O’Brien last coached and has since implemented some elements of that offense into the Patriots’ playbook. Calling RPOs, which force Jones to almost instantaneously choose between passing or hand the ball off, also mitigated the Pats’ problems in pass protection, where they still rate sixth-worst in the league, according to Pro Football Focus.

Part four: a base quick passing game.

For a second straight week, Mac Jones led the NFL in fastest snap-to-throw time, per PFF. He unloaded the ball in an average of 2.2 seconds, protecting himself from what he and Belichick called the league’s best pass rush. In that time, O’Brien also featured his two best wideouts versus man-to-man coverage: Kendrick Bourne and Demario Douglas.

Douglas saw a career-best 37 offensive snaps, while Bourne earned a team-high seven targets and played more than any other skill-position player. Their ability to separate downfield helped Jones finish 7-of-8 for 77 yards and two touchdowns versus man-to-man coverage, a major weakness for this offense.

Part five: scheming explosive plays.

Considering Douglas, a sixth-round rookie, stands far and away as the Patriots’ most explosive player, generating chunk plays has and will continue to fall on coaching. The Pats derived most of their explosion (defined as passes of 20-plus yards and runs of 12 or more yards) from well-timed play-action passes and concepts that sprung playmakers into open space. Jones hit passes of 16, 25 and 26 yards off play-action. Around those completions, Douglas ran for 20 yards on a jet sweep, Bourne took a shallow cross for 33 yards and Rhamondre Stevenson rumbled 34 on a well disguised swing pass.

Credit O’Brien for packaging and timing these plays in ways that caught Buffalo off-guard, unlike prior opponents.

Bill O’Brien packaged the #Patriots favorite concepts in new ways to keep Buffalo off-balance.

This is a bubble-screen RPO to Pop Douglas disguised by the tight formation. Mike Gesicki takes an Arc release to block downfield, and the Pats out-leverage Buffalo for a 1st down. pic.twitter.com/TGg1TNRPkQ

— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) October 23, 2023

The question now is: how often can the Patriots repeat this formula? Can it become a habit? What about their identity?

It all starts with Jones. He has the power, like any quarterback, to maintain a steady floor. Over the past two weeks, the Patriots offense ranks fourth-best by Expected Points Added (EPA) per play. But over that past three weeks, when factoring the three turnovers Jones committed during the Saints’ shutout, the Patriots fall all the way to 31st.

So what comes next?

If the Patriots can pull another upset at Miami, a lost season might reset its course faster than anyone expected. If not, last Sunday will slip away, a happy memory swallowed by a sea of disappointment and unrealized potential with an all-too-familiar anchor down below.

Here’s what else the film revealed about Sunday’s win:

Mac Jones

25-of-30 for 272 yards, 2 TDs

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) screams during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

Accurate throw percentage: 86.2%

Under pressure: 4-of-4 for 36 yards, TD, 4 rush yards, 1 sack

Against the blitz: 8-of-9 for 117 yards, 4 rush yards

Behind the line: 7-of-8 for 55 yards

0-9 yards downfield: 13-of-15 for 129 yards, 2 TDs

10-19 yards downfield: 5-of-6 for 88 yards

20+ yards downfield: N/A

Notes: This is the Jones we expected to see.

A surgeon over the middle of the field — where he went 17-of-20 — with a lightning-quick release and plus accuracy. Yes, Jones benefited from a game plan tailored to him more than any other we’ve seen, but within that, he executed and risked a turnover on a single play.

Jones also delivered in a way we had never seen before, leading the first game-winning touchdown drive of his career. His third-and-8 completion to Hunter Henry with under a minute left allowed the Patriots to chase that touchdown instead of settling for a field goal. Jones routinely stood in against pressure — a bellwether for him this season — and found a way.

This was a quarterback the Patriots can win with, however long this version of Jones sticks around.

Critical areas

Foxboro, MA – October 22: New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers celebrates his interception during the first quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Turnovers: Patriots 1, Bills 2
Explosive play rate: Patriots 10.9%, Bills 4.5%
Success rate: Patriots 52%, Bills 52%
Red-zone efficiency: Patriots 3-3, Bills 2-4
Defensive pressure rate: Patriots 41.9%, Bills 21.2%

Offense

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 64% of snaps in 11 personnel, 36% snaps in 12 personnel.***
Personnel production: 6.9 yards/play in 11 personnel, 5.9 yards/play in 12 personnel.
First-down down play-calls: 63% pass (7.6 yards per play), 37% run (3.3 yards per play)
Play-action rate: 21.2%

Player stats

Broken tackles: RB Rhamondre Stevenson 3, WR Kendrick Bourne 2, WR Demario Douglas 2, RB Ezekiel Elliott, QB Mac Jones
Pressure allowed: Team 3 (sack, 2 hurries), LT Trent Brown (QB hit), LG Cole Strange (hurry), RG Sidy Sow (hurry), RT Mike Onwenu (hurry)
Run stuffs allowed: Team 2, Sow, Andrews, Strange
Penalties: QB Mac Jones (delay of game), OL Vederian Lowe (ineligible man downfield)
Drops: None

Notes

Foxboro, MA – October 22: New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson runs up field during the fourth quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Bill O’Brien ruthlessly attacked the Bills’ linebacking corps and poor tackling with his opening script, calling three RPOs, two plays with motion at the snap and a play-action bootleg on the first drive alone.
Chasing after all that motion and playmakers in space, Buffalo finished with nine missed tackles, including a few that led directly to explosive plays.
On the ground, the Pats pounded the soft middle of the Bills’ defense, which entered having allowed 5.7 yards per carry inside. The Patriots’ first eight runs all hit between the tackles.
However, that well dried up fast, and Buffalo finished allowing four yards per carry. O’Brien adjusted by hitting the edges, including one 20-yard jet sweep for Demario Douglas in the third quarter.
Another plus in O’Brien’s column: how he disguise base concepts — like bubble screen RPOs, slant-flat and swing passes — in new formations and motions to keep Buffalo off-balance.

Bill O’Brien packaged the #Patriots favorite concepts in new ways to keep Buffalo off-balance.

This is a bubble-screen RPO to Pop Douglas disguised by the tight formation. Mike Gesicki takes an Arc release to block downfield, and the Pats out-leverage Buffalo for a 1st down. pic.twitter.com/TGg1TNRPkQ

— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) October 23, 2023

Douglas accounted for two of the Patriots’ six longest plays of the game and drew three penalty flags on Bills defenders in coverage. He should remain their starting slot receiver moving forward, regardless of how healthy JuJu Smith-Schuster is.
Douglas is still showing mental mistakes — he ran the wrong route on third-and-2 that killed the Pats’ 2-minute drill before halftime — but the Patriots must stomach those.
Because Douglas is also showing growth with his game, like using tempo at the start of his 19-yard catch in the fourth quarter that preceded Bourne’s touchdown. He ran at 80% upfield, the burst through his break on an in-breaking route behind a nearby zone defender to maximize separation, and Jones hit him right on the numbers.

Sunday’s six explosive plays finished as a season high. They had O’Brien’s play-calling, Douglas, Rhamondre Stevenson, Kendrick Bourne and third-string tight end Pharaoh Brown to thank for that.
Stevenson accounted for the longest play of the game on his 34-yard catch-and-run that started the Pats’ final drive. O’Brien cleverly disguised that basic swing pass — a staple for this offense — by motioning Douglas at the snap, which also helped the receivers out-leverage Buffalo as they blocked for Stevenson in space.
Bourne’s fourth-quarter fumble put a sour end on an otherwise sparkling day. The Pats desperately need his yards-after-catch ability.
Brown caught both of his passes off play-action; one in the flat and another down the right seam. The Patriots rotated him with Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki throughout the game to disguise their run-pass intentions, considering Gesicki is more of a pass-catcher and Brown is their best run-blocker.
Gesicki beat Bills slot cornerback Taron Johnson on his game-winning touchdown with the same route Douglas ran against Johnson the play before. The Patriots picked on Johnson like no other defender they’ve faced this season.
Nice return for starting left guard Cole Strange.
Moving Mike Onwenu to right tackle was long overdue. It also speaks to an old philosophy among offensive line coaches: play your best five. Prioritize talent over fit, and let rough edges smooth out. It’s about time the Patriots did just that.

Defense

Foxboro, MA – October 22: New England Patriots’ Deatrich Wise Jr. and Christian Barmore sack Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen during the second quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 31% three-safety nickel package, 31% dime package, 30% three-corner nickel, 5% dollar, 3% base.****
Coverage snaps breakdown: 52% zone, 48% man
Blitz rate: 39%
Blitz efficacy: 3.1 yards allowed per dropback, 37.5% success rate allowed, 2 touchdowns

Player stats

Interceptions: S Jabrill Peppers
Pass deflections: CB J.C. Jackson, LB Ja’Whaun Bentley
Pressure: DL Deatrich Wise 5 (4 hurries, QB hit), DL Christian Barmore 4 (sack, 3 hurries), Bentley 3 (3 hurries), DT Davon Godchaux (QB hit), Peppers (QB hit), S Adrian Phillips (QB hit), CB Jack Jones (QB hit), LB Jahlani Tavai (hurry), DB Myles Bryant (hurry), Team (hurry)
Run stuffs: OLB Anfernee Jennings
Missed tackles: Bentley 5, S Kyle Dugger 2, Bryant 2, Phillips 2, Jackson
Penalties: CB Jack Jones (roughing the passer, illegal contact), S Jalen Mills (illegal contact), S Marte Mapu (holding), Barmore (roughing the passer), Wise (neutral zone infraction),  S Brenden Schooler (false start on punt)

Notes

Foxboro, MA – October 22: New England Patriots’ Myles Bryant, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jack Jones celebrate making a stop on the Buffalo Bills during the fourth quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Jabrill Peppers intercepted Josh Allen by reading a play-action pass Buffalo hurt the Patriots with several times last season. It features a three-route concept that stretches the short, intermediate and deep level of the field along the sideline.
Peppers told the Herald post-game he diagnosed the play by studying wide receiver Gabriel Davis’ pre-snap motion, alignment and relaxed body language. Davis appeared to motioning in to block, but Peppers knew better and immediately moved to cover the short route in the flat once the ball was snapped.
Once Allen looked deeper, Peppers dropped back and intercepted his sideline pass. The interception not only allowed the Patriots to grow their initial lead from 3-0 to 10-0, it built a margin for error they haven’t enjoyed virtually all season.
The Patriots needed that margin for error in the fourth quarter, when Allen and Co. marched to back-to-back touchdowns having finally overcome the Pats’ high-pressure game plan.
Armed with a diminished pass rush, defensive play-caller Steve Belichick sent regular blitzes at Allen, particularly on second-and-long and in the high red zone.
Before Allen’s 8-yard touchdown pass to running back James Cook and ensuing 25-yarder to Stefon Diggs, it worked. Allen started 1-of-6 for 10 yards and a sack against the blitz.
The blitzing gamble seemed to solve two problems: the aforementioned limited pass rush and Allen’s escapability. Allen killed the Patriots in their previous four matchups by extending most of his dropbacks longer than 2.5 seconds, then either scrambling or rifling completions downfield.
On third down, the Patriots spun the dial: 3-man rushes, double-teams of Stefon Diggs, simulated pressures and more blitzes. Their initial plan relied heavily on a spy for Allen.

Up front, defensive linemen Deatrich Wise and Christian Barmore also synchronized their best games of the season. They combined for nine total pressures, as Barmore devastated the interior of several pockets for Allen who was forced to duck outside.
Down to three edge defenders, Anfernee Jennings played a career-high 97% of the defensive snaps. He tallied the team’s only run stuff, and made another run stop by himself after a 1-yard gain.
Backup inside linebacker Mack Wilson helped offset some of that depth by flexing onto the edge in passing situations.
The Pats played a higher dose of man-to-man coverage than expected, perhaps emboldened by the return of cornerback Jack Jones from injured reserve. He rotated with Jonathan Jones, while J.C. Jackson played the most snaps (64) of any cornerback for a second straight week.
The Bills repeatedly hurt the Patriots with in-breaking routes at the second level, where Allen hit Diggs and rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid (8 catches, 75 yards).
The tackling was brutal across the board. Ja’Whaun Bentley, Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillps and Myles Bryant were the worst offenders, but wrapping up and taking better angles must be addressed with the entire defense this week in practice.

Studs

WR Demario Douglas

Foxboro, MA – October 22: New England Patriots wide receiver Demario Douglas celebrates a first down during the first quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Four catches. Three flags drawn. One weapon the Patriots must feature as much as possible.

Feed. Pop. Douglas.

DL Deatrich Wise

His five pressures lead the team and ruined multiple pass plays for the Bills. Without Matt Judon and Josh Uche, the Pats needed Wise to provide edge pressure. He delivered.

DL Christian Barmore

A wrecking ball in a No. 90 jersey. Barmore recorded some of the cleanest wins of any Patriots pass rusher this season. The last two weeks may be the best back-to-back games of his career.

Duds

LB Ja’Whaun Bentley

Rough game. Bentley missed five tackles, blew a couple chances at a sack and was in the vicinity of multiple catches.

Related Articles

New England Patriots |


Patriots QB Mac Jones opens up on playing for Bill Belichick

New England Patriots |


Why Patriots first-round flier ate into DeVante Parker’s snaps in win over Bills

New England Patriots |


Bill Belichick gives more context to key Patriots personnel switch in win over Bills

New England Patriots |


Callahan: Patriots scored a throwback win in home upset of Bills

New England Patriots |


Demario Douglas sparks Patriots’ offensive rejuvenation in win over Bills

WR DeVante Parker

Parker lost significant playing time to practice-squad receiver Jalen Reagor (35 snaps to 25). With his 35 snaps, he failed to separate consistently and finished with one catch.

Statistics for passing depth, broken tackles and missed tackles courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

*Explosive plays are defined as runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards. Explosive play rate is one of the most strongly correlated metrics with wins and losses.

**Success rate is an efficiency metric measuring how often an offense stays on schedule. A play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down.

***11 personnel = one running back, one tight end; 12 personnel = one running back, two tight ends; 13 personnel = one running back, three tight ends; 21 = two halfbacks, one tight end; 22 = two halfbacks, two tight ends.  

****Base defense = four defensive backs; nickel defense = five defensive backs; dime defense = six defensive backs; goal-line defense = three defensive backs; dollar defense = seven defensive backs.

24 Oct 2023

David French: The worst scandal in American higher education isn’t in the Ivy League

by | posted in: Politics | 0

Those of us who write about higher education can pay too much attention to America’s elite universities. Schools including Harvard, Yale and Stanford are seen as virtual cultural superpowers, and the battle over these schools is sometimes seen as a proxy for battles over the future of the country itself. It’s not that this argument is wrong, exactly. That’s why I’ve written about these schools. But it’s incomplete.

In rightly ascribing importance to the Harvards of the world, we can forget that other schools in other contexts also exercise immense influence, and their virtues and flaws can sometimes be more consequential than anything that happens in the Ivy League.

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Friday, March 27, 2020. (Julia Rendleman / The New York Times)

In fact, I’d argue that the moral collapse at Liberty University in Virginia may well be the most consequential education scandal in the United States, not simply because the details themselves are shocking and appalling, but because Liberty’s misconduct both symbolizes and contributes to the crisis engulfing Christian America. It embodies a cultural and political approach that turns Christian theology on its head.

This month, Fox News reported that Liberty is facing the possibility of an “unprecedented” $37.5 million fine from the U.S. Department of Education. The department has been investigating violations of the Clery Act, a federal statute that requires federally funded colleges and universities to publicly report data about campus crime. To put that number into perspective, consider that Michigan State University paid $4.5 million for its own “systemic failure” to respond to the infamous Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal, in which Nassar was convicted of sexually abusing dozens of women in his care. While Liberty’s fine is not yet set, the contents of a leaked Education Department report — first reported by Susan Svrluga in The Washington Post — leave little doubt as to why it may be this large.

The report, as Svrluga writes, “paints a picture of a university that discouraged people from reporting crimes, underreported the claims it received and, meanwhile, marketed its Virginia campus as one of the safest in the country.” The details are grim. According to the report, “Liberty failed to warn the campus community about gas leaks, bomb threats and people credibly accused of repeated acts of sexual violence — including a senior administrator and an athlete.”

A campus safety consultant told Svrluga, “This is the single most blistering Clery report I have ever read. Ever.”

If this was the only scandal at Liberty, it would and should be a national story. But it’s not the only scandal. Far from it. I’ve been following (and covering) Liberty’s moral collapse for years, and the list of scandals and lawsuits plaguing the school is extraordinarily long. The best known of these is the saga of Jerry Falwell Jr. Falwell, a former president of the school and a son of its founder, resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving himself, his wife and a pool attendant turned business associate named Giancarlo Granda.

Falwell is nationally prominent in part because he was one of Donald Trump’s earliest and most enthusiastic evangelical supporters. Falwell sued the school, the school sued Falwell, and in September, Falwell filed a scorching amended complaint, claiming that other high-ranking Liberty officers and board members had committed acts of sexual and financial misconduct yet were permitted to retain their positions.

But that’s not all. In 2021, ProPublica published a comprehensive, gut-wrenching report describing how Liberty mishandled claims of sex abuse and sex harassment on campus and used its strict code of conduct, the Liberty Way, against victims of sex abuse. If, for example, victims had been drinking or engaged in any other conduct prohibited by Liberty policies, those details in their sex abuse complaints could be used against them in school disciplinary proceedings.

Liberty has faced a series of lawsuits related to those claims, and last year it settled one of those cases. Throughout these controversies, Liberty has responded by denying many of the worst allegations against it. Liberty claims, for example, that the Education Department’s preliminary report is marred by “significant errors, misstatements and unsupported conclusions.” It has also acknowledged “historic gaps in compliance” with the Clery Act and says it is making material changes on campus, including spending millions to upgrade campus security and reviewing and enhancing its Title IX procedures.

I know that there are people who will read the accounts above and be angry. They can’t believe a Christian institution could fail its students, the church and the nation so profoundly. Others will read and grow angry for a different reason. The scandals above are only a partial description of the problems at Liberty. They’ll actually think I let the campus off easy.

But there’s another group that will be angry as well — at yet another attack on an evangelical institution in a powerful secular newspaper. That anger, though, is a key part of the problem with the American church, and it’s a problem that no less a Christian figure than the apostle Paul identified almost 2,000 years ago.

In his first letter to the Corinthian church (or, as Trump might say, One Corinthians), he issued a ferocious denunciation of sexual immorality inside the church. In Chapter 5, he says that he’s heard of misconduct “of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate.” He’s condemning an act of incest within the church, but if you read the accounts of incidents at Liberty, you’ll read stories of gross misconduct that Christians and non-Christians alike should and do find utterly abhorrent.

The chapter continues in an interesting way. Paul demonstrates ferocious anger at the church’s internal sin, but says this about those outside the congregation: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked person from among you.’”

Not every Christian institution is rocked by scandal, and there are many Christian colleges that are healthy and vibrant, led by men and women of integrity. Yet as we witness systemic misconduct unfold at institution after institution after institution, often without any real accountability, we can understand that many members of the church have gotten Paul’s equation exactly backward. They are remarkably tolerant of even the most wayward, dishonest and cruel individuals and institutions in American Christianity. At the same time, they approach those outside with a degree of anger and ferocity that’s profoundly contributing to American polarization. It’s also perpetuating the corruption of the church.

Under this moral construct, internal critique is perceived as a threat, a way of weakening American evangelicalism. It’s seen as contributing to external hostility and possibly even the rapid secularization of American life that’s now underway. But Paul would scoff at such a notion. One of the church’s greatest apostles didn’t hold back from critiquing a church that faced far greater cultural or political headwinds — including brutal and deadly persecution at the hands of the Roman state — than the average evangelical can possibly imagine.

Why? Because he realized the health of the church wasn’t up to the state, nor was it dependent on the church’s nonbelieving neighbors. Liberty University is consequential not just because it’s an academic superpower in Christian America, but also because it’s a symbol of a key reality of evangelical life — we have met the enemy of American Christianity, and it is us.

David French is an Opinion columnist. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a former constitutional litigator. His most recent book is “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.” You can follow him on Threads (@davidfrenchjag). 

This column originally appeared in the New York Times.

Related Articles

Opinion |


Thomas Friedman: To win the war, defeat Hamas and stop settlements

Opinion |


Torivio Fodder: The true crime story of the Osage Nation would take a century to tell

Opinion |


Karl W. Smith: Biden’s revival of factory jobs isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

Opinion |


Erwin Chemerinsky: A federal judge’s gag order against Trump may be satisfying. But it isn’t constitutional

Opinion |


Victor, Ramanathan: Climate change isn’t just about emissions. We’re ignoring a huge part of the fight

24 Oct 2023

Christie says he has enough donors to qualify for third debate

by | posted in: Politics | 0

Chris Christie’s campaign says he has met the criteria for the third Republican primary debate, securing a spot next month on what’s expected to be a winnowed stage of candidates.

Christie, the former New Jersey governor, has now surpassed the Republican National Committee’s 70,000 unique donor requirement, his campaign confirmed exclusively to POLITICO. He had previously met the RNC’s polling requirement of reaching 4 percent support in multiple qualifying surveys, according to POLITICO’s tracking of the criteria.

Christie becomes just the fifth candidate so far to qualify for the Nov. 8 debate in Miami, though fewer than that could be on stage. Former President Donald Trump is holding his own rally during the event, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur who has also met the RNC’s criteria, said he is considering skipping the debate. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have also qualified.

Christie’s donor support appears largely organic, as he is spending less money than any other major candidate in the primary — bringing in $3.8 million in the third fundraising quarter while spending just $1.5 million. Other candidates still attempting to qualify for the debate, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, spent significantly more than Christie.

“Christie’s ability to organically earn support from voters proves his message taking on Trump is not only distinct, but works,” said Karl Rickett, campaign spokesperson.

To date, Christie’s campaign has spent just $28,300 on digital advertising and none on television, according to AdImpact. Tell It Like It Is, the super PAC supporting him, has spent $2.8 million on ads, mostly on television and streaming.

Since launching his campaign in early June, Christie, the GOP field’s most vocal critic of Trump, has given more than 200 interviews — most of which were on television, radio and podcasts, according to a campaign official. The Trump critic has been a regular on network Sunday morning shows.

Christie is polling in low single digits nationally and suffers from higher GOP unfavorability ratings than the rest of his primary opponents. But he is banking heavily on New Hampshire, where he remains competitive in the race to be the top Trump alternative. In that first primary state, he sits behind Haley, but neck and neck with DeSantis, with a polling average of 9 percent. Christie’s lean campaign operation, so far with low overhead, may help him to stay in the race longer than some of his opponents — based on their current burn rates — even if his fundraising remains modest.