Richard Van Wagoner
ravchief.bsky.social
Richard Van Wagoner
@ravchief.bsky.social
Exercising my right not to remain silent while I still can. Criminal defense and 1st Amendment attorney. Blue in red state. Cyclist. Weekly blog. Warning: could be satire. No DMs please.
Impeaching a judge for holding the legislature's gerrymandered map violates Utah law would confirm that the constitution, the rule of law, voting rights, and the courts are mere obstacles to overcome for Republicans in reaching their goal of holding onto power and using that power never to let go.
Utah Bullies Threaten Impeachment of Judge for Doing Her Job*
. . . Exposing Their Embarrassing Refusal To Follow the Law
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:45 PM
He only does best. Does America’s authoritarian need a high body count to secure his place among the world’s best dictators? The best ones have high numbers. He’s on his way to join their ranks but has some work to do.

richardvanwagoner.medium.com/people-live-...
People Live or Die at His Whim*
He undoubtedly aspires to be the best dictator.
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The shooting death of Afa Ah Loo during the June 14 “No Kings” rally in SLC was preventable had the Utah Legislature refused to allow AR-15 style assault rifles at emotionally-charged events such as political rallies with thousands of protesters and counter-protesters in attendance.

Disgraceful.
Charge the Utah Legislature with Murder Under its “Depraved Indifference to Human Life” Statute*
At least the legislators who refuse to pass reasonable gun reform.
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Trump is transforming the White House’s neoclassical architecture into a style inspired by the Magpie Syndrome. A helpless Congress watches from their home districts. And Utah’s red legislature is determined to choose which voters get to elect the state’s eunuchs to serve in Trump’s royal court.
Congress’s Gelded Age*
Utah’s Republican-dominated legislature and governor are determined to choose which voters will elect the state’s eunuchs to serve in…
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
October 26, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The Telegram group chat portends a future Republican Party reveling in racism, antisemitism, misogyny, violence, white supremacy and nationalism, the decimation of human and civil rights, and extrajudicial killings.

I am sorry to break the news, but that future Republican Party is now. It’s here.
The Future of the GOP Depicted in the Telegram Group Chat is Now*
“‘They’re just kids,’ Vance explained — meaning, of course, 35-year-old chief-of-staffs, lawyers, and policy aides who apparently confuse…
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
October 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM
They stand before cameras with straight faces — except the speaker who presents with the smug smirk of pious certitude he was born with — and lie vociferously with talking points spoon fed them by White House propagandists and with as much staged conviction as their soulless eyes can muster.
Absurdity Continues Eclipsing Parody*
Photo by Pramod Tiwari on Unsplash
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Utah’s congressional delegation profess the Constitution was divinely inspired and god’s plan was for people to have free will. They choose to erase their god’s handiwork, turning the Constitution into a shell where power isn’t in the people but in a tyrant to whom they have pledged their loyalty.
A Divinely Expired Constitution*
The Constitution, which lots of people say god had a hand in drafting, appears to have an expiration date. It’s coming right up…
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
October 11, 2025 at 1:29 PM
The recent executive orders and speeches to the generals were unabashed incitements to political violence against Americans to suppress lawful dissent in his campaign to accumulate power.

He expects military top brass to devote loyalty to him over their sworn oaths to the Constitution. Will they?
Project 25 — Promoting Violence Against Dissenters to Accumulate and Wield Power that Isn’t His*
Calling it by its name — FASCISM — now qualifies as promoting “domestic terror.”
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
October 5, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Trump declared negative coverage of him is now illegal with no 1st Amendment protection: “When 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, it’s no longer free speech.”

Some might say the media’s reporting of Trump, according to his own assessment, was nearly perfect — off by only 3 percent.
A Gulag Awaits Those Who Speak Ill of Dear Leader*
“That chill in the air isn’t Jimmy Kimmel’s show being suspended. It’s just autumn: the perfect time to say as little as possible.” A…
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
September 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Dear Gov. Cox:

Your description of the assassination fairly characterizes DJT's murder of “the American experiment,” his “attack on our ideals” which “cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been, and who we could be in better times.”

richardvanwagoner.medium.com/dear-utah-go...
Dear Utah Governor Cox: I Have Questions About “Disagreeing Better”*
My overarching question is this: With a president who prohibits disagreement with him and his authoritarian agenda altogether — viz…
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
September 14, 2025 at 7:07 PM
The message it sends to the international community is that the United States is not a country that can be trusted, is not a country of laws, does not honor or respect its treaties and alliances, does not respect constitutional due process, and has zero regard for human or civil rights.
Going Straight for the Extrajudicial Kill*
Trump Summarily Executes 11 People on a Speed Boat in International Waters and Expands His Use of the Military for Conventional Law…
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
September 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The U.S. senate knowingly placed world-class agencies dedicated to life-saving research in the hands of a wildly dangerous conspiracy theorist, a medical charlatan, a fraud who used his family name and dynasty to make millions off quackery, threatening the lives, health, and safety of Americans.
The Chris Hayes Smack Down of MAHA’s “Crown Jewel” as a “Dangerous Crank”?*
Photo by Mathurin NAPOLY / matnapo on Unsplash
richardvanwagoner.medium.com
September 1, 2025 at 8:45 PM