For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

This past week, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Roberts, for the second time, as well as Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, spoke out in defense of the Court. For example, the Chief Justice said, “This job is to obviously decide cases, but in the course of that, to check the excesses of Congress or the executive, and that does require a degree of independence.”

Most people are familiar with Miranda rights, but few know the story behind the name. Ernesto Arturo Miranda confessed to kidnapping and rape, leading to his conviction and a sentence of 20 to 30 years. However, because his constitutional rights were violated, his confession was suppressed and could not be used to prove guilt at trial. The Supreme Court’s five-to-four decision sparked controversy, with critics arguing it granted criminals excessive rights, potentially allowing them to evade justice. Miranda was later retried without the confession and convicted again.

In my column last week, I mentioned Trump’s meme coin arrangement. This past week brought another round of Trump family grifting—this time via a deal brokered by Eric Trump, on behalf of the Trump Organization, with a Saudi-based real estate company to build a Trump golf course and luxury villa complex in Qatar.

On April 2, which President Donald Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” he announced sweeping tariffs. The stock market’s reaction was, to put it mildly, negative. The Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 experienced their worst two-day period of losses since March 2020. We all remember what happened in March 2020.

President Trump prioritizes two things: money and power. Last week, we saw examples of both. On Wednesday, a message was posted on the Trump meme coin website, stating: “220 Special $TRUMP Meme Coin Holders will be Invited to an unforgettable Gala DINNER with the President on May 22, 2025. FOR THE TOP 25 COIN HOLDERS, YOU are Invited to an Exclusive Reception before Dinner with YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT! PLUS, We have separately arranged a Special VIP Tour for you—so make sure you stay in town.” (This was copied exactly as written.)

The editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote he was placed on a text chain on Signal involving the plans of the attack on the Houthis, which included Vice President J.D. Vance, the Director of the CIA John Radcliffe, Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of the State Department Marco Rubio.