Background Briefing: November 4, 2021

On By gram

 

Trump Appears to Have Failed to Block Documents For the 1/6 House Investigation

We begin with the hearing today before a federal judge in Washington DC on a challenge by former President Trump who is trying to prevent the National Archives from handing over 800 pages of White House documents requested by the House Select Committee investigating January 6. Joining us is Jacob Heilbrunn, the Editor of the National Interest, a columnist for The Spectator and the author of They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons. He joins us to discuss his latest article at The National Interest, “Is Trump-lite a Winning Formula for the GOP?” and his article at The New York Times, “The Inexorable Rise of Angela Merkel.” With the judge today appearing to want to expedite a decision in favor of the Biden administration to turn over the documents, we will assess Trump’s next moves as he employs his familiar delaying tactics and the significance of the arrest and indictment today of Igor Danchenko, who provided most of the material in the controversial Steele Dossier.

 

Democrats Blame Each Other for Losses in Virginia

Then we speak with Stephen Farnsworth, Professor and Director at Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia where his research and teaching focuses on the mass media, the presidency and Virginia politics. He is the author of a number of books including Presidential Communication and Character: White House News Management from Clinton and Cable to Twitter and Trump and Late Night with Trump: Political Humor and the American Presidency and we discuss criticism coming from Democratic strategists like James Carville who blamed his party’s loses in Virginia and weak performance in other state elections on “stupid wokeness”. 

 

The FEC’s Appalling Decision to Allow Foreign Money to Corrupt State Ballot Initiatives

Then finally we speak with Ben Freeman, the Director and Founder of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy, where he works to expose how foreign governments are influencing U.S. public policy and elections. Previously the National Security Fellow at the Project On Government Oversight where he spear-headed the “Foreign Influence Database,” he is the author of The Foreign Policy Auction and we discuss the FEC’s decision not to prevent foreign money from intervening in state ballot initiatives and referendums.