Background Briefing: December 23, 2024
Trump’s Triumph of Lawlessness and the Weaponization of Kash Patel’s Federal Bureau of Retribution
We begin with the triumph of lawlessness as Trump dodges the last case against him with a Georgia court ruling against the prosecutor Fani Willis and assess what is ahead as the law is weaponized by Kash Patel as the head of the Federal Bureau of Retribution turning all of the delusional charges of lawfare against poor, innocent, beleaguered King Donald into a frightening reality of political vengeance against Trump’s political foes, critics and the press. Joining us is Lisa Graves, the Executive Director of the new corporate watchdog group True North Research and Court Accountability. She has served as a senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government–as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department, as Chief Counsel for Nominations on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a Deputy Chief of the article 3 judges division for the U.S. Courts.
Will Elon Musk’s Threat to Deploy His Unlimited Amounts of Campaign Money Bring All Republicans to Heel?
Then we examine how much the weaponization of unlimited amounts of money in the hands of Elon Musk will be wielded by Trump and his new co-president to bring the fractious Republican caucus to heel since the threat to primary anyone who strays from the party line did not seem to work with 38 House Republicans voting against the recent Trump/Musk government shutdown bill. Joining us John Nichols, The Nation magazine’s Washington correspondent. His books include The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics, and most recently, Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis. His recent articles at The Nation include “Sherrod Brown Should Absolutely Run Again to Represent the Working Class in the Senate” and “Trump Does Not Have a Mandate.”
With Trump Back Hate and Extremism Are on the Back Burner For Now
Then finally we look into how hate and extremism is cooling on the back-burner now that the champion of racism and division is returning to the presidency, but it could be re-ignited by demonstrations against the worst to come as Trump begins to round up immigrants, the press and his enemies. Joining us is Wendy Via, the President and Co-Founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism where her work focuses on the effects of extremism on our society, systemic racism, economic inequality, immigration, criminal justice reform, and LGBTQ rights. Previously she was the Chief Communications and Development Officer at the Southern Poverty Law Center.