Podbit · Up First from NPR
The $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is dead, but the clause shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits of past tax returns is still very much alive. A federal judge called the original lawsuit 'bad faith' designed to manipulate the courts.
Where this was said
At 3:40 · chapter starts 1:49
Ryan Lucas opens this segment with a blunt assessment: today's hearing is tense because the Justice Department has been in the eye of a political hurricane since Trump's return. Blanche, who served as Trump's personal attorney before becoming the DOJ's number two, is seen as the president's loyalist in chief. Democrats have a formidable list of grievances: they accuse him of dismantling the DOJ's independence, weaponizing it against Trump's political enemies, mishandling the Jeffrey Epstein files, and shepherding a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that was eventually scrapped — but not before agreeing to shield Trump and his family from IRS audits of past tax returns [1] — Ryan Lucas "The $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is dead, but the clause shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits of past tax returns is stil…" 03:40 . A federal judge this week called Trump's IRS lawsuit 'bad faith' manipulation of the courts. Former FBI director James Comey, indicted twice under this DOJ, is the most glaring symbol of what critics call political prosecution. On the Republican side, North Carolina's Tom Tillis pushed back hard on the anti-weaponization fund and sits on the very committee hearing Blanche today — his vote is uncertain [2] — Ryan Lucas "Todd Blanche walks into the Senate judiciary committee today with Democrats unanimously opposed and a razor-thin Republican majority offeri…" 01:49 . With Democrats united in opposition, even one or two GOP defections could sink the nomination.
Todd Blanche walks into the Senate judiciary committee today with Democrats unanimously opposed and a razor-thin Republican majority offering almost no margin for error. NPR's Ryan Lucas lays out why this is one of the most consequential confirmation hearings of the Trump era.
The DOJ agreed to set up a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund as part of a settlement with Trump to end his IRS lawsuit, but the fund has since been scrapped.
A federal judge this week called Trump's IRS lawsuit 'bad faith' and said it was brought to manipulate the judicial process and use the court to legitimize the eventual settlement.
Republicans hold a very slim Senate majority, and with Mitch McConnell absent due to health issues, only a couple of GOP defections could kill Blanche's nomination.
Fei-Fei Li went back to Stanford from Google in 2018 specifically to build a multi-stakeholder governance framework for AI. Her argument: market forces are not societal norms. Just as biology uses IRBs and cars have safety laws, AI needs layered oversight from educators, governments, and the public — not just a few industry titans.
Andrew Santino's personal MCU of political villains is collapsing. He and Bobby speculated that a circulating photo of Mitch McConnell with a Chinese official was AI-generated compositing two separate images.
Mass surveillance is here to stay. The real battle isn't stopping cameras — it's ensuring judges and laws keep that data out of family court and civil disputes, admitting it only for violent crimes and national security. The surveillance economy currently yields more upside than downside, but only if we build the legal guardrails now.
When people cite Scandinavia as proof socialism works, Galloway says they've got it backwards. Northern Europe runs highly competitive free-market economies with more competition in many sectors than the US — they just make sure taxes are actually paid and redistributed. Billionaires and universal healthcare can coexist.
Two percent adjustments to income tax and stamp duty tweaks are deck-chair rearrangements. The UK's competitiveness hinges on four structural levers: currency valuation, energy costs, regulatory burden, and tax rates. Devalue the pound, build 56 nuclear plants, slash red tape, introduce a flat tax — and the country transforms.
Lisbon had one of Europe's worst heroin crises. Then Portugal legalised drugs and redirected all enforcement money into rehabilitation and housing. Crime collapsed. Addiction fell. Then politics moved the money elsewhere, and the problem started creeping back. Chesterton's Fence: you forget why you were spending that money.
Congress passed the Boland Amendment 411 to 0, explicitly banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras. Reagan signed it — then immediately moved the operation deeper underground, essentially responding to a bipartisan prohibition by going more illegal.
The CIA planted mines in Nicaraguan commercial harbors, wrote the Contras' press releases taking credit, and promptly blew up ships from four allied nations. The Wall Street Journal broke the story, Congress erupted, and the Boland Amendments multiplied.
Oliver North was a decorated Marine and devout Catholic with zero covert operations experience. He ran the entire shadow war against Congress — planes, airstrips, arms shipments, shell companies — learning on the job. And by every operational measure, he crushed it.
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