Day: April 27, 2025

On the Sidelines of the Pope’s Funeral, Zelensky Meets With Trump to Discuss the White House’s Charade of a Peace Plan/Giveaway to Putin 

We begin with Saturday’s meeting in the Vatican between President Trump and President Zelensky on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral and get an update on the White House charade of peace talks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine that are nothing more than a giveaway to Putin who has no incentive to end his war because Trump, Vance and Rubio have made clear they will walk away soon and leave Ukraine to the mercy of Russia. Joining us is Simon Shuster, a reporter for Time Magazine based in New York City, by way of Moscow, Kyiv and Berlin.  He has previously covered Russia and the former Soviet Union for Reuters, The Associated Press, The Moscow Times and Foreign Policy, and he is the author of The Showman: Inside the Invasion that Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump Orders the DOJ to Investigate Act Blue to Get Private Data on 15 Million Democratic Donors

Then we examine Trump’s Executive Order to the Justice Department to investigate Act Blue, the main funding platform of small donors for the Democratic Party to get private data on the 15 million Democratic donors who could soon be audited by the IRS. Joining us is Craig Holman, who serves as Public Citizen’s Capitol Hill lobbyist on ethics, lobbying and campaign finance rules. Previously, he was Senior Policy Analyst at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

Opus Dei and “Traditionalist” Forces Inside the Catholic Church Maneuver to Replace a Pope They Hated With a Reactionary

Then finally we look into whether the reactionary forces inside the Catholic Church who hated Pope Francis will make a comeback with a new Pope, in particular the secretive and well-financed cult Opus Dei which has close ties to the MAGA cult, the Supreme Court majority, JD Vance and Project 2025. Joining us is Gareth Gore, a financial journalist and editor with close to two decades of experience, who has reported from over twenty-five countries and covered some of the biggest financial stories. His writing has been published by Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and International Financing Review. He is the host of The Syndicate, which tells the behind-the-scenes stories of the biggest financial deals in History. He is the author of OPUS: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church.