Election Results From Yesterday’s Primaries With a Focus on California
We begin with yesterday’s primary elections, in particular in California and get an analysis of the results from Sacramento-based reporter Sasha Abramsky, who writes the Authoritarian Watch column for The Nation, and is the author of several books, including Breadline USA, American Furies, The American Way of Poverty, and Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America. His latest book is American Carnage: How Trump, Musk and DOGE Butchered the US Government and his latest articles at The Nation include “We Should All Be Mad As Hell About Trump’s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund” and “America’s Authoritarian Remodel Is Well Underway.”
Trump’s Roy Cohn Does a Bait and Switch Ending the $1.8 Billion Slush Fund While Shielding Trump and His Family From IRS Audits
Then we examine yesterday’s testimony by the acting AG Todd Blanche who again pulled a bait and switch as he distracted us by highlighting the end of Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund while admitting that the order shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits past, present and future remains in place. Joining us is Edward McCaffery, the Robert C. Packard trustee chair in law and a professor of law, economics and political science at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Fair Not Flat: How to Make the Tax System Better and Simpler and the founder of the People’s Tax Page.
Trump Publicly Displays Anger at Netanyahu While Quietly the Pentagon Takes Over Oversight of Aid to Israel
Then finally we investigate another distraction with Trump cursing out Netanyahu, but behind the scenes the Pentagon moves to take over from the State Department oversight of military aid to Israel as the US and IDF’s military relationship deepens. Joining us is Steven Simon, who served on the National Security Council staff as senior director for Middle Eastern and North African affairs and also worked on the NSC staff on counterterrorism and Middle East security policy. He is currently a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a Distinguished Fellow and professor of political science at Dartmouth College. His latest book is Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East and we discuss his report at the Quincy Institute, “The Disappearing Aid Check: The Future of US–Israel Defense Support.”