Background Briefing: November 26, 2023
An Update on Trump’s Many Trials and Whether He Will Be Sentenced Before the Election
We will begin with an update on the many trials Trump is facing and whether there will be a verdict and sentencing of the former president before the next election after which, if he wins back the presidency, Trump will terminate the prosecutions against him. Joining us is Harry Litman, a former United States attorney and deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department. A Senior Fellow at USC’s Annenberg Center, he is the Executive Producer and host of the Talking Feds podcast, and the senior legal affairs columnist at the Los Angeles Times where his latest article, which we will discuss, is “Trump called the latest 14th Amendment ruling a ‘victory.’ He couldn’t be more wrong.”
Did the Dutch Just Elect a Fascist as Their Leader?
Then we will go to The Netherlands to speak with Rob Riemen, the founder and president of the Nexus Institute which brings together the world’s foremost intellectuals, artists and politicians to think and talk about humanist questions that really matter. The Nexus Institute has become one of Europe’s most prestigious organizations to inspire public intellectual debate. He is the author of best selling books Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal and To Fight Against This Age, about the rise of fascism and how to combat it, in which he warned back in 2010 that Geert Wilders is the prototype of contemporary fascism. We will discuss Wilders’ victory in the Dutch elections and what it means for Europe.
Did India Try to Assassinate a Sikh Activist on US Soil?
Then finally, we will look into whether the Indian government is behind an alleged assassination attempt on a Sikh activist on US soil after another Sikh activist was killed in Canada, causing a rift between India and Canada. Joining us is an expert on India and Pakistan, Christine Fair who is a Professor in the Security Studies Program within Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She previously served as a political officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan in Kabul, and she is the author of Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War and In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and she speaks and reads Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. She has a recent article at Lawfare “The Deep Roots of the India-Canada Diplomatic Rift,” and another at Foreign Policy “India’s Spat With Canada Is a Win-Win Situation for Modi” both of which we will discuss.