Articles in Category: BradCast

The BradCast
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Trump's Law, Order, Denial: 'BradCast' 9/29/2016

Several new and long overdue reports on the GOP nominee's unlawful business practices and a fact-check on his global warming denialism...

By Brad Friedman on 9/29/2016 4:28pm PT

Today on The BradCast, Donald Trump might be having second thoughts about all of those calls for "law and order", even as he's clearly already having second thoughts about his years of on-the-record climate change denialism.

After a breaking news update on the deadly commuter trainwreck this morning in Hoboken, NJ, we move back to the ongoing Trumpwreck in these United States, including two brand new investigative reports on Trump's, um, extralegal activities regarding the New York Attorney General's probe into multiple apparent illegalities carried out by the GOP nominee's personal use of his "charitable" foundation and a blockbuster new Newsweek exposé concerning his company's unlawful business in Fidel Castro's Cuba at the height of the U.S. embargo against the island nation.

All of that, even as Trump continues to pretend to be the "law and order" candidate. Also, another new report today offers more evidence, despite both the candidate and his campaign's insistence to the contrary, that the GOP nominee treats female employees of his organization poorly.

Then, as yet another massive rain and flooding event plays out today, this time in North Carolina, Desi Doyen joins us for some fact-checking in response to Trump's denial of his own global warming denialism from the first Presidential Debate, as well as a response to charges that Hillary Clinton herself has not done nearly enough on climate and environment issues.

Finally, don't worry! Just in case we've brought you all down today, we finish with a song almost certain to cheer you up! You're welcome! Please enjoy lawfully...

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Fallout from the 'Trumpwreck' Debate: 'BradCast' 9/28/2016

By Brad Friedman on 9/28/2016 5:30pm PT

On today's BradCast, the public reaction to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's performance at the first Presidential debate --- from polls, betting markets, newspapers and listener callers (lots of them!) [Audio link for show posted below.]

After some breaking news today (on the elementary school shooting in South Carolina and the Congressional override of Obama's veto of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia), and a story on the "not a terrorist" lawyer dressed in Nazi paraphernalia who injured 9 in Houston this week with legally purchased semi-automatic weapons (including a sub-machine gun and 2,600 rounds of ammo), we turn to the fallout from Monday's "Trumpwreck" of a Presidential debate.

The face-off broke the all-time viewer ratings record for a Presidential debate and early indications suggest the GOP nominee is likely to take a big hit in the polls (here's one in which he came in third in a two-person debate!), though there remain two more debates and a number of other reasons for Democrats to not rest easy just yet.

Also, another major Right-leaning newspaper endorses the Democratic Presidential candidate for the first time in their 126-year history and then callers ring in --- and boy howdy, do they! --- with their thoughts on what the world witnessed from Hofstra University on Monday night...

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Trumpwreck: The First Clinton/Trump Presidential Debate: 'BradCast' 9/27/2016

Guests: Salon's Heather Digby Parton and Fiscal Times' David Dayen...

By Brad Friedman on 9/27/2016 4:50pm PT

The first Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump unraveled on Monday night at Hofstra University in New York, as moderated by NBC's Lester Holt. We cover it, and the fallout, on today's BradCast. [Audio link posted below.]

Joining me to make sense of it all (though I can see it makes no sense at all), is award-winning journalist Heather Digby Parton of Salon and the Hullabaloo blog, and by David Dayen, Fiscal Times' financial journalist and author of Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud.

Digby, writing at Salon earlier today, believes Clinton "dominated" Trump who "demonstrated not only that he didn’t prepare but that he has no underlying knowledge of the subjects a President is required to know." For his part, Dayen argues today that Clinton performed an important public service by "attacking the false premise that government is just like a business and should be run like one," adding "And it probably wouldn’t have happened without Donald Trump facing her behind the other podium."

Tune in for our rollicking (and, at times, hilarious) hour of post-debate coverage, clips and analysis of the first Presidential debate between Clinton and Trump, wherein the former exceeded the expectations of many and the latter met expectations by falling apart in rather extraordinary fashion on live TV in front of the largest U.S. debate audience in television history.

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Article Categories: Iraq War, BRAD BLOG Media Appearance, War On Terror, National Security, Hillary Clinton, Democrats, Republicans, Economy, Bush Legacy, KPFK, Donald Trump, Election 2016, IRS/Taxes, BradCast, Lester Holt

'The Most Audacious Political Heist of Our Time': 'BradCast' 9/26/2016

Guest: David Daley on his new book 'RatF**ked', on how the GOP 'stole' the U.S. House majority for a decade as Dems 'fell asleep at the wheel'...

By Brad Friedman on 9/26/2016 4:35pm PT

Today on The BradCast: Where the Presidential race stands as we head into the debates and how an ingenious GOP scheme in 2010 may have served to undermine (small-d) democracy in the U.S. for a decade or more. [Audio link posted below.]

As Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prepare to face off in their first Presidential debate, national polls are now, largely --- and amazingly --- a dead heat, with Trump beginning to take the lead in several key states that would give him the Presidency.

Meanwhile, as Dems struggle to hold on to the White House and fight long and longer odds to regain control of the U.S. Senate, a majority in the U.S. House, once again, remains seemingly out of grasp entirely for Democrats despite their candidates and policies being far more popular amongst the national electorate.

David Daley, until recently the Editor in Chief at Salon, now a Fellow at the University of Georgia's Grady School of Journalism, joins me on today's BradCast to discuss his new book, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy. In it, Daley documents "Operation REDMAP", the insidious (and brilliant) Republican scheme carried out with a few million dollars and a handful of GOP operatives back in 2010 that succeeded in putting the U.S. House out of reach for Democrats for a decade --- while they were still celebrating their 2008 victory and barely paying attention to what Republicans were up to.

"It is nothing short of the most audacious political heist of our time," Daley tells me. "The Republican State Leadership Committee, they realize that 2008 might have been a wipe-out for the Republicans, but that did not matter if they could win in 2010. Because the census requires that you redraw every district line in every state legislature and in the Congress every ten years they came up with a brand new idea."

That successful idea in 2010 resulted in Democrats receiving 1.4 million more votes than Republicans for their U.S. House candidates in 2012, while still losing control of the chamber to Republicans by 33 seats. "The party completely fell asleep at the wheel," he says, allowing "an overwhelming avalanche of dark money and negative ads, into these small little towns" that would determine control of state legislatures, followed by an unprecedented computer-aided gerrymander of every GOP controlled state in the nation. That, in turn, led to the seemingly uncrackable Republican majority in the House that has served to bastardize so much of our national politics through today.

"The Democrats didn't have the imagination to come up with this idea," Daley argues. "It is entirely legal. However, it is also entirely and deeply undemocratic." The GOP came up with "a partisan hammer to take control and hold it," in what Daley describes as nothing short of a "political moneyball" plan that would "lock in partisan control of a chamber [of Congress] for a decade or more."

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Charlotte Updates (and Mystery?); Trump's Racism and Lies; OH, TX, GA Voting Rights Court Fights: 'BradCast' 9/23/2016

By Brad Friedman on 9/23/2016 6:48pm PT

On today's BradCast, updates, racism, lies, voting rights and video tape. [Audio link posted below.]

We've got several updates on the situation in Charlotte, NC following the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott, including the release of an eyewitness video of the shooting said to be from his wife's cellphone. While the tape is heart-wrenching in and of itself, it also appears to show something that looks like a gun seemingly appearing from out of nowhere on the ground next to the victim's body. As noted on the show, I'm not sure what to make of this. It could somehow be a trick of light, shadows, editing, camera angle or...it might not be a gun at all. Others (NBC's Joy Reid, Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson) seemed to be wondering about it as well.

See it for yourself in both the New York Times version of the video as well as the NBC News version. (Enlarge the videos and watch the ground to the right of the body, just next to one of the cop's feet from appx 1:43 to 1:44 in the NBC version and appx 2:01 to 2:02 in the NYTimes version. The NBC version is a bit easier to see, since they have crop/zoomed-in the cellphone framing a bit.) Strange. No real comment. So, I'll just leave that here for now. (But, yes, police do get caught planting guns and falsifying police reports.)

Also today, more blatant and rather jaw-dropping racist statements from the (now former) Trump campaign chair in Mahoning County, OH, Republican U.S. Congressman Robert Pittenger (who represents Charlotte!) and, of course, from Trump himself.

Then, in advance of Monday's Presidential debate, a new non-partisan analysis finds the GOP nominee's proposed elimination of ObamaCare and replacement healthcare plan would result in 20 million Americans losing health coverage. We also review his repeated lie that he opposed the Obama/Clinton actions to intervene in Libya and take out Qaddafi (with audio from 2011 in which he declares the opposite in no uncertain terms.)

Next, troubling e-voting and hacking news and new court rulings and cases concerning voter suppression in the states of Ohio, Georgia and Texas. Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for an important Green News Report, as well as some disturbing, recently unearthed remarks from Libertarian Presidential nominee Gary Johnson concerning global warming...

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Eyewitness to Shooting of Charlotte Demonstrator Questions Official Account: 'BradCast' 9/22/2016

Guest: Linda Flynn of the Charlotte Spirituality Center was 'feet away' from shooting, believes police activity led to violence at protest...

By Brad Friedman on 9/22/2016 6:51pm PT

On today's BradCast, a witness to Wednesday night's shooting during protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. [Audio link posted at end of article.]

On the second night of demonstrations following the police killing of an African-American man, Keith Lamont Scott, in Charlotte, one of the peaceful demonstrators was gunned down in cold blood. The City of Charlotte quickly announced that he was killed by "civilian on civilian" gunfire. As it turns out, the man wasn't killed, he was in critical condition on life support at air time (AP has now since reported he has died), and several ministers who were witnesses to the shooting, including the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice, believe that it may have been carried out by police, not by a civilian.

"I saw the man go down on the pavement," said Minister Steve Knight of Missiongathering Christian Church in Charlotte, according to a statement released last night by the Coalition. "It was an ambush. The victim was shot while he stood between two ministers, and we believe he was shot by police. We would like to see surveillance video from the surrounding area that may have captured the shooting to determine who was responsible for the deadly shooting."

As the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Dept. --- which currently refuse to release video from the first shooting --- say they are reviewing tapes of the Wednesday night shooting, one of the witnesses, Linda Flynn, Executive Director of the Charlotte Spirituality Center, joins us to explain what she saw from just "feet away" from where victim was gunned down.

"I was about ten feet away from the gentleman who was shot. We heard a loud bang, it sounded like a gun shot, nobody knew where it was coming from, and we saw the man go down...Of course there was a pool of blood there. People who were directly next to the gentleman started vomiting because they had such a graphic view of everything."

Flynn goes on to say it's "unclear" whether or not he was shot by police or not, but adds: "I think at this point even the police have understood that it is completely unclear as to how the shooting happened. There are questions there. It would be very normal for all of us to have some suspicion because we're not receiving transparency. That's what we're calling for. But I do firmly believe, as a person of faith in this community, that it was a peaceful protest until police decided not to make it not so. And that is our concern."

She argues that it was the ramped-up militarized police presence that sparked violence during Wednesday night's demonstrations and explains her concerns about the history of race relations with the police in Charlotte, where she says it now looks like a "war zone", and we also discuss her concerns about "seeing shooting after shooting after shooting" nationwide.

Also today: Even Donald Trump says he is "very troubled" by video of the police shooting of Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed African-American man seen with his hands up in in Tulsa, OK, as he was gunned down, but his Veep candidate Mike Pence thinks there's just too much talk of "institutional racism". A Trump campaign official from Ohio insists she doesn't believe racism existed at all, until Barack Obama was elected President. (Seriously.)

Then, new polling from Fox finds Trump's lead over Hillary Clinton growing in three key swing states (along with disturbing Democratic denial). And, finally, a huge gasoline pipeline is reopened in Alabama, following a massive spill. We take a look at the Colonial Pipeline company's dreadful history of both spills and cleanups across the country...

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Article Categories: Ohio, North Carolina, BRAD BLOG Media Appearance, Alabama, Rights And Freedoms, Mainstream Media Failure, Accountability, Hillary Clinton, Democrats, Republicans, Nevada, KPFK, Donald Trump, NRA/Gun Violence, Election 2016, BradCast, Race, Mike Pence, Charlotte

What Should Trump and Clinton be Asked at the First Debate?: 'BradCast' 9/21/2016

Plus: Police shootings and protests in NC, OK; Earth smashes more heat records; Callers ring in with questions for the Presidential candidates...

By Brad Friedman on 9/21/2016 5:34pm PT

Today on The BradCast, another police shooting, another heat record smashed, another set of polling data show another tied Presidential race, and callers ring in with questions for the candidates in advance of next Monday's debate. [Audio link posted below.]

Protests turned violent overnight in Charlotte, North Carolina, following another police shooting of an African-American. That, just days after video evidence of another police shooting of an unarmed black man with his hands up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Earth smashes yet another heat record for the 16th straight month, as Donald Trump takes the lead for the first time in a major national poll.

Meanwhile, in advance of the first Presidential debate at Hofstra University next Monday, Hillary Clinton's campaign vows to fact check her opponent and Trump works the refs by already declaring (whining) that it will all be "unfair" to him somehow. We open the phones to find out what BradCast listeners would like moderator Lester Holt of NBC News to ask either Trump or Clinton or both on Monday night.

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report, as the U.N. meets and tries to "Trump proof" the landmark international Paris climate accord in advance of the U.S. election...

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Article Categories: NBC, North Carolina, BRAD BLOG Media Appearance, United Nations, Mainstream Media Failure, Environment, Hillary Clinton, KPFK, Donald Trump, Climate change, Oklahoma, Election 2016, BradCast, Race, Lester Holt, Charlotte

Trump's 'Self-Dealing' Charity Scam; Warren's Wells Fargo Takedown; TX' Photo ID Court Snub: 'BradCast' 9/20/2016

By Brad Friedman on 9/20/2016 5:59pm PT

On today's BradCast, a whole lotta liars, cheats and scam artists! (So what else is new?) [Audio link follows below.]

First up today: The terror plot that unfolded this week that you likely didn't hear about. (It concerned a white, domestic terrorist, allegedly hoping to blow up a building. So, who cares, right?)

Then: as we struggle (along with the rest of the media) with the difficulty of how to appropriately and effectively and accurately cover the dangerous threat to our nation and world known as Donald Trump, David Farenthold offers a new scoop at Washington Post on how the GOP Presidential nominee unlawfully used his supposed charitable foundation (comprised of other people's money) for "self-dealing" --- essentially, as a slush fund to get his businesses out of legal trouble.

Next: Sen. Elizabeth Warren's epic take down of Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf in the U.S. Senate today, following his company's admission, and his own claims of "accountability", concerning millions of fraudulent customer accounts the bank created to scam investors and increase profits. We play an extended, must-listen excerpt from her grilling of Stumpf today, as she called on him to resign and for him to be criminal investigated for his part in the scam.

Finally: Just one more reason, among many, that the U.S. was found, yet again, to have "the worst ranking of any established democracy" in the new Election Integrity Project report from the University of Sydney and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. A federal judge rules that the state of Texas has already violated a court-ordered remedy to their illegal Photo ID voting law, just weeks after striking a very specific agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice and private plaintiffs to assure all legally registered voters would be able to cast a regular ballot this November without challenge...

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Weekend Terror Attacks in NY, NJ, MN; Massive Gasoline Pipeline Spill in AL: 'BradCast' 9/19/2016

Guest: Alabama Media Group's natural resources reporter Dennis Pillion...

By Brad Friedman on 9/19/2016 5:34pm PT

On today's BradCast, the latest breaking news on the weekend terror attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, and on the massive, broken gasoline pipeline in rural Alabama.

First up, the latest on what we know (and don't) about the exploded and unexploded pipe and pressure cooker bombs in NY and NJ and the stabbings at a mall in MN over the weekend, following the arrest of a suspect in the NY and NJ attacks after a shootout with police on Monday morning. We also have responses to all of the above from President Obama as well as Presidential candidates Donald Trump (who blames Clinton and Obama) and Hillary Clinton (who accuses Trump of aiding the terrorists' cause.)

Then, after a quick update on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocking construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota late on Friday, we're joined by Alabama Media Group's natural resources reporter Dennis Pillion on the massive pipeline rupture in his state, resulting in a state of emergency in six states, gasoline shortages in the Southeast and, according to the latest estimates from the Colonial Pipeline company and the EPA, the release of some 336,000 gallons of gas into the environment near an abandoned coal mine in Shelby County.

"They are still, ten days after this leak was discovered, having issues accessing the area right around the leak. Those estimates are based on the size of a mining retention pond that has collected a lot of this gasoline," Pillion tells me.

The massive pipeline rupture, as he reports, was discovered by happenstance last week, during an on-the-ground inspection of the abandoned mine after the inspector noticed an overpowering smell of gasoline. As luck would have it, most of the gas from Colonial Pipeline's broken Line 1 --- which pumps some 1.3 million barrels of fuel every day from refineries in Houston, TX through nearly a dozen states up to Linden, NJ --- has reportedly ended up in an old retaining pond from the coal mine. The toxic fumes have made it difficult for emergency responders to begin clean up or for journalists to confirm the official information while they are still barred from the area entirely.

"We don't know when it would have started leaking," Pillion says. "Colonial does says they monitor their lines twice a week by air, looking for evidence of leaks --- dead vegetation, sheens on water, that kind of thing. And they said they did not notice anything in their air patrols, nor did they notice by volume that they were losing product." That's right. They inspect the underground pipeline twice a week from an airplane.

Pillion brings us up to date on what we know (and don't) about the spill and its clean up at this time, while officials from the pipeline company, as well as federal, state and local officials respond to the disaster. He also offers the latest from local environmental groups who remain concerned about dozens of endangered and threatened species of fish and snails found nowhere else in the world but in the nearby Cahaba River.

Finally, as Clinton and Trump are now reportedly tied in polls across 13 swing states, Obama offers impassioned remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Dinner in Washington D.C. on the imperative of voting in this year's Presidential Election...

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Article Categories: New Jersey, BRAD BLOG Media Appearance, War On Terror, National Security, New York, Alabama, Accountability, Environment, Minnesota, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, EPA, KPFK, Donald Trump, Oil, Solar energy, Election 2016, BradCast

Media Fall (Again) for Trump's Latest Trap; Voting Rights Rulings in KS and OH: 'BradCast' 9/16/2016

Also: National polls tied; Bernie Sanders cautions against third-party voting; Stephen Colbert and Desi Doyen try to cheer us up...

By Brad Friedman on 9/16/2016 5:45pm PT

On today's BradCast, the corporate media fall for yet another Trump Trap, while we focus on crucial court rulings on voting rights in both Kansas and Ohio that could determine who ultimately wins the White House. [Audio link to the show posted below.]

First, the MSM beclowned itself yet again today, This time, giving free live coverage to the opening of Donald Trump's new hotel and endorsements from some military members, as the Republican nominee eventually offered lies about his 'birther' claims, in which he has spent years attempting to de-legitimize President Obama as an American and all other African-Americans along with him.

That same de-legitimization effort is at work from Republicans around the country attempting to make it harder and often impossible for certain voters (Democratic-leaning ones, disproportionately African-American) to cast a vote in the upcoming election.

This week we saw court rulings, both good and bad, on that front in both Kansas and the crucial battleground state of Ohio under their voter-restricting Republican Secretaries of State Kris Kobach and Jon Husted, respectively. On today's program we review those court decisions and their effect on the electorate as national polling now reflects a virtual tie between Trump and Hillary Clinton nationally, with the Republican nominee having taken a narrow lead in the Buckeye State, and 538.com giving Hillary Clinton just a 57% chance of winning if the election were held today.

Also today: Bernie Sanders urges potential third-party voters to vote for Hillary Clinton instead; Stephen Colbert offers a "polite reminder"; the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein will not be invited to join the first debate; And, finally, Desi Doyen joins us to try and cheer everybody up with the latest Green News Report. (We wish her luck!)

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Leaked Docs Reveal Scott Walker's Illegal 2012 Fundraising, GOP Operatives Faking Dem 'Fraud': 'BradCast' 9/15/2016

Guest: Campaign Legal Center's Brendan Fischer on smoking gun emails leaked from quashed state criminal probe of Wisconsin's Governor...

By Brad Friedman on 9/15/2016 6:46pm PT

Today on The BradCast, startling revelations from the massive document dump of emails and other materials from the currently-quashed state criminal investigation into Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 2012 recall election fundraising. [Audio link to show posted below.]

The Guardian's remarkable 1,300 page leak of documents from the so-called "John Doe investigation" of Walker's illegal collusion with "independent" third-party non-profit groups is, in many ways, jaw-dropping. As we discuss on today's show, in addition to that collusion, the leaked emails also reveal state GOP operatives preparing to declare massive Democratic voter fraud, without a shred of evidence in support, in order to try and win a very close 2011 election for state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser. The rightwing Justice would ultimately ensure a Walker-friendly majority on the court to support the Governor's controversial union-busting law.

"Do we need to start messaging 'widespread reports of election fraud' so we are positively set up for the recount regardless of the final number? I obviously think we should," writes one of the GOP operatives in one of the emails as results from the tight race came in. "Talk radio needs to scream the Dems are trying to steal the race...We need to declare victory first so it appears that the results are being overturned if they go the wrong way." Sound familiar?

[You can see what came of that recount, which we covered extensively back in 2011, including exclusives revealing, among other irregularities, ballot bags ripped and discovered "wide open" with mismatched or missing serial numbers as well as ballots found completely unsecured and other similar messes and mistallies across the state. My 2011 interview with Prosser's challenger, then Asst. Attorney General Joanne Kloppenburg, after she was ultimately forced to concede, thanks in no small part to the dishonest scheming applied by the operatives cited above, is right here.]

Attorney Brendan Fischer, Associate Counsel at the Campaign Legal Center in D.C., joins us to help unpack the breathtaking smoking guns revealed by these newly-disclosed documents, after the state's probe of Walker was shut down by the very same elected Justices on the state Supreme Court whose elections were funded by the exact same corporate millionaire and billionaire donors and illegal mechanisms revealed by the quashed documents. Yes, it makes my head spin too.

"These documents show the breadth of the coordination scheme that Walker was engaged in," Fischer tells me. "It shows that what the Republican and Democratic prosecutors in Wisconsin were looking into with this investigation was really significant. It was a broad scheme to evade the state's corporate contribution limits and disclosure requirements. And that was very explicit. The purpose of Walker coordinating was to evade disclosure laws, to allow corporations and controversial donors to support Walkers' re-election without any sort of public disclosure or public accountability. That was not a bug in this coordination scheme, that was the purpose from the beginning. And the emails show that very clearly."

You really need to listen to today's show to get the full picture of what happened, and how this scheme has served as a template for GOP elections all over the country now (including the very same donors behind Donald Trump's campaign and, indeed, as we learn, including Trump himself who gave money to the "independent" Wisconsin Club for Growth on the very same day he met with Walker in NYC.) Fischer also describes, for example, the lead paint manufacturer who secretly donated $750,000 to the tax-exempt, non-profit "social welfare" group before state Republicans slipped in a provision to a budget bill that granted immunity to his company in the face of lawsuits from hundreds of children poisoned by the paint. "The public was unable to connect the dots between the secret three-quarters of a million dollar contributions to Wisconsin Club for Growth and the later policy decisions that Walker took" on behalf of the donor, explains Fischer.

"Bigger picture, this is one of those rare snapshots into how 'dark money' works," he says. "When you look at these documents, the two [Walker and WCfG] are interchangeable. This was not an instance where Walker's campaign had a few conversations here and there with Wisconsin Club for Growth Officials...Wisconsin Club for Growth was an arm of the Walker campaign."

Fischer also goes on to explain what we might expect as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a motion that could re-open the state's criminal probe later this month. Even if I say so myself, it's a must-listen BradCast today...

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Criminal Bribery Complaint Filed Against Trump, Bondi: 'BradCast' 9/14/2016

Guest: Noah Bookbinder, Exec. Director of complainant Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)...

By Brad Friedman on 9/14/2016 6:04pm PT

On today's BradCast, fresh accountability is sought as a criminal bribery complaint is filed with the U.S. Dept. of Justice against GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump and Florida's top law enforcement official, Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

New polls out today from Ohio and Florida find the Republican Party nominee now leading Hillary Clinton by several points in both swing-states. That, after several recent unforced errors by the Democratic nominee and months of misleading and often inaccurate mainstream media reporting on Hillary Clinton's email server and charitable foundation. All the while, Trump has largely received a pass from that same corporate media on his multiple cases of apparent outright fraud and even admitted illegalities.

On that score, I'm joined by Noah Bookbinder, Executive Director of the non-partisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), to discuss the new criminal complaint his organization filed yesterday with the U.S. Department of Justice, calling for a bribery probe of both Trump and Bondi (pictured above). The complaint centers on the illegal $25,000 donation solicited by Bondi in 2013 and illegally delivered by Trump's charitable foundation to her political committee just days after the Florida AG's office announced they were considering joining a New York state fraud probe of "Trump University" and the "Trump Institute".

The Trump Foundation donation, as Bookbinder explains, was unlawful. And, following CREW's civil complaint to the IRS about it in March of this year, Trump admitted the violation by paying a fine and reimbursing his own charitable foundation for the illegal payment to Bondi's political action committee.

On today's show, Bookbinder explains how CREW's new criminal complaint goes even farther in calling for accountability via a new federal probe of Trump's apparent payoff to Bondi, whose office decided not to join the NY civil suit shortly after she received the Trump donation (and then what appears to be a hugely reduced rate for a fundraiser held for her at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.)

"There's a lot of evidence here that looks a whole lot like classic corruption," Bookbinder, who formerly worked on the United States Sentencing Commission, tells me. "The evidence that we do have of this timeline looks really bad, especially when you combine it with the kinds of statements that Donald Trump has regularly made about how he operates --- that he gives public officials money and then they do what he wants them to do. If he did that here, it starts to look like a crime."

Then, a number of Trump supporters are arrested on assault charges for attacking protesters at a Trump rally in Asheville, NC earlier this week, and another from his ever growing "basket of deplorables" is sought by police after punching out a 69-year old lady outside of the rally. Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for some good news (believe it or not) in our latest Green News Report, on fracking in CA and on ND's Dakota Access Pipeline, and some otherwise disturbing news following the hottest month ever recorded on Planet Earth...

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Article Categories: Ohio, Florida, California, BRAD BLOG Media Appearance, New York, Accountability, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Fracking, KPFK, Donald Trump, Natural gas, North Dakota, Climate change, Election 2016, BradCast, Pam Bondi

Parade of 'Deplorables' (Because We're Gonna Need a Bigger Basket): 'BradCast' 9/13/2016

By Brad Friedman on 9/13/2016 6:19pm PT

Today on The BradCast, hate crimes are on the rise as Trump, Republicans and their supporters pretend to be outraged by "basket of deplorables", and the corporate media is all too happy to help them out. [Audio link posted below]

Amongst the stories covered today's program:

Oh, and some good news for both the economy and the climate. But you'll have to tune in for those!

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Article Categories: Florida, California, Oregon, AP, BRAD BLOG Media Appearance, New York, Mainstream Media Failure, Accountability, Environment, Hillary Clinton, Kentucky, Republicans, Economy, KPFK, Donald Trump, Climate change, Extreme weather, Election 2016, BradCast, Race, Matt Bevin, Pam Bondi

Trump Even Lied About 9/11; Big Oil's New Trick to Fast Track New Pipelines: 'BradCast' 9/12/2016

Guest: Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog...

By Brad Friedman on 9/12/2016 6:04pm PT

On today's BradCast, yes, Donald Trump even lied about 9/11. And, speaking of lies, Big Oil has been using a loophole in U.S. federal law to to skirt environmental concerns and receive quick approval for dirty, dangerous new pipelines.

First, as the media continue to ignore one of the worst and most expensive environmental disasters in U.S. history last month, Trump was busy lying about 9/11, even on the 15th anniversary of the attacks. He lied about why he received taxpayer money after the tragedy and suggested he personally removed rubble. Imagine, just imagine, what the media would have done to Hillary Clinton (appropriately) had she falsely suggested anything even close.

The corporate media's false equivalency between the two candidates continues, as facts concerning stuff like Colin Powell's very specific directions to Clinton on how to use a private email address as Secretary of State are overlooked, and as both national and state polling continues to tighten in the bargain.

Then, speaking of issues ignored by the corporate media, investigative environmental journalist Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog joins us to discuss the little-known federal permitting policy called "Nationwide Permit 12" --- a loophole in federal law increasingly used by the oil industry to fast-track federal approval for major pipeline infrastructure projects like the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, and as a way to skirt more stringent federal environmental review in the process.

"Nationwide Permit 12, before the past three or four years, was generally and exclusively used for small projects, usually 1/2 an acre in size and smaller," Horn tells me. "It wasn't really until the Keystone XL debate, and in particular the southern leg of it, where the industry saw Nationwide Permit 12 as a convenient way to split up its pipelines into many, many, many pieces. Sometimes, in the case of Keystone XL, it was some 2000 segments that they called 'single and complete projects'."

"You can call it a loophole, you can call it a fast-track trick, a maneuver. For all intents and purposes, it's like the pipeline industry's equivalent of a tax loophole. And, looking at what billionaires do, it serves the equivalent for the pipeline industry," he explains. Given those in the fossil industry who are now publicly supporting the scam --- including the industry billionaire who Trump has said he may tap as his Secretary of the Dept. of Energy --- Horn's analogy is disturbingly on point. The good news, however (and we could use some today!): the scam is now under federal review after its use to approve construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. That controversial project, which, as of Friday, was at least temporarily halted by the Obama Administration, may finally "have been a tipping point for use of Nationwide Permit 12," Horn notes.

Finally, some listener mail on a recent program seems to blame voters for the failure of politicians. We discuss.

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Federal Judge Denies Dakota Access Pipeline Injunction, Federal Agencies Call for Its Halt: 'BradCast' 9/9/2016

Also: Texas undermines court-ordered remedy to unlawful Photo ID law, new studies reveal (again) how such laws undermine democracy...

By Brad Friedman on 9/9/2016 5:52pm PT

On today's BradCast we try to make sense of today's whiplash of dramatic breaking news --- first from a federal judge then from three federal agencies --- concerning the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, before trying to make sense of still more breaking news concerning this November's elections. [Audio link to show posted below.]

First up: An Obama-appointed federal District Court judge in D.C. hands down his ruling [PDF] denying a preliminary injunction that would have blocked construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, as sought on Standing Rock Sioux sacred lands near their tribal reservation in North Dakota. Moments later, the U.S. Departments of Justice, Army and Interior issue a remarkable joint statement calling for a halt of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-approved construction at one federally controlled waterway and for a voluntary halt by the Dallas-based pipeline company on private lands within 20 miles.

We break down both the court's legal opinion and the federal government's encouraging directive, explaining the reasons behind both, as protests by thousands of native Americans continue to grow each day near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball Rivers in the southern part of ND.

Then, new polls find Hillary Clinton's lead over Donald Trump shrinking or disappearing fairly dramatically in four different key swing states. And the parties challenging the state of Texas' unlawful Photo ID voting restriction seek emergency court relief after state officials (including its indicted Attorney General) attempt to undermine a court-ordered agreement that is supposed to allow registered voters to vote, even without the strict Photo ID mandated by the illegal statute enacted by state Republicans.

In the meantime, a new study reveals, yet again, that the only type of fraud that could possibly be prevented by Photo ID laws remains virtually nonexistent in the U.S., while another major new study offers empirical historical evidence documenting how such laws drastically and disproportionately reduce minority and Democratic-leaning voter turnout.

Finally: Minnesota Democrats file suit at the state Supreme Court to have Donald Trump removed from the Presidential ballot, charging that Republicans failed to follow state law in their nomination process...

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