On today’s Big Take podcast: Understanding the Justice Department’s controversial plan to establish a $1.776 billion legal fund.
It's the second known case of the federal government filing criminal charges against someone who allegedly used insider information to make a large profit on a prediction market site.
Former White House ethics chief Norm Eisen was beside himself with fury on CNN over news that the Trump administration is pursuing a criminal investigation into former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who claimed President Donald Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.A jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation after he left office the first time; he has maintained his innocence and fought furiously in appeal after appeal to get the verdict and damages thrown out."So, Norm, first off, what's your reaction to the DOJ launching this criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll?" asked Anderson Cooper."Anderson, it's so outrageous," said Eisen."Every American should be appalled at this pattern of Donald Trump utilizing the most fearsome power of our president, the investigation and possible prosecution of individuals whom he perceives to be his adversaries," said Eisen. "First, it was Tish James. That case was thrown out. Then Jim Comey. That case was thrown out. He's going after Comey again. That case is going to meet the same fate.""This is garbage," he added. "And it is alarming because it is a classic sign of authoritarians. Dictators would blush at Donald Trump's abuse of his criminal powers. And it's not American." - YouTube www.youtube.com
A group of 35 former federal judges asked a court to reopen a legal dispute between President Trump and the government, calling the deal to create a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund" potentially fraudulent.
On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg reporters Chris Strohm and Erik Wasson track the bipartisan backlash to the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund which some lawmakers have called a slush fund for Trump loyalists. (Source: Bloomberg)
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to levy a maximum tax on anyone in the state who receives money via Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
"What's happening now isn't about transparency. It's about politics," said Biden's spokesperson in an email to TIME.
Bo French’s runoff victory gave Democrats fresh hope that they could compete for a seat regulating the state’s powerful oil and gas industry.
Two officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021, have filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the creation of a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges are bringing the lawsuit because the fund could be used to compensate the Capitol rioters who attacked them and their colleagues. Both officers say they have faced continuous credible threats since that day. “This slush fund is going to be used to pay the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers,” says Brendan Ballou, CEO of the Public Integrity Project, who is representing officers Dunn and Hodges. “It is going to give a presidential endorsement to these people, saying that not only … will they be put beyond the reach of the law, but they will actually be financially rewarded for doing so.” Ballou is also a former federal prosecutor who spent two years prosecuting January 6 Capitol rioters.