The BradCast w/ Brad Friedman Brad Friedman

Encore: original airdate 4-22-2024. On today's 'BradCast':  With assistance from House Democrats, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson finally allowed passage of critical military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Taiwan that has been blocked by far-right Republicans. Donald Trump's first criminal trial got underway in New York City, focused on allegations that he unlawfully falsified business records and violated campaign finance laws in paying hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election. Veteran labor journalist and author STEVEN GREENHOUSE discusses the landslide vote by non-union autoworkers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee to join the United Auto Workers union. Greenhouse explains why the historic vote succeeded where others have failed in the famously anti-union South, the UAW's ongoing organizing efforts to unionize other plants, the surge to restore labor rights in many sectors across the US, and much more.

On today's 'BradCast':  A surge of largely peaceful pro-Palestinian protests have sprung up on college campuses across the U.S., in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's punishing, ongoing assault of Gaza and the Biden Administration's facilitation of that effort. We focus on the response to those protests by counter protesters, media, politicians (including remarks by Joe Biden today), and the armed riot police who seem to be triggering the bulk of the violence, which is easy to show on television news whether it captures the truth of the moment or not. Congressional Democrats released a damning report exposing Big Oil's ongoing campaign of 'deception, disinformation, and doublespeak' to mislead the public about the role of fossil fuels in our accelerating climate crisis. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'

On today's 'BradCast':  We catch up on the latest developments in the first-ever criminal trial of a former president while the historic trial over Donald Trump's 2016 election interference-hush money scheme is on break for a day. DR. ALLISON GILL of the notorious 'Mueller, She Wrote' and 'Daily Beans Podcast' and attorney KEITH BARBER of Daily Kos explain the legal and political implications of new evidence and witness testimony, the judge's ruling finding Trump in criminal contempt of court for violating his gag order, and much more. Democrats outperformed pre-election polling in yet another special election for the U.S. House. A Trump-appointed appeals court ruled that Pennsylvania voters' mail-in ballots can be tossed out for minor, immaterial technical errors. A federal court rejected Louisiana's newly-drawn second majority-Black U.S. House district as 'an impermissible racial gerrymander.'

On today's 'BradCast':  American University professor Allen Lichtman has been uncannily accurate in predicting who will win presidential elections - - who does he predict will win in 2024?  Donald Trump found in criminal contempt of court in his New York hush money-election interference trial. United Auto Workers union wins big wage increases for workers in North Carolina. Indicted Arizona Republican 2020 fake elector rewarded with new RNC position. Appeals court rejects effort by West Virginia and North Carolina to block gender-affirming care for transgender people. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency moves to reclassify marijuana, easing restrictions nationwide. The Biden Administration is racing to issue new standards to protect them from repeal under the Congressional Review Act. Plus our new 'Green News Report.'

On today's 'BradCast':  The corrupted rightwing supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether Presidents have 'absolute immunity' for any and all crimes they commit while in office. They don't. Despite rejection by lower courts, the rightwing justices heard Donald Trump's ridiculous assertions of 'immunity,' helping him delay the federal criminal trial over his multi-pronged scheme to steal the 2020 election, thus preventing voters from obtaining critical information before the November 2024 election about whether they should grant another term to the ex-president who tried to steal the 2020 election. We delve into the absurd arguments that seem to have finally made clear to the nation that the Roberts Court is corruptly running interference for Republican policies in general, and Trump in particular. Callers weigh in on what can or should be done about any of it, as the nation stumbles its way toward November...

Encore: original airdate 4-17-2024. On today's 'BradCast': The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in 'Fischer v. U.S.,' a challenge to the criminal statute used to charge and convict hundreds of January 6 insurrectionists, including Donald Trump. Legal journalist CHRIS GEIDNER of Law Dork News discusses the case, which questions whether some January 6th insurrectionists should have been charged with obstruction of an official government proceeding. Geidner explains how a ruling could pivot on the meaning of the word 'otherwise;' the rightwing justices' newly-discovered concerns about over-criminalization; potential impacts on January 6 cases and the Trump indictment; and upcoming oral arguments on Trump's ridiculous assertions of 'absolute immunity.' Also today: Republicans' revenge impeachment against DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas quickly failed in the US Senate. Arizona GOP lawmakers again blocked repeal of the state's 1864 abortion ban. Alabama's newly-drawn, fairer House maps generated a massive surge in voter turnout in a special election.