Trump's Slush Fund; Conservative War On America's Second Founding w/ Adam Serwer | MR Live
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Summary
Takeaways
- ❖The DOJ established a $1.7 billion 'slush fund' for Trump's allies, including January 6th defendants, with minimal transparency or oversight.
- ❖Trump's former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, acting as Attorney General, is overseeing this fund despite a recusal mandate.
- ❖The Supreme Court's interpretation of the 15th Amendment is an 'inversion' of its original intent to enfranchise Black people.
- ❖Conservative legal ideology views Civil War Amendments as illegitimate and federal anti-racism efforts as 'worse than racism itself'.
- ❖The *Kaelan* ruling allows partisan gerrymandering, which will likely reduce Black representation in Congress, particularly in the South.
- ❖The backlash to Obama-era diversity fueled a 'reactionary color blindness' that seeks 'elite re-segregation' in various sectors.
- ❖Solutions to current voting rights challenges include a new Voting Rights Act and Supreme Court reform, such as jurisdiction stripping or adding seats.
Insights
1Trump's $1.7 Billion DOJ 'Slush Fund' Lacks Oversight
The Department of Justice established a $1.7 billion fund, ostensibly to settle claims from individuals alleging harm by the Biden administration's 'weaponization of the legal system.' This fund, created after Trump withdrew a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, has no guardrails, no requirement to disclose beneficiaries or amounts, and is overseen by Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, who was advised to recuse himself from Trump-related cases. Critics, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, label it an 'insane level of corruption' and a 'slush fund for Trump's handpicked stooges' that could benefit January 6th insurrectionists and even Trump himself indirectly.
Trump withdrew his suit to remove court oversight, allowing the DOJ to settle. The fund, drawn from a Treasury Department Judgment Fund, allows a commission appointed and removable by Trump to distribute money without disclosure. Todd Blanche, acting Attorney General and Trump's former lawyer, is involved despite ethics advice to recuse. Senator Elizabeth Warren called it 'an insane level of corruption' and a 'slush fund for Trump's handpicked stooges'.
2Supreme Court Inverts 15th Amendment's Intent, Enabling Disenfranchisement
The Supreme Court's current interpretation of the 15th Amendment, particularly in rulings like *Shelby County* and *Kaelan*, fundamentally inverts its original purpose. The 15th Amendment was enacted to racially and politically enfranchise Black people after the Civil War. However, the Court now permits 'superficially race-neutral' laws and partisan gerrymandering that effectively disenfranchise Black voters, arguing that disentangling race and party is impossible. This echoes post-Reconstruction courts that allowed similar tactics like poll taxes and literacy tests.
Adam Serwer states the 15th Amendment was 'racial in its intent' and a 'partisan cause' to enfranchise Black people. The post-Reconstruction court allowed 'superficially race-neutral' laws. The current court's stance, particularly Alito's, is seen as allowing 'partisan sentiment that disenfranchises people,' ignoring the democratic principle.
3Conservative Legal Movement Driven by 'Illegitimacy' of Civil War Amendments
A core ideological tenet within the conservative legal movement, particularly among some Supreme Court justices, is the belief that the Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th) are 'illegitimate' and 'ruined the real antebellum Constitution.' This perspective leads them to narrowly interpret these amendments, thereby limiting federal power and expanding states' rights, even at the expense of constitutional voting rights. This 'reactionary color blindness' views federal efforts to combat racism as worse than racism itself.
Serwer states, 'some of the justices on the court have this idea that the Civil War amendments to the Constitution are sort of illegitimate... and that they ruined the real antebellum Constitution.' John Roberts' argument in *Shelby County* about 'equal sovereignty of the states' is cited as an example, prioritizing states' rights over constitutional voting rights. Professor Ian Haney López's term 'reactionary color blindness' is used to describe this ideology.
4Judicial Backlash to Diversity Leads to 'Elite Re-segregation'
The Supreme Court's actions, particularly concerning voting rights and gerrymandering, are part of a broader 'elite re-segregation' agenda. This is a backlash to the increased diversity in elite positions (media, entertainment, Congress) that emerged during the Obama era. By allowing states to redraw districts to eliminate majority-minority representation, the Court enables a less diverse Congress and reinforces the idea that certain jobs and positions 'don't belong' to Black people, extending beyond politics into economic and cultural spheres.
Serwer notes the 'massive cultural impact' of Obama leading to increased diversity in 'public-facing jobs' and Congress. He links complaints about diversity in media (e.g., 'The Little Mermaid is black') to 'labor' and the idea that 'black people shouldn't have those jobs.' The *Kaelan* decision is expected to result in 'fewer... a less diverse Congress' because 50% of the Black American population lives in the South.
Bottom Line
The dismantling of majority-minority districts through partisan gerrymandering, while intended to diminish Black voter influence, could paradoxically lead to a moderation of the Republican Party in some states.
If Black voters are dispersed across more districts, Republican politicians in close contests might be incentivized to appeal to these voters, rather than solely relying on white conservative bases, potentially shifting their rhetoric and policy positions to gain an edge.
Progressive organizers could strategically engage in these newly drawn districts to pressure Republican candidates to adopt more inclusive platforms, or to support moderate Republicans who are willing to appeal to a broader electorate, thereby creating unexpected pathways for political change.
The conservative legal movement's underlying belief in the 'illegitimacy' of the Civil War Amendments suggests a deeper, more fundamental ideological battle than mere policy differences, aiming to restore an 'ante-bellum' constitutional order.
This implies that simply arguing for policy changes or appealing to precedent will be ineffective against a judiciary that fundamentally rejects the constitutional framework established by the 'Second Founding.' The conflict is existential, not just political.
Advocates for civil rights and democracy must frame their arguments not just as defending existing laws, but as defending the very legitimacy of the post-Civil War constitutional order, and consider 'constitutional hardball' tactics like Supreme Court expansion or jurisdiction stripping as necessary defensive measures.
Key Concepts
The Second Founding
Historian Eric Foner's concept that the Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th) and Reconstruction constituted a 'second founding' of the United States, fundamentally reshaping the Constitution to ensure equality and dismantle white supremacy, correcting the original flaw of implicit slavery protections.
Reactionary Color Blindness
Professor Ian Haney López's term describing the conservative ideology that equates efforts to alleviate racism (like affirmative action or voting rights protections) with racism itself (e.g., Jim Crow), thereby justifying the dismantling of anti-discrimination measures.
Lessons
- Actively participate in elections, recognizing that voting is a crucial defensive measure for marginalized communities against systemic disenfranchisement and the rollback of rights.
- Advocate for federal legislation to protect voting rights, such as a new Voting Rights Act, and support efforts to strip the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over such matters or to expand the court to rebalance its ideological composition.
- Educate others on the historical context of the 15th Amendment and the current Supreme Court's 'reactionary color blindness' to counter misleading narratives about 'reverse racism' and the 'illegitimacy' of civil rights protections.
Quotes
"This slush fund has absolutely no guardrails. It is just a total giveaway. It is very much like, well, like Jimmy Hoffa would have done back in the day."
"If you break the law on my behalf, from the brown shirts on January 6th to the corrupt billionaire oligarchs who have funded my campaign, you'll be rewarded as long as I'm in power. So you better keep me in power."
"You are acting today like the president's personal attorney, and that's the whole problem. You've got his whole, you have a whole banner of his face hanging over the Department of Justice and you and everybody else walks under it, and you are acting like you're his current personal attorney."
"Roberts has always seen efforts to alleviate racism as worse than racism itself. Especially because, and you can see this every time they gut a piece of the Voting Rights Act, they congratulate themselves on how not racist the country is anymore."
"The Civil War Amendments were explicitly meant to, you know, make sure that America was not a white man's government. That was their purpose."
"It's like throwing away your umbrella when it stops raining because you're no longer getting wet."
"The idea that the Odyssey explicitly only belongs to like white guys who were born between 1960 and today is is sort of absurd."
"Voting is a defensive measure in that way, and it's defensive on behalf of marginalized communities."
Q&A
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