Supreme Court HIT with BACKLASH at Trump RUNS DESPERATE!!!

The Trump administration, through Todd Blanche and the Justice Department, filed litigation against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), accusing it of supporting white supremacy. This is seen as an 'extraordinary abuse of prosecutorial power' targeting an organization that has spent decades fighting white supremacy and exposing right-wing extremist movements.

Lisa Graves describes the litigation as 'outrageous' and 'assailing the Southern Poverty Law Center claiming that it is supporting white supremacy when that organization has spent decades fighting white supremacy.' Mike German notes they had been 'telegraphing these kinds of moves' to 'demonize and criminalize civil rights organizations.'

The Trump administration announced a $1.776 billion 'settlement fund' to compensate individuals convicted of violent crimes during the January 6th Capitol attack. Many of these individuals were charged with sedition and belonged to white supremacist or heavily armed groups targeted by the SPLC.

Graves details 'this absurd and obscene in my view slush fund has been created, the so-called settlement fund, 1.776 billion dollars to pay people who were convicted of violent crimes against the United States, the assault on the capital on January 6th.'

Mike German asserts that the Trump administration's actions, including pardoning January 6th participants and targeting civil rights groups, clearly indicate an embrace of authoritarianism and fascist tendencies. He notes that identifying anti-fascism as a threat is a self-identification as fascist.

German states, 'anybody who claims anti-fascists are the enemy is self-identifying as fascist.' He adds, 'the second administration has started off with the January 6th pardons making it very clear which side of that line they are on.'

The current situation is viewed as a return to a historical period where law enforcement was used to suppress civil rights movements and maintain a white supremacist status quo. The guest, Mike German, observed this connection during his undercover work in the 1990s and notes how institutions remain disproportionately white.

German explains, 'this state backing of white supremacy is part of the foundation of our country and and it we're really more going back to a period where where law enforcement was used to suppress the civil rights movement.'

Trump's political rhetoric explicitly amplified messages that were previously 'dog whistles' to white supremacists, empowering both militants and elements within US institutions to act on these ideologies.

German states, 'when Trump first started running for office, he put away the dog whistle and brought out the bullhorn and and made these these rhetoric explicit.'

The Bush administration's post-9/11 targeting of Muslim civil society, including shutting down charities without trial, created a dangerous model. This model is then used to target other less powerful communities, conditioning the public to accept the erosion of rights for certain groups, which eventually impacts everyone.

German explains that 'this militant white supremacist movement works is they first try to find a very small population... that doesn't have political power... So, it was an easy target to start developing these models that then can be used to target other groups.'

The Supreme Court, particularly under Chief Justice John Roberts, is criticized for decisions like granting Trump immunity from criminal prosecution for 'official acts' and asserting that the pardon power is beyond review. These decisions are seen as enabling the executive to act as a criminal and pardon accomplices, creating 'unchartered territory' for American governance.

Graves states, 'I do lay part of the blame, serious blame, at the feet of John Roberts because he's the one who pardoned Trump, basically gave him an exemption from criminal prosecution for his past act in that immunity decision.'