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Chuck DarwinThe US’s foreign broadcasters may soon be forced to become pro-Trump propagandaIf Trump’s first term is any indication, outlets such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe will face political inquisitionsThe agency which oversees them, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), has a budget of nearly $1bn and reaches 420 million people weekly in over 100 countries – numbers that make America’s biggest domestic radio and TV networks look like small fry.These outlets have long been a target for conservative critics who have felt that they are insufficiently patriotic or too kind to America’s adversaries. But during his first term, Trump attempted to weaponize the networks in an unprecedented way, turning them into propaganda outlets for his administration and its brand of far-right politics. And his recent nomination of former Arizona gubernatorial candidate <a href="https://c.im/tags/Kari" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Kari</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Lake" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Lake</a> to head Voice of America suggests he wants to do it again.Trump’s attack on the public broadcasters began in his first term when he sent conservative journalist <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Scott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Scott</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Shapiro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Shapiro</a> to be a senior advisor to the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees Radio y Televisión Martí. Shapiro accused the director of the office, the award-winning Puerto Rican journalist Maria Gonzalez, of being a Cuban spy and forced a spurious security investigation to be initiated against her. When Gonzalez later resigned her post, Martí’s coverage began to reflect far-right themes, including calling George Soros a “a non-believing Jew of flexible morals” and decrying the “Islamization” of Europe.The same problems occurred on an even bigger scale when Trump appointed <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michael" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Michael</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pack" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Pack</a>, an ally of far-right figure Steve Bannon, as the head of the entirety of USAGM. Pack forced out or initiated spurious loyalty investigations against journalists and executives, and he also sought to influence coverage in the newsroom in a pro-Trump direction. As a result, many journalists at Voice of America feared for their livelihoods and began to engage in self-censorship.Like Shapiro, Pack also accused the journalists he oversaw of being spies, and during his tenure he refused to renew the visas of foreign reporters working at Voice of America. Because many of these journalists had reported critically on their own countries’ regimes, they faced persecution if forced to return home. But Pack shrugged off the idea that he had any responsibility for the safety of the brave journalists who made the existence of his agency possible. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/19/us-foreign-broadcasters-trump?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/19/us-foreign-broadcasters-trump?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</a>

Chuck DarwinDonald Trump’s foul-mouthed migrant rant captured in private pitch to donors Donald Trump unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade about undocumented <a href="https://c.im/tags/immigrants" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#immigrants</a> and predicted that this “could be the <a href="https://c.im/tags/last" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#last</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/election" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#election</a> we ever have” if Kamala Harris wins during a private fundraising dinner this summer.The Guardian obtained a 12-minute recording of a speech that the Republican presidential nominee gave at a dinner on 10 August in Aspen, Colorado, 👉 where attendees were required to donate anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000 a couple.Trump devoted most of his address to <a href="https://c.im/tags/border" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#border</a> security and <a href="https://c.im/tags/immigration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#immigration</a>, recycling xenophobic claims now familiar from his rallies. “Radical leftwing lunatics” want people to come in from <a href="https://c.im/tags/prisons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#prisons</a>, mental institutionsand insane <a href="https://c.im/tags/asylums" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#asylums</a>, he asserted without evidence, adding that the US was harbouring “a record number of <a href="https://c.im/tags/terrorists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#terrorists</a>”.The former president insisted that “smart, very streetwise” leaders of Venezuela and other South American countries were sending murderers and drug dealers to the US to reduce their own crime rates, relieve the burden on their prisons and save money.Trump cited a false example of 22 people he claimed had come to the US after being released from prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. -- “We said, ‘Where do you come from?’ They said, ‘Prison’. -- ‘What did you do?’ ‘None of your fucking business what we did.’ You know why? Because they’re murderers.”The candidate added, “I hate to use that foul language”, apparently recognising that his use of the F-word went further than his campaign rallies. -- The Congolese government has said there is no truth to Trump’s statements.The candidate went on: “These are the toughest people. These people are coming in from Africa, from the Middle East. They’re coming in from all parts of Asia, the bad parts, the parts where they’re rough, and the only thing good is they make our criminals look extremely nice. They make our Hell’s Angels look like the nicest people on earth.”Studies show that immigrants are less likely to commit crime than native-born Americans.Trump flew to Aspen on a Gulfstream G-550 jet once owned by <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Epstein" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Epstein</a>, the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, after his own private plane – a Boeing 757 known colloquially as Trump Force One – encountered engine trouble.The dinner was held at the $38m home of the investors and art collectors ♦️John and Amy <a href="https://c.im/tags/Phelan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Phelan</a>. Guests included the casino mogul Steve <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wynn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Wynn</a>, billionaire businessman Thomas <a href="https://c.im/tags/Peterffy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Peterffy</a>, Texas governor Greg <a href="https://c.im/tags/Abbott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Abbott</a>, Florida congressman Byron <a href="https://c.im/tags/Donalds" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Donalds</a>, Colorado congresswoman Lauren <a href="https://c.im/tags/Boebert" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Boebert</a> and former Colorado senator Cory <a href="https://c.im/tags/Gardner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Gardner</a>.Trump, who instigated an attempted coup on 6 January 2021 and has claimed that his Democratic rival Harris poses the true threat to democracy, used the exclusive event to warn of dire consequences if she becomes president.“Look, we gotta win and if we don’t win this country’s going to hell,” he said. “You know, there’s an expression, this could be the last election we ever have and it’s an expression that I really believe, and I believe that this could be the last election we ever have.”<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/04/trump-fundraiser-recording?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/04/trump-fundraiser-recording?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</a>

Chuck Darwin(3/3)As the Murdoch <a href="https://c.im/tags/succession" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#succession</a> battle plays out in a US court, a separate fight is brewing over control of <a href="https://c.im/tags/News" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#News</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Corp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Corp</a>Australian and US investment groups take aim at <a href="https://c.im/tags/dual" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dual</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/voting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#voting</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/rights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#rights</a> system that ⚠️gives family a dominant voice over how empire is runAustralian pension funds and governance groups have criticised the share voting powers that allow Rupert Murdoch to control News Corp, -- as a secret legal case over the future control of the company is heard in the US state of Nevada.The push to untangle News Corp’s structure, which allocates different voting rights according to share type, ⭐️is being driven by agitators trying to loosen the billionaire’s grip over the media empire 🔸and stop that influence being passed to his heirs.Murdoch has been in Nevada for hearings this week, after seeking to 🔹change the terms of a family trust to ensure that his eldest son, Lachlan, remains in charge of the company’s stack of newspapers and television networks, including the Wall Street Journal and Fox News.The proceedings prompted the US hedge fund Starboard Value to propose a resolution to eliminate News Corp’s dual class share structure, -- arguing that the political disagreement in the family “could be paralyzing to the strategic direction” of News Corp, according to The New York Times.Dual structures are commonly used by company founders to retain control of a business even when they have a minority shareholding, with Murdoch holding 40% of voting rights via a 14% shareholding.Debby Blakey, the chief executive of the A$86bn Hesta superannuation fund, told Guardian Australia that “one share, one vote” was fundamental to good corporate governance.She said the fund’s “engagement, voting and advocacy activities continue to reflect this belief”.“Hesta remains committed to engaging with companies and using our shareholder votes to drive change that helps create long-term investment value for our members,” Blakey told Guardian Australia.The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors said it also supported a “one share, one vote” capital structure.“Voting is a fundamental shareholder right and one of the key ways for shareholders to ensure accountability at listed companies,” ACSI said. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rupert" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Rupert</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Murdoch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Murdoch</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/dual" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dual</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/class" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#class</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/accountability" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#accountability</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michael" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Michael</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wolff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Wolff</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Roger" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Roger</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ailes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Ailes</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Starboard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Starboard</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Value" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Value</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Smith" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Smith</a>

Chuck Darwin(2/3)For example, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rupert" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Rupert</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Murdoch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Murdoch</a> owns 17% of equity in the media empire 👉 and 39% of the voting power.“The fight for control of the Murdoch empire is only magnified by the <a href="https://c.im/tags/dual" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dual</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/class" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#class</a> structure,” says Charles Elson, a leading authority on US corporate governance issues. “The idea is I am the smartest person in the world and I should run the company as its king. Other shareholders can say we believe you. If that’s a condition of investing, so be it.”❌But critics of unequal dual-class voting say the structure weakens executive accountability. “That’s the problem – it basically destroys <a href="https://c.im/tags/accountability" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#accountability</a>,” says Elson.Passing that power on generationally, he adds, only makes it worse. “How do you know the talent is genetic? Simply because they’re the children doesn’t mean they have the same business acumen as the father and it’s not how you pick the leader of a company or a country.”The Murdoch biographer and antagonist <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michael" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Michael</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wolff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Wolff</a> wrote recently that the late Fox News chair and CEO <a href="https://c.im/tags/Roger" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Roger</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ailes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Ailes</a> told him that the Murdoch sons, Lachlan and James, “are both wannabe little kings”. But that was before open warfare broke out.“I think they both really believe they were put on earth to show up their father, rather than the reality, which is that they would be mid-level media executives making a quarter million a year and grateful for it, without their old man.”Earlier this month, the hedge fund <a href="https://c.im/tags/Starboard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Starboard</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Value" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Value</a> sent a letter to shareholders of News Corp, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, calling for the company to eliminate its dual-class share structure.In the letter, the Starboard CEO, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Smith" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Smith</a>, argued: “This transition of power from Rupert Murdoch to his children has allowed for complicated family dynamics to potentially impact the stability and strategic direction of News Corp.”Four Murdoch children with voting rights, Smith added, “could be paralyzing to the strategic direction” and, more importantly: “We are not sure why their perspectives should carry greater weight than the views of other shareholders.”News Corp said it believed its dual-class capital structure “promotes stability and has facilitated the successful implementation of News Corp’s transformational strategy and long-term outperformance for all News Corp stockholders”.The outcome of the Nevada court battle will not immediately affect the family’s control of the Murdoch empire but could in the fullness of time if Murdoch dies or becomes incapacitated. “If the stock is split up and the family doesn’t get along, the company could face real challenges and it becomes a very bumpy road for the other investors who are not part of the drama.”But as the caravan of Black SUVs ferried warring Murdochs in and out of court last week, there was at least one certainty, Elson says. While Rupert Murdoch still lives, the company remains firmly under his thumb.“Rupert Murdoch calls the shots and when he’s gone he really doesn’t have that worry any more. -- He’s done.”

Chuck DarwinA disciplinary panel in Washington has found that <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Clark" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Clark</a>, a former high-ranking Justice Department official, <a href="https://c.im/tags/violated" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#violated</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ethics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ethics</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/rules" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#rules</a> for lawyers in his attempt to aid Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election. The three-member disciplinary committee determined Thursday that Clark’s campaign to pressure Justice Department leaders to help <a href="https://c.im/tags/upend" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#upend</a> the <a href="https://c.im/tags/transfer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#transfer</a> of <a href="https://c.im/tags/power" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#power</a> to Joe Biden violated his duties as an attorney.<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/jeffrey-clark-ethics-rules-00150631" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/jeffrey-clark-ethics-rules-00150631</a>

Chuck DarwinHow GOP Megadonor <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Yass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Yass</a> Can Clean Up on <a href="https://c.im/tags/TikTok" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TikTok</a>’s Forced SaleThe Pennsylvania billionaire has former TikTok detractors backing off a ban, but he’ll be sitting pretty if a US takeover happens.&nbsp;A top Republican donor, Yass publicly discouraged Trump from running in the 2024 election. Yass initially supported Florida Governor Ron <a href="https://c.im/tags/DeSantis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DeSantis</a> before spreading his bets between Vivek <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ramaswamy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Ramaswamy</a>, Chris <a href="https://c.im/tags/Christie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Christie</a>, and Tim <a href="https://c.im/tags/Scott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Scott</a>. But as Trump once again steamrolled his primary competitors, Yass reached out and ♦️asked him to speak at a retreat for a powerful right-wing business PAC♦️, the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Club" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Club</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/for" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#for</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Growth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Growth</a>, which has pulled in $61 million in donations from Yass since 2010. The Club for Growth also happens to be employing former Trump adviser Kellyanne <a href="https://c.im/tags/Conway" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Conway</a> to lobby on behalf of TikTok on Capitol Hill.The retreat seemed to go exactly as planned. Trump praised Yass as “fantastic,” and he emerged as a critic of a TikTok ban. “If you get rid of TikTok, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Facebook" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Facebook</a> and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Zuckerschmuck" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Zuckerschmuck</a> will double their business,” Trump posted last week on Truth Social. “I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!”Yass, meanwhile, is now a certified Trump crony. The 68-year-old is the richest man in Pennsylvania, with an estimated fortune of about $28 billion derived from options trading and venture-capital investments —including a sizable interest in TikTok. Local politicos and activist groups have long faced off against Yass and his bottomless war chest in fights over education, social welfare, and unions. Arielle Klagsbrun, deputy campaign director at the Action Center on Race & the Economy ( <a href="https://c.im/tags/ACRE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ACRE</a> ), described Yass as a “next generation <a href="https://c.im/tags/Koch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Koch</a> brother…someone who is rigging the rules to privatize our schools while also not paying his fair share of taxes.”“His disdain for teachers’ unions, in particular, is profound,” said Klagsbrun, characterizing Yass’s influence as “corporate <a href="https://c.im/tags/authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#authoritarianism</a> in our democracy.” ACRE is pressing Pennsylvania elected officials to refuse to take money from Yass in the 2024 cycle. <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/how-tiktok-funder-jeffrey-yass-can-clean-up-on-the-apps-forced-sale/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.thenation.com/article/society/how-tiktok-funder-jeffrey-yass-can-clean-up-on-the-apps-forced-sale/</a>

Chuck DarwinBoth <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Jeffrey</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Clark" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Clark</a> and former White House chief of staff <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mark" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Mark</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Meadows" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Meadows</a> have sought to move their cases from Fulton County to federal court. On Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones to reject those motions — arguing Clark and Meadows were seeking to circumvent regular criminal procedure by asking a judge to block state authorities from arresting them.  In response to Meadows’s request, prosecutors pointed out that another “<a href="https://c.im/tags/former" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#former</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/federal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#federal</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/officer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#officer</a> … the former president of the United States” had “agreed to voluntarily surrender to state authorities.”<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/23/trump-indictment-georgia/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/23/trump-indictment-georgia/</a>

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