The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 1, 2023

Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

A trial opened Monday in a Denver, Colorado courtroom to determine whether former President Donald Trump should be excluded from the 2024 Colorado ballot.  Similar cases are pending in Minnesota and Michigan.

The basis for all the cases is the 14th Amendment’s Section 3 prohibition of any federal or state office holder who has taken an oath to protect the U.S. Constitution from engaging in “insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S., or giving aid or comfort to its enemies.

The Insurrection Act has been used only a handful of times in American history, primarily to keep former Confederate leaders from holding elected office after the Civil War.  

With the legal help of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters sued, alleging that Trump  engaged in an insurrection by inciting a violent mob on January 6th, 2021 in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election.  The former President’s lawyers argue that he did NOT engage in insurrection or rebellion, and framed the suit as “election interference” to stop his current candidacy.  

Legal scholars suggest the lack of precedence, and a resulting debate over whether a President is even subject to the clause, will make it a difficult case to win.

We have the full text of the insurrection act, and articles on the pending cases at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
The Atlantic – The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President AgainNPR – 5 things to know about the 14th Amendment effort to block Trump from the presidencyColorado Newsline – Trump 14th Amendment trial in Colorado opens with focus on events of Jan. 6
Associated Press – Lawyers argue whether the Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ clause blocks Trump from the 2024 ballot
Reuters – Trump should be disqualified from 2024 ballot over Jan. 6 riot, advocates say at trial
Michigan Advance – Michigan judge fast-tracks lawsuit to force Trump off the ballot in Michigan
Minnesota Public Radio – Minnesota lawsuit seeks to keep Trump off 2024 ballot
Derek Muller, Election Law Blog –   Colorado trial court botches interpretation of Electoral Count Reform Act in rush to get Trump ballot access case to hearing

Groups Taking Action:
C.R.E.W., Free Speech for People, Mi Familia Vota

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #14thAmendment #InsurrectionAct #January6th  #ColoradoPolitics #StoptheSteal

The post Colorado, Minnesota & Michigan Courts Consider “Insurrection Act” Cases Attempting to Keep Trump Off the Ballot appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 15, 2022

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

 Journalist Tiffany Fong – Interview with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Campaign donation discussions at 13 minutes)
CNBC – Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried hit with campaign finance complaint over GOP ‘dark’ money
Forbes – Sam Bankman-Fried says he donated just as many millions to Republicans as Democrats, but didn’t publicize it because reporters would ‘freak the f–k out’
The Hill – FTX founder Bankman-Fried’s campaign finance charges ‘just the tip of the iceberg

OpenSecrets.org – Largest Campaign Donors

Groups Taking Action:
Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, Open Democracy
 

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Recent revelations from a disgraced cryptocurrency CEO gives us a glimpse of just how much campaign money flows into our election system – both what gets reported, and what’s called “dark money.”  And both the major parties refuse to stop the torrent.

In an interview with journalist Tiffany Fong in November, FTX crypto exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now in custody in the Bahamas, admitted that he had not only given $40 million to Democrats and Democratic PACs to fund primary races, but he said he also gave an equal amount of “dark money” to Republican candidates.   It’s not known which dark money organizations, but typically 501c3 & 501c4 nonprofits, Limited Liability Corporations and other instruments are used to shield donor identities. 

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, has since filed a campaign finance reform complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. CREW suggested that Bankman-Fried contributed as much as $37 Million more to campaigns than was reported to the FEC, and says that while the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allows independent expenditures to groups, it doesn’t not allow those groups to “pass through” donations directly to candidates. 

Several politicians, including Arizona U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, have reportedly returned money given to them by Bankman-Fried.  

We have links to the campaign funding transparency website OpenSecrets, and more details on the allegations at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Revelations from Crypto CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Show How Reported – And Unreported -Money Funds Our Candidates appeared first on American Democracy Minute.