InfluenceWatch Podcast

A new presidential administration does not typically mean new management at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but typically the incumbent FBI director did not oversee the FBI when it raided the President-elect’s house. Given that fact and other standing disputes with the Bureau, it is not surprising that President-elect Donald Trump and Senator Chuck Grassley have informed FBI Director Christopher Wray that he does not have the confidence of both the incoming administration and the incoming Senate majority. President-elect Trump has announced his intention to nominate Kash Patel, a former Congressional staffer and national security staffer in the first Trump administration, to replace Wray. Here to discuss how the FBI got here and where it might go in the next administration is our colleague, Ken Braun.Links: Pursuing the FBI’s “Wicked” Russiagate PerpsThe FBI’s Bad Apples: The Bureau’s Worst Days Are Worth RememberingMatt Taibbi: Kash Patel was totally vindicatedFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)Follow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Donald Trump has made quick work of nominating potential cabinet members, and many of those picks – while controversial – are being met with nods – albeit sometimes lukewarm nods -- by both conservative voters and Republican legislators.One pick, however, stands out as being not only controversial but downright anti-conservative. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Labor, is a nominal Republican but supports legislation like the pro-unionboss PRO Act, and during her single term in Congress, co-sponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which National Review recently argued “would force the blue-state model of government unions onto red states.”Here to discuss this confusing nomination, why Trump may have chosen her, and what her chances are for confirmation are my colleague and labor expert Mike Watson and Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Committee.Links: Lori Chavez-DeRemer Wants to Ban the Red-State ModelPRO Act Just Gives Unions More PowerNational Right To Work CommitteeFollow Trump 45 Labor Policy, Not the Teamsters UnionFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

For us at the Capital Research Center, Christmas comes in mid-November. Not because of election results or an inability to read the calendar, but because of the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline for filing nonprofit tax returns after exhausting the automatic extensions. This means we get new insight into how the left-wing dark money networks that we track every mid-November, and no left-wing dark money network is more important than the Arabella Advisors network of nonprofit funding groups. Joining me to discuss their findings from the Arabella sister nonprofits’ latest tax returns are my colleagues Robert Stilson and Parker Thayer.Links: New Venture Fund 990Sixteen Thirty Fund 990North Fund 990Hopewell Fund 990Windward Fund 990Telescope Fund 990Follow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Wall Street Journal called it the “sleeper issue” of the 2024 election—“progressive transgender coercion.” But our guest today argues that it wasn’t the “sleeper issue”—it was the central issue. Now that the election is behind us, May Mailman, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, joins us to discuss how the left-wing push on transgender issues has drawn public blowback.Links: How Radical Gender Ideology Became The Central Issue Of 2024 ElectionTransgender Sports Is a 2024 Sleeper IssueThe Democrats’ Insanity DefenseCrystal’s Story | Female Inmate Says Washington’s Trans Prison Policy Has Robbed Her of Her Religious FreedomBiden Administration Gives Universities and Children’s Hospitals $100 Million to Prop Up TransgenderismFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the nation awaits the final results in a few dozen House races, the subject of gerrymandering has once again reared its head. This little understood – and often misunderstood – process of drawing congressional maps has been a subject of discussion in state legislatures and activist enclaves since the practice began in the early 1800s. Both right and left routinely accuse each other of manipulating the process even while both sides openly try to make it work in their interest. Now, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a dispute in Louisiana over the question of racial gerrymandering and a citizen-led gerrymandering proposal fails in Ohio, the question of gerrymandering is once again in the news. Here to shed light on this most confusing American political process – or tactic, depending on your perspective -- are my colleagues Mike Watson and Ken Braun.Links: Supreme Court takes up Louisiana racial gerrymandering disputeThe Myth of Non-Partisan Districts: An Experiment in Redistricting ReformIssue 1 fails big in Ohio despite massive money advantageMichigan’s Racist Redistricting “Reform”Chesapeake Bay BridgeFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As political parties, candidates, and the increasingly relevant party-aligned but technically independent activist groups that have come to dominate the post-McCain-Feingold world work to draw Americans out to the polls, new innovations have raised the hackles of observers and left citizens asking, “Can they actually do that?” Joining us to make sense of some of the more prominent innovations is Brad Smith, former Chair of the Federal Election Commission, professor of law at Ohio’s Capital University, and chairman of the Institute for Free Speech.Links: Institute for Free SpeechThe new dark money: How influencers get paid big bucks to court your voteElon Musk case over $1 million voter giveaway moved to federal courtFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Will the 2024 election be administered more effectively and more fairly than the 2020 election? There’s reason to believe in many states that it might be, and advocates have made election integrity—making it easy for citizens to vote and hard for politicians to cheat—a key focus of their efforts. Joining us to discuss efforts to protect election integrity in the upcoming and in future elections is Fred Lucas, a reporter for the Daily Signal.Links: Election Integrity Wins: SAVE ActElection Integrity Wins: 2024 vs. 2020 ElectionsElection Integrity Wins: Noncitizen VotingElection Integrity Wins: Winning in CourtElection Integrity Wins: Texas vs. Big TechFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

This week marked the first anniversary of the October 7th, 2023 attacks against Israel by Iranian-backed terrorist groups, most prominently Hamas. Unfortunately, in addition to solemn remembrance, the anniversary was marked by more demonstrations by the activists some might call Hamas-glampers who have come to support irredentist Palestinian nationalism. Our colleague Ryan Mauro, an expert on political extremism, has released a report detailing the pro-terrorist connections and allegiances of over 150 of the groups upholding these demonstrations, and he joins us today to discuss his findings. Link: Marching Toward Violence: The Domestic Anti-Israeli Protest MovementFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the country moves through a contentious election season, where the state of the economy and worries over inflation have been a major talking point, a new economic hazard has appeared on the horizon threatening to hammer the American consumer just as Hurricane Helene threatened – and then did – hammer the Southeast: the International Longshoreman Association, a union of dockworkers who manage the transport, loading, unloading, and all other things associated with shipping containers at the nation’s ports, threatened – and then did – go on strike over wages and automation of their jobs. Here to explain what’s happening, what it could mean for the American consumer right before a busy holiday shopping season, and if any deal or government action may be forthcoming are my colleague and usual podcast host Mike Watson, who also happens to be our labor expert, and Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute here in Washington, DC specializing in labor and employment issues. Links: Sean Higginshttps://cei.org/blog/white-house-has-serval-option-in-dockworkers-strike-none-of-them-good/The real issue in the port strike: AutomationPRO Act Just Gives Unions More PowerFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Anybody who has scoffed at the proliferation of t-shirts bearing the image of Che Guevara, the famous associate of Fidel Castro who among other things oversaw purges of political opponents following Castro’s seizure of power, on college campuses knows that sectors of “elite” American society have an unhealthy appreciation for the repressive Communist dictatorship that has ruled Cuba since 1959. But for the subjects of today’s program, the Venceremos Brigades, backed by infrastructure support from the radical-left wing of Big Philanthropy, their unhealthy appreciation becomes outright support, as members travel to the Communist-ruled island to offer labor in exchange for ideological formation. Joining me to discuss the Venceremos Brigades’ history, their influence, and what they tell us about America’s radical left are my colleagues Robert Stilson and Ken Braun.Links: Venceremos BrigadeThe Venceremos BrigadeThe People’s ForumA Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech MogulFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter