InfluenceWatch Podcast

Over the past week, Los Angeles has been rocked by demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that have been punctuated by violent riots, with rioters throwing bricks at police vehicles and standing atop burned-out cars waving Mexican flags. But who is behind the demonstrators, as reports emerge of activists handing out brand-new face shields and the usual preprinted signs pop up among the demonstrators? Joining us to explore that question is Mia Cathell, an investigative reporter for the Washington Examiner.Who is funding the anti-ICE activists in LA?Trump’s Unapologetic Defense of the Rule of LawThe L.A. Riots Prove the Left Has Learned NothingNo One Wants Another ‘Summer of Love,’ Right?Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Regardless of his recent falling out with President Trump over the size of the “Big Beautiful Bill” tax and spending package or personal beefs, Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” team performed at least one extremely useful public service: They highlighted the extent to which the “nongovernmental organization” (NGO) sector is actually the “basically governmental organization” (BGO) sector, with millions of dollars in grants and contracts supporting weird projects and thinly (and sometimes not even thinly) disguised Everything Leftist activism. Our boss, CRC president Scott Walter, was invited to testify before the House Oversight Committee’s DOGE Subcommittee; he joins us to discuss his testimony.Scott Walter’s Oral Testimony to House DOGE SubcommitteeAmerican Center for International Labor Solidarity (Solidarity Center)Trump’s DOGE Will End But CRC’s Investigations Won’t

The second Trump administration has conducted an aggressive campaign against Harvard University, targeting its use of racial considerations in admissions and hiring and its apparent lack of concern for the rights of its Jewish students. Among the proposals the administration is considering to retaliate against Harvard is taking away its charitable tax status; our guest today sees that not as an end, but merely the beginning of the debate, with a provocative argument that all charities should have certain tax advantages removed from the tax code. Joining us to discuss the possible effects of such a policy is National Review’s John Fund.https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/05/dont-stop-with-harvard/https://committeetounleashprosperity.com/hotline/

At one point, in the minds of its writers and supporters, perhaps The Bulwark really was about providing a “bulwark” for “conserving conservatism” in opposition to the right-populism of once and future President Donald Trump. But as our colleague Ken Braun recounts in his series on the evolution of the publication, The Bulwark has become little more than just another outlet regurgitating Democratic Party talking points. Ken joins us to discuss the past, present, and future of The Bulwark.The Bulwark: Birth of The BulwarkThe Bulwark: From Nonprofit to ProfitsThe Bulwark: Making a Business of Trump DerangementThe Bulwark: Take Away TrumpThe DDT Network: A Rich Never Trump Machine Built to Last12th Amendment22nd Amendment

In an era when fewer than six percent of private-sector workers are union members, it’s easy to forget how forceful Big Labor’s activists can be when they’re out rooting for dues and political power. Joining us to discuss how Unite Here has exercised its coercive power over working Americans is Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.Influence Watch profile for "Unite Here"Influence Watch profile for "Culinary Workers Union, Local 226"The Reality of Union Bullying by UNITE HERE

Before we begin, a programming note: Starting this week, we will be releasing the podcast on Tuesday mornings.For over seven years, InfluenceWatch.org has served the interested public as a resource on the groups and people influencing (see what we did there?) public policy. But now, Capital Research Center is launching a toolkit to help educators introduce their students to our behind-the-scenes information on American politics and policy. Joining us to discuss the new “InfluenceWatch Educational Guide” is former schoolteacher and Capital Research Center senior fellow Kali Fontanilla.Bringing Critical Thinking to the ClassroomInfluenceWatch Educational GuideKamala Harris paid LeBron James' entertainment company $50,000 for 'campaign event production'

It’s 2025 in America, but news reports of antitrust lawsuits which, if successful, could potentially lead to at least a partial breakup of some of the biggest tech companies in the world, hearken back to the early 1900s when Standard Oil was fundamentally restructured and the Federal Trade Commission was created. Names like Meta, Google, Amazon, and Apple – they’re all being examined for potential anticompetitive behavior, with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg recently taking the stand and Google entering a remedy phase to ameliorate what a Court decided was behavior violating antitrust law. The political giving associated with these companies suggests that the outcomes of these suits could affect not just individual platform users but also possibly the broader American political landscape. Joining the podcast today to discuss these developments is Daniel Cochrane, Senior Research Associate in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation.Mark Zuckerberg Wants Us to Forgive, Forget Facebook’s Sins

It can seem infuriating: Leftist demonstrators wantonly violate the law, only to face no or negligible consequences because the powers that be either support or refuse to oppose their disruptive tactics. But as a famous progressive politician was fond of saying, “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.” Last month, a North Dakota jury awarded Energy Transfer, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline, $667 million in justice, holding that Greenpeace USA had defamed the company during demonstrations against the pipeline. Joining us to discuss the protests, the verdict, and what it might mean for leftist activism going forward is James Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.Greenpeace Verdict Is a Wake-Up Call for Progressive NGOsGreenpeace ordered to pay Dakota Access Pipeline operator $667 million in case that could destroy the groupLetter from a Birmingham Jail — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Dismantle the “Environmental Justice” Juggernaut

Hello, I’m Michael Watson joined by Robert Stilson and this is the InfluenceWatch Podcast. There’s an odd thing about the loud demonstrators protesting Israel in the year and a half since the Hamas attacks on the country in October 2023: They don’t like America much either. And now, there’s documentary proof to go along with the suppositions derived from protest literature, marchers’ signs, and ideological manifestos. Our colleague Ryan Mauro, an expert on political extremism and Middle East policy, has detailed the increase in anti-American and anti-law-enforcement sloganeering by pro-Palestinian groups since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.How “Pro-Palestinian” Protest Groups Promote Anti-AmericanismOrganizational ExamplesPrevalence of Charities Among Radical Groups

While we at Capital Research Center may not have a favorite Internal Revenue Service regulation, we do find one to be particularly relevant to our work on nonprofits in the public policy process: “Restriction of political campaign intervention by Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations.” Long story short, if you’re a public charity, you’re free to be ideological, but you cannot endorse or support candidates for office. And New Georgia Project, the charitable-nonprofit voter outreach group of serial Georgia candidate Stacey Abrams, is on the hot seat for allegedly breaking that regulation, with the group paying a state fine for campaign finance violations, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee asking the IRS to revoke the group’s tax exemption, and the state Senate investigating the Abrams-New Georgia relationship. Campaign finance expert Hans Von Spakovsky joins us to discuss what’s going on down in Georgia.New Georgia Project Leader Resigns After Ethics FineStacey Abrams-founded nonprofit faces crackdown threat from House GOP's top tax writerGeorgia Senate targets Stacey Abrams voting organization in new investigation