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If I could provide just one piece of free advice in public advocacy, it’s this: Don’t openly say you messed up on an on-record call with a reporter—you might as well be bleeding in a tank full of piranhas. But the principal officer of Fix the Court, a liberal organization spun out of the Arabella Advisors “dark money” empire advancing “transparency” changes to the Supreme Court as part of a liberal full-court press towards “packing” the court with additional left-wing rubber-stamp votes, did just that on a call with today’s guest, Gabe Kaminsky of the Washington Examiner. Also joining us is my colleague Parker Thayer, who reported on some financial non-transparency at Fix the Court. Links: Fix the Court May Have Financial Disclosure Problems Supreme Court 'transparency' charity director panics over IRS donor leak: 'I just f***ed up' Supreme Court 'transparency' group hammered by Judiciary GOP over IRS donor blunder Disinformation Inc: Meet the groups hauling in cash to secretly blacklist conservative news Follow us on our Social Channels: Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

This week, Justice Department Special Counsel John Durham issued the final report on his investigation into Crossfire Hurricane, better known as the “Russia collusion investigation” targeting the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Joining us to discuss the broader “Russiagate” scandal and the Durham Report is Ken Braun, who wrote InfluenceWatch’s extensive profile on the unsubstantiated allegations of “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russian government entities and the checkered history of the FBI. Links: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Trump-Russia Collusion Claims Jim Baker Follow us on our Social Channels: Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

Title 42, an emergency policy allowing U.S. authorities to send border-crossers back whence they came (usually Mexico) on public-health grounds, is ending with the COVID-19 public health emergency. And with the Biden administration extremely lackadaisical, to put it mildly, in its approach to general immigration law enforcement, what does the end of Title 42 portend at the US-Mexico border? Joining us today to discuss the end of Title 42 and her work investigating the role of nonprofit organizations in carrying out the Biden administration’s near-as-makes-no-difference open-border policy is Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center for the Heritage Foundation. Links: Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. Congress Must End the Exploitation of Unaccompanied Alien Children Biden Shovels Millions to Nonprofits to Aid His Open-Border Schemes. Congress Must Cut Off Cash Spigot Congress Should Stop Funding the Biden Administration’s Open-Borders Follow us on our Social Channels: Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

I’m Sarah Lee, and this is the Influence Watch podcast. With news last month that Visa and Mastercard had paused a plan to track gun purchases, and last year’s SCOTUS decision that struck down a New York law that put restrictions on concealed firearms used for self-defense, conservatives seem to be winning on the gun issue. In fact, more women and minorities – and even progressives – are buying guns for self-defense. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2021 that during the COVID pandemic, gun sales soared, and more than half of those buyers were women. Joining my colleague Mike Watson and me today is Dianna Muller, the founder of DC Project, a women-focused guns rights nonprofit in DC with chapters all over the country dedicated to fighting for the constitutional right to self-defense. Hi Dianna, welcome to the show. Links: DC Project Women for Gun Rights DC Project Women for Gun Rights - Dianna Muller - Founder Visa, Mastercard pause decision to track gun shop purchases Women Are Nearly Half of New Gun Buyers, Study Finds Supreme Court strikes down New York gun law, expanding concealed carry rights The Policies of Gun Control Advocacy Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

I’m Sarah Lee, and this is the Influence Watch podcast. Yesterday, three years after the COVID pandemic lockdowns began, American Federation of Teachers union president Randi Weingarten, who many feel was the public face of extended school lockdowns, testified in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Weingarten, who had spent most of her time during the pandemic loudly decrying attempts to reopen schools – calling plans from the last administration to reopen in late 2020 “callous” and “cruel” -- struck a decidedly different tone before Congress, insisting her goal was always getting kids back to in-person instruction, an assertion that was rather hilariously fact-checked by Twitter’s community notes Thursday. Here to discuss the hearing are my colleagues Mike Watson and Parker Thayer. Weingarten Tweet Free Beacon Tweet Beware Teachers Unions Bearing School Reopening Talk Randi Weingarten says 'Biden transition team’ was first to solicit union’s advice on schools reopening This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

If the “ESG”—environmental, social, and governance—movement had a guiding text, it would the Proxy Preview. Put out by the corporate social responsibility investing nonprofit As You Sow, the Proxy Preview details all the ESG “shareholder resolutions” that activist shareholders, government worker and labor union pension funds, and left-of-center nonprofits want American businesses to adopt. Joining us to discuss the Proxy Preview and the organizations behind it is our colleague, Capital Research Center research specialist Robert Stilson. Sources: The Proxy Preview: ESG in 2023 Influence Watch ESG Activism Hub As You Sow Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

The Athenai Institute is a college student-led organization that seeks to limit the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on U.S. college campuses. Since their inception in 2020, they have worked to help young people understand not only the often-underreported billion dollar financial relationship between the U.S. academic sector and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but how the CCP exports their surveillance state techniques -- through apps like the infamous TikTok -- that serve to both downplay the regime's human rights abuses for American students, but to keep Chinese students studying in the U.S. in line and loyal to the CCP. Joining Sarah Lee on the podcast today to discuss these subjects and Congress' new moves on China is John Metz, co-founder, current board member, and former president of the Athenai Institute. Links: https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/athenai-institute/ https://athenai.org/ https://thepienews.com/news/chinese-student-pro-democracy/ http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/3.15.23-UPenn-Letter8.pdf Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

National Public Radio is adamant: Nobody is going to make you eat the bugs. In fact, NPR says that believing governments and environmentalist activists want to make you eat the bugs is a conspiracy theory! Oh, and if you don’t want to eat the bugs, you’re little different than Europeans who would not eat indigenous American foods during the period of colonization. But is that really the case? Do major advocacy groups like the World Economic Forum and the broader environmentalist movement in fact want to change what we eat? Joining us to discuss all this is Jim Lakely, vice president and director of communications for the Heartland Institute. Links: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/31/1166649732/conspiracy-theory-eating-bugs-4chan https://capitalresearch.org/article/they-really-believe-youll-be-happy/ https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/05/supervillains-gather-in-davos/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-great-reset-and-its-critics-part-5/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

This week, a spree shooter killed six people at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee; our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and the others affected. Now, even as they have campaigned to take away gun rights in response to similar spree shootings, left-wing interest groups have pushed to remove school resource officers—cops who work directly with the school community—from public schools. Joining me to discuss this anti-police campaign is CRC Senior Fellow Kali Fontanilla, a former teacher in California. Links: https://dcist.com/story/23/02/10/dc-debates-police-in-schools/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

What connects the disruptive protests against a conservative judge’s speech to Stanford Law and the arrests of over two dozen demonstrators outside Atlanta? Both involved people aligned with the National Lawyers Guild, a radical-left association of attorneys, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers. Joining me to discuss the NLG is our colleague Robert Stilson, who has written and researched extensively on the history of the Guild. Links: https://capitalresearch.org/article/national-lawyers-guild-part-1/ https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/national-lawyers-guild/ https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/national-lawyers-guild-foundation/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/atlanta-cop-city-attacks-georgia-police-training-site-63c4cf40 https://www.wsj.com/articles/struggle-session-at-stanford-law-school-federalist-society-kyle-duncan-circuit-court-judge-steinbach-4f8da19e?mod=article_inline Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

To readers of the Capital Research Center or InfluenceWatch, none of the findings reported by New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz and stay-at-home mother, children’s book editor, and political commentator Bethany Mandel in their book Stolen Youth: How Radicals are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation will be that surprising; capture of institutions ranging from school boards to the American Academy of Pediatrics by left-of-center interests will be familiar. But the details and personal accounts Mandel and Markowicz summon to warn parents about the direct challenges by left-wing interests to their children’s well-being are alarming. Joining me to discuss the book is co-author Bethany Mandel. Links: Link to Book: https://store.dailywire.com/products/stolen-youth-by-bethany-mandel-and-karol-markowicz Stolen Youth and the Power of the Powerless: https://capitalresearch.org/article/stolen-youth-and-the-power-of-the-powerless/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

In late 2021, following a class action suit in which the Supreme Court decided some college athletes should be allowed to earn money off their image and likeness, a Biden administration lawyer with the National Labor Relations Board named Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo clarifying that some college athletes could now be considered employees of state universities.This memo led to breathless articles from well-known, hard left outlets like In These Times arguing that employees of the state designation meant potential unionization of college athletes and, as In These Times said, “a new progressive institution powerful enough to bend the South to its will.”This idea gained traction in December of last year when the NLRB determined that the Pac 12 Conference and the University of Southern California were indeed employers of athletes at the school and were violating the law by failing to treat student basketball and football players as employees.Joining me today to discuss sports unions and the possibility of collective bargaining at the collegiate level is my colleague Mike Watson. Links: https://inthesetimes.com/article/nlrb-college-football-union-labor-ncaa-abruzzo https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/ncaa-violated-athletes-labor-rights-us-labor-officials-say https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/minor-league-baseball-players-unionize-minor-leaguers-officially-join-mlbpa-after-authorization/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2022/02/12/players-union-unimpressed-with-mlbs-new-proposal-lockout/6767700001/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

Thirty years ago, Al Gore took office as Vice President of the United States. Over the intervening period, he has lost a campaign for President and reinvented himself as the Nobel Peace Laureate-branded conscience of the climate movement. But years removed from his film An Inconvenient Truth and with countries like Germany following his environmentalist policy prescriptions, has Gore’s vision borne out? Joining me to assess are my colleagues Ken Braun and Parker Thayer. Links: Al Gore's 30 Years of Climate Errors Part 1: https://capitalresearch.org/article/al-gores-30-years-of-climate-errors-part-1/ Al Gore's 30 Years of Climate Errors Part 6: https://capitalresearch.org/article/al-gores-30-years-of-climate-errors-part-6/ Al Gore's 30 Years of Clmate Errors Part 7: https://capitalresearch.org/article/al-gores-30-years-of-climate-errors-part-7/ Al Gore - InfluenceWatch: https://www.influencewatch.org/person/al-gore/ They Really Believe You'll Be Happy: https://capitalresearch.org/article/they-really-believe-youll-be-happy/ Soup Throwing Aside, Environmental Activists Are Still Ruining People’s Lives: https://capitalresearch.org/article/soup-throwing-aside-environmental-activists-are-still-ruining-peoples-lives/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

Are America and broader Western Civilization in crisis? Today’s guest, author Spencer Klavan, says yes, and he has written How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises to outline the problems facing the West and the philosophical resources that its defenders have to fall back on in its defense. Links: Making Meta Mandatory: https://capitalresearch.org/article/making-meta-mandatory/ How to Save the West: https://www.regnery.com/9781684513451/how-to-save-the-west/ Federalist Radio Hour: https://ricochet.com/podcast/federalist-radio-hour/spencer-klavan-on-how-to-save-the-west/ Soul Dysphoria: https://ricochet.com/podcast/federalist-radio-hour/spencer-klavan-on-how-to-save-the-west/ Judith Butler - Influence Watch: https://www.influencewatch.org/person/judith-butler/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

We’re doing something a little different this week: We are joined by Rusty Brown of the Freedom Foundation for a bit of government-worker union wonkery. Brown and his colleagues have been researching certain financial products that the National Education Association markets to its members, and they have many questions about how it all works and whether members are being taken for a ride. Links: Fighting for Workers' Rights: https://www.freedomfoundation.com/ Influence Watch: National Education Association (NEA): https://www.influencewatch.org/labor-union/national-education-association-nea/ Government Unions After Wisconsin: https://capitalresearch.org/article/government-unions-after-wisconsin/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

The recent Supreme Court case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that curtailed a state's ability to infringe on Americans' right to carry publicly for their own self defense has brought the 2nd Amendment fight back to the headlines as defenders celebrate and gun control activists plan to counter the ruling. Larry Correia, a firearms expert and successful novelist, chose this time to write a nonfiction book called "In Defense of the Second Amendment," to both explain why winning this particular culture war is necessary and to dismantle arguments from the left about gun control. He addresses everything from the importance of self defense as a core tenet of free societies, to the statistics about gun crime and gun ownership, to the benefit of getting trained and involved in the fight against mass shooters and tyranny. Mr. Correia joins the Influence Watch podcast this week to discuss his book.  Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

Equal treatment under the law, regardless of race: One would think that all could agree on that principle, but in states and localities across the country—even in Republican-controlled states—that principle is giving way to programs that restrict eligibility based on skin color. Joining my colleague Sarah Lee and I to discuss these programs and how to challenge them legally is Glenn Roper, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation. Links: https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/3778095-are-georgia-and-oklahoma-racially-discriminating-in-a-homeowners-covid-relief-program/ https://pacificlegal.org/the-washington-examiner-agricultural-programs-should-focus-on-opportunity-not-equity/ Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

In 2022, Arizona passed one of the most comprehensive school-choice programs in the nation. But later that year, the state elected Katie Hobbs a governor who is backed by the teachers’ unions, and she has targeted that program for elimination, even as other states like Iowa and Texas consider similar expansions to school choice programs. Joining my colleague Hayden Ludwig and I to discuss Arizona’s proposed retreat as other states advance school choice is Jason Bedrick, research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. Links: Education Freedom Report Card: https://www.heritage.org/educationreportcard/ Katie Hobbs Wants to Turn Back the Clock on School Choice: https://www.wsj.com/articles/arizona-gov-katie-hobbs-wants-to-turn-back-the-clock-on-school-choice-esas-budget-children-11673896303 Iowa and Utah Lead States on School Choice Progress: https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/iowa-and-utah-lead-states-school-choice-progress-the-new-year Follow us on our Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

It is well known that George Soros and his Open Society Foundations are major funders of left-wing advocacy, but a new report from Media Research Center shines the light on one facet of that advocacy. According to MRC’s research, Soros and his associated philanthropies have funded 253 organizations involved in activist media worldwide. Joining me and my colleague Sarah Lee to discuss Soros’s funding of left-wing media, the broader universe of foundation-funded journalism, and what it all means is Media Research Center associate editor Joseph Vazquez. Links: George Soros: Philosophy - https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-part-1/ Propaganda Powerhouse - https://cdn.mrc.org/static/pdfuploads/PropagandaPowerhousePart1FINAL.pdf-1670340182273.pdf Propaganda Czar - https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2022/12/06/propaganda-czar-soros-bankrolls-253-groups-influence Follow us on Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement

If you believe Axios and the Washington Post, this is just the latest GOP and conservative culture war: A ban on gas stoves proposed by the Biden administration-controlled Consumer Product Safety Commission. But like so many things that the media tells us aren’t happening, until they are, and then you’re a bigot for opposing them, the Left is coming for gas stoves—and all gas appliances, if not convenience itself. Joining me to discuss the proposed ban on gas stoves, the publishers of the shoddy “science” behind it, and the far-reaching desires of the Left to reduce Americans’ standard of living are my colleagues Ken Braun and Parker Thayer. Links: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/01/the-only-proper-response-to-a-national-gas-stove-ban/ https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/rocky-mountain-institute/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/anti-humanist-environmentalism-part-1/ https://capitalresearch.org/article/anti-humanist-environmentalism-people-as-pollution/ Follow us on Socials: Twitter: @capitalresearch Instagram: @capitalresearchcenter Facebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenter YouTube: @capitalresearchcenter This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5837808/advertisement