Project 2025 plans to shield rightwing extremism will lead to ‘vigilante violence’

>>> >>> THERE HAS BEEN A MARKET RISE IN FAR RIGHT VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN AMERICA. THE JANUARY 6 INSURRECTION BEING THE LARGEST EXAMPLE. >>> PROJECT 2025, THE FAR RIGHT BLUEPRINT FOR A SECOND TRUMP PRESIDENCY WOULD NOT ONLY PROTECT, BUT IN SOME CASES, AMPLIFY THIS KIND OF EXTREMISM. I TALK ABOUT PROJECT 2025 ON EVERY SINGLE SHOW. SOME OF ITS EXTREMIST PROPOSALS ARE STATED QUITE DIRECTLY IN EXPLICITLY. SOME ARE QUOTE. ALL OF THE THREATS IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE REAL AND THEY ARE IN FACT ALL TIED TO DONALD TRUMP, DESPITE HIS TIRELESS AND DISHONEST EFFORTS TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM THEM AND FROM PROJECT 2025 AS A WHOLE. TODAY, WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT CHAPTER 17, ENTITLED, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. PROJECT 2025 WOULD TAKE AN EXPERT TO FEDERAL INVESTIGATION HATE GROUPS AND FAR RIGHT EXTREMISM, DISMISSING THESE QUOTES MANUFACTURED EXTREMISM. GOVERNMENT SCREWED CITY OF WHAT IS CURRENTLY THE NATION'S TOP NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT WOULD ALLOW THESE GROUPS TO THRIVE AND EXPAND. THE OATH KEEPERS AND PROUD BOYS, AND PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN THE JANUARY 6 INSURRECTION UNDERSCORE THE RISING THREAT OF FAR RIGHT VIOLENCE TO OUR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. WHEN MANY OF THOSE INSURRECTIONIST WERE PROSECUTED, IT EXPOSED THE TRUMP INFILTRATION OF RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM INTO THE U.S. MILITARY. NPR FOUND THAT NEARLY ONE IN FIVE INDIVIDUALS CHARGED FOR THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE CAPITAL ATTACK HAD SERVED OR WERE CURRENTLY SERVING IN THE MILITARY. IN RESPONSE, THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, UNDERTOOK A SERIES OF MEASURES FOLLOWING JANUARY 6th TO ADDRESS EXTREMIST INFILTRATION INTO THE MILITARY. PROJECT 2025 TARGETS THOSE EFFORTS DIRECTLY. ON PAGE 52, THE BLUEPRINT CALLS FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL TO RIGHTEOUSLY REVIEW THE MILITARY'S RESPONSIBILITY, AND MOVE AWAY FROM PRIORITIZING WHAT IT CALLS NONDEFENSE AND SOCIAL MATTERS, SOCIAL ENGINEERING LIKE QUOTE, MANUFACTURED EXTREMISM, THAT IT SAYS WE CAN OUR ARMED FORCES. ON PAGE 160, BY THE WAY, NOT A PART OF THE CHAPTER ON NATIONAL SECURITY, OR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, IT DIRECTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO REASSESS ITS QUOTE, DOMESTIC TERRORISM LINES OF EFFORT TO ALIGN WITH THE FUTURE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, RESOLUTELY DONALD TRUMP'S PRIORITIES. THE BLUEPRINT ON PAGE 549 CALLS FOR A QUOTE, IMMEDIATE COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF ALL MAJOR ACTIVE FBI INVESTIGATIONS AND ACTIVITIES, AND PROPOSES THAT THE FBI REDIRECT ITS FOCUS TO OTHER THREATS. OKAY. SO, WHAT ARE THE OTHER THREATS? RATHER THAN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WHITE NATIONALIST EXTREMISM, THE THREATS IT WOULD LIKE THE FBI TO FOCUS ON OUR, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVES, THE FBI. THE PLAN SPECIFICALLY CALLS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO BE REORGANIZED TO TARGET ENTITIES THAT PRACTICE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OR DEI. IN OTHER WORDS, TODAY'S REPUBLICAN PARTY SEES DIVERSITY AT THE TOP NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT AND PLANS TO TREAT IT AS SUCH. YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP. THE DOJ POLICING DEI . LAST YEAR, THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER ADDED 12 CONSERVATIVE SO- CALLED PARENTS RIGHTS GROUPS TO ITS LIST OF EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS, WARNING THAT CERTAIN HATE GROUPS HAVE SHIFTED THEIR TACTICS SINCE THE INSURRECTION, ARGUING OPERATED UNDER BETTER RIGHTS IN ORDER TO PUSH AN ANTIGOVERNMENT WHITE NATIONALIST AGENDA. ONE OF THOSE GROUPS IS, YOU GUESSED IT, MOM'S FOR LIBERTY. PROJECT 2025 SLAMS THE FBI'S CURRENCY OF THOSE GROUPS, ACCUSING THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON PAGE 545 OF THIS DOCUMENT OF CHILLING THE FREE- SPEECH RIGHTS OF PARENTS. NEVERMIND THAT THOSE PARENTS ARE ACTUALLY ATTACKING THE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT THAT STATES EXPLICITLY THAT QUOTE, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD MAKE NO LAW ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, TO END QUOTE. ON PAGE 558 OF THIS DOCUMENT, PROJECT 2025 ACCUSES THE FBI OF HARASSING PROTESTING PARENTS, WHO IT CLAIMS UNFAIRLY ARE BEING LABELED AS DOMESTIC TERRORISTS, WHICH THEY ARE NOT. EXPERTS WARN THAT PROJECT 2025 WOULD REMOVE CRUCIAL SAFEGUARDS, PROTECTING OUR INSTITUTIONS AND THE PUBLIC OF FAR RIGHT HATE GROUPS, ALLOWING THEM TO EXPAND. JOE MOORE, A FORMER FBI INFORMANT WHO TRACKED POLICE TIES TO THE WARNS THAT DOMESTIC EXTREMIST GROUPS ARE BEING MOBILIZED AS QUOTE, FRONT- LINE SHOCK GROUPS IN THE EVENT OF A CONTESTED ELECTION. HE FOUND THAT SOME FLORIDA POLICE OFFICERS WERE ACTIVE KLAN MEMBERS, INCLUDING RECRUITING OTHER KLAN MEMBERS INTO LAW ENFORCEMENT. HE WROTE HIS INVESTIGATION INDICATES A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF POLICE INSTRUCTORS HAVE TIES TO RIGHT-WING MILITIAS, MILITIAS ARE ILLEGAL IN THIS COUNTRY, BY THE WAY, AND WHITE SUPREMACIST HATE GROUPS, A REPORT THAT ADDS TO A VAST BODY OF EVIDENCE SHOWING 28 DEADLY THREAT INSIDE U.S. POLICE DEPARTMENTS. PROJECT 2025'S AGENDA COULD ALLOW THESE TIES TO GROW, SINCE ON PAGE 557 IT CALLS FOR ELIMINATING ALL CONSENT DECREES ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. WHEN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FINDS EVIDENCE OF MISCONDUCT WITHIN STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, LIKE A LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT, IT ISSUES ONE OF THESE DECREES, A CONSENT DECREE, WHICH CREATES AND ENFORCES A ROADMAP TO CHANGE. CONSENT DECREES ARE URGED TO CURB CIVIL RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR, MENTALLY ILL, DISABLED, THINGS LIKE THAT. MORE, WHO PREVIOUSLY SERVED ABROAD TOLD AUTHORITIES QUOTE, NOTHING I WITNESSED IN ANY OF THEM SCARES ME AS MUCH AS WHAT WE ARE FACING AT HOME NOW. SHOU >>> BEFORE >>> BEFORE THE BREAK, I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE RISE OF FAR RIGHT EXTREMISM IN THIS COUNTRY AND HOW PROJECT 2025 WOULD FIGHT, RATHER THAN PROTECT THOSE FORCES. JOINING ME IS COHOST OF "SISTERS-IN-LAW," THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK, "ATTACK FROM WITHIN HOW DISINFORMATION IS SABOTAGING AMERICA." YOU'RE THE PERFECT PERSON TO TALK TO THIS ABOUT, AS A U.S. ATTORNEY, YOU ACTUALLY DEALT WITH BART RIGHT EXTREMISM AND U.S. MILITIAS IN YOUR HOME STATE. MANY OF THEM WERE QUITE ACTIVE, INVOLVED IN A PLOT TO KIDNAP YOUR GOVERNOR. I WANT TO BE CLEAR, UNDER THE LAW, AN ARMED MILITIA THAT IS DOING THINGS THAT FEEL LIKE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW OR UPHOLDING THE LAW, IS NOT LEGAL IN AMERICA. YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY DO THAT. THEY ARE GUN CLUBS, BASICALLY. >> EXACTLY RIGHT, ALI. MOST STATES FORBID DRILLING WITH FIREARMS, PARADING, AND WEARING THE INSIGNIA THAT SUGGESTS YOU ARE AN LAW- ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. IT CAN CAUSE CONFUSION AND CREATE DANGER. WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT ENFORCING IT, AS YOU SAID, OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREE ASSOCIATION IS, IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF A GUN CLUB, YOU'RE ENTITLED TO GET TOGETHER AND PRACTICE SHOOTING. AS A RESULT, THE ENFORCEMENT OF THOSE LAWS HAS BEEN QUITE LAX. SEGMENT LET'S TALK MORE BROADLY ABOUT THIS AREA OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AS IT RELATES TO FAR RIGHT EXTREMISM. AS FAR AS PROJECT 2025 GOES, IT IS A LITTLE MORE NUANCED AND CODED THAN SOME OF THE OTHER AREAS LIKE ABORTION, THAT SPEAKS OPENLY ABOUT IT. THERE IS A SENSE IN HERE THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS GONE AWRY IN CONCENTRATING ON FAR RIGHT, VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN AMERICA AND SHOULD BE REFOCUSED ON OTHER THINGS, AND IT DOES TALK ABOUT THE EI AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. SOUNDS NONSENSICAL TO ME THAT THEY WOULD LIKE THE FBI INVOLVED IN STUFF LIKE THAT, BUT IT ALSO SEEMS TO IGNORE WHAT IS EMERGING AND HAS EMERGED AS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT IN THE COUNTRY. EXPERTS LIKE YOURSELF SAY, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXTREMISM IS IN FACT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT. THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HAS IDENTIFIED DOMESTIC EXTREMISM AS THE TOP THREAT TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY. YOU GET A SENSE OF WHERE THIS DOCUMENT IS COMING FROM, EVEN IN THIS CHAPTER WHICH IT USES PHRASES LIKE, THE NEED TO RESTORE THE FBI'S INTEGRITY AFTER THE RUSSIA HOAX. IT SAYS, THE FBI IS COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL. I THINK THE ONLY THING THAT HAS DISPARAGED THE FBI'S REPUTATION IS LYSED BY DONALD TRUMP. IF ANYTHING, I FOUND THIS FBI TO BE A BIT ON THE TIMID SIDE, IN TERMS OF ITS PREPARATION FOR JANUARY 6, ITS WILLINGNESS TO SEARCH DONALD TRUMP'S MAR-A- LAGO RESIDENCE. I DON'T THINK THE FBI NEEDS TO BE REINED IN WHEN GOING AFTER VIOLENCE EXTREMISM. ONE THING IMPORTANT TO NOTE, ALI, I THINK THIS DOCUMENT PROBABLY PURPOSEFULLY IGNORES IS , THE FBI IS NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF ENFORCING SPEECH. IT IS IN THE BUSINESS OF ENFORCING CONDUCT. WHEN CONDUCT IS VIOLENT, THAT IS WHEN THE FBI GETS INVOLVED. IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU SAID SOMETHING UNPLEASANT TO YOUR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, IT IS WHEN YOU ARE THREATENING TO KILL THEM THAT THE FBI MIGHT GET INVOLVED. >> LET'S TALK BROADLY ABOUT WHAT THE DANGERS ARE OF UNDERESTIMATING OR DEEMPHASIZING THE EFFORTS TO DEAL WITH REAL NATIONAL SECURITY. WE HAVE SEEN THIS IN THIS COUNTRY BEFORE, RIGHT? BY THE NATURE OF WHAT WE DO, WE SOMETIMES TEND TO BE CONCENTRATED AND PUT OUR RESOURCES IN THE LAST WEEK THREAT WE THOUGHT ABOUT. SOME WOULD ARGUE, THAT DID NOT PREPARE US AS WELL AS WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOR 9/11. WHAT IS THE DANGER HERE OF DISREGARDING, ACTUALLY AND WILLFULLY DISREGARDING THE THING THAT IS OUR BIGGEST NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT? HOW DOES THIS PLAY OUT FOR US IN 10 OR 15 YEARS? >> I THINK WHAT WE WOULD SEE IS POLITICAL VIOLENCE. THE THINGS WE HAVE SEEN, LIKE YOU MENTIONED, THE PLOT TO KIDNAP GOVERNOR WHITMER IN MY STATE OF MICHIGAN. OR THE VIOLENCE LIKE THE MAN WHO ATTACKED NANCY PELOSI'S HUSBAND IN THEIR HOME. THE MAN, IN RESPONSE TO THE MAR- A-LAGO SEARCH, WENT TO HIS LOCAL FBI OFFICE IN CINCINNATI WITH A ASSAULT WEAPON TO TRY TO BRIDGE THAT OFFICE AND WAS LATER KILLED IN A STANDOFF WITH POLICE. I THINK IF WE IGNORE THOSE KINDS OF THREATS, WE ARE DOOMED TO HAVE MORE OF THEM. ONE OF THE REASONS WE ENFORCE THE LAW, IS NOT ONLY TO REMOVE DANGEROUS PERPETRATORS FROM OUR STREETS, BUT TO SEND A DETERRENCE MESSAGE THAT THIS CONDUCT IS AGAINST THE LAW AND AGAINST OUR NATIONAL SECURITY. IF THE FBI DRUGS ITS SHOULDERS AT THESE THINGS, OR ENABLES THESE THINGS, I THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE MORE OF IT. IT IS A DANGER TO PUBLIC SAFETY AND DEMOCRACY. >> PROJECT 2025 CRITICIZES THE MILITARY'S FOCUS ON WHAT IT CALLS NONDEFENSE MATTERS, AS THE MILITARY DOES TO MAKE THINGS MORE FAIR AND EQUITABLE. MILITARY LEADERS HAVE OBJECTED TO THIS. THEY HAVE SAID, IT IS HARD TO GET PEOPLE INTO THE MILITARY, ACTUALLY REALLY TOUGH. TO KEEP AN ACTIVE MILITARY YOU HAVE TO HAVE WORKPLACE, RULES, AND MILITARY LEADERS HAVE SAID, THESE THINGS DO NOT UNDERCUT THEIR ABILITY TO DO WHAT THEY DO IN THEIR COURT MISSION, THAT IS TO DEFEND AMERICA. >> NOT ONLY DOES IT NOT HARM THEIR ABILITY, IT ACTUALLY ASSISTS THEIR ABILITY. I RECALL WHEN THERE WAS A MAJOR CASE ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SOME YEARS AGO, ONE OF THE MOST PERSUASIVE BRIEFS FILED CAME FROM THE U.S. MILITARY THAT SAID, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION WAS ACTUALLY UPPING THE READINESS OF ITS GROUPS, BUILDING CAMARADERIE TEAMWORK, RECRUITING, AND HELPFUL IN THEIR MISSION. THIS NONSENSE THAT SOMEHOW DEI MEANS THAT WE ARE NO LONGER THE TOP MILITARY WE NEED TO BE IS