Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Dark Money, The Supreme Court, and What Comes Next
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- As a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse reveals how special interest groups are using “dark money” to influence and control our courts.
In 2020, Sen. Whitehouse raised these alarming concerns during the Amy Coney Barrett hearing. He asserts that a group consisting of billionaires and corporations are using their wealth and power to back appointees and nominees that will advance a right-wing agenda and policies.
Hear more about these growing implications and what this ultimately means for the future of our country.
NOTES
Photo courtesy the speaker.
November 7, 2022
Speakers
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator (D-RI); Author, The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court; Twitter @SenWhitehouse
In Conversation with Melissa Caen
Political Analyst; Attorney
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Thank you for being a member of Congress who stands up for the people.
One of my favorite people in the world, Sen Sheldon Whitehouse. Great interview! This man is an American hero for his exposure of the nefarious backroom forces that seek to destroy democracy.
Absolutely agree..I wanted him to run for president in 2016 and 2020. He's broken records for the number of times he's gone on the floor of the house and railed against/exposed dark money in the Supreme Court and climate change..I think it's something like 147 times.
One of my favorites, too.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is the perfect example of what Public Service is supposed to look like. Thank you, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and TEAM, for your top tier work! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Now if he'd just run for president... him, AOC and Katie Porter are my favorite picks.
Senator Whitehouse is one of the clearest, most intelligent, and thoroughly committed people in our government. I TRULY wish I could vote for him. Maybe someday.
Senator Whitehouse is the BEST! We love him!
@@patriciamasterson4721 🤗
Un FBI is. G1
Go Senator Whitehouse !! The American citizens are lucky to have such a hardworking, intelligent fighter for the truth ! I wish there were more law makers of his calibre and integrity .
Stay on it, Senator Whitehouse! Your diligence and tenacity is appreciated.
As long as people like Sen. Whitehouse are still able to speak out, I hang onto a shred of hope.
Yes, I do as well. A "shred" that is...
@@shirleyreese6832 The last little creature that never came out of Pandora's Box after she let loose the pandemics, was a single soul called Hope. She is just waiting to be invited.
DHS website offers a link page to all complaints usually sent in a pdf. form Be informed stay informed and complain like a concerned citizen! Right?
Unfortunately not many people even knows who he is..I found out who he was by accident..I caught him on MSNBC when they aired a clip of him "mid railing" with his white board.
I am beholden to you Senator Whitehouse for all you do on this dark money front. You, by far, are one of the strongest voices ( if not one of the very few), on this topic. It's never a disappointment to see you in the Senate with your speeches. Thank you. I am ever so grateful.
We all must become activists in the fight against this dark money influence on SCOTUS and other branches of the government. Huge debt of gratitude for Senator Whitehouse. Thank you Senator for your book.🇺🇸🤗
I am happy to see Senator Whitehouse shaing his comments on this site. Thank you for enlightening us. This is important.
💪🇺🇸💪🇺🇸💪🇺🇸
Keep up the good work Senator Whitehouse. This country needs people like you. Do not retire.
I follow everything, every word Senator Whitehouse puts forward, he makes such a good case against dark money and the influence behind it
It's been a true pleasure watching you in the Senate hearings and also here on the Commonwealth, senator Sheldon. I really appreciate all you do for America and hope stay as long as possible as our senator. Thank you so much.
Thank you for this interview. What Sen. Whitehouse is saying here is very important.
Senator Whitehouse is an American treasure.
It is amazing that people like Marjory et al can be elected and be in the same government as incredible people like this gentleman. Sometimes I am just awestruck listening to the accomplishments and the work that they do.
Use this money to fund a publicly funded election system. Let’s take back our country.
How do we actually make this change? Is it possible to fight Goliath.
We the citizens need to strong arm the PARTIES. How can we do that?
What exactly is the dark money telling legislators to do… and how do they do the telling? At parties? By phone? In writing?
Integrity? Really?
Thank you for this presentation. It is very scary to hear about all the corruption in our county but good to know that we citizens are learning about it.
Thank you Senator Whitehouse for all the work you have done to connect the dots for us.
Happy to buy Sen Whitehouse's book to help support him. Been watching his videos a long while now.
Thank you Sheldon Whitehouse
Thank you Whitehouse for this analysis about the Supreme Court.
Thank you for your dedication to the American people and your hard work.
Great work for spreading the work and making the case Sen. Whitehouse.
It's very good to have these issues brought forward in a teachable way. I like Katie Porter white boards too, and I think these charts and white board presentations shoud be in a coffee table book.
At 1:07 I felt my heart break. Great information well presented on a woefully under-reported subject.
The idea that Justice Thomas had no idea of what his wife was up to is beyond ludicrous! They really think we're stupid, don't they? Or is it just that they don't give a husky ((*#( what we think?
Both!
He should run for President.
Americans won't vote for such a smart man.
Limited terms and ethical procedures need to apply on Supreme Court Justices. Justice Thomas is a classical example.
Sheldon Whitehouse is tremendous in his understanding and clarity of breakdown in what faces us with "dark money" and SCOTUS. His book, The Scheme, is important.
Thank you, Senator ☺️🇺🇸
LOVE that Senator Whitehouse is relentless about calling out dark money & Citizens United!
It's a curious thing, the IRS will not recognize you if you do not have a Social Security number. Since when has a corporation been able to present a Social Security number to be recognized????
He is awesome.
I am aware of this but I like politics & the history of politics. Trouble is most people find it boring. It's not boring if you realize what the people running this country like money more than people.
what efforts have been made to overturn Citizens United...and what would it take to do do so?
Senator Whitehouse thank you- you are the archetypal American the good guy!
I see the beginning of what these huge money corporations are doing today as being uncontrolled capitalism. There’s no denying it!
We need to go back to corporations having 99 year charters and only be given out for projects that can't be done by individuals.
Senator Whitehouse is one of the most intelligent, honest, hardworking Senator in the Senate. I wish I lived in Rhode Island so I can always vote for him. I just love him ❤
Thank you for informing us so thoroughly with your CZcams videos called The Scheme!
Please continue speaking out.
💖🇺🇲 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse 🇺🇲💖 Got it Right 🇺🇲💖💯💯💯 Thank You for your hard work and communication skills !!! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 For our Rights, our, Assets, our Democracy, our Very LIVES ...
From a "Me" ..., speaking for We The People: Thank You. 🇺🇲💯🇺🇲
Such a big brain to represent such a small state! I hope Rhode Islanders appreciate what they have in Sen. Whitehous! Could she find a Republican who would be as gracious toward the blue side? I hope so....but i wonder. If we could reward bi-partisanship instead of rewarding the most shrill partisan voices it might help.
He should run for president not only because he'd be awesome, but because his last name is Whitehouse! He'd be a shoe-in!
the issues he raises have to be addressed by Congress
@@rd264 I think he's planning to. There's a four part series with him in front of an A-frame easel and he starts it with Madam President, which I assume is a reference to Kamala Harris, as the president of the Senate.
Keep up the great works Senator. Why has this situation continued?
Oh Goodie!! Another few moments with my favorite intellectual! Yippee Hurray.
Thank you both very much
💙💙👍👍💙💙
Thanks goodness for Sen Whitehouse!
As overwhelming 2 me as a lay person in law...I actually fathom the context of what is shared n really appriciate the dialog n what can be done 2 positively go forward...!!! Thnx..
!!!
Thanks so much for this excellent discussion. I'm no expert, but is there any way to revise or update the anti-trust law to cut off this loop-hole? How do we fix this? I'm not sold on increasing the number of justices either - my 2 cents. In a rudimentary class I had on Constitutional law my instructor reiterated how difficult it was to change or add an amendment for good reason, b/c (in so many words) it could upset the balance built into it in the first place. Term limits make sense, but wasn't there a good reason for the lifetime appointments? However, this concept might be outdated.
Citizens United. Ugh. Don't get me started. Those who supposedly were watching over our country fell asleep at the wheel to let that pass.
A tangled web between the FBI and Trump? Turns my stomach.
Hang in there -
When our founding fathers wrote the Constitution, "lifetime" meant something different. A man's life span was 57 years. Now it's 78 years. A Supreme Court Justice in the 1800's spent less than twenty years on SCOTUS. Now, if Amy Coney Barrett lives to be 88, she will have been on SCOTUS for 40 years.
Regarding "packing the court", there are 12 Appellate Courts in the country plus one in Washington DC. There are nine Supreme Court Justices, so four justices preside over two Appellate Courts. If there were 13 Supreme Court Justices, there would be one justice for each Appellate Court. Legislation would need to tie each justice's seat to one Appellate Court and codify it into law. In the future, another justice cannot be added without adding a new Court of Appeals. Does that make sense?
And lifetime appointments were supposed to keep SCJ from "running for office" which could increase the odds of them being influenced by campaign donors. They don't need to run for office these days to be influenced by mega-donors!
Hope you're enjoying your day!
Bravo!
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is a class act. He is always exposing the truth ! Thank you for caring about the people of the Imtoed a,zz2
Ty, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Great show !
thank you.
we learned a lot.
Great facilitation Melissa Caen. Thank you.
He’s great! Thanks for this interesting interview!
Thanks.
HUGELY INFORMATIVE!!
He is brilliant & brave for opening Pandoras Box.
Thank you, Sen. Whitehouse.
Ted Lieu hasn't answered any of my communications as a constituent since I started with a question about the Palestine/Israel conflict. Would Senator Whitehouse state his position?
This interview host is doing her best, but under the circumstances and urgency of the time, we have more experienced interviewing professionals and also these young people deserve to be included in being briefed, trained and brought up to the levels that this position has to offer.
What an opportunity for Commonwealth to be prepared and falls short.
Transparency discussed beginning @21:00 et seq is not the solution to Dark Money. Transparency would do nothing to correct the problem of Citizens United (2010) which allows unlimited massing of donations to pacs, parties and candidates.
Update your passport, there are many real democracies abroad.
Thank you
If the DOJ does it's nonpolitical job and holds up the rule of law, some of Trump's 'leave it to my repubs in congress'...may be gone.
Would love to see Senator Whitehouse team up with Katie Porter and watch them investigate some of these issues, like who paid off Kavanaugh's debts?
I think Senator Whitehouse is correct and I hope others support him .
This Whitehouse is always good for America
We need Whitehouse in the Whitehouse
Why, there is 13 districts and only 9 judges?
The audio needs to be properly synced with the video. It is very distracting. What is being said is extremely important but too many people might not watch this all the way through.
We need to get Kattie Porter elected as Ca. Senater. She can do meny good things for the Senate and for California 2024..since Ms.Feinstein has retired /stepped down.
Lies are accepted… we cannot expose the lies and hold liars accountable. Right now…we do not have a Democracy and we do not get Justice.
The money spent could end overtly caused by corporations
Whitehouse for the Whitehouse.
yes they have moles in every judicial dept
Hi have a nice day
I started learning about dark money, after the 2010 Citizen's United SCOTUS ruling. WA. local party WA. Democrats recognized the problem & alarmed, of legislating from the SCOTUS bench, by 'conservatives', free flows from monied interests. I later read Mother Jones articles of SCOTUS judges meeting with the Koch Brothers, prior to that ruling. I knew of the Koch's from growing up in the same town, and my father's impression of their father, so I didn't fall for their public efforts for positive opinion to be the good guys', by contributions. I knew they were called the Kochapus in D.C., meaning they had their hands in every sector to alter the direction of universities, companies, legislation to their's and other rich people's advantage.
Over time, I did public events in WA. to expose the Koch's and dark money. I heard from my state legislator, that his business affiliates in Canada were being hit up for political contributions to U.S. campaigns thru anonymous contribution platforms. (illegal)
I am SO grateful for Senator Whitehouse's work...of shining a light on the deep dark money activity & history....and keeping at it, instead of accepting it.
I would be strongly be in favor of Senator Whitehouse being President, if his work would be more effective, and end this. This problem of dark money is at the center of all injury to citizens' health, corp. greed over environmental health for democracy surviving and the well-being of the whole world.
Good question: what exactly are these politicians afraid of - besides not getting money and not getting elected? Seems like these politicians have no sense of self worth or dignity at all.
Whitehouse for President !!
money is the root. Always follow the money. It's about power, property, prestige. Mafia tactics appears to win. I will never give in. The big lie is that you cannot win. We need million's more people to speak out, like Senator Whitehouse. You do not have to be a lawyer to speak out. Believe in the air that you breathe, where you are. This is our Country.
Is there anyway to send a petition to Washington , to show elected officials the people's will?
Sounds like a pretty exciting Movie-Script.
Why are you laughing, Melissa?
These are shell companies .
It is not now, called progressivism... When it was liberalism, and many decades have passed, what we have now is neoliberalism. He would know that if he was being honest. Progressivism has always been, at least as far back as the decades he's talking about. Progressivism has always been the base of the Democratic Party. Neoliberalism is the majority of the Democratic Party, all of those who are corporate-funded and corporate owned, politicians are by definition, neoliberal.
Just as the conservative from back in those same days and decades, became neocons.
Education is everything!!
Knowledge is Powerful, getchoo some!!
It is the lying to get on the courts. It is how McConnell schemed to get deny a fair system.that has worked. Roberts allowed dark money with no accountability to thwart and buy judges...The scamming of Jenny and clarence trying to overthrow a democracy...kavanaugh having debt of $200k and wiped away when he got on the supreme court's. Judges can not have outstanding debt. The courts are owned by special interests because of dark money whereby the courts are to be owned by the people.
You.can get on a flight tomorrow and go to a.facist country. Russis is calling. DEMOCRACY IS THE USA!!!
is the book finished? why are we living out what was in the book,
Some of the Dems like yourself, Senator Whitehouse, have a silver tongue, wonderful rhetoric, but we're tired of rhetoric. We want to see ACTION.
Hi
He would make a great VP
Term limits please
Send. Whitehouse bring them to light they have to come lawful conclusion.
Could the various nurses' unions sue Tucker for his "Covid is a hoax" meme that had Covid patients punching them when they intubated them, before they died alone but saved tucker from a payroll tax hike.
How did you decide to use xyz font?
Is the improper analysis.
no investigation for a tip line
jeeze
And that's why the Democratic party is also moving farther & farther to the right! #DemRepubs!!!
I apologize that i did not discover Senator Whitehouse was so deliberate when it comes to this as he named the scheme.
Why did they change their behavior - good information consensus schools parents teachers for our children's future!
Everyone has a book 😎
To sell... 🤔
Citizens United - Robber Barons!
Does this "moderator" work for some of these Dark Money groups?
She's CONSTANTLY trying to undermine his argument.
This is why more than half of Americans don’t vote
It could also be called "occult" money and an "occult" operation..
Melissa seems outraged we have a First Amendment.
I'm outraged that Corporations are 'people'.