Badlands Daily: 6/17/26 - Gay Registry Absurdity, Foiled Trump Plot, SPLC Lover Scandal

Ashe in America and Ghost swap their usual roles for a Wednesday that starts absurd and only gets more interesting from there. California rolls out a state gay business certification program for utility contracts, and Ashe and Ghost spend a hilarious but pointed stretch walking through the certification criteria, landing on the serious underlying point that any government registry tracking sexual orientation is a tool that outlives the good intentions behind it. An FBI-foiled drone and sniper plot against Trump at the White House UFC event vanishes from the news cycle within eight hours of being reported, with two Riverside County men and a 19-year-old Ohio conspirator charged. The DOJ indicts 15 members of a Minneapolis Antifa-linked group with the unfortunate acronym DAMN, and a riot promptly breaks out at the detention center where they are held. The SPLC scandal deepens with reports that a senior staffer funneled 1.2 million dollars to her lover, an alleged undercover infiltrator in a neo-Nazi group, complete with a joint bank account. A federal judge recuses herself from a Georgia election case after the DOJ raises questions about a prior partisan event and an unrelated chambers incident. Plus, Trump invokes the Defense Production Act over Iran-related munitions shortages, and JD Vance faces off with The View over ICE detention conditions.