The Horton-Kaiser Report

Scott and Charles are joined by Tom Burgis to discuss how three men close to Trump came to win a contract for a major new pipeline in Bosnia and Herzegovina.CreditsHostScott Horton and Charles KaiserGuestTom BurgisProducerImogen Sayers, Scott Horton and Charles KaiserThe Horton-Kaiser Report is independent, we rely on generous support from readers like you. Subscribe now. Get full access to The Horton-Kaiser Report at www.horton-kaiser.com/subscribe

 There was a major Voting Rights Act case that came out of Louisiana. The Supreme Court and the decision that was authored by Samuel Alito essentially administered a death knell to what had survived from the Voting Rights Act and invited states, particularly the 11 states of the old Confederacy, which had engaged in extreme acts of disenfranchisement of Black citizens ever since the end of Reconstruction, basically authorized them to do as they like as long as they cited partisan politics rather than racial animus as their grounds.“Much of the major-media coverage is casting this in purely political terms,” says Dan Froomkin, editor of Presswatch in an op-ed entitled It’s Black disenfranchisement, not ‘partisan warfare.’ “Just another part of the partisan battle for the House in November.”Final Coup de Grâce to the Voting Rights ActOn April 29, the Supreme Court, speaking through the voice of its single most corrupt justice—Justice Samuel Alito—delivered its final coup de grâce to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crown jewel of the nation’s civil rights legislation.Its ruling is an invitation to the Republican-ruled states of the Old Confederacy to reintroduce the regime they followed before the Civil Rights Era of gerrymandering congressional districts so as to eliminate any district that could be won by a Black candidate, including in states like Mississippi and Louisiana where Black people account for more than a third of the population as a whole.The only requirement is that the Republican-controlled legislatures must say they are motivated by partisan politics rather than racism. To reach this conclusion, the Court set aside its own precedents stretching back over a period of sixty years, making a mockery of the rule of stare decisis.This ruling’s rationale is brazenly partisan, its motivation to give the GOP another dozen seats in Congress and to hinder what appears to be an approaching blue wave in the midterm elections.Editors’ note: This episode of The Horton-Kaiser Report was recorded on May 19, 2026.CreditsHostScott Horton and Charles KaiserProducerImogen Sayers, Scott Horton and Charles KaiserMusicKinan AzmehClipsWhat the Supreme Court Voting Rights Act ruling is really all aboutSelma native Rep. Terri Sewell on GOP’s new voting rights assault: ‘We have to mobilize & organize’Blame John Roberts For Destroying the Voting Rights Act - YouTubeTrump, DOJ settle $10 billion lawsuit against IRS and Treasury Department over leaked tax returnsJustice Department sets up ‘anti-weaponization fund’ after Trump drops IRS lawsuitLawmakers react to Trump’s IRS settlement‘Crisis for the rule of law’: Why Trump’s IRS settlements is be called a ‘defacto pardon’‘WE NEED TO WATCH OUT’: Maddow sounds alarm on ICE surveillance as Trump wields new weaponAI Chatbots: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) Get full access to The Horton-Kaiser Report at www.horton-kaiser.com/subscribe

Israel styles this a war against Hezbollah—a Shia group that has considerable political clout inside Lebanon and wields de facto control over much of its territory, and which is closely aligned with the clerical-Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps regime in Tehran.Following a practice that was honed in the Gaza War, the Israeli military invariably justifies attacks on what are plainly civilian targets, like apartment blocks, by saying that they had a legitimate military target. Perhaps a Hezbollah commander lived in the apartment block, for instance. But the destruction in many parts of Lebanon, particularly the area around and south of the Litani River and the heavily Shia southern part of Beirut, is so extensive that this sort of justification raises obvious objection among independent observers about Israel’s actual intentions.With this in mind, we settled on the best war correspondent now reporting out of Lebanon, Abdi Latif Dahir of the New York Times, for our first podcast interview, and made the war in Lebanon the subject.Editors’ note—This episode of The Horton-Kaiser Report was recorded on April 5th, 2026, before Trump’s genocidal Truth posts and the so-called ceasefire which Israel has ignored when it comes to incessantly bombing Lebanon.Please power through the audio quality, we promise the content is good and important.--CreditsHostScott Horton and Charles KaiserProducerImogen Sayers, Scott Horton and Charles KaiserField recordingAbdi Latif DahirMusicKinan Azmeh--The Horton-Kaiser Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at horton-kaiser.com. Get full access to The Horton-Kaiser Report at www.horton-kaiser.com/subscribe