The Daily Signal - Trump Allies to Counter Left, Block Biden by Going to Court

Episode Date: April 26, 2021

A group of former Trump administration officials have formed America First Legal to stop the Biden administration’s executive actions and counter the radical left’s plans to transform our country. Led by Stephen Miller, former White House senior adviser and director of speechwriting, America First Legal promises to turn the tables on the left, which used the court system to stymie some of President Donald Trump's key initiatives. "The only difference between what happened to the Trump administration and what we are going to do is we're actually going to have the law and the Constitution on our side," says Matthew Whitaker, acting U.S. attorney general under Trump and one of those involved in the new organization. Whitaker joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about America First Legal’s plans and some of the biggest issues, including illegal immigration and Second Amendment rights, to emerge so far from the Biden administration. Also on today's show, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a father and daughter who created a YouTube channel to empower special needs children. Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get the yes you've been waiting for at Capital One.ca.ca. slash yes. Terms and conditions apply. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, April 26. I'm Robert Blewey. And I'm Virginia Allen. On today's show, Rob talks with former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker about a new legal coalition called America First Legal, which is challenging the radical agenda of the progressive left. We also read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a father and daughter who have made a YouTube channel to empower kids with special needs. Before we get to today's show, we want to tell you about another great Heritage Foundation podcast called Heritage Explains. Heritage Explains episodes are quick and easy to listen to

because host Michelle Cordero and Tim Desher break down complex policy issues using stories, clips, and expert analysis. Recent Heritage Explains episodes dive into what you need to know about the crisis at our southern border, the Equality Act, and what President Biden's defense priorities should be. You can find all the latest episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We even put the full episodes on YouTube. Now stay tuned for today's show coming up next. We are joined on the Daily Signal podcast today by Matthew Whitaker. He's the former acting U.S. Attorney General and now working with the group America First Legal. Matthew, it's great to have you on the show. I am so glad to be with you today, Rob.

Well, can you begin by telling us about America First Legal? What's your mission and what do you want to accomplish? Yeah, America First Legal was formed by several former Trump administration high-ranking officials, including myself, Mark Meadows, Stephen Miller, and Russ Vaught and some others to really advance and continue the policies through court action and legal proceedings of the Trump administration. A lot of it's going to be challenging the Biden administration's administrative overreach and unconstitutional actions, whether they be in the areas of immigration, you know, guns, D.C. statehood and other things like that. We're going to be very active. You know, it's really going to be comparable to what you've seen during the Trump administration, the ACLU and other

legal groups advancing. Your organization promises to use every legal tool at your disposal to defend our citizens from unconstitutional executive overreach. Well, in less than 100 days of the Biden administration, there's certainly no shortage of examples. Where do you plan to begin? Well, I think you're going to see as soon in the next week, us jumping into kind of several important areas of what the Biden administration is doing. I don't want to, you know, don't want to hide the lead here. But, you know, I think you're going to see some exciting efforts from our group. You're going to see us partnering with state attorney general. other public interest litigation groups around the country to really challenge, you know, some of what the Biden administration is doing,

but there's so much more that they're planning to do. And, you know, one of the things that that happened during the Trump administration is the left was very effective in finding venues, whether they'd be in California or in a couple other states like New York, to, you know, to frustrate the president's agenda. And so I think you're going to see us use similar tactics and means to get around the country. And really, you know, the only difference between what happened to the Trump administration and what we are going to do is we're actually going to have the law and the Constitution on our side and not just need a friendly venue. So I think you're going to see you're going to see the long-term effects of our efforts are going to be great. And they're going to help maintain the republic, hopefully for another generation or two. I'd like to talk about some of those policy issues in just a moment, but you bring up an important point there. The left has regularly turned to the courts to get their way, particularly during the Trump administration, and you were right in the middle of many of those legal fights.

What can conservatives learn from them and emulate? Well, I think some of the tactics that they employed were quite effective. I look at when they would have the similar lawsuits brought in three different jurisdictions, hoping to find the right judge. that would give them a nationwide injunction. That was a very effective strategy. And obviously, you know, when one judge in one district in Southern California can put in a nationwide injunction, which I think is actually illegal under the federal rules of civil procedure. But nonetheless, they got those nationwide injunctions and obviously shut us down in many different fronts.

So, you know, it was, like I said, we had litigation going on, especially in California, in the Ninth Circuit, and it's in the northern district and southern district of California. But it was just, you know, we were, we had a whole, you know, dedicated team to trying to combat many of those lawsuits. And, you know, I think, and while what we were doing was, has been verified ultimately by the courts of appeal or the Supreme Court as legitimate and legal. I think what you're seeing Biden do is completely illegal and unconstitutional. And I think that's, you know, we're going to have to be patient, pick our opportunities, and at the same time, you know, be very aggressive in pursuing these cases. Some of those biggest legal fights came on the issue of immigration during the Trump administration. It's certainly on the minds of many Americans today, given the border crisis that President Biden has created

by dismantling so much of the Trump administration's strategy. what can be done to restore the rule of law in that particular case? Well, you know, it's a great question. And obviously the challenge, the immigration framework is broken. And as I was right in the middle of it for almost two years, what I saw is just a patchwork of court opinions, consent decrees, you know, and laws that intertwined to just make an absolute mess. where the effective and efficient administration of our immigration system was completely broken.

And, you know, I think what we bring at America First Legal is not only a keen understanding of how these things fit together, whether it be, you know, the public charge where you can't, you know, essentially be on welfare and come into our country. You have to be able to support yourself, you know, whether it be sort of some of the stuff that's happening with the children at the border or whether it comes to border wall construction. You know, all these areas, I think we, you know, we not only have an expertise, but we have a knowledge of the regulatory scheme that we advanced and the legality of it, you know, obviously a lot of our stuff was vetted thoroughly by the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice and a lot of smart lawyers that already looked at it. So, you know, I think this is where, you know, again, we're going to pick the right fights, but it's certainly immigration is a place where this administration is doing things that are not only illegal, but, you know, but are. but are really quite frankly ham-handed and not very intelligent. Yeah, certainly seem to lack a lot of common sense, particularly given the strategy that was in place,

seemed to be working quite effectively, and it's just become such a problem now. One of the other areas where I've seen Stephen Miller weigh in is the issue of Americans' Second Amendment rights. We've seen the Biden administration make some noise about this early on. How can we ensure that Americans still enjoy the constitutionally guaranteed right-to-bear arms. Well, this is probably the fight of our generation in all seriousness. And I think, you know, this administration is going to try to regulate really everything about guns, whether that be just

their appearance, you know, whether they're aggressive-looking and therefore assault weapons instead of rifles or whether or not, you know, magazine capacity. They're going to regulate, you know, sort of who can own them, how you can own them. And we've seen, you know, that the Supreme Court, I think is fairly solid on Second Amendment issues. You know, every case that's finally made it to their desks. They've, you know, they've made sure that the Second Amendment is alive and well. But that doesn't, it's going to prevent this administration from ultimately, I think, you know, just trying to grab Americans' guns, especially AR-15s and AK-47s and any other kind of styled weapon

that appears to be aggressive, even though functionally it's the same as a hunting weapon. You mentioned that Russ vote, the president of President Trump's former director of the Office of Management and Budget is involved with America First Legal. Of course, Russ is a as a heritage alum. So we are grateful for his work. One of the things that he did in a conjunction with President Trump was end critical race theory trainings throughout the federal government. Of course, President Biden made that one of his first actions to reverse President Trump's decision. But what can federal employees do if they're forced to participate in these programs? And is there anything that we as Americans can do to ensure that our tax dollars aren't spent in this way? Yeah, this is another area of the battlefield that we're going to have to pursue because, you know,

this critical race theory, you know, essentially something that says that certain races are superior to others. You know, I mean, we, it is inconsistent with, with American tradition and American law. And I think, you know, I think we have to continue to make sure that not only are, our federal employees not subjected to this type of training and indoctrination, but ultimately that taxpayers aren't paying for. There's so many, you know, the federal government is, is big, inefficient. And the last thing we need is, is people, you know, wasting their time on, you know, academic theories that really are inconsistent with the human experience.

So, you know, I think, you know, this is something that we'll find an opportunity to insert in and make sure that the American people are fully represented in that. Your group, of course, uses the name America First illegal. America First is a term that President Trump, of course, spoke about frequently. And there are so many people who were involved in the Trump administration who are now trying to make sure they carry a lot of those policies forward. How do you plan to work with others in the conservative movement to make sure you're advancing and continuing to pursue those policies and strategies in a way that is effective? Yeah, well, we have those relationships, and there have been several groups that have also been

set up to, you know, whether it's Ben Carson's group, whether it's Brooke Rollins who ran the domestic policy council, you know, what Russ obviously has his own group that's going to do some important policy work. And, you know, obviously we're all familiar with each other. We have great relationships. And, you know, we're going to talk about these kind of things as to see how we can advance that America First Agenda. You know, I think what the president, you know, the President Trump really understood, you know, where the American people were, and it's most importantly, where the American worker could be benefited by better policies, whether they're trade, whether they're tax policies, whatever the area, the president was laser focused on some of these

key issues that really would set America up to be successful, you know, for the next generation. And I think we need to protect those policies to advance those policies and to at the same time, you know, where we can support politicians that share our view. And so, you know, that's, I think one of the areas that this ecosystem that we're all part of, ultimately, it's going to need to be smart and tactical at the same time, but understand the long-term strategy. Well, thank you for the work you are doing. Shifting gears a bit, you served as a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa

before becoming chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then acting Attorney General yourself. What are you most proud of accomplishing during your time in government? You know, I think I have always tried to work hand in hand with, state and local law enforcement, whether that's the police or the sheriff's deputies, you know, to protect the most vulnerable. And I do believe that every child has a right to play in their front yard, free without fear of violence or violent crime affecting their lives.

And so, you know, we need to continue to get the trigger pollers and the most violent, you know, aggressive people off of our streets and put them behind bars for a long time. And I think I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the work we did in the First Step Act. I think that was an important reset on some of our criminal justice efforts and incarceration policies. You know, I'm proud of also the way with which we were able to navigate some of these challenges at the border. You know, the Department of Justice has all the immigration judges. We were able to change in many cases some of the law so that some of these aside.

asylum fraud could be eliminated. So there were so many, we could talk about all the accomplishments, probably all day. And, you know, there's just so much we accomplished. And at the Department of Justice, we were always at the front seat and a clear view to that. But it was just an honor of a lifetime to serve in this administration. I have the most respect for my colleagues and also for the, you know, I just admire the president and what he was able to accomplish. And I want to continue that legacy. Well, certainly we've talked a lot about the courts and the, and the,

impact and what you're planning to do with America First Legal. One of President Trump's most significant accomplishments was the number of judicial appointments he was able to make in his term in office. How significant were they, in your opinion? And what will it mean for the next generation, really, when you have these legal battles going through district courts, appellate courts, and even the U.S. Supreme Court? Yeah, I think it's significant. You know, many of those folks that were appointed to Judge Ships, I know personally, you know, they were at the Department of justice or at the White House or, you know, otherwise I do that through conservative legal circles, you know, one of the things that I, I can tell you is that now in the Ninth Circuit,

which was the most difficult, you know, sort of California, Washington, Oregon district circuit, which is the appellate court, we now, you can now draw a majority conservative panel, which you never could up until, you know, Donald Trump appointed some judges. And so I have some, some, at least one on the Ninth Circuit that was on my staff. That's a really good conservative judge. And it's, it's really, it's exciting, you know, that we put over 300 judges in those seats. And, you know, I don't think anybody can suggest that the three that were put on the Supreme Court weren't kind of rock-ribbed conservatives that are going to, you know, judge based on what the law is, not, you know, not the political agenda that they're trying to advance. So I'm excited about what we're doing it.

what we did at the Supreme Court as well. Well, and finally, I have a sports question to ask you. You were an academic All-American while playing tight end for the Iowa Hawkeyes. It certainly was a different time in sports when you were involved. Politics didn't seem to dominate every conversation or you weren't getting political alerts from ESPN. What do you think about the trend of athletes engaging in some of these highly charged political debates? Well, you know, I'm concerned. I think American people look at sports as their,

place where they can, you know, sort of put the world behind them and be entertained. And so it's concerning, you know, I look at what LeBron James just did by posting a picture of a police officer and suggesting that that police officer is next. It seemed like a very, not a, not a veiled threat, just a general threat. And I think, you know, we see athletes wanting to engage politically. I think oftentimes, unfortunately, these athletes come off as highly uninformed. They don't, you know, they don't understand the political landscape in the United States of America. They don't, you know, they, they, they don't have the context for some of these highly charged issues. And, you know, I think that's, that's what concerns me because, you know, I mean, I do love sports.

I love especially college football. And, you know, I just, I just don't want to, you know, have a toxic environment in sports where we're immediately turned off, you know, by, by athletes. what they have to say. I mean, I think it's very dangerous as a, you know, especially as a college athlete to speak out when you, you know, you have no life experience other than, you know, your, your unique experience. And it's a very small world. And I think some, some maturity certainly would help. I know for me, you know, took some, a real education in politics, public policy and the like that I didn't have as a college athlete. So, So, I mean, I think at the same time, you know, every American citizen has a First Amendment right to speak out.

I just think I wish they were more informed and more knowledgeable in the issues before they did speak out. Well, I couldn't agree more. I think that it's so important for that to happen. And I think you made a great point there that Americans often turn to sports as a way to focus on something else other than politics. And I think that's why so many, I think conservative struggle with Major League Baseball's decision to make a very political move of moving the All-Star game out of Atlanta. and why you're seeing, at least in public opinion polls, so many conservatives now saying that they're either going to boycott or tune out Major League Baseball. And this move by corporations or big entities like that to bow to the pressure from the left is certainly a concern.

And I think it's something that we all need to be aware of and push back on when we can. I totally agree. Obviously, the situation with Major League Baseball has not aged well by taking that, you know, that significant amount of economic development out of the city of Atlanta and moving into the city of Denver, you know, really there's no doubt that it hurt minorities and it hurt, you know, people that would, you know, that would have benefited from that game there. And I think that, you know, obviously it politicized major league baseball and some of us just want to cheer for our home team. That's absolutely right. Well, Matthew, let's leave it there. Again, the group is called

America First Legal. Appreciate the work that you and and Stephen Miller and the entire team are doing there. We look forward to to keeping a close eye on it at the Daily Signal and wish you all the best. Yep. Go to aflegal.org if you want to learn more. Thank you. I'm Zach Smith. And I'm John Carl O'Conaparo.

And if you want to understand what's happening at the Supreme Court, be sure to check out SCOTUS 101, a Heritage Foundation podcast. We take a look at the cases, the personalities, and the gossip at the highest court in the land. Be sure to subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever else you find your podcasts. It's SCOTUS 101. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday we feature our favorites on this show.

Virginia, who's up first? In response to former Vice President Mike Pence's piece, Democrats could end border crisis quickly. Instead, they're making it worse. Albert Smith of Florida writes, The southern border crisis is now a disaster. This disaster is spreading across all state borders into the heart of America.

It is time for the Republican Party to begin taking bold actions if it is to defeat the scourge of these destructive forms of socialism, eating at the heart of America's promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is now urgent that all Republican leaders come together, regardless of differences, and lead by forming intelligent, meaningful plans of action to rectify the wrongs that are in front of us. And in response to Drew Bond's commentary piece, on Earth Day, commit to speeding up growth to clean up earth, Gary Albert of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes to us, It is time to stop the rhetoric about what America needs to do and get India and China to come up to

our standards. Us doing more won't help until they and other nations do their part. The Paris Accord is a joke that gives a free pass to those countries not to conform. Your letter could be featured on next week's show, so go ahead and send us an email at letters at daily signal.com. has it been more important for us to fight for America. Each day we see the penalties of progressive policies across our nation. Our elections are under assault. Our economic freedom is on the decline and our culture is turning its back on the founding principles that have made us the freest, most prosperous nation in history. That's why the Heritage Foundation developed a plan to take on the left and take back our country. The Citizen's Guide to Fight for America

provides a series of heritage recommended action items delivered on a regular basis to your inbox. Make an impact in your community and in our country. Sign up for the Citizens Guide at heritage.org slash citizens guide and join in the fight for America today. Virginia, you have a good news story to share with us today. Over to you. Thanks so much, Rob. April is Autism Awareness Month, and today I am really excited to highlight a father and daughter who are using one of their hobbies to empower kids with special needs to pursue their own dreams. Four years ago, Miguel Figuera noticed how much his preteen daughter loved following certain YouTube accounts, and so he encouraged her to start her own channel. But Ileana

told her dad she couldn't start her own YouTube channel because she has autism. In a recent interview, Miguel told Fox News that his daughter's response kind of broke my heart. because it was the last thing I was expecting her to say. Determined to empower his daughter and not allow her autism to keep her from running after one of her passions, Miguel transformed a part of their home into a set for a YouTube channel. The father and daughter began making videos together to review various pop culture toys and also encourage other young kids with special needs to pursue their dreams. The father and daughter pair named the channel Toy Quest,

101. Together, they unbox toys, talk about comic book characters, and even have celebrity guests on the show sometimes. Miguel said he was amazed to see that from the very first video they made together, Ileana was talking more, engaging more, completing her sentences, trying to pronounce words, all things that Miguel said had been a struggle for his daughter because of her autism. Take a listen to a portion of one of Miguel and Ileana's recent YouTube videos when they celebrate earning 100,000 subscribers to their YouTube channel. Hey guys, it's Ileana from Toy Quest 101 and we have very exciting news to share with you guys. That's right. And my name is Miguel also from Toy Quest 101. And like Ileana said,

we have a very, very special announcement today and we wanted to share it with you. So, Leanna, why don't you show them what we got? We finally got our YouTube Play Button award with over 100,000 subscribers. So we wanted to sit here and open this up and share this moment with you because it is one of our biggest milestones to date. So we wanted to thank all our celebrity guests to have graced us on the show. We wanted to thank all our partners as well for helping us, sending us stuff to open and sharing with you guys. But most of all, we wanted to thank our viewers. That's right.

You viewers are the reason why we got this big accomplishment to help kids with autism and special needs and inspire them to pursue all their dreams and wishes. Miguel told Fox News that parents from all over the world have reached out to him and his wife to ask for encouragement as they parent their own child with special needs. Miguel said many parents just want to know that they're not alone. He added that no matter how many subscribers we have, no matter if we have 55 million views, if we could impact just one person, that's what matters the most. Miguel and Ileana are excited to keep encouraging young kids with special needs to step out of their shell and pursue their own dreams. Virginia, I just love that story. I mean, it's a testament to all that can be accomplished in this great country of ours.

And using new technology, I mean, think about how just 10 years ago they might not have had this opportunity to reach all of those people that they are reaching and changing those lives. So congratulations to them and keep up the good work. Absolutely. It really is special and especially to see a father and daughter going on the. that journey together. Just love that. Absolutely it is. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. You can find the Daily Signal podcast on the Rurkishay Audio Network.

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