What A Day - Young Thug, Trump Vs. Georgia’s RICO Act

Episode Date: November 28, 2023

Israel and Hamas both agreed on Monday to extend the current pause in fighting for another two days. Hamas released another 11 hostages as part of the deal, and in exchange Israel released 33 more Palestinians being held in prison.The long-awaited trial of rap artist Young Thug started on Monday in Atlanta. The trial has implications far beyond the music industry because Young Thug and his co-defendants are being prosecuted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and have been charged under Georgia’s RICO statute, just like former President Donald Trump.And in headlines: Vermont police arrested a suspect who they say shot and injured three college students of Palestinian descent, Amazon workers around the world walked off the job to demand better pay and working conditions during Cyber Monday, and Merriam-Webster announced 2023’s word of the year.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Tuesday, November 28th. I'm Josie Duffy Rice. And I'm Traevel Anderson, and this is What A Day, the pod that reminds you that if you enjoy recreational drugs, don't recreate with them at Disneyland. Yeah, police arrested a man at Disneyland on Sunday who was on something because he got naked and then on foot, wandered around. It's a small world. Look, that's the only way to get through that ride.

That ride is a nightmare. On today's show, the racketeering trial started against rapper Young Thug, and we explain what it could mean for the racketeering trial against Trump. Plus, Merriam-Webster announced 2023's Word of the Year. And thankfully, it's not Riz or dystopian. But first, an update on the war in Gaza. And thankfully, it's not riz or dystopian. all women and children into Israel in exchange for the release of 33 more Palestinian civilians, all women and children, teens to be exact, that were being held in Israeli prisons. Add these numbers to those already released on both sides and Hamas has now released almost 70

of the estimated 240 Israelis that were kidnapped over a month ago and Israel has released more than 100 Palestinian women and children who were detained in their prisons. Here's some audio from Reuters of folks in the streets of the West Bank celebrating as some of those freed Palestinian prisoners returned home. Watching people, those videos of people coming home, both in Israel and Palestine, a lot of them children, it's just so moving to see families reunited and just a bright spot in what feels like over a month of tragedy. Yeah. The Biden administration has been very hands-on in helping to support the brokering of the original deal and this extension.

What did they have to say about this two-day extension? Well, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, President Biden was actually, quote, deeply engaged over the Thanksgiving break in these negotiations. And so they're pleased with this development. Biden himself also said in a statement that they're taking, quote, full advantage of the pause to ensure more humanitarian aid gets into Gaza. And the administration has expressed a desire for the pause to continue. But they place that responsibility at the feet of Hamas. Biden said, quote, we will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released. It is good that the fighting has stopped, but obviously it's only temporary. What can you tell us about? Obviously, there have been calls across the world for a ceasefire or longer lasting pause, at least. So what can you tell us about that? Yeah, I mean, I think those same calls continue, even, you know, in light of the extension Palestinians specifically are hopeful for a permanent ceasefire to come out of this current pause in addition to a reported

almost 15,000 Palestinians who've been killed in this war the United Nations says 1.6 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict. And as documented in reporting from Al Jazeera, people really just want to go back to their homes, no matter its current condition. One Palestinian woman who's been living in a tent with 25 members of her family throughout the last few weeks of this conflict told them, quote,

I'm willing to live in a tent, but on the ruins of my home where I don't need to ask anyone for help. I want to go back to bury my siblings who are still under the rubble of their own destroyed homes. Devastating to imagine losing all of that. Thank you so much, Trevelle. Let's move on to a local story we are also covering. Yesterday was the first day of the trial of the rap crew YSL.

Headed by the artist Young Thug, which is happening where I am, in Atlanta, this trial has implications far beyond the music industry because Young Thug and his co-defendants are being prosecuted by Fulton County DA Fonny Willis, just like former President Trump, and have been charged under Georgia's anti-racketeering or RICO statute, again, just like Trump. The trial then is of particular interest,

not just to people here in Atlanta, but nationally, because it could tell us a lot about how Willis will present a case against the ex-president in a circle. Okay, so this is going to get interesting, I'm sure. And we've talked about this trial a little on the show. We know how you feel, generally, about Georgia's RICO statute, Josie. Yes, you. But remind us what this case is about, please. So the question here is really about whether this group of defendants are members of the same gang or are basically like friends, such acquaintances involved with the same record label.

The difference between these two things makes a huge difference. Prosecutors, unsurprisingly, say they are all part of the same gang and therefore can all be held responsible for things that the other quote-unquote gang members did, including murder, in particular the murder of a man named Donovan Thomas,

who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2015. And this is kind of one of my many problems with the RICO statute, is that even if everything else is the same, if we conclude they're gang members, things are illegal. That would be legal if they weren't. So the law is made up, Dravel, and that is what I hope everybody takes from me. So this trial has been a long time coming. Young Thug has been in jail awaiting trial for 587 days.

That is a long time to sit in a cell, particularly at the nightmare jail here in Fulton County, when you have not been convicted of a crime. And the case itself could take, quote, the better part of a year, according to the New York Times. Jury selection alone took 10 months. I personally know multiple people who were called for this jury and not chosen. Everybody in Atlanta knows someone called for this jury. It's taken forever. So we are like pretty far into this situation and still kind of at the beginning, right?

There's a very long way to go. And kind of wild, right? That he has been- Kind of crazy. In there for almost 600 days. Like that's with no trial. That's kind of wild. It's crazy.

But I need to know, I know the people need to know, are you telling us that Young Thug is charged with murder? Young Thug is not charged with murder. Initially, he was just charged with conspiracy to violate Georgia's RICO Act and participation in criminal street gang activity. Both of those charges give me, like, heart palpitations. Since then, a few other charges have been added, including illegal gun possession, drug charges, a couple others. But the core of this case is

basically this RICO charge because RICO is like magic for prosecutors. It gives them so much power, including in cases where it's undeserved. As the New York Times put it, quote, the law does not require the state to prove that Young Thug knew about or ordered all of the subsequent crimes, only that he was the head of an enterprise that carried them out. Hmm. Okay. So as you said, RICO laws are all about charging those who are allegedly involved in some kind of criminal enterprise. That's just like Trump and his circle during the 2020 election. But give us some context about how Fannie Willis will be using that here. It really is kind of an indicator of what's to come because this is one of the three major RICO cases in Georgia right now.

So obviously there's this one and then there's President Trump's, of course. And then there's another one that the attorney general is bringing against cop city activists. And really, you only need to look at these three cases to understand why RICO is dangerous, right? Because sometimes it can be used to show that powerful people enacted a real conspiracy, like, say, Donald Trump trying to overturn an election with his buddies. But other times, and in fact, I would say more often, it's a way for prosecutors to punish a lot of people for the actions of just a few. So it can make murderers out of people who, to prosecutors on admission, had nothing to do with said murder, didn't even know about it. And lots of times, like, RICO cases are a tool for prosecutors to get convictions because

they charge lots of people, they threaten them with very long jail sentences by basically saying, maybe you didn't do this, but your co-gang member did it. So we're going to hold you responsible, too. So now you're facing an incredibly long prison sentence, and it makes it much more likely that you'll flip, right? That you'll agree to testify against the others in order to get a better deal or get the charges dropped. So it's a really useful prosecutorial tool, but it's not always an ethical one. And it often ends up with people really being punished for things that not only didn't do, but things they didn't even know about. Yeah. I feel like if I'm convicted of a crime,

I should know that I did the crime or that the crime even happened. That seems to make sense to me. And I guess yesterday was the first day of the trial. Did anything notable happen? Oh, my gosh. It was already a total spectacle and a mess. And I don't know what the next few months are going to be like because the prosecution, so they started out, they used a Jungle Book analogy in their opening statement, which I'm like, the racial overtones are-

Glaring. Concerning. Glaring. which I'm like the racial overtones are glaring concerning glaring they also presented a slideshow of these like 60 slides all kinds of capitalization typos whatever and they apparently never shared most of these slides with the defense so immediately the defense called for a mistrial this is like law school semester one it's like you have evidence you have to share with the other side already the defense is calling for mistrial in a case where it took 10 months to seat a jury. So on day one, like that's pretty bad. The judge did not grant the mistrial, but he seemed pretty upset

that the prosecution violated the rules like that. And he called for this long break in the middle of the day so that the prosecution could fix their presentation, clear up the typos, ensure the defense had access. It's not exactly fair that they got access like five minutes before it was presented, but the judge is clearly trying to like get the show on the road. And he actually told the prosecution, quote, you all don't listen to the court and it's going to get you all in hot water, which is like not a great way to start out your first day on a case that's going to last a year. You don't want to make the judge mad. And it's really not a way to give confidence to the public that you can handle the Trump case either.

Because let me tell you something. You don't share those slides with the defense in the Trump case, we're not moving on. Right? Right. Okay, another thing I want to note here is that prosecutors have entered rap lyrics from Young Thug's music and other rap songs made by other people, part of the record label, including one from a deceased rapper named Juice WRLD. And this is really, really controversial. There's like an argument that I would agree with that it's a massive prosecutorial overstep, especially a deceased rapper who can't testify to the truth of these lyrics, right? You know, rappers talk

all the time about things that aren't true. The genre itself is boasting, it's storytelling, it's building a world. So the inclusion of lyrics as like evidence of a crime, it really raises a lot of questions. And again, I think this is what makes this case different than the Trump case. In Trump case, prosecutors have him calling up a state official and saying, find me some votes. Like, it's right there. But when you have, like, weaker cases where everything is kind of riding on, like, who's associated with who, things like rap lyrics can maybe be all you have or they can make

a big difference. And that's when it gets, like, a lot messier. So that is the latest for now. We will be back after some ads. Let's get to some headlines. Headlines. Police arrested a suspect on Sunday who they say shot and injured three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont. They charged the 48-year-old man with three counts of attempted murder.

He pleaded not guilty yesterday and was held without bail. The gunman has been identified, but we will not be naming him here to avoid giving him any additional notoriety. If convicted, the suspect could face life in prison. The shooting is being investigated as a possible hate crime, and it happened over the weekend when a man shot and injured three students, all 20 years old, in Burlington, Vermont. They were visiting for Thanksgiving and were staying at the home of a relative. Authorities said they had gone out for a walk around 6.30 p.m. on Saturday when a man approached them and, without saying anything, pulled out a handgun and started shooting. Authorities said the young men were speaking a mix of English and Arabic

and two of the three were wearing Palestinian kafaya scarves when they were shot. They were all being treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and a relative said one of the three young men faces a long recovery due to a spinal injury. Take a listen to what Rich Price, an uncle of one of the shooting victims, had to say during a news conference yesterday afternoon. To have them come stay with me for Thanksgiving and have something like this happen speaks to the level of civic vitriol, speaks to the level of hatred that exists in some corners of this country. It speaks to a sickness of gun violence that exists in this country. The families of the three students issued a statement yesterday and said in part,

quote, we believe a full investigation is likely to show our sons were targeted and violently attacked simply for being Palestinian. Tens of thousands of leaders from around the globe are heading to Dubai this week to kick off the 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. It's also known as COP, which stands for Conference of the Parties. Nearly 200 countries agreed to a big climate action treaty in 1992,

and diplomats from these nations have been meeting every year since 1995 to assess if they're on track to meet their climate policy goals. Spoiler alert, they are not. But some leaked documents published yesterday by the Center for Climate Reporting put a damper on the lead up to this year's conference.

The United Arab Emirates is reportedly planning to use its role as the host as a platform to lobby foreign government officials for oil and gas deals. Like, read the room, not the place, not the time. In other conference news, the White House said that President Biden will not be attending a World Leaders' Cop Summit on Friday, but they did not say why.

For reference, Biden has attended the summit for the past two years. Again, not a great look, especially since the U.S. ranks as the world's biggest historical em yesterday to demand better pay and working conditions during Cyber Monday, one of the busiest days of the year for online retail shopping. Here in the U.S., Amazon employees left their posts in at least nine states at 26 Amazon facilities. The collective action was led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, which largely represents freight drivers and warehouse workers. Take a listen to Jesse Moreno, an Amazon driver and Teamster organizer who walked off the job in Garner, North Carolina yesterday,

speaking to CBS 17 News. It's extremely important that we continue to spread the word on what's going on with Amazon's unfair labor practices. Meanwhile, Amazon employees in Spain, Italy, Germany, and the UK joined the action with workers walking off the job for one hour per shift on Cyber Monday. The walkout was so disruptive in Spain that Amazon cut a deal with thousands of its employees at the last minute to get them back to work, promising them increased wages and safer working conditions.

And in other labor news, 43,000 public school students in Portland returned to the classroom yesterday after their teachers scored a new tentative labor agreement with their school district. The new deal includes cost of living adjustments, an extra $4 million for pay raises, and more benefits for educators over the next two years. Monday was the first day that kids have been back in school since Halloween, the day before the week's long teacher strike began. In Indonesia, a very important birthday happened over the weekend. A critically endangered Sumatran rhino was born.

The male calf was born at a sanctuary in Indonesia's western island of Sumatra on Saturday. His mother is a seven-year-old female named Delilah and gave birth to the 55-pound calf 10 days earlier than expected. 55-pound preemie. I would not be happy. And the yet-to-be-named calf is just the second Sumatran rhino to be born in Indonesia this year. There are fewer than 50 Sumatran rhinos left, and the entire population currently lives in Indonesia. They're legally protected in the country, but they're threatened by poachers as well as destruction of tropical forest habitat. Delilah and her newborn are reportedly in good condition and the calf is now able to walk. Happy birthday, baby rhino. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. that rhino is black now listen right

and now for some word play tis the season when america's oldest dictionary merriam-webster picks its word of the year josie you will never guess what they picked this year i thought it was going to be unprecedented i feel like we've been saying we've been living in unprecedented times so much this year so much but they didn't go with that okay my guess is delulu my guess i would have loved for it to be delulu is it it's not delulu okay marion west said that the word of the year is authentic. Hate it. So apparently they saw a big increase in online searches for it in 2023.

In their announcement on their website, they attributed authentic's popularity to a few things. The artificial intelligence boom, the spread of misinformation on social media, and the generally blurry lines between what is real and what is fake. They also said, quote, although clearly a desirable quality, authentic is hard to define and subject to debate. Two reasons it sends many people to the dictionary. I would just like to note that I at least don't think that authentic is hard to define, but I guess for a lot of people it is. I also feel like a word of the year should be something we have in spades. And I'm like, it feels kind of rude to like rub it in our face.

That everybody's fake? There are literally like AI people. Like, don't talk to me about that. That's rude. That's like bringing up a sore subject. Well, the dictionary also listed words that were runner ups to authentic. They included riz, deep fake, coronation, which had a search spike when King Charles III was crowned in May. Yes, that happened this year. Another runner up was Implode, which people searched when the Titanic submersible disappeared back in June. That was also this year.

Look, you said deepfake and I was like, oh, that's terrible. But then all the other ones are worse. Like Riz, Coronation, Implode, Authentic. All those are worse. I'm going with deepfake. That's like the best we have to work with. This is what people are Googling and searching over there on Merriam-Webster. And I don't know what that says about the times that we are living through. But well, I do want to know who's on the Merriam-Webster website. I feel like that's a boomer behavior. Are you a dictionary.com girly? What are you trying to say?

Yes, of course. I'm a dictionary.com girly? What are you trying to say? Yes, of course. I'm a dictionary.com girly. It's probably not as good, but it's easy to... Like, I'm going to type in Miriam Webster. That's so long. I believe the website is m-w.com, but don't ask me why I know that. I didn't even know that. Don't ask me why I know that.

I didn't know that. Yeah, don't... It doesn't matter. It's fine. Anyway, WOD listeners, we want to hear from you all. What do you think the word of 2023 was? Let us know in our Discord channel. To join the fun, just go to Cricut.com slash friends.

We may select a few of our faves to feature on the show, but those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. Today is the last day for our holiday sale. You have until midnight to grab your favorite Cricut items. Yes, everything is 20% off. We haven't been this excited since we first saw Trump's mugshot. We know you're excited too. Head to Cricut.com slash store to shop now.

That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review that Baby Rhinos got Riz and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just listening to authentic hosts like us, so authentic. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com. Slash subscribe. I'm Josie Duffy Rice.

I'm Trevelle Anderson. And let's give the Baby Rhino a name. Young Thug. Name him Young Thug. Cut it out. Why not? It's timely. It's international. It's artistic.

So inspired. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Our show's producer is Itzy Quintanilla. Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers. And our showrunner is Leo Duran. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka. in Caxaca.