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Trump, Inc.

Introducing We Don't Talk About Leonard

Trump, Inc.

WNYC Studios

Don, Trump, News, Business, Jared, Ivanka, Jr, Politics, Business News, Government, Eric

4.65.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this first episode of We Don't Talk About Leonard, a new miniseries created in partnership with On the Media and ProPublica, ProPublica reporters Andrea Bernstein, Andy Kroll, and Ilya Marritz investigate the background of the man who has played a critical role in the conservative takeover of America's courts — Leonard Leo. From his humble roots in middle class New Jersey, to a mansion in Maine where last year he hosted a fabulous party on the eve of the Supreme Court decision to tank “Roe.” Listen to On the Media wherever you get your podcasts. This podcast was created in partnership with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, Trump Inc. listeners. It's Andrea Bernstein. I am so excited to be talking to you now

0:06.0

to tell you about a new audio series, Ilya Maritz and I have been working on for ProPublica

0:10.4

and on the media. It's called We Don't Talk About Leonard. Ever since Trump was president

0:16.7

and then tried to not let go of power, Ilya and I have been thinking and reporting about

0:22.0

the stresses in our democracy. About a year ago, we started to work with ProPublica

0:27.1

unraveling how one of the final backstops of our system, the courts, have been under pressure.

0:32.4

And at the center of that effort is a conservative legal philosopher general named Leonard Leo.

0:39.8

You might know his name because he was Trump's judge Whisperer. Leo was responsible for the

0:45.7

nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court.

0:52.2

But Leo is more powerful than that. As we found his influence stretches to state supreme courts

1:00.6

and attorneys general to the whole of American culture. To report this story, Ilya and I teamed

1:07.1

up with ProPublica's Andy Crowell, an investigative reporter who's been breaking stories on Leo

1:12.6

and the three of us dug deep. Ilya and I think you are really going to like We Don't Talk About Leonard.

1:20.3

And here it is.

1:25.5

The court has ruled that states can decide whether abortion should be legal or illegal. Roe versus

1:32.5

Wade is history. The conservative majority on today's Supreme Court has been redefining American's

1:39.4

constitutional rights in one decision after another. And one largely unknown man has played an

1:46.1

outsized role in making it so. Leonard Leo has single-handedly changed the face of the judiciary.

1:55.9

This is on the media. I'm Brooke Gladstone. This week an investigation into the man who spent decades

2:02.4

working toward a conservative takeover of America's courts because this is about way more than

2:08.2

just the US Supreme Court. The rights revolution in the United States didn't happen just because

2:14.0

you magically got five justices on the court who agreed with you. It's all coming up after this.

...

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