Silencing Dissent: Attacks on Free Speech and Nonprofits Are Already Ramping Up

The Intercept Briefing

The Intercept

Politics, Unknown, Daily News, History, News

4.8 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For years, Donald Trump has vowed to go after his critics and journalists. As he prepares to reenter the White House, he’s nominating loyalists, like incoming FBI director Kash Patel, who have pledged to do the same.

The Trump administration may soon have a new weapon to target perceived enemies. On this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing, we discuss the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, or H.R. 9495.

Last month, the House passed H.R. 9495, which would give the Treasury Department secretary the authority to label any nonprofit — like The Intercept — a terrorist-supporting organization and take away its tax-exempt status, likely forcing them to shut down.

Noah Hurowitz, who has been covering the bill, says, “One thing that has come up a lot in my reporting on this, in talking to civil liberties experts and talking to nonprofits, is that the vagaries of the bill and the broad powers that it allows will likely have a chilling effect on free speech.”

Shawn Musgrave, The Intercept’s senior counsel and correspondent, points out the legal implications: “One of the things that I think is important to think about for a bill like H.R. 9495, which is framed around terrorism, [it] really reduces the level of due process and takes a lot of the guardrails off of the current system.”

Though it’s not likely that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will bring it up for a vote this session, the legislation could resurface in January when Republicans control both houses of Congress. To learn more about the implications, listen to this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You take the writer and or the publisher of the paper, a certain paper, and you know, and you say, who is the leaker?
0:10.0	National Security.
0:12.0	And they say, we're not going to tell you.
0:14.0	They say, that's okay, you're going to jail.
0:16.0	Since his 2016 presidential run, Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to go after his perceived enemies,
0:22.8	politicians, journalists, and critics alike. This time is no different, with renewed promises
0:29.1	to weaponize the federal government against dissent. These people should be put in jail the way
0:34.7	they talk about our judges and our justices.
0:38.0	And I think you should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the
0:42.6	American flag.
0:43.9	The president-elect may soon have a powerful new weapon against his ideological foes.
0:49.4	Last month, the House passed the Stop Terror, Financing, and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act.
0:56.1	The act would give the Secretary of Treasury the authority to label any nonprofit a terrorist
1:01.1	supporting organization and strip its tax-exempt status, essentially shutting them down.
1:07.8	With these potential powers and key cabinet picks, what lies ahead for journalists,
1:13.2	media at large and civic groups under the incoming Trump presidency?
1:19.8	Joining me now to unpack the risks are Noah Hurowitz, who has been covering the non-profit
1:25.3	killer bill, and Sean Musgrave, a media law attorney who has
1:29.8	been tracking threats to the press. Welcome to the show, Noah. Thanks so much for having me.
1:34.3	Welcome to the show, Sean. Thanks for having me. Noah, to start us off, could you tell us about this
1:39.1	bill that could effectively kill nonprofits if it proceeds? What is being proposed? And what are the implications of the
1:46.4	bill if it passes? So HR 9495, which is a bill that passed the House in late November,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Intercept, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Intercept and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.