'BradCast' 4/24/2019 (Guest: Slate's Mark Joseph Stern)
On today's 'BradCast': The Trump Administration is barreling toward several unprecedented crises, as the fruits of the GOP's labor to violate constitutional norms to steal a Supreme Court seat appear about to pay off for them. The U.S. House General Counsel sued to block Trump's attempts to divert $6 billion in funding from the Defense Department to build his border wall. But Trump and the GOP have packed the judiciary with "conservatives" of convenience \u2013 judges who claim to believe in one set of principles but follow a radically different path when it suits their political whims. Trump is counting on such judges, in announcing he is blocking all White House and executive agency officials from responding to document requests issued by the U.S. House; directing current and former officials to ignore Congressional subpoenas; denying lawful requests for Trump's financial records; and vowing he will to seek help from his stolen SCOTUS if he is impeached. Legal reporter MARK JOSEPH STERN explains even more disturbing news regarding Tuesday's oral arguments in the US Supreme Court challenging the Commerce Department's attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Lower court rulings found that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lied and unlawfully directed the Census Bureau to add the question, over the objections of census experts who warned it would result in a massive under-count and misallocation of congressional districting, electoral votes, and hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding. Stern details the stunning hypocrisy displayed by the Court's five Republican justices, and suggests the outlook is not encouraging. Also today: some quick reported results in a few special elections in Tennessee and Florida that hold some potentially positive news for progressives. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest, belated 'Green News Report.'