Democracy Now! 2026-05-20 Wednesday

Summary

Democracy Now! — May 20, 2026 Podcast Summary

Overview

This episode of Democracy Now!, hosted by Amy Goodman, delivers a comprehensive look at current geo-political developments, domestic U.S. political controversies, and human rights crises. The program highlights the growing outrage over Justice Department moves to shield President Trump and his allies from accountability, escalating U.S. pressure on Cuba—including a possible indictment of former President Raul Castro—and a record spike in global executions driven by Iran. In-depth interviews with guests including investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, Cuba analyst Peter Kornblu, Havana-based journalist Ed Augustine, and Amnesty International’s Raha Bahreini shed light on these urgent stories.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Justice Department Slush Fund and IRS Immunity for Trump Family

[00:19]–[32:26]

• Justice Department Moves:

  • Creation of a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, potentially benefiting January 6 rioters and Trump allies who claim they were wrongly targeted.
  • DOJ/IRS settlement forever barring investigation into Trump’s tax returns, family company, and associates—following Trump dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
  • Both moves generated bipartisan concern, with resignations from top Treasury officials.

• Senate Hearings:

  • Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) questioned Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (formerly Trump’s personal lawyer) about eligibility for the fund, specifically whether convicted January 6 rioters and those who assaulted police would qualify.

    “Anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they’re a victim.”
    —Todd Blanche ([00:29] and recurring through [19:05])

  • Blanche evaded direct commitment to exclude violent offenders or insurrectionists from payouts, stating commissioners set the rules and that he appoints them all.

    “Mr. Attorney General, you are acting today like the president's personal attorney. And that's the whole problem.”
    —Sen. Chris Van Hollen ([19:57])

  • Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) noted the unprecedented nature of a sitting president suing and then settling with his own government in a way that opens a payout fund for supporters, pressing whether donors or insurrectionists would be excluded from payouts ([23:56]).
  • Blanche refused to commit to exclusions:

    “I am not committing to anything beyond the settlement agreement itself. When you say campaign donors, they are not excluded from seeking compensation.”
    —Todd Blanche ([24:22])

• Expert Analysis with David Cay Johnston ([21:12]):

  • Johnston described the fund as a “dictatorship in action”:

    “What he now has is a fund ... to arm his goon squads, people like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, to carry out acts of violence or intimidation against people on his behalf, with no accountability.” ([21:12])

  • Emphasized that the fund’s $1.776 billion sum is an explicit reference to 1776, signaling political symbolism.
  • Called the legal structuring “a theft of taxpayer money, plain and simple,” with the setup being “completely contrary to law” ([32:21]).
  • Criticized the permanent IRS immunity, referencing Trump’s longstanding record of tax fraud.

• Conflict of Interest:

  • The DOJ’s Todd Blanche, Trump’s former (and potentially current) personal attorney, is signing off on deals benefitting Trump personally:

    “No other lawyer in the Justice Department would put their reputation, if not their law license, at risk by signing this utterly corrupt agreement.”
    —David Cay Johnston ([31:11])

  • The legality and durability of these moves are questioned, with hope that future administrations might challenge the agreements in court.

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2. U.S. Escalation Against Cuba & Power Crisis

[33:40]–[52:51]

• Forthcoming Indictment of Raul Castro:

  • U.S. poised to unseal charges against 94-year-old former Cuban President Raul Castro over a 1996 shootdown of exile group aircraft—seen as part of heavy-handed Trump administration pressure on Cuba timed for maximum political effect among Miami’s anti-Castro community ([33:40], [45:19]).

• On-the-Ground Humanitarian Crisis:

  • Ed Augustine (Havana):
    • Described a “collective punishment” scenario due to four months of U.S.-imposed oil blockade.
    • Essential services collapsing without fuel:
      • Food insecurity, hunger, and child malnutrition rising quickly.
      • Electricity is scarce—interrupting not just homes but also hospital operations.
      • Example: Pediatric anesthesiologist forced to operate on babies during power cuts ([40:54]).
    • People resort to primitive cooking methods (charcoal, scavenged wood/cardboard) in high-rises, with acute public health risks.
    • Blockade’s impact particularly severe on poor, black, elderly, pregnant women, and children.
    • Health system, once a model for the developing world, is near breakdown:

      "People are dying as a result of the oil blockade... This would be happening in any country.”
      —Ed Augustine ([40:54])

    • Headline cited: "Cuban Patients are Dying Because of U.S. Blockade, Doctors Say" ([40:31]).

• CIA Drake Visit and Military Threats:

  • Peter Kornblu:
    • Contextualizes recent CIA Director’s visit to Havana as an ultimatum:
      • US warns against another migration crisis;
      • Threatens military options if Cuba doesn’t yield to US demands quickly.
      • Upcoming indictment of Castro seen as “psychological warfare” and possible prelude to special ops against Cuban leaders ([45:19]).
    • Outlines shift of “Brothers to the Rescue”—originally a humanitarian effort—to a political provocation, ignored by US authorities despite Cuban warnings before shootdown ([48:58]).
    • Predicts surgical US strikes or special operations rather than full-scale invasion ([51:41]).

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3. Global Spike in Executions – Amnesty International Report

[53:45]–[58:44]

• Sharp Rise in Executions (2025 Data):

  • Raha Bahreini (Amnesty International – Iran researcher):
    • Iran executed more than 2,100 people in 2025, a shocking increase, making it the world’s second-largest executor.
    • Half of Iranian executions are for drug offenses, heavily impacting impoverished populations.
    • Use of the death penalty intensifies against protesters, dissidents, and those accused of espionage—often following grossly unfair trials.

    “We have recorded the highest number of executions carried out in Iran since the early 1980s... in a context where the Iranian authorities have intensified the use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression...”
    —Raha Bahreini ([54:24])

    • China remains the likely first in executions, but keeps its numbers secret ([55:45]).
    • The Amnesty report notes 17 countries—among them the US—persist in using death sentences, but global abolition efforts making progress.

• Impact of Conflict on Repression:

  • Recent Israeli and US strikes on Iran have intensified Iranian government repression, with mass arrests and executions, particularly of recent protesters:

    “People in Iran now are caught between unlawful Israeli and US armed attacks on the one hand, and deadly cycles of repression at the hands of Iran’s own authorities.”
    —Raha Bahreini ([57:04])

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4. Other Notable Domestic & Global Stories

[01:46]–[16:22]

• Middle East and US–Iran Escalation:

  • Ongoing US military threats to Iran; Israeli military actions have killed thousands of Lebanese and displaced a fifth of the country’s population, with latest humanitarian aid flotilla violently intercepted (Saif Abu Keshek’s testimony, [05:41]).

• US Domestic Politics:

  • Several Trump-backed candidates oust incumbents in Republican primaries (Brad Raffensperger, Thomas Massie, et al.) amid record campaign spending and influence by groups such as AIPAC ([14:36], [14:56]).
  • Rutgers University alternative commencement, in response to silencing of pro-Palestinian voices ([16:22]).
  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy questioned about potential conflicts of interest related to a sponsored “Great American Road Trip” reality series ([11:00]).

• Epidemics and Military Operations:

  • Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda ([11:15]).
  • US–Nigerian joint operations against Islamic State, with increasing direct US military activity on the continent ([11:25]).

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Selected Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This is dictatorship in action... a fund to arm his goon squads... to carry out acts of violence or intimidation against people on his behalf, with no accountability.” —David Cay Johnston ([21:12])

• “You are acting today like the president's personal attorney. And that's the whole problem.” —Sen. Chris Van Hollen to AG Todd Blanche ([19:57])

• “People are dying as a result of the oil blockade... This would be happening in any country.” —Ed Augustine, on Cuba ([40:54])

• “This is going to be an extraordinary event... The indictment of Raul Castro... accomplishes three important things for the Trump administration. It sends a bone of red meat to the anti-Castro Miami community, warns Cubans almost psychologically... and sets the stage for potential intervention.” —Peter Kornblu ([45:19])

• “We have recorded the highest number of executions carried out in Iran since the early 1980s, in a context where the Iranian authorities have intensified the use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression...” —Raha Bahreini, Amnesty International ([54:24])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Slush Fund & IRS Immunity for Trump: [00:19]–[32:26]
• Senate Hearings & Blanche–Van Hollen Exchange: [09:35]–[20:17]
• David Cay Johnston Analysis: [21:12]–[32:26]
• US Escalation/Cuba Blockade & Humanitarian Crisis: [33:40]–[44:36]
• CIA Visit to Cuba & Castro Indictment: [45:19]–[52:51]
• Amnesty: Executions in Iran & Global Death Penalty Trends: [53:45]–[58:44]
• Middle East Headlines, Gaza Aid Flotilla, US–Iran Tension: [01:46]–[05:59]
• Political Headlines, US Primary Results, Rutgers Convocation: [14:36]–[16:50]

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Conclusion

This episode of Democracy Now! delivers rigorous, urgent, and critical reporting on the erosion of legal norms in the U.S.—particularly through special government arrangements benefitting Trump and his allies—alongside breaking developments in Cuba–U.S. tensions and a grim report on the worldwide status of the death penalty. The episode is shaped by skepticism toward government and corporate power, a spotlight on the stories of those harmed by those structures, and a persistent call for accountability and human rights.

For listeners wanting an in-depth, fact-driven exploration of the day’s most consequential stories—this episode is essential.

Transcript

[Amy Goodman]

From New York, this is Democracy Now.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this one?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Well, as it makes plain.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Anything. Just let me know if they're eligible for the fund.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

As was made plain. Yes, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they're a victim. Weapons.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Mr. Trinity, let me ask you this. Are there going to be rules?

[Amy Goodman]

Outrage is growing over the Justice Department's move to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could be used to pay January 6 rioters and other people targeted by the Biden administration. In addition, the Justice Department has issued an extraordinary memo saying the IRS is, quote, fore barred from investigating past tax returns of President Trump, his family company and related companies. The two moves come after President Trump dropped an unprecedented $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS. We'll speak with the twice Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter David K. Johnston, author of the Big How Donald Trump Fleeced America, Enriched Himself and His Family. Then the Trump administration continues to ramp up pressure against Cuba,

[Donald Trump]

a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately. Now Cuba's, Cuba's got problems. We'll finish one first. I like to finish a job.

[Amy Goodman]

The Justice Department's reportedly preparing to indict former Cuban President Raul Castro today. We'll go to Cuba for a report and speak with Peter Kornblu at the National Security Archive. And finally, Amnesty International finds executions around the world have surged to a 44 year high. In Iran, over 2,100 people were executed last year. We'll speak with Amnesty's Iran researcher. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy now, democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Iran's threatening that the war will spread beyond the Middle east if the US Attacks again. This comes after President Trump admitted he was, quote, an hour away, unquote, from resuming strikes on Iran before he was convinced to postpone the attack. It comes as Trump Sundays Iran has two or three days to reach a deal to end the war or face renewed attacks. Meanwhile, the U.S. senate voted Tuesday to advance a resolution to force Trump to end the war in Iran for the first time. Four Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana joined most Democrats in favor of advancing the resolution. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to oppose the bill. Three Republicans, Senators John Cornyn of Texas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, didn't vote. The bill would still need to pass the GOP controlled House and would face a veto by President Trump. This comes as the New York Times is reporting the US and Israel had intended to install Iran's former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's leader in the early days of the war. An Israeli strike on Ahmedjad's home in Tehran was reportedly designed to free him from house arrest, but injured him instead. According to the Times, Ahmedjad has not been seen publicly since the strike. His current whereabouts are unknown. Lebanon's Health Ministry says at least 22 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, despite a 45 day ceasefire extension since March 2. Over 3,000 Lebanese have been killed in Israeli strikes and more than a million people, 1/5 of Lebanon's population, has been displaced. Israeli forces have intercepted the last remaining boats with a humanitarian aid flotilla attempting to breach the blockade on Gaza. Video from the flotilla's livestream showed Israeli soldiers opening fire on at least two of the vessels. Livestream footage also shows the activists putting on life jackets and raising their hands as Israeli soldiers approach to raid the boats. Over 400 activists aboard 50 vessels from the Global Samud flotilla have been abducted, among them Margaret Connally, the sister of Irish President Catherine Connally, as well as several US citizens, the Global Samoot Flotilla said earlier today. Nearly 90 of the activists have reportedly started a hunger strike to protest their illegal abduction and in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The latest raid came just weeks after Israel attacked a previous humanitarian aid flotilla en route to Gaza. This is Saif Abu Keshek, who was detained in an Israeli prison for 10 days and released early this month. He was among 175 international activists forced off their aid ships on international waters at gunpoint in late April.

[Peter Kornblu]

It's another crime that Israel continued to committing in the international water by intercepting those civilian boats that are protected by the international law and the ICGA orders to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza. They are being intercepted and attacked by Israeli soldiers and the Israeli navy.

[Amy Goodman]

The Trump administration's imposed sanctions now on Saif Abu Keshek and at least three other activists over their involvement with the Gaza humanitarian aid flotillas and what activists condemn as an escalating crackdown to silence them. Israel's far right finance Minister Bezalel Smotrek said Tuesday the International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant against him. In his remarks from Jerusalem Tuesday, Smotrek, without evidence, blamed the Palestinian Authority for the alleged arrest warrant, saying it had started a war and it will get a war, unquote Smotrek also ordered the forced evacuation of Palestinian residents in the village of Khan Al Amar. Smotrek has spearheaded the violent expansion of illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank. The International Criminal Court has not disclosed any details regarding a potential arrest warrant for him. In California, authorities confirmed the identities of two other victims killed in a shooting at the Islamic center of san Diego Monday. 78 year old Mansoor Kaziha was a longtime employee of the mosque who'd called the police before he was killed. 57 year old Nader Awad lived across the street from the Islamic Center. When he heard the gunfire, he ran towards the building. This comes after friends and family identified Amin Abdullah as the security guard who was killed while trying to prevent the attackers from entering the mosque. Meanwhile, the FBI says that two teenage attackers who opened fire on the San Diego mosque had met online and left writings expressing hate. According to writings obtained by the Associated Press, the suspected attackers expressed hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ community, black people and women. The attackers also reportedly expressed beliefs about white people being eliminated. This is Imam Tahhahassain of the Islamic center of San Diego.

[Ed Augustine]

We have never expected this, even though

[Amy Goodman]

we tried throughout the years, everything we could do.

[Ed Augustine]

Applying for Homeland Security grants.

[Amy Goodman]

We have a fence, security, armed guards, security cameras covering every single spot inside

[David Cay Johnston]

and outside the Islamic Center.

[Ed Augustine]

What could we do more than this?

[Amy Goodman]

The Justice Department quietly slipped a provision into an agreement creating a $1.7 billion fund to compensate President Trump's allies. The addendum, signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, says the IRS is, quote, forever barred from investigating the tax returns of Trump, his family company and related companies. The announcement came as part of a settlement agreement between President Trump and his own after Trump, his sons and their family business sued the IRS for $10 billion over the leak of Trump's tax returns by an IRS employee. This comes as CNN's reporting that Todd Blanche, who previously served as President Trump's personal lawyer, was told last year to recuse himself from Justice Department matters involving Trump, citing ethics concerns. On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen grilled blanche about the DOJ's $1.7 billion fund to make payments to Trump supporters who say they were wrongly investigated or prosecuted by previous administrations.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Will eligible individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Well, as it makes plain.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Anybody just let me know if they're eligible for the fund.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

As. As. As was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they're a victim weapon.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Mr. Change, let me ask you this. Are there going to be rules that say that if you've assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer or committed a violent crime, you will not be eligible? Why not make that a rule?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

I expect that. Well, because I'm not one of the commissioners setting up the rules.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

I expect four of the five members. Aren't you, Mr. Attorney General?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Pardon me?

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

You're appointing four of the five members.

[Amy Goodman]

Blanche corrected him and said he's pointing all of the members. On Capitol Hill, Democratic senators grilled Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about his reality television road trip project called the Great American Road Trip, featuring Duffy, who was previously a reality TV star, and his wife, Rachel Campos Duffy and their nine children. Driving through 10 states. Democratic senators questioned Duffy about whether transportation companies can expect special treatment from the Trump administration after donating to the nonprofit that funded the trip. This is Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington. How much did you rack up on gas during your Great American Road Trip? I understand that was paid for by groups and sponsors.

[David Cay Johnston]

Sponsors, a non profit funded the Great American Road Trip.

[Amy Goodman]

The non profit actually solicited funding from private organizations.

[David Cay Johnston]

I did not.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Right.

[Amy Goodman]

Okay. Do you know how much gas.

[David Cay Johnston]

No, I don't.

[Amy Goodman]

You don't.

[David Cay Johnston]

But I know, I know it's not as much as it was under biden, which was $5 a gallon.

[Amy Goodman]

Holy cow. Okay, just listen. Americans don't have corporate sponsors to pay for their gas. World Health Organization Director Tedros Adnum Ghebreyesas announced Today there are 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 suspected deaths from the disease in Congo and Uganda, warning the numbers are expected to rise. He said at least 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo's northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu and at least two in Uganda's capital Kampala. Nigeria's military said Tuesday a series of joint strikes with the United States against Islamic State fighters killed at least 175 people in recent days. Back in February, the Trump administration announced it had sent troops to Nigeria in what it claimed would be mostly a training and advisory role. The U. S. Africa Command Africom confirmed the joint military operation signaling US Troops have a more active role as the Trump administration intensifies its so called war on terror in the region. The Trump administration is advancing plans to increase the number of white South Africans it admits to the United States as refugees. The proposal would see an additional 10,000 white South Africans resettled into the US even as the Trump administration continues to block the entry of refugees from other countries under Trump's proposal, which was submitted to Congress. The US would lift its record low refugee admissions figure from 7,500 to 17,500, with the additional openings reserved for Afrikaners. Trump has falsely claimed they face racial persecution lies. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has decried his white supremacy and white victimhood, unquote. The US has resettled just over 6,000 refugees between October and April. All except three were from South Africa. In California, a federal jury on Monday rejected Elon Musk's $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman. Musk alleged OpenAI was established as a nonprofit, then improperly turned into a for profit corporation. The jury ruled Musk waited too long to sue over the matter. Musk has vowed to appeal the verdict. Republican Congressmember Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost his primary race to a Trump backed challenger, Ed Gallrain. Massie has repeatedly defied President Trump during his tenure. He opposed US Military actions against Iran, publicly criticizing Trump's strikes as unconstitutional. He was also the co author of the Epstein Files Transparency act along with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna, forcing the Justice Department to release files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a move Trump fiercely opposed. On Tuesday, Goll Rhein won the Republican primary in Kentucky's 4th congressional district with nearly of the vote. Trump's biggest donors back Gall Rhine and more than $32 million was spent on campaign ads in the Kentucky district, making it the most expensive house primary in U.S. history. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro Israel interest groups spent over $9 million to defeat Massey. This is Congressmember Massey in his concession speech on Tuesday night.

[Donald Trump]

We don't want we we're tired of meddling overseas. We can't afford it. Our empire will collapse if we keep sending our money to other countries.

[Peter Kornblu]

I never picked a fight with the country that's tried to take me out

[Amy Goodman]

here because I've never but I've never

[Peter Kornblu]

voted for foreign aid to any country.

[Donald Trump]

We got to take care of America first.

[Amy Goodman]

America first. This comes as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger lost the state's Republican gubernatorial primary. He had Rebu duked President Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results. In a call to Raffensperger in 2021, President Trump had urged him to, quote, find 11,780 votes, unquote one more vote than Joe Biden's margin of victory in 2020. On Tuesday, Raffensperger lost the gubernatorial primary to two pro Trump Georgia's Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones and Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive. Meanwhile, DSA backed candidate and progressive state Representative Chris Raab won the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Congressmember Dwight Evans in Pennsylvania's third District. Raab defeated Evans preferred successor Alice Stanford in the primary and the People's Convocation for Palestine an alternative graduation ceremony was held at Rutgers University on Tuesday to honor Arab, Palestinian and other targeted students who spoke up after the university canceled biotech CEO Rami Elgandur commencement speech at the Rutgers School of Engineering's convocation. Citing vague complaints about his social media posts on Israel and Palestine. Rutgers abruptly withdrew its convocation invitation. This is Rami El Ghandur.

[Ed Augustine]

The truth in this particular moment is that a university should honor all of its students, all of its faculty, all of its people. What they chose to do here is something of political convenience, right? When it became inconvenient to honor us like Omar talked about or me in giving this speech, what did they do? They just discarded us as if we don't matter.

[Amy Goodman]

And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. In an extraordinary move, the Justice Department issued a memo Tuesday saying the IRS is, quote, forever barred, unquote, from investigating past tax returns of President Trump, his family company and related companies. The memo was issued a day after the Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to make payments to individuals, including January 6 insurrectionists who say they were wrongly targeted. The so called anti weaponization fund would be overseen by five commissioners appointed by the Attorney General who is President Trump's former personal attorney. The two announcements come after President Trump dropped his unprecedented $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Trump, his sons and their family business filed the suit over the leak of their tax returns by a former IRS contractor who was sentenced to five years in prison for leaking the docum. Democrats and Republicans have expressed alarm over the agreements. On Monday, the Treasury Department's top lawyer, Brian Morrissey, resigned shortly after the fund was announced. On Tuesday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified before a Senate hearing about the fund. This is Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Mr. Attorney General, this is an outrageous, unprecedented slush fund that you set up. Simple question Will individuals who assaulted Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Well, as it explain any just let

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

me know if they're eligible for the fund.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

As, as as was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they're a victim weapon.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Mr. Let me ask you this. Are there going to be rules that say that if you've assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer or committed a violent crime, you will not be eligible? Why not make that a rule?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

I expect that. Well, because I'm not one of the commissioners setting up the rules.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

I expect four of the five members. Aren't you, Mr. Attorney General?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Pardon me?

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

You're appointing four of the five members I am appointing. You can set up the rules. I would hope you would make a rule that anyone convicted of assaulting a police officer, a violent crime, is simply not eligible. They should not apply.

[Amy Goodman]

Senator Van Hollen later questioned Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about his personal role in the agreement.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

So you're not going to, you're not going to submit this proposal to any federal judge or ind. There is no judge, any independent authority

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

that an independent, what does that mean, an independent authority?

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

It means not somebody who's getting to pick five of the members. Who is the president's former personal attorney. That would be somebody who would be independent.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

I'm the acting attorney general. Okay.

[Amy Goodman]

The fact that I used to be

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

President Trump's lawyer is just a fact, but I'm the acting attorney general. So don't say the president's former personal lawyer will do something the acting attorney General will do.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen]

Mr. Attorney General, you are acting today like the president's personal attorney. And that's the whole problem. You've got his whole, you have a whole banner of his face hanging over the Department of Justice and you and everybody else walks under it. And you are acting like you're his current personal attorney. Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions.

[Amy Goodman]

This all comes as CNN has revealed. Todd Blanche was told last year to recuse himself from Justice Department matters involving Trump, citing ethics concerns. We're joined now by David K. Johnston, professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and Law, Journalism and Criminal Justice, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, co founder of DC Report. He's the author of three books on Trump, including the Big How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family. David Cay Johnson, thanks for joining us again. Can you respond to these developments? The so called anti weaponization Fund and the Trump family and President Trump himself being protected from any future investigation into their finances and corruption.

[David Cay Johnston]

Well, this is dictatorship in action. Donald Trump had declared himself to be our dictator shortly after resuming office this last year. He has been acting like a dictator. Now. He hasn't fully consolidated his power and there are various places where people have pushed back on him, but he is conducting himself as A dictator. And what he now has is a fund with an interesting number, $1.776 billion to arm his goon squads, people like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, to carry out acts of violence or intimidation against people on his behalf, with no accountability for who receives this money, no rationale for it. And he's able to do this because, at least for the moment, our Constitution doesn't have adequate safeguards to address what happens when you have the third generation head of a four generation white collar crime boss in the White House and his personal lawyer, who by law is still Donald Trump's lawyer. Blanche, as the acting Attorney General,

[Amy Goodman]

talk about this fund again. $1.776 billion. Of course, I emphasize that because it's 1776.

[David Cay Johnston]

Well, under this fund, a five member board appointed by Todd Blanche, the acting Attorney General, would decide who gets the money. There would be no public notification of this and accounting for it, only a confidential report to Todd Blanche or whoever is Attorney General at the time. There's no rules that would prohibit, as Senator Von Hollen pointed out, those who assaulted police officers from receiving money. And this is simply a slush fund to pay a criminal enforcement arm, a violent arm of Trump's supporters, to intimidate people. And remember, Donald Trump always described his failed effort to overthrow our government in 2021 as a day of love. Only Donald Trump and people who believe that he should be our dictator would of course see it that way.

[Amy Goodman]

Let's go back to Tuesday's Senate hearing. Acting attorney Todd Blanche. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was questioned by Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.

[Senator Chris Coons]

Has it ever happened that a sitting president sued his own government for $10 billion and then directed the settlement of the case and the establishment of a payout fund?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Not that I'm aware, but there's a lot of things that President Trump's the first of. No president had been indicted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 times either.

[Peter Kornblu]

Correct?

[Senator Chris Coons]

No president's been indicted. And will you commit that none of this money will go to President Trump's campaign donors?

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

I am not committing to anything beyond the settlement agreement itself. When you say campaign donors, that they are not excluded from seeking compensation.

[Senator Chris Coons]

During Police Week, I heard from a number of law enforcement friends who found it appalling that there was the possibility that folks like the peace, the Oath Keepers, the proud boys who had assaulted Capitol Police officers, could receive multi million dollar payouts from this fund. Will you commit that no one who has been convicted of assaulting a police officer will receive a payout from this fund.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

So I share the concerns that apparently members of law enforcement gave to you last week, although none of this was announced last week, so that's surprising.

[Senator Chris Coons]

But they have heard rumors there would be a settlement fund.

[Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche]

Okay. But anybody can apply. The commission will set. The commissioners will set rules. I'm sure that's not for me to set. That's for the commissioners. And whether an individual, an oath keeper, as you just mentioned, applies for compensation is anything anybody in this country can apply.

[Amy Goodman]

And of course, it was pointed out that the administration, Todd Blanche, President Trump's former personal attorney, can fire any of the commissioners as well. But your response overall, David Cay johnston,

[David Cay Johnston]

well, I think this setup is completely contrary to law. The problem is who has standing that is the right to intervene and try to stop it. Now, the IRS makes settlements with people and they promise this is closed. We're not going to continue this anymore. But the fact that this agreement includes this side agreement that the Trump Organization, Donald Trump, members of his family may not be examined on their past tax returns just screams that Donald Trump is, in fact, a criminal level tax cheat. Now, this is not the only avenue to address Donald Trump's tax cheating. And this is a man who we know from the tax returns that have been made public because of the House Democrats led by Richard Neal and the leak, as well as the ones I found in the public record that Donald Trump has been creating non existent companies, just made up fictitious companies and taking tax losses that reduced his taxes for all the way back to at least 1984. That's a pattern of criminal behavior that establishes what's called mens rea or criminal intent. Now, the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, or the New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, they can go after Trump over his state and city taxes. And twice in the past judges have found that Donald Trump committed tax fraud. These were civil, not criminal cases. They included Trump forging the signature of his tax preparer, his longtime tax lawyer and tax accountant, which could have been prosecuted as a crime. And I've written a piece ran in the New York Daily News three years ago showing how Alvin Bragg could easily get Donald Trump convicted of criminal tax fraud if he would bring such a case. And of course, they can also pursue it civilly. But as it stands, Donald Trump basically will now not have to pay the what the New York Times estimates is more than $100 million. And I think that's a very conservative number in taxes from the past. And he will get a walk on what are clearly from the Released tax returns, felony level tax crimes.

[Amy Goodman]

On Tuesday, Vice President J.D. vance held an unusual press conference at the White House. He was questioned about Trump's stock trades by Andrew Feinberg, the White House correspondent at the Independent.

[Andrew Feinberg]

How can you and your administration argue

[Donald Trump]

to Americans that you're cleaning up corruption, you're preventing fraud, you're fighting the sorts of things that harm people and people's financial situations? When the President seems to be talking up stocks that he owns, selling them

[Andrew Feinberg]

and enriching himself, The President doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks. That's absurd. He has independent wealth advisors who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business. He's not making these stock trades himself. And your question imputes that. It doesn't say it exactly. But a reasonable person listening to that question would assume the President is sitting around and doing that. He's not. Second of all, you're right. I am a big fan of banning members of Congress from trading stocks.

[Ed Augustine]

Stocks.

[Andrew Feinberg]

So is the President of the United States. All of us believe that nobody should be taking proprietary information gained from public service and buying and selling stocks. We want to ban. We want to ban that. We want to ban that process.

[Amy Goodman]

He answered that question after attacking the questioner. But David Cay Johnston, if you can talk about President Trump's stock trades, how much he's made and responding to Vance saying is not as it. If he's doing it himself on his own computer,

[David Cay Johnston]

well, that's a complete red herring that he's not doing it on his computer. What we want to know is what kind of information did the purchasers on Trump's behalf, the brokers and agents have about events that were going to happen? Why is the Trump administration not looking into these enormous commodities and stock bets that were placed 15, 20 minutes before major White House announcements that influenced the market market, we see no sign that that's being pursued. And of course, if the Trump administration thinks members of Congress shouldn't be allowed to trade stocks, and I think that's what the law should be, why isn't he following his own belief? And the reason is, of course, Donald, who I've known and covered for almost 40 years, doesn't believe the rules apply to him. He believes he's special. He believes that the rest of us are all idiots unless we support him and that no law applies to him because of his special status in the world. And when I said in 2011, Donald thinks that he should run not just America, but the whole world. There were various people who mocked me. What did Donald Trump say about a year ago? I run the country and the whole world. He sees himself as the world dictator. So why would he be troubled by little things like trading in stocks when he's in the White House where those stock prices are influenced by his actions?

[Amy Goodman]

You've written three books on Donald Trump. David Cade Johnston, you've won two Pulitzer Prizes. What shocked you most about what has just been revealed?

[David Cay Johnston]

Oh, the brazenness of closing the audit the way Todd Blanche did this. You notice Todd Blanche is the one who signed the letter. What that tells you is that no other lawyer in the Justice Department to put their reputation, if not their law license at risk by signing this utterly corrupt agreement. Now, Todd Blanche remains Donald Trump's lawyer since the criminal trial where Trump was convicted on 34 felonies. So he has a conflict of interest. And one would hope that the New York State Bar would go after the law license of Todd Blanche and a future administration, assuming we get past Trump's dictatorship, which I no longer think is a guaranteed event, could go into court and basically say to a judge, this agreement isn't worth the paper that it's written on and attack this agreement. I think it is inherently corrupt. There is no controversy as the Constitution requires because the parties here are Donald Trump an individual, and Donald Trump the president of the United States.

[Ed Augustine]

United States.

[David Cay Johnston]

That's not a controversy. This is theft of taxpayer money, plain and simple.

[Amy Goodman]

David K. Johnson, Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology and Law, journalism and criminal justice. Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, co founder of DC Report, author of three books on Trump, including the Big How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family. Coming up, we look at Cuba as the Trump administration's reportedly preparing to indict the former Cuban president Raul Castro. Stay with us,

[Ed Augustine]

Sam.

[Amy Goodman]

Orlando Paz, here on Democracy now, democracynow.org I'm Amy Goodman. All eyes are on Miami today as the Trump administration is expected to unseal an indictment against the former Cuban president Raul Castro, who is 94 years old. Multiple outlets are reporting the forthcoming indictment will detail charges against Castro related to the 1996 shoot down of two airplanes operated by the Miami based exile group Brothers to the Rescue, in which four people were killed. Castro is Cuba's defense minister at the time of the incident. The Department of Justice is holding an event to honor the victims at the Miami Freedom Tower this afternoon, according to an invitation reviewed by Reuters. Today also marks Cuban Independence Day as recognized by the United States and celebrated by many Cuban Americans. The Cuban government commemorating Cuban independence on a separate date in October. The indictment would be the latest escalation in an ongoing pressure campaign against the Cuban government. Last week, CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana to meet with Cuban officials a day after Cuba announced it had run out of diesel and fuel oil due to the US blockade and sanctions. On Tuesday, as President Trump was showing gathered reporters his White House ballroom construction project, a journalist asked the President if a diplomatic deal can be reached with Cuba. Here's how Trump responded.

[Donald Trump]

With Cuba? I think so. Yeah, I think so. We are, I am very prone toward the Cuban Americans. They've been incredible people. Many of them have lost family members, they've been very badly hurt themselves, they've been in prison, they've come to this country, country and they've been very successful. The Cuban American people in Miami, I mean, they are amazing people. Most of them are in Miami, in Florida, but mostly in Miami. I'm very, very prone to helping them. I mean that's, they've been, I think I got 97% of that vote.

[Amy Goodman]

For more, we're joined by two guests and Havana Independent journalist Ed Augustine is with us. He's reported from Havana for over a decade. His recent piece for the New York Times headlined Cuban patients are dying because of U.S. blockade, doctors say. And from Cape Cod, we're joined by Peter Kornblu, Cuba specialist at the National Security Archive, co author of Back Channel to the Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. Kornblu's new piece for the nation is headlined the CIA Goes to Cuba. In a moment we're going to talk about the CIA director just recently going to Cuba. But first, Ed Augustine, describe the conditions on the ground in Cuba and what you understand is happening today. The possible US indictment against the 94 year old former Cuban President Raul Castro in Cuba.

[Ed Augustine]

It's very clear to any of us here that we're witnessing an unfolding humanitarian crisis which has been long in recreation, largely man made, but which is now getting worse every passing day. Why? We're now four months into an oil blockade imposed by the Trump administration. And in those four months, only one Russian oil tanker carrying just over 700,000 barrels of oil, oil and a trickle of oil from Florida that only goes to the private sector has come in and anyone with common sense, regardless of political ideology, can see that a country that doesn't have oil in this day and age can't run, can't sustain life. And so I've just come back from a Reporting trip in eastern Cuba. Eastern Cuba is far poorer than what I'm speaking from you today in Havana, the capital. And it's harrowing to see results. It's harrowing to see the immiseration of the entire population, almost the entire population, particularly the vulnerable. So a few examples. Hunger is rising in Cuba. Ten years ago, Cuba was one of the only countries in Latin America, according to unicef, to have all but eliminated child malnutrition. Well, child malnutrition is growing. And I was speaking to farmers in the east who have brand new tractors donated to them by the UN World 2 program. Can't use them. I haven't had any diesel since February. And I was speaking to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food. She warned of a growing food crisis that could potentially result in not just malnutrition and under nutrition, but widespread hunger. If this goes on, other people might say worry about starvation. The right to water. Electricity in Cuba is overwhelmingly produced by petrol. And electricity is used to pump 80% of the water in the islands. According to Cuban authorities, over a million of people in the country already go without drinking water in their own house. They tend to rely on neighbors and the local church. Things like that go down the road to go to a well to get it. That number is rocketing up because there's no fuel to pump the water. I was in an extraordinary situation in 18 story high rises in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second city, the main city in the east, where because the power cuts are now running about 20 hours a day, people can't cook. They used to cook with electricity with an electric pump. They used to cook with cooking gas, but the cooking gas came from Venezuela in the case of Santiago. And so what happens now is that the rich are cooking with charcoal, which basically costs US Cuban salary per month to get, so they have less access to food. And the poor who can't afford it need to walk down the motorway with a machete, chop some wood and walk back with it over there with over their shoulder in order to be able to cook. And very poor people I spoke to are simply just going to mounting piles of trash that are mounting because there's no diesel to move it away. Obviously a terrible public health risk in terms of dengue and rodents and other diseases that can be there. They're just going and picking up cardboard. And to see people cooking in high rises where ventilation is not good, with soot everywhere because of charcoal, cardboard and wood, it's harrowing. People are coughing while they are cooking. One Lady, I spoke to the water. When it comes, she uses it to throw over her kitchen to try and get some of the stench away. The curtains are yellow and full of soot, and many people now are just eating one meal a day. Again. Even the food that's being produced, it's not getting to the cities, increasingly because there's no diesel transporters. So what we're seeing is the immiseration of pretty much an entire population. People like me, foreign correspondents, rich Cubans, Cubans that receive remittances from Miami. They're doing okay because the private sector's grown a lot in recent years. But it's the collective punishment of a population particularly targeting poor black communities, pregnant women, children and the elderly.

[Amy Goodman]

Your headline piece in the New York Times. Cuban patients are dying because of U.S. blockade, doctors say. We're talking about an island Cuba that was once renowned for its universal health care system, known for sending its own doctors abroad to help in times of emergency. Can you talk about the crisis in the hospitals of Cuba?

[Ed Augustine]

Yeah. So for the article, I spoke to over a dozen public health experts in largely US Ivy League universities, and I spoke to a great many Cuban doctors. I've reported on health here for a number of years, and so I've got a lot of contacts there. It was difficult to get people to go on record doctors, because Cuba is a very proud country. And not too long ago, it masked with itself. It was boasted about how good it was at health. Health talks about itself as a health powerhouse. And so this is painful for Cuban authorities to admit, and it was difficult to get people to go on record. But eventually I did. What they're telling me is very, very clear. People are dying as a result of the oil blockade that would be happening in any country. You don't allow oil in. Okay, so, for example, I spoke to an anesthesiologist in the main pediatric hospital in the country because of the lack of oil. You. And mothers are getting to the pediatric hospital with their children because they simply can't get there. Not often. Sometimes when he is operating, the power goes out and has come out mid operation where he's operating kids that can be babies rather, that can be weeks old and has to maintain, maintain them alive without a screen to look at their vital signs before the backup power system kicks in. I speak to vaccine developers who tell me that production of Cuban medication is down to lower than 20% of what it ought to be because there's simply no diesel in the production plants. Vicente. Versus perhaps Cuba's most famous Vaccine developer. Cuba is the only country in Latin America to come up with its own Covid vaccines and they're damn good. They're as good as the Pfizer vaccine and a 90% efficacy. He told me, Ed, I went into public health so that my children and grandchildren would have nothing to envy of children in the developed world. And that's what we achieved. Cuba currently has higher vaccination rates for most diseases in the United States. He told me, Ed, I am now worried about the future of my grandchildren. He told me that I am worried that the vaccines that we have stored in polyclinics might spoil. They have to be kept refrigerated. Thankfully, due to a lot of international solidarity and due to the Cuban government's prioritisation of health, there's been a lot of solar panels going up and as far as I can see, it's possible down the road the main hospitals and clinics are getting solar panels. And now in many cases those vaccines are safe for now, but those vaccines also need to be stored in warehouses and they need to be transported. And so it's very, very clear as a bell, speaking to Cuban vaccine developers and pharmacists and surgeons and doctors, that this oil blockade is killing. Public health. Specialists that I spoke to said the main group that kills is children. If you look at sanctions more broadly, not just an oil blockade, but sanctions, there's an important article in the Lancet Global Health, Nazi global Health, prestigious health journal last year, which for the first time shows causation, not just correlation, causation between sanctions and death. And this was not just Cuba. It was a global study, biggest study ever done like that. And it found that 51% of those killed by sanctions around the world are children under five. Life is the most fragile when it first goes into the world. And so wherever you look, there is death and suffering as a direct result. And this is just in hospitals. If you broaden out to food and charcoal and lack of water, there's a myriad of other consequences wherever you look.

[Amy Goodman]

Ed Augustine is an independent journalist based in Cuba for the last 13 years. We'll link to your piece in the New York Times headlined Cuban Patients are dying because of US Blockade, doctors say, speaking to us from Havana. We are also joined by Peter Kornblue, Cuba specialist at the National Security Archive, author of Backchannel to Cuba. If you can talk, Peter, about both the CIA going to Cubayou just wrote a piece in the Nation about this, the director going there and the imminent indictment, as is being reported by multiple media outlets of the 94 year old former President Raul Castro.

[Peter Kornblu]

Yeah, Amy, this is the one, two punch of US Aggression against Cuba, which is escalating dramatically over the last week. You had the director of the CIA, a CIA that has a long history of covert operations to roll back the Cuban revolution, going all the way back to the early 60s to the Bay of Pigs operations in 1960, 61, going to Cuba on a diplomatic trip, an overt mission to give the Cubans an ultimatum. And that ultimatum essentially had several parts. One is, you remember what happened in Venezuela. You have to take Donald Trump very seriously. Two is the United States wants it to be clear to you that we don't want to see mass migration as this humanitarian crisis that Ed has just described evolves and we don't want to see repression when the discontent and frustration of the Cuban people boils over. And finally, you have a dwindling window in which we are going to continue to talk to you. Essentially, military options are on the table and coming soon. And literally, as the CIA director was leaving, the Department of Justice leaked to the press that an indictment of Raul Castro was coming today at 1 o' clock at the Freedom Tower in Miami. This is going to be an extraordinary event on May 20, Independence Day in Cuban history. It's going to generate a tremendous attention. And let me just say that the indictment of Raul Castro for the shoot down of the Brothers to the Rescue planes more than 30 years ago accomplishes three important things for the Trump administration. It sends a bone of red meat to the rabidly anti Castro Miami community. It gives them a significant victory. Politicians have been pushing very hard for years for the indictment of Raul Castro. Two, this sends a clear warning to the Cubans, almost psychological warfare against the Cuban leadership. This is the mo, the modus operandi that the United States used, used in the case of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Trump indicted him and then went in and seized him and here trumped up charges, if you will, against Raul Castro. Basically sets the stage for the same type of operation as it will be perceived in Cuba and around the world. And finally, just as Trump did in Venezuela, he will circumvent the War Powers act if he attacks Cuba. And simply tell Congress that this is a law enforcement operation. Any special forces attempt to go in and seize or assassinate Raul Castro. And that is what I think you can expect to see in the coming days.

[Amy Goodman]

Explain who Brothers to the Rescue are founded by Jose Bosulto, a CIA operative, as reported by the Miami Heritage Herald, who admitted to committing terrorist acts against Cuba in The past. Like firing a cannon at a hotel.

[Peter Kornblu]

Right. Well, that firing of that cannon in the Hotel de Sulta was on a speedboat. He was a Bay of Pigs veteran. He was trying to assassinate Fidel Castro at that time. And years later, during the Bosero crisis, the rafting crisis, after the collapse of. Of the Soviet Union, when Cuba was experiencing another extraordinary humanitarian crisis, thousands of people were fleeing. And Basuto, who's a pilot, created an organization called Brothers to the Rescue. And they started out in 1992, 93, flying what are called spotting missions over the Florida Straits, identifying small rafts, alerting the US Coast Guard that those rafts were out there and needed to be helped. It was a humanitarian mission. But once the Clinton administration settled, negotiated an end to the Bolsero crisis with the Cuban government of Fidel Castro, Belsero then turned his Brothers to the Rescue into a provocation mission instead of a humanitarian mission. And his flights continued. But they started to overfly Cuban territory, dropping leaflets and tchotzkas over the heads of the Cuban people. And then Basuto would land back in Florida and crow about his ability to intrude on us on Cuban airspace. We want confrontation. It was one of the things he told, I believe, NBC News at the time. And these provocative flights continued and continued. And U.S. officials got involved, pressing the FAA to kind of clip Basuto's wings and stop these flights from taking place. The FAA dilly dallied. The Federal Aviation Administration dilly dallied in its investigation. And even though U.S. officials, including White House officials, pressed the FAA to block his flights because the Cubans were threatening to shoot these flights down, the flights continued. And the final flight on February 24, 1996, resulted in the Cuban Air Force rocketing two of these Cessna planes and killing four members of Brothers to the Rescue.

[Amy Goodman]

And this was under the Clinton government. Finally, Peter Kornblu. As you look at what happened with Venezuela, people hardly talk about the fact that the Venezuelan president and the first lady are imprisoned here in New York York, what you see happening. President Lula of Brazil just said President Trump assured him there would not be an invasion.

[Peter Kornblu]

Well, you know, an invasion is one thing. A US Invasion and occupation of Cuba is one thing. Perhaps that's not. That is not, I think, the immediate goal and priority of the Trump administration. But an attack on Cuba, a special forces operation to seize or assassinate Raul Castro is certainly on the table. And a series of strategic surgical strikes on Cuban targets, military targets, attempting essentially to kill the leadership of the Cuban military, are also quite on the table. This has been reported by Politico and CBS and other outlets recently. And obviously, if you look at what the US Military has been doing recently with surveillance flights over Cuba and other warnings to the Cuban government that their time is running out, it is absolutely clear that the US Military is preparing contingency operations in case Trump's impatience runs out because Cuba has not met his imperial demands fast enough.

[Amy Goodman]

Peter Kornblu, I want to thank you for being with us of the National Security Archive, co author of Backchannel to the Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. We'll link to your nation Peace the CIA goes to Cuba. Coming up, executions around the world have surged to a 44 year high. We'll speak with Amnesty's Iran researcher where the number of executions doubled last year. Stay with us.

[Ed Augustine]

Sa.

[Amy Goodman]

Juliette Venegas and our Democracy now studio. This is Democracy now. I'm Amy Goodman. We end today's show looking at the death penalty. Amnesty internationals found global executions surged to a 44 year high last year. The spike in executions driven by Iran where 2,100 people were executed more than double the number there in 2024. We're joined now by Rahabarini human rights lawyer and researcher on Iran for Amnesty International, contributed to the new Amnesty International global report on death sentence and execut in 2025. Raha, talk about what happened in Iran in the last year.

[Raha Bahreini]

Hello Amy. Thank you for having me. Iran has been the second executioner in the world for decades. However, even by the authority's own Grim Record, 2025 was a horrific year. We have recorded the highest number of executions carried out in Iran since the early 1980s. And this is in a context where the Iranian authorities have intensified the use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression to create a climate of fear and intimidation in the society and deter dissent. We documented the execution of over 2,100 people in 2025. Around half of them are for drug related offenses which affect the most impoverished sectors of the Iran and society. We also documented an increased use of the death penalty against protesters, dissidents and those accused of espionage who face grossly unfair trials before revolutionary courts in Iran.

[Amy Goodman]

You mentioned Iran is number two. Let's talk about number one. Amnesty notes that 2025 death penalty count doesn't include thousands of executions in China that the organization believes have been carried out out remaining the world's top executioner.

[Peter Kornblu]

Raha.

[Raha Bahreini]

China has kept the number of executions that it carries out every year a state secret and as a result, even Though Amnesty believes that thousands of executions take place in China every year, we are unable to provide a minimum credible figure. A number of states in the world, including China, Saudi Arabia, the US are the largest executioners in the world year after year. And they, along with Vietnam, North Korea, and 15 other countries. So all in all, 17 countries, constitute a small minority in the world that keep insisting on the use of the death penalty as a tool of control and repression against this global trend toward the abolition of the death penalty. So the report on the one hand is green because it shows this escalating use of the death penalty by a minority of the states in the world. But it also shows that the global effort for the abolition of the death penalty has succeeded as two thirds of the countries in the world now have stopped using the death penalty in law or practice.

[Amy Goodman]

Finally, Rahab Raini, what is the effect of the US Center Israel bombing Iran when it comes to repression of Iranians?

[Raha Bahreini]

People in Iran now are caught between unlawful Israeli and US armed attacks on the one hand, and deadly cycles of repression at the hands of Iran's own authorities. The attacks caused major civilian harm and intensified the economic hardship that people have faced in Iran for decades. And they just started. Weeks after people in Iran were in a state of collective shock, grief and trauma following the unprecedented January protest massacres in the context of the armed conflict, the Iranian authorities have intensified the climate of repression and have used national security and armed conflict as a pretext to carry out further mass arbitrary arrests. Thousands of people have now been arrested and they have also intensified the use of politically motivated death penalty cases. So since the armed conflict began in late February, there has been at least 32 politically motivated executions. They included young protesters who had been arrested just weeks earlier in January 2026, dissidents and those accused of espionage or collaboration with foreign governments, who usually face charges such as enmity against God or corruption on earth that are very vague and broad and they fall under the jurisdiction of revolutionary courts that are fundamentally unfair and rely on torture, tainted confessions. So the situation now has become very dire and people in Iran face dual atrocity risk.

[Amy Goodman]

We have to leave it there.

[Raha Bahreini]

War crimes and crimes against Raha Bahraini.

[Amy Goodman]

We thank you so much for being with us with Amnesty International. A link to the new Amnesty Report that does it for our show. I'll be at the IFC center tonight for Steal the Story, please with Nermeen Shaikh.