The Two-Billion Dollar Fund, The Bar, and the Bond

Summary

The Breakfast Club – “The Two-Billion Dollar Fund, The Bar, and the Bond”

Date: May 19, 2026
Host: Mimi Brown (Front Page, The Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartPodcasts)
Summary Prepared By: Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Breakfast Club, presented through Mimi Brown’s "Front Page" segment, delves into three major current events shaping America: President Trump’s proposal of a $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded commission for alleged victims of the Biden-era Justice Department, the American Bar Association’s (ABA) move to repeal longstanding diversity requirements for law schools, and the dramatic release of Richard Glossip from Oklahoma's death row—thanks in part to Kim Kardashian’s activism. The show also features Mimi’s passionate “Two Minute Take” confronting recent racially charged commentary aired on Fox News about Black political power and representation.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. President Trump’s $1.7 Billion Fund Proposal

[03:03–05:52]

• Summary:
  After withdrawing his own $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, former President Trump proposes the creation of the “President Donald J. Trump Truth and Justice Commission,” a $1.7 billion fund for individuals claiming wrongful investigation during the Biden administration—especially members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who were involved in January 6th and have since been pardoned by Trump.

• Key Mechanics:

  • Trump, as head of state, would control the 5-member commission (with the right to remove members at will).
  • Lack of transparency: The commission would not have to disclose how it decides payouts.
  • Critics describe it as “blatant self-dealing” and a “political slush fund.”
  • The controversy arose as Trump’s lawsuit—filed as a private citizen while simultaneously controlling government agencies as president—raised constitutional questions, ultimately dropped with prejudice after judge skepticism.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “The same people the president pardoned for January 6 would now be eligible to receive taxpayer funded settlements through a commission he controls.” — Mimi Brown [04:25]
  • “That decision would have to go across my desk. And it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.” — Legal Analyst/Judge [05:07]
  • “Setting up a $1.7 billion political slush fund for the proud boys and the Oath Keepers and his other political lieutenants and hangers on—for taxpayers.” — Legal Expert [05:44]

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2. The American Bar Association’s Repeal of the Diversity Standard

[05:52–08:29]

• Summary:
  The ABA voted to repeal a decades-old standard (Standard 206) that mandated affirmative commitments to diversity in admissions and student programming for accredited law schools, impacting access for Black, Latino, Asian American, Native American, and women students. This move reflects rising federal and political pressure against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

• Broader Implications:

  • Department of Education signaled any racial diversity standard could breach federal law.
  • The repeal (plus related standards on racism and discrimination) awaits further ratification but marks a regressive turn for legal education access.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “Two steps forward and 15 steps backwards.” — Diversity Advocate/Legal Expert [04:49]
  • “Yes, the bar is equal, but the access and the opportunity to get to law school is not equal.” — Legal Expert [06:43]
  • “This is just a—we’re on a roller coaster ride... at some point you get back on the upswing.” — Diversity Advocate [08:04]

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3. The Front Page Two Minute Take: Fox News, Redistricting, and Racist Commentary

[08:29–11:29]

• Summary:
  Mimi Brown takes aim at Jesse Watters of Fox News for on-air racist remarks suggesting that Black Americans should “have more babies” if they want greater political representation. Mimi skewers this logic, asserting that voter suppression and gerrymandering, not demographics, erase Black political power.

• Key Arguments:

  • The real issue is district redrawing, court rollbacks on voting rights, and systematic suppression—not Black birthrates.
  • Black women are already at the core of US political engagement.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “First of all, did everybody catch the part where this man referred to black people as the blacks? And then they all laughed?” — Mimi Brown [09:25]
  • “Black voters are losing districts because maps are being redrawn, because courts have weakened part of the Voting Rights Act, because states are carving up black communities that have organized politically for decades. That’s what this is.” — Mimi Brown [10:00]
  • “You could double the black population tomorrow and politicians would still try and move district lines around black voters.” — Mimi Brown [10:52]
  • “The story is that black political power keeps getting treated like a problem to manage instead of citizens to represent.” — Mimi Brown [11:20]

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4. Richard Glossip: Freedom After 29 Years on Death Row

[11:29–12:31]

• Summary:
  Richard Glossip—convicted and sentenced to death in the 1990s, always maintaining his innocence—was released on bond after the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction, which stemmed from false testimony enabled by prosecutors. The $50,000 bond was paid by Kim Kardashian, whose legal activism continues to impact high-profile cases.

• Key Context:

  • Supreme Court ruled the case was built on a lie; state to retry without seeking the death penalty.
  • Highlights the flaws and dangers in the criminal justice system.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “They offered me a life sentence at my second trial and I turned it down because I’m not going to stand there and admit to doing something that I didn’t do.” — Richard Glossip [11:46]
  • “This conviction is an unjust conviction. It has been unjust for 30 years.” — Legal Expert [12:03]
  • “Richard Glossip came within minutes of execution multiple times for a case the US Supreme Court has now said was built on a lie.” — Mimi Brown [12:31]

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Memorable Moments

• Judicial Irony: The judge’s self-aware remark about the oddity of being, essentially, judge and defendant due to presidential power [05:07].
• Fox News Callout: Mimi Brown’s direct engagement with Jesse Watters’ racist language, articulating outrage and historical context [09:01–10:52].
• Kim Kardashian's Legal Activism: The surprising detail of Kardashian quietly and materially supporting the release of individuals she feels have been failed by the justice system [12:31].

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Important Timestamps

• Trump Lawsuit & Fund: 03:03–05:52
• Bar Association Diversity Standards: 05:52–08:29
• Two Minute Take (Fox News & Black Political Power): 08:29–11:29
• Richard Glossip’s Release & Kim Kardashian’s Role: 11:29–12:31

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Overall Tone & Language

Mimi Brown’s delivery is incisive and unapologetic—balancing rigorous reporting, impassioned critique, and pointed commentary. Legal experts provide sober, measured insights, while guest quotes (including Richard Glossip’s heartfelt responses) ground the discussion in lived experience. The episode’s tone is one of urgent awareness, vigilance against backsliding on justice and civil rights, and empowerment for Black Americans facing ongoing structural challenges.

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Summary

This episode offers a sharp, informative, and evocative recap of seismic shifts in politics, law, and justice—directly addressing systemic inequities, controversial policies, and the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Mimi Brown and her contributors peel back the headlines to reveal the power dynamics and human stakes beneath, producing an episode both enlightening and galvanizing for listeners.

Transcript

[Robert Smigel]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.

[Mikey Day]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Mimi Brown]

Where does your group perform?

[Mikey Day]

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Host of Psychology of Your Twenties]

Your 20s can be so exciting, but they can also be really overwhelming, confusing and honestly, just kind of lonely. May is mental health Awareness month and the psychology of your twenties is breaking down the science behind the biggest roadblocks we face.

[Guest on Psychology of Your Twenties]

I was six years into my career, the 80 hour weeks and just the first one in, the last one out and I ended up burning out.

There was a large chunk of my twenties that I like was just so wanting to like be out of that phase, out of my skin. And I just like really regret not living in the present more.

[Host of Psychology of Your Twenties]

You don't need to have everything figured out right now. You just need to understand yourself a little bit better. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Akilah Hughes]

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akilah Hughes and Rebel Spirit Season 2 is about both of those things.

[Akilah Hughes (continued)]

As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslaved people.

[Akilah Hughes]

Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Maya Shankar]

Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans.

[Mimi Brown]

I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long. The need to change.

[Attorney or Legal Expert Commentator]

We have to be willing to with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes.

[Robert Smigel]

You can have opinions, you can have like a strong stance, and then there's your body having its own program.

[Dr. Maya Shankar]

Listen to A Slight change of plans on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mimi Brown]

President Trump just dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS days before a judge demanded answers.

[Legal Analyst or Judge]

You know, that decision would have to go across my desk. And it's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself.

[Mimi Brown]

And the American Bar association has voted to end a decades old diversity rule for law schools.

[Diversity Advocate or Legal Expert]

Two steps forward and 15 steps backwards.

[Mimi Brown]

And 29 years on Oklahoma's death row, a man is now free on bond with help from Kim Kardashian.

[Richard Glossip]

Yeah, I'm just thankful for my wife and my attorneys and just happy.

[Mimi Brown]

It's Tuesday, May 19th. From the black Effect Podcast Network, I'm Mimi Brown. This is front page. And here are today's biggest stories. Plus, today on the two minute take, Fox News, redistricting and the lie underneath the joke. Stay with me. A $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Trump against the IRS has been dropped by the President himself. But what's coming next is the bigger story. Court documents show Trump is moving to set up a $1.7 billion fund paid for by U.S. taxpayers to compensate people who claim they were wrongfully investigated under the Biden administration. According to ABC News, the fund is being called the President Donald J. Trump Truth and Justice Commission. The commission would pay people who claimed they were victims of, quote, weaponization of the Justice Department under President Biden. According to multiple news reports. That category includes January 6th defend members of the Oath Keepers, members of the Proud Boys, including some who were convicted of seditious conspiracy and then pardoned by President Trump earlier this year. In other words, the same people the president pardoned for January 6 would now be eligible to receive taxpayer funded settlements through a commission he controls. The commission would have five members. Trump would have the right to remove any of them without cause, and it would not be required to disclose how it decides who gets paid.

[Commentator on Fox News Segment]

I don't even know how that's allowable to happen.

[Mimi Brown]

This all stems from a lawsuit filed by Trump and his two oldest sons against the IRS for $10 billion. The lawsuit accused the agencies of failing to protect Trump's tax returns after a former IRS contractor leaked his tax returns to the press. The contractor was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, but the lawsuit itself raised a problem. Trump sued as a private citizen, but the irs, the Treasury Department and the Justice Department attorneys defending those agencies all fall under his presidential authority.

[Legal Analyst or Judge]

It's interesting because I'm the one that makes a decision, right? And you know, that decision would have to go across my desk. And it's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself.

[Mimi Brown]

The judge overseeing the case raised that concern in open court. She asked outside lawyers to brief her on whether the case was even appropriate for the court to hear. Those experts came back with serious concerns. On Monday, Trump dropped the case with prejudice, meaning he can't file it again. But minutes later, nearly 100 House Democrats submitted a brief to the court accusing Trump of, quote, blatant self dealing is

[Attorney or Legal Expert Commentator]

setting up a $1.7 billion political slush fund for the proud boys and the Oath Keepers and his other political lieutenants

[Mimi Brown]

and hangers on for taxpayers. Here's the every dollar in that fund comes from you. The same agencies that collect your taxes are being asked to pay them back out to people the president has decided were wronged by the previous administration. The decades old rule that required every American law school to commit to diversity is being repealed. On Friday, the American Bar Association Council that controls law school accreditations voted to repeal Standard 206. That rule has for years required every ABA accredited law school to show a real commitment to diversity in recruitment, admissions and student programming. If a law school wanted its graduates to be eligible for the bar in most states, it had to show real effort to recruit black, Latino, Asian American, Native American and women students.

[Diversity Advocate or Legal Expert]

Some schools, when they were banning African Americans, women and other minority groups from being admitted, the ABA was lifting some of those barriers out of the way. And so when you have folks in the room that have went through those types of things and had to go around or jump over barriers, it makes it easier for you to say and argue to the board, hey, we shouldn't have these policies in place. And so yes, the bar is equal, but the access and the opportunity to get to law school is not equal.

[Mimi Brown]

The rule have been frozen since February of last year, paused as soon as the Trump administration returned to the White House and federal pressure on diversity, equity and inclusion programs accelerated. The Department of Education had already warned other accreditors that any racial diversity standard would be treated as a violation of federal law.

[Diversity Advocate or Legal Expert]

I can understand that there are attacks in all locations in our country right now, and this is one of them with the attack on diversity, equity and inclusion. And as it continues to be attacked, you'll see more organizations do things like this.

[Mimi Brown]

In one calendar year, the ABA is potentially repealing four civil rights related standards at once. The rules on racism, bias, non discrimination and disability accommodation are lined up right behind it. The repeal still has to clear the ABA's House of Delegates in August. The official elimination may not be in the books until 2027. But the direction is set.

[Diversity Advocate or Legal Expert]

What I can say is I don't think this is the end. This is just a we're on a roller coaster ride. And right now we're in that point in history in our country where folks are fed up with the efforts that were being made with diversity, equity and inclusion. And just like in the 50s and 60s, typically you see people that are frustrated with it, and then at some point you get back on the upswing.

[Mimi Brown]

All right, it's Tuesday, which means it's time for the front page two minute take. Every Tuesday, I take two minutes to talk about something in the headlines that deserves a little more honesty, a little more context. The thing underneath the thing. And today we need to talk about Jesse Waters, Fox News and what was actually said on national television. Because a few days ago on the 5, Jesse Waters was talking about black Americans losing congressional districts. And somehow his conclusion was black people need to have more babies. Listen to this.

[Commentator on Fox News Segment]

I did some research on the blacks. As Judge Jeanine so eloquently would say, the solution to Hakeem's problem, the scay Obama is baby making. Blacks for 150 years have only represented 10 to 15% of the American population. Okay, that's not that much. So if they want to have more seats, they got to get in between the sheets.

[Mimi Brown]

First of all, did everybody catch the part where this man referred to black people as the blacks? And then they all laughed? Okay, and here's Senator Cory Booker. He went on Ms. Now with Jonathan Capehart.

[Commentator on Fox News Segment]

Let's go ahead.

[Akilah Hughes (continued)]

So first of all, I just. I'm sorry. That was grotesque and I pity him.

[Mimi Brown]

He's right, it was disgusting. But let's be very clear about something. Black Americans are not losing political power because black women aren't having enough children. That's not what's happening in this country. Black voters are losing districts because maps are being redrawn, because courts have weakened part of the Voting Rights act, because states are carving up black communities that have organized politically for decades. That's what this is. And honestly, the audacity of telling black women they need to do more in this country is really what got me. Because who has been doing more than black women politically? Who keeps showing up for elections? Who keeps organizing? Who keeps saving senate races, governor races, presidential elections? Who keeps dragging democracy across the finish line every time the country gets in trouble? Black women. And now the conversation on cable news is, well, maybe y' all should produce more voters. No, maybe stop suppressing the ones already here because here's the part that Jesse Watters skipped. You could double the black population tomorrow and politicians would still try and move district lines around black voters. If the goal is maintaining power, that's the real story. Not the birth rates, not the blacks, not some weird population panic on Fox News. The story is that black political power keeps getting treated like a problem to manage instead of citizens to represent. And maybe before cable news starts offering reproductive advice to black women, they should explain why the people who do the most voting somehow keep ending up with less representation. That's the conversation and that's your two minute take. After 29 years on death row, Richard Glossop just walked out of prison, his freedom paid for by Kim Kardashian what's

[Guest on Psychology of Your Twenties]

it like to be out today? What is this day like for you?

[Richard Glossip]

It's overwhelming, but it's amazing at the same time.

[Mimi Brown]

Glossip was convicted in the late 1990s for the murder of a motel owner. Prosecutors say he masterminded a murder for hire plot. He has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested.

[Richard Glossip]

They offered me a life sentence at my second trial and I turned it down because I'm not going to stand there and admit to doing something that I didn't do.

[Mimi Brown]

Earlier this year, the U.S. supreme Court threw out his conviction. The court ruled the Oklahoma prosecution allowed a key witness to lie under oath, knowing the testimony was false.

[Attorney or Legal Expert Commentator]

This conviction is an unjust conviction. It has been unjust for 30 years. This never. If the police had done even a halfway decent investigation, this never would have happened. If the prosecutors would have not cheated in the trials, this never would have happened.

[Mimi Brown]

The state still plans to retry him, but the attorney general has said they will not seek the death penalty this time.

[Attorney or Legal Expert Commentator]

They can't prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, so let's have that trial this weekend.

[Mimi Brown]

An Oklahoma judge granted Glossop a $500,000 bond. To walk out. He needed to post just 10%, $50,000 in cash. Kim Kardashian wrote the check. Kardashian, who is currently studying law, has been quietly using her money and her platform to pay for the release of people she believes the system has failed. But here's the bigger picture. Richard Glossip came within minutes of execution multiple times for a case the US Supreme Court has now said was built on a lie. That's your front page. I'm Mimi Brown. This pod is brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network,

[Mikey Day]

another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Mimi Brown]

Where does your group perform?

[Mikey Day]

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Maya Shankar]

Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans.

[Mimi Brown]

I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change.

[Attorney or Legal Expert Commentator]

We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes.

[Robert Smigel]

You can have opinions, you can have like a strong stance, and then there's your body having its own program.

[Dr. Maya Shankar]

Listen to A Slight Change of plans on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Akilah Hughes]

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akilah Hughes and Rebel Spirit Season 2 is about both of those things.

[Akilah Hughes (continued)]

As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslaved people.

[Akilah Hughes]

Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Host of Psychology of Your Twenties]

Your twenties can be so exciting, but they can also be really overwhelming, confusing, and honestly, just kind of lonely. May is mental health awareness month, and the psychology of your twenties is breaking down the science behind the biggest roadblocks we face.

[Guest on Psychology of Your Twenties]

I was six years into my career, the 80 hour weeks and just the first one in, the last one out, and I ended up burning out.

There was a large chunk of my twenties that I like was just so wanting to like be out of that phase out of my skin. And I just like really regret not living in the present more.

[Host of Psychology of Your Twenties]

You don't need to have everything figured out right now. You just need to understand yourself a little bit better. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Robert Smigel]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.