I think this one’s important enough that I asked the team to send it again in case you missed it on Wednesday. Thanks!

—David  

Dear MoJo Reader:

Almost every day brings us a scandal worse than Watergate. There’s a big sign on the White House: “Open for Grift.” Look at the Qatari airplane caper: A monarchy, looking to curry favor with Trump, appears poised to hand him as a gift a jumbo jet—valued at over $400 million—for use as Air Force One. And it’s been reported that after Trump leaves office the plane would be transferred to his presidential library foundation, meaning it would be available for his private use. This smacks of outright bribery and seems to be a clear violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits presidents from accepting gifts from foreign governments.

Yet despite the uproar over the plane deal, so much of Trump’s corruption gets overlooked due to his “flood the zone with shit” strategy. I recently wrote about one sleazy Trump scheme that looks like a mob shakedown: The president of the United States using a supposedly independent federal agency to pressure a private corporation to settle a lawsuit with him that could lead to him receiving a payment of millions of dollars. This caper would make Tony Soprano proud. And in olden times, there’s no question that it would have prompted howls of indignation throughout the political and media world. Now...it’s just same-old/same-old.

This is something I’ve been worried about since Trump 2.0 got started. The mainstream press doesn’t know how to cover this presidency. Trump’s firehose of lies blasts away, and reporters, vetters, and voters can’t keep up.

I’ll get into more detail below, but first I have to tell you that right now Mother Jones is running a crucial membership drive, and we’re counting on your help. We need to raise $150,000 before May ends to be in financial shape to keep producing the fearless, kickass, truth-telling reporting that Americans need. Will you please chip in?

You know that I’d rather be chasing after sources and poring over documents than nudging you to donate. I wouldn’t be asking unless our need was real—and urgent. My team of reporters and editors and I can pursue important stories and investigations only because folks like you help us. Please make a gift today and know that we’re working hard and digging deep to bring you the truth.

And speaking of truth, here’s what’s behind this episode of brazen Trump corruption I mentioned above. Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chairman whom Trump installed, is overseeing both an investigation of CBS News and the ongoing $8 billion sale of the network’s parent corporation, Paramount, to Skydance Media. Simultaneously, Trump is suing CBS News for $20 billion, absurdly alleging 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during last year’s presidential campaign.

It's a crooked set-up. Carr, a MAGA ideologue who wears a gold lapel pin in the shape of Trump’s profile, has to okay the Paramount-Skydance deal for it to be consummated, because it involves the transfer of CBS broadcast licenses. And at the same time, Trump is negotiating a settlement with Paramount over his absolutely frivolous lawsuit against CBS News.

If there’s no firewall between Trump and the FCC—and there isn’t, with Carr at its helm—Paramount has a powerful incentive to reach an agreement with Trump in order to gain approval from Carr for this mega-sale that would net mogul Shari Redstone’s family holding company, which controls Paramount, $2.4 billion. Many legal experts have declared that Trump’s lawsuit is without merit and that CBS News can easily win in court. But, Paramount, by engaging in negotiations with Trump, has shown it would rather bend than battle, while approval for the sale is pending.

This is like a Mafia racket. Trump, via Carr, can squeeze Paramount and Redstone and force a settlement of his lawsuit, which could result in Paramount paying him millions.

Trump is treating the White House as an extension of his business empire. Putting aside the Qatari airplane controversy, this Paramount scheme ought to be a full-fledged scandal of its own. As is true for each of the other acts of corruption Trump has been committing non-stop. (Would-be influence-peddlers can invest millions in his new crypto to win Trump’s favor.) Each one distracts from the other, and Trump’s flagrant breaches of ethics and his sleazy deals are becoming the new normal.

Mother Jones, however, isn’t being taken in by any of this. We know these are not conventional times, and they require unconventional coverage. That’s exactly what my colleagues and I strive to deliver every day: hard-charging independent journalism you can’t find elsewhere. And perhaps never in the history of our country has that been more necessary than now.

MoJo is thriving in this era when so many other news outlets are rolling over or going out of business, and it’s no secret why: We deliver fierce journalism to an ever-growing audience of millions because we are supported by our readers. We raise 70 percent of our budget from individual supporters. That’s no easy thing to do, but this affords us an independence that advertising-driven media doesn’t have. Our nonprofit newsroom can’t be bought. We get to passionately pursue wrongdoing, corruption, grift, and abuses of power without fear a billionaire owner or the business department is going to intervene and tell us to cool it.

I hope all that sounds worthy of your support. If the answer’s yes, then please join me and my colleagues in truth-telling independent journalism and take a minute to make a donation to Mother Jones right now.

The very uncomfortable reality is that the Trumpian avalanche of lies is making it harder for the truth to be reported in the first place. Last month, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes who had worked at the show for 26 years, resigned to protest Paramount’s increasing supervision of the program’s content—a move from the company that was presumably driven by its desire to appease Trump and Carr. On the show itself, correspondent Scott Pelley delivered a commentary in support of Owens, noting that Paramount was threatening “the independence that honest journalism requires.”

The stakes have never been higher, and that’s why we’re counting on you to help Mother Jones keep bucking this dangerous trend toward authoritarianism. I get it: It’s tough to watch the forces of oligarchy and autocracy run rampant, demolishing crucial government services, annihilating valuable scientific research, trampling on constitutional rights, and easing all the avenues for corruption and grift. But you know me. And you know that when I vow that we will continue to make you proud with reporting that is essential during these days of crisis and conflict, my word is good. So please join me in our crusade for truth. This is how we can fight back together.

As always, thanks for reading this, and thanks for having our back,

P.S. Here’s one more suggestion for how we can stick together: If you’re not already subscribing to Our Land, my twice-weekly personal newsletter, please give it a try now with a 30-day free trial.