Deep Dive: President Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]So, let's do a deep dive on all of this with Democratic Congressman Emanuel Clever from Missouri, who sits on the House Financial Services Committee.

[00:00:07]Congressman, thanks for being on with us. I want to first get your reaction to this anti-weaponization fund. Can Congress do anything to stop it? And what are you trying to do here?

[00:00:16]>> Well, we can very likely have some legislative cures uh for uh this fund should it uh end up being a fact. Uh but I think as I've spoken with my colleagues, the goal right now is to stop it, to prevent it from uh becoming a real thing. Uh and I I I think this is absurd and embarrassing uh for the entire nation that that around the globe they can see uh exactly what's what's going on here. uh and and the the the corruption that's taking place in the United States is something that uh even the most cynical individuals would never uh have believed. Um Lord Action said that uh power corrupts and uh and that uh absolute power corrupts absolutely and I think we're seeing this because we were giving or at least some have been given the president uh more and more absolute power and he has demonstrated right very clearly that Lord Action was right. Congressman, the settlement also includes a provision preventing the IRS from investigating any tax returns submitted by Trump, his family, or companies connected to him. Can you push back on that, too?

[00:01:33]>> That's absolutely uh crazy. uh all Americans, whether they're Republicans, uh Democrats, uh uh airplane pilots, uh they understand clearly uh that uh what's going on right now with President Trump and his family. Uh is an insult to the whole system of American life uh uh Trump is trying to become uh the richest uh man on the planet. I think by some accounts he's increased his wealth up to six uh billion dollars since he's been in office. Uh and that includes does not include his uh his family members, his two uh older sons. Uh th this is not going to stop. He's going to continue to push until uh Republicans who are in the majority stand up and say, "I'm sorry, Mr. President. You've gone too far."

[00:02:27]So on that point, we have heard some push back from Republicans, but no action as of yet. What do you tell Americans who are worried that Congress has basically relinquished its oversight responsibilities here?

[00:02:38]>> Yeah, we are Article One creatures. We were uh the the first uh creation of the founders, uh the the the United States House of Representatives, the the legislative branch of government. Uh and we uh certainly are going to need that branch to uh uh operate at its full strength, power, and vision right now because things like this have never happened in the history of this republic. Uh in fact, I don't know how much longer we can be a republic if this continues. Uh I think my colleagues uh on the Republican side need to understand that history is not going to be kind to them either. uh that uh they sat and watched a president push and push and push uh probably waiting for somebody to say stop like you know a lot of kids do they I have four of them when they were small they wanted to see how far they can go could go and I think that's what the president has done and they've got to absolutely they must for the sake of this democracy stop the president right now this is actually way too uh uh too too late to stop him completely but We can stop him now from going further.

[00:03:45]>> And Congressman, if we could shift gears here for a moment, I also wanted to ask you about redistricting, which could cost you your seat after Missouri Supreme Court upheld a new map targeting your district. What do you think this redistricting race means for representation in this country?

[00:03:59]>> It means more cheating. Uh what what what uh what is being essentially said here is, you know, we we haven't been able to beat Cleaver in 20 years.

[00:04:08]uh we'll just change and put some new people into the district of uh district 5. Uh but the Supreme Court said I I need to add uh that uh once the signatures uh that were collected during uh the the the beginning days of this controversy uh have to be uh certified and once they are certified it automatically reverts back to the time before the the uh maps were approved. uh in the Missouri General Assembly. Uh and that means they'll have to be uh uh in a band until there's an election. I mean, we we we've had uh 300,000 Missurrians to write their names down that they don't appreciate what was done. They didn't like it. And uh the the Supreme Court uh is saying they're right. And once those signatures uh uh that that have been collected and turned into the secretary of state, after those signatures have been certified, it goes back and and that's why secretary of state state will not announce the fact that we have sufficient signatures. We have double what we need, frankly. Uh and and they he they know that we'll go back to the old old district and uh they lose the right to cheat. Generally speaking here, do you think redistricting will be a motivating factor for black voters this cycle?

[00:05:32]>> Uh I I think you're going to see something that uh frankly we haven't seen since the 60s and 70s. Uh the turnout for African-American voters, I can assure you, particularly in the South, I including Missouri, is going to be uh almost explosive. Uh now I I I I I I need to go ahead and say that there's going to be have to be a lot of work done, but it's being done and it's being done in part by uh people who are working all day and every day to try to get rid of everyone. I need to also admit uh make sure people understand the district I represent is not an African-American district. Uh we probably have about 20% African-Americans. Uh and so I've been able to represent the entire fifth congressional district which includes places like Grand View and Independence, Missouri and uh Raytown, Missouri. So uh it's it's the fact that they don't like the way I vote and I' obviously I vote in my district which is why I've been able to stay and so they want to change the district so they can get somebody to vote differently. And Congressman, we also got the DNC autopsy after months of delay. And the report states that in the face of misinformation and disinformation, our candidates have proven incapable of projecting strength, unity, and leadership, and voters have drifted away. Do you agree with that assessment? And how do you get those voters back?

[00:06:53]>> Yeah, I I have not had a chance. I know people uh listen to politicians always say, "I haven't seen it or I haven't read," but I haven't uh yet. I've been a little preoccupied uh this week, but uh I intend to look at it and if there are some things we uh need to to look at and change, we that's what we need to do.

[00:07:11]Now, if there are some things in the past that we've done, I I think we can we should spend a minimal amount of time uh in an autopsy looking at what we did wrong uh the dumb things we we we did and and the things that we should have done and then make corrections. But we've got to be in the present and in the future, that is laying out what we would do if we're going to be elected.

[00:07:30]This election can't be just about Donald Trump. It's got to be about the future of the United States of America. And that's what I'm doing. And I and there are increasingly voices coming from the Democratic side who are saying the same thing.

[00:07:43]>> Congressman Emanuel Clever, we appreciate your time. Good to be with you.