Rand Paul Threatens to Filibuster Trump's CIA Pick, Because Torture: Podcast
Plus: Facebook goes after Trump's social media firm, and Trump tiptoes toward a trade war.
"On what level could torture ever be acceptable?" This weekend, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) declared that he would do everything in his power to block President Danald Trump's pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, because of her role running a torture program at a secret detention facility during George W. Bush's administration. "There are a few things in life where it is worth standing up and saying, 'Enough is enough. This is wrong. This is, you know, this is beneath contempt,'" Paul said.
On today's Reason Podcast, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and special guest Elizabeth Nolan Brown discuss Paul's filibuster threat, which also extends to Trump's secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo; the emerging controversy over Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, a social media analytics firm that worked for Trump's campaign; and Trump's push for "reciprocal" tariffs with rival nations and whether it threatens the existence of the World Trade Organization.
Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Relevant links from the show:
"Rand Paul: 'A Tariff Is Simply a Tax'," by Matt Welch
"Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Should Shut Up About Soup Cans, Already," by Eric Boehm
"Stone Age Statue Was Too Racy for Facebook," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"Who Are the Republicans Warning About Firing Mueller, and How Many of Them Are Running for President?" by Matt Welch
"Trump Has Exposed the GOP's Shallowness on Fiscal Restraint and Free Markets," by Shikha Dalmia
"Trump to Rex Tillerson: Someone Has Told You That You're Fired!" by Matt Welch
"Trump Is More Like Recent Presidents Than Anyone Wants To Admit" by Nick Gillespie
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Katherine Mangu-Ward
Elizabeth Nolan Brown
Nick Gillespie
Peter Suderman