Cornhole Champions #11: The Lutheran crime syndicate (with Samantha Barbas)

By Amie Rivers

February 12, 2025

“I absolutely do not think that Lutheran Services (of Iowa) is a money laundering organization.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds took some heat last week after getting asked if she agreed with billionaire Elon Musk that Lutheran Family Services and its member organizations were laundering money. In a press conference, she blamed it on being taken out of context.

It took Raygun all of 24 hours to get this on up.

On this episode of Cornhole Champions, hosts Zachary Oren Smith and Amie Rivers play back the tape. Also here about a glowing profile in the Des Moines Register of Speaker of the House Pat Grassley. As well as a rally held against a bill that would limit lawsuits over pesticide-related illness.

Finally, many listeners had followup questions about last week’s discussion of Trump’s lawsuit against the Iowa Poll. We get some real insight from a national expert in defamation.

Links:
1. Lutherans decry Reynolds’ ‘failure to defend’ Lutheran Services of Iowa (Iowa Starting Line): https://iowastartingline.com/2025/02/07/lutherans-decry-reynolds/

2. How Pat Grassley keeps the Iowa House’s sprawling GOP majority united. It’s not always easy (Des Moines Register): https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/10/pat-grassley-iowa-house-gop-majority-has-grown-heres-how/77493945007/

3. Iowa senators advance Bayer bill to limit lawsuits over pesticide-related illness (Iowa Public Radio): https://www.iowapublicradio.org/state-government-news/2025-02-06/iowa-senators-advance-bayer-bill-limit-cancer-pesticide-roundup-lawsuits

Guest:
Samantha Barbas is a legal historian and the author of Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan. She is a professor of law and the Aliber Family Chair in Law at the University of Iowa College of Law.

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: LOCAL VIDEO

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