if that lifelong dream would come true. [screaming] >> complete shock, and celebration, as they would accept it flashed across the screen. >> i think it was one of the best moments in my life. >> his twin, madeline, called it one of the best moments of her life as well. >> i get so excited every time we get to talk about it. >> she says proud is an understatement. >> because, obviously, matthew worked so hard for this. >> the video of the twins reacting has now been viewed millions of time. matthew, not a fan of the spotlight, was not a fan of first, but now he hopes the attention helps share this message. >> you can overcome anything you want to. >> matthew's next challenge, a career in medicine. he is heading off to harvard with the wise words for the rest of us, saying this, i don't limit myself with anything, and i want to inspire

others not to limit themselves either. well i hope matthew knows we are all inspired, and lucky, i'm one of those people who watched that acceptance video. i saw on instagram, i think i watched it 38 times, and i'm so grateful to our affiliate in connecticut for sharing matthew's incredible story. and on that note, i wish you all a great great night. from our our colleagues at the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up, late i will see you at the end of tomorrow. tonight, we start with merrick garland. it's no surprise that republicans are not fans of the attorney general. ever since he arrived at the justice department, republicans have repeatedly accused garland of weaponizing the doj.

and using it to go after president biden so-called political enemies. here's garland testimony before the judiciary committee in october of 2021. more republican senators had their say about garland's memo on protecting school board members, just to be clear that was a memo on protecting school board members. take a listen. >> a leave it at this, general garland, you weaponize the fbi in the department of justice, it's wrong, it's unprecedented to my knowledge in the history of this country, and i call on you to resign. >> this testimony, your directive, your performance is shameful. thank god you're not on the supreme court. you should resign in disgrace, judge. >> then, in august of this year when the fbi executed a search warrant because the federal judge agreed with the doj, that evidence of crimes, plural could potentially be found there. this is what happened. >> it just shows how bad things

have gotten that the fbi and doj, it's all driven by politics now over. there >> you can see they weaponize the department of justice, i've called impeachment articles on merrick garland. >> joe biden has turned the department of justice and the fbi, the irs, the federal government into a machinery to target their political enemies. >> he's now using the doj to target president trump. and chairman perry under garland's watch, the doj resembles the gestapo. >> this is a serious, serious breach of the rule of law. this is why garland needs to go. if you don't resign, he ought to be impeached. >> after that search, kevin mccarthy warned, i've seen enough, attorney general garland preserve your documents. and clear your calendar.

now speaker mccarthy got his wish this week in the house voted to establish a select subcommittee to investigate and i quote, the weaponization of the federal government. because in the view of the republicans, the department of justice cannot be trusted. merrick garland must resign, or he should be impeached. because he only goes after biden so-called political enemies. except today, merrick garland did something today that doesn't quite fit that narrative. the attorney general announced that he appointed robert hur, as a special counsel to investigate off -- biden's office and his home. for the second time in less than two months, garland announced a press conference that extraordinary circumstances call for the appointment of a special

counsel. robert hur, former u.s. attorney for maryland who's appointed by president trump, said today in a statement, all conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment. i intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favor, and longer the trust placed need to perform this service. the attorney general's announcement came after we learned that another set of classified documents from president joe biden's time as vice president, another set was found in his garage unwilling mean ten, delaware, this in addition to the roughly dozen or so classified documents found in early november --

and in d. c. think tank. garland said that the west monologue of the justice department about the discovery of the documents on december 20th. the white house than alerted the doj this morning about an additional single classified documents found in an adjacent room in biden's wilmington home. biden reiterated today that hedman's office are fully cooperating with the doj. that now makes two special councils -- investigation into both president trump and former president -- over their handling of classified documents. setting aside the fact that these circumstances in these two cases are wildly different. the fact of the matter is that both presidents had classified documents in their possession.

and merrick garland, the a. g. has done something that he maybe had to do. regarding the political treacherous territory now finds having to navigate. hopefully, robert herr, the newly appointed special counsel conduct themselves with the dispassionate judgment and get to the truth here. in the meantime, republicans who've been railing against merrick garland for two years. they have a different tune to sing today. senator lindsey graham is happy about. it saying that he appreciates garland decision to appoint a special counsel. and that it is in the quote, best interest of the country. the speaker of the house, kevin mccarthy, he has mixed feelings about this. on the one hand, throwing

president biden under the microscope was exactly what they wanted. on the other hand, you want to do it his way. with his people, using his committees. he was the republican leader this morning before garland's announcement. >> we don't think there needs to be a special prosecutor. i think congress needs to investigate this. >> in the, and it's awkward to claim the federal government's weaponized against you when it is simultaneously announcing a criminal investigation into your political opponent. joining us now is charlie savage, covering the story for the new york times. and matt miller spokesperson for the obama justice department. thank you both for being here. charlie, i hope you can tell us, from your reporting, the degree to which merrick garland was

making a political calculation among other things here. the degree to which the pressure that the right-wing had been -- that the campaign i will say, that they've been waging against merrick garland for these two years has had its effect inside the doj? >> he would never admit that's the case, but of course he's part of the real world, he seals, it he deals it. one of things that interesting to learn today, was about a more recent pressure that's been put on merrick garland. that someone like the fact of the first trial being found through cbs news -- public attention. there has been a tremendous amount of calls on merrick garland to do just this, notwithstanding kevin mccarthy 's reluctance. someone leaked again to nbc on wednesday, the second charge

that had been found. and it had been redoubled. today he appointed a special counsel. one of the interesting things he said was that the recommendation to him, the decision to appoint a special counsel had been last week before any of this became public, and these calls began. so if that's right i have no reason to doubt that's right, it means that what's looks like a pressure campaign on him, was already besides the point. >> matt, you've logged time with the doj. how do you read this decision on the part of garland, and the timetable as charlie points out? >> i think this is a decision that merrick garland pressured himself into. i think if you look at the decision in light salaciousness, and one for a special counsel was warranted are required. i don't there's any reason to believe that the regulations are requiring the appointed of the special counsel anytime there's an investigation that

punches on the president. or they make that clear that's what required -- but i think by appointing an attorney general, by appointing a special counsel to investigate former president trump. and the clearing, by doing that that this is not the kind of investigation that can be handled in a normal course of business, via career prosecutors, and u.s. attorneys and department of justices. he blocks himself in and left no choice but to appoint a special counsel. here there was a conflict of interest in the trump case. that conflicts even more acute in a case that involves the sitting president. so, it's a decision that while the pressure -- from the outside, it's a decision that he forced on himself. >> matt, you've tweeted that you think that pestle council can lead to all sorts of bad places. can you enumerate what those bad places are? and what the potential risk here is? >>, well i think there's two. things one, when attorney general start to go outside the normal process. and make a decision that you

can't count on the report -- regular order. and the u.s. attorneys have been confirmed by the senate to handle sensitive cases. --

you then leader self to appoint special counsel's in cases where they're not needed for example this one. i don't think one was necessary in the trump case, i don't think one was necessary here. as i, said having a point to one of the first case, you're necessarily required in the second. the history of special counsel shows that oftentimes, they tend to go in all kinds of places you don't expect. this is different in the situation in 1990, is when the independent counsels that one accountable to the attorney general. the special counsel will be accountable to, directly supervised by the a. g.. but if he wants to pursue something that isn't necessarily in his current mandate, will be a lot of pressure on the sitting attorney general to do so. this is someone who i have no reason to doubt his integrity, but he was a political appointee in the previous administration. it's outsourcing a lot of the attorney general responsibility

to someone who is, has not come up inside the normal, regular doj. order >> charlie, to you, the fact that robert hur, special counsel here was a political appointee in the trump administration. what do we know about him. the choice seems to be greeted with some consternation. among certain parts of the biden administration and beyond. given the fact that he is someone that donated to republican campaigns, as matt says he's an appointee, during the trump administration what do we know about robert hur? >> he has been a career prosecutor in maryland. he worked for chris wray, fbi director in the bush administration, when chris wray was the head of the criminal division in the george w. bush justice department. the clerk's -- chief justice of william -- after law school. so, he's clearly a conservative republican. in the trump administration, he took on political appointments for us as a very powerful official in the deputy attorney

general office, under rob rosenstein. and as the u.s. attorney general and maryland. it's part of -- merrick garland once again reaching to a trump appointed current or former u.s. attorney. handle a politically sensitive case. or matter. as a matter of easy of political shielding himself of bias accusations. he has a trump appointed u.s. attorney in delaware handling the hunter biden administration. -- and before the supply, when he had a different u.s. attorney in chicago doing preliminary looks at the biden documents matter. that stands in stark contrast in the style of president -- bill barr, the trump

administration who and he had very political pretentious cases was reaching to fellow trump appointed republican u. s. attorneys to look at things like allegations that the obama people, had improperly unmasked, intelligence reports, and taking other looks at the russia investigation. and cases that spot off of that. -- all those where fellow biden cla>> no, i he biden about the timetable, and whe presi what intebut you're rightt that much to investigate. hank you bo o quistay with us. the same right-winge of ics here here made about alculation ial crimndictmen mek garland's mang surthat everi bove board fashion o classified documentsperh preparr thing even mor ntrovers it pertains t a-lago, m i gettin ahead of myself? >>o, i think it'rt of. and i he's looking a e two d even thoug thtwo caly excep in torest and says involve classified dts being placeshat arpposed t be and every other way,re erent. you ha where the prest bideeport of these cumenthere, he addition searcheturn vers way the forme ident them. they're ent case he ld at it and, said if one is headed for case, which looke bid routine investigation on that we kn turno theacts an case that's ver likely to have any k al indictment. suspece decision is, need to give theubli nfidence of both thees been treated fairly and soneed to have two speciauncils, one macome and that will giurthercredibilio possibly to inct formepresident. >> charlat's the special unsel doon a practical vel. ere's a lot of ing it mildly as i pertns to trump an r-a-lago scand doesn't seem to be a muchhere's questions out thtimetable, and chose to acknowledf thesdocumenh but beyond that, the national arc doj a do you have a e of w special what iviews i've alconducte theyt heismaf to get but you're right doesnlook likew know now tere is tha muchinvestig packed up those boxes. we't knowhere thos documessed or find whe nt into oset, rifle to that box or t. questions like that. to the ext - hasn't already established 't know what his finding are. but there doseem to be nearhe comof the mar-a-lago documents texaminit one questiy minds just la>> maybe it won't last tha long ybe it will be a pro f se

charlie savage, ington correspondent at theor mes. spokon for the obamach stice dement thank yoor joining u tot. special counsel appoin last six yearswhat does that sts us about the state of american democracy? plus, the talented mr. santos, and the origin of his riches we'll talk to new york times reporter who's would be doin all the digging and there is quite a bit to unpack. stay with us science proves quality sleep is vital to your mental, emotional, and physical health. and we know 80% of couples sleep too hot or too cold. introducing the new sleep number climate 360 smart bed. the only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms, and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. from 1973, to 2016, there were proven quality sleep. only from sleep number.

just two independent counsels. trying to look into the conduct the presidents of the united states. when investigating return nixon, and the other bill clinton. now, and just the last six years. we have not one, not to, not three, but four, what we now call special counsel investigations. probing the conduct the presidents, and the law enforcement officials serving them. it started, of course, with the mueller desiccation to russia's attempts to interfere with the 2016 election.

then, attorney general william barr, aka bill barr. gave into trump's demand and appointed, john durham, to investigate the investigators. sort of tit-for-tat special counsel if you will. that investigation ended with more of a whimper, that a bang. but at the time, trump got what he wanted. a second investigation to muddy the waters surrounding his own conduct. then, last year. trump once again found himself to be the subject of the special counsel investigation. after mayor garland appointed prosecutor jack smith, to oversee parallel investigations into trump's potential mishandling of classified documents. and his role in stopping the violence on january 6th, and halting the peaceful transfer of power. now, today, merrick garland has

appointed yet another special counsel. this time to investigate president biden's potential mishandling of classified documents. once again republicans are seizing the opportunity to muddy the waters around donald trump's potentially criminal conduct. as david rohde writes the new piece of the new yorker. for biden, the new appointment poses more of a political threat, then illegal. one quote, it appears unlikely that president biden will be prosecuted. because it does not seem like he intentionally mishandled documents. but, if he hasn't. republicans will argue that trump should not be charged either. joining us now is the author himself.

david rohde covers adjust apartment, and served as executive editor of the new yorker. com. david, thanks for being here. >> that the endgame here? not for merrick garland but one republican start the special counsel announcement. do you think they're like hairs are get trump out of jail free card? >> politically, yes. and it is a frustrating situation, clearly. trump had more documents. he and sawyer's lied about how many documents they had. they don't turn over for months. they defied subpoena. but you have a situation where it is very difficult, politically. i know we're going to criminally prosecute donald trump. but joe biden had some documents next to his bed. that is. okay >> mayor. garland continuously reminds us that he's not a political actor. that the doj is free from politics. but this seems like an explicitly political move. when that is taking the temperature in the room, if you will. and understands that he, i mean,

he had to do this for optics, if nothing else. do you think this is the right decision? >> i'm a bit of an idealist. -- that's what we love you david. he is trying to get people to believe in the justice department. the idea that we've talked about this before of nonpartisan public service is possible. that the special prosecutors are going to follow the facts with a lead, and not allow politics to influence, you, know their decision about how to deliver justice. so, i think he did the right thing here. it is a mess, it is unfortunate. but i think this is a way you hope the country can start to normalize. and maybe some of these people who, the hyper belief republicans a shot because of the show. that is just higher.

that is political posturing. and garland is trying to do his best to get to the facts. and be fair. >> it's a totally inconvenient time for kevin mccarthy to be launching this inquiry into the weaponization the federal government. the federal government is doing some that kevin mccarthy probably very much like some doing. >> i think again, looking at the midterms. if anything it was a vote against this kind of extremism and conspiracy theories. right now, that is the strangest thing but kevin mccarthy's house. again, because the numbers these gutter lined freedom caucus. they've come outs charging with these conspiracy theories that have been unproven over, and over again. >> i understand what you're saying about this as a bid to get people back on board with

institutional integrity. although, i'm skeptical that all people on the right can be convinced of anything. other than the government is out to get them. i do take the use, the frequency of the special counsel appointments as we outlined at the top of this block. is indicative of a country that no longer can referee its own fights. the partisan divide has become so deep that even merrick garland who is, you know, pretty much in the center, it's like gotta sources to someone else. i am too loaded a figure. i'm too hot for them to handle. that, to me, does not seem very good. there for a special counsels in six years. compared to where we have been in decades past. >> i agree, love that has to do with i think, donald trump's behavior. and that you see, russia, find the emails. he's publicly calling on russia to find emails. his son, and his aides, are

meeting with people tied to the russian government. i think the investigation on to trump, and this campaign into russia's legitimate. he had that happen. and there is pressure, or darren's then looking at that russia domestication. and then, to durham's credit he said. to lure 11 cases. he lost both of those a trial. and we will see what he says and his final report, but durham has not been a ken starr. he investigated clinton and that went on for years and had someone going after him for lying about an affair with -- . special counsels aren't perfect. but they can work. robert mueller, i think generally the good job. and look, he came out with the conclusion in terms of there is not being clear evidence of collusion between the trump campaign, and. russia liberals did not like that. but he did his job as the special counsel. >> that was mitigated by the way in which his findings were presented by the attorney general, bill barr. it will be interesting to see how trump's posture is affected by the appointment of this new special counsel giving what

he's been out at the special counsel looking into his actions in around general sixth. and the mar-a-lago document drama. truth social, this is what trump had to say about jack smith. jack smith, for some reason is a trump hating thug whose wife is a serial and open trumpeter. his friends in a their family members have been worse. the man -- it's maybe worse in the behavior during the mueller investigation. is it me to be personal, it is immediately basis, it is admittedly just a new level of low in terms of former presidents and their narratives. >> i don't think this is working, politically. we saw that in 2020. we saw that 2022 midterms. he's exaggerating, he's lying, he said probably, it's nasty. and i think it is exhausting independents and republicans. i think the most important thing is to defeat donald trump politically. that is slowly happening. they should be careful. because unimportant investigation in terms of the gravity of what has been the ledge's january 6th. the new subpoenas out, but by jack smith, the special counsel there. looking at fundraising.

and did the trump campaign know that through this mostly claiming these machines that secretly changed votes. and it's these subpoenas and did they know that was all bogus? that is false claims that votes have been stolen. essentially, for the committing fraud by raising all this money to, you know, stop the steal? that is very serious stuff. there's no indication that there is overwhelming evidence of that. frankly, if trump is gonna prosecute for anything. should be january 6th. on precedent it had no other president to do it again. want to turn that historic crime. documents what happall i do knd member the proud boys were emboldened by the words of former president trump. the defense team, meanwhile, argued something very different. we'll bring the latest from that courtroom. plus, embattled republican freshman, congressman george santos. george, santos. somehow, somehow, but $700,000 to his campaign. but where did that money come from? he has some new reporting for you. that's next. when a cold comes on strong, knock it out with vicks dayquil severe. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst cold and flu symptoms. to help take you from 9 to none. power through with vicks dayquil severe. my asthma felt anything but normal. a blood test helped show my asthma is driven by eosinophils, which nucala helps reduce. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems.

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resume was filled with all sorts of things that were not rail. they were the two colleges he did not actually graduate from. and the multiple financial sector jobs he did not actually have. but notably absent from santos 's resume was his actual most recent job. >> right before you decide where politics will redoing? well, i still actually up until august 1st. when i initiated my leave of absence. we told directly for harvard city capital where a fixed income shop. we are or within the fortune 500 range from our three firms globally. i managed all of our assets with our veterans here in new york i am at the city capitol head guy for new york city. >> harvard city capital has

never been listed in the fortune 500. but a few months after that interview the company did get some recognition. and the formal complaint filed against it by the fcc. the fcc alleges that harbor city capitol was a fraudulent ponzi scheme that victimize hundreds of investors across the united state. despite talking himself up as the head guy from new york city, at this alleged ponzi scheme, george santos claims that he was. as distraught in the stories everyone else to learn about the allegations against harvard city capitol. santos himself was not named a fcc complaint ed again denied any knowledge of malfeasance at the firm. in the years directly acted this with the resume filled with fake jobs is not actually have. and alleged ponzi scheme. george santos somehow went from a reporting in reported $55,000

a year. to earning an annual salary of $750,000 a year, plus dividends. enough money that he had the ability to lend his campaign more than $700,000. so, the question is where did george santos get all that money? weeks after the icc completing its harvest capital. santos incorporated a new organization in florida called, the double their organization. the bolder aces mothers maiden name. and santos's own words, the folder was an effort to help, quote, all the people who left adrift at harbor city capital. it is unclear if he included himself in that group. on the campaign's financial disclosure santos listed the boulder as a source of the bulk of his recent financial windfall. but here is the thing. we really have no idea what the boulder actually does. we know money came out of the boulder. but we don't know how many got in there to begin with. and, at the same time, thanks to the great reporting at the new york times today. we know that a super pac called, redstone schedules, which claims have the singular purpose of electing george santos, that super pac was raising money but did not

appear to be spending it. the fact, in fact, the fcc has no record of brett stone strategies at all. and there does not appear to be any records documenting its donors, contributors, or expanding. the new york times spoke with the donor the gave $25,000 to redstone stretches last year for what he was told would be a large ad buy from mr. santos. the times found no record of redstone making any had buys on santos's behalf. now, earthstone claims of race at least $800,000. which is just slightly more than with santos personally lent his campaign. and the source of santos's wealth was again that mystery company, the boulder. so, to recap. one company, redstone. is hauling in some serious cash. we don't know where it ultimately went. another company, the boulder. slash with cash, and we don't know where it came from. and the amount of money we are talking about here, coming in,

and going out. it's almost the same. now, those numbers can be coincidental. maybe this is all just santos's team not filing paperwork correctly. who knows? but check this out. as of last month, both mantises competitive older, and redstone rise, left the same penthouse apartment of a florida condo as their address. both companies have the same address. voter registration records show that addresses the home of one jason bed was. one of santos's former colleagues at the alleged ponzi scheme, harbor city capital. there is a lot to unpack here. joining us now is alexander burns on. a pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter. and when the new york times reporters behind today's story. alexander, thank you so much for joining us. what an interesting series of facts. do you see a connection between devolder and red stone the way

i see a connection between devolder and red stone? >> devolder organization is actually a manager in redstone llc. red socially llc, as you mentioned, is this florida company that he has a partner in. so it seems to be that that is a clear -- connection. there is this thing called redstone strategies that was also raising money during 2022. and they're going out to donors and they were saying, look, we want to raise all this money to do this big media. backdoor cut by all this advertising. and we're going to heat one point $5 million. and they're going to all of these donors at a party given the maximum amount they're allowed to give. they went to the mid said, can you get more? in one case, actually, santos actually seemed to be on the phone. or seem to be the person directly solicited the donor. which is another potential issue in terms of some of the campaign finance implications of this. the panel what they're doing when things were not able to find any records of any actual advertising spending. so, we are not completely certain whether this red

socially is raising the money. the same rights so tragedies, policy, that the is a partner in. but there are these potential connections with a lot of commit theories surrounding the finances. >> who is giving money? and then you can't divulge or sources. do we have an idea about the sales pitch george santos was making here? these are big quantities of money and apparently, nobody at the time was asking for proof of the money they spend the thing they thought was going to be spent on. >> we have seen the sales pitch and basically, says we are redstone strategy. we are one of the most notable things about is that we have the singular purpose of electing george santos. now, you are allowed to raise on the button mountain money if you are a pack, a super pac. but there are certain things that you still have to do in

order to do that. one, you have to register with the fcc. which do not appear to have done. and you have to disclose donors, which do not appear to have done. if you will have the singular purpose. they're also saying they're five and one seat for. which is a social wealth organization. which is not without the sole purpose of electing a particular person into office. the other thing is you're not supposed to coordinate with the candidate, which, it clearly appears that santos had some involvement and raising the money. for redstone rise. the other thing is that you need to spend the money on the actual purpose. so if you're saying that you're going to make advice, and do all this to elect the person. you should be doing that. and as i've mentioned, we have not found records that they're actually doing any advertising buying as i said they're going to. >> it really seems like this is a matter for the ftc and,

potentially, the new york a. g. is looking into this. there are a lot of question marks about this influx and the flow of money. a lot of which ended up being used on george santos's personal expenses. -- reported to new york times. thanks for time, new reporting >> thank you so much. >> we still have more to come tonight. the proud boys went to court today. we learned what happened in their trial for seditious conspiracy on january 6th. and we will take a trip to at least magical place on earth. desantis world. where, for the florida governor. the cruelty is the points. new video surfaces of a rat last summer orchestrated to make the governor look tough. that is coming up. from 9 to none. for max-strength nighttime relief, nyquil severe.

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and recalibrated their car's advanced safety system, so features like automatic emergency braking will work properly. >> tech: alright, all finished. >> dad: wow, that's great. thanks. >> tech: stay safe with safelite. schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ today, the government opening statements in the high-profile seditious conspiracy case against five prominent proud boys. but their action in the capitol attack. prosecutors cited incriminating text messages, and voiced memos from the proud boys. that they send each other before, during, and, after the riot. quote, the exclusive chat that the governments appears to rely upon was a private telegram group for special proud boys chapter called the ministry of self-defense. that chat, and retiree, that the leader of the four group

appears to take credit for the capitol riot. he wrote make the mistake, we did this. another part of the proud boys on trial, ethan nordean, also posted video celebrating the attack. he said, i was part of the storming of the capital of the most powerful country in the world. a third gang member, -- added. i'm proud of what we have accomplished yesterday. i mean, okay. also, the recorded their conference calls. hoof. taken together, the videos, the texan, the audio, all of that is part of the evidence jurors will now consider deciding whether these five defendants are guilty of conspiring to prevent the peaceful transition of presidential power. meanwhile, inside the courtroom. the proud boys, they have their own plan. joining us now to tell us what that is is pestilence,, senior party for vice news. she was inside that courtroom

all day watching the trial unfold. test, judging by your twitter feed today it was an interesting time in that courtroom. can you tell us how the defense is mounting its case, specifically, against dominic pezzola. one of the bat boys. his lawyer sounded like he had an interesting argument to make in terms of defending his client. >> hi alex, thank you so much for having me. yes, indeed. we've got five defendants. each with their own legal team. and, you know, as a result. it is a crowded courtroom. and there's some real characters in the mix. which of course makes for entertaining viewing. but what is also coming out is the sort of patchwork of legal arguments that they're using to defend their individual clients. we have two areas lawyer, for example. and retiree, who's trying to say that his client is being scapegoated by the government. they're going after

inconsistent easy target. does it can't go after the big will, just donald trump. or they're saying, you know, that they're trying to use the old line that the proud boys are just drinking club. they're trying to downplay the political violence aspect of things. and so. on one dominic pezzola's lawyer who has a more bizarre coincide say. try to say that the riot was essentially six-hour inconvenience for congress. and that all congress are often so crowded, and noisy, there's not really much of a difference and not unusual. but, to me, i think the biggest has set for defense lawyers is what they say will be testimony from government influence. and these government informants, they, say had infiltrated the proud boys prior to january 6th, were privy to some of their chats. march with them on the day, and they say that these young men and informants will claim that there is no plan. this was a spontaneous eruption

of violence. now, it depends on how these testimonies will hold up across examination. what they are actually privy to? to, me anyway, this is a very interesting nugget that defense has in their court. >> for people who missed what you said. which is very key. one of the proud boys lawyers is saying that the riots on the capitol was, effectively, a six-hour inconvenience. as far as the work of congress. i think he also tweeted that when they show the clip of pezzola smashing one of the windows of the capital. he said it wasn't as bad as the still from the video suggest. also, the damage the property wasn't that bad because the windows don't look expensive. according to the lawyer. these were not 1000 dollar windows. tests, what was the reaction in the courtroom when that argument was made? >> i mean, there were giggles for sure. sort of hard to imagine that he was re-playing these videos. these kind of iconic videos

we've seen now of pezzola using these stolen right shields to smash the window. this was the first breach of the capital. it doesn't look any better the third, or fourth, or a fifth time you see it. so is kind of hard to understand what his lawyers line of thinking. was he also paid repeatedly, and a video, a pezzola smoking a cigar inside the capitol saying something like, we took the thing and we're claiming victory for it. he said this is going to exonerate pezzola, because sort of the final victory means from the moment. that victory mean standing in the capital. so, some lawyers arguments may be more tenuous and others. some seem to be quite strong. so can be really interesting to see how this all shakes up in the coming weeks. >> much in the government, the defense, going to be using some

government informants or with the proud boys. that's when the government is what have other proud boys testify against the proud boys on trial. that sounds like it will be certainly very interesting. do you have any intel on what that prosecutorial evidence may look like? >> it seems that the government 's case is gonna come down to two main things. first, is a testimony from those five proud boys. one of whom is particularly important and his name is jeremy petito. he's a prominent proud boys also pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. he is a major witness in this case. the other part is what you mentioned earlier. the telegrams. encrypted telegram chats. had videos, audio, and this is a special chapter that tarrio formed late december 2020 called the ministry of self-defense. and what the purpose of this group was for will the lawyers be arguing over it in coming weeks. the government says that this was where they plotted their conspiracy, that these messages, what we've seen can slip its up

in court documents. that, in the full, we'll see what happened before, what happened during, and what they were saying. after that these will kind of expose their plot. these are the two major piece of evidence that the government is going to use to build a case. >> we'll be watching. pestilence, senior reporter for vice news. >> thank you.

>> how the operation to arrest some of the felons came together. just ahead of governor desantis's governor -- performative press conference. one saying, he was given three or four hours to do a three county operation. many of those arrested where understandably confused when officers showed up at their front doors. they believed they had the right to vote after florida voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment to restore the voting rights are convicted felons in 2018. the amendment however made exceptions for those convicted of murder or felony sex differences but for those who were arrested, they are an

eligibility was not made clear to them. even more chilling, the video published today shows heavily armed officers arresting two men. you can see in this video here, one man was forced out of his home only in his underwear, he walked out of the front door to face officers on the scene holding semi automatic weapons and handguns. another man was handcuffed in his underwear by armed officers after being awoken from sleep. the two men in these videos, ronald miller and robert wood had their cases dismissed last year as was a third last month. state prosecutors plan to appeal those rulings. regardless of any of those cases will ultimately, stick governor desantis got what he wanted out of the whole situation, mainly confusion and fear for ex felons who might want to vote. of course, a press conference. that is it for us tonight. now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. >> good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, alex. we now have to special counsel investigating -- current president, the reactions from the