bill barr. he served this person, served as the chief of staff for bill barr, who's now viewed as a traitor by trump for refusing to go along with his efforts to overturn the loss in 2020. this is according to the times, his bid for a permanent position has been stymied by mr. trump's advisers, who are vetting personnel for loyalty, according to three of the people knowledgeable about the situation. bill barr. okay, just to emphasize, before the whole 2020 election thing was an incredibly loyal soldier to donald trump, the idea that the people who worked for him then are not loyal to trumpism is stunning. >> well, that's what's so interesting about this, right? and this is a lesson for mike johnson and everybody else who, as i keep saying, bent the knee. you just mentioned three people that trump has blacklisted bill barr, nikki haley and mike pence, who was more loyal to this president than bill barr, mike pence and nikki haley in the first term? they used to. i'm old enough to remember when th

bill barr doesn't have that much. credibility with any, any, any group of americans at this point in our political moment in america, set aside bill barr. what about other trump appointees who worked with kash patel? well, trump's deputy national security adviser, who worked closely with kash patel, he had this to say, quote, he's absolutely unqualified for fbi director. he is untrustworthy. it is an absolute disgrace to american citizens to even consider an individual of this nature. that's trump's deputy national security adviser. and this he's untrustworthy. this is kind of a theme in descriptions of kash patel from people specifically who worked with him in the first trump term. several former trump officials say that kash patel had a tendency to embellish, to mislead. i think the word you're looking for here is lie about important stuff. john bolton, who you just saw on this evening with jen psaki here on msnbc, he was trump's national security adviser. so therefore effectively kash patel's boss when he was at th

trump then dominated bill barr to succeed sessions. barr addition in an unsolicited memo that sharply criticized the investigation. once confirmed,barr mr. samet -- misrepresented the report and intervened at multiple cases of trump's political allies and spread falsehoods on election fraud. in december of 2020, when bill barr finally announced there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election, trump dismissed him. fired his second attorney general. this time around president-elect trump has vowed not just to use the justice department to advance his political interests but also to seek "retribution" against "the enemy within." he has threatened to arrest, prosecute, jail and otherwise punish those he considers his enemies. this includes reporters, prosecutors, judges, poll workers, military officials and even his own former political appointees. even before taking office, trump has forced out is on fbi director he appointed, chris wray. he's trying to place him with kash patel, whose main qu

>> i have no intentions of going backwards. >> how about bill barr?he constitution. >> joining me now is senator alex padilla of california, who was at that confirmation hearing today. and i wonder if you got a satisfactory answer. i'm looking at this list. i've got three pages of everyone from president biden, former president biden to kamala harris to merrick garland. you could go i could go on and on. bill barr, john bolton, what confidence did you get out of this hearing today that kash patel does not, in fact, wish to investigate people on his enemies list? >> so good to be. >> back with you, joy. and the. >> the short. >> answer is no. >> in fact, what little confidence there might have been in kash patel serving in the fbi director position went completely downhill more and more throughout the course of today's hearing. and before i go any further, let me just take a moment to offer my condolences to the families of those who perished in last night's tragic plane crash in on the outskirts of dc in washington, dc. horrible, horrible tragedy inde

in his 2022 memoire bill barr said of kash patel he's someone with no background as an agent, would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day-to-day operations of the bureau. he has virtually no experience that would qualify him to srv at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency. the idea of moving him into a role like this showed a shocking detachment from reality. was attorney general barr wrong then and wrong now? >> i disagree with that. yeah, he was wrong then and he's wrong now. i take my advice on kash patel from trey gowdy, dear friend from south carolina who worked with ckash. kash was a public defend sh, he worked with trey gowdy about the russia hoax. he has the trust of the president. we will see how this plays out. but trey gowdy is enthusiastically supports kash patel and that means a lot to me. >> okay. but he's got a list he's published, kash patel has, he published it in a book of enemies, it includes people like the fbi director, defense secretary austin, bill barr, former white house counsel pat cipollone, former dr. ia dire

attorney general bill barr joins me know a good to have you.executive order that president trump signed with regard to naming the cartels terrorist organizations and what that will allow him to do. >> he's taken a number of actions and i'm glad he is acting decisively. in his first term he said to me about the drug war that a lot of people kick the can down the road and he really feels he was elected to office to tackle problems head on that's what he is doing. on the cartels the designation of them as a terror group is an important step. it allows us to impose sanctions on individuals and pose additional sanctions behind those we've already opposed and it's also not just as needed in the but how we'll treat them pair we have to respond to them and treat them the way we would like isis. i think that's in the kurds eventually. >> that something you and i talked about when you are attorney general and now there's this opportunity with president trump back in. what do you think it looks like and, you know, i feel like the cartel part of the conver

reporter: when patel was floated to serve as deputy fbi director during trump's first term, bill barra republican, said, "over my dead body." adding later, that patel had virtually no experience to serve in the role. despite his history, republicans on the committee praised his nomination. >> the rot is deep and the time for you is now and i'm glad because reform is needed. reporter: asked who he ultimately answers to, he recited the chain of command. >>>> the fbi is a member of the department of justice and has been the long-standing -- >> and who does the department of justice were for? >> in the executive branch as all members do in the white house. >> attorney general bondi gave a different answer when i asked the same question that they work for the constitution and american people. reporter: for the pbs news hour, i'm laura barron lopez. geoff: there was one more make or break committee hearing today. robert f. kennedy, jr. went for a first committee hearing yesterday and for the first time we heard republicans expressed doubt about him. lisa desjardins joins us now. what were t

bill barr said. this nominee has virtually no.ualify him to serve at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency, end quote. and we would never be able to command. >> the respect necessary to run. >> the day to. day operations of the bureau. that's for the deputy position. former cia. director gina haspel was. >> reported threatening to resign. >> rather than have this nominee. serve under her. john bolton, trump's former national. security advisor. >> said i. >> didn't think he was qualified. i was forced to hire him. trump's deputy national security advisor, the nominee's former. >> supervisor. >> said his ideas are ludicrous. he's absolutely unqualified for this job. he's untrustworthy, and it's an absolute disgrace to even consider an individual of this nature. >> those were republicans. >> i couldn't write that down fast enough. republicans who. >> worked for donald. >> trump, who called kash patel, quote. >> ludicrous. >> untrustworthy and unqualified. it's more than that. >> kash patel's nomination is

one of the names on your list was bill barr. chairman grassley has called him one of the most capable cabinet officials i have ever been able to vote for. senator graham has said i have nothing but total respect and admiration for the job done by william barr as attorney general of the united states. is bill barr on your list or whatever you want to call them, what has been referred to as an enemies list? you have called them deep state after serving his country as attorney general of the united states. is he on your list because of a personal vendetta? mr. patel: it is not whatever we want to call it. it is not an enemies list. that is a mischaracterization. sen. klobuchar: i used the word you used for the list, which was deep state. that is what you put. against the attorney general of the united states. is it because of a personal vendetta that he is on the list? you are under oath. mr. patel: i have no personal vendetta about bill barr. sen. klobuchar: he said you would never be able to command the respect necessary to run t

trump then nominated bill barr to succeed sessions. barr successfully auditioned for the job in an unsolicited memo to doj that sharply criticized the mueller investigation. once confirmed, barr misrepresented and blocked the release of the report, intervened in multiple criminal cases of trump's political allies, and spread falsehoods about election fraud. but in december of 2020, when bill barr finally announced there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election, trump dismissed him, fired his second attorney general. this time around, president-elect trump has vowed not just to use the justice department to advance his political interests, but also to seek, quote, retribution against, quote, the enemy within. he has repeatedly threatened to arrest. prosecute, jail and otherwise punish those he considers his enemies. this includes reporters, prosecutors, judges, poll workers, military officials, and even his own former political appointees. even before taking office, trump has forced out his

trump then nominated bill barr, successfully auditioned for the job in unsolicited memo that sharply criticized the mueller investigation and once confirmed intervened in multiple criminal cases of trump's political allies and spread falsehoods about election fraud, but in december of 2020, when bill barr finally announced there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election, trump dismissed him. fired his second attorney general. this time around, president-elect trump has vowed not just to use the justice department to advance his political interests, but also to seek, quote, retribution against, quote, the enemy within. he has repeatedly threatened to arrest, prosecute, jail and otherwise punish those he considers his enemies, includes reporters, prosecutors, judges, poll workers, military officials and even his own former political appointees. even before taking office, trump has forced out his own fbi director he appointed chris wray and trying to replace wray with kash patel whose main qualification seems to be his loyalty to donald trum

trump then nominated bill barr to succeed sessions. barr successfully auditioned for the job in an unsolicited memo to d.o.j. that criticized the mueller investigation. once confirmed barr misrepresented and blocked the release of the report. intervined in multiple criminal cases of trump allies and spread falsehoods about election fraud. but in december of 2020 when bill barr finally announced there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election, trump dismissed him. fired his second attorney general. this time around president-elect trump has vowed not just to use the justice department to advance his political interests but also to seek quote retribution against quote the enemy within. he has repeatedly threatened to arrest, prosecute, jail and otherwise punish those he considers his enemies. this includes reporters, prosecutors, judges, poll workers, military officials, and even his own former political appointees. even before taking office, trump has forced out his own f.b.i. director that

our former colleague jeff sessions, bill barr. i do not think it is credible to say it may never happen, that the president-elect will direct an unethical or illegal act. i think both of those attorneys general found themselves crosswise with the then president by doing things he did not welcome or approve of. answer the question, if you will. i know you may not expect it or would not have accepted this nomination if you thought it possible. let's imagine that once again president-elect trump issues a directive or order to you or to the fbi director that is outside the boundaries of ethics or law. what will you do? ms. bondi: i will never speak on a hypothetical, especially one saying the president would do something illegal. what i can tell you is my duty if confirmed as attorney general will be to the constitution and the united states of america and the most important oath -- part of that oath i will take are the last four words, so help me god. sen. coons: given the importance of that oath, i hope you can understand the import

bill barr was on his deep stateless. he was asked about this, said he has no personal vendetta against him. he was asked about press getting chris wray. "i've committed to going forward. i don't want to engage in retribution close what's. all in all, it's been a very interesting hearing, smooth, and the sense in the room watching the audience's reaction, it's been more kash friendly than not. sympathetic nods, sounds, laughing at some of the statements he made in the past. i think it's pretty possible, and certain really, that he's going to get through. >> he looks comfortable. we are watching it now on the left side of your screen. lunch break is over for the kash patel fbi nominee confirmation hearing. thank you very much. let's go live to capitol hill. >> fbi agents or personnel associated with trump investigations. >> i'm not aware of that, senator. >> think you. there is no evidence of wrongdoing by fbi employees involved in these investigations. if you do pursue investigations of those involved, will you commit to

as bill barr. within our first is lisa gilbert nonprofit organization with more than 100,000 members the organization has extensive a record of investigating conflicts of interest in public corruption. ms. gilbert will speak to the dangers confirming someone with this interest the second is the institute for constitutional advocacy protection. a visiting professor at the prestigious georgetown law center. served for nearly 20 years as assistant u.s. attorney for the district of columbia. also served as assistant attorney general for national security from 2016 to 2017. the printable deputy attorney general from 2014 to 2016. at this point i will turn it back to you. >> we have this tradition of swearing people in. we know how honest you are and every thing like that. so please rise, raise your right hand. do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give for this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing before the truth, so help you god? i have seen all of you say yes

trump knocks on her door as attorney general, and he will if you question that, ask jeff sessions or bill barr, he won't knock on her door and ask her to do something that will be a challenge ethically or morally. it is just his nature he views in office he controls the american people in the constitution control that office and we have to resolve whether or not ms. bondi is a person within our first is lisa gilbert nonprofit organization with more than 100,000 members the organization has extensive a record of investigating conflicts of interest in public corruption. ms. gilbert will speak to the dangers confirming someone with this interest the second is ms. -- ms. mccord she's a visiting professor at the prestigious georgetown law center. prior to these role ms. mccord served 20 years as assistant u.s. attorney for the district of columbia also served as assistant attorney general for security from 2016 until 2017 principal deputy assistant attorney general from 2014 until 2016. at this point i will turn it back to you. >> thank you. we have this tradition of swearing people in so please ar

donald trump bumps on her chores attorney general and he will, question that asked jeff sessions, bill barr, he will lock on her door and asked her to do something that will be a challenge ethically or morally and is just his nature and his use that in office personally controls and he does not. the american people the constitution control ofeo that office we have to resolve whether or not miss bonnie is the person to be the next attorney general. first witness is lisa gilbert public citizen, nonprofit organization more than 500,000 members and the organization has extensive record of investigating conflicts of interest in public direction or corruption and ms. gilbert will speak to the dangers of consuming confirming someone with the interest as attorney general and second is mary mccarty, executive director of the institute for constitutional ethics and protection she's a visiting professor strategic georgetown law center part of the roles served for nearly 20 years u.s. attorney for the district of columbia also served as assistant attorney general for national security in 2016 through 2

bill barr resisted him way less.t got out of town and let everyone deal with the aftermath. but i mean, like, i guess my question is like, is there someone you could imagine him nominating that you could in good conscience vote for? because aren't they all going to do that? >> i don't think they all have to do that. >> i mean, once you've gotten to the point where you're in the hearing and your name has been put forward, it's some do over in the white house really going to say, hey, mr. president, we got to pull the pam bondi nomination because she said that joe biden had been elected. >> there's an anticipatory yeah chicken ness to this that i think is weird. and you know, she may very well, as a proper attorney general, have to walk into the oval office and say, hey, mr. president, what you're doing is wrong. what you're saying is wrong. the law doesn't allow that. i'm not able to execute on what you're asking me to do. and, you know, the consequence could very well be that she should be fired. >> in the history of

bill barr investigate the 2020 election. back up my fraud claims. bill barr doesn't do it. and he's forced out. so people who worked in the first trump administration, the justice department have told me this is the conundrum. she she's supposed to have facts to actually convict people in court and they don't exist. this is what, you know, current people say, biden administration, people in the justice department. so we'll see how she tries to navigate this for the next several years. but it's going to be difficult. how does she please donald trump and have facts in a court of law? >> yeah, the pressure on her is going to be enormous. what strikes me also in this moment is the degree to which it is a fait accompli that she will be confirmed. right. democrats are doing their best to draw attention to her controversial positions from 2020 and her positions now, or at least her sort of worldview as it comes to an enemies list and the punishment of political adversaries. but by virtue of the fact that she's not matt gaetz and that she's actually a lawyer, it seems like that's e

and bill barr, i should note, voted for trump, though, in this election. he told us that when he was he was sitting in that seat. i want to ask you about the agreement, the cease fire and hostage release. but since you're talking about pam bondi, when you were questioning her today. so those questions, her answers weren't sufficient in your view. >> so the first two questions i asked, i got answers that were very encouraging to me. i talked about special counsels you talked about also, who's your client as attorney general, the constitution and the people of the united states. can donald trump run for a third term as a matter of constitutional law? no, it was the third question where i said, what would you do if ordered to do something illegal or unethical? and she said, that's a hypothetical. i won't answer it. i had to say it's not a hypothetical. >> does that affect whether or not you'll vote for her? >> it does. and i'm going to go back and look at the transcript of the hearing. i'm going to reach out to her and see if we can get any further clarificat

what bill barr did is he took the mueller report, supposedly summarized it by saying, basically, trumpr many weeks what the report actually said, which was you can't indict a sitting president because of this legal rule. that is, you know, that distorted all of the public discourse. i'm glad to see jack smith trying to return to this and to say, look, the evidence is overwhelming. we could have sustained a conviction. it was just this technicality that prevented us from doing so. >> we're going to squeeze in a quick break here. when we come back, i want to go to the point that jack smith's report shows that some republicans in pennsylvania refused to participate in donald trump's lie about the 2020 presidential election, while pam bondi was publicly supporting that lie about pennsylvania, which is obviously why donald trump chose her as his next attorney her as his next attorney general. we'll come hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold & flu medicine hangover in the morning. ha ha. haha! then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your syste

unlike jeff sessions, unlike bill barr, i think when she pushes back against donald trump, i think thatusts her. he knows that the two of them are close. she is loyal to him, which gives her extra credibility to say no. and i think as a prosecutor, she doesn't get immunity like donald trump does. the supreme court decision doesn't protect anyone but the president, so she's the one who could face jail time in the future, like mike nifong, the duke lacrosse prosecutor. so it means a lot to her to keep her reputation intact as well as her future freedom. so i think ultimately she'll do the right thing. >> dave aronberg, thanks so much. it's good to see you. >> thank you chris, good to see you. >> up next. signs of progress in california as some winds finally die down for crews who are battling those massive wildfires. a report from the ground live next. >> want the fastest working glp one for half the price? roam now offers fda approved weight loss injections cheaper with results. you can see faster. lose 15% of your weight with the formula from eli lilly that hits not one, but two hormone

senator amy klobuchar pressed him about one name in particular, trump's former attorney general bill barrchar: is it because of a personal vendetta that he's on the list? you're under oath. kash patel: i have no personal vendetta against people. sen. klobuchar: ok. laura: when patel was floated to serve as deputy fbi director during trump's first term, barr, a republican, said "over my dead body," adding in a book he wrote later that patel had virtually no experience to serve in the role. despite patel's history, republicans on the committee praised his nomination. sen. schmitt: the rot is deep and the time for you is now and i'm glad because reform is needed. laura: asked who he ultimately answers to, patel recited the chain of command. kash patel: the fbi is a member of the department of justice and has been the longstanding application sen. coons: and who does the department of justice work for? kash patel: they're in the executive branch, as all members do at the white house. sen. coons: attorney general bondi gave a different answer when i asked her the same question, that they work

, where he tried to get him to be a part of overturning the election. >> and bill barr wouldn't do it. exactly. and today, when pam bondi was asked, she acted like that didn't happen, that it was a hypothetical, that she wouldn't answer. and i find that problematic. i do think pam bondi did pretty well in the the confirmation hearing today, but there are some critical issues that were brought up on the campaign trail that she wasn't able to answer. and earlier on on this network, chris was saying i he also said her first two questions that he asked her. she did well, but it was that question about the overreach of the office. there is a firewall between the white house and the department of justice, and that has existed up until not that she wasn't able to answer them. >> look, i know, i know, i know pam bondi quite well from florida. are you a fan? i've been her friend. i haven't seen her in many years. >> between you now? >> well, it's it's over. it's over between me and a lot of people who are trumpers. but. and by the way, i don't want to ruin her reputation with the people who

one of the names on your list was bill barr. chairman grassley has called him one of the most capable cabinet officials i have ever been able to vote for. senator graham has said i have nothing but total respect and admiration for the job done by william barr as attorney general of the united states. is bill barr on your list or whatever you want to call them, what has been referred to as an enemies list? you have called them deep state after serving his country as attorney general of the united states. is he on your list because of a personal vendetta? mr. patel: it is not whatever we want to call it. it is not an enemies list. that is a mischaracterization. sen. klobuchar: i used the word you used for the list, which was deep state. that is what you put. against the attorney general of the united states. is it because of a personal vendetta that he is on the list? you are under oath. mr. patel: i have no personal vendetta about bill barr. sen. klobuchar: he said you would never be able to command the respect necessary to run t

. >> w w b d what would bill barr do? would do because we saw it. when? when. >> trump was investigated during russiagate is the very moment bill barr got an opening to spin what the investigation looked like and how the public should think about it and what the fact pattern was, and then to lie about it and misrepresent it ahead of the release of the report, while bob mueller stood by dutifully like a good legal boy scout. >> and i say that with respect because you should honor the law. but i also say it with some disdain, because democrats and rule of law people like merrick garland don't stay vigilant enough about the fact that they're at a gun fight. and it's not patty cake, and they're singing kumbaya, and they're saying what they need to say about how the process should move along. and donald trump is laughing at them, and the people he assembles around him understand how easy it is to bend both public perception and process, to serve his needs. and, you know, you can give steve bannon credit for identifying that vo

i have no intentions of going back. >> how about bill barr?igate him and you say you will ferret out the deep state. >> no one who did not break the law will be investigated. over 1 million americans died as a result of covid 19 pre-covid 19 vaccine let yet less than a year ago you promoted unregulated unproven scientific supplements to reverse the effects of the vaccine on truth social and he told their followers the supplements were detox -- would detox them of the covid 19 vaccine. mr. patel did you make money by promoting the supplements >> senator dean open the individuals who died as a result of the vaccination because i do >> are you unable to answer my question did you make money by promoting the supplements? all of my financial disclosures have been made. >> i want to hear your answer yes or no did you attain money by >> you have that information. this thing so you refuse to answer the h question. you give no answer and yet you spread misinformation. mr. patel the fbi is the primary agency responsible for investigating election relate

trump then nominated bill barr to succeed sessions. er investigation. once confirmed, barr misrepresented and blocked the release of the report, intervened in multiple criminal cases of trump's political allies, and spread falsehoods about election fraud. but in december of 2020, when bill barr finally announced there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election, trump dismissed him, fired his second attorney general. this time around, president elect trump has vowed not just to use the justice department to advance his political interests, but also to seek, quote, retribution against, quote, the enemy within. he has repeatedly threatened to arrest, prosecute, jail and otherwise punish those he considers his enemies. this includes reporters, prosecutors, judges, poll workers, military officials, and even his own former political appointees. even before taking office, trump has forced out his own fbi director that he appointed chris wray, and he's trying to replace wray with kash patel, whose ma

trump then nominated bill barr to succeed sessions. barr addition for the job in an unsolicited memo to doj to sharply criticize the mueller investigation. once confirmed barr misrepresented the release of the report intervened in multiple criminal cases of trump's political allies and spread offense about election fraud. but in december of 2020 when bill barr proudly announced there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud it would change the outcome of the election and trump dismissed it, fired his second attorney general. this time around president-elect trump has found not just the justice department to advance his political also to see quote retribution against quote the enemy within. he is her belief threatened to arrest, prosecute, jail and otherwise punish those he considers his emmys. this includes reporters, prosecutors, judge us, the poll workers military officials and even his former political appointees. even before taking office trump has forced out of his own fbi director he appointed chris wray mack and is turning to r

trey: senator you mentioned bill barr i think you got 100 votes the first time use it for aji but significantlyess afterwards. i think they only had 21 no votes but jeff sessions in his 40s, has something changed to me as the same person i don't think you could change that much has something changed about politics you have a reputation to get along with both sides but is something changed were these votes they were a numinous lincoln firm, has something changed or is my vision getting old. >> i think it has changed in on both sides. my approach going in this be my first time voting on nominations and to give the benefit of the doubt to the president. i did vote for trump i voted for harris. i'm disappointed january 20th he will be sworn in as opposed to the candidate but he won and they do think the president should be given the benefit of the doubt to put his team together. i'm going to approach it that way but i won't give a blank check to the president. i do think the attorney general's position in the hardest position to hold in the cabinet because of the awesome responsibility and also pre

senator sessions in one instance and bill barr in another. they were both fired. it's pretty clear he's not adverse to taking a different position than his attorney and have a -- having a pretty short temper when it comes to dealing with it. that is what we see on the record not once but twice. do you understand are concerned about whether she would react positively if you put that pressure on her? mr. cox: i can understand your concern, sir. but the pam bondi i know it's a prosecutor, where her heart is and having experience myself telling her no when she was at the attorney general i believe she will stand up to him. i truly believe that. she understands what our duty is. she understands, i think, the boundaries of the ethics that she mentioned several times yesterday. she understands all of that and she is a true prosecutor. yes, sir, i believe she will do it. sen. durbin: ms. gilbert, ms. mccourt i invite you to answer this as well. you seem to suggest she cannot recuse herself out of her current situation. her background as a lobbyist and attorney representin