dinesh. i wanted to ask a quick question of dinesh. are you an immigrant? >> yes, i came to america at the age of 17. i did. >> caller: oh, okay. okay. that's interesting. i had a question about the intersection of like propaganda and information, especially when it comes to media. the citizen united thing came from a movie, right? and also, kind of what you went through came from a movie. and i'm just kind of interested what you thought about, i don't know, the right wing, whatever you want to call it, taking up something that the left uses a lot, which is media? i'll sit and listen. thank you. >> well, i think that there is a greater realization, not just of the importance of popular culte, but the real emotional power of movies to reach people not just through their heads but also through their hearts. for years, i was a writer and speaker, and i don't think the obama administration would have regarded me as important enough to even go after. but in 2012, i released a movie in 2,000 theate

dinesh d'souza is certainly right. there are certainly times when the government makes an example of someone, you choose to pros kaoult certain people to make cases for lots of different reasons. it doesn't mean it was corrupt in the way he is suggesting. bigger than that is to make the argument he's making. he might as well be making it about special counsel. >> he is making the argument about special counsel. that's exactly the message. >> the reason we know this is patti blagojevich was on fox news last night. she went after mueller and james comey. if you pardon rod blagojevich, he is happy to go on television. >> amen corner. it is something you are starting to hear from the trump team. this is about the criminalization of politics. >> yeah. exactly. >> okay. thank you. the white house pushing a clear message the mueller investigation should not be trusted. is that working and with whom? well, we have former clinton white house secretary joe is lockhart who will join us about all of these pardons. is there a diffe

why dinesh d'souza who he admits he didn't meet? why now? why today? he wants to send a message to michael cohen and paul manafort. i know you're under pressure to flip and tell bob mueller what you know. just so you know i'm willing to pardon these sorts of offenses. timing is rarely accidentally in politics. otherwise the dinesh d'souza thing makes no sense. >> it's one of those things that's so obvious that they think this is so obvious they won't believe it. >> no one will suspect it. >> right. april, the president issues this pardon tod dinesh d'souza and hints he might also for martha stewart and blagojevich. is he telling michael flynn and paul manafort i'll pardon you? >> yes. he's saying tune in to this bat channel. i'll do this for you. it sends a message to me with martha stewart and the former illinois governor. what the crimes were, conspiracy and corruption, and the former governor of illinois, he was actually impeached. i think it sends a message on what they were convicted on and what's happening with him with this russia investigation.

that is the kind of vile message that dinesh expressed. >> dinesh has a history of saying vile things on tv and on twitter. in the case of dinesh and rod blagojevich, these are people who pleaded guilty to what they did. there were allocations aboelocut they did, they were not protesting their innocence. the president is sending a message of it really doesn't matter what you do in terms of the law because you could get a lucky break and think that is a huge concern. >> maggie, stick around. in a matter of hours, president trump will get a hand-delivered letter from kim jong un. will it reveal whether the singapore summit will happen? that's next. a different breed of natural nutrition. purina one true instinct. now, try new purina one true instinct treats. (thuappliance got you down? washing machine dying) head to the sears memorial day event. up to 40 percent off appliances. 52% off this kenmore refrigerator. 50 percent off kenmore elite laundry pairs. find your new appliance at the sears memorial day event. one picky customer shouldn't take all your time. need something printed? the

okay sos dinesh d'souza was prosecuted by former u.s. attorney and cnn contributor preet bharara, who trump fired. in the case of martha stewart, the prosecutor was james comey. let's see. mr. blagojevich was convicted of 18 charges, sentenced to 14 years in prison. but when you look at this, when you look at that, it's preet bharara or whether it's anyone else who is connected to the president, is this settling scores? >> so i actually think it's more. i mean, look. it's -- i'm not a huge believer in coincidence, don. certainly not in politics. so i'm not willing to dismiss that. my belief is the prime mover, the prime motivator here, and donald trump said this on air force one on the way to texas today. he was asked about dinesh d'souza. and he said i never really met him. i called him last night. boy, was he surprised. i heard him on the radio and saw him on television. that to me is part of this too. martha stewart was on "the apprentice." rod blagojevich was on "the apprentice." dinesh d'souza, scooter libby was to a certain extent

dinesh was doing this for free. he was volunteering for this role. really nailed it. this is like a multi-pronged benefit for donald trump. you have helping out an ally, sticking it to obama. sticking it to the deep state. you know, maybe even greasing the skids for future pardons for people like, i don't know, paul manafort or mike flynn. but i think there's another aspect to this that we haven't talked about yet, and that is the fame angle. donald trump -- if you are famous or if somebody famous is advocating for you, you have a much better chance of getting pardoned by this president. we saw, you know, sylvester stallone goes in there and says, you know, we need a posthumous pardon for jack johnson and gets that. and then kim kardashian's in there advocating for somebody the other day. and now you have dinesh d'souza, who, in the political world, is something of a celebrity. i think that's another aspect of this. donald trump loves famous people, and i think much more likely to get a pardon if you are one. >> all right. >> don, can i quickly quote

dinesh d'souza. >> what dinesh d'souza did it not warrant 20 months in a federal prison.not how those cases are normally handled. the left wing democrat the u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york. mueller's board of education buddy. comey's buddy went after dinesh d'souza. the president looked at this and the pardon powers president to intervene if he thinks he should. you know what? i'm not buying this. i don't like what was done to him and i will pardon him. the left wing will be there no matter what happens. that's why i like this president he is doing what he believes. in they deserved pardons in part of my hummable opinion what was done in the justice system. sometimes injustices are done to conservatives and republicans. in this case that's the case. brian: looks as though back again is attorney general jeff sessions. trey gowdy said if i'm attorney general, jeff sessions, i probably leave the job because i'm not going to be serving the president well. how do you feel about now even though it's almost a year later, the russia investigation goes on and je

president trump granting a full pardon to dinesh d'souza. the author who pleaded guilty in 2014 for violating campaign finance laws. now d'souza says obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my american dream and destroy my faith in america. thank you, donald trump for restoring both. >> this move is raising eyebrows of many, including the former director of the government ethics office. imagine if nixon was waiting with a stack of pardons for the plumbers in the watergate break in. the president has the power to put the henchmen above the law. for more, let's bring in jim acosta at the white house. >> reporter: the president is not only considering granting pardons with celebrities, but he granted a pardon for dinesh d'souza and considering martha stewart and considering commuting the sentence for rod blagojevich. of of courcourse, they both sta "the apprentice." d'souza has made offensive and racially loaded comments over the years about former president obama. the president is considering each case on merits. here is what deputy raj shah

president trump granting a full pardon to dinesh d'souza.who pleaded guilty in 2014 for violating campaign finance laws. now d'souza says obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my american dream and destroy my faith in america. thank you, donald trump for restoring both. >> this move is raising eyebrows of many, including the former director of the government ethics office. imagine if nixon was waiting with a stack of pardons for the plumbe

dinesh d'souza is a great example. he's somebody who was fairly prosecuted, he pled guilty, he realized -- he basically admitted in open court that he had deliberately manipulated the election system to evade the limits on how much you can contribute. he had done that and all he was given was five years of probation with one peasly day a week of public service. that was a light sentence and now we're supposed to sympathize with him. the pardon power was never meant to rip the system of law apart. it's totally ghastly. >> "the washington post" is carrying a report tonight quoting roger stone as saying, basically what you've just said, about the pardon of dinesh d'souza, this is what roger stone says tonight about the pardon of dinesh d'souza in "the washington post." it has to be a signal to michael flynn and paul manafort and even robert s. mueller iii, indict people for crimes that don't pertain to russian collusion and this is what could happen. the special counsel has awesome powers, as you know, but the president h

. >> laura: cnn subscribed to the liberal ideology, dinesh. their point is people like you, and people like me, we're alt-right. you're not a conservative and you're not winning in the arena of ideas, you're alt-right, or you're xenophobic, and i love it when they call you racist, that's always fun. it's a way to avoid an argument, a debate. we saw this going back to college, dinesh and i went to dartmouth college together, way back before they called it political correctness. they were trying to avoid the fundamental debate about the greatness of western civilization, how off-track they have been on so many issues, the decline of true intellectual thought and diversity of thought. they didn't want that debate, they want to shut down the debate in line with, frankly, wanting to shut you down, or this show. >> here's a tiny detail about my case that's so revealing. this clinton appointee judge who adjudicated the case, saying there's no political targeting here, as part of my sentence he sentences me to mandatory psychiatric counseling. let's t

dinesh d'sousa. he was pardoned by the president of the united states.friends" this morning, we will get them to the concert too. sean spicer and bill bennett, one of my favorite radio host of all-time, big show on "fox and friends". come out to the music, i know you guys will. thank you. we had long deployments in iraq. i'm really grateful that usaa was able to take care of my family while i was overseas serving. it was my very first car accident. we were hit from behind. i called usaa and the first thing they asked was 'are you ok?' they always thank you for your service, which is nice because as a spouse you serve too. we're the hayles and we're usaa members for life. see how much you could save with usaa by bundling your auto and home insurance. get a quote today. somehow we always leave packing to the last minute. guys, i have a couple of things to wash. we got this. even on quick cycle, tide pods cleans great. 10x the cleaning power, even in the quick cycle. it's got to be tide. why is dark magic so spell-bindingly good? it's a bold blend of coffee

. >> last week come president trump pardon author and filmmaker dinesh desousa, convicted four years ago for making illegal campaign contributions. today, he talked about his experience and answered viewer questions on "washington journal." we will show as much as we can of this before the house gavels and at noon. ilmmaker and most recently in the news for receiving a pardon from president trump, joining us from houston, texas. good morning. guest: good morning. host: could you remind viewers of the situation that caused you to get the pardon in the first place? guest: yes. my college friend wendy long was running for the u.s. senate in new york in 2012. we've been friends for 25 years. i gave her $10,000, the campaign-finance limits. i wanted to do more for her campaign. i convinced two of my friends to donate $10,000 apiece. i reimbursed them. i exceeded the campaign-finance limit by $20,000. host: how would someone else have been fined or punished for doing that and how did you end up going to a facility for that? case, i was aical first-time offender. the main point, my motive w

dinesh. >> you see the collusionng operating behind closed doors. the new york times times these counter points.o roger mentioned this notion of getting to the bottom of it. the tremendous kind of glee and sense of immunity with whichch these agents are operating suggest toge me that they wouldt not do it without someone giving the order. there is that question from the godfather, who gave the order. you know, the old phrase, who benefits is a way to guess.ef hillary benefits. she was secretary of state and then out of the government. obama, on the other hand, very much did not want trump to win. he knew trump would try to erase his legacy. embarrassing for him. i wonder if obama gave the order. >> laura: we have e-mails to that effect. we found out that the president lied when he said he found out hillary's t private e-mail servr when everybody else, he's one of the 13 people she communicated with. he lied about that. >> when you add to the fact that peter strzok says the president wants to know everything, the question is clear. what did the presi

. >> let me ask you to react what we saw this week, the president pardons dinesh d'souza. it hasn't been reviewed in the fashion most pardons are reviewed. dinesh didn't even file an application to be pardoned. you've written about a pardon dangle. you had john dowd going to lawyers for michael flynn and paul manafort raising the specter, reportedly, of a pardon. what do you make of what we see here and what may be telegraphed from the white house and those roped into this investigation who might be thinking about the prospects for a pardon? >> oh, yeah. i think there's no question that the president is signaling both through what dowd said to the lawyers for manafort and flynn that there might be a pardon and also with this pardon of dinesh d'souza and the idea he might pardon martha stewart and rod blagojevich, i think there's no question that that is telegraphing to his associates who have been targeted by mueller that he will have their back, that he will stand by them, that they can expect a pardon from him which they've done as well, which are crimes that are very si

the president never met dinesh d'souza, never spoken to him before this week.ning that this is what the president said when he called to let him know he was going to pardon him. >> the president said, dinesh, you've been a great voice for freedom, and he said that i got to tell you, man to man, you've been screwed. he goes, i've been looking at the case, i knew from the beginning that it was fishy. but he said upon reviewing it he felt a great injustice had been done and that using his power he was going to rectify it, sort of clear the slate, and he said he wanted me to be out there to be a bigger voice than ever defending the principles that i believe in. >> reporter: now, the white house says president trump isn't sending a signal with these pardons to people like paul manafort and michael cohen, but it is unmistakable to see that the people the president has pardoned or is considering pardoning all have been prosecuted by his perceived political enemies and they also, the president argues, were treated unfairly by the justice system, something the president

we have an interview with dinesh de souza. and i'll examine about what that pardon says. plus the media leaks a disgraced fbi official's claim that the president obstructed justice by firing comey. the president is firing back. >>> prosecutors release chilling videos by the florida school shooting suspect nicholkolas cr. why now? >>> and kevin mccarthy is here to react to what google is saying. >>> but first, for the left it's suddenly open season on women in trump's family. what a series of vile and vulgar attacks the women have had to deal with. first up, samantha bee's assault on ivanka trump on her show last night. >> let me say one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless [ bleep ]. he listens to you. put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to [ bleep ] stop it. >> laura: how about deport her. she called ivanka trump and apologized for saying the "c" word saying i crossed the line and deeply regretted but did not apologize for the sexually suggestive remark. her network apologized but did not indicate that be

you are on with dinesh desousa, go ahead. caller: ptpardon is an admission of guilt. stuff, little alibis and he's giving tm ay by accepting this pardon. guest: first of all i think that is logically idiotic. if someone is wrongly convicted pressured oror is bludgeoned into making a plea deal and then you are pardoned like something the part you are doing no more than clearing your record and rectifying the original injustice so the notion that just because you accepted a pardon automatically means you are guilty is reasoning for stupid people. host: you eventually pleaded guilty to this. guest: you have to realize the process that leads to this. what the government does is they try to threaten you with all kinds of preposterous and redundant charges. we will get you for mail fraud. you put the check in the mail. thanks rod. -- bank fraud. we are going to get you for filing a false document. i didn't file any documents. but the guys who sent the money in the filed -- they say we are going to send you to prison for years and years, it will destroy your reputation and y

take a little peek at what dinesh has been a voice for. he came to prominence in the mid 1980s, a former provocateur at dartmouth, known for outing gay students. he's become infamous in a whole bunch of things in the obama era, including inflammatory tweets like this one, you can take the boy out of the ghetto, there was a nickname for the former president, grown-up trayvon. he's even defended hitler. let that one sink in for just one moment. but beyond the inflammatory talking points, president trump may have a different agenda in mind with his pardon of d'souza convicted of campaign finance charges, like the ones swirling around trump fixer michael cohen. a message for the attorney to stay strong in the face of offers to flip, or to one of his most vocal critics, preet ba bharara who convicted d'souza. donald trump uses whatever hour he has to attack people he feels wronged him and he'll do whatever he feels he must to protect himself. for him pardons are a means of vengeance. those he issued to date are a smaller hint of what could be c

the latest winner, dinesh des z d'souza who pleaded guilty.d'souza got a raw deal from the government. he went around the justice department and fast tracked a pardon. he talked this morning about how he learned the news. >> i was in my office working away and the operator came on the line and said, is this dinesh d'souza? yes. hold the line for the president of the united states. and there was trump. and the president said, dinesh, you've been a great voice for freedom. and he said that i got to tell you man to man, you've been screwed. he goes, i've been looking at the case, i knew from the beginning it was fishy. but he said upon reviewing it he felt a great injustice had been done and that using his power he was going to rectify it, sort of clear the slate, and he said he just wanted me to be out there to be a bigger voice than ever defending the principles that i believe in. >> president trump is also hinting he might pardon martha stewart and the disgraced former governor of illinois rod blagojevich who is still doing time for his convic

jonah: i have known dinesh for a couple decades. i don't like the course dinesh has taken. i do think he was singled out unjustly for prosecution. but he never applied for a pardon. howie: which is normal justice department procedure. jonah: donald trump saw something on tv and said i'm going pardon that guy. it learned itself to the appearance that he has motives other than correcting an unjust act. howie: the president publicly said i might pardon martha stewart, she already served her time. i might pardon rod blagojevich. he's still in prison for corruption charges including selling nor obama's senate seat -- senator obama's senate seat. jonah: there are a lot more people worthy of pardons. martha stewart you could make a good case on the merits. scooter libby i thought deserved a pardon. but you can do the right thing for the wrong reasons in a lot of cases. the joe arpaio part was utterly indefensible. he was a bad guy who did bad things. but you can also do the right things for the wrong reasons and allow yourself to do things that you think are to your political bene

dinesh d'souza admitted he lied and broke the law. scooter libby lied. joe arpaio flouted the justice system. i can't believe rudy giuliani would pardon these people. >> the only reason you get pardoned is you committed a crime. pardon doesn't exist -- >> oh, no, you could pardon even before he or she is adjudicated. he's choosing to do this now. it seems like the president wants to send a message, i'm doing this early on in the investigation where maybe lying will become a commodity. >> chris, every single one of these cases at the time was highly controversial. i can give you a "wall street journal" editorial about each one of them including the one withartha stewart in particular which they saw as a real perverstice, because she was trapped into perjury. scooter libby, the investigation never should have taken place. they should have moved to have that case dismissed on the grounds that if there was perjury, it was immaterial. >> rudy. >> it would be like conducting a murder investigation after you caught the murderer, knew who he was, but didn't tell

the dinesh d'souza pardon came out of nowhere, but it was something that was put on his radar by ted cruz. it's something that conservative activists have bemoaned. it's something that he himself has talked privately with aides comparing it to rosie o'donnell and donations that she made that were over the legal limit. totally different thing. but still it's something compared to. and then the stuff with martha stewart and rod blagojevich all tied into the apprentice. there's only two threads. one was that his enemies get punished and his celebrities get the benefit. >> and, jill, even staying in your lane as a straight-up day to day deadline journalist, you kind of put it into categories today, noting that this lacks the usual rigor, the usual process we've seen in pardons and acts of clemency. >> yeah. sam was saying the way it's supposed to work, that way it's traditionally worked is there's actually an office within the department of justice, an attorney there who is supposed to handle pardons. it often takes years to vet these cases. it's supposed to go first through that office.

president trump pardoned di necessa dinesh d'souza. he said he was also thinking about pardons martha stewart. cnn's gjim acosta joins us now. what can you tell us about these pardons? >> i feel like i'm on an episode of the "apprentice". >> you would have been fired. >> moving on. it was interesting, the white house tried to turn reality inside out and insist the president is not just considering people because of his celebrity status. i'll tell you in the last several minutes i spoke with a white house official that said come on. you can't ignore the celebrity connections here between president trump and martha stewart and even dinesh d'souza and shares the same lack of friendliness with barack obama. the white house is pushing back officially on camera saying that's not the case, that the president is considering each of these cases on their merits. it makes you wonder who is next. pick any of the celebrities who have appeared on the "apprent e "apprentice" it raises the question how the president will be using this power. >> it's n

his latest pardon, dinesh d'sou d'souza.he called dinesh to tell him why he was pardoning him, here's what he said. >> the president said, dinesh, you've been a great voice for freedom and he said that i got to tell you man to man, you've been screwed. he goes i've been looking it ecase. i knew from the beginning that it was fishy but he said upon reviewing it he felt a great injustice had been done and using his power he was going to rectify it, sort of clear the slate. he said he just wanted me to be out there to be a bigger voice than ever defending the principles that i believe in. >> reporter: so after that pardon, the president floating several our pardons, including mart martha stewart and the former governor rod blagojevich. so he's pardoning people he feels have been treated iunfairy by the justice system. >> poppy, it's a good time to be a celebrity who has committed a federal crime. our kaitlan collins is pretty funny there. >> leave it to her for the one-liners. >> margaret, if you look at the president's pardons

before roger stone and dinesh d'souza react. that's coming up in just a minute. >> laura: prosecutors, politics, and personal ambition. that's the focus of tonight's angle. as a former criminal defense attorney, i saw my share of individuals and companies caught in the cross hairs of government investigators who desperately wanted a trophy on the wall. we know the scenes. a ceo arrested and cuffed at his or her office for all the employees to see for maximum humiliation. a prosecutor holding a press conference claiming the evidence will show that some high profile person is guilty of myriad crimes. meaning jail for the rest of his adult life. tall high drama. it's all like an episode of law & order. now of course we need prosecutors to help lock up the bad guys, whether they are white-collar criminals or violent offenders. when they are operating professionally, talking about prosecutors, and in good faith, they should be recognized for the public service they provide. but long before today's ig report was released, come on, mos

earlier today president trump pardoned conservative author and filmmaker dinesh d'souza who pleaded guilty back in 2014 to making illegal campaign contributions. at the time da souza argued he was being politically targeted because of his opposition to president obama. the white house released a statement that read in part, quote, mr. da souza was in the president's opinion a victim of selective prosecution for violations of campaign finance laws. former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york preet bharara, who oversaw da souza's case, wrote this on twitter today, quote, the president has the right to pardon, but the facts are these. da souza intentionally broke the law, voluntarily pled guilty, apologized for his conduct, and the judge found no unfairness. the career prosecutors and agents did their job, period. da souza wrote back on twitter, quote, bharara and his goons

dinesh d'souza and signals he may pardon martha stewart and issue ooh commutation for former illinois governor rod blagojevich, blago. is he telling folks like michael cohen and paul manafort that i've got your back, as chris just said? >> yes. like chris said, the president is saying tune in. same bat time, same bat channel, because this too can happen for you. he is definitely doing that. but, you know, it sends more of a resounding message to me with martha stewart and the former illinois governor. but here is the issue for me. what the crimes, the convictions were for, conspiracy and corruption. and the former governor of illinois, he was actually impeached. and i think it sends a resounding message on what they were convicted on and what's happening with him with this russia investigation. so it's sending multiple levels of messages to the community, to those that he doesn't want to flip to say, look, this could happen. take a look at the bat signal

again drawing outrage from the democrats this time for pardoning right wing political commentator dinesh d'souza now d'souza pled guilty in two thousand and fourteen to making illegal campaign contributions trump is being blasted now from some quarters because they allege that essentially he's letting a political ally off the hook president from seemingly passing out pardons to heroes of the far right almost as eagerly as oprah once gifted pontiacs to suburban moms there are questions about his judgment and intent the president reminding people my daddy can pardon you os has this power and i'm going to. but if you look over the history of presidential pardons and sentence commutations they've always kind of been handed out this way back in april donald trump gave a full pardon to scooter libby a former member of the bush administration scooter libby had been involved in outing the identity of a cia agent and then obstructing justice in order to cover it up george w. bush had already community is set back in two thousand and seven the scooter libby decision was a sort of fair and balanced

dinesh d'souza is a vile despicable individual.ments he's made, what his ex-wife has said about him. he pushes the race buttons and wants to come up as, oh, no, i'm just a scholar. so, trump even in his own comments saying how he called him up and said i want to see you out there, that's what d'souza does. you have to ask the other question, what is it about the republican party with white nationalists that's appealing to them? you're not seeing the level of white nationalists on the democratic side. but what is appealing to them on the gop side? that's how we begin to go deeper and say, wait a minute, something else is here about their agenda. about the rhetoric, about the attacks of people of color, that's important. >> in all fairness, these republican parties have denounced these candidates. we just want to say they've gone on record saying that. but the declining level of discourse -- >> alex, let me stop you right there. >> okay. >> here's what i really want your producers to do for a great segment next weekend. go back and g

neocon, dinesh d'souza. arpaio, illegal immigrants, hate them.ding categories of people and given he's iconic person of each one of the communities. >> i argue it's three categories. as you just said, certainly, those people who have had their causes championed by conservatives, those who have had this causes championed by celebrities like jack johnson, and those who were on celebrity apprentice kwie apprentice. those are the people he knows. that's the world he knows. those are the folks he wants to send a signal with. i think there's no question whether it's flynn, manafort or other people in the probe, that's part of this too. look, i have this power. i'm not afraid -- >> do you guys all agree he will use it to protect himself? if jared kushner gets prosecuted, if his son and namesake donald junior gets nailed, will he move -- is there any doubt in your mind? >> i have doubt. >> he might not spring his son-in-law. he might not spring his daughter? >> i think the ivanka line is the red line. that's pretty clear. >> not the son? >> in law. >> i'

dinesh d 'souza has been a powerful and eloquent voice for the conservative movement. he's a first-generation immigrant. he's spoken to the beliefs that many of us conservatives have. but this pardon, it doesn't really settle much, because he's essentially paid his fine. but it's a perversion of justice. and dines shmpb d 'souza of all people should have known. that i don't believe the president new d 'souza. but these things should go through a process. pardons are meant to you know, to correct an injustice. so you can make a case individually for say, governor blagojevich, former governor of illinois that his sentence was far out of proportion perhaps with what he did. but taken on the whole. you look at dines shmpb d 'souza. and rod blagojevich, convicted of selling corruption to the governor's office and you look at martha stewart. blagojevich and martha stewart were both celebrities, both on "the apprentice." james comey convicted martha stewart because she had lied. dinesh d 'souza was convicted, he apologized and said he deeply regretted what he had done. so for

dinesh d'souza sparks very strong opinions all over the place, and i suspect that this is a case that got on the president's radar because it was high-profile. most, if not all, of the pardons have been for people who have been in the public spotlight, people the president thinks has been victim of law-enforcement overreach. it is not surprising that he settled on dinesh d'souza, not surprising that he's exploring pardons of blagojevich, of martha stewart. it will be very interesting to see how far it goes. >> shannon: my understanding is that d'souza had not even put in a pardon request braided was his lucky day. time to put -- tom dupree, thank you. next tuesday, the california primary. top democrats under fire for affairs they've admitted to still raking in big bucks and contributions from hollywood. these are the same folks who have been outspoken about the me too movement. is it a double standard? chris stirewalt discovers how the california primary system could hurt some democrats. hoping to pick up congressional heat? ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, or psoria

you won't want to miss my interview with filmmaker dinesh desousa. his comments since getting his pardon by president trump. stay right there. he >> laura: runaway prosecutors and a politicized law enforcement. but the focus of tonight's angl angle. a lot of us grew up to have a romanticized view of federal prosecutors and law enforcement. they were all like eliot ness in the untouchables. truth, justice and the american way. it was about locking up the bad guys and protecting the rest of us. and, there are many dedicated men and women across the country serving as assistant u.s. attorney who are doing just tha that. but sadly, we have also seen in egregious examples in recent years of prosecutions of prominent figures that seem to have been politically motivated. prosecutions that resulted in huge miscarriages of justice. one such case was that of conservative filmmaker, author, an old college friend dinesh desousa who was pardoned today by president trump from in a conviction stemming from a bundled campaign contribution. obama is a u.s. attorney w

liz: what's the proof that obama and his team targeted dinesh? prosecute anybody else who did substantially the same thing in other campaigns where greater amounts of money was involved. you know, dinesh is a brilliant political philosopher and writer and he really really really got under the skin of the president and of eric holder and did he commit a crime? yes he did. did he plead guilty to it? yes he did. is it a crime for which people are prosecuted in this day and age? no it isn't so that's the argument in a nutshel. i don't care if he ped eled conspiracy theories. his popularity and books will rise or fall on whether what he writes is credible but he's entitled to the same human respect as anyone else is and if he's in a category of people that are not prosecuted you pick one person out of that category because the prosecutors hate him , and then the president of the united states five years later tries to rectify that, the left is going crazy. there's nothing for them to go crazy about. if he were michael moore and the president were hill

dinesh d'souza. >> if you look at what these people have been charged with, it is resonant to some of the problems the president and his larger party may be facing. obstruction of justice, perjury, lying to federal officials, corruption, fraud, extortion, campaign finance violations. i mean, this is the kitchen sink to redefine the new normal. this is criminalization of politics, people. >> it is also trolling the justice department. there is all the selective prosecution that the justice department for years has been kind of running amok. to me that's at one level more surprising. it is the message to people who could be testifying against him. it's making a point about these charges. it is saying the justice department, the fbi doesn't do his job right. it is incredibly destructive. >> the roster, cast of players is incredible. either celebrities or supporting him in different ways. and the people who put him in jail are like h arch nemesis. james comey put martha stewart in jail. and patrick fitzg

mukasey dinesh >> laura: you >> laura: you just heard dinesh d'souza tell us about the horrors of the obama administration which i asked mike mukasey about. judge mukasey thank you for joining us. we just heard my interview with dierb cuccinelli about the horrors of the political prosecutions what he knowledges by the obama administration and his experience certainly has some implication i think for the russia investigation as we look at the unholy alliance of f.b.i. director jim comey and the doj prosecutors. what do you beening the run away prosecution that we are concerned about? >> in a normal course that case would have been prosecuted with the outcome being a fine. it's not one of the brighter chapters that he participated in prosecuting this in the way they he did. we'll e we've had a couple of other ding and debts, but that was i think a pretty substantial one. >> laura: judge mukasey, adam schiff said the pardon of dierb cuccinelli is a transparent effort by the president to signal to others, look if you do right by me, i'll do right by you >> it is a further evidence of a co

dinesh and may be in that culture and that environment that supports you and makes you feel good and successful. that's all well and good. host: thank you, joe. guest: i would like to try to say were my politics comes fm. when you talk about things like my base, i don't run for office. i don't have a base. i'm a nonwhite immigrant who came to america with $500 in my pocket. i've seen the american dream as a reality in my life. ofelieve in matters opportunity that enable people who start out at the bottom to be able to climb up the ladder and make a better life for themselves. when i look at the two parties it seems to me one of them is offering me a ladder and the other is offering a rope. you got democrats on the top of the building. you don't have to try but we will lower a rope toou, you grab onto it and we will pull you up. i say to myself you are going to pull me up but then i am dependent on you. what if you let go of the rope? i would rather see a ladder propped up against a wall and climb up on my own and have a earned achievement instead of someone else giving it to me. this

sheriff arpaio, scooter libby, dinesh d'souza. this is all in a way i think, don, an attempt to kind of seed the playing field. just make pardons normal, like he used to say on "the apprentice," you're fired, you're pardoned. if it rains pardoned over the next few months when the mueller report comes out and someone like donald jr. is in trouble, he'll do a pardon and say it's all a witch-hunt that we're in, and i'm defending the right team, right wing team in america. >> but he is using it as a tool, but to what end specifically, frank? >> i think there are a number of events, but two that come to mind is he is under investigation. he has people around him who have been indicted or whatever. he's saying to the american public the criminal justice system is erratic. it's not to be trusted, it goes on selective prosecutions. in fact, what dinesh d'souza was saying is i was selectively prosecuted. he is saying i don't trust this system and he is sending message to you that you shouldn't trust this system and i also think it's intere

>> go to my website, dinesh didsouza.com. we have the full-length trailer it comes out in the first full week of august. >> laura: robert, as we close this segment out, do you feel that the protesters throw out nazi, racist, concentration camp, internment camp, fascists two glibly and regularly so all the criticism, maybe some of it is merited of conservatives kind of just melts away? it becomes white noise at some point? and i don't mean that racially. i'm talking about white noise. >> well, ido think a big chunk f it is the hypobolelic nature of america's local discourse has grown to a point that xed itself out. during the obamacare debate we talked about death panel, fascism and new form of slavery because obama wanted to give people health care. let's stop down the rhetoric and tape on both sides. if you get to the root of things, 90% of people agree on most issues. 55% on each end of the political spectrum are driving the debate. we haveo to get to the point where we can all talk and find solutions. >> laura: nice point.

this after he pardoned dinesh d'souza. d'souza * says he was singled out because he wrote a not so flattering movie about obama. joining us is patti blagojevich. >> thank you, judge, thanks for having me. judge jeanine: your house rod has been in jail for how many years? >> he's going into his 7th year now. judge jeanine: how old were your children when they first went to jail in. >> my little one was 4th grade and my older one was in 7th grade. it's really tough. judge jeanine: now your older one is how old? >> she is graduating from college this month. and my little one, her high school graduation was awful. senior prom. all those big special events, he missed. but most of importantly he missed the every day driving her to school, teaching her to drive. all that kind of stuff. and my younger one is 15 finishing up her freshman year of high school. judge jeanine: i was living in chicago at the time. i remember your husband walking out on the street. people loved this guy. and there aren't who feel, and i believe maybe the

just like rod blagojevich, dinesh d'souza. >> i think it's unfair to the presidency. i'm under routine audit. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly. sheriff joe was very unfairly treated. they are holding up every single nomination. what they're doing is unfair. >> now in prison for his seventh year, disgraced illinois governor, rod blagojevich no longer has that thick brown hair but what he does have that's been eluding him for some time is hope. that is what his wife said president trump gave him and his family when he announced he was considering commuting the rest of his 14-year sentence. patty blagojevich said she gets how this russia feepresident fe the whole russia investigation. >> i see the same people that did this to my family, the same people that secretly taped us and twisted the facts and perverted the law that ended up my husband in jail, you know, these same people are trying to do the same thing that they did to my husband, just on a much larger scale. >> with me now is rod blagojevich's brother, robert bla

pardoning dinesh d'sousa donald trump could grant clemency to others.ritics accusing him of a be abusing his power. jackie ibanez with who could be pardoned next. a lot of controversy about this. >> reporter: fresh on the heels of his fifth pardon donald trump is considering adding to that tally. it could go to martha stewart who like to federal investigators in 2004 and illinois governor rod blagojevich impeached over corruption charges, the back lash is brewing, pardoning conservative america dinesh d'sousa, i always felt he was unfairly treated. what should have been a quick minor fine like everybody else, what they did to him was horrible. he pled guilty in 2014 for campaign finance law violation but claims he was targeted by the obama administration. >> the way obama and hillary have gangster eyes me, us politics, a new term in american politics and trump is well aware of it and is the product of it. >> critics accused donald trump of abusing his power to impact the russia probe. sen. mark warner tweeting his ad hoc use of pardon power is concernin