the fec looked at this case. a complaint was filed several years ago. 18 months ago the federal election commission decided the trump campaign did everything properly and that, in fact, if the democrats were correct, if their wish came true and that the trump campaign would have disclosed this on their campaign finance report, that would have been a violation and an actual misuse of campaign funds for personal use. so the fec said already this case was dead in the water back in july of 2021. so the actual federal election commission that governs the actual disclosure to the world and to the people of the united states has already ruled that there was no violation. just like there is no violation when someone gets a haircut. if someone gets botox, when someone uses their personal car to drive to the pancake breakfast on saturday morning. there are things that need to be disclosed and things that do not. and in this particular case, the trump campaign did everything properly in their disclosure to the federal elect

let's talk specifically about your job fec, because the fec looked at this very case as the doj, as did the previous manhattan d.a. and they and even alan bragge in the beginning, they all passed on it because of why. what's the reason why they passed? >> but that's a great question. let me start by saying something. since i'm on with mr. trump's lawyer, i'm going to point out i'm not a paid consultant to the trump campaign. i'm not an unpaid consultant to the trump campaign. somebody asked for the day when i told them i was going to be doing your show. they said, you're going to be able joe . and i had to say, i'm sorry, joe . i say, who's joe friso? because you don't campaign here. you don't know the finance law. by the way, he's tried, what, over one hundred cases in new york , by the way. one hundred jury trials here. when i'm slighting me, not not him at all. and all this guy is the i mean, here's here is the pinnacle of resources when it comes to federal election laws. all right. let's he would have to say, i'd love to hear you say, were you questioning now i can go home. i got. a

ken dilanian explains what the fec said about donald trump's involvement in the hush money payment. plus, what future presidents might be facing from local d.a.s and what it means for the down ballot house and senate races. who does it help and who does it hurt we're back in 60 seconds (woman 1) i just switched to verizon business unlimited. it's just right for my little business. unlimited premium data. unlimited hotspot data. (woman 2) you know it's from the most reliable 5g network in america? (vo) when it comes to your business, not all bars are created equal. so switch to verizon business unlimited today. down they said there was no crime somehow a state prosecutor is prosecuting the case. >> that was joe tacopina on the "today show" this morning arguing that not only is donald trump innocent, but the fec looked into it and said there was no crime ken dilanian is with me. ken, you call that statement misleading at best explain. >> yeah, because it's accurate that the fec took no action, the reason was not because they found no crime, but because the commission was paralyzed it'

as a matter of fact, bradley smith, the former chairman of the fec, said this is in no way, shape or form a crime, that the facts presented here, coupled with the the laws don't equate to a crime. look, again, this government officials should not be stretching the laws or should not be taking novel legal theories beyond their normal means to get people that they think are unpopular or they don't like or have a political animus towards. i mean, one of the prosecutors from that office left that office and decide to write a book in violation of grand jury secrecy laws. and hundreds of ethics and all those other things. >> but what he said in that book was there were so many pearls of that book for the president. trump, but one of them was that they despised him so much. he despises he would have paid to prosecute donald trump. think about that. we were both prosecutors. i mean, just think about that statement and those implications. and then here's the kicker. they hated the man so much that they were looking for a crime to fit. >> it's not supposed to be that way in this country. it's

trump used personal funds. >> the question is, whether it was an fec violence. that was a violation of the rules. $130,000. >> not a campaign contribution. >> it was his own money. private settlement, civil. >> i will ask of alvin bragg, how much is a mug shot worth to you? is it worth losing all your credibility. to be dragged through not just conservatives. you are having liberals saying this is not the case to bring. does this mean that much to you? is that why? the democrats seem willing to actually break norms because of the threat that president trump might one day break norms. part of this also goes to democracy itself. do you know, there's liberal groups and conservative groups that go all over the world to try to council countries that are developing democracies about how you treat opposition. this is not how you treat an opposition. it's a terrible example. especially because all this it was misdemeanor and civil and it wasn't. the president did not shoot somebody on fifth avenue. if they do this, then, anything else that comes after that is not going

this is from michael cohen's own lawyer to the fec. "in a private transaction in 2016 before the u.s. presidential election, mr. cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to ms. stephanie clifford, neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was a party to the transaction with ms. clifford. is cohen lying under oath now or during that statement to the fec? now of course at the very center of the case is a completely legal, what's called an nda, over an alleged affair from 2007. there is zero evidence whatsoever that the trump campaign paid for this nda as a matter of fact, cohen says they did not. no evidence they played a role in the nda. in fact, there is no evidence that the affair in question ever took place. people can believe what they want, there is no evidence of it. according to the washington post of all places, stormy daniels denied the affair multiple times including in writing on january 30th, 2018. this is a letter obtained by tmz. take a look at your screen., "i am not denying this a

according to the fec, there waes no need for donald trumpe mone to report his payments to stormy daniels, nor is the money that he sent her througha his attorney subject to campaign financ e entire limitations, the fec determined the entire thing was a personal expenditure. >> it clearly was.cr soim whae t is the crime here? >>in well, the media don't seem very interested in finding outl. . >> thiers is donald trump.ything he's a criminal. everything he does is a crime. watch simply because he may have committed worst crimes. >> you don't let him off of lesser crimes if you are, for example, seeking a prosecution for murder. ifmu the the guy gets caught drk driving in another context before that, you just let him go because you have bigger fish to fry. >> nobody'r fish ts above the li including donald trump. >> it doesn' t matter that thi allegation a minor crime compared to some of the other allegations.e is as. a crime is a crime, is a crime,t is a crime.in a judge w as miikkhat anybody prosecutinog or a judge would say a crime is . a crime is a crime is mika's had an indictment, is an

the fec has come forth and said that. this has nothing to do whether he paid it through an organization, or his personal funds and by all accounts this was personal funds and it's personal, whether donald trump organization, donald trump the person, mar-a-lago corporation, whatever it is. they're personal and not campaign funds and that's the key distinction here. if they were campaign funds we'd be having a different discussion. we'd be talking about how he used campaign funds and they'd be paying if an indictment as i said earlier. >> what this investigation may end up being is about the essentially falsifying business records which by the way, this prosecutor has brought over 60, this one and the previous one brought it over 60 times. this is not an unusual crime to charge someone with in the manhattan district attorney? oh, no? >> oh, chuck, you couldn't be more wrong when you make that statement. there's -- first of all, it's a case of first impression. never in the history of this country has this been done before.

the fec determined the entire thing was a personal expenditure. it clearly was, so what is the crime here? well, the media don't seem very interested in finding out. this is donald trump. he's a criminal. everything he does is a crime. watch. >> if you are for example sinking a prosecution -- seeking a prosecution for murder, if the guy gets caught drunk driving in another context before that, you don't just let him go because you have bigger fish to fry. >> nobody is above the law including donald trump. it doesn't matter that this is kind of a minor crime compared to some of the other alleg allegations. >> a crime is a crime is a crime is a crime. that's what anybody prosecuting or a judge would say. >> a crime is a crime is a crime as miikka said. an indictment is an indictment is an indictment. >> when i hear people saying this is much ado about nothing, i think of the members of congress i served with and understanding every single one of them would have been charged and sent to jail had they done this. >> i was reading the bible which said t

the chairman of the fec, election experts have all said this is an exceptionally weak theory. and, yet, bragg, who threw a flag on this case, decided to go forward after his prosecutors resigned and one of them wrote what i thought was a very unprofessional book. detailing the case against an individual who hasn't been charged, let alone convicted. >> brian: of all the cases coming down against the president this by far seems on its face on every aspect so political, so unnecessary, something that happened 17 years ago that came into fray four years ago or six years ago, now getting brought up again by a district attorney that has gotten elected for political offers, running on a left wing democratic platform. attorney general targeted trump before she got elected election platform. all these things if they were said behind closed doors they said it in front of a huge crowds. this is a loser all around. in the beginning people might say rallying around trump. but, for the most part nobody relishes walking up toes steps, getting a mugshot, and getting fingerprinted over somethi

this is from michael cohen'sin a own lawyer to the fec. quote, in a private transaction fund016 before the u.s. presidential election, mr. cohen used his own personale funds to facilitate a payment of one hundred and thirty thousand dollaro s to mit stephanie clifford. neither the trump organization or the trumphety campaign wassao a party to the transactionn msi with miss clifford. ent to so is lying under oath now or during that statement to the fec? now, os f course, at the verylyg center of the caseal, is a completely legal what's called an nda over an alleged affair i from two thousand and seven. there is zero evidence whatsoever that the trump d focampaign paid for this nda.d pl a matter of fact, cohn says they did not. fact, th there's no evidence they played a role in the nda. in fact, there's no evidencen be that the affair in question ever took place. lievant, tpeople can believe whs they want, but there's no evidence of it. accordint g to the washington post, of all places, stormy daniels denied affair multiple, multiple times,

the fec, bragg's predecessorvesm and even initially by bragge himself. this is not a strong case stret by any stretch of the imagination. and frankly,frank lo no fair, hr honorable d.a. whatever bring these charges or in the words, the infamous words of james comey. no reasonable prosecutor wouldd ever prosecute such a petty and weak case. indic but a grand jury can indict,m as we say, a hamsun language, especially if that ham sandwich sandwi is donald j. trumch is trump. s and the grand jury is comprised of what liberal new yorkers, the only conservative ones are right here in studio with me. >> oh,e co i'll keep in mind. keep in mind the offense. there. a lot of people don't know this. and this is basically and i know people are busy with their day to day lives. d yo the defense in a grand jury, they do not get any opportunityy at all whatsoever to presentthey any case. on'tthey don't get any opportuny pu to put forward any evidence in grand jury proceedings. the defense does not proceedingt present anything to a grandd jury. m cann hence, you can indi

the doj also declined to pursue them as did the fec. now here we are years later and this is all pretty insane, but predictable. if the dog bites, the bee stings, you're feeling sad. let's blame trump, let's impeach trump, let's now indict trump. we know what is happening here. this is political vengeance. justice is not blind. there's no longer in this country and i say this with a lot of sadness, equal justice under the law or equal application of our laws. sadly we do have a two-tiered system of justice. it's alive and it's well. we have chronicled it often on the show and especially in the state of new york. on the campaign trail, alvin bragg vowed, he made a pledge a promise, a solemn vow that he would convict donald trump one way or another. take a look. >> a lot of people are wondering whoever has this job, are they going to convict donald trump? >> that is the number 1 issue. we sued the trump administration over 100 times. it's the most important, most high profile case and i've seen the lawlessness that he can do. >> you belie

you know, the fec, butetera. yok at that letter and it spells it out, in my opinion, muche more accurately. fathe fec, though, has looked at this and turned it down. no>>, the fec, the doj, doj hadi a previousou manhattan d.a.a an and even our bragg originally. he>> turned it down. he turned it down.ob and you know who else turned it down? bob muellemueller.r turned it d. everybody, look at this. this thing is ancient history. let me be clear.t post so you did not post the picture of you with a baseball bat in the oval office next to the picture with bragg's, somebody else, the i posted a very a positive article and whatever picture they put up, they put up. i >> my people didn't putht upin the picture. i think the picture maybe wain h either in the article or was put in the article later. but again, that was a baseball bat to promote made in america.. companies make in america,o japa don't go to japan to buy.w it ws but you know how it was interpreted. well, because it's a fake news media show.th that's what the

america's most let's say fascinating freshman congressman husband officially filed papers with the fec commission, indicating he plans to run for re-election in 2024 embroiled in a list of scandals so long listing every single one would take more time than we have in this program also being publicly scrutinized by prosecutors from local, state, federal, and even international level. not to mention an ethics investigation by his own colleagues in congress against that backdrop george santos responded to a deadline set by the fec on whether or not he's inclined to run in 2024ch and he's indicating he plans to run for re-election. cnn point out desantis said in the filing he doesn't plan to use his own funds for re-election which is significant because he's facing campaign finance scrutiny for a mysterious $750,000 loan he lent his 2022 campaign. today's fileing is not an official declaration but sure is a very strong indication in a surprise move last week the freshman congressman agreed to cosponsor a republican bill literally aimed at making sure people like george santos, congressmen,

the thing we did we filed a complaint with the fec. we pulled the thread what you werele talking about in your advertisement. it is very clear the law is extremely well-established. it says that corporations can't make a contribution, materials of value can be counteds a contribution and that information about advertising strategy is considered a thing of value. so all those criteria have been checked off. so we filed a complaint with the fec, follow through on it now and give maximum accountability and consequences. that's one piece. the other piece is, and i think this does tie into the broader conversation where the power and profit weave together buzz fox news derives a lot of its profit from leveraging its power not just politically but really drive up their relationship with cable companies. fox news is the second most expensive channel on everybody's cable bill. the dirty secret about fox news they don't need a single ad to be profitable. they'd still have a 90% profit margin if they had zero dollars in advertising revenue. it w

cohen turn echoed that to the fec in a private transaction in 2016 mr. cohen used his owen funds to facilitate 130 thousand dollars to stefani clifford neither the trump organization or the come pain was a party with the transaction with mrs. cliff ford. according to other outleting stormy denied the affair multiple times and writing on january 30 of 2018, quote, i am not denying this affair because i was paid hush money i'm debuzz it never happened and her signature >> i will get this straight. da in new york in man hat continue dedicated hour and millions to a case that is illegal over an alleged affair from 2007 that both parties denied. based on alidations from admitted, convicted felon, liar michael cohen hell bent on getting revenge against his former boss. look, this it is not about an nda from 2016. instead when we are witnessing is a for left practice cuter attempting to mere trump for political approximate personal gain ahead of the 24 elections watch this. >> even people that don't like me say this is terrible to do for our country. i don't kn

, and we just talked in the previous block about ami, the company, american media, admitting to the fecisted for karen mcdougal that it existed and it was designed to help trump's campaign. now i want to play for you audio of you talking with donald trump and allen weisselberg about that scheme take a look, listen. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david. i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for the financing which will be -- >> listen, what financing? >> we'll have to pay >> cash? >> no, no. >> so i guess what joe tacopina is trying to sort of allege is that that whole scheme was your idea, that you did it on your own, and that donald trump had nothing to do with it. >> absolutely. what else is he supposed to say? one of the biggest problems with somebody like joe tacopina, when you get around donald trump is donald will let you run with the ball because he knows you're going to -- he knows you're going to fumble it, and he's not going to be there to help you try to pick it up. he's just going to get rid of you. how many t

he said that again in a way he could be punished under oath to the fec.id yesterday to me, i'm not lying about this. there are other people going in -- i'm just -- >> there are other witnesses who were with trump and who may know about this who have all been interviewed by brags office. excuse me. i'm saming the same issue you're having. >> contagious. >> i have to ask you. as i was speaking to sources about this in the last days and yesterday. they said this is not just about the hush money payment. this is about exposure to donald trump in other areas. what will happen with brag's office. is that people will learn about donald trump's businesses. that will lead to other things. i don't know if it will lead to other investigations. they're surprised at this point the concern about what is coming out of this. the witnesses are telling them and what these prosecutors and others are learning about donald trump. >> look at this tape we just played at the beginning of this. that puts donald trump right in the middle of this whole plot to essentially set up a

his own colleagues in congress against that backdrop, georg santos responded to a deadline set by the fec, he is indicating, yes, he plans to run for reelection cnn points out, santos indicated in the filing, h does not expect to use his own funds for his reelection which is significant he's facing campaign finance scrutiny for a mysteriou $750,000 dollar loan he lent his 2022 campaign. today's filing with the fe does not one hunted percen mean that george santos is running for reelection it is not beneficial declaration, it sure is a very strong indication. in a surprise move last week the freshman congressman offered to cosponsor a republican bill, literally aimed at making sure peopl like george santos, congressman, cannot profit off of stuff the made up. if they have been convicted of certain crimes the bill is titled, and i quote, the no fortune for fraud act one of the republica cosponsors of that bill, notes on his website, the bill is, quote, inspired by georg santos the generous offer to have santos co-sponsor that bill wa denied the controversies they jus keep finding george san

even federal prosecutors, fec, manhattan d.a. himself dropped the case. so why now?ssibly have now? manhattan's d.a. bragg michael cohen undercut by his own lawyer lanny davis. cohen was convicted perjury. if the house investigations would the biden family business dealings with china been revealed. the 50 intelligence officials who claimed the russian laptop story was propaganda before the 2020 election don't look so good. hunter admitted it is his laptop in a major court filing. this is going on, all of this, record inflation with the manhattan d.a. record inflation, banking, border crises, social security and medicare need to be reformed. okay, we're going to stay on the story for you throughout coming weeks. these are hot button topics we'll have breaking news on. email to emacviewers@fox.com. tune in tomorrow, congressman greg stuebe, legal-eagle andy mccarthy and tom dupree. you've been watching "the evening edit" own fox business. now it is time for "the bottom line" with dagen and sean. guys, that case again trump looks really weak. dagen: yeah. sean: incredi

. >> sean: the most comprehensive thoughtful answer from the fec i have ever heard. joe the last word on this question. you said there is no law broken here. what are they attempting to do? >> to fulfill a political vendetta. i think alvin bragg is playing to his donors. i think he is trying to appease them. he doesn't care what the end result will be. this case won't be won by the district attorney's office. we will win this case if they bring it. prosecution discretion is being abused so badly if they get an indictment they think they have won. i think this will put president trump back in the white house. >> sean: do you think this back fires on them? >> [cheers and applause]. >> sean: jim jordan is demanding testimony from 2 anti-trump manhattan prosecutors who embarrassed d.a. alvin bragg and resigned last year. because bragg was taking too long to bring charges against donald trump. here with more house judiciary chairman jim jordan is with us. how are you? >> [inaudible]. >> sean: your reaction to what happened today? you heard from joe. what is your reaction

the doj dropped it and the fec dropped it.expired on it. >> a grand jury found probable cause, with you we don't know exactly what they town because we haven't seen it yet. all the surrounding elements of this doesn't make sense. i don't understand district attorney bragg sealing the indictment at this point. i don't understand the lack of to as to what happened in the most serious of cases. then he makes it look political because he campaigned using trump's name in his campaign. liz: probable cause of a business fraud based on a payment trump admitted making out of his own pocket. he better have documentary evidence to support all 34 counts or this will look ridiculous to the american voter. >> that's right. i saw mr. cohen, one of the government's witnesses talking about it. clearly he has a grudge against the former president. that's the last thing you want if you are a prosecutor is to have one of your witnesses going on television showing a bias. liz: d.a. bragg campaigned on saying he was going to get trump. >> that's un

that would bring in the fec charge. this is what you're going get with democrats who are always malicious prosecution and somebody to attack. i will give you a perfect example. laticia james brought prosecution against and current county executive. 5 years of dragging him through the mud and vindicated in 5 minutes. steve's case is an example of the state level just like the case with donald trump. remember, with this criminal referral with ron desantis, then congressman, we referred peter strzok, lisa page, loretta lynch for their violations of so-called federal law and it was never even looked at and this federal court, the federal doj in new york city passed over the case and said there's nothing in here. why are we going and revisiting this case 7 years later? cheryl: no, it has been 7 years. his cfo is in jail, michael cohen himself, if that's their star witness, you know, michael cohen has gone to jail and even the wall street journal in commentary says this morning that the trump indictment far from open and shut

i'm going to focus on the fec commissioner when you raise these issues to him. this is concerning, ccp has a well documented record of using tiktok to carry out foreign influence campaigns and sway political discourse in this country. this review of the willow project accounts fits with that disturbing pattern. to me, what she has uncovered basically shows how quickly the foreign actors can start a movement among, you guessed it unsuspecting american youth peer that is against our interest and we get pulled over and over again. please continue walking us through exactly what you found. >> yeah, there is so much that i look at that ai generated and anti-willow project movement and i actually -- with the commissioner does appear to be ccp influence campaign. but we never really know for sure. that is one of the full research ccp campaign. we can never really know that china undermines the kids. like i said, this is important to know. >> todd: we are still having trouble with the sound so we have to cut you up. the word fascinating, i think is what we need to pay a

the daily mail published and email that his attorney sent to the fec back in 2018 which says in part2016 before the u.s. presidential election, mr. cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to stormy daniels. neither the trump organization or campaign was a party to the transaction and neither reimbursed mr. cohen for the payment directly or indirectly. was that the lie or was everything that he told other investigators the lie? which is it? >> well, that's the problem, of course, when you are trying to establish ultimately when you get to trial proof beyond a reasonable doubt. this creates a reasonable doubt as to what the intention was in the payment of this money and also what donald trump may have been thinking when this was done. that's the reason that the prosecution of people like john edwards collapsed. there are various reasons why a celebrity or well-known person would pay hush money. you have to establish here that it was the sole purpose to evade election laws. that's a very difficult proposition and why the department of justice likely refused

fec looks at well and they determined it was not a campaign finance violation, i think this is a massive stretch to jump from the misdemeanor to felony. kennedy: how could this disrupt some of the other legal cases which are looming? >> well, there is a precedence question. if you have trials and multiple jurisdiction, they have to mag manage among themselves who gets defendant first, if this is a case in new york, and a case in atlanta and a case in washington d.c. all based on fl flimsy evidence and theories, but the real challenge would be who goes first and how do you adminner the cases at the same time. kennedy: who admits they don't have the most serious case. do you talk to the former president still? >> i was with him a week ago monday. flying back and for forth to iowa my mo home state, we spent a little bit of time. had kentucky fried chicken on the flight back it was delicious. >> at walking delicious, the colonel's secret recipe. >> the mac and cheese was good as well. kennedy: so, did you talk about the charges? did he know then that an dim indictment was looming. >> no. ken

but keep in mind he's already file d a declaration of candidae us is with the fec that says he's seekingr states that have february or march primaries, there's a good argument that he's already affiliated with the republican party for the purposes of those state laws. >> i'll bet he appreciates all the free legal advice you just gave him, this he better win the republican primary or he's done. thank you. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >>> still to come, more of your best and worst social media comments and the final result. please go vote. go to smerconish.com and tell me is the failure of svb, is that an isolated event or will there be broader financial contagion? results in a moment. i was always the competive one in our family... 't my sister signed up for unit healthcare medicare advantage. ♪wow, uh-huh♪ now she's got a whole team to help her get the most out of her plan. ♪wow, uh-huh♪ with coverage that's better than ever for dental... ...vision... ...prescription drugs and more. advantage: me! can't wait 'til i turn 65! aarp medicare advantage plans, only from unitedhealthca

even if you get beyond that the federal election violation its 168 was erejected by fec commissioner,ejected by the department of justice in the sense that they didn't charge it. so this thing has layers of problems the question is why. why would bragg work so hard to brink out this misdemeanor and turn it into a felony in the answer does appear to be politics. he fulfilled trump's narrative with this case of all of the cases that could be charged first, this is the one trump would want. >> bret: but you don't think that there is anything possibly that will get revealed on tuesday that you'll say, wow? >> look, there might be. we haven't seen it. this could be count stacking. they could have simply taken every transaction, every document and made it an individual count. they may have added other fact patterns like the payments to macdougall another woman who was alleged to be in an affair. they all still have the same statute of limitations problems. replicating a bad argument 34 times does not make it 34 times stronger. we have to see if there is an actual alternative of crime and th

would never be indicted for or led alone charged with and trying to make a felony of something that the fec already turned down and the federal prosecutors. that's what happens when he's leading in the polls. >> >> you wonder how a da who's decriminalizing violent crime effectively and he has, could decide a bookkeeping error is a felony. >> that's right. that's right. you know what else, tucker? we have seen this da in particular. let's take alvin bragg and take out all the political stuff that everybody spoken about. this da in particular is the king of woke, right? he's mr. i don't believe putting people in jail and i turn felonies into misdemeanors. he went from 50% to 28%. when it is donald trump, he's trying to do the reverse. hs trying to create a situation where you take a misdemeanor that he didn't do, his attorney settled an issue that was made up. we have stormy that admitted that, right? >> right. >> and create something out of nothing. it is a sad day in our country no matter what your politics are. >> if you believe in our system and you want to continue, you have to raise you

she reports trump lawyers are asking the fec, the federal election commission, to record the later asampaign. trump's legal team is pointing to how fast the letter came out and was manufactured, that it shows direct involvement from team biden, congressman. your thoughts on that letter, the lawyer cooperating and what the trump team is assessing. >> well, i don't know if you'll be able to pull it off. it was an in kind contribution. but it basically was. it had a huge impact on the election in my opinion. and at the end of the day it created a narrative that everything on the laptop was russian disinformation. and what i think even the democrats are realizing now, even the democrats who are blinded by only watching msnbc and thei propaganda is the factt the laptop was real. the e-mails and text messages that i'm mri kateed joe biden's -- implicated joe biden's involvement in shady business dealings is more than likely real. we now y have evidence showing they were receiving payments from china for no reason. there is no -- that's the thing. with the intelligence officials why are they

months leading up to silicon valley's bank failure is now being probed by the justice department and the fec. while on the road president biden is hoping to turn questions about this into a punch line. >> did you talk at all today? >> thank you. >> thank you. >> appreciate you. >> senator elizabeth warren is asking about insider trading, writing to svb's former ceo to ask about stock sold since march of last year, quote: at the time of any of these sales, were you aware of any concerns or problems with the bank's balance sheet. >> the bank executives failed on their responsibilities. they bet on low interest rates while the fed was increasing interest faster than any other time in the last three or four decades. >> president biden told donors last night i intend to build on the progress and finish the job we set out to do. but, the run-up to a reelect features some revisionist history about his support for same sex marriage. >> i can remember exactly where my epiphany was. i was a senior in high school and looked to my right and two well-dressed men in suits kissed each other. i mean, they g

into potential criminal violations here, and that's on top of "the wall street journal" reporting the fec is looking into potential civil vielgs. what are authorities looking at? two things. one, the actual collapse of the silicon valley bank. two, stock sales that were made by silicon valley officers in the days before this collapse. now, we should caution the stage of these investigations are in the preliminary stage. we don't know yet if there's going to be findings of wrongdoing, any changes here. clearly there's an effort across the government to understand how this happened. silicon valley bank was not a household name a week ago, buto now it's going down in history as the second biggest bank failure ever. now people want to understand how this happened. the federal reserve has launched its own review into the regulatory failures here. >> moody's is downgrading the entire u.s. banking sector. >> they're downgrading the outlook of the u.s. banking sector. moody's is warning that more banks are going to come under pressure especially those that share two characteristics with silicon v

going on, you have investigations that might be conducted by the federal elections commission, the fecre are federal crimes, maybe there would be an expression the department of justice. -- be an investigation from the department of justice. for some county district attorney all these years later, fulfilling a campaign process is a clear political prosecution and a lot of people are enraged, stating the obvious, i don't think this doesn't pass any smellest the, nor should it. maria: this is a guy who says he doesn't want to prosecute criminals and there's bail reform in place where you get processed and go back out on the streets and committing more crimes. when you were running for governor, you said you would fire this guy on day one. >> i would have. he is refusing to since day one by the way of his time at a district attorney he issued a day one memo, all sorts of crimes he wouldn't enforce, others he would treat as lesser offenses. a dominican american got attacked at a bodega and alvin bragg doesn't charge the person stabbed him and there's different cases where people have seen

the fec has passed on this case.nd now we've got a run-away district attorney who promised in his campaign to prosecute donald trump. completely, totally unfair. maria: yeah. and meanwhile, we've got it all on tape talking about politics, while he was running for manhattan da, alvin bragg was bragging and campaigning as the man who could take down former president trump. watch this video. this is from just two years ago. watch. >> i'm the can candidate in te race who has experience with donald trump. i was the chief deputy in the attorney general's office. we sued the trump administration over 100 times. i know how to litigate with him. maria: he's the guy to take down trump, guy. [laughter] >> i got to tell you, maria, how can this guy not recuse himself? how can he stand before the public while he's declining, while he's declining violent crime cases, cases that really matter, and prosecute the ex president of the united states and then what the icing on the cake to me is when we found out yesterday that his office

he told the fec these payments were entirely nonpolitical, entirely legal.ng to be a very problematic witness. >> absolutely. now, stephanie, look, you've got lawyers casting doubt on this. but that's in the legal scheme. obviously politically here this is a whole 'nother thing. you got voted in d.a. to office and you've got politicians swirling around. republicans are accusing bragg of pursuing this for political purposes. the "new york times" is reporting the trump team had been pressuring ron desantis to weigh in, which is obviously interesting. he's got power, but he's obviously likely to challenge trump in 2024. so today desantis did break his silence today, and, well, he didn't say what trump expected. here he is. >> i don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. i can't speak to that. but what i can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about p

fec's report, said it this was an illegal campaign prosecution. not that something was not done that was inappropriate and was a crime. his own doj said unindicted coconspirator he was individual number one in all of those papers that came out. i'm hearing about the george soros backed da here. george soros released a statement. he didn't back alvin bragg, he has never talked to alvin bragg, i understand it's a fun talking point to say all the liberal da's in the country are funded by this boogie man billionaire. george soros had a pipe bomb sent to his house by a crazed -- yes, it is. >> we can make criticism. >> how far are we going to get off topic here? >> the congresswoman who was on tv said soros backed da it is inaccurate and put lives in danger. >> lives in danger, but when people die it's like it's not a big deal, right? we get a mass shooting in a school and whose lives are in danger? trans, according to the white house. if you want to go in that direction we can all do that. >> i want to ask you though about because you mentioned james

let's watch michael costello -- the fec, federal prosecutors dropped this case years ago.atch this. >> i said a non-prosecution agreement gets you out from if underneath all of your legal troubles. so i have to ask you now, do you have anything on donald trump, anything? and he said, no. and i said, michael, think about this. don't answer it quickly. what do you have on donald trump? and that's when he started with the same litany that he used for the rest of the two hours, i swear to god, bob, i don't have anything on donald trump. if he had any information about donald trump, that would have been the one time -- even for a serial liar like michael cohen -- to fess up and say, well, i know this or that because i want to save my own hide. but he didn't do that. and the statement he gave us was very similar to that statement that you just read. elizabeth: that's the credibility of michael cohen. let's turn to alvin bragg. will you -- will house oversight or house republicans in any way, shape or form try to find out if the justice department under the biden administration c

i'm actually confident that the fec similarly will do its investigation.ke there's a lot to look at there. i know that nassau county prosecutors are also looking, and i guarantee you that they will do a very exceptional job, and i'm confident that we're going to see george santos in handcuffs in front of a judge hopefully not in the too distant future. >> wow, you really believe that? >> i do, absolutely. >> do you think he's getting any work done? i mean you know how difficult it is being a congressperson, alt things going on, all the responsibilities you have if you care about the people in your district. can he actually get anything done? >> well, i think that i know that his neighbors like anthony d'esposito, nicole mall yan ta kis, they've all opened up their offices for constituents, you know, on long island and in the vicinity to use their offices for whatever services are needed. so i think there's been a lot of help offered. and in terms of his role, he's not on any committees. he's not very popular, i can tell you that, and i'm not sure what, you

and the fec came down with a six figure campaign innocence law violation, a civil penalty for utilizingthe starkest and most recent example we have. especially as a high level figure that hillary clinton was. >> brian: is it worthy of a first indictment of a u.s. president. other cases pending. the person we are talking about is this guy bobcats tell low be testifying in front of the grand jury we understand. he briefly represented michael cohen although he denies it. he will tell the whole story as he knows it, because he was in and around this investigation. how significant? >> it's very is significant. look, having stood before grand juries and argued many cases before the federal courts. witness credibility in these types of cases is paramount. on the one hand you have michael cohen who is a convicted federal felon who went to prison for multi-year fraud case and has been released but now we have to remind the world and the grand jury that's the testimony of that man vs. bobcats tell low who does not have as far as i know, a prior criminal record. the grand jury is every day citizen

. >> the just department and fec both announced investigations into the svb collapse. where do you think accountability lies here? >> again, it's hard to say looking at the facts. but i would say it is a little bit troubling that literally a day before this bank collapse they were busy giving out bonuses and that some of the leadership in that bank sold a lot of shares in the recent past. so that's something for the fbi, the justice department to take a look at. the other point that i would make is back in 2018 the big -- the banking industry wanted a major reform in the dodd/frank bill, which came about after the 2008 crash. and what they wanted was to remove many, many banks who were being under strong supervision because the level at that point was $50 billion. any bank over $50 billion would be under stress tests and strong supervision to make sure we didn't have another crisis. and with the banking folks came in and they said, no, no, that's too onerous, it's costing us too much money have to go through all these regulatory processes. let's raise that level to $25

holars andand other legal schols and former members of the fec f have publicly stated in the past about this. >> sure. i have a write ifn fouer mencint the purposes influencing an election. >> that's what this has to be about solely for that purpose, u not a primary purpose, has an e to be solely for the purpose ofi influencing an election. this payment right to thiss stormy daniel . so here is the statutesaign prohibition on divertingu campaign funds for personale use. and there's a reason for that.o obviously, you don't want persoa people who are donating money to a candidate to all of a sudden have that candidate spend money on his personal items. >> i mean, anything inn theo t y could be to influenceyo the campaign or the election. i mean, you want the campaign in a nice suit. $ you don'20t want to have a a chin twenty dollar suit made in china.s falling apart at that's falling apart at the seams. you don't have a nice suit.th vie expenditure in theoryis, according to this theory, coulds be a campaign finance law violation. of course, not it's not. so the crucial distinctionfrom is

a complaint with the federal election commission alleging they unlawfully aided trump in 2016, the fec found pecker and ami violated federal election laws by making a payment to playboy model karen mcdougal in order to purchase and bury a story about her 2006 affair with trump, and mr. pecker admitted the payments had been made in order to help trump campaign so he's the other character, and of course, there's stormy daniels. let me read the response from ms. daniels' attorney. the indictment of donald trump is no cause for joy. the hard work and conscientiousness of the jurors must be respected. now let truth and justice prevail. no one is above the law. and now let me read the statement from ron desantis, the just went away he has issued a statement saying that he will not, will not help to stand in the way -- here it is, moments ago, ron desantis tweeted an attack on d.a. alvin bragg accusing him of weaponizing the legal system, he also said, quote, florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this soros-backed manhattan prosec

investigation, that's a criminal investigation, fec, that's a civil zest investigation, early stages but what's the implications of this >> all concerning some big stock sales done by executives at silicon valley bank just weeks before the institution ended up failing last friday. greg beck her, the ceo of silicon valley bank selling $3.6 million in stock about two weeks before the bank ultimately collapsed. for what it's worth, those are pre-scheduled sales, however we don't know to what extent he was aware of the situation at the bank at the time he scheduled that stock sale. and this preliminary investigation will be into the nature of those sales and that comes along a concurrent but separate investigation from the securities and exchange commission, according to two sources to nbc >> let's talk about the fed. obviously, it was widely expected and signaled by the federal reserve that once again, it would raise interest rates, trying to tamp down on inflation. then this bank collapse happens. it is sort of giving pause to the federal reserve and many say perhaps there will be a pa

fec did not proceed they found no violation. i spoke to brad low smith and said there was no violation of come pain finance laws the justice department did not proceed in this case against the president there is no precedent this was done with personal money that is the key factor. when it it is with personal money the law says this, if the payment was made with personal funds and they would have been made irrespective of the campaign it is outside of come pin financials. that's when you have. >> that may not be what michael cohen will testify to and david pecker. he will george excuse me heville to testify to this if under oath testimony pled guilt and he now become a change of democracy. if that testimony was in the when he pled guilty he will because he said this in his guilty mre. >> i we think will find out the evidence when the try proceed fist it does when we all see the arraignment as well this is not the only case trump could be facing the special prosecutor how concerned are you. >> we have to dweel it one at a time no

he's repaid double, not by the campaign but by the trump organization none of this is reported on fec reports. when i hear people saying this is much to do about nothing, i think about all the members of congress i served with, understanding every single one of them would be charged and sent to jail had they done this. >> joe, it's a fair point. let's be clear, this is a state investigation so it'd be a state crime, not a federal one, but i take your point. here's how it works. it's not the hush money payment that's illegal that may seem improper, it may be vile, but it's not illegal. what would be illegal is the way you treat that hush money payment on your books and records. so if you're really paying the money to stormy daniels to have her remain quiet about an extramarital affair, then you characterize that payment on your books and records as a legal retainer for mr. cohen, those are false business entries. new york state has made that a crime, a misdemeanor now, if you commit that crime in order to conceal some other crime, to the point, joe, the election reporting, that can be

million payment tas came through at a time they were cash poor, because it happened late because of the fecdge financing from first a bank, then in february 2022 they got a second loan of $6 million, two different companies, as it turned out, they're pretty much one in the same company and if you trace the beneficiaries back you get to the nephew of a putin ally who was the first deputy justice minister in russia and previously served in putin's executive office when you look at the whole thing, difficult to know there's going to be exposure here. but the optics of trump coming out of the white house his first business venture is getting loans from conduits from offshore banks is not a great look. >> you democrats and you fake news hounds all you want to talk about is russia, russia, russia with no basis whatsoever it's outrageous. never any evidence >> hugo, you obviously wired into trump world closely what's the sense right now as to the level of concern what's the degree of worry now >> yeah, there was i mean, some saw the 2 million and the later 6 million really no information about the