one of the references was thugs and also calling the justice department gestapo. there is only one place that the gestapo, you know, reference goes to. but just big picture. this is undermining our system of justice. this is undermining the rule of law. >> trump's attacks on those? >> absolutely. >> here the oddity. and i'm not even going to give more oxygen to the lunacy to the comparison of the holocaust. but i will say the notion that you would extend that ten-foot pole to includes your attorneys sets you up for legal peril. if you want to say no, no, it wasn't that i was leading my attorneys, they were leading me, now you have the prospects of that veil, that attorney-client privilege now coming into question. because you now have set up an acrimonious an tag mystic relationship between the people who by design could have been quiet. can't just say everything that you actually talked about. now a fact inquiry has to be made whether or not he in fact was led or who he actually directed otherwise. you already know with at least one attorney, the veil being pierce

official who trump had tried to take over the justice department to enlist the justice department itselfis coup effort. coconspirator five appears to be a man named kenneth chesebro, chesbrough, i don't know. looks like chesebro. it's also awkward because wisconsin, cheese. he is a trump campaign recount lawyer in wisconsin who we know spearheaded the fake electors schemes in multiple states. and then there is coconspirator number six, all five, those five i just mentioned, all the five of them are all lawyers. only coconspirator number six is apparently a non lawyer, at least not described as an attorney. this one isn't quite as clear who exactly it is. this is a person described in the indictment as a, quote, political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent states, slates, excuse me, of presidential electors. so we know of at least one trump ally who was involved with all these folks who fixed that description in the indictment, but we don't -- to be blunt, we don't exactly know who coconspirator number, six at least not comfortable enough to confidently speculate.

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official who trump had tried to take over the justice department to enlist the justice department itselfis coup effort. coconspirator five appears to be a man named kenneth chesebro, chesbrough, i don't know. looks like chesebro. it's also awkward because wisconsin, cheese. he is a trump campaign recount lawyer in wisconsin who we know spearheaded the fake electors schemes in multiple states. and then there is coconspirator number six, all five, those five i just mentioned, all the five of them are all lawyers. only coconspirator number six is apparently a non lawyer, at least is not described as an attorney. this one isn't quite as clear who exactly it is. this is a person described in the indictment as a, quote, political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent states, fradulent slates, excuse me, of presidential electors. so we know of at least one trump ally who was involved with all these folks who fixed that description in the indictment, but we don't -- to be blunt, we don't exactly know who coconspirator number six is, at least not comfortable enough to confid

the justice department was going to allow that to happen. that would be put on hold because the special counsel work would be ongoing. likely asked to testify if not forced to testify and as the attorney general mentioned there will be a report but as to when that will come out, before, during, after the election, wait to find out. >> sandra: bear with us a second, mark, a lot of breaking news, a lot of reaction to what we have just learned over the past hour or so. james comer, the rep leading the investigation in the house, the hunter biden investigation, has just issued a statement, make sure our viewers see and hear this. this move by a.g. garland, comer says, is part of the justice department efforts to attempt a biden family cover-up in light of gop mounting evidence of president biden's role in family schemes, selling the brand for millions of dollars to foreign nationals. this also just in, too, read directly from our own david spunt's email, that the doj has dropped hunter's plea deal case in delaware, mark. reading from it directly

trump and co-conspirator number four, believed to be an environmental lawyer at the justice department named jeffrey clark, tried to enlist the to tell republican lawmakers in seven swing states that the u.s. government believed in the fraud allegations and they should switch out the real electors who were chosen based on the popular vote in their states for fake electors to overturn the election results in those states. but it is part three of the indictment that is the most chilling part. that is the coup part. this section goes into dramatic detail about just how hell bent trump and his co-conspirators were to corrupt the united states government by whatever means necessary so he could stay in power. to the point where they were casually discussing using military force on u.s. citizens. according to the indictment, on the afternoon of january 3rd, coconspirator number four, jeffrey clark, spoke with a deputy white house counsel, the previous month, the deputy counsel had informed the defendant, trump, that there is no world, there is no option, in which you do not leave the white ho

first, the plea deal is off between the justice department and hunter biden. tastasize. two the department of justice said that they wouldn't answer whether or not president biden was under investigation: so if you're at the white house tonight, this is not necessarily a good evening. three, this special counsel that has been a point, mr. weiss, has investigated this for a while. so the idea that this could go on for a longer period of time is unlikely and, if it does, bret, it gives the republicans and those who are opposed to president biden, his political opponents, an opportunity to point out things and say things that would have a lot of credibility not only with republicans but with democrats and even independents. >> reporter: fair enough but steph, number one issue is that david weiss was behind that original plea deal that was broken up by a judge who kind of discovered the broad immunity that was inside the plea deal. it blew up at the last gnome court. >> and this is certainly the concern we're hearing from a lot of republicans on the hill. i've been

that memorandum, it takes care of the justice department efforts, trying to corrupt the justice department, how trump tried to corrupt the state elections and how trump tried to capitolize on the violence in the capitol including the threats against pence. notably, it doesn't make a lot of hay with his remarks at the capitol. the march on the capitol, it avoids that and centers, as evan was pointing out, on his attempts to overturn the legal results of the election. >> and it does tell the story, you know, as norm was saying in sort of very simple ways because he tried everything, tried to get his justice department, you know, to change its mind and tried to get someone else installed to run the justice department as a result of that. and then there is a paragraph here which says that then the plan capitolized on ideas presented in the memorandum, which evolved over time from a legal strategy to preserve the defendant's rights to a corrupt plan to subvert the federal government function by stopping biden's electors' votes from being counted. so it started out as one kind of plan where he's

y'all, the justice department is arguing that the lack of a protective order could have a harmful chillingt on witnesses or adversely affect their administration of justice in this particular case. now, comments fired off on a former president social media platform that could influence potential jurors. they could stoke threats and violence against witnesses. and they could further undermine accountability. as well as the public faith in the rule of law altogether. now, before his twitter exodus in 2021, donald trump tweeted the phrase, law and order nearly 30 times. he invoked the slogan in his rallies, in his campaign materials, and on the social media. when it comes to law and order, that applies to him, oh, well a former president seems to prefer chaos. i want to bring in msnbc contributor, katie benner. she covers the justice department for the new york times. she is an award winner, y'all. carolinas also here, former federal prosecutor and current and residency legal analyst, and independent journalist george teeny. he's been subpoenaed in the grand jury investigation, led by fani wi

not just outside the justice department, outside the government.hat is because there is conflict of interest that prevents the biden justice department from investigating the president's son for conduct that implicates the president. this guy is just the vehicle for them to flush the case. >> harris: is there conflict of interest to have this guy, david weiss, now remain the u.s. attorney in the district of delaware? you know, joe biden's home state, where he spent 40% of his time during presidency, is that conflict of interest? also to have complete authority over an investigation into his son? >> of course it is a conflict of interest, because he's still a member, a top official in the biden justice department, he is presidentially appointed united states attorney for district of delaware and under special counsel regulation, not qualified, not eligible to be a special counsel. this whole thing is a sham. >> harris: my goodness, andy mccarthy, thank you for joining us, you are saying this gives headline that says something is dismissed, you say i

. democracy. -- department of justice- we — democracy. -- department of justice. f justice. we have seen a - democracy. -- department of i justice. we have seen a number of republicans come out in support of the former president saying this is an example of the department ofjustice being weaponised and political targeting. what do you make of that? i targeting. what do you make of that? ., ., ., , ., that? i do want to piggyback on something _ that? i do want to piggyback on something senator _ that? i do want to piggyback on something senatorjones - that? i do want to piggyback on something senatorjones said, l something senatorjones said, we are going to be finding out who in the trump orbit has cooperated, i can tell you from my personal expense and working with the white house, as a member of congress, there was not a single decision or phone call i ever had with president trump, last year in office without his chief of staff, mark meadows sitting by her side. it will be interesting to find out how much mark meadows cooperated during this investigation. frankly

the only way to enforce any subpoena is to go to the department of justice!t's the problem we have had in the past. i issued subpoenas, trey gowdy issued subpoenas on documents that were ultimately destroyed in previous cases. witnesses that we wanted to have it never showed up in the department justice said no, we aren't going to do that. you have to be able to go to the court and get that and you have to have the fault of the house in order to make the most compelling case to the court. >> martha: gentlemen, thank you very much, good to see you both. former president trump and florida governor ron desantis both heading to the iowa state fair, i always love seeing all these images and videos that come out of the iowa state fair is a great summer event. tomorrow the former president's form mike going to bring with him a group of florida republican legislators who have endorsed him, it's the kind of thing we have seen the president do during campaigns before, remember when he brought all the clinton accusers to a debate one time. alexis mcadams joins us live s

to me, this is a debacle by the justice department.y've had years to investigate this case and elliot is right, things go wrong in the courtroom. it shouldn't have gone wrong in this case. i mean, the defense had an interest in keeping it a little bit ambiguous because they want their deal. prosecution had no interest in keeping it ambiguous. garland looks like he's just so worried about looking political. he should have had better control over this to begin with. when weiss was not a special counsel, he was in the chain of command at justice, he could have just said no. and this obviously implies, maybe he doesn't mean to imply it, that the conflict that's coming up now maybe extends to the president. the president's son, there's no conflict. you don't need a special counsel or independent council. so, again, i lay this at garland's feet. it wasn't well managed and his reaction now makes things even worse. >> we should say that certainly the republicans are going to say that it implies that this has to do with the president. i mean, y

careful not to talk to witnesses, not to share what he's learning if it's deemed sensitive by the justice departmentn't do anything to chill the justice system to do what it does best, which is to take people to trial and determine whether they're guilty or not guilty. >> and we're still waiting to see when the judge thinking it best for this trial to start. thank you very much for that. >>> let's talk about this now. legal and political implications. well elliott, and david axelrod. i do think we should start with the legal limit. what is your reaction? >> a lot of what the judge said in court today isn't that controversial. noting that a defendant might have first amendment rights, but the rights don't empower that defendant to get in the way of the administration of justice. it's just not that controversy of a point. everything is a bit controversial when you're dealing with the former president of the united states, but she was basically stating the law. it's interesting to see how she rules in the end. >> on the hunter biden development, special counsel, your reaction to that? >> well, you know

department of justice mary mccort.rtment prosecutor and senior member of robert mueller's special counsel's investigation andrew weissmann and lucky for us msnbc's chief legal correspondent and host of "the beat with ari melber" ari melber. lots to unpack this hour. andrew, you have been in this predicament before as a special counsel, certainly working with the special counsel's team. but give us any unsite that may be unfolding in the mind of jack smith and his team as we await to hear from him and perhaps others after former president trump tweeted an indictment is imminent. >> i think he will be all business. it's a moment where you are really aware of the enormous burden that you have when you bring any criminal charge. obviously, here it will be the second time he has brought a criminal charge against the former president of the united states. so, that adds extra weight. i do think there is some logistics that need to be worked out that when you bring a charge like this, in terms of when things are unsealed, when

now, we see the biden justice department acting on the biden plan. so, president trump in the middle of a political season was certainly entitled to respond politically. but make no mistake about it this is an effort to prevent president trump from running for president ironically the same theories that are being used in this indictment against president trump could be used against president biden for enlisting his justice department under the biden plan to prevent

justice department recognizes president trump has right to say things. the indictment says the defendant had a right, like every american, to speak publicly about it is election and claim falsely there had been outcome fraud during the election and that he had won. the rest of the indictment is about conduct, not just the speech. >> john: well, yeah, the first amendment protectses conduct, as well as speech. but what the justice department, biden administration doesn't do is reference what is conduct at issue. president trump did not issue executive orders or do anything in terms of using executive power. he simply petitioned and asked state legislatures and state electoral officials around the country to act responsibly and petitioned not directed, petitioned vice president ultimately to pause voting on january 6 to allow the states to weigh in on auditingo recertifying. all that is core first amendment protected speech. in fact, everyone, whether a president of the united states or ordinary citizen like you or me, can petition their government with gri

and then he allowed them to come to the justice department. and what is interesting about and i have to give a credit to my sister so you can see daddy with about five children in his arms when he's talking to robert doar and nick katzenbach and trying to integrate at the university of alabama. now it's very popular today to have children come to work right? it was not really popular in 1963. nobody had take your children to work day. and no, you didn't do it usually with father when he's on the call with the police with the national guard and trying to get people to do the integration. and yet because he has children on his lap, he has an understanding that you are dealing. human beings. and also, it's difficult to keep your humanity when you're also talking about how to make do the right thing. and i think it's critically interesting to think when sometimes when people make tough decisions, it's just i'm going to be very tough and not understand that they're human beings that you're talking about. but if you have a child on your lap and othe

now, we see the biden justice department acting on the biden plan. president trump in the middle of a political season was certainly entitled to respond politically. but make no mistake about it this is an effort to prevent president trump from running for president ironically the same theories that are being used in this indictment against president trump could be used against president biden for enlisting his justice department under the biden plan to prevent donald trump from running for president. shannon: you say this is an attack on the person of the justice department recognized the former president trump had and has a first amendment rights to say thanks the indictment itself it says this, the defendant had a right like every american to speak publicly about the election and claim falsely there had been outcome determinative fraud during the election and that he had won the rest of the indictment is about the conduct not just the speech. >> well, yes the first amendment protects conduct as well as speech. but what the justice department, the

because what is on the table today is how fast and how the justice department can hand over records toald trump and his team, evidence in this case that they'll need to look at that they've never seen before and review as they head toward trial and prepare for that trial date. so, that evidence discussion, how much donald trump can share of it publicly, that is really going to be the legal issue that the judge is going to be looking at today. we're going to be watching for a lot of things. does she put a lockdown on donald trump so that he can't discuss publicly or discuss with anyone else at all, not even just on social media or in his campaign speeches, the information he's learning about where this investigation has gone so far. the justice department wants that full nondisclosure to be put over all of the evidence that he would be seeing for the first time and learning about in the course of this case. he wants a much smaller segment to be locked down, something that would be called sensitive materials. so we're watching for how the judge responds to that. and we're also watching f

this is consistent to what we have seen when the white house deals with the other justice department vestigations that have been launched, whether related to classified documents or this case relating to the president's son hunter biden. but the expected plea deal that hunter biden had initially struck with the department of justice, the bidens had hope that was an opportunity to turn the page from what has been a very dark chapter of the family's history, but that matter was put on hold after the plea deal fell apart in the delaware courthouse just last month. now, the bidens have really taken great lengths to not weigh in on these matters. earlier in the summer, when the expected plea deal was announced, the president and his wife telegraphed their support for their son through a statement from a white house spokesperson, saying they continue to support hunter biden and why not be appointing of commenting further. it's clear this is a new phase for president biden, who has sustained -- or facing sustained pressure from republican lawmakers about his son hunter's business dealings. t

that it's so antithetical to anything, the mission of the justice department is. nd. i have also the sorts of republicans will work with me at the department. and never stopped politics than anything there and that's in the lifeblood of the justice department and what trump did, and the wording his cronies at the department and political allies who try to do his bidding was so unforgivable. we saw the consequences. the indictment really spells it out. people like jeff clark who gave aid and comfort and fomented what happened on january 6th. >> but of course even some of his closest cronies said this was a bridge to clare to fire. like bill barr. talk to us about the judge who is assigned to this case. a new name for many of us. , tanya chutkan. >> judge chutkan, he's one of the most well respected judges in washington, d.c.. and that is true whether you are republican or a democrat, whether you are a prosecutor or defense attorney. she is someone who just uniformly gets really high marks. notably here, she was the public defender for many years, so the as a crimina

contention about the biden administration weaponizing the justice department.ondent david spunt has details tonight. >> fbi director christopher wray in the hot seat once again as house republicans say new information about a controversial memo calls his prior testimony under oath into question. >> now shows that fbi portland was involved. fbi los angeles was involved. so it wasn't just one off. it wasn't just richmond. it was broader than that. >> house judiciary chairman jim jordan is talking about this january 2023 draft memo from the fbi richmond, virginia field office. the document lays out a plan for the fbi to use members of the church as sources to sniff out radical catholics with ties to potential violent extremism. in the original redacted memo, the richmond fbi field office is the only field office cited. >> you are referring to the richmond product which is a single product by a single field office which, as soon as i found out about it, i was aghast and ordered it withdrawn and removed from the fbi systems. >> but, in the new unredacted memo, under

it's not just the department of justice that is against me. it's the judge here. there's a utility for the former president, even though he says i don't want the protective order. there's a utility protective order for him if it's implemented. he can give speeches and he will say, i can tell you so much more, but the judge who is against me, she's prevented me from doing so. >> how do you expect the judge to respond to the argument from the trump team, pushing back on the strict evidence rules? >> i think in this case, the judge will find there are good reasons for a limited protective order in this case. this is a judge who has ruled in some cases, dealing with january 6 6th defendants. she's been one of the more aggressive judges in january 6th defendants. she takes events of that day seriously. she's previously ruled against the former president when it came to a claim of executive privilege in a different case. i don't think this is a judge that will be frightened. i don't think this is a judge who will fall for political arguments, masquerading as legal argum

you know, i was 20 years in the justice department. we were like the icky business. so to watch this justice department go no, i don't want to know anything is a little amazing. >> neil: yeah, that's one word for it. andy, you're the best. you help me make sense of things that don't make sense. we're going to give you an update on this union square incident that has turned into quite the crowd now. what they're upset about will surprise you after this. oating.. ( ♪ ) ...gas... ...or abdominal discomfort... help stop the frustration and start taking align every day. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists. to help relieve your occasional digestive upsets. so you can enjoy life. ( ♪ ) when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance... so you only pay for what you need. that's my boy. now you get out there, and you make us proud, huh? ♪ bye, uncle limu. ♪ stay off the freeways! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (man) wh

the justice department said about 140 officers were assaulted that day. them, caroline edwards, she testified to congress she was knocked out during the riot, only to come to and then be teargassed. >> there were officers on the ground, you know, they were bleeding. they were throwing up, they were, you know, they had -- i mean, i saw friends with blood all over their faces. i was slipping in people's blood. >> the justice department arrested 1,069 people for the capitol insurrection. of them, 350 defendants were accused of assaulting, impeding or resisting officers. and of those accused of opposing officers, at least 51 were convicted. another 104 defendants pleaded guilty. joining me now, charles ramsey, he led the police forces here in washington, d.c. and philadelphia. chief ramsey, there has been some criticism from republicans that this indictment, these indictments are weak, because they're based merely on lies that the president told that day on january 6th and leading up to it. you, of course, led police officers here. as you look again at the vi

the design of the department of justice, chuck.gn is that it be, and the political layer is extraordinarily thin. the fbi has men and women and one is a political appointee. every one in the country has at one, at most, one political appointee. >> very quickly, donald trump's attorneys arguing for what he can and can't say. the judge -- everybody's been wondering what is the stick? how is she going to try to enforce any penalty moving up the trial date seemed to be an interesting stick that she chose to use. do you think that's effective encouragement? >> you might be able to say the shorter the period between now and the trial date the less damage. he has the right to campaign and he has first amendment rights. on the other hand, you can't interfere with the fair administration of justice and tamper with witnesses. so she'll have to watch it very closely, but it's not an easy thing for her to do. >> all right. chuck rosenberg getting us started this morning again. in the courtrooms instead of the primary trail. thank you, sir. joi

they are arguing they have not heard anything to the contrary from the department of justice, we have to see if the calculus is changed on their end.>> a lot of democrats telling me it does kind of change the mechanics of whether or not the special counsel can testify about a potential ongoing investigation. that is one of the huge question marks coming out of today and something we expect that house republicans might continue to push on, have a conference wide call to discuss the appropriations process but also the portfolio, you can expect it will come out. >> easier to call a attorney rather than a special counsel. how much might accommodate things republicans who are intent on moving forward on the impeachment inquiry they want to open, targeting president biden? >> if you look at what conservatives are saying in statements, we should note that they are away on congressional recess, they think it emboldens their argument that they have been making, that they think the doj is politicized, hunter biden has not been investigated to the full extent he needed to be, there investigation

i never saw politics in anything there, and that's the lifeblood of the justice department. and what trump did in rewarding his cronies at the department and political allies who tried to do his bidding was so unforgivable. and we saw the consequences, and the indictment really spells it out. people like jeff clark who you know, gave aid and comfort and cemented what happened on january 6th. >> but even some of his closest cronies said this was a bridge too far, former attorney general bill barr. talk to us about the judge in this case. >> the judge isermented, i think one of the most well-respected judges in washington, d.c. and that's true whether you're republican or democrat, whether you're a prosecutor or defense attorney. she's someone who just uniformly gets really, really high marks. notably here she was a public defender for many years. so a criminal defense attorney, and she's schooled in the language of criminal dfrs and maybe the most important fact for everyone to keep in mind as you start to hear the republican attack machine on her, she was confirmed by the uni

>> he said the justice department has 2 1/2 years to investigate this so they should get 2 1/2 yearshe idea of delaying the trial is at the heart of the strategy. we've learned from interviews with lawyers that they're going to also make cases that the president's speech is being criminalized here, trying to argue that everything he said in the course of this -- laid out in this indictment is political speech that can't be gone after and he was relying on the advice of council and it's his lawyers basically who should feel the blame here, not him for what he was saying at the time. the political argument is much broader. it has to do with the idea that he's being specifically targeted because he is joe biden's top rival for the white house. that's the argument that we heard echoed from republican lawmakers yesterday, even some of his campaign rivals on the trail using similar language. the reality is, this is worked for donald trump at least in the short term. when you look at the online fund-raising they've been able to do matched up against the indictments and arraignments that he'

there was not a whole lot of faith in the justice department to begin with.t's dropping to new lows. where does that leave us? >> garland could not have selected anyone with the exception of possible hunter biden worse at this moment than david weiss. it's not that weiss might not be able to defend himself, to counter these allegations. but he just appointed someone who is under this cloud of suspicion, who has been accused by his own team of running a fixed investigation. and by the way, the only way garland could do that was to violate his own regulations which require him to tell -- mandate that it's someone outside the justice department who should be assuming these positions. so there's not much doubt as what's fueling the doubts in the public realm. >> sandra: no, understood. andy mccarthy made this prediction on fox news earlier today on hunter's charges disappearing, something you've been talking a lot about, due to the statute of limitations. listen. >> they won't charge him, the case is disappearing, statute of limitations is running. every week we

ii according to the justice department.— according to the justice department. according to the justiceook at what the special counseljack smith i the special counseljack smith said in a statement he said he wants the speedy trial. when do you think we could actually see this go to trial? i you think we could actually see this go to trial?— this go to trial? i would not exect this go to trial? i would not exoect to — this go to trial? i would not expect to see _ this go to trial? i would not expect to see this - this go to trial? i would not expect to see this trial i this go to trial? i would not i expect to see this trial happen anytime soon. lots reasons. first of all, the president is now under indictment in three cases. that is an enormous amount of work for him and his legal teams to process all of those cases, she responded all of those cases, review the discovery. it is process for him. even putting aside the fact that he is running for the president of the united states. what resources to the trump team have at their disposal here to try and postpone the possible trial?— possib

the justice department was not finding major infractions there and to have this, to have that momentent and potentially to have the former vice president of the united states as a witness telling jurors that donald trump was lying to me when he's trying to convince me to overturn the election, what impact might that have? >> and, in fact, rich donohue and jeff rosen and others allegedly said, look, if you are going to move forward with these types of allegations, we're all going to resign and there will be mass resignations that's when you saw them back off and jeffrey clark back off according to the allegations in the complaint. so, yes, i mean, that lie that he was telling to the vice president, the alleged lie that he was telling to the vice president, was -- is going to be material to this and the fact it's very compelling the vice president took those notes and he's going to be a key witness in this, which is certainly going to be historic. >> talk about history, right there, you know, the former vice president of the united states as a witness against the former president of th

the indictment details how trump was told by his vice president, senior justice department leaders whointed, the director of national intelligence who he had hired, senior white house lawyers who he had hired, his cybersecurity agency, senior campaign staffers, state legislators many of whom endorsed him and state and federal courts and that there was no evidence of election fraud and that he had lost the election. trump's campaign even paid two outside resource firms to try to prove his electoral fraud claims, but they never released the findings because the firms disputed his theories and they could not offer any proof that he had won and trump was alleged to have repeated acknowledged in private that he had lost the election, in contrast to his public statements and yet as the indictment lays out it was not illegal in and of itself for trump to lie. that is protected speech, but it was the actions the indictment alleges that he took that were illegal using claims of election fraud that he knew were false to try to try to get state officials to change electoral votes organizing slate

it identifies him as a justice department official. it also points to an email that a top doj person sent to clark rebutting his efforts to try to use the department to overturn the 2020 election. and, again, number 5. we have a pro -- another pro trump lawyer, kenneth chesboro. the indictment points to an email memorandum sent to giuliani in december of 2020 about the fake elector's plot. based on everything we have previously reported, everything we know, what our sources are telling us and of course the work of the house committee that investigated january 6th, those are the five co-conspirators that we are prepared to identify at this point, notably all attorneys who worked alongside donald trump in this effort to overturn the 2020 election, wolf. >> significant reporting. thank you so much for that, sara. erin? >> now you can go through this. when it says co-con spiritor 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 fill in those names. i want to go to caitlyn polanz. on the back of sara's reporting, you have information about something in this indictment. what a

the answer is, he really doesn't seem to be in charge of the justice department. think the number two person there is in charge. >> laura: and she is? >> lisa monaco, the deputy attorney general, who i think is the one who got on the phone with david weiss and said, no, you're not going to have authority to bring this case in any districts you want to bring it in and, of course, i agree with everyone else who has commented that it is ridiculous. you have a tainted investigation that clearly has been tainted and compromised, and david weiss has been the person in charge of it. now, he might not be responsible for all of the mistakes and the slow-walking that have been made but he is ultimately responsible because he's the person in charge. and his integrity has been compromised by testimony letters he wrote saying he was in complete authority, totally inconsistent with what we know he told his investigators. so it is a continuation of the coverup to have him as special counsel. >> laura: now, mike, on msnbc today, not surprisingly perhaps, they were praising this d

immediately after the january 6th attack on our democracy, career men and women of the justice departmentecome the largest investigation in our history. in november, last, i appointed jack smith, special counsel to take on the investigation, in order to underline departments commitment to accountability and fairness. mr. smith and his team have experienced, principled, career agents and prosecutors have followed the facts and the law wherever they lead. and the questions about this matter will have to be answered by the following -- >> joining our discussion now is professor laurence tribe, who taught constitutional law at harvard law school for five decades. one of the former students is the attorney general at the meditates, merrick garland. professor tribe, andrew weissmann is still with us in the studio. we all shared public doubts about how merrick garland was handling this before he appointed jack smith. what is your sense of how merrick garland has handled this case thus far. >> i think the appointment of jack smith was a breeding stroke. his experience has made it clear that he wa

more on that ahead. >> and republicans call weaponization of the justice department.n who ran it when a republicacan was in the white house. in' the trail, i'm hitting your cooler. and your cut-rate car insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate. each day is a unique blend ofof going, doing, and living. glucerna protein smart with 30 grams of protein to help keep you moving. uniquely designed witharbsteady to help manage blood sugar response. glucerna, bring on the day. with gold bond... you can age on your own terms. retinol overnight means... the smoothing benefits of retinol. are now for your whole body. plus, fast-working crepe corrector diminishes wrinkled skin in just two days. gold bond. champion your skin. ♪ ♪ we're reinventing our network... ...with smarter, more efficient routes... ...so you can deliver more value to your customers. fast. reliable. perfectly orchestrated. the united states postal service. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we provide nutrients to support immune, muscle, bone, and heart health. yaaa

basically, the law tells the justice department you must do something, and the justice department comeshey will do it. so even though this guys that -- defies that regulation, there isn't a legal resource. at the end of the day, the attorney general can appoint whoever he wants to. rachel: does making him a special counsel in any way change the investigation that representative comer and the house republicans are doing? will: well,ing that's a good question. only if we believe david weiss really had integrity and now has the freedom to pursue his integrity. rachel: right. will: as to the house republicans, i don't know -- rachel: can't he say, well, they wanted to bring him in. do you remember they talked about bringing weiss in for questioning himself? will: yes. rachel: now he can say, well, it's urn investigation. is that right? will: i guess, yeah, hide urn the guise of an ongoing -- under the guise of an ongoing investigation. gary shapley, that whistle blow. he's laid out on capitol hill some of the costs of, i guess, putting that trust in david weiss. >> the statute of limitation

but they do refer us to the justice department and a state spokesman saying they refer to the justice department, which conducts its investigation independently, and that is something that i suspect you're going to hear jack smith stress once again as well. this white house has gone out of its way in recent weeks to underscore the independence of the judiciary. it is why you are not seeing president biden comment on this. he is well aware how donald trump is trying to spin this, how republicans are arguing that president biden, they claim, is simply trying to persecute his political rival here. and so the president has stressed he hasn't told the justice department what to pursue. he hasn't tried to influence what charges they bring. we should say, though, while joe biden has been silent on these indictments, he has been very outspoken in the past about donald trump and january sixth, he has accused him of spreading a web of lies about the 2020 election. he has said he valued power over principle, saying that his bruised ego mattered more to him than our democracy and he has been very

he may be able to order thejustice department these crimes but he may be able to order the justice departmentes but he may be able to order thejustice department to drop these cases altogether. the legal matters and the campaigning all starting to become one of the same for donald trump and his supporters appear outside of the courthouse and they're willing to give money not only does campaign but also to his legalfunds. only does campaign but also to his legal funds-— legal funds. you can see the satellite trucks _ legal funds. you can see the satellite trucks and - legal funds. you can see the satellite trucks and the - satellite trucks and the international committee gathers in the building as we launch these live pictures, let me introduce you to our panel, the political scientists, confirming that they are the former director of communications and donald trump's transition team and former white house lawyerjoining us this evening. i could start with you. 78 charges now in total, three indictments, the way. give us your thoughts on what is unfolding here tonight and the significance of th

you covered the justice department. is there anything to the complaints the replay -- the republicans are making the hunter biden is getting special treatment? >> there was a plea agreement that apparently was not a real meeting of the mines according to the judge. both sides of gone back to the drawing board and within a months they will see whether hunter biden is pleading guilty or not to some misdemeanor criminal offenses. investigators spent five years looking at him, and they found some evidence that gave rise to concern. but, based on some of the talking points coming out of the house gop, some of the allegations are making -- don't match with what the witnesses are telling them. >> we will end it right there. thanks for all on the panel for being with us tonight and bringing your excellent reporting and analysis. and don't forget to join me on pb news weekend ons saturday for a look at japan's plans to release one million tons of wastewater from the fukushima power plt 12 years after the country's deadly earthqu

the justice department will do their role. i know trump's followers are never going to change, because he has hypnotized them. on the other hand, you have biden. who some people like. because he has done some very good financial transactions for different people. i do not investigate that. but the justice department will determine what the facts are, then the jury will decide that. guest: that is certainly the case for trump, we have multiple cases that are going to be litigated in court, presumably going to be decided by juries. in hunter biden's case, if not the presidents, we seem to be headed in that direction as well. host: will the hunter biden case take place in delaware? you have been in washington a while, we've been talking about the potential jury for the latest case, january 6 for president trump. will it be hard to impanel a fair jury for that here in washington? guest: the irony, what i think a lot of people would view as a stronger indictment, the classified documents case, trump drew a more favorable judge pote

but as a practical matter, he controls the justice department. and what can you do this with my child play and the saturday night massacre because he can fired the attorney general fire jackson with the with then the laughter, anybody with all in the investigations and use the justice department for retribution. this is very much what was, was about this, the subject of the federal indictment which is intended to replace the attorney general for acting attorney general. and someone who knew put in place. and then terms of justice department from an independent investigatory justice oriented body into a arm of the trump campaign. so as a reality, if donald trump wins the presidential election, the amount of control over these federal trials, he will not have that control. however, over the georgia and the yours process, and that's why this is where the georgia trial would be. so it's really interesting to get your thoughts on this clear finkelstein. thank you very much indeed with me for being with us on all the 0. we appreciate it, we're going to

justice system. and i would hope the department of justice would join in that effort so that we take the curtain away and all americans get to see what is happening. >> earlier today, our friend near called deal laid out the importance of having those cameras in the -- air is. why >> don't underestimate dawn's ability to try to stay stuff outside of court to his party, lawyers, and so many others, all of which can undermine decorum anyway. the best check on that, and this is something that one of our greatest justices -- sunlight is the best disinfectant. let the american people see this trial for themselves, day in and day out, and make their own determinations. we shouldn't be relegated to secondhand descriptions of some courtroom sketches of what is going on in that courtroom. >> meanwhile, the former president launched a threatening post on his social media site earlier today, writing this. if you go after me, i'm coming after you! just a few hours later, prosecutors proposed a detective order citing that very truth social post. they are asking the judge to stop trump from just sharing sensitive

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