joining us now is "new york times" justice reporter katie benner.>> thanks for having me. >> at the start of a new administration we're used to a new president appointing new u.s. attorneys for all the u.s. attorneys' offices across the country, or at least most of them. this is unusual, for someone to be appointed as acting u.s. attorney immediately even before anyone has nominated on a permanent basis. >> it is indeed an unusual arrangement. the u.s. attorney's office in december has been the site of so much controversy. it's an unusual circumstance that michael cherwin was put in place when the previous u.s. attorney had been ousted, her replacement had been removed, another u.s. attorney from ohio it was claimed would come in and act as u.s. attorney, but it was an fig leaf so that michael cherwin could stay on. bringing someone in like channing phillips with a long history in d.c. and the office and the police and courts is seen as a stabilizing move. >> and you wrote today, katie, that there's hope that he will help restore confidence and mora

katie benner, one of the "times" reports who broke this story is standing by to join us in a few minutes. no charges have been brought against the congressman. tonight he up and down denied the allegations during an interview with tucker carlson. >> it is a horrible allegation and it is a lie. "the new york times" is running a story that i have traveled with a 17-year-old woman, and that is verifiably false. people can look at my travel records and see that that is not the case. what is happening is an extortion of me and my family involving a former department of justice official. >> as we mentioned, much more on all of this just ahead in the hour. >>> tonight, two u.s. capitol police officers have filed a federal suit against donald trump for inciting the january 6th riot. the suit cites trump's speech on that day, his conduct and statements leading up to the riot, his failure to take timely action to stop his followers. the complaint also details racial slurs aimed at one officer and the serious injuries both of these officers suffered during the insurrection. >>> meanwhile, the curre

attorney and senior fbi official now an msnbc contributor and katie benner is here, and "new york timespartment. katie, in your story today you write about the restoration of the rule of law and garland's not tomorrow the president's lawyer in normal times and a normal transition of power, that's not news. but when you think of all the news cycles where folks on your beat had to cover letters from dozens of former justice department officials condemning the acts of trump's attorneys general, it is a real break with the last four years. >> you're going to see a president that does not attack the justice department. and you're going to see an attorney general who does not need to respond to such attacks or does not need to feel the pressure to respond to those attacks. what we'll also see is an attorney general who comes in with the credibility as a bipartisan and fair arbiter of the law. and there is no place where that will be more important than in the very investigation that you referenced the top of the show where you spoke of the investigation into domestic extremism in the united s

katie benner, good reporting.bash, thank you so much as well. >>> just ahead this hour, why vaccinations alone may not be enough to ward off a potential fourth surge in coronavirus infections. we'll have the details when "360" returns. ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate click or call to switch today. the harry's razor is not the same. our razors have five german engineered blades designed to stay sharp, so your eighth shave is as smooth as your first. and we never upcharge you for high quality. harry's. available in store and at harrys.com. i've always focused on my career. but when we found out our son had autism, his future became my focus. lavender baths always calmed him. so we turned bath time into a business. and building it with my son has been my dream job. at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you

i want to bring in katie benner who covers the justice department, "the new york times," and who's done great reporting on this and reported the justice department was examining roger stone's possible ties to the insurrectionists last month. i want to talk about all of this. but just start with what we're learning from the court filings about the proud boys and then the oath keepers. >> sure. on the proud boys case, what we're seeing is a lot more detail about just how organized they were. as you mentioned, it shows that there were many people who decided they were going to plan a trip to washington, d.c., the day of the rally, not just to attend a rally but to impede congress' ability to finalize and certify joe biden's win. that was something they sought in encrypted signal communications. they were aware the fbi was looking for them when one of their leaders was arrested, they nuked a whole chat room saying we've got to get rid of this and start over again. they were aware they could be monitored so that was interesting to see. also we saw they raised thousands of dollars to come. we

katie benner, who has been doing just phenomenal reporting on all of this. so, thank you, for your reporting and thank you for making time with us. >>> all right. wisconsin senator ron johnson has seen, understandably, quite a back lash to his comments about how law respecting the insurrectionists were. and given multiple opportunities to retract those statements, he has not. the state's lieutenant governor called johnson's words racist and he joins me now. lieutenant governor, there was a sort of back and forth, today, ron johnson essentially doubling down on what -- what he had to say about the january-6th insurrection. what's your takeaway? >> all he does is him and huh. he is trying to fill a void that's been left by donald trump. he is trying to appeal to this very extreme wing of -- of his own party. and that is the wing, that infiltrated the u.s. capitol. we're talking about the ininsurrectionists. they are -- those are ron johnson's people and he has not tried to run away from it because he won't. because that is him. >> it's striking, you know, you

joining us now is the "new york times" justice department katie benner.re. >> thanks for having me. >> at the start of the new administration, we are used to new u.s. attorneys for all of the offices around the country or most. this does seem unusual to have somebody appointed to be an acting u.s. attorney to come in immediately before anyone has been nominated on a permanent base. >> yes, it is an unusual arrangement. the u.s. attorney's oufs in d.c. has been the site of so much controversy and the place michael sherwin was put in place under other odd circumstances where the previous attorney was ousted and her replacement was removed. another man in ohio, the department claimed he was going to come in to serve as u.s. attorney but it was used as like a fig leaf to allow him to stay on because he could say there was someone the president intended to put in place. just unusual all around. putting in channing phillips, it is seen as a stabilizing move. >> you wrote today, katie, that there is hope he will help to restore confidence and morale in the offic

. >> katie benner, thanks for joining us on "new day." >>> we're getting a look at border facilitieshildren. they're housing 4,100 migrants. the capacity is just 250. the growing number of arrivals is overwhelming with children staying at the facility longer than the limit. on average, migrants are spending 133 hour at this texas facility. crohn cases are on the rise in 26 states including michigan. did the state start reopening too soon? governor gretchen whitmer joining us next. it's game time, let's meet the defending champs. g. hargrave thomas, point guard. bryce matthias, forward. kim kietz, investor. oh, i invested in invesco qqq. a fund that invests in the innovations of the nasdaq-100. like next gen 3d rendering software. you don't have to be an advanced graphics architect to help realize a more vibrant future. become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq. ♪ if you have obstructive sleep apnea and you're often tired during the day, you could be missing out on amazing things. become an agent of innovation sunosi can help you stay awake for them. once daily sunosi improves wa

joining me is katy benner who shares the by line on this story. so good to have you on tonight.more do you know about the exact focus of the doj investigation? >> thanks so much for having me on. what we know is that the justice department began investigating congressman gaetz last summer and stemmed into one of the congressman's friends investigated and charged -- excuse me, investigated and charged for a variety of crimes including trafficking -- you know, excuse me, trafficking of an underaged woman. so it seems that what the justice department is looking at is whether or not mr. gaetz and having a relationship with a 17-year-old girl violated statutes that include interstate, you know, taking her over state lines and giving her something of value quote unquote which could be money or could be something like a travel expense. >> understood. okay. the simple terms, have you confirmed whether or not congressman gaetz had a relationship with this young woman? >> that is what investigators are looking into. >> understood. we should note as you say, this began last summer when the

claire mccaskill is here, and "new york times" justice department reporter katie benner is back, and senior national security and intelligence -- john brennan is here. take us through where the investigation stands into officer sicknick. >> it's clear the investigators have used video to pinpoint a video now somebody who was captured on video discussion attacking -- so it would having a premedicated attack and somebody they're working to identify in order to charge and arrest. the death of officer sicknick is one of the biggest miss rest and one that officers have banded together, wanting to know as well. >> katie, your reporting has this on the conspiracy charges against the members of the proud boys, saying the group coordinated their travel to washed and stayed together. they carried paramilitary gear and supplies, including camouflage, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection and radio equipment into the capitol. prosecutors accused the group of working together to force their way through a line of capitol police. once inside they traveled as a group, the department sa

and new reporting from katie benner of the new york times on the capitol pipe bomber who is still atescue tour,

joining us now is katy benner, a "new york times" reporter who covers the justice department. she is one of the reporters who broke the story tonight. thank you for making time to be here tonight. i hope i haven't butchered the story too much in my retelling. >> no, you did great. >> okay. so, let me ask you first about congressman gaetz's pushback. i know that the story published initially you and michael schmidt published the story and quickly an update to account for congressman gaetz really angrily denying all of this and making counter allegations that this is the product of some sort of improper extortion plot. can you help us understand what his pushback is here? >> sure. i think that to understand the congressman's statements, the most important thing is look at the timeline in this investigation. what we found is that this investigation began at the end of last summer and it's been going on for more than six months. this is a serious investigation that was serious enough that even the highest levels of the justice department, including the office of the attorney gener

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. >>> i spoke with new york times reporter katie benner in the last hour about the significance to klein's arrest and the connection to trump. >> one of the things that the fbi said in their affidavit is that he was identified by several people, many of whom when we did our report on him that he was not notable in any way. he was under the radar and it goes to show that even though the president had people inside the government and there were people in the government who truly, truly supported him of all ranks and all levels and who would go to extraordinary lengths and extremes to break the lieu to keep him in office. >> another new development in the fallout from the capitol riot. democratic congressman eric swalwell of california who served as an impeachment manager has filed a lawsuit, a civil lawsuit against trump and the second of its kind since the insurrection. it accuses the former president, his son don jr., rudy giuliani and mo brooks of alabama of violating federal civil rights laws and local incitement laws with their speeches at a rally near the white house on the morning of

katie benner is a justice reporter for "the new york times." >>> lead off this week senator ron johnsond of white supremacists. but black folks? well, he's shaking in his boots. >>> but first, let me cleanse your morning palate with this. a statue of the late-justice ruth bader ginsburg was unveiled in brooklyn, her old stomping grounds. fierce advocate for gender equality was, also, known for her tiny stature. her tiny frame. this statue, larger than life, however, measuring about-7-feet-tall. that was done on purpose. so she would stand on equal footing with statues of men around the city. she is still spreading love. it's the brooklyn way. tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid. can it one up whatever they're doing? for sure. seriously? one up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. any further questions? uh uh! one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. with relapsing forms of ms, there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. who needs that kind of drama? kesimpta is a once-monthly at-home injection that

a lot of bad guys get away with a lot of stuff, but here we are >>> joining our conversation is katy benner us is joyce vance, and matt miller is here, lucky for us, all three msnbc contributors. >> if you could just make sense what he's talking about, what is he talking about with tucker carlson? >> he's alleged after the investigation was opened up, that somebody local, in northern florida, found out about this, and said that, you know, he could make the investigation go away in exchange for a huge sum of money, for $25 billion. that's what gaetz contends it seems as though what gaetz is trying to say is that the people involved in this extortion plot somehow also created the sex trafficking investigation simply to extort money from him the timeline makes that improbable, however that seems to be his claim. this was an investigation begun at the justice department under bill barr, knowingly, ball all investigations of this caliber of an official this high up do need a sign-off. >> yeah, i mean, look, matt miller, we're also in a situation where one is not related to the other the timeline