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0:32

Tonight,

0:35

on the Mehdi Hassan Show, debunking

0:38

the Trump defense. The ex-president's

0:40

legal team is strawmanning, whatabouting,

0:43

and straight up lying in response to the third

0:45

indictment. Then, the other

0:47

co-conspirators. They might not be on

0:50

Jack Smith's naughty list, but we're

0:52

calling out Trump's Republican And

0:56

the sad circus. How the GOP

0:58

chairman of the House committee chasing after

1:00

Hunter Biden was kind of

1:02

humiliated by his own star witness.

1:13

Good evening, I'm Mehdi Hassan. The

1:15

insanity defense. That's what the

1:17

Trump legal team seems to be offering this week

1:20

in the wake of special Jack

1:22

Smith's stunning and damning 45 page

1:25

indictment, excuse me, of the former president, charging

1:28

him with conspiracy to defraud the United States,

1:30

obstruction and conspiracy to obstruct

1:32

an official proceeding, and conspiracy

1:34

to violate rights. All charges fueled by

1:37

his lies, per the indictment. The

1:39

Trump team say, no, no, he wasn't

1:42

lying. He truly believed that he won

1:44

the election, which,

1:45

if he truly believed that, would, of course,

1:47

be insane. But it's not true.

1:50

As Smith's indictment notes, Trump was informed

1:52

repeatedly by members of his own campaign and

1:54

legal teams that he had indeed lost,

1:56

that there was no massive fraud involved. And

1:59

Trump himself is.

1:59

He voted in the indictment, telling Mike Pence, after his

2:02

own vice president told him that he, Mike Pence,

2:04

had no constitutional authority to reject

2:06

the votes on January the 6th. Quote,

2:08

you're too honest. Best

2:11

of all, one of Trump's own top lawyers,

2:13

Alina Haber, stood outside the courtroom in D.C.

2:16

at Trump's arraignment on Thursday and said this

2:19

in front of cameras, recording

2:21

her. I think that everybody was made

2:23

aware that he lost the election, but that doesn't

2:26

mean that that was the only advice he was given. Oh,

2:31

everybody was made aware that he lost.

2:34

There goes the insanity defense. But

2:36

Trump and his supporters in the GOP and on Fox

2:39

haven't given up with their nonsense defenses.

2:42

They've spent the past week straw manning, what

2:44

abouting and straight up lying in response

2:46

to Jack Smith's latest indictment of

2:48

the former president. So tonight, let's

2:50

start by debunking the top five

2:53

desperate defenses of Donald J. Trump. Number

2:56

one, and this is the most popular one, this

2:58

indictment of the former president, they say, is

3:01

a criminalization of free speech, of political

3:04

speech.

3:04

Donald Trump had a First Amendment right

3:06

to say he didn't lose. How dare the

3:08

DOJ violate that? Just listen

3:10

to the folks on Fox. So

3:13

they are criminalizing political

3:15

speech and political interpretation.

3:17

Those are now felonies punishable

3:20

by decades in jail. What this is from

3:22

Jack Smith is a complete violation

3:25

of an individual's First Amendment rights.

3:28

It's garbage dressed up with illegal

3:31

thesaurus and it's criminalizing

3:33

thoughts and it's criminalizing speech.

3:36

You have every right to think an election

3:38

might be rigged or

3:40

fixed.

3:42

Yes, Greg, you do. You

3:45

do have a right to think or say that. And you

3:47

know who agrees with you? Jack Smith

3:49

in his indictment right on the second page paragraph

3:52

three, he says the defendant had a right like

3:54

every American to speak publicly about the election

3:56

and even to claim falsely that there had

3:58

been outcome determined.

3:59

Permanative fraud during the election

4:02

and that he had won

4:03

However, Smith goes on to say the defendant

4:06

didn't just speak out about the election

4:08

or make false claims He pursued unlawful

4:10

means of discounting legitimate votes and

4:13

subverting the election results See

4:16

you can speak freely as long as you're

4:18

not engaged in crimes or in criminal

4:21

conspiracies We all know this conning

4:23

someone out of their life savings is speech But

4:26

it's still a crime bribing someone is

4:28

speech and it's a crime black male

4:30

is speech and it's a crime Sharing

4:33

state

4:33

secrets with a foreign government is speech It's

4:36

also a crime to quote a headline

4:38

in the New Republic this week There is no First Amendment

4:40

right to organize a coup or

4:42

to quote someone I wouldn't normally quote Trump's

4:45

own former Attorney General Bill Barr

4:48

As the indictment says, you know, he they're

4:51

not attacking his First Amendment

4:53

right he can say whatever he wants

4:55

he can even lie he can even tell people

4:58

that that the

5:01

the election was was stolen when

5:03

he when he knew better but

5:05

That does not protect

5:08

you from entering into a conspiracy

5:11

This isn't that hard to follow Donald

5:14

Trump is being put on trial not for what he said

5:16

but for what he did Number

5:19

two, they say that Donald Trump is being

5:21

indicted for defrauding in the United States

5:24

But what he did doesn't meet the legal

5:26

definition of fraud the conservative

5:28

National Review magazine put out an editorial slamming

5:31

the indictment and saying as the Supreme

5:33

Court reaffirmed just a few weeks ago Fraud

5:35

in federal criminal law is a scheme to swindle

5:38

victims out of money or tangible property

5:41

Yeah, but they got the wrong statute

5:43

Sorry guys That was wire fraud as

5:46

lawyers like Ken White and Ryan Goodman on

5:48

Twitter have pointed out the indictment charges

5:50

Trump with defrauding the US under 18 USC

5:53

section 371 and

5:55

here's how the Supreme Court defines defraud

5:58

under that statute quote to

5:59

conspired to defraud the United States means primarily

6:02

to cheat the government out of property or

6:04

money, but it also means to interfere

6:06

with or obstruct one of its lawful government

6:08

functions by deceit, craft

6:11

or trickery.

6:12

That's what Trump did. That's how he allegedly

6:15

conspired to defraud the US. Not in a

6:17

financial way, but in a very political and

6:19

anti-democratic way. And it's a felony under

6:22

Section 371 to do that. Number

6:26

three, this is politicized justice, say

6:28

the Republicans. This is the targeting of a political

6:30

opponent. Oh, and what about Hunter Biden?

6:33

Just have a read of what GOP Senator Tim Scott

6:36

tweeted on Tuesday in response to the

6:38

indictment. Quote, I remain concerned

6:40

about the weaponization of Biden's DOJ. What

6:42

we see today are two different tracks of justice,

6:45

one for political opponents and another

6:47

for the son of the current president. He continued,

6:50

we're watching Biden's DOJ continue

6:52

to hunt Republicans while protecting

6:54

Democrats.

6:55

Hunt Republicans. Hunt

6:58

Republicans. Well, then why haven't all

7:00

the Republican candidates running for president, including

7:03

Tim Scott, been indicted,

7:05

including especially Trump's own vice president,

7:07

Mike Pence? Why only the

7:09

candidate who tried to overturn the election?

7:12

This is desperate stuff from Tim Scott. The truth

7:14

is that Joe Biden isn't involved in any

7:16

of the indictments of Donald Trump. He won't even comment

7:18

on them. His attorney general, Merrick Garland,

7:20

outsourced this latest investigation to

7:23

special counsel Jack Smith to avoid any

7:25

perception of politicization or weaponization.

7:28

And as for Hunter Biden, it was a Trump appointed

7:30

attorney, David Weiss, again, given

7:33

huge freedom and discretion by Garland, who

7:35

did that deal with Hunter Biden that so upset

7:37

congressional Republicans.

7:40

Again, to quote Bill Barr of all people, you

7:42

may not like this case, but it's a legitimate

7:45

case. It's not weaponization.

7:48

Number four, what Trump did

7:50

in pressuring Mike Pence to throw out

7:52

votes was not a violation of the law. It

7:55

was just a technical violation of the Constitution.

7:57

And those don't count, apparently.

7:59

This is the new. newest defense of Trump rolled

8:01

out by his newest lawyer, John Larrow, on

8:03

Meet the Press this morning. A

8:07

technical violation of the Constitution

8:09

is not a violation of criminal law. That's

8:12

just plain wrong. What? What?

8:16

I'll leave the rebuttal of this one to Democratic

8:18

Congressman Jamie Raskin, a constitutional law

8:20

professor himself, who also appeared on Meet

8:22

the Press shortly afterwards.

8:26

Well, first of all, a technical violation of the Constitution

8:28

is a violation of the Constitution. The

8:30

Constitution in six different places

8:33

opposes insurrection and

8:35

makes that a grievous

8:37

constitutional offense. So

8:40

our Constitution is designed to stop people

8:42

from trying to overthrow elections and trying

8:44

to overthrow the government. But in any event,

8:47

there's a whole apparatus of criminal law, which

8:49

is in place to enforce this constitutional

8:52

principle. That's what Donald Trump is

8:54

charged with violating.

8:56

He conspired to defraud the American

8:58

people out of our right to an honest

9:00

election by substituting the real

9:03

legal process we have under federal and state

9:06

law with counterfeit electors.

9:08

I mean, there are people who are in jail for several

9:11

years for counterfeiting one vote.

9:14

If they try to vote illegally once, he tried

9:16

to steal the entire election. And

9:19

his lawyers up there saying, oh, that's just a matter

9:21

of him expressing his first amendment rights. That's

9:24

deranged. That is a deranged argument.

9:27

Deranged. Well said, Congressman.

9:30

And last but not least, number five, what

9:32

aboutism? What about the Democrats?

9:35

Didn't they do the same thing? Didn't they

9:37

do all of this before? Listen to GOP Speaker

9:39

Kevin McCarthy speaking this week.

9:42

I can say the same thing that Hillary Clinton says about

9:44

her election that she lost. I can say the same

9:46

thing about the DNC who said it about

9:49

the 2016 race. I can say

9:51

the same thing about those in the Democratic Party

9:54

from the leadership on down about

9:56

George Bush not winning that Al Gore did. But

9:58

were any of them prosecuted?

9:59

Were any of them put

10:02

in jail?

10:03

Well, no, they weren't prosecuted and

10:05

weren't put in jail because they didn't do what

10:07

Trump did. They didn't try and overturn

10:10

an election. Al Gore conceded. In fact,

10:12

Al Gore was the sitting vice president who counted

10:14

George W. Bush's electoral college votes

10:17

and who didn't do what Trump falsely says Mike Pence

10:19

had the power to do.

10:20

Hillary Clinton conceded, too.

10:22

So, sure, some House and Senate Democrats voted

10:24

to object to some states' vote counts

10:27

in January 2001 and January 2017,

10:30

but not as part of a plot to overturn the election,

10:32

not with the aid of fake electors and not

10:35

at Al Gore or Hillary Clinton's direction.

10:38

Republicans are gas sliding you when they say Democrats

10:40

did the same. Of course they didn't. What

10:43

Donald Trump did in terms of trying to overrule the

10:45

votes in Georgia and trying to get the DOJ to

10:47

make false claims of voter fraud and trying to get

10:49

Mike Pence to throw out votes and trying to submit

10:51

fake electors. No president,

10:54

no party has ever done

10:56

before.

10:57

What Trump did is what

10:59

he is being prosecuted for, not for what he said.

11:02

And that they keep coming up with one ludicrous,

11:04

dishonest, demonstrably false argument after

11:07

another is evidence that they know

11:09

this time, finally, he's

11:12

in serious legal trouble.

11:14

Joining me now to discuss this and more are

11:17

Renato Moriarty, former federal prosecutor and

11:19

now legal affairs columnist for Politico, Dean

11:21

Obadola, MSNBC Daily columnist and host

11:24

of the Dean Obadola Show, and Judge Lidoris

11:26

Cordell, former California Superior

11:28

Court judge and author of her honor, My Life

11:30

on the Bench, What Works, What's Broken and

11:32

How to Change It. Thank you all

11:34

for coming back on the show. Judge Cordell, let me start

11:36

with you. This afternoon, Trump attacked the judge

11:39

on his Truth Social platform. He's already attacked

11:41

the prosecutor and a potential witness,

11:44

Mike Pence. He's made threats. This

11:46

is all since his arraignment on Thursday, where

11:48

he promised not to do any of that. If you were

11:50

in Judge Tanya Chutkin's place overseeing this

11:52

1-6 trial, what action would you

11:54

be taking against this particular very high profile

11:57

defendant, if any?

12:00

When a judge makes an order, the

12:03

judge expects it to be followed. If

12:05

the order is not followed, there should be immediate

12:07

consequences. If not, the judge is not

12:09

taken seriously. In this case, a

12:11

magistrate, by the way, who happened to be a woman

12:13

of color, gave him a directive

12:15

and an order. And he immediately, in my view,

12:17

went out and violated it within 24 hours

12:20

of the order. So it is likely

12:22

that this issue will be brought before

12:25

Judge Chutkin, not the

12:27

magistrate. And for her,

12:30

I think it is absolutely important that

12:33

people who do not follow the judge's orders face

12:36

immediate consequences. So in

12:38

this instance, I know that the other prosecution

12:40

is asking for a protective order. But

12:42

there's still the issue of that order, the

12:45

threats that he's made, being violated when

12:47

he was told not to. So I analogize

12:50

this to a parent raising a child.

12:52

I have two daughters. I raise them with love. And I

12:54

also raise them to understand there are consequences

12:57

for your bad behavior. And in this case,

12:59

there have to be immediate consequences. So

13:02

for a child, it's usually,

13:03

well, you can't go somewhere, you can't go to the party

13:05

or a timeout. Here, it's

13:08

important that you have a timeout.

13:10

And in my view, the timeout would be, oh,

13:13

get your toothbrush and spend about three

13:15

to five days sitting in jail to think about

13:17

how serious this is. And now when

13:20

he's back in court, do you understand this? You

13:22

got it? Okay,

13:23

let's proceed. Hopefully, lesson

13:25

would be learned. Hopefully,

13:27

I mean, it's interesting to make an analogy with children

13:30

because he is the man child extraordinaire. It

13:32

also as an aside, it must be killing him to

13:34

be coming up against black woman judge,

13:37

black woman prosecutor again and again. For Trump, it

13:39

must be killing him. Dean, you have written a piece

13:41

this weekend calling Judge Chutkin

13:43

Trump's worst nightmare. Briefly

13:46

explain why you think that is.

13:49

I think for many reasons. First, I should say at

13:51

the outset, she is going to be not only

13:53

fair. She'll be perfect in how fair she will be.

13:56

She has a history of defending defendants

13:58

right. She's a former public defender.

13:59

Her decisions do that. Johnal Trump

14:02

will get an immensely fair trial. The

14:04

reason she is his worst nightmare is

14:06

that, first of all, she already rejected the Trump

14:08

team's efforts to postpone a responsive

14:11

motion by three days, making a very clear, this

14:13

trial balloon, nope,

14:14

not doing it, Monday. I guess

14:16

John Laura want the time to go on TV five

14:18

times today. He couldn't work on his motion response.

14:21

Go home, get out of the green rooms, answer

14:23

the motion.

14:24

Secondly, the idea that she's been so

14:26

harsh in sentencing, January 6th defendants.

14:28

She has been like 80% of the time sentencing

14:31

beyond what prosecutors want, which means,

14:34

if Donald Trump is convicted of one of the four felonies,

14:36

and not more than that, he's not gonna be

14:38

in Mar-a-Lago, folks. He's gonna be in a prison

14:41

cell where he belongs. And I hope for the rest

14:43

of his natural life. And also, of course, as

14:45

the judge has mentioned,

14:46

that the judge is a black woman, an

14:48

immigrant.

14:49

Something that Donald Trump really has a problem

14:51

with, we all remember the sender back chance that he

14:53

led about Congressman Omar and for

14:56

the three women of color who are in Congress. So

14:58

together, she's a great judge. She's gonna

15:00

be extremely fair, but she's not

15:02

gonna put up with his games. She's already making it clear.

15:05

And she's gonna send him to jail if he is convicted.

15:09

Renato, on the topic of this protective

15:11

order and Trump's habit of witness intimidation,

15:14

I just wanna fast forward a bit to the first GOP

15:16

debate. Donald Trump still

15:18

hasn't committed to whether he's gonna participate or not. If

15:20

he's on that stage with Mike Pence, and

15:23

they're arguing about January the 6th, is

15:25

that a violation of the order, as Mike Pence

15:27

might be a witness in the trial? I mean, I know it's

15:29

all unprecedented. We're in new ground

15:31

here. But he's also surrounded daily by

15:33

multiple advisors who, as the Washington Post reports

15:36

this weekend, his own advisors could be

15:38

witnesses in more than one of the coming trials.

15:41

What do they say on a daily basis to him?

15:44

Wow, that's a great question. And I actually

15:47

think, as you said, it's unprecedented.

15:49

I think a different person

15:51

than Donald Trump

15:53

could act as a scalpel

15:55

instead of a sledgehammer here who carefully

15:57

chooses words and be careful about what he says

15:59

on the debates.

15:59

stage, be careful about what he says

16:02

to his associates. We all know Donald

16:04

Trump's not going to do that. And I get it.

16:07

From my perspective, what I

16:09

think the judge is going to do, because she's a very savvy

16:12

litigator, a lot of experience.

16:16

I think what she's going to do is instead

16:18

of trying to take action based

16:21

on his speech, let's say in a debate or with

16:23

his advisors, I think she's just

16:25

going to continue to rule against him. She's

16:27

going to continue to accelerate the trial date.

16:30

Ultimately, from my perspective,

16:33

she's going to teach him ultimately

16:35

that at the end of the day, she's the decider.

16:38

And there's a real big consequence that

16:40

comes if you're going to try

16:43

to constantly flop the judge's rule. So

16:45

I think it'll be indirect. And I think

16:47

ultimately, as a result of him

16:49

flaunting and going against

16:52

the judge's rules, I suspect he's going to

16:54

get a speedier and speedier trial. That

16:57

decision recently to deny

17:00

a motion for just a three day extension,

17:02

I think is a preview of what's to come.

17:05

Judge Cordell, we have the D.A. Alvin

17:07

Bragg prosecution of Trump in Manhattan.

17:10

We have a possible indictment from D.A. Fonny Willis

17:12

in Fulton County, Georgia, coming perhaps any day now.

17:15

But both Bragg and Willis have said they'll defer

17:17

to Jack Smith on timelines of trials.

17:20

How quickly do you think Judge Chutkin could

17:22

get this crowd going? Renato

17:24

mentioned speedier trial. It's perhaps the

17:26

most important trial of all. How quickly

17:28

could it get started? How quickly could it be completed

17:31

even given next November is the election?

17:34

Well, every defendant is entitled to

17:36

a speedy trial. In this instance,

17:39

when you have a very weak defense, what you

17:41

do is delay. So it's up

17:43

to the judge to move things along. However, the

17:45

judge has to make sure that the defense has ample

17:48

time to review all the discovery and

17:50

to get things in order. So while

17:52

there is a push, there are certain rights

17:54

that have to be looked at. And

17:57

it's really interesting. Everyone talks about the federal case.

17:59

But

17:59

It is the state court cases

18:02

where Donald Trump, if he is

18:04

convicted, has no way

18:07

of getting out, no way around it. He

18:09

can't use any kind of authority

18:12

because the state courts are not under his

18:14

authority. So I really look at the state

18:16

court cases as being the ones that can

18:18

be the most effective if they

18:20

are to have convictions,

18:22

if he's convicted in those courts.

18:26

Dean, what did you make of the message discipline

18:29

of some of the Trump defenders, especially in the media,

18:31

the Wall Street Journal, Fox, the New York Post,

18:34

National Review, all of conservative media this

18:36

week, they leaped almost with unanimity

18:39

to pick up on this. It's an attack on free

18:41

speech canard from the Trump legal team. It

18:43

was rather stunning to watch, but it can be effective when

18:45

it comes to messaging.

18:47

Not to us. It can be, I guess, to the

18:49

GOP base. Maybe you left that one

18:51

defense I love. John Laura said it wasn't

18:54

criminal what Trump

18:54

was doing. It was aspirational. See,

18:57

he just aspired to overturn the election.

18:59

So it's like me going to a bank and going, I

19:01

have a gun in my pocket and I'd like all your

19:04

money. That's not a crime. It's aspirational. I'm aspiring

19:06

to take the bank's money. You see, I can have

19:08

a dream. Can I say, look, I

19:11

believe, I believe all the money's mine. I believe

19:13

it in my heart that the money. It's my

19:15

money. So I'm just aspiring. What are you doing?

19:17

Imagine if that actually works as the fence. We just empty

19:20

the prisons right now. Anyone's and the idea

19:22

that we've ever watched an episode of law and order.

19:24

We've never heard anything you say can and will

19:26

be used against you in a court of law. We

19:29

all know this. They're arguing the opposite of the common sense, but

19:31

the right wing media, I guess it plays their

19:33

base. Like we learned with the Dominion lawsuit, Fox

19:36

News and others on the

19:37

right sometimes don't tell you the truth. They

19:39

tell their audience what they think their audience

19:41

wants to hear. Even if they're misleading them and making

19:43

them dumber, they don't care. That's what's going

19:45

on.

19:46

I guess my worry, Dean, is that right wing media also

19:49

influences quote unquote liberal media. So you have the New

19:51

York Times running pieces indulging the free

19:53

speech argument, which I think is a mistake. Renato, what

19:55

do you make of this new talking point from

19:57

Trump's lawyer this morning? Meet the...

19:59

He said, it only technically

20:02

violated the Constitution, and that's not

20:04

a violation of the law of criminal law when Trump

20:07

told Mike Pence to delay and

20:09

throw out the votes. We'll have whatever euphemism

20:11

we want to use.

20:12

Well technically is a word

20:15

that defense attorneys like. I may have

20:17

used it once or twice myself when I'm

20:19

talking about particular regulations or statutes.

20:22

But when you're talking about a technical violation,

20:25

that is when, let's just say, for example,

20:29

you're supposed to have your fence

20:31

under 50 feet and it turns out to be 51 or

20:34

something along those lines, where yes, you've

20:36

technically violated the law, but you're complying

20:39

with or comporting with the spirit of the law.

20:41

Constitution is not quite that way. It's

20:44

the law of the land. And as a practical

20:46

matter here, Donald Trump

20:48

is accused, I mean he's innocent until he's

20:51

proven guilty, but looking at that indictment,

20:53

he is accused of really

20:56

using all sorts of means

20:58

to deceive the American public in

21:00

order to unlawfully seize

21:03

power when it wasn't his and to stay

21:05

in power beyond the time

21:08

at which he was supposed to be as president of the United States.

21:11

It's really contrary to the

21:13

idea of the United States, what makes the United States

21:15

special, which is

21:18

the first president willfully stepping

21:20

down when he was done with this term.

21:23

I mean, quick last question to you, something

21:26

we've talked about before. Just want to get your view now that the

21:28

indictment is finally out.

21:30

Do you still believe Merrick Garland could

21:32

have done this much earlier? We didn't have

21:34

to wait this long. We didn't have to wait for Jack Smith.

21:37

Maggie, we're sending a great message that if you attempt

21:39

to coup, we're going to get you in two years and 220

21:41

days. Isn't that the

21:44

term? Come on. Merrick

21:46

Garland appointed Jack Smith on

21:48

March of 2021 when

21:50

he was sworn in because he knew Donald Trump was just

21:52

at CPAC two weeks before and was going to run.

21:55

That's the time Merrick Garland has done it. Jackson has done an amazing

21:57

job in seven months. I can't applaud him enough.

21:59

I said before, he's the John Wick of

22:02

prosecution. You keep saying John Wick died in

22:04

episode four. He didn't die. He's never going

22:06

to die. Don't ruin it. Don't ruin it

22:08

for people. They're already

22:10

making John Wick five.

22:12

They're making John Wick five. Calm down, everyone. Exactly.

22:16

So just like John Wick lives forever, Jack Smith will

22:18

live forever, Donald Trump's head as he sits in a prison cell

22:20

for his last days. That's my hope. We

22:23

will have to see. We will have to see. We

22:25

will have to see. You keep aspiring. Leonardo

22:27

Mariotti, Judge Lidorez Cordell, thank you for

22:29

your time. Dean, stick around. I've got some more

22:31

stuff to talk to you about later in the hour. Now,

22:34

the one thing Donald Trump will never have

22:36

to worry about is how history

22:38

will remember him. My 60-second rant

22:40

is next.

22:47

The

22:57

end. I love you, Miley. Thank

22:59

you so much.

23:00

You can listen to Andy Cohen Live

23:02

at home or anywhere you are. No car

23:05

required. Download the Sirius XM app

23:07

for over 425 channels

23:09

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23:12

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23:14

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23:18

Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake

23:21

up and bagelize. Get your taste buds

23:23

ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel sandwiches. Now

23:25

just $3 only on the app. Choose

23:28

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23:30

egg and cheese bagel, or sausage egg and cheese

23:32

bagel. Just $3 when you order ahead

23:34

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23:36

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23:38

813-2023 at participating McDonald's. Valid

23:43

one time per day or per person or any other

23:45

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23:46

Must opt into rewards.

23:54

It's time for what I like to call the 60 second rant.

23:56

Because with all these indictments of Donald Trump, it's worth stopping

23:59

to consider how unprecedented it is. Trump

24:01

is like no other president or presidential candidate

24:03

in American history. He has a list of firsts that

24:05

no one should want. Give me 60 seconds to remind you. Start

24:07

the clock. Donald

24:10

Trump is the first former president to be indicted for a state crime

24:12

after being indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney over Hush Money

24:14

payments to a porn star in April. The first former president to be indicted

24:16

for a federal crime after being indicted by Special Counsel

24:18

Jack Smith under the Espionage Act in June for unauthorized

24:21

retention of classified documents and conspiracy

24:23

to obstruct justice among other charges. The first former

24:25

president to be indicted for a federal crime for acts committed

24:27

while in office after being indicted by Special Counsel Jack

24:29

Smith this past Tuesday for trying to overturn the 2020 election

24:31

via lies fraud and conspiracy. The first

24:33

former president to be found liable of sexual abuse

24:35

in a New York courtroom in May. The first major party presidential

24:38

candidate who come election year will literally be on trial

24:40

for crimes, multiple trials in multiple jurisdictions. The first

24:42

president to repeatedly refuse to release details

24:45

of his taxes since presidents started voluntarily

24:47

doing so 50 years ago. The first president to be impeached

24:49

twice for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in 2019 and

24:51

for inciting an insurrection in 2021. The first

24:53

president who had a member of his own party vote to convict him in the Senate.

24:56

The first president ever to refuse to concede defeat in an election. The

24:59

first president in over a century

24:59

to boycott his successor's inauguration. The first

25:02

president to incite an insurrection in the nation's capital. And

25:05

therefore the first president to ever, ever

25:07

violate the peaceful transfer of power since

25:10

this country began.

25:14

After the break, the overlooked

25:16

Trump accomplices, even if they're not guilty

25:19

of crimes, Republicans like Ted Cruz and Ron

25:21

Johnson were integral to the ex-president's

25:24

allegedly criminal efforts to overturn the election

25:26

result. Plus, do not

25:28

forget you can listen to the Mad Yassin show anytime

25:30

free wherever you get your podcasts.

25:41

Since the latest Trump indictment

25:43

was unveiled on Tuesday, we've been working out the identities

25:46

of the six co-conspirators mentioned in the document. We

25:49

believe we know who five out of six are,

25:51

as confirmed by NBC reporting people like Rudy

25:53

Giuliani and Sidney Powell. But

25:55

questions remain about other potential

25:58

Trump accomplices, aside from the crisis.

25:59

criminal co-conspirators who appear throughout the

26:02

indictment, we know Trump had multiple allies

26:04

and enablers, including prominent members

26:06

of the United States Senate. There's Texas

26:09

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who repeatedly

26:11

sought to decertify and overturn the 2020 election

26:13

results. Credit to my colleague Ari Melba,

26:16

who pointed out how Cruz's remarks on

26:18

January the 6th – well, have a listen – quote,

26:20

what does it say to the nearly half the country that believes

26:23

this election was rigged if we vote, not

26:25

even to consider the claims, conduct a

26:27

10-day emergency audit. Consider the evidence.

26:30

That's Ted Cruz echoing the exact language

26:33

referenced in the indictment,

26:35

the very 10-day plan Trump had in mind according

26:37

to prosecutors. Then there's Utah Republican

26:39

Senator Mike Lee. We know he was a big supporter

26:41

of the fake electors scheme and promoted a key

26:43

person behind it. John Eastman, who reporting

26:46

reveals is one of those six co-conspirators in

26:48

the indictment. Texts between Lee and

26:50

former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in

26:52

November of 2020 show Lee saying

26:54

that he was at one point working, quote, 14

26:56

hours a day to help with the plan to prevent

26:59

Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win.

27:01

And last but not least, there's Republican Senator from

27:03

Wisconsin Ron Johnson. Johnson

27:06

makes a cameo in the indictment, but not by name.

27:08

He's mentioned as the United States Senator was contacted

27:11

on January the 6th by an agent of Donald

27:13

Trump and asked to, quote, hand deliver documents

27:15

to the vice president. Those documents,

27:17

which Johnson's staff then attempted to deliver to Pence,

27:20

were fraudulent certificates signed by fake

27:22

electors. The Pentagon rejected them in

27:24

the context of the new indictment from Jack Smith.

27:27

It's worth us all remembering this anti-democratic

27:29

conspiracy went way beyond

27:31

Trump or even the six unindicted co-conspirators

27:34

and included

27:35

shamefully senior

27:37

Republican members of the United States

27:39

Senate. Back with me now is Dean

27:41

Ovedola, host of the Dean Ovedola show on Sirius

27:44

XM. Dean, what does it mean

27:46

for American democracy that we have members of the

27:48

Senate, the most august highest body in the

27:51

land, who tried to overrule an

27:53

election? They have in some shape or form been

27:55

a part of this criminal conspiracy by

27:58

Trump. They may not have committed crimes themselves, but they were.

27:59

a criminal conspiracy adjacent. Absolutely,

28:03

and it's deeply concerning because it also

28:06

has more people on the base thinking what Trump did

28:08

was not illegal because their buddies who they love, Ted

28:11

Cruz or Ron Johnson,

28:12

were involved. When New York Tom's poll last week, 75% about

28:14

it Republicans, did

28:17

not think what Trump did was illegal. It

28:19

was his efforts to question the election. I will

28:21

say there's one person in the House you're leaving out, that's

28:23

Jim Jordan.

28:24

Jim Jordan, the January 6th report, is

28:26

the most talked about member of the Congress. They

28:28

defined Jim Jordan as a significant

28:31

player in the effort to overturn

28:33

the election. And I wrote about it before. Jim

28:35

Jordan was not involved in just talking, like some of the

28:38

other guys. He led meetings, numerous

28:40

meetings, on January 2nd, right before January 6th.

28:42

He led a conference call that Trump was on, a Rudy Giuliani,

28:45

they talked about stopping his certification, they

28:47

talked about social media posts to get people

28:50

to go down to the Capitol. That's all the

28:52

January

28:52

6th report. I think Jim Jordan actually

28:54

crossed from where you're talking about the senators into

28:56

a co-defendant as a criminal conspirator in this.

28:59

Now they're not gonna charge him, his name is not out there.

29:01

The January 6th committee, as people remember,

29:03

subpoenaed him. And he literally blew the subpoena

29:06

off and there was no penalty whatsoever.

29:08

This is a guy who talked to Donald Trump on January

29:10

6th.

29:11

And still, we don't know what he said and what was going on

29:13

there. We need to know that. So yeah, it's very deeply

29:16

alarming. Of course,

29:18

Jim Jordan is now the chair of a major committee. Republicans

29:21

control the House. There's really no way to get

29:23

him to be accountable in legislative

29:26

terms, but the Democrats still control the Senate,

29:28

which is what bothers me so much about Republican

29:30

senators who've gotten away with this for so

29:32

long. After January the 16th, I'm sure you remember,

29:35

there was a lot of talk about ethics committee investigations

29:38

of Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley.

29:40

Josh Hawley who famously raised the fist

29:42

at the protestors before they attacked his place

29:45

of work and then ran very fast. And

29:47

I just think what

29:48

happened to those investigations? What happened to the

29:50

ethics committee investigation? What happened to even a mild,

29:53

you know, wrap on the wrist for Hawley and

29:55

Cruz? Forget expelling them from the Senate.

29:58

And I wonder where Democrats are.

29:59

on this. I feel like Democrats went silent on this

30:02

far too quickly in the Senate and allowed these

30:04

two people to be normalized again when they shouldn't be normalized.

30:06

They should be shunned from polite company.

30:09

Well, are you saying Democrats are timid

30:12

when it comes to holding Republicans accountable? Because

30:14

I think you're absolutely right. We know this. Like

30:16

they get in the Senate,

30:17

especially in the Senate. Right. It's a chummy boys

30:19

club, essentially, with some women as well. But main

30:22

this history of this, they're very cordial

30:24

and they will not look at each

30:26

other the way they should. And that's why

30:28

you don't see Senate investigations. It's up there above

30:31

everything. I really think

30:32

they're just part of the establishment to that point

30:35

where until you have changed and there's some really good center,

30:37

don't get me wrong. And some have been on my show. But

30:39

overwhelmingly, the reality is it

30:41

is this old time club of let's

30:44

not cause problems. Let's have lunch together. Let's

30:46

talk about bigger issues like that. The

30:48

House for good or for bad, you know, the GOP

30:50

is a firebrand. And then the Democrats were there.

30:52

They did a great job. The January 6 committee. I have

30:55

I applaud that

30:56

so much. And you can pick out flaws,

30:58

but they do what they had to do. Senate Democrats,

31:00

you're not going to. And where are the Democratic hearings on

31:02

things like Clarence Thomas? I had to determine

31:05

on my show, the senator, I respect them. He's

31:07

like, everything's on the table. It must be a

31:09

big table. But you haven't got this opinion

31:11

that Clarence Thomas yet. You know, these are things

31:13

that we need Democrats to do and fight harder in

31:16

the Senate. Remember, you're protecting

31:18

our Democratic Republic. It's not partisan.

31:20

It's patriotism.

31:22

I mean, one last thing I would say on this is

31:24

what we've discovered since January 6 via January 6

31:27

committee, via media reporting, via this

31:29

indictment, is that you have senators, House

31:32

members and Supreme Court justices

31:34

all either directly or indirectly involved in

31:36

an attempt to overturn the election. And

31:38

none of them have been held to account. They're all still

31:40

going to be in place come 2024. That

31:43

is very worrying to me.

31:45

It is. And if it wasn't for

31:47

Jack Smith, Donald Trump would not be held accountable

31:49

as well. And it's deeply troubling that

31:51

we have Americans who believe this can't end.

31:54

But this Democratic Republic, this experiment

31:56

really can't end. So they don't feel the urgency that

31:59

you and I.

31:59

And maybe because we have family members from other

32:02

parts of the world where they've seen democracy come and

32:04

go and that it's not going to be there forever

32:06

and they don't get it. So that's the thing

32:08

for me. My fellow Americans understand it

32:11

could happen here because it's happening. It's

32:13

not a drill. We deal with an authoritarian

32:15

movement on US soil and it's up to us to save

32:17

us. Come November 2024, you can't rely

32:19

on Jack Smith or a jury.

32:21

It's going to be up. But understand the urgency is

32:23

here. Here's the urgency of now. It's right now.

32:25

And it's up to us. Well said. It's

32:28

not some future attack. It's happening right

32:30

now. Dean Obadola, thank you so much for your time

32:32

and your analysis. We appreciate it.

32:34

Later in the hour. Hypocritical.

32:38

Shameless. Those words don't

32:40

do justice to the actions of Donald Trump's sons

32:43

in the wake of this latest indictment.

32:51

Some

32:57

of the world's biggest celebrities. Paris

32:59

Hilton. Chelsea Andler. Seth Rogen.

33:02

I love you Miley.

33:03

Thank you so much. You can listen to Andy Cohen live

33:05

at home or anywhere you are. No car

33:08

required. Download the Sirius XM app

33:10

for over 425 channels

33:12

of ad free music, sports, entertainment

33:15

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33:17

months free. Offer details apply.

33:21

Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake

33:24

up and bagel eyes. Get your taste buds

33:26

ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel sandwiches. Now

33:28

just $3 only on the app. Choose

33:31

from a delicious steak, egg and cheese bagel, bacon,

33:33

egg and cheese bagel or sausage, egg and cheese

33:35

bagel. Just $3 when you order ahead

33:37

on the app. Hurry and seize this breakfast

33:39

steal before it's gone. Offer valid 717

33:41

2023 through 813 2023 at participating McDonald's valid one time per day or per person or

33:48

any other limitation.

33:49

Must opt into rewards.

33:51

Still

33:55

to come, another oversight committee

33:57

hearing gone wrong for Republicans. The

34:00

so-called star witness, a former Hunter Biden

34:02

business associate, ended up telling them

34:04

what they didn't want to hear about Joe Biden,

34:06

taking even more air out of their far-fetched

34:08

fantasy about a quote unquote Biden

34:11

crime family. Stick around for more of my

34:13

analysis on that. But first, Richard

34:15

Louie is here with the headlines. Hello, Richard.

34:18

Mandy, good evening to you. A train derailment

34:20

is where we start in Pakistan that killed at least 30

34:22

people and injured at least 80. 10 cars

34:25

of the Hazara Express went off the track,

34:28

some overturning leaving passengers trapped.

34:29

The minister of railway is saying

34:32

the crash could be due to sabotage or a mechanical

34:34

failure. An investigation was underway.

34:37

Ukraine officials say a Russian guided air

34:39

bomb hit a blood transfusion center

34:42

in northeast Ukraine Saturday. It

34:44

killed two people and injured four. Ukraine's

34:46

president said the attack is a war crime that

34:49

quote says everything about Russian aggression.

34:52

It comes one day after a Russian oil tanker

34:54

under US sanctions was damaged

34:56

in a Ukrainian sea drone strike. And

34:59

flood waters receding in Juneau,

35:01

Alaska after a glacial outburst

35:03

led to unprecedented flooding. The

35:06

Mendenhall River crested at nearly 15

35:08

feet Saturday. Reports suggest

35:10

at least two homes like you see here were

35:12

destroyed. Authorities urged residents to

35:15

stay away from the area due to debris left

35:17

behind. More of the Mandy Hassan show

35:19

for you right after this break.

35:26

A week ago tonight the GOP was

35:28

up in arms over their quote bombshell witness

35:31

in the Hunter Biden investigation, former

35:33

Hunter Business Associate Devin Archer. Republicans

35:36

created a conspiracy theory that the DOJ was looking

35:38

to jail Archer ahead of his testimony to

35:41

Congress. Except Archer was already

35:43

indicted last November on an unrelated

35:45

charge and sentenced to a year and a day in prison. The

35:48

DOJ letter in question was seeking a date to

35:50

begin his jail sentence, which Archer kept delaying.

35:53

Archer did end up testifying to the House Oversight

35:56

Committee behind

35:56

closed doors this past week and

35:59

Republicans wasted no time. time taking to the

36:01

airwaves to hype his testimony up.

36:05

Every day this bribery scandal becomes

36:07

more credible. He also said that Hunter

36:09

Biden was under immense pressure to call

36:11

Washington D.C. immediately and

36:14

try to get Shokin fired.

36:16

That's the Ukrainian prosecutor. Devin Archer

36:18

was clear that the value Hunter Biden brought

36:20

to the business arrangement was the Biden

36:22

brand. The Biden brand, of course, is Joe Biden.

36:25

He involved his father in business

36:27

transactions all over the world. Today

36:30

took a huge step towards implicating

36:32

Joe Biden.

36:34

Well, that would be quite the bombshell,

36:36

except the transcript shows that's

36:38

not what Archer said at all. Question.

36:42

Are you aware of any wrongdoing by Vice President

36:44

Biden? Archer. No, I'm

36:46

not aware of any. So based on everything you saw,

36:48

heard and observed, did you have any knowledge of Joe Biden

36:50

having any involvement with Burisma? Archer.

36:53

No, not direct. No. No

36:56

involvement of Joe? Archer.

36:58

No. No. No.

37:01

My only thought is that I think Burisma would have gone out of business if

37:03

it didn't have the brand attached to it.

37:06

Well, well. No Joe Biden involvement

37:08

in Burisma. No wrongdoing by Joe

37:10

Biden. His words. They're star witness's

37:13

words. Oh, and that whole talking point

37:15

from Comer and Jordan about Biden

37:17

having Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor

37:20

Shokin fired because Shokin was investigating

37:22

Burisma, who's board Hunter Biden sat on.

37:25

Well, Archer himself acknowledged under oath to Democratic

37:28

Congressman Dan Goldman that Shokin was

37:30

actually good for Burisma. He was soft

37:32

on alleged corruption. As for

37:34

the bombshell bribery allegations against

37:37

the Bidens, as Philip Bump writes in

37:39

the Washington Post, Archer said under penalty of

37:41

perjury that he was never aware of any such

37:43

bribe offered to Hunter Biden or

37:45

anyone else. So Republicans

37:48

are straight up lying about what Archer

37:50

told them. But that's not stopping Congressman Comer

37:53

from saying Democrats are the real liars

37:55

here.

37:57

last

38:00

week, you'll either have Jamie

38:02

Raskin or Dan Goldman come out and

38:04

tell the press complete lies.

38:08

Yeah, who should we believe?

38:10

Dan Goldman, who could be seen in the official transcript

38:13

asking Archer questions, or James Comer,

38:15

who according to the Daily Beast, wasn't even

38:18

in the room when it happened and skipped

38:20

the meeting altogether.

38:22

Yeah, the Republicans apparently

38:24

want you not to believe your own

38:27

lying eyes. Coming

38:29

up at 9 Eastern with Ayman Moyadene, Tim

38:32

Hayfe, the lead investigator of the January

38:34

6th committee, joins the show to discuss how

38:36

Trump's latest indictment vindicates his

38:39

panel's work, plus Wisconsin

38:41

Democratic Party Chair Ben Wickler on the dire

38:43

straits that state Republican parties

38:46

find themselves in. But stick around,

38:48

after the break, Ayman joins me for a look

38:50

at the brazen hypocrisy of Trump's

38:53

closest defenders, his children.

38:55

And don't worry,

38:56

we've got receipts. Thank

39:00

you for watching.

39:05

We'll be right back here next Sunday

39:07

at 8pm Eastern. You can now find this show on the

39:09

MSNBC hub on Peacock, a new episode

39:12

of the show airs every week on Thursdays.

39:14

Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake

39:17

up and bagel eyes. Get your taste buds

39:19

ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel sandwiches, now

39:21

just $3, only on the app. Choose

39:24

from a delicious steak egg and cheese bagel, bacon egg and cheese

39:26

bagel, or sausage egg and cheese bagel. Just $3

39:29

when you order ahead on the app. Hurry and seize

39:31

this breakfast steal before it's gone. Offer

39:34

valid 717-2023 through 813-2023 at participating McDonald's. Valid

39:39

one time per day or per person or any other

39:41

limitation.

39:42

Must

39:42

opt into rewards.