WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt breaks down Donald Trump's & Ron DeSantis's war vs. the DOJ

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<v Speaker 1>Today is June twenty first, twenty twenty three, and American

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<v Speaker 1>democracy remains in crisis. The evidence of this is from

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<v Speaker 1>today's lead of The New York Times. Let me read

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<v Speaker 1>from it. Donald J. Trump has promised that if he

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<v Speaker 1>wins back to presidency, he will appoint a special prosecutor

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<v Speaker 1>to quote go after end quote President Biden and his family.

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<v Speaker 1>But He's not the only Republican running for president who

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<v Speaker 1>appears to be abandoning long established norms in Washington presidents

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<v Speaker 1>keeping their hands out of specific Justice Department investigations and

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<v Speaker 1>prosecut custance. Mister Trump, who leads the GOP field by

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<v Speaker 1>around thirty percentage points in national public polls, yields such

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<v Speaker 1>powerful influence that only a few of his Republican rivals

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<v Speaker 1>are willing to clearly say presidents should not interfere in

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<v Speaker 1>such Justice Department decisions. After mister Trump's vow to direct

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<v Speaker 1>the Justice Department to appoint a quote real end quote

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<v Speaker 1>prosecutor to investigate the bidence. The New York Times asked

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<v Speaker 1>each of his Republican rivals questions aimed at laying out

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<v Speaker 1>what limits, if any, they believed presidents must or should

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<v Speaker 1>respect when it comes to White House interference with federal

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<v Speaker 1>law enforcement decisions. The incredible aspect about the New York

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<v Speaker 1>Times question, of course, is that it's taken until twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty three for them to ask anybody in the world

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<v Speaker 1>Publican party the question, because the assault against the rule

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<v Speaker 1>of law has been ongoing for seven years. But at

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<v Speaker 1>any rate, the New York Times has finally asked the question.

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<v Speaker 1>Better late than never, As they say, let's continue reading

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<v Speaker 1>though another remarkable paragraph that highlights the extremism that has

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<v Speaker 1>taken route fully in the Republican Party. According to The

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times, the Republican candidates quote responses reveal a

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<v Speaker 1>party that has turned so hard against federal law enforcement

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<v Speaker 1>that it is no longer widely considered good politics To

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<v Speaker 1>clearly answer in the negative a question that was once uncontroversial.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you believe presidents should get involved in the investigations

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<v Speaker 1>and prosecutions of individuals? End quote at hand is a

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<v Speaker 1>fundamental question It is a question about liberty, freedom, the

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<v Speaker 1>rule of law, political power its limits, and the safety

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<v Speaker 1>of every American to be safe in their homes, free

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<v Speaker 1>from the knock on the door in the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the night. That is the question at hand. Each American

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<v Speaker 1>has a birthright of freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of

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<v Speaker 1>faith and religion, freedom of conscience, the freedom to pursue

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<v Speaker 1>happiness and to become whatever it is they wish to be.

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<v Speaker 1>That is what freedom is. Each American has a right

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<v Speaker 1>to defy authority, to protest injustice, to raise their voices

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<v Speaker 1>in dissent, to say no without fear of consequence of

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<v Speaker 1>reprisal from the government in the form of elected officials

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<v Speaker 1>abusing their power. This is a free country. America is

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<v Speaker 1>not a dictatorship. In America, we do not imprison our

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<v Speaker 1>political opponents on a whim. We do not say that

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<v Speaker 1>because I lost an election, I will seek revenge and

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<v Speaker 1>when I resume power, I will imprison those who opposed me.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not American. This is as un American a

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<v Speaker 1>sentiment as there could conceivably be. This is a reckless

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<v Speaker 1>abandonment of the precepts, the ideas, and ideals of the

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<v Speaker 1>American Revolution. The Constitution in two hundred years of jurisprudence

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<v Speaker 1>that has evolved to make the United States of America

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<v Speaker 1>a global standard for the rule of law, for the

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<v Speaker 1>application of justice blindly on the facts, not on the

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<v Speaker 1>basis of fantasy, of politics, of false accusation. Does anybody

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<v Speaker 1>have any doubt whatsoever that Donald Trump would not make

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<v Speaker 1>a false accusation against a political enemy to imprison them.

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<v Speaker 1>How many would he imprison? How many journalists would be

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<v Speaker 1>locked up? How many opponents? How many activists would it be,

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<v Speaker 1>by the hundreds, by the thousands. It's time we stop

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<v Speaker 1>and think about these issues, to think about them both

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<v Speaker 1>abstractly and concretely. The issue is one of restraint. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is the concept that The New York Times doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>seem to understand at a foundational and conceptual level about

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<v Speaker 1>how the American government is organized. Take this remarkable paragraph

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<v Speaker 1>from their story. Mister Trump's closest rival, Governor Ron DeSantis

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<v Speaker 1>of Florida, has flatly said he does not believe the

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<v Speaker 1>Justice Department is independent from the White House as a

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<v Speaker 1>matter of law, while leaving it ambiguous where he stands

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<v Speaker 1>on the issues of presidents get involved in investigation decisions.

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<v Speaker 1>The New York Times may be unclear on this, but

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<v Speaker 1>Governor DeSantis is one hundred percent correct, and I won't

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<v Speaker 1>be saying that very often here. The Justice Department is

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<v Speaker 1>a part of the executive branch, and as such, the

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<v Speaker 1>President does have authority over the Justice Department. There should

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<v Speaker 1>be no lack of clarity over that question. The Attorney General,

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<v Speaker 1>like the FBI Director, serves at the pleasure of the

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<v Speaker 1>President of the United States and with the advice and

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<v Speaker 1>consent of the United States Senate. Like every federal official,

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<v Speaker 1>including the President, these people are invested with temporary and

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<v Speaker 1>limited powers under a Constitution of the United States that

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<v Speaker 1>is the oldest and most enduring in the world. The

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<v Speaker 1>issue is not authority. The issue is restraint. The American

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<v Speaker 1>system of government, like all democracy, requires the practice of restraint.

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<v Speaker 1>There is no acceptable argument in a democracy that grants

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<v Speaker 1>the head of state, the commander in chief, the arbitrary

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<v Speaker 1>power to order investigations of those that displease him, whether

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<v Speaker 1>the displeasure be something that they set in a newspaper

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<v Speaker 1>column or wrote, or set on television, or god forbid,

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<v Speaker 1>had the temerity even to challenge the most powerful person

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<v Speaker 1>in the world politically, for his job for his office.

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<v Speaker 1>For seven long years from the moment that Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>descended the escalator into the batwels of Trump Tower and

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<v Speaker 1>began his crusade against American democracy, the American press has

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<v Speaker 1>largely foregone asking questions about his beliefs in democracy in

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<v Speaker 1>the government. There have been few questions that test his

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<v Speaker 1>understanding of it conceptually foundationally. The simple truth is Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump has no clue about how the American system is organized,

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<v Speaker 1>and judging by the paragraph written by five New York

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<v Speaker 1>Times journalists, some of them don't either. The issue at

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<v Speaker 1>hand is whether the use of law enforcement will be

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<v Speaker 1>politically weaponized by politicians for their self advantage, their self interest.

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<v Speaker 1>What we're talking about here is whether to officially license

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<v Speaker 1>corruption and the police apparatus of the state for the

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<v Speaker 1>purpose of politics. The second that happens, we have a

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<v Speaker 1>secret police in the United States, and democracy will be

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<v Speaker 1>strangled murdered by a secret police. A country where there

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<v Speaker 1>are leaders, whether it be a president, a governor, a

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<v Speaker 1>crooked mayor a sheriff, can make their own law and

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<v Speaker 1>apply it and target their enemies is not a free country.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a dictatorship. This is what Americans must guard against.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what Americans must stand against. And this speaks

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<v Speaker 1>to the deep, deep, deep, deep, deep deep rot inside

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<v Speaker 1>the Maga Republican Party. Every single person running for president

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<v Speaker 1>knows how wrong this is, how sick and twisted this

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<v Speaker 1>is with regard to the entire American way of life,

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<v Speaker 1>which is dependent on the concept of an evenly applied

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<v Speaker 1>rule of law, with no citizen above it and no

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<v Speaker 1>citizen below. This is a radical departure from the American experiment,

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<v Speaker 1>from the foundational ideas that Martin Luther King, that Frederick Douglass,

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<v Speaker 1>that Abraham Lincoln, that John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt and a

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<v Speaker 1>thousand other patriots stood for, some martyring themselves, some laying

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<v Speaker 1>down their lives, some dedicating their lives for the preservation

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<v Speaker 1>of a system that keeps us safe from the jackboot

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<v Speaker 1>of government authority into talitarianism. That's what this story in

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<v Speaker 1>the New York Times is about. One of America's two

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<v Speaker 1>major political parties has left the defense of democracy to

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<v Speaker 1>the other political party. They have turned against it. The

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<v Speaker 1>aphrodisiac of power, the desire of one man, and the

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<v Speaker 1>cowardice of many many others have created one of the

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<v Speaker 1>great threats America faces, and there is no institution coming

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<v Speaker 1>to the rescue. It is up to the American people

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<v Speaker 1>to defend the American way of life. Millions of Americans

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<v Speaker 1>have sacrificed so much to pass on to us a

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<v Speaker 1>chance to make our country more perfect, more just, and

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<v Speaker 1>more free. They did not finish that job. They left

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<v Speaker 1>it to us. We will not finish that job. We

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<v Speaker 1>will hand it all, but we must not allow well

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<v Speaker 1>we hand off to become so corrupted that a wanna

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<v Speaker 1>be dictator like Donald Trump can order the arrest, detention,

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<v Speaker 1>and imprisonment of anyone he wishes just because he doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>like what they say, or think or believe. That is

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<v Speaker 1>as un American a thought, a concept as there could

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<v Speaker 1>ever be