WEBVTT - George Conway & Ryan Mac 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.160 Hi, I'm Molly john Fast and this is Fast Politics, 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:07.120 where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:12.520 today's best minds, and Mike Johnson vows to hold federally 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:17.000 hostage to the state of California after the deadly fires. 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.639 We have such a great show for you today. The 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:24.800 Atlantics George Conway stops by to talk to us about 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.280 the Jack Smith report and Biden's final days. Then we'll 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.600 talk to The New York Times Ryan Mack about Tech Bros. 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.760 Fires and what's happening in California. But first the. 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:40.280 News, Smalie, have you been popping the popcorn while Pete 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:41.760 Higgsith gets confirmed today? 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.680 No, I have been watching the Pete Hegseith confirmation and 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.720 thinking to myself, they prepared him really well. 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.560 Can I play you a contradiction to prepared very well? 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:53.160 Yes? 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.120 Please, mister Higgs said, I do not believe that you 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.440 are qualified to meet the Oldwhelm meet the band job. 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:05.480 We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you. A 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.640 variety of sources, including your own writings, implicate you with 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:15.200 disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racists, and sexist 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:20.160 remarks about men and women. In uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.640 sexual harassment, and other troubling issues. I have reviewed many 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:29.520 of these allegations and find them extremely alarming. Indeed, the 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.840 totality of your own writings and elected conduct that would 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:37.360 disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in military, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.000 much less being confirmed. 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:40.760 As a Secretary of Defense. 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.319 Nonetheless, I understand that you reject many of these reports 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.160 as they involve whistleblowers, non disclosure agreements, and are anonymous, 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.000 although numerous sources the HECKSA. 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.000 What is the highest level of international negotiations that you 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:58.160 have engaged in that you've led them? Because the Secrety 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:02.200 Defense does lead international security negotiations, there are three main 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.800 ones that the Secretary of Defense leads and signs. Can 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:06.240 you name at least one of them? 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.160 Could you repeat the question, Sena, sure, what. 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:13.200 Is the highest level of international security agreement that you 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.800 have led? And can you name some that the Secretary 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:18.760 of Defense would lead? There are three main ones. 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:23.000 I have not been involved in international security arrangements because 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:25.240 I have not been in government other than serving in 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.720 the military, So my job has been you name one 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.760 of the three main ones that talking about defense arrangements, 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:33.800 I mean NATO might be one of the one that 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:34.520 you're referring to. 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:37.840 Status of Forces agreement would be one of them, stead of. 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.800 Force status of forces agreement. I've been a part of 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.360 teaching about Status of Forces agreement. 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:46.840 You don't remember to mention it. You're not qualified, mister heiseth. 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.600 You're not qualified. You talk about repairing our defense industrial. 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:52.680 Complex, you're not qualified to that. 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.200 You could do the acquisition and cross servicing agreements, which essentially. 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.359 I thought he did a pretty good job. I mean, 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.000 I'm not a head fan, and you know, there are 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:07.000 definitely cabinet appointees that seem like they will sail through. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.519 I was sort of on the fence about whether he 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:11.519 would sail through, but I actually think he's going to 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:15.600 get through. And look, the problem with him is twofold, right, 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:20.320 he's not competent to run a three million plus organization 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:24.160 of more than three million people. And he's also clearly 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:32.000 has some form of alcohol issue. Maybe he's not God, 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:35.960 I mean right, I mean, he clearly has. He's clearly 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.560 a person who should not drink. But I thought he 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.920 did well. I thought they prepared him well. And the 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.320 only moment where he really got flu mixed was when 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.600 he couldn't answer that question to Duck Wars, I thought, 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.559 what the mistake that Democrats made here was not coordinating 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.320 better with each other. And I think that what would 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.800 have worked really well. And I'm not sure why they 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.920 didn't do this, and I know that they don't historically 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.400 do this, but I think they should start was I 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:08.760 wish they had had each member of the committee focused 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.000 on a different aspect. I think they would have done 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.680 better had they asked questions and then made him answer 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.280 them instead of like I saw this a couple of 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:23.160 different times in the hearings. You had someone like Senator Jillibrand, 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:27.320 who's obviously, like, very passionate about this topic for obvious 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.880 reasons as am I. But you know, she'd ask him 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:31.720 a question he wouldn't be able to answer, and then 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.400 she'd just keep going. And I wonder how much if 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:39.800 these interviewers, if these senators would ask a question and 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:45.039 push push push for answers, that they might get more 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:49.680 Like I think that the moments of like a senator 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:52.440 grand standing, and that we saw this on left and 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:54.719 the right. We always see this, you know, that's kind 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.640 of the joke about these committee hearings. I almost wondered 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.600 if we could have more of the just like push 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.640 him to try to get him to answer questions, because 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.680 if you can't answer a question that says more than 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.800 a senator saying stuff we already know they think. 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.520 Or they collapse like Kavanaugh did with the I drink beer, right. 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:15.719 I think that might have been a better way to 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:20.320 do it than to just sort of keep going, you know, 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.719 keep talking and talking and talking. We get it, we 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.559 get it, And I think that would have been better. Look, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.839 I never thought that Democrats would be able to prevent 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:34.039 hegseeth and I'm not sure how Like the ones that 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.520 I the ones that keep me up at night are 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:42.000 Gabbard and RFK and Cash Battel. Everyone else I think 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.920 is sort of I just don't know how many people 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.720 you can possibly filibuster. And I think he's going to 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:49.159 get through. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.560 Yeah, seems that way after today, so mally switching gears. 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.920 Jack Smith's report dropped last night, and it seems like 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.840 Trump would have been convicted as the analysis. What are 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:02.480 you seeing here? 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.839 Well, with all this stuff, you know, the rules were 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.960 made that like you can't convict a former president, you 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:10.880 can't do this to a form, you know, they were 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:14.480 at every point there were these rules that the Justice 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:19.800 Department made that protected Trump from any accountability, and then 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.400 they sort of tried to get him accountability and they couldn't. 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.480 So I do think, like Merrick Garland, the fact that 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:30.200 this even got released so far after Trump was in 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:35.040 office is a really good example of how much these 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.880 this was sort of a failure on the part of 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:42.480 Merrick Garland, Like, this stuff should have come out right away. 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:46.800 They should have, you know, gone all in unaccountability, They 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:51.359 should have held Trump accountable. Now, this coming out a 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.880 week before he's inaugurated, less than a week before he's inaugurated, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.920 he's a real sign that everything didn't go the way 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.360 it was supposed to it. There's not a ton of 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:06.159 new information though the forty fifth president inspired his supporters 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.840 to commit acts of physical violence. That's a statement you 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.040 really don't want ever written about you. He's spread a 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.640 false narrative about election fraud in the twenty twenty race, 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:19.880 he determined in the final report. So, I mean, those 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:24.200 are serious, serious, serious allegations, which we also happen in 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.200 real time. And then let's also add that Trump is 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:32.080 so struck by them that. In response, he hits out 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.320 at Smith at one am when normal people are sleeping, 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:39.920 but he and Elon are on the internet, branding Smith 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.320 to be deranged and a lame brain prosecutor. Look, it's 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:48.800 a weird moment in Trump world, where you have he's won, 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:54.280 he's about to be president again, and yet he's still 0:07:54.440 --> 0:08:00.600 really angry that Jack Smith is releasing this report. You know, 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:02.480 it's funny. It's like, you think about it, it's like 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:07.480 Trump knows deep down that he did something wrong. Right, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.560 People who don't think they did something wrong don't stay 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.440 up all night tweeting about a report, right, they just 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.760 go bad. I mean, I'm serious, Like there's like real 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:21.200 telltale heart stuff going on here. By the way, the 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.160 fact that this gets released a few days before the confirmation, 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.679 it makes everybody look stupid, right. It makes the people 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:31.000 supported Trump look stupid. It makes Trump look stupid. It 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.760 makes the people who know that Trump did someling wrong. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:37.000 I mean, you know it under it sort of makes 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.480 a mockery of everyone on the left and the right 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.480 because it shows that the system doesn't work, that it 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.360 didn't work, and that you know, Trump is now going 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.720 back into office. So I think of it as like 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:52.480 it really shows it on every point that nobody did 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.600 what they were supposed to do, and that democracy, you know, 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.360 it continues to be in real peril. 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.640 Yeah, speaking of things that are in peril. For as 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.520 long as I can remember paying attention to the news 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:08.040 would be sitting at the table with my family. I 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.960 can remember Republicans wanting to cut SNAP. But I would say, 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.559 right now, we're probably in the time where the crosshairs 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.000 could be shot most effectively, and it's looking like that's 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.800 where Republicans are aiming very early on in these first 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:23.520 hundred days of the Trump administration. 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:28.920 So the central tension here is that Trump and Republicans 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.600 want to cut the social safety net. They want to 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.800 take away stuff like Snap, and they want to do it. 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.080 That's food stamps. They used to be called food stamps 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:40.880 when we were young. They want to do it in 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.920 order to pay for these billionaire tax cuts, millionaire billionaire 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.880 tax cuts. So the underlying tension of the election was 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:54.160 always that these twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen tax cuts, they 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:58.559 basically the only piece of legislation Trump was able to enact, 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:03.920 would expire if Biden or Harris Scott elected, re elected, 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.720 and so what happened instead when Trump won was that 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.200 he wants to make the fiscal conservatives happy by giving 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.920 them something. He wants to keep these tax cuts where 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.880 they are, and so what he is planning to do 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:22.280 is cut Social Security of Medicare. But that's very unpopular, 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.760 and so Republicans are trying to figure out a way 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:31.160 to cut Social Security and Medicare without getting political blowback 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:36.360 for cutting Social Security and Medicare. And there's different stuff 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:39.440 going around. Look, you know, Mike Johnson has a one 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.560 seat majority in the United States Congress. He has now 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:48.360 been told that he has to punish California for having wildfires, 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:52.160 you know, even though they are the fifth largest economy 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.920 in the world and pay into the federal government quite 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.920 a bit more than any of the states that Donald 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:03.040 Trump likes. Right, there's sort of the quote unquote good states. 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:07.560 So hard for me to imagine that this will end 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.360 well for anyone. I do want to just add the 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.440 California if they decide they don't want to be a 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:18.880 part of America, they could be their own country tomorrow. 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:24.280 And so playing chicken with California on federal aid seems 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.760 like a loser for them right, because, like think about it, 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:32.360 there is no world in which this doesn't end poorly 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:37.240 for Trump and for everyone involved. So I think that 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.559 I think that that ultimately California will get as much 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.920 eight as it wants. And I think that all this 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:48.360 dumb grandstanding about woke won't serve anyone. 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:53.559 Yeah, except for Republican fundraising from the people who who 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:54.480 cheer for that stuff. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:04.120 George Conway is a contributor to the Atlantic and a lawyer. 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:09.720 Welcome back, too Fast Politics, My best friend and also 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:14.920 fellow dog owner, the one the only Papa Conway. 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:18.720 Welcome, Welcome, well, thank you for having me once again 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.160 for the five thousand, six hundred and forty seventh time. 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.760 Look, man, you make good content. 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.640 We're just here, No, I just feel when you can't 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.320 find anybody better. I'm the one you go to, which 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:33.040 is fine, Which is fine. That's one role as your friend, 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:33.920 it's my role. 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:38.280 That is an insane, insane thing to think, but I'll 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.640 let you do if it keep if it keeps you humble. 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:45.439 Let's talk about why it's a bad idea to issue 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:50.320 preemptive pardons and make a complete mockery out of the 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.920 justice system. You might not know where I stand on this. 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:56.840 I don't believe in making a complete mockery of the 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:00.719 justice system. So therefore, if you believe that the preemptive 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.079 Partners would do that, I support your position completely. No 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:09.240 I understand the rationale for them or the motivation for them. 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:10.960 I think there are a lot of people and have 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:16.160 actually had this discussion on Michael Cohen's podcast and express 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:18.959 this view, and he yelled at me, but he always yells, 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:21.640 that's what he does on his podcast. But my view, 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:23.679 you know, I feel bad for the people who could 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:29.240 potentially be victimized by bullshit prosecutions by the next administration. 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.240 On the other hand, I don't believe that people who 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.840 have not done anything wrong should be tarnished with the 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.320 suggestion they have done in something by being offered a pardon. 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:44.199 And I think legally accepting a pardon does not actually 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.880 constitute an admission of guilt, but it is commonly viewed 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.640 as such. I think the best way to defend people 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:57.160 who are subject to false accusations and trumped up accusations, 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.280 so to speak, would be to defend them, and I, 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.240 for one, will contribute money and I will contribute time 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.000 to help these people I think there are going to 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.040 be a lot of lawyers who will volunteer to help 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.640 these people. And that being said, I don't you know, 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:13.840 it's small consolation to having your life potentially turned upside 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:17.800 down by bullsh investigation. But at the end of the day, 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.200 I still think there is some justice left in our 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:22.840 justice system. And you know, at the end of the day, 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.480 you still have to prove of facts in a courtroom 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.520 beyond a reasonable doubt that const due to crime in 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.600 order to put somebody in jail, and with good lawyering, 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.960 and I think that, you know, the risk that people 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.720 are really going to be unjustly prosecuted is not high 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:44.520 and convicted, I deeply, deeply empathize with people who might 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.440 be subject to this. This is just the way we 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:47.960 have to do it. I mean, I don't think the 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:52.160 preemptive party really would be constructive. It would be used 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:56.400 politically against the people who are standing up for democracy. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.480 I just think there's so many reasons that it's a 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:00.760 bad idea. It shouldn't get off ground. And I think 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:02.720 I don't think it's actually going to happen. I think 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:04.040 what happened by now. 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:06.920 Yeah, And I also think part of it is that 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.600 the people who are the very famous people like the 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:16.200 Liz Chenese. It ultimately is actually worse to publicly take 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.600 these pardons, is worse for democratic norms than to not. 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.040 Yeah, I am sure that Liz Cheney would never accept 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.200 the party, she would not ask for one, and she'd 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.840 be perfectly happy to engage in a fight over And 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.600 they have so many defenses, these people who worked in 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.600 the January sixth Committee, this is all going to end 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:40.080 up being smoke by the chief lunatic. My new title 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.600 for him is first Felon of the United States. And 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:51.160 again that's ffotus all caps. It should be capitalized because 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.440 out of respect, first felons should be capitalized. It should 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.640 be capitalized because it's referring very specifically to an individual. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.920 So any English teacher will tell you that he is 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.080 the first felon in multiple senses, the first felon to 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.840 ever be elected president and to become president. He is 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.360 the chief felon of the United States in the sense 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:15.560 there are no other felons who really exceed his authority 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:17.840 in power. And I was achieved as much as him, 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.360 so I mean, he really is the first felon of 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:22.720 the United States. And maybe I should raise some money 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:23.479 for a billboard. 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.440 I think that's coming. There's no way that's not coming. 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.160 Billboard to go up and say, welcome to you know, 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.800 to somewhere in Palm Beach. Welcome to mar A Lago, 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:35.480 home of the nation's first felon. First felon, of course, 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:40.480 would be really nice mugshot picture of the first felon. 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:41.479 That's wonderful. 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:43.920 This is and this is my announcement of this idea. 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:48.200 I think people should do this maybe and I save 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.359 this for your podcast. 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.520 It clearly seems that this is coming. So let's talk 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.600 about the Jack Smith report that broke last night. It 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.160 feels to me, and again I could be wrong, that 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.040 were those two have dropped a little earlier, it would 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:07.760 have been a little bit better to discuss. 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:09.840 I think it would have been better for the report 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.320 to have dropped earlier. I think it would even be 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.520 better than better if the whole investigation had been conducted earlier. 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.520 It led to this report. The report is, you know, 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:24.359 absolutely a scathing condemnation of the first felon of the 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.320 United States, but it doesn't add much to the public record. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.199 I mean I skimmed through it and I read the 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.719 press reports because I figured that if there was something 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:36.199 additional juice, that there was juicy that we didn't know before, 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:38.720 the press would have seized on it. But I skimmed 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.680 the one hundred and thirty seven page and then footnotes, 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.760 and it doesn't appear that there is that much in 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:45.920 there that is new, I mean. And the fact of 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.280 the matter is, most of what we know about what 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:52.200 Trump did on January sixth, twenty twenty one, we knew 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:55.320 by January eighth, twenty twenty one, Okay, after we read 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:59.040 the morning newspapers on that day, after a full day 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.239 of reporting, knew what he did, what most of what 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:04.600 he did was on the public record, and it certainly 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.199 was you know, I think the January sixth committee did 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.160 an excellent job investigating this, and I think I'm sure 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:14.080 Jack Smith not only replicated that but exceeded that. But 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.040 the truth of the matter is we've already seen basically 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.240 what the material that would have prosecuted him and convicted him, 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.200 you know, when after the Supreme Court's Community decision, it's 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.119 all out there, and all of that information, most of 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:30.280 that information, it wasn't necessary to conduct all of those 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.879 other investigations of all the minions, the one thousand people, 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.720 the Proud Boys, the whatnot and the other hooligans who 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:41.399 were convicted. There should have been a parallel investigation starting 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:45.760 champe Ey twentieth twenty first, twenty twenty one, the US 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.200 Attorney's office. They should have handled the people on the hill, 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.920 the jan sixers, the little guys, and there should have 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:55.360 been a special council appointed then to handle what happened 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:58.200 from the White House down and then could have them 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.720 meet if there were connections, you have the people work together. 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.080 But if they had done that, this case would have 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:08.080 been tried two years ago or three. It wasn't that complicated. 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.480 Knew what he did on the theories that Smith ultimately 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.520 brought this case, and it was a streamline case because 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.800 it was directed at one man, the man who, as 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:24.160 the report says, instigated the entire event, the entire attempt 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.520 to overthrow the Constitution of the United States, and the 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:30.080 violence against police office, the destruction at the Capitol. It 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:33.200 was all because of him. Now you cannot you can't 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:37.400 say that he was conspiring with the individuals who conducted 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.280 the physical violence. But he did try to pollute the 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:44.080 electoral process. He tried to commit fraud on state legislators, 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:49.000 on the Congress, all selectoral certificates, so many things that 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.600 just basically were out there in the public, and the 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:56.920 theories on which Trump was charged didn't require an investigation 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:58.800 from the bottom up. Now, I hate to say this 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:02.199 about Garland because I admire Attorney General Garland for his 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:03.720 intelligence and his integrity. 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.680 Yeah, yeah, let's go. I love this, let's go, let's 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:07.080 get this. 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.760 Report is effectively a significant condemnation of how he conducted 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:14.080 himself in his four years. This information could have been 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:16.960 obtained by twenty twenty three, at the latest of twenty 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:17.480 twenty two. 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:19.440 Yeah, we saw it on television. 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:22.920 We saw it on television, as again or repeating myself. 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.760 And the other thing is that what happened was because 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:30.040 there was no ongoing investigation in twenty twenty one of 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:34.240 Trump people forgot about his It should have been immediately 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:39.159 framed as potential criminality, which it was potential criminality, but 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.359 it wasn't framed as such because everybody was. The Justice 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:44.360 Department went off and did what it had to do, 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:47.680 which is prosecute the hundreds of hooligans and morons who 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:49.920 conducted all the destruction on Capitol Hill. 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.639 Mayor Garland was a person whose whole life was about 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:58.720 becoming a Freme Court justice, world's most careful person. Ever, 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:03.240 that is not so one you should have leading the DOJ. 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:07.199 Well, it isn't, It isn't. I mean, I'm not second 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.920 guessing him, okay, because I'm first guess. On the day 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:13.600 after the inauguration, you may recall, I wrote a five 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:17.119 thousand word piece argue that multiple special counsels should be 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:20.119 a point to investigating Trump because there were so many 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.480 different things that he committed that did that were potentially criminal, 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:28.639 from his finances to the Stormy Daniel's case to Ukraine, 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:33.080 the Ukraine extortion that was criminal. Also, this is first guessing, 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:35.639 not second guessing. And I think history is not going 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:39.000 to look well on Attorney General Garland. And I hate 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:40.520 to say that because I think, you know, he was 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.000 an admirable person. All You're right, he was in the 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:45.199 wrong job. It was the wrong job. I mean that, 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:47.720 I think really more than anything. I mean, I think 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:51.480 it was important to have somebody a perceived integrity, which 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.400 he has, right but in the end, but in the end, 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:56.880 you needed somebody who was going to push this thing 0:21:56.960 --> 0:21:59.360 fast and he ultimately found the guy to do that. 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:02.440 And you look at look at other criminal prosecutors, look 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:06.880 at Menendez. He got convicted, and he was indicted after Trump. 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.160 And Menendez going to jail, correct. 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:11.560 And he was indicted. I think after Trump it was 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:14.560 imperative to keep the thing going just because to move 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:18.040 the thing quickly, not only because it was important that 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:22.119 this was the most significant crime they have committed in 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:26.720 public life ever, but because Trump could be depended upon 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.040 to run again in order to avoid prosecution. Was pretty 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:33.200 clear he was going to do that by twenty twenty one. 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:38.600 And this notion, this self deceptive notion that both Senator 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:41.760 McConnell had, that Trump would somehow go away, which it 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:44.359 was shared by them by people in the Biden administration, 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:45.840 a lot. 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:47.240 Of people on the Biden administration. 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:49.240 Yeah, this man is like a vampire. 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:53.119 Yeah. I also think these are the norms that he crushed. 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:57.639