WEBVTT - David Schoen - December 27th, Hour 1 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:05.560 Hello America, and welcome to the Sean Hannity Show. As 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:10.200 you have already instantly guessed, I am not Sean. Shawn 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.480 is enjoying the last of his much deserved twenty twenty 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.680 four end of year vacation, getting ready to get back, 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.840 and as we all head into the first year of 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:25.599 the Trump presidency. I am Jeffrey Lord, contributing editor the 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:30.880 American Spectator, a Newsmas TV contributor, and columnists for NewsBusters, 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:36.400 the Media Research Center's media watchdog. So let's let's get 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.080 right into it. If we can do that, We've got 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.239 some great guests coming up. We have Civil Liberties and 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:49.640 former Trump Attorney Council David Shoon. We have our friends 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:53.920 Matt and Mercy Schlapp from the American Conservative Union and SEAPAC. 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:59.280 And my friend in fellow Pennsylvania, Jeff Bartos, who has 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.760 run for the US Senate from Pennsylvania himself and spent 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:07.920 some significant time helping Dave McCormick win this Senate seat 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:13.280 in a unbelievable race against three term in common Democrat 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.160 Bob Casey, the namesake son of his late dad, Governor 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:22.240 Robert P. Casey. So we've got a good show going 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:24.920 for you here, and I just want to I want 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:28.440 to start with talking a little bit about what Sean 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:33.160 loves to talk about, the media mob. And one of 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.600 the things that has gotten me going here in the 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:40.479 last few days, I saw a you know, I read 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:44.119 the Washington Post, so you don't have to, and one 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:48.040 of the things I noticed was this column. It was 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.960 written two days published two days before Christmas in the Post, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:55.280 and it was by a columnist of theirs named Eugene Robinson, 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.760 who I'm sure is a nice enough guy. But his 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.760 headline was, we cannot by Donald Trump's wish for a 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:05.880 compliant news media fight the President elect's attack on independent 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:10.359 journalism with the pro truth stands now in this step, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.600 in this gem. Rather, he begins by saying this, anyone 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.640 who doubts the incoming Trump administration poses a serious threat 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:24.440 to independent journalism catch that phrase. Independent journalism has not 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:28.000 been paying attention, an attack, he says, is already underway, 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.600 and we journalists must now allow ourselves to be intimidated 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:36.120 unquote now, to which one can only reply with a 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:41.920 considerable burst of outright laughter. In fact, I would suggest 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:46.640 mister Robinson has it completely backwards. The Washington Post and 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.320 its allies in the so called quote unquote mainstream media 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:58.760 are anything about being seeking quote independent journalism quote unquote. 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.760 They are the central players in what is much more 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:07.280 accurately known as the liberal media. They themselves are the 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:12.040 compliant ones who have long ago abandoned independent journalism to 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:16.760 take sides one side, specifically in our political discussions of 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:21.680 the day. Some examples back before the twenty twenty four election. 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:26.440 In October, the New York Post headlined this more Washington 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:31.639 Post staffers resign over paper's failure to endorse Kamala Harris. 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:36.120 That story reported quote at least two more staffers have 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.280 penned their last story for the Washington Post, Don't you 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.480 love this? As employees resign in protest over the Broadsheets 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.880 decision not to endorse Kamala Harris for the twenty twenty 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:52.560 four presidential election. Editorial board members David Hoffman and Molly 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:58.280 Roberts have issued their resignations. Semiphore. Media journalist Max Tannai 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:03.000 reported on Monday the two longtime Washington Post staffers each 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:09.200 authored resignation letters slamming the paper's decision not to endorse Harris. Quote. 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.240 They said, I believe we face a very real threat 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:16.440 of autocracy in the candidacy of Donald Trump unquote, said Hoffman, 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.200 who took home the Pulitzer Prize last week and first 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.080 joined the paper in nineteen eighty two. And he was 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.080 writing this in his resignation letter, which of course was 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.360 posted on x. He went on, I find it untenable 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.520 and unconscionable that we have lost our voice at this 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:36.760 perilous moment quote unquote. And Ms Roberts, another longtime employee 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.240 of the Post who first joined the paper as a 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.039 student intern while studying at Harvard University, said she was 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:47.719 resigning due to the paper's refusal to endorse Harris. Quote. 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.880 I'm resigning from the Post editorial board because the imperative 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.120 to endorse Kamala Harris over Donald Trump is about as 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.159 morally clear as it gets, she said. She went on 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.560 to write in her resignation letter, worse, our silence is 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.960 exactly what Donald Trump wants for the media, for us 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:10.440 to keep quiet unquote. So right there, the veil gets 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.880 torn away from Robinson's supposed quote unquote independent journalism at 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:19.360 the Washington Post. Interestingly, the same situation arose across the 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:23.640 country at the Los Angeles Times. CBS News headlined that 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.919 story this way, Two more LA Times editorial board members 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:34.120 resign after the paper withholds a Harris endorsement, Unlike columnist 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.360 Robinson over there in the New York Post, where a 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.479 great columnist named Michael Goodwin has reported the reality of 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:46.320 the fanatical and decidedly non independent journalism of the day 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:50.839 from liberals, mister Goodwin headlined, the left wing media created 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.960 their own crisis and now have to pay the price 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:59.480 for repeatedly attacking Donald Trump. Goodwin wrote, even as defeated 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.720 Democrats try to decide who they are and what they 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:07.760 believe in their media handmaids, what they believe in their 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.240 media handmaids, face a crisis of their own. The come 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:15.800 up and against their politically driven bias, say again, bias 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.039 has arrived, and it's proving to be expensive in more 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:23.120 ways than one. ABC News and its chief Democratic operative 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:28.279 George Stephanopolis the rights fell into another trap. They meaning ABC, 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.640 put their agenda of defeating Trump ahead of the facts 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:34.960 and the law, and faced with depositions that likely would 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:40.360 have supported his claim of defamation, ABC caved in a settlement. 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.400 I still find this incredible in a settlement, the network 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:49.600 forked over sixteen million dollars for a Trump library and 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:54.039 his legal fees, and had to publicly say they quote 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:58.800 regret unquote Stephanopolos's false claims that Trump had been found 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:03.160 libel for rape in a civil case, says Goodwin Ouch. 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:08.679 The apology surely stung much more than the money. Unquote. Well, 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.520 I think that is safe to say. And you know, 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.240 it isn't just major newspapers that have the left wing 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:18.760 bias problem. As this is written, Fox News is headlining 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:25.560 something else quote TV Saturday Night Late Night, TV Saturday 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:31.680 Night Lives boring, anti Trump's gold routines go unheeded. Well expletive, 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:35.000 I can't say. On the radio, it happened again, they said. 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:39.239 Late night hosts melted down the night after Trump's twenty 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:43.200 twenty four victory after making him the butt of ninety 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:48.160 eight percent of their political jokes. The story goes on 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.760 to report on the antics of late night hosts Stephen Colbert, 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:56.000 Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and others, including of course NBC's 0:07:56.200 --> 0:08:00.280 Saturday Night Live, going all in on pro democratic and 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:05.640 anti Trump humor quote unquote well exactly, yet with all 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.280 of this out there, not to mention oh so much 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.640 more in the way of a decidedly far left leaning media. 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:16.400 There is the Washington Post, mister Robinson saying, quote and 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:21.360 when Trump takes office, the threat will escalate, perhaps dramatically unquote. 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.680 The real threat, let me just say this to American democracy, 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:31.120 is the central fact that Robinson simply ignores. That central 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:36.920 fact being that American journalism has overwhelmingly abandoned the idea 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:41.680 of so called independent journalism. And it should be noted 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.640 this problem has been around a long time before Donald 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.360 Trump came on the political seat. You read the memoirs 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.120 as I've done over the years of Republicans like nineteen 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:57.040 sixty four Republican nominee Senator Barry Goldwater, or former President 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.840 Richard Nixon, or the Bush's father and son and others 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.480 from the conservative side of the aisle, and there is 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.520 reference after reference to the liberal media and the hard 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:10.120 fact and that person's days on the active political scene 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:14.280 that they had to constantly deal with a far left 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:19.440 leaning media. You want an example, In August of twenty eighteen, 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:23.360 the Washington Examiners Paul Baddard took a look back and 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:31.000 headlined public's media hat fanned by Trump started with George H. W. Bush, 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:35.760 and Badard wrote former President George H. W. Bush. HW 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:38.920 Bush had it a lot better than President Trump. Economic 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:41.600 growth was humming at five percent, his polling was high, 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.040 and he was on duty in the Oval Office when 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.760 the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union crumbled. But 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.040 the press attacked him, and as he headed to defeat 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:54.600 to Bill Clinton, Bush became the first president to publicly 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:59.959 rip on the media at campaign events, even handing out redhair. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:05.160 I remember this that had the words quote annoy the media, 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.320 re elect Bush on them. Former Bush aid Mary Madeleine 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:13.640 is quoted by bedardas saying, quote, Madeleine, isn't surprised the 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.520 public has turned on the press again. The assaults on 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:20.000 freedom of speech religiosity, combined with the hypocrisy of a 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:24.440 ruling class exempting themselves from all the degenerative policies they 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:29.200 imposed on the electorate, created a combustible environment, and Trump 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:33.240 picked up the fire starter. She said in short, the 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.920 idea of being pushed in the Washington Post by one 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.920 of its own, mister Robinson, is completely upside down and backwards. 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:45.920 He ends by saying this we work for the people, 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:49.800 not the president. Whenever it's necessary, will remind the President 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.120 that he works for the people too, quote unquote. Well, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:57.800 suffice to say, when large media organizations present themselves as 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:02.440 doing quote independent journalism quote, when in fact they are 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:06.599 about furthering a far left wing agenda, not independent journalism, 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:11.680 they are not quote working for the people unquote. The irony. 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.679 The American people have long gotten onto this game of 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:19.760 the media pretending to be doing independent journalism when in 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:24.240 fact they are doing the opposite. In October of twenty 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:29.240 twenty four, the Gallup Organization headlined this story, Americans trust 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:33.240 in media remains a trend low trust in political and 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:37.480 civic institution's highest for local and state governments, lowest for 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:42.400 media and Congress. The story reported, for the third consecutive 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.120 year more US adults have no trust at all in 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.400 the media. That would be thirty six percent than trusted 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.600 a great deal or fair amount. Another thirty three percent 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:56.280 of Americans express quote not very much confidence. There is 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.800 a reason for this, and when a Washington Post columnst 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:03.720 so so prominently denies the reality of that reason, media 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:11.520 credibility takes are suffer another hit. Shocking not and I'm 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:15.880 sure you have all seen the stories of MSNBC and 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.960 CNN losing their audience and having all kinds of problems 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.920 out there. And interestingly, I vividly remember a personal note 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.120 here when I was on CNN in the twenty sixteen 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:36.560 election campaign defending then candidate Trump. It drew, as I 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.520 began to understand, it drew considerable attention, and I was 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:44.520 told personally by the president of the network that my 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.920 appearance on the shows there was actually helping the ratings 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:55.240 at CNN. Ah, you can't make this stuff up. So 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:57.920 we're going to go on and we'll talk a little 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.280 bit more about this. One of the things that sort 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.440 of as a corollary I think to all of this, 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.960 and we're going to talk about this with David shown, 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:11.600 and that is the rise of law fair and weaponizing 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.840 the law to go after your political opponents. You know, 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.280 I always find it very interesting that when you are 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:24.800 accused by the left of whatever terrible thing they want 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:26.960 to accuse you of, in point of fact, they're the 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.079 ones that are guilty of it. They're the ones who 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:37.400 do this. And when they talk about Donald Trump wanting 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:41.160 to be or he is a fascist, or he's going 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.360 to do this or he's going to do that. And 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.280 then at the same time they talk about all of 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:49.440 the legal things that have been hurled in Donald Trump's direction. 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.880 Well who's doing that. We're getting We're getting some music here, 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.600 and we'll come back and talk that in just a 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.920 little bit. But wow, we we're done now. I guess 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:05.520 saying Merry Christmas, Happy fourth of July, no, happy New Year. 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.480 Welcome back to the Sean Hannity Show. And let me 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.440 start out the segment here by giving you the phone 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.920 number to call in. It's eight hundred nine four one 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.280 seven three two six, or in other words, eight hundred 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.800 ninety four to one Sean, and I hope you will 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.680 holler a little bit. You know, we've got some very 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:34.720 interesting times coming up President Trump. I always find this 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:39.560 comeback of his absolutely remarkable. And for those of you 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:41.200 out there, and I'm sure it's a lot of you 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.960 who know your American history, this kind of thing has 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:48.200 not happened since Grover Cleveland was President of the United States. 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.280 Groover Cleveland had been mayor of Buffalo, the governor of 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.880 New York. He was elected President of the United States 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:58.000 in eighteen forty four. I think it was I'm sorry. 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.960 Eighteen eighty four years later, he was defeated by the 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:07.080 son or grandson of President William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:12.600 by name uh and William Henry Harrison was famous in history. 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.640 He was the hero of the Battle of Tippy Canoe, 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.080 and the slogan of the campaign was Tippy Canoe and 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.240 Tyler too, John Tyler of Virginia Center from Virginia, I think, 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:25.840 being his running mate. Well, he got he got elected, 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.040 gave his inaugural address, caught a cold, and died in office. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:34.280 So that was that was about it. So Grover Cleveland 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.360 eventually came back four years later. So President Trump is repeating, 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:39.920 and we will see what's going to happen here. So 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.960 let's say we've got a little break here and we 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.280 will go from there and welcome back to the Sean 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.480 Hannity Show. This is Jeffrey Lord filling in for Sean 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.120 and I want to start out by giving our call 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.800 in number here eight hundred and nine four one, seven, 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.760 three two six or eight hundred ninety four one. Sean. 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.160 I want to bring on now our guest David Shoan, 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:09.600 who is a former counsel to President Trump. A noted 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:14.640 civil liberties attorney, and David, before we start to talk, 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.920 I have a our friend, Jason has a clip here 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:22.800 of District Attorney Bragg in New York that he's going 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:24.960 to play for us, and that I think can help 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.560 us set up our discussion here. I know a lot 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:32.000 of people are wondering, whoever has this job? Are they 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:33.640 going to convict Donald Trump? 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:39.720 Look, that is the number one issue. The Times calls 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:43.400 Brag a talented prosecutor who's successful suit of the Trump 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.600 Foundation could be invaluable experience. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.040 But the investigation he'll take over is. 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.040 The chief Deputy Attorney General in New York State. I 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.600 oversaw some of the office's biggest cases from exposing a 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.120 legal behavior by the Trump Foundation. We know there's a 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:01.280 Trump investigation. I have investigated Trump and his children and 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.160 held them accountable for their misconduct with the Trump Foundation. 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.800 I also sued the Trump administration more than one hundred times. 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.840 We know that the DA investigating Trump. When I was 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.359 at the AG's office, I sued Trump over one hundred 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.160 times for his administration's misconduct and brought a case against 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.040 the Trump Foundation and held him accountable. 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:26.440 All Right, David, welcome to the Sean Hannity Show, Thank 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.960 you very much. I got to add, I am not 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.200 a lawyer, but I listened to that kind of thing, 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:38.200 and I've watched the whole business unfold with all these 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.439 legal proceedings against President Trump, and it just seems to me, 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:46.200 as a non lawyer, that this is about a bunch 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:52.639 of insider inside legal system that doesn't like somebody, and 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:56.399 so whether it's the US Justice Department or the district 0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:00.840 attorneys in New York City or Fulton County in Georgia, 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:05.520 they're going out to get them. What are your thoughts, Well. 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.440 You're one hundred percent right, your instincts are right, whether 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.199 lawyer or not. That's been the nature of things for 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.400 the past few years that we've seen. I don't think 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:15.720 we've ever seen anything like it. First of all, there 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.280 are tremendous ethical violations in Bragg running for office on 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:23.080 a platform to get and target a particular citizen hadn't 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.080 been accused of anything. He promised to be the guy 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:30.080 to convict him. We saw that entire case unfold as 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.800 a complete mess, miscarriage of justice. Andrew Cuomo, who had 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.040 been the Attorney General New York and the governor of 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.600 New York, of course, and no Trump fan said that 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:40.679 had he been Attorney General, that case never would have 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.280 been brought. As you know the book out by Mark Pomerantz, 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.639 who had been appointed sort of special counsel to investigate it. 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:52.640 That office was against the prosecution until things changed politically, 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:55.920 so it became advantageous for Alvin Bragg in his view 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.800 at least to bring the case. The case of the travesty, 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.239 it will never hold up on appeal if it's not 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.960 dismissed outright. It should be dismissed, frankly, for a number 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.760 of reasons. Should be dismissed on presidential immunity ground that 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:12.160 should be dismissed on the elected the election that just happened, 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.639 those immunity, that kind of immunity. But even if it 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.720 weren't dismissed on a bill, it has to be reversed 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:24.399 for a number of constitutional infirmities, including never identifying the 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.280 target crime that made a felony in the case, giving 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.320 a jury the choice and then not having them identify 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.720 what crime it was. But there are many other errors 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:34.720 in the case. The judge never should have sat on 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:38.960 the case, clear conflict of interest. It's an abomination. And 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:41.480 that's just one example. But you know you mentioned the others. 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.880 The others have all have infirmities of their own. 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.760 Yeah, I mean, it just it just astonishes me. And 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:53.720 as a layman, the question that I have is, how 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:57.080 do we hold how does the system hold these people 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.119 who were doing this, the lawyers that whatever, whether it's 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:05.040 Leticia James, the Attorney General of New York, or Alvin 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.160 Bragg or Fanny Willis or whatever, how do they get 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.240 to be held accountable for what they're doing or what 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:12.200 they have done. 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.920 It's a real problem in a situation like this, especially 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:19.000 because you know, you think that ultimately the check on 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.200 an abusive power is the ballot box. But if you're 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:27.159 in the jurisdiction where the elected official is playing to 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:32.239 the worst instinct or human instincts. In that jurisdiction, they 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:35.359 don't like a particular person, they don't like someone because 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:39.360 of race or gender or some other reason, and they 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.960 have an electric electorate filled with that kind of viewpoint, 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:45.720 then the person can stay in office if you can 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:50.080 prove that you know their professional violations. For example, we 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:53.600 saw in the Georgia case with Fannie Willis. Now you 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.280 know the Georgia Court of Appeal has removed her from 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:59.800 the case as she had to be. That's because you know, she, 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.400 in her zeal to get President Trump and to advance 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.879 her interests in the interests of her lover, she really 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:11.280 overstepped the boundaries and created a clear appearance of impropriety 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:14.080 and impartiality. As we moved from the case, and hopefully 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:16.840 that case is going to be dismissed. But you're right, 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:19.639 you know, you've identified a real problem. What do we 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.720 do to hold them accountable outside of the ballot box? 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:27.120 Is this something that on the federal level, Congress can 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:30.680 deal with, or in a state, a state legislature can 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:33.879 deal with to change the rules and all that. You know, 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:37.400 one of the things that we're old enough to remember 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:43.840 this is President Nixon's Watergate situation. And it has occurred 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:48.360 to me more than once that once that occurred, then 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:53.080 all bets were off and every president, every public official 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:57.160 was going to be targeted or could easily be targeted 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:01.600 by prosecutors, because well, if they got Richard Nixon to 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:06.080 resign and almost you know, other than Gerald Ford's pardon, 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.879 he might have had more problems. What else would have 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:13.000 happened there. I keep having the feeling that opened the 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:16.000 floodgates for all kinds of conduct here on the part 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.440 of the legal community, which is just not good. 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:22.040 I think that's absolutely right. And you know, we saw 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:25.800 in twenty nineteen Jerry Nadler, Democratic Congressman from New York 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:28.679 made this comment in the context of the first Trump 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:32.879 impeachment proceeding, and he said, basically, we can't trust the voters, 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:35.359 can't wait for another election. We have to find some 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:38.360 other way to get rid of President Trump in effect, 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:42.159 and that's about an anti democratic a statement as I 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.720 can imagine from an elected official. You know, on the 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:49.199 one hand, with our separate branches of government, often we 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.119 like to see, you know, different parties having different branches 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:54.960 a sort of check on the other But in this case, 0:22:55.520 --> 0:22:59.080 I think the President Trump provided the ultimate answer to 0:22:59.160 --> 0:23:02.400 the unfair attacks. I think the American people have said 0:23:02.400 --> 0:23:06.080 this many times now, are basically a fair minded people 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:07.119 in the majority. 0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:08.400 Yes, I think they got. 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:10.480 I think that this law fare and the weaponization of 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:13.840 the criminal justice system was just too much for a 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:17.359 normal American person to take, and the backlash was seen 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.359 through the ballot box, and so ultimately he gets the 0:23:20.400 --> 0:23:22.679 last ward. President Trump gets the last word in this 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:27.120 because now he has both Houses of Congress and the presidency, 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:29.960 and so if someone's going to try to abuse the 0:23:29.960 --> 0:23:33.159 impeachment process again as we saw last time, they're going 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:37.000 to have a tough rota hoo with the Republican Party 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:39.160 in both houses. 0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:44.920 Yes, you know. Back in twenty fourteen, I interviewed then 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:48.720 private citizen Trump for The American Spectator, and one of 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:53.280 the things I said to him was that Republicans that 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:55.440 I had talked to, and mind you, this was after 0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:59.560 the McCain and the Romney campaigns, was that they get 0:23:59.560 --> 0:24:04.719 attacked by their opposition and so savagely, and yet they 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:07.920 don't fight back. And so I said to him, if 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:11.120 you run for president, will you fight back, to which 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:14.359 his response was something like, Oh, don't worry about that. 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:18.560 I will fight back. Do you think we're just we're 0:24:18.640 --> 0:24:23.199 fortunate that we've got somebody here who is just not 0:24:23.280 --> 0:24:25.400 going to let people get away with it as opposed 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.200 to just rolling over here. I mean, I can only 0:24:28.240 --> 0:24:31.600 imagine the conversations that you that you and his staff 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:37.440 and friends have had with him. I saw him in Johnstown, 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:41.080 Pennsylvania during the campaign, and because I know him that 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:43.040 they asked if I would come out and talk to him. 0:24:43.040 --> 0:24:46.680 I did, and I have to say, David, I was standing, 0:24:46.720 --> 0:24:48.800 you know, like almost nose to nose with and I'm 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:50.640 sort of tilting my head a little bit to see 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:53.840 the condition of his ear where he'd been shot, and 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:56.520 he notices and and I said, are you all right? 0:24:56.640 --> 0:24:59.320 He said, yeah, I'm doing great. I'm doing just great. 0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:02.080 I'm fine, And then he went out on stage and 0:25:02.119 --> 0:25:06.639 delivered this, you know, incredible speech that had thousands of 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:10.840 people all set to go. I have never seen anything 0:25:10.960 --> 0:25:12.879 like this, and I worked for President Reagan and have 0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:16.000 been around my share of people like this, but wow, 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:19.560 I just think he's amazing when he comes to this. 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:23.280 But it's also very helpful because otherwise they're going to 0:25:23.320 --> 0:25:24.359 try and bring him down. 0:25:25.359 --> 0:25:28.360 Yeah. Well, I mean that was an iconic moment. I'm 0:25:28.359 --> 0:25:31.359 sorry to say I didn't really recognize the gravity of 0:25:31.359 --> 0:25:34.159 the situation at the time, and my initial reaction was 0:25:34.200 --> 0:25:36.399 to trash talk him a little bit about you know, 0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:38.320 I got a little graves wound on the ear sort 0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:42.200 of thing. But he took it very well and gave 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:46.040