In breaking news, the Washington Post is reporting that the department
of justice is finally looking into Donald Trump's actions both before and
during January 6th when his supporters rioted in the Nation's Capital.
Now, this is something that the justice department has been urged to do.
Merrick Garland, who is the Attorney General,
seemed to be very hesitant in investigating Donald Trump specifically.
But here's what we know so far.
Department of justice is investigating the actions of former President Donald Trump
in connection with criminal investigations relating to January 6th.
And the Washington Post has cited for people familiar with the matter.
And these four people say that prosecutors questioning witnesses before grand
juries have inquired about conversations they've had with Trump.
The witnesses include two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence.
So here are a few more details from the post's reporting on this.
They report that the prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions
about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January of 2021.
And keep in mind, I don't want people to get confused because there are multiple
things happening simultaneously, right?
So there's the House Select Committee doing its investigation.
They're the ones who have been holding these public hearings that we've been
covering.
And then you have the department of justice which is really
the only body that has prosecutorial powers here.
The January 6th committee can do the investigation and
then refer criminal charges to the DOJ.
And then it's really up to the DOJ to decide whether or
not they're gonna pursue those criminal charges.
So far, it's unclear whether there will be any criminal charges for Donald Trump.
And to be clear,
the current investigation is not a criminal investigation into Trump.
The DOJ is simply asking questions about Trump's involvement through
their criminal investigation of others tied to Trump or in Trump's orbit.
People like Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, you guys get the picture.
Now the post reports that the prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions
about meetings Trump led in both December of 2020 and January of 2021.
His pressure campaign on Pence to overturn the election and
also what instructions Trump gave his lawyers and
advisers about fake electors and sending electors back to the states.
Some of the questions focused directly on the extent of Trump's involvement in
the fake elector effort led by his outside lawyers including John Eastman and
Rudy Giuliani, these people said.
So again, the report does not say that Trump is the target of a criminal probe,
although he should be.
But notes that investigators are currently interested in his behavior ahead
of the storming of the Capitol.
So, look, I'm gonna be honest, I feel like you're
one of the lefties who thinks that this isn't that big of a deal.
I'm just keeping it real.
[CROSSTALK] >> Yeah, I'm not a big January 6 guy.
I'm not and
it's not to say that I don't think that these guys should get in trouble, right?
I think Trump and Giuliani and all of his cohorts should probably
go to the pokey just the same way that the rest of these people.
The insignificant people who stormed the capitol that day, they got jail sentences.
These people got locked up.
It's my belief that basically the people who were in charge,
the people who should know better, it should be doing better.
I think they should get locked up too.
But it's hard for me to be interested in this because I don't think anybody of
any consequence is gonna face any serious repercussions from these bad acts.
That's why it's hard for me to get into it.
I do think people should be punished.
I think Donald Trump should be disqualified from ever running for
public office again.
Look what this guy did while he was in the seat of power.
He's obviously can't be trusted with any power or influence.
However, I just find it hard to believe that anything is gonna come of this.
>> Yeah, to be honest, your views are shared by most people on the left,
including your average lib, right?
I mean, this isn't our first rodeo, we've been through this before.
>> How many times has this guy been investigated by how many different bodies?
Just like, my God, those people in New York,
the southern district New York, my God.
Those people don't play, they're gonna get Trump.
>> Right. >> It's gonna be Muller is gonna be this,
it's like how many investigations this guy comes out on the end,
pretty much unscathed every single time?
So, the worst that he's gotten is the fines for
the fake Trump colleges like that, right?
[LAUGH] He's faced some damages, but when it comes to his time,
both pursuing political office and his time during his presidency,
nothing's come of any of these quote unquote investigations.
>> Yeah and honestly, I think what we've seen happen that's actually
been pretty effective has been these public January 6th Committee hearings.
And I didn't think they would have an effect,
although we've seen it have an effect on Trump's popularity.
To the point where now Ron DeSantis is being touted
by Republican voters more than they're touting Trump.
And I didn't think that day would really come, right?
I always thought Trump supporters are so loyal, those supportive no matter what.
Now, you're seeing a pretty significant portion of the republican base kinda
transition over to Rhonda Santis.
And I think that's partly the outcome of
how effective those hearings have been.
But also I think it's Trump's own doing, who wants to support a giant man baby?
Whose constant like I don't like that I lost, I mean, you cover sports, right?
>> Yeah. >> And there's nothing more grating than
a bad loser.
>> And a sore loser, absolutely.
>> And that's what Trump is, it's embarrassing,
who wants to support that guy?
Even if you agree with him politically, his behavior is so embarrassing.
>> Yeah, and I see the salience in it for the Dems especially,
cuz this kind of thing does turn off the suburban voter.
You're hearing about how they're gaining in support from suburban white college
educated women every single day, this kinda thing does bother them.
And these are the people that the democrats seem to want more than anybody
anyway.
>> Yeah. >> Right?
So this kinda thing does work.
The reason why people like me and
Anna roll our eyes about it is that like these, upper middle class type of voters,
professional class type of voters tend to be the most reactionary of any voter,
right? >> Right.
>> They're not gonna always be solidly
democrat because most of their needs are met on a day to day
basis. So they tend to vote on different type
of things that they change with the wind cuz their economic interests rarely
ever change to anything by virtue of their station in our society, right?
And so,
this has the effect of endearing the Bidens and the Kamala's,
who seem competent college, graduate, professional
people who that cohort seems to like. And Trump,
he ain't that, he's not professorial. [LAUGH]
>> No,
he's not. One other thing I just wanna mention
quickly is while I think they've been doing a good job with these hearings and
the investigation. I can't help but feel concerned about
the fact that this seems to be one of the campaigning tactics by
the Democratic Party, right? They like to hang their hat
on this type of stuff for campaigning purposes in lieu of a sound and
serious substantive economic policy, right?
If they were touting that instead of
hanging their hat simply on Trump is a bad guy, Republicans are bad people,
don't vote for them because they're bad. Okay, but
what are you offering me, right? So
I worry about that as well. But again, overall, I do think that
the hearings have been successful. We'll see what the outcome of this DOJ
investigation will be. But I think even with this breaking news
story, you see red flags, because they're very careful to know that he's not
the target of the criminal investigation. But
he's the center of the whole scheme to overturn
the results of the presidential election. So
to say that he's not the target of the criminal investigation,
I think is indicative of what we see from the DOJ in terms of holding
people in positions of power accountable. >> And
another thing that I think bears mentioning here is the Obama
administration, where they basically come in and they say,
we're not looking at the past. Presidents don't really get locked up for
presidenting. >> Exactly.
>> When it comes to WMDs in Iraq,
which we all knew was a lie, when it comes to torture,
straight up being the author and the perpetuators of
the torture regime. Straight up acknowledged international
crimes committed against people. Barack and them came in and
said, no, we get it, those are obviously clearly criminal acts,
but when you're a president, you basically can't break the law.
And so, that's why I find it hard to believe that something's
gonna happen to Donald Trump here by way of actual punishment man.
I don't know how the mechanism would be to be, what,
you just can never run for public office again.
But they're definitely not gonna put this guy in the pokey.
>> No, I don't think so either.
I don't think so, I would be shocked.
I mean, this is one of those cases where I really hope that we're both proven wrong,
but I think our predictions are sound.
So we'll fill you guys in as we learn more about this, but
that's what we've got for now.