WELCOME BACK.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FOLKS, MY GUEST TONIGHT IS A THREE-TERM
CONGRESSMAN FROM MARYLAND WHO SERVED AS LEAD IMPEACHMENT
MANAGER DURING THE 2021 TRIAL, AND IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK,
"UNTHINKABLE."
HE CURRENTLY SITS ON THE JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE.
PLEASE WELCOME CONGRESSMAN JAMIE RASKIN!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE).
>> Stephen: WHAT CAN I SAY.
CONGRESSMAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
>> THE PLEASURE IS ALL MINE.
>> Stephen: GLAD TO SEE YOU IN PERSON, I ENJOYED YOUR WORK IN
THE 2021 IMPEACHMENT, YOU MADE THE CASE QUITE COMPELLINGLY.
AND THE COMMITTEE JUST HAD THEIR SEASON FINALE AFTER EIGHT
EPISODES.
AND THE REVIEWS ARE GOOD.
AND I REALLY DON'T MEAN THAT FACETIOUSLY THERE WERE NO DUDS.
I THINK EVERYBODY WHO WANTED THE TROOPS TO GET OUT THERE WERE
QUITE IM-- IT GET THE TRUTH OUT THERE WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE
CLARITY, DENSITY OF THE INFORMATION AND HOW WELL
PRESENTED, HOW EASILY UNDERSTOOD IT WAS.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WE LEARNED, THE PUBLIC LEARNED FROM THOSE
EIGHT HEARINGS THAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER.
>> WELL, IT IS A SPELL BINDING STORY BECAUSE IT IT IS THE STORY
OF THE WORST PRESIDENTIAL CRIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
WE HAD A PRESIDENT WHO LOST THE ELECTION BY MORE THAN 7 MILLION
VOTES TKS WASN'T LIKE IT WAS CLOSE OR ANYTHING.
AND HE JUST REFUSED TO TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.
SO WE SAW HIM GO TO THE LEGISLATURES TO SEE IF THEY
WOULD VOID OUT THE POPULAR VOTE AND INSTALL TRUMP ELECTORS.
WE SAW HIM CALL UPSTATE ELECTION OFFICIALS LIKE SECRETARY OF
STATE BRAD WRATH LISTBERGER, A LIFELONG REPUBLICAN WHO
CONTRIBUTED HANDSOMELY TO THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND JUST SAID
FIND ME 11,787 VOTE, THAT SAUL I WANT.
I'M A POLITICIAN, THAT SAUL I WANT IS 11,780 VOTES.
AND WHEN NONE OF THAT WORKED, THEN HE DECIDED HE WOULD PUT ALL
THE PRESSURE ON VICE PRESIDENT PENCE TO STEP OUTSIDE OF HIS
CONSTITUTIONAL ROLE TO DECLARE AND EXERCISE UNPRECEDENTED
LAWLESS POWER TO NUL FRIDAY ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES FROM
ARIZONA, GEORGIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ESSENTIALLY VAPE ORIZING THE
VOTES OF TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
AND WHEN PENCE SURPRISINGLY TO SOME PEOPLE'S CAMP, REFUSED TO
GO ALONG WITH THAT AND STOOD STRONG AND SHOID HIMSELF TO BE A
PATRIOT THAT DAY, AND OVER IN THE PRIOR WEEKS, TRUMP SUM
MONDAYED, INVOKED, INCITED, GALVANIZED AND THEN SOANT A MOB
TO THE CAPITOL IN ORDER TO OVERTHROW THE ELECTION.
>> Stephen: AND HE KNEW THEY WERE ARMED.
>> AND HE KNEW THEY WERE ARMED.
AND NOTHING LIKE THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED IN AMERICAN HISTORY
BEFORE.
SO THANK YOU FOR SAYING WE DID A GOOD JOB.
BUT WE HAD A LOT OF MATERIAL TO WORK WITH IN.
AND.
THE POINT IS THAT TO MY MIND, THAT DEMOCRACY IS TRULY A
FRAGILE THING.
I MEAN BEFORE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, EVERYBODY HAD LIVED
UNDER KINGS AND QUEENS AND EMPERORS AND GUARDS AND PEOPLE
LIKE DONALD TRUMP AND VLADIMIR PUTIN.
THAT IS WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE FOR MOST PEOPLE.
AND OUR FOUNDERS, AS FLAWED AS THEY WERE IN DIFFERENT WAYS HAD
THE INCITE TO SAY LET'S CREATE A GOVERNMENT BASED ON THE CONSENT
OF THE GOV NERNED-- GOVERNED AND DEMOCRACY.
AND THAT IS THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS.
BUT ALL OVER THE WORLD TODAY THE AUTOCRATS, THE DICTATORS, THE
BULLY, THE TYRANTS, THE DESPOTS ARE ALL ON THE MARCH.
>> Stephen: WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS, AT FIRST I THOUGHT THE
PREVIOUS PRESIDENT WAS SOME SORT OF AN ANOMALY, LIKE AN
UNKNOWN-- THAT APPEARS AND CHANGES THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
BUT HEN MY SON POINTED OUT, THAN DAD Y IS ORBON, THERE,
ERDOGAN, WHY IS PUTIN HOLDING ON TO POWER.
WHY IS THIS SOMETHING HAPPENING IF NOT IN EVERY DIME TONE, IN
EVERY HEMISPHERE.
>> IT IS LIKE ALL OF THE MONSTERS OF THE 20th CENTURY
HAVE BEEN REVISITED UPON US, RIGHT.
AND WELL, IF YOU LISTEN TO PRESIDENT BIDEN WHO HAS TOLD
THIS SEVERAL TIMES IN COMING TO THE HILL, HE SAYS WHEN THOSE
AUTOCRATS TALK TO HIM, THEY SAY JOE BIDEN, YOU ARE A NICE GUY,
YOU ARE A GOOD BUY, BUT IN THE 21S CENTURY WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
WHICH THEY ALL ADMIT TO BE TRUE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, AND WITH
ALL OF THE IMMIGRATION AND SO ON.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS IS STRONG MEN.
AND ARE YOU NOT A STRONG MAN, ARE YOU NOT AN AUTOCRAT, YOU ARE
NOT A DICTATOR.
AND SO FROM MOSCOW TO MAR A LAGO OUGHT ALL THE AUTOCRATS ARE
WORKING TOGETHER TO TRY TO OVERTHROW DEMOCRACY WHICH IS WHY
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE GOT TO HANG TOUGH FOR THE GOOD THING
WE'VE GOT GOING HERE.
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY.
(APPLAUSE).
>> Stephen: NOW WE HAVE TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK, WE'LL BE
RIGHT BACK WITH MORE CONGRESSMAN JAMIE RASKIN, EVERYBODY.
STICK AROUND.