Prosecuting Donald Trump

As the fallout from the momentous Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity continues to reverberate, MSNBC legal analysts Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord offer some updates, then turn to another significant ruling from the High Court out on Friday: Fisher v. U.S. At issue was whether the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding could be applied to Capitol rioters in the wake of their actions on January 6th. Despite the ruling in favor of the defendant, their guest Ryan Goodman of Just Security confirms the limited impact this decision will have on those charged for their role in the chaos of January 6th, and on Donald Trump’s election interference case in D.C.

Further reading: Here is the analysis Ryan, Mary and Andrew wrote regarding the Fischer decision for Just Security: The Limited Effects of Fischer: DOJ Data Reveals Supreme Court’s Narrowing of Jan. 6th Obstruction Charges Will Have Minimal Impact.

Last Friday’s joint filing in the DC election interference case before Judge Chutkan highlighted the deep chasm between Special Counsel Jack Smith and Trump’s legal team when it comes to how to proceed after the immunity decision. MSNBC legal analysts Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord give their unique perspective on what both sides offered up and which arguments hold merit. Then, they head to New York to detail the second effort by Trump’s legal team to remove the hush money case to federal court, weeks before his scheduled sentencing before Judge Merchan.
*** A note: Shortly after this episode was recorded, the federal judge denied leave to Mr. Trump to file removal papers after determining that no good cause for the late filing had been shown and removal to federal court was not warranted. Next stop: Trump can appeal that denial to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Also to listeners: MSNBC Live Democracy 2024 is now sold out. Thank you for everyone who signed up to join us this weekend. And if you didn’t manage to grab a ticket, we’ll be posting selections of Saturday’s conversations as a podcast next week, so keep an eye out for that.

Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled: “‘When the President Does It, that Means It’s Not Illegal’: The Supreme Court’s Unprecedented Immunity Decision”, and MSNBC legal analyst Mary McCord was called to testify before the committee. She and Andrew Weissmann reflect on what she laid out for the Senators concerning the fallout from the Supreme Court’s immunity decision. Then, they review the flurry of filings in Trump’s DC election interference case, where Jack Smith’s team is expected to file a substantial opening brief on Thursday. And lastly, after weeks of harassment and bomb threats, a non-profit group in Springfield, Ohio filed citizen-led criminal charges against Donald Trump and JD Vance for repeating lies that have allegedly led to threats against Haitian immigrants living in the community.

Further reading:

• Here is Mary’s opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• Here is the Just Security piece Andrew mentioned from Adam Klasfeld and Ryan Goodman, citing twelve instances of targeting supposed foes during the Trump administration: Chronology of a Dozen Times Trump Pushed to Prosecute His Perceived Enemies

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As Donald Trump’s sentencing date approaches, he and his lawyers are throwing all the spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. MSNBC legal analysts Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord break down the former president’s request to adjourn his sentencing until after the election, and the Manhattan DA’s response. Then, ProPublica reporter Joshua Kaplan joins for a deep dive into his reporting on unlawful American militia groups. Andrew and Mary talk with him about the threat these paramilitary groups pose, how they’ve used Trump’s denial of the election results for recruitment and spreading their ideology, as well as the dangers of collaboration with law enforcement.

Here is Josh Kaplan’s ProPublica investigation: Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia. (Included is a response from Meta about the use of Facebook as a recruitment tool.)

Also a note: We're expecting a joint filing in the DC case next Tuesday, so we’ll release our episode on Wednesday so Mary and Andrew can detail what's in that filing.

Things are getting heated in D.C., where Donald Trump is blasting Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request to restrict his public comments on the federal election fraud case. MSNBC legal analysts Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord dig into Judge Chutkan’s options, plus Trump’s effort to get that judge to recuse herself. They’ll also break down the latest in GA where yet another Trump co-defendant is trying to get his case moved to federal court.