WEBVTT
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Let's bring in renowned attorney Norm Eisen, former special assistant
2
00:00:03.330 --> 00:00:07.000
to President Obama. Norm's also founder and executive chair of
3
00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:10.740
the Democracy Defenders Fund. Mr. Eisen, pleasure to see you
4
00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:15.359
as always. The president's solution is not legal. You can't
5
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:18.219
direct a super PAC how to spend its money, right?
6
00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:24.550
That's right, Pete. This situation with reaching into your and
7
00:00:24.589 --> 00:00:29.269
my pockets And that of hundreds of millions of taxpayers
8
00:00:29.730 --> 00:00:33.469
across the country to pay for political ads is bristling
9
00:00:33.509 --> 00:00:38.670
with illegality. The president has admitted that by saying, OK,
10
00:00:38.850 --> 00:00:42.799
I'll stop stealing from you taxpayers to pay for my
11
00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:49.179
political ads. But he's bumbled into another violation of federal law.
12
00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:54.250
As a federal official, he cannot control a super PAC.
13
00:00:55.030 --> 00:01:01.179
So he's compounded the many other illegalities. That includes our
14
00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:07.420
Democracy Defenders client, Jameson, the musician. whose track Love Me
15
00:01:07.890 --> 00:01:14.739
was illegally stolen to provide the soundtrack for some of
16
00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:22.620
these ads. It's also violations of federal appropriations law. It's
17
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a mess, such a bad mess that the president has
18
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.540
basically tacitly admitted what he was doing was illegal.
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Norm, to be clear, though, and I hear the frustration,
20
00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:35.540
the outrage in your voice and so many others right
21
00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:38.890
now in a situation like this. For one, he's made
22
00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:41.629
no clear detail about how he's going to reimburse the
23
00:01:41.670 --> 00:01:44.409
money that he took from taxpayers. But the president controls
24
00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:48.030
the FEC, the Federal Election Commission. I mean, does anything
25
00:01:48.109 --> 00:01:50.810
ever become of this or does he just act with impunity?
26
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Well, we've sent a letter to the White House warning
27
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them that they are breaking the law. they're violating the
28
00:02:00.689 --> 00:02:02.790
copyright laws by stealing James.
29
00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:04.849
But he keeps doing it. So I guess not to
30
00:02:04.890 --> 00:02:07.480
suggest that that's not what, what needs to be done.
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How do you stop it?
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Pete, as you know, We send these letters. We don't
33
00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:17.139
tuck them in a file at Democracy Defenders Fund and
34
00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:22.060
Democracy Defenders Action. We have over 300 legal matters, including
35
00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:28.870
many of the biggest wins to stop Trump's authoritarianism from
36
00:02:29.069 --> 00:02:33.610
birthright citizenship to his slush fund case from the Kennedy Center.
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to the reflecting pool. We're not just sitting around. He's
38
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already blinking. And there's many more shoes to drop here.
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It's against the law. We fight that.
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I appreciate that. Let me ask you about this. President
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Trump reportedly just met with the election denier Tina Peters.
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She's that Colorado clerk people may remember. She's an election denier.
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This is according to specifically according to Ed Martin right now,
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00:03:02.550 --> 00:03:05.909
who had shared some of this information. Trump and Peters
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00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:09.610
reportedly discussed election integrity and the plans for the upcoming
46
00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:13.250
midterms elections. The White House is declining to confirm any
47
00:03:13.289 --> 00:03:16.460
of this. So if it happened and MS now hasn't
48
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confirmed it independently, what red flags does that raise for you?
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Well, Donald Trump has been attempting to attack the elections
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00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:34.280
and failing since he got back to the Oval Office, Pete. Remember,
51
00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:41.400
he tried two elections he owed. EOs to take over
52
00:03:41.569 --> 00:03:45.259
our elections, most recently to break mail in voting. We
53
00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.280
and many others went to court. We shut them right down.
54
00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:54.199
If this meeting happened, and if it's as Ed Martin described,
55
00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.939
it could presage more illegal efforts. But the good news
56
00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:02.740
for voters is that both at Democracy Defenders Fund and
57
00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:06.740
Action and many other of our fellow civil rights, voting
58
00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:11.159
rights groups, not to mention state AGs We've stopped him
59
00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:14.699
every time he's tried to do this crazy stuff. Even
60
00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:17.370
the Roberts court, as bad as they are, said, no,
61
00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:20.870
of course you can't break mail-in voting with the rule
62
00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:24.949
based on your nutty second executive order just a few
63
00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:28.089
weeks before the election. So we'll go to court and
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stop it. Tina Peters was wrongly pardoned. She should still
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be in jail for these shenanigans, not allegedly showing up
66
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in the Oval Office.
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Norm, let's look ahead to Thursday right now. That's when
68
00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:43.139
a federal judge is going to revisit this media ban
69
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:45.759
right now that the president, there's a restraining order on
70
00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:48.990
it right now that expires later this week. So the
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00:04:49.029 --> 00:04:52.569
judge will make the decision on that. But the president
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00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:56.389
has since gone further. He has now blocked CNN and Politico.
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00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:58.269
It was CNN, Politico and MSNOW who were initially involved.
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his targets in this. He's blocked CNN and Politico from
75
00:05:01.050 --> 00:05:04.889
being able to travel with him aboard Air Force One.
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How does this end? It was one thing to be
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allowed onto the campus, but the president is doing to
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00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:11.750
these outlets what he tried to do to the Associated
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Press and appears to be working, which is keeping them
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out of access to him.
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Pete, it's wrong. And all of the journalistic outlets should
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be saying, um, all for one and one for all.
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They have to show more solidarity. If the president is
84
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going to infringe on the First Amendment in this fashion.
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No journalist should show up at all to cover him.
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If he's getting no attention for his generally bizarre rants,
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00:05:46.230 --> 00:05:51.410
like his apparent invitation to destroy Los Angeles and San
88
00:05:51.449 --> 00:05:54.310
Diego that you covered at the top of the show,
89
00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:58.149
if nobody's paying attention to those, he'll change his tune
90
00:05:58.189 --> 00:06:03.660
in a The outlets are going to court. They are
91
00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:07.360
getting orders. They are winning in court. So that's part
92
00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.129
of the battle. Now the rest of the journalistic profession
93
00:06:11.689 --> 00:06:13.050
needs to stand by that.
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00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:16.430
Norm Eisen, you got the fullest of full plates. We
95
00:06:16.449 --> 00:06:18.250
always appreciate you making time to speak to us. And
96
00:06:18.269 --> 00:06:19.980
you're welcome back whenever there's more news for you to
97
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.560
share with us. Thank you so much. Hey, it's Rachel.
98
00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:24.199
I am so glad to see you at the end
99
00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:25.720
of that clip because this is where I get to
100
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.180
tell you about a new way to watch all our
101
00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.579
clips and all of our shows and everything on MS
102
00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:34.600
Now on your phone or your tablet or your laptop.
103
00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.420
You can watch things live or recorded. Plus, you can
104
00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:39.939
ask me and all the other hosts and reporters questions
105
00:06:40.329 --> 00:06:44.170
in our weekly live chats. You can go to ms.now
106
00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:47.850
slash membership or just click below.
107
00:06:48.670 --> 00:06:48.910
Thanks.
1
00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.290
Let's bring in renowned attorney Norm Eisen, former special assistant
2
00:00:03.330 --> 00:00:07.000
to President Obama. Norm's also founder and executive chair of
3
00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:10.740
the Democracy Defenders Fund. Mr. Eisen, pleasure to see you
4
00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:15.359
as always. The president's solution is not legal. You can't
5
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:18.219
direct a super PAC how to spend its money, right?
6
00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:24.550
That's right, Pete. This situation with reaching into your and
7
00:00:24.589 --> 00:00:29.269
my pockets And that of hundreds of millions of taxpayers
8
00:00:29.730 --> 00:00:33.469
across the country to pay for political ads is bristling
9
00:00:33.509 --> 00:00:38.670
with illegality. The president has admitted that by saying, OK,
10
00:00:38.850 --> 00:00:42.799
I'll stop stealing from you taxpayers to pay for my
11
00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:49.179
political ads. But he's bumbled into another violation of federal law.
12
00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:54.250
As a federal official, he cannot control a super PAC.
13
00:00:55.030 --> 00:01:01.179
So he's compounded the many other illegalities. That includes our
14
00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:07.420
Democracy Defenders client, Jameson, the musician. whose track Love Me
15
00:01:07.890 --> 00:01:14.739
was illegally stolen to provide the soundtrack for some of
16
00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:22.620
these ads. It's also violations of federal appropriations law. It's
17
00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:25.120
a mess, such a bad mess that the president has
18
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.540
basically tacitly admitted what he was doing was illegal.
19
00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:33.280
Norm, to be clear, though, and I hear the frustration,
20
00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:35.540
the outrage in your voice and so many others right
21
00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:38.890
now in a situation like this. For one, he's made
22
00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:41.629
no clear detail about how he's going to reimburse the
23
00:01:41.670 --> 00:01:44.409
money that he took from taxpayers. But the president controls
24
00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:48.030
the FEC, the Federal Election Commission. I mean, does anything
25
00:01:48.109 --> 00:01:50.810
ever become of this or does he just act with impunity?
26
00:01:52.209 --> 00:01:56.310
Well, we've sent a letter to the White House warning
27
00:01:56.349 --> 00:02:00.629
them that they are breaking the law. they're violating the
28
00:02:00.689 --> 00:02:02.790
copyright laws by stealing James.
29
00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:04.849
But he keeps doing it. So I guess not to
30
00:02:04.890 --> 00:02:07.480
suggest that that's not what, what needs to be done.
31
00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:08.360
How do you stop it?
32
00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:13.539
Pete, as you know, We send these letters. We don't
33
00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:17.139
tuck them in a file at Democracy Defenders Fund and
34
00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:22.060
Democracy Defenders Action. We have over 300 legal matters, including
35
00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:28.870
many of the biggest wins to stop Trump's authoritarianism from
36
00:02:29.069 --> 00:02:33.610
birthright citizenship to his slush fund case from the Kennedy Center.
37
00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:39.050
to the reflecting pool. We're not just sitting around. He's
38
00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:43.039
already blinking. And there's many more shoes to drop here.
39
00:02:43.219 --> 00:02:44.939
It's against the law. We fight that.
40
00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:48.039
I appreciate that. Let me ask you about this. President
41
00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:52.120
Trump reportedly just met with the election denier Tina Peters.
42
00:02:52.189 --> 00:02:57.389
She's that Colorado clerk people may remember. She's an election denier.
43
00:02:58.270 --> 00:03:02.509
This is according to specifically according to Ed Martin right now,
44
00:03:02.550 --> 00:03:05.909
who had shared some of this information. Trump and Peters
45
00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:09.610
reportedly discussed election integrity and the plans for the upcoming
46
00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:13.250
midterms elections. The White House is declining to confirm any
47
00:03:13.289 --> 00:03:16.460
of this. So if it happened and MS now hasn't
48
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.900
confirmed it independently, what red flags does that raise for you?
49
00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:28.629
Well, Donald Trump has been attempting to attack the elections
50
00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:34.280
and failing since he got back to the Oval Office, Pete. Remember,
51
00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:41.400
he tried two elections he owed. EOs to take over
52
00:03:41.569 --> 00:03:45.259
our elections, most recently to break mail in voting. We
53
00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.280
and many others went to court. We shut them right down.
54
00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:54.199
If this meeting happened, and if it's as Ed Martin described,
55
00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.939
it could presage more illegal efforts. But the good news
56
00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:02.740
for voters is that both at Democracy Defenders Fund and
57
00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:06.740
Action and many other of our fellow civil rights, voting
58
00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:11.159
rights groups, not to mention state AGs We've stopped him
59
00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:14.699
every time he's tried to do this crazy stuff. Even
60
00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:17.370
the Roberts court, as bad as they are, said, no,
61
00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:20.870
of course you can't break mail-in voting with the rule
62
00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:24.949
based on your nutty second executive order just a few
63
00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:28.089
weeks before the election. So we'll go to court and
64
00:04:28.129 --> 00:04:32.009
stop it. Tina Peters was wrongly pardoned. She should still
65
00:04:32.069 --> 00:04:35.970
be in jail for these shenanigans, not allegedly showing up
66
00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:37.439
in the Oval Office.
67
00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:39.980
Norm, let's look ahead to Thursday right now. That's when
68
00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:43.139
a federal judge is going to revisit this media ban
69
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:45.759
right now that the president, there's a restraining order on
70
00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:48.990
it right now that expires later this week. So the
71
00:04:49.029 --> 00:04:52.569
judge will make the decision on that. But the president
72
00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:56.389
has since gone further. He has now blocked CNN and Politico.
73
00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:58.269
It was CNN, Politico and MSNOW who were initially involved.
74
00:04:58.610 --> 00:05:01.009
his targets in this. He's blocked CNN and Politico from
75
00:05:01.050 --> 00:05:04.889
being able to travel with him aboard Air Force One.
76
00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:07.290
How does this end? It was one thing to be
77
00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:09.389
allowed onto the campus, but the president is doing to
78
00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:11.750
these outlets what he tried to do to the Associated
79
00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:14.560
Press and appears to be working, which is keeping them
80
00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:15.519
out of access to him.
81
00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:22.439
Pete, it's wrong. And all of the journalistic outlets should
82
00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:27.449
be saying, um, all for one and one for all.
83
00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:33.449
They have to show more solidarity. If the president is
84
00:05:33.490 --> 00:05:37.129
going to infringe on the First Amendment in this fashion.
85
00:05:37.209 --> 00:05:40.829
No journalist should show up at all to cover him.
86
00:05:41.230 --> 00:05:45.970
If he's getting no attention for his generally bizarre rants,
87
00:05:46.230 --> 00:05:51.410
like his apparent invitation to destroy Los Angeles and San
88
00:05:51.449 --> 00:05:54.310
Diego that you covered at the top of the show,
89
00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:58.149
if nobody's paying attention to those, he'll change his tune
90
00:05:58.189 --> 00:06:03.660
in a The outlets are going to court. They are
91
00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:07.360
getting orders. They are winning in court. So that's part
92
00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.129
of the battle. Now the rest of the journalistic profession
93
00:06:11.689 --> 00:06:13.050
needs to stand by that.
94
00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:16.430
Norm Eisen, you got the fullest of full plates. We
95
00:06:16.449 --> 00:06:18.250
always appreciate you making time to speak to us. And
96
00:06:18.269 --> 00:06:19.980
you're welcome back whenever there's more news for you to
97
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.560
share with us. Thank you so much. Hey, it's Rachel.
98
00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:24.199
I am so glad to see you at the end
99
00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:25.720
of that clip because this is where I get to
100
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.180
tell you about a new way to watch all our
101
00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.579
clips and all of our shows and everything on MS
102
00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:34.600
Now on your phone or your tablet or your laptop.
103
00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.420
You can watch things live or recorded. Plus, you can
104
00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:39.939
ask me and all the other hosts and reporters questions
105
00:06:40.329 --> 00:06:44.170
in our weekly live chats. You can go to ms.now
106
00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:47.850
slash membership or just click below.
107
00:06:48.670 --> 00:06:48.910
Thanks.
