Trump WAVES THE WHITE FLAG in MAJOR defeat

Major news here as it looks like Donald Trump's Department of Justice has waved the white flag.Glenn, can you explain what just happened here in a major reversal?

Brian, the New York Times just clobbered Donald Trump, Todd Blanch, This just shows what a grotesque clown show the DOJ leadership air quotes is.They subpoenaed New York Times reporters.Why?Well, because New York Times reporters had the nerve to publish a piece about the true circumstances surrounded this, you know, Qatari jet that was a gift to Donald Trump that was going to cost the taxpayers $1 billion to retrofit.So it, could be secure and kind of be tantamount to Air Force One.And of course, all of that went sideways and they bungled it badly.

And the New York Times published what by all accounts seemed to be a truthful, accurate story about that.And so Donald Trump's DOJ leadership just started flooding the New York Times with subpoenas.That may not sound bad to the uninitiated, but I will tell you in a minute just how bad it is.But let me start with the really grotesque part.They not only subpoenaed New York Times reporters, they subpoenaed the mother of one reporter.They subpoenaed the spouses of two reporters.

And the New York Times wouldn't stand for it.Indeed, the lawyer representing the New York Times said, you know what, Judge?Even the mafia has a rule against going after family members, which I thought was some colorful lawyering.And so the judge started wearing out these DOJ lawyers who went into court and tried to defend this abject abuse of prosecutorial power.And after about an hour of the judge pinning them down at every turn, he said, look, you can either withdraw these subpoenas or I will quash them.In other words, I will cancel them.

I will throw them out.because they are an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and power.And after about an hour, according to the reporting from inside the courtroom, the DOJ attorneys gave up the ghost.And then, Brian, it goes from bad to worse.So the judge pressed them on, you know, why in the world are you subpoenaing family members, relatives of the reporters?And the DOJ attorney had the temerity to say, well, Judge, that was an error.

We didn't intend to involve, and these are quotes now from the hearing, we didn't intend to involve the reporters' relatives or family members in the investigation, to which the judge shot back, and I'm going to paraphrase here, What the hell are you talking about?You subpoenaed them.And you know what DOJ's explanation slash excuse was?And I want to quote this.Quote, it was an error.It was a consequence of trying to move quickly.

Close quote.Now, Brian, I can envision the judge saying, let me get this straight.You drafted, you executed subpoenas for New York Times reporters.And then.Because you were moving a little too quickly, you sat down and drafted and executed subpoenas for their family members.Do I have that right?

The judge threatened sanctions for misstatements or incorrect statements.It was a bit of a bloodbath.And the reason all of this is so out of bounds, take it from this old career prosecutor who worked inside the Department of Justice for decades, We generally don't subpoena reporters.When we find ourselves, Brian, in a position where we think we have the lawful authority to subpoena reporters, there are tests that have been set out in the law and in the precedent, the case law, including a case called New York Times.versus Gonzales.And it says you only subpoena a reporter as an absolute last resort after you have exhausted all other investigative efforts and attempts to get at the information you need without potentially running afoul of the First Amendment freedom of expression.

of the press.You know what?They exhausted exactly no investigative measures.They went right to subpoenaing the reporters and subpoenaing the reporters' family members.This is a grotesque clown show.The judge let them know it.

And this is another instance where DOJ can't find its ethics with two hands.

Well, you know, Glenn, in fairness, who among us hasn't accidentally filled out and submitted a subpoena?You know, it's just as common as taking the wrong exit on the highway.You accidentally subpoena the entire family of New York Times reporters.It's worth asking here, because you said that the judge pushed back, called this an abuse of power, suggested the idea of sanctions.Talk a little bit about what the consequences for the people who were involved in this whole process may look like.Is the judge just going to allow this to be one more instance of prosecutorial overreach or does it look like there might actually be some accountability for this abuse of power?

Ryan, we are forever chasing the elusive accountability for the transgressions of DOJ lawyers, aren't we?And we haven't seen a whole lot of accountability come home to roost for these people.But what we have seen are judges who have repeatedly early and often referred.DOJ attorneys to Bar Council, their state bar, for ethics investigations.Some of them are up and running.You know, the problem is that is a very long, drawn -out process with lots of rights that the attorneys enjoy when they're the subject of an ethics investigation.

But, you know, ultimately, I suspect you're going to have these attorneys go the way of the Rudy Giuliani's and the John Eastman's and the Kenneth Chesbrough's and you know others who have been disbarred because of the dirty dealings they did for Donald Trump during his first administration.So I suspect the attorneys who were just caught engaged in this prosecutorial abuse and ended up having to cry uncle.They withdrew the subpoenas because they knew the judge was about to rule against them for good reason.I suspect you're going to see them you know, sent off to their state bar for an ethics investigation.You're going to see them investigated, sanctioned, up to and including potentially disbarment.The problem is we're not going to see it for a very long time.

And therein lies some of the problem, because it seems like Donald Trump and the people who are willing to do his corrupt and unethical bidding know that they can always kind of stay several steps ahead of accountability.In other words, let's do something lawless, abusive and unethical today, because the courts might take months or maybe even a year or more to catch up and contemplate holding us accountable.So, you know, this is a recurring pattern that we have been suffering, the American people have been suffering.And, you know, I keep saying it has to stop.Accountability has to come at some point, and we need to pull our heads out of our you -know -whats and right the American ship, because the American people cannot suffer this kind of abject abuse from the Department of Justice forever.

And I want to get into that in just a moment, but I have one more question specifically, specifically about the issue that we're talking about.Can you speak about the prospect of discovery, what that would have uncovered in the event that this lawsuit and these subpoenas actually went forward?

So, you know, discovery is the enemy of the nefarious litigant.That was a mouthful.So let me translate my own nonsense.If you file a dirty lawsuit,as Donald Trump, you know, is want to do, what happens, like just happened in the BBC case, The judge said, oh, OK, Donald Trump, you want $10 billion claiming that you were financially harmed by the BBC's decision about how to edit some interview or another of you?Fine.

In discovery, the BBC is going to get all your financial information.You think Donald Trump wants anybody getting their hands on all of his financial information given what he has been, you know, earning off the presidency in the last year and a half?Oh, no way.So what Donald Trump often does is he ends up dismissing his own lawsuit rather than giving the opponent in the lawsuit information that would be extraordinarily damaging to him, Donald Trump himself.So sometimes the best thing that can happen for Donald Trump is judges throw out lawsuits or he ends up having to dismiss or move to dismiss his own lawsuit before discovery unearths a whole bunch of Donald Trump dirt.

Now let's go back to the topic that we were speaking about before, this idea of accountability.In the aftermath of Donald Trump and in a post -Trump world, what needs to happen with these bar councils and any organizations that issue bar licenses so that we aren't in a position where we have lawyers who know that they can abuse their power in deference to some corrupt politician and that the process is so slow and plotting and bureaucratic that there's no way to stop any of this for, you know, in some instances, years because of how judicious I think and well -intentioned a lot of these processes are, but but really not not built for this moment where things move so quickly and where people can do so much damage in such a short amount of time.

You know, it's such an importantIn the most recent go -round, Donald Trump, the sequel, his second presidency, since the first day of his second term, when he tried to cross out of the Constitution a constitutional right, a guarantee of birthright citizenship, do you know it took the courts a year and a half, a full year and a half, to finally tell Donald Trump, no, can't do it, it's unconstitutional?The havoc he wrought in the interim.And I think that highlights a real weakness in the sort of judicial system writ large.There's no reason we can't do things on an expedited basis, give two -week deadlines and move a matter like this through the system expeditiously, rather than let nefarious litigants take advantage of the endless delay.And I would put that in the bucket of reforms.

that we need to take up beginning in January 2029.And you used a phrase that's kind of music to my ears, accountability in a post -Trump world.Not to go off on my own dalliance, but during the first Trump term, with all the lawlessness that I saw as a former federal prosecutor, I started writing a book and I did a treatment called Accountability in a Post -Trump World.And the opening scene I wrote as law enforcement actually coming for Donald Trump in Trump Tower to execute an arrest warrant after he left the presidency for all the crimes he committed during the first Trump term.How wrong I was, and I know everybody will be shocked, that that book never did see the light of day.

Yeah.Well, look, I think that, if anything, that should be a principal issue of reform because we've seen the extent to which these people rely on, again, how antiquated this system is.It was built for a different time.I think it was built thinkingand this was correct to a point, thinking that these attorneys were gonna act in good faith and they wouldn't possibly abuse their power to the extent that they are right now.But Trump has shown that there's no shame when it comes to the speed with which these people will abuse their power and how they're so drunk with proximity to power to him.

And so I think that we do need to see a world where, I mean, I understand that these law licenses are issued on a state -by -state basis, but some convention of these Bar Councils to come together and figure out major structural reforms that we're not in a position where the people who are entrusted to defend the Constitution are instead the ones with the power to undermine it.

Yeah, and Brian, I think you focused on this in your new book, and congratulations that it's on the New York Times bestseller list, and I read it.And you focus on the central issue of accountability and how we need to fight for it when the rule of law comes back into the light of day.And I couldn't agree with you more.And a big part of that is court reform, indeed, Supreme Court reform.Listen, we know what the problems are.that the bad actors have taken advantage of.

So it's up to us to address them, to repair them, to reform them, to remedy them.And if we don't, if we fail in that mission, I hate to say, I don't think we get to keep our republic because I don't think we can endure another Donald Trump or what might even come after Donald Trump that is worse because the person will be smarter and will surround himself with, you know, more adept crooks and sycophants.So, you know, we're in a tough spot.I do believe that we are up to the mission come January 2029, but it's going to put us to the test.

Well, look, I think if anybody is in a position where they can offer up the exact kind of reforms that we need to rebuild the government,in a post -Trump world.It's you.So highly recommend for anybody who's watching right now, if you want to stay up on our work, please subscribe to both of our channels.Completely free to do so, but a great way to support us, amplify our voices in this ecosystem and to show some support for independent media.So those links are right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video.

I'm Brian Teller -Cohen.

And I'm Glenn Kirshner.

You're watching The Legal Breakdown.