Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20200209

Off the white house grounds, there was word that Gordon Sondland, the president s appointed ambassador to the eu was also fired. Sondland gave incredibly damaging testimony about the president s behavior during the impeachment inquiry. As of tonight, he has also suddenly been recalled from his post. His lawyer confirming to nbc news tonight that Gordon Sondland was not just reassigned to some other job inside the government or within the state department. He was smarly fired. And we dont know if this is the full list tonight or if there are more long knives out for people who testified in the impeachment inquiry or are related to that scandal. Or literally are familially related to anyone who did so. But despite what feels like a historical parallel to nixon at the height of the watergate impeachment crisis, i think it is not fair to say that this is a modern day saturday night massacre. The saturday night massacre was the night in october 1973 when nixon decided to order the firing of the Watergate Special counsel. The reason we remember that night these 40 years later is not just because nixon ordered the firing of arj bald cox. We call it the saturday night massacre between when nixon ordered the firing in anger and rage, when he ordered that firing, there were resignations at the Justice Department from officials who felt they couldnt in good conscience carry out that order. Attorney general Elliott Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order to fire cox. Then the Deputy Attorney general became the head of the Justice Department. He too resigned rather than carry out the president s order to fire arj bald cobs. It fell to the solicitor general. Only bjork was willing to do it and thats how cox got fired. Thats what it took. But the senior officials refusing to go along, those officials standing up saying i will not do this, you will have my resignation instead, thats why we remember that night from the watergate scandal as the saturday night massacre. That is not what is happening here because there is as yet no Elliott Richardson in this story. There is no bill ruccalhouse. And there have been protest resignations in the Trump Administration including over the handling of the ukraine scandal. In early october, a 40year veteran serving at the highest levels of the state department, Michael Mckinley resigned his position in part over the Trump Administration putting pressure on ukraine but also because of how secretary of state mike pompeo had thrown to the wolves and abandoned career nonpartisan personnel who had been caught up in the impeachment inquiry because of their jobs and who were therefore bearing the wrath of the president and the conservative media and the president s supporters because of it. Mckinley resigned in early october as the impeachment inquiry was getting underway. Mckinley later testified behind closed doors in the investigation saying, quote, the timing of my resignation was the result of two overriding concerns, what appears to to be the utilization of our ambassadors overseas and the failure of the state department to offer support to Foreign Service employees caught up in the impeachment inquiry on ukraine. He said, quote, since i began my career in 1982, i have served my country and every president loyally. Under current circumstances i could no longer look the other way as colleagues were denied the respect they deserve from us all. And Michael Mckinley resigned in protest of the administration and in protest of the actions of mike pompeo, specifically him abandoning state Department Employees to the wolves as they were caught up in the impeachment investigation and not lifting a finger to protect them as they were targeted and their lives and careers were in some cases basically destroyed by virtue of the fact that as part of their Job Responsibilities they had witnessed something relevant to the inquiry and they had responded and testified truthfully about it when called to do so and subpoenaed to do so. Mckinley resigned. And mckinley is not the only one. There have be other protest resignations of high level trump appointees for various reasons. Defense secretary james mattis resigned when he felt the president made an irresponsible decision about syria. He was followed out the door by brett mcgurk who was leading the effort against isis in iraq and syria at the time. This past november it was the Navy Secretary who resigned, si Richard Spencer. He resigned in protest when President Trump intervened and interfered in the military Justice System to mess with criminal cases that he wanted to turn to his political advantage. Navy secretary Richard Spencers resignation statement was rip roaring. He said, quote, the rule of law is what sets us apart from our a adversaries. Good order and discipline is what enabled us against foreign tyranny time and time again. And the constitution and uniform code of military sets us apart. I no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. I cannot obey an order that i believe violates the sacred oath i took in the presence of my family, my flag, and my faith to support and defend the constitution of the United States. Today he became the first endorse one of President Trumps. Because we know the president does not like to fire anyone directly. He likes to have other people do that for him, we can surmise that there are probably other people in the chain of command who were called upon tie and tonight to start firing the witnesses who testified against President Trump in the impeachment inquiry. So far whoever those people are, they appear to be carrying out those orders and not resigning in protest. We havent seen in resignations at least that we know of. Thats notable. Not only because history is sort of focused intently on our behavior as a country right now, i truly believe, but also because at least within the military when it comes to the specific case of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, we have had some very pie yus assertions from the people who would be in an Elliott Richardson kind of role in this firing, that of course they would never let anything like this happen, of course they would never let anything like what happened tonight, of course they would never let that happen. In november when Lieutenant Colonel vindman emerged as a witness in the impeachment inquiry, you might remember that the army moved in prepared to move his family to a secret location. They developed a special security detail for him and his family to keep them safe in the face of an incredible number of threats against him and his family. After he was demonized by not just the white house but by the conservative media and by the president s supporters in congress and around the country. At the time, defense secretary mark esper was asked about colonel vindman during a gaggle with reporters. A reporter from defense one actually posted online the full transcript of that exchange, and it is worth looking at tonight. Tonight of all nights, it is worth getting this reupped in the public record. You should see this. Heres the question. To defense secretary mark esper. Alexander vindman this is from november. This is the time that Alexander Vindman is becoming national news. Vindman is in the news. A lot of Service Members are going to be wondering is his career toast after testifying and should i take the risk of whistleblowering . What do you tell them as the defense secretary . Answer from defense secretary mark esper, the department of defense has protection for whistleblowers. They are guaranteed in law and they should not have any fear of retaliation. That is the departments position. Question, he meaning vindman . Answer, he and any other whistleblower, all right . Question, are you going to reinforce that message periodically . Answer, ive already spoken to the secretary of the army about that. Question, what was the message to him . Answer, no retaliation, thats law. Question, theres the law. But theres also ways to screw somebody. Answer, theres no retaliation. Its that simple. Defense secretary mark esper in november personally guaranteeing that there would be no retaliation against Alexander Vindman for him testifying in the impeachment inquiry. No retaliation under the law in terms of him being criminally prosecuted for something, but also no other way to in the reporters words, quote, screw him as revenge for him testifying. And theres the guarantee, right . No. Theres no retaliation. Its that simple. He shouldnt have any fear of retaliation. No retaliation. Thats the law. So, says defense secretary mark esper, november. Shortly thereafter, the top democrat in the senate, Chuck Schumer wrote to mark esper asking in writing for him to confirm that Lieutenant Colonel vindman would be protected from retaliation. Schumer wrote, took to the Defense Department a full month to write back. The letter this time didnt come from mark esper. It came from the deputy secretary of defense, a man name david norquist. You remember grover norquist, the long time conservative activist guy who said he wanted to get government down to the size he could drown it in a bathtub. His little brother is david norquist, named secretary of defense. Thats who sent the letter back to schumer when schumer inquiried as to whether or not the Defense Department would protect colonel vindman from retaliation. Heres what nordqvist pledged in writing. Dear, senator schumer, thank you to your letter to secretary esper regarding recent testimony regarding vindman and cooper. Im replying on secretary espers behalf. Let me assure you the department will not tolerate any act of retaliation or reprisal against them. Further were committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to ensure the security of colonel vindman and ms. Cooper. We monitor their security situation and will make appropriation resources necessary to keep them safe. We protect our people very seriously. A appreciate your continued support of the men and women of the Defense Department and keep you apprised of any gopments as appropriate. Let me assure you the department will not tolerate any act of retaliation or reprisal against him. We will keep you apprised of any developments as appropriate. No word as to whether or not david norquist, deputy secretary of defense, kept the leader apprised over the last 24 hours when reports first started surfacing that President Trump indeed was planning on taking revenge against colonel vindman for his testimony. Bloomberg news reported that President Trump might be seeking to take his revenge to retaliate against colonel vindman for having been a witness. Esper was asked about this matter at a press Conference Today despite his earlier assurances, earlier pie yas guarantee. And the deputy secretary of defense saying that on his behalf in writing in december. Today defense secretary mark esper was not exactly a profile encouraged when he was asked about that matter in light of Bloomberg News report that vindman might be in the president s cross hairs. I would refer you to the army for anymore detail on that. As i said, we protect all of our persons, Service Members from retribution from anything like that. So, weve already addressed that in policy and other means. We protect all of our Service Members from retribution or anything like that. So, it was less than four hours later that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman was not only fired from his white house job but marched off the white house grounds as was his brother. What exactly did his brother do who had no role whatsoever in the impeachment inquiry . Well, hes Alex Vindmans brother. And maybe thats enough. I am humbled to come before you today as one of many who serve in the most distinguished and able military in the world. The army is the only profession ive ever known. It has been an honor to represent and protect this great country. Next month will mark four years since my family arrived in the United States as refugees when my father was 47 years old, he left behind his entire life and the only home he had ever known to start over in the United States so his three sons could have a better and safer lives. His cranials you decision inspired a deep sense of gratitude in my brothers and myself and instilled in us a sense of duty and service. All three of us have served or currently serving in the military. My little brother is here behind me today. Our collective military service is a special part of our familys history, a story in america. I also recognize that my simple act of appearing here today just like the courage of my colleagues who have also truthfully testified before this committee would not be tolerated in many places around the world. In russia, my act of expressing concern to the chain of command in an official and private channel would have severe personal and professional repercussions in offering public testimony involving the president would surely cost me my life. Im grateful to my fathers for my fathers brave act of hope 40 years ago and for the privilege of being an american citizen and Public Servant where i can live free, free of fear more mine and my familys safety. Dad, im sitting here today in the u. S. Capitol talking to our elected professionals, talking to our elected professionals is proof you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the soviet union and come here to the United States of america in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth. Thank you again for your consideration. Ill be happy to answer your questions. Colonel vindman did in fact have his life threatened for giving testimony involving the president in the impeachment inquiry. Thats why the army prepared to move him and his family to a secret location and provided them ongoing security in the wake of his testimony in the face of threats. Well, now as of tonight, he and his brother have both been fire frd their white house jobs as active duty military officers in what is clear retaliation for him having testified during the impeachment proceedings. The fate of the witnesses who testified in the impeachment inquiry and other government officials who were involved in it and know what happened is a pretty daunting list at this point in terms of where are they now. Kurt volker is the u. S. Envoy to ukraine. He resigned right before his testimony. Hes out of a job and the u. S. No longer has an envoy to ukraine at all. They got rid of the job. Fiona hill left her job as the top russia official just before the scandal burst into view. Her successor in that job, tim morrison who also testified quit that job at the National Security counsel literally the night before he testified in the impeachment inquiry. Energy secretary rick perry quit his job as a cabinet official as soon as the scandal became pub lilk. John bolton either quit or was fired as National Security adviser just as the held up Ukraine Military aid was released. We still dont know the full story of john bolton in this scandal but the president is reportedly trying to block his book from being ub approximate lished. According to one report, the president is reportedly exploring the possibility of ginning up criminal prosecution against john bolton. Marie yovanovitch was recalled and fired as u. S. Ambassador to ukraine at the height of the scandal and part of it. She retired from Government Service altogether. The veteran u. S. Ambassador who was sent to replace her, bill taylor, was suddenly removed from his post in ukraine in the middle of the impeachment investigation. Hes now returned to retirement. Even Jennifer Williams who wosh worked in Vice President mike pences office is gone from the white house departing in the middle of the impeachment trial and going to work at sitcom instead. Alexander vindman and his brother, they were both frog marched out of the white house today and fired from their positions followed soon thereafter by Eu Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Anybody else want to speak up . Anybody else want to testify truthfully under oath as to what they saw or what they know . On october 20th, 1973, Richard Nixon actually did succeed in firing the Watergate Special counsel. But the reason we remember that night as the saturday night massacre and not just the night that nixon fired cox is because highranking president ial appointees in the chain of command who were told to carry out the president s orders said no. They said they wouldnt do it, and they resigned themselves on principle instead. And so instead of one man being killed off that night, one man who was an aggravation to the president which was an act that nixon knew would create blow back, but nothing he figured he couldnt handle. Instead of that, instead of skipping a rock across a pond and withstanding the ripples, his appointees who refused to help him do that, nixon set off a depth charge in that pond and the country rose up in outrage because of the moral example set by his appointees who would not go along. This time who will stand up and do the same . Anyone . Make fitness routine with pure protein. High protein low sugar tastes great high protein low sugar so good high protein low sugar mmmm, birthday cake and try pure protein delicious protein shakes applebees new irresistabowls now starting at 7. 99. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. At bayer, were helping to adto repair heart tissue. Es so bill can scream his heart out. Without putting his heart in danger. At bayer, this is why we science. Thouwhich is Breast Cancer metastthat has spreadcer, to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. This acourageous decision inspired gratitude in my brothers and myself and instilled in a us a sense of duty or service. All of us have served or are currently serving in the military. My little brother is behind me here today. Our collective military service is a special part of our familys history story in america. I also recognize that my simple act of appearing here today just like the courage of my colleagues who have also truthfully testified before this committee would not be tolerated in many places around the world. In russia, my act of expressing concern to the chain of command in an official and private channel would have severe personal and professional repercussions. Yeah, in russia, it certainly would. After Lieutenant Colonel vindman was fired and marched off the white house grounds today, his lawyer released a statement that said today, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman was escorted out of the white house where he has dutifully served his country and his president. Theres no question in the mind of any american why this mans job is over. He was asked to leave for telling the truth. He came into the public eye only when subpoenaed to testify before congress, and he did what the law demanded. In recent months, many entrusted with power in our political system ha cowered out of fear. And yet, a handful of men and women equipped with a sense of right born out of years of quiet service to their country made different choices. They chose to honor their duty with integrity and to put their faith in country ahead of fear and they have paid a price. The truth has cost Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman his job, career, and privacy. He did what any member of our military is charged with doing every day. He followed orders even when doing so was fraught with damager and personal peril. For that, the most powerful man in the world, buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and complicit decided to exact revenge. In this country, right matters and so does truth. Truth is not partisan. If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings, there will be no one left to warn us. Congressman seth moll ton of massachusetts was serving as a u. S. Marine in iraq in 2004 which is the same year that colonel vindman was there and the same year he was awarded the purple heart when he was wounded in iraq. Today he said of his fellow combat veteran, Lieutenant Colonel vindman is a patriot and a profile in courage, the opposite of President Trump. Republicans who claim trump has learned his lesson were so naive. Sir, i thank you for taking time to join us tonight. Thanks for being here. Its good to be back, rachel. Let me get your response. Ive seen a little bit of it in erm thes of what youve posted online. Im not sure this was a surprise. It was telegraphed the last 24 hours. There were a lot of people who said they would make sure this would not happen and it has happened tonight. You pointed out that donald trump has the most powerful position in the world but hes not a powerful person. Hes a weak person and hes someone who cant handle the truth. And thats very clear with what hes done throughout his administration. Hes trying to create a cult where the only requirement, the only requirement to be part of his administration, frankly now part of the republican party, is loyalty to donald trump. And the reason why this is dangerous is because it puts lives at risk. The reason why this is dangerous is because it was back in the george w. Bush administration when people did not have the courage to question Collin Powell at the un, people did not have the courage to question george when he came with the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. And as a result, people like Lieutenant Colonel vindman and i went to iraq and saw our friends wounded and killed because people werent willing to find the truth. If you have an administration where there is no dissent, where there are no conflicting opinions, where there is not any interest in finding the truth, theres only interest in doing what the president wants, then mistakes like iraq will happen again and americans will lose their lives. Thats why the stakes are so high with whats going on tonight. Let me ask you about the role of the Defense Department here. Defense secretary mark eser approximate previous committed to protecting colonel vindman. What do you make of the Defense Department being mum tonight about the firing of colonel vindman, whoever had to carry out these orders from the president to fire him and drag him off the white house grounds tonight. Nobody appears to have peaked in protest. Certainly nobodys resigned in protest and let it known. Mark esper came before the committee. I told him mr. Secretary youve got big shoes to fill following james mattis. And the most important thing you have to do is you have to be willing to tell the truth. You have to be willing to stand up to this president when you disagree. Thats the most important thing that general mattis did. And he assured me, esper did, that he would. But hes not doing that tonight. And he had to know what he was getting into. You know, rachel, i have a few friends who served on the nsc. One of them left a great job in the army to come to the white house because he said it was such an honor to be appointed to work in the white house even under this president who he had many disagreements with. When he got there, he said that what struck him most is that everybody spent a lot of time talking about when they would resign. It was the most popular topic of conversation. What is your red line. Two weeks after he was there, he called his father and said this feels like germany 1939. Wow. Thats what were dealing with here. And esper knows that. I want to know what his red line is, when hes going to resign, when hes going to stand up for whats right over whats convenient for this president. Congressman seth moulton of massachusetts. Thanks for taking time to be with us this friday night. I really appreciate it, sir. Thanks rachel. Weve got more ahead. Stay with us. Big night. Got more ahead. Stay with us big night. Give me your hand i can save you. Lots of money with Liberty Mutual we customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Oh. Oh, darn wha let me help. Here we go. Lift and push and push there. Its up there. Oh, boy. Hey joshie. Wrinkles send the wrong message. Help prevent them before they start with downy wrinkleguard. Hey bud. Hey, pop pop so you wont get caught with wrinkles again. [woman laughs] there is a document that sat in the u. S. Senate throughout the impeachment trial that we, the public, were never allowed to see. It was a piece of testimony submitted by Jennifer Williams who worked until this week in Vice President mike pences office. She submitted that testimony because she said it was pertinent to the impeachment investigation and to what the house was asking her about. House impeachment managers agreed that that part of her testimony was pertinent to what they were investigating but the white house called that classified. So, senators were allowed to look at it, but they could only look at it in a secure room and the public couldnt know about it at all. Turns out a lot of senators who did go and look at that piece of testimony came out saying why on earth is this classified . Why cant we share this with the public . Chris murphy of connecticut said there was nothing that should be classified. It was only classified because it was hurtful to the president in the middle of the immaterial impeachment. You are not allowed to keep information from the public because its going to hurt you politically. So, the classification, whether theyre improperly classifying documents, specifically to protect the president and Vice President from scrutiny. So, well see what the gio does with that. Hes made a formal request to look at it. But this worry that the white house might be misusing the power of classification to serve the president s personal interests, this is part of something that is becoming an increasingly apparent pattern right now. For one, it comes alongside increasingly urgent expressions of concerns about something that appears to be going on at the nsa. Adam schiff told us this week on this show that as far as he can tell theres something going wrong at nsa and the cia as well. He said there were quote bodies of intelligence that the nsa collected about ukraine and the ukraine scandal that his committee requested because they believed it might be pertinent information to president s impeachment trial. But the nsa withheld that material. He says on orders from above. The intelligence committees have the right to see anything the Intelligence Community collects. That is material that the nsa is required to hand over to congress when they request it. But they are withholding it and chairman schiff says its on orders from the white house. Thats a very big deal. Senate democratic leader Chuck Schumer last night expressing grave concerns about that in an interview on this show. The grave concerns and increasingly dire warnings about what this might mean in terms of nsa they cant tell us what the information is. Its classified. In some cases if they cant get it in the first place they cant even describe what it is other than the general feel of stuff they asked for and had the stuff turned down. They cant be specific about what it is thats being withheld. But theres a kind of freak out about the fact that the nsa might be withholding this stuff. And i think thats in part because honestly you talk to people in washington, the nsa is seen as an agency that has not been totally captured by President Trump and recently refurbished over the last few years to promote the president s personal interests instead of doing what theyre supposed to do as an agency. The nsa is broadly viewed as an agency that is doing what its supposed to do and not serving the president instead. If that changes, if the nsa, the National Security administration of all agencies becomes that, thats a particularly scary agency to be put to that kind of use. If the president is able to use the powers of the nsa just to serve himself, thats a whole different kind of country. Now, thats whats going on with the nsa. I said this is part of an emerging pattern. I am less scared about the powers of the General Services administration than i am about the powers of the nsa but it does fit the pattern. The General Services administration is essentially a land lord for federal Properties Around the country. Them being used and abused and turned to the president s interest is not as scary as the Worlds Largest surveillance system. But it does seem like with the gsa theres another Government Agency thats being remade to serve President Trumps personal interest. Didnt get a lot of attention the past week because of the drama in washington, but the head of the gsa just testified about mr. Trumps d. C. Hotel, the Hotel Property owned by the federal government and the president s company leases it and operates it as one of the trump branded hotels. So, the gsa, the federal government is his land lord which is awkward because hes the head of the federal government. But now that the Trump Organization is in the market to sell their lease on that building, they want to sell it for like a half billion dollars. Well, the land lord for the building, the actual owner of the building is going to have to approve that sell. So, lawmakers asked the head of the gsa if she would rule out allowing President Trump to sell that hotel lease to a foreign entity since that would clearly violate the constitutions prohibition on the president accepting payments from a Foreign Government. She would not rule it out. She would not rule out allowing some Foreign Government somewhere around the world to give the president a half billion dollars. I dont really see it as my role. At the same hearing she said she had no idea how much money the president has taken from Foreign Governments at his hotel right now. She said she has never asked. So, of course she doesnt have that information. So, the president turning the powers of the presidency and the powers of the u. S. Government to instead benefit himself, to benefit himself politically, to benefit his business, to put money in his own pocket, we are used to the president wanting to do that. Thats no longer a threat in an abstract. Thats something we document on a day to day basis. Thats called the news now. But the agencies of government whether its the gsa or the nsa or any other agencies implicated in stopping doing real work for the American People and instead serving the president , agencies allowing themselves to be used in that way, that is starting to feel like the story of this part of the trump presidency. And importantly, the United States secret service putting itself in that role, that is the new scoop from the Washington Post who joins us next. Stay with us. Washington post who joins us next. Stay with us with advil, you have power over pain, so the whole world looks different. The unbeatable strength of advil. What pain . Ior anything i want to buy isk going to be on rakuten. Rakuten is easy to use, free to sign up and its in over 3,000 stores. I buy a lot of makeup. Shampoo, conditioner. Books, food. Travel. Shoes. Stuff for my backyard. Anything from clothes to electronics. Workout gear. I even recently got cash back on domain hosting. You can buy tires. To me, rakuten is a great way to get cash back on anything you buy. Rack it up with rakuten, sign up today to get cash back on everything you buy. So chantix can help you quit slow turkey. Along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. With chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, youll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. When you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or lifethreatening allergic and skin reactions. Decrease alcohol use. Use caution driving or operating machinery. Tell your doctor if youve had Mental Health problems. The most common side effect is nausea. Talk to your doctor about chantix. I dont think anybody is surprised anymore to hear that President Trump takes lots and lots of days off and he golfs a lot and goes to his own properties all the time. He spent like a third of his presidency at one of his own for profit or private properties. We know theres public money expended at his own properties whenever he does that. So, when the Washington Post dropped this scoop today that President Trump charges his own secret Service Agents as much as 650 a night per room when he says at one of his properties,that he charges the secret service 17,000 a month for a rate at a cottage at one of his properties,that the Trump Administration has lied about the charges saying theyre charging almost nothing when theyre charging them the rack rate. Well all that reporting, that is quite a scoop. But its the kind of scoop that isnt necessarily surprising given what we know about how the president likes to butter his own cup at taxpayer expense. Heres the part though of davids latest scoop that knocks we aback a little bit. Quote, trumps company says it charges only minimal fees, but secret Service Records do not show that. The secret service is required to Tell Congress twice a year about what it spends to protect trump at his properties, but since 2016 it has only filed two of the required six reports according to congressional offices. Even in those two reports, the lines for maralago and b bedminister were blank. Donald trump trying to get money himself this way. Got it. Were used to that by now. Trumps company lying about that. Got it. Its a day that ends in y. But the secret Service Helping cover that up, that feels like s something about us, not them. That feels unsettling. For the record, the secret Service Tells Us it balances Operational Security with judicious allocation of resources. Okay. Good to know. Thank you for the statement. Not relevant to this inquiry. But heres the thing. The president s business is not just lying about this. They have tried to turn that lie into a political asset. They have been publicly telling the country that theyre saving taxpayers money by charging the secret Service Nothing or next to nothing to stay at all these properties. That is a lie and im not surprised by them lying. But according to the new reporting, the secret service is helping them perpetuate that lie and thats on the secret service. It is one thing for you to be a corrupting influence in politics. Its another thing for you to be a Government Agency that is allowing yourself to be used for eye corrupt purpose and helping cover it up. Joining us is david farn thaul. He and his colleagues broke the story today. Thank you for being here. I basically tweeted your entire story line by line today. Im getting more and more upset as i work through the paragraphs. I apologize for that. Let me ask about the reporting process here. How you were able to put the pieces of this puzzle together given the fact that the secret service hasnt been reporting this information in public federal databases. For me it kind of began last year with or do ral. When President Trump said he was going to put the g7 summit at dor al. That fell apart after a few days. Hes willing to do that. That doesnt bother him at all so whats he been doing all along. What about the secret service . They go to his properties. Whats he charges them. The only thing we could find was a an e cryptic truncated release that only showed six months. It showed a lot of money and almost no details. The details they released made it impossible to know whether these were reasonable rates or not. You look at that and go this is the president s business getting money from the government. How do we know so little. We started digging in and looking for other information about the same topic. And then when you asked the secret service about skipping these mandated updates that theyre supposed to file twice yearly explaining the kind of spending they do at these facilities, that was their explanation for why they havent been filing these mandated reports . Their explanation was that they basically sometime in 2016, the people that knew about these reports or knew how to do them left and basically just forgot. They forgot to do it and didnt remember they werent doing it until this beginning of 2019 when the Government Accountability office did a report and said these things are due and you didnt do them. Since then theyve done a couple but theres a lot of backlog. Even the ones theyve done, the lines for bedminister and maralago are blank. They say they dont spend a dollar which is not credible. They spend lots and lot of money at those places. We havent figured out why theyre leaving the lines blank. This is obviously a big picture and more focused picture story. Big picture, the president appearing to monetize the presidency to put public taxpayer money in his own pocket in a pretty big way and as yet unquantifiable way because the records dont exist. It is also the story about a Government Agency allowing itself to be used for this purpose and not telling the public whats going on. In terms of oversight of the secret service are they subject to requests, subject to congressional oversight in a way that should make them have to answer for what theyve done here and also fill in the blanks . Well, they are subject to foyer requests and thats the little bit that we know has come from foyer requests and more specifically people putting in foyer requests, being denied, and suing the secret service to get records. The little bit we know about 2017 and 2018 comes from the nonprofit groups suing the secret service to get public records. Theyre also subject to congressional oversight but congress has asked for more detail and havent gotten it. 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Former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer who quit his job in protest in november, today he became the first trump political appointee to endorse a political opponent in the election. He announced support for mike bloomberg. He explains his logic to kourtney coup by. When i took this job, i came in as a grown up. Every day i put my resignation paperer in my pocket. What happened happened. I took my stand, the president took his. Were done. This decision here is for the good of the country. This decision being to endorse mike bloomberg. Loyalty is to the country, not to a person. Richard spencer life long republican not endorsing the incumbent republican president , but hes the first appointee to endorse someone from the other party. He resigned from the navy in protest. Now this, Richard Spencer writing his name in history. More ahead. Stay with us. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Almost done. What do you think . 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