not just a status quo. we re going to take lumps from everyone, but the democracy is a better system and democracy means you know who your next leader is. democracy means people get represented, leads it a better policy. it can not only defend itself, but say hey, it s a better system. round two, three, and four, you might be looking for specific policy outcomes, like, for example, joint efforts to help small d democrats around the world who are not in power, being oppressed, joint efforts to block the spread of dark money because oligarchs park the money where it s safe, which means generally inside democracies. joint efforts to support not just freedom of the press as a principle but joint efforts to support investigative journalism around the world, which is probably the single-most institutional defense of democracy. timothy snyder, professor of history at yale history, the author of in books, and on tyranny, professor snyder, always a pleasure and an honor to have you here. th
its unanimous ruling, then describes trump s efforts to resist providing materials to this investigation. the ruling describes the lawsuit, for example, that he brought in october to try to block the investigation from obtaining his records. the court describes his resounding loss in the lower court in that case. but this is important. it could become materially important in days ahead. the court in this ruling tonight is quite blunt about the legitimacy of the january 6th investigation. and they re quite blunt about trump s failure to state any legal justification for him ducking their questions and their demands. quote, the very essence of the article one power, meaning the article one power in the constitution, the part that defines the roles of congress, the very essence of art kun one power is very legislating, and so there would seem to be few if any more impair active interests squarely within congress s
washts, for a, quote, wild response to what he had been alleging for months was a stolen election. on january 6th, president trump directed his followers to go to the capitol and quote fight for their country with the aim of prevents congress s certification of the electoral vote. the rule quotes from his speech that day, you ll never take back our country with weakness. we have come to demand that congress do the right thing, and only count certain electors. and equally essential aspect of the rule of law says the ruling is the peaceful transition of power and the constitutional role prescribed for congress in verifying the electoral college vote, to allow the privilege of a no longer sitting president to prevail over congress s need to investigate a violent attack on its home. and its constitutional operations. that would gravely impair the basic function of the legislature. president trump bears the burden of at least showing some weighty interest in continued confidentiality, that
what are you going to do here? and that demand for him subpoena, for him to be deposed under subpoena from that new york attorney general s investigation, that arises today on the same day that he loses resoundingly in federal appeals court in efforts to try and keep his records safe and sound and away from the january 6th investigation. it happens on the same day that one of the lawyers who advised him on the whole scheme he planned around january 6th, the guy who advised him on this whole plan of having pence reject the electors from certain states on january 6th, and that s how trump would be able to stay in power. that lawyer who drafted that scheme for trump in legal memos, john eastman, himself appeared before the january 6th committee today and invoked his 5th amendment right against self-incrimination.