we are so grateful. the beat with katie phang starts now. it s so good to see you. welcome to the beat. i m katie phang in for ari melber. we re going to start with what could be a consequential plea deal. the new york times reporting former trump organization ceo alan weisselberg is in negotiations with manhattan prosecutors to plead guilty again, but this time to the charge of perjury. now, this deal would require weisselberg to have to admit that he lied on the witness stand in trump s civil fraud trial and that he lied under oath in an interview with the new york attorney general s office. weisselberg previously admitted to orchestrating an off-the-books scheme within the trump organization for which he spent 100 days at rikers jail last year. this breaking news just came out from the new york times. your reaction to this news? i guess timing is everything, right? we are waiting for judge arthur engoron to issue his ruling on the remaining counts that were under
of contempt for refusing to testify for the january 6th committee. he wants the legal battle to play out in a very public way, that s the way to distract everybody and make a circus out of it and the court of public opinion or whatever. is this going to go how the committee wants it to? i think bannon is a lost cause for the committee. he clearly has a path here. the greatest upside for him is to make as big a spectacle as he can that brings more viewers, more donors. is that the point for these grifters? sure, sure, the point is fame. the point is to be out there to be talked about, to be seen as defending this trumpest virtual reality of stopping the steal. i mean, that s where guys like bannon make their money and make
believed short was responsible that he was in his ear. absolutely. tomorrow there is a hearing for steve bannon and expecting discussion of a trial date. he s been indicted on two counts of contempt for refusing to testify for the january 6th committee. he wants the legal battle to play out in a very public way, that s the way to district everybody and make a circus out of it and the court of public opinion or whatever. is this going to go how the committee wants it to? i think bannon is a lost cause for the committee. he clearly has a path here. the greatest upside for him is to make as big a spectacle as he can that brings more viewers, more donors. is that the point for these grifters? sure, sure, the point is