indicted, whether criminal charges are going to be issued. well, in this new reporting about potential criminal charges for former president trump, they re talking about a variation on that grand jury structure. it s what they call an extra grand jury or a special grand jury. the washington post initial report tonight says that the special grand jury in the trump case will be convened to meet not for the usual four weeks, but for six months. and this special grand jury is not going to meet one day a week, maybe two days a week. they re going to meet three days a week for a solid six months. and this is, again, reportedly an extra grand jury. this is a special grand jury that is being convened on top of the usual grand jury that s in session in the normal course of events in the new york state legal system. that special status, this unusually intense and long-running commitment that they have asked these grand jurors to make, why is that?
trump s tax returns. those were obtained in february after a subpoena was obtained. joining us now, elie honig. what is this special grant jury and what power does it have? the grand jury is one of the most powerful tools any prosecutor can have. despite its name it does not have much in common with a trial jury. one of the things they do have in common, they re both selected ran randomly. now, this jury will be sitting for six months. that s what makes it a special grand jury. usually grand jury s sit for one months. this one is going to be impanelled for up to six months. it could end earlier than that or the prosecutor could ask for permission to extend beyond that. that s a good ballpark figure for how long this might take. the grand jury operates in secret. we will not know what s
why is this being handled by a special grand jury that s meeting so much more intensely than a normal grand jury? i don t know, and anybody that tells you they know for sure is not being straight. grand jury proceedings are secret. and they re considering whether or not people are going to be criminally charged. those deliberations and everything that happens in the grand jury room has to be secret as a basic tenant of fairness. because at the end of those proceedings, the grand jury decides somebody should not be charged, that grl charges shouldn t be brought. it would be everything unfair for everything to be dragged out into the public eye, right? a person didn t get charged, then they should not have aspersions cast on them by people knowing they were the subject of a grand jury process. you either get charged or you don t. it is secret what happens in that room. prosecutors lay out a case, once they indiet them and charge them, that s the public part of
fistful of mint flavored tums. it is palpable that they want nothing to do with the potentially criminal trailing ends of the last presidency. they just don t seem like it. but they can only pretend so hard and for so long that isn t something that has been left for them to deal with. i mean, this is all happening at once. here tonight is this news of state prosecutors of new york, convening a special grand jury to work intensively over a period of six months, meeting three days a week, to weigh potential criminal charges against former president trump and other people connected to his business. that is dramatic, right? but at least that stayed in the federal, but the federal thing keeps creeping up on the biden justice department and i m not sure how long they re going to be able to avoid the question. i mean, within the last 24 hours leading up to this bombshell reporting, hey, look, the federal potential federal case
the right regard to critical race theory can really be described as any in-depth examination of the role of racism in american history, you know from a black perspective. it s so dangerous that it needs to engage in state censorship to suppress and i think that s a real problem. that is all in on this tuesday night. the rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening, rachel. good evening, chris. thank you, my friend. much appreciated. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. this is the headline tonight at the washington post. prosecutor in trump criminal probe convenes grand jury to hear evidence and weigh potential charges. the washington post was the first to report this story. within two hours, the associated press matched the key reporting at the heart of this story. this is their headline, new grand jury seated for next stage of trump investigation. new york prosecutors have convened a special grand jury to