it s 4:00 in the east. big day of news today. on capitol hill today a brutal collision between reality and delusion, a republican effort to whitewash the ex-president s ties for russia culminating in a veteran prosecutor under oath seemingly unwilling to acknowledge basic facts in service of republican conspiracy theories. just a few weeks after releasing a 300-page report after an investigation that went on for four years, cost the taxpayers $6.5 million, a report the washington post described this way as, quote, landing with a thud resulting in no new charges and none of the widespread abuses trump and his allies have alleged for years now. special counsel john durham testified today before the house judiciary committee. now, despite all those facts durham described his findings sobering and it was left to it democrats on the committee to point out the truth of his own investigation, an investigation that trump and his hand picked attorney general bill barr setup to inves
challenges as he makes a third run for the white house. today, he made a virtual appearance at a hearing in the manhattan d. a. s hush money case. it was his first court appearance since pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. this afternoon, the judge told him the trial would begin on march 25th 2024, the heart of the presidential campaign season. the judge also issued an order of restricting trump opposing about some evidence in the case, nbc legal analyst lisa reuben was in the courtroom. the judge did not obey the protective order to trump line for line, but definitely wanted to make sure on the record that trump had reviewed it line for line with his lawyer and that he understood most importantly that it is a court order that if he violates, he risks a wide range of sanctions including and up through criminal contempt. was my clinic believes this is an infringement of a first amendment right and i have assured him, your honor, that was not yo
and the battle for, buck moves a city now in ruins after the lace battle of the war in ukraine. as the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday night. greetings. i m simone sanders towns, interesting role. the former president has learned when he ll go on trial in the hush money case and reporting says one of the special counsel s investigations maybe near the end. according to the wall street journal special counsel jack smith is wrapping up the criminal case involving trump s handling of classified documents. the journal says smith quote has all but finished obtaining testimony and other evidence according to people familiar with the matter. trump is trying to take his case directly to the justice department. today his lawyer sent out a letter to attorney general merrick garland requesting a meeting to discuss the special counsel s investigation. of course donald trump is facing multiple legal challenges as he makes a third run for the white house. today, he made a v
probe into an ex-president s handling of classified material. new york times notes that it is incredibly rare for even a partial affidavit to be released at all. they add this, quote, the submission by the justice department is a significant legal mile post in an investigations that has swiftly emerged as a major threat to trump, whose lawyers have offered a confused and at times stumbling response, but it is also an inflexion point for attorney general merrick garland who is trying to balance protecting the prosecutorial process by keeping secret details of the investigation and providing enough information to defend his decision to request a search unlike any other in history. the impending release of a critical document in doj s investigation into the ex-president is where we begin today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. carol leonnig is here and former national security adviser to president obama and neal katyal is back former solicitor general and now law
here s zoe lofgren asking durham an eyebrow raising question about traveling to italy with bill barr. i thought it was down a rabbit s hole, but you and attorney general barr went to italy to take a look at some allegation about foreign service, and italian officials gave you evidence that they said linked donald trump to certain financial crimes. did the attorney general ask you to investigate that matter that the italians referred to you? and if so, did you take any investigative steps, and did you file charges? and if not, did you file a declaration memo for decision not to charge in this case? the question s outside the scope of what i think i m authorized to talk about. it s not part of the report. i can tell you this, investigative steps were taken. grand jury subpoenas were issued, and it came to nothing. a dramatic collision of facts and republican disinformation at