hey, everyone. it s 4:00 in new york. i m in for nicole wallace. special counsel jack smith is a prosecutor that stays out of the spotlight. he prefers to speak through his fiings. that s why his laltest brief in the federal election case merits our attention. over the weekend, the justice department responded to trump s claims that he is immune from prosecution. what he did was within the scope of his duties as president of the united states. it s an argument that trump was taking to the courts in order to get the whole election case dismissed. the special counsel is speaking to the court. let s be honest. he s also speaking to any of us who care about the health of our democracy. prosecutors acknowledge the fact we re dealing with an unprecedented situation. for the first time in our nation s history, a grand jury charged a former president of committing crimes while in office to overturn an election he lost. in response the defendant claims to protect the institution of th
If a politician on the left had tried to disenfranchise me, as Trump did when he attempted to overturn the 2020 election, I would want Democrats to act on my behalf. Could I ask of others what I would not do myself?
senator peter van winkle, west virginia, argued that this should look beyond the civil war. quote, this is to go into our constitution and to stand to govern future insurrection as well as the present. and i should like to have that point definitely understood. so now, in this new year, in this presidential year, where the stakes for our democracy are at a critical inflection point, we wait to hear what the supreme court of the united states will decide. and that is where we start this hour with former u.s. attorney author of the forge coming back attack from within, co-host of the sisters in law podcast barbara mcquaid. princeton university professor and distinguished political scholar, eddie glod. and columnist for the boston globe, kimberly atkins store. i want to talk timing. last week we saw an appeal by the colorado republican party, which put into effect the stay