the special reports that we do sometimes around here. this one is about what we call the just comply lie from some republicans, as well as sean hannity. we re going to show you how it has been shredded by recent events. how sean hannity s standard was failed by none other than donald trump himself. how it fits in with civil rights in our country. by the end of the hour, to end the week, we have a saturday night live alum with us as well. our top story is the kind of news that sometimes comes at the end of the week about the january 6th coup. it s about our democracy. it s about the man who already got donald trump arraigned, special counsel jack smith. people are taking everything he does as seriously as possible these days. indeed, one thing that you can find agreement on from sort of doj veterans and allies of the justice department, if you want to put it that way, and donald trump s team and world, they all think jack smith means business. they are all watching everyth
welcome to the beat. i m ari melber. we are tracking several stories tonight, including another supreme court ethics scandal, tying gop appointee samuel alito to another billionaire on a fishing trip. we ll get into that later. it s a big story. but our news program begins tonight with not only the criminal trial of donald trump, now slated to begin on august 14th buck the broader ongoing threat of right wing individual lantyism and authoritarianism. tonight we begin with a special report on that very challenge, and trump s efforts to hijack the criminal justice system that now is trying to potentially hold him accountable. we re talking about a range of actions that has prompted already fear of violence over the violent rhetoric and whether that could turn to action. we re about one week out from the federal arraignment that trump did try to prevent. we remember he was forced to sit silently in that miami courtroom. outside cameras showed a very small crowd. the scene was
experience. are you really trying to diminish the significance of what happened here and the secret meeting that the president said son set up in trump tower to receive that incriminating information trying to diminish the significance of that? i m not trying to diminish it at all. the more complete story is they met, it was a ruse and they didn t talk about mrs. clinton. you think it was insignificant that he met for the purpose of getting dirt on hillary clinton and the only disappointment expressed in the meeting was the dirt they got wasn t better. you don t think that s significant? i don t think this was a well-advised thing to do. john durham hogs four year investigation of maga fever dreams is grilled on capitol hill. his failure a bump in the road for republicans bent on weaponizing and politicizing the doj. the confessions of donald trump. now a federal as well as a state criminal defendant, he continues to openly incriminate himself. seemingly obliv
and wants to return, tells people on christmas day that they can rot in hell. just as congresswoman debbie dingell says, trump s rot in hell christmas message was, to say the least, unpresidential. now, special counsel jack smith is filing a new motion to block trump for making political arguments during his criminal trial. also tonight, michigan supreme court decides against removing trump from the 2024 ballot, unlike colorado s highest court and now extra security is needed for those justices. plus, the republicans all out assault on voting rights, which includes plans to ask the u.s. supreme court to preserve their undemocratically gerrymandered maps in wisconsin. good evening. i m charles coleman, in four joy reid, and we have got a lot to talk about. we begin tonight with a new year faster protesting, many looking head to 2024 and wondering what else could be in store. that certainly appears to be the case for former president donald trump who has been the holidays not
trump says he can t be prosecute under january 6th because he wa acquitted in a senate impeachment trial, and he continues he has, quote, absolute immunity from prosecution with his acts as president. jack smith is expect today respond to those claims before the appeals court hears trump s case. that didn t stop the special counsel fromn filing a new motn with judge tanya chutkan today asking the court to not allow, quote, the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates disinformation and inject politics into the proceeding. smith also wants the court to, quote, prohibit the defendant from introducing evidence, making arguments, or framing questions to advance a theory of selective or vindictive prosecution. basically the special counsel wants to make sure trump can t say this is joe biden s doj targeting them. and in the response trump said biden s doj is targeting him. joining me now to discuss is ryano riley, justice reporter r nbc news and author