phone records of his closest allies. and then you email evidence joint insiders knew exactly what they were doing. then, as republicans split over the former guy and his former vp, could democrats be in for some big wins despite a complicated economy. as the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday night. here we go. good evening once again, i am stephanie ruhle. we begin this evening with bombshell breaking news from the washington post. the post reporting the justice department is investigating former president trump s actions in its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election. the paper reports, quote, prosecutors who were questioning witnesses before a grand jury, including two top aides to vice president mike pence, have asked in recent days about conversations with trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute trump allies for certified electors for some states to that joe biden won. in addition, justice department investigators
the washington post. the post reporting the justice department is investigating former president trump s actions in its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election. the paper reports, quote, prosecutors who were questioning witnesses before a grand jury, including two top aides to vice president mike pence, have asked in recent days about conversations with trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute trump allies for certified electors for some states to that joe biden won. in addition, justice department investigators back in april received phone records of key officials at aides in the trump administration including his former chief of staff, mark meadows. earlier tonight, our friends carol leonnig broke down some of a reporting and describes what federal prosecutors wanted to know. what we learned is that they are asking most of their questions at least so far, about donald trump. the questions are overwhelmingly are, what did
cement this moment in the history books as the moment the american people proved they would never bend the knee to the left s tin pot dictatorship. i want to bring in nbc justice reporter ryan reilly who is outside the u.s. district courthouse. msnbc political analyst, brendan buck is with me as well as msnbc legal analyst lisa rubin. ryan, all the action happening inside that courthouse behind you. what do we know at this hour? reporter: you know, we know that the grand jury is meeting and we know that that critical meeting took place between the special counsel s office and donald trump s lawyers. what was interesting just a few moments ago i spotted some officers from the metropolitan police department here in d.c. along with park police and members of the u.s. marshal service who oversee security at the courthouse all meeting just outside the courthouse, and then they all proceeded to go inside the courthouse. so it would appear as though they were preparing for some
he took, someone who didn t believe that his personal conduct was risk constrained by the rule of law and someone who even in the last couple of weeks had been urging elected officials, this time a state house leader in wisconsin that he had indeed in fact won the 2020 election. if he is not stopped and held accountable, he continues to have the ability to operate. so those stakes are very high. clearly at this point that i know is on the minds of the folks at the justice department, we don t want to become the tin pot dictatorship country where former leaders are routinely prosecuted. that s not the aspect for a healthy democracy. but what trump did so far exceeds the bounds of common decency, it strikes at the heart of the democracy itself, and that s kind of conduct that merits what we are seeing tonight. very serious investigation and
former senator claire mccaskill had to say about this investigation. there is a risk to indicting a former president in terms of what it does to this country. but i believe in these circumstances, the risk is so much greater if they let this guy go. joyce, describe how high the stakes really are. the worst risk we run if trump is never held accountable is that his failed coup attempt becomes the dress rehearsal for the real thing. this is someone who was demonstrated that he presents an ongoing threat to democracy and someone who didn t have any regard for the oath of office he took, someone who didn t believe that his personal conduct was risk constrained by the rule of law and someone who even in the last couple of weeks had been urging elected officials, this time a state house leader in wisconsin that he had indeed in fact won the 2020 election. if he is not stopped and held accountable, he continues to have the ability to operate. so those stakes are very high. clearly at th