you ll definitely enjoy it. that is tonight s read out. joy returns tomorrow celebrate the readouts birthday. all in with chris eight hayes starts right now. starts right now gleaming from washington, d.c.. i m ali velshi in for chris hayes. don trump s attack on democracy was death by 1000 cuts. the ex presidents plan to steal the election had so many components, from the lies about fraud and the pressure on state and federal officials, to the fake electors scheme and the final desperate sticking of the mob on the capital and with all of that came so many characters. names we now know well like rudy giuliani, sydney powell, john eastman, as well as plenty who are still relative strangers to us. now take it individually none of these pieces or people seem at all that important. on their own none of them would have succeeded in toppling american democracy.
have succeeded in toppling american democracy. but together, they got terrifyingly close. and they tell the story of the case that the special counsel jack smith s building as he moves closer to a decision on bringing a second federal indictment against donald trump. so, today, here in washington smith, pictured here in his motorcade, leaving his office at the department of justice, continue to put the puzzle pieces together. he focused on yet another relatively unknown character who appears to have some of important information about the operation to steal the election. this is william russell. he served in the trump white house has a special assistant, and the deputy director of presidential advance operations. russell spent much of january 6th by donald trump side. he s pictured here at the stop the steal rally. ahead of the attack on the capital, with trump and his chief of staff, mark meadows. russell continue to work for trump after he left the white