Large interest most significant federal indictment of donald trump ever. This is in a way that well document more significantly than the legal headaches he already has. This will be tonight the first time any former president has been indicted by the Justice Department for trying to steal an election. Now, i mentioned, if you have been walking our breaking coverage, we have been going through what is a voluminous filing. Jack smith found six other coconspirators that are named in the filing. It alleges that trump spread lies, that there had been outcome determinant fraud, fraud that would have swung the election back to him, and these claims were false. And trump knew they were false. Ill put on the screen what were watching for. Want to share what were learning. S this a day we have been trying to hew closely to what we know and dont know. In the last several moments, the most heads up youll get from an agency that jack smith will approach the podium you see here. Some of the local Beat Reporters have assembled in that room. Hell approach the podium any moment. Its 6 01 in washington, and speak on this new indictment. If he does do so you can see the preparations for that. It will be only the second time weve heard from jack smith publicly. The first was in the original indictment of donald trump in the classified documents and espionage case some when we get anything from that room, well bring it to you live here on the beat. This is a Breaking News night. I want to bring in our experts. We have david kelly, former sdny chief. Former sdny christy greenberg. Our experts will be expanding over time. Weve talked about this. Tonight it becomes reality. When you look at this case, when you look at the four counts, three conspiracies. And to be clear with people, that means Above And Beyond and separate from the violence on january 6th and what happened in those hours on january 6th, these are other longer range conspiracies, some that run weeks if not months. What kind of indictment is this . Do you view it as narrow or broad . As kind of precisely nitpicking or looking at a wider set of Election Plots . Ill say a couple things. One is i think its a masterpiece. It lays out concisely what the charges are and what acts support the indictment. And i think that its also a masterpiece in transparency for those very same reasons, which i think are incredibly important that the theres a whole group of folks that think this is a hoax, and these are facts that cant really be contested, havent been contested, and they really jump out. Saw someone call it a screaming indictment. I said a shouting dime. Because its so loud. It is, and its loud, but theres an elegance to it and a grace to it because of how well its composed and its just jammed with facts that are going to be very difficult for the defendant to dispute, and its going to be very difficult for that large portion of the american populace to think that this is a hoax. And this is just a testament to the fact that facts matter. Yeah. And that fraud is one of the charges i mentioned christy greenberg is here. So is Andrew Weissman, one of the many experts waiting on them we spoke about it earlier in our breaking coverage. David just pointed out this is the area where lives become criminal. I want to ask you something i havent had a chance to discuss with you. Jack smith goes out of his way in this indictment, as i read it, to say the defendant may lie in public. The defendant may zealously advocate for his criticisms of the election, and yet he went parter than that. Why does smith say that . Some people might be surprised its okay to lie in the eyes of the doj, and why does he Say Something worse happened here, something criminal . I think thats really smart to make it really clear to people reading this what is lawful and allowed under the first amendment. Its clearly saying, just because you Say Something thats not true, thats not what youre being charged with. That may be a crime if you are lying to a federal investigator such as david and christy used to have in the Southern District of new york. It may be a crime if youre under oath in front of congress. Hes making it clear, you want to tell lies to the American Public and to the press, thats one thing. You want to tell lies on the ellipse, thats one thing. That is not whats being charged here. So i think that is really smart to make it very clear. Because one of the things, following up on davids excellent point, which is one of the reasons you do a Speaking Indictment, particularly in a case that theres no case thats going to get more attention is theres an educational function here to those people willing to listen. Obviously theyre some who are just not going to think this is worth the paper its printed on, but theres people willing to listen, to read it. It is really important to do that. Having been in the Special Counsel mueller investigation, one of the really wonderful things was seeing the judges understand that educational function and the unique moment that they have to help people understand the criminal law and why people are before them and what rights they have and why theyre being held accountable. I want to keep our entire panel here. Weve got three experienced federal prosecutors. Now that the federal Prosecution Team run by jack smith indicted donald trump for a coup to overthrow the election. I want to give a reset on what were doing. I want to show the room where were awaiting jack smith to speak tonight. Were told any minute smith will come to the podium and speak for only the second time in in the probe. Unlike certain legal activities where you think youve heard leaks or quotes or interviews with prosecutors the prosecutor in georgias done interviews, for example we havent had a single interview with jack smith anywhere in the world, and this will be only his second remarks. Everyone in america will want to hear what Special Counsel Smith has to same well bring that on msnbc at any moment. The second thing were doing here, this indictment just came out within the last half hour, so if you made your way to your news show here because you heard about it or just watch the news regularly, this is truly a Breaking News moment. Were going to experience it together. I can tell you while im talking to you through the cam remark vi lawyers in all corner of the set going through every page of it. What i will tell you is were going the try to break this up and make it clear so we learn tonight whats in here. We have been waiting for this for a long time. The conspiracy here is broader than just january 6th. In the moment im going to read from the indictment itself. The overview as we have been processing this, you can think of four big conspiracy allegations that the judgment is making from donald trump. Number one, that in seven different states, they committed a type of fraud with those fake or fraudulent electors weve heard about. That they tried to basically hijack the election process with a kind of a coup or abuse of Government Power at the Justice Department. Thats why theres so many coconspirators listed. One was a doj official at the time. Third, something the January 6th Committee shined a light on, Donald Trumps efforts repeatedly to get the Vice President to do something the doj says was illegal, which is try to steal the election. Fourth with the horrific violence, jack smith puts it he does not say donald trump was the sole cause of the violence. But he does say, new tonight in this indictment, that trump and his coconspirators tried to, quote, exploit the violence that did occur that day by people trump did summon to washington in an ongoing effort to try to illegally overthrow the election, even as that violence occurred and according to many, got Out Of Control. Thats different from incitement or insurrection. Were going to hear from the lawyer as we break this down. I also want to state, and youll hear this repeatedly, that donald trump is a defendant. He has rights and hes legally presumed innocent in the american system and court of law. Reading from the indictment, and then were going to bring our lawyers back in. It states that trump pursued, quote, unlawful mean of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results, and goes on to state trump sought to enlist the Vice President to use his ceremonial role at the january 6th certification to, quote, fraudulently alter the election results. Bringing in christy greenberg. When you look at some of those details as i mentioned, not all involve the violence of january 6th. Some of what is now newly put down in writing here, efforts to lobby or issue illegal orders to the Vice President smith is saying that would have been an illegal plot even if no one stormed the capitol. Right. I think this indictment i mean, he is in his taylor swift speak now era, jack smith. This is a Speaking Indictment 45 pages of just incredible detail where he goes through what i think is really important, that count four especially, which was a bit of a wild card. The conspiracy against the right to vote. And the fact that in order to prove up that charge, there needs to be a specific intent to deprive someone of that protected right to vote, and that just seems at the heart of this whole indictment, this idea that you are depriving the democratic process of working the way that it should, and thats something i think every american goes in to cast their vote for any election can really relate to and look at this and say, hey, this affects me. This isnt just about, you know, any event that dealt with violence. This is about every person having their right to have their votes counted. Were getting a notice, david, that jack smith really will be coming in any moment. I reserve the right to cut in on any guest if he does. But the fact that much of this Speaking Indictment speaks about illegal activities separate from the violence on the 6th. I think just to build on her point, you know, focusing on the vote, but this really goes into some detail as it goes through each of the major contested Battleground States and what efforts were taken there. We talk a couple weeks ago on the show about how, in the case of michigan brought the case against their fraudulent electors. This goes well out beyond the steps of the capitol, out the each of these states and talks about how these efforts were to undermine the democratic processes in those states and that he had specific intent to do that, to deprive those people of their votes. Not just in a tangible way, but when you look at how hes laid it out state by state, act by act, it really brings it home. Andrew, i want to read from page 37, which has really damning allegations about the lengths they went to submit these fraudulent electors. There are some on the president s team who tried to say, look, fans will be fans, and they held meetings. Who cares . A kind of real minimiziminimizi. Just watching that camera. Were watching Special Counsel jack smith approach the podium. Lets listen as he speaks on this date of the second federal indictment of donald trump. Good evening. Today an indictment was unsealed charging donald j. Trump with conspireing to defraud the United States, conspireing to disenfranchise voters, and conspireing and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. The indictment was issued by a grand jury of citizens here in the District Of Columbia and it sets forth the crimes charged in detail. I encourage everyone to read it in full. The attack on our Nations Capital on January 6th 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of american democracy. Its described in the indictment. Its fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a Bedrock Function of the u. S. Government, a nations process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the president ial election. The men and women of Law Enforcement who defended the u. S. Capitol on january 6th are heroes. They are patriots, and they are the very best of us. They did not just defend a building or the people sheltering in it. They put their lives on the line to defend who we are as a country and as a people. They defended the very institutions and principles that define the United States. Since the attack on our capitol, the department of justice remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day. This case is brought consistent with that moment, and our investigation of other individuals continues. In this case, my office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens. In the meantime, i must emphasize that the indictment is only an allegation and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until Proven GuiltyBeyond A Reasonable Doubt in a court of law. I would like to thank the members of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation who are working on this investigation with my office as well as the many Career Prosecutors and Law Enforcement agents from around the country who have worked on previous january 6th investigations. These women and men are Public Servants of the very highest order, and it is a privilege to work alongside them. Thank you. Why didnt you charge any of the other coconspirators . Brief remarks from Special Counsel jack smith on the first ever indictment of a former president for trying to steal an election. Donald trump now indicted in the January 6th Probe along with 6 coconspirators. This is msnbcs breaking coverage from you. We are going to get reaction from our legal experts. I want to bring in for the first time this hour, neal katyal. Neal, it is official now in a way that it wasnt an hour ago or even the day of the target letter. So with that in mind, id like your response, one, to what we just heard in Special Counsel Smith, and two, quite seriously, what tonight means for legal history and democracy in america. Ari, the gravity of this moment cannot be overstated. I mean, it is just unbelievable what we just saw with jack smith. You saw a Career Prosecutor, someone charged with enforcing the law, say the former president of the United States and the current leading president ial candidate for one of the parties is charged for his role in trying to upend a free and fair election. This is certainly the biggest legal case in our lifetimes. It is one of the biggest cases ever in the history of the United States. Jack smith did something today to restore confidence in the rule of law in unimaginable ways, and you saw you heard him speak in such a measured way, emphasizing Donald TrumpsPresumption Of Innocence that this evidence all has to be tested in a court of law. I expect donald trump to continue speaking in exactly the opposite way demonizing jack smith, calling him deranged, call it the biden prosecution. But i think all of our viewers should understand, jack smith was not appointed by president biden. He was picked as an independent Career Prosecutor, and hes operating under Special Counsel guidelines that give him full independence to conduct this investigation in the way he wants to and charge who he thinks is warranted. So when you hear the attack on the biden Justice Department going after him going after donald trump, that is poppycock. This is an independent Career Prosecutor bringing some of the most grave charges imaginable because of what happened on january 6th. So i think jack smith has met the moment, and now it is up to this criminal trial to proceed with a very, very good judge, with judge chutkin. If donald trump is convinced hes innocent, bring it on. Put on your defense in a court of law, and lets see how it fares. Neal katyal, stay with me. Part of our breaking coverage here in the newsroom. Same question to you, Andrew Weissman because sometimes covering these stories can be like the Weather Channel when the storm is days away. By the time the storm gets here, everyones moving on to the next thing. I want to make sure we absorb what this means now that its official and what you thought of what we just heard from Special Counsel Smith. Its great you started there. I think what happens a lot of times is we get anecessaitized to what happens. You forget to step back and think about the enormity of the situation. We are about to see a historic ordeal that the country is going to go through because of choices that donald trump made. I think that as a prosecutor, i think jack smith correctly you can see it in the indictment really focused on the lying. That you have a former president who, in order to